"See you later!" Ming reached a hand up to wave to Risha. Their conversation had been rather one-sided; Ming had managed to eat her pork bun so fast that talking between mouthfuls was barely a challenge. Just as well she had to speak, for the thought of fresh noodles piqued Ming's anticipation. Being full from focussing on meat buns would be disappointing.

Their landing was magical. Ming's eyes dilated. Not since they were congratulated for defeating their recent nemisis oni did Ming feel so appreciated, even amongst the multitude of other contestants. A few cherry petals brushed her cheek. She dimly smiled and placed her hand where the petals touched her face.

"Excuse me, my friends," Ming said in an oddly stilted murmur. "I gotta...introduce myself."

In a moment easily missed my the party, Ming disappeared into the crowd.

>Diplomacy to gather information on the tournament history and workings: 21

Just when her absence was noted, one hour later, Ming seemingly appeared out of nowhere behind Kyoumi's seat in the noodle restaurant with her arms in the air and her eyes scrunched shut. "This is going to be so much FUUUUN!" She exclaimed. Her cheeks were flushed and her breath smelled of the liquor they were gifted at the harbour.

Ming threw her head back and cackled her way to a seat. "So, I spoke to this guy heating the soju that said there are all these fun games we'll be playing in the tournament for extra prizes but there's still bouts with other teams for knockouts so we should try not to lose them but we shouldn't cheat because there was this one sorceress from Lingshen who did and she's really annoyed now. Anyway, this other woman cooking red beans told me the sorceress might come back because the guy who won by default when she was kicked out still hasn't had come-uppance or something but that probably won't affect us because the events been going on for over three hundred years now and they have pretty good security and she hasn't appeared since last time. I also saw this half-tiefling-half-orc lady with a nice robe and..."

A bowl of noodles slid in front of Ming, making her gasp and, more importantly, stop to breathe before she turned blue. "Thank you so much!" she said to the villager serving her the complementary meal. Blessed wordlessness followed, along with ravenous munching as Ming devoured noodles like a beast.