Hack & Slash Em IC

[Lucius Cypher]

The grey beast looked at the armored woman as she returned his orbital sanguine-colored consumables. Seeing her lower her weapon made him retracted his claws, returning him to his standard state. She proclaimed that the broken sword was "bad" and that the guards would kill him if he breaks another one. So he shouldn't vandalism their things. The grey creature tried to remember the last time he did something like this other then his recent act, but perhaps she refereed to the times he would do this to bandits. It was really simply something he does when there is an opportunity to do so, as he doesn't seek out other human's tools of destruction to wreck, but he will comply. Taking his food back, the grey beast ignored the guards, who should not harm him unless the grey creature breaks their swords again, and heads to the next area where he could find something to do.

In the language of the humanoid creatures who inhabit the town, the place he went tow as called a tavern. He knew it as a place where humanoids would come to rest and consume liquids, solids, and gases. He also knew it as the place where he can find humanoids looking for others like himself, to offer their services either through warfare or through more lucrative services, some in which the grey creature had participated in. Oddly, the woman from before was also here, announcing that she was called here. She revealed a paper with a familiar insignia to him; the sign of the town leader. The grey creature reached into one of his bags of holding, revealing that he too had a similar paper; his was far less elaborate and was worn out, but faintly seen near the bottom was the leader's insignia. It was a flyer by the town leader, who sent this flyer requesting able bodied adventurers to come to the town's assistance. The grey creature was one of the few to answer the call, it would seem. So the grey creature walked over to the same table that the woman from before went to, showing his paper. He was unsure if these two people, an familiar elvish looking male and a seemingly human looking male, were the people he had to contact for this quest, but perhaps they knew of something.

[Cerius]

The bitter, yet smooth taste was harsh on Lyra's trained palate as she took a mouthful of the whisky. Already a warm glow was forming in her stomach, and her limbs tingled with the profound, reckless energy brought on by the consumption of alcohol, of this variety at least. '60% alcohol content... at least I can handle it.' Lyra stared at the swirling, brown liquid in the glass with a smug smirk. It was something for her to be hold her liquor better than most women could even begin to claim, and she was rather proud of that. She emptied the glass with one last gulp, and placed the sturdy glass upon the tabletop with a loud thud, before perking up at a snippet of conversation that reached her from somewhere behind her. "...I was requested to meet some people here..." a female voice spoke. It sounded important.

Lyra observed. Someone new had come and joined the table with the elf in the green cloak; a man with long, black hair; a woman clad in armour, with a crossbow upon her back, the one who had spoken; and the large grey man that had stirred up a scene out in the town square earlier. She was not in the least intimidated by the strange creature. Lyra simply turned in her chair and sat on it backwards, arms resting on the headrest while she listened in, showing passive interest. There was parchment sat upon the table, as well as another one that the grey creature-man had produced. Lyra did not care what was on the pieces of parchment, though she continued listening, despite that it was very likely in her opinion that none of it had much to do with her.

[Izaka Sazaka]

Izaka blinked, in the past thirty to forty-five seconds the table had been practically invaded by a handful of random personages, most of them seeming to be adventurers of some kind or another, with the distinct exclusion of the metallic-looking. . . thing, that had also joined them. Not wasting time, a female, who appeared to be dressed in the holy garb of the god of light, Ilosh, produced a crisp piece of parchment which called for the assemblage of some group or another for the express purpose of exterminating the vile monster threat which was currently plaguing the good village of Vallenwood. Although Izaka had no parchment or express letter of interest, he did intend to pursue the quest which was now obviously the open question of debate.

'Would you happen to be those people?'

Answering her in a rather disinterested tone, the halfling leaned far back in his chair, arms stretching back somewhat, a yawn passing his lips as he finished his current sentence, "I dare to guess that would be the intent for which we are assembled." Leaning forward again, Izaka brought his chair legs to the ground without much grace nor respect, the wooden tips clacking loudly against the stone flooring of the establishment. "I don't really care much for the request of some temple, especially Ilosh, nosy as that cult is. I'm interested in the potential profits of such a venture, if any are to be had. I suppose you could count me in, if nothing more than to see what comes of this quest."

[Knighthawk]

*Twik-THUNK*
"Pay up."
"...Quadruple or nothing."
Alabaster was surprised this man knew the word quadruple, but he was in a mischievous mood. The four foot dwarf looked up at the eight foot bugbear with an eyebrow raised. Currently they were using a target on one wall for their ranged competition. with a three foot alcove that ran the length of the building to keep others safe from whatever is used to compete. Normally this would be darts and knives but today it was a hobgoblin with chakrams sized up to his massive frame versus a dwarf with a crossbow that is missing the bow.
"You have already increased twice, I'm going to need to see the color of your coin before we go again."
The hobgoblin threw a bladed circle between dwarven boots before fishing up a bag of coins. Even if it were a bag of coppers it would still be a win for him.
"Alright, last one, my arm is staring to get tired."
The dwarf took aim and -suddenly a huge hand covered his face.
"BLINGFOLDED!"
Alabaster exclaimed as the world got dark, he pushed his head against the palm to click his monocole into activation. All of a sudden he could see out of the bottom of his crossbow with a pair of thread sights to aim, he took aim with a higher accuracy than ever before and pulled the trigger.
*Twik-THUNK*
"Pay up. The bet was for ten, you doubled that to twenty, then you tripled that bet to sixty and now quadruple to one-twenty. One times two is two, two times three is six, six times four is twelve, add a zero."
The bugbears jaw dropped in disbelief at the shot as alabaster put his tool away then nearly fainted at the math.
"I don't got that! You must have cheated to make that shot, I don't got to pay nothin' to cheaters.
"You called blindfolded after I aimed... What do you got?"
Some bargaining later then alabaster was richer by ten gold with all of the bugbears possessions in his room and the room paid up for the week. He bought a chakram from the beast to be sent back to the fighter guild for something he found in his adventurers in exchange for his trail rations so the guy wouldn't starve on the road. He was about to inspect his room when he noticed a gaggle of assorted folk comparing notes and a priest pulled out a note from a tube, that looked like the notice he took from the fighter guild billboard that brought him here.

[Syd]

Rain. Nothing but rain. "Great", Turgon sighed as he looked up at the light drizzle started to fall down. He walked through the town slowly, tired after a week through rough terrain. His great sword was held in his hand and balanced upon his shoulder leaning downwards. The hood of his face covered his face in shadow and the long muddy cloak trailed along the ground getting wetter and wetter by the minute. He'd have to hurry if he didn't want to catch his death of cold. It had been a long, muddy and miserable week. He was on his way to the town when he was offered the job as a caravan guard for some wares that were heading for the same town he was. How bad, he said, make a bit of money, he said. Whatever passed for roads round these parts had quickly subsided into a quagmire as the rain pelted down, meaning himself and the other guards were used as grunts to get carts and wagons out of the mud. Then he had the joy of sleeping rough for the week when he could have been in the town in half the time in a nice cosy inn. He spat on the ground as he walked. His clothes were drenched at this stage. He tossed his purse in the air and caught it, doing so as he walked along. "Another day another purse" he thought.

The door of the tavern opened abruptly, the rain trickling down the doorframe onto the floor. Most of the villagers looked at him not sure what he was about to do. It was at that point he realised that he was carrying a greatsword inside a bar. There was a table where they didn't so much as look at him, too rapt in their own conversation to take much notice of anything around them. The voices grew louder and the light of the lamps inside swayed against the walls casting shadows here and there. He could detect one of his own kind there. The Northwall accent was discernible about the noise. He looked at the barwoman and said "Pint of beer please" and sheathed his sword into the scabbard hanging diagonally down his back. He must have looked a tit walking around town with that massive sword. Lucky none of the guards gave him any bother. There was mention of a job, and hobgoblins. These "brave adventurers" must have had the same idea as him. He approached them beer in hand and pulled his hood further over his head so the Northwall native of the group mightn't notice him. "So you're looking for a bit of coin as well" he interrupted.

[DangerClose]

The door to the Tavern opened and Sera stepped in. The elf was immediately hit with a wave of heat, strange smells, and words. She raised a gloved hand to her hood and pulled down, exposing her long coppery hair. Her cloak was soaked and dripping from the rain. It had only increased since she had passed Haven on her way from Silvaethien. She stepped to the side into a corner to clear the entrance and scanned the room. A large woman in shiny armour adorned with the symbol of a human god was talking with a group of obvious outsiders. The woman was also holding a familiar piece of parchment. Sera reached into her pack and withdrew the same rolled up paper stamped with the symbol of the human god. While she was deep in thought, a yet larger man had approached them, carrying a massive sword that must require an enormous amount of strength to even lift, let alone use.

The elf ranger began to move her way through the rather large crowd of tavern patrons as quickly as she could, but it was slow going. A fat man abruptly stood up just as she was passing by, throwing her off her left foot and sending her stumbling into nearby table occupied solely by a scantily clad human woman. Sera hastily apologised and continued snaking her way over to the table full of outsiders. When she reached them, instead of interjecting, as the big man had, she remained quiet and listened intently.

[Cerius]

Soon growing bored of the mindless chatter, Lyra had just made haste to yet again ascend the stairs to her room, and grab the book titled Cold Fate before coming down and settling in her usual position again. She sat sideways on the chair, leg over knee, half-listening to the conversation on the table gathered travelers, and half-absorbed reading an extract about the thought processes of a regretful murderer in her book. She leered, at no one in particular. 'How can these people be so weak? Hell, only my own life matters and no one elses.' She thought. Lyra sighed and placed the book down on the tabletop, just as the door of the tavern opened abruptly. Her head turned towards. A hulk of a man stood there, carrying a purse and an enormous sword. She leaned forward a little, recognizing the man's attire. 'A barbarian... and no doubt from Northwall.' As soon as Northwall crossed her mind, she instantly came to realise for the first time since entering the town how different her Northwall accent sounded to everyone's who inhabited these parts. Lyra slid back around to face forward, absently fingering at the edge of the book sat on the table.

Lyra's sadistic daydream was interrupted as her table was knocked harshly and suddenly, and she twitched a little in annoyance. She looked up to see an... elf woman in a soaked cloak, coppery hair, apologising to her hastily. Lyra waved her hand in dismissal, too bored to give any more elaborate of a response. She instead took to following the elf woman back to the conversation at the table, with her ears. Several times she had to get up, as continually sitting on a rough, hard surface as the chair for an extended period of time, with bared buttocks, was sometimes irritating, and more than once a wolf whistle would sound from a nearby, male patron, which was as always, ignored. Lyra had better things to do than to play games with such petty men.

[Miss Nikki]

More and more people seemed to be arriving at the table and Cambria nodded to each in turn. "I actually am not getting a bounty out of this. I also suggest you watch how you speak of my order I will brook no insolence from the likes of you." She said staring daggers at Izaka. She once more reached back opening another tube and pulling a much bigger parchment and rolled it out on the table, it was a map of the area. "So who is good at tracking and knows the area best, I'll admit I do not."

Cambria was actually not a large woman, she was only around five foot four inches, with a lean athletic build under her steel armor covered with holy script. She also carried a morning star made completely of steel also covered in holy script, also a tower shield hung with her crossbow and it shone only like mithril could. She looked up at the humunculous and whispered "stick with me."

[jimi]

Ignoring the sudden swarm of strangers surrounding his table, Cael begins to eat the fresh spiced potatoes that had just arrived, washing it down with the tankard of refreshing ale while carefully examining the group from within the depths of his hood. He absentmindedly listens as a young, blonde female explains that she was sent from the temple of Ilosh and presents a roll of parchment. Cael's attention temporarily draws to the parchment, taking note of the signatures stamped at the bottom. Then, from the corner of his eye, he sees the red-haired barmaid approaching.
Cael gently catches her by the arm, "Excuse me ma'am." She acknowledges him with a slightly surprised expression, "Yes?" Her angelic voice relieving to the soul. "Do you know where I can find a man by the name of Jowns?" The girl chuckles, "That old drunkard? What would you want with him?" Cael flashes a slight grin, "He has some valuable information I need to obtain, regarding the hobgoblins." The girl nods in understanding, "Ohh, I see." She points to a desolate corner of the tavern where an old ragged man huddles over a lonely table, "Over there." Cael glances in the old man's direction before dropping 2 gold pieces into the girl's apron pocket, "Thank you ma'am." Her face turns red as she blushes and heads back to the kitchen.
Cael's attention turns back to the conversation at the table as he interjects, "I'm not here for some temple and I'm not looking to just get paid," the elf reaches into his cloak and retrieves his own roll of parchment. He unravels it onto the table to reveal a hand-drawn picture of a small child underneath the words Missing and 5,000 Gold Piece Reward. "There are innocent children out there somewhere, at the mercy of some retched hobgoblins, and I intend to find them, dead or alive."

[Lucius Cypher]

The grey creature observed the people who had gathered. Strange to see them come together so quickly, but if they were here for the same reason he was, maybe it wasn't too strange. But try as he might, he couldn't help up size up the people around him. It was simply within his nature to know who he may have to fight. The first one that came to mind was the armored woman from before. Now that he had a closer look, he could see that she was more then merely an armored human. He had seem others wearing similar outfits, adorned with various markings and symbols not unlike hers. He hear the humans call people like her "Knights" or "Paladins". He only knew that they were typically skilled fighters of sorts, and this woman seemed no different. oddly, he did not see her use a sword, like many other types he has seen, and instead used a spiked mace. A good weapon, he figured, he always liked nice blunt objects. They were so... Simple. There was a certain beauty in them. Admiring aside, he then began to observe the others. The Elfish man seemed to be an archer of sorts, but also carried other gear that suggested that he was not one to settle down in one place. Elves were always something that made the grey creature curious, as he had never understood the dichotomy between them and humans aside from a physical difference, not that humans were all a single pallet either. Some had dark skin and light hair, others were painted, others had scales. Then again, the last example might just be because of hybridization; like the other man at the table. He spoke about how he cared little about the religious establishment based around the one known as "Ilosh". He knew the name as the deity of one of the local religion, but that was about it. this seemingly human male, upon closer examination, had traits not commonly seen in other humans. Either he was part of a subspecies that the grey creature never discovered, or this humanoid male was the product of Interspecies breeding. He was equipped with a warriors garment and tools, suggesting that this humanoid was a traveling sell-sword. Moving on, the grey creature looked to a newcomer; a large man armed with an equally large sword. Immediately, the grey creature thought the man was a monster hunter; such large weapon was impractical against humanoids, even humanoids as large as the user, but appropriate to hunt dragons and such. The grey creature knew this well; the last time he was sent to fight a dragon, it's teeth was a big as he was, and the grey creature's slashing and clawing was hardly noticeable to the dragon. Also, in a size comparison, the grey creature was shorter by a few inches, but also a bit slimmer then the large human. Well, slimmer in shape; their muscle mass were equal, probably. The next person that caught his attention wasn't actually at the table he stood at, and was instead the woman sitting far away. The only reason she caught his attention was because she did not dress as though she was a simple towns-person; she wore metal armor, however calling it armor was a stretch of the imagination. He had seen other woman dressed similarly, but he never understood if they were really fighters or simply distractions. Aside from the two weapons she carried, there was nothing that the grey creature thought was important about her. the last one he noticed, who nearly escaped his sight, was a quiet elf woman. She was similarly equipped as the previous elfish man, however she did not seem to pack as heavily. Still, she certainly was not from this town, but she didn't seem to have traveled too far either, at least from the grey creature's estimations. Oddly enough, the grey creature was memorized with the elf's copper red hair. the way it shined in the dim light attracted him like a shiny object to a magpie. He was tempted to reach out and touch it when he heard a whisper towards him.

Getting himself out of the elfish woman's memorizing hair, he heard the previous armored woman, whom from here on out will be referred to as "The Paladin", order him to stay close to her. He wasn't sure why The Paladin would want him to do so, but given that she seemed to hold some sort of authority in this town, he might as well comply. It's not like he has any significant reason not to. She also had rolled out a map of the area, most likely to show where the creatures he needed to eliminate was. But she also proclaimed that she was not skilled in tracking and knew little of the area, and asked the others around if they knew anything. The grey creature did not know the local area well enough either, but he did see some Hobgoblins on his way to town, shortly before being attacked by bandits. However, this information was rather useless over all, given that he spotted them while they were roaming, and that he barely remembered the details of their appearance. So the grey creature said nothing. But as to not seem too useless, he reached over and placed his finger on a spot on the map where he did see the hobgoblins. He remembered this spot well for a certain landmark; a strange rock formation he calls the "Dragon Claw". It wasn't an actually Dragon's claw, but it could be mistaken as one. This was also were he saw some hobgoblins at, though he wasn't sure why or what they were doing there. That was then the elfish man spoke up and told of his reason to embark on this quest; to save a missing human child. there was a reward for it, but money wasn't really a goal that the grey creature strives for. It was nice, of course, since he simply can't take things, but he does what he does mostly because no one tells him that he can't.