Whore of the Dragon Queen [Ocfos]

[devilbird]

In the first act of aggression you've seen Sia show you since Greenest, the little kobold only replies with a middle finger. Even so, you doubt that she'll hold a grudge considering the circumstances, as well as her obsession with you. Linan on the other hand, does want to know what the plan is next.

[Ocfos]

"Not really sure, since I came in here to help you out. I haven't seen your family anywhere, but I'm not sure if they would be deeper in, or were taking with the caravan." Liri responds, seeming lost in thought for a little.
"Do you know what's in deeper, Sia?" She turns to ask Sia.

[devilbird]

Sia tries to sit and face you, only to realize that was poor plan. Instead, she just shifts so she can meet your eyes. Sia then responds, "Sia not sure. Last time Sia was here was when we first took the cave. Sia knows some of the traps, but not what cave was used for. Sia's been part of raiding party ever since."

With that comment, Linan actually stops playing with herself and looks confused. "Huh? Raiding party?" she asks.

[Ocfos]

"I'd assume they were a raiding party,
considering how their march on the city went over."
Liri mumbles to herself a little, "Definitely picked myself an interesting time to stop by, that's for sure... Never seen anything like this before."

[devilbird]

Linan's eyes flash with anger as she immediately grabs Sia by the neck and shakes violently. "You told me that you were a friend! Was it all just a trap when you started sneaking people out of Greenest? Did you get anyone captured you liar?! Where's my family?!"

Sia only responds in a series of gurgles and gasps. Since Linan was drunk when she met Sia, she didn't remember that she was part of the cult. Now that she knows, she's screaming in her face while trying to kill her. Her voice is carrying pretty far in the cave.

[Ocfos]

Liri can't really do too much against Linan who is twice her size, but she's hoping Linan will realise she can't interrogate someone who's dead.
"She has changed, she's saved me several times, even at the cost of herself. She helped me find you in here, and helped save you. Stop it, you're making a lot of noise."
Liri already has a bad feeling about this, and is half-tempted to find a place to hide.

[devilbird]

Linan begrudgingly agrees to not kill the kobold. Sia happily agrees to not dying. She coughs and sputters as she tries to get back into the habit of breathing.

"So where are my family," Linan asks when Sia is finally able to breath again.

Sia looks up in fear, "Sia not know. Sia not even know what family looks like." This is probably true, as you and Linan met Sia after sending her family to the outskirts of town. However, this is not news that Linan wanted to hear. She raises a fist to try and clobber a better answer out of the kobold, forcing Sia to think quickly. "Oh, but maybe one of the other prisoners saw them?" she offers while blocking her face.

[Ocfos]

"We still need to actually find any, which might be problematic... I haven't found anyone else in here so far." She pauses, sighing lightly to herself.

"Do you know if there's any places in here they keep prisoners, or did they drive them off with that weird wagon train?"

[devilbird]

Sia explains in pretty broken common that she isn't sure. In truth, you've only explored a small portion of the cave if she remembers correctly. Since she hasn't even been to the camp since she was first forced to clear the cave, she doesn't know what the cult ended up doing with it. The cave is vast enough that favored slaves may have been kept here, rather than the camp, but she doesn't know. If all the slaves did get shipped out, then the next step would be to find out where from a higher up. You recall that there was a half-dragon that should still be here somewhere in the cave. Sia's scales pale at the thought of facing a half-dragon though. She may have openly renounced Tiamet to you, but she has still spent her entire life viewing dragons as gods (something that hasn't really changed as she worships Bahamut.) This will be her first active act of blasphemy in her eyes.

Linan, on the other hand, if completely ready to kick some ass if it means getting a lead on her family.

[Ocfos]

"Alright, so hunting a half-dragon... A trap and an ambush would work well, but what would dragons find irresistible?" Liri ponders out loud, never really having dealt with anything draconic in the past.

[devilbird]

Linan muses on that thought and says, "Well, I don't know much about dragons, but I do know they tend to be greedy. Tales of them hoarding go-"

"Sex," Sia interrupts flatly, "Everything in the cult or interacting with it wants sex. For most it's a need, not a desire."

She fidgets as she says this, unhappy that she's participating in a trap. But she isn't wrong. All three of you have felt the effects of the weird dragon's breath that's been everywhere. Not only that, but the slaves from earlier seemed to have lost their minds when you woke up from being captured. You have never heard of a dragon that has ever had this effect on people before.

[Ocfos]

"What kind of dragon is able to do all this,
either way? I've never read of sex-causing dragons whose breath made people into mindless orgy attenders... I mean, aside from the people fucking dragons to get knocked up by dragons...but, that's not really the same...i think...my books didn't cover the subjects of intercourse with monsters..." She coughs awkwardly, not really lying about her reading material. Much.

She doesn't waste any time getting back on the topic at hand, once she realises she's trailed off.
"Oh, right. Bait. Who'd be the most tempting for baiting a horny sex dragon with? Do you know what they'd even prefer?" She asks, not even considering for a second that her magic has to have come from somewhere down her family bloodline's past.

[devilbird]

"Half-dragon," Sia points out absent mindedly.

Linan considers what she knows about the cult, "Well, I doubt preference really plays into it. Seems like anything will fuck anything in this gas."

Sia nods, in agreement.

"Since anyone will work as bait, we should make the lizard do it," Linan concludes.

"What?!" Sia shrieks aghast.

Linan get's in the kobold's face and angrily snarls, "Serves you right to get fucked, you little wretch! Death and dignity are too good for you."

[Ocfos]

Liri steps between the two, trying to split them. "ENOUGH!" She blurts in annoyance, regardless of her ability to get between them.
"I'll play the bait, if it means you stop being at her throat all the time. We're trying to save people, not make more enemies. She's helped me so far, and actually saved me several times - I'm taking the place as bait whether you like it or not, Linan. I want to save your family, and the rest of the citizens, but I'm not going to let your anger compromise the chances of success, or it'll just mean we'll all either die, becomes slaves like the others, or something equally horrible."

She crosses her arms.
"You want to save your family with us? Then help us bait that bastard into an ambush." She looks at her angrily, glaring between Linan and Sia, but mostly homing on Linan's angry expression.

[devilbird]

The warrior meets your gaze for a moment before averting her eyes. Unable to argue with you, she sits with her back to you and pouts. Your rogue is relieved that she isn't the bait for the mad plan, but is concerned about you volunteering. She tries to talk you out of if, but is unable to come up with other solutions. Linan, on the other hand, does point some things out for you.

An ambush really only works if you know where someone is going to be, and then be there first. None of you know where this half-dragon is or what they are doing, so you will have to hunt them down before you can do something. That alone is dangerous since there are traps in here. Sia adds that she can help with that. She might not know what the traps are, or where they are, but she can recognize kobold handy work. She shouldn't have too much trouble helping you bypass them.

[Ocfos]

"If Sia goes first, she might have an easier time pretending to be one of them, and keep a better eye out for traps. When we do know where things are, we can plan the ambush further. That an idea you can get behind?"

[devilbird]

They both agree to the plan. In the mean time, the three of you should probably climb out of the garbage pit, assuming you are as rested as you plan to be. Linan dawns her armor whenever you are ready, and Sia gingerly does the same.

[Ocfos]

Liri readies her own gear, making sure her necklace with her family emblem is still with her.

Once she's ready, she nods at them, signaling readiness.

[devilbird]

With everything gathered up, the three of you attempt to clime out of the trash pit. Unfortunately, this proves more difficult than you would think. You lack the strength to be able to do it on your own. Every attempt causes you to slide back down to the bottom. Likewise, Sia has difficulty spreading her legs far enough to reach any good foot holes. She just wimpers in pain and get's stuck part way up. Finally Linan sighs and gives you a boost up. Once you are up safely, she grabs Sia by her armor to pry her from the rock. With a spin for momentum, she then tosses the kobold up top. Sia comes screaming like a banshee over the edge and bounces off the ground beside you. Linan then joins you without much effort.

The three of you now stand in the stirge's lair once more. The exit to the cave lays west of you, with unexplored routes to the north west and south east.

[Ocfos]

"What way, then? This one?" Liri suggests, gesturing northwest. She readjusts her outfit as she waits for a response, helping Sia onto her feet as well.