The animal-girl's eyes darted wildly around the room. With almost cat-like reflexes she ducked under her stool and began muttering in a language that Hardwick couldn't quite place - like the Polish his mother spoke, but harsher... Russki maybe? Regardless, he couldn't help but feel a little bit confused by the girl's erratic behaviour. 'My apologies, ma'am' He muttered, turning back to his drink.

He glanced at the door once more, the sturdy Iron-studded oak a formidable barrier between this place and whatever strange machinations lay beyond. How did it work?

@Song Book

The man left the tavern, the cocktail still on the table, and then quickly jogged back in. Over one of his shoulders was a polished wooden case, the size and shaping seeming to just scream 'violin.' Across his other shoulder was a similarity polished case, although the boxy nature of it didn't reveal what was inside. Across his back hung what looked like a felt or cloth bag, and occasionally his movements would cause a twanging sound to come from it.

He set the two cases down nex to each other, and then produced a small harmonica from a pocket, before playing a few notes on it. He finished the cocktail and nodded to the barman again, saying "y'know, I wouldn't want to disturb your boss, eh? You guys serve ale?

@Dark Light
"My sins?" Lunaria echoes. "Store them sub consiously in my mind perhaps?" She's confused. Lunaria spots a girl hiding under a barstool and waves her over@Song Book. The more the merrier she guesses.
"Okay, fine." She sighs. "What do straw men even do?!"

The little girls brows furrow as she grows a bit frustrated by the question.
"They take our secrets to flame and keep us safe from the demons that would come to take us with them!" The sentence rolls of her tongue as naturally as her own name, speaking the passage as though it was practised and rehearsed.
"Surely you have secrets! Eeevery one has secrets, even the towns priest has to burn a straw man at the festival."
She pauses, looking to the woman with a bit of worry.
"i know! You should ask the man to make you a straw doll too!"

@ineffable

@Dark Light
"Demons? What demons?" Lunaria was frustrated too. She didn't understand any of the words that came out of the little girl's mouth. She could hear a few tunes being played somewhere in the tavern @Dannyrulx and looked over. The man from before was playing a harmonica. He stopped though and leaned over the bar to ask for a drink. She shrugged, weird sorts around here.
"I don't need a straw man. I can manage perfectly fine on my own, and you should too, little girl." She stated confidently, propping a boot on the counter and laying down the arrow she was sharpening to take up her dagger where she used it to carve intricate patterns on the table.

@Dannyrulx@Dark Light@Dannyrulx
So many new faces, so many different people. How many of them were actually humans? He wondered if he could even feed on fear from something that isn't human, he never tried... Regardless, the shade was getting bored and after his bout of exposure to all these strangers and new things he was feeling more comfortable and a little less shy. He floated over to the bar, passing the little girl who seemed to be conversing with a woman carving into the counter with a fancy knife, it looked dangerous. He approached a very short and gruff looking human who seemed to be very lost in dusting off drinking glasses. @Snarfulblast

He lifted a clawed finger and lightly tapped on the mans shoulder. He then pointed at himself and conjured a little shadow of a glass cup being cleaned with a cloth. He stopped and blinked a couple times before swatting the shadows away. He opened a mouth with pointed teeth, a green glow from within as if there was a green furnace burning within him. "U-... um..... I-I was wonder...ing... if maybe you... you would like some h-...help cleaning the glasses..." his voice was soft with a subtle echo yet growly at the same time. Knutik looked embarrassed about speaking.

@Dannyrulx"We're a tavern laddie of course we serve ale!" Snarf lets out a hearty laugh and grins, showing off his pearly white teeth. @Varicke Turning around in response to getting tapped on the shoulder Snarf lets out another laugh,"HAHAHAHAHA! No, my shadowy friend I dannae need a hand cleaning the glasses, and besides it's my job to tend the bar ain't it."

@Dannyrulx@Dark Light

"I am going up there anyway to see the boss, I put in a word for you." Ayeka says as she wraps her cloak around her. She did not wait for the entainer as she walks up the stairs. She continue to walk down the hallway to the end to the boss room. She knocks wondering if he is in there or somewhere else in the tavern.

Well, if apron was going, so was he. He set his harmionica down by the mug of ale and followed her quickly, catching up to her just as she knocked on the door. "You should've waited for me. I need a job just as much as you do..." He paused, before asking "I didn't actually catch your name, what was it?"

---

Daniel nodded at the boss and left the room, his hand shaking slightly. The man was intimidating, that was for sure, and he sat down by the dwarf, his harmonica exactly where he left it. He looked at the ale and grabbed it, draining the entire pint in three massive gulps. "@Snarfulblast Goddamn that man is... Well..." He shuddered. "Still, I've got a contract which is nice. I suppose that makes us formal colleagues, so... Daniel, Daniel Chlorican."

@Dark Light
While she waited for the little girl's answer she quickly gestured to one of the staff at the tavern @Snarfulblast
"I need something to eat, something for the girl as well." She requests.
Where does this girl come from? Lunaria thinks to herself, she continues to carve a few patterns into a table and when other people look closer they can the swirling calligraphy of words. I must ask the boss what exactly happens in this tavern She frowns.

@Snarfulblast

Knutik nodded looking relieved that his voice didn't seem to be scary which was his main concern. He felt more comfortable. "Okay then little human." He then proceeded to pat the dwarf on the head before turning to each corner of the tavern wondering if there was something else he could do. He looked to the lady @ineffable that requested for something to eat for herself and the little girl. Feeling a little in the way behind the bar the shade snaked his way through the air over to one of the tavern windows. He couldn't see through the glass very well, it was basically made to look blurred as if to hide the secret to the tavern's multiple locations. He tapped absentmindedly on the glass with his claws, contemplating shadows.

Анна

Soon from her state of panic Anna fell her mind sorting things to their proper places as all the people and creatures settled down and began absentminded chatter she carefully removed her self from under the chair and edge of bar she hide under. Easily popping back up to get chair where she was before. @gohKamikaze she had heard the man understanding only 'my apologies. ' which made no clear sense to her yet that wouldn't matter.

After brief, Brief, consideration the man seemed like good enough shelter from the strange creature by the window. Which her gaze watched with hawk like view, his every move. She was determining him friend or foe. Much like she did with any large creature that she had never encountered before. @Varicke much to her licking to she sat into a chair opposite of the large coated man.

Silently she yawned bring two seemily delecste hands her her face. Calluses and small scrapes from what one could only assume so many things almost covered them; and indeed showed otherwise. Yet as she went to completely take inventory of the man in the seat in front of her she kept herself straightened up.
"Здравствуйте! как дела?" She spoke surely expecting him to respond. Though she clarified in her best English her accent coming through it easily."Oh. How are you doing?"

@ineffable
The young girls eyes open wide in shock as she begins to nervously chew on her nails. "Ah ok, ha ha." As she responds she begins nervously fidgeting and slowly moving away. With a half hearted fake smile she now looked at this woman as though she carried an infectious disease, as though simply being in her vicinity could put others in danger.
She acted as though breathing even breathing the same air as her meant ill fortune.

As she backed away she nervously uttered a soft sweet sing-song rhyme to the mysterious rhythm of the tavern.

"Confess your sins to a man of hay

man of hay, man of hay"

Sing and dance with him for the day, your

man of hay, man of hay"

When night falls don't delay. The

man of hay, man of hay"

In the fire he must lay, your

man of hay, man of hay"

Made from straw and lies, he can't stay,

man of hay, man of hay"

Or else instead the shadows take you away,
In the form of a...

man of hay, man of hay"

Her voice was of an innocent yet eerie pitch, the words echoing of the walls as if the very tavern sung along too.

---

After every new patron entered into the tavern, the brief glimpse of their past quickly vanished behind the swaying swing of the heavy wooden door. In a flash, that blink of the door, the world outside would always return to the rolling green hills and fading night sky illuminated by a yonder bonfire, that the little girl had come from.
Any regular patron would understand that this was far from a regular occurrence. This was defiantly not normal.

@Dark Light
"Oh, I've had enough!" Lunaria pushed her chair back with a loud screech. "What is this twisted tavern?!" She looked at the girl almost accusing her of the weirdness before she sighed. It wasn't the girl's fault. She didn't dare touch the girl for the fear that the girl would inch away so she just contents herself with giving a friendly smile. "I come from a different world." She explains simply then she steps to the front of the room and exclaims loudly "I'm going to see the boss! This tavern is twisted, anyone who would like to come, follow me" And with those words she instantly stomped up the stairs, arrow slung dangerously over her shoulder and dagger twirling around her fingers with ease. She meets a girl in an apron outside the door and nods respectfully to her @Alisdragon911 "Here for a complaint?" She asks.

@ineffable"I wouldn't do....... ah never mind." Snarf tried to call out to the women who stomped up the stairs, but she was already out of sight before he could do anything. "Well that lass is in fer a big surprise. The boss dannae take to kindly ta threats." He mentioned to no one in particular, noting that at the moment no one else followed the women upstairs.@Dannyrulx"The names Snarfulblast, pleased ta meet yah Dan. Seeing as were colleagues I suggest ye just call me Snarf, tis easier that way." Snarf grabbed Daniel's hand and gave him a firm hand shake.@Dark LightLooking over at the girl who now looked very scared, Snarf hopped over the bar and walked in front of her. "Hey lass, tis alright. Ye were looking for yer straw man, right? Well I know where we can get you one follow me." He walked to the stairs, "Well come on lass, don't worry about me I keep my secrets in a straw man as well. I think I have an extra one that I can give ya."

Knutik flinched at the screech of a chair, his claws scratching against the window's glass as he pulled his hand away and whipped around prepared to hide if something had happened. The dangerous looking lady @ineffable from before was having a fit of displeasure, and the girl she was speaking with mere moments ago seemed to be radiating fear @Dark Light and singing a tune that rang out through the tavern like a rhyme, for just a second Knutik stopped, realizing that he was unconsciously inching towards her. His attention was redirected though when the lady called out for anyone that would join her to see the boss of the tavern. The shadow creature didn't understand how things like taverns worked or much of what a boss was, but this lady was exuding the most addictive of emotions to the shade; something akin to anger, frustration perhaps, and a light touch of violence, or was it determination? Before he could debate with himself he followed after her up the stairs, passing the nervous child along the way which earned him a strange shudder as he did. He almost bumped into the woman he was following as she stopped outside a door and considered another lady in the hall. @Alisdragon911

@ineffable@Alisdragon911

The hallway was one of those long-seemingly-endless hallways. Every panel, crack and curl of twisted paint radiated with a rich history.
Once exquisite and luxurious beyond measure it still maintained a truly lavish and rustic charm, possibly more so now than before as if somehow bettering with age.
That is if one could determine or even understand its age.
With a decor undoubtably sated to sensuality, one is led to and can only assume what exclusive elegant and indulgent parties may have taken place within these very walls. Little is it known that such answers were beyond mortal comprehension...

Suddenly the hallway stopped, seemingly sooner than it should. At the end was the room of the taverns boss. A room that only one worker had ever entered. None other had ever passed through this doorway. Some could claim glimpses of the other side but never with confirmation.
Two wide double doors towered over those before it, intimidatingly barring entry and protecting the bosses privacy. Heavy and wooden, braced by sturdy iron with antique gothic loose hanging circular handles. An aura and a presence radiated from the doors. It billowed on the soft breeze that whispered secrets as it slipped around through the faintest of gaps and cracks between and below. It emanated from the very depths and soul of the woods core. It dripped from the roof and rose from the ground.

One might look upon the doors in the same way they would a sleeping giant. A hint of adrenalin leading the excitement. The indulgent worry of a youth misbehaving. An awe and curiosity waiting to instantly flip into an overwhelming fear and the grudging anticipation of knowing it would any second. What ever happened now could not be undone.

---

---

@Snarfulblast

Letting out a sigh of relief the girl beamed with a content happiness as she skipped along quickly eager to solve her current conundrum.

@Song Book @Dark Light

'Aha, the girl speaks.' Hardwick said, looking over at the animal-like girl as she climbed back onto her chair. The accent and language was unmistakably Russian - Hardwick had learned a few phrases from his youth, but not many. 'Uh... Я Джеймс Хардвик...
Рад встрече с вами?' Apologies ma'am, Russian's not my native language. And you are...?'

As he waited for the response, Hardwick became vaguely aware of a haunting and unfamiliar tune echoing throughout the tavern, like a nursery rhyme from a dark and long-forgotten era. Thoughts that weren't quite his own swirled about his head, and terror gripped him as he began to realise that on an instinctive level he knew every last word.

Before he knew what he was doing, he began to sing along - a low, sotto tone that scarcely seemed like his own:

'In the fire he must lay, your
man of hay, man of hay"

Made from straw and lies, he can't stay,
man of hay, man of hay...'

@ineffable@Dark Light

"I am hoping to switch jobs," Ayeka says as as she wanted to freeze something to a certain bartender's butt and let a were attack him. She notices the diffrent in the hall it was plain then it became fancy. She wants to know the rich history that the tavern went through. She notices double doors . " giving of a aerie vibe, "I guess we are not getting a answer." She did not heard anything from inside, she guess they are going in.

@Alisdragon911@Dark Light@Varicke
Lunaria shrugs, pounds on the door a couple of times and shouts through.
"Hey! Anyone in there?"