With the change of temperature, Spike realizes his coat of fur doesn't have much use anymore. He reverts back to a pug and walks along his friends to see the orc leader. "May I see one of your pamphlets, my lord? And yes, I am a talking dog."

Baths? Algotin mouthed, curious as to the treatment of the dwarves and the whole situation. Then he listened to the speech Lucian gave, and whispered in the Tiefling's ear while they waited for the reply. "In my expirience it is better to be direct, and not have an air of a possible threat. Especially before a leader of any kind. But it's your show,"

At being called a vagabond, Narolin looks down at his fancy dress and flicks a speck of dust off his cufflink, a frown of worry on his face. Perhaps his clothes had gotten slightly scuffed during the tussle! He had been hiding behind that rock... who knows how filthy he was! One of his shoes might even have dirt on the top! At the mention of baths, however, he looks up eagerly, "Baths? I say, I thought I saw some o' the things coming into this fine place. Bath would be top whole! Also, could I ah... wash my clothes somewhere? I think there might be some dust on them."
At the mention of racist genocide he raises his eyebrows and pulls his moustache, muttering out of the side of his mouth, "I say, you might've told me what we were getting ourselves into."

The orc grins widely at Aregano, possibly sensing a kindred spirit. "WHY OF COURSE, OF COURSE. A BATH WITHOUT FOOD IS JUST A YOU SOUP!" He barks laughter at his own joke.

The orc seems somewhat amused at Lucian's playing and speech, until he doesn't, and his mild amusement becomes something closer to basic enthrallment. "Call me Dord," he murmurs. When Lucian's words finally sink in, Dord blinks, and again barks laughter. "FILTH INDEED! THOSE BASTARDS IN ADSET ARE SCUM ON MY BOOTS! THAT DAMN MAYOR DUKGAN BELIEVES WHATEVER HE HEARS--HE DOESN'T KNOW WE ORCS OWNED THE LAND AND THEN THOSE DAMN HUMAN SETTLERS TOOK IT FROM US. NOW THE DWARVES ARE SUPPLYING THEM WITH WEAPONS AND THEY'RE HIRING HEROES TO KILL US! IF IT WEREN'T FOR MY MRS. WE'D BE DEAD FOR SURE!"

Dord steps back and falls onto his throne, looking suddenly tired. "BUT I TELL YA, IT'S HARD. THE MRS. WANTS ME AND MY BOYS TO KEEP MAKING LITTLE SHUSHIS AND SAYS WE SHOULD STORM ADSET BEFORE THEY STORM US. ME? I JUST WANT A SALT BATH AND A GOOD CHUTNEY."

Dord seems startled by Spike's transformation, but seems to know better than to comment. He pulls a pamphlet from his pocket and unfolds it for the pug, laying it out for the small dog to read. It's a basic trifold pamphlet, with charcoal sketches of salt baths, buxom orcs giving massages, and exotic meals like spider burgers, carrion souffle, and spear shark.

At Narolin's request, Dord looks up, clapping his hands twice. "BATHS OF COURSE! AND FOOD! WINE! AND LAUNDRY, CERTAINLY!" Two orcish handmaidens appear out of the shadows, fronds plasters to their torsos suggestively, long grass skirts swishing on the floor. "THIS IS KIA AND KILLA. WHEN YOU ARE READY THEY CAN SHOW YOU TO YOUR ROOMS WHEN READY. IF I MAY SUGGEST--DON'T GO TO THE LOWER LEVELS. THE SHUSHI AND MY WIFE... WELL, THEY ARE A BLOODTHIRSTY LOT." The irony of this statement coming from an orc seems to be lost on Dord.

"We can avoid meeting with the misses," Algotin said thinking of the last Sushi encounter. Dead half-fish, splattered orcs, and speared halflings... "You want to play up the land dispute angle or do you have another plan in mind? I'll admit it feels strange, but wouldn't mind relaxing here if this wraps up well,"

A cacophonous horn blares through the caves, and Dord twitches, scowling. "WELL, THAT IS MY MISTRESS CALLING," he says. He takes a swig from a crude clay pot beside his throne, scowls, and stands again. "KIA AND KILLA, SHOW THESE GENTLEMAN AND PUG TO THEIR CHAMBERS. WE CAN DISCUSS THIS FURTHER AFTER... I HAVE RECOVERED." He nods politely to the group, and lumbers down the sloped walkway you originally came through, disappearing around a corner.

Kia and Killa step forward, and beckon you to follow them. You take the same paths as Gruntrude did moments earlier, wending through the caverns until you are shown a wide room with six large beds. a waterfall that could fit Aregano spilling through it on the far wall that has a single tributary which fills a pool in the center of the room. Kia and Killa show you a small panel on the wall, which they say, if you turn to the right, will heat up the pool in the center of the room if you desire. They then bow, and make their way out of the room, shutting the wooden door behind them quietly. You hear their footsteps padding away as they head back through the caves.

Spike takes a look at the pamphlet, chuckling a little when he sees the exotic food. "Hey Aregano, this seems like your kind of place hehe" He points to the pamphlet with his little pawn and looks to the wizard before they hear the horn. He closely follows the servants throughout the caverns, keeping eyes, ears and nose open for anything strange. Once the party is left alone, the dog asks. "So... What now?"

"Trying to figure that out myself..." Algotin said looking at Lucian. He wasn't sure either of the ideas he had in his head were healthy for a Paladin of Avandra to be thinking. "Dord seems to place a good deal on pleasing his misses. If anything were to come between the two... Imagine the divorce struggle,"

Then Algotin snapped his fingers in front of Lucian's face.

"...what is it paladin? I'm thinking." Lucian wanders across the room towards the panel, looking it over for a few moments before spinning the dial as far to the right as it will go. Moving towards the center pool he bends down, lowering a hand into the water. "For now we should take advantage of the idiots hospitality. We have been traveling for a while and could use a good bath." He looks towards the others - in particular the staggeringly obese eladrin and the drooling shape shifter - before adding "...some of us more than others I would imagine."

Wisps of steam begin rising from the pool. You hear a cacophony of booms and chatter and water splashing and gurgling... none of it ominous... or is it?

"Well with the lack of quips about stuck up Paladins with misplaced branches I was beginning to worry you had lost it," Algotin said looking from the Orcish women watching the passageways and wondering how clean they liked their men, women, or whatever it was they prefered. Since they were running a bath and spa, he decided the least he could do was wash the worst of the grime off of his hands for the moment. The heat made him want to pull away, with redder hands than before.

Hot, of course it's supposed to work like that...

"What you think of those two, Narolin?" For a moment he watched Kia and Killa, trying to get a feeling of what they were concerned with, them, the dwarves, or anything nearby in particular. "Wonder what they think of all this?"

"Not every word I have for you is an insult Algotin. If it were you would become inured to it and each blow would begin to lose its impact. Better I occasionally let you rest that my barbs retain there point." Lucian flashes a quick smile towards the grumbling paladin his words and tone making it difficult to tell whether he is joking or not. "...though if you'd prefer I could insult the pedigree of your heritage if it would make you feel somewhat more relaxed." As he speaks he begins pulling his boots off before depositing them at the foot of one of the beds.

Aregano's purple hand pops into existence and starts to remove his clothing for him. As expected, he has rolls of rolls underneath the cloth. He waddles to the edge of the bath and dips a toe in. He pulls it back fairly quickly as steam curls from the top of the water. Then he murmurs something and the steam lessens considerably right around where he is. He tries his toe again and a serene look flows over his face as he begins to slip into the water as a walrus off an iceberg, the water fleeing before him and sloshing about. His purple hand begins methodically lifting and scrubbing between, under, and around each roll of blubber as he basks in the water.

The relaxation loosens his tongue..."So, have we decided what we are going to do? And if so, could we postpone it for a bit and enjoy these baths for a while first?"

He soon realizes something crucial is missing..."Where are the snacks?"

"I'll go secure us our survival- snacks!" Algotin said with a slip in thought. He wasn't yet willing to be a live-harvest sample yet. At least I'm not dead yet. Hope these Orcish girls can help us with a tidbit we can use to live just a tad longer.

"Kia, Killa, I'd hate to ask, but is there any snacks to be had? After visiting Dord and hearing what was hinted about his wife and guests I wouldn't want to be caught between her and our resident canibal wizard," Algotin said, hoping to spark just a little talk.

If the word 'cannibal' is intended to cause some sort of reaction, sadly it does not. "Snacks should be coming shortly. Your arrival was... Unexpected." It is unclear if Kia or Killa is speaking.

Aregano sinks down lower in the water, letting it support more of his corpulent body. He swishes too and fro enjoying the ease of movement in water that he lacks on land.

"Lucian, surely you have a plan. Perhaps you don't want to tell us how you are going to woo the 'Mrs.' with your sultry lute playing, and start turning out your own little shushi with horns, thus saving the sea, the town, and creating an army of bloodthirsty minions for The Tower?"

"Or maybe you are planning to convince the orc king that the 'Mrs.' is planning to replace him with one of his shushi sons and that ole kingy should 'end' the relationship first?"

"Or maybe...we toss aside the reputation of The Tower, and make a deal that includes these wonderful baths, and offer the orc king our help in getting the towns people to lay off?"

"Or...maybe we just wait and see what happens?" He lays back in the water a bit, ahhhing at the warmth surrounding him.

Ensuring he is as far as physically possible from Aregano's pale quivering bulk Lucian lowers himself into the scalding water, giving a long relaxed sigh and what is possible the only genuine smile any of you have ever seen he give. His expression remains blissful for only a few moments before the eladrin brings up his seduction plan at which point his face twists with disgust and a visible shudder runs down his body. "An... interesting plan with only two minor drawbacks. Firstly an army of demonically enhanced sea orcs would be almost entirely uncontrollable and thus unfit for my purposes. Second I retain my both my sight and sense of smell - the loss of both are unfortunately a prerequisite for copulation with an orc."

"For now at least we wait and see how this king reacts to the news we have given him. Our next move will depend on his reaction. Don't worry though. I have plans for each eventuality - each more cunning and intricate then the last."

"If you say so, Mr. Super villain..." Spike says to Lucian before going to a corner in the large room, turning into a house cat and starting licking itself, taking his own kind of bath.

Aregano nods along with Lucian's explanation, an intriguing idea flowering in his mind when Lucian remarks on needing to lose his "sight and sense of smell".

Then Amidst Spike's smacking on his own genitalia, Aregano cocks his head to the side with a querying look and wonders aloud "You think the 'misses' is an orc? From all I've heard, and the physical appearance of the shushi, I would have guessed she was a sea devil."