"This all seems a bit excessive, and what do you plan to do with that blood?"
Tirarian noted Brian one last time. Always was stupid, probably deserved it. Elric would want to know.

"I dunno yet." James lied, picking up the bucket. "For all you know, I have some foreign ritual where I use it as war paint."

He gave the body a push, letting it swing like pendulum.
"Alright let's go." he said, exiting the alley. "I need to check up on Elric, make sure he's not up to anything funny."

A confused look crossed Tirarian's face. First he kills a man, then casually fills a bucket of blood before casually walking off.
"Not the guilds? You make a girl suspicious, you know that, Sir."

"I could say the same to you." James replied. "After all, I may have done the deed, but you stood by and watched."
With that, he set back on the path, northward.

"Perhaps I was so stunned I couldn't move. The only man who doesn't respond to questions is the one who is afraid of the answers. Why did you say you were going to the guilds?"

"And yet, upon regaining your composure you relished idle chatter." James retorted.
"Moreover, what do you care whether a stranger has business with a local guild? Are you its guildmaster? If not, my business is mine."

"What are you trying to prove sir? I cope with things by showering it with idle chatter, that's why me and Elric get along so well. But you feel no remorse at what you just did?"

After meeting with Elric and making sure he was alright, Trafalgar walked with Corrine back to her house, making sure she was safe. She wasn't exactly in control of herself as the wine she had drunk before was starting to kick in again, making her lose footwork. After leaving her at her house, Trafalgar wandered around the town, finally finding an old couple who would house him for the night as the Hippogriff was in bad shape and all the other inns/taverns had closed down a long time ago.

---

*Yawn* "Ah, finally a good nights sleep" Trafalgar said as he sat up in his bed. Well, not exactly his because he was just a guest in that old couples house but it did the trick nonetheless, he got the refreshing sleep he needed. As he got out of bed, the pain from the rough horse-riding he did the other night reminded him why he didn't like horses in particular...

He proceeded to wash his face, dress up and go downstairs where he was welcomed by the couple who had woken up earlier than him.
"Oh, good morning young man, did you sleep well last night?" the old lady asked Trafalgar.
"I sure did! You have no idea how much i needed that, especially after wandering around the town, trying to find an open inn..."
"We heard what happened to Pucksy's Jolly Hippogriff. Poor Pucksy, he is a good man, I don't know why anyone would want to hurt him" the old man said.
"Well, I don't think he was targeted in particular. That...thing that attacked the inn seemed like it wanted something else. If not, it would have destroyed the Hippogriff completely..."
"By the gods, what is happening to this town..." the lady muttered, her voice hinting her sadness.

Trafalgar quickly finished the breakfast the lady had made for him and much to the couples disapproval, left them one gold piece as pay. It was the only thing he could do to repay them for their hospitality. Bidding farewell to the old couple, he walked outside, making his way towards the Astronomer's guild. That was why he came to this piece of land in the first place...

Remington stared at the little girl as she was yelling down to Elric. Damn it! He's doing such a good job at keeping him hostage, that'll it'll reveal something's amiss! He thought to himself. Remington knew he'd have to come up with something to explain Elric's lack of response. But as the Empire would know, that old Remington was so smart and so slick, that he could easily think up a lie and he thought it up quick.

Remington smiled at Anya, "Oh I'm no stranger, not a stranger at all. I am a friend of Elric's you see. He is such a nice man, and when I saw his place was a mess I had to stop by to give him a visit. But, alas." He paused for a moment, trying to produce a few fake tears, which for an agent stationed in covert operations, was fairly easy for him to do. He spoke up with his voice trembling, "He seemed rather ill, must have happened from last night. So he asked me, his dear friend to check out his study to make sure a few things were alright." He dabbed the tears around his eyes with his right hand as he glanced back at Anya, all the while his pupils darting like a hawk at Elric's desk.

---

Ah the Astronomer's Guild, it was a magnificent building, which was rather unique in comparison to other buildings around town. First off, it had a few spiraling-esque towers, made of stone. which all had a large opening, inside it's peaked oak wooded roofs, where bronzed telescopes pierced and gazed into the heavens. And, if you were looking down back at them, or rather if you were inside the courtyard, you would notice that it took up the majority of the space, not the actual building itself. Again the way it was designed provided a lovely image into the night sky.

As Trafalgar was heading towards the Astronomer's Guild he would feel a bump by a Half-Orc, as several papers flew from the man's right hand, and scattered all across the ground. The Half-orc gritted his fangs as he began grumbling, "Oh no, no, no, my research documents!" He quickly bent down, as he began collecting the papers that fell, as one of them began blowing away in the breeze past Trafalgar. "Apologizes." The Half-Orc stated to Trafalgar, as he finished collecting the papers, and counting them. His face turned into a grimace as he realized, he was missing a paper. His sausage-like fingers flipped through the pages to do a second check, to see that, oh dear, he did in fact miss a single paper.

Ark'kruy'ek along with three of his pack members were heading to the outskirts of the town. He had gotten word that there was a Gnoll that attacked several people. Ark'kruy'ek already knew what this was gonna lead to. This would cause a lot more trouble and racism that his pack didn't need. He didn't like the idea of his pack getting into midst like this. If the alliance his pack had was to end than that would lead to a lot of hardships down the road on both sides of the conflict. Ark'kruy'ek and his members had gotten to the meeting point and waited. He didn't know what were to happen. A couple words of racism and a few insults no doubt. Ark'kruy'ek already knew what kind of questions he was going to be asked because he had thought about the worst. If it was a member of his pack then there was a lot of things that he wouldn't be able to explain. "Here I am trying to make sure we aren't treated like dogs and make a better name for ourselves and things like this have to happen." He growled at the thoughts. He only hoped that the one he was meeting with wouldn't jump to accusations and assumptions. It's those kind of actions that cause fights and Ark'kruy'ek was sure that wasn't something he would like to happen.

As Ark'kruy'ek made it to the rendevouz spot, a river outside of town that was covered by a few shady trees. He knew it was the spot due to a seemingly out of place rock formation, of three rocks making a small triangle near the river bank, as the Estermere Messenger who called upon Ark'kruy'ek to note and head over to. It was a lovely day, the sun reflecting on the river creating a glistening scene. That is when the Estermere Guardsmen trudged towards the meeting spot.

The man who was leading the Guard formation was a Dwarf, roughly three feet and six inches tall rather short even for Dwarven Kind. On his left eye he had a black eyepatch, which had a large scar that ran up from the top of his face, down to his lower left jawbone of his cheek. His face had a nose which was rather bulbous and flattened, from constant squabbles most likely. He wore some plate armor, sans a helmet, and had a mace on his right side above a small flagon. On his left hip he had a short-sword stuck kept in a sheath, and on his back he carried a buckler. He stroked his bright blonde beard which extended down to his torso. "Oi, so ya came eh?"

On his left and right he was escorted by two humans. The one on the left had his head shaven, and was dressed in some tanned leathers, and stood at five feet and 11 inches. He carried two daggers on his right hip, and on his left had a small hand axe.
The one on the right had short cropped black hair, and she was dressed in chain-mail. On her back she was carrying a warmaul, and she had a short-sword on her left hip.

The Dwarf spoke up again, "Now then. We need to discuss the matters at hand."

Trafalgar walked, looking around the town, trying to find the whereabouts of the Astronomer's guild when he noticed what seemed to be a huge telescope poking behind a couple of buildings. He quickly made his way towards the telescope and in no time he was in front of the Astronomer's guild, or at least that's what he thought it was. He paused, gazing at the building. It was a very unique building, rarely did anyone find something this marvelous built by humans. Trafalgar had heard of the Astronomer's guild many times in the past but that was his first time seeing it in person and it deserved all the praise people gave it.

He started walking again, this time fixated to the building in front of him, so much that he didn't see the man bumping him. When he spoke, Trafalgar instantly knew he was of orcish descent, only orcs possess such a rough Common dialect and Trafalgar had learned to distinguish it from all the other dialects. He turned around to see the man that bumped on him, only to see a paper coming right at him, carried by the wind. Trafalgar grabbed the paper and took a glance at what was written but could hardly understand it. He presumed it was written in Orcish and didn't give it any more thought.

"U huh, might this be yours?" he asked the man in front of him, curious to see why an Orc would be around these parts and why he carried so many papers around.

The Half-Orc blinked at Trafalgar, who held the paper. As Trafalgar saw it was not written in Orcish, well not primarily but it had annotations in Orcish. The paper itself looked like a page in a series, the page that Trafalgar carried was one that detailed something called the Ashrin Constellation. Mostly the paper was focused on its location, coordinations of where it recently was and other small facts.

"Yes! Yes!" The Half-Orc eagerly replied. He reached for the paper, and placed alongside the other series of papers. The Half-Orc was dressed in a simple grey linen robe, which was a tad small on him, and had no shoulders, revealing his burly arms. He had dark brown eyes, and skin with a green sludge like quality. His brown hair was in a top-knot. The Half-Orc smiled as he bared his sharpened fangs which were a murky yellow.

"Thank you." He gave a nod to the man, "Rovtar Blackblood." He said, introducing himself.

The evening was a hazy one. Perhaps the alcohol really had gotten to Corinne's head. She wasn't an avid drinker, so knowing her limits would have been...an interesting question to pose to the elf who somehow found herself in her bed the next morning, dishevelled and surprisingly well rested, though still half-asleep as morning's light crept in through the windows of her room in her uncle's house and she groaned into the pillow and turned over.
Half an hour passed before she managed to wake herself up again, and get a proper look of herself.
Good gods in heaven above...
She cleaned herself up, showered for just a little under forty-five glorious minutes of cleansing her soul as well as her mind and body of the after-effects of last night, and trying to recollect thought.
Trafalgar had taken her home. Thank goodness. She might just have been incoherent enough to make it there herself. Her house was close to Elric's though. Closer than Shork's, which could have served an alternative. She had no idea where he was though.
...if he did anything as similar to hiding the keys to the front door under a mound of dirt outside the comfortable shack, she'd be damned.

---

Morning went by with another little list of tasks. She was to fetch her uncle, and check the commission list for hunted meats or goods the people of Estermere had requested of her, find Shork, pair up with Shork, and go out and get them, then sell them, then split the money.
She wobbled a little when she made her way down the stairs, and she wondered just how she managed to throw herself up them the night before, to be greeted by a worried neigh, followed by a relieved whinny from the little makeshift stable her uncle had built when she was littler. It only had about three stalls, though one of them had a particular stallion gazing intently in her direction. She ducked back into the house and snagged a green apple from the kitchen before making her way outside again. The light caught on the hood she wore, though she'd swapped the blouse and breeches for another pair, a delicate mint string-shirt atop dark breeches now with the chestnut boots in check. She'd do the washing the day after, since it was one of the days where she was scheduled to wash, anyway. And on those days, hunting was left primarily to Shork, and she'd spend time at home finishing off chores, or spending whatever little time she could with her uncle, if he hadn't used his free-time to resort and retreat back to his liquor stores.
The front door was locked and double-checked. She'd be damned if those...things came.
She knew their names, but they were still so horribly foreign to her. She'd hardly seen any in her life.
Little did she know a whole pack existed under her nose. Right there in lovely Estermere.

Regardless, those thoughts were pushed to the side, and the stall door swung open, and her using the handy dagger at her hip to cut through the apple, offering one half to the horse who greedily snatched it from her palm, and biting into the other half herself. Breakfast was usually on the fly. Lunch was her favourite meal. Dinner, she usually spent at a very quiet table with her uncle.
Saddling up the stallion after a quick currying session was no trouble at all, and he gleamed as gorgeous a red as he did on any day and in any light as she pulled herself up and on top of him, and trotted off the soft, earthy surrounding land near the quaint house her uncle owned, and onto cobblestone paths again to make her way to the Hippogriff, or what was left of it. She was convinced she'd find Uncle Seb on the way there.
...and she did, but not very far from the location at all. In the time she'd taken to get up, dressed, complete basic chores and checks, curry the horse and get going, he'd gotten up, stretched, assessed the situation, and now looked at her with those easygoing deep grey eyes.
They were the same as her mother's. There was an amazing intensity about them. She'd gotten her father's hazel ones, with flecks of greys and greens from her mother's side. Nothing less, but sometimes she did find herself a little envious.
He reminded her so much of her mother, with his human father and her elven one being such contrasts, it was hard to tell they were half-siblings at all.
The half-elf's human side shone through. His stubble only just started to manifest itself, a deep brown like the messy scruff of hair that started to grow again, creeping down the nape of his neck.
"Uncle, you..."
"I know, Corinne."
"...but it is not right, in any way, for you to be inebriated like that. It...I was worried about you."
"I'm here, aren't I, little Corinne?" he gave her a lazy smirk. He was a terribly charming man, and she couldn't deny it. It's why she let him off the hook time and again.
"...you are. The tavern is a mess."
"I know. What happened last night? I don't remember...it's all very hazy."
"There was an attack by some rabid dog-like creatures."
"Gnolls."
"...is that what they're called again?"
"You've seen them before."
"No...no I haven't". Corinne thought back. Maybe...maybe she had.
"I know you have. We coexist. Come, let's go home."
And he took one of the elf's hands and gave it a squeeze, before proceeding to walk the cobblestone path again, back to their little house. The elf followed with a relieved sigh. At least Uncle Sebastian was okay.
...at least he was okay.

Though something rather curious played on the elf's mind as they made their way back slowly...
And Corinne was half in the mind to stop and ask a certain blacksmith's son about a certain rumour about a certain ring she remembered having heard, that day...

Ark'kruy'ek looked at the dwarf and the two humans that accompanied him. Ark'kruy'ek kneeled down to look eye to eye with the dwarf. "Before talk, we respect each other...no conflict." It was obvious Ark'kruy'ek couldn't speak perfectly in certain parts of a conversation. "The messenger said Gnoll attacked people. You want to know if it was my pack." Ark'kruy'ek let out a short huff and thought for several seconds. "Describe the Gnoll. I need fur color, fur pattern, scars or I don't know." Ark'kruy'ek looked back to the three pack members who were looking around. He let out a bark and they became more focused on the guards. Ark'kruy'ek stood up from kneeling. "If you can't describe Gnoll...then bring who can." Ark'kruy'ek stabbed his sword into the ground to as a sign that he would be patient.

The Dwarf glared at the Gnoll with his good eye, as the man on the left barked out, "YOU demand peace from us you fil-" he was interrupted by the Dwarf who raised his right hand. "It's a miracle the thing speaks Common." He said as the man backed down.

The Dwarf spoke up again, "No conflict will be brought from our end." The Dwarf's battle worn lips curled into a small smile at the Gnoll's gesture of throwing the sword down. "
Aye. I can talk of the Gnoll, but the body seems to be missing. The reports tell of how he led an abnormally large hyena." The dwarf snapped his fingers as both the male and female guard spoke in union. "Grushtov."

The dwarf nodded, "The Gnoll was around six to seven feet in height. He had yellow eyes, and green fur around the head and face. After discarding the cloak.. The beast was primarily another shade of green with black stripes. Do you have any Gnolls of that description among you?"

As morning rose, Julia walked quietly through the town, reviewing the hustle and bustle of its everyday life. Her lips curled into a small grin as she noticed the Hippogriff. Either she was stepping into trouble, or the aftermath of it, but she was relieved to find someplace that wasn't picture perfect. Reaching into one of her many pockets, Julia slowly pulled out her flask, uncorking the bottle and taking a small sip of whatever was inside. She looked over the wreckage and thought “I could live here, now to find someplace to stay…”

Julia placed the flask back in her pocket, spun on her heels, and looked towards the rest of the town. “A place to stay, a place to stay” she muttered quietly as she scanned the city streets. Pushing a piece of hair behind her slightly pointed ears, she noticed an interesting pair nearby. It’s been a while since she saw another half-elf, staying mostly in small towns with humans only, it was refreshing to say the least. With a confident stride, she lugged her belongings along to catch up with Corinne and her uncle.

“Excuse me, miss?”, Julia called out politely. “Pardon me”, she dipped her head to the girl, finally catching her attentions, “Do you know where there is another tavern, perhaps not so damaged and delinquent? Or a place for me to settle in for the evening? I just arrived and I am quite tired from my travels.”

Corinne and her uncle were just about leaving the scene when the girl caught the sound of someone calling out, and noticed a figure with flaming red hair hurrying towards them. Corinne stayed her horse, who sniffed a little and turned his head in her direction as she made her way closer. He wasn't wary of her, her presence was written off as a non-malevolent one initially, and the calm of her horse reassured the elven woman, who ran her fingers through the dark hair of his mane and returned the woman's smile. Her uncle's ears pointed as well, and he turned to notice the youth. He looked her over once or twice. She was new to Estermere, he could gauge. He'd never seen her before.

"Oh, hello there." Corinne nodded warmly at the lady, having to look down at her from her position up on her horse. "...I do apologise sincerely about this tavern, it's one of the better ones in the area if you might like to believe it. It also happens to be where the more friendly of the townsfolk gather come evening. My uncle and I were just there the evening before, yet a series of unfortunate events made it a little less than absolutely desirable at this current point in time."
She paused, barely thrown off the ball for too long, before her sentence continued with a pair of twinkling blue-green eyes in the light. Maybe it was the sunlight. Though perhaps it was the fully elven glow about them.
"Actually, my uncle here and I are heading to the local blacksmith..." and as the words were spoken, Corinne's eyes went to the young woman's sword. Though they didn't linger for very long, she'd initially dismissed her frame as being not the hardiest with it. But she must carry it around for a reason, "You should be able to find the second biggest tavern in the area there, you cannot miss it. Come, let's walk together." she smiled now, sitting a little more upright on her horse. She was surprised Uncle Seb hadn't had his input yet, bu-

"Why, hello, young lady." the half-elven man chuckled, the residue of ale very, very faint but still present on his lips, "If you're planning on keeping up with us, at least let Lysander take your baggage. It seems like an unfortunate lot for a poor soul to be carrying." and Corinne found herself shuddering at the thought of lugging around so much. She wasn't the hardiest in frame. But that's where Lysander made up for what she lacked. He was a drafting horse after all, best specialised to carrying heavy loads. During their hunts, he was hardly ever used for the 'stealthy pursuit' of prey, but moreso the lugging them back if ever Shork had too much on his hands.
The initial few times he absolutely refused. But Lysander got used to it.
"He's quite right," Corinne added, punctuated by another little snort from the stallion, "I'm sure Cherry here wouldn't mind the extra load. Would you?"
And the horse snorted again, though showed no other signs of displeasure.

"My name is Sebastian, miss." her uncle added with a little bow, curious grey eyes twinkling and him running a hand through his messy hair in an attempt to smooth it out. He might have been much older than her, but he still made it a point to look suave for the ladies. And with his half-elven bloodline, it wasn't too difficult a feat. You could tell Corinne wasn't his daughter by a long-shot. She was more her father's girl, though she had her mother's face in the way it lifted and curved, and how the tips of her ears stuck out through the poker-straight curtains of auburn hair. She pushed her own fringe back, in vain however.
"And I'm Corinne. Come..." she almost purred as the clacking of hooves against the cobblestone continued a little bit on, "You...you're elven somehow, yes? But...not quite. You remind me a lot of my uncle. A half-elf, are you not? Where do you hail from?"
And her words held no spite. In fact, there was a warmth about them, an almost piteous warmth. She'd assumed being a half-elf was hard as is. Her uncle had always been a strong man, and used the best of both sides of his human and elven bloodline, but in the end everyone breaks down and finds solace.
His was in alcohol.

-

Julia chortled slightly watching Sebastian, she caught the residue of ale quickly and couldn't help but grin. Leaving her own flask at her side in respect of the two, she moves by their side to join them on their journey.

“Thank you so very much, you’re both very kind. My name is Julia.”, dips her head to them as they all continue on. At this point, she has made no effort to unload her baggage onto the horse, merely accompanying them on their walk. Julia’s fiery red hair is pulled back in a loose braid, leaving the wavy front pieces free to fly about in the wind if they chose. Her brown leather boots seemed worn and muddy, as if she’d been traveling for days. That was about the only dirty piece on her though. Moving up, her pants were of a darker brown than her boots, pockets designed all over, loose fitting, though hugged her bottom nicely. Her deep blue, fitted silk shirt complimented her outfit. Over the shirt was a light brown leather vesture. The collar rose over her neck and folded outward, but only slightly, the shoulders too extended outward slightly. Her shirt poofed out at her elbows where the vesture didn't cover. Her hood, which was drawn down already, hung over the back, covering a few sloppy stitches, made by someone who obviously isn't the greatest at doing repairs to the leather piece. Her pale blue eyes twinkled slightly as the twilight of the morning sky shuffled over their heads, moving into afternoon seamlessly.

“I am half, yes, to answer your question. Though that would be all that I know about it. I come from a slew of islands, quite a bit of a ways out from your nearest port town. But I am here now, and that is all that matters.” she says, trying to dismiss the question. “What is your drink of choice?” she looks to Sebastian as she speaks. “You look like a man who can hold his liquor,”, she says with a sly grin, “please allow me to buy you a drink, to thank you for the kindness you've shown me today.”

“And if you wouldn't mind, I’ll accompany you to the blacksmith first, and then find my way to the tavern from there.I’m sure some improvements can be done to my sword, I don’t believe it’s seen a blacksmith in years” she chortles softly as they walk along, looking up at Corinne with a nod. “But truly, if there is any way that I can repay you both, please let me know. Kindness is a rarity in this world I've found.”