
Krusten in her usual crude way continues...
"Of course you're allowed in here, we should even take over the place and run things, I bet we would make a better management of things."
She then moves up a bit to whisper,
"And no staring fat guys allowed."
Krusten laughs very uncharacteristic of a woman and then wonders if the drink is getting the better of her head.
"Come join us at our table, we need to make a plan of how to be rich and rule the world."
Krusten then goes back to her table and sits to finish her meal while beckoning the ladies to join her.
Mina smiles at the invitation from the stranger, then starts to pat herself down. Then seeing how dry she's gotten, she nods her consent to join the table for further discussions. She leaves the quarterstaff and the cloak as she rises but takes her pack and the mug of cider with her.
As she sits at the table with the other women she feels anxious to ask the questions that have come to her from her observations. She looks to the woman who first came up to her and asks," Why did you denounce that man and his attempt to court with you? Did he do it wrong in some way? Mina then looks to the other woman, and points to her blood stained clothing, "Are you okay? What befell you?
Anntreen glances down at the cuff of her robes sleeves, she really had not payed any mind to the blood till now.
"Oh, we where traveling with others this morning and attacked by large group of wild god on are way to the town, they where after" she stops her self.
"Most of us made it back." She looks worried again likely thinking of the boys out in the woods or the dead they lost a long the way.
She takes a calming breath "I healed the worst and patched up the rest, but I suppose the blood could also be from the dogs in the battle I had to dispatch one before it got to the kids." She almost looks sad she had to take a life.
Disappointed in his most recent score, Berin sat at the table, thoughts rapid in his sandy blond head. "Wasn't even worth the risk", he thought glumly. "And the mark'll find out in a minute that his purse is lighter than he thought. Time to get outta here!"
His attention was still focused on the women however." Beautiful and tough, not worried about th' likes of me." Not knowing where he was going still, he stood from his seat, forgetting the drunken ruse for a moment. He took a moment to shoulder his pack, which had been on the floor next to his table, and overheard the womens' conversation. His face fell further at the talk of the risks of the road not far from here.
Nerves were a blacksmith squeezing his chest and robbing him of all but small breaths and his belly twisted itself into knots almost physically painful as the idea formed. His legs shook and his mind lost the ability to form rational thought. "All they can do is laugh," Berin thought, "An' ye've been laughed at before." Still, his brave inner voice did not ease his beating heart.
Settling his face into a determined and friendly grin, Berin checked his look quickly and found himself wanting a comb and a wash, despite the fact that bath day was not for 4 more days. Swallowing forcefully, he took a deep as deep a breath as his nerves would allow and walked to the table where the ladies were seated.
"Umm.... 'Scuse me madams. I mean ma'amses. I means... Um... Shoot. My... Umm... My name's Dimples. I mean my name's umm... Berin. I wa'ant tryin' ta listen, but umm... I heard you all talkin'. Is it really that dangg... Danjer... Bad out there? I mean I gotta umm... Go find my fortune today an' umm... I really don't fancy gettin' et by whatever is out there. Maybe one of y'all needs a umm.... Squire or errand boy or somethin'....I gots lotsa skills - I can juggle, an' I knows some about th' area so's I could help [Yes]. I could carry stuff an' I used ta comb my poor Mama's hair before she died of th' Wastin' Disease. I don't eat much...."
He dialled up the cute waifish grin that often got him fed down by the "Ladies" at the Inn of the Drunken Monkey at the harbor as he let the words fade off. Don Rickles always said, "Let the Mark use their OWN imaginations to fill in the rest. Just set th' bait."
Answering Mina Krusten sits back with a grin.
"You answered your own question... Because he was a man, they are to be used as necessary and gotten rid of the same. Besides his eyes were burning my armor."
Krusten's logic is yet to be explained when she is interrupted by none other than another man. Krusten keeps eating knowing that her more friendly associates will welcome the scruffy looking fellow with whom she already has no trust.
Anntreen is shocked by the state of the pore man. Quickly grabbing a chair so he might sit before he falls down.
"Dangerous yes, but these times always are. We are not in one of the larger city's and there are not guards patrolling the roads out here." She says in a confidant tone.
In helping him to the set she is lightly surprised not to smell any booze on him or his breath but she keeps this to her self helping the man none the less.
Mina chooses to ignore the gentleman from the other table because the angry mean woman is most intriguing to her. She looks intently at the woman, more specifically, to her armor. " I do not see any burning. I didn't even notice anything during the interaction. Where are you burned? How did he do such a thing without anyone being able to see it?" Mina scoots closer to the woman and looks again. She then asks abruptly, "Do you not like men? Admittedly, I've only known two in my life really...well one Human, one Gnoll, oh, and Den here. Den doesn't really count, and I guess neither does Darrmok, but Old Bob was a really great man. He did raise me, and taught me much. Yes, he is a good man. Do you hate all men? Even Old Bob?
Krusten cannot believe the naivety of Mina's first two questions so instead of explaining she simply says,
"Oh its gone now and he is gone too so don't worry about it."
To her third she says,
"They have their usefulness I suppose, but right now they can be a keep back."
Changing the shift of conversation,
"Interesting that there are three of us... All women and with skill, we should make ourselves an unstoppable trio, maybe we need a name."
She keeps eating hoping to fill herself well in reparation for tomorrow.