It is the 22nd of the Month of Rova in the year 4707 AR (Absalom Reckoning). On the West side of the continent of Avistan lies the wild frontier of Varisia. In ancient times, this nation once made up the largest portion of the ancient empire of Thassilon. But now nothing remains of this once powerful empire save for legends and leftover ruins that sparse the landscape. Varisia is known for being nothing more than composed of rural communities, independent city-states, cyclopean ruins, and uncharted wilderness.

Along the southwestern edge of Varisia lies the Lost Coast, a wild and desolate country full of lingering fogs, small woodlands of pine and nettles along a rocky coastline of ragged bluffs and crashing waves. Yet among the rocks and the fog, the sight of a one such community would stand out as being a welcome sight for those who spent many days traveling along the lonely Long Coast road. From either the east or the south, when you approach this town it is noticeably hidden by upthrust limestone pavements as well s the arcs of rocky outcroppings and lightly forested hilltops that rise up just east of the town. Yet the smoking chimneys and bustling streets that come with the promise of a warm bed makes it all worth it.

Hanging from a bent nail at both the gatehouse and the southern bridge into the town is a sign and a mirror. Painted on each sign is the message: "Welcome to Sandpoint! Please stop to see yourself as we see you!"

Roan left the tavern without any further word, the only change in his demeanor being his brow wrinkled in clear displeasure. As he arrived at the entrance he shook his head slightly as if intending to remove any remnant of the place stupidity from himself. After a groan he faced the street and, in return, was greeted by an unpleasant breeze that unceremoniously invaded his nostrils. With his lungs now full of the harbor’s stench he gave up on any further inquiry in this area of the city and began to move towards the ongoing town festivities at the town square. Nearing an ever increasing crowd, he hoped to find any concrete information about the Sandpoint Devil before he went back to the untamed wilds and to enjoy, for a little while, the wonders of civilization. On the way, while remembering all he had heard about the monster from his previous query, he tried to filter the obvious lies from the truth about his prey. But unable to find any plausibility on the wild claims he had heard, Roan kept walking, concluding that indeed all information up to that point had been a complete waste of time.

Silver walked around the city in hopes to talk to someone who could explain more about the ceremonies or the church, but was more interested in what had brought her here. It could be possible that anyone in the crowd of people could know something more than she did and that was at least a start. She had her hood drawn over her head and her blonde hair flowing loosely out of it, but this didn't stop people from looking at her strangely. She had her hands held out a bit in front of her so that she wouldn't run into anyone and her eyes looked straight ahead blankly. The silver eyes that didn't look like they were looking at anything normally caught people attention. It was her best guess that her name came from her eyes, but it was hard to tell anything for certain. She was trying her best to blend into the city, but it was almost impossible for her to do that. She had her hands held out in front of her as she walked so that she wouldn't bump into anyone she didn't see coming. It was hard to keep on her toes when she wasn't sure if the ones hunting her down knew where she was. It all defiantly made her careful.
She tapped someone's shoulder and could see them better now that they were closer to her. "Excuse me?" Silver asked in a pleasant voice, trying not to sound rude. "Are you from here?" She was curious and was hoping for some sort of an answer that could help her find out more about this place, but she couldn't be sure if she would be lucky or not. She smiled warmly, but her eyes were fixed on the persons face, unsure of everything she did. They didn't look like anyone to mean, but she wasn't the best judge of character for the most part.

It had been a long morning, and there was definitely more food than would be eaten for this festival in her near-sister's tavern. But there always was that chance that this one would get more business than usual. She hoped so, but at the same time, that was less food for her. After leaving the kitchen, she waded through the crowd that had already gathered, and couldn't help but share their mirth as she neared the exit. She could already hear the celebration, even over the crowd of -- were they drunk? -- patrons. And why shouldn't they be? With her Goddess around, they wouldn't have to worry about stumbling into their own vomit. All she really wanted to see outside was the release of the swallowtail butterflies, and she hoped she hadn't missed it already.

She finally waded through the crowd and left the tavern, but it simply meant she was in an equally packed street. It didn't bother her at all, though. More people in the street probably meant more people following Desna, a perfectly acceptable situation. She didn't particularly like that she couldn't see over people, and didn't have anyone who would carry her on their shoulders anymore...unless her family was stopping by again. They might. This was probably the best time if they wanted to get money and attention. The best place to find them would be the town square if that was the case, and that's where Yobi headed. But before she got too far, she heard a woman speaking to another person in front of her: "Excuse me, are you from here?" A visitor. A traveler! How appropriate! Choosing instead of her previous plans to follow this woman, she stood just far enough away that people would walk between her and the woman. She tried to justify it in her head as protecting the locally-naïve, but it was really just because she was bored and wanted someone to play with.

In the bustling streets of the mid-festival town, Malika paused a moment to shift the straps of her pack and rub her sore shoulders. She had thought about paying for a room so that she could leave her things there while she enjoyed the celebrations, but a quick tally of the coins in her purse dissuaded her from that notion. For that matter, if she was going to be staying here while she learned more about Thassilon, she was going to need to find some way to pay for day to day necessities.

Shrugging and resettling the bag on her back, she pressed on towards the town square with her spear in hand, supporting her weight as a walking stave. Now was not the time for over thinking matters, it was a festival to the Great Dreamer. It was alright to just follow her ambitions and figure out the 'hows' as she went. In the meanwhile, it was time for some fun!

Coated in the dust of the road, Dhalgren continued the easy energy conservative lope of a traveler used to spending a long time in his boots. Seeing the curl of rising smoke, he quickened his pace eager to rejoin civilization and rest his feet. Walking past the upthrust peaks of stone which border the town, Dhalgren's eyes first crossed the triumph of architecture which the local cathedral was. Pausing for a moment to take in the sight he was greeted by the warm voice of a local, who began to detail the story behind the structure. Patiently listening to the details of the local deities, and the tragic story behind the razing of the old chapel. While Dhalgren is slightly intrigued by this, he still has his own deity to really be all that interested. Touching the steel on his halberd in affirmation of such, he bids the man farewell, promising to enjoy the festival.

His goal at this point to find out more information about the the elusive Sandpoint Devil. He wasn't sure exactly how he was going to go about finding out more details, as to his eye many of the locals seemed wrapped up in the festivities. He wasn't sure how questions on a creature with such a dark and distasteful history would go down in an environment of cheerful celebration. For now he followed the crowd towards the center square, mindful of his halberd and any hands on his pack. The last thing he wanted was pickpockets stealing his gear, and he kept a careful watch on his person for such an occasion. He figured that he would see what the festival entailed, before retiring to a tavern for some drinks and information later.

As he made his way through the crowd, Dhalgren suddenly felt a tapping on his shoulder. Whirling around angrily fearing it was the trick of a pickpocket, he was instead confronted with the visage of a young woman. Relaxing at her words, he shook his head in reply to her query. “No, I'm sorry I'm not. Is there anything I can help you with though?” he asked. He assumed from her question she must have recently come to the town as well. “Are you here for the festival for the new Cathedral?” He added, that being the best guess as her reason to be here.

Silver shook her head as well to his question and glanced around at the people walking by. She couldn't make out any faces, but she could see people as they pushed by. "I didn't know about it until this morning. I was just passing through, but I was thinking about staying longer." She looked back at him and gave a small shrug as if nothing ever fazed her, but if you looked closely you could tell she was on edge. It was a small lie, but she couldn't tell him about her vision. Not everyone was excepting of difference, especially if weren't always open about who you are. "I was wondering where I could find a place to stay for a while? I guess you wouldn't know, but it would be hard to find on my own." She wasn't sure if he would help her or not, it was a lot to ask. She didn't like asking for someone to go out of their way, but it would take her forever to find anything here.

Ooc: I wasn't sure if I needed to role for her lie or not so I did anyways. http://orokos.com/roll/171253

Yobi finally managed to get a look at the person the woman she was following was talking to. She didn't need to hear him speak to realize he, too, was a traveler. [/i]How fortuitous,[/i] she thought, maybe they're fun travelers! And he looks like he'd bring fun toys along with him! Of course, she didn't mean children's toys. She meant anything weird that foreign travelers brought with him. He certainly looked like he'd traveled a long way and could have fun stuff. She would ask, of course. She'd only try to be sneaky about it afterward. But what if they split up? This was a serious concern. She could only follow one, and she'd prefer to follow the one who went to the square, but then she heard an easy question: "I was wondering where I could find a place to stay for a while? I guess you wouldn't know, but it would be hard to find on my own."

This was the perfect opportunity for Yobi to keep the two together, be helpful, see the fun, and segue into the awkward question of what kind of fun stuff do you have? She half-skipped between the two who were talking, still in a good mood from the revelation. "Greetings! I heard you needed a place to stay? There's a really nice inn here! And I'd know because I help out there sometimes! And you're in luck: the owner, with some help from me (and others), has made a new version of curry-spiced-salmon! And there's a LOT of it because it's such an important holiday today, especially for travelers such as yourselves," Yeah, it was cheap talk, and probably a bit suspicious, but she had to lead into what she was going to say while they were distracted, "but you don't need to worry about that yet. It's still...somewhat early! You don't want to miss the butterflies! Come on come on comon cmon cmon! To the square!" She stopped short of grabbing both of them to drag them before realizing some rather important facts. First, she hadn't introduced herself, and second, she literally just walked up to two strangers who likely have never been here before, and interjected herself into their conversation. Third, they may not be as excited as she was about butterflies. Only one of those things could be fixed now. "I'm Yobi, by the way. I live here. At that inn over there." She points in the general direction of Ameiko's inn. "Nice to meet you. You wouldn't happen to be hunters or...mean at all?"

Dhalgren listened to her, nodding at her words. He himself was in the same situation, so it wasn't too hard to believe what she said. At her mention of finding a inn, he tapped his chin with a finger curiously. He wasn't sure why she would have trouble finding an inn, since they were most likely all open for business due to the festival. He decided to help her anyways, since he wouldn't mind getting a fresh tankard of ale to wash away the taste of the road from his mouth. As he was about to speak up in reply, when he was suddenly confronted by the visage of someone skipping between them to interject with something about what inn the two should go to or something of the like.

“Wait, curry spiced salmon? You can curry fish?” He asked, his brain a little slow on the uptake. Instead of being worried about who she was, he was instead stuck on what curried fish would taste like. Both curry spices and fish weren't an all that common food he had before, and never had he had them done up together. He wasn't sure if everyone in this place was super friendly and buoyant, but he did find it rather unusual. “I guess we have our answer.” he commented to the other young woman. He nodded at Yobi's introduction, simply commenting “Dhalgren.” in reply.

Silver seemed a little confused by the girl who had aprroched them and felt slightly nervous. She had know way of telling if any of them were working against her or not. She was sure that she was atleast a couple days ahead of her pursuers, atleast, but she couldn't be sure of anything. She would have to learn to trust these people enough, but for now it wasn't like she had much of a choice in the matter. She was hungry and needed a place to stay until everything became more clear as to why her writing had sent her here, which god decided to guide her this time. "Thanks. Thats exactly what I needed." Silver replied to both of them, looking between them with slight curiousity. She tried her best to take in their features while they were closer to her, but if they moved away it was harder for her to see them. She tried to think less about everything, but when they all repeated their names she knew she was screwed. She bit down on her lip gently, trying her best not to look as nervous as she felt.

"My name is Silver. I'm not a hunter really, but I wouldn't say Im not mean from time to time." Silver sighed and relaxed a little bit, giving a pleasant smile which she had been working on for years to perfect. "I guess we should go see the butterflies." She looked at yobi with a slight nod and she looked genuainly happy to get to witness the openning of the chruch, after all desna was one of her goddesses that she kept close to her heart. Perhapes she was the one that led her here today.

"You won't find an inn in this town that's better than the Rusty Dragon. The Hagfish is probably the worst, and not just because they're competition. Watch your stuff while you're there. Just saying." She smiles as the others continue to talk. "Doesn't matter so much if you hunt. Just don't waste stuff and we're good." She of course had more reasons than that for asking, but she doubted she'd spend much time with these two beyond the initial introduction to her near-sister's tavern. There was a good chance she wouldn't see them again after that, but if she did, and if the other one, Dhalgren, was a hunter, she'd hope it would be while she was human. "Let's go~" She skipped a little, but did so just slowly enough to make sure the other two followed. The inn could wait for both of them; there was celebrating to be done! "Do either of you plan on staying here for a long time? It's not usually this crowded if that's an issue. Anything you want to see? I'm a great guide...sometimes!"

Dhalgren followed after Yobi and Silver, lagging behind slightly. He wasn't really the most talkative person, and it suited him to just follow along. "Doesn't matter if we hunt? Then why ask if we were hunters?" He asked curiously. He wondered why she even brought up the subject in the first place. He did hunt, and as of now he was after the Sandpoint Devil. Otherwise he did so purely for sustenance. [I]Although she may mean hunt people, maybe she has a bounty?[/I} He wondered, a hand straying to the javelins lashed to the side of his pack. Naturally suspicious, he knew there must have been some sort of ulterior motive to her questions and demeaner. Although at this point he didn't know whether it was for something simple and good such as a natural inquiry to better serve them for business, or a more devious one. "Aye, I'll be sticking around for a bit, I need to take a rest from the road and a bit of time to find out some information." He replied, his slow lope keeping easy pace with the two.

Silver followed somewhat close to yobi, since it was easy for her to get lost in almost any situation. She listened closely to everyone and tried her best to notice smaller details if she could. "I have something I have to do that might take some time." She knew she was vague, but she smiled all the same knowing that to an average person they wouldn't doubt her innocent. These people might be more than just average. Her thoughts kept her on the edge as they walked through the streets, she was curious about things, but nothing plain enough to out right ask. "Do you own the tavern?" She said and than noticed that she the two of them were probably storming the girl with questions. Atleast she knew she wasn't the only one that was wondering things.

Silver looked at Dhalgren and another question came to her in an insant. "And where are you from, if you don't mind me asking?" Trying to keep things simple was the best she could do, not getting to personal with strangers she just met. She couldn't help, but ask from time to time. She pulled loose strand of blond hair out of her black hood and pulled them out beside her face so it hid her a bit more, just incase. Not many people noticed her anyways, but if her Silver eyes caught onto another persons than it was easy to tell she wasn't like the rest of them.

Yobi ignored Dahlgren's question at first, and immediately answered those of Silver. "No, I don't own it. I just stay there. The owner's almost like family, though. And go ahead and take your time with stuff. For now, though...butterflies!" She happily moved past people who couldn't match her pace. "Not sure why I asked whether you hunt or not. I forget things like that sometimes. I might have been thinking of getting you source of income...but I'm sure if you did it, you'd probably sell what you didn't use anyway. So it wouldn't have mattered." She moved past an older man in hide armor. She heard mention of the Sandpoint Devil, but continued walking anyway.

Roan roamed for some time between the ever-moving mass of people, all the while on the lookout for any potential source of information about his elusive quarry. Soon this proved to be a fruitless enterprise and with a sigh he stopped near one of the many make shift poles adorning the festival to think of a better plan. Whilst grumbling about the situation he kept hearing random tidbits of information from the unconcerned passers-by. Ranging from inane comments like those about the weather to the slightly interesting, but useless to him, like those of enjoyment of the festival in honor of Desna.

“So that’s what this entire celebration is all about. Desna? Huh.” He said to himself in a hushed tone.”Ever since getting in this blasted city all I have been is unlucky.” Could this misfortune be a result of a bored deity divine will? Or is this because I hadn’t yet given my thanks for the ‘safe’ travel I had?” Roan thought bitterly, concluding the failure of his usual method of gathering information could only be caused by some external interference .As to him it was clear the gods mostly goad the mortals for their own selfish reasons, only aiding them when it advanced their own desires while pretending to care. Still this seemed too much for a simple ’offering’ he had postponed until he had finished his business on the city.

He then retrieved a single coin from his belongings and threw it upwards, while keeping his weapons at hand’s reach in case any pickpocket felt too courageous. Whilst staring at the coin he murmured “All of this for a single coin?” before throwing it upwards. The coin spun five times, seemingly ready to hit the ground, before he caught it. Glaring at the sky he attempted a last bargain.”If this was that important then it would already be yours if I had found anything about that damn Sandpoint Devil.” As he began to walk he moved his right hand towards his own face, before getting back on track. Am I that desperate, I’m speaking aloud to myself?

A few steps later he had the impression someone had spoken the name he sought and with renewed determination Roan darted in the probable direction it came from. Struggling to keep a steady pace, he waded through the gathered crowd until he bumped into a passerby as he was passing the corner of Raven Street. “Get out of the way.” He said before going back on his way, having apparently struck some blond woman. Though he couldn’t exactly say if this was right nor did he cared to, as his attention was focused on more important matters.

Malika stopped in place and caught her footing as she was rather roughly jostled. That on it's own wasn't terribly surprising, it was a busy street after all and everyone needs to get where they're going. What galled her was what was said in passing, 'Get out of the way.' Malika rounded on the voice, her face flushed reddish as her temper flared up. The man was big, muscled, scarred, and older than her. None of that seemed to detract from the ire or opposition worn on her face.

"And what's lit a fire under your arse?"

Turning around Roan saw a blond woman clad in red holding a spear, adorned with some red markings he couldn’t exactly distinguish the meaning from what he could see, eyeing him with obvious displeasure. Still, she didn’t seem ready to attack him so her curiosity of his task probably had to do with her ability to stand on the way. Considering how this interruption had made him lose the track of whoever he was after, Roan responded her question making sure to look at her on the same way.“I’m looking for something.”

Normally he would have left by now and started a new search all over the city. But whilst he prided himself on his tracking ability, all the failures he was obtaining on his exploration were enough to destroy any semblance of patience he could have had. Besides I doubt anyone would be foolish enough to follow me to this hellhole just to avenge some small-time bandit I killed many years ago.

“Tell me woman, have you heard anything about a beast know as a devil on these parts?”

Still angry, Malika scoffed at the question. "I haven't. If I had known though, rushing past me wouldn't hardly get you any answers about it." A moment of thought was followed by recognition though, as his line of questioning explained his hurry through the crowd. He'd probably been trying not to lose someone. The northern woman's expression softened a bit as she leaned more on her spear. Even if she didn't know much, telling him what she did know wouldn't hurt matters. "Devil... you mean the Sandpoint Devil? I've heard the name at least. Some local folktale, isn't it?"

“Last folktale I met almost torn off my hand.” Roan said before crossing his arms and leaning on the closest wall, to avoid barring the path of those walking on the street.”The problem is finding the truth about the beast.” It was true some of the monsters he hunted never had existed or had already been slain by someone else. But for some reason he was certain this creature was alive and breathing, just waiting to be hunted and killed by someone, preferentially himself.

Having finished speaking, Roan kept looking toward the stranger. Occasionally moving his head in the direction of those passing by, curious as to the reason most people were moving towards the same area. Paying attention on two things, he probably ended interrupting the woman when he muttered the word he just heard spoken by someone in the crowd that struck him as odd.“Swallowtail? Is there something happening?”