Fantasy A Nation In Havoc (2.0)

[The_Omega_Effect]

Decius had finished half of his potatoes. He wondered why he felt so full since he usually ate a lot more for his breakfasts. A pulse of headache from the hangover he received as a direct consequence of consuming tons of alcohol and food last night seems to have answered his question. Because he was in the centre of the city square, he wanted to buy some things, like any other person would. Nothing really came to his mind as there was not much he needed. Sure, he was lacking in casual, normal or formal clothing. But that did not matter much as he travelled in his armour all the time anyways. He then looked down at the potato he was eating and had an idea. He needed to buy a new set of gloves after the last one was shredded. He then looked around at the stalls one by one trying to find a glove that would suit him. He needed something he could comfortable wear and swing his around around with, while also being made out of tough leather so that it would not easily be destroyed due to his active lifestyle.

It took quite a bit of looking, as most stalls either had good material without the correct size, or had the correct size but the gloves were made out of terribly poor material. He then came across a stall in a pretty crowded part of the square which had all sorts of clothing, some baked goods and sets of bows and arrows. He then looked at the gloves and it seemed that they were all made of quite a good material that could withstand use from him. He saw the variety of sized there were and wondered if there was one for him too. He started to approach the stall before realising that someone was already trying to buy something from it. It was a woman, most likely an elf, staring at a peculiar green gem which had something to do with magic. It was Decius' best guess. The elf was also wearing next to nothing. Before his eyes wondered to certain parts like almost every single person who passed by this area, his axe vibrated a little bit, reminding him to focus on what he was there for and not to fool around.

Decius' relationship with his axe was not the usual one. Because Nightfall is an axe, it does have a very intimate relationship with Decius that is much closer than just being a friend. They are closer than some best friends even. But Nightfall does not mind him being with another woman due to being a weapon herself. The only times she does get jealous is when Decius looks at or even touches other weapons.

Looking at her like that would've most definitely not done anything good for him, making it something useless to do leading it to only giving him trouble. Under his breath, he whispered to his axe, "Good call". After walking up to the stand, with three potatoes left, he looked at the gloves once more before deciding to buy them. The girl selling them was short and wore a lot of clothes that were most likely made by whomever made the clothes she was selling now. Decius guessed that she was some sort of hunter due to the bows that she was selling and he guessed that she knew people who could bake cakes and knit clothing as doing all three with high quality is no easy task.

"I would like to buy a pair of gloves. It would be best if they were durable." He told her while placing his hand on the counter so that she could get a good idea of their size.

MagicPenguin @VerdASS.... Verdas

 

[Verdas]

Resting her hand on her purse, Aurelia looked up at the human managing the stall and let out a small sigh of resignation. She got this question quite a lot, and was therefore used to answering it at leas five times per day. Though perhaps it was to be expected, considering how she dressed. "No, I'm not. I have a spell in place to keep myself warm." She replied simply, gesturing her hands at her body in an unintentionally suggestive way, before putting her hand back on her purse, ready to take buy the gem for whatever price the woman named, provided that it was reasonable.

Tilting her head quizzically, she briefly wondered if the human was trying to scam her. While it was true that it was rare, the healing stone's price averaged six to seven gold. Creating healing stones was not in her area of expertise, which was why she needed one to for research. Putting a finger on her chin as she weighed the pros and cons in her head, she eventually decided that spending a few more gold wouldn't be an issue. "Very well. You've got yourself a deal." She had more than enough coins to be set for life, after all. As long as one ignored the absurd prices of the various ingredients she required to concoct potions and the like, as well as to improve her own skills.

Taking out one of the platinum coins she earned not too long ago, she was just about to give it to the stall keeper when a huge manpart arrived and placed his hand on the counter. He completely towered over her, so she had to crane her neck to see his face. Needless to say, she was not disappointed, and her unique condition made her wonder how it would feel to be beaten by him, considering all the muscle. But only briefly, as she soon purged any such thoughts with a shake of head, coming back to her senses. Gods, she hated this curse. Life just hasn't been the same since she got it.

MagicPenguin @The_Asshole_Effect

 

[MagicPenguin]

When the girl moved to hand over a platinum coin, Rae suddenly felt absurdly guilty. She expected the elf to haggle, not actually cough up a platinum. There's no way the gem was worth that much; she felt like she was cheating the poor elf. Ignoring the big man with the axe for a moment, she considered briefly, and then pulled out a long-sleeve dress made of heavy, warm material from the variety of clothes at her stall.

"Thanks so much for your business! Here, you can have this for free to boot; a token of thanks for spending so much!"

Rae noticed the girl's basket of cookies at her side. So, she had a sweet tooth. If she was willing to spend a platinum on that tiny bauble, she obviously had cash to burn. Maybe I should encourage a bit more frivolous spending, Rae thought mischievously.

"Can I interest you in some cakes to go with your cookies? Only 15 coppers for one. Since you were nice enough to buy that expensive bauble, I'll even give you a discount: If you buy a set of three, I'll only charge you 30 coppers!"

Rae finally turned her attention to the big man. "Gloves, you said? Might be that I have something here that'll fit you..."

She dug through her supply and found the biggest pair she had, a pair of black gloves lined with sheepskin, meant to keep out moisture and keep the wearer's hands as warm as possible.

"See if these fit you. They're sheepskin, so they're a bit more expensive than the average pair, but they're the biggest I have. If they don't fit, you'll probably have to go to a tailor in the city and get yourself a pair custom made for your size, which would probably cost you even more. Mine'll be 20 silver if you're interested."

Verdas The_Omega_Effect

 

[Avari]

Dalania City Square




Cynthia made her way down the marble stairs of the Grand Library in an impatient mood, her satchel bag stuffed with three sizable -- if heavy -- books. She never considered time studying to be a waste by any means, but her failure to make any progress as to the nature of Kadupul had so far been somewhat frustrating. She had found a few interesting books to take home at least: Ballad of Fenwood, Davion: Rise of royalty and The Legend of Luthiral. The last book was a rare find indeed, and it had taken a rather large amount of haggling - and gold- with the Head Scribe to get it. A small victory, at least.

The sun was out and there was a rather pleasant breeze, so the short walk to the market was not too taxing, despite the weighty bag she was towing along. Cynthia was wearing her usual high collared coat, along with a pair of good quality trousers and boots - nothing particularly eye catching, but it was functional and comfortable. A small scabbard was strapped to her leg with her favorite dagger. Like her clothes and preference for most things, it was good quality with a genuine dragon bone handle and was a small, sharp,cruel little thing.

The market itself was busy, with most of the stalls attracting a sizable crowd. The ones Cynthia intended to stop by were not too bad thankfully. Her first stop was one of her favorite ingredient stalls - the owner was a rather chatty elf who spotted Cynthia approaching and waved at her.

“Lady Cynthia! I was not expecting to see you again so soon! I trust you are well?”

“Well enough, Sarya,” Cynthia replied, taking the opportunity to rest her shoulders and drop her heavy bag to the floor.

Sarya beamed at her. Understandable, since the human was a good customer.

“What can I get you today? We just had some fresh ogre tongue come in --”

“I'm not buying today,” Cynthia interrupted, and she was slightly amused to see the elf’s enthusiasm dip a little. “I was simply wondering if you were familiar with an ingredient known as Kadupul?”

The elf scrunched her nose. “I... don't believe so... I can check my records. I could send a note if I find something?”

“I’d appreciate that,” the human replied, nodding with gratitude as she grabbed her bag and swung it back around her shoulders. “The usual place, if you could.”

“Of course!” Sarya replied, bowing before she slapped her forehead. “Oh! Could you tell Ambrose I have that Devil’s Claw he ordered? I’ll include it in his next shipment.”

Cynthia nodded, and then had a inner forehead slap herself. The old codger had wanted her to buy him a replacement blanket. He did good work for her, despite his attitude. It wouldn’t hurt to show her appreciation - and it’d be amusing to see his expression...

She smirked as she pushed back into the crowds as Sarya waved goodbye.

 

[The_Omega_Effect]

Decius left the plate of potatoes he was holding on the counter. His hands were not messy at all due to them not being cooked with any grease and just boiled. He then took the glove that was meant for his right and and started to wear it. It felt good in terms of comfort as the insides felt great. He opened his hand as far as it could open to see if the gloves fit him. He then clenched his fist as hard as possible. The sheepskin and the material of the gloves meant that his punches would be slightly softened. But with how powerful they are, that slight reduction in impact would not change the outcome of his attack at all. He then grabbed the handle of his axe from his back and took a few steps back so as to not damage the stand or the two people he was standing near. He then twirled the axe around for a bit, and then decided that the gloves are good enough to fulfil their purpose. He put his axe back, further contemplating whether or not he should buy the pair. The durability was an issue. Sheepskin is commonly used for casual clothing as such while things that are meant for lasting and for battling are made out of leather and cow hides. However, for the time being they fulfilled their purpose well enough and by the time he had used them up, he could probably get himself one that is tailored specifically for him like his cloak. He put on the remaining glove on, on his other hand and then took his silver purse out. He counted 20 silver coins and placed them all on the counter. "You can have the potatoes" were his parting words to the girl at the counter.

MagicPenguin Verdas

After leaving with his new, much softer gloves, Decius realised that he was going to have to start carrying a few things along with him if he was going to live without a house like this. The next order of business for him would be to find a way to carry a large amount of things with him. The easy answer for him would be to find a backpack. It would have to be a large travel backpack so that he would not run out of space any time soon.

He then walked away from the stand and started to look around the market for a store that would sell an adequate sized one. He spotted quite a large stand in a distance that sold what he want and more alongside with it. A variety of clothes, cloaks, blankets and backpacks were all organised and placed alongside eachother. He then calmy made his way over there, trying to get through the crowd while being very vigilant so as to not have someone steal his gold, or worse yet, his axe.

He arrived to the stall without anybody taking anything from him and started to look at all the different bags. He asked for the biggest one to which the owner responded with by telling its price. It was 52 silver coins. A bit pricey but considering he had spent around half that on gloves, he decided to get them anyways. The shopkeeper complied and then handed him the bag which Decius looked at for a bit before wearing it. It had a multitude of pockets and was clearly made to last. This made it even more tempting for Decius to buy it. He then slung the backpack across his shoulder and tried to wear it. It was a bit difficult due to his huge arms, leading to him struggling for a big. While struggling, Decius had accidentally knocked over a woman.

She was laying spread eagled on the floor, her bag had burst open and a small pile of books had spilled out onto the pavement. There was a smattering of laughter from the surronding crowds. The woman snapped up to a sitting position, scrabbling to gather her books.

"Why don't you watch what you're doing?" She snapped. Then gave a cry of dismay when she realized when one of her books had landed page down on the mucky floor.

Decius immediately stopped wearing his bag and turned to the woman he had just knocked over by flinging his backpack. He looked down at her and saw that one of the books she was carrying had fallen on the floor and had been exposed to the mess on the ground. A small "Sorry about that" escaped his mouth, juxtaposing greatly with his large figure.

He started to kneel down to pick the book up with one of his hands while extending the other to her so as to lift her back up to her feet.

The woman glared at his hand. For a brief moment it looked like she wanted to do nothing more than chop it off, her expression softened slightly however when she saw how carefully he helped pick up her books. She sighed, and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet.

Before handing the book over, Decius saw the title of the book which read the Ballad of Fernwood. "The Ballad of Fernwood. The only time I've had passed by it has taught me that it is not much to write poems and songs about-"

"Clearly you're wrong if this book exists," she sighed, giving the Ballad a tug to make him release it and put it back in her bag.
"Be more careful in future," the woman scowled up at him, before turning on her heels and disappearing into the crowd.

He was surprised as to how the response she gave was not too spiteful, considering he had potentially ruined a page of a book she was intent of reading. Decius watched as she took the book and left, looking at her thoughtfully until she was out of his sight. He was not too sure, but something about her caught his eye. Once she was gone, Decius snapped back to what he was actually doing and just emptied out all the silver he had in his silver pouch as he walked away from the stand with his new backpack.

Next order of business was to find something to spend his day doing. He needed to go to some place where mercenaries, assassins and the likes hanged around, waiting to be hired. He knew that he had to find himself a dodgy looking tavern.

Avari

Some time later...

Decius had asked around a bit in the alley and had gotten quite the bit of information about the city. Normally the denizens would not be too keen on helping people unfamiliar with their city. But Dalania was naturally different. He looked at the rough map of the city he had bought for 2 silvers, and then looked back at the inn. "The Den". He liked the name which was a good sign. Simple but descriptive. He walked up to the door and was let in without much hassle. It seemed like he fit in well with the rest of the people in there. And there was quite the amount of people there. Thugs, mercenaries, orcs, elves, scum, and pretty much every kind of warrior there could be. It felt...cozy for Decius anyways. He walked up to the counter where the orc was dealing drinks, and took a seat on one of the seats adjacent to it. "Skulldug." Decius looked at him in confusion, only to listen to the orc say exactly the same thing. "Skulldug." "I guess I'll call you Skulldug from now on." Decius left 3 silvers on the counter "I would like a mug of the heaviest ale you have here." The orc shook his head and motioned his hand in a way that meant that more silver should be given while repeating his name "Skulldug, Skulldug.". Decius put two more silvers on the counter which the orc took. After half a minute, the orc gave him quite a nice mug of ale. "Skulldug." "Thanks." Decius then started to slowly sip from his drink while observing the rest of the tavern. He then looked at the fireplace while getting lost in thought.

 

[TheCountryWarrior]

Armandio took a glance around, making sure nobody was around. "It's in Kruziik's study. He has a moving room that goes under the palace, to a cave system. That's where the real magic happens! If we were to go, it'd have to be tomorrow, because Kruziik is probably in there right now. What do you say? Want to see some real magic?"

Kruziik sat in the marketplace, watching as the day went on. It was fairly normal day, buying and selling, friends and acquaintances chattering on about one thing or another, nothing too exciting. Until, that is, he witnessed a rather large man run into a woman. That would be classified as normal by some people, but Kruziik recognized the woman from reports of her appearance by his many friends in the underworld (mostly Goblins). He'd never met her, but infamy spreads quickly in the underworld. Cynthia. The man was some sort of war hero, but he wasn't very important anymore. Ah well. Kruziik had things to do and little time to do them in. Or a lot of time. Depends on how you look at it.

He had to see Ambrose for some bodies, but felt like waiting a bit longer. Anything can happen in the marketplace, fun, violent, sometimes both.

 

[Duke of Doge]

Nia was stunned and and her face immediately lit up "magic!? Oh hell yeah!" she raised her fist to the sky before grabbing Armandio by the collar and getting right into his face "Take me there now or I will have you executed. NoNotReallyThat'sMean." she let out a embarrassed laugh.
TheCountryWarrior
(Short poooost. BRAIN WORK PLZ!!!)

 

[TheCountryWarrior]

Armandio's face recoiled in surprise and confusion, though it eventually settled on a smile. "Well, in the face on impending death, I feel I have no choice but to comply. If you'll follow me, I shall show you the world of magic." Armandio wriggled out of her grasp, and motioned for her to follow him. He made his way to Kruziik's study and put an ear to the wall he knew hid the "elevator", listening for any sounds of Kruziik. He had told Armandio to never reveal the underground lair to anyone, but Arman felt like he could trust Nia. "You ready to have your mind blown?"

Kruziik was watching the world go by, when he felt a twinge. It was a silent alarm telling him some one was in his room. With a thought the wall in front of the bloody slab closed noiselessly, hiding it from prying eyes that wouldn't understand what they were looking at. The Goblins scampered to hiding places and into the tunnels around the caves. All that was left was normal magic stuff that, while normal to him, would still entertain the boy and princess. He had anticipated this, though he hadn't thought the boy would've captured the princess's interest so quickly. Kid was impressive. Kruziik was kind of proud.

With his secrets safeguarded and the marketplace growing dull, he made his way to the residential area, where his friend Ambrose lived. Well, he said friend, but Ambrose wasn't one for friends. Acquaintances sure, friends? No. But Kruziik's friend count was basically nothing, even with his high position in the king's court. Those people weren't worth his time. Ambrose however, was the perfect blend of don't care/care a tiny bit that made him reliable. It was also fun to mess with him.

Now standing on the old man's doorstep, Kruziik knocked. Putting on his best posh voice he said, "Helloooo!? Random health inspection! Hope you don't have any dead bodies in there! Haha!" He laughed as if his posh character had said that sarcastically, as a jest.

Duke of Doge
augmentedspartan

 

[Verdas]

Carefully pocketing the precious stone, Aurelia was pleasantly surprised when the stall keeper gave her a free coat. It wasn't all that heavy, but her petite arms were still getting tired from holding it, proving that she really should consider working out (not that she ever would). While she certainly appreciated the gesture, she didn't exactly like wearing clothes such as these. She preferred ones that were more airy, light, and easy to move around in, a habit she picked up from her time in Fenwood. Besides, she had many dresses of far higher quality (sorry, Rai), courtesy of her former clients, many of which she had yet to even try. "Oh, well, thank you. This is rather well made." She said, politely accepting the pointless article of clothing regardless.

The mention of cakes did catch her attention, however. Not that she would buy them, but it was a good reminder to bake some strawberry cakes later. Children loved them, and she loved to see them happy. Speaking of which, the stall keeper seemed very young, and while she was technically a young adult, she was very much a child in the scantily clad elf's eyes. "I'm afraid I'll have to pass on that offer. However..." Taking out a cookie from her little basket, she offered one to the human girl, smiling as expectantly as a certain farming tool used to till would when it heard the roosters crow.

All the food she prepared was pretty much world class due to her intimate knowledge of faun's and flora alike, allowing her to know just which ingredients and precisely how much of it to use. Cooking was, after all, surprisingly similar to concocting potions, and her skills could make even raw, undercooked, or generally lamb-sauce-less food taste absolutely divine. "Would you like a cookie? I baked them myself." She said, hoping to hurry things up a bit now as she just realised she'd forgotten the request of a new client of hers at the den, one regarding lots and lots of hallucinogenic potions. Lack of sufficient sleep was always a problem in her line of work.

MagicPenguin

 

[MagicPenguin]

Was she dreaming? First the big man gives her some free potatoes and now the naked elf was going to give her a free cookie? Her stomach, still empty because she missed breakfast thanks to that dumb, snoring bear, roared loudly enough at the sight of all the free food being thrown her way that anyone nearby could hear it, as if thanking the customers for saving it from its despair.

Slightly embarrassed for her rumbling tummy, she thanked the girl as graciously as she could manage, which really was not that graciously at all. "Thanks, lady! I missed breakfast today and you have no idea how starving I am!" she got out between bites of potato.

She considered the big axe man as he retreated with his newly bought gloves. Her stomach had been roaring extra loudly since he'd appeared, as if it were angry at the man, and she couldn't fight the feeling that there was something distinctly...bear-like...about the fellow.

But that was silly. What were the chances that he would be the very same bear from this morning? Not very good, she figured, putting it out of her mind. She finished her impromptu lunch break as quickly as she could and got back to hailing passing shoppers to buy something from her cart.

Verdas The_Omega_Effect

 

[Duke of Doge]

"Uhm" she thought about entering the secret place. "yes." she wanted to see this for two reasons. One, magic is cool and Nia was bored of doing nothing. Two, Kruzik had a secret cave base thing? How did he build that without anyone knowing!? She had to see this, she should be telling her father, but that might... tip him off? She wasn't exactly the best at espionage. I mean, the girl has bright red hair for crying out loud. When the door opened, Nia zipped around the place like a kid in a candy store. Asking "what does this do? What is this? Is this a magic dinner plate?" as she did so. Magic was rare in her life, even though they had a court wizard, Nia never really saw him do much... who care about that right now!? This is cool! "I wonder if there are any enchanted weapons in here? she asked as a side thought as she poked around.
TheCountryWarrior

 

[TheCountryWarrior]

Armandio grinned at her affirmation and spoke to the door. "Bex!" The wall slid open revealing a small room, with a button at the back. With the button pushed the room descended into a cavern under the palace, and with it a host of objects and symbols on walls. Armandio watched her dart around and look at the various items, not thinking about whether Kruziik would notice if his stuff out of place. He showed her different things and what they did, relishing the chance to talk to someone about all this stuff. It was a grand time. "I know he can make them, but he only has his sword that he carries around with him. He doesn't have an armory of magic weapons, no matter how much I ask." He looked around one last time. "We should go. He told me not to tell anyone about this, meaning you can't tell anyone either! I'd rather not be teleported to the Badlands and left to fend for myself. Promise you won't tell?"

Duke of Doge

 

[Tarot of Death]

Dalania

Douglas woke up on a bar stool with the still vold feeling of beer in his mouth. He looked around looking for his helment he seemed to misplaced. He still had dizziness and a little of wobble to hus step but he could walk. He looked around until he saw a child in the bar running ,or more like trying to, with his helment. He walked over with a heavy step and said "Kid...thats mine" the child loked up with a terrified look and dropped the helment crying going ot his mother cooking by the back of the tavern. He walked outside to have the sun blind him. He put on hud helment and started to walk up the cobbled road. @ Anyone

 

[Duke of Doge]

Armandio grinned at her affirmation and spoke to the door. "Bex!" The wall slid open revealing a small room, with a button at the back. With the button pushed the room descended into a cavern under the palace, and with it a host of objects and symbols on walls. Armandio watched her dart around and look at the various items, not thinking about whether Kruziik would notice if his stuff out of place. He showed her different things and what they did, relishing the chance to talk to someone about all this stuff. It was a grand time. "I know he can make them, but he only has his sword that he carries around with him. He doesn't have an armory of magic weapons, no matter how much I ask." He looked around one last time. "We should go. He told me not to tell anyone about this, meaning you can't tell anyone either! I'd rather not be teleported to the Badlands and left to fend for myself. Promise you won't tell?"

Duke of Doge

"I'll think about it." she answered, not really sure what she was going to do. As they exited the room a voice echoed through the halls "Nia!" She sighed and rubbed her face "well that was fun. But duty calls. See your around." she began to walk away "Coming!" she answered the voice.

(short post but I'm setting up the timeskip so we can be on the same day and get together)

 

[augmentedspartan]

Ambrose was bolted awake by the knocks that resound throughout the house. Oh, how he wished he was a heavy sleeper. Getting up from the couch with a groan, he walked slowly towards the door, his slippers dragging across the floor. With his mind still clouded by sleep, and the poor posh imitation, he didn't recognize who it was, but he had gotten the message quite clearly.

"Very fucking subtle, you twat," he said, once he opened the door and saw Kruziik, more annoyed at being woken up than at his underground dealings being talked about out loud. "If you want to do business, you look for me at The Den, stop coming to my house," and with that he slammed the door on his face and went back to his couch. He didn't resume sleeping though, for he knew that wouldn't be enough to drive him away.

TheCountryWarrior

 

[Randomfella]

The Lazy Fox
Mid Afternoon

"This is absolutely horrid." Jenny could only think to herself as she finished her afternoon tea, it was too bad few races could compare to halfling cuisine. "Perhaps I'm being overly cautious..." She considered, after all, it had been almost a whole day since the incident, surely if someone wanted revenge they would have come by now. Once more she knocked on her door, but to no response. "Damnit George!" She called out, but again, to no response.

Grabbing her loaded crossbow, Jenny began to scale the steps, peeking around the corner to see the man standing before the inn. Lowering her crossbow to face toward the ground, the halfling approached him casually. "You must get a lot of happy customers with your acute ability to listen." She spoke up sarcastically, head tilting slightly to the side as the man continued to stare forward.

"I think he's doing a wonderful job," A familiar voice purred. Time seemed to slow as the halfling looked up toward the sound, only to confirm whom it was, Cynthia. From what she had heard at The Den it was the last person she wanted a visit from. There was still half a rooms distance between them, but Jen had no idea what the woman was capable of. If she was magically able like the halfling assumed, then any sudden movements were likely not advisable.
"What have you done to him?" She simply asked in response, staring toward Cynthia, only taking a short moment to glance back at the innkeeper.

"He's told me so much about you," Cynthia replied, as if the halfling hadn't said anything. She smiled up at George, who continued to sway back and forth like he was drunk.
"-Jenny Steamwhistle, the greatest engineer in Okigira! I believe is what he said-"
A small, perhaps innapropriate considering the situation, grin became the halfling's face, before she tried to correct it. "So why didn't you just send some of your goons down to get me?" She questioned, perhaps already knowing the answer.

Cynthia eyed the halfling with curiosity for a moment, and then smiled as George refilled her glass with wine from a rather expensive looking bottle.
"Goons would be sent with the assumption of a violent confrontation. I was rather hoping that would not be necessary,"
She gave a little smirk into her drink. "-at least not today,"

Leaning against the wall in a slightly more relaxed position, Jenny looked toward the swaying innkeeper. "Indeed, I didn't take you for the type to get your hands dirty." She agreed, chuckling slightly toward the end of her sentence, before staring back at the woman. "So why is it that you're here then? Surely not to turn me into your personal foot scrubber? You're smarter than to waste such potential." She replied, the edge of her mouth edging upward slightly, sharp ears twitching in anticipation.

"Oh, I'm sure George would be happy to assist with such menial tasks," Cynthia replied, looking pleased as she gave a little wave to the increasingly pale innkeeper.
"...If I choose to keep him,"
George twitched, and his mouth opened slowly like a rusty gate. "Help me,"
The woman blinked at him with interest, and then sighed.
"-strange effect with this potion...they always end up repeating the last words they managed to say."

Jen gave a short sigh at the sight of it. "He has nothing to do with this, you may as-well change him back." She noted, her voice remaining calm yet displeased. "Or is that why you came here?" She questioned rhetorically.
"You don't think he deserves it?" Cynthia asked, leaning forward in her chair. "You're in this situation because of him. His foolishness. His gree-."
"I'm in this 'situation' because those thugs took what belonged to me." The halfling cut her off.

"And you handled it well. You were brave and resourceful," Cynthia replied patiently, though her tone was a little patronizing.
"I think we can work together,"
Jenny's ears and brow perked up at the notion, wondering exactly what the eerie woman was trying to propose. "What did you have in mind?" She questioned, her tone trying to remain serious, as well as her expression.
"Somethings coming, Miss Steamwhistle," Cynthia said quietly, placing her half empty drink down on the table.
"I'm not sure what yet, but I may require someone with a certain enthusiasm for explosions on my side."

"Ahh. I see." Jenny could no longer help it, a massive tooth filled grin overcoming her at the slightest mention of explosions, wherever they led, something exciting was sure to follow. "Ahem..." She let out a slight cough, in an attempt to hide her glee. "I'd love to help you, but I might need my landlord here acting less like a mindless drone." She continued, gesturing toward the innkeeper with an open hand. "And I'd hope that by the end of it all my pockets will feel a little heavier." She added, giving a sly wink toward Cynthia.

The human snorted as she rose to her feet, but she didn't look displeased. Jenny noticed that her backside looked a little...muddy. Cynthia gave a wave to George.
"The potion will wear off within the hour, it requires constant reuse to remain in effect. He'll fall asleep and will not remember anything in the morning,"

"I'll have to remember that." Jen smiled in a sly tone, glancing from Cynthia's backside to her face, she could only imagine where the woman had been before coming to visit.
"Funny," Cynthia sighed as she turned and walked away, grabbing a rather heavy bag from under the table as she went.

Avari

 

[TheCountryWarrior]

Armandio watched as Nia took the elevator up to the surface without him. She seemed to be in a hurry. Her father had called her, and she called back, but he couldn't hear her. The underground was enchanted so that sounds could enter, but no sound could escape. But she didn't promise not to tell anyone. Which was probably better than promising and telling anyway, but not very reassuring. But it was too late, and all he could do was hope she would keep it secret. The elevator came back for him and he ascended to the surface. He made his way to his grandfather's house.

Now his grandfather was what many would politely call eccentric. He had an entire block to himself on account of no one wanted to live near him for several reasons. He had plants growing out of every window, companion animals spread throughout his private jungle (at first? His house. Later, the entire block.), and that was just the beginning. But he had offered Armandio a place to stay, and Armandio was in no position to argue.


Kruziik walked out of Ambrose's kitchen, apple in hand. Seems he didn't need the door. "Don't worry, I used magic so that only you could hear me, its fine! So, buddy, I need dead bodies no one's going to miss. Anything? I'll pay up front, as always."

Duke of Doge
augmentedspartan

 

[Randomfella]

"Well, that was something." Jen could only say to herself soon after the strange woman had left. Looking toward the innkeeper, his expression still dim, the halfling looked down in a slight bit of shame. "Sorry about that..." She spoke up to him, at least this way she didn't have to let him know she was about to admit it was her fault, supposedly he would forget all about it. At least now she had some notion of safety, it was hardly likely that the gang would come back. Regardless, she knew she couldn't trust anyone in the city, after all, they were all outsiders in her mind.
"Something's coming, Miss Steamwhistle." The voice dragged on in her mind for a short moment. Whatever it meant, being prepared could never be a bad idea, it had been far too long since she had shopped for herself.

Leaving the inn in her singlet and work clothes, covered in grit, to the racially uneducated mind she looked like nothing more than a street rat, though one to inspire pity more than disgust. Leaving toward the stands of the market, the halfling spotted a stand sporting a variety of clothes, baked goods, and "Eck, bows? Humans still buy those?" Jen could only think, considering human technology, she would have assumed they would all be using better weaponry, then again bows costed nowhere near as much.

As she began to approach however, she was cut off by quite the site that had just left the stand. They were exquisite, revealing themselves for any to see, with lumps that you just knew everyone near wanted a piece of, just a taste would surely send you to ecstasy. Surely that's why the humans stared at the strange elf carrying them, those chocolate chip cookies were too much to bear, thankfully for Jen it seemed like the she-elf was more than willing to share with the local children. Approaching slowly, the halfling stared at the basket intently, before looking up at the elf, doe-eyed, hands clasped together like some sort of religious preacher.

Verdas

 

[augmentedspartan]

Ambrose scrunched his nose in disgust at the mention of magic. He didn't want any of that in his house, or anywhere close to it. In fact, he didn't want it anywhere at all.

"But of course, let me check," he said sarcastically, not even bothering to pretend to search his pockets. "Must have forgotten them in my other pants, specifically, the ones in The Den." Obviously he didn't keep a morgue in his house, or in The Den for that matter, he had his own personal place for that somewhere in the city which he liked to keep away from prying eyes. However, he liked to keep business outside of home, which is why he used The Den as his main base of operation. Not many guards dared to bother that place.

"Lewis is in The Den, like he always is," he said, emphasizing that last part. "You ain't special, you want something, you talk to him first." Obviously, moving around corpses and the like wasn't something an old man could do by himself, which is why he had a small group of trusted, or as much as Ambrose could trust someone, "employees" under his disposal, Lewis being Ambrose's right hand in the set-up, and for very good reasons.

TheCountryWarrior

 

[Verdas]

Aurelia was just about to be on her way back to The Den when she saw what appeared to be a little elf child begging for some cookies. The look the little girl made practically melted her heart, and she happily offered the contents of her basket to her. Due to a variety of support spells, the chocolate chip cookies were still fresh, despite all her walking about. Support spells were the best, as many green golem assassin/spy dudes could testify.

The 'child' was absolutely adorable, though something seemed a little off about her. Upon closer inspection (in other words, bending over), she realised that this 'child' was actually a halfling. The ears were a little too short, and her height was a dead giveaway. She'd studied several halflings who'd quit their job of converting oxygen into carbon dioxide, so she was well aware of their inner workings (wink wink). Still, they were fairly rare outside their homeland, so it was very fortunate that there were many experts in the art of babygoatsleeping in the underworld.

It took a great effort to repress the urge to hug and cuddle the cute halfling, but in the end, she pulled through. She did find that boys, surprisingly enough, loved to be hugged by her, though she wasn't sure why. Once the halfling ate its fill, she would go to the den immediately to finish conducting business with her client. Until then, she would enjoy this moment. No doubt, many onlookers shared the sentiment. Some even paused what they were doing entirely in order to enjoy the view, while others checked their purses for gold, clearly making some rather crass assumptions regarding her profession. Life was hard, indeed.

Randomfella

 

[Avari]

Cynthia circled the roof of the Den; her fur cloak spread out around her, letting the icy cold air slip passed its defenses. Her gaze never left the starless sky, which was shrouded in clouds. She knew the moon was there, full and powerful, but its absence from her sight left her irritable and restless. When she had her full magical power, many of the rituals she had performed had required the moon as a source of power. She had come to associate it with comfort and security, but tonight the sky was thick with anxiety, the usual comfort she drew from the full moon remained stubbornly elusive.

She was close now. The culmination of almost a decade of painstaking research. Cynthia was confident that Sarya would provide her with results soon, and then it was only a matter of selecting an appropriate place and time to perform the ritual...

But still, she was uneasy.

She had no way of telling if her current magical predicament would be fixed by a resurrection ritual, and her Plan B was a...unpleasant scenario to contemplate. She was doing her best to mentally prepare for the ritual to fail, she had even procured Jenny’s services in advance in case; to lay the groundwork for the battles ahead.

Cynthia suddenly paused, squinting into the darkness beyond the city rooftops that her lone flickering lantern couldn’t touch. She held out her hand, there was a touch of cold against her skin.

“Rain,” she observed, frowning. A poor omen while she was seeking the blessing of the Moon.

There was a gentle knock, which pulled Cynthia out of her musing and she turned to glare at whoever had dared to interrupt her.

“What is it??” She demanded.

The heavy wooden door squeaked open, and a face of a tattooed elf appeared in the crack, looking rather nervous. His expression did not improve under her withering stare.

“B-beggin’ your pardon Miss. But there’s a lotta people waitin’ for ya downstairs,”

“I shall come when I please!” She snapped at him, causing the elf to wince. She rolled her eyes in response. “Fine. I’m done here. I shall be a moment,”

“Y-yes ma’am,” The elf replied, looking relieved before disappearing from view.

Cynthia sighed as she took one last look at the foggy night sky.

If there was only one thing that was certain, it was that she’d be burning the Den to the ground and everyone in it when she was finished in this city.

 

[TheCountryWarrior]

Kruziik rolled his eyes. "You know most people would've taken this time to converse with a friend, but I realize you're not one for idle chatter. Quite commendable. Very well, I shall leave you to your misery and old age. If you ever need a cure for that, let me know." Kruziik walked into the closet and closed the door.

With a thought he was in the alley behind The Den, which caused him to chuckle. It was one word away from being The Fox Den. Fox's were kind of a theme in Dalania. He stood at the door, and cast his senses in search of Lewis, Ambrose's right hand man. He also listened in for any current goings on in The Fox Den.

augmentedspartan Avari

@Whoeverelseisintheden

 

[MagicPenguin]

Market Square,
Early evening

The sun was about an hour away from descending completely and the sellers were beginning to pack up their wares so they could retire for the night. Raimi followed suit, replacing the items she did not sell into her cart. She was very pleased at how well she had done today. She managed to sell all of her baked goods and roughly three quarters of the clothing. All told, she managed to make 20 gold for all of it, which would be a magnificent profit even without the unexpected platinum she received for the sale of the green gem. She almost felt like she’d won a lottery today.

The only items she hadn’t managed to sell were her bows. She had five of them, well crafted, durable, and relatively cheap compared to top of the line models sold by most weapons dealers, if not with quite the same range or power. Rae wasn’t terribly surprised they didn’t sell; people usually went to merchants who had their own shops and specialized in weaponry to buy bows, not the market plaza. She’d have better luck selling to one of these merchants, but she wanted to try and sell them herself first because she’d get a better price from a customer than a merchant. Having had no luck today, however, she decided to seek one out and sell them all at once before she went back to The Brazen Fox. Once she was all packed up, she directed her horse to the merchants’ district.

It took her longer than expected to find a weapons dealer, but find one she did. The man running the shop was about fifty, a big and burly fellow who had the look of a person who’d seen a battle or two in his time. He took one disinterested look at Rae’s hunting bows and said, “1 gold for all of them.”

“One gold?!” she exclaimed with disbelief. “C'mon, mister, I know they’re not as good as the ones you have on display, but I put my heart and soul into these babies! At least give me five gold!”

He snorted derisively. “ You’re joking, right? The wood carvers and blacksmiths in this town shit better products than this. You’d be lucky to get 20 silver for ‘em. I’m trying to give you a good deal here, so I suggest you take it and go.”

Rae narrowed her eyes at the man. “Three gold.”

He sighed. ”Look kid, you seem nice, so I’ll tell you what. Take a gold and 15 silver for the whole lot. And if you quote me a price any higher than that, you can take your bows somewhere else, ‘cause I ain’t interested.”

Rae sighed in defeat and took the gold and a half. She could have made five easily if she’d managed to find buyers in the market, but oh well.

As she walked toward the door to leave, the man gave her a parting warning. “You be careful out there, girl. Lots of thieves and muggers roaming these streets at night. Rumor has it there was some sort of explosion where all those lowlifes usually hang out. I have a bad feeling about it. You be safe, y'hear?”

“Yeah, thanks. You too.” Rae replied.

She was more than a little dismayed to find the sun completely vanished and the moon slowly climbing when she got outside. She hadn’t intended to take so long inside. The Brazen Fox was all the way across town and she didn’t relish the idea of hauling her cart so far to give every thief in the city a chance to steal her goods. The weapons salesman's warning still ringing in her ears, she decided to find another inn to stay in for the night to avoid the risk.

The first she came upon after travelling a few streets was “The Lazy Fox.” Amused at its name's similarity to her own inn, she stabled her horse and stepped inside. There, she found a man snoring loudly at the front desk. She rang the bell to wake him, but he didn’t stir. She next went behind the desk and kicked the chair, which caused the man to wake with a start.

“I need a room for the night and some dinner.”

The bewildered man looked at her as if she had three heads and then looked around at his surroundings as if he’d forgotten where he was.

“Uh? Room? Oh, the inn…right. Um, that’s 1 gold for the night. I’ll see about your dinner right away.”

“Thanks,” Rae replied. She dropped a gold on the desk and then found herself a seat in the common room.

It was very warm inside, she noted. The Brazen Fox had its own heating system as well, but even it wasn’t as toasty as this place. She removed her cloak and rolled up her sleeves for some relief.

When her dinner came, Rae planned as she ate. Tomorrow, she’d heard, there was some festival that was a pretty big deal to the locals around here, though she didn’t know what it was actually for. Since she sold so much of her inventory today, she figured she could take the day off tomorrow to enjoy the festival atmosphere. She could sell what little she had left another day. She finished her meal, thanked the innkeeper (who still looked groggy and confused for some reason), and retired to her room to bathe and prepare for bed.

Randomfella

 

[The_Omega_Effect]

Decius knew that the orc could not respond to him in any intelligible way. But he did not care. The orc was a good listener, much like his axe. And he could tell what the bartender orc meant due to his tone while saying his name. While drinking, Decius had decided to start talking to the bartender and tell him stories of his time in the army with some jokes here and there. The jokes were extremely dark, which seemed to be right up the orc's alley.

He finished his mug of heavy ale and then took out five more silvers from his pouch to buy another mug. He then felt something very weird. For some reason his axe started to shake like crazy and kept sending certain types of unintelligible messages to Decius' mind. He had no idea what was happening but knew that something caused his axe to start acting this way. He concluded that it would not be the prospect of him drinking and telling stories as it was something that he had previously done many times before. He tried to think of many reasons that had caused his axe to shake like this. Maybe it was some sort of magic that it did not like. Maybe it was a certain person it wanted to kill. Or maybe Decius did not murder lately and the axe wanted to kill something. Whatever it was, the shaking made Decius uncomfortable. He then held the handle of his axe tightly until it slowed down and stopped moving. He then took the mug of heavy ale that he had just bought and proceeded to drink it more.

While drinking, a certain person caught Decius' eye. A woman that he had previously met before. He remembered that he had knocked her over accidentally when he was buying his backpack earlier today. She was talking to a few people, seeming very annoyed. He wanted to ask her and find out what a person like her, a scholarly person because of her books, would be doing alongside a cesspool of questionable individuals.

Avari TheCountryWarrior

 

[Randomfella]

The elf seemed to take some interest in Jen, bending down toward her. Perhaps she knew something? Jenny couldn't be sure, but it didn't matter, she seemed more than willing to share. Taking one, the halfling could simply feel they were good, she had a knack for all things food, after all. It wasn't long before she took another, and another... It almost seemed like the elf was entertained just by seeing her. A spat of drool hung from the side of her wide smile in anticipation just before Jenny took a bite of one of the cookies. The taste backed up her assumptions, they were almost as good as the ones back home, then again, the halfling was definitely biased, and hadn't been back in so long that she had likely forgotten the actual flavour.

"T-thank you." Jenny spoke up to the elf in a high-pitched voice, still attempting to put on an act for her, if nothing else at least the elf might think she had helped another child, and who was she to take that from her? Soon after, Jenny looked back toward the stand where she planned to get some clothing, but in her distracted state it seemed the shoppers had left their posts. "Shit..." She thought to herself, before giving the elf a short smile, and finally venturing back to the inn. Upon arriving, it seemed the innkeeper was beginning to wake up. Feeling slightly bad for what had happened, Jenny prepared a quick drink, leaving it there for the man, before venturing back down into her room.

Not long after she had finished some work it was already time for dinner. Walking up the steps, the halfling looked out into the hall to notice a familiar face, the owner of the stand she had been looking out for before. "Hmm..." A thought came to her mind, before she quickly snuffed it out. She had a deal with the innkeeper, and not stealing from his customers was definitely part of it, she wasn't about to break it, at least not over something so small. Another thought did come to her mind however, possibly if she caught her leaving Jen would be able to confront her then. Though she definitely had more to think about, specifically dinner, and after... Supper... Wait, no! She needed to plan for the festival. For some time she had flown under the radar, too afraid to reveal her inventions to the public under the fear that the credit for them would be stolen, but if she gave a small demonstration in front of the most important people in the city... Well...
Along with that, one of those important people was supposedly barely a young woman, and what girl doesn't love a colourful explosion?