Log:The Last Queen Egg, Scene 1

The Last Queen Egg 2014/12/04 	 Aurica Chen Lyrran Paragon

1

Prelude in Past Times Coffee Shop
Third raises a hand and curls her fingers in a type of wave. Her fingers make a slight cracking sound as she moves them. "Hey, Porter," she says in warm, friendly tones. She heads to the counter first to order something to help her thaw. Her usual cappuccino in a hot mug. Her drink is prepped quickly after she pays, then she takes the mug with both hands, cupping them around the ceramic sides for warmth, and walks over towards the others. "How's it going?"

Goldie licks Oriana's hand. The lick is warm and soft but dry. No slobber. Then she's up and bounds over to Paragon, jumping up to place front paws on Paragon's shoulders and woofing delightedly.

"How're you feeling?" Porter asks Third, though he takes it as a good sign that she's not armored or grinding. "And watch out for your coffee..." he adds with a chuckle when Third is Goldie-pounced.

Third grins happily and brightly at seeing Goldie. She switches to a one-handed grip on her coffee and scritches the top of Goldie's head. "Heheh, hey, girl. Get your sausages yet?" she giggles. She looks over to Porter. "I'm feeling alright. Self-repairs are all done." With a little help of traveling back to Undermoon. It's been a bit longer for her than it's been for others, due to the difference in the flow of time.

"Good," Porter echoes Third's grin. Even if Goldie is more responsible for it than him. "Not yet, but I did share the secret with Ori." Which means sausages could soon be inbound. "Sit with us? She wanted me to catch her up on things... and that's alot of things."

Goldie pads back to the table beside Third. And between one step and the next the golden retriever is replaced by a tawny-gold furred sabre-tooth tiger.

The degree to which Third is out of sync with time may be demonstrated when she says, "Sure, why not? So how'd that paternity test turn out?" She walks over to the table with Goldie and pulls out one of the chairs before sitting down. After she sets her coffee down, she wraps her fingers around it again.

Porter sighs at the reminder, sucks in more coffee. Sighs again. "Having it done tomorrow morning. It's ridiculous, but..." Ok, what would he say? Weird? How's that different? "No idea how long it'll take for them to get the answers back to me."

Sabre settles at Third's feet and seemingly goes to sleep, one paw resting against the side of Third's foot so if Third leaves she'll feel it.

Third nods softly and raises her cup to take a sip. She makes a mental note to install some sort of app to keep track of the time differences. She's still not exactly sure how fast time flows between the two. "Ah, right. And today is...?" she prompts for the date.

"It's Wednesday, Para," Porter quirks a brow, "day after I saw you here last..." He looks confused, then "Ah. Undermoon. Right, sorry."

Third nods softly as she drinks and sets down her drink, sitting very poised. "Yes, Undermoon. It's been a few days for me. I think it's been..." she tries to remember. "About five days my time."

Porter blinks. "Sheesh, no wonder ... Sure you should be out there that long? I mean, even if it's not long, here. And last time was for a week our time, so ... months?"

"Two months," Third nods. "And I suppose plus five days," she adds as she does the math. She shrugs at his question. "Why shouldn't I? I can do a lot of good there without having to worry about Mechaneer and his creations following. It's more than I can do here."

Porter opens his mouth to answer. Pauses. Closes his mouth. Then sighs. After another pause, he frowns some. "Just worried about you. I know you're tough, know you can take care of things. But... If something happened, could be a long time before anybody here figured that out and came to help."

"Hmmm...I suppose that could come up," Third ponders thoughtfully.

"Not trying to sound like a babysitter, or that I don't think you can do it, Para..." Porter washes down his redundant, pre-emptive apology with coffee. "I just worry. You know me." Finally a shrug and smile follow.

Third sighs softly. "Yes...I know you worry," she says with another sip of coffee. "And you do often sound like a babysitter." Which she doesn't seem to like.

Porter's smile wilts significantly. "Sorry." He nods a little absently and sucks in more caffeine as he buys time to segue to ...something. Like "Did you find that dragon again? Or, even better, one that wasn't so cranky? Pel was really amazed that you worked on that for her. And grateful." That brings the smile back.

Third seems a little frustrated. "Well, I found the old fae woman who was able to cast the spell to get me there, but to get a trip back would require more favors. Quests. I completed one for her, but now she's asking for a second one. Once I've finished and she's satisfied with payment, I'll come get Pelana and you."

"Quests..." Porter repeats quietly, a little surprised. But only a little. "Guess that's about right for fae and Undermoon..." Magic journey quest ...things. He looks over to Third again, concerned, but now in a different way. "Anything I can do to help? Don't have to do all the favor quest things yourself."

Third smiles faintly. "She call them quests. Think of them as tasks or missions and it'll seem more familiar. The next one sounds...possibly tricky. But maybe not for me." Her smile dips a bit. "No, not really. You have more important things to deal with here, anyway."

Porter blinks. "More important than going off and saving the world with you?! Like what? Ok, so maybe it's not exactly saving the world..." he chuckles, "but you know what I mean." As his mirth dies down, an afterthought sobers him quickly. He adds, more softly, "If you don't want my help, it's Ok. I was just offering."

Third's expression seems to brighten at his words, but then she remembers how she got him ill, and she pushes it back down. "I...don't want your help," she forces herself to say the words like she means it.

That flicker of expression is caught as a cue. A good one. Porter did something right, without even try- and then it's gone before he can even start to return her smile. That never fully materialized. The ...bouncing leaves him off-balance a moment, and he just manages a bland "Ok." A moment later, though, his hand lowers from his cup to his waist, and she gets an incoming net request.

Third's eyes flicker down to the table and her brow furrows as she feels the ping for a network request. Which gets denied. Her coffee is close to finished, so she starts to rise from her seat. "I'd better get going. There's a lot of work for me to do still."

What began as surprise, then became sudden concern, now turns to panic. Porter is good at all three of those, but not really by choice. Mashing the 'call' button repeatedly is tempting, but that probably won't do any good. Neither will flailing. And the couple of questions he was originally going to ask her in a rush now multiplied into fifty or so. He doubts she has time for all those. "Third..." He manages to get that much out, if just to maybe buy him some time. There's a brief delay from him as he tries to sift and sort and simplify, his eyes on the table. They then lift to her as he tries to complete the sentence with the simplest common denominator. "...Are you happy? How things are?"

Third doesn't make eye contact. She doesn't even turn her head his way as she stops at the question. It's a loaded question. She's dead again, which after having a chance at living, has left her more aware of her awful state than ever before. The deadened nerves she was so used to now make her feel more distant and closed off than ever before. "No..." she answers quietly. Unable to really communicate into words how things are, she walks away, heading out the door. But of course, what she thinks Porter's asking about, and what he's actually asking about, may be misinterpreted, as is Porter's luck.

Porter's luck is something that Porter could do without, sometimes. Most times. Maybe all the time. Luck aside, she did answer his question, even if he hates the answer. He just ...watches her go, partly in shock, partly in denial, and partly in worry. So he's a bit unfocused, but what would he do, anyhow? That'd be the right thing? Nothing. He'd just make things worse. Somehow.

Later in Paragon's Bayside House
Chen comes into the house looking like Chen and only like Chen. She listens and then calls out, "Third? Sis? Can we talk?"

The door to Paragon's bedroom is closed, which usually means she's in. Especially when the light can be seen underneath the door. There's the sound of her heavy footfalls and she opens the door, wearing a black t-shirt and light blue flannel pants while towel drying her hair. "Ohh, hey, Chen. Sure," she says as she gives her hair another rub down.

She disappears for a moment to hang up the towel, then comes back out and pads downstairs, barefoot. "What's up? Would you like something warm to drink?"

Chen nods, "Sure. Let's move to the kitchen," she says. . o O(Because the kitchen is a nice homey place where you'll be relaxed.

Para walks over to the kitchen area and starts sifting around for two mugs. "It's been chilly out. Hmmm. Tea? Or hot cocoa?" she offers pleasantly. Usually she has some baked goods or snacks lying around under sarenwrap around the kitchen, but with all the traveling adventures, she hasn't really stayed home and cooked much recently. Once she was out of the hospital and the holidays were over, she's been wanting to stay constantly on the move, with frequent short visits back just to check on things.

Chen smiles, "Hot cocoa sounds wonderful. It has been chilly the last day or so hasn't it?"

Chen thinks. o O (Let's get Sis seated at the table with a drink in her hands. Much harder socially speaking to leave a conversation from that situation, and I don't know how she's going to take what I want to say.)

Para chuckles and nods. "Right down to the bone. I was just trying to thaw myself out in the shower, but the warm water ran out," she jokes lightly. She starts heating some milk and gets out some hot cocoa mix. It takes a few minutes, but then she finishes up and turns around, handing Chen a cup of hot cocoa topped with marshmallows. She has another for herself.

Chen stretches out an arm, to about six feet long in fact, to pull a chair out at the kitchen table for Paragon. She sits in the chair opposite and takes a sip of the cocoa. "Mmm... This is nice. Can I detect a hint of butter to make it creamier?"

Para sits down in the offered chair and nods. "Yes. I heard some people use it in coffee. Grass fed butter. I didn't believe it until I tried it. I thought maybe it'd work with hot cocoa. Not too bad," she says as she takes a sip.

Chen grows another arm and hand, so she can hold her hot cocoa in one hand and also hold the hand Para is using for her cup with Chen's other two hands. "Sis, what's wrong? And don't try to tell me nothing is wrong because it obviously is."

Para blinks and looks up from her drink at Chen, her usual polite, kind smile dropping a bit. "You...were awake for that, huh?" she says softly, and sighs. "I...just haven't felt right. Ever since I got out of the hospital and reverted back to normal. It's...it's so hard to explain. Even with the illness, and the weakness, I...I miss being -alive-..."

Chen nods looking sympathetically across the table. "I can take your form," and she does so. Suddenly there are two identical Paragons sitting opposite each other at the table. "And physically I can replicate you exactly. My DNA matches yours, my body temp is the same. I have no heartbeat, etc. But I can't feel how you feel." She reverts back to Chen. "Being alive for that period has highlighted what you are missing, hasn't it? Something you had no reference point to compare against your current state before Porter's meddling, huh?"

Para nods slowly, looking a bit saddened. "Everything felt so much more...vivid. And bright. And...wonderful. Even the bad parts. My emotions even felt brighter...that's really the only way I could explain it. I felt more," she pauses and tries to think of a way to explain it. "...free. Without the armor. Without the cybernetics or the pain, or being Paragon and the responsibilities of the name. I felt free to live. Free to love." She almost looks euphoric as she tries to explain something that seems so intangible.

Her expression saddens. "Now, everything just feels muted by comparison. My sense of touch...the way things taste or feel. Even my love for Porter and others. I suddenly understand what it means to be considered dead inside."

Chen nods, "Okay. That's the problem. What are we going to do about it?"

Para blinks at Chen's question. And looks suitably stumped. "I'll get over it eventually, sis. I just need time," she tries to sound reassuring.

Chen says, "That isn't my Sis speaking. Get over it?! You're not going to have to get over it, Third. We're going to fix it. Between us we have almost unlimited resources. There's Allison, Porter who has already shown it's possible for you to return to life. The Baron who has taken a liking to you. Doctor Destroyer owes you a favor. We have some fantastic mages in the city, and there's the Undermoon mages and healers too. They routinely resurrect people."

"Resources that should be used responsibly, sis. Not for personal gain," Para says in her big sisterly voice. "And especially not so I can feel a little better, when I could use those resources and favors to help others with dire needs."

Chen nods accepting what you say. "You're right. I should have realized resources shouldn't be used for personal benefit. They should be used responsibly to help others with their needs, right? Well... to me you are another with a need, Sis. And by your own logic I can use my resources to help you. One of those resources is our relationship. We help each other out. So you're not misusing resources, you're helping me out while I'm doing what I should do, that is helping someone with a need."

Chen twists logic like a pretzel.

Para is surprised at how well Chen wields logic. "Well. I...suppose so? But isn't there anyone you know in greater need?"

Chen says, "Not right at the moment. And it's not an either/or thing. I don't have to forgo helping you in order to help someone else. I can do both."

Para nods softly. "So...there's a chance I can be human? Permanently?"

Chen says, "I can't imagine we can't do it if we try. So I'm going to say yes."

Para smiles a little to herself. "I think...I might like that. It would be something like retirement maybe. But I guess...I'd stop being Paragon then." She sips her hot cocoa and thinks heavily on that.

Chen says, "Let's aim high. Aim for you to be just as you are in all regards except you're alive. Then if you have to compromise a little you can make that decision when the time comes."

Para nods softly. She seems excited and nervous all at once. "Right, got it. Wow...I don't really know what to say yet..."

"Except thank you, sis," Para smiles.

Chen smiles, "I love you. If I can do something for you I will. No if's or but's. We're family."

Para sits back in her chair comfortably. "I love you too, sis. I guess I should think about what I'd want to do with things like that permanently."

"Really? Now?" Para gets up to her feet. "Er, let me get dressed real quick, okay?"

Chen laughs at herself, "Oh.. Oh, yeah. Right. I hadn't noticed you weren't."

Para chuckles. "Well I am for home company, but not going out. Just give me a minute." She dashes upstairs. It takes more like three or so minutes, but when she comes back out, she's dressed for the outdoors.

Chen has washed up the cups, not bothering with the dishwasher for such a small amount. "Do you know Aurica, the healer who works out of the back room of the Golden Dragon Rea Room? she asks, growing wings and offering Paragon a lift.

Para nods as she armors up for the ride. "Yes, a little. I know of her, for certain. I talked to her once about Pelana. I thought maybe another dragon could give her some advice. But Aurica is a different type of dragon, it turns out."

Chen nods, "I don't know what kind of dragon. I've spoken to her once, and once only. She rarely comes out of that back room." Chen's wings beat and she takes off with Paragon held securely. Traveling as the crow flies it's not long before Paragon and Chen are descending towards the rear of the Tea Room, into an enclosed courtyard that fortunately has no overhead obstructions to block landings and takeoffs.

Para nods to Chen. "I'm not sure what type either. It was a very brief talk, and it took a long time to get that meeting with her. And only to find they're different and that she couldn't help," Paragon sighs. "That's why I was trying to find a dragon the Princess Guard ran into. Or even another somewhere, perhaps, on Undermoon. As a peace offering to Pelana. To help make things worth with her, and Porter, and I. But I'm not sure of what to look for, honestly. Or what real dragons would be like, if Pelana is any indication."

Chen chuckles as she leads the way into the Tea Room via a rear door. "I'm not sure what a Pelana dragon would be like but I wouldn't call Aurica a not real dragon." Lyrran is waiting just inside the rear door. He has a waiting for you expression on his face, "Good evening, Paragon, Chen. Will it be a table for two?"

Chen blurts out, "We want to see Aurica."

"If we could, please," Paragon adds with a polite smile.

Lyrran nod, "There will be a delay. There are several patients already waiting in line. A table and tea while you wait? And Ms Li, if you could manage to not have a furniture wrecking fight this time..?"

"That only happened once!" Chen protests.

Para smiles slightly as she looks to Chen as if wanting to hear this story of furniture hi-jinx. "We'll behave," she promises back to Lyrran.

Lyrran points out, "This is only your third sit down visit here."

Chen gives Lyrran a sweet smile, "I'll behave myself. Promise."

Para glances at Chen curiously. "Sit-down visit? Patients?" she inquires.

Chen says, "Huh..? Oh.. No. I deliver spices here from my grandfather's stall."

Whether Lyrran is making a point or not is open to debate, but he leads Paragon and Chen over to the same table she was sitting at when the aforementioned fight broke out.

Para sits down at the table and nods to Lyrran. "Thank you for seating us." She looks back to Chen, her glowing eyes within the helm just staring at her as she waits to hear the story of the fight.

Chen says, "Lyrran, I.. uh... How should we approach Aurica? I have a favor to ask."

Lyrran just smiles, "Try honestly and truthfully. That's what worked for me when I finally tried it."

Para looks up to Lyrran curiously. "You asked her a favor? What, uh, sorts of favor? Oh, I'm sorry, that's probably personal, isn't it?"

Chen nods a bit subdued. Then she realizes what table they are at. "It was back just before I saw you for the first time, Sis." she starts to explain, "You remember Trick, the boy that the big bruiser was holding when you arrived. Well before that, a couple of days before, I was talking to the boy in here when one of Tim Lee's exiles spotted us. I told Trick to head out the back door and went to stop her following him. It got physical and, well, she mopped the floor with me. Made it look easy. That's when the furniture got wrecked. But I bought Trick enough time for him to lose himself."

Lyrran listened to Chen and nodded at the end. Then he turns to Paragon, "I asked her to kill me."

Para chuckles quietly. "And they still hold that against you after all this time? That was years ago. That must've been quite a fight." When Lyrran gives an answer, she turns and looks at him in surprise. "What...? But...why?" she asks in sudden concern.

Lyrran has bleak look in his eyes as he tells Paragon, "So I didn't have to kill her. I was under a compulsion and I'd come to realize I was working for the wrong side of a conflict."

"Oh," Paragon says sympathetically, her eyes dimming. "I understand. I never realized Aurica was involved in any conflict."

Lyrran says, "She isn't. That didn't stop the Lords I worked for at that time sending me to kill her." Then he smiles, "She showed me another path to walk. And so here I am."

Para's expression behind the helm is impressed by the tale. "Really? I'm happy for you, Lyrran. Hopefully your former Lords are done trying to cause harm to Aurica, or you."

Lyrran nods. "I was the best they had. When I didn't return they should have decided the cost would be too great."

Chen says, "Best what?"

Chen can't stop herself from blurting out the question, although she looks a little abashed immediately afterwards.

Lyrran is turning away from the table. He pauses briefly, "Warmage." Then he's going to another customer.

Para glances between Chen and the retreating Lyrran, then turns to face Chen again. "Interesting. It seems he's managed to find a peaceful existance for himself," she says cheerfully.

Chen looks at her sister. "I've never heard him open up like that and I've asked him about himself dozens of times. I knew there was a story behind him. I wonder why he talked about it this time."

Para shrugs softly. "Maybe because we're here to see Aurica? I'm glad he was willing to share, though."

Chen nods. Tea arrives and time passes. The Tea Room is less busy as the evening gets later. Then Lyrran comes to the table, "Aurica will see you now. It's that door." He points to a door that people have been going in and out of.

Para nods to Lyrran and sets down her teacup as she rises. "Thank you," she says to him politely, then heads for the door with Chen.

The room behind the door is moderately sized. It's furnished in the same classical Chinese style as the rest of the Tea Room except for a desk and three comfortable posture chairs, with Aurica seated in the chair behind the desk. She's beautiful, not Lorelei standard but not far away. Her skin is tanned, or maybe is just naturally golden toned. Her long hair has the sheen and luster of spun gold threads.

Aurica's voice is sweet toned and clear, "Please be seated. What brings you to me?"

Para nods at the offer and walks over to the chair, taking a seat. "Thank you for seeing us," she says politely, sitting up in a prim and proper posture. She looks to Chen curiously to make the request on her behalf, thinking perhaps her sister knows more about dealing with dragons than she does.

For all Chen's usual brashness, she seems a little awed in Aurica's presence.

After a look from Chen, Paragon looks back to Aurica. "Well, my sister here thought you could perhaps help me with my condition," she begins to explain. Her helm splits apart and retracts, leaving her head exposed. "My body was animated with necromancy. Someone recently used magic to bring my body to life completely, but it was short lived. We thought perhaps we could ask if you it was possible to make it permanent?"

Aurica looks intently at Paragon, her eyes shining with light as she does so. Then she nods and the light in her eyes fades, "Yes. There are two ways it could be done. One I can do here and now. But I wonder if that is a path you would wish to take? You would have to walk on the Left Hand Path if I were to do now what you ask. Those who follow the Left Hand Path, such as Lyrran and myself, are prohibited from engaging in any form of violence, no matter how minor it might seem. You would be alive but you would not be able to continue in your current activities."

"You mean...even if it were to save lives? Or for the good of the city?" Paragon asks with some surprise. "What if it was to help people?"

Aurica says, ".. even if. Exactly. The prohibition is absolute. Which is why I wonder if that is a Path you would be willing to take. I said there were two ways it could be done. That is one of them."

Para thinks carefully on it, then sighs, closing her eyes. "As much as I prefer peaceful resolution, I don't know if I could just stand by and do nothing against a villain or person threatening to hurt others. And if I slipped up while on the Left Hand Path, what would happen then?" she asks, opening her eyes again.

Aurica looks Paragon in the eyes, "You would lose the benefit of the ritual. In other words you would return to being dead. And the magic that animates you now would be gone."

"So...a final death," Paragon says softly, her eyes meeting Aurica's. She thinks about it quietly. "I...have to think on that carefully. What about the other option?"

Aurica stops to think for a moment, then she says, "In the realm, the dimension, that Lyrran and I come from a war is in progress. A war that has been fought non-stop for thousands of years. Because I was a follower of the Left Hand Path I was considered a liability to my kind. But they found a use for me. I was entrusted with the safety of a great treasure and sent away with instructions to guard it with my life. Which I will do. Being unable to use violence does not mean being unable to passively defend myself and the treasure I guard. Lyrran... was one of the other side's greatest Warmages. He was sent to destroy the treasure and me.

Para listens curiously. "So, then...violence is permitted in self defense? I'm not sure I understand to what degree you can passively defend yourself."

Aurica explains, "I cannot use violence under any circumstances. But I can cast spells to shield and protect, to confuse and bewilder, to influence others into not using violence."

Para nods in understanding. "Ah, I see. In my situation, there's not much I'd be able to do that was non-violent beyond talking it out."

Aurica nods. "It's probably not a coincidence that the Left Hand Path originated in a community of mages." She stops for a moment for Paragon to take that in. "Lyrran is a good person. Which side of the war someone fights depends on where they were born, not on their intrinsic nature. Perhaps it was different in the beginning when it was a war of Light versus Darkness. But now there are good and bad on each side. One who is unquestionable evil is the Dark Lord. Long ago he broke the most sacred covenant of our realm and attacked the birthplace of life on our realm. He slaughtered the guardians there and took control of the Tree of Life. Surrounding the island on which the Tree grows is a lake. Bathing in the waters of the lake is the second way I know to give you what you wish. There may be other ways unknown to me. Those are the two I know of."

Para nods slowly, absorbing all the information. "So...the second option involves getting to the Tree of Life, past the Dark Lord's forces that now control it?" Paragon tries to make sure she got all that correct.

Aurica nods, "Yes. And if you can do that there is a favor I would ask of you. Allow Lyrran and myself to accompany you. We cannot engage in violence but we may be of use and can guide you through our realm. I wish to wash the treasure I guard in the waters of the Lake of Life."

Para says heavily, "As much as I'd hate to admit it, I don't think the Left Hand Path would work for me. I just couldn't sit idle if people needed help. And I wouldn't have a passive way to defend them." She thinks carefully. "And what about this Dark Lord and his forces? I suppose if I go with that option, I would definitely allow Lyrran and yourself to accompany us."

Aurica says, "It would be not simple thing to get to the lake. You may wish to gather a number of companions. But you may have an unexpected surprise for the Dark Lord. He has cast sufficient suppression spells that opposing forces cannot cast spells near his domain, and in our realm spells are the tanks and artillery of warfare. But what you call meta powers are unknown."

"So...non-spell casting heroes, perhaps. But it sounds like this would be dangerous. All so I could get a chance to live. I...I really have to think about this, Aurica. Putting others lives in danger for myself and some treasure they don't know about? I've risked my friends' lives enough. I'll ask, perhaps, if I decide to go ahead with this," Paragon says after careful consideration.

Aurica nods, "There is more at sake than just your desire, Paragon." She doesn't seem to do anything but a large golden shelled egg appears on the desk, roughly the size of a beachball. "The last Queen Egg!" Aurica says in reverent tones. "The last hope for my kind. If the egg cannot be washed in the lake then my kind, the golden dragons of my realm, will go down to extinction."

Para gazes at the golden egg in awe. "Now I see why your treasure was so important. And why the Dark Lord wanted it destroyed." After a few moments thought, Paragon says, "I'd be willing to help you with this even if there was no reward for myself."

Aurica waves a hand and the egg fades from sight. "I... my kind, will owe you a huge debt if you succeed. Although getting my kind to acknowledge that will be like drawing teeth. They can be a prideful and stubborn group of reptiles."

"I don't do this for debts or favors. I do it to help," Paragon smiles kindly. "And with the hope it will leave things a little better than they were before."

Aurica sighs, "That I cannot promise you. The war has been fought for so long that nobody even thinks in terms of winning or losing anymore. Just inflicting damage on the other side. Success will mean my kind will continue to exist but it will most likely not have any effect on the war itself."

Para rubs her chin thoughtfully. "I see. That really does make it difficult. But it'd still be a good deed, even if there was no major victory or improvement, right?"

Aurica nods. "I have to view avoiding the extinction of my entire species as a good deed."

"I'll talk to my companions and let them decide. If I can find enough, we'll help with this quest. Even if I can't find enough willing to take the risks, I may still go to at least help with the egg," Paragon promises.