On the one hand, being a prisoner no matter how polite someone is about it is lame.  On the other hand, several armed people who haven't done anything worth shooting first over.  "Figures the first smart thing I do today is one I dislike.  Care to fill me in on what the problem is while I come peacefully?"

  Why was getting into a quick draw contest with an Elf dangerous?  They got two tries to shoot you first.

The man says, "Alexis may fill you in if she wishes. You are now her responsibility."

He walks off and Alexis and the others follow. Alexis looks over to Joe and waves him over to indicate following. "Anyway... there's been a strong orc presence in the forest lately. We are at war with them and they have gotten dangerously close to our village. So we're on high alert here."

The group walk up some steps (no railing) that spiral up a tree to the tree village up above.

  At least Joe had low light vision for when he inevitably had to walk around after dark.  "At least if they ever made it this far, you could just push them off the stairs before they got to your house.  Territory, politics, or other?" That last bit being in regards to 'Why today's latest war?'.

Alexis answers, "Other. This band of orcs are devout worshippers of Gruumsh who's only goal is to pillage and cause others suffering. And what is your purpose for being here?"

  "I was passing through to the next city.  Unfortunately avoiding the roads because I didn't feel like dealing with wolves and bandits that find them popular has gotten me closer to a War instead.  Is your boss sticking you with me a sign he trusts you or dislikes you?"

"Trusts" Alexis answers. "He doesn't like me, but he trusts me nonetheless. I have been proven reliable too frequently for even my worst rivals to distrust me. Speaking of trust and allies... you were alone. Do you not have friends who travel with you?"

  "Hmm, sounds somewhat familiar."  At the very least when it came to the opinions people held of him when he was hired for work.  "Nothing beyond job acquaintances at best.  I've spent a lot of time in one of the worst examples of civilization, even at the times Elves ran the place.  So friends have been in short supply."  Luskan was an equal opportunity hive of scum, villainy, undead, and acid rain.

As Alexis leads Joe through the village, an elf approaches the two. "Welcome to Geladrin. My name's Arnathus. I couldn't help but notice your bow and wonder if you use it most to hunt game, self defense or something else."

Alexis looks up at Joe, waiting to see what he'll say.

  "Thanks, I'm Joe.  All of the above, really." Hmm, is Alexis being shorter than Joe more noteworthy than the cute freckled redhead look on an Elf?  "Most of it has been self defense, though I've taken to hiring myself out to people who expect they will be shot at during their travels to make ends meet."

  Having somebody along who not only aims for the less impressive AC if the average spell caster, but also ruins their aim has saved a lot of people from fireball related injuries.  "You don't have to be able to hit a bullseye every time to hit a moving target, so my aim is Good Enough usually."

Arnathus nods. "Want to do some practice?"

Alexis says, "Sorry, Arnathus, but since the village is on high alert, Joe here is not permitted to draw his bow unless he's helping repel invaders."

Arnathus hrms... "Very well... perhaps another time."

  "That would be nice sometime, I don't often have a chance for practice aside from learning from experience."  Not having a Do Over skill every five minutes made that a bit more tricky.  Of course, having even more ways to shoot at things made up for it.

Alexis watches the guy leave and looks back up at Joe. "Sorry.. perhaps I could provide you with something less dangerous to help pass the time pleasantly. Do you like board games?"

  "It's allright, this is the best imprisonment I've ever had as it is."  The bad news was he was thrown into a pit of snakes and scorpions.  The good news is the snakes and scorpions had killed eachother earlier in the day.  "As long as it's not Monopoly, that always ends in tears."

Alexis says, "I do not know Monopoly. But I will play you some Dragon Chess. Or normal Chess. I'm working up my skill and hoping I can be a stepping stone for others who wish to eventually take on a dragon at such games."

She leads Joe to a nice, relaxing room that has lots of foliage, waterfalls, and even a stream that runs under the table the two are soon seated at.

Alexis always had a good int score.

  "Board games involved with dragons.  I wonder how popular that would ever be?" Oh, haha.  Still, impressive interior decorating to get those waterfalls and streams up through a tree top village.  In your FACE natural water flows!

  "Let's go with the Dragon one then, considering it sounds like you'd like it more."

Alexis sets the game up. Joe is quickly finding out elves take their time. They may be capable of fast movement, yet they are a slow-moving race in all irony. Alexis seems relaxed, but the rest of the village almost seems stagnant. So far, Alexis has been the most animated of the bunch. That said, she smiles at Joe and plays a game, making sure he knows the rules. It isn't as common as standard chess, but Dragon Chess is known all across the lands.

  Joe would assume even the most leisurely Elf would have minimum speed requirement for some simple reasons.  Such as 'Actually get something done before the sun goes down'.  Boy, these are going to be a great pancake breakfas-oh right it's sundown...

  At least it wasn't Dragon Poker, which had rules changes based on what Dimension you were playing in among other things.  Not that it made playing against Alexis any easier.

However, Alexis is not stomping Joe at the game. Either she's taking it easy on him, or he's a natural. Hard to say. Either way, she helps pass the time with idle conversation. "You know... it's expected of every elf to be capable with a bow. And I am. But it was never really something I got into. Do the people where you come from have certain expectations that you fulfilled, but never really got into?"

  Joe makes an Ego check, decides she's not rushing to crush the newbie like a stereotypical Warhammer or Magic The Gathering player.  "My upbringing... wasn't exactly common, so I can't speak from personal experience.  But it seems in general most people only do enough to get by, without much time left for other pursuits."

Alexis ohs, looking concerned. "So... archery is it for you?"

  "I've had enough time to pick up some bad habits along with good ones.  Archery has been more of a survival requirement than a choice, one I was lucky enough to pick up on my own."  Good habits, how to spot and disarm traps.  Bad Habits, how to rob a second story room.

  "I don't exactly regret it, I've gotten something useful out of my time in the end.  More than most of us get a chance to say.  It's easy to seem a shortsighted race when tomorrow may be all we have."

Alexis ponders. "I suppose.. what if I were to offer you could stay here after the invasion, and I could help you develop some hobbies?"

  Joe considers this, "Let's see, I haven't had a vacation in...  Ever."  Yeah that sounds about right.  Up until now a party (of the recreational variety) was taking an extended rest before finishing a dungeon map.

  "If it wasn't a hassle for anyone, then I think I would take you up on that offer.  Just because taking some time to relax would be nice, doesn't mean I want to be a bother either."  Well, except when he wants to be annoying.  But he preferred verbal abuse to being a waste of space.

Alexis smiles. "It won't be a bother at all..."

An elf comes to Alexis and says, "M'lady... the orcs have arrived. We need your help."

Alexis nods. "Alright then." she looks at Joe. "Time to prove to yourself you're not a hassle."

And with that, she leads Joe to one of the edges of town to look down upon the army of orcs that are marching between the trees.

  Prove he's a nice guy to have around by putting an arrow through somebody's eye socket.  Yeah that sounded about right for his usual day.  Joe nods and follows along, hoping there would at least be some time to get some 'what shot penalty?' max distance fire in before things got into much less pleasant stabbing him in the organs distance.