Lorynne's alabaster skin is coated, head to toe, in green slime. She pulls herself up over the stony lip of the well, and rolls onto the floor of the Yawning Portal tavern, while patrons and fellow adventurers chatter around her. She stares up at the ceiling with red, pupil-less eyes and tries not to think on the previous twenty-four hours. The sound of boots on hardwood tells her someone is approaching, and she tilts her head to look up at Kelt, a barbarian from Baldur's Gate, grinning down at her.
"I guess I owe you ten gold!" His voice is cheery. "You didn't get eaten after all!"
Lorynne just stares up at him, reaching into her pack and pulling out ten golden coins. She holds them out, and Kelt frowns.
"What's this?"
"You ever seen the inside of a green slaad?" Lorynne asks.
Kelt shakes his head.
"I have. It ate me. Had to shift into a bear to bust out."
Kelt blinks and raises his eyebrows. "Oh." After a beat he reaches out and takes the gold, grimacing at the texture of the green slime. "So, this is..."
"Slaad blood. Yes."
"It's, uhm. Pungent."
"Help me up, please."
Kelt pulls Lorynne to her feet, and the two of them stumble over to the bar. They sit next to another tiefling. While they are the same race, Lorynne and this other tiefling couldn't look more different. Lorynne is slim and shorter, with red eyes, white skin, a thin tail and a rack of deer's antlers for her horns. The other tiefling is taller, heavily muscled with a tail as thick as her thighs. Her skin is a rich maroon and her eyes are white. A pair of thick, curved ram's horns curl out from her skull. As they sit, the other tiefling turns to Lorynne, looking her up and down.
"Well you look like you've had a good time," she says, smirking. "Find any loot?"
"Nope, just nightmares." Lorynne waits for the bartender to come their way.
"Sorry, but uh, you've got something on your antler."
"What?" She turns back to the other tiefling.
She's pointing at something Lorynne can't see, "I think it's a bit of intestine. Here, hang on." She gingerly pulls something thick and green from Lorynne's antlers and deftly tosses it over her shoulder and down the well that goes into the first level of the dungeon below.
Lorynne blushes with embarrassment, "Thank you. I'm Lorynne. I'd offer to shake, but..."
"Syn!" The tiefling takes her hand, unmindful of the slime. After, she rubs her hand on her pants, asking, "You new to Waterdeep, Lorynne?"
"Yeah. Thought I could make a splash by hitting the Undermountain, maybe leverage the reputation for some work after. But, ahh..." she gestures at the slime.
Syn laughs, "Don't feel bad! Everyone gets a bad roll now and then. You'll kick ass at the next one. I heard you say something about shifting into a bear. Are you a druid?"
Lorynne nodded, "Circle of the Moon. What about you?"
Syn dropped her a wink, "Sorcerer baby. I know all the best tricks. I also know Waterdeep, and there's a place you can clean up properly a couple blocks over if you want to get all that gunk off you."
Lorynne hesitates, thinking longingly about a stiff drink and some hot food. But she admits to herself that being clean is probably more important right now. "Where is it?"
"Come with me, I'll show you."