The hand extended to him gave him thoughts of a convention he associated with humans - the handshake. He had seen other, more respectable races adopt the practice, and even members of his own kind. He hated those influences, but he nonetheless offered his own cold, bony hand to complete the tradition.

"Artholath. Third cousin of a poor bastard locked in a volcano, former minion to two arrogant bastards, and a fellow lucky enough to have touched the blade of an archangel," he intoned, one eye seeming to glare at the human as it sat in the nearby vicinity. It carried an odd pole-like item, likely one of humanity's various odd constructions. It was an odd human, not from any realm he had traveled, but he wasn't interested in pursuing further knowledge of it.

@Gentlemanvaultboy @Antioch

@ArenaSnow She looked at him, completely oblivious to how she was being treated, "Archangel? Wow... that is incredible. I hope I get to meet one, here. Do you hate them? Is it true there is a rivalry between demons and angels?" She stared at the eye that was glaring at her, clearly enticed by the conversation. It was obvious, now, that she and the world she came from was oblivious, also, to their kind, and others. The Nazi, still, was now hanging off his every word.

Artholath turned his other eye to stare at the human. Naive, even for a human... now, that's a novel concept.

"I would imagine, firstly, that archangels don't die very often. Secondly, the moment an archangel did walk in, I suspect the inn wouldn't survive the confrontation." He had not actually met the archangel that had owned the blade, but he heard from both of his mentors the sheer power that they possessed when they were fully present in a physical dimension. "And no, I don't see an archangel sitting down for a drink with one of my ilk." Feeling dirty for spending three sentences on a human, he looked back to Satan. "Tell you what, if you're not going to join the applicant waiting line by the bar, I'll buy you a drink..."

@Gentlemanvaultboy @Antioch

woops

@ArenaSnow "Huh. Okay, that makes more sense, now that I think about it." She smiled at the eye(s) that acknowledged her, "Don't worry, your words aren't wasted on me. I just... would rather educate myself, than be left completely out of virtually every conversation here for the rest of eternity..."

Naki's green eyes widened as she stepped out of the carriage. She took in the looks of the tavern, severally confused by the building. She made sure her bow was on her back as she took measured steps into the tavern. "What...is this place?" She questioned to herself, sorely confused by what she saw.

The entrance to the building was like nothing Yoki had ever seen before. It was not as grand as the temples she played in as a child, nor was it alike any of the rudimentary buildings her followers had erected over the years. All in all, it was not entirely impressive architecturally, but it completely and utterly piqued all of Yoki's curiosity. This was not the resting place of the Gods as foretold by her family. But Yoki knew she was no longer a deity in her own world, and that this place lay completely outside of her reign and control. She was small fry here, in the afterlife. Deciding that gawking all night at the face of the building was pointless, so Yoki wandered inside. If she thought the outside was surprising, the inside was another ball game entirely. Creatures similar to that of her world lingered, but there were also beings who rivaled her fellow divines in image and prowess. Her unassuming height had always caused her to look up at her elders, but the sheer size of the creature behind the bar was even larger than her father, the Great Wolf! Not as large as Life, mind you, but nothing ever was. Yoki quickly darted to an empty seat where she could examine the inhabitants of this place, her bare feet silently carrying her across the room.

@CandySatan The Nazi from across the room seemed to notice her in particular, and stared at her, a look of amazement on her face. She actually stood up, slinging her rifle and walking over to talk to her, but when she actually arrived, she realized she had nothing to say, and the matter-of-fact things she could say were completely unimportant, so naturally, she became self-conscious, staring at the floor, frozen in place. She tried to fix her short, fingerlength blonde hair, but ended up ruffling it even more. Clearing her throat, she sat down, right next to her, her face red with embarrassment as she tried to pretend like nothing had happened. Managing a sentence after about a minute of awkward silence, she asked, "So... how did you die?"

@Gutshot
"Don't worry--I'm not asking for free drinks." David chuckled at Zzubus's remark on his flattering, which was directed at Cruzem.

The tavern, meanwhile, continued to receive even more patrons. Creatures of all shapes could be seen chatting with each other or just getting a good look at the tavern itself. David isn't particular sociable, but the prospect of talking with these people and knowing more about their own universes, which definitely follow vastly different physical law, easily overwhelmed his last piece of shyness that had already been eroded considerably by alcohol.

He saw a yound woman in a black military uniform (@Antioch) approach a wolf-girl (@CandySatan) and decided to join them. "May I join you?" The professor asked, with his relaxed, a bit mischievous face replaced with one that was polite but still friendly.

@LChris314 Upon closer examination, she appeared to be wearing a red Swastika armband, and had an M1 Garand slung over her shoulder. The Nazi's gaze snapped to the professor. She gave him a smile, and a thickly accented, "Hallo. And sure, you may."

Artholath lifted his rather long pair of legs and crossed them on the table, observing new arrivals and their activities. Some were interesting, others were mere humans. In a place that mixed with humans, he supposed that he should be grateful. Humans seemed to die more than anything else in the universe, yet there was a fair mix of beings. He doubted they could transcend this realm of death - but then, had any of them tried it? Would the bartender personally drag them back, would an invisible wall stop them, did magic create some form of endless field, or could someone who walked dimensions simply pass through?

For his strengths, Artholath was no walker of realms. The few times he had were with the assistance of beings far more powerful than himself. In his time thus far, he picked up no conversation regarding anyone who was able to do that in this place. He wasn't the type to simply walk up and ask for a free ride, either. With the far more imposing demon bartender in the room, Artholath looked like a little cousin at best to anyone comparing the two. Such was the way of his existence, being compared to beings greater than himself.

He looked at the piddly human (@Antioch) as she sat with another group. Yes, piddly humans were, but this one at least had the decency to speak of educating itself. Minding its place would be the next step, he mused as he watched its seemingly problematic attempt at sitting. Then again, at least it wasn't trying to pass itself off as superior as many humans did. The other human at the table (@LChris314), on the other hand, approached it with far more confidence. The third occupant at the table (@CandySatan) had the appearance of a proper entity, and one suited to far better company. Perhaps it was the hell mentioned by Satan, for what else could it be to have humans as equally placed patrons for the rest of time?

@LChris314
Cruzem watched the human go to talk to the others. A weird...wolf thing, and some more humans. Why not? The teenage Dragon decided to follow him, smiling wide as she looked at the people at the table.

@CandySatan@Antioch

"Hello there" the Dragon said to the group, happily sipping at her wine "can I join you too?"

@medalliah@Antioch@CandySatan

David was pleasantly surprised when he noticed Cruzem was following him to join the female soldier and wolf-girl. He was really not very used to meeting strangers. Getting acquainted with the dragon-girl and the archdemon bartender had already made him quite tired mentally, and if not for the two glasses of ale he would have gotten a room by now.

"Hello there, can I join you too?" Cruzem said. David decided to let her take the lead and then took a good look at the female soldier. She seemed to be from a universe very similar to his own, wore a black military uniform with some unknown insignia and carried with her a rifle. She might be from the same universe as his but died at another time or place. He wanted to know.

@medalliah "Of course you can join us. I guess we're a group, now." She crossed her arms, leaning back into her chair. @LChris314 She met David's gaze, and smiled, pulling off her armband and tossing it to him, "Mein Fuhrer killed seventeen million individual humans, and got away with it. We were the Third Reich..."

@Antioch Yoki curiously studied the new arrival to her table. She looked human, like the many she once terrorizd and fed on back home, but wore very strange clothing that seemed far more advance than the simple tunics and pants of her own world. Again though, like the tavern itself, the unusual clothing was no as awe inspiring as her own fellow divines. Before Yoki could say one thing over another, two others joined them. @LChris314 @medalliah

The male was similar to the woman with the red arm decoration, human but different than her humans. He carried himself much more confidently than the girl. Soon following him was a creature much more familiar looking to Yoki than any other. This one was part dragon, perhaps a deity like herself?

"I suppose now we are a group of some sort, though you look quite delicious." Yoki deadpanned, eyeing the two humans like they would eye a steak. She did not say this with malice or intent, more as an observation. "How I died, you ask? What a strange way to begin a conversation. Life's brother, Htaed, took my hand and pulled me through the Veil. I opened my eyes inside a carriage which brought me to this strange place. I was no longer believed in, so I was no longer living." After telling this story, Yoki examined the rest of the crowd to watch for any more people who would approach. Already this was giving her more interaction with minor beings than she had had in over 300 years. Her subjects had prayed to her less and less every day, despite her freezing their crops and tearing open the flesh of their children in retaliation.

@CandySatan Hirz studiously listened to Yoki, nodding after every word, even if she was treated as she would treat a bacteria. But she wasn't put down so easily, because she would fit in here, even if it took her a lot of time. She suddenly stood up, staring at something, and then began to SCREAM. A gauntleted hand grabbed her throat out of thin air, and lifted her into the air. It would seem whatever had done so was trying to pull her out with them, but clearly couldn't, as whatever portal he had created would not let her leave. Gasping for breath and eventually going unconscious, she was released, and the hand disappeared, leaving an unconscious Hirz to slump to the floor, smacking her head on the edge of her seat on her way down.

@LChris314@CandySatan@Antioch

The Dragon was rather enjoying the story from the wolfish woman. "Why did he pull you through? Why didn't you stay? Sounds like you had a choice and chose to die? Sorry, I am a lover of stories and you look like yours is far more interesting than the human creatures" she remained looking at the wolf until the other human suddenly started screaming, which startled the Dragon.

"What happened to the female human?"

@Antioch@medalliahYoki jumped to her feet and growled at the image of the hand which was attacking the human. When the human was prone on the floor, Yoki approached, sniffing curiously. "Is this normal here?" She said aloud, looking to the dragon girl. "And to answer your question, I could not refuse Thaed, when it is your time he appears before you in his Mirror and beckons you through. To refuse is to become a shade, a remnant forced to drift powerlessly through the centuries until you are driven mad and then dragged beneath the world to join Thaed as one of his Vengeances."
Yoki poked the unmoving form on the floor, multicolored eyes full of curiosity to understand this new situation.

@CandySatan It was clear that something had wanted to drag her back, and whatever that something was was extremely powerful, and had enough incentive to try and rip her from death's grasp. Her eyes fluttered open, and she coughed, feeling at her now-bruised neck, "What the... what..." She pushed herself to her feet, and dropped into her chair, vigorously massaging her neck and swallowing. "It had nine wings... it was so bright..." She coughed, her face screwing into one of severe pain, "It feels like I've swallowed a bunch of needles..."

Artholath raised his eyebrow at the mortal that had just been picked up. Interesting. Beings had the ability to project themselves into this dimension of dead, if he was understanding the scenario correctly. He had no way of knowing what the capabilities of the being that had just made the attempt were, but if it was anywhere near the strength of his former masters, that was potential worth mulling over. Testing the boundaries of this dimension was an idea rapidly forming in Artholath's mind. He still knew very little about the condition of death, but he had to wonder - was there really such a thing as death?

The mortal, too, had become marginally more interesting, for it wasn't every being that warranted the attention of higher powers that would wish to bring back a passed soul. Particularly if the being in question was a mere human. Even his former masters didn't seem to hold much interest in pulling others from the afterlife...