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[h3]Zerul City, outside I’onriyi’s estate[/h3]
The deigan woman had almost given up hope that anyone was going to answer her knocking by the time she heard someone shouting inside, but ultimately just waited patiently until I’onriyi appeared, idly brushing off part-real and part-imagined dirt from her once-regal dress. When the penin finally appeared he did so in a state that suggested that she had indeed disturbed his sleep, which was confirmed by his words but a moment later. She did not flinch in the slightest at realizing that she was bothering him, nor did she react to him hurrying her on. She did, however, shoot a quizzical look to either side, up and down the street, as she confirmed her earlier observation that there were indeed people out and about already. She had presumed that people would be more synchronized in their daily schedules here, considering that they had a common means of telling the time in the sky, but apparently she had been mistaken.
Her impression of I’onriyi was also immediately positive in many ways, although she had no doubt that making a good impression had been the last thing on his mind just now. His bluntness and rudeness was refreshingly different from what she was used to; the true deigan of her city were almost perpetually polite, displaying nothing but smiles and cordiality to one another even when everyone knew they were in the middle of bitter rivalry. Many of their kind would keep a smile on their face and in their voice, right up until one swallowed their poison or felt their dagger between one’s shoulders. I’onriyi’s behavior also meant that his good standing in the city did not come from him being likable or personable, which meant that it had been earned through his actions.
Another, more superficial reason that she liked I’onriyi was simply that he was smaller than her. With her stature of 5’1” and ninety-seven pounds she was considered small even among her own people, and in the time since she had come here she had realized that she was almost pathetically so compared to most humans. It was nice to encounter someone she did not have to look up at or generally seem intimidatingly big.

“My apologies,” she offered, placing her left hand on the small of her back and her right on her stomach as she bowed stiffly to the penin, an inelegant but humble gesture. She wondered what to say, now that she had actually met the man. Which approach was most likely to garner his attention before he slammed the door shut in her face? To explain the purpose of her visit, or to reveal her identity and her... situation? Deceiving the little guy somehow never even registered as an option.
[I]Both. First purpose, then identity. Just keep it brief.[/I]
“I am here seeking I’onriyi Stonehand, adventurer in good standing,” she told him, trying to express as much information in as few words as possible so that he would not feel that he was wasting his time. “I want to accompany you on your next quest, that I may possibly do something good with my life.”
[I]All right, now hit him with the really interesting part. I’m sure that’ll make him curious.[/I]
She placed her right hand on her chest, between her humble breasts, and smiled at him ruefully. “This is Male’dai, apprentice arcanist of Cahl’nai’sulooth’iel, which was recently raided and nearly completely destroyed. I -” she made a vaguer gesture at herself “- was given the honor of bearing the name Nimbus by my Lord. Nimbus of Laon’s archangels.”