Shadow of Hope VI
At the approach of the priest upon foot and especially the mounted dancer, Kurn adjusts his position lest her mount misjudge its footing. The campaigner steps with confident, measured steps until he is two paces aside and ahead of the noble matriarch and her mount, on the opposite side from the dwarf who may prove a danger to any near his horse as much himself. He adjusts his position so as to stand with the matronly figure and primarily face the lizardman, priest and dancer.
Kurn nods not unkind greeting to the dancer’s introduction. She was pleasant to look upon, but whatever brief flicker prompted his eye was subdued by the hardened impassiveness in his expression.
This assembly and introduction was not his to make. Kurn kept his position as casual guard for the nobility at hand, though it was apparent he felt the elder had this situation well in hand and was in no pressing danger. The drizzling rain beaded in his short cropped hair, the collecting droplets occasionally tracing unregarded paths down his firm brow, features and jaw.
The lizardman, perhaps alone in seeming untroubled by the deluge, regarded each new arrival in turn. His features were visibly impassive, though whether that was due to natural inexpressiveness or a carefully cultivated demeanor was hard to tell.
“Five to the call, I see,” he ventured as Kurn took up his dour guardianship. “Was that the number sought, or are others yet to come?” His words were soft and smooth, and they lacked the sibilance expected of his species. His differences were, it seemed, more than simply a matter of physique.