Azzazizz: Accepting A Job

Azzazizz knew his parents would have told him that he was far too young to be wandering around a place like Chucks Vegas, which -- as its nickname, Disgraceland, suggested -- was absolutely a den of iniquity: gambling, gladiatorial games, gambling on gladiatorial games, a demonic whorehouse, a completely separate demonic male revue, a dazzling array of mind-altering substances of which alcohol was the least dangerous, and at least one evil plot of the potentially-world-destroying variety... and Azzazizz knew that he'd barely see the first few hands of what this place had to offer.

On the other hand, when the invitation had come, he'd known immediately that there wasn't a chance he was going to turn it down -- even if he had no idea why the invitation had come to him.  It wasn't as if he'd spent time on gambling, or committing crimes -- or tracking down criminals, for that matter. A handful of pranks surely couldn't count, could they? Not even if his parents sometimes joked that he must have some Copper Dragon in his lineage. 

Azzazizz had once responded to that particular bit of teasing by pointing out that if that somehow was the case, then someone had pulled a better prank on a bunch of Bronze Dragons than he would ever manage in his life. But no, it was easy to see that he was just as much a Bronze as the rest of them, even if he was positively mischievous by Bronze Dragon standards. And where had that behavior gotten him (as his mother so often asked)?

Well, for the moment it had gotten him an invitation to Disgraceland, a chance to practice pretending to be a young human sorcerer, and an escort up to the office of Chuck, the founder of the first casino on the island. It had also gotten him the chance to meet some very interesting people: the carnal centaur Adonis, who worshiped the sex-god Jensen; the druid everyone just called Possum, who spent most of her time in that form and lived in the sewers; the djinni Zarathos, who specialized in fire magics and explosions; and now the gith investigator who introduced himself as Mac Guffin and seemed to be cultivating a knack for mind-magics. As far as Azzazizz was concerned, this was all going splendidly, even if the others insisted on calling him Aziz. 

As Chuck and his friend Alexej explained about needing outside help to prevent someone named Shazz from destroying something called the Sin Thread -- that would be the world-ending evil plot -- Azzazizz decided to lean in on being Aziz for the moment. He'd made a study of human devices, after all, including traps and locks and how to navigate social situations. If his parents ever found out about this, he'd explain it as wanting to test his skills in a more immersive environment. It wouldn't even be lying, really; that was a big part of his reasons for sneaking off to come here.

Come to think of it, that might even explain why he'd been invited: he had a skillset that even a dedicated human rogue might have trouble matching, plus his other abilities. No way was he cutting out now. If these others were up to the job, he was too.