"...If you insist." James said, sitting back down to quickly finish his mead.

"Just remember." he added. "It's not gonna be pretty. And don't fuck up. Everyone else grab your things; we're probably getting kicked out however this goes down."

Gabriel nodded, as he nudged Taliesin. "Now then." Gabriel burst through the kitchen, and if Taliesin could, he probably would as well, if not he would just stand at the back of the door and growled menacingly. "Alright! I know what is going on, let's just say I had a little extra dose of wisdom come to me. You see my friend back there, he hasn't had a good source of meat you know. And for me..." Gabriel took out two of his throwing knives, as he began juggling them, "I am an expert shot. Years of training at knife throwing at the carnival will teach you that. I can hit you straight between the eyes, and I am not afraid to do it. I skin horses with these things! How else do you think I've been feeding my friend Taliesin!?" Gabriel growled out, "And you little scum, I will let you know the person who will end your reign of abuse, because I am not a coward, I will risk DEATH TO SAVE HER. I AM GABRIEL KNOTTS, "THE LAUGHING SCORPION". I earned that title through means..." Gabriel laughed, "That I am sure you don't want to know, because it involved tougher beasts than a little worm like you who'd pick on the weak! Ha, I've helped defeat DEMONS WHO THREATENED TOWNS, RAIDERS WHO HAD THE STRENGTH OF TEN MEN, AND MUCH WORSE THINGS THAT FEW COULD DESCRIBE IN WORDS, BECAUSE THE SHEER FEAR WAS TOO COMPLEX AND SO ESOTERIC THAT IT SHATTERS MINDS! I am a Professional Entertainer, Freelance Entertainer, and a Defender of the Innocent!" Gabriel glared, "So will we have to settle this the hard way, or will you leave town? AND I SHOULD LET YOU KNOW THAT I WILL DO WHAT I MUST TO STOP YOU!" Gabriel during this entire speech would attempt to cause a horrifying and terrifying influence to his voice, in order to best help him in his mission.

Kenneth smirked as Gabriel made his way down to the kitchen once more and decided to let the little man handle the situation, though he figured he might as well help him out some. As Gabriel made his speech, Kenneth began casting his spells. Fear to start with, the man might not come to dread a god but he'd certainly have good cause to dread the little guy, Radiance of the Sun and Commanding Voice for heroic audiovisual flair and finally Mirage so the man would see dozens of knives instead of two. Yes that should do it. Kenneth was sure Strahl would understand using divine power for intimidation in this case.

"Miss Lily, Miss Rasa? Maybe we should go, uh, anywhere else."
Billy looked at the door nervously- bars were neutral ground, after all. To threaten the owner, no matter how terrible a person they were, was to threaten the regulars- and the regulars looked a little too, well, regular for Billy's comfort. They looked like the kind of guys who were trying very hard not to stand out from the crowd- professionals.
Billy shuffled towards the door.

As Morthos was admiring the sword and all the mysteries it held, his vision blurred and he saw visions of hell fire and ice colliding. When he came back to his senses Billy had left, he was unsure where. Morthos was more confused as to why he had the vision now. He had not seen things like that for a long time, it frightened but at the same time intrigued him, making him think he was correct in assuming what ancient tiefling house he had come from. But he had no time to think of that now, a halfling it seemed had brought in a rather large creature which Morthos had seen around these parts before. He was impressed the little guy had tamed the beast. And was that.....Kenneth? He seemed to be making the halfling more intimidating.

Morthos decided it would be better to ask questions later, as he headed towards the door, activating the magic he had put on his belongings to have them teleport from his room to his present location. He could only use that one a few times a day, but he hardly ever needed it. As he was heading out he saw Billy once more with two females, one of whom fit the description of Lily from Kenneth's adventuring party to a T. He figured now was a good a time as ever to make sure they got out safe and meet some new people. He heard Billy say they should go anywhere else, "Billy's got the right idea," Morthos said as he approached the group, "oh and sorry about earlier, I was having a....moment....ya let's go with moment. Anyways," he turned back to the women, "I don't think it's gonna be pretty, but I'm sure Kenneth and that halfling can handle it. You're Lily, right? Kenneth talked about you, shame what happened to your party, but at least you two are together, right?" Morthos looked back and remembered the very real threat of a scrap going down, "sorry, got distracted, happens a lot, we should get somewhere safe."

"But... What about Gabriel? " Lily asked. She felt bad just leaving one of the persons that had saved her life so shortly before behind. It just felt... wrong. "We're not just abandoning him, right? That's not right. He saved me... . " That said, even Lily could sense the building tension in the room. Maybe it was time to leave. the Sprite knew that her mind would not be able to stand a repeat of the events that had decimated her party. "..I really don't want to, but... We don't have a choice, do we? Tell me if we have a choice here."

"What did you just say to me?" the chef stood imposingly over Gabriel. The old man smacked the halfling on the cheek with the force and anger of an angry tiger trying to protect its cubs. "Are you telling me how I should or shouldn't treat my daughter? I give her a place to live, food to eat, and a job to do. Those glasses there cost me money! You really want to tussel with me you little squirt? Or do you wanna get the hells out of my restaurant?"

"We're not abandoning him." James said, draining the last of his beverage. "But we are getting kicked out of the tavern however this goes down.... I better stop him from killing the chef with his animal."

James rested his hand on his sword's hilt, and headed towards the back, hearing the chef shout something about treating his daughter how he wanted. This hit the knight too close to home.
"The hell you say?" he growled, grabbing him by the collar with his off hand. "You lay your hands on her just because you're her father? Just because of some broken glass? Daughters are worth more than some piece of property. Daughters are to be protected! That's final!"

Gabriel was knocked a quite bit back from the blow, and while stumbling back he managed to keep juggling, before he could speak he saw James fighting against the man. "Sir Hawthorne! I know as a knight in shining armor you feel you have to save the day. BUT." Gabriel gritted his teeth at the man, "This is my fight. I need to do this Sir Hawthorne! He may be bigger than me, but I need to stand up to him! Not you! You would just show that the person with the bigger stick solves conflicts, but I know in my heart that I ca- NO I must solve this! Please Sir Hawthorne..."

Gabriel glared at the man, "You and me. Outside, after all I doubt you want to cause damages to your 'precious' kitchen even though you don't mind harming your daughter. And you know what I won't even use my daggers, or my animal buddy. Just two men, with nothing but their fists and feet. Lets settle this once and for all. "

"I said: Who the hell are you tellin' me how to raise my daughter?" the man repeated menacingly.

"And what the hell does a guy like you know? I put years out of my life, settling down here just to raise her. She didn't even turn out a boy." the chef said, angrily scratching his beard.His eyes landed on James' hands. He backed away slightly, putting his hands on the kitchen counter. He looked back up to James, the chef glaring at him. He growled, then spit into the sink.

As the halfling spoke, however, a laugh formed over the man's face. "And what kind of punch does a half pint like you pack huh?" the chef laughed. He reached to his back and untied his apron, throwing it onto the counter. He then grabbed a glass, filled it then drank it, dumping it into the sink. "Aight son. Name yer conditions. What do I git if I win?"

"You do have a choice, it's just one choice is much smarter than the other," Morthos said to her. "Look, I know you don't want to leave your friends behind. But they can handle it, I've met the guy they're confronting. Not a good guy, he's big but I bet your halfling friend can outmaneuver him. I'm just worried the room will get trashed. So for now we can go outside and wait for this to end. We can get to know each other, I feel like I've met you but at the same time I don't. So what do you say?"

Gabriel smirked at the man, "Well first off I won't be in your business anymore, and I will get the others to not act in your business to the best of my abilities. I'll also cover the glasses that were broke. If that isn't enough, shoot I'll add some more incentives. After all you are such a big, strong man, you shouldn't have ANY problems beating a squirt like me should you now? If you lose, you get out of this town forever, and leave your daughter alone for good." Gabriel glanced at the man, "Are those suitable conditions to you? Or do you want to add or change anything?" Gabriel turned to James, "As soon as we settle the terms, let him go outside on his own accord." Taliesin continued growling at the chef, as he began licking his chops. Gabriel turned to him, "Sorry boy but you won't ge-" Taliesin peered at Gabriel curiously, before continuing to growl at the chef in a menacing manner.

"But...! ...Okay," the Sprite sighed. "Let's go outside then," she softly said as she got up from her seat. She still didn't feel comfortable about just walking away when Gabriel and Kenneth were so obviously in a bad situation, but the others did raise some good points. Staying inside wouldn't help anyone anyway, not to mention that it would only attract unwanted attention to them too. That is, if there was even a single person in the entire town that didn't hear Gabriel's boisterous shouting.

"Deal" the chef responded.

The chef reached to the bottom of his shirt, taking it off and throwing it to a corner. He revealed an incredibly muscular physique as well as two tattoos; an intricate tattoo on his left arm which covered the full sleeve, depicting a muscular man with wings, posing with one arm in the air, and the other arm level; the other tattoo on his chest which read "Veni, Vidi, Vici". Angrily, he stomped outside, waiting for Gabriel to do the same.

Gabriel nodded at the man, and making sure that Taliesin didn't lunge after the man.He stopped juggling his blades as he returned them into their holsters. Gabriel then escorted Taliesin out of the tavern, and looked for a place to tie up Taliesin up again. Once he tied him up he placed his backpack down. He then began unbuttoning the top of his motley outfit, and once he got it off, he opened up his bag and placed it in. Gabriel had an lean muscular physique, but nothing really intimidating at all. Gabriel then removed the holsters from his pants, starting with the right side, then moving to the left. He tossed all eight of his throwing knives in his backpack as he looked for a party member to hold onto his bag. "Anyone want to hold onto this for me?" Gabriel glared towards the man, "Want to establish any ground rules in the fight? Or No-holds barred? Well other than the fact besides no weapons."

Kenneth followed along with the group, resisting the urge to drop every horrible spell he knew on the cook. He briefly considered using his magics to strengthen the halfling instead, but he realized that if this Gabriel wanted to go at it alone he would be most displeased if he found he had unwanted assistance, not to mention it would be cheating in what was supposed to be a contest between men. So, he did the one thing he knew he could do: he walked to the man's daughter and asked her if she was injured. "I'm a priest, I've been helping others during my stay. I can help you".

Rue blinked, mumbled and followed after Gabriel and the Tavern keep he had taken exception with. Rue herself wasn't precisely comfortable with the way he treated his daughter, but this entire thing was going too far. If she had any sense, she would've stepped in and stopped it before it got any worse.

Nevertheless, she said nothing and followed, wondering idly what the Black Road's policy was in regards to clients dueling locals.

The barmaid followed the adventurers as well as her father outside. She looked too worried to say anything, instead, she had her arms together, close to her body, biting on her fingernails. Her legs were trembling and her knees faced inwards. The chef seemed to have the opposite expression. His face was grumpy, stern, and focused on the halfling. His muscles were all tense, rippling as veins popped from his arms and face. He growled, then spit again. The sound of some nocturnal bird of prey could be heard from the outside. "KAW!" it screeched, the sound echoing through the dungeon. A large mote of dust swept between Gabriel and the chef.

"Just our fists. No funny business." the chef answered, clenching his fists. "You've got some nerve. Trouncing into my establishment like that." He put an arm out, gesturing the halfling to start.

"What are you waitin' for? I can't get much older."

Gabriel glanced to his party, "No matter what happens DON'T interfere. Only drag me out if I can't keep fighting." He glanced at the Chef and spat, "You've got some nerve. Treating your daughter like that." Gabriel glanced at his immediate surroundings, as he began bobbing up and down on his feet, as he kept his guard over his torso. "Alright then." He quickly moved towards the Chef as he gave a quick right jab at the man, and if possible would immediately start moving away.

The chef took a menacing stance, arms in front of his face. Looking at Gabriel, he adjusted his stance to meet Gabriel's height. When Gabriel charged, the chef waited for the right moment, before kicking his legs back and holding his arms forward. He attempted a sort of sprawl, placing his hands on Gabriel's shoulders, trying to drag him onto the dirt.
"USELESS!" he shouted.