FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The lizardfolk city of Tokiv Mior was bustling with midday activity as four individuals made their way through the streets, the crowd a shifting sea of green scales that flowed along the paved stone streets, patrons moving into and out of buildings, most heedless of these newcomers. Comprising this group of four were three aarakocra whose proud plumage bore various shades of blue, and a winged dragonborn with resplendent red scales. Heedless though the crowd around them were, these four stood out among the rushing river of green scales and heads began to turn, attracting more and more glances as the dragonborn was recognized.

"I still don't understand why you wish to hire one of these ruffians when you have us to protect you, my Lady," one aarakocra guard said to the red dragonborn. "... but, as ever, I respect your wishes."

"Thank you Tirik," she said with a simple nod. "and, as ever, your services are much appreciated."

A polite but still genuine smile curved at the edge of the armored avian male's beak.

"We would be more than happy to stick around, if you'd like, until you find whoever you're hoping to find," he offered, eyes darting around, wings fluttering anxiously as he noticed just how many heads were beginning to turn. But of course she was used to this attention--craved it, actually.

"I assure you, that won't be necessary," she said. "I'm not defenseless, and besides, I've got my friend here!"

She nodded past the two guards who flanked her, to the third aarakocra among them, distinguishable from the other two by her brighter, sky blue feathers, her slightly shorter stature, and the quiver at her back which was empty save for the fact that it pulsed softly with blue arcane light. The young aarakocra girl smiled and nodded to the guards.

"Of course, my Lady. I bid you well," Tirik said with a deep bow, spreading his wings as much as the busy streets around them would allow. With that, the guards took to the air, leaving behind the other two.

"Now, let's get down to business, shall we?" the dragonborn said, gesturing then to the tavern before them. A large sign hung from the front, the words 'The Iron Chalice' written in Talidran Common in bold red letters, and in Draconic beneath; a language lost on the young aarakocra, but which brought back memories of home for the dragonborn.

"Thank you again for sponsoring me, Avora!" the aarakocra girl said as they proceeded into the establishment. "I feel I should at least buy you a drink!"

"Of course, dearest," Avora laughed. "but you should know, things tend to happen when people buy me drinks."

"... What happens?" she asked, blinking curiously. The grin that had come over the dragonborn's face faded.

"Never mind, dear," she sighed, waving a hand dismissively.

"Excuse me, aren't you Lady Avora Amberlight?" a voice said as a male wolfkin with dark brown fur reached up and tapped her shoulder. She turned toward him in the same way she did everything--elegantly, and with a smile.

"The one and the same," she said.

"My wife adores your perfumes," the wolf man said, before launching into a gushing rant as a crowd began to gather, more and more of the tavern's patrons noticing the famous bard.

Cobalt was used to this by now, so as Avora signed a few autographs here and there, she went to order drinks.

"I'll just put it on her tab," the bartender chuckled. He was a tall lizard man with broad shoulders, but with most of the patrons being warriors from the nearby arena, he was comparatively vastly overshadowed.

"Oh, actually, I'll pay for these," Cobalt said. The bartender raised an eyebrow.

"Suit yourself," he said with a shrug.

Avora took a seat beside Cobalt as soon as she had finished shooing away the crowd, and Cobalt passed her her drink: a deep, fine red wine.

"Ooo, look at the cute one over there!~" Avora giggled, and Cobalt followed her half-lidded gaze to where a muscled wolfkin man pushed open the door, strolling in. "See, this is why I wanted to come here! The arena in this city is the biggest there is!"

"I know, I've read about this place!" Cobalt said excitedly. "People come from all over to see the fights here! Is that why we're here? You wanna hire a gladiator--watch the fights to evaluate their combat skill?"

"Mm?" Avora said, momentarily peeling her eyes away from the burly wolf. "Oh, erm, not exactly, dear..."

Cobalt had learned that when she took that low and sultry tone, it meant she was up to something.

"Pardon me there, handsome," Avora said to the grey-furred wolf man, standing in the way she did that pushed out her chest to draw attention to it. "My friend and I happen to be looking for someone strong and capable like yourself to join us on an adventure. Would you be interested?"

The wolfkin's yellow eyes glanced her over, then up to Cobalt, who gave a friendly wave. The aarakocra girl didn't flaunt like Avora did, so the wolfkin kept his eyes on her face and returned a respectful nod before looking back to Avora--and giving her another glance over for good measure.

"You're hiring a bodyguard?" the wolf asked.

"That we are!" Avora said with a nod.

"Well, not that I'm not interested," he said with a bit of a smirk. "but if you want professional help, you might want to post something on the message board? I'm sure they might even lend you someone from the town guard if you asked."

Here Avora cracked a toothy grin as the wolfkin added, "I'm sure you could ask for most anything and get it, honestly."

"Oh, but I'm not looking for professional help," Avora said. This time it was the wolfkin who grinned.

"I see," he chuckled. "you're looking for someone who'll protect you and have sex with you."

Avora giggled and Cobalt's eyes widened, blushing deeply as this revelation sank in.

"Guilty," the red dragon lady admitted.

"What're you paying for this 'job'?" the wolfkin asked. Avora's tail lashed behind her as she smiled.

"Name your price, cutie," she said. He raised an eyebrow and dropped his gaze below her neckline once more, then looked to Cobalt, who was still blushing and finding it hard to meet his eyes.

"Uh- I-I'll have you know that her offer doesn't-- it does not extend to the rest of, um... the group!" she stammered quickly. "I mean, I... n-not that I wouldn't consider if... j-just... get to know me first."

The wolf man gave a soft smile as the young aarakocra turned away and shrank into her wings.

"Understood," he said. He turned back to Avora. "What's your name then, dragon lady?"

Avora blinked, genuinely caught off guard.

"Oh, you don't know? Well in that case, an introduction is certainly in order!" she said. She smiled and gave a low, sweeping bow. "Avora Amberlight, bard and fashionista, as well as a designer and purveyor of perfumes!"

"Ah," the wolfkin said. "I've heard the name."

"And this over here is Cobalt, my dear friend and the most brilliant artificer in Talidran! Perhaps all of Praedell!" Avora said, sweeping her hands toward Cobalt. The bird girl turned and scooted off the bar stool, standing politely before the tall wolf. All of her previous embarassment had vanished, replaced with her usual bubbly cheerfulness.

"Oh, well, I don't know about that!" Cobalt said. "I just like to build things! Pleasure to meet you!"

"The pleasure is mine, I assure you," the wolfkin said in his deep voice. "Name's Reshin, Reshin Fireheart. But you can call me Rush."

"Ohh, handsome, strong, and charming! I like you...~" Avora said, smiling as he shook her hand with a firm grip. Cobalt wasn't sure what exactly was so charming about a simple polite introduction, but she couldn't argue with those first two things.

"Buy me a drink and I'll consider your offer," Rush said. "I can certainly protect you, but I don't know about the other thing just yet..." He leaned close to Avora and whispered in her ear. "If nothing else, the tension should keep things interesting."

Avora giggled and called for another drink for the wolfkin.

"So, are those things they say about bards really true?" he asked as he sat down. "I don't mean to be rude, but you do seem quite..."

"Coquettish?" the bard finished. "Flirtatious? Amorous? Oh, I assure you, I absolutely adhere to every last bard-based stereotype and stigma out there." She leaned in and whispered, "And I absolutely intend to fuck a dragon."

The wolfkin chuckled heartily at this.

"Well, of the two of us, you've got a better chance than I do," he said.

"Awww, don't sell yourself short!" she tittered.

"Did I hear something about an adventure?" a voice said from behind. At the sound of it, Avora's flirty smile vanished.

The three turned to see a tabaxi adorned in plain clothes, aside from the light gleaming off of the golden choker at his neck, the color contrasting with his black fur. The male feline sported tall ears, a light brown shirt, and a pair of yellow eyes whose luster matched that of the choker about his neck; and although Rush couldn't identify it, Cobalt knew it as the mark of a cleric of Mastara, the Goddess of Life in the tabaxi pantheon. Avora, meanwhile, knew it--and its owner--from memory.

"Oh, gods..." she muttered under her breath, turning away. "Yes, I'm hiring anyone but you." she sighed, aloud.

"Mm-hm, and who is going to heal you and your handsome bodyguard should you stumble into trouble?" the black cat said. Avora growled. Of course he had been listening to everything.

"That's your pitch for joining up?" Avora scoffed. "'You need me?'"

"He does have a point," Cobalt said. "It's a good idea to have a cleric with us!"

"Paladin, actually," the cat corrected. "but it's an easy mistake to make, given I'm not wearing any armor."

"Oh, well I just saw your symbol and thought--I mean you are a follower of the Goddess of Life, aren't you?" Cobalt asked. "I didn't think she had paladins."

"She's got at least one," the tabaxi said with a cocksure smirk. "And so might you, if you'll have me aboard."

"Well I don't see why not," Cobalt said with a shrug of her wings. Rush murmured agreement as well.

"No," Avora said. "We're fine. But thank you. Please leave."

"This is a public establishment, Avora," the tabaxi scoffed. "One of the few remaining on this continent that is not owned by you, so unfortunately you've no right to kick me out, legal or otherwise."

"I do have a new bodyguard I could sic on you," Avora growled between clenched teeth.

"You haven't actually hired me yet," Rush pointed out. "and for whatever my judgement is worth here, I say we hear him out."

"I don't believe judgement calls are what I'm hiring you for," Avora said.

"Well... you do pay me, and I think he should stay." Cobalt said. "I've never met a tabaxi before!"

The others could see Avora's ironclad will and stubbornness start to deflate. She may have been immune to the logic posed by both Rush and the feline paladin, but Cobalt's cheeriness was hard to argue against.

"I'm sure it will be less than pleasant dragging your ex along," Rush whispered to Avora. "but you do have someone else to distract you, you know."

The dragonborn sighed slowly, giving in.

"Alright, alright," she said. "Whatever."

"Wait, he's your ex??" Cobalt blurted loudly.

The others hadn't thought it possible for Avora's scales to grow redder than they were, but they did just that as she put her clawed hand over her face.

The tabaxi cleared his throat and stepped forward.

"Atarin Lighteye," he introduced, shaking the hand of the wolfkin and the aarakocra respectively. "Call me Atar."

"I believe I have an adventure for us to start out with," he said once he'd been introduced to the others. He brought a yellowed parchment scroll from his pack and unfurled it on the table. "See, I've been searching for this old temple, the Shrine of the Fallen Warrior. It's said to hold--"

"Oh! The Armor of the Raziir!" Cobalt blurted.

"The Armor of the Raziir himself, exactly," Atar laughed. "I see you are the brains of this group."

"Oh, here we go..." Avora sighed.

"Armor of the...?" Rush trailed off.

"The Raziir," Atar said. "A great warrior among my people. A protector, said to pass the mantle down from one generation of tabaxi to the next, until the collapse of the great city of Khajl."

"The Raziir's armor was said to be designed and built unlike anything we even have today!"

"Yes," Atar said. "It is said whosoever is able to don this armor will walk with the protection, power, and might of Mastara. Finding it would do quite a lot to get me further within her good graces."

"It's not supposed to be worn by anyone except the Champion of the Goddess," Cobalt said. "You think that's you?"

"Well, I'm certainly willing to try it on, at least," Atar chuckled.

"Did someone say 'Champion of the Gods?'" a loud, gruff voice roared.

The four of them looked up as a truly massive lizard man stood up from the far left end of the table they sat at. His body was all thick, green, ridged scales and bulging muscle, easily twice as tall as Atar, who was the tallest among them. His eyes turned on them, pale yellow spheres with black slits for pupils, red bloodshot veins pulsing at the edges.

"... ... Yes...?" Atar said hesitantly.

The big lizard's face split across its length in a wide, toothy grin. The rows of yellowed and crooked teeth, each sharp as a blade, made most of the group grimace.

"Ahhh," the lizard man chuckled. "Throx is always pleasured to meet fans."

"Umm..." Avora stammered.

"You spoke of the Champion of the Gods!" the hulking lizardfolk said, gesturing broadly. "Throx is here, before you!"

"Well, it seems he also believes himself to be chosen by the gods," Cobalt noted.

"Somehow I suspect we mean different gods..." Atar said.

"I'm glad I'm not the one who has to tell him that," Rush laughed.

At this, Avora grinned wickedly.

"Throx, of course!" she said, moving toward him, putting an arm around his waist and guiding him toward the group. "In fact, I was just looking to hire someone like you! My friend here is one of your biggest fans!"

"Come again?" Atar squeaked as she gestured toward him.

"Hmmm..." the lizard man murmured, sizing up the feline. "Your muscles are not completely pathetic, Small Cat Man."

"Wh- I- ... Thank you?" Atar said.

"So, what you want me to sign?" Throx asked.

"Pardon?" Atar said.

"Your weapons? Armor?" Throx continued.

"W-well, I--" Atar stammered.

"Feh, this armor is weak and soft," the lizard said, grabbing at Atar's clothes. "Very well, Throx will sign where his last fan asked for a signature."

"Wha- Hey!" Atar yelped as Throx grabbed him by the tail and hoisted him into the air so that he was dangling three feet off the ground, upside down--only to then promptly sign his ass on the right buttock.

"Should we help, or...?" Cobalt trailed off nervously.

"No, I think he's got it covered," Avora said with a smirk, deeply enjoying this as she took a sip of her wine. Cheap tavern alcohol had never been sweeter.

"Also, he refers to himself in the third person?" Rush chuckled.

"Third person?" Throx asked, looking around. "What third person? There are only..."

The others watched as he tried and failed to count up the members of the group, always somehow ending up at six before getting confused and starting over.

"Not too bright, this one," Avora said, taking another sip as she watched Atar still squirming in the grasp of the massive reptile.

"I'm more concerned he didn't know what clothes are?" Cobalt giggled. Rush laughed.

"Does he just wear that armor all the time?" Avora giggled with them, though her eyes wandering the brute's scaly body held a glimmer of genuine interest.

"Put me down, you oaf!" Atar hissed, slamming ineffectually at Throx's torso.

"Oh. Sorry, Kitty Man," the lizard mumbled, setting him down. Atar groaned and cast Lay on Hands at the base of his tail.

"Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I think Throx here will make an excellent addition to the team!" Avora said, ignoring the half-formed protests from Cobalt and Rush and the fully-formed curses from Atar. She shook his scaly hand and then dropped a plump coin purse into it. "You're hired."