Aliases are alternative forms of a reference. They can include actual aliases for characters, nicknames, plural variations, gendered versions of some [Classes], and even typos.
“Yup! This is Safry and Maran, Selys’s friend Drassi, and a Gnoll that Krshia introduced me to—he’s Ishkr. They’re all going to be helping you out! Isn’t it great?”
And it was. Upon getting back, puffing and panting with more water, the first thing Lyonette saw was chaos. Maran and Safry were serving food to the bemused Gold-rank adventurers who’d come down, Zel was waiting patiently for his food while Drassi cleaned and talked his earholes off, and Ishkr was waiting for instructions, standing at attention by the kitchen. Mrsha was sniffing at him as he tried to shoo her away. And Erin was shouting that she needed more pots to hold all the food she was going to make ahead of time! Lyonette nearly screamed.
He headed into the kitchen, rolling the sleeves of the uniform he was wearing up. Maran gave Lyon a smile as if to say, ‘you see, there’s no problem.’ By her side, Safry watched Ishkr go in and leaned towards the other two Humans and whispered conspiratorially.
That was the issue. Not Ishkr. The Gnoll had been hesitant at first, but when he was told what to do, he did it without complaints. He wasn’t talkative, but he seemed to enjoy idle work, the kind he could get engrossed in without talking to anyone for good periods of time. Better yet, he didn’t have a problem with Mrsha’s white fur.
Lyonette paused feeling angry. It was true Ishkr was free for the moment, he had just worked his entire shift and Safry and Maran had just had lunch! Moreover, why was Maran’s first response to ask someone else to do the work?
The Gnolls sitting at the table eyed Lyonette as she went over to argue with Maran. They flicked their eyes at Ishkr, who made some motion behind Lyon’s back she couldn’t see. Maran clearly didn’t want to go.
It was only then that Lyon realized how clearly uncomfortable Maran and Safry were around Bird. They walked wide of the Antinium, not going near him if they could serve other customers. Drassi and Ishkr were far more relaxed around the Antinium, having seen them before, but Safry and Maran weren’t happy with him around.
“So how was everyone? Did Drassi talk a lot? Selys says she does that, but she swears Drassi’s a hard worker. Oh, and did Ishkr do okay with Mrsha? I was worried about that but he seems cool!”
Lyonette stared at her, and realized Maran hadn’t been told of Liscor’s natural hazards before now. Drassi and Ishkr accepted the slight danger as a matter of course, but Maran’s face was white at just the thought of running into one of the monsters.
