A compliment! A real, honest, well-deserved compliment! Simnia grinned and she held herself proper with pleasure -- that is, until she felt a breeze over her head where the good captain had whiffed an open hand. For a moment she stood like a dummy, wondering what [i]that[/i] was supposed to be, if he'd been trying to smack her and missed; or maybe it was some gesture that meant he was being sarcastic; or maybe there'd been a mosquito buzzing over her head and he'd smacked it. But there was no explanation offered, and before she could even [i]thank[/i] him for his compliment he had his back to her, which [i]really[/i] made her think he'd been fishy. He was a fishy sort of man. She made beady eyes at him, but she'd liked the compliment all the same. She'd let him slide. [i]This[/i] time. What he said next didn't quite help her opinion.

"Everyone out?" The dwarf frowned, and she glanced between the captain and the gathering crewmates, whose safety she was beginning to believe wasn't remotely a part of this captain's concern. That'd be why he had everyone sign those papers.

"Now -- now WAIT A SCREECHIN' MINUTE," Simnia hollered, loud enough for the whole ship to hear. She hiked up her skirt and stomped up to Maithien, and she tipped her head up and glared at him. "Now before we go traipsin' down into a city we don't know nothin' about, I think you, sir, have a little explainin' to explain. Like who were those people tryin' to kill us? What is this treasure, EXACTLY, that we're huntin' for? What's in Braelv? Why do ALL of us need to get out if you're just picking something up? WHO IS DRIVING THIS BLEEDIN' SHIP?" Because that last was her biggest concern. She was down in the engines with no clue what was going on outside, with blind hope that they weren't going to crash into a mountain. "I think your crew would appreciate a little communication from their [i]captain[/i] . . . SIR!"

She puffed her chest, planted her feet, and glanced around at the other crew members. [i]Surely[/i] she wasn't the only one demanding of an explanation!