[center][h3]The Middle of the Tavern[/h3][/center]
[hr]

The seven fluorescent squidlike creatures, each a different color of the rainbow, were still in Marissa's face, making a variety of gurgling noises and rapidly snapping their teeth open and closed. They weren't really coping well with the sudden disconnection from the rest of the hivemind - and they [i]certainly[/i] weren't coping well with being reduced suddenly to subhuman intellect. It was probably the single most terrifying and angering thing they had ever experienced in their seven lives. Marissa sought to defuse them before they did something stupid like burn this place down, whatever it was.

[color=a187be]"Alright. Fine. I'm sorry. Is that better? No? Didn't think so. I'll try to figure out where we are. Try not to piss anyone off - I'll be back. You can sleep in this duffel bag until I get back."[/color]

The seven each blinked their 'mouths', revealing a single large eye between their fanged teeth, and 'smiled' at Marissa (which, due to their strange monocular physiology at this moment made them look very, very angry). They blinked a second time and the eyes were gone, with their normal mouths in the same place. The seventh spoke for them, having elected itself as their mouthpiece.

[color=ff00ff]"Fine."[/color]

All seven floated down into the comfortable-looking green duffel bag, which Marissa promptly zipped behind them. They might be extraplanar freaks, but they wouldn't be able to escape from the bag. They didn't need to breathe, eat, or drink, anyway, so Marissa figured that it should be okay. Having contained what were probably now the least useful companions in existence, she set off towards the bar, leaving the massive heap of luggage behind.

She sat next to the first person she saw at the bar (in this case, the barmaid) and asked, [color=a187be]"Where are we? And is there somewhere I can stay nearby?"[/color]

She hoped that her steel-grey skin and plus-shaped pupils didn't creep out the locals, most of whom seemed to be a filthy shade of creamy whiteyellowpink. She would have to investigate the reason for their unusual coloration and eye construction.