Masquerade Part 2: Army of Darkness

[Nanami Touko]

Punching

Makin laughed heartily at this girl's explanation of punching. It was incredibly amusing. "I dunno. I've never been one for punching. I use swords. They do a bit more damage than a fist does. Here, let's sit down. I don't think he'll be getting back up any time soon." Makin sat herself down on the couch and patted the spot next to her for this girl to sit, however a centaur could sit themselves on the couch. "So, so, why are you up here in Felson? I'm here with my mercenary group, and we're looking for work. The name's Makin Tiarn. You are?" Maybe she just needed a really silly horse girl to cheer herself up. Ingverd was right, she couldn't change what had happened, so at least now she could try to feel better entirely.

Long Walk

And there were the gates to the slums. The guards were a bit surprised that someone in the Upper Rung wanted to visit the slums and not simply pass right through them, but they didn't question him on it. And they were as pleasant as they had been earlier. Ingverd kept a hand near his sword, lest earlier events happen. He didn't want to, but he still couldn't bring himself to feel safe there, with all the eyes on him. And to make things worse, anyone he tried to approach to ask about Kurtis shrunk back into the alleys or holes, leaving him without any leads. "Well... Here's hoping Valha can find me..." He sighed.

Angry Walk

Vriska found herself a bench to sit on and made a small little flame to dry herself off with. "I can't believe that shit... I help him with his magic, gave him all that pocket money, and he dropped water on me... What the Hel..." Vriska sniffled a little, sneezing. "Hope I don't get sick from this. Gods..." She made the fire a bit bigger to, hopefully, dry herself off quicker.

More Customers~

Drogan was ever so pleased! Another person had walked into his shop, and the previous one, the half elf looking man, had brought the Quick Axe over to ask about a price. "Eleven hundred gold. It's a rather peculiar weapon. It's been magically enchanted to be far lighter than a a regular axe, and thus, you an swing it so much faster than something made of iron, or steel! It's rather terrifying. Although, the enchantments have made the axe a bit more dull than something of regular metal, but it's definitely packing more of a punch overall." He was enjoying being able to explain all these weapons.

Burke's Blacksmithing

A young man, presumably an elf, sat hammering a sword near a very active kiln, turning to face Lanos as he entered. "Sure thing, kid," Burke said, as Lanos placed the gem on the counter, along with the weapon. "I'll get yer change fer the gem. This sword's a real piece of work. Should be finished by tomorra. Where'd you get somethin' fancy like this?" He was genuinely curious. The metal work would've seemed random, like simply scraping the blade over something, but someone who knew the field could tell that there was actually a pattern to the serrated blade. Real impressive...

How Things Are Going

"Things're going as well as they can be, living down here. Hold on." He went to fetch a sword for her, as he listened to her explanation of things. "Mercenary? A harpy? And what about poor Lanos? You didn't drag him along with your schemes, did you?" He chuckled to himself, setting the sword down in front of her. Remembering who she was had brought back memories of her little tag along, as well. "Ah well, as long as you're alright. Who's your boss? Must be pretty nice if you like 'em." He paused a moment, as she asked about her sister. "Well, I won't lie to ya. I haven't actually seen her around that much. Perhaps caught a glance of 'er, but she's always seemed real distant... Especially after you left. Like she got worse. I'd avoid her, if you can..."

[Vestige]

Ignoring Kendeall's blasé demeanor, Raith waved his staff around Kendeall's more obvious injuries. He concentrated for a few moments, before dispelling the stream of magic, and considering the healing successful. At least enough for the man not to come complaining of some mysterious ailment later. With his work done, he left without uttering a word, back to the inn. He peeked in, and saw that the "crowd" by the sofa had more or less dissipated, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He walked up to the front desk, "hey, uh, did my boss by any chance pay for rooms already?" he asked. "Her name's Makin," he added as an afterthought.

[riariadne]

"Thank you." Valha took the sword, twirling it around a bit before sheathing it. "Haha, it took a while, but I managed to get Lanos to join up with us too! I dunno if he's totally used to it all yet, but he's doin' a good job for himself out there. It's a big step up from when we were little 'n I had to lead the charge for whenever we did anythin' dangerous, but I knew he had it in him. Anyway, the boss is a naga named Makin. She acts all big 'n tough when she can, but it's easy to get her to show that she's really a big softy on the inside. I'm glad to have her around."

Her sunny expression dampened a bit upon hearing the news if her sister. "That doesn't surprise me too much, I guess. She wasn't big on bein' loud 'n havin' fun 'n all that, since she was always so serious about everythin'... couldn't even find a moment to just enjoy herself. If she's worse, I'll just gotta keep an eye out, then. Thanks for the warnin'." She paused, thinking for a moment. "Oh! Almost forgot I need to meet up with someone real soon. Sorry we couldn't talk longer, Saul, but it was real nice bein' able to catch up with you! If I get some time later, maybe we can even talk a bit more, too, but if not it was good to see you again!" Waving cheerily, she exited the shop and immediately took off for the skies, scanning to see if she could spot Ingverd. After a few moments of looking, she quickly spotted him not far from the entrance to the Upper Quarter. She circled above him for a bit before landing just before him. "Sorry if I kept you waitin', I was just pickin' up a more fixed-up sword 'n talkin' to the smith there. He's a real nice guy... maybe you could meet him later if you want. No luck so far, huh?"

[Xinnidy]

Maja just sat as soon as they got inside the inn. Truth be told, she had never seen such a poor sight as the slums they walked through. She didn't as much as know how to react.

Having lived in a fishing town fairly reliant on trade, while she had seen a small share of poverty, it was nothing like what she just witnessed. Why... how can anyone live like this? With the 'wonderful' world of social disparity opening up to the girl, Maja went quiet the rest of the way up to the inn. Even inside the inn, she had her mind far off in thought.

Seeing comrades come in and out of the inn, she found herself subconsciously counting who went outside or inside and then outside again. It was then, as she slowly came back to reality, that something hit her --Kadin was nowhere to be seen!

She stood up from her chair in a blink, looking around in hopes of any trace of a ghost. "Where's Kadin?" She went outside at a hurried pace as she started to search for the ghost. In the middle of a busy town. Still, it did nothing to stop the girl.

"Kadin!" Maja called out repeatedly as she toured the Upper Rung. Kadin has to be here. He was around when we were entering Felson, I'm sure! She wondered to herself what could have happened to him that would separate him from the group, he was a ghost!

It was then that she remembered of the Lower Rung. A shiver ran down her spine --she wasn't paying attention while they were in the Lower Rung!--, could there have been something preventing him to come above? What if... some kind of mage got Kadin?! Right, magic can affect him... but what would anybody want with a ghost? There's thieves down there... could there be ghost thieves? Ghost-muggling? Ghost-hunters? Wait... what if they're necromancers... what if they want to trap Kadin's soul on an undead body?! The tall tales started forming in her poor head as she froze up at the possibility of returning to the Lower Rung. I... I don't want to go there... No! I have to do it! I have to find Kadin!

Mind psyched, the girl changed courses and tried to find her way back to the entrance of the Upper Rung from wherever in Hel she currently was. A few turns here and there, Maja found a familiar face sitting on a bench, entirely soaked, which took her attention. "Goodness! Are you okay?" She approached the mage girl. "You might catch a cold like this! Need any help?"

[Oersted]

Lanos shrugged off the kid comment. "I bought it from a merchant in Ward. Don't know who made it or anything like that, but the merchant is here. She joined up with our mercenary group," Lanos said as he waited for his change. He hadn't really expected to get any so it was a nice bonus. He wondered what was special about his sword for the elf to be so interested in it. From his perspective it was simply a tool for killing, really good at killing those who didn't where armor at that. "Any reason why you're so interested in it?" he asked.

[algae]

Oh, it's a weapon shop...

Sonia looked through the shop while the owner described the weapon the half-elf was interested in, somewhat relieved that the shopkeeper was so enthusiastic about his work. Buried between all of the larger, more openly threatening weapons was a heavy book that she would have thought looked out of place if not for a slight resemblance to the two she was currently carrying. "What about this tome?"

[Nanami Touko]

Room Key

"Oh, hello," Sara said, a bit exasperated, but all around alright. She took another key off of the back wall and offered it to Raith. "Yes, she paid for all of you... Though, she seems to be speaking to someone new," Sara said, looking past Raith at the two on the couch. "I wonder if she'll remember to pay for them, as well..." Sara sounded slightly worried, but she didn't pursue her worry. "What's it like, being a mercenary?" she suddenly asked. "Sorry, if I'm intruding. I'm just curious, and you all seem like nice people. Most of the mercenaries we get are... Gruff, quiet, all that. Some of you were... Well, incredibly jovial, at times. Makes it easier to ask."

Solemn And Saved

Saul held a small smile, hearing about Lanos. "I take it he's well too, then. Good to hear he managed to get out of his shell, at least somewhat. It probably wouldn't have done him well to get stuck in there doing mercenary work. And a... Naga? That's surprising... Tail and all? Wow..." Saul sat there, slightly astounded. "As long as she's nice, then. I've heard they can be kinda cold, 'n don't like the rest of us very much. Ah, well..." He paused, pensively. "Just make sure you're alright. I'd hate to hear about somethin' happening to you 'cause of her. I know what you did to her, and what she did to you, but..." He closed his eyes and frowned. Of course, Valha hadn't told everyone the details, but considering Leiha's wings, after that day... "Be safe." Was all he decided to say, as she left.

At least someone was feeling better. Ingverd, to be exact, breathing a happy sigh of relief, as Valha landed. "Hello, beautiful. You've no idea how glad I am to see you right now," he said, without his usual, flirty demeanor. Instead, he seemed rather tired. "I'll meet the smith later, perhaps, but right now, I can't so much as get close to anyone. They all run off whenever I get near. I mean, I had my hand on my sword earlier, but I stopped doing that a while ago. They still scamper off. I'm not sure I'll find Kurtis today, let alone at all, at this rate."

Wet and Bothered

Vriska looked at who was speaking to her, calming down when she realized it was Maja. "Nothing you can do, unless you know a spell to dry clothes." She held the tiny fire a bit closer to her, her hair having already dried from a combination of it and the sun, but her robes were still soaked. She sighed. "I did some magic show with Ken, and y'know, I might have taunted him a bit, but in the end I gave him all the money we made from it, and I even thanked him! And what does he do? Drop water on me. Asshole." She sniffled again, feeling herself tear up. "Geez... What did I do to deserve that, huh?"

Smithy Feelings

Burke looked back at Lanos and then the sword. "Well kid, y'see, the blade's pattern, it's all planned, not random. It's serrated, but whoever made it took the time t'make each edge one at a time, an' mirror it on both sides. It's a real piece o' work. Don't worry too much about it, I can still work on it. Was just real impressed." He turned away and started to get ready to work on the sword. "Oh, right," Burke quickly turned around and pocketed the gem, leaving Lanos' gold in its place. "Have a good one."

Ecstatic~

Drogan couldn't be happier! Two customers at once~ A challenge presents itself! "Excuse me for but a moment, my good sir. Please, take your time in thinking the axe over. As for you, young lady," Drogan exclaimed, happily turning towards her. "This is a Blight tome, a wonderfully written little book. The words inscribed inside have a power over the undead! Something of a small control, that tells their body's to reject themselves. It's a wonderful little thing, isn't it? It'll tear them apart~ Just one cast, and the undead will simply start to dissolve! I've only ever seen it used once and I was impressed to no end~ Twelve Hundred gold." Today was turning into a fantastic day.

Edited September 24, 2014 by I have opinions

[Oersted]

Lanos pondered if he actually looked all that young or if it was in the smith's nature to call people 'kid'. "Ah, I see," was all Lanos said in regards to his sword. He was interested in swords, sure, just not that much. Probably explained why he was a mercenary and not a blacksmith. Or something like that. "Thanks. See ya," he said as he scooped up his change and left. Now all he needed to do was go on his little walk and he'd be set. Or so he wanted to believe. He knew he was going to have do something with Ingverd and Valha. Something that would probably involve him apologizing to both of them. However, that train of though quickly left his mind when his saw Vriska, who appeared quite wet, sitting on a bench with Maja nearby. I guess it doesn't matter when I take my walk. He let out a brief sigh before approaching the only members of the mercenary group that weren't older than him. "So... what happened to you?" he tried to say it in the nicest way possible.

[Xinnidy]

Maja listened to her story with a bit of an interest. "A magic show, huh? I guess that explains the commotion in front of the inn. Ken's that axeman, right? Yeah... I can see how he'd be kind of a jerk." Maja remembered her introductions when she first joined the guild. He always seems rough and uptight about things, guess that's why he did this to her? Of course, completely oblivious to Vriska's antics, Maja only really knows one side of the story.

"Well, I can't help with drying clothes, but if you think you got a cold, I can sure help with that!" She brought her staff from waist to hand, even if only for showing her point. "Oh! I think Makin already got us rooms too. So you might want to get to your room and use a change of clothes? These robes look heavy, so I think that'd take a while to dry even with fire, right?"

Maja turned to acknowledge Lanos as he entered the conversation. "Oh, hello! She said she was doing a magic show with Ken, and then he pulled a prank on her, I think."

[Bluedoom]

The group finally reached the inn, where Makin displayed more frustration than he had ever seen from her in the past few days. It was probably a bad idea prying into her past. Nevertheless, Ferdinand decided to explore the Lower Quarter, since he thought he observed a cheap place where he'd be able to buy some weapon for himself. To his credit, he did end up finding an old, cheap shop for weapons. Ferdinand wasn't looking for some fancy weapons currently. Just a good old fashioned weapon made of iron would do for him. He saw Valha emerge out of the shop and fly off. She probably made her purchase too.

Entering in, Ferdinand scanned the shop momentarily before stating, " I'm looking for a plain iron axe. Just need something nice and sturdy that I can hit with in close combat."

[riariadne]

"Nice to see you too, handsome," Valha teased, before taking him more seriously when it became clear he wasn't playing around. "Hmm, that is a bit of an issue, isn't it? A lot of people don't trust outsiders here, think they're gonna try 'n trick 'em out of what little they've got, so it's not really on you... though the sword bit can't have helped your case, I'd imagine. All you can really do is keep tryin'. Maybe if we ran into anyone I know, they could help us out a bit or somethin'." Edited September 24, 2014 by Reinfleche

[Sandalphon]

Vesta stared at the sofa, unsure as to how to approach it. Sofas were typically built for creatures with two legs, or in this case, no legs. In her inebriated state, she would not possibly be able to sit down on the soft, cushy surface. She decided to opt for the option of not even trying, grabbing a cushion off the accursed furniture and plopped it onto the floor, following it swiftly (although it was hard to tell if this motion was intentional or not).

"Swords huh?" Vesta inquired, "Mommy always hated those, saying they're for pusillanimous fops, but I always figured that's just 'cause she couldn't use 'em right. Not sayin' you're a pusillanimous fop or anythin' like that though. I've just been more of an axes, hooves and fists kinda gal m'self."

Vesta winced. Everything was coming out wrong and this was clearly a terrible mistake. Regardless, she pressed on, valiantly ignoring every social faux pas she was committing. "As for why I'm all the way out here well, uh, I dun remember... somethin' to do with why I've been drinkin' so heavily I s'pose. Last I remember my brothers Geoff, Sandy and I were arguing about making money. They wanted ta catch some rats and make them fight and I told them that was messed up and if they were so keen on fightin' then they should fight me and I just kinda socked Sandy in the kisser and ran away. Now I've just been beatin' people up for rowdy drunken gamblers I 'spose." Vesta sighed, lolling her head onto what was supposed to be the seat of the couch, "it's all been getting kinda stale I suppose. Can only fight so many big bear-shaped palookas before you find the whole enterprise kinda dull."

Edited September 24, 2014 by scolipede

[Vestige]

When Sara mentioned, "someone new", he couldn't help but look over, and saw Makin talking to some female centaur. "Well, it's not really much of my concern whether she gets her room paid for or not," he shrugged. "Anyway, what's it like being a mercenary?" he echoed, "Well, it's uh, it's interesting. I can't speak for all mercenary troupes, but we've been traveling around quite a bit. Sometime's it's less of a job, and just sight-seeing. Started off in Bau-Berg myself. Made it to Danf, found some work, traveled to Ward, and now I've landed here. Then there's the less romanticized version, y'know, the part where you actually have to kill people and stuff. It's not for everyone, I'll tell you that. Sometime it gets to you, but...I'm a bit of a healer, so I try to balance it out. Take a life, preserve another. Doesn't count for much, but it's something," he said, looking pensive. "What about you though? What's it like, being an inn-keeper? Most of the inn-keepers I've met have been rather snobbish, and boring. You seem alright," he joked. He didn't actually care much on the life of an inn-keeper, but he felt like messing around with her just for the heck of it.

[SB.]

Angus shrugged his shoulders. "Got it from one of the centaur clans on the plains. Turned out that nobody who I'm working with can use it, so I figured I may as well sell it." He left out the fact that he'd taken it from an unconscious enemy leader, but details like that weren't important. After a moment of silence, he asked: "Can I get a price then?" rather abruptly. His eyes glanced around the room as he waited, but nothing the shopkeeper had to sell intrigued him, sadly.

[Nanami Touko]

Couch Talk

Well, that was one way to sit down. She figured a horse wouldn't be able to get themselves onto the couch, especially not one as drunk as this one seemed to be. It was amusing, at least. And speaking of amusing, so was the explanation she went into. Very amusing. A bit long. Wow, what, punching siblings?

Makin stared with her smile and blinked at this girl a few times. Wow, that was... Wow. She laughed, almost awkwardly, but there was enough there to keep the laugh real. "Well, if punching your siblings and random drunkards isn't enough, how about punching whatever's waiting across the tundra, inside of that castle? I'm sure you've heard of Karstell, at least the name. Hopefully, we'll be heading there. How does that sound?"

"Oh, also," she said, suddenly, "your name? I can't exactly go around calling you Tiny Horse."

Familiar Face

"Heh, handsome..." Ingverd said with a smirk, almost forgetting that he was trying to be serious, at the moment. He shook his head. "Well, I hope we find someone soon, because trying to ask people is beginning to become a problem. At least if someone could point me in the right direction I'd be able to try and find him myself but--"

"But what, mister?" came a slightly familiar voice, popping out from around a corner. A tiny harpy's head peeked out.

"Hey, you're that kid!" Ingverd sighed a sigh of relief as the one face that would actually talk back to them peered out. "That's fantastic. Can you help us find Kurtis? I'm seriously at a loss, here..."

"Sure. I can help. What's my name?" the kid said with a grin, hopping himself away from the alley corner.

"Er, what?" Ingverd was a bit confused. "What for? This is sort of serious..."

"Tell me my name, or I won't help you. Haha~" The kid laughed to himself, obviously bored. He wanted a little game like this, to give him some amusement.

"Ugh... Well, maybe we should keep trying to find people, then. I can't remember." Ingverd sighed in frustration. The first lead, and probably only lead they had, was going to be difficult.

Change of Clothes

"Oh... Huh. I should probably do that," Vriska said, as she stood up and began to fiddle herself out of her robes. Right in the middle of the street. Perhaps this would've been a problem if Vriska hadn't been wearing some long, baggy shorts and a shirt underneath the robes. Unfortunately though, a few tomes fell out onto the street. "I guess I'll have to dry them too, huh... At least I'll dry faster." She looked at Maja's attire for a moment, wondering where she'd gone shopping. "I'll make sure to ask if I start feeling sick. The wonders of healing magic, ah?"

Then Lanos showed up, and Vriska was hugging him with her slightly soaked self faster than she had time to even respond to what he'd said. Maja provided an answer, but she had to lay it on a bit thicker than that. "Oh, Ken was such a bully! I helped him out with his magic and he soaked me for no good reason! I can't believe he'd do such a thing..." She left out the parts about her poking at Ken's pride, they weren't that important. He'd definitely done far worse with that Splash tome.

Inn-Keeper Life

"Well, thanks~" Sara said with a smile. She was glad she seemed alright. As for working the inn... "It sucks," Sara said, her demeanor falling for just a moment, before she picked herself back up. "I mean, I get to meet interesting people, like all of you, but I'm sort of stuck behind the counter. And I can't handle it when fights break out, like that guy... I think he's actually sleeping, wow." She pointed to the drunkard that had knocked himself out by tripping over Makin's tail, and then leaned onto the counter. "I'd love a break from all of this, but I don't know how to fight, so don't even suggest coming along, even if it hadn't crossed your mind, yet. Still, it does sound really interesting, all that fighting. Maybe not the killing, so much, but being able to wield a sword, or a lance around like that. Exciting~"

Slum Seller

As soon as Valha had left, another customer walked in, a centaur no less. Is the circus in town? Geez, so many monsters around. Not a bad thing, but goodness, I nearly had a heart attack, there... Saul didn't say any of that, of course. He didn't want to offend the probably only other customer he'd get that day. "Sure thing. Iron axe." He propped one up on his makeshift counter. "It's simple, but it's durable, and it'll do what you want it to. One hundred fifty gold. Real cheap, don't get any cheaper'n that in Felson."

For a Price

"The clans, huh? You trade with them on your way over the plains, or somethin'?" Alicia continued to flip through the book, really and truly wondering where it had come from. She'd definitely be able to sell this, probably to Drogan. He was always looking to get new and unique magics in his store. This would make her a pretty penny. "I can give you one thousand gold for it. I don't think you'll get better for it than in here. Drogan might buy it, but he'll try to haggle the price down lower. Always looking to make the best profit fer himself, even if he's real informative about what he's selling. How's that sound?"

Edited September 25, 2014 by I have opinions

[Sandalphon]

"T-tiny..." Vesta sputtered, "Look lady, I'm gonna let you off this one time but uh, cool it with the short talk. The name's Vesta Halcyone. Weird name, I know but my uh, mom and dad gave it ta me and it's kinda the only thing I got left from them."

Vesta sighed, not really wanting to spew the long and tragic story of her life. That kind of thing seemed like it would be long and boring and it wasn't exactly like Vesta had the chance to make friends (or acquaintances) very often. "uh, I think I heard of it. Cold, nasty godforsaken place fulla screaming things that have a huge amount of nasty teeth?"

Vesta struggled with her survival instinct for a while. Crossing a freezing tundra to go encounter whatever terrifying god-knows-what lived in a crumbling castle would not be something most people would consider wise. Then again, Vesta never particularly gave a crap about what her survival instinct had to say about things even when she was sober. "Sure, why not? Might be good for a few laughs, right?"

[riariadne]

"Well, you're lucky I was here in time, Ingverd. Hello, Edward," Valha greeted the smaller harpy. "Any other questions we gotta answer in this quiz to get guidance? It's pretty important 'n we've got a lot to do, so we'd like to see him as soon as we get the chance to. It'd be super nice if you could help us out!" She playfully flew up to the top of the building the small harpy stood next to, perching herself to try and see if he had been hiding there for anything in particular. In the corner of her eye, she thought she saw familiar wings, but in an instant they seemed to be gone. Must be seein' things now that I'm back here...

[Vestige]

"If you can't handle a bit of drunken brawling, I doubt you'll be able to keep yourself steady when it comes to an actual battlefield," he replied. "And I wasn't planning on asking you to join me, but thanks for turning me down before I even got a chance, " he laughed lightly. "You could always teach yourself," he shrugged, "I know a couple back home who did. A bit amatureish compared to people who get formal training, but if all you want to do is wave a sword around and look like you know what you're doing, it's enough. Anyway, I'd best be going, got some things to take care of. A pleasure chatting, Ms...?" He paused for effect.

[MRDRHAWK]

Kendeall was bored. No way around it; he was bored. So bored, in fact, that he was walking back towards the inn without realizing that he was doing so. Whoops. Entering the inn, he saw Makin speaking to... a tiny horse? That may well have been the most hilarious thing he saw all day. Except for Vriska gettig drenched... That made him laugh for real, not even caring much about who may have been around. Still worth it.

[Xinnidy]

Maja almost made a move to stop Vriska from undressing herself in public but restrained herself when the girl revealed to be wearing even more clothes! Wow, doesn't that get too hot on a sunny day? I wonder how she manages to wear it all the time. What was also surprising was the speed at which Vriska threw herself at a now-wet Lanos. Whoah, is there something going on between those two? Wait... she's younger than me! Are they going too fast? ...Am I going too slow?! I don't even know who I like! A concerning self-conscious thought manifested in her poor, uninformed mind. My father said it wasn't a thing I should be concerned of until I'm much older, but look at her! Was dad wrong? What do I do? How does this work?!

"Uh, wow." Maja awkwardly brought herself to speak again. "Uh, yeah. He pranked her with some water magic. H-here, let me help picking up your books!" A part of Maja wanted to ask a million questions about romance and about the couple she was seeing in front of her eyes --a human and a monster can fall in love too?--, yet another part of her wanted to leave the scene really bad out of embarassment.

[algae]

"A fair price for something so useful." Just a little bit short, though... She rummaged around in her pack for a moment, holding out an unused Light tome, "Would you be willing to take this to cover some of the cost?"

[Bluedoom]

"Ah, that truly is cheap. Your prices are fair, and if I could frequent this spot often, I would to be your regular customer. Its too bad I'm a travelling mercenary, though. Tell me," Ferdinand said, picking up one of the axes, "Do you have an axe lighter than this? This feels good, but, its a little heavy for me. Do you forge weapons?"

[Oersted]

Lanos was completely caught off guard by Vriska's sudden hug and instinctively took a step backwards. It was almost enough for him to fall backwards but he managed to barely keep his balance. "O-okay... Explain it from the beginning please," he asked, feeling confused and a bit awkward. He could feel his clothes getting wetter and sighed. Why did I involve myself... When Maja reminded him that she was still there, he felt even more awkward. He put his hands on Vriska's shoulders, partially to try and calm her down and partially to try and detach her from him. He didn't want to have to go back to the inn for dry clothes after his performance earlier, he still wasn't in the best mood for a multitude of reasons. If he stressed himself out further he feared he'd snap or something.

[Nanami Touko]

Whoops

"Er, sorry. I'll make sure to avoid that." Makin should've clued in earlier, having watched her slug a guy for calling her tiny. Maybe she'd just thought something else happened in the room, but it seems it had exactly been that. Best to avoid the word in regards to her, entirely. "Vesta, alright. Easy enough to remember. And yes, that is the place. I know most sane people would probably want to keep themselves far away from such a place, but if good money is involved, well, I'm sure my little group of intrepid mercenaries will be able to handle it." Makin made herself laugh a little, extending a hand for this Vesta to shake. "Well then, welcome aboard, Vesta. I'll go talk to Sara once she's done with Raith and see about getting you a room here for the next few days. We won't be leaving right away."

Footsteps

"Dang. That's no fun!" Edward pouted, crossing his wings. Ingverd almost smiled, and the pout didn't last that long. Edward then shrugged and threw his hands up. "Well! Guess I've no choice but to help you find him! The last I saw him he was sittin' around the bit ol' slum fire we have running down here. It's kinda like aaaaa...make shift town hall of sorts. But it's really just a refuge fer people to warm up and relax for a bit. I'll show you!" Edward turned around and started himself back down the alley that he'd popped out from.

With another sigh of relief (as they seemed to be turning into Ingverd's favorite expressions) he followed after the kid. "Well, now it's double good to have you around, Valha," he said up to her on her small perch. "We'd've been sunk without you remembering, so, thank you. Let's get going--" Ingverd suddenly spun his head around, as he'd heard a set of footsteps, sounding like they were running, but as soon as he did, the sound disappeared. "Going to find Kurtis..." Odd... Well, I was paranoid earlier, and it paid off, so maybe I'll hold onto this paranoia a bit longer, as well... He decided to ignore the sound, but keep the worry in his mind, whilst he walked after Edward.

Extremely Awkward

Maja was giving this hug a weird look, and Lanos was attempting to detach her, so she obliged and held her tiny flame up to the spot she'd hugged. "Sorry." She'd dry him off first, since that was sort of her fault. "Explain from the beginning, huh... Well. Ken was groaning over being unable to use his magic right, so I hopped into help. His magical shield was really awful though, so that didn't last very long. There was a bit of a crowd, and they sort of starting cheering over the fight. I figured I'd give them something to look at. I started playing around with the fire, when the other half-elf in our group started talking the whole thing down."

She took a breath and sighed. "So I figured I could get Ken to help me do something cool, and I got him to use his splash magic, make a ball and all that. He screwed it up the first time, but that's no big deal. He got it the second time, and then I lit the thing on fire," she waved her arms around for emphasis, "and the crowd woo'd and were astounded and threw money at us. I let Ken have it, and that half-elf guy was even impressed. So I started to walk away, all pleased with myself, and Ken drops another ball of water on me! Like what the Hel?" She was still confused about it. She knew she'd been acting smug, but it wasn't like she didn't have any reason to act all smug. That magic show had been pretty great!

She grumbled. "Whatever. He isn't worth my time, anyway. I'll electrocute him if he tries this again, though. Not getting soaked twice. Maybe I can learn how to deflect the water around me... Honestly, that's probably what would've happened if I'd been paying attention, but to top it all off, he did it behind my back. Ugh."

Amateur

"Well, if I wanted to do that, I could've, already. I get plenty of free time, behind this desk. Alas, as boring as this job can get, I think I'll keep it. Sara." She produced a key for him, smiling. "I hope you enjoy your room, and whatever it is you've got left to do here. Feel free to bother me when you're done. I'll be here. Unless I'm on lunch break, but that doesn't last too long." She laughed a little, wondering why she'd found that so funny. It wasn't funny. Silly girl.

Barter

"Hmmm..." Drogan adopted a serious expression and began to inspect the lightning tome. "It's a little worn... Not by much, but... Hmmmmm... Well, if you're that interested in this tome, then I suppose I can accept it, along with one thousand gold. If you can afford that much, of course! I'm afraid I can't go any lower, sadly. These things are so hard to come by, that I simply can't accept cheaper prices. Restocking is a nightmare, I assure you." He'd gone back to his regular jovial personae after inspecting the tome.

Forge, That-a-way

"Can't say that I do, not well. Not enough ter make that axe any better'n what it is, sorry. There's a good forge up town, elf named Burke runs the place. Doesn't look down on us slum folk, so I respect the man. He's helped me with the shop a few times. Should treat the weapon well, and give it a new edge, iffin that's what you're lookin' for. Wish I could've been more help than just supplyin' the weapon." Saul sighed slightly, wondering if he could speak to Burke at some point and get a makeshift forge working down in the slums. Maybe...

[Bluedoom]

" Ah, looks like I'll be heading there, then." Ferdinand replied, handing over one hundred and fifty gold to Saul. "You should consider working as a travelling weapon merchant for some mercenaries. Your cheap prices would be highly valued, I think." he said as he was about to exit the shop.