Thomas stumped along through the knee high snow. He was cold, wet, and miserable, and he could only vaguely see the little town off in the distance. He judged it to be another mile across this open field of bleak white nothingness. Another mile until he could get warm, get a beer, and get to sleep. A copse of trees stood off to his right, dark and ominous. He glanced at them occasionally, it was the perfect place for the Kobolds that terminally plagued southern Sweden to hide. A midget breed of Goblin, he wasn't too worried about the creatures, but he had no interest at all in fighting in his current state. His Spanish breastplate clanked as he walked, and he gritted his teeth in annoyance, too tired to do anything about it.

After another agonizing hour and a half, he stumped into the village. A few huts, a blacksmith, and an inn sat haphazardly about, with a small creek flowing alongside the village. He grumbled about the lack of activity, how was any village supposed to get anything done if everybody hid from the snow? He thumped angrily up the steps of the inn's porch and pushed the door open. "Oy!" he bellowed "Where the in bloddin' hell is everybody?" He gazed around. Two men sat at a table, they had the swarthy look of Italians about them, a bit far from home but not completely unreasonable. Another sat by the fire, obviously relatively local, probably from a town or two over stopping in to visit a relative or such. The innkeeper leaned at the bar, drying a mug. Thomas thumped over. He gazed gloomily at the man. "Knight of the order, I need a room and a mug of whatever you've got." He slapped a half of a Spanish "peso de ocho" onto the bar. They still held value, even if the silver market was finally starting to flood over.

The innkeeper nodded and walked off, pointing to a door off to Thomas' right that was presumably his now. Thomas walked to the room, set his bag on the bed and returned to the bar, grabbing the drink as it slid to him. The man by the fire scurried up and sat next to Thomas. He was thin and nervous looking, almost ratty. He gulped and opened his mouth. Thomas raised a hand "Yes, I'm a Knight. Yes, I'm taking business. No, I can't start immediately. Price depends on the problem," he growled. The man gulped again, taken aback. He drummed his fingers nervously on the counter.

"Well you see, sir, we have a...um...nighttime problem. You might have noticed everybody hiding in their houses? That's because the sun is setting and nobody goes out at night at all anymore." Thomas raised an eyebrow.

"Ye got werewolves? They're pretty common 'round here" He asked, casually.

"Well, sort of, not really, i mean..."

"Spit it out man, I don't have all night!" Thomas barked, frustrated.

"We've got ONE werewolf. But he's massive, I've never seen anything like it. The claw marks are big as a man's chest, and the rumors say he stands as tall as the short hut at the end of the row." The man said.

Thomas turned, suddenly very intrigued. "I don't suppose this beast has pure white fur, does it?" he asked, curious.

"Aye, it does. But how did you know that?" The man asked, both confused and terrified.

Thomas frowned. This would not make his mood any better. "Because I've been hunting this beast for months. The myths call him Fenrir, but he isn't the original, just one of his grandboys. He's still a nasty old beast. I'll get started tonight. I'd put this one up at 100 or so Krone, or a piece and a half (OOC: of a peso de ocho)." Thomas drew his sword "I wonder if that recoloring rune still works."

The bitter cold of winter set in as the night began. Miles of snow acros the land and nary a human soul to be seen. Alone she walked, a solitary figure obsured by her cloak, through the forest to the next village. She could see that someone had walked the path recently before her as the snow hadn't yet covered the steps. Someone fairly large and heavy, possibly wearing armor of some description. It was fairly likely that it could be a Knight of the Order given that there were Kobolds in the area. These creatures were difficult to remove completely as they seemed to breed relentlessly. Problematic as they were, She hadn't come this way in search of them. In fact she had seen signs of werewolves, or more specifically one werewolf. It was abnormally large and it's scent was much more potent than any other she had seen. She had heard of this creature several weeks back while tracking one of Aldric's underlings who was less than useful during 'interrogation' leaving her with no information regarding Aldric's whereabouts aside from the fact that he had recently travelled to southern Sweden. Given that she had no other leads she decided to vanquish this foul creature. She would have to procure some kind of silver to pierce it's heart but she didn't expect anything else to be of consequence.

The tracks she had seen concerned her a bit. If a Knight of the Order were indeed tracking this creature as well it may be a bad idea to get involved. Knights of the Order were sworn to vanquish evil creatures and convincing them that she was on their side was likely impossible. She had only ever known one Knight, The Grim Knight Batur Algul. Though it was many years ago now the pain still burned in heart cold heart as if it had happened yesterday.

She soon came upon the village and found that everyone was in their homes. She could hear a family in a house as she passed. "Once the day comes you can visit your friend, child. You musn't go out at night. It isn't safe anymore..." Clearly she had come to the right place. The Inn was still open, it seemed that even with a ferocious beast lurking the woods men would still drink, perhaps even more so now that their lives were at risk. She had never experienced the sensation of being drunk, and honestly had no idea if she could even become drunk anymore, but she imagined it must be a great relief to a person's soul as people always seemed to be jolly while intoxicated. She stepped in softly, not wanting to draw attention. The smell of men and alcohol was strong but bearable. In truth she only came to the Inn because she wanted something sweet to drink. It was rare that she had any money to speak of and the vampire she had recently 'interrogated' no longer had need of his purse. Ruxandra sat at an empty table near the corner and waved a serving girl over. "What can I get you miss?" In her terribly Romanian accent she replied. "I have heard of a sweet drink served in this area made from Billberries. You wouldn't have some of that would you?" The girl knew exactly what Ruxandra was talking about and hurried off to fetch some. Ruxandra noticed a rather impressive man (OOC: Thomas Pallmyr) negotiating some kind of deal with a local at the bar. This man was clearly a capable fighter by the look of him. She hadn't caught the entire converstaion but she suspected the villager might be asking for his help against the werewolf, which would be problematic if that were the case.

@OnlyThePie

Rineska Beauchene

She had left early that morning, in the radiance of the rising sun. Rineska walked along a deer path towards a small port town on Sweden’s southern coastline. With the desire to see the ocean, the girl had continued on an independent journey. Her boots crunched into the dead leaves and snow that littered the ground. The sunshine reached through the bare trees and thick clouds to cast its light onto her armor. Refracted light from her armor gave hidden portions of the underbrush light it hadn't seen in a long time.

Rina’s eyes moved towards a sound of rustling to her right and her left hand slowly drew her sword. The girl was expecting some sort of creature to come out, instead it was a man.

“please!!!” he started. “The monster destroyed everything. I-it's gonna kill me. I'll give you what ever you want just please help me!” the man finished. Judging by his cloths he must be some sort of noble. They were brightly colored with flecks of gold. His hair had once been styled. However, most likely due his great escape, was now dangling loose and dirty.

“I don't run blindly. What is this creature that pledges you?” Rina asked as she pulled a dark red ribbon from her armor to tie her hair back with.

“it came from the earth. Rising when you walk upon it. I-it flattens everything around it, and, and it's huge with rock for skin.” the noble man had described a creature that Rina knew well. Sliding her sword back onto her hip, she nodded to the man but offered no comfort to ease his state of man.

Only turning slightly west, Rineska backtracked the nobles path. What she found at the end wasn't the creature he had described to her. This creature was smaller, winged, and definitely not herbal. Before she could grab a hold of her sword, she herself was released off the ground. With the beast's mouth clamped down on her sword shoulder, she thrashed trying to get loose. The beast tightens its hold on her shoulder, before it took off into the sky.

As the creature flew Rina swung her legs. Giving up on pulling herself free, and giving herself some momentum to reach the blades in her boot. Eventually managing to reach inside her boot with her right hand, she pulled a poisoned blade out. With a hard slash she struck the flying creature. Her blade plunging into its wing. It was only then did it let go of her. Lucky for her they hadn't gotten to high. At first she had thought that she was going to land on the roof of a building, but before she knew it she was falling through into the local tavern. There was a sudden silence before the creature screeched.

”it's coming” Rineska said staring up at the hole she had made.

"Crow"

There are many dangers in this world, and by extension many things to fear. The danger caused by nature itself brings forth the fear of the elements. The danger presented by beasts and monsters bring about the fear of those creatures attacking. Hell, even people of the same species managed bring about paranoia by showing their own dangerous sides to others. in this world, there is almost nothing that involves danger that can't get at least a twinge of fear out of folks. Key word being "almost." There are acceptions, of course. One of these exceptions being liquor.

What drives a person to its addictions? What does it have that lures people into its clutches? Troubled pasts? Worrying futures? A depressing situation of the present time? Maybe it was pressure that drew people to the bottle, and addiction simply kept bringing them back. In any case, there are many reasons why people turn to the drink, but there is a type of person that is known for their excessive guzzling of alcoholic beverages without any care for anyone else that may be around them. That type of person is a pirate.

Even if they're retired pirates, they retain their habits. A high tolerance, from their addiction and constant drinking, a hearty laugh from the good spirits they down, a shot liver that may or may not have been shot with a bullet, and a strange fondness of rum. One such person was sitting alone at the counter of a tavern. He wasn't the most cheery person at the moment, but he wasn't really there to make friends. He was there to look for a beast to kill for coin. Though he didn't quite seem to be running out just yet, when a man has to rely on weapons alone, money becomes issue no matter how much a man has. Besides, he really was starting to run out anyway.

He was also starting to run out of the drink he had. Meet the former pirate known as "Crow's Eye" or "Crow" for shorter. The man had been traveling from one place to another. In fact he had just arrived to this port town. Of course, his thirst needed to be quenched above all else, though he did have to find a creature to kill eventually.

"[color=00746b]Bring me another bottle.[color]"

"Sir", said the man running the tavern. "I don't think it's wise to be drinking this much. If you go out drunk, you might wander out and run into the creature stalking around here."

This caused the old pirate to raise a brow.

"Creature, you say?"

"Yes, sir. A monstrous-sounding creature's screeching has been getting louder and louder for the past few nights. I hear some people describe its shape, but nothing but rumors aside from that. Large thing with several wings, rock for skin, and whatnot."

A smile found its way onto Crow's face. It seems he found some work after all. He had figured it would take him a while, or at least until he went further inland. It seems, however, that he was in luck this time.

"Sounds terrifying. Now what's a beastie like that doing around here?

"No idea, sir. All I know is that it's been getting everyone on edge. We're not exactly prepared to fight against it, though I hear talk of some men trying gather others to hunt it down."

"There's nothin' wrong with a bit resolve, lad. Though, I doubt a few torches and pitchforks would be enough to handle whatever they may be facing..."

A moment passed in silence between the two, before Crow sighed and said, "Alright, fine. This'll be the last drink. Don't know why it worries you so much. I'm just an old man, after all."

Despite what he said, the old pirate followed up his words with a bit of laughter, while the man running the tavern sighed at the truth. He went and got another bottle, and opened it up before handing it over.

The old pirate took a look at the bottle, inspecting it for what brand it was. Then he took a drink. When he placed it on the counter, he thought himself,

Maybe I'll head out tomorrow and bring back its head. I wonder how much coin they'd be willing to part with as thanks.

Then, as if luck wanted to hurry things right along, something odd happened. A woman fell through the roof. The debris that fell with her smashed Crow's bottle into shards and spilt liquor. A moment of silence passed before he yelled out a curse, which would be simultaneously drowned out by a monster's screech.

He looked to the creature, and found it to be similar to the way the man had described it. There were differences, of course, but that was to be expected. In any case, Crow knew what this one was.

"An Aevis!? What is that doing here!?"

Crow drew his sword from his side and charged at it, expecting the beast to jump down and bring the fight into the place. He was right, for as the other people began to run outside, the monster jumped down. It snapped its jaws at him, missing his body, but snapping his blade like a twig.

"Rusty piece of-"

Crow stopped himself to focus on the fight. He pulled out one of his flintlock pistols and shot it as it made an attempt on the woman's life again.

The scales were tough enough to bounce the shot into what was left of the ceiling, but the monster now looked his way and let out another screech.