Welcome to Gaia! ::

Looking over a the Dwarf Kale blushed a bit out of embarrassment. Then putting his rosary away and slugging his shoulders a bit Kale mumbled "I've been scared of spiders since I was small... the eight legged things just...'' Sending shivers down his spine Kale continued to talk, ''They give me the creeps!'' Kale said recalling a memory of waking up once after a previous day of training to find a spider laying its eggs in his lower nose. Then smacking his nose repeatedly Kale shivered with fear of it happening again.

Raelise shifted her weight slightly, but otherwise betrayed no outward sign of her growing impatience. Before this, she wouldn't have believed that a hired sword would show up for a job unprepared, but some of them obviously did. Watching her so-called companions as they looked over the merchandise, she came to a decision; if they weren't ready to leave within a few minutes, she would leave without them. They were certainly welcome to catch up, if they could, but she wasn't going to wait around for them to finish shopping.

Finally, both of them were moving toward the door. Raelise walked over to join them, her mind still picking away at the implications of the missing dwarves. 12 missing dwarves. Miners. It was nothing if not ominous.

Her thoughts were interrupted briefly by Havicson's laughter, and her eyes automatically shot up to study his face. He was looking at their little group; apparently something about it amused him. As unaccustomed as she was to being the cause of laughter, she didn't take offense or puzzle over it for more than a second or two; it wasn't as though she cared what he thought. Likely as not, he was just found the juxtaposition of the colorful bard and the two hardened mercenaries entertaining.

Assuming her companions would follow, she opened the door and walked out into the snow.

Zywynran had stopped his singing some time ago, though he did intermittently hum to himself. Any sound to drive away the gloom. He was a bit surprised by the elven woman's question, but hesitated not a moment in his response. "I can use all of them, my dear. The one you actually see mostly serves the purpose of preventing the necessity. I am a traveling entertainer with instruments and clothing worth more than I am; it would be most injudicious of me to have no means with which to protect them." Zywynran smiled then, a twinkle in his eye as he turned to face the woman. "But I imagine a simple yes would have sufficed for an efficient warrior of few words and fewer frivolities."

"I have several throwing knives and two more I use in melee. I will not exaggerate my skill; I am no seasoned fighter. I am a bard, first and foremost. But my fighting skill is adequate." His joking expression turned serious for a moment, his smile flattening to an uninspired line. Even his voice, when he spoke again, sounded somewhat dull and leeched of its life. "If you believe nothing else, then believe that I would not be here if I were incapable of defending myself. Much like you, I find myself unused to relying upon strangers for my safety. Most strangers do not have this one's best interests at heart."

And then Zywynran smiled again and made a gesture that most would see as flippant. However his sleeve moved in such a way that, should anyone care to view them, the scars upon his wrist from shackles he'd worn years ago were clearly visible. His wrist was far too slender for an adult human shackle... and to learn such things were even made for children depressed him more than their tight, chafing fit. "How I do go on... Quick, best ask me your next question before I start upon another rambling monologue."