"I'm Sable," she replies. As they get back to the table, she introduces him. "Cocoa, meet my girlfriend, Hyacinth. Sin, this is Cocoa. I'll be right back with an ale for him. You want anything, love?"

"I think I'll take a water to wash down my pie with."

She looks over at Cocoa and nods to him. "Nice to meet you, Cocoa. Have you been questing here for long?"

"A few levels. Practicing my knife throwing mostly. Are you two looking for a party member?"

"Not precisely, no. More just looking for some local knowledge. Directions to the nearest city kind of thing. If you know any LGBT-friendly guilds I'd love to hear about them too." 

"The closest city is Cordova, to the east. About two days' hike out. I've heard there's some LGBT guilds there but the only one I know by name is Rainbow Paragons, which is a level one hundred plus raiding guild."

And then Sable comes back, setting drinks down in front of everyone. "Ale for you, Cocoa, and water for us two."

She sits down.

"So it sounds like we want to head east to Cordova, long term. There's a couple LGBT guilds there and we might be able to find one that fits us." 

She looks back at Cocoa. "Have you died yet? If so, what's it like?"

"Yeah, I've died a couple times. Got gored by a moose once. Wasn't fun." 

Cocoa accepts his drink from Sable and takes a swallow. "The pain cuts out fast once you know you're dead. You wake up elsewhere. For me it's this... study, full of old books and comfortable leather chairs. There's a woman there. She served me jasmine tea and talked with me. Helped me... sort my head out. She seemed nice, kind of like an older sister. I didn't get her name. I should really ask."

"And once she knows you're okay, she sends you back?"

"Yeah, pretty much. I liked her."

"And what, you just pop back up at the temple of ruin after that?"

"Yep. If you left any of your gear in the bush you're going to have a long hike back to get it, if you're even lucky enough to be able to find the spot again. It's been an issue with my throwing knives."

"Makes sense. Thanks. Hmm."

While Sable's thinking, Jorem comes out and delivers two plates of shepherd's pie. "Here you go, lasses. Enjoy."

"Thanks, Jorem."

She takes a bite contemplatively.

Hyacinth thanks Jorem as well, and has some shepherd's pie. 

"Mmm. I think that's all my immediate questions..." 

Hyacinth looks over at Sable and taps her lips softly.

"Say, where is the closest temple of ruin?"

"There's one in town, it's just down the street. Most towns have one."

"Alas, my secret plan to teleport to Cordova and save myself two days' walking has been foiled." Hyacinth jokes. "Convenient for combat training, though. Sable, would you like to try your luck against Cocoa here?"

She eyes Cocoa consideringly, then nods. "Yeah, that sounds like a fun time. Let's give it a shot once I finish eating. Is there a good place for a fight somewhere around here? Or do we just walk outside of town?"

"The locals tend to mislike it if you start fights with edged weapons inside the town, even if it's a friendly fight against another Blessed. Risk to bystanders. If there was a Blessed training hall out here it'd be another story, but this town's too small for a proper one."

Cocoa takes another forkful of pie. "Wouldn't mind a fight though, it'd be good training. Sparring rules? First blood? Or do you mean a serious one?"

"I mean a serious one," Sable confirms.

Cocoa considers for a long moment, then nods. "You're on. Loser has to pay for any necessary gear repairs. Don't worry, I don't own anything hugely expensive."

"Sounds good." She digs into her shepherd's pie.

Cocoa returns to his own pie, his ears twitching back and forth as he chews.