The tower and its tall walls came into sight as the group walked down Scythefell Street. A blue-skinned tiefling with ram's horns vaulted over the walls and ran by chance towards the group. Innilia came to a quick stop in front of Alvec. "Boss! I'm leaving this up to you! Good luck!" She said as she gave him an appreciative clasping of her hands together and a bow before breaking into a dead sprint away from the compound.
"What do you be thinking that was about?" Illaria asked as she shot Alvec an inquisitive look.
"Won't be waiting long for an answer," Mavec said as he nodded his head in the direction of the main gate where a blue-skinned Tiefling who looked to be a good twenty years older than Alvec exited the compound, rubbing both hands at the base of his horns a look of irritation and exhaustion plastered across his face. Like Alvec's and Inilia's, his horns spiraled like a goat. The manner of his dress made it clear that this man was well off. Inillia had told them that she had worked for her father's business, and it was clear that she came from an educated family. Alvec grimaced; she'd clearly omitted the part about how wealthy they were. He'd assumed that she'd been roughly on the same level as he was, but the heavy-duty clothing, with rich blacks and reds and well-polished boots, indicated otherwise. More telling, perhaps than that, was how well-tailored the clothing was. His shirt, blazer, and pants were all perfectly tapered to him and in the latest styles of the Empire.
The woman following just a few feet behind him was also a tiefling, though her skin was a near onyx black, with short pearl white horns jutting from her head. Her clothing was equally as impressive, a dress with intricate white lace adorned by a shawl of azure blue fabric. Alvec took a deep breath and stepped forward to take the lead. Hiring Inilia had been his choice; if he'd earned the ire of her wealthy parents, he'd just have to bear the brunt of their frustrations. He adjusted his coat quickly, partially exposing the golden lining beneath the blue overcoat.
"Well, this is a delightful surprise!" He said as he waved to the pair of tieflings. "You both must be Inillia's parents. Alvec "Snaptail" Reynore, at your service." He placed extra emphasis on his last name. As he stepped within about ten feet of the pair, he dropped into a deep bow. A look of shock and surprise crossed the man's brow as it furrowed, and he tried to process the information and situation unfolding.
"Ah, Master Reynore. You are my daughter's employer, correct?" He asked as he focused on assessing the tiefling in front of him.
"Yes, I am," Alvec replied. The man nodded along with Alvec's affirmation before looking at his wife for approval. The woman nodded back to him.
"We'd like to ask you to dismiss our daughter from your service." He said.
"Um, no?" Naya replied.
"Listen, our daughter is young and naive. Chasing such a fleeting dream instead of making a stable life for herself." The woman presumed to be her mother said.
"Surely you know the uphill battle she'll be facing, and unlike you, she has no name related to her chosen field to lean back on." The man said, bowing his head slightly.
"I'm usually pretty tight-lipped about the Reynore part," Alvec said as a smirk crossed his face. He understood now why he'd need some luck to deal with them. They clearly loved their daughter and wanted what was best for her, but they had very different ideas about what that meant. "Around Sha-Laial, they know me by another name. Alvec the Unyielding. Your daughter has been a valuable employee, running our shop in our absence. I've no intention of letting her out of my employ while she uses her talents to garner a name for herself."
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"She doesn't belong in these dingy taverns belting out bawdy tunes." Her father insisted.
"That's her decision to make. If she doesn't like working for me, she can leave anytime. However, she's done nothing wrong, and I won't be relieving her of duty because her parents asked me to." Alvec responded.
"She doesn't know what she's doing, and your patronage is enabling her behavior. Without financial support, she'd have no choice but to return home." Her mother said as she pushed past her husband and stomped up to Alvec, who met her fierce gaze.
"Do you really think your daughter's ambition is that weak? If I weren't funding her, she'd be doing the same thing, but under god knows what circumstances. We all know how bad things can get for us without friends and allies. How easily would the worst of our society be able to prey upon a young, determined girl if she didn't have someone in her corner who was genuinely helping and backing her? Her association with me means no one in Sha-Laial will risk giving her any sort of unsavory deals. For fear that a giant wolf and several pissed-off adventurers will come kick in the door."
Her father rubbed at the base of his horns again. "Honey, I think he's right. We've tried to get her to play the proper shows at venues we approve of, and all it seems to do is bore her. She's got plenty of talent, no denying that, and while it's not what we want, perhaps Alvec raises a good point. I can't think of a safer way for her to keep pursuing her dreams than while employed by the Cheese Acolytes. You will keep her safe?" He asked pointedly.
"Aye, aye, we take care of all of our friends and staff.
If anyone so much as is looking at her the wrong way, I'll be acquainting them with the floor." Illaria said. She's under the protection of two members of the Blue Banner Army, two arcane academy graduates, and a girl who tamed a direwolf. I can't be thinking anyone be stupid enough to be giving her trouble." Illaria boasted as she stepped forward to help put an end to this conversation.
Her mother looked Illaria over carefully and let out a sigh. "I suppose we have heard many good things about the lot of you. I guess it wouldn't be unreasonable to leave our daughter in your care."
"Then it's settled," Alvec said with a smile, bowing again. "Perhaps you could return here tomorrow, and we could have some tea with Inellia? Our maid, Sorali, would be delighted to serve us. She's perhaps used to hosting fancier companies than we've been able to invite here since beginning her employment." Alvec said.
"That would be nice; perhaps we can arrange that," Her father said as he returned a polite bow and looped an arm around his wife, gently pulling her away from the group.
"Well, that was... interesting," Naya said.
"Yeah, I don't get the fuss either," Mavec said.
"Bait no wait any longer. CHEESE!" He sprinted away from the group. It had been a while; surely his cheese, nurtured and aged as it was, would be ready for his consumption. His little feet thawped against the ground as he raced to the cheese forge. Perhaps calling it a forge was a misnomer, but it felt like one. This was where Bait make cheese, he take idea and ingredients and make them real! It a forge, just like one make gun in, except cheese.
He found his glass container and eagerly pried it open to be hit with a marvelous stench, like feet on a roasting day. Excited, he brought out his cheese knives and quickly cut a thin slice from his first cheese. As much as Bait want to enjoy all of it himself, he know he need to save some for Ben. Master Ben need to see result of first batch of cheese, so that he may impart more Cheese wisdom onto Bait. Tell him how he might do things better on his second batch. He hate having to be sponsible, but Bait never become cheese Emperor if Bait have inferior cheese. Ben help. The rest of the group found him as he placed the first taste of the cheese into his mouth. He screamed in delight. "IT CREAMY AND TASTE LIKE FEET!"