Gypsy Moon (open to one and all! but lets try and limit it to 4 people please ^-^)

[MinzigFrish]

Zarah huffed, extremely annoyed. she sat hidden in a corner of the nearly empty tavern, eying all of the potentially rich male, or possibly even female, customers.
She needed gold, but every one of the taverns customers at the moment were either all scraggly drunkards who scrapped money off the streets, or cheap brothel girls who were taking a quick break here, praying not to be caught away from their rooms.
Zarah sighed and turned to stare into the dancing flames of the lit fireplace. Fire licked the soot covered walls.
Why was she even here? Even she, a gypsy thief, was too good to be mixed with this midnight crowd.
If a visibly rich man didn't walk into the tavern/inn through the thick wooden front door within 5 minutes with his trouser pockets bulging with gold coins, she was going to call it a night and slip out, hopefully to find a more fruitful bar.

[Aiko]

The Silver Pub, a bar like any other in the world, in Calbrena’s opinion. She was waiting on someone who had information that interested her, a bard with information about sightings of a Frost Demon bearing a description similar to her and her family. Grandfather had many children in his efforts to breed The Seven Deadly Sins, and some few escaped death at his hands for not being what he expected of them.

She kept the hood on her black robes on. Her kind wasn’t normally welcome in most places. Calbrena was a Demoness, but not a full blooded one. She was also half Angel, and could switch sides at whim. However a being of such innate innocence would be out of place in a bar, so she was in Demon form, her skin being red, and her hair, eyes, and tail, black, like coal. She didn’t have horns, she wasn’t evil enough, but neither then did she have a halo. She had wings though, and those were wrapped around her, but they were small, black, and leathery.

Some few Patrons seemed to know what she was, and avoided her table, catching wayward glances from her striking eyes. Thus, anyone with half a mind could detect the almost visible circle around her. Flames sparked and jumped between her fingers as she moved her claws through the air to once more fold her arms for perhaps the twentieth time that night, crossing and uncrossing them in anticipation of maybe finding a family member who would side with her against Grandfather, or help her train to fight him.

Calbrena stared off into the flames, watching their dance, and in her mind, dancing along with them. Flames had danced in that same manner on the night she was killed so long ago. Grandfather berated her for being different from the others, he couldn’t control her for some reason, and this scared him. Calbrena tried apologizing fervently, but this act scared him even more, driving him over the edge and as reason lost his eyes, his cane rose in the air, and fell upon her, striking her with all the force the he could muster. Again and again it fell, Calbrena writhing in agony, and trying to get away. The fire popped as her life fled from her beaten form, and a customer who looked like he had plenty of money to spend entered the door.

Calbrena looked up, and their eyes met. His eyes shrank in sudden fear as she snapped out of her reverie and he realized what was looking at him. She looked him over; he was not the one she wanted. She put her head back down, waiting, with infernal patience, as the new customer hurried and sat close to a woman trying to hide in the corner. Perhaps she, like Calbrena, was an unwelcome monster too.

[MinzigFrish]

Zarah smiled wryly, advancing toward the newcomer. she softly sat at the same table as him. "hey, Mr. Hunk. Care to, oh, i dunno, buy little ol' me a drink?" she inconspicuously thrust her chest out to make it look larger.
She hoped to catch a glimpse of his gold, and make a rough estimate of about how much she would be earning tonight.
"i.. wh- me?" the man seemed startled, as if he had never been approached by anyone half as attractive as she. Either that, or something he had seen before her had spooked him.
She shook off the feeling. "of course you. unless you happen to have some invisible friend i don't happen to see..."
He forced a laugh. "right. Sorry, miss..."
"You can call me Zarah." She flashed a flirty smile.
"Zarah. Right. Well.... my apologies, miss Zarah, but... I don't have any gold..."
Zarah blinked, jaw nearly dropping. He had to be joking!
"But, my lady, I'd still love to spend a little time with you..."
Zarah gave a frustrated huff. "i'll pass."
The man blinked in confusion as Zarah stood and crossed to a table on the other side of the room.

If we could get an actual guy player as the next new character I'd be very grateful heh sorry about that go on ahead with your turn, Aiko :D

[Aiko]

CREAK...SLAM!

Calbrena looked up, startled, as a boisterous young fellow dressed in brightly colored pantaloons, a thick ruffled two color shirt that may or may not have been stuffed, and a cap with a novelty oversized feather coming out of it. Yep, it was him.

With a chuckle and a grin he bowed to everyone in the room in one single sweeping gesture.
“Sorry folks, wind picked up out there.” He said with a jolly lilt. It was true though, the trees outside were swaying back and forth in the wind.

Calbrena promptly stood and took his arm.
“Think nothing of it dear boy, come, sit at the bar with me, have a drink, let’s talk.” She said, her velveteen voice cutting through the silence. Things went back to normal, almost a little too fast, the bartender facing away from Calbrena and the bard, resolutely ignoring the footsteps burned into the floor by Calbrena.

Suddenly without warning, one of the bard’s purse strings broke and the bag fell to the floor, money spilling out all over the place. Suddenly everyone in the room was interested in becoming friends with the bard, and secretly some wondered how Calbrena knew he was rich so fast.

The pair picked up the gold and the bard sighed as he set the bag in his lap.

“I wish Zerengal’s stayed open late, or had night deposit. Such a friendly bank otherwise.” The bard said with a sigh of lament, drawing a chuckle from the onlookers.

Then, quietly, Calbrena whispered in the bard’s ear, “What do you know of a Frost Demon said to look like The Seven Deadly Sins?”
At this the bard turned red as though Calbrena had whispered an indecent proposal.

[MinzigFrish]

Zarah glared as the pretty girl at the bar whispered something to the bard. oh no, sister, she thought bitterly, this ones mine...
Zarah slunk up to the bar and slipped into the seat beside the man. "Hello, good sir." she completely ignored the fact that the other girl was talking to him. "tough night, i assume?"

[Aiko]

The bard looked at Zarah, and then at Calbrena, then at the bartender with the largest grin he could possibly manage.

He nodded to the affirmative in response to Zarah’s question.
“The life of an entertainer is a difficult one. Today I had dredge up a particularly old and dry story about a fairy and a troll. I was also called upon to inform someone about Grandfather and his children, The Seven Deadly Sins. After a few hours of juggling and acrobatics, I had to relate a lengthy tale about one of Grandfather’s other children, The Frost Demon Novus that lives in The Jagged Mountains to the north in their ever snowy peaks.” The bard said.

Calbrena fervently wished her sister Lust could be here, but, well, she was on her own. She had what she needed now, but wanted to keep the interloper from what she wanted, simply to screw with her. Maybe if she had stayed away a few minutes longer, but, oh well, time to turn on the charm.

“Poor baby.” She cooed softly, hugging his arm and laying her head on his shoulder.
The bard was containing himself, but with difficulty. He never had two women fight for his attention before.
“Why don’t you buy the three of us a drink and tell us more?” Calbrena asked asked with an almost plaintiff whine, snuggling closer to him.

“Sure, round of ales, Dwarven.” The bard said, breathing heavily.
Calbrena sighed inwardly, she couldn’t hold her liquor, at least not one of THAT strength.

[MinzigFrish]

Zarah flashed the girl a wicked look that said back off. She cozied up to the man. "how about we forget the drinks, and you and i... go upstairs?" she cast him a flirtatious charm that she knew he wouldn't turn down.

[Corvus MacCallum]

"Cheers Nedge"

"No worries but next time keep to the back, you made the horses goddamn nervous"

Small fanged smirk spread across the Hunters visage as he waved off to the caravaning merchant, typically he preferred walking but there was far too much open grass-land and ploughed fields for his liking around here. An Out-land Warrior dressed and armed in his finest Outlandish style, a poncho of firey oranges and reds adorning his upper body; delicate segments covering its surface revealing the material as scale, dragon scale in fact. Upon his back a vast scarred but sharp mass of iron that had been hammered enough to pass for a sword, worn and ragged wrappings clutching feebly to the handle which raised past the black and white spiked mane of the owner. The huge shape of the weapon extended almost to his ankles, while the edge was clean and fine, the flat of it was scarred, chipped and stained, a weapon with a pleasant little history of destruction.

Both of the Highlanders feet scrapled at the ground, most of their unique apperance badly disguised with some hasty bandage work, solid black claws jutting out at any rate. They weren't the only thing moving though, his whole form gave a few slow and steady rotations as he searched for a decent place to stop off in. Wafts of alcohol, the ill-washed and the accompanying cacophony of boistrous merry-making brought the Silver Pub to his attention... was about the only place a bloke could saunter on into without any worries of being chucked out. Further scrips and scraps against the ground signalled ambulation from the Wolven featured warrior as he headed in. The fang displaying smirk stayed upon his face even as his entire surroundings changed; altering from a refreshing and expansive wind-swept street to immediate closeness... the air was heated from the breath of so many blasting out their hot air in boasts and jests, very seperate enviroments... both pleasant in their own ways though.

Not seeing many blades... or glints of armour, probably not a busy area for adventurers. Might find some sort of odd job for a bit of coin though, heres hoping.

With carefully postured steps the Highlander shifted his way through the generous throng of publicans, making sure his strangely overfluffed tail was hidden to some degree by the vast sword at his back... both were surely attention grabbers, but a huge sword did little to stir up bigotry or challenges that right now he couldn't be arsed to solve. Finally he reached the bar-counter itself, a silent chuckle within his mind at the rotund stature of the barkeep before him, seemed a common feature among such folk really.

"Aye?"

"Got a tap?"

"...Got a lot of things on tap, you not come to bars often lad?"

Quick shake of the head dislodged a lot of his messy mane from its typical positioning and gave the Highlander something to do with his hands while speaking.

"Was looking to get my flask here refilled, just water and I'm willing to pay a coin or two"

"I'll let you have it for free if you buy a drink"

"Funny... but sure, house ale then"

Rather simple exchange of words, suprising to the wolf-man, typically he made immediate inquiries about ventures and curiosities in the local area... must be a touch off his rythm thanks to being delivered here through transport and not his own power. Always another chance though, even if its simply a handful of minutes away.

Decent wee spot

[Aiko]

Calbrena returned Zarah’s look with a smoldering withering look of her own enhanced by the flames that began to spark on her face. Her hand came out of her robe; it was bright cherry red, and leathery, with sharp black claws, a Demonic hand.

The bartender busied himself with a newcomer, but Calbrena couldn’t care less about any newcomers. She had an enemy to take down, in one fashion, flames danced between her fingers, or another.

“Going upstairs, that seems like a good idea, but I couldn’t go upstairs with anyone that couldn’t at least sit and drink a pint with me first.” The bard said, enjoying his role in the game. Besides that, drunk women were often easier to control, and slept too hard to try stealing his money.

Calbrena grabbed the bard by the hair on the back of his head and brought their lips together, her hood falling back to showcase her long black tresses, and bare shoulders. More fire danced from her shoulders, as the complete truth about what she was, was revealed to the room. Fortunately, nothing had been caught on fire, yet, but it had to be better than drinking ale and losing control entirely.

“Hoo, spicy!” the man said, turning to Zarah fully expecting her to up the ante.

“Why don’t all three of you just go get a room and have a threesome before the demon burns my bar down, please?” the bartender pleaded.

“Hey, that’s an idea.” The bard said with an alarmingly sinister smile that completely attracted Calbrena to him.

[MinzigFrish]

Zarahs jaw nearly fell off its hinge. she was supposed to beat a demon? She could do it, that was for sure.... But it would take a bit of work. Demon's didn't exactly back down too easily. She huffed loudly, standing from her seat. "excuse me..." she snarled, staring down the red skinned demoness, "But i believe you're moving in on my turf."
Zarah stated this calmly, so any man around would think it a simple statement of ownership. However, any woman around would understand Zarah's true meaning in a heartbeat- it was a direct challenge for dominance.
Sure, the new girl was a fire demon. Big whoop. The real advantage was that Zarah had the element of surprise on her side. The girl would be expecting to fight a human... Not a wolf.

[Aiko]

Calbrena released the bard’s arm.
“You’re territory? I was with him first, I need things from him. You’re just a two-bit hoar sitting in a bar waiting for a rich patron to seduce out of their money.” Calbrena returned, taking up the challenge. Calbrena was certain there was probably more to this woman than met the eye, but Calbrena still had the upper-hand, for most people would expect a demon to fight like a demon, but Calbrena fought differently.

Flames began to lick up all over her exposed body portions, the tallest three inches tall. Calbrena’s eyes began to glow red, as she prepared to Curse Zarah. Imperceptibly, Calbrena’s stance changed to that of one ready to dance as she stood up, and the floor caught on fire around her.

Calbrena wasn’t even waiting for the first punch, or any further formalities, she simply lashed out with her claws, then with a light and airy spin, danced away in a Coronian waltz to music only she could hear.

[MinzigFrish]

Zarah backed up slightly, unsure of what move to make next. Obviously she didn't want to get burned, but.... how else was she going to get to her?
Zarah emitted a low, inaudible growl.

[Corvus MacCallum]

There was a sharp, sudden bark that peirced the air, despite the general mixture of noise and clamour from the current situation.

"Knock it the hell off!"

In the current gap between Gypsy and Demon quickly came the poncho-clad warrior... well not precisely him, it was the huge slab of iron making a very effective impression of a sword that seperated the two. Corvus was pretty suprised the security hadn't stepped in, but a quick glance showed they had already taken a few steps from the door, he'd simply reacted quicker... damn. Narrowed eyes then sprang to the Bard who'd been fueling this little problem by not simply deciding on a girl to go with, two rather angry girls who had a right little bit of hate bubbling between them...

I prefer monsters, at least those things are simpler to subdue.

"If you want to throwdown, do it outside at the least bloody hell"

Nostrils flexed with a simple intake of breath, but new curiosities floated in from his proximity to them, stench of the wolf from the Gypsy harlot... other girl stank like a right demon but by this point knowing that little nugget of info was redundant. In his mind the Highlander often sorted through vast options and possible paths of violence to get to a resolution, right now he just didn't see a simple way for this to end and certainly one side was going to be royally pissed off. Could've just arrived in town, ignored the hell-fire and inquired about little hunting notices with the bartender, or get involved in a card game or hell anything except being stuck between two pissed off lasses from an instinct of finding trouble.

Shut my ears next time, just walk out maybe...

[MinzigFrish]

Zarah suddenly paused. what was she doing?
Regaining her senses, she backed up slightly. She was honestly going to try and rip a demons throat out, and for what? just for some stupid bard who wasn't worth her time in the first place. reluctantly, she looked to the man who had tepped between the two girls. He was relatively attractive, had fairly nice armor on... perhaps....
"oh, good sir, thank you for saving me!" Zarah threw herself into the mans arms, overly dramatizing. "i don't know what came over me..." she softly clutched his shirt in both of her small fists and looked up at him adoringly. "how can i ever repay you?"

[Aiko]

"Right then, was I really about to incinerate a random passerby over a man I no longer need? I've been in Demon form too long." Calbrena said aloud, not remembering to conceal her inner thoughts. The bartender looked at her, as did a number of other people, puzzled at what she could possibly mean by that.

Calbrena brought her hands together and seemed to be praying. A column of light brought everyone's attention to her, and as the light faded, they all saw a beautiful blond haired blue eyed lass whose beauty was near insurmountable. She shone with an innocence that was a great relief to the presence of the burning demon that had been there moments ago. Her robes were white, where as the demons were black, and while the demon had a tail, she didn't. The demon had wings that were normal demon wings, this lass had the wings of an angel.

Unable to contain himself, the bartender asked the question on everyone's mind.
"Who, or what, are you?"

"Allow me to introduce myself and explain. My name if Calbrena, and I am what you see. My mother was an Archangel, kidnapped and tortured into insanity by my Father, and Archdemon. Both were gods in their own right, but I am not, due to my unique nature, for I am both angel and demon, and can switch between them at will. Surly one of you has heard of Grandfather and The Seven Deadly Sins. He is my father, and the seven deadly sins are my half-brothers and sisters.

I wanted to speak to this bard, because he knew where some of my other half-siblings are, powerful elemental Demons that escaped Grandfather's killing spree for not being what he wanted them to be. I hoped to unite them against grandfather and take him down once and for all, for you see, he killed me when I was but a child. Circumstances I don't understand granted me a second chance, surly to bring Grandfather down. I had what I wanted, but in Demon form, I am evil, or more prone to less than honorable actions, and as such, I felt Greed and Lust's hands stirring in my heart making me take on this poor woman over an inconsequential man that frankly doesn't mean much to me anymore, and for that, I apologize sincerely, I cannot help what I am, I can only try to improve." Calbrena said.

The bard meanwhile had gone completely and utterly pale at the mention of who Calbrena was related to, and clutched his gold tightly, as though he were about to suffer a heart-attack.

"Well, I'll let you stay, but only if you behave yourself, and only if you remain, like that, or whatever that is to you." the bartender said.

[Corvus MacCallum]

Corvus couldn't help but feel both these women had spent a sizable amount of time alone, or at the least Gypsy girl there simply loved to throw herself into the arms of guys, really a simple 'what are you?' from a bartender and she spills her life-story to the entire pub, he wasn't even that fond of introducing himself until some feat had been managed nearby. Holy and demonic inside a solitary vessel probably would've impressed a scholar, certainly they'd like to record the details... the Highlander? honestly wasn't all that fussed, he'd dealt with demons, a demon-hunter... no angels mind, but apart from a tendency to like fire and suffering they could be a decent lot. The little confrontation suprisingly finished peacefully gave the warrior a chance to reholster his Slammer, taking care not to whack it against any nearby patrons before sliding it against his back, sinking into position before hooks and chain supported its vast weight. Now for the issue of the girl clutching at him, but it was a minor social interaction that could be passed by rather quick and angel girl hadn't even looked in his way... least it felt that way, all the better. Quick glance down to the lass and the Highlander let his face fall into its natural smirk before taking hold of her shoulders and lightly easing her off.

"Just relax and don't stir up trouble, thats a handy repayment alright?"

At least the Angel girls little spiel had shown the Bartender... wasn't strictly opposed to those non-human and so with a brief nod of acknowledgement to the Gypsy headed on back to the bar where his ale was possibly waiting... curses, it had waited, gotten bored and apparently eloped with a rather unsteady example of bar-life. With his arms now resting upon the counter Corvus gave a swift shift to his head to lock eyes with the ale-napped and gave a low growl, was beautiful how quick some could react. Justice rebalanced the Highlander set to work trying to find something for his eyes to focus on...

Nice looking girls, shame about the temper and dramatics.

"Cheers"

Took a moment for the demi-human to come out of his little appraisal for two examples of the female gender and return his sight to the bartender, quiet 'hmm?' signalling he'd heard the word but not really grasped its relevance.

"Bout getting between those two"

"Oh, yea, well no wucking forries... don't suppose you've got any little odd-jobs that need doing around here?"

Light shrug passed through the Bartenders stature as he continued dealing with a few nearby patrons who liked to forget in liquids.

"Nothing specific or sanctioned, bit of bandit trouble in the area, same almost everywhere though. Has been some word from the town guard about moving on some troupe nearby but you don't look the type for that"

"Good judgement, anything noteworthy about the local bandits that could be a nice trophy?"

"Nah, its a small group, they try to attack a few trade caravans but unless its some peddler on his lonesome they never really suceed, guard are hoping they'll just lose morale and disband, saves ferreting them out"

"Fair enough, can I get a new one of these?... I can still see the other guys lip-marks in the head"

Silent nod, new tankard and possibly new time to spend pondering and plotting his next step as a Vagabond Monster Hunter, was a bit hopeful to think somewhere this decently populated would suffer from a dragon or large beast, ah well.

[MinzigFrish]

Zarah gave a small huff. Why was she having such rotten luck? usually she had men jumping at the chance to please her.
All she wanted was a decent meal and a warm place to sleep for the night, but without any gold she couldn't exactly get anything. Sure, perhaps stealing from the poor, lonely men who she lured may not have been the best way to get gold, but she didn't harm them, and they could always earn it back by doing whatever dirty jobs they did.
She wasn't hurting anyone, just making a living for herself....
Suddenly, Zarah heard a loud growl. She was surprised for a moment.... until she realized that the thing growling was her stomach.
She gave a small whine, placing a hand over her begging tummy, and lay her head on the bar.
Stupid demoness.... Zarah would be stuffing her face with catfish stew and peach cobbler right now if that damn woman hadn't felt like ruining her chances to get the bard upstairs.
If she starved to death tonight, that demoness would definitely be the first person Zarah's vengeful spirit would haunt.

[Aiko]

Calbrena sat down next to Zarah, yet close enough for Corvus to overhear her.

"I really am sorry about earlier. How about I buy you dinner to make up for it?" Calbrena asked.

She thought for a moment and then asked a question on her mind point blank.

"How'd you like to get your hands on a treasure? See, my sister, the sin of Greed has stockpiles of treasure hidden all over Althanas, hidden away from mortal eyes, usually guarded by strange monsters so fierce, it'd make the fiercest monster hunter quake in his boots just to see it. In the Jagged Mountains where Novus dwells, if the bard over there can be trusted, is one of Greed's stockpiles hidden deep within a cave. There's a treasure there I need to get to Novus, but Greed won't even let her own family near her treasure, so I need some help getting to it. Of course being a giant stockpile of treasure, there'd be something to interest you too. Maybe one of the giant sacks full of money? I mean, it's a Greed stockpile, use your imagination, there's bound to be all sorts of nifty things there. All I really want are The Wings to Freedom, a set of wings that will enable me to fly."

[Corvus MacCallum]

The Highlander was currently tracking a solitary black claw down his tankard, feeling how it got caught so many times down the damaged surface, his hand itself was decently covered, fingerless glove with a gem embedded within the palm along with a few handfuls of white wraps along his forearm. His other hand posessed no such camoflauge, it had no need with the buckler upon it with included glove, he'd be looking forward to removing all that for a short time and give his hands some time to breathe and air out. Slowly he was parted from mild meanderings of the mind to behold the two lasses at his side and pick up on the Angelic girls offer, had a lot of information that he wasn't quite curious enough about, but the prospect of a fierce monster... that was something tempting, gold was momentary, could flee from a feckless man, but a trophy of battle... those made for a lasting impression on all. When you preferred sleeping out-doors and hunting your own food most monetary expenses were redundant anyway.

"If you don't pull another jealous stunt like that with her here, or in fact any lass on the way... I'd be up for it. I like conflict but I'm not interested in further headaches"

Transport, that could be an issue, she definately didn't seem the wilderness type, fit, but not weathered... walking might be out of it. A little shift of his shoulders jangled those heavy chains binding his Slammer and even jostled the long unusual sword he had plucked from a bandit, might be worth practicing with the katana tonight... maybe with the broadsword that for once was not slipped between buckler and arm, but instead properly fastened to his belt. Little thought crept into place, Highlander gave a small mental shrug to follow up on it.

"Calbrena wasn't it?... I'm Corvus, feel free to shorten it"

He looked to the gypsy girl, her name hadn't been said aloud in the middle of a pub, or simply stated in a quiet little bit of scheming but hopefully she'd get the message and introduce herself... it just seemed the right thing to do if the three would be sitting here for a short time, true she wasn't included in the Cave plot but the promises of riches would no doubt set a sparkle in the womans eyes. He'd never really travelled much with women, nothing about equality or them being hazardous to the trip, they were just as capable that was obvious to any... but he'd been stuck wandering along after the Monster Hunter group was wiped out and they were mostly guys... big worrying heaps of testosterone, soaked in alcohol and wrapped in armour.

Change of pace might be nice... no wucking forries I hope.

[MinzigFrish]

Zarah's ears perked at the mention of the treasure heaps. well... that, and the offer by the demoness to buy dinner.
"the name is Zarah." she said to briefly answer Corvus, then turned back to Calbrena. "You say i can have as much of this treasure as i wish?" she leaned closer. "Hmm..."
Why was she even debating the subject with herself? She had nothing going for her here, and she assumed she was losing her charm by the way the Highlander had simply brushed her aside earlier.
She had no worries of dying on the trip- a human, perhaps, would have difficulties, but she was a werewolf. And, as any and every werewolf would tell you, they were the strongest, most fearsome species that ever was.
"Promise me at least 65% of the treasure we find, and i will follow you anywhere faithfully." she smirked, then held up her right hand. "Gypsies honor."
Hmm... she thought excitedly, perhaps tonight wasn't sich a terrible night after all...
If she had a tail out at the moment, it would be wagging.

[Aiko]

"As long as I can have the wings of Freedom, you can have all you want." Calbrena said.
She turned to Corvus.

"And, I am most certain the, thing, guarding the treasure itself will be most troublesome without your help. Greed, she gets her guardians from places off of the normal Althanian plane. She goes to a plane far more horrific than mere mortal minds can fully comprehend, beyond the horrors of Haide, and Haidia, deeper than the great Nether. She goes to the infinite depths of The Abyss to get her guards. As such, they defy normal rational explanation." Calbrena said.

She turned to the bartender.
"So, how about some meat for me and my friends?" she asked.

Then, real quietly, to herself...
"I just hope Grandfather doesn't interfere."

[Corvus MacCallum]

"Great, it might prove interesting then"

Admittedly many of the demons he'd dealt with, out of the small handful were only minnows in the great ocean of bad things with freaky purposes. But demonic beings or creatures from another plane, they weren't always the baddest boys in the food-chain, he'd single-handedly brought down a dragon and carved through a choice selection of zombified bears, a few guardians should be well within his stride... if not, well he does like to exceed what limitations seem to be around him.

Just hope the things solid enough to rip a piece off... I've hate to go on empty-handed

The Highlander, unlike Zarah currently did posess a tail and it was slowly sweeping from side to side, more in thought that pleasure, it usually took an exceptional situation to get him fired up so long before a battle. Cherished thoughts of blood-lust and reckless abandon can be pushed aside for now though, the Wolfen warrior sparing a moment to speak to the freshly introduced Gypsy girl.

"When I broke up the fight, why'd you feel the need to throw yourself onto me so heavily?"

"Well, I've come to find that when I bury myself to the neck in that flirty attitude, men seem to follow my every whim much easier than if i had just acted normally. It's actually a very reliable technique."

"Can't be all that sucessful on the travelled types though, its not an original little act you've got lass, might do well to tone it down a touch"

Was just about the only thing he could come up with for polite conversation, though something did nag him at the back of his head... two in fact, what possible fighting experiance did either of these women have... and why did the Gypsy have such a strong scent of beast, peculiar. At least one can be asked in public without any worries...

So, you snuggle up to a wolf or something each night?... you reek of it! No thats not the question that can be asked in public...

"So what kind of fighting exper-Oh... don't worry about me, well fed already, but you two go ahead. Anyway, do either of you ladies have any fighting experiance?... I know you're asking for my help to slay the beast, but am I bodyguard or partner in this little jaunt?"

With his tankard still full but currently unappealing, the Highlanders dextrous hands were busying themselves by discarding the rather uncomfortable wrappings on his left arm, bit by bit more and more thick shaggy black fur was exposed.

[MinzigFrish]

"oh, you've got nothing to worry about with me." Zarah gratefully accepted the meat that was handed to her. "I can easily take care of myself.... and then some. You just worry about your own hide... And perhaps the princess over there." She mockingly pointed to Calbrena, then happily dug into her food. Gods, she didn't think meat had ever tasted so delicious against her taste buds. so salty, tender and savory...
Zarah briefly acknowledged that she was scarfing the food down like a pig, but quite frankly, she didn't care. she just wanted to qualm her aching hunger...

[Aiko]

"I am quite capable of defending myself, and have some hidden talent I haven't shown off yet. My best fighting is done in demonic form, where I can use my claws."

Calbrena didn't rip into her food like a hungry starving wolf, but she did eat with a voracious appetite.

Soon enough, she was done. One drink from the tankard the bard bought her earlier, and she was done.

"So, when do you want to leave? In the morning? In a day or two? When?"

[MinzigFrish]

Zarah finished her food only moments after Calbrena. Satiated, she slid her plate away from her. "well, considering i have no place to sleep for the night, i'm up to leave as soon as possible."
She cocked her head and looked to Corvus for his reply to Calbrena's question.

[Corvus MacCallum]

"Well theres a simple way to decide that"

Giving the bar a quick once-over Corvus managed to catch the barkeeps attention once more, man had a decent whack of stamina despite being portly.

"There anything going to the Jagged Mountains in Novus?"

"Not sure on that, give me a minute, I'll see"

"Cheers"

The Highlander watched as the rotund purveyor of alcohol started to ingraciate himself among the company of a few little bar-cliques, very helpful bloke for offering to scrounge up info on transport. Didn't take any time at all for him to return with just what was needed.

"Forsythe there... see him?"

"Blonde hair, big feather, yea I got it"

"He's got a wagon rolling out near that direction, won't get you all the way, but its the closest anyone will be heading"

"What time?"

"Roughly noon, maybe a bit earlier... never seen him wake early"

A few coins rolled out from beneath the Highlanders palm, making their way smoothly along the bar-counter before connecting with the Tenders own hand. There was a mutual nod of job well done and then the Wolfman put his attention back on the women-folk.

"There you go, noon tomorrow... you could always shack up with Calbrena Zarah. I prefer a bit of wilderness myself, so I'll see you two around here in the morning, don't sleep in"

Rising up from the stool he gave each lass a silent adieu for now and headed on out of the bar, through the street, past several drunks... dodging a few souvieners from horse traffic before finally breaking free of civilisation... Somewhat. Forests, Tree-strewn wilderness, a private garden with a gracious owner, all these things are what he likes... empty flat Grasslands though, those aren't all that enjoyable simply from how exposed the resting bloke is.

No point going to bed energetic... lets see now.

Feet slid against the hard dirt, claws digging their own little paths through the soil. Right hand reaching down to clutch upon the handle of his broadsword, could do with learning how to quickly change how he gripped it, the other hand, it moved up steadily, gripped...then released the Slammer handle stuck in its muscle memory and shifted across to grab the pauper wrappings he had placed upon his fairly recently acquired Katana. He'd always used vast swords, anti-cavalry blades, long-bladed spears and then of course the Slammer, regular swords... never used them much, he just had the benefit of being a natural fighter. Tonight though, he'd get some work done with them.

[Aiko]

Calbrena nodded, and walked over to the bard, who was trying to remain unnoticed.
"I need him for something before we go. He's going to generously pay for a two bed room for me and Zarah. He's also paying for our meal and drinks." she said, taking his big bag of money and setting it on the bar. The barkeep smiled and slid Calbrena key.

Calbrena took it, and grabbed the bard, and walked off to a room. The bard was too scared to resist hoping she wasn't going to send him back to the sins, for they had him once, and he escaped. He had been caught by Greed, and escaped with the help of Lust, but he never payed for her help like he promised.

"Zarah, I'd advise you to stay towards one side or the other. Perhaps pick a bed and sit on that." Calbrena said while turning demon again.

She closed her eyes and whispered something quietly to herself, while holding onto the bard.

"Sister? I know you're around here somewhere, I feel your presence!" Calbrena called out.
Fire crawled up from the ground behind the bard in a massive tower, pinkish red in color with the occasional splash of orange. But it didn't catch anything on fire, because it's originator didn't want it to, such was it's controller's legendary mastery over the flames of passion, which is what the towering inferno was comprised of.

A red demoness, almost the exact duplicate of Calbrena appeared, only this one had black curled horns, and it's wings were large. In fact they were so large they wrapped around the creature in place of clothing, but being transparent like silk, didn't had her state of complete undress.

"Zarah, may I introduce one of the most powerful demons known, The Deadly Sin of Lust." Calbrena said.

The bard turned and tried to run but Lust simply picked him up with one strong arm and held him close.
"Thank you for this gift dearest sister, what can I do for you this evening? Perhaps you called for a chat? Or maybe you wanted some expert instruction on pleasing the werewolf." Lust said, her voice was thoroughly demonic, but alluring and difficult to resist. She turned to Zarah, apraising her with eyes that looked only for the beauty of the skin, caring naught for anything but what physical pleasure could bring.
"Such a pretty thing, you chose wisely, or is she too a gift for my pleasures?" Lust asked.
"What? No, only the bard, I know you've been chasing him for awhile. In return, could you sneak me Greed's Corone treasure map? More specifically the one with the path to her hoard in the the Jagged Mountains to the north?" Calbrena asked.

Lust sighed.
"It's always tat for tit with you isn't it?" she asked.
"You mean tit for tat." Calbrena said
"No I mean precisely what I said." Lust said, taking the bard with her as she disappeared again.

"Alright, she'll be back sometime before morning." Calbrena said, laying down to go to sleep on a bed.

[MinzigFrish]

Zarah hesitated. "what... why did you just give that man to the demon?" she asked, growing fearful. If Calbrena could so easily dispose of one man, how could Zarah be sure that she wouldn't just as easily pawn her off to some other demon? Obviously that Lust creature had taken an interest in her. Calbrena might decide to use her as the next bargain material.

[Corvus MacCallum]

The demonic issues... weren't a matter for the Wolfen Warrior.

In his current surroundings the fields foliage had received quite a harsh trimming, while his katana cleaved through such insubstantial matter with ease, the sheer force and brutality of his lashings with the Broadsword were just as likely to snap stems in surrender before feeling the sharpness of his blade. The wrappings clinging at his feet were nearly ripped asunder from all the shuffling and shifting, vast tracts of his black fur exposed.

Need better balance on the left heel, right ankles already getting sore from launches... how did I wind up rusty?

Unleashing those two swords, one gripped tightly in each hand was not the customary flair for the Highlander but he would be damned if he couldn't use his tools, both swords had been liberated from the unworthy so he could give them a fitting history of battle and do-gooding. Short glimpses of his past crept in with each thrash of a sword, the battle with the slavers and sudden resolution...

Bad memory that one.

... or taking on several bandits, or at the very least ne'er do wells who had pilfered the strange foreign sword he clutched now from some merchant or even looting it from a dead man. Was a novel situation being voluntarily blinded for the entire fight, but against men lacking skill, it was not an issue... good training too. Then the brief moment in history of him travelling with a book-locked Demon Hunter, guy hated the religious connotations of being an Exorcist... in general that guy hated a number of things, including the Wolfen Warriors company, but alas when stuck attacking through words sometimes raw beastial power could come in handy.

Beastial... grah

The still crisp memory of the Gypsys scent still bothered him, it was familiar to him as coming from an animal, but not entirely so, there was human mixed in there, but not in such a simple way such as being two scents mingled. No it was a solitary smell but it had the hall-marks of two species, she definately was no Highlander though, doubtless even one born outside the Snow wastes his people made their home. Though their features of beastial ancestry varied quite immensely, without exceptionall were born with tails and while the Gypsy certainly had a nice place to have one, there was nothing there wagging... waggling yes indeed, quite a shift to the hips, but no fluffy tail. He wasn't naive enough to think that only Highlanders were mixes of wolves, he'd known of several races and even dealt with them at times, but she was different still... such a nagging doubt.

Putting far too much thought into that strumpet...

Was certainly true, why fret over a girl who could be a wolf, when there was a woman who could burst into flames as a demonic figure and just as easily be bathed in light as an angel. He was sure that even from beyond the grave one of his old Monster Hunting comrades would crack some line about females and their mood-swings... crass, but applicable in this instance. She had such an urge to unleash her story upon the world, would not survive well in a properly filfthy den of deciet, those that did often kept their mouths shut until the very last moment.

Both women thought of, he decided to do what should be done... and release any wandering thoughts to simply focus on getting his swinging right, there was little point flailing two swords around if he didn't gain some mastery on killing with them.

[Aiko]

"Well, that man was actually taken by The Sins once before, but used his cunning and daring to escape, pitting Lust against Greed. It's not hard to do, one takes an interest in items, one takes an interest in anything with a pulse. They have very little interaction normally. He actually promised to pay Lust back, but escaped before he did. Trust me, if she wanted to take you, she would've. It's not like I can just grab someone and pawn them off to The Sins for just any old thing. It'd be nice to get rid of people like that, but they won't cooperate saying I need to grow stronger on my own first. Stupid demons. So, that's why I asked him here, and why he grew terrified when he knew who I was related to. He probably hoped I wouldn't call Lust, but I did anyway. Relax, he's going to live forever in Lust's harem. Never aging or coming to harm." Calbrena said.

She stretched, and sat up.
"It's like, you have to give into lust for her to have power over you. You haven't given into Lust yet, but I bet Greed would have no problems in controlling you. But that doesn't mean I can just grab you and call a Sin, they have to be actively interested in you, and Lust only thought you pretty, nothing more, she's not interested in you." Calbrena said.

She lay back down and thought for a moment longer.
"So don't worry, it's not like I'm going to bargain your eternal soul for something. Besides, They have to tell me what they want for next time." Calbrena said before nodding off and going to sleep.

[MinzigFrish]

Zarah shifted, still tense. If she had been in her wolf form at the moment, her fur would be bristled and her hackles raised.
How could that woman take this so lightly?
She hadn't believed a single word that the woman had uttered. After that little stunt, there was no way she would trust Calbrena.
Zarah yawned deeply. Damn it, she didn't want to sleep, but she was so exhausted...
Huffing slightly, she curled up on the extra bed. Maybe... if she kept her eyes open....
She couldn't even finish that thought before her eyes drooped shut and she passed out into a heavy slumber.

[Corvus MacCallum]

It was a fairly large assortment of hours before Corvus decided to recline for a snooze, perhaps even midnight, not that he cared enough to be specific. The blades were resheathed, his harness secured and poncho comfortably covering his folded arms, then came the process of finding a good spot, few glances identified a good solid tree, one of the few upright features in this whole place. Stepping to it he gave a sudden squat, embedding his Slammers tip into the soil nearby, then slowly began to slink himself down further and further until his backside hit the ground, tail sweeping out for its own comfort. Bit of an odd position, but when exposed like this he certainly wasn't going to strip off his equipment, besides there was bound to be a lake on the ride there for freshing his hide.

---

When morning finally reached this little part of the globe Corvus found himself upon, it was a lovely little sensation. Gradual soft heat creeping up his form, clawed furred toes wiggling to remove any stiffness from his slumber. Tiny motions in his legs and knees achieving the same job, it was how the Highlander always awoke when it was a voluntary awakening, very small movements, all simple and tidy to gradually bring his body back to fighting fitness. Sure it had less impact than a full on warm-up session, but it did the body good not to be shocked into life.

It took a moment of dark claws scrabbling against the earth before the Warrior was completely upright, arms finally removing themselves from under his Blazen-hide poncho. New day, one more notch on history and the prospect of travelling with two strange women for riches and violence, wasn't entirely a bad future to stare at. Any rate he headed back on into town, certainly had a different air to it with some actual hustle and bustle, still a touch early for any feverent activity but a few people here... some more dotted elsewhere, almost cosey peasant life.

Despite the early hours the doors of The Silver Pub swung open with little more than a creak, Corvus giving a nod of greeting to the stand-in bar-handler as he made his way upstairs. He figured this was the most likely case to find the girls, both seemed a little bit bone-idle to bother finding a different establishment... didn't know what room though.

Bit further down the hall... on the left, yea.

But a highly sensitive nose and decent recollection of scents gave him a solid trail to follow, upon reaching the door he reached out with his left hand, taking a moment to see the faint glowings of the jewel embedded in the palm. At some point it would awaken... then came several loud, jarring knocks upon the wood. Exactly why he was stirring up those two he didn't know, probably was to do with just how quiet and peaceful this place was, didn't like sitting idle in such a place.

"Rise and shine you two"

That sounds so dumb...

[MinzigFrish]

Zarah roused from the loud rapping at the door. she grumbled something that wasn't very ladylike, then attempted to roll over on the de-sheeted bed. Except at the moment, she didn't realize that she was rolling the wrong way.

Zarah yelped as she fell off the bed, thunking to the hardwood floor with a loud, "oof!".
Somewhere between the knocking and the "oof"ing, Calbrena had awoke as well.
Zarah paid her little heed, instead crawling to the door and getting to her feet. she dusted off, the jerked the door open. "Yes?" she asked sharply.

She didn't mean to be so hostile, and quite frankly, it wasn't her fault.
Zarah just was not a morning person. And anyone who woke her should have been prepared to be punished.

She rested her hip against the door frame, not quite awake enough to have complete balance.
Zarah's nose twitched once, twice. "whats that delicious aroma?" she sniffed the air, not bothering to give Corvus a chance to answer the previous question of why he dare rouse her.
"is that... pork i smell?"
Her stomach growled at the very thought. "who's buying breakfast?"

[Aiko]

Just moments before, Lust had returned, and she kissed Corvus fondly on the cheeks.

"Well, hello Handsome! You got any spare brothers you don't like that need some company, or maybe a hated enemy or two that's as good looking as you that might like some entertainment?" Lust said rubbing a warm hand across his face.

"Sis!" Calbrena said sharply rising from the bed.
"Aww peas, you never let me have any fun with your friends!" Lust pouted.

She tossed a scroll at Calbrena.
"You have no idea how hard it was to get that sister dear. Next time you want my help, your going to have to either find me someone even better looking than Handsome over there, or come yourself." Lust said, waggling a claw at Calbrena.

"Yeah, well, you still can't screw my friends to death, I need them."
"FINE! I'm going home then." Lust said with a tear of disappointment in her left eye. She disappeared leaving a faint trace of her presence behind.

"That's how she feeds, she finds something with a pulse, male, female, human, not human, it doesn't matter to her, and literally screws it until it dies from sheer exhaustion." Calbrena said, explaining just how she saved their lives.

She picked up the scroll and opened it. Very well detailed map of Corone was on it, with a small X on one mountain of the jagged peaks, as well as a sentence.

"The fish went to the Eastern market, The Crab went to the Western bay, the whale went to the northern Castle, and the Octopus held the Southern Province." She read out loud.

"Interesting. Anyways, lets move on, we've got places to see and things to kill in the name of treasure fame and glory." Calbrena said hoping up out of bed.

[MinzigFrish]

"but... I'm hungry..." Zarah whined apathetically.

[Corvus MacCallum]

Corvus honestly gave very little attention to Lust, she just had all the wrong smells and supernatural trappings to make any animal raise its fur and growl. Had taken a fair bit of restraint to not snap at her hand and leave a nice little reminder that Wolves aren't as strokable as dogs. Sides, call him old fashioned but he did like a girl with committment, rather than who just liked to commit whatever she could grab ahold of.

"Can I get some assurance she won't crop up again?... Not a fan of Sucuubi, however high up the ladder they believe themselves to be"

That was one of the few demon types he'd actually handled, wasn't a bad location for it either, big flower-field surrounded by well aged oak, very natural, very pleasant. Shame he'd had to sully it by slashing seven shades of red from her curved form, suprised him how easy it was to turn aside her charms, a demon like that should've had an advantage on a man in touch with his instincts. A quiet mental shrug pushed that thought far away to not be brought up again as the Highlander appraised the modest situation. He'd already wasted three or four gold coins already on this bar... but with in taking the Gypsys hand in his, a further five coins passed into her grip.

"Go grab what you want... now, you Calbrena, let me get a gander at that map"

He was a wanderer, natural-born traveller in any random direction his fancy forces him to fly in... but when it was a little mission, a quest as was so often the term, he liked a bit of information, facts, figures. Stepping past Zarah, his tail flicking against her side by accident the Wolfman entered the less than first class room, sure it was the best this place could offer, but it wasn't great. While the Demon... Angel... whatever got herself off the bed Corvus took his time to press a finger and trace their path towards the destination. Good solid trade-route marked out, wouldn't be much of a walk to reach the cave... though would certainly be an awkward one, made sense otherwise the thing would've been plundered long ago.

"You might want to grab something too, I'd like to get on the road shortly even if I have to drag the travelling merchant out of his own bed"

[Aiko]

"Hmm? Oh, lust is usually far too busy entertaining herself to go out and cause trouble in secluded mountain passes. And as for the others, Gluttony's too busy eating, unless you try to take his food from him, Greed isn't much of a fighter but it is her cave and she does get very jealous about her possessions, Sloth is too lazy to even so much as roll over and scratch his own backside when it itches, Envy, well, Envy's usually out causing trouble in populated areas, Pride is too full of herself to come out and cause trouble and Wrath, well, brother wrath is kept locked away, and when they do let him out, he's on Adamantine chains held back by Grandfather personally. I'm certain you can guess why.

So really we only have to worry about Greed, and that's if we set off her alarm. That's the answer to turning it off below the map, but I don't know what it means yet." Calbrena said walking out the door.

She grabbed some breakfast, courtesy of the bard's money, and then had the presence of mind to grab enough extra for a trip.

[MinzigFrish]

Zarah reentered the room, a large, already half-eaten pork leg in hand. "what'd I miss?" She took a bite of the steaming meat.
After a good Breakfast, Zarah was always up, up, and rearing to go.

She glanced to the highlander, realizing she had taken a fancy to him.
Sure, he was tall, buff, handsome and rich, any gal's dream guy, but that wasn't what drew her.
Unable to put her finger on it, she told herself that it was because he was part wolf, like she was. Yes, it was in two completely different ways, but, regardless, wolf blood still ran through both of them.

She realized after a moment that through her thoughts, she had been staring at him.
Blushing slightly, she looked away, and did the humblest guesture she could think of.

Holding the pork leg out to him, she quickly asked, "would you, um, perhaps, like a bite?"
Realizing how stupid she seemed right now, Zarah mentally slapped herself.

[Corvus MacCallum]

While the ladies feasted, he just made himself comfortable near the door of the Pub, he didn't like hanging around inside any building if he could help it, even his own home was a pretty uncomfortable place to the Highlander. Man-made constructs rather than simple natural growth, never felt right... besides, when you've got a roof stuck on top of the building, its impossible to see the stars, he honestly had no clue why they should be all that important to him, he wasn't a sailor. Took a few moments but those meandering thoughts vanished, he did have a terrible habit of drifting off lately, now though he was focussed... somewhat, there was a small field-mouse across the street looking to gain entry into a little home establishment. It wasn't an unusual creature, but just seeing how it made progress was a delight for the eyes, then came the smell of meat...

"Yea sure, doubt I'll get a decent opportunity to hunt on the way"

The Highlander had to admit, he was a little at a loss, he'd snapped back to attention, he'd regained his focus on the world around him... so why did he not notice the Gypsy girl had walked on over to him, probably just off his game at the moment, could be worse. Was a firm grasp that removed the Pork leg from Zarah, free hand fiddling with the slack material of his Blazen hide poncho, had to make sure the mouth was free after all. Then came down the teeth, large, designed for killing, rather excellent at stripping meat off any animal... had a terrible job grinding vegetables though. Only took a few moments before it had been shredded to a good size and swallowed, then came another bite.

Snap.

Teeth breaking straight through the bone, Wolven warrior crunching quite happily on the cooked marrow and nicely crunchy outer casing, helped keep the teeth in good shape. Another few gulps and he was done, checking over his mouth with a spare bit of white wrapping that had come off his left arm. Then his sight returned to the Gypsy.

"Cheers lass"

Saying that it was my cash that bought it, still, she did offer it honestly, fair play.

Now with a taste for flesh within his maw the Highlander put a little degree of thought into what was written upon the map, he didn't like riddles. He was intelligent enough, could read and write, all those lovely things... but when it came to adventuring he was fond of the simpler things, just a personal taste.

"Oh, Zarah, last night you said that you could handle yourself and that... but just, what do you do?... hell I need to ask Calbrena that question too, I'm sure it involves lots of fancy flames, but best to get an idea of the group"

[MinzigFrish]

Zarah hesitated, taken aback that he had eaten the whole leg without offering any back...
She shook it off and grinned proudly. "i transform, of course. I'm surprised you didn't already realize. After all, with a sharpened nose like yours, you should easily be able to smell the wolf on me."

She sniffed her wrist. "Even I can smell it, and I'm used to it."

[Aiko]

"So that's why Lust called you a Werewolf. As for what I do, I am a dancer. This is more than just putting on a fancy show, though I could do that too. Those who taught me to dance, taught me a method of fighting that draws from the skills of dancing to duck dodge and weave out of the way of attacks while simultaneously bringing a lot of weight into my attacks. Thus my preference to fight in my demon form. The flames don't hurt either, adding elemental fire to my offense and defense. I think I have more possibility in the elemental department, but, I'm not strong enough yet. For instance, there's actually a magical fire dance, I've been making it, but I'm missing something, and I don't know what." Calbrena said.

Of course, that was one reason for seeking Novus. His powers ran along a similar vein as hers, except ice based instead of fire based. Perhaps he could teach her more about herself.

[Corvus MacCallum]

Once more, the Gypsys response was rather concise, light on the details... the Demon girls, was heavy on the exposition, did she have some great fondness for the sound of her own voice?... he just wanted to know how she fought, not her future plans in the art or an escoteric description of it. Still he paid attention to both girls and offered a nod at the correct time to signal that yes, he got it.

"A Were huh?... that explains why I wasn't sure for so long, thought you were just a minor Demi-human, only met one or two Weres on my travels and typically they had a little struggle in controlling the form. Is your form bipedal or fully feral out of curiousity?"

He was tempted to ask if she got on all fours when changed, but what little tact he had restrained that interpretable line. Calbrenas dance fighting would be an interesting thing to see at the least.

"Seen one warrior that fought through dance, but that was a well paid servant in the court of a king, suprise assassin sorta deal. Cheerful most of the time though"

Of the few saving graces in his work, was never having to explain to anyone precisely what he did.

Giant sword on back make monster dead!

Wasn't a bad thing, having a bit of banter with two travelling companions before hitting the trail, sun was still low in the sky and really, the Merchant they'd be going with was probably taking his sweet time, rumbling around on trade-routes could play hell with the body, specially in a hard-wood wagon.

[MinzigFrish]

"well..." Zarah paused, pondering it, "Ferrel, actually. When i fight in my wolf form, its on all fours. So, to the untrained eye, i just look like a normal wild wolf, but a tad bit bigger. However, as I'm sure both of you know about this, on the full moon I get bigger and i still have the shape of a wild wolf... though a bit contorted." She forced a smile and scratched the back of her head.

"But, i do fight with a few other things that i should have mentioned. Although... I suppose I'll leave you guys to figure that out." She smirked playfully.

[Aiko]

"A sharp wit and a playful smile?" Calbrena asked. She was already bored and needed entertainment.

"Well, I'm going to go outside and practice until wagon man shows up." she said.

She stepped outside, leaving her pack of rations with them feeling she could trust them at least a little bit, and finding a large empty space, began to dance.

First with small graceful steps, left and right, back and forth in a small circle, then gradually growing, dancing to music only she could hear, her steps and motions steadily growing more powerful and violent with leaps and wild swings. It was interpretive dance, and it was as though she were imitating a fire. First a small graceful flame, and then as it consumed more fuel, it grew bigger and bigger until it became wild and powerful like a bonfire, or perhaps a wild fire. But it definitely was missing some steps, and neither Calbrena, nor the clapping onlookers knew precisely what.

She repeated the motions, varying her steps here and there, until at last she was worn out, which was a good thing because the wagon arrived at precisely that point.

[Corvus MacCallum]

It started with a rather horrible scraping sound but with a little shift of weight Corvus brought himself clanking quietly to the ground, grumbling under his breath as his left leg raised up, claws scratching vibrantly at his barely covered neck. He used those claws for ripping flesh and yet could quite happily use them with speed upon his own skin, rather unusual but then other guys liked to use razor sharp blades on their throats on a regular basis. That little irritation solved his eyes roved up the Gypsy girl, then at Calbrena as the demon girl made herself somewhat scare, well he hadn't expected her to just stand around the entire time, suprised the Highlander he was doing something close to that but might as well conserve his energy for the upcoming trip, certainly would take a decent time to arrive at the Cave but who knows what lurked upon trade-routes. Actually he had a fairly decent idea but might as well predict nothing and go with what comes to him.

"So, after you've got yourself a few wagon-fulls of gold, what are you planning on doing?... become a lady of the realm?"

Wonder if Greeds little horde will be just anything shiny and pleasant to its sight... trinkets and gems, not that interesting... but a kings weapon or heirloom that for its history has exquisite value, that would certainly be worth an interest.

With a light shuffling of his shoulders and paying due attention to Zarahs answer the Highlander allowed himself the grace of continuing to peer about his enviroment, arms folded comfortably beneath his poncho... was the only reason he didn't keep the Broadsword stashed beneath his buckler, it made relatively normal social poses quite awkward. Then came the wagon, with its prospect of travel, adventure and horses... bloody horses.

It took a little rearranging of his legs but soon the Wolf-man was up on his feet and stepping along to their transport, harranging the driver to make sure everyone was on the same wave-length.

"You heard?"

"Yea, I'm not going off my own route though"

"Thats fine, there isn't an easy path to our destination anyway"

There was a baying of whinnys and general noises of slight distress from the Horses at the front as they caught wind of Corvus, he had no idea if Zarah had such trouble, but quite a few animals had a general dislike of his predatory smell.

"Steady, steady girls"

"I'll just sit as far back as I can, should be alright once I'm out of sight"

[MinzigFrish]

Zarah, the lucky dog, didn't seem to have a problem with the beasts.
In fact...
She gave a playful grin, as if to show off to Corvus, and strode to the horses. "its all right girls, quiet down..." she rubbed the muzzle of the chestnut brown horse.
It seemed to listen to her, at least, if only slightly.

Zarah was somewhat impatient to leave, so she skipped to the wagon and hopped in the back.
"Lets get a move on, people." She ordered with a giddy smile.
She was extremely excited. But then again.... Who wouldn't be? Promises of jewels, gold, just plain riches in general.... and adventure.

Zarah had never actually left this area before. She jumped towns constantly, fighting when she needed to, but everywhere she had been was in this general, peaceful vicinity.

She knew how to fight because she constantly had to beat off the stronger men she dragged upstairs, the ones who thought that they were actually going to get luck or those who wouldn't willingly give up their gold to her.
And then she had to beat off the king's soldiers as well sometimes, when she was caught stealing an apple or a chunk of meat from the food vendors.
That didn't happen very often though. She was, not meaning to brag, quite an expert when it came to stealing food. Practice makes perfect, after all.
But most of her food consisted of rabbits she had caught in wolf form.
A girl had to eat...

She looked to Corvus, amused.
"Oh, by the way, to answer your earlier question..." she paused to ponder it, "I think I'll buy a tavern with my mountains of gold."
She nodded, satisfied with her answer. "that way, once i run out of it, I'll still have tons of food, a place to sleep, and many men to get my gold from."

[Aiko]

In a dark place beyond the realm of mortals...

A chair was the only visible thing in the area, the rest was darkness, impenetrable darkness. The chair itself was made of skulls, bones, and either sat on a rier of blood, or was the fountainhead for a river of blood. Upon this throne sat a figure, a demon.

His hair was white, and in the style of a certain legendary vampire, but still, white. He had great black wings, bigger than most demons had, and these wrapped around him like a cloak. His skin was yellowed and wrinkled, as though by great age, liver spots here and there on his body.

In one hand he carried a cane. It was made of Black Mythril, and had Diamonds, Emeralds, Rubies, and Sapphires studded along the sides. A gold point capped the bottom.

The great demon stood, and unfurled his wings, stretching. He had not moved upon the face of Althanas in quite some time, and the change would be refreshing. As his wings unfurled, it was revealed that this demon got his tastes from alternate dimensions, for he wore a black pinstriped business suit and matching tie. Minus the wings he looked like one who was known in another time and place as The Godfather.

This demon had no horns or tail, and why this was, was a mystery. But for now, his attention was focused on one of his own children, making her way accross the mortal realm. She was insignificant in power, but what she could become posed a significant threat to him, and so she must be eliminated. He tried once before, but when she was killed by his hand directly, something had spared her and brought her back to life.

So now he was going to use the dark things of The Abyss. Creatures that were twisted into horrors beyond mortal reckoning. Horrors that ate the very soul of their victim. There was no returning once eaten by these monsters.

He tapped his can upon the ground and disappeared. He stood some ways off in the forest, unseen, and undetected, because he did not want his presence to be known, and because he didn't want his presence to be known, only someone as powerful, or greater in power than he could discover him, and few they were indeed.

"So my dancing Calbrena, you think to hide behind a company of others? I found you at last, and I'm not letting you go. I'm going to make sure you stay dead this time. But first, I think I shall give you a little warning. I am your father after all, I do owe you something."

Calbrena sat in the wagon glad to be underway. She knew it was going to be a long boring journey, so perhaps she'd just nap a little on the way there, to pass the time.
Suddenly she heard a wolf howl off to her right.
"Zarah, really, we're right here." Calbrena said. Being in the back of the wagon, all noise was to her right.

Then there was another to her left, Calbrena looked, and screamed, for there was a great black shadow running after them with green wolf like eyes. It bore striking resemblance to a wolf, but was bipedal like a man. The shadow fell away as Calbrena screamed, to reveal a werewolf, with lizard like skin. It snorted and fire shot out it's nose.

To the front was another one, and it raced towards the wagon even as the one in the back leaped upon it's back.

[MinzigFrish]

Both of the horses went crazy, taking off at full speed. The wagon bounded along behind them, Bouncing heavily at each bump they hit.

Zarah hesitated. Her first instinct was to transform, and she had to strongly resist the urge.
Still, she could almost feel her fur on end and her hackles raising.
She growled lowly.

Fear finally began to sink in.
These were wolves.
She could beat a wolf.
But.... Then again.... they looked like dragons too.
She looked at Corvus.
He was the warrior. He would know what to do... She hoped.
Zarah gulped.

[Corvus MacCallum]

Corvus was indeed the Warrior and he was doing the Warriorly thing... well, he was going to.

Fucking hate Wagons.

Speeding wagon, speeding opponents and an inability to naturally calm down horses without simply putting them down... oh how fun this would be. Still, from the looks of both girls, he'd be the one handling them and to be perfectly honest, despite the odious situation, that was fine by him. Baring his fangs momentarily the Highlander barked out a loud order for the driver.

"Get this bastarding thing stopped, now!"

Then, he lept...

He hadn't even bothered unsheathing his sword before bounding out from the wagon, straight for the currently pursuing creature. Flames flew from its stretched maw while the Highlander was still scrabbling at the ground due to his momentum, a brief turn on his heel and his Slammer was unfettered from its harness, the Dragon-hunting sword guiding the flames away from the furred owner, but the thing hadn't stopped running towards him. Before the last few licks disappated into the air Corvus braced himself for impact, all four feet of the beast smashing against his Slammer, pushing forth with his upper body the Highlander flung the creature from the flat of his Blade, it tried to land with full balance, but on the moment of its feet touching the floor... so did its middle, twice. Its momentary sail through the air had given the Wolf enough time to carve it in two... a quick stamp on its head made him secure in the knowledge it was dead... gooily secure.

One left

The wagon had been hurtling away at high speed, seems the driver just couldn't manage his beasts of burden as effectively as a simple slash through the throat would, no matter.

Need the exercise anyway

It took a few stumbling scuffs of his foot, just to remove the chunkier pieces of the demon things mind, before he could start a full sprint, then a run... then as his Slammer was locked once more in chains he lowered down, further... further. Finally galloping forth on all fours like the Wolf-man he was. Each bound of his limbs forcing him closer to the Wagon, thankfully the horses were paniced and not running at their prime, made things a touch easier. The remaining beast had gotten itself onto the roof of the Wagon, clawing but strangely not burning at the canvas. With a great leap Corvus closed the distance, his claws digging hard into the wooden frame of the wagon, almost toppling it to one side. Giving a flash of a smirk to the ladies he gave another leap, this time focussed in his arms to lift himself up and up before landing upon the cloth roof, managing to get his balance on one of the wooden ribs... the monster pounced.

Next thing Zarah and Calbrena saw was the Monster trying to get off Corvus when they crashed to the ground, his teeth had sank into the things throat and like any good canine, was giving it a thorough thrashing with his head. A hope swelled up within the Highlanders chest, that he had just taught a demon, fear.

A lot of flesh was lost but the beast scrambled free, only for its hind leg to be caught by the Wolf-man, hauling it back and then once he had grip upon its body, ripping the leg right off... its head came round trying to bite and fire, but without its throat those jaws could only snap. Then came the gloved hand of the Highlander, thrusting within the things mouth, a solid smashing punch, bones broke and then just as quickly, it ripped out, clutched in his grip was a solid fang from the beast. That seemed to be enough trauma for the Demon to realise its demise, apart from the fang, its entire body came apart like black smoke, wafting through the breeze before vanishing.

The aftermath of victory, was a beautiful... wait, horse hooves clopping.

"Oi don't leave without me!"

[Aiko]

Grandfather scowled at the departing wagon, and flew along behind it, remaining undetected, unseen, plotting, scheming his next move.

Calbrena turned to the others.
"That was really weird, I wonder what those things were and where they came from."

[MinzigFrish]

Zarah didn't answer her, too busy watching Corvus bound after the wagon. He quickly reached them, then lept into the back.
bunnying approved

Zarah looked at him in admiration. "that was.... Great."
She smiled gratefully at him.
After a moment, she snapped too, realizing the horses were still rampant.
She sighed. "Damn beasts didn't get the memo." She shook her head.

Reaching into her small pouch, she pulled out a white pan flute. "I'll be right back..."
She crawled to the front of the wagon, hopping up next to the driver.
He looked at her skeptically.
"hope you don't mind..." She muttered, bringing the flute to her lips. Taking a deep breath, she began to play a deep, hauntingly beautiful melody.
The horses ears perked, then both of them began to slow. Only when they came to a full stop did Zarah stop playing.
"I believe I did my part..." Zarah stood, took a bow, then hopped into the back again.
Corvus and the driver seemed to be affected by the song right along with the horses.
Calbrena was the only one who went unfazed.

"Wakey, wakey, boys..." Zarah clapped, snapping them all to.

sorry about messing with Corvus, but as i said the flute controls males and beasts, so I had to throw that in there...

[Corvus MacCallum]

It felt like being distanced from a situation, he had been fighting to regain control, but thankfully Zarah had no interest in stretching out the situation. Quite worrying though that he was able to lose grasp so easily, that would need fixed, his dad always believed the most powerful part of a warrior was will-power, the mental strength to do what they must. Now there was time to reflect though, checking his mitts and finding the rather unusual fang, to anyone else it would seem very ordinary but to someone who peered so very often at the teeth of beasts it had little significant features. No vein structure within, apparently these demons didn't require blood, he could've guessed that from earlier after slashing one in two... then the little miniscule indents along its surface, designed to hook and cling to its prey, preventing simple escape... would certainly leave a nasty wound. Now though, it had been severed rightfully by the victor, now to make sure it was secure. With a shift of his shoulders the Highlander brought down his travelling pack, about as well travelled as its owner, though in much worse shape, after a solid rummaging he brought forth a great rough weaved bundle of rope.

Lovely little personal trophy rack.

While it didn't contain the fangs of the Blazen dragon he killed, it made a nice little walk of his history and conquests, through so much of its surface were forced large, sharp teeth each one ripped straight from the still snapping jaw of his prey. It was a Highlander tradition, to take your trophy from a beaten enemy... that was childs-play, but to take your claim of it while the thing still fought for its life, that was how a Warrior should handle his trophies. He was certainly doing his best to maintain that tradition, it typically resulted in a nice paling from some, falsely experianced Monster Hunters he'd met along his travels.

"Zarah, I'm glad the rides smoother but..."

His voice changed to a bit of a grunt as he forced the tooth through, the rope was perfectly chosen to be a good holster, horribly itchy to touch but tough and would not be defeated by a few mere piercings.

"... can you warn me next you pull off that trick?... its, very jarring"

Or unsettling, unnerving, worrysome... really the terms are varied but all negative... urgh.

Then came his attention on Calbrena, he had just caught what she said thanks to his beastial hearing, despite having to run tooth and claw after the wagon once more.

"They tasted... insubstantial and they fizzled out like a bad dream when killed. I'm more than a little sure they were demonic. This areas also far too green and leafy for it to be a natural hang-out for them... soooo, advance guard from Greed?... or do you just have a habit of attracting freaky little beasties?"

[Aiko]

Calbrena smiled as she heard Zarah's song. Though she realized she wasn't under it's control, she also realized that if Zarah could play and she could dance, the two of them together could hoodwink an entire tavern full of hot-blooded males.

She thought of what Corvus said, a knot tightening in her stomach.
"Greed does not think in such a fashion, nor is she so acutely aware of anything beyond her hordes of treasure. She could care little for me, unless I latch onto one of her treasures, then she gets angry. I'm not sure what her real limit is, but I remember as a little girl, I was once within ten miles of her central treasure horde and she suddenly started screaming at me for trying to steal her treasure. Not to be outdone, Envy started yelling at me for being dishonest with The Family, but that's unrelated.

We're not that close to her treasure horde either, though she has her share of tricks, traps, and guards. Those, things, the way you describe them, they could have, no, it's impossible. Yet, maybe, I think you just killed two of the dark inhabitants of The Abyss. If so, then we all need to be careful, because those then were the equivalent of pups, unless they were the weaker inhabitants close to the surface I'm not sure which. See, many things in the abyss, especially the deeper down you go, have the ability to eat your soul. But The Sins don't mess with the things of the Abyss." Calbrena said.

Then, softly, quietly, and with a hint of fear, said what she dreaded to give word to.
"Only Grandfather does."

[MinzigFrish]

Zarah paused, unsure of what to say. Calbrena made this Grandfather character seem so threatening, yet just his name took most of the menace away from him.
she though about it. Grandfather...
It was no use. All she could picture was a wrinkly old man with a hunched over posture and a hip broken in several places.

Zarah huffed. "He can't be as dangerous as you make him sound, Cabrena..."

[Corvus MacCallum]

"Alrighty"

That solitary word flippantly sauntered off his tongue, then a light shrug and that was entirely it for his reaction to the apparently dread word of 'Grandfather'. His vision of such a thing was much different from what Zarah pictured, it took a long time for a Highlander to become enfeebled and for many they just kept getting better as age took hold, his grand-father on the few times they met was a fantastic fighter, bare-handed at all times and with the raw cunning of such an experianced wolf was never bested in the village. Still, he'd proven once more in his little history that Demonic creatures could be killed and that was good enough for him. Whatever would come their way was going to find death in some way from him.

The wagon was still rolling along and possibly might be for a fair whack of time, so after a careful once-over on the rope 'o fangs Corvus stashed his trophy selection back into his pack, quick flick of the arm had it safely stashed back onto his form and then... admittedly with some difficulty, quite a bit of the canvas roof got a gash in it, the Highlander drew forth his Slammer. Resting the vast weapon upon his lap his hands were then free to take hold of a whetstone within his pocket, grinding it along part of the nearly shining edge. He rarely took time to sharpen his sword, in all honesty he'd never even noticed it dulling, even after smashing through a chainmail clad idiot. But for now, he might as well spend his time productively.

[Aiko]

"Grandfather is one of the most powerful Demons of the underworld. He chooses to remain separate from the normal Haiden government, and lives in The Abyss. He claims to have found the bottom of the abyss, which is where he built his mansion. It's also why he's allowed to remain separate, no one's brave enough to try and make their way all the way to the bottom, or insane enough." Calbrena said.

Meanwhile, Grandfather flew above the wagon.

"Those who crawl upon the land, children of both beast and man. As fear gives chase like a hound, I shall turn thee round and round. Day becomes night as left becomes right.
Confusion reigns and terror strikes, by my hand you shall die in this deadly night." Grandfather said, letting his voice spread upon the wind. He threw his cane upon the ground, and it stuck in it upright, standing of it's own accord. Energy coursed through it, and into the environment.

No one heard his voice or cane, but they all felt the spell being cast.

Direction turned upon them, and treated them as an enemy, confusing their every attempt to get bearings, landmarks began to repeat themselves, and night began to come on much sooner.

The cane became visible, but of course due to the confusion of direction, even though mere seconds had passed, they were miles away from it, and headed in the wrong direction. The area of effect was a five mile radius from the cane, and it twisted everything about, slowly shrouding the area in an unnatural night.

[MinzigFrish]

Zarah, unfamiliar with magic, felt the effects but didn't quite understand what was happening.

She blinked, growing suddenly dizzy.
"What..." She trailed off, putting a hand on her forehead.
Zarah looked out into the sky, at the strange aura above them. She looked to Calbrena, as if the angel held the answer to a question she hadn't even spoken.

[Corvus MacCallum]

The hairs on the back of the Highlanders neck rose... actually they weren't the only ones, it was one up, all up. A brief flash of clarity striking through his mind that made him flip his hand over, the gem in his glove only ever shone dimly in the presence of magic, now however it was glowing brightly.

Some fuckers pulled a trick on us.

It wasn't just shining though, there was some strange presence that stopped his left hand from simply closing over, having to truly force his fingers together before they strangely just pulled aside without any sense of an outward influence. Was a touch more awkward but the Highlander made motions to fetter his Slammer back within its chained harness, for whatever reason his Left-hand would be too awkward to use and so, with irritation prickling through his fangs Corvus drew forth his scarred and battered Broadsword and... well he was going to jump out but realised something rather important.

"Oi, stop yer friggen mules!"

He couldn't help but be in a touch of a bad mood when magic felt thick in the air, put his hackles right up. With the slowly halting wagon the Wolfen warrior could now do what he wanted originally and hop off... the ground still felt solid beneath his feet... but there was no wind, sounds from animals that did not like their situation. A deep breath alerted him to another problem, the smell... all the elements were there, but off, not in any... clear way, it was just how it clashed with recent memory.

"Familiar to anyone or do we get to solve this little mystery fresh?"

[Aiko]

Calbrena jumped out of the wagon as it came to a halt.

This felt familiar, it had to be Grandfather.

"ALRIGHT OLD MAN, SHOW YOUR FACE SO I CAN RIP IT OFF!" Calbrena shouted around her.

Grandfather allowed himself to appear in front of them. He was wrinkled, but not hunched over.

"My dearest daughter, I'm hurt that you feel that way. Haven't I always shown you all the love and affection I could? Haven't I kept your brothers and sisters away from you? Haven't I helped you to wander this plane at your leisure?" he asked, hurt showing in his voice.
"Where's your cane Grandfather?" Calbrena asked.
"I dropped it a little ways back you know how it plays with the environment. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. You know I have trouble holding things in my advanced age." Grandfather said, a tear welling up in his eye.
He turned to Corvus and Zarah.
"I don't know why she makes me out to be such a monster. I've always been a peaceful demon, minding my own business, never harming anyone else. I wouldn't harm her if my life depended on it. She's always been an odd child, making outlandish claims against me. I think she's a bit touched in the head, but sadly, have never been able to root out the cause behind her illness. I think it was the lack of a mother growing up. Her mother died in childbirth." Grandfather said.

"LIES!" she screamed running towards Grandfather with her claws out in demon form.

[MinzigFrish]

Zarah hesitated, still in the back of the wagon.
If Calbrena had been lying, it would make sense. After all, This old man was just... an old man.
And Calbrena was a vengeful demon spirit...

No, Zarah stopped herself, i can't just jump to conclusions.

Still a tad dizzy, Zarah quickly hopped out of the back of the wagon and sidled up next to Corvus.
"Well?" She whispered as Calbrena lept at the old man, " What do you think?"

[Corvus MacCallum]

"Its a lovely little snake-oil sales pitch, ah well"

The Highlander shrugged, a little disappointed that all this magical influence... was just because of fucking family issues. He just wanted it to be a simple raid on a treasure horde with a big beastie within, he hadn't the faintest interest in tagging along on some self0important hybrids to get back at Daddy. So with Calbrena rushing towards the old guy and Zarah doing the intelligent thing of staying back, Corvus simply sheathed his Broadsword, if he was such a big almighty like Calbrena made sure to speak out about then he was hardly going to be distracted by a single attack. The wolfen warrior placing his claws expertly within his maw and unleashing a shrill whistle.

"Hey, old geezer... you fancy plucking out your land-warping cane..."

... That sounds so fucking stupid.

"... and let us go along merrily on our way?... We're only looking to wreck one of Greeds hordes, as if there aren't hundreds more and would like to get on our way. Oh by the way, if you sent those beasties, nice though a bit irritating, can't you send something with a bit of taste next time you want to fuck with Alignment Switcher there?"

He gave a vague gesture in the direction of Calbrena, then simply folded his arms, overfluffed tail flicking from side to side, hitting against Zarah lightly actually due to her positioning.

Wonder how business boy is handling this...

Temptation riddled his mind on looking back to check on the trader, but really he probably just had his head between his legs ready to kiss his arse good-bye, non-adventurers did not deal well with the funky and weird.

[MinzigFrish]

Zarah barely noticed his soft, fluffy tail thumping against her leg, too busy watching the scene taking place.

It wasn't that she had a one track mind, it was actually far from, but because she was dizzy at the moment and everything was happening so quickly, she didn't feel the need to pay attention to a simple tail.

But she also didn't realize that she had drawn closer to Corvus, at least, not until she bumped into him.
But even then she hardly acknowledged it, and didn't move.
Hell, he was the warrior, so technically she would be safest up against him, right?

[Aiko]

"Ahem. It is not a land warping cane, it is the Cane of The Elements, and is comprised of the rare Black Mythril found deep within The Abyss, and the only one of its kind in all of Althanas and it's associated planes. I will thank you to refer to it properly.

Now then, first, she is not an alignment switcher, she is half Abyssal Demon, like me, Half-Angel. As such she cannot switch alignments, she is actually technically neutral.

Secondly, if your going to take that tone with me I'm going to do far worse than send two infant Zerbils after you. It was a simple warning to stay AWAY from Greed's treasure. I have things in her hordes too thank you very much and I'd like them left alone.

Third, I despise Calbrena's very existence and will do anything to ensure that when she dies for the second time, she stays dead. I will be watching, if I see you even so much as raise a hand in her defense, I'll drag up a monster from the abyss sure to make even a monster hunter like you piss your pants in fear.

Fourth, if you kill her for me at any point in time BEFORE you break and enter into Greed's cave, I'll give you riches and power beyond your feeble imaginations.

Fifth, your walking from here pal, because when I disappear, that wagon's going to fall into The Abyss to feed my pets, and I'm taking the horses and the driver with me.

Finally, I hope you die a slow horrible death.

Have a nice day." Grandfather said, speaking in a neutral business like tone the entire time, finishing with an unsettlingly friendly smile. Then he disappeared, and with a tremor, the ground opened into a great gaping abyss, swallowing the wagon, the horses, and the driver, a great black claw reaching from the depths to take them all.

Calbrena was furious, but the warping was gone and with it the opening to The Abyss.

"Can't I do ANYTHING without him interfering?" she screamed at no one in particular. she was fuming, evidenced by the flames leaping off her head.

She took off walking at a brisk pace, randomly clawing things as she passed.

Grandfather meanwhile stood nearby, blocking detection of his presence again, laughing.
He knew a rift would have been created between them because of this, and it would make their efforts to succeed all the more difficult. Sooner or later, Calbrena would die. Since she came back to life after dying from his cane, it must take something else.
At the same time, nothing he had said had been a lie, and he had made sure to let them feel the truth behind his words.

[Corvus MacCallum]

The Highlander listened to all of Grandfathers little tirade... with folded arms, secure footing... and half-closed eyes, it actually took the realisation that his tail was hitting against Zarah to bring the Warrior back to alertness who on seeing the Gypsys expression on watching Calbrena stamp off clawing, simply gave a light shrug... that gave resounding scrapes and clangs of metal thanks to his harness.

"Hes not the only one that can number out his statements though, I'll even do them super quick too, one, two and three, Too. Fucking. Wordy"

Fanged smirk crept up his face and finally began to reshuffle his position, fluffed tail swinging freely in the air now and allowing the Highlander to take stock of the Demon girls situation.

Idle threats from an ignorant mind blinded by its Ego, lovely. Now to sort out Calbrena.

The simple reason being, she still had the map on her, something he should've secured before they set off... far too many little preperation slip-ups in this jaunt... can't afford to get sloppy about Merc work. Only thing the Old guy had said which made Corvus a touch curious was his remark to making some monster that he'd fear, now really that would be one hell of a trick, still its pretty likely through all his Abyss conquests the Old-Fuck hadn't come across a Highlander before, fear was not a core part of their personality. Such distracting thoughts had even stopped the Wolfen warrior noticing that his left hand had slipped easily into his pocket, with the fixing of the land his glove wasn't keeping his grip stretched open, odd reaction.

Another shrill whistle from him cracked through the suprisingly quiet surroundings in an attempt to get Calbrenas attention, was quickly followed up by a 'Get the map out, lets get going' and a mental sentence of 'Fucking nut-cases and their family problems'. Then came the more colourful words rolling through his mind as dwelling anger flared up momentarily, he had seen what just happened to the Trader for no other reason than Calbrenas Old-fuck of a relative wanted to be a pain in the ass to her, then the recollection of Lust who had the gall to swan on in, he was getting thoroughly sick of this family shit and despite the promise of a big creature and perhaps some decent loot... was considering just cutting his losses and walking off to leave this little tale in history long forgotten. Still, Gypsy girl was still involving herself and so far really showed that she needed something to watch out for her...

Noble intent. Can be a right stab in the back.

Was time to get moving though, he wasn't going to waste time just waiting out Calbrenas little temper tantrum or give the Old-Fuck time to work up some new Weekend Villainy, he had only taken a casual stare at the map but he had a general grasp of where they had been heading, further down the route a Pony express rest stop had been noted and once they hit that it was a clear walk through the wilderness, possibly a mile or so before the Hordes entrance would likely give them a headache. If the Old-Fuck was a standard template for the demon family, he just could not wait to see what Greeds tricks and traps would be offering.

Right hand safely stashed with his pocket as well the Highlander gave a single scuff of his foot against the soil before simply starting off in a walk, giving a vague tilt of the head to Zarah as a simple sign to come along.

"Hope you don't mind a little exercise lass"

[MinzigFrish]

Zarah, as if snapping out of a daze, gave a quick nod.
"of course not..." She forced a smile.
This was Calbrena's fault, she sighed. Damn old man, and his threats toward closed ears.
She walked, gaze downcast, right alongside Corvus. His very presence seemed to comfort her.

sorry I couldn't do a long post I'm a tad busy heh

[Aiko]

Calbrena was awful silent for the rest of the trip to the cave, but nothing else disturbed them.

Grandfather followed along, tempted to summon a greater Abyssal Demon and ravage the entire area, but restrained his might. He thought of Wrath, Wrath would certainly be a good option, but the sins were not yet walking Althanas. They were feeling their way through the current world situation with Xem'zund first.

Greed's cave was half way up a mountain, and blocked by a cave in. Calbrena stared at the cave in, and tested it with her claws. It was genuine, and not a trap.

"The fish went to the Eastern market, The Crab went to the Western bay, the whale went to the northern Castle, and the Octopus held the Southern Province." The words echoed in her mind, what did they mean?

She turned and looked about. exactly seven hundred paces away was an alter, it was made of Human bones and skulls, but twisted and warped by infernal magics. There was room on top for objects to be places, or a person to be sacrificed.

"The fish went to the Eastern market, The Crab went to the Western bay, the whale went to the northern Castle, and the Octopus held the Southern Province." she suddenly grasped the import of the alter.
"This alter is the gateway to the horde!" Calbrena said excitedly.

"Rowr?" came a small voice at Calbrena's feet. She could feel a kitten rubbing up against her legs, and looked down to see a small brown kitten starved for affection.

"Aww." Calbrena cooed, her heart melting. She turned angel and scratched it's ears.

The kitten noticed Corvus and Zarah, and tried for affection from them.

It was such an innocent act, to pick up and pet a kitten, or reach down and pet it. But Corvus and Zarah were non demon, and Calbrena was demon, despite being in angel form.

It was a trap set in place by greed, an innocent and dangerously cute kitten, wandering around the alter, as though lost and abandoned. Who could resist the natural urge to lavish love and affection on such an innocent creature? Especially when it gave off utterly no indication of being a threat?

Yet when non-demons like Corvus and Zarah gave it attention, it latched on and devoured their soul in a second, growing into a big cat that looked a cross between a mountain lion, a Tiger, and a lion. It would still be covered in milky brown fur, but it's claws would be very sharp, and once it ate all, or even part of your soul, you became it's slave, unable to fight it because once you loved on it, even a little. And so the concept behind Greed's trap, a creature that would victimize any non demon, for they would all reach down and pet it, and then unable to fight back, die by it's claws.

Of course, if by some chance you did manage to overcome the compulsion to not fight it, for it was a very strong compulsion indeed, or it in some other fashion died before you did, you got your soul back.

[Corvus MacCallum]

The trap-cat had to dash aside in order to avoid being stepped on by Corvus, he was paying it absolutely no attention, not in this situation... or, to be honest, any situation, not a cat man, isn't that a suprise?

Slowly the Highlander brought himself to the mouth of the cave and the huge pile of rocks and boulders creating its In. Drawing forth his Slammer the Wolfen warrior rushed forth with it pointing straight ahead, stabbing the iron slab between several rather sizable chunks of stone, fingers tightened upon the handle as he applied a reasonable amount of pressure and dislodged the rock above... then several others above that, then a few more. Yanking the monstrous sword out he took a few quick steps back as the first layer in the cave-in came tumbling down, it didn't unblock the whole entry, but made a good start. He didn't fancy chipping away at it though bit by bit, would take after nightfall before the place got unblocked, plus always the risk of a secondary cave in and erase his progress, tricky.

While in thought the Trap-cat attempted to make its presence known to Corvus by getting close to his leg, but the Highlanders head snapped down, lips curling over his teeth and then with a jerk of vocal expulsion barked at the immediately fleeing feline. His interests were currently on the cave entrance, even going so far as to get experimental. With a horrible screech of metal he resheathed the Slammer blade and hefted up one of the large rocks that he'd forced off the blockage. Lifting it firmly above his noggin the Highlander wound up and then released, hurling the thing straight at the upper-most part of the Cave-in, smashing the rock against its brethren... the sounds barely getting past the blockage seemed to indicate things were moving around behind there, hopefully he'd thinned off the back of the In.

In sizing up another good throwing boulder he gave a glance back to Zarah and reluctantly Calbrena.

"Feel free you two, but I'm gonna keep chipping away at this for a bit, at the least it might make a decent work out."

[MinzigFrish]

Zarah hesitated, looking between the kitten and Corvus.
It was so cute and inviting.... But Cor needed her help with the cave. Besides, she could always love on the cat afterward.... Maybe.

Zarah took a step back, giving Calbrena a passive glance.
"Hope you don't mind..." She quickly pulled her dress off, stripping naked.
Then, shutting her eyes, she transformed into her wolf form. She would most useful in this form if the task involved moving things.

She padded up to Corvus, her tongue lolling lazily from the side of her mouth. Silently, Zarah snickered in her head, waiting for Corvus' reaction to her new form.

Of course she had to assume he would love the new look. He, after all, was a wolf too.

Her features were sharp, her form large and lean. Her sleek silver fur seemed to allow the weak sunlight to dance and shimmer off of it.
Her almond eyes were bright and golden, with a playful spark to them.
Zarah's jaws were strong, her teeth razor sharp and pearl white. She was the type of female that would put ANY alpha into a frenzied lust.

Zarah looked up at Corvus, giving a small yip to get his attention, then put a large paw on one of the cave-ins oversized rocks.

[Aiko]

Calbrena meanwhile picked up the kitten and cooed and purred with it contentedly.

"Your such a cute little boy, yes you are! Who'se a brave little kitten, you're a brave little kitten." she said, playing with the kitten.

"Now I feel like I've seen you somewhere before." she said.

She was a young girl, a distant fuzzy memory.
"And those are the cats I mentioned that eat souls. They seem innocent and playful at first, but the more you lavish attention on them, the stronger they get the harder it is to resist giving them more attention, until their big enough to kill you." She couldn't recall who was speaking, a demoness dripping in shiny objects. She strained her memory, it was Greed, in a rare good mood! And the cat she was referencing looked just like this one.

"Trap!" she cried out, throwing the cat off the side of the mountain.

Meanwhile, sounds could be heard from behind the landslide, and the more rocks that were moved, the more they could be heard. It sounded like rock hitting rock, and, moving water?

Sure enough, water began to trickle out from behind the landslide.

"Bigger trap?" Calbrena asked turning toward the landslide as the water began to flow quicker, indicated increased pressure.

[Corvus MacCallum]

The Highlander stopped momentarily in his hurling of heavy boulders to look round at Zarah, smirking as he watched the Gypsy pad towards him and then yip in her wolf form, rather cute in the pettish way and would certainly be quite the looker if she was a feral Highlander.

"Dramatic change in colour scheme but it suits you lass."

A quiet chuckle and then his attention went back to the cave and its crumbling In. Whatever was behind there had to be a one-off, no chance Greed would flood the entire treasure horde, simply wouldn't make sense since whatever treasure laid within would be tarnished or rusted by the moisture over the years. Brief bit of logic leaping brought him to the conclusion that this must just be some simple forcing trap, gush of water and whatever is contained within to get rid of the first batch of invaders and then can simply be built back up. Stepping off to the side of the In the Highlander gestured for Calbrena to join them, even gave a pat on his thighs to attract Zarahs attention.

Out once more came that massive Slammer and taking it in both hands, grinded its mass against the edge of the Cave-in, sparks flying as it cleaved against rock, finally passing through. Another gush of water was springing up around the shape of his sword, then with a lurch he drove the blade downwards... then upwards, loosening up and hoping to make a focus for the water pressure to build up. Corvus watched as the water flow increased around his Slammers blade before wrenching it free and pressing himself against the rock wall beside the Cave-In. It was like bursting a chunky water balloon, gallons of water smashing against the loosened rocks, leaks appearing wherever they could until finally all that weight of water smashed through the obstruction. The immense torrent of water carried with it humanoid shapes, finely scaled, yellowed claws upon their extremities and wide jutting eyes taking in their surroundings.

Either these Gillmen had made their home in here, or we've just met Greeds first few guards.

Corvus had no clue what the creatures actually were, it was just a name from the features they had, each tall, gangly and posessing no typical humanoid features to discern gender. They had gills though and could probably be considered male, so Gillmen it was. There was more than a handful getting themselves sorted out after the unceremonious entrance they had been forced to make, the slits on their throats sealing up and rasping throats gulping down air through what were probably barely developed lungs... they didn't make any understandable language, but the intent was clear, Hate.

[MinzigFrish]

Zarah growled lowly, her lips peeled back to reveal black gums and solid white fangs.
Her hackles raised and her fur bristled as she snarled at the odd creatures that had flooded out from the cave.

What were they? Who knew.
But since they had gills, Zarah simply assumed they were fish. And as far as she knew, fish were edible. So it would make her job a lot easier... and tasty.
She loved fish. But then, who didn't?

Zarah gave as close as she could, in this form, to a smirk as she snapped a sharp warning bark at the new threat.

She wasn't going to let Corvus take all the fun this time. A girl's got to earn her living, right? If she simply waltzed along with the group without doing a thing as Calbrena guided them and Corvus fought all the enemies, she simply wouldn't feel right taking that load of treasure that she could practically smell. No, wait, the smell was just fish.

To some, Zarah's logic would probably make no sense, seeing as she was a thief, a girl who stole from men every night back at the pub.
But, in all fairness, those very men had followed her of their own free will with some rather nasty intentions in mind. So that gave her the right to rob them, didn't it?

Zarah quickly snapped from her thoughts as one of the fish-men bolted foreward.
She lept out of its path with lightning speed and clamped her jaws down on its arm.

After a moment, Zarah quickly changed her mind about the monsters. They definitely did not taste good. Unless you find the flavor of stale water and mold to be appealing...

[Aiko]

Calbrena dodged to the side as a great torrent of water cleaned out the entry way. Calbrena saw a few somethings flopping around on land adjusting to being out of water.

They had the general body of a whale, but had scales like a fish. They had crab like armor over that, and six legs to scuttle around on. Their arms were as an Octopus's tentacles, and these they wielded like whips.

"Oh boy, sea food!" Calbrena said with a false enthusiasm. She was set to rip out thye nearest one's throat, when it inhaled deeply, and exhaled a mighty blast of water at her. The pressure was so great that the water was white. Calbrena raised her arms, but it was too much, and she was knocked over. She rubbed the back of her head, throbbing in pain.

"They have water magic." she said, her voice wavering from the blow.

[Corvus MacCallum]

While Corvus and Zarah made their advances on the Gillmen... Apparently a whole bunch of other different creatures had showed up, looking like an orgy of sea-animals with liberal helpings of glue. Or else a dangerous game of undersea Twister. Seeing as how all of them were pretty much out of their element and for the most part unarmed, the Highlander decided on a noble course of action, vast Slammer clunking into its heavy chains.

Rushing forth Corvus made his first attack in battering aside one of the Gillmen, his buckler-clad right arm launching out to the side, back-handing the humanoid with such force its head jerked at a decidedly incorrect angle, ligaments and bones snapping before being tore off its feet from the simple force and left gargling up foamy fluids from deep within. Suprising response time, one was already trying to rush the Wolfen-Warrior, its yellowed claws outstretched on the mostly joined fingers before being caught in Cors own clawed mitts. Since they were above ground most of their sounds were rasps and gargles, but after several harsh snaps Corvus made the thing scream. In a few twists he had managed to wrench off both the Gillmans own hands before charging in with his mouth, large fangs puncturing scales with ease and with a jerk of his head severed much of the humanoids breathing appartus, it sagging to the floor. The weight of the Gillman falling ripping the last shreds of muscle on its exposed wrists, leaving Corvus with a pair of fishy hands that were quickly chucked aside.

Next came scuttling one of Calbrenas little sea-food gangbangs, through those bleary eyes the Highlander picked up on its aggression, this thing probably wasn't a natural creation. Its tentacles lashed out, no crack despite their whip wielding tendencies and then stopped... caught against Corvus' sectioned buckler, the suckers underneath the tentacle locking it in place for just enough time. With a flick back on his wrist the sections suddenly closed, a gutteral grunt of pain unleashed from the beast as those metal plates closed in with great pressure upon its limb. Then in came the Wolf-mans left hand, claws sinking into the slimy flesh and giving a hard pull while the thing still reeled in pain, yanked off balance and then immediately following, its feet. Releasing the trapped Tentacles Corvus broke into a quick sprint, his foot suddenly smashing down its neck, then in came his hands. The thing screeched as his fingers took hold on the seam of its shell, the Highlander heaving upwards, fat tendrils of muscle, skin, all rupturing as he kept pulling and pulling upwards. Finally in a burst of internal fluids and split internals the Myriad beast was allowed to die.

That little display seemed to have shook up the remaining Gillmen and monstrosities, Corvus letting his eyes wander around the battle scene in its moment of silence.

"Who's next?"

[MinzigFrish]

Zarah growled lowly, her long fangs easily ripping through the gill mans arm, and tearing it clean off.
She glanced to Corvus as he dropped a pair of hands from one of the monsters. At least... They looked like hands.

Yeech. She spit the disgusting flavored arm out, then snarled and lept at another of the beasts.
Sure, she didn't mind a good fight, but she hated killing. She only killed a rabbit or two if she was starving and had no other food. Even though these damned things were trying to kill them, she bore no ill will toward them, and hence didn't want to kill them. Besides, Corvus could just finish them off.

So as she tackled a different gill-man and bit deeply into its shoulder, the armless fish guy was still alive and well, and unfortunately for her, a tad angry about losing its arm. It shot a powerful burst of foam and water at her, knocking Zarah off the creature and hard into the cave rocks.
She yelped in pain, dazed momentarily, as she fell limply to the ground. Wasn't expecting that...

Attempting to get back on all fours, she realized that at least three of the gill-men were advancing toward her. Oh crud.

She gave a warning snarl, attempting to have them back off so she could at least gather herself, but it didn't even faze the creatures.
They continued to slowly move closer.

Zarah barked menacingly, but it was a plea to Corvus for help more than anything.

[Aiko]

Calbrena woozily stood, and shook her head, clearing her mind.

She aimed her claws, and slashed out the throat of the one closest to her.

The gillmen and watery abominations tried to attack her, but Calbrena gracefully dodged with a half quarter turn backwards. She spun through a couple of gillmen, her claws flying and raking deep furrows into their skin. The aquatic creatures seemed unprepared for someone capable of moving with grace and finesse through the air.

She didn't stop, and continued dancing with a small leap right into the gillmen attacking Zarah.

[Corvus MacCallum]

At least, the half-demon, half-angel woman found herself amid a pile of severed parts that had been the Gillmen which had cornered Zarah, but lets back up a step.

Moments before, just after peeling open one of those Monstrosities the forest green eyes of the Highlander took stock of the situation, watching as he saw Zarah attempt her attacks on the stinking fish-creatures. They were good blows, but the lack of blood-lust in her eyes just signalled to the Highlander that she was going to wind up in a bad way without at least some degree of support, against monsters like this it was very simple to kill or be killed and Corvus had no intentions of losing his place on the food-chain.

Monstrosity nearby lashed out with its sucker-ridden tentacles, attempting to stall the Wolfen-warrior, barely a blink flashing through the fighters visage as they connected and latched in place. Not one further step in the Highlanders advance was deterred, mis-timed or even effected, the Monstrosity however was pulled right off its six feet and dragged along behind him, gaining an excellent view as Corvus reached to his back, a solid grasp made upon the badly wrapped handle of his Slammer. A hideous Skreee of metal against metal from dragging it out of those chains, then brought to his side, both hands wrapping firmly onto the handle while he continued to approach behind the Gillmen that sought to corner the Werewolf Gypsy.

At the signal of her defiant bark Corvus unleashed his might against the monsters. In one single sweep his Iron blade cleft through scales, past the puffy organs, straight through the fragile bone structure... then out again, through its ally, then through another. All three Gillmen collapsing in several pieces as his rising slash tore through limbs and they were not the only ones to find death in those fleeting moments of the present. Weight forcing itself upon his left heel, the Highlander turning with his swing, snapping free the tentacles from the speed... another turn and the Monstrosity got what was coming to it.

Its shell crunched and cracked like dry wood under the weight and sheer force of the Iron Slammer. Before it even had enough time to fall apart a mist of soil lept up from the wound as he hit the ground.

The gillmen were pretty much finished, only about three left and of them only two in fighting condition. A solitary Monstrosity preparing itself for what had befallen both its own kind so far.

[MinzigFrish]

Zarah bounced to her feet, grateful to both of her teammates.
She quickly gave a full body shake off, furious and ready to take on the few that remained.

Feeling much better, she snarled and bounded at one of the whale-like monsters that had first confronted Calbrena. She couldn't quite tell where exactly the head was under that crab shell, but...

Taking a wild guess, she tackled the thing and bit deep. Her powerful jaws easily cracked the shell, breaking through to the soft under skin, which she bit clear through. Tons of clear white goo oozed from the pierced flesh, and this stuff tasted exactly the same as the gill men, though quite nauseatingly more potent.

After a moment, Zarah spat the thing out, feeling slightly guilty as she realized she had killed it, but as the disgusting goop dripped from her jaws, she quickly forgot the damned thing.
Zarah whined slightly, pawing at her mouth in attempt to get rid of the ooze and the sickening flavor. It was, quite literally, stomach wrenching.

Shaking it off, she lept at the injured monster. This one was also a crab-whale thing.

Taking a different approach this time, she clamped her jaws shut on one of its tentacles. Yech.... chewy, like pure fat.

Her teeth severed the tentacle clean off, surprising even her. She hadn't expected it to be so soft...

The creature screeched in pain, and as a defense maneuver shot one of its remaining tentacles at her. It wrapped around her paw.
Zarah yelped in surprise, but immediately bit that tentacle off too.

However, the part that had suctioned itself to her ankle remained, keeping a tight grip.
Annoyed, Zarah bit through the shell of this one as well to finish it off, making sure not to swallow any of the goo this time.

As it gave a final trill before it died, Zarah huffed and spat out any remaining ooze in her mouth.

She lifted her paw and peered at the severed tentacle stuck there. She growled at it, as if it could hear her, then gave her paw a quick shake.

It didn't budge. She snarled, highly annoyed, and flicked her paw about again, but to no avail. The damn thin was determined to stay, and it actually had a pretty painful grip on her ankle.

Zarah lay on her stomach, fairly certain that either Calbrena or Corvus would finish off the last creature, and began to gnaw at the stubborn tentacle.

Suddenly she realized that neither of the other two knew what she was doing, and she couldn't help but snicker in her head at the way she must look through their eyes.

But at the moment, it really didn't matter. She just had to get rid of this temporary inconvenience.
And... Success! She chewed through the fatty tentacle, then quickly lept up and hopped away from it before it somehow managed to latch back onto her face or something.

She growled lowly. Damn fish...

[Aiko]

Aiko came to a stop before the entrance to the cave. The guards were gone, and thanks to them, the rubble was gone, washed down the side of the mountain.

She turned to Corvus and Zarah.
"I feel it only right to warn you about what's inside before we go in. I know, I know, none of us have ever been here before, at least I haven't and we don't really know what's inside. But, there are common elements to everything the sins do, and one of those is in the way the build things. This is not a cave, though it has the entrance of one. Let me assure you, this is the only similarity between what's inside and an actual cave. Well, that and it's inside a mountain. The Sins build in a strange architecture. The materials are common enough, usually limestone, granite, flesh, and bone. The flesh and bone of whoever, or whatever is handy at the time. They build in the manner of Catacombs and Fortresses. There will not be one single straight forward tunnel inside, there will be many twisting winding tunnels, and multiple twists and turns. Don't look for dust, there is none. Greed enchants her hordes to be dust free. Not because she's allergic to it, which she isn't, she does it to take its advantage away. Dust tracks, walk in it, and you can see where you've been. There is no dust to guide you in here. There will be heavy repetition of a room. Yes, a room. One single room design and layout, one with many entrances and exits, each built exactly the same as the last one, identical in every conceivable manner. This is not due to lack of imagination, but because it will become confusing, seeing the same room over and over again. Many hallways connect to one another, and while there might be four or five rooms inside, due to construction, it could be possible to pass through the same room six or seven times before going to the next room. When we finally reach the end, you will see what happens to those who consort with abyssal demons, for they are trapped within, neither living, nor dead, nor undead, suffering in torments without end, torments brought on and devised by their own sins.

Worst of all, there is only one way in, and one way out, and they are not at the same place. Once we enter, the entrance will close behind us in some manner, and we will be trapped unless we find the treasure horde, which is where some form of an exit will be.

We can do it if we stick together, but if we become divided, we will be lost in the darkness forever. However if either of you want to leave now, and not take the risk, I understand. There is a small town about three hours to the south and east of here. I should probably enter first, being on fire and all." Calbrena said, as she stretched her hand into the darkness as small flames danced on her demonic fingers, lighting the first few steps into the cave. She hoped no one left, that both of her companions would not lose heart after coming all this way.

[Corvus MacCallum]

Making use of the scattered chunks of Gillmen Corvus scooped up an arm and began to drag those scales up and down along his stained Slammer. A little applied pressure had the juices flowing right out of it, nice and runny in comparison to the Crab-orgy creations, who's internal fluids were heavily coating his blade. Then came a bit of bandage from his pack, scrunching it up roughly he began to slide it down the rough flat of his blades... and rather carefully up and down the edges in the hopes of getting rid of the mess. He was a lover of gore, but to be perfectly honest, the fishy things fluids stank to high heaven.

Awkward part of the job mostly done he laid his Slammer out flat on the ground, using his foot to edge it back and forth through a pool of water that had survived without any splatterings of blood from the nearby massacre. Then a flip... splash and continued in the process of bringing back the luster of his over-sized monster slaying weapon. The freedom of his hands even allowing a light bit of scratching and strokes along Zarahs head and neck when the Werewolf girl padded alongside.

Then came the words...

The many. Words...

Thats it. I am done with this.

He had dealt with everything the Half-demon, half-apparently-angel had caused to show up in this jaunt and he had dealt with more than enough. The beasties he didn't mind, the showing of some high as fucking mighty dick-head of an old demon he did mind. The cave-in and flooded entrance... he was fine with, got in some decent training, same goes for the fishy monsters though the Crab-things seemed like the fevered idea of a beast-breeder. But this was enough, the description of the place merely blared out to him that it was awkward as all fuck for no worthwhile reason or incentive, it was going to be room after bloody room with false exits and rewalked paths. Oh sure it'd be completely spotless, but he wasn't interested in wasting any more of his time on the girls family problems or the boring as shit mentalities they seemed to posess.

Releasing an exasperated sigh just in time to drown out Calbrenas glib little pep-talk Corvus brought himself up onto his feet, the sounds of scraping metal signalling the resheathing of his Slammer. Then with a rummage in his back brought forth some spare rope-work that had made itself useful more than once, the Highlanders chosen direction was that of the Crab-thing he had pulled open.

Shells still intact, might make something off it in the next town.

Slapping the wrenched open shell top back down onto its body he began work, foot-claws sinking into dead flesh and puffy musculature in order to shred the limbs and head from the body. Hucking the rope round and around the things body before with some careful knotting had the other end affixed across the shoulder of his Slammer harness. With that job done good and proper he finally turned on Calbrena.

"I never lose heart, but I've lost my patience, I'm fucking done with this headache and honestly I can't possibly be arsed to proceed any further. Cheerio, maybe you'll find some saps who can enjoy the tedium."

He was tempted to throw in a few more colourful words but restained himself as best he could, he wasn't interested in starting some blazing row, he was done, that was it. Then he glanced round to Zarah, stepping towards the Wolf he even spared a moment to scoop up her discarded dress... touch soggy but that would change in time.

"There are far easier ways to make a fortune lass, fancy tagging along?... from that map theres a village not far from here and far better prospects."

Why did he offer?... simple decency really, the Gypsy might have had the prospect of gold wiggled in front of her sight but after that soul-sucking explanation she'd have turned a better profit turning tricks in the pub. He wasn't exactly waiting for an answer though, dropping the dress next to the Wolf and starting on his way back towards the trade-route.

Spoils: Intact Crab-monster shell for immediate selling off, along with whatever gold its squishy internals might fetch in a kitchen.

[MinzigFrish]

Zarah paused, utterly confused. After all this way, Corvus was seriously going to just walk away?

Although... He did have a point. They were going to have no possible way of knowing where they were going once they stepped foot inside that cave.They may even get lost and die in there.

It was all a heavy risk, and for what? Sure, heaps of gold and treasure, but that wasn't even promised, considering the apparently deadly monsters inside.

And simply because Corvus was walking away from this did she make up her mind on staying or going.

Corvus was the fighter of the group. He was the strongest, the most stalwart, he had the most stamina, and two girls, no matter what species they be, simply could not pull off this mission without a true fighter.

As much as Zarah had been looking forward to the riches, she wasn't stupid enough to die for them, and if she went with Calbrena that's exactly what would have happened.

At the offer for Zarah to go with Corvus, she paused with a confused blink. Did that mean he had an interest in her after all?

Zarah looked at Corvus's back, as he was now walking away, then flashed a sorrowful look at Calbrena before she stood on all fours and did a good full body shake. Then, lightly picking up her moist dress in her jaws, she started after Corvus.

She felt somewhat guilty for just leaving Calbrena, but she hadn't been in this to help Calbrena with family problems after all. She had been in it simply for treasure and adventure.

And with Corvus's offer for much easier riches in the nearby town, she had no more second thoughts.

They were leaving Calbrena to finish what she had started, alone.

[Aiko]

Calbrena watched them leave, sorry to see them go. She had come too far to turn back, and would not be deterred by anything, even the possibility of walking the darkness for an eternity.

She took a deep breath, and let it out. Then with an almost timid step, walked into the cave. With a dull rumble, the cave in rolled back up the mountain, and blocked the way once more, moved by dark demonic magic.

Calbrena, and her problems, were gone from their lives, possibly for good.

[Lord Anglekos]

Gypsy Moon

Whoooooo boy. This was one long thread. In any case, I'm sorry that it's sat for so long. I'll be using the full rubric with limited commentary. If any of you have a problem with my judgment please indicate so via a private message and/or AIM at blackdecadence19, and I'll further explain the why's behind my numbers and comments. In any case, on with the judging!

STORY: 7.5/30


Continuity: 2.5
- The story was hard to follow and quite a bit unbelievable at times. I got no other reason as to why you three were at the Silver Pub in the first place, and throughout the thread it seemed that everything was part of some grand master plan that was organized by Calbrena's family. At the end of the thread, I felt that the separating of the characters into two groups was quite realistic; I would have been fed up as well, especially with her somehow omniscient knowledge of the "dungeon" ahead and no real explanation. Other than that, however, it was so ridiculous that I felt as if I were reading a shonen manga script.

Setting: 3
- Little to no setting. Corvus basically saved this score from being any lower from his limited descriptions. No real interaction with what was there, either; I caught a couple minor instances, but they were so minor they weren't worth mentioning.

Pacing: 2
- I've mentioned this in other judgings I've done, but in this particualar thread I think my advice applies the most weight. Pacing is really a joint effort of all the players in the thread, whether it be quest or battle. At first, I got the impression that this would be a quick, fast-paced thread, despite the number of pages and posts. However, I was quickly proven wrong as the thread moved at a snail's pace, slime and all. It was a physical effort at times to read the thread, especially once Aiko started rambling IC'ly. I'll get into this more in the Technique section of this judgment, as the low score mostly derived directly from there, plus the extremely slow pace.
CHARACTER: 12.5/30
Dialogue: 5
- Most of the time, as I said above, this felt like something out of a shonen action manga; it was cliche'd, boring and felt like it had .5 seconds thought put into it. However, there were rare moments where the dialogue surprised me and made me laugh, especially points where the conversation jumped from the PC to the NPC. These moments became less and less rare as the thread progressed, and near the end the dialogue became actually alright. If you had put that effort I saw as the thread progressed to the end, you may have gotten a higher score.

Action: 3
- Mostly my comments here mirror my Dialogue comments. Corvus was the only one who really gave me a sense of real character during his actions, mostly via his descriptions of them; Aiko, you were too descriptive, and ruined the effect I think you meant to give with yours, plus most of the time they were simply too over-the-top; again, not unlike your average shonen action manga. Minzig, I would've liked to have seen more action from you in general; what I got from you, battle and otherwise, was extremely limited, and in some cases you gave me nothing at all, posting only one sentence. As the end neared you wrote more and gave me more insight as she transformed into a wolf, which was good, but I would've liked to see more action from her human side as well.

Persona: 4.5
- I got the most persona from Corvus and Minzig from their writing; Minzig's was the easiest to identify, and Corvus was descriptive enough with his inner thoughts and feelings to provide me with a good picture as to who he really was. I especially liked the end part, where after Aiko explains what's up ahead he basically goes "Fuck it, let's seek our goods somewhere else." It seemed quite in tune with his character to do so. Aiko, I never really got a good sense for your character; she would do or say one thing and then another, seemingly contradictory to the first. It threw not only the Persona off but Action, Dialogue, and Pacing as well.
WRITING STYLE: 8/30
Technique: 3
- Corvus and Aiko, you two are both guilty of writing too much into one sentance or paragraph; you have several run on sentances, and most often your words were redundant and could have been put some other way. This slowed the pace of the thread down greatly and, as I stated, made it feel like you were trudging through the thread rather than flowing naturally. Minzig, on the other hand, wrote too little. You had some nice imagery at times, however, and despite the lack of substance within the posts that imagery helped push the thread along where it would have died without that push.

Mechanics: 2
- There were mistakes everywhere, from all three of you. The one who had the least was Corvus, but even he had his share of lack of puncuation, capitalizing things that shouldn't have been capitalized, and leaving out words where there should have been some. Mispellings ran abundant, commas misplaced, things like that. I suggest using Word to help catch these things in the future, but please note that Word only helps: you must do the work yourself. If you would like specific notations as to where the grammartical issues were in your posts, please private message me and I'll point them out for you.

Clarity: 3
- I'll put this simply; this thread was hard to read. I read it three times before writing up this judgement to make sure I didn't misunderstand or misread anything, and each time I found myself rereading the posts as well over something that seemed out of place or just plain difficult to understand.
WILD CARD: 8/10
Despite the low scores, you guys obviously spent a solid amount of time and effort on this thread, having 81 posts in it and 9 pages to boot. While done within a smallish time frame, the amount of writing done was large in comparison, and I'm impressed that all three of you stuck with it for as long as you did.

Final Score: 36/100

MinzigFrish gains 450 EXP and 300 gold pieces.
Aiko gains 450 EXP and 300 gold pieces as well.
Corvus gains 650 EXP and 400 gold pieces.

Also, the monster-crab shell sold pretty well, along with it's innards. The cooks were pleased at finding new ingredients for their food indeed. MinzigFrish and Corvus gain an extra 100 gold pieces each from the sale.

[Taskmienster]

Exp and GP added!

Corvus is level 3!