Night of the Living Dead (Umbralume)

[Regantor]

Like everything with Mishkala, this news was met not with a shocked expression or respectful silence, but instead a highly enthusiastic laugh.

"And here I was thinking working with humans wouldn't be all that interesting!" She basically cooed, a soft but sharply accented voice betraying less than savory daydreams. "Let me tell you my dear, for starters, being considered a crime against nature and religion is underrated. Consider that the further away from being the best human you become, the closer you are to being the best something else..."

"Many of my own Drow sisters cannot grasp this simple fact, even! Do they really think that the all-knowing gods would appear to us as simple little humanoid shapes? It's preposterous! Hilariously misguided and hilariously preposterous!"

Whilst making her 'motivational' speech, she began to glide towards the group at a slow, relaxed, rather rhythmic pace. Lucy and Lucia were given plenty of room, but Titian was affectionately patted on the top of the head like one might treat a trusted dog.

SPOILER! :

Knowledge - Religion Test on anything Mishy would know relating to Lucy's descriptions...
1d20+8=15

[Kodos]

"Oh pfft." Abigail smiled towards Lucy. "You're not a freak, love, and neither is my Mishka. You are as the gods, or nature, or whatever, made you, and Mishka is no more a freak than the victim of a violent crime is a freak. You are not your condition, and she is not the obscenity that was done to her. And neither of you are unholy." She smiled lovingly at Mishka. "My Mishka may be blasphemous to Lolth, but I don't think that quite counts." Abigail gave a slight laugh before turning to Titian. "Why? You eats bugs, dear?" More laughter. "Of course not, silly! It's breakfast, silly! If you're expecting me to cook something exotic and Drow for you, I can't. Besides, we don't get spiders that large here to even try half their dishes!"

[Regantor]

Mishka hadn't even thought about it before, but the idea of eating a fat juicy cave spider suddenly seemed a whole lot like cannibalism. She just shot Abigail a small dishearted smile, before curtseying towards their guests and returning to the table. "...Don't worry, it's just words, dear. You taught me that... More tea?"

Always eager to serve, she refilled Abigal's cup back to the brim, regardless of her answer. She then just took up a place hanging from the stitcher's arm and smiled contently. "Come now, eat up!" A pleasant sigh was directed at the group of hired hands... Well, the women, anyway. "There is no reason my dearest would poison you, as spare bodies are in no short order. I also asure you that she is a wonderful cook, and it's not like you can say that about alot of people who hire mercenaries... So, please! Dig in and renew your vitality for the day ahead!"

[Evil_Cake]

Titian sat down at the table, but just kinda prodded his food with a fork. It might be best to let others try the food first...

[Regantor]

Mishkala held up the smile well enough through the elongated silence, through their guests seemed pretty obviously happy to go without all the food they lovingly prepared...

But, now, she couldn't think of any new ways of ushering them along. What exactly were they taking so personally? Were a priest-turned murderer, a self-declared abomination, and a damn clueless little alchemist boy really so sure of themselves that they'd keep on insulting her so blatantly? It's... criminal ignorance...

The uncomfortable quiet continued. Trying to distract herself, Mishka went back to eating her own breakfast, through her hands shook so much now it became difficult to restrain her fork.

What exactly was it that they wished to clean their hands of? Did acting so disdainful towards the lovely soul that was Abigail somehow make them smug, or internally justified? Blind love wasn't a Drow trait. The human woman had dragged her out of a ditch and pieced her back together as best she could, asking absolutely nothing in return. As yet, Mishkala had not found a way to repay this debt, but was utterly trapped in the concept of trying to.

"...So, you just want to belittle everything to feel powerful, is that it?..." The frail thing finally spoke up again, through now with a tone as spiteful and tormented as her broken form actually suggested. "Think you just speak down on my mistress like she's a simpleton performer of cheap tricks? Like you can just rip all of the Drider organs out of my lower half, and I'd survive just like that? You're... y-you're...."

Anger built in her shoulders, until she couldn't think of doing anything but throwing her remaining breakfast across the room, which collided noisily with the far wall.

"As morally unclean as every fucking inhuman creature you despise so much. It's... unforgivable!”

Giving a quick glance across to Abigail, she then just retreated from the outburst as quickly as possible, awkwardly hiding her eyes using her hand and the grooved rear of her red talon.

[Superdooperphailmachine]

"Oh be quiet, and imagine for a second what it must feel like to have a monster stand over you while you eat food offered to you by someone you have only just met in a mansion that is filled with Shuffling dead" Lucia wasn't too happy about getting shit from this creature first thing in the 'morning', she wasn't really happy about it being part of her morning at all really.

[Regantor]

"I wasn't exactly born here either, you fool." Mishkala scowled back, through her anger was quickly loosing weight. She didn't exactly attempt to discredit her being a 'monster' this time. "Apparently some people of the cloth are just better at counting their blessings than others... Why do human priests insist on thinking their race is the center of the universe?... Where do they get off thinking they can still be considered 'good' at the same time as wishing death upon every other race out there?"

The twisted woman's mannerism became strange. It was almost like her spite wasn't quite directed at Lucia anymore, instead into the table before her, mixed in with equal parts denial and despair. It was perfectly possible that the human priesthood were not the organisation she had come to hate alone.

[Delphinus]

Leaving non-combat telepathy un-ZALGO from now on to make it easier to read.

You don't need to like it - her - just be gracious to... her. She? should be treated as - oh, I don't know the stupid proper etiquette for dining with abominations - but she's the object of a lady's fancy, so it - I mean she - should be treated more kindly than dirty commoners, maybe? Oh bother, I don't know, but treat her like a pet?

She... is a lovely... um. Curiosity, Abigail. How did you find her?

Oh curses. Now she sounded as though she were standing up for the wretched thing. Not that it was any more wretched than her, but... no, it's still a wretched thing. Still a wretched thing, yes.

[Kodos]

"Mishka is not a 'curiosity', Lucy." Abigail said coldly. "She is a person, and she has a name. Mishkala is not some stray dog I rescued, I did not 'find' her. We met."

Abigail turned to Mishka and smiled lovingly at the Drider, the affection clear in her voice and eyes. "I was in Otranto getting some parts and I ran into her, more or less, and one thing led to another and now we're a happy couple and, gods willing, we'll continue to be so for a very long time." She turned to Titian. "Hey, eat up, you!" Abigail laughed at the Alchemist. "You'll need your strength! Big day and all that!"

[Evil_Cake]

Oh Gods, will they kill me if I don't eat? Titian inaudibly prayed for his life, then picked up some of the meal with a fork. Sweat poured down from his forehead as he slowly, with a trembling hand, brought the food closer to his mouth. He opened wide, and let out a cry of defeat before sticking the stuff in his mouth and swallowing it. Then he repeated this many times until breakfast was all gone, and he fell back in his chair, exhausted.