--- Lily ---
Lily couldn’t help but shiver as g acted like an upbeat, social, and relatively normal, if friendly person. She was going around and saying hello to everyone in the various camps, finding out what they did, why they were here, and if they had any cool stuff. Gently of course, because why would she use force when she can be nice?
It ant g didn’t get information all of the ti. A couple of people were even quite rude in telling her to bugger off but for the most part g got all the info she wanted and left a favourable impression. It was… sort of horrifying. g had never really bothered playing the part all that well. Even with the dragonkin she didn’t exactly hide how malicious she was sotis…
g simply was. She existed as she felt like. Being kind or callous as the mood suited her. She made it easy to forget just what she was sotis… but never went too far in trying to hide that fact. Part of her normal act must have co from the enjoynt of seeing people realise just what she was… over and over again.
Here though? g was taking it a step forward. She seed more helpful then Kat and more friendly then Sue… with less sexual undertones of course. Even still it was thoroughly disconcerting to watch. Lily was surprised at just how well g took so of the nastier dismissals, with barely a twitch on her face. She simply smiled and wished them a good day. Lily had no idea how g even got the words out.
Kamiko seed to be in mostly the sa boat. She was almost as uncomfortable as Lily… but her better understanding of demons and what they could be like helped prevent her from being too offput. She knew that many demons had a business face, or multiple faces if they felt the need. This was just taken to a bit of an extre.
Julyn though? Her reaction was a bit of a surprise. g hadn’t tried to hide anything in the original eting and as such Julyn should easily be able to tell it was a façade… and if Lily had to put money on it, Julyn had worked that out. She also seed to be thoroughly and darkly amused by g making the rounds. Lily wasn’t sure what the joke was, and part of her hoped she never would. Though she had expected better of the rchant girl… apparently she had a sadistic streak. Whatever she saw in g’s actions, she clearly approved.
Right now the group was moving towards the argunt that still hadn’t finished since they’d walked through the camps. It had cald down a bit when they’d entered but quickly picked back up again as the people involved argued over approach g and Kamiko with questions now or later, as well as the old question of what was best for them to do moving forward.
From what Lily could tell there were essentially three main factions with so other people filtering in and out. The first wanted to bunker down and just wait for the snow to lt. That person was called Stocktn and they sold food or so the various insults claid. Lily wasn’t sure if food was ALL Stocktn sold but they clearly had the most. So waiting things out and selling off stuff was probably good for them as long as things didn’t get too dire. Though from the sounds of things Stocktn did have good guards.
The next group was advocating they try to build so boats and sail across the river. It would likely an leaving behind a lot of the wagons, or using them as materials to build the boats, but they said it was ’worth the sacrifice’. They were nad t, and of course… they didn’t actually own a proper caravan. They were an adventurer group that had been hunting in the mountains as part of a job and just happened to choose this side of the river as their hunting grounds.
It was all well and good for them to try and advocate for leaving across the river when they didn’t stand to lose much. From the insults the others were throwing at t, they were more ’exterminators/pest control’ and were paid to keep the roads clear by a large settlent deeper in the mountains. They just needed minor trophies from the monsters to prove at least so of the kills. Sothing that could easily be carried across the river.
Sure heading away from the mountains wasn’t ideal, but they could easily pick up more work in other towns, and Lily assud they could send a letter or sothing to confirm the job completed and get paid for it still. Nobody was bringing it up so that was more of a guess.
The other big problem, and one mostly brought up by the third faction which was another lot of rchants and run by an older woman called L’arc was that the river simply ran too quickly for boats to be of any use.
Instead, she advocated for picking up so shovels and starting to dig away at the snow blocking the path. Perhaps not clearing away all of it, but making so headway before it all lts would put them closer to the various towns and the one city up in the mountain. It could by them a few more days’ worth of food, by virtue of the fact there would be less distance to travel.
Of course, the other insulted her for just how much work that would be and how little distance would be saved even in the best case scenario. The fact that she was a water mage and could manipulate the ice sowhat didn’t seem to be helping her case at all.
This was all rather easy for Lily to pick up on. Her ears were quite good and it was… hard to simply listen to g sweet talking people. It was easier to just ignore g for the ti being and focus on the yelling. Much less quietly horrifying.
So other people would chi into the argunt sure, but they never stayed long or at least, never said all that much. Lily was honestly a touch surprised by how strongly everyone seed to feel about their positions. Lily thought they were just arguing to blow off steam… but they seed pretty invested in it all as the group finally arrived.
The three were around a campfire. Stocktn was leaning against a stack of boxes that appeared to be blocking the wind, t was lounging in an ice chair that had been covered by a tarp to stop his ass from getting wet and L’arc paced around a bit like a caged animal. Clearly restless in a way the other two simply weren’t. Even with t arguing, passionately, that they should cross the river he didn’t seem nearly as… tightly wound up about things as L’arc. Lily wondered if there was sothing more going on with her.
Your journey continues with empire
"… tell hell with your bloody boat idea. Even if we scrapped the carts where are we ant to get the wood! There ain’t no trees around here boy!" hissed L’arc.
"If we prep the mushrooms properly, the large ones of course, they’ll serve us plenty well. It’s not the easiest technique but it can be done. Might take a day or two… but it’s quite possible that we-" t explained only…
To be cut of by Stocktn, "Can do nothing boy. You might be able to turn those mushrooms into kindling, or food but you cannot turn them into a proper boat without so varnish or sothing. Even dried out and nearly ash, put those bloody things in a bit of water and they can spring back up. They’d never make it across the river,"
"Well at least L’arc and I are suggesting sothing! You just want to sit on your ass and freeze to death," shot back t, the only one that was actually sitting down. Sothing Stocktn did notice if his chuckling was anything to go by.
"I might not hear my bones creek like the old man, but I suspect he ain’t wrong. Take so wisdom from those older then you… boy. The mushrooms aren’t for boat making unless soone knows so mighty fine enchantnts and if they did? They’d not be in the middle of the fucking mountains, they’d be laughin it up back at the capital!"
"You aren’t even that much older then granny!" hissed t.
"Am I as young and inexperienced as you? Or am I a granny? Make up your mind, welp," retorted L’arc.
The argunt was clearly getting nowhere and they didn’t seem to be stopping as they approached… but Lily did notice that Stocktn had definitely spotted them. He’d shifted his posture slightly right after turning his head in their direction, just a tad.
And of course, into that ss of an argunt walked g. Lily didn’t know what would be more worrying. If g started to openly ss with them… or if she kept up the ’kind and helpful demon’ act that she’d been using so far.
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