[Leela] Chapter 1: A Father's Plea

[Throndir]

Craft (cosplay): 11
You completed the map just above 2 hours. Update your inventory sheet with a Map of Roshandan. THe map gives you +1 Survival bonus when in Roshandan, also +1 in Knowledge (dungeoneering) and Knowledge (geography) for any places in Roshandan.

[Ella]

Leela Steading

As the two demons described the lands of Roshandan and how far it was to the borders of the surrounding lands, Leela calculated distances between things much like how she calculated measurements in a pattern. But instead of a pattern for cloth, foam, and other such things that she was used to, it was a pattern for land. She wrote in the names of things, finally realizing that "Rossandan" was actually spelled Roshandan, but keeping that realization to herself. When they finally finished telling her of what they knew and she finished drawing in the last bit of information, Leela set her pen down.

"So, this is Roshandan." The young woman pointed to the castle she had originally drawn and then to one of the human settlements. "And you said it takes a "few" days travel on horseback to get to the settlement where Ashaki was going? Do you have a wagon or carriage? Or just horses? How difficult is the terrain? How many of the people who still live under your rule can ride and know the area? I will need at least one, but I would prefer a group in case things don't work out the way I plan. I will also make a list of provisions that I expect to need when we are done discussing things."

"Did Ashaki tell you anything about her interactions with the humans other than bringing home bread? Did she make friends with the people or did she acquire the bread via some other method?" She asked, moving on to her planning stage for the rescue. "I need to know their temperaments, aside from what you told me when you explained your experience with them, so that I know how to best approach them about the situation. I would prefer to avoid bloodshed. If we can solve things peacefully, then we might even be able to establish friendly enough relations with them to be able to trade with them for things such as bread."

It was a good thing that the demons liked the human bread so much and that she was able to use trading for it as an excuse to avoid bloodshed. She really did not want to have to explain to them why she really wanted to avoid bloodshed. That would mean struggling to find a way to avoid telling them that she was not a fighter and most likely would not be able to survive a battle without help. Even with the strange skills and titles that she had apparently obtained, she did not think any of them would be useful in combat. And that was assuming she would be able to figure out what exactly they did.

"Speaking of bread and trading. What sorts of things do you have to offer in trade if they are willing to do so? Obviously, you have nothing to offer -yet- as far as food. What about cloth?" Leela eyed Zavan's suit, trying to determine the quality of the material. "Gemstones, metals, or anything else you can think of that your people are able to produce in excess if needed could also work."

Profession (Tailor) Check to determine the quality of fabric of Zavan's clothes.

Rolled 1d20+9 : 12 + 9, total 21

[Throndir]

"It takes a few days to ride to the next settlements. We do have horses and carriages Leela-sama. We have roads towards most of the area." Zavan said. "Goblins may be able to ride, though they have their own smaller mounts. Lord Ghorat has his own means of travel, though, I myself can ride. We no longer have an exact estimate on the number of denizens still living in our lands. When many of my fellow generals left, they took many of the villages inhabitants with them. I know we have a cove of imps near the castle. Beyond that there are a few goblin tribes who are still loyal to Lord Roshandan. There may be others still, but I've personally been busy defending our lands from human invaders."

Next it was Ghorat who spoke up.

"The bread! I don't know where she got it from other than the humans. Oh it was amazing Leela-sama." Ghorat exclaimed, perking up now that his personal favorite topic was being talked about. "She brought it home to us one day, this loaf of bread, she gave each of the generals a piece!"

You see him raise his hand and pinch the air as if trying to show you how big the piece was. It was about an inch.

"I just had a single bite, oh but it was absolutely glorious. My dear Ashaki was smiling so wide too that she got to share it with everyone."

"From what I know, the humans to the west usually attack first on sight. Though, our own people who live here do the same."

Profession (tailor): 21
Zavan's outfit was closer to some sort of butler's suit than anything else. At least, it reminded you of one. It was formal, but in an old-fashioned way, and even had a tailcoat at the end. The fabric was of high-quality.

"For cloth, we have a lot of those. Our armory too is laden full of various weaponry and armor. There is a vault at the deepest part of our castle too if we need to enter into trade."

[Ella]

Leela Steading

Carriages were good. Roads were excellent. That meant that they could carry more provisions and that she would not have to ride a horse in her dress. Though she could probably ask for travel clothes and hope that they actually had some.

Zavan made it sound like he and Gorat would be coming with her. She was not sure that was a good idea, especially since the whole issue started because of Gorat. And Zavan even said he had been busy defending Roshandan from invaders, so she really could not expect him to come along. Still, goblins as travel companions did not sound very fun. Then again, she was probably biased because of all the video games she had played in which goblins were always seen as bad guys that attacked on sight. Demons could at least hold a legitimate conversation before you went into battle... Unless they were Gorat.

"I couldn't take you away from your duties of defending Roshandan's borders from invaders, Zavan. And I don't know if it is a good idea for Lord Gorat to come with me. It might make it harder for me to deal with the humans." She frowned at the lack of people to pick from to form her party. But if it could not be helped, she supposed she would have to try to push her bias aside and ask for some goblins and imps to go with her. "I guess if you are not even sure how many citizens you have, you probably wouldn't know which ones would be best tasked for the job? Maybe I could go and interview a few of the imps that live close by?"

Leela was not sure what Ashaki looked like, but if the humans of the west attacked on sight, then she would have to assume that Ashaki had stolen the bread. If so, then that also meant that Leela would not be able to use friendly relations with Ashaki to rescue her and bring her back as well as form a friendship with them. She hoped that the girl was still alive by the time they got there.

[Throndir]

"Of course Leela-sama." Zavan bowed low.

"We can actually summon the imps here now." The silver-haired man then snapped his fingers. A small creature appeared then seemingly out of nowhere. There was a poof of smoke, and suddenly on the table was a tiny human with sharp ears and horns. It was like looking at a miniature demon. She stood about 2 ft. tall.

"Did master Zavan call? Oh! Who is she? Human? Why are we in the Great Hall of Misery? Was it Master Ghorat who called? Why are you talking with a human? What do you need master Zavan? Can we eat her? What's that? A map? Why is this place called the Great Hall of Misery? Hi human girl!" It talked in a high pitch voice, and every time a word came out of its mouth, it seemed to jump and bounce around. You noticed that this particular 'imp' if it could be called as one, wore fashion similar to your own.

The little person eyed you curiously.

"Would you like to grab the others?" Zavan asked, ignoring the imp's random questions.

"Of course! Anything for master Zavan! I'm excited to get everyone. All of them? I will go now! I like your clothes human. Anything for great Lord Ghorat! Who should I get?"

"Wait! Just a few... this is our guest and hero Leela-sama. Also, while you are here, let the other inhabitants of the castle know that Lord Ghorat himself issued a new law: Everything Leela-sama wants, she can take."

"Okay! Bye! New law from Great Lord Ghorat himself. Do I talk to everyone? Do I talk to the keeper too? Can Leelasama take you too? I don't like the keeper. Human girl is Leelasama? Leelasama! Take everything? Can she take me too? How about Lord Ghorat? Okay I'll get a few! Bye!"

With that the little miniature demon finally disappeared in a poof of smoke.

It'll take her a short bit to come back, feel free to ask questions/etc, before then. Otherwise let me know if I should move on.

[Ella]

Leela Steading

"Summon the-" Leela's question cut off as Zavan snapped his fingers and the small creature appeared. Her eyes went wide in surprise as the smoke cleared away to reveal the imp.

"So cuuuttte~" She could not help but at least whisper out loud to herself. Her desire to reach out and grab the tiny girl to hug her tight instantly dissipated when she asked Zavan if they could eat her. But she could still admire from afar and gave a small wave when the imp girl finally greeted her. As cute as she was, she seemed scatter brained. The way she spoke seemed as if she thought so much so fast that she just jumped around. Leela did not even have the chance to respond that she liked the imps outfit, too, before the girl was spewing more words.

As soon as the little imp girl poofed away, Leela turned to Zavan. "Are all the imps that adorable? What is her name?"

While they waited, a thought occurred to Leela. "Can I summon the imps as well?"

Spoiler

It is okay to move on.

[close]

[Throndir]

"That one is named Abi. If you would like to call them adorable... They are rather like children." Zavan replied.

"Once they recognize you as a master, you must then complete a contract with them. Then, if you call for one of them, and if they are close enough, they will appear."

In a few more minutes, Abi had appeared again in a poof of smoke.

"Bibi's sick, she can't come! Everyone is here! Except for the one who really had to go. Hib and Lib were too busy! I couldn't find some. I got a few of them! That is a human girl. Look! Leelasama leelasama is her name. I got enough of us!"

One by one more of these imps appeared, each dressed differently. They all were different as well. The color of their skin ranged from pale white to purple. Some had claws, some had tails, and yet some didn't. Some had wings as well, yet others didn't have any. From what you could tell the only similarity between them all was that they all ranged from anywhere between 1 ft. to 2 ft. They also all sported horns growing from their heads.



Each of them began talking all at once, each in a high-pitched, almost-squeaky voice, each time they did so, they bounced around.

"Leelasama-leelsama? That is her name? Hi master Zavan! Human girl?"

"Is she a master Leelasama? Can we eat her?"

"Master Zavan is a master. Lord Ghorat is a master."

"Lord Ghorat is a lord. Hi Lord Ghorat! Lord Ghorat is a master too. Are you Leelashama? You are pretty!"

"You can't eat Lady Leelasama. We can't eat master. She can take you! It's a new law!"

"Lord Leelasama-leelasama? She is law?"

"Master or lord? What is a master and what is a lord? Can human be master?"

"She can take me? She can take you? Is she tasty?"

"Lady Leelasama? Human Leelasama!"

Then all at once they said in unison:

"Hi Lady Lord Human Master Leelasama-leelasama!"

"Even they don't call me that..." Ghorat mumbled.

[Ella]

Leela Steading

"Oh, and who is the keeper?" Leela asked right before Abi poofed back into the room.

Abi's chatter was confusing at first. Saying one person couldn't come, but then everyone was here, and then going on to say others couldn't come and she only got a few. Leela decided that Abi must have meant that everyone that she could find and who wasn't sick or otherwise occupied was here. Well, the amount that showed up was enough and the ones who couldn't come would find out everything they needed to know from the ones who did make it.

Keeping Zavan's comment that they are like children, Leela decided she should get their attention and give a little speech of introduction as well as go over the basics of what she wanted from them. If any misbehaved or gave her a hard time, she might threaten discipline. She rose from her seat and cleared her throat to catch their attention after they all greeted her with the long string of titles.

"Greetings, implings. I am Princess Leela Steading of the great country of America. You all shall call me Leela-sama; -sama after someone's name is another way of calling them lord, lady, or master. I am absolutely not edible and if you try to eat me, you will regret ever thinking about it in the first place." Her facial features went from kind and adoring of her crowd to that of a death glare as she brought up them attempting to eat her. She had always been told that if looks could kill, her death glare would do the job.

"You have all been summoned here today because of a matter of utmost importance to us all that I have deemed your help worthy." Leela continued. "But first, I need to know who among you is considered your leader, chief, or elder. Ghorat-sama and Zavan-sama do not count."

Intimidate to make sure the imps are afraid of what she might do if they try to eat her.

Rolled 1d20+9 : 3 + 9, total 12

[Throndir]

"The Keeper of the Vaults." Zavan had replied.

"Of Forlorn Lies!" Ghorat corrected.

"He handles protecting the vaults, along with managing its contents."



The imps were quiet as they listened to your speech. When you cast your death glare on them, some of them tensed up. Finally, you asked them who they considered as their leader or elder, seeing their cue to speak, all at once they came chirping (along with bouncing).

"Did you hear that? Leelashama is a princess? We can't eat her. She is a pretty princess!"

"Sama is Lord then? Can we still call her Lady? Sama is Master?"

"Don't think about eating her! Leelasama is cute. Have we eaten dinner? I am worthy!"

"We can't eat her. But I am hungry. Can we eat something?"

"Who is our leader? Maybe you are? Maybe me?"

"Did you hear we are worthy? Don't think about eating her! You will regret it!"

"But Leelasama can eat me! She is cute! We are summoned for something important?"

"This is important! Leelasama is important. I like the princess."

"Master Zavan is our leader. Isn't Leelasama's clothes pretty? Lord Ghorat is our leader. Leelasama! Leelasama's a princess."

"We need to answer her! Or we will regret! We are worthy too you know?"

All at once they said:

"Leelasama is our leader!"

"They never did that for me too..." Lord Ghorat mumbled.

[Ella]

Leela Steading

"We shall eat when the time is appropriate. Until then, we need to focus on the important matters at hand." She wanted to get them to stop bringing up food. She was not even sure what time of day it was or when they usually ate, so she had to be careful and make sure she did not promise them food. Zavan seemed to be the one in charge of such things, so she would leave feeding the imps to him.

Apparently her word choice was not phrased in a way that the imps understood, deciding that she was their leader. She was satisfied that they were happy that she was a princess and that they deemed her their leader, as that would make things much easier in commanding them. However, she needed to know who of the imps led the other imps or knew the most about the other imps.

"I need to know which of you imps is the imp that knows the most about all the other imps who live in your cove. Someone who can tell me which of you is skilled with things such as sewing, fighting, cooking, gathering food, and other such things."

[Throndir]

"Can we be good at those things? Leader isn't master Zavan or master Ghorat? Maybe some of us can be good at things!"

"They are fun sometimes. I'm not really good though. Who is the leader?"

"One of us is the leader? Imps can be leaders? I like to cook!"

"I like to eat! That is my special skill!"

"Mine too!"

"Mine too! Imp leader needs to know everyone! Can you fight?"

"Abi is the leader!"

"I think Abi knows the most of us."

"Abi is best?"

"Me! Leelasama, Leelasama! Abi is the leader!"

[Ella]

Leela Steading

Ah! Finally they were getting somewhere. Leela focused her attention on Abi, taking note of the imp who said it liked to cook. She was not sure that she trusted any of the imps to be around the food. But if she set one specific imp to prepare food, she would at least know who to discipline if food went missing.

"Alright, Abi, from now on, you shall officially be the Imp Leader. So whenever Lord Ghorat, Zavan, or I tell you what we want you or the others to do, it is your job to see that it gets done. First, I need you to sort these guys into groups of what you know they can do. For now, sort them by imps who can fight, imps who are good at sneaking around without getting caught, imps who are good with animals, imps who are good at finding things, imps who are fast learners, and imps who you're not sure where to place." Leela went through the list mentally, trying to figure out if she missed anything.

Imps who could fight and who were good at sneaking around would be going with her on her mission. Those that were good with animals might also be going with her, to help care for the horses. The imps who were good at finding things, she planned to draw pictures of foods that she could identify in their natural habitat back home and see if the imps could find them. Hopefully, by the time she returned from this mission, she would come back to find at least some of the stuff available in the kitchens. The imps who were fast learners, Leela would be teaching things such as sewing, cooking, and other things that she deemed important that they might not already know. Then again, they might already know how to sew, since several had such cute outfits. But she had her doubts. They could have gotten their clothing from elsewhere. And then everyone else... she would give menial tasks or have do whatever Ghorat and Zavan had them do on a regular basis. Oh, and she needed a personal assistant.

"I will also need a personal assistant, but I will pick one of you for that once I've gotten to know you all better. Since there are more of you, I would like to give everyone the opportunity. Also, Abi, if you know of any of the others who were unable to come that might be good at fighting, sneaking, and finding things, please have them come see me as soon as possible. The others I will see when I get back."

[Throndir]

"Okay! Abi will sort them! Lady Leelasama called me a leader! I'll find anyone who can fight! I really like the human! You are amazing Leelasama. Leelasama! I'll find ones that are good at sneaking! I am the imp leader now! Hehe! I'll make groups! There are ones who are good at finding things too! Bye!" Abi poofed in a cloud of smoke.

"I'm a Personal Assistant!"

"I am too!"

"I think I'm better!"

"Pick me!"

"Pick me Leelashama!"

"Pick me too!"

"Pick me!"

"Me!"

"Pick!"

"Too!"

Feel free to pick one out, they're all mainly the same, you can request what attributes you'd like your Personal Assistant to have, along with a picture. I can show you the choices to choose from if you'd like.

[Ella]

Leela Steading

As soon as she heard the word "Bye!" come out of Abi's mouth, Leela tried to stop her. Before she could utter any sound at all, the imp was gone. She had said "sort these guys", right? Maybe Abi was just going to retrieve the other ones that she knew were good at fighting, sneaking, and finding things and bring them back right away before she sorted the ones who were already here? Leela hoped so. Regardless, from now on, she was going to ask the imps to repeat back to her their orders for confirmation and teach them that they must wait for her to dismiss them before they are allowed to poof away.

"As I already said, since there are more of you who are not here, I would like to give everyone the opportunity to be my personal assistant. I also want to get to know you all better before I pick." Leela repeated herself, not bothering to try to reword it. They most likely had ignored everything she said and only heard that she needed a personal assistant. But the girl did not want to just pick one based on what they told her, she was looking for specific things. Abi might have been a good choice, but Leela had already saddled her with being Imp Leader and Leela was not sure how much work Abi would have to do as Imp Leader or how much work exactly she would be giving her personal assistant.

Since she was not sure how much work she would be giving her personal assistant, she wanted someone who was calmer than the rest of these child-like imps and had more self-control. Someone who listened to her instructions and who was a quick learner so that she could teach them how to do things for her. It must also be a female, as Leela wanted to be able to summon her assistant whenever needed -whether she was in night clothes or in a bath- without feeling awkward about it. It was a bonus if they also had a keen eye for detail and wore cute clothes. And most of all, she wanted someone who she could bond with. It was much easier for her to be friends with girls than guys, considering she always felt awkward talking to guys on a regular basis. She was only able to talk with Ghorat and Zavan as much as she had because they were discussing important matters, much like talking with people she had been grouped up with for a school project. Once things were settled, if she really was stuck in this world, she was sure that she would have difficulty having a casual conversation with them.

[Throndir]

Soon enough Abi had come back, this time with about 80 more of them. One by one they continued to poof in. The room was literally crawling with bouncing miniature demons, some had even begun crawling on top of Ghorat, who simply flicked them away with a rather annoyed look on his face. Of course, the imps only giggled more as they were flicked away, bounced on walls, and only came back to be 'flicked' some more.

As for Zavan, he seemed to be used to the imps, and though he tried to hide it, there was a slight smile to his features as he played with some of the imps around him.

"Okay! Leelasama, Leelsama. All 100 of us are here! Some are sick but that is okay!"

You see one of the imps sniffling, with a long trail of snot flowing from its nose.

"There are 20 of us that can fight! Bibi is still very sick! 15 are very good at learning new things! I like to eat! I picked out 15 of us who are very creepy and sneaky! And the rest of us can search for things! Like food!"

Feel free to paraphrase your interview process. Or I can paraphrase the next scene, let me know.