As night fell over Rica, one of Jastrey’s mostly nocturnal creatures roamed the docks. Her mask only covered the lower half of her face tonight, crimson hair loose above her shoulders. She still wore the thinner cloak she had found, but it billowed out around her as she walked, displaying the black leather beneath. She had taken care to adjust her sword and dagger so that they weren’t quite so prominent, but her bow was strung across her back as usual.
Binx strolled past groups of drunkards without hesitation. A few took her exposed skin as an invitation to call out to her, but she passed in silence. Women in tight corsets with reddened lips flaunted their bodies for coin. Sailors pissed from the decks of their boats with abandon. It smelled like booze, piss, and salt air but they all seemed to be enjoying themselves. The Uordeq's yellow eyes trailed over faces and bodies like mobile citrine stones in their dark sockets, unphased by this new place. She almost seemed to be searching for something, or someone.
At the jingling of coins, a rather rugged looking human woman steps down onto the docks. She wears a gown of cheap shiny silk and smells of far too many perfumes with a hint of dirt and sweat. She circles back to face the Angori, and smiles, revealing a broken tooth through her entirely too bright red lips. Behind her, a line of other females and males alike line the porch.
She speaks to the Angori, placing her hand on his arm. "I'm Knessa. Whatcha' looking for, stranger? Those are mighty fine...horns you've got. Strong lookin, too. Refreshin' to see a new face round' here."
Just as she passed a small table of men playing cards just outside of one of the open doors, Binx spotted a pair of horns a ways off. She paused, recognizing them and the Angori they were attached to...but not the woman in front of him. One of her pale hands found the curve of her hip as she shifted her weight, poised to watch how this particular encounter played out. She didn't appear angry, but she was carefully eyeing the women scattered in front of the building.
Knessa turns to eye the lady the Angori seems to have chosen, then turns back to Barbaal. The lady on the porch stands with flowing red hair, and is dressed in a flowing gown of fine purple and green satin. Knessa speaks softly "That's Ariel. I'll bring her down for you if you'd like." Knessa waits patiently to see if the Angori makes his decision.
"I would like that."
Binx had watched in silence from her distance up until the woman with hair almost as red as her own fae-touched hair revealed herself. That was what she'd been waiting for all along. Just like that, she was on the other side of Barbaal, hand still on her hip as if she'd never moved. She cast the briefest of glances up to Barbaal, something mischievous and almost challenging in her eyes, before looking back to the green and purple clad Ariel.
Knessa eyes the masked woman warily, the turns to Ariel and back. "Ariel doesn't prefer the ladies, Miss. She'll be happy to serve the Angori, but ye'll have to find another, Miss. All the girls here at The Golden Lotus get a say in who they lay with, and there's a few for you, too." Knessa curtsies faintly, hoping she hasn't offended the dark lady, then turns to the Angori. "Would you still like to speak with Ariel, Mister?"
Nothing short of surprise filled Barbaal when his Uordeq companion appeared by his side. This feeling was quickly shaken; He'd known Binx long enough to know her nature. "Oi Binx. Where you been?" Barbaal asks as his attention is taken off the woman with red hair.
Binx's amber eyes drifted to meet Knessa's as she spoke. One of her thin brows lifting was the only indication of irritation that she gave, but the woman's gesture of polite submission appeased her and a few of the ideas that came to mind at the denial. Her immediately flicked to Barbaal when he acknowledged her. Though she was well aware of the whores still nearby hoping for coin, she disregarded them for the moment.
"Around," She answered simply. "yourself?"
Barbaal strolled the docks with a grin. The sounds of shanty music and laughter and drunken shouting all excited him. As he wandered about with no particular destination in mind, he was distracted by a modest looking establishment with not so modest looking women in front. His grin widened as he was drawn to the building, reaching for a few coins from his pouch.