North Sea Dungeon

[Yehla]

Yehla nearly tripped on a loose rock in the entry way of the Dungeon Plaza. She caught herself in time, readjusting the cape draped on her shoulder. A couple eyes were on her but quickly turned away as she glared. Moving toward the center of the plaza, she stopped near a column eaten by moss and spores and pulled the note she copied from the bulletin board the day before from her belt pouch.

She was supposed to meet the rest of her team here at half past nine, but she was a little early and she took the opportunity to double check their name, murmuring them low under her breath. Folding the paper, she looked around, studying the little stalls and the adventurers, wondering if her future companions were already here. Even after years of walking the corridors of dungeons and her age advancing, she still was nervous when it came to meeting new people whom she was supposed to live, breathe and sleep with for the next several weeks. In a comforting gesture, she rubbed the tip of her curled horn, before playing with the golden dangling earring punched into the hard ribbed surface.

Only five minutes left before the time of the rendez-vous.

[Takiko]

Takiko suddenly snapped back into consciousness. They don’t know how long they had been sitting in the dungeon plaza mindlessly probing at the gap in their teeth – something that had become a habit – but they knew now that their face must’ve been contorted in an embarrassingly ugly fashion for way too long. Takiko glanced around feeling their cheeks flush. No one seemed to be staring, but while searching for possible witnesses their eyes quickly locked onto movement near the plaza entry way. Takiko’s eyes widened at the woman just entering, staring in awe at the horns protruding from her head. It seemed stupid for them to be captivated by a human with horns – they were an ogre after all – but these were different from their own. Spiraling goat horns stuck out on each side of her head, gold jewelry dangling from each causing an aura of beauty to surround the woman as they glimmered in the morning sun. The ephemeral nature of the woman was shattered in Takiko’s mind however, when she nearly tripped on a rock.

Takiko could sense the nervousness emanating from the goat-woman as she walked towards the center of the plaza. They watched as she took out and read a piece of parchment – mumbling to herself – before anxiously toying with her jewelry. Alone, nervous, and showing up just around the time of the event. Takiko cracked a small smile as they went down the list in their head deducing that this was probably another participant. They grabbed a sack of cured meats they had gotten from town and stood up from off the ground – not bothering to dust the dirt off their hakama.

“Oiiii!” Takiko called out, their geta clacking against the stone as they walked towards their potential new dungeon mate. “Goat Woman!”

[Yehla]

Yehla took a breath when she heard it. Held it in. Released it. She was used to the nickname, it was pointless to be mad at it given her appearance, but it didn't mean it elicited an eye-roll from her every time. Still, she didn't wish to seem rude right off the bat to her new companion, whoever that might be.

Turning toward the source of the noise, she blinked as an ogre (Twice? In the same month? Odd.) was running toward her. Fully turning her body toward them, she inclined her head. They were smaller than her, if only by a couple centimeters. When they came to a stop in front of her, she half-smiled. The kid looked young and full of life, their joyful expression quickly leaving her unable to stay annoyed at them.

"That would be me, yes. Name's Yehla Damasquine. Yehla's fine. You're here for the team meet up? I'm looking for the people in the Cedar group. Maybe you too?" She extended a hand to shake, raising an expectant brow.

[Takiko]

"I'm Takiko!" They had ignored Yehla's questions and extended hand completely instead latching onto her name, her being in the cedar group, and of course... horns.

Now that Takiko was settled their energy calmed a bit. They put their hands behind their head leaning back a little to look at Yehla - the bag of jerky they were carrying slapped their neck in the process.

"I'm in the Cedar Group too," a snarky bit of confidence oozed from their voice.

"You're gonna be lucky to have me. I've been doing hired muscle work here for a while now." Takiko stretched, causing a slight strain in their voice until they finally relaxed their muscles. Their arms and bag of meat flopped back to their sides as they sighed. Takiko caught themselves staring at Yehla for a moment. She was beautiful, making their cheeks redden a little as she looked back at them. Their confidence wavered but they spun around quick to hide their sudden nervousness.

"A-Anyways Goat Lady, have you seen our other members anywhere?" Takiko scanned the plaza. "They seem like they might be siblings based on their names. Maybe they'll look similar enough for us to pick them out!"

[Yehla]

"Is that so..." Yehla murmured, amused at the way the Ogre, Takiko, seemed to ooze confident until the obvious stumble in their voice. She didn't even have to extend the usual first meeting pleasantries before they turned their back to her, surveying the surroundings as they were talking about the missing part of their group.

Looking back to the paper in her hand, she hummed. "Seems so, yes. We might find them quickly enough if they're not late anyway." She folded the paper and tucked it back in its place before she looked around as well.

[the nicks twins]

Working with a new group of people was always a bit of a bit of a risk for Faeyana and Yenbeck. If they didn’t know the exact situation they were walking into, they tended to be nervous, as was the case with this. As the meetup time grew near, the two hung back slightly, watching the predetermined location and hoping to get an idea of who they would be working with, not wanting to go in completely blind.

When a woman with goat horns showed up, the two siblings looked at each other. “What do you think?” Faeyana asked, an eyebrow raised.

Yenbeck nodded gently, “Could be,” he mused. Neither twin made a move forward though, still waiting and watching. The someone walked passed, clearly calling out to the woman, who did not look particularly pleased to be called ‘goat woman’. The siblings watched this new addition - an ogre - walk up to her and the two began to converse.

They weren’t quite close enough to parse the whole conversation, but they heard enough to know this was the party they were meant to join. With a shared look, the twins linked hands and made their way over quickly, stopping in front of the other two with bright smiles on their faces.

“Hi! Is this the cedar team?” Yenbeck asked with a wave.

“Sorry, I know we’re cutting it a little close,” Faeyana ducked her head in apology.

[Yehla]

At the sound of voice coming in their direction, Yehla swiveled her head toward the new people approaching them. It was, indeed, twins, so startlingly alike she had to blink a couple times. Most fraternal twins she used to know wanted to highlight their differences, not smother them, and the way the two Half-Foots seemed to take the radical opposite approach threw her in a loop for a second.

"Ah... Right, Yenbeck and... Faeyana, right?" She said, straightening her back and turning to the pair. "It's okay. we just got there, too. Nice to meet you, I'm Yehla Damasquine, and this is Takiko here." She said, gesturing to the ogre with a smile.

[Takiko]

Takiko was too busy acting like he was scanning the perimeter to even notice the twins walking up from right in front of them. It wasn't until one of them said "Hi! Is this the cedar team?" that Takiko snapped his head down to see the two clones only a few feet away. He stared at the half-foots in disbelief trying to find a difference between them. He was having no luck in this endeavor when he heard Yehla say his name, placing focus back into the conversation.

"That's right!" Takiko puffed up and grinned before jamming a thumb into their own chest. "The name's Takiko! With me here you two won't have to worry about a thing!"

Takiko didn't allow so much as a breath to occur before continuing, "Now that we're all here there's no use waiting!" He stormed right past the twins expecting the other three to trail behind him, "I've been waiting here for forever. There's no time to waste, so follow me!" If there had been protest by those behind him Takiko did not notice. He continued to attempt to lead the party towards the entrance to the first floor while talking at them. "I can't believe you guys didn't bring food by the way," he scoffed as if speaking to amateurs, "Don't even think about asking for any of mine!" Takiko let out a bellowing laugh as they stretched their arm out, showing off the big bag of meats - taunting.