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[RAM]

Well he seems nice, hasn't even tried to kill you yet, nor inquired after your sexual history. If you ever meet Magic(or whoever it is behind unicorns and healing and whatever else... some sort of wilderness god maybe? Probably a lecher...) you are going to have to inquire after why your personal life has to be so public...

But best to tell them the lot. Lying should be understandable, but explaining how you were there for everything nor how you got the background information, really, without withholding lots of important details your really can't get out of this with a clean record. On the plus side, you are actively undermining their ritual by depriving them of their symbol of intimidation and were involved in the deaths of two of their demons including one of the other avatars. And you did save one of the region's villages, you hope, and really really really tried to save a mess of people from the bandits.

Also, try to stay calm. revealing just how traumatised you are might get you some much-needed sympathy, but ripping legs off of members of the court is not diplomatic. Just think of it as though you read it all in a storybook, a sweet little children's storybook. Something along the lines of The Tale of the Brave Little Spider:
 "Once there was a brave little spider that met a very bad person and was hurt very badly, but she got better. That made the bad person very angry, so he brought an army to the brave little spider's home and made her fight him all alone. The bad man got very badly hurt and the boss of the army wanted the brave little spider to join them but she made them promise not to hurt her home, so they all left her home behind. The brave little spider met lots of people in the bad army and some of them thought something very very very very very bad would happen... so she wanted to get all the good people together and leave the bad army and stop them from doing a bad thing. Then she met someone who knew her mother, and he was one of the special people in the army. The brave little spider was also one ofthe special people. They didn't know at the time, but every special person represented something different. The brave little spider was supposed to be intimidating. She didn't find out all the different things but the very very very very very bad thing was supposed to have people to represent all of thee different things. Anyway, the special person that knew her mother was very angry at her mother and wanted to hurt the brave little spider very badly, but he got hurt very badly instead, so he wasn't there for the very very very very very bad thing but when it happened his nasty paint, even though it was a long way away, came to life and did very very very bad things to people the brave little spider was supposed to protect and made her very sad and then the brave little spider fought it with her brave companions and got very badly hurt but she got better and the monster was slain so that was all good in the end wasn't it! But before that the army went to a poor little town and stole a thing from a church and then on their way back they did the very very very very very bad thing. They made everyone stop, and said a speech, and did something with the thing from the church and their bad magic person and very very very very bad things happened to the whole army, except for some people who could resist magic and could also run away because everyone else turned into evil monsters..."

Just mention that you will try to answer any questions they have but that you don't react well to remembering some of the more horrific details.

[Liquefied Spleens]

Get out of my City, please

You tell them everything, starting from how you joined Vvulf to how you trained... The whole thing. Even your involvement with the raid, which raised some eyebrows, but they remained quiet as you spoke. Of course, when you got to the ritual, you don't give details. As in, you stop talking when you say that the ritual happened, and then you take a deep breath and make a conscious effort to not think about it. It mostly works, though you feel a small tingle of teeth hitting you... Another deep breath in and out.
The count was about to speak until you continue onward, explaining what happened after the ritual. During your explanation, the jester looks with rapt attention, as he skitters around the walls. He seems incapable of standing still, but he is always looking at you, even if he has to twist his back to do so. He's very limber, to say the least. When you begin explaining what happened in Vvulf's camp, the count interrupts you.

Hold on... You see a massive, eldrich pillar of death, and your first decision is to fight it?
You hear a drider tell you the story abut how she was part of a ritual that woke up an dead god, and the part where she fights a monster is what's strange to you?
Call it the straw that broke the camel's back... After all this, you still decided to go back to it? Not to mention, you narrowly escaped death and you attack one of the strongest creatures.
God moves in mysterious ways, and this one feels she's fairly close, no? Even if she doesn't, She does. The inner spider, the inner dominator. I broke mine, but you still have-Enough!
The count leans back in his chair, massaging his temples, and then asks for you to finish the story. Of course, there's not much more to tell. You lead it to a fire, almost die, drag yourself to this city, get fixed, become a cleaning maid, calmed a bog unicorn, found an eldrich cultist who summoned a man twisted into the shape of a beast, cleaned up a slaver's den in a drugged stupor.... All in all, a fairly normal two days.
So that's how you spend a single WEEK?
...Has it really been only that long? I feel like it's been months... Fuck.
Language, language! Tsk tsk tsk, Sydney!

The count laughs at the jester's comment. It's the first time his seriousness breaks, and it's honestly quite nice. He has an infectious laugh, and soon you can't help but snicker a bit yourself. The jester bows, and does a little jig, his bells creating a symphony of sound.
Hah... Anyways. Sydney... I can't condone you joining up with the bandit, even if it was to save your village. However, I did get a report that you saved a family during the raid, so I'm willing to... overlook it. However! The fact that you are marked, and are attracting dangerous attention as it is, means I cannot, in good faith, allow you to remain in my city.
WHAT!?
You're a dangerous woman, whether you like it or not, and I can't keep you here because of it. We already discovered a slaver's den was right below our noses, and the addition of cultists wreaking havoc in my city is too great to overlook. I will grant you one month, and then you must leave. By force, if needed.
B-but that's completely unfair!
So's life, don't cry.
You glare at the jester, who does not seem too affected by it.
This isn't personal. I'll grant you supplies for when you leave, but I don't want your presence painting a target on my city. I suggest you gather your companions and travel... Perhaps to the orc tower. They might be able to help you with your mark.
Or maybe they won't.
Not the time, Tiresias! The count sighs deeply, and you see pity in his eyes when he looks at you. He looks... very tired.
I must protect my city, as you wished to protect your town. On that note, I'll fast-forward the bureaucracy and send a detachment of guards to make sure the village is safe. You deserve that much for your efforts. Now, A guard will escort you outside. I have more work to do.
...Fine. I'll start on my arrangements, I suppose.
two more things.First off, you may keep the coat, as Tiresias has long decided against proper clothing.and second, If you ever have to meet with another nobleman, you should learn some etiquette. I don't care about it, but some would have you whipped for your tone.
...noted. Your excellency.
The count snickers, and the guard that led you to this chamber tells you to follow him. You do so, leaving one last look at the other drider. He seemed strangely knowledgeable about things...

Still, now you've got preparations to make. In a month's time, you need to leave this city.

If all your preparations ready, you can fast-forward to the end of this month. It IS possible that some exceptional event will happen in that month, but you will continue working at the wizard tower, get your payment, and see what happens to your companions. A lot of things could happen, you'll just have to discover.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Level: 5
HP: 15/20
Mana: 00/25
Stress: 20/100

Equipment:
Expensive Drider Coat

Items:
Handkerchief

Magic:
Resurrect vermin: Allows you to resurrect very small creatures such as rats(1) (invests 1 of your max mana)
Reshape minion: Allows you to slightly change the appearance of your resurrected minions. (//////...)
Minion Vision(weak): Allows you to see what a minion sees. The minion must have eyes.
Animate Piece: Allows you to animate just a piece of dead tissue. It requires your constant attention, and cannot act independently. (invests one mana) (1)
Graft: Allows you to use dead tissue as a replacement limb. Requires a lot of mana. (2 per second)
Gather Soul: Allows you to make a soul visible. You can't do anything with it, quite yet. (10 mana)

Skills:
Poison Stinger (Potentially lethal)
Major experience in blocking and swords.
Climber
Crafty: Bolas
Cooking skill: excellent
Corpse Cutting: Awful.
Animal handling: inexperienced.
Necromantic knowledge

[TheBiggerFish]

Figure out what information Death gave us the other time.

[RAM]

A vision comes forth: There a god, a being that embodies all the wilderness of the world. It has the form of a satyr, and embodies every negative stereotype associated with them. It has a thing for "pure maidens" and they have already noticed a certain drider, because fortune is sadistic that way...

So much for the establishment. Saved a town? collaborated with bandits... Taught them discipline and respect? trained them to fight... Forced into a town and saved people? acts of banditry... Undermined an evil ritual? spread its influence... Put down a rampaging monster? AM a rampaging monster... Defended and assisted magical research? endangered it, by being there... Revealed and broke a slave merchant practically within the palace? causes trouble wherever they go... Somehow an important part of their evil ritual that may help them somehow if they can get me? let's kick me out of the city and straight into their waiting maw... Well, I guess this means we get to doom a caravan by travelling with them for safety. I wonder how many of their number will spontaneously turn evil as soon as we get close...

Things to do:
 Get our stuff back! The slavers might not have sold it, customers probably have an occasional interest and being an outlet for stolen goods would raise their profile. They might have a partner fence that got everything before we even got there, but we can hope that our stuff turned up, and we have our pets to track down at the least.

 Necromancy! Combine souls-sensing with a pair of heavy crossbows that are automatically reloaded by woodland critters(Just like Disnep Princess!) while hiding from web in a completely arbitrary location and you might have the beginnings of a proper horror story. Or have a woodland-critter-operated ballista mounted on your abdomen... Or perhaps go for massed crossbows and have a nice point-defence system.
 Learning how to animate something large enough to fight would be nice. A butchers might let us animate and dismiss intact corpses for a small fee or we could ask the ravens if they have any practise supplies...
 Minion awareness would also be good to work on. Locating them would multiply their value as scouts and being loosley aware of their activities would keep them from getting us in trouble. A couple of critters isn't much of a problem, but I doubt that zombies have a right to self-defence...
 Commune with Death! We are supposed to be friends, right? So let's chew the breeze...

Magic!
 Se if meandra will help us out with some basic spells. If we can manage an efficient light spell enough to read by, enough fire to light kindling, some sort of water purification for drinking, some smoke-generation for signalling, and a muck-throw spell for dirty fighting then it would help a lot if we are deprived for some reason. None of these sound difficult but we don't know enough about magic to tell.

Settle Old Scores...
 Well, the other slaves sort of owe us, and we kind of knew that fairy. Aren't there stories of fairy companions with powerful magicians? That matches us, right? Hopefully we didn't do anything to upset any of them. Still, we didn't help them for a reward so it would be tactless to go looking for one, and they are probably destitute, we would probably just end up feeling guilty and trying to help them if we tracked them down... We barely even met any of them though, and they are probably long gone, so we may as well forget it. Nice to know if they got out safely though.
 We owe that, umm, bard? The huge one that probably picks their teeth with dragon scales... a story, sort of. They did help us to not permanently scar that specist moron... It was the drider that they had a prblem with, right? Did we ever rightly figure out their problem?
 Definitely meet with that kobolt. They sounded like they needed a friend, and we have nightmares about our nightmares which are pale imitations of our life, so a friend would help... And we said we would and we don't want to be unreliable.
 Our father has an inn to run, and Yunikki wanted to repay a debt to us. We should probably mention that we value the lives of our friends and companions, so the life they repay doesn't need to be our own... We can't stay at the inn. The city could keep a few nasties at bay, but our hometown really isn't going to host any murderous demons without suffering for it. So we could be leaving both of them behind and the orc tower is a good idea...
 Meandra has been fun, but she has her own life here and nobody sane would run off with a doomed arachnotaur. And it goes without saying that dragging any of the other village kids along would be a tragedy in the making. So there are a lot of goodbyes to go around.
We should try getting to know the city's travellers. We will likely join up with a merchant train to The Orc Tower, but there might be a group of magicians headed there and you never know what adventurers will be up to. Whatever the case, travelling alone is dubious at the best of times, which this most assuredly is not, so try to get to know some of the people we will be travelling with. If we are extremely lucky then we might be able to sell our services as a cook. Getting paid would be nice and nobody wants to mess with the difference between a rejuvenating meal at the end of a long-day's travel or a week of diarrhoea...

Quests?
 Well, we could still ask to get in on that investigation for the demon attack at the mage tower.
 We could try to track down the source of those kinds who attacked us.
 Nobody noticed a drider being kidnapped? Even dumped in a sack we would normally cut a noticeable profile. We might be able to track down some smugglers/corrupt guards/communities who would rather look the other way as their own people are dragged off and sold. It might be possible to make the slums a slightly better place...
 Found a religion? Inner drider may not be the nicest of people but she is a great defence against night-howlers at least. I mean, the consequences are pretty bad, but better than stripping naked and asking the walls for a dance... I doubt a certain jester could manage half as well...

Actual preparations...
 Well, our gear is workable, but could be improved. A thousand undead monkeys operating a thousand abdomen-mounted crossbows aside, some proper drider armour would be helpful. Our shield has some culture, if we can find it, but would it stop a blow from the likes of Alexander or Vvulf? Spare swords are good, and a polearm can be useful on occasion.
 We want our own supplies for a few days even if the group has supplies. You never know what might happen and lacking food is a bad thing. A few changes of sturdy, comfortable travelling garb would be sorely missed in their absence. A pet kobolt to keep the bad memories away. Weather protection. Rain, snow, sunstroke, hail, miasma, chill winds, sandstorms... Something to keep an angry world separated from a set-upon drider could be invaluable.
 A travel plan can be a double-edged sword, but it is horrific to think that all the correspondence can be spied upon. Letting someone at The Orc Tower know to expect you would be good, and we know a certain healer who likes asking unpleasant questions. Sorting out food and board in advance can work miracles and it probably takes a long time to get any sort of admission to the faculty.
Anyone who travels with us will need to be equipped similarly. Hopefully we don't have to pay for everything but who knows... Better to have competent assistance than a full and alluring money pouch attracting all manner of ne'er-do-well.

[RAM]

In the short term:
 I do not recall the contract, but I do not think that "abducted, enslaved, and interrogated by The Count" is listed as a reason to get out of work and I don't think that anything that attacked us qualified under the "mauled by monsters" clause... So we have maid-work to do. We should get changed first, because this is not a cleaner's outfit. Also we were going to sell stories to the bard-thing today, so we should live up to that commitment. And our father, uncle, and Zoidberg should be informed that we are still alive...

So I suggest swinging through the market, leaving a message that we are still alive for Yunikki and family, offering the bardbarian a tale of their choice based on the horror-scale(where 0 is "this morning my bed was the shabbiest thing in the whole room" and 10 is "I am one of the two lost avatars of ammogeddon and there is a horde of pure malevolence hunting me down to drag me into a fate worse than hell") before going forth upon an epic journey of gainful employment and imminent doom.

[Liquefied Spleens]

Special Bazaar

You try to think about what Death brought to you in the way of information. Eveline mentioned you hacking up some black goo, but you can't for the life of you even get a smidgen of information. You can't remember anything when you're out of sorts, so it doesn't help... You wonder if your savage version has her own memory. You quickly discart that line of thought, of course. It isn't a "She", it's just you with some synapses in your brain not working properly. Still, though...
You shake your head and start walking towards the market, trying to think of how you're going to do all the things you needed to do today. It appears to be close to noon, so can only hope you'll see your family members, or Yunikki. At least, you should be able to find the salesman. You promised him a story, after all.

On the way there, you notice that people seem a bit more tense than before. People keep their (many) dogs close, and less people are out and about. Many of them stare at you, still, more than before. Maybe it's the fancy clothing? Who knows... Speaking of clothing, you should figure out where those slavers put your clothing. Also of note, you notice you now have a proper bra for... probably the first time this whole week. It's extremely comfortable in comparison to your binders, but it might interfere in combat. You shrug, and continue walking. It's a massive co-incidence that the count's daughter shares your bra size, though. It sure is nice to have a life where a lot of minor things are conveniently placed in your lap...
Of course, you could do without the dead god's reckoning bothering you.

When you reach the market, you can square away one thing on your to-do list. Yunikki is training some guards in a small open spot of the market. She's really laying into them, clearly enjoying the power of her position as instructor.
Alright, ladies, I want this market to be secure, so I expect everybody to make a tour around the place and to have regular switches! An man who stands still is a man who is slow! And I don't care your new armor is hot, that's why we're out here. The first one to faint buys a round for the whole barracks! Now let's get moving!
She begins creating small groups of heavily armored guards, and places them at different strategic parts of the market. Some at the entrance of the district, some in the middle of the stalls, even some at the inn and brothel. She seems to be taking to the job quite well. You wave to her, causing her to come over immediately as she takes off her helmet.
Well, well well! If it isn't the boss... Where were you last night? Your old man's worried sick and he likes to yell at me when that happens.
I mopped up a slaver's den after they kidnapped me.
What? How'd they even kidnap you, you gotta weigh like 200 kilos!
under a hundred, actually. My undercarriage is surprisingly light.
Bug-biology is weird. Well, you got some new clothes out of the deal, I see. Planning on surprising anybody?
Got 'em for free. Anyway, I have some things to do, could you make sure my family known I'm not dead?
Tell them yourself. We'll be expecting you at lunch. Don't be late.
Pft, alright then. We'll have an extra head, though. A kobolt I saved from prison.
Yunikki just laughs a little, puts on her helmet, and starts yelling at a guard who was shuffling his feet.

Find the salesperson wasn't difficult, all you had to do was follow the sound of his booming voice. You wonder if he even sells anything, he may honestly just be here to tell stories. He glances to you, and stops telling his story to the masses. With an oop, and telling them to buy something if they want the rest of the story. The children that were listening groan, and quickly leave. He then turns to you, grins smugly, and asks if you've got a story to tell.
How scary do you want it?
I've faced down hell, girl, there's very little that can faze me.
...Hm. Well, I'm still a bit fazed about it, myself. But I think I can figure something out. What'll you give me for digging up some trauma?
That would spoil the surprise! Anyway, I can take care of any behavior that goes out of line, don't worry. I've got a snuff box around here... uh, somewhere.
He begins rummaging in the back of his cart, and after a short while he comes up with a clam-shaped sort of box. It looks beautiful, with all sorts of engravings. This little thing must be worth a fortune!

The stuff inside can make any day a good day... I've seen it work on a drake, I figure it'll work on anybody. Just a sniff, and you're golden.
Alright then... I guess I'll start. Can I enter?
Sure, sure... But no stealing! I'll notice it.
His small caravan is even more impressive on the inside, if only because of how much treasures he managed to stock on here. Heads, scales, weapons, armor, and a box full of potions. This man's prepared to make an expedition into hell itself!
Anyways, You start talking about... the ritual. In detail. Lots of it. You start scratching yourself when you get to describing Jack, to the point that you manage to make your arm bleed a little, but true to the salesman's word, the snuff box really does help. You manage to get the whole story out, describing just how a god acquires servants, and how people get marked. Then, you tell the story of Karliah, or more accurately, what was left of her. The whole story ends up taking an hour, and the man listens attentively. He's even writing it down in a large book of his, his pen moving at a speed you didn't think possible. He doesn't even need an inkpot! It just writes on its own! When you finish the story, the man looks rather satisfied.
Hm... I liked that story, quite a bit. If nothing else, for the scholarly value. Nobody ever saw a ritual to the Gestating God in quite a few years. Let alone survived one. Quite impressive.
It wasn't exactly fun, though.
You'll appriciate it, in time. Some scars don't heal, but many leave you stronger. Anyway! I do believe I promised you something for the trouble? Let me see here... Ah! Here's a few I had planned!
He grabs a large chest from the bottom of a particular junk pile, and lifts it up without issue. His muscles bulge, but he appears unfazed by the weight. He opens the chest using a key from his (very large) key-chain. Inside the chest, you see:
1.An amulet that supposedly improves the seductiveness of the wearer. It's shaped like a heart covered in thorns and makes you feel a little uncomfortable.
2.A small dagger that looks too thin to be useful, but it's completely unbreakable. A nice back-up weapon!
3.A cookbook. Of EVERYTHING. It always gives you recipes for the possible things you can make from what's nearby. It's technically the most magical thing here, but it's use is a bit banal.
Pick one, and only one.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Level: 5
HP: 15/20
Mana: 00/25
Stress: 20/100

Equipment:
Expensive Drider Coat

Items:
Handkerchief

Magic:
Resurrect vermin: Allows you to resurrect very small creatures such as rats(1) (invests 1 of your max mana)
Reshape minion: Allows you to slightly change the appearance of your resurrected minions. (//////...)
Minion Vision(weak): Allows you to see what a minion sees. The minion must have eyes.
Animate Piece: Allows you to animate just a piece of dead tissue. It requires your constant attention, and cannot act independently. (invests one mana) (1)
Graft: Allows you to use dead tissue as a replacement limb. Requires a lot of mana. (2 per second)
Gather Soul: Allows you to make a soul visible. You can't do anything with it, quite yet. (10 mana)

Skills:
Poison Stinger (Potentially lethal)
Major experience in blocking and swords.
Climber
Crafty: Bolas
Cooking skill: excellent
Corpse Cutting: Awful.
Animal handling: inexperienced.
Necromantic knowledge

I should elaborate on the fast-forwarding: I will make the days go by quickly if nothing of interest happens during the day. I believe one description of how Sydney cleaned the tower is enough. IF something happens, I will describe what happened up to the moment of crisis. If you make a conscious effort to keep doing things that aren't exactly part of a routine, time will not speed up.

[RAM]

Cookbook! You never know when you might find yourself deep in a desolate ruin and out of supplies, with nothing but venomous bugs for sustenance...
Also has great daily utility, but don't assume that it has the best recipes, always feel free to experiment or add your own style to it. It would be easy to let something like this retard your skills...

Unbreakable is a terrible power. If there is one then there are others, and sooner or later someone comes up with an unstoppable and you find your basic-model unbreakable is not actually unbreakable as you are trying to lever out some immobile rivets and suddenly the absolute magicks mess with one another and your blade gets blunted... Also tempting to steal, a book is valuable, but easily identified and usually have a smaller market.

Seduction ring? Well, it is not without uses but, well, that sort of attention... We do not want a repeat of our mother's cult... On that note, where did it come from? And should we be worried about being alone in a tent with someone who has that sort of item and gave us this drug...

I do hope we can find that shield again, it was enough trouble to get a unicorn to bless it... Ugh, being robbed is a real pain. This outfit is probably worth a small fortune, but there isn't really a market for drider-wear, and we might need a formal outfit in the future...

Well it must be time for lunch by now and then off to work. Maybe father can loan us enough for some rags to wear while cleaning... upside down... Ugh, never get stolen from, or stolen for that matter, again. And we need some way to stow this fancy outfit. But for now, it might be nice to look like nobility...

[crazyabe]

I Vote for No3.

[TheBiggerFish]

Cookbook.

[RAM]

Ugh. We are going to have to tell everyone about our, umm, generous offer to allow us to leave this fine city, by force... Remind the bounty hunter that caught and raised us that they have an inn to run and a village that will likely need the inn in the face of adventurers trekking off to claim bounties on our former companions. Be mindful that due to a brief tryst with the local character you missed the whole morning at work, so lunch will need a touch of haste. Do be friendly with Lady Eveline, but make some effort to extract further details as to the fates of your cadre after your mind's interlude and any clues at to what may have befalling your accoutrements(someone with experience of the local flavour or an association with the resident constabulary may also possess insights upon such matters...). And we REALLY need to track down our pets, but we can't just not turn up at work for the whole day, "For ME, it was the day of my kidnapping and exile! For I, it was just a Thursday..." it would take something important to justify a sicky, perhaps a dire siege? ...

Oh, and that the kobolt for, well, helping you out, and, umm, putting up with you, while you were having your episode... It takes a true and noble companion to stand by you through thick-and-thin people-smoothies.

[Liquefied Spleens]

Meeting up with your friends

You grab the cookbook almost immediately. You bite your underlip in excitement as you look it over. A magic cookbook! You only ever heard of magical books, and this one is right up your alley! You open it up, and see a recipe for... dragon-skin souffle? As you page through the book, you also get a collection of rat recipes, and even some recipes on human flesh. Funny enough, those are marked as "OUT OF THE QUESTION, YOU NINNY" recipes. Seems like the book is sort of contractually obligated to show EVERY recipe. They seem to be in order of taste and acceptability. Interestingly, it also shows you how to effectively catch rats for the rat recipes. This thing has everything...
Fan of cooking, eh? Nice to see in people! Far too little people can make their own food these days... Oh damn.
What's wrong?
That just reminded me that I've got to get my crops and plant new ones before the golems move again. Never you mind, however. I'm going to close up shop and leave. I hope we see each-other again in the near future!

He rummages in his cart for a bit while you leave. A few seconds after you leave, you hear a thunderclap and see two purple portals appear. People start screaming and jumping back, and you... raise your fists. You need to get your gear back, that's for sure. A skeletal hoof steps through the portal, and soon two skeletal horses appear. Then a harness comes down on them, and the salesperson is sitting at the front of his carriage. He manages to stop out of his spot, and rides towards the road and out of the city. After the initial jump, people weren't that concerned, it seems. Even the guards appeared un-concerned before they even reached. They seemed a little annoyed, but they went back to patrolling easily enough.
Whoever that man was, he's on a completely different level than anybody you ever saw, except maybe Vvulf. And this man is still younger, so who knows who would win...

You head to the inn after loitering around the stalls again. More merchants are trying to sell you thing due to your fancy clothing, but they quickly go away when they see there's no money to fit the appearance. You're glad they buzz off, though. Nothing else of interest seems to happen, apart from some people getting arrested by the guards. You were far away, so it hardly concerned you. You managed to get a look at the criminals, however, and you see some familiar masks... 
Looks like they make trouble for many people around here. You hope nobody got hurt, at least. Still, apart from that, you are happy when noon arrives and you can head to the inn. For starters, you see Eveline standing around the entrance, looking too nervous to go in. She lights up when she sees you, and happily runs to you.
You're here! Oh, thank gods. I was getting scared. I'll pay for the food, it's the least I can do.
We'll be sitting with some friends and family of mine, if you don't mind. I need to have them know I'm fine.
That's fine, no worries. Who are they?
Me, for starters!
Yunikki makes the little kobolt jump when she yells. Yunikki seems a lot less restrained than what you're used to. Looks like she really enjoys being a guard, surprisingly. She looks quite good in her armor, now that it's been polished up to a shine. Eveline looks a little intimidated by it though.
H-hey... I'm, uh... I'm a friend. Of Sydney. L-like, uh... Mh.
Her name's Eveline, and armor makes her uncomfortable, apparently.
It's, uh... It's a thing from my town. If you could buy armor, you could buy people. Sorry, i'll just... eh..
She hides behind you. It's very much endearing, to be honest. When you enter the inn, you see your uncle and your father are already sitting down, with some alcohol in front of them. they appear worried.

Alright, you old farts, like I told you, here she is! One unharmed drider.
Sydney! Oh thank the gods... Where have you been?
I got kidnapped and almost sold to slavers. I broke myself out using a pigman, saved a couple morepeople, went insane for a while, ended up in the count's castle and he told me I have to leave in a month's time.
...Fucking what?
I have to leave in a month because I might attract eldrich gods.
The table grows quiet in indignation and general annoyance. Nobody seems to know what to say, which is a moment you hate. You're about to speak again to break this crushing silence, until you suddenly hear a shout at the entrance of the inn.
I was told a drider was in this area!? Does anybody know-ah... There you are.
A guard carrying a bag walks up to you, and puts it on the table. He nods to you, and says that these items are most likely yours.

Sure enough, the bag is filled with your old outfit, your gold pieces and your two minions! They were in a pocket of your coat, apparently. Explains how they appear instantly whenever they are relevant to the plot, probably. You're overjoyed at the repossession of your valuables.
Alright, miss. Now, we know these where yours through the design of the coat, but would you know any other people who may be missing their valuables? We were told you helped them escape from... Uh, her.
He gestures to Eveline, who shrinks a little more. She does not like attention, that much is clear.
On that note, miss Eveline, are you missing anything of note?
M-my alchemy kit... I got to keep my clothing, I-i was already... kinda... dressed in rags.
It now occurs to you that she's essentially wearing a cut up sack. Her yellow fur makes it harder to notice, but now that you did notice it's kind of distressing.
Hm... Alright then, miss. Your items are with my patrol partner, please wait here.
The guard leaves. He returns almost immediately, carrying a small box. It looks like it cost more than Eveline herself. She lights up again when she sees it. She never seems to keep a truly happy face, despite her constant smile. It's the sort of smile that barely reaches her eyes.
The more you look at Eveline, the more you feel a sort of sadness about her. Still, she looks absolutely ecstatic about the return of her box.

Everybody eats lunch shortly after, in relative silence. You don't know what to do for the moment, other than the fact that you're going to work at the tower later. Yunikki decided to pay for Eveline, who. She must have been ravenous. When the meal is concluded, you all leave for your respective jobs. Eveline follows you, as she lacks a place to stay. She won't bother you during work, as she's got her alchemy kit to work with. Apparently, they didn't find the potions she already had, so she needs to re-create those, either way. She happily takes up residence in the appropriate floor to work on her stuff, when it becomes clear that anybody can enter the tower, as long as they can prove they have work to do in there.

Kasimor appears to unfazed by your late appearance, apparently having heard of your kidnapping through his manager position at court. He compliments you for your work ethic, and you get to work after changing to your old clothing in the toilet(you just barely fit in the little room). The day appears to be un-eventful, so you can tihnk about what to do after this shift.

Treat Eveline for some shopping
This girl doesn't have two coins to rub together. She could use some stuff.

Make preparations for you eventual banishment from the city.
Figure out what your companions will do, get some gear ready... All sorts of things will need to happen.

Begin your search for the dwarf
You still need to find out where that dwarf that summoned the eldritch pig-man came from. You need to officially accept the job, too.

Other

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Level: 5
HP: 16/20
Mana: 05/25
Stress: 20/100

Equipment:
Drider shirt
Expensive Drider Coat (in a bag on your back.
Steel sword
Grassy iron shield

Items:
Handkerchief
88 coins
Rough leather armor (in the bag)

Magic:
Resurrect vermin: Allows you to resurrect very small creatures such as rats(1) (invests 1 of your max mana)
Reshape minion: Allows you to slightly change the appearance of your resurrected minions. (//////...)
Minion Vision(weak): Allows you to see what a minion sees. The minion must have eyes.
Animate Piece: Allows you to animate just a piece of dead tissue. It requires your constant attention, and cannot act independently. (invests one mana) (1)
Graft: Allows you to use dead tissue as a replacement limb. Requires a lot of mana. (2 per second)
Gather Soul: Allows you to make a soul visible. You can't do anything with it, quite yet. (10 mana)

Skills:
Poison Stinger (Potentially lethal)
Major experience in blocking and swords.
Climber
Crafty: Bolas
Cooking skill: excellent
Corpse Cutting: Awful.
Animal handling: inexperienced.
Necromantic knowledge

[TheBiggerFish]

All three of these things.  First Eveline, then dwarf search, then prep.

[Liquefied Spleens]

You only have time for one of these things for today. By the time you're finished with cleaning the tower you'll only have a few hours time. In addition, you need to have a  for the things that aren't helping out Eveline.

[RAM]

Evilene. She will almost certainly protest but if she wants to help you then she shouldn't be able to argue with the idea that she would be far more useful with sturdy pockets and an appearance that won't be dismissed immediately. Also it is nice to help people and she will almost certainly repay you with friendship.

Still, while we can't make formal preparations, it wouldn't hurt to casually ask around the tower and market to try to get a list of groups that are heading towards The Orc Tower over the next month. We will want to get at least vaguely acquainted with our travelling companions before relying upon them so finding out who to meet sooner rather than later would be ideal.

Maybe we should try to drag Meandra along. She likely knows more about fashions and bipedal clothing that we do and she probably isn't a succubus!

Oh, and we really have to know! What is going through someone's mind that the first thing they do upon meeting a new drider is to climb onto its back? It is not actually a bad thing... She doesn't weigh much and the carapace isn't very sensitive... It might be a little undignified and if children saw it then you might get a dozen of them all trying to mount you at once... But really, most people seem to be creeped out by spider parts, try to figure out how to make money out of a rare species, or want to challenge/attack you for weird reasons. Her first impression was somewhat unusual and it piques curiosity.

[TheBiggerFish]

You only have time for one of these things for today. By the time you're finished with cleaning the tower you'll only have a few hours time. In addition, you need to have a  for the things that aren't helping out Eveline.

Eveline first, then dwarf search second, then prep third.

Even if that's multi-day.