This mission was somewhat slow to start; took about two weeks before this one was up.. thus the subtitle.

So this roleplay kicks things off. Thankfully, the pace picks up after this one, and we end up with some solid stories ahead. But for now, we kick off by seeing what our old friend Sebastian Dash has been up to over AiL's 'down time.'

 
Sebastian Dash had mostly kept to himself since the vacation to the South of the Border with Konall and the others. The aftertaste of the rise of the Feline Empire, spurred by Catrina Whiteclaw's betrayal of the Kingdom of KOL, had done little to bring out the best of Sebastian Dash. It was just as well he'd avoided human contact for a while, as he'd about broken down emotionally by the point Dash had returned to the Kingdom proper from the long trip South of the Border, followed by the festivities at Seaside Town. Fortunately, the time alone had given Dash time to think out his problems. Konall preferred to kill his problems away; Dash, given a choice, tended to meditate them away. Sometimes literally, sometimes not. It wasn't easy. Dash had been reluctant to open up to anyone, even Catrina, after his time in Honorburg. What was a dream marriage for him ended up being a nightmare, eventually forcing him out of Honorburg and into the confines of Adrule, which culminated in a few more moves.

Ending up with his return to the Kingdom of Loathing proper.

Mostly, Dash kept himself busy hunting and finishing, stocking up enough for the inevitable rough times ahead. Then an old friend showed up to spur him into a better mood. And with the rise of the Feline Empire, dark times were all but assured.

A sense of responsibility had kept him coming back to the check on the newly declared KOKOL outpost in South Degrassi every so often. After all, with the Feline Empire controlling the rest of the town, it was, to put it mildly, a dangerous situation.

But that was then. This is now, weeks after the vacation ended, and Dash was slowly starting to drift out of his shell, so to speak. Spurned by the reopening of Seaside Town, Dash found himself moved to revisit his one time home to see how well they'd recovered.

Despite finding himself on opposite sides with Catrina, Dash was determined to see this story through to the end. Still, a nagging half thought kept gnawing at Dash's memory and at his consciousness.. a feeling he couldn't quite place. Something someone may have said or even just implied that kept trying to remind Dash things weren't quite as clear as they seemed.

For all the effort and thought Dash put into it, however, the thought continued to elude him. Dash later found himself again alone as he explored the recently reopened Seaside Town and found it to be quite bustling, and Dash got the impression there were a lot of new faces in the city. Word of the troubles Seaside Town had undergone had spread quite far.. as had word of the renovations the half burned town had undergone. The only signs of the fire were on the slums on the Wrong Side of the Town, and the outer reaches of the town. Areas reconstruction hadn't put much of a focus on, for one reason or another.

Familiar faces, too.

Dash let out a whistle as he back towards the middle of town. Though not as big as before, the Council of Loathing had a brand new building that looked exactly like their own headquarters.. except better.

"Impressive, isn't it?" An old man with a walking stick and grey hair said.

"It is," Dash said, not noticing the old man was looking in a different direction.

"Who'd have ever thought our quaint little town would get a 'r u Catgirl?!" store?" He chuckled. Dash did a double take, then looked over, only to roll his eyes at the store.

The smaller Council of Loathing dome seemed to be bustling with activity. Dash could swear he could still catch whiffs of burned town and rotting zombie flesh in the air of the town. The light glinted off the dome in front of Dash as tourists bustled in the newly revived village.

A small man in a top hat and robe came up to Dash, obviously having noticed him from a distance. He came from Seaside Town.

"You seem to be a hero," the man started without preamble. He had a glow you'd associate with powerful magic, and a way of moving that gave Dash the impression he was both well travelled and well worn from a rough life. He tilted his head a bit. "And if I had to guess by the way you take someone in with a subtle glance, you've got practice at this, don't you, m'boy?"

Dash tilted his head down, frowning ever so slightly. "I don't know if I'd call myself a hero, but I've certainly spent my fair share of years trying to be."

It was a formal robe. Rather plain, with only a few lines to indicate its origin. Although Dash couldn't place it instantly, it reminded him a bit of Adrule symbols, as well as certain other Faraway lands who's names escaped Dash at the moment. The strange old man tilted his head. No.. strange was a rude way to put it. Interesting maybe? Maybe? Hmmm...

He seemed to be examining Dash in return. "Hm, seems you're at a rough spot, child. I won't press for details, as I'm sure it's none of my business, though I would ask; do you intend to be helping with our little crisis?"

"Crisis?" Dash tilted his head. "Oh.. Someone mentioned there'd been a mass kidnapping, but I didn't get the details."

The old man nodded. "Allow me a spell to set the stage, if you'd be so kind."

Dash simply motioned for him to continue.

"I play a small role helping the travelling princesses along their way," he said with more than a fair tint of pride in his voice. "They travel around the world tryin' to bring a little more cheer and joy to some of the lands."

"Noble," Dash said, unsure of where this was going.

"So we made our way up here." He paused. "There's a good many number of princesses with us for the trip. They come and go a lot, so our 'roster' changes quite a bit. It keeps things interesting, to be sure. Thing here being, lot of these gals.. they got enemies of any sort you could imagine."

"I'm actually not surprised," Dash admitted.

The old man tilted his head. "Shall you be aidin' the poor girls then?"

Dash wasn't sure if he was up to it.. but he didn't let that stop him. "I'll see what I can do."

"I appreciate it, lad," the old man said, smiling lopsidedly. "I think I have a lead for you."

"Oh?"

"One named Jen Pi managed to help fight off the initial wave of attackers," the old man said with a glint of pride. "But it left her a bit too wounded to defend herself a few moments later, an army from the Panda nation burst through in the chaos, attacking her and whisking away with her. I hear, though.. they were holed up at your Nearby Plains.. near the woods."

"Then I better hurry back to my camp," Dash said with a solemn nod. "See if I can't intercept them before they're on the move again."

The old man grabbed his arm when he went to move and handed him a stack of papers. "Take these. Be wise to know who you be dealin' with all 'round here."

Dash nodded, getting a feeling a little backup might be in order here.

The NPC's were solid for this one; I'm satisfied with it. Most importantly, it kicks Dash off in the right direction for finding this 'Jen Li' Princess..