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In the deep labyrinthine caverns below Busthind, the last thing you expected to find was a welcome mat. But there it is, sitting in front of you on the ground, clean and well-maintained. And in front of it is a quite fancy looking door, with a delicate and well-made sign hanging from the wall beside it.



Stepping inside the door, you find yourself in a long chamber, stretching ahead of you not into darkness, but a pale flickering light. The walls are lined with bottles of all shapes and sizes, and the floor is cluttered with all sorts of trash and treasure, piled together into heaps and tumbled stacks. Despite being tight and cramped however, the room does its best to not become claustrophobic by it's towering walls, with a ceiling that stretches up out of sight into the quiet darkness. There is more dust in here than was outside, with some parts of the heaps looking as though they have sat there undisturbed for millennia, but the pathway down the middle is clean and well-trodden.

"Vell? Come in, come in! Do not take all night to stand in the doorvay, shuffling about like an imbecile!" The voice is snappy, imperious, and demanding, but not aggressive, and comes from the far end of the room, accompanied by the sound of objects clattering and a chair being scraped along the floor. After a few seconds, the voice floats back, sounding a little less impatient and more welcoming this time. "Enter into my domain young troll, you are velcome here. I promise, I vill not bite."

It had taken the group a while to decipher the letter-- it was quite complicated and awfully specific... but in the end, they managed to solve most of the riddles correctly and delve through the depths of the cavern. Vremea was still broken up about her hair, head feeling extremely light from the lack of weight it normally held-- but she managed to ignore the sad feeling that overcame her by instead focusing on the way to get there. The whole situation was a bit strange to her... it felt so unreal: A jadeblood, personally seeking them out by name, and living in such a secluded place like... this? Giving the cavern a once-over, Vremea actually decided she should've expected this, considering the troll was a jadeblood, doomed to a life of seclusion for their lusus.

Her mind wandered to the one they met sweeps ago, before his death. He had been in hiding too... Vremea rubbed her broach a little, feeling a little uncomfortable without the yellow stone she used to rub when she was stressed. Having taken the initiative with the group, Vremea looked over them constantly, keeping Keionx in the middle of them so as to keep her safe-- she was just a child after all. Throwing a wary glance around them, the yellowblood adjusted her dress and looked to the floor-- only to see a... welcoming mat? She looked to the others and gestured at the floor, then read the sign, carefully wiping her feet and entering the... store?

Making sure her companions entered after she did, Vremea closed the door behind them, hearing a snappy voice echo throughout the room and a few shuffling sounds afterwards. She almost felt offended before she heard the words that came after, the softer words sounding a lot friendlier. Approaching the front of the room while also observing the area around them, Vremea spent a few extra seconds observing the area before finally arriving at the front-- seeing the troll sitting there. Opening her mouth to speak, Vremea was suddenly struck by the fact that she had too many questions to ask at once. First of all, she had to confirm.

"Hello there." With a small stutter, she stared at the troll with a calculated stare. "Would you... would you happen to be, um... " With a shuffle of her hand, Vremea pulled out the letter, reading the signature at the end. "...Vrykol Aakaas?"

Odette would stand by her friends, 100 percent. Even if she wasn't the smartest troll, she'd do her best to support her allies. Luckily enough, the others didn't seem to have much difficulty with the puzzles, anyways. The only one she could figure out was the welcome mat, and well, they probably would have noticed it regardless of the clue.

Walking into the shop (after wiping her feet, of course), Odette followed closely behind Vremea. She tapped Vremea's arm softly, assuring the yellow blood that she was behind her. Something about this shop didn't sit well in the pit of her bile sack. Being as discreet as possible, and careful not to touch anything, she scanned the area for possible traps. Who knew what kind of things could be hidden in this crowded shop?

Odette let Vremea do all the talking. She was always the better speaker. Yes, Odette had questions, but she would wait for the right time to ask them. "What do you want from us?" seemed like a particularly rude question to ask without even knowing the other troll's name.

Athene was glad she'd had help to decipher the letter, because if she had gone alone she most certainly would have been lost. It was complicated but at least the instructions were specific so they wouldn't get lost on the journey. The last time she'd been on a journey to see a jadeblood, they hadn't gotten something like instructions. It'd been a vague trek out into the desert, not to mention a week of scouting duty and other things before they'd even left, and it hadn't been an experience she wanted to remember. It had toughened her up though, at least, and this journey was less of a grueling ordeal than it would have been if she hadn't gone through something similar before. She pondered as they walked and eventually, came to the shop, thinking of whatever came to mind.

The first, was the tealblood that had joined the group. Milieu was her name and Athene wasn't sure what to make of her. She was mute apparently and while Athene didn't think she was faking it, it would be too much of a disadvantage to fake, she was still somewhat suspicious of the girl. Her replies had been curt to her, which was normal for when Athene was meeting someone new, but she did at least like her style. It was elegant and her updo was amazing, although Athene wouldn't quite admit it yet. Her owl lusus was also something that reminded her of home, Fluffdad still somewhat on her mind, and if she wasn't so wary she might have bonded with the troll over that. Odette and Vremea seemed to like and know her, so for the most part Athene couldn't actually justify her distrust of the troll. She still kept her distance though, edging around her, and her replies were bare of emotion. If she justified herself once, then Athene would give her a chance. For now though, she was still suspicious.

The second was the little orangeblood, who was firmly in the middle, the teen girls somewhat protective over her. Athene liked her, as much as she could without being trusting, fond of kid trolls. She had come along after Athene had copied the message to her and she knew Vremea at least, which made her less suspicious in Athene's eyes. Only about as much as Milieu's relationships with the other two teens though, which wasn't much, and Athene was still a little wary.

Arrival at the shop, however, set Athene's thoughts into a whirl. The shop was filthy for one thing and Athene inwardly cringed, thinking of her own at home. The dust was in piles everywhere and if they did much selling, she certainly hoped it wasn't from those shelves. She was definitely going to clean up her shop when she got home, this was appalling. The jadeblood at the end was also setting Athene on high alert. The last jadeblood had been aggressive, unwilling to help, and if this was the same well... it was going to get ugly and fast. Their words did nothing to help her thoughts, a frown now firmly in place as they approached. The troll was... glowing and she thought back to all the romance novels she had read. A rainbow drinker? That made the words they said a little more laughable, but of course they'd draw young trolls here only to kill them! She almost replied sarcastically but Vremea spoke first and Athene kept her mouth shut, deciding to let her take the lead. Maybe, just maybe, they weren't a threat although Athene was still tensed and ready to protect her friends if needed.

But of course they didn't kill customers! They were a shopkeeper! They would do business and further their quest for... whatever they were questing for. Either way, this was right up Keionx's alley.

Deciding to be brave despite the jadeblood's definite glowing quality, Keionx strode forward. ”Then let us discuss, good keeper of the shop!” she said, proudly, ”I am Keionx Rutace, knight in training!” she bowed theatrically. ”What dost thou sell here, if I may asketh thee?”

Well, that was confusing. Athene squinted suspiciously at the shopkeeper, but honestly couldn't find anything that warranted all this besides the fact they were an old troll. Even then, she seemed to read Athene's mind about the past and her drinking blood... thing. She was definitely a rainbow drinker, if there had been any doubt in Athene's mind before, but at this point it was more amazement than anything at this revelation. They did actually exist outside of the novels. If Athene hadn't been so naturally wary, she might have gaped. What she did do however, despite her general natural judgement, was step forward and join the younger troll.

"I assume you haven't brought us here just to sell us things, although I'm sure they're nice." Athene started, her face carefully masked in calm. "What do you mean to talk about with us? You seem very different from the other."

The first response set the troll on edge. It was so abrupt and laced with frustration. If this was a trap, the the jadeblood must be angry that they were ate or perhaps unwilling to simply swallow down their suspicion and approach. This Jadeblood... Was definitely a rainbow drinker. Her bright white skin, accent, and those sharp fangs. There was little doubt about it. Keinox approached first, which was surprising, but also amusing. She silently chuckled along with the jadeblood before deciding to get down to business.

Being a go-between was her trade, wasn't it?

Sliding the backpack off her shoulders, Milieu retrieved her whiteboard and marker and approached the desk. She wrote down in her simple, small, flourished script for a few moments before showing the board to both the Jadeblood and her team.

| We would be delighted to see your wares and speak with you. I'm sure you did not lead us here to be purely customers, Lady Aakaas. I am Milieu Aojiro. Please forgive me for not speaking aloud, I am incapable. |

Rolling her eyes, the troll extended a hand and waved it in the air, as if trying to clear the hostility from the room. "It is clear you are not qvite used to dealing vith adults not comink at you vith edged veapons, or in military uniforrms. I vill take your suspicious, hostile attitudes as nothing but the physical manifestation of your parental issues and unresolved youthful hormones. After all, you ver the ones that came all the vay out here, yes? So clearly you vant to be here, I am no more forcing you to be here as I am forcing you to be polite. I vould like to vait a little though, perhaps more are coming. I am certain I sent out more than five letters. In the mean time, vould you like some cookies? A drink perhaps? Or maybe you can just stand there and glare at me vith those sour expressions on your faces. It is no skin off my back either vay." Looking around at the unimpressed teens, she gave them a sly wink and reached under the counter, pulling a box up onto it and sliding the lid back to display a wide array of pretty charms, a vertiable rainbow of makeup and beauty supplies, and other shiny baubles. "Or ve could do a few quick business transactions. Vould you look at the qvality of this necklace! Pure art!"

Your journey has come to an end at the welcome mat! You can hear voices inside...