Chela shrugged. “She’s at least quiet.”
Alfred stood and absently walked to the center of the room while searching his entire person. It was immediately clear that he was quite concerned with assembling his attire to suggest sophistication – a long and elegant overcoat largely dyed in blues and accented with silver trim. He kept his long, white hair bound together in a ponytail, but it still coordinated with his cool, blue eyes, never hidden behind the spectacles that always seemed to hang just from the edge of his nose. Alfred need not even speak before everyone knew he was an academic. He frantically ran his fingers along his backside, unaware that to all who were currently watching, he appeared to be clutching his own ass. Slowly lowering his empty hands to his side with a horror-stricken look Alfred said, “This is quite grim, indeed.”
Tabitha guided the needle out from her arm and repositioned herself in the chair. Unlike the others, this style of seating was clearly not meant for one of her stature. Sliding across it to eventually place her feet on solid ground, it became clear to everyone where it was she called home.
Tabitha could not have stood taller than three feet, but she held a formidable air. As was the case with most halflings, Tabitha came from the Krottwanner Mountain Range, a span of peaks that offered natural safety for its people to conduct their research without interruption. Many generations ago, the residents of this range were miners, carving pathways and entire cities out of sheer rock. Although they later discovered the value of information gathered through the sciences, their sense of fashion never progressed.
The woman wore a brown, leather duster atop suspenders and a white work shirt. Although her style and stature were of note, there was one element of her appearance that demanded more attention. Strapped to her forehead were a pair of oversized goggles, clearly not acquired from your ordinary optician. Their frame was made from a thick sheet of bronze woven into an intricate latticework. The lenses were thicker than wine bottles, curved to provide their user with sight over a long distance. By the way she held herself without the goggles over her eyes, the halfling didn’t seem to need any correction to her vision.