Chapter 1: Adventures in Babysitting

"She's got all her teeth, we might need to cut up her food for her but I would bet she eats everything we can."

Stopping midstride Crow looked at Anwyn woth dorect eye contact. "My favorite food is a bear steak and a baked potato with lots of butter and cream. Whats your favorite food, Anwyn?" He suspected with her golden hair and nright eyes Anwyn was a chondathan like he was, and like most chondathan he had a "salt-tooth." He was curious what Anwyn's preference was, and tried to emphasize that with his expression.

"I have a cutlass, I can cut it for her. She probably eats meat. That's what we fine Pirates eat anyway. I'm too young for the alcoholic beverages that the grownups partake of but I can drink water for now." Selena says a moment later.

Falling in step with her newfound compatriots, Fen drapes one arm over the shoulders of her feline friend as they bring up the rear of this little band of misfits. Self-consciously, she pulls her hood back up to conceal her hair and ears, though she leaves her face mask down. She walks with her head tilted to the ground, eyes peering up beneath her brows to keep sight on the group, following faithfully towards food.

Tom moves closer to the young girl as they walk, interested to hear the answer to Crow's question. He should have thought to ask it himself, though the girl seems to respond best to the young acolyte.

If Crow can get the girl talking a bit about her favorite foods, or any topic really, it should provide them with some clues as to what type of family she comes from. And at this point, any clue will help.

Well, that certainly wasn't helpful? "Me, too" he tells Anwyn. "I like mine mashed, how about you?"


He runs over the typical menus of the food carts in his mind as they near the green, trying to decide which might be the best bet for buying her something she likes.

Gern walks up to one of the carts and orders her meal, then finds a spot for them to all sit, eat and plan the next steps with Anywn.

"So, do we poke around first ourselves to look for the minders, or shall we try the guard house and hand her over?"

"Potatoes are very good," Fen agrees from the back of the group. She says it with complete sincerity and simplicity, thrilled to have found other humanoids with whom to share likes and conversation. Not having much experience in the way of social interaction, each small kernel of connection is like a waterfall in a desert to the awkward half-orc. "What about meat?" she asks, directed to no one in particular.

"If we were to hand her over to anyone it should be the priests of The Morning Lord at the Halls of Justice. The guard are busy maintaning order. Midtenday mass would be the best time to find her parents anyway." Crow recommended as he perused the available food selection.

"We should try asking her some other questions to see what she can remember about where she's from or her parents." Tom says. "I have some paper in my pack and I was hoping to perhaps get her to draw as a game. Maybe if she draws something near her home, we'd recognize it?"

"But failing us learning more from her, since she may not be the best source of information, we could change our strategy and try to learn more about her. While the priests watch over her, we could split up across the city and post or hand out flyers to see if anyone recognizes her description. Someone should be looking for her if she's missing."

After observing some of the chatter, Fen turns her attention to the child. "Anwyn," she tilts down to smile at the girl. "Is there a nice place near here? Fun place? Can you show me somewhere pretty?"

Hoping perhaps the little one can lead them in some direction that will aid the band of little detectives, Fen encourages the child to share her knowledge with the party in an indirect manner.

"Now thats a great question."

Crow remarked appreciatively as he began to negotiate for a kettle of mashed potatoes and gravy.

Gern examines the newcomer and is suspicious, especially with the human child's reaction to him. She stands up, placing herself between the man and child.

"Hullo sir, who might you be?"

Anwyn’s body language sets off alarm bells for Fen who immediately reaches out to place a comforting hand upon the girl’s shoulder. Oshgal bristles beside Fen, though shows no immediate signs of aggression; the feline and the half-orc have honed their reflexes enough to avoid immediate bursts of confrontational appearance as their innate forms tend to set them up enough for adversities.

Rather than lowering her head as she is wont to do, Fen maintains straight posture, deferring to Crow and Gern for the conversational part of this interaction but maintaining a presence as fellow protector of the small human girl. In her silence, Fen observes the man sharply, looking not only for any familial similarity between himself and their charge, but for any feature that would further raise the red flags that have already begun to flutter in her mind.

Also concerned by the Anwyn's reaction to the man, but not wanting their suspicions to seem obvious, Tom decides it might be best to buy time and defuse the situation.

He nudges Crow gently and slips him some coppers to help pay for the food as he turns to the man, and says, "Indeed we have found her, and we were just treating her to lunch. It would be a shame for that food to go to waste, so why don't you sit down and join us."

"What part of the city are you and the girl from?" asks Tom conversationally. "We were having a devil of a time trying to figure out how she ended up in that crowd, all alone."

Fen gives a relieved smile as Tom inserts himself to the conversation. She leans in to whisper in Anwyn’s ear, just loud enough for Crow to also hear her suggestion. "Anwyn, do you want to ride the big kitty? Big kitty very gentle, I ride all the time. Big kitty very safe place. I can help keep you up." Considering the tension of this interaction, Fen decides it may be best to prepare for an expedient retreat with the scared little girl. Knowing that Oshgal’s presence is not the most inviting to strangers, she hopes that her feline partner will help bolster the child’s feeling of security while simultaneously putting a barrier between the girl and the man.