Tony didn't know quite what to expect as he opened his sack. Rich was watching Tony's unpacking with interest. Tony reached in and pulled out a long, beautiful piece of fabric. He turned it around in his hands, admiring the elegant multicolored pattern as well as its softness. He was about to ask Rich what it was for, when he figured it out for himself.
"Beautiful loincloth," Rich stated. "Very beautiful pattern. Appropriate for a minotaur in most realms."
"Yeah, it is nice, but is that all the clothing in here?" Tony rummaged around in the sack for other fabrics, and coming up empty.
"Probably. Most minotaurs only wear the loincloth. Hope you aren't uncomfortable with that."
Tony shrugged. "I do prefer something a little less, um, revealing, but this will have to do, I guess."
He continued pulling items out of the sack: a long, intricately carved broadsword, a small dagger, some very comfortable boots, and a small coin purse with a few unfamiliar coins in it.
"Typical minotaur minimalism," Rich noted. He started pulling things out of his sack, as Tony started changing into his garb.
Rich pulled out a very long, flowing robe in a very deep purple hue. Also included were some boots, a short staff, a small purse filled with various spell-casting items, a coin purse, an intricately decorated headband, and other small items. When Rich held the staff, he felt a power surging through his body that he had never experienced before.
By the time Rich finished with the inspection of the items from his sack, Tony had finished dressing. The bull turned around. The cloth fit snugly around his waist, tapering in both front and back to long, decorative folds that hung down to his knees.
"You know, you look very formidable like that," Rich stated.
Tony stood in the room, looking slightly uncomfortable, with the sword in a belt scabbard at his side.
"I'd be quite scared of anyone looking like you," Rich continued as Tony looked at himself in the mirror.
Tony hated to admit it, but he did look pretty good, and had to agree with Rich about the formidable part of it too. "Thanks, I guess," Tony said after a moment's reflection. He took the letter from his sack and headed towards the door. "I'll leave you alone for a bit so you can change, okay? Plus, I want to read up on this."
"Okay, sounds good," the wizard said to the retreating minotaur.
Tony started toward the stairs when he sensed something furry rubbing against his leg. He looked down and was startled by the sight of a large gray wolf pawing harmlessly at his leg. The wolf sat on its haunches and looked quizzically up at Tony, as if asking if Tony recognized who he was. Tony thought for a moment before he figured it out.
"That you, Scott?" he asked the wolf.
The wolf barked cheerfully before trotting back toward the slightly open door of Scott and Doug's room. Tony, as he descended the stairs, heard Doug ask, "Who'd you scare out there?"
There was a small groan in Scott's voice, and Scott replied a moment later, "Ah, just Tony."
Scott came out with a towel wrapped around himself. Tony had moved down to the comfortable couches in the living room by this time, so Scott yelled down at him. "Hey, sorry if I startled you, Tony."
The bull looked up at Scott. "That's okay. It only took me a moment to figure it out."
"Good." Scott started heading back to his room, but stopped. He yelled down at Tony over his shoulder, "By the way, Tony, you're looking mighty fine in that garb."
Tony just rolled his eyes and continued reading his sheet.
Kevin was the next person to emerge. Kevin looked rather absurd in some dark blue baggy trousers and a similar colored shirt that also was quite large for his small body. He had a large cloak draped over his shoulder as he came down the stairs toward Tony in the living room.
"Clothes a bit big, huh?" Tony asked the feline as he approached.
"Oh, it has a purpose," Kevin replied. Abruptly dropping the cloak, he deftly picked out a dagger from inside his shirt and made a quick throwing motion with it toward Tony. Tony, obviously surprised by the sudden gesture, jumped out of his seat.
"A bit jumpy, huh?" Kevin smiled, still holding the dagger in his hand. "Probably not bad that you are."
Tony sighed. "Sorry, Kevin. I have a lot on my mind currently."
"And not a lot else on anywhere else, I see," came the retort, as Kevin gauged Tony's attire.
Tony glared straight at Kevin. Tony slowly drew his sword from the scabbard, making sure Kevin noticed the motion.
Kevin sheepishly laughed. "Sorry, I'll keep the clothing jokes to a minimum from now on, okay?" Kevin pleaded.
Tony chuckled as he slid the sword back into its place. "Probably a good idea. I must look as tough as Rich said I did."
"You have no idea, really. Especially when you gave me that look."
"So, what else do you have in that shirt of yours, Kevin?" Tony asked.
"Well, I do have some simple padded armor on underneath it. And inside, a good number of daggers, lock picks, smoke bombs, and various other things. The cloak," he pointed to his cloak on the floor, "has plenty more also. I feel like a walking arsenal."
"Well, you lowly thieves usually are," said a voice from above. Tony and Kevin looked up at Crystal. She had on a elaborately decorated breastplate and some steel boots. The clothing underneath her armor was a beautiful emerald green. The ever-present crystal necklace was still there around her neck, her breastplate clanging softly as the pendant bounced lightly off it.
She strode down to the living room. With the sword at her hip, she looked very regal and noble, but nonetheless conveyed the message "Don't touch me unless you want to get hurt." She carried a simple steel helmet under her arm as she joined the minotaur and feline in the living room.
"Nice look for you, I must say," Kevin complimented Crystal.
"Thank you. Too bad I have to be in human form to enjoy this," she replied.
"Watch out below," warned a voice from above them.
The three looked up to see a slowly descending Rich in his deep purple robe. He was holding tightly onto his staff in one hand and his sheet in the other. Glancing at the sheet again, he was obviously intently reading something on it. He stopped falling about a foot from the ground, and hovered right in front of the three already in the room.
"The first magic user graces our presence," Crystal quipped.
"And is trying to figure out how to get down now, thank you," Rich replied, his eyes not leaving the paper. "Ah ha. Found it."
He muttered a strange phrase and fell down abruptly to the ground. Being it was only a foot, he didn't have much time to react, but with good feline reflexes and legs, he landed pretty well, except for a small stumble.
Kevin started clapping, with Tony and Crystal joining in.
"Very nice, sir. Are you going to give us an encore?" Kevin asked the other feline.
"Encore! Encore!" came the shout from Crystal. She laughed.
Rich regained his composure. "Eventually. Still needs some practice, though."
Lisa had emerged as Rich was descending in front of her. She had joined in the applause after his landing from her second floor perch.
"But, still, it was a neat trick," she said. "Too bad I have to do mine without the benefit of magic." With that said, she leapt off the second floor balcony, performing a somersault in midair. Her ivory cotton pants and shirt flapped lightly during the descent. She landed safely on her feet right next to Rich. The others applauded.
"Very nice, Lisa," Tony said. "Looks like you're ready to get going already."
Lisa's smile faded. "Yeah, somewhat. I like the things I can do with my body here, but I'm already a bit homesick." She paused for a moment, and smiled.
"Come on, Rich," she said, grabbing the feline's arm. "Let's go and practice outside!"
Rich startled by this sudden change in attitude, gave no resistance to being pulled outside where Lisa pestered him to demonstrate some of his other magic spells.
Sharon and Cindy came out of their room next. Sharon, appropriately dressed for an elementalist of fire, wore a bright red and black patterned robe with a large ruby necklace that only made her earrings shine even more brightly than before. She almost seemed to radiate a warm glow, as if she were covered in flames. In her right hand she carried a small wooden rod with a large clear orb on top.
Cindy, in contrast to the fiery aura emitted by Sharon, was dressed in a simpler ivory robe which accented her long blonde hair perfectly. She also wore a pair of bracelets with alabaster opals inset in a complex pattern. Clipped to her belt was a decent sized mace.
The pair made their way down the stairs, chatting about how good the other one looked. When they got close to the group in the living room, Cindy stopped and curtseyed.
"Good morning, everyone," she beamed.
"In a good mood now, Sharon?" Tony asked sincerely.
"Yes, quite a bit better," she said after a small sigh. "This morning was hard on all of us. But with a bit of explanation and thought, this looks like it could be a good experience." She chuckled lightly to herself. "Like Paul mentioned last night, ‘How often do we get to swing weapons around and fling spells?'"
The mood of the group visibly darkened at the mention of Paul. Sharon noticed this and apologized, "I'm sorry about mentioning him. But we're going to have to find him to get back, so we're going to hear a lot about him in the coming days. So, let's not get gloomy every time we hear his name."
"Plus, without him, we wouldn't have a pet," a voice yelled from above.
This time it was Doug eavesdropping on the conversation. Next to him, a wolf's head stared down at them. The wolf bounded quickly down the stairs, followed more slowly by Doug. Doug was wearing a simple suit of ring mail armor over a plain gray shirt and pants. His sword was slung over his back, with a large backpack over it. He calmly strode down the stairs as Scott, in wolf form, bounded through the group in the living room and jumped onto an empty couch. He laid down on the couch and inspected the group.
"Well, I guess you like your wolf shape, huh, Scott?" Tony asked.
Scott wagged his tail.
Lisa had noticed Scott in wolf form and hurried back inside.
"Scott?" she asked the wolf as she plopped down on the couch next to him.
"Yes, that's Scott," Tony informed her.
"Oh. He's so much more fuzzy than I last remembered him." Lisa scratched the wolf behind the ears. Scott obviously found that quite enjoyable, as he closed his eyes and laid his head on Lisa's lap.
"I think he likes that form because he then has an excuse to place his head in women's laps and have women scratch and pet him," Kevin said directly at the wolf, smiling.
Lisa looked down at Scott, telling him, "Don't worry. I don't mind. You make for a good Mikey substitute." She giggled and was about to scratch Scott's left ear when Scott raised his head and glared at Kevin, slightly baring his teeth.
Kevin held up his hands. "Sorry, Scott. Didn't mean to let your plans out of the bag," the cat apologized.
"Yeah, and guess who gets to carry that bag while he's like that?" Doug complained as he hit the first floor, dropping the obviously heavy backpack in the kitchen.
Scott looked over at Doug, shot one more quick glare at Kevin and jumped off the couch. He headed into the kitchen and sat down next to Doug. Scott motioned for Doug to move over toward the group as he disappeared behind the kitchen counter.
Doug sat next to Crystal, explaining, "He's probably changing back. That's why he wanted a little privacy."
A soft groan of discomfort was heard from the kitchen. The groan lasted a couple of seconds. Scott stood up from behind the counter, only his upper body visible.
"Sorry all. Just wanted you to get used to that form. It might come in handy eventually." He smiled. "Plus, I kind of like it."
"I do too!" Lisa chirped. "It's nice having a fuzzy pet besides Kevin around."
Scott glanced up at Lisa, but didn't say anything. He continued dressing, putting on padded blue cotton pants, a khaki shirt, and a simple steel breastplate over it all. His etched helmet covered his bald head.
Rich came back inside during this time, and joined in a conversation between Sharon and Crystal. Scott soon finished dressing and sat down in one of the big chairs.
Everyone had finally assembled. Now they needed to decide what to do.