Cagan grunted as he handed money to the fairy men and wander off into the town of adeny, placing poster all around to meet at the tavern for his recruiting. Though cagan knew he needed the help it wasn't as satisfying to have to beg for others over have an army at his side. But still finding new talent was always useful and most of the ruffians they call warriors would do anything more than just get in the way. He was offering a lot of money due to the fact he knew this was important and that most of those who joined would quit or die in the process, it was dirty but the only way he saw to get past this. Now entering town square cagan smiled at a young boy who accidentally bumped into him and dropped a sweetroll. "HEY LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO" the boy shouted angry as his mother came of and apologized to the knight who towered over them in his tree like frame. Cagan looked them over before laughing loudly at the two causing them to quiver. "not at all it was my fault your boy's sharp I need to watch were my flanks even out of battle if I want to be a good fighter" the man chuckled before tossing them a coin. "here get another on me, as a way of saying sorry" the young man mutter before walking away leaving the two confused. The man continued to post more of the request until it was time to head to the tavern

Kieran was already in The Spider's Nest Tavern with Cana at his side, as always. He had asked the bar wench for some old stew bones that his wolf could chew on during their stay, which Cana was currently enjoying. Many different characters were currently housed in the tavern, men and women alike. A short, drunken bard strummed a harp in the right corner and sang a song of some valiant warrior from a far off land. Being pretty inexperienced in the means of social exchanges, Kieran chose to watch the people from the end of the bar. His eyes followed a scantily clad dark-haired woman with particular interest. More beast than man, if the woman happened to notice his gaze, she would easily see his desire and intention. Kieran had spent the day selling his animal furs and other botanical things that he had collected in the surrounding forests, and he was eager to find a fun way to spend his coins.

Cane in hand Katherin carefully made her way through the strews. She was headed in the local tavern. She knew that she would hear the most current news and rumors there. She listened to conversations as she made her way. She heard that someone was looking for warriors. While she wasnt exactly a fighter she was an adventure and she was curious if she could join the group. She waited patiently for someone to open the door. With the door open she easily slip into the travers. She stopped just inside the door and removed her good revealing her long curly red hair. She paused in the doorway with her head tilted as she listened to the sounds in the room.

"So...this is the place."

Kage stood on top of a building's tall chimney, glancing around the town below him. After spending the last five years in the Dire Mountains to the west, battling warriors, knights, and the occasional orc camp and militia, along with numerous beasts that dwelled inside of stone caverns, he was back in civilization...changed for the better, or the worst? Only time would tell. In his right hand, the exiled samurai held a waiver...signifying that there would be some sort of meeting...for a quest...held inside of the Spider Nest Tavern. This was his newest assignment as the leader of the Shadow Alliance. See what was going on, and if possible, help to rectify the problem before it began troubling the Alliance. A challenging task...he hoped. Without another thought on the matter, Kage pocketed the note, taking one more glance around before pushing off on his right foot and blasting into the air. He was a black blur as he leaped from obstacle to obstacle, heading for the tavern.

---

As Kage entered the tavern, he could hear the voices and sounds die down a bit as the more...hard-boiled thugs examined the newcomer. To anyone else, Kage would appear rather...odd, with his unique armor and clothing. Regardless, the ronin ignored the small amount of attention, walking towards the end of the bar and sitting by what seemed to be a male of elven heritage, and whom also seemed to have a...wolf as a pet? A tad uncommon.

"Water, please." Kage's deep, apathetic voice was quiet and sharp, as the man sat and rested his hands in his lap. Samurai politeness was hard to let go, after all.

Nyala despised cities. Soft, weak men and women, milling about aimlessly like herd animals. They were not true men by any means, not like the Njord folk for certain and the stench... even as she walked a chamber pot was being emptied carelessly out of a second story window into the alley between buildings, narrowly missing a group of urchins. Where the others seemingly wandered aimlessly she stalked among them like a predator, moving those standing before him aside with nothing but her stern gaze. She also drew the gazes of those she passed. It was not simply her long crimson hair, nor her attire or toned muscles that drew their eyes. It was her stance, her manner of walking, the sheer force of her personality projected before her like a boat's prow cleaving the waves.

Unfurling the poster she had ripped from the fence while entering the city her sharp eyes, so keen at finding their way through the woods found themselves wanting for landmarks. Each street looked the same, all the world beneath her bare feet simply cobblestone. Where were the trees and their unique forms, the twists of paths and other landmarks that made finding one's way simple. Finally, giving up she'd ascended the side of a building and cut across several rooftops in her search for this frustrating Odin be damned tavern.

After a long conversation with the town guardsmen who took some offense to her climbing about she was on the right track. The guards had been quite helpful, despite very carefully implying, lest the dangerous looking woman take offense, that only thieves and brigands took to the rooftops, what they called the "Thieve's Highway" and that she should not do so again. They also mentioned something about "peace bonding" her blades but then seemed to think better of it and simply asked that she not try and cause any trouble while there.

Finally, after something of an adventure in itself, she stood at the threshold of the tavern, pausing only slightly to examine the strange wings that served as doors. What was most interesting was that they seemed to close on their own via some sort of curls of metal. How strange these city folk were. Doors that did not keep in the warmth and closed themselves as if those that went through them were too slothful to do so themselves. She entered, letting the strange slats slap her on the buttocks as she entered and immediately stalked towards the ale keeper and thrust the poster directly before his face.

"I want a tankard," she proclaimed, "and to know where to join these slayers!"

Eirhiun strolled through the streets, her newly received money safe and secure in a small bag. She had just finished delivering an order she received from a local medicinal store, and was in a rather bright mood. Just because she was away from her family's shop didn't mean she would stop helping. Since she arrived in Adeny, she spent her days exploring the town, and just happened upon the aforementioned store in a predicament. Their orders hadn't arrived at the time, and luckily, they happened to be orders for her family's products. Of course, she helped them after introducing herself, and it became a nice way to earn a decent amount of money every once in a while.

Nearing the tavern, she caught a glimpse of an interesting poster, and back-tracked a few steps to take a closer look. A recruitment poster. Fighting to death wasn't her thing, but if she joined, she would be able to travel more- it'd be safer, too. Besides, Chip was getting a little restless. The lack of action was painful for him.

Reaching a conclusion, Eirhiun continued to make her way towards the tavern with the intentions of checking out the meeting mentioned on the recruitment poster. Before she stepped foot into the tavern, however, Eirhi lifted her hat, where a small fluffy white bird was settled underneath. She nudged the bird, Chip, awake, and waited for him to fully awoken before reaching for the bag of coins she received. "Chip, can you bring this up into our room? And remember to close the window!"

The bird chirped before taking the fairly light bag of money and flew upwards towards their room. With that taken care of, Eirhi entered the tavern, and took a seat at the bar, a little away from where the customers tended to crowd. The first thing she noticed upon walking in was the lack of boisterous noise. The drunken regulars were there, so it was more than a little odd. The second thing was several interesting figures she had never seen at the tavern before- thought that wasn't anything new. People come and go, but with the recruitment posters on more than a few places in the town, Eirhi thought it was right of her to wonder if they were also in the tavern for the meeting.

Alir had just walked into town. Some people turned to look at her. With her hood up over her head hiding her ears and her cloth mask covering her mouth she was a interesting figure. Especially with her bow and quiver of glistening arrows on her back. Her blonde hair that fell out of her hood stood out against her forest green armor. She walked along the streets, silently and she spotted one of the posters out of the corner of her eye. She stopped and walked over to it.

After she finished reading the poster she sat down against the pole and thought. An adventure would be fun but I just got back from one and who knows who I would have to work with. I guess I'll join. She stood up and walked to the tavern that wasn't to far from where she had been sitting. She walked into the tavern silently and sat down at a table in the corner.

Effie jumped down from the rooftop and into the alley, barely avoiding a puddle of foul-smelling liquid that was obviously urine. Flicking her red mane out of her face and removing the white mask from her countenance, Effie grinned. It was a terrifying sight, really. A woman with weapons strapped to her body like individual hairs grown on a dog and a suspicious crimson liquid splattered across her body paired with the wicked smile that gleamed in the dark. If anyone were to see her, they would probably faint. Effie grasped the first poster she found and wiped down her body, the blood smearing easily on the parchment. She took a moment to study the stains on the poster before she noticed the words that decorated it.

"Blah, blah, blah, Spider Nest Tavern, blah, blah, blah, recruitment something, something, something." she mocked to herself, her eyes skipping the dull parts. "Hm, I could use a drink...and if there's money involved, I might join in."

Nodding to herself in confirmation, she gripped the poster and travelled through the alleyways. Effie was careful to avoid the main streets, she would hate it if she was questioned about the recent assassination in the city. Hilalo Waker's death was messy and Effie had a hard time removing everything that could link to her identity, even going as far as to pluck every single red strand of hair from the room. Finally she found the side door to the tavern and she entered it nonchalantly. Taverns were filled usually with thugs that wouldn't bother to look twice at her, or so she hoped. There was that one town that was insanely pure and was strict on morals - when they saw her, a third of the population protested for her burning. Once entered, she approached two males at the bar; one was elven and the other was...peculiar. She didn't say anything, but she carefully and surreptitiously inspected them for a matching poster. It was best to know her allies before they knew her, or else they might be potential enemies.

"Ale." Effie muttered when the bartender glanced at her curiously. He nodded, swiping a glass from the shelf and filling it to the brim.

It wasn’t long before a slew of people started entering the tavern. Kieran shifted uncomfortably in his chair, just wanting to enjoy a quiet drink and hopefully a good mating, oblivious to the posters recruiting fighters. First, a red-haired woman walked in, a cloak and cane revealing that she probably practiced magicks of some sort. Next in was a dark-haired male wearing odd, unnatural-looking armor. Kieran’s first instinct was to not like the guy, but when he came and sat next to him at the bar, Cana lifted her head to sniff him and went back to happily chewing on her bones. “She’s a good judge of character, doesn’t approve of many. Consider yourself special.” He said somewhat sarcastically to the pointy-eared fellow next to him before taking another gulp of ale.

After a few moments of enjoyable quiet, the doors thundered open again and in walked one hell of a woman. Kieran set down his drink to watch this one. She was adorned in leather and furs, much like his own, except she didn’t smell of druid. Barbarian… he thought to himself, those ones were nice and feisty. When she loudly proclaimed her desire for a tankard, he smiled, completely forgetting about the scantily clad dark-haired woman he had his eyes on earlier. “I don’t know anything about the slayers she speaks of, but get that woman the drink she desires!” Kieran said as he flipped a few coins to the bartender.

After her arrival, a few others joined, and Kieran was beginning to think there was some secret meeting that he was unaware of going on. Polishing of his ale, and then ordering another, Kieran waited for the curious events to unfold.

"Well it sounds like I am in the right place." Katherin commented to herself. The problem was that the room was so crowded that she couldn't really tell where everyone. She didnt want to make a fool of herself by trying to take someone else's seat. So she let her magic tell her what seats were taken and which were free at the moment. Then using her cane to guide her through the crowd she made her away to an empty seat. "This is be very interesting to hear."

Cagan waited a good time before leaving his room in the tavern and dawning his armor, the silver gleam was duller than expected of a high ranking crusader as himself. Still the man was sure it did its job of protecting his thin body. quickly swinging his sword a few times before sheathing it and going down to lower room filled with the common riffraff that thought they'd be able to make a quick buck, he felt for them. Looking over the people a small few caught his attention, he was about ready to begin the recruiting but he needed a drink to calm his nerves. It was true, despite being a great hero his social skills weren't the best. Sitting next to a samurai looking man the warrior tried not to pay much attention to him. "please a mead" the young man said handing the bartender a coin.

As soon as he received a tall, polished glass of water, Kage nodded his head in thanks, murmuring a quick wording under his breath in an unknown language before taking a sip out of the cold drink. The Elven man next to him mentioned something about his wolf companion approving of the ronin, and Kage allowed a small arch to narrow at his left eyebrow, even though he only murmured an almost silent 'interesting' in response to the other man's observation. A few others entered the room soon after - a red-haired woman, a barbarian woman clad in furs, and a few others that slightly interested him. They are most-likely here for the recruitment, he thought to himself, retrieving said flier from the satchel on his hakuma pants. It mention this tavern, specifically, and although he was as patient as humanly - and elvenly possible, Kage couldn't help but mentally wonder when the meeting would accurately take place. It was taking a while for this to start up, it seems.

The sound of heavy armor leaning into the seat next to him caused the ronin to glance to the left, watching as what seemed to be a knight sat next to him. The other man held the posture of a warrior of commendable strength, but, not a fan of the 'crusader' types - mostly because they were among the many types that he had killed back to the West, when he was sent on massacre missions - Kage opted to simply extend his dark aura around him, listening in on other conversation as he nursed the cold water in front of him. Yamigakure, his pure-black katana, crafted from the bone of a Dire Dragon, and the metal near a supposed 'Portal to Hell', rang in silence, thirsting for blood...as most Demon weapons did. Kage whispered another phrase under his breath, to appease the weapon until they could feel the wonderful blood of their enemies slicing through the air...

seeing the weapon next to him, cagan became uneasy next to the ronin. Quickly finishing his drink the man stood up and alked to the center of the crowded rat hole, ready to speak. The loud conversations and clank around him made it hard to begin with something as simple as asking for there attention but to ask for quiet from louse was like asking a fish not to swim. Sighing as even his shouts were unheard the young crusader knew he'd have to resort to something as brute as his armor would have you think. Quickly the boy smashed a fist hard into the wall, causing a large dent that he hoped the owners of the tavern would not see until he was long gone. He was glad he had gotten there attention but now the hard part began. " if you're here for the recruiting, listen up because this is all going to be important to your mission. In the northern regions of adeny lies a evil of great proportions and we come to you all to ask your help in return for money and heroic name of a savoir. In truth I know for a fact many of you will not survive this quest but know it will be worth the risk, I ask for your name and your hand in battle" the man said looking around at a now silent room, almost immediately after he let out a deep breath the room burst with names, it was as though him saying they would die meant nothing to them. Looking at the thugs he called his troops cagan began to scribble down all the names he heard surprised he had succeeded.

That wasnt the most inspiring invitation she had ever heard but she was looking for an adventure. The possiblity of death never bothered her. She dtood to her feet and looked in the direction if the man who was inviting them join his quest. "Hello fellow adventures. My name is Katherin Winter and I am a human Mage. I specialize in snow and ice spells. I would love to join you on this quest."

Alir waited until a good chunk of the crowd had gotten their name written down then she shoved her way to the front. She pulled down her nose and mouth cover so her voice wasn't muffled by it. "Alir." She said her voice might've been slightly quiet but it was strong and fearless.

Effie took a moment to shine her mask while names that she didn't really care about were shouted across the room. Some she scoffed at because of their hilarity, others she laughed at because of the somber way they were said; either way, she was amused of this group of adventurers or whatever they call themselves. Finally, after waiting behind one woman, she approached the small, thin guy with her hands linked behind her head even though the hilt of her swords jabbed into her biceps.

"Will there be a lot of money? Like...how much? A good size amount or a poor amount? And for those that die...will I be able to have their money too? The name's Effie, but don't put it down unless I get rich from this little uh...quest of yours." she said with a large amount of amusement underlying her tone.

"there will be enough to even impress a powerful lord, and the money of those succumb to an unlawful death may or may not be administered to others based on my king's decision, rest assured you will be please with your money or my name is not cagan" the thin man cheered back to the girl, the others behind her were impatient at first but seeing her weapons quickly lost there gusto. "Now shall I be adding your name, affie?" the lanky man muttered before looking over his long list. So far he had only seen a few that seemed really usefull and having her would add to the short list of those he was sure would survive.

"Effie." the redhead corrected lightly, gazing at the wall while thinking. "I guess so. My usual hobby has been lacking as of late."

By hobby she meant her life of killing people wanted dead by some jealous halfwit who couldn't execute murder on their own. But it was true, it was too easy to kill nowadays and get away with it - it has grown boring and going on an adventure where she could kill things and it not be illegal sounded like a good vacation. Nodding once more to affirm her decision, she moved away from the guy without a second thought and moved to the bar, lifting her fingers high into the air to catch the attention of the bartender.

"Get me your strongest drink."

'...This is it, then.' A disembodied voice - as cold as Kage's own - drifted throughout the half-elf's brain, causing him to narrow his eyes and lightly touch the pure black embroidered hilt of his katana, with rested on his right hip, the sheathe ready to be clicked, and the blade ready to taste the crimson essence of corrupted flesh. It was, indeed, time to get on with his quest, and fulfill whatever destiny his Alliance spread out before him. Multiple people clawed their way to the front of the crowd, eager to sign their name, and Kage slowly stood up, setting his glass down - only a half of the original pure liquid had bee completely downed, and the man hadn't even paid for the water. A large. Orc brute attempted to shove past the motionless ronin, and amongst the quabble of the tavern, no one noticed the sharp 'click' of a katana being sheathed...nor did they noticed a thin red line, spouting out only a pint of blood, appearing on the orc's jugular vein...an instant death. The body swiftly disappeared into the shadows, and Kage continued his way to the front, appearing beside a rather...'tough' lady that had the appearance of an assassin...a class of shadowy warriors that he often worked side by side with on some of his more...dangerous missions.

"Kage...exiled samurai. I give you my blade arm, in exchange for riches." The man's quiet, sharp voice seemed only to register in the ears of those closest to him. Immediately after, he stepped to the side, just as a bustling young adventurer shoved up to the front to scream out his name like an imbecile. Dully, he noticed the assassin move towards the bar, although Kage simply waited for his name and position to be registered.

Once again being reminded of the possibility of death, Eirhi took a moment to ponder on her decision while most of the other people in the tavern rushed to have their names written on the list. She would wait for the crowd to die down a little, if she were to join.

Amidst the noise, Eirhi caught the barely inaudible sound of wings flapping and turned to find Chip flying towards her. The little bird landed on her shoulder, and she decided to get his opinion. "Chip, what do you think? Do you wanna go?"

The bird expressed its eagerness, raring to go for some excitement and break away from their mundane life. Eirhi smiled, and stood up from her seat, "Guess that's it then!"

Once there was enough space in the crowd for her to actually see the crusader who had made the speech, Eirhi waited until she was at the front and cheerfully said with a smile, "Eirhiun Winslet, or Eirhi for short! Travelling alchemist with my partner, Chip!" Eirhi raised her hat, gesturing towards the fluffy white bird who returned himself to his favorite spot on her head.