Zhuti smiles wryly, a little unsure if Simaal is being obtuse on purpose, or is really this scattered and/or dense. She takes the second shield, nodding when she confirms that it is hers, complete with the eyes and stars of Selûne. It is uncommonly light and shimmers a little in the tavern's lights. Then she bemusedly collects the individual pieces of her mithral plate as he hands them over, eventually confirming the full set, and moving to the next table over where she will piece them back together into a working set she could wear. "Thank you for taking the risk to retrieve these items," she tells Simaal sincerely.

So long as the level of mischief appeared to be in good fun for both parties(as far as Xemnez could tell), the younger Leonin brother found himself relaxing far more in the atmosphere of the Portal than he had in walking the streets of Waterdeep. So much so, in fact, that when a stranger broached their table out of the blue without offer of more libations, his immediate instincts hadn't quite been to shift in his seat to make it easier to whip up Nezmos at a moment's notice. Though he still eyed them with some degree of wariness at first, once recognition finally set in, Xemnez chuffed, shook his head, and without further word to 'Simmal' turned to call over the waitstaff for a second round of drinks... even if some folk hadn't quite finished their first.

Either way, he is sure to pay for it all the same. "Marriage?" Xemnez softly questioned noone in particular, and only then seeming to really take notice of the exchange. A subsequent double take in seeing the bikini has him raising a brow at Zhuti. "Is it a custom for your people to carry such items about? Or had you plans to get married to 'Kitty Kat' or some other soul at the temple before things had gone sour?" He asked plainly while they waited for Toc (or whoever) to officially get the mind link going. "I ask because I'm genuinely curious. As I find myself reminded a bit of the Satyrs from home."

"Well in fairness with all the smoke and partly collapsed floors it's hard to say what is who's... I only had an inkling where the room was not that I was sure it was the correct room, so you see the bikini armor may not be hers to begin with. I certainly wouldn't want to besmirch our newest companion." Simaal smiles inoffensively.. "Nonetheless, no problem, I was in the neighborhood.."

At the furry one's comment Simaal seems thoughtful and almost looks like he's about to stroke a non-existent long beard "Ah well marriage is a legal custom so that an unrelated person can collect death benefits from another..... Oh but rumor has it that it also involves love and loyalty and such concepts. Think of it as a bonded pair."

Mentally "Nonetheless we should figure out whether we want to move on or hunt down the Waterdeep branch of our collective attackers. I for one would think it would be better for us, Waterdeep and the temple, to track down them down as much as we can, I figure it will take less than a day, and ultimately we're just teleporting out so it's not really wasting time per say. What say you all."

From where she has moved to assemble her armor, and to get away from Xemnez' earnest confusion, Zhuti concurs over the party line. "I would be in favor of clearing them out of Waterdeep. I'm itching for a fight, frankly, and feeling better about it with my armor back."

Thyrius was in an eternal fight with his own stomach, it would seem. Sometimes it was hunger, and sometimes regurgitation. He wondered if undeath was finally here to claim him and whether it, somewhat strangely, started with the stomach and worked its way outward...

The Yawning Portal was a wonder to behold. Quite unique from the outwordly black cat's perspective, but what wasn't in this realm? No one in here seemed taken aback by the Leonins' presence, at least not for now. That was either reassuring or quite dangerous. Thyrius remembered Zhuti saying something about a large well leading into an underground dungeon of legend and was intrigued by the sudden possibility of seeing such a wonder in person. He wondered if Simaal's proposal would lead the party down the well. Could the hideout they were to seek be down there?

While having some drinks, and re-arranging his backpack as he waits for the drinks Simaal pipes up as normal with both normal and mental conversation.

"Speaking of the ones that were with you, how are they both?"

"Regarding tracking them down, it would take a few hours I figure of wandering down some specific streets and see if I can piece together where they met and came from. If that fails we'll just go as we normally planned to. So far we have two people who want to track down, and four who have not said anything."

Xemnez look of confusion turned to a dry one as Simmal explained the concept of a marriage. But while he looked about ready to voice that point, if only for the slim hopes of entertaining argument, the notion slides away from conscious thought once the link is fully established and talk turned again to Simmal's findings.

"I am... er, they are fine." Xemnez said aloud, before carrying on through the link, 'Even with the ability to magically thrust ourselves to our next destination, I am... concern every hour spent on other task will but grant our opponent more time to solidify their position, set up ambushes, or worse yet, somehow discovery our destination and set about undermining any attempt on our part to complete this so called ritual. Nevermind the allies we are to meet part way will -- should expect some swiftness on our part, even if in the end the journey from Suzail sees us needing to travel a few days more to the meeting point.'

He then leans back in his seat, combing the base of his mane with one hand while the other set about swirling the remaining contents of a mug. '... But if we cannot compel local heroes to follow up on this lead in our stead -- preferably ones at least as strong as those fellows we meet in the north, then... it would behoove us to make Waterdeep a touch more reliable place to return to by undermining our enemies operation here. So, I am of a mind to agree, but-...' He glances over to Toc with a questioning look.  'Could we still make our meeting in Timber should we delay any further here? I am good with maps, but I feel if anyone here would be, you are more familiar with the potential dangers or obstacles we may face along the way that might complicate things.'

"A counterpoint to your first thought, brother, if I may." Thyrius interrupted. "We heard not long ago that the enemy already knows where we are going for the ritual. We all but got confirmation they will be waiting for us there. Whether we spend an extra day in this town won't change that..."

'As far as I'm aware brother, that was unclear as far as whether they knew the sites -exact- location, or merely the region we need to be in. Which while certainly vast, Toc's protection against their magic is not so mobile that they could not track our movements, make some estimation, and proceed accordingly' Xemnez replied telepathically. 'But, perhaps I'm twice mistaken, and the drinks here are stronger than expected!' He chuffs and shakes his head. '... But then again, even if that were the case, there's nothing stopping them from badgering the locals or honing in on the site of the ritual need take place well before us, so... I suppose the only timing that matters is whether or not we can meet our escorts in a timely manner. So, unless our mage friends here have a counterpoint that's not being considered, and a strong one at that, then it seems our course has us remaining in the polis, no?'

Simaal drinks some more and orders some food as well. While waiting for food he scrummages through his backpack either looking for something or reorganizing it.

"On the item of delay on our part, we're resting and teleporting then resting then teleporting to my understanding, so in that sense there is no delay unless we all die, in which case some delay will occur."

"Regarding local forces they are willing, and if they have discovered the information they may have already cleared it out. What I figured out from the interrogation I cannot describe and I can only experience to know which way I have to go,, which means walking the streets with you all following from a short distance and trying to blend in as much as you can, perhaps two groups, one with the brothers, and the other with the remaining three."

Zhuti snorts out loud. Over the link, Blend in. This group. My apologies, perhaps you *are* funny, Simaal.

"Well you do have to wonder though... if a female Tabaxi goes insane, does that make her a crazy cat lady?"

"In fairness I have heard many stories on my travels. There was this one joke teller who told so many jokes that many ended up using the last of their copper in the inn just to hear them all. Unfortunately for him but fortunately for the poor, he must have said something offensive to one of the patrons for in a blur of activity he struck his short sword through the jokester's throat and yelled "say that with a longsword in your throat". Not only was it crass, but he was wielding a short sword, so there was a bit of confusion before he darted out a window into the street."

Simaal takes a few bites before he continues...

"Unfortunately there was a royal messenger that was galloping through the streets and the short sword wielder ended up being trampled to death so no one ever found out why he was so angry. Mind you all were more curious about the galloping royal messenger but as his horse tripped on the now dead short sword wielder it collapsed sending the messenger head first through a blacksmith's workshop and impaling on a half finished pike. The townsfolk could have at least delivered the message but his body then slid off in the forge. Maybe he could have been saved but you see he also crashed through a an oil salesman's wagon bursting much of his wares before ending up in the forge. Half the town was on fire despite best efforts before with a roar and a minor windstorm a red dragon presented itself before the town. He looked a bit confused and ultimately decided to fly elsewhere much to the relief of the townsfolk."

A few more bites.... and a drink... "good food here".

"The relief was nearly complete as the last of the fires were finally close to being put out, and the townsfolk vowed to do away with oil lamps on their streets when with a roar the sea began to withdraw from their ports leaving thousands of fish flopping on the now bare sea floor. While they were about to cheer at their new found fortune especially when they noticed some giant oysters so close to their shore, despite the mostly destroyed town, a wall of water rapidly approached them from miles away. While some cheered it will put out the fire, most seasoned fishermen realized their town would be under a deluge of water soon enough. So the smarter ones ran for the nearby cliffs to the side of the town and overseeing the ocean, being the highest points within running distance. The waves crashed against the town and the fires were put out, and when the sea withdrew it removed all the bodies and almost all the town. The few horrified folk on the ridge looked in shock. Unfortunately the cliff was weakened by the giant wave, and it collapsed before they realized what happened."

Simaal pauses... "hmm... I think that got dark somewhere in the middle.... but it goes to show you, sometimes a simple sword strike can have far reaching effects."

Zhuti, from where she is assembling her armor, adds at the end, "It seems to me a cautionary tale about telling jokes. That poor sod lost his life at the start of all of that." She looks up, grabs her wine, takes a gulp and goes back to threading leather straps through metal braces.

 Mesmerized and confused, Thyrius asks a clarifying question: "But the wall of water was surely not caused by any of the events preceding it. If the moral of the story is about far reaching consequences, shouldn't all cautionary events be strictly linked. Whether or not it all started with a sword strike or an insulting joke, it sounds to me like a tsunami was headed for that town in any case on that fateful day."

Zhuti chuckles. "I have known a few gods who would cause such destruction for much less than a poor joke. Fate is more capricious than you think."

Xemnez, who had still been waiting on some input from Toc or Nuzej regarding some finer details of his concern, turned on Zhuti with a look of surprise. "You have? Here? On this plane?" He asked. "And here I thought -- or at least before this whole other business, I had half thought the deities of this realm were a bit more hands off in managing things. Unlike from where my brother and I are from, in which they are at best meddlesome nuisances with too much power and time on their hands. And at worse deceitful tyrants." Xemnez conveyed with a notable bitterness to his voice. 

Zhuti blinks as the lion man rounds on her. "Well, this plane has a rich history of meddlesome gods, too. Murders, intrigue, resurrections, abdications, new gods, feuds, the whole Spellplague. It's a good time."

"Well the wave of water was rumored to be caused by the sudden appearance of the dragon, so then the question would be why did the dragon suddenly appear to begin with. Alas although allegedly one made it out of the town, which honestly sounds more like a village, and ended up being exceedingly rich because they saw where all the giant oysters were that contained the largest of pearls. Alas much happening is forever lost to time."

"It's the nature of power, the more power one has the less they care of those that have much lesser power."

While taking a break eating and drinking "In regards to my thought around discovery of their lair. I would head down the various paths to try and find it. Toc, monk and our newest companion, fallow me from a little way back. Both Toc and monk would best look like servants to the possibly known lady of the city out for a shopping stroll. The two brothers would be hooded and following in parallel to the lady. At most it would look like they're following the lady. Should we run out of time for mental communication, we'll convene in the nearest market without making obvious we're together. If we lose communication, try to gather up a bit, we're probably under attack. Odds are I will lose communications first simply because I may pass somewhere that has some kind of interference. I will try to backup to let you know. At that time, there may be no choice but to come forth. I would recommend the two brothers work on the perimeter first, ensuring we're not being encircled, then come in after the other three following me. Just some thoughts as we sit and drink for what feels like days."

(If Nuzej had a chance to learn seeming and prepare it, he'd have done so, and it'd affect what he says about next steps...)

Zhuti looks up from where she has completed re-assembling her plate armor, which is a lovely piece of work, although tragically dented here and there from use. "I could use a stroll," she says over the link, "but I will be a moment putting this on. Are we doing this?"