@Delta44
Connor, taking the girl's words into account, looks at the red sword and then at his own old blade, scratched, chipped and worn out from a few years or so of stress. He then hands the red sword to the orc, unsheathing his original sword. "You're right. The most powerful blade I have isn't some fancy-ass sword that can cut people into a million pieces, it's this one." Handing the red sword to the orc, Connor says: "Keep it."

Once they arrive back at Boras, Connor would once again look at the group and say: "I never got your names... Mind telling me?"

The Orc seems happy with his newfound sword, though it is a little small for his tastes. "This is a powerful toothpick... The stronger you swing it, the more powerful it is. I think this suites me perfectly." When Connor asks his name, the Orc seems to be skeptical, but soon gives a look that says "what the Hell" and replies: "I am Kin'Kro. That is all."

"We're Tiz and Riz," the two twins reply simultaneously, bowing, "and it's a pleasure to meet you. The way you can tell us apart is Tiz's hair goes to the left, whereas Riz's goes to the right. Just think 'R' in 'Riz' for 'right'. We came from a small village and are working our butts off to try repay our mother and father, and get super rich!" With the perfect presentation like that, they must've said it so many times it had been memorised...

"And I am Moriana Organa Van Sheil, but you may call me 'Sheil'." The elf seems quite proud of her name, as though it should inspire great awe from those who heard it. Though seeing Connor's less-than-awestruck reaction, she continues: "What? Haven't you heard of me or my family?"

@Delta44
(Just looked through the first two pages, apparently the orc was named Moby... Oh well, Kin'Kro is a cooler name)

"Should I 'ave, miss fancy name?" Connor asks, before declaring: "Well anywho, I'm tired of this 'boss' and 'sir' stuff; my name's Connor, Connor Fintaul: vagabond, adventurer, and run of the mill scoundrel. Just call me Connor."

@Simple Unicycle

The eleven girl seems about ready to interject, though is silenced by one of the two twins: Riz. "Shh, he's a country hick like us! Of course he hasn't heard of you! Use some common sense!"

"You're not supposed to talk to girls like that..." Tiz remarks, clearly displeased by his twin. It seems that although they looked practically identical, their personalities were vastly different.

@Delta44
"Hey! I might not be the sharpest sword in the armory, but I'm no country hick!" Connor exclaims, before slapping Riz upside the head. "Now, what were going to say, Sheil?" He asks.

Iosef then hops onto the horse, and looks at the priestess and the Jester.

"...if you guys want to come, just ask. I'll deal with the gnolls..."

@Delta44
"Hey! I might not be the sharpest sword in the armory, but I'm no country hick!" Connor exclaims, before slapping Riz upside the head. "Now, what were going to say, Sheil?" He asks.

"I'm just shocked that you haven't heard of my family's exploits. Then again, you are a member of one of the lesser species on this planet." She replies in a rather distinguished and insulting tone... before squeamishly lowering her head and looking rather cowardly, tucking her body close. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, please ignore me!"

"Ow! Okay, okay! I gotcha! Jeez, no need to hit me over it..." Riz says, rubbing the inflicted area tentatively. "And what's up your butt, miss? I thought Elven people were supposed to be assholes."

"I always saw elves as those kinds of people too. Guess you can't judge a book by it's cover." Tiz remarks, walking over and petting the elven girl on the head. "It's OK, no need to act all high and mighty because of some title."

Iosef then hops onto the horse, and looks at the priestess and the Jester.

"...if you guys want to come, just ask. I'll deal with the gnolls..."

"I would very much like to see the Universal Blade Earthrent in action!" Exclaims the Jester gleefully. Seems he was all for coming along. "Ooh, how much power is it worth? Just how much~? Just how much~?"

"Where will we go?" Asks the girl curiously. It seems she was willing to go along should he explain himself. He had time to if he wanted to, the Gnolls were still a ways away... though they were approaching quickly.

@Delta44

"I'm going to talk with them and see what's their problem. Killing them comes if we have a disagreement on something."

Still, Iosef has to scowl at the Jester's comment. For a powerful being such as that, perhaps fighting was but a sport.

And still, there was this Fate that Iosef had to meet.

@BytheSpleen

"You still didn't answer my question..." The girl replies with a sigh, rubbing her forehead. "I don't even know your name, let alone what you stand for. You can't possibly expect me to join you on an excursion with a man who hasn't even introduced himself, do you?"

"I don't see the problem, here..." The Jester remarks with an unnatural calm about him. "It's not like it's a big deal, right?"

@Delta44

Iosef scratches his head.

"It's your temple. Name's Iosef."

With that, with the horse, trots out of the city limits to look for this giant gnoll horde...

@BytheSpleen

It seems said Gnoll horde had come to greet him, as the closest of the Gnolls were now no less than a hundred meters away. One could make out the bloody intent behind their furious charge, headed straight for the city - for Iosef.

The Jester who had followed grins in anticipation. "So? Are you going to test out the Universal Blade?" He inquires with a hopeful little dance. "Now's a great chance to get a feel for it~!"

@makarov

It was a lush, sunny day in the city of Dou - a city bordering the Elven and human kingdoms, filled with unimaginable beauty and closeness to nature. It's inhabitants were mostly women, that of both human and Elven kind, for there was a sort of negative stigma associated with men if they chose to live here, unless they were either incredibly handsome or gay. Thankfully, whilst Gregory was very much the former of the two, he was merely a passerby, or so it would seem. One could say the city of Dou was that which he was most related to. Things were peaceful, quiet, and not an awful lot was going on. Just your average day in the lovely city center; birds chirped, water sported, and the people were all getting along well...

"Hey, did you hear about the news? There's supposed to be a war going on in the Human Kingdom..."

"Really? Gosh, that sounds horrible... No doubt orchestrated by men..."

"Well, on the people's side, yes, but on the other hand is the dragon: Ssalivan the Terror, said to be capable of wiping out armies!"

"Surely, no dragon could be that strong. It's just a load of hyped up nonsense, and it has nothing to do with us. I say just let the monkeys and lizards kill one-another."

There had been much gossip around town lately of an impending war and significant talk over The Universal Blades - weapons spoken of in ancient texts and folklore that were said to have created the realms of Heaven, Hades, Oblivion and the Earth itself. They had been locked away ages ago, in a time long since past, though now, with the Grand Marshal's orders, everyone across the continent was searching for the weapons. For what purpose, no one was willing to say, though if it had every man, woman and child with combat training searching, well... it must've been important, and there would undoubtedly be a large sum as a reward. Though he may already know that if he attended the meeting held by the Grand Marshal in the Marble Castle.

Even with all this talk, the day carries on, and would continue to do so... At least for the next couple of minutes...

@Delta44

Iosef plunges the sword down into the earth, raising a wall from beneath and around him as far as he could see in either direction. The wall is 40 feet in height and 20 feet thick; this was only a forewarning to the gnolls as Iosef waited.

Though some of the Gnolls do seem a bit doubtful, they're assured by their brethren that this wall was merely a defense - a defense they aimed on taking down or climbing over in order to reach their target.

Thus, they continue their charge headlong...

@Delta44
Connor crosses his arms, before clearing his throat. "Alright, we'll get a rest at the inn. We deserve it after that bloodbath. Tomorrow we set out to find Darkstalker." He then uncrosses his arms and starts to head back to the inn, the group hopefully in tow.

@Simple Unicycle

As expected, the group follows closely behind, with the Orc taking up the rear, twins in the middle and the Elven girl walking alongside him at the front. Unless he made conversation with any of them, the walk would pass by in relative silence, excluding Riz talking the ear off his twin...

---

They arrive at the inn a little past nightfall, and the first place looks just the same as your usual tavern, with merry faces, shady guys standing in corners, and lots of alcohol. Seems the place was a real party. Despite the people, it actually looked pretty fancy for an inn, with a nice, golden chandelier hanging from the roof in the central lounging area, and magic energy flowing all around.

But now the only question remained: where the Hell did they go to get rooms?

The best looking place was the bar, though of course, that was where one would normally seek out alcoholic beverages. There were several 'posts' with magic runes on top of them that people were speaking into, most likely some kind of communications terminal. It ran on gold, somehow, as people put their money into it, said their piece and then left. If he really wanted to, he could try asking a staff member.

"Ain't this place amazing?!" Riz exclaims with a grin, staring at all the pretty ladies about the inn. "Ooh, Sheil, you should totally try working here! Look at it - a high-class, high-paying job where you can eat, drink and lounge about all day! Sounds like paradise for you!"

"Admit it, Riz, you want to see her in scantily-clad clothes, don't you?" Tiz jabs, cocking a knowing, cheeky smile at his brother.

"W-wha-? What do you mean? There are no such ladies here!" Sheil replies, taken aback by the twins' words.

"That's because you can't see 'em!" Riz winks at Sheil and laughs. "Ah~! Magic is a beautiful thing!"

@Delta44
Connor grinned as the twins talked about Sheil working at the inn. "I wouldn't mind that." He said with a chuckle, before going to the bar and tapping on it. "Uh, first of all I'd like a pint of ale." Once the bartender passed it to him, he took a drink then continued: "Now, uh... Where can my friends and I get rooms? There're five of us, including me."

The bartender was, surprisingly, a rather good-looking Orc girl, who smiles at him kindly - something rather unlike their race. "You're new 'ere, right? Jus' go up't one o' d'ose fings an' follow the instruc'ions the magic pole gives you!"

The Orc girl points to one of the many magic poles that people were using.

"This place runs very much so on magic, it does! To be expected from an Elven inn."

"Ooright, then! Catch'a late'a sweet'y!" Riz mimics. Though the bartender lady doesn't know, the others can quite clearly identify this as a mock of her accent.

With that, Connor tosses as many pieces as it costs for the drink, then takes it and goes to on of the poles.

@Delta44

Iosef then presses forward on the sword, shaking the earth under the gnolls before making the earth pulse like waves.