Velon looks a bit uneasy and says "I don't think you're going to like this, but we've made a deal with her."  "She will help us destroy the mindflayers, and we will help her establish their city as her new lair.  In this way we will remove her as a problem for you here as agreed.  I have a number of concerns, but that is my decision."

Vadim frowns, "I suppose if she dies at the hands of the brainsuckers that would do the trick as well. But what guarantees do you have that this is not just a ploy to catch us off guard? We can't stay vigilant and prepared to tackle her all the way to the city."

"It is a difficult matter, I cannot deny.  My team and I will take responsibility for her, including keeping extra people on watch while we rest, so that you can stay focused on your usual efforts.  If we cannot defeat her, it may not be any worse than if we had tried to take her here in her lair and failed, leaving you nearby without our aid.  She was very much prepared for such things when we arrived here.  You had at least some amount of faith in our ability to deal with her or you would not have come all the way here, so you must trust in us still."

Perry plays another performance for everyone. He plays his hit song, "Trusty Horse." His ears perk up however when there is mention of a bath. 

"Bath?! You have a hot spring down here?!?" Perry asks excitedly. "Well I for one always come prepared in case of a spontaneous hot spring episode. Everyone! Come and let's relax before we have to go fight the evil squids!"

In what can only be described as an alarmingly quick process, Perry is now in a purple and gold speedo. "I'm so excited," he says to Zip. "I didn't know you had this kind of stuff down here, my dear."

He spends some quality time in the bath, spending time with Zip mostly. "So Zip, is this a natural geothermal hot spring? It feels quite nice. Always been a fan of hot springs. I even had one installed at the castle you know, right above the dragon play pen for young dragons."

He does also talk and mingle with any Blaze members who partake while he's there. "Lia, Mari, a pleasure as always to see you two here relaxing. What do you think so far about this dragon? She seems really nice, right? I feel awful now about our original plan. I'm not sure she's even really evil or anything. This whole saving the world from a Tyranny of Dragons™ has really given me a lot of unique and interesting perspectives on dragons, and I'm not sure what to think anymore. I guess dragons are just like people, there are good and bad ones and sometimes there's a lot of nuance and grey areas with them too. Mari, why aren't you enjoying the spring? Come onnnn, you don't always have to be the strong, silent, femme-fatale, killer type, even if you can kill a man with a fork in half a second."

Happily getting less dressed at the hot tub/pool, Lawrance swims around a bit in the various temperate areas, scrubbing down and getting wonderfully clean. Once the basics are done, he engages with any willing ear in conversation on varied subjects and about upcoming conflict. 

"Tell me more about these Flumphs, if you would? What do they look like? Do they have a society, or are they just wanderers around the mind flayer's lairs? Could they be more useful than just guides, in groups? How do you manage the maintenance of this pool? Is there a spell you could let me copy for it? Do you even use a spellbook?"

When Perry chats about the saving the world bit, Lawrance asks "What's that noise you made after dragons? What language is that? In our few encounters with those marvelous beings, I've concluded that each is unique and motivated differently. You're right -  I'm sure we could work with any of them, given the right influence or even bribes. Good dancing or singing have their own value for some of them." He adds with a grin. 

Outside, Vadim listens to Velon before eventually nodding, "I'm not sure I'd be willing to take such a risk, but you're the experts in this field. Please do take those precautions mentioned, there's enough to worry about down here."

Zz'Pzora seems rather taken with Perry's song, listening to him with a wistful smile. With most of the group proceeding to the baths, she slips out of her own dress and joins in as well. As Perry asks about the hot spring she waves a hand, eyes half shut as she soaks near the warm end, "Its partially natural, There's a fissure over there that used to spew large amounts of boiling water every once in a while. It wasn't a horrible bath before if you waited for the water to collect and cool a bit, but it was on the geyser's schedule, not mine. It took some work to get a more steady flow and moderate the temperature, but it was well worth it, I hope you all agree." She reaches out under the water and surreptitiously squeezes Perry's buttock.

She glances at Lawrence as he asks a whole bunch of questions, "Flumphs are... hard to describe. Basically glowy floating telepathic funguses... fungi with tentacles. They're often found in fair sized social groups. They'd rather flee than fight, but very little down here have an interest in eating them, too big and acidic for the herbivores, no meat for the carnivores, and no brains for the mindflayers to gobble down, so they're just ignored a lot."

"And no, I do not have a spellbook, or anything you can copy from. My magic does not work like that."

Replying to Lawrance, Perry exclaims with a grin, "You are absolutely correct, my wizardly friend! It's a general rule of mine not to trust anyone who doesn't appreciate a good performance! For example, I don't trust those drow out there; the only thing they appreciate is glowering and brooding it seems." 

When Zip grabs his butt, Perry is initially surprised by her forwardness, but that surprise quickly turns to a devilish, lustful grin. He reciprocates by placing a hand on her thigh beneath the water, and gazes into her eyes. "Thank you, the water feels wonderful my dear. I look forward to pleasing you tonight," he whispers to Zip. 

After some more conversation and flirting in the springs, Perry eventually follows Zip to wherever she wants to go.

Velon returns from updating Vadim and wanders around the main chamber of the lair, a bit unsure of exactly where everyone else went.  If he runs into Balaena he asks "oh, ah, hi, so what's your job here, anyhow?  How did you come to work with Zz'Pzora?"

Balaena scowls at Velon in response, but then sighs and states, "I was born a slave, a pampered slave, but a slave nonetheless. There are few places in this world where a spawn of Loth that hates Loth can stay both free and alive, this is the one I found. I watch her back, she watches mine, it works for us."

Zz'Pzora has Perry sing several more times as the evening progresses, and eventually manages to coerce Balaena into that promised dance. The part daemon proves to be rather adept, using her four arms to mesmerising effect as she sways and twirls.

Soon enough Gabble is done with the evening meal, and the slightly manic svirfneblin leads you all to a dining room where plates of food have been placed. The food is quite strange, and obviously made using local ingredients, but by and large tasty. The small woman doesn't actually talk much, but its clear that she loves getting to cook for new people.

As the evening winds down, your host offers accommodations. The lair has one spare bedroom with a large enough bed for two or three. Most of the group is encouraged to go ahead and bed down in the lounge with the ridiculous number of pillows. After that is settled, Zz'Pzora states, "Very well then, we shall speak more in the morning. For tonight, I'm going to see if this one is as adept with his tongue in the bedroom as he is elsewhere." With that she quite simply picks Perry up from where he'd been sitting and walks out of the room with him slung over her shoulder.

Perry is initially surprised but quickly accepts his fate. He gives everyone else in the party a thumbs up and a wink as he is hauled away.

Lawrance sleeps in among the cushions, quite content on their accommodations. The next morning, he studies his spells with the upcoming conflict in mind, curious and eager in equal measures. 

Whatever precautions are taken while staying in the lair of a rather dangerous dragon, the night passes relatively quietly. The next morning, Zz'Pzora eventually emerges, along with Perry, who is now sporting a number of slight bruises, scratch marks, and hickeys.

She is obviously in a good mood, but gets down to business regardless. "All right then, its time to make our decisions. If we are committing to this course of action, it is likely to be quite dangerous, I hope you are all truly prepared. Just in case this is some elaborate ruse, I do hope that you bear in mind that my tolerance for betrayal is quite low. I'll work with you, but cross me and I can get very... inventive. Are we understood?"

"No ruse, as long as you don't betray us as well, of course.  We just want what we came for, and if we can negotiate safe passage for our guides in this area in the future by making it worth your while, all the better."

"We sneak in together and go straight for the elder brain...thing.  Hopefully we can locate it via magic or other means."

She looks to Velon, saying dryly, "Glad to hear it. Now, speaking of those guides. Are we definitely going to have a problem with them, or only maybe going to have a problem?"

She smiles, "I feel compelled to note that our odds of success go way up if we use them as bait, and if they all get their brains slurped out they definitely won't be causing issues."

"The guides are my problem, just as you are my problem from their perspective."  Velon pauses then says slightly dismally "that is my burden."

"We'll see about the brain slurping.  Another ruse may be to send in those with very little for them to feast on..."  Velon perks up a little at his own joke.

Zz'Pzora grins at Velon, "Oh really? Sounds like  the problems of someone that takes things too seriously. Learn to live a little for yourself. In any case, I'm not hearing any reasons to abort this, so go ahead and get ready to go, I'll tell the girls to start packing."

Some time later, your hostess returns in her natural form, flanked by Balaena and Gabble, both of whom are carrying backpacks. 

Outside of the lair, there is a tense moment as the drow show up. After a few moments of Silence, Vadim shrugs and states. "All right, I guess we're doing this after all."

Velon tells both Zz'Pzora and Vadim "I'll need to know when we draw close enough to be at risk of attack by these illithids so we can protect ourselves with magic.  I don't want to expend any unnecessarily while we have other unkown dangers to deal with."

During their morning journey Velon also asks Perry "did you have a good night?" with a smirk on his face.

As the group heads back out and towards our goal Cratol will move with them towards the front but still allow the more stealthy members of the Silver Blaze to continue to lead.

The morning of their departure, Lawrance consults with the shape-shifted dragon. "With these psychic beings, what kind of risks should we be aware of, as far as their abilities go? They read minds, but how far does that reach, if this giant brain is their core? Our protections should prevent the basic attacks and mental abilities, but I wonder if the brain is far more dangerous.""

  Mari takes her spot up at the front again. She seems less than thrilled at their choice of allies.  Lia is quiet as well, concerned with the danger all around them.