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Veiris watched Kira and Serith for a moment. He swore Kira's mood changed on a dime. He wasn't sure why he was concerned about either Claudette or Serith. When he first met them, he'd shown concern simply to save his own skin from a dangerous looking blade. He thought briefly that maybe something about them reminded him of his sister. Claudette definitely had the same warrior spirit.

He pulled his attention back to the warrior in question. She was asking about his life again- about Clerics. He would have to start asking more questions of his own- turn this into a proper give-and-take, but for now he answered what he could.

"No Clerics like her," he answered. He wasn't sure how much information she wanted. "Clerics will attack any Shifter. Its their sworn duty. But at least I know why they wanna attack."

Claudette nodded at the small explanation Veiris gave her. It seemed like the Clerics didn't understand Shifters, and that was why they attacked. But that was a rather large assumption, so Claudette merely commented, "I see. I'm glad you haven't encountered people like Kira. She can be a handful sometimes." She laughed. A handful was a kinder way to put it.

"You'll love it! It's the best way to defend yourself, and from what I hear, you've got a little problem with that. But it's more than that. You can make beautiful things with it."

Kira raised her hand, her tattoos glimmering, and pale, blue flowers with bright orange centers began sprouting along the walls on large, winding vines. She picked a flower, and she handed it to Sherith.

"You seem like the type to enjoy flowers," she said.

"Half as short, twice as vicious." Surprisingly, it was Baldur who responded, his lip curling as he spoke, spitting on the floor to punctuate his statement. "Bastards the lot of them."

Svana shrugged. "Sure, what he said. "Besides, when did height have anything to do with it? Dwarves have been waging war on their neighbors for centuries, advantages be damned, not that orcs are much taller. Urt excluded."

"There's more than enough for an army, in that regard. Whole bloody nation of them with plenty of land to spare. Not that I got into this because of the land," the male elf added pointedly, with a glance toward Svana. "I'm just here for the culture and stimulating company."

Again, she touched her cheek. "They make up their reach with very large axes. And hammers. And swords. And sometimes they just bull past all of it and knock you off your feet."

"Not a bad cavalry, either. When they're up on horseback, we may as well be two feet tall," Baldur added.

Claudette felt a little guilty when he asked that. She really shouldn't have been so impulsive. She pushed her feelings aside. The past couldn't be changed.

"Not all the Immortals have tattoos," she said slowly. "Some of them have items they wear to help channel the magic from their bodies into something useful. Items can be stolen, though, and they can't use their magic if that happens. Tattoos can't really be stolen, so that's been kind of their new idea to keep the rest of us from disarming them."

Claudette rested her hand on the table, drumming her fingers slowly on the smooth surface. She sighed. This wasn't easy.

"I... I'm sorry for attacking you. Outside of the tattoos, you don't have much in common with them. Immortals look weird because the magic that's bonded to their DNA, and you don't look weird at all," her voice dropped to barely above a murmur, "even when you shift."

She hoped he didn't notice the pink in her cheeks.

Kira watched Sherith smell the flower, and said, "Magic isn't scary. It makes gardening easier for sure."

She raised her hand and a strawberry bush sprouted from the floor, shrouded in green light that faded when the strawberries finished ripening. She smiled at Sherith. If she could get her to like magic, she would have a fun plan.

"Try one."

Claudette rubbed the scar on her face, trying to make her blush go away so she could look him in the eye. She was relieved he wasn't upset about her rash actions towards him, though she was happy she didn't actually act on her impulses.

"Great minds think alike," she said quietly, when he waved off her apology. She wanted to say she was happy they weren't enemies, but she closed her mouth. That might be a little awkward, she figured.

"That sounds amazing," she said. "Have you seen that group a lot?"

She pondered a moment over whether or not her people had ever created a thing of beauty. She mentally scoured over her hometown. She knew she couldn't top that, but she wanted to show him she wasn't all about fighting Immortals. How could she forget?

"It isn't magic," she said softly, feeling a little stupid, "but back home we have a wish garden. We grow a lot of flowers on top of the big hill behind center square, and people go there when they feel sad or are in need. I don't think it actually works, but it's a serene feeling. At night, the entire place lights up with fireflies. It might not be real magic, but it's magic to us."

She focused on his tattoos to avoid looking him in the eye. She hoped he didn't think she was trying to one-up him. They were an interesting pattern, and she wondered if they hurt to get.

Same term, different people? It made sense. Svana shrugged toward Sherith. "Sure, probably. Sounds like I'd rather be battling your dwarves. Not too many of them and easy to cut down? Burn it all, I'd take that any day. Take a month to wipe them out, set up on their territory, then start rebuilding."

Baldur grunted an affirmative.

Svana shrugged. "Either way, they sound easier to kill. That's all I look for in a good enemy."

Baldur nodded in agreement. "If we were even just attacking humans, we probably would already be done by now. Don't get me wrong, I like humans a lot better than I like dwarves, but there was no way they would have won that last war if they didn't ally with the orcs. And if they didn't breed like rabbits. They had a lot of boys to fling into battle. All said, humans are generally easier to slaughter. If the politics and geography were different, I would have advised you to go after their land instead."

Baldur was kind of their "expert" when it came to tactics and warfare. He was the only one who had been active in it in recent years and had a solid handle on all of the different races and their military strengths and weaknesses. It was the only reason Svana agreed to keep him around.