Behind the bar, Desdemona keeps a watchful eye on the few patrons. As the new owner of the tavern, the matronly red Vartan woman knows her clientele well… and keeps several loaded crossbow pistols within easy reach under the bar top. "The Skurvy Creen in tonight," she scrawks to the young woman seated at the bar. "Lots business, if Captain Grent feeling happy."

"That'd be nice," the young woman comments. She has her legs crossed, her head perched lazily on a hand, and her feet sway with a bored rhythm. "I think Jentz is on the Skurvy Creen. Why doesn't the Rake get anyone that handsome? Fah."

A few of the patrons (who happen to be crew on the Rake) roll their eyes at the comment. Those that are still conscious, anyway. "You should no be hung up on looks, Tasha," Desdemona chides. "You not be young forever, after alls."

"I can have taste forever. I mean look," she reaches over and puts a hand to the head of the unconscious Vartan man beside her. "'es out cold. Again! At least it's not the vomit pillow this time." Tasha ruffles the Vartan's head before swatting it, then she steals his half-finished drink.

Desdi clicks her beak, and is about to say something more, but is interrupted by a newly arriving pair of Lapis that stand out like sore thumbs. The young woman is chocolate and cream colored, and could easily pass for one of the entertainers that used to work for Faraon. Several heads turn to watch her, and not a few them are looking more at her fancy clothes than her figure. The man accompanying her is much older and fairly nondescript: just an average looking white Lapi with some black markings and an unhappy look on his face. The girl takes a seat at on of the unoccupied tables against a wall, while the man approaches the bar.

Tasha twists her head around to watch the new arrivals, making no attempt to hide her inspection as she looks the two over. "Wonder what he won to have that kind of trophy," she whispers to the woman tending the counter.

"Lady, you have no idea," the man says to Tasha when he gets to the bar… reminding the half-Vartan that Lapi ears are more than just decorative. "Two ales, please," he says to Desdi, and brushes a black ear out of his face where it had lopped forward.

Grinning, Tasha looks neither embarrassed nor apologetic. "I bet I don't," she remarks, sounding amused. "It's a nice trophy – might get a little dirty around here."

Desdi pours the drinks, and says, with a perfectly straight face and flat voice, "Ten shekels." Which Tasha knows is five times more than she regularly charges. But the Lapi pays it without seeming to give it a thought, and takes the leather mugs over to the table the girl is waiting at.

"Those two be trouble," Desdi grumbles as quietly as she can, so that only Tasha can hear. "That kind no come down to Underside any mores."

Since she's already grinning like a guiltless rogue, Tasha doesn't have to do anything to cover her amusement at the swindling. At her mother's remark she quirks an eyebrow, curious. "Huh? Hnn, well, good customers anyway. We can use more of them and less," she prods the unconscious Vartan beside her, "of these."

"Sleeping drunks no cause trouble," Desdemona notes, as if reciting a lesson. One of the not-quite-fully-drunk patrons, a burly Skreek whose name escapes Tasha, gets up from his seat with a bit of goading from his drinking buddies, straightens his shirt, and starts towards the Lapis' table… only to about face and scurry to his seat when the swinging doors burst open and a large, rowdy mob enters. At its lead is a tall Rhian, all black except for a white star on his forehead and carrying both a cutlass and a pistol on his belt – Captain Grent. At his left is a younger, handsomer Rhian Tasha recognizes as Jentz, and a heavyset gray Vartan sticks to his right. "Desdi!" the Captain bellows. "Drinks for my crew!"

With a grunt of acknowledgement, Desdemona begins to line up and fill more mugs. "Good trip, Captain?" she asks.

"Very good," the Rhian says, coming up to the bar and giving Tasha a firm pat on the rump. "I love it when I get paid twice!"

Tasha looks about to intercept Desdi's lecture with her own dismissive remark, mouth open, when the door bursts open. Twisting around again she looks hopeful, then pleased, when the men enter and Jentz makes an appearance. She lifts a hand and waves to them, smirks when he bottom is patted, then says, "I'm surprised they pay you at all, you ol' swindler."

"Yes, it is surprising," says a soft voice that still manages to carry. Perhaps more surprising is that it is coming from the pretty looking Lapi girl. "Do you often dump your cargo 'due to bad weather' conveniently into an Abu-Dhabian merchant's lap, Captain Grent?"

The dark Rhian snaps his head around angrily, then puts on a fake smile as he sees the Lapi. "Why, Miss Calligenia! Where would you have heard such a nasty unfounded rumor like that?" He grabs up a mug and heads over to the bunnies with Jentz and the Vartan in tow.

"Trouble," Desdi mutters, but keeps filling mugs as the crew of the Skurvy Creen grab them up.

Tasha frowns when the Lapi talks, and more when she steals away the men. "Think he did it? Wouldn't be surprised… ," she whispers back to Desdi. Interested – no doubt about Jentz as much as the conversation – Tasha leans forward to watch.

The backs of Grent and the Vartan pretty effectively block out sight and sound of the Lapis, but Jentz turns sideways a bit in his seat to smile and wink at Tasha, raising his mug to her. Then the Vartan lets out a horrific SCRAWK and staggers backwards from his seat, one hand to his throat while the other drops a knife to the floor. Then Grent is falling backwards, and Jentz turns back to see what has happened only to have the average-looking Lapi grab the side of his head and slam him down hard on the table-top, saying, "Kid, you don't want any part of this, trust me."

Absorbed in flirting with Jentz, Tasha is completely taken aback when the two burly men are taken down by seemingly harmless Lapis! Her jaw drops and it takes her a moment to recover, but when she does she stumbles off her stool and points at the Lapis. "H-hey, we don't stand for that … " she glances at the possibly dead Vartan and captain, blinks, then angrily presses on when she sees Jentz, " … that!" Then she's walking towards Jentz.

Several of the sailors point and laugh at the staggering Vartan, until they see the blood. Grent finishes his fall, landing flat on his back. The hilt of an ornately decorated bronze dagger protrudes from the center of the star-mark on his forehead, and his eyes stare out blankly. The Lapi girl stands up and makes her way around the table, giving Tasha a passing glance as she yanks the dagger free of the Rhian's skull. For his part, Jentz is wide eyed with fear, but doesn't seem to trying to escape the other Lapi's grip. Said Lapi looks up at Tasha, and blinks in surprise. "It's for his own good," he tries to explain to the big winged wolf-horse.

Tasha looks between the dead captain, Jentz, and the Lapis as if trying to weigh their worth – and her chances. When she meets the smaller Lapi's gaze she gives her a narrow-eyed glare, snorts, then points to the blood. "There's a fee for cleanup," she finally says, holding her hand out.

"I'll cover that," the male Lapi sighs. The girl bunny is already gone, surrounded by half a dozen angry sailors who have finally realized their captain is dead. "No shooting!" Desdi yells out over the chaos. "You break mirror, I break head!"

Tasha nods slowly. "One gold," she insists. "More for your own good – lots more." She then nods to the pile of angry sailors, knowing full well she has no control of them but betting money might calm them down – and make her happier when she's cleaning up Jentz.

"Tash!" Jentz says, looking desperate. "You gotta – Gurk!" The Rhian's head is lifted and bonked down on the table again, and the Lapi frowns. "You've got to be kidding? One gold to clean up some blood and brain-juice?" he asks.

Tasha looks down when Jentz speaks, frowns puzzledly at his advice, but looks up again when the Lapi speaks. It's not the first time she's seen Jentz in a fight, but definitely the first she's seen him lose this badly – and to Lapis! The whole situation seems vaguely surreal to her. Lapis don't beat up Rhians! "I gotta what? Ask for more?" She squints at the Lapi, tilts her head, and asks, "Silver, then."

"You'll already get a copper just for selling Grent as ptera-chow," the Lapi says, using his free hand to brush his ear out of the way again. There are grunts and oofs, a few yells and the sound of tearing cloth from the mob, then silence.

"I'll take that from the silver, then, why I … ," Tasha pauses as she glances towards the sudden silence, assuming the female Lapi has been trounced – or worse.

A few of the sailors are still standing, holding onto wounded limbs, while the rest are on the floor. The chocolate bunny stands in the middle of them still, her expensive tunic all but torn away to reveal a fitted bronze breastplate with an embossed image of a multi-headed monster on it. She isn't quite breathing hard, but looks like she's forcibly holding back and not happy about it. "Calli, you promised – no killing!" the male Lapi calls, to which the girl snaps back, "They'll live!"

Tasha seems to suffer a momentary mental malfunction as she stares at the Lapi woman, forgetting about the money. "Huh, who is she?"

"No broken furniture or mirrors," the male Lapi says, talking to Tasha again. "A copper, no more," he offers, then releases Jentz, who tries to get up too quickly and falls over onto his tail. "Oh, that's Princess Calligenia of Clan Hydron of Dianus. She doesn't take well to being stolen from."

The princess in question points her dagger at a large Khatta nursing a broken wrist, and calls back, "Xavier, this one tore my shirt – I think he was trying to touch me inappropriately! Can't I just have his tail and one ear, at least?"

"Princess Calligenia? … of clan who? … from what?" Tasha asks, still staring. She does seem to have regained some of her composure, though, since she holds her hand out for the copper. "Is that metal?!"

"No," Xavier calls back, "This is still Rephidim, Calli." He produces a copper Shekel from his vest pocket, and nearly hands it over before stopping. "Hey… are you the owner of this place?"

"Heh," Tasha says, shooting Xavier a sly look, "you want my mother, you do. Desdi." The wolf-horse woman points in the general direction of her mom without looking, then begins walking towards the Lapi girl.

The Lapi man heads over to the bar to talk to Desdemona, while Calligenia just glares at everyone else. "Remember this lesson," she tells the patrons. "Do not steal from Clan Hydron! I am not always so merciful, and my mother always has need for more eunuchs!"

"How'd you do that," Tasha asks the Princess, pointing at the men. "And are you some kind of … actual princess?" The disbelief in Tasha's voice is as clear as crystal, " … or like those nobles, playin' at being god or something?" Even standing amidst Calligenia's victories, Tasha still seems to have difficulty taking the Lapi seriously. She looks down, hand on hip, and frowns as if the Lapi were some kind of elaborate joke she can't figure out.

"It is difficult," Calligenia says, and now Tasha can hear a trace of an exotic accent. "To strike in non-vital areas requires great restraint, but I do not want to make Xavier any more angry with me." She looks Tasha up and down, as if unsure how to categorize her. "I am not a 'noble' as you put it. I sell to them, demon-girl, but only a few of them have earned such title through battle. I do not think 'princess' is accurate, either."

Tasha's brow shoots up at 'demon girl,' then narrows as she frowns more deeply. "DEMON girl? Think you can kill my friend, hurt Jentz, and make fun of me?" Again, Tasha's gaze returns to the injured sailors. She briefly glances at them as she talks, searching for a mental connection that refuses to register. "Do-" she glances at the men again, "you … you … " sinking in … "shortie?" Hitting a mental obstruction, Tasha's insult just fizzles.

The Lapi girl looks at Tasha with an expression of mild confusion. "Are you a business associate of the thieving Captain Grent?" she finally asks, sounding serious.

Anger derailed by the Lapi's confusion, Tasha blinks. "Hn? Grent?" She turns her head and studies the corpse consideringly. "He is, rrr, was, alright. Always grabbing my butt, he was," she explains before turning back around. "I'm on the Rake, jus', you bruised Jentz and … " Tasha frowns, the concept that Jentz could be beaten up by these people still under processing, " … made fun of me!"

Tail high, wings twitching, Tasha looks like she's trying to pick a fight. Unfortunately for her, the Lapi isn't playing fair, what with being all confused, and it seems to be throwing the Vartan off.

"You are a strange demon," Calligenia finally says, and glances at the still-living Rhian, Jentz. "I did not hurt that boy of yours, either. Can you tell me where the Skurvy Creen is docked? It will not begin to compensate me for the cost of the Angor wool the foolish Grent sold at one-tenth its value to some sand-cat, but it will help."

Having her attempt to pick a fight ignored thrice over, Tasha's wings settle and she stares at the Lapi as if she were from another planet. "Vartan, she says, "I'm a Vartan, an' if you call me a demon again I'll be havin' to show you I'm stronger than these fool men!" With a hoof nudge, she indicates a nearby sailor before watching the Lapi with a ready eye.

Several of the men who weren't involved in the scuffle shift their chairs and tables a little further away from the two women. "Forgive my confusion," Calligenia says. "You don't look like the Vartans I have encountered before. And I should certainly expect you to be stronger than mere males."

"Well … of course." Tasha's anger gives in fits and starts, the woman's muzzle twitching, fingers drumming, and finally the compliment seems to derail it entirely. "Rrr, well, you tell me about this Clan Hydron and I'll show you the Skurvy Creen."

Back at the bar, Jentz and Xavier sip from their mugs, the Rhian already looking downcast. "Tash has found a prettier face than mine, it looks like," the young Rhian says, and touches his bruised cheek. "I can give you a cream for that shiner," the Lapi offers.

Calligenia strips away the remains of her ruined tunic with a frown, then says to Tasha, "First, I would know who you are."

Tasha stares at Calligenia's chest with a greedy look as she strips, perhaps a reaction to all that expensive metal – or, perhaps, all that "pretty face." "What?" the Vartan woman looks up. "Eh, me? I'm Tasha, or Tashy, or hey you if you ask these leering idiots." She grins at one of her fellow crewmen, then winks at him before looking back to Calligenia.

"Do you belong to a Clan… oh… a family, Tasha?" Calli asks, tucking her bronze dagger away into her skirt.

Tasha's expression sobers somewhat. "Eh, I have a family," she says, sounding vaguely defensive. To prove her words, she points towards the similarly colored full Vartan behind the counter.

Desdemona takes that moment to scrawk, "No bleeding on floor! You go bleed outside!"

"Let's go outside," Tasha insists, taking the Lapi's arm as she walks on. "Tell you there."

"You are from a warrior line?" Calli asks as she's hustled outside.

"Don't kill anyone!" Xavier calls out. "And no burning anything either!"

Tasha hurries the Lapi outside, pausing to open the door and, when the Lapi passes, stare at her arms before following her out. Once outside, Tasha shoots a suspicious look around before answering, "Warrior line? I don't know what that is. I don't, rrr, I mean my father's just not around. Busy. He's a noble, you know? Don't think he isn't! He's just not around, so, the crew and mom are my family," she whispers quickly, sounding a bit calmer now that she doesn't have to explain around all the others.

"Crew," the Lapi repeats. "You are an airship captain?"

The Vartan ruffles her feathers, "No, I'm crew too. I mean, they're my fellow crewmen. I'm just a ptera – handler. Ptera handler," Tasha explains, once again sounding agitated as she tries to relate an uncomfortable subject.

"Terror handler?" Calligenia asks, eyebrows raised.

In an odd reversal of confusions, Calligenia's calm attempt to socialize riles Tasha more than her calm reaction to the Vartan's threats. "Terr-what? No, look," the Vartan leans forward and, mantling her wings, whispers, "I'm a bastard, ya? Mom got knocked up by this noble – he is a noble! – and I'm just here. I don't have a fancy name and I don't need one."

After her rant, Tasha stares down at the Lapi with a tense expression, waiting to pounce on any perceived rejection. At the same time she squeezes the Lapi's arm in her tension, glancing at the surprisingly firm limb with renewed surprise before continuing her ready stare.

"He must have been very strong to knock up your mother," Calli replies, and nods in approval. "So you instill terror in the crew so that they work better?"

Tasha searches for disapproval in Calli's face, but finds only misguided acceptance. As if a weight had been removed from her shoulders, Tasha relaxes her wings and her grip before leaning back. "I bet he's strong – and noble. A hero, adventurer, or a pirate king now." Smiling faintly Tasha then answers, "I guide the pteras with my whip. Steer the ship, I do – better than the old man ever could!"

"We use Vykarins in Amazonia," Calli says. "They can be very stubborn, but I do not think a whip would bother them much. Your airship… the Hoe? It is very fast?"

"Hoe?" Tasha gives a raucous laugh. "Don't let them hear that – won't hear the end of it, I won't! Hrr, 'course it's fast. Don't have all that heavy nonsense – engines, they call them! – fah, go fast and die faster, that's what engines do. Pteras, they don't explode."

"Is it faster than the Skurvy Creen then?" the Lapi asks.

"'Course it is, with Captain Grent givin' Dagh his due, why it won't go anywhere! Ha, then they'll fight – hope Jentz wins, 'es a looker, he is, an' it's true what they say 'bout Rhians." Tasha winks. "You want to see the Rake instead? The Skurv'll be around a while."

"I've no use for a slow airship crewed by thieves," Calligenia replies. "Xavier will be upset if I destroy the Skurvy Creen or kill the crew though. Please show me your Rake instead."

Tasha nods, then looks at her hand on the Lapi's arm as if wondering if she should remove it. "You're stronger than you look, you are. I guess you're a good sort. Haven't talked with another woman much, don't crew airships so much, not even so many Vartans." Tasha blinks, grins widely, then just leaves her hand where it is as she walks on. "Thought you were a trophy of the man, now I think maybe it's the other way around. Do you like Vartans, mm?"

"They are very… big," Calli answers. "And I am not so strong. We of Hydron are the weakest and smallest among the Dianusian Clans, but we wield the most power and wealth. Still, it felt good to fight and win for a change, without resorting to clever tricks."

"Well, I think you're right fine yourself. First Lapi I ever thought much of, an' that's the sure truth." Tasha finally lets Calli's arm go, only to offer her a hand. "Tricks are good. I like the direct approach, myself, saves trouble an' I like a good fight." The Vartan's tail flicks. "Dianusian Clan? Not quite a princess, was it? Where you from?"

Calli accepts Tasha's larger hand, and explains, "Dianus is the greatest city of Amazonia, and rivaled Parthos itself before the Olympians fell."

Tasha smiles more when Calli accepts her hand. Given Tasha's wolfish face, the smile comes off a little too pleased. "Amazonia? That's … Dagh's knee, I don't know where that is. I know I heard 'bout it somewhere, in a … Wait! Sailor's tale, it was, land of beautiful deadly Lapi and riches as far as the eye can see. Thought it was a bunch of ptera dung, know what I mean, I-" Tasha's brows shoot up suddenly as she looks down at the elaborately armored Calli, squeezes her hand, recalls the firmness of her arm and blinks. "You're an Amazon?"

"Amazonian," Calligenia corrects. "Although my Clan where in Dianus long before the invasion. But the Warrior Clans wanted to keep the city, and they needed us to run it after the lesser races where driven out or killed."

"A real Amazon – Amazonian. I could sell you for a bundle, I could!" Perhaps sensing that might be the wrong thing to say, potentially ruining her friendship as well as her face, Tasha adds, "If I wanted to, that is. An' I don't. Jus' saying, like … a sayin'." She smiles more in an attempt to look reassuring. "What's Amazonia like?"

"Much of it is high, harsh mountain or rolling plains," Calligenia says, her ears scanning for any suspicious sounds while the pair walks along. "Only in Dianus is their true civilization. And while your outer-world and sky cities are impressive in their… size and diversity… they are like gardens left to go wild, noisy and messy and full of unwelcome bugs."

Tasha laughs at the description of Rephidim. "That's Rephidim, you're right. Noisy, messy, full of bites in bed," she agrees when her laughter dies down.

As they walk Tasha also scans the environment, only the Vartan does it more with her eyes and her nose than her ears. "What're the men like up in Amazonia? Anythin' like you?"

"They are well trained," the Amazonian says. "How can you stand to be around what pass for men here? They are crude and undisciplined… little better than swaggering beasts."

Tasha gives the Amazonian a curious look. "Well trained? You mean like … slaves? All of them? I heard the legend but … "

"Your idea of slavery does not match ours," Calligenia says. "Most men are not slaves, but they understand their purpose and their duty, and are valuable members of the Clan."

"Hrr, that's something. I like a man with fire, I do. Goin' to miss Grent – he might 'ave been a crook, an' 'e went at a warship with a wagon, but he wasn't afraid to show he liked you. Lecher, though – but still. 'E had fire in him. I like that. Jentz too, even if he did end up on 'is tail." The Vartan shrugs. "Might be somethin' to see, though, that Amazonia of yours."

Calli looks up at Tasha's face, and warns, "It is a beautiful place, but you would be a slave there, unless a powerful Clan protected you. Outsiders come by invitation only, and have always been Lapi. I myself am only the second Amazonian in many generations to venture beyond our borders."

Tasha looks unafraid, even hopeful. "I could go with you, I could! If they think I'm weak, I'll show 'em."

"Perhaps, but it is… I do not know the proper term," Calli says. "Even I cannot return until I have erased the blemish to my honor that Grent has caused."

"Blemish? Honor? 'E didn't get you drunk, did he? He doesn't just steal cargo! Lots of fire, but a lech," Tasha asks, sounding unsurprised by Calli's revelation.

"I am responsible for the lost wool," Calligenia says, pausing to turn and face Tasha fully. A nearby torch makes the bronze armor glow like warm gold. "It was to be traded for many things I promised my Clan. I must recover it, even if it means traveling to the lands of the Emir."

Tasha cocks her head to the side at the sight of Calligenia in the flame light. She finds the Lapi striking, dazzled by her will, her impressive body, her shining armor, and, yes, the sparkliness of fire against bronze. "Hnuh," she grunts, distracted.

"Would you not do the same for your kin?" the Lapi asks the dazed Vartan.

"What?" Tasha asks, smiling.

"Take back what has been stolen from them," Calli explains.

"Oh, them," Tasha responds absently. By now the Vartan seems fixedly staring at the Lapi's chest.

It takes a few moments for Calli to pick up on this, given the difference in heights between the two. Finally, she taps the image on her breastplate, saying, "This is Hydron, the symbol of my clan. One of the god-beasts of the wasteland."

Movement in the area of interest seems to return some of the Vartan's sense, and she reaches up to run a hand through her long blonde hair. "Oh. Hrr, well, look," Tasha glances around, making sure there's no one to eavesdrop on what she's about to say, "you're gorgeous, and that armor is, just, well absolutely shiny on you. There's a stall near the Rake's pier – so … how 'bout it?"

"How about what?" Calligenia asks, sounding confused now.

Tasha's bemused expression lasts for several seconds – of course the Amazonian might not know what she just suggested! The whole situation causes Tasha to blush in the ears, she's never had this sort of problem before. "Well, you. And me. In the ptera stall? … Hay?" The Vartan rubs the Lapi's hand with a thumb, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

Calli gives Tasha an odd look, then asks, "You aren't trying to seduce me, are you?"

"Oh! Yes," Tasha answers, sounding relived. That was much simpler than she was expecting.

"That's just awful, though," Calli says, shaking her head slightly. "Who was your instructor?"

"My … instructor?" Tasha blinks, blindsided during a false sense of security in seduction. Tasha thinks about her instructor – instructors. "All of them?"

"You had more than one?" Calli asks, giving Tasha a strange look again. "By Ashtoreth, even Xavier is better at it than this, and he is insane. Did your mother at least give you some formal training?"

"It's usually a lot more straightforward than this," Tasha offers somewhat lamely. She looks a little put off, looking around in embarrassment, but quickly recovers on the rebound with a hopeful, "Want to teach me?"

"That could take a while," Calli says, and reaches into her breastplate to pull out a very thin leather tube about the size a human forefinger, with a chitin screw cap at one end. "Here, drink this, it will help."

Tasha takes the tube and sniffs it curiously. "Never had this sort before, most are cheap about it." Remembering just how alien Calli is, Tasha asks, "What is it? An' what does it do?"

"Tears of Morpheus," Calligenia says. "It will help you to not succumb to distractions."

Tasha peers at the chemical doubtfully, saying, "But succumbing to distraction is what I'm aiming for," before looking down at Calligenia.

"Yes, but you are missing the target," Calligenia notes. "This will keep you from wasting your arrows."

"That's witty! Smart too. Right, bottoms up then." Tasha pops the stopped with her thumb before tossing back the contents.

The potion goes down like liquid Zolk, and causes a sense of warmth to flow outward from Tasha's stomach. Unlike other drugs she may have tried, this one doesn't seem to affect her thinking, but certain things noticeably change. Her passions seem to shift into the background – they're still there, just not demanding her attention. Even the shininess of Calli's armor is different, with the attraction pushed aside. It's like seeing it for the first time, for what it is – ornate bronze armor.

Tasha looks momentarily worried. It's not because she suspects poisoning, it's that she's distinctly unfamiliar with having this much clarity. "It's very odd. I feel focused. Aware. It's like waking up from a dream – 'bit odd, it is." After a brief look around, she looks down at Calli expectantly.

"Yes, the male Lapis of this sky-realm use a diluted version almost daily," Calli explains. "It keeps them from fighting, among other things. There is a complimentary potion, the Milk of Ashtoreth, which has the opposite effect – instilling aggression and passion, whether for fighting or mating. Warriors use it before battle."

"Do women normally drink this?" Tasha peers at the bottle again, the words "the male Lapis of this sky-realm use a diluted version" ringing in her head with surprising clarity. "I don't see how this helps seduction."

"It helps in that you need far more training before you should try again," Calligenia says, somehow making it sound encouraging. "This will save you the frustration of being rebuffed tonight."

"And if it helps, I admit that I do take it regularly myself to deal with the stress of being around so many alien peoples," the Amazonian says.

Tasha looks between the bottle and Calligenia several times. Even full of clarity chemicals she still can't decide how to feel about the rather subtle (by her standards) rebuff. "Well," she says, sounding a little sad, "it was worth a try, I suppose. Jentz will be happy. Ah," Tasha looks the Lapi over once more, shrugs a little, then steps back, "The Rake, then?"

Calligenia nods, and says, "Please lead on, and forgive me if I come across as… insensitive. For my people, such activities are highly ritualized and not casual… and you are not a Lapi."

"Right, a lot to learn." Tasha nods and leads on. After a few steps she shrugs, then offers her hand anyway as she looks back. "It's all right, lot of women don't got for it. Like I said, don't do it much, and you're a … 'princess' … you are. I'm just this Vartan. Can't say I don't aim high, though. For the sky." She winks.

"Well, you do have wings," Calli points out, and takes Tasha's hand again.

"Wish I knew how you leaned early, I'd have saved us a bit of time. Like gambling, it is." Tasha flutters her wings to show them off. "Seems like Amazonia might be a whole different bag of fight, mm? Ritualized activity! Haw, new one to me."

"I haven't mated yet," the Lapi says. "It is most likely that I will choose a husband from Xavier's clan, Kerebos, when I return to Dianus."

"What? Not at all? Oh, well that's rightly different then! Easier on me that way, too." As they walk, Tasha waves broadly at the town around her. "Here, it's not like that. Casual, that's the word. Some marriages – fewer that work like they're supposed to. See, Jentz, well, I'd have probably taken a shot at him if it was working for the good – did the same with you, for all the reasons I said. And I meant them, don't think I was just shining your buttons to get you our of that armor. I meant it. And see, most people here, I think they're a lot like me. Men, they're different, but not too bad if you know what's on their mind."

"Such values make me homesick," Calligenia sighs. "It is so awkward to sleep or bathe or engage in grooming with somebody here without all kinds of misunderstanding."

Tasha nods understandingly. "I think I'd be out of sorts in your Amazonia. You know how we went, and it'd be like that." After clearing several rather haphazard shacks Tasha clears the cityscape and emerges among the paths to the Underside docks. "Here we are, both the Skurvy Creen and the Rake are here."

The Amazonian Lapi seems to double in weight as she suddenly resists moving forward. "I had forgotten we were on a sky island," she says in a small voice.

Despite being considerably heavier, the Vartan stumbles a bit under the Lapi's weight and strength. "What? You can forget that?" By the disbelief in Tasha's voice, the idea of forgetting on a sky island is completely silly to her.

"I was born on the plains, near the shore," Calligenia says. "Sky islands where legendary places. I am afraid of heights… and I gave the last of the Tears to you."

Tasha considers this for a moment, as well as the much smaller Lapi. "What would you like to do? Can't just stay here, won't reach the ships that way – unless you jump, I suppose. Don't want to miss that or it's whoosh, splat, and your ship has sailed!" she asks.

The Lapi's eyes go wide at the description. "Give me a moment to… to gather myself," she says, and closes her eyes. Then she seems to just focus on breathing for a few moments.

Tasha crosses her arms and shifts her weight to one leg. "I could gather you, it'd be right easier."

"Do you mean to carry me?" Calli asks, opening her eyes again to look at Tasha.

"I do," Tasha says, nodding.

Calli looks around to see who might be watching, then nods her head and says, "Alright, just do not drop me."

"Want a shoulder, or in the arms?" Tasha asks as she steps forward and bends over to pick the Lapi up.

"Which is safer?" Calli asks, stepping forward with more Lapi-like timidity than she's shown before.

Tasha looks a little suspicious. After all, it's taken her this long to start to believe the Lapi is really dangerous. This sudden change in personality seems like another trick to the Vartan. "Arms. My shoulders aren't as wide as the men folk. Mind the remarks from the crews, there'll be more of that values confliction you mentioned," she answers.

"I won't kill any of them, I promise," Calli says before stepping into the Vartan's arms.

The Vartan shifts, then picks the Lapi up as if she were a load of laundry. Calli ends up being held in the Vartans arms with her feet sticking out over one arm and her head over the other. "Holler if it's not going well for you, I'll walk quick-like," she assures the Lapi.

"I'll trust you," the chocolate and cream bunny says.

"That's good. Think you might be able to kill me, you might." Tasha pats the Lapi's shoulder as she heads out across the dock.

There isn't anything especially challenging about carrying a Lapi along the familiar dock, aside from one of the ship's lookouts saying, "Ah Tash, there's no way you can weave that shiny into your tail!"

Being under the influence of clarity, Tasha doesn't give her usual winggrinfondle in response. Instead, she just smiles and waves, thinking, I did try. "That'd be the lookout; like I said, there'd be comments. He's meaning what you think he means, plus we Vartans, we like a good shiny. I'm sure you noticed my sparklies," Tasha explains mildly.

"Yes, once you said that you were a Vartan I realized what they where," Calli says.

"Right, not everyone does. Can't figure people who don't like a good shine, it's plain wrong, it is." Tasha makes her way around some cargo crates waiting to be loaded and makes her way up the boarding plank. To maintain her balance in the winds and with her load she flaps her wings. "You've got a good shine, you do."

"You have to keep your armor shiny," the Lapi says. "It helps to blind your opponent and throw off their strikes."

"Threw me off," the Vartan agrees. Soon, she's on deck and looking around to see who's on board. "If you look far forward to the bow there you'll see my post. It's where I drive the pteras, though I like to ride them often as not. Easier that way, but not always."

"Ah, the dragon-birds," Calli says, finally figuring out what a ptera is. "They pull the ship like a chariot, then?"

"That's right; you're a smart one. Those engine-ships, the steam powered, the mages, the odder sorts – you can't trust them. The engines, they explode, the mages run on pure shekels, and the stranger sorts are as risky as the engines and as costly as the mages." Tasha looks around again after her lecture, then yells, "CAP'N!"

"Wot!" shouts a gravelly voice from below deck. "I'm busy!"

"Got yer some business, I do! Real princess," Tasha hollers back. To Calli she then whispers, "I know, not a princess. It's to get him out here."

"What're you babbling on about now, Tash?" replies the voice. A hatch in the deck is thrown back, and the head of a brown-and-white-speckled Vartan pops up. A nasty old scar mars the right side of his face, and a gaudy glass marble fills the eye socket. "What princess? You gonna claim that bit of fluff is your cousin or sump'in?"

"You know right well I'm not any sort 'o Lapi, or you got glitter in your head!" Tasha steps toward the hatch and gingerly places the Amazonian down. "This be Calligenia of Clan Hydron! Don't be thinking of calling her a fluff ball, she did in Cap'n Grent an' laid half his crew low, an' I'll swear it to the sky an' all the shinies in the land."

Calligenia takes a moment to brush the wrinkles out of her skirt, before nodding to the captain. "I have urgent business in Abu Dhabi, and was told your Rake is the fastest way of getting there," she says.

"Aye," Captain Eyeshine replies, looking the rabbit over with his good eye. "But we ain't got no cargo, see, and flying out with just one passenger ain't what you call cost-effective."

"How much would it cost to bring two passengers then?" the Lapi asks. The Captain barks in laughter, and says, "No different, trip like that would cost twenty silver, and nobody pays that."

"He's right, Calligenia. Do you have any cargo you still want to trade, business partners? Anything o' that sort?" Tasha asks.

In response, Calligenia just shifts her posture slightly. Head tilted to the side, hip cocked, and light catching her breastplate just right. It's enough to suddenly dazzle the Vartan captain. "I'll need a private room, and will bring one guest. You will fly us as fast as possible to Abu Dhabi for twenty silver shekels, and then fly us back with our cargo for one gold, genoh?"

Even Tasha, hyped up on the Tears of Morpheus as she is, looks a little distracted. Not too distracted to miss twenty silver shekels, however. "You gots twenty silvers to bandy about? Calligenia, you're like walkin' with a fairy tale, y'are," she says, staring.

"Wark?" Eyeshine says, then blinks and says, "Genoh… when do you want to leave?"

"Tomorrow morning if possible," the Lapi says, smiling to the captain.

"Err, I suppose most of the crew will be sobered up by then," the old Vartan says. Looking to Tasha, he asks, "Where'd you find this one, and are there more like her?"

"Might want an ask to 'ave Jentz offered a crew position," Tasha whispers as she leans over to the Lapi, winking. "This stuff's not goin' to last the whole trip."

"Ah, him," Calli says, twitching an ear. "Can you take me back to the dock? I hear Xavier walking with someone who has hooves."

When Tasha leans back she answers, "Dropped out of the blue, she did. Put a blade in that empty skull of the Skurvy Creen's cap'n, showed 'is crew the floor. Well, I said to myself, "Tasha, that's a right fine patron, she is," an' I approached her ensuring the Rake has the most honorable crew in all the Underside." The emphasis on honorable is unmistakable, a clear warning.

Tasha then nods to Calli and kneels down with her arms out. "Right you are, princess."

Calli climbs back into Tasha's arms, while Eyeshine just shakes his head and disappears back below deck, already bellowing orders.

The female Vartan carries the Lapi back toward the boarding ramp, then on down, saying, "Good show, that. The cap'n's more difficult usually, deals better. 'es got a good eye for a shiny, an' he knows a good shine when 'e sees one. S'why I like 'im."

Calli gets back on her feet just as Xavier and Jentz arrive at the dock. "There you are!" Xavier exclaims. "You didn't cause any trouble on the Skurvy Creen, did you?"

"Of course not," Calligenia says, waving a hand. She then steps up to the Rhian and says, "You are Jentz, correct? Your former captain sold my cargo for ten gold in Abu Dhabi. You will go aboard your ship and find it, then bring me back five gold and you can keep the rest."

The Rhian looks a little dazed, then notices Tasha watching and puffs out his chest, saying, "Oh, so why don't I just go and keep it all then, eh?"

"Because then I'll come aboard myself and take it all, kill the crew, and burn the ship," Calligenia says in her calm, reciting-a-shopping-list voice.

Tasha can only shrug to this. "Think she can do it, I do. She's a real Amazonian," she tells Jentz. Then she winks. "Don't worry you, she wasn't interested."

Jentz blinks again as Tasha pretty much backs up the Lapi, and says, "Well… five gold isn't bad," before he turns toward the Skurvy Creen.

"Calli, I did tell you that airships explode if they catch fire, right?" Xavier whispers to the brown Lapi, who then gets wide eyes, turns and punches the man in the shoulder. "Now you tell me this, after letting me ride in one of the death traps?"

"Pteras are the way to fly, I tell you true!" Tasha insists. Then, she walks over and slings her arms around the two Lapis, looking down over their shoulders. "Better show you two to your rooms, see if you like 'em or want others. And you say he's a bad one, Calligenia?"

"Our rooms?" Xavier asks. "Oh Dagh, you're dragging me along to Abu Dhabi, aren't you?" the Lapi accuses the other. "You have to promise me… promise me… that you won't kill anyone or anything important!"

"I'm important, I am. Can't fly the ship without me," the Jupani-Vartan hybrid insists. "An' I'll be askin' you all about how you fight – and other matters!"

With a sigh, Calligenia says, "I promise, Xavier. I will not kill anyone or anything important, only… maim them a little." She smiles to Tasha and says, "I am sure it will be a learning experience."

"I'm learnin' already. Right, then, up this way and I'll lead you to your rooms." As Tasha passes by she lets one of her arms slip, and Jentz feels a distinct squeeze around his rear area when she passes by. "Watch the crew, they're right tricky." She winks to Calli.