Shopping, Sales, Wonderment, All on the Grand Stair

In reply to Little Mammoth (msg # 1):

  Dean follows up the rear of the expedition, Jill in front of him, Barbara, Xan, and the shapeshifters out in front of them, and Millenia leading the way.  She knew where they were going, with the critters giving her direction from the scent.  He kept a situational awareness as the group travelled.

Dean sees all kinds of wares.

A short squid like humanoid says, "Brain shining, get your brain shined ! Brain shining, would you like your brain shined sir ?"

In reply to Little Mammoth (msg # 3):

  "Nah, man, I'm good.  If I get my brain too shiny I won't be able to sleep." Dean says with a slight shake of his head.  He didn't want to get overly distracted from his role as rearguard.

"Ok Sir, just someone has clogged up your head with junk." Two tentacles rise almost in a mimic of a shrug. "I understand about the sleep though."

There is a stage with dancing girls kind of like the nightclub with a belly dancer type motif.
The tiny bells shaking in time is almost hypnotic.

Jill chuckles, "Men always the same."

Trying, perhaps with limited success,  not to appear awed or even impressed,  Barbara subtly took in her surroundings.  It was Basic Survival 101 on the streets of Gotham to not gawk around like a tourist.   It marked you as a target.

The vulture among them picks up and flaps.
The others say, "Have scent." One of them also turns into a vulture but one remains humanoid and with the group.


The vultures take off and begin to circle.

Barbara follows, trying to get ready for anything

As Barbara takes off to follow she sees a crime or what is probably a crime. Some small woman looks like she is being shaken down by several crowmen.

Barbara gasped and ran towards them stealthily,  trying to figure out what was going on

They seem to be pushing the young elf ? girl between them and cawing loudly.
Like in Gotham she sees nearby people trying to ignore it and going into tents or otherwise scooting away.

She hears a pap pap sound and looking around Xantastic is by her side and tapping her hammer against an open palm.

She throws a baterang to stun as many as possible

Dean follows, letting Barbara and Zan handle the fight for now while he keeps his eyes peeled.  It could be a setup, after all.  He watches everything, his eyes darting from the commotion with the crows, the circling vultures, the remaining shapeshifter, and the rest of the party.  He could move up easily enough if needed, but his duty as rearguard held him back for now.

The Batarang flashes out striking one of the crow like men in the back of the skull. It then ricochets to hit another high up near the beak. The bird folk fly into a bit of a rage. Save for the two who were hit who sink to the ground in short order.

Another soon gets hit by a huge hammer by a small Xantastic. There is a loud thud and crack. A Crow like screech and a kicked Xantastic who skids across the ground for several feet.

Dean sees a hand come from under a tent  and slide a pistol like thing which skitters across the ground and bumps against Jill's foot.

Millenia now noticing the battle snaps her attention that way and a swirling black mass appears before her.

Barbara went into a martial arts stance, ready to fight