Jace was surprised as the bread was produced by tentacles. He gawked at them for a second, admiring the usefulness that they proved. After a few seconds, he snapped out of it and handed two copper from his coin pouch, leaving only a single brown coin left inside. He sighed and took one of the loaves, leaving the other one on the stall for the fox to have at her leisure. Despite his appearance, he was a nice person. He took a bite from the bread before picking up the ring.

“Thanks for that” He said with a smile. He was going to walk away before he heard a voice from behind him. A woman, the one from earlier that had ordered. Apparently she wanted to see the ring. Seeing no reason to not give it to her, Jace handed it over.

“Admiring the ring, are you?” He said in a rather cocky tone. “I see why you would, its marvellous craftsmanship. The villagers told me it was made by their greatest jeweller with the ruby the town had kept safe for generations” Jace said, rattling off the proud tale that he had received from the village elder. He hadn’t at all found it strange that they would offer their most treasured keepsake to him as a reward.

“You know, I would be willing to sell the ring to you” Jace said with a relaxed smile, remembering that the woman had order something quite extravagant earlier. “But it would cost you. A ring like this does not come around too often” Jace thought he had finally found a way to make some food money and could have something a little better than bread for lunch. He took another bite of his loaf and smiled a confident grin.

Tanya, even as she loudly complained to herself, couldn't help but take note of the man who had dropped down across the street. And stared... and not even approached to at least make all of this stupid forced preaching worth it... This wasn't even Tanya's job, why did she have to deal with this!? There was no way this could be more frustrating, no way at all. Not even slightly... wait wait wait, was that... was that... Tanya vaguely recognized the tiny, childish form, though she wasn't sure where she recognized her from. She looked like a girl no older then twelve, as well... and there was further strangeness about her. If Tanya had been more focused, she may have been able to place it. She frowned at the tone, the laughter, and yet... well... it was her job to try and talk to people on the street to gain their interest in Reon...

Tanya took a deep breath. "Hello, Miss, would you be interested in-"

... What.

Tanya's jaw slowly dropped as she listened to what the girl called her. Talking about... she was saying she was a streetwalked?! Short... flatchested... a hooker?! Tanya's body trembled as her anger steadily boiled to the surface. She forgot about her surroundings, all of them except the insulting girl. How... how dare she say those things, make those assumptions, talk about the... priestesses of Reon being a common fantasy... calling her something so... so perverted!

"Y-y-you... how dare you?!" Tanya snapped, taking a step towards the black-haired girl, "I'm not just a servant of Reon, I'm one of her Paladins! How dare y-you say something so... so perverted! So rude! Why would you even make that assumption?! These robes are holy garb, they're not anything for those... those purposes!"

"Thank you, mademoiselle." Alena graciously grinned to the adorable beastkin bringing forth her succulent meal for the afternoon before pouring herself another cup of that ever delicious sake, feeling a tad tipsy but still sober enough to show elegance. She sampled a bit of the grilled fish, flaking some off with a small parring knife that was beside her when she took her seat and exquisitely popping the savory morsel into her mouth. Such delight it brought to the woman, the flavors of far-eastern cultures just tantalizing her tastebuds. The haddock, it was not too sweet, not too salty either, and with just enough smokiness to rather accentuate the natural flavor of the fish rather than overpower it, the same for the seasoning and the lemon butter, it all just culminated together so perfectly. She would have to try more, but her interests were established in that ring the young lad so boastfully exhibited. Boy was he in for a shock.

Nonchalantly, the woman took the ring from his hand, clutching it between her leather gloved fingers and observing it as if she was interested in purchasing this mockery, but instead, and this may have come off as appalling to the boy, she tossed the ring so precariously to the hard cobblestone below her feet and as anticipated, she heard the resounding shatter of the priceless blood ruby. Afterwards, she gathered the shards of tinted red glass and sat them carefully in the hands of the young man, indeed a look of concern upon her face, but inside...smug satisfaction for revealing this fraudulent exchange. "Why young sir, it appears you have been duped." Alena humbly spoke to him, shaking her head in shame of this bamboozling of a man's services. Such drastic measures were always taken with these kinds of folks in her line of expertise, for if an assassin was ever double crossed, there was Hell to pay indeed. "It was just as I suspected upon view of the gem. The ring is a forgery, and as you can see....your Blood Ruby was nothing but glass. I would most certainly be having words with that double-crossing elder if I were you." She then turned back to her meal, savoring more delicious bites of haddock before dabbing at her lips with a cloth napkin and giving a bright smile of approval to the master chef, "My compliments, mademoiselle. That haddock was simply to die for."

Jace smiled smugly as he saw the woman look the ring over. ‘Looks like I get a warm bed tonight’ Jace thought to himself, sure that he had found a buyer. He never could have imagined what would happen next. As the ring shattered on the ground, Jace almost fell over in disbelief. He didn't react what so ever as the woman put the shards of glass in his hand. He just stood there with a gaping jaw. After a few moments he tightly grasped the glass in his hand. In a moment of anger, fire burst from the tiny holes in his gauntlet, incinerating the glass shards. As the torrent of flame quickly rose up, Jace snapped back into control and put the flames out. He let out a deep sigh and dropped the ash to the ground. He brought his bread up to his mouth and took a bite.

“Looks like I don’t get a bed tonight after all…” Jace mumbled to himself. He softly laughed to himself. With an exasperated smile he turned to the woman. “Thanks for the info” Jace said to her. “This happens much more often that I would like it to. I had some other things to sell, but I am a little weary about them now.” He said as he scratched his head. “I don’t mean to sound strange, but do you know where a mercenary can find some work around here? If I don’t get some money I will be out on the street tonight.” Jace didn't expect sympathy, he simply wanted to know a good way to get some money in this town. The life of a mercenary was a hard one, you had to scrounge to get the slightest bit of money together and it never lasted. Or at least, that was the way things worked for Jace. Either way, he needed money and this seemed like someone who knew about that, he figured why not ask.

Ezel was lost in thought as he sometimes does. One would think that he might be retarded when it comes to speech, but they couldn't be more wrong. In fact it is really hard for the Granock kin to produce the appropriate sounds needed in the common language. His mind on the other hand works overtime just to keep the sentences short and simple enough to not make a real fool of himself. He wasn't even noticing what happened around him since he was recalling each hammer blow dealt to the pick he just reforged, Even thou he gave it away for free, it would be bad for his dwindling business if he omitted a defect. The smell of fried fish and rice was pulling him back to his senses, but he was rather unwilling to give up on his reflection.

Something caressed his chin, other people had arrived, he could feel a pigeon landing on his head, some idle talk could be heard far from the center of his attention. The pigeon rustled for a moment as some glass broke and brought the living rock back to its senses. A woman clad in black reaching down to pick up something, a young man that looked as if he had seen a ghost. And just beside him another squid like Beastkin of sorts but which had rather fluffy tentacles, The nine appendages seemed to move according to their own will attracting attention in a hypnotizing manner. He Slowly started to reach for one of then his hand moving at a agonizing speed as if not to startle them.

His eyes moved onto the young man as he suddenly sprouted fire from his hand. While flash of flame that came through the gloves of the young man distracted the gaze of the rocky man, it did not break him from his intention to grab one of the tentacles. His hand moved with such steadiness that it attract even less attention then the pigeon atop of his head. Ezel's yes caught the rage on the boys face, who was probably the possessor of the once whole glass piece. It was quickly replaced by a feeling of anguish. As the young man continued to ask about work, Ezel started feeling sorry for the boy and said in his avalanche like voice Naturally the sound of his voice startled both the pigeon and the tentacles. The pigeon itself leaving a mark of unappreciation of his startle on the back of the talking statues head.

But it was of no importance at the moment. His food also seemed ready, thus he turned his attention to the girl behind the counter and called out to her for the last person he pointed to the creature with the fluffy appendages.

Sniggit had been hollering for a while when she noticed the sign saying the blacksmith was out for lunch. Feeling embarrassed and annoyed, the ratkin returned to her two undead escorts and ordered them on towards the temple where their job awaited them.

As the trio was passing through a food market, Sniggit still muttering angrily to herself under her breath, she couldn't help but notice the walking rock that was Ezel grabbing a bite with a few other people. Deciding she wanted to have her dagger sharpened after all, the collector approached the small group. The laborers were left behind, as usual.

"Ezel!" she squeaked, "There you are! Need dagger sharp-sharp, but must go business. You take dagger now, I come later when done and give coin, yesno?"

Broken out of his stupor, the notion of getting out of the area as fast as possible briefly passed Thane's mind once an aristocratic-looking preteen appeared and made a droll remark about the angry robed woman. It probably wasn't a good sign of things to come, if anything. However, no matter what social class she seemed to come from, she was still a preteen, right? It wasn't as if she could say anything particularly awful, so really there wasn't a good reason to lea-

'Oh my.'

Thane was absolutely speechless. His expression basically screamed out 'did that actually just happen?', what with the widened eyes and slightly agape mouth. Needless to say, he was not expecting that comment at all. After a few moments of looking on awkwardly at the situation to register that that indeed happened, he straightened out his expression and began to reconsider getting out immediately before the pissed off girl with the obvious temper did something drastic... Or maybe he could try to do his best to diffuse the situation somehow. Key word being 'try' - he doubted there was much he could do. The courier examined his surroundings and placed a marker on the edge of a building roof. 'Always good to have a quick escape,' Thane noted before piping up.

"...Err... Why don't we all put this little incident behind us all and, uh, apologize for the slander...?" he said with a slight lack of confidence in his tone. After all, he was dealing with a paladin who could probably beat the snot out of him, and a wealthy young lady who was probably more than she seemed if she was spitting out stuff like that to strangers.

"Tis a shame indeed, young sir, and I am greatly sorry for this terrible inconvenience." Alena whispered consolingly to the poor lad with a gentle rub of his shoulder, though still she was satisfied somewhat with saving him from what could've been a catastrophe. Alot of the merchants here in Karstberg weren't too keen with con artists and back-biters, and if this boy even tried once to show his false jewelry to any of them, he was guaranteed a long...hard discussion in the back alley with some hired muscle. It did surprise her though how this man reacted to the bitter news of his valued ring being nothing but a folly, how his gauntleted hands immediately burst into flames, such heat the woman felt from him, imbued so heavily with his anger, his frustration just melting away those tiny red shards she recently set in those very hands, till the fires died away, receding back into those hands and his head hung low in utter defeat. She certainly felt the boy's pain, for even the life of an assassin wasn't all to glamorous, and contracts such as what she received today were usually a diamond in the rough, rarely would an assassin be paid so generously for their....services.

Speaking of such, her eyes seemed to light up immediately when he asked if she knew of any work around the city, although she hasn't seen this boy display much besides his quick temper and that fire he had in him...quite literally. Alena was unsure if this boy knew how to fight or more importantly...how to kill, but stating he was a mercenary appeared evidence enough, but saying was far from doing, because for Alena, or Ravenhead Matthias, or any silent blade of the Coven, actions, the more violent, the better, indeed boasted louder than spoken word. Maybe this boy would make an honorable inductee into the Coven, but before so, she would need to have word with Matthias, and last she heard, the Grimm man, no pun intended mind you, was already on contract in the city, something of slaying a nobleman's libidinous and unfaithful wife for thirteen hundred gold, a little bit less than what was made due towards Alena, but still a plentiful bounty it was. However, before she even spoke word of offering service to the young lad, the stone one practically dived at the mention, rather blunt and coarse, about as coarse as the granite that was his solid walled body. Curses she muttered aside. With the Coven in such dwindling numbers, recruitment was a top priority, but so much for that missed opportunity. Her smile did return though when the Granock called for more food, for her, the young boy, and the definitely ravishing fox woman a few seats down from her, humorously mistaken for an octopus by the giant. Alena couldn't help but release a small chuckle at this, also the pigeon leaving his...surprise atop the Granock's head.

Amused was she, but not for long as she was taken off guard by the cantankerous cawing and soon there he landed upon her table, picking at the remains of her haddock and gawking at Alena with his beady black marbled eyes with another squawk from his obsidian razor beak. "Edgar?" She addressed the shadowed bird by his name, or more frankly the name the raven's master had placed upon him when he was made docile, and indeed Alena knew who this very black bird had belonged too. The raven cawed to her once again before soon taking flight, a flickering of midnight feathers passing the woman's crimsoned eyes. Before too long, she turned to watch it climb higher and higher towards the sky, until it perched upon the shoulder of...his master. Matthias. Despite the grand distance between the two veteran assassins, Alena could see clear enough his cold and enigmatic features. He stood atop the ancient clocktower, his long flowing black scarf and cloak billowing about the swift crosswind like a phantom that haunted Alena, but she was more bothered than frightened greatly by his ever looming presence. His dead, cold eyes, as black as the abyss, glowered down upon the woman, and of course in spite of how far away he was, his scar was still able to be viewed. Some say it was the last blow an enemy swordsman was able to deal him, before he strangled the bastard with his bare hands. Others speak of how the abrasion was really a ritualistic mark given to him by Death, signifying the dark man as the Father of Shadows' blessed emissary. Either way, it was the most striking feature of Matthias, that and...his hair as white as frost upon the tombstones in winter.

He looked to Alena only once, before concealing the rest of his face with his hood and vanishing from his perch in a swift leap. The look however was enough to show he wished to speak with his protegee, possibly another contract. "If you will excuse me, I must attend to some important matters. Thank you again for the lovely meal, mademoiselle. I will most certainly return here if I'm ever in need of nourishment again. Au revoir." She gave a parting smile to the girl behind the counter and the rest of the patrons before donning her black hood and once again taking for the rooftops, already etching in her mind the quickest path towards the city gate.

Tsubasa took the bread... and stared at it, eventually putting it down again and taking the now-vacated seat, only to continue staring at the bread with apprehension. What was it? She'd never seen the like back home, and it was... odd. Kind of like wood, she thought. Had he given her a stick to carve into some sort of fishing rod? But it was too short for that...

She did, at least, give the merchant an answer, even though a plaintive-sounding 'hungry' wasn't all that descriptive. Like Mizuko, she was speaking in her native language--and, at that, extremely politely despite the short statement.

Bread was quite a new food to Mizuko. However, it hadn't taken long to obtain some and she was quick to sell it off, so when the man took it and gave some to the kitsune she was pleased. Two copper wasn't much, but it was still monetary gain! And then... then there was some very confusing business about a ring, which turned out to be fake. Mizuko frowned deeply, inclining her head to the side.

"Don't go trying to sell fake rings ~degeso," she said, disapprovingly with her arms folded as she continued to prepare the shrimp-fried rice with her tentacles. There was only one drawback to preparing the dish, and that was that... the scent of cooking shrimp was so very tempting...! But... no, she couldn't let that distract her. The meal was almost complete, as well. She smiled at the woman as she clearly enjoyed her meal, and gave her payment, before... very quickly leaving. "Ah... goodbye, valued customer ~degeso! And... eto... I'll.. have more shrimp-fried rice ready ~degeso!"

More food orders was good, it meant she got more money, but... waaah this was so much! She was finally plating the first batch and she still needed to make more! And... the kitsune, she was hungry too... the stone man had ordered food for her as well...

"You'll... you'll have plenty of shrimp-fried rice too ~degeso!"

Jace was surprised as the stone man he had seen earlier spoke up. He wasn’t quite sure how to react to what he has heard, but before he could say anything, the man called for more food.

“Food!” Jace announced in a pleased tone. “Give me food and I will follow you anywhere!” Jace said as he had to hold himself back from jumping with excitement. He looked over as the woman he had talked to before said her goodbyes. “Bye lady! If you ever need a favor I owe you one for the ring!” Jace said as politely as he could. That woman had saved him from making a rather silly mistake with the ring, it was the least he could do. With a smile he looked back over to see the fox inspecting the bread he had left there. He sighed as he thought the woman must not know what it was. She didn’t look like any race he had seen before so it seemed to fit. It was then that he heard the shopkeeper scold him about the ring.

“It’s not my fault!” Jace said defensively. “I had no idea it was fake…” With a slightly disheartened sigh he took a seat on the ground and took a bite of the bread before getting out some cloth and wrapping it up. He slid it into his backpack for safekeeping. He then remembered what he had heard before.

“Wait… Where are we going to go?” Jace asked to the stone man. He had been so wrapped up in the fact that he was getting food that he had forgotten to ask what he had agreed to. “Did I just agree to be a slave or something?” Jace asked in a slightly scared tone, remembering back to the time when he had stumbled into a situation much like that one. In his defense, they gave him cake. He has a soft spot for sweets.

A black bird landed on the counter and for some reason made the woman loose her appetite. And after hiding her face under the hood she took of in speed to a roof. That's when he finally turned to noticed one of his usual customers, another Beastkin, and this one was a rat. In more ways than one some would say, but that was a rumor that still wasn't confirmed, in Ezel's case at least. She handed him a dagger to sharpen, which would normally would take a few minutes in the smithy but out here... Then he looked at the squidgirl that was still preparing for four people and turned to Sniggit again and tried to imitate her Without giving her further attention he turned to the boy.

Ezel found the boy in quite another hue, the one people tend to get when they see a ghost. And as Ezel missed what the boy asked he naturally deducted that his fear came from the overgrown rat that made its appearance.

Normally she would have turned the offer down, what with her being on a mission and all that, but her stomach rumbled when she caught the smell of food. Licking her lips in anticipation, Sniggit approached the tentaculy girl. "Foodstuff for this one", she said politely, raising a finger, "how much?'.

It didn't take but a couple of minutes to pass before Alena was past the towering and magnificent walls of Karstberg and on her way into the thick of the surrounding forest. Funny, as she looked back upon the city that was once her home, she couldn't help but notice how cold it looked from the outside world, how uninviting and brash Karstberg must feel to those who but gape in awe and perhaps some apprehension at those very walls that once housed her....and her family, but failed to keep them safe for their time being, for the real monsters...they lurked among those walls, among those buildings and castles of hewn stone, around every corner and in the dark of every alley, for there was nothing more terrifying to any young girl than a madman with a sword or an axe murdering her beloved mother and father before her very waking eyes....and soon realizing that those savage brutes were sent to burn her once beautiful home to nothing but smoldering piles of ashes and blackened timbers...by her own uncle. It felt as though Alena could see again that dreadful vision, how she once fled in the coldest of rainstorms from certain demise, only pausing to look back upon Karstberg and see the flames rising to scorch the night sky blood red and choke the thin, winter air with thick billows of black smog and soot.

Shivering slightly, she shook the ill imagining from her head and soldiered onward, off the beaten path of course and once again concealed in shadow, this time by the pines and the larches that stretched high above her head and eclipsed the sun from the forest ground below rather than the massive stone structures of fair Karstberg. She followed a path through those thick and knotted woods, a path only she and others of her guild were to know, past the pines whose trunks were notched and carved with runic sigils, across the stream where the nightshade blossoms upon the banks of its cold and brisk, clear waters, and finally through an old and decrepit cemetery, long forgotten graves of fallen soldiers adorned with cracked and weathered tombstones invaded by moss, the land of the dead dominated by a rather ominous and gargantuan tree that held no life in its greyed and stifled wood, no leaves or foliage to clothe it, branches left naked and snaking about like the tendrils of a Death-Serpent. Twas this tree that marked Alena's new home, or the grounds upon which it stood, for her home was just past the tree, in a cave sealed by an intimidating enchanted door. Carved into the rock of this door was a skull, which to the deceiving eye seemed docile, imobile, but when Alena approached the door, the very skull sprung to life and spoke gravely the words of mortal man.

"What is the melody of Death, my sister?" A posing question it asked, the answer to which Alena had known. "Silence, my brother. Silence and tranquility." Blunt as ever she replied, so typical of Matthias and his riddles, all pertaining to his obsession with this grim religion of his, again no pun intended. The skull nodded at Alena's answer of the riddle, "Welcome home, my sister, and Glory Unto Death." and granted passage removing the door it haunted, revealing to Alena a long corridor of carved rock and granite that stretched onward into the midst of the cavernous abode, dimly lit by a row of flickering candles, their shadows dancing about sculpted, skeletal effigies that donned the damp and bitter cold walls. This was home to her now, the Black Rose Tavern, the last safe haven of the Coven of Thorns. She stepped away from the light outside and into the darkness she sauntered as the door closed behind her with a thud resounding through the cave.

Upon entrance to the tavern, she was met by a pretty face, and a very accustomed one at that. "Ah, you're home early." The younger woman with crimsoned hair chirped pleasantly, leaning in the doorway with her arms crossed under her breasts and a foot perched against the frame. There was but the slightest of smirks Alena could pick out from the lovely lass' face, amidst her rosy, freckled cheeks and those bedazzling blue eyes she flashed to the dark haired woman. She had to be at least in her late teenage years, possibly eighteen, but Alena never bothered to ask the girl. "Maelyn, what a pleasant greeting to my return." Charming Alena was as she called the girl by name. Maelyn removed her arms from their stoic position and gave a bit of a stretch and a yawn before replying, again wearing that damned revealing attire to just fluster the older woman's emotions and invoke a blushing upon Alena's pale cheeks, as much as the stretch was a gesture for her to...take a gander at this Lolita of shadows. "So how was it?" Maelyn asked of Alena's recent endeavor. Ah yes, the assassination of Lucien Balford. "He's dead, is he not?" Alena quipped in reply. "And I have the gold to prove it. Lucien Balford walks among us no more." Maelyn huffed and rolled her eyes, typical adolescent demeanor, "But of course, Alena, but I speak of how he no longer lives. How did you kill him?"

"Poison." Answered Alena, an answer that...seemed to disappoint her bloodthirsty companion. "Aww...that's no fun." Maelyn pouted, curling her lips into a displeasing frown, rather cute to the veteran assassin was this novice's show of emotion. "You could've at least told me you slashed his neck open or gutted him, but poison?" Alena chuckled jovially, a hand rising to rest upon the young inductee's shoulder, either to comfort or...to slyly cop a feel of her fair skin, smooth as polished marble. "Be at ease, my young ward." She spoke softly, the hand now gracing the girl's fiery red hair and stroking it before she receded her hand back to her side. "There will be plenty a time for bloodshed when you embark on your first contract." The girl smiled, rather frisky though as she leaned in closer to the woman, her eyes glinting with a passion, a hint of lust upon her voice, "Well...perhaps before, we shall have time for another encounter such as last night's?" Last night, Alena was drunken on a deadly concoction of ale and wine, her and the pretty lass, but she nor her were intoxicated enough to forget the events that conspired that very eve. It still sent pleasant chills down Alena's spine to feel the girl's touch as her hand so subtly fell upon the woman's cheek...burning hot no less. "Don't tell me you're falling in love with me now." Her response, ever so dripping with seduction, as was Maelyn's, "Perhaps a little, but...you're just as ferocious in bed as you are upon the killing field."

"And there will be plenty more times too that I shall invite you to my bed again, mademoiselle." She smiled gently clasping the girl's hand in hers and placing it back to Maelyn's side. "But now is not one of them. Tell me, where be Matthias? He requests a word with me." She was again dismayed, the woman could tell, Maelyn's lips again in a glower before answering, "In his room, as always with the codger. Never once does he step out to address his troops." But that was always Matthias, a very secluded man, but even without speaking a single word, he garnered fear and respect for himself amongst his...troops. Alena left the company of her young ward and soon was on her way to Matthias' chambers, but not before hearing the sly call of, "I do hope you live upon your promise, Alena. I'll be waiting." a wink from the girl as well before departing Alena saw, which only carved a pleasant smirk of her own across her lips. She stepped into his room soon after, and there he was, those frosted eyes of his glancing down upon the table he loomed over with his darkening presence, and atop that table...another contract as predicted. "You called for me?"

His eyes soon affixed to Alena after she garnered his attention. "Yes, I did." Coldly he answered. "We have another contract, and I want you to see to it. The client is willing to pay a generous sum for our services, ten thousand in gold coin. As you can tell, he's putting quite the value on the target." My it was a generous offer indeed, but it seemed to Alena as the usual contract, either a jilted businessman who wanted a problem taken care of, say the dispatching of an unscrupulous citizen or a philandering spouse, but it was when Alena asked of who the contract was for, Matthias had given her...that name....that very name that twinged the bitter nerves of the woman and sent her blood blazing hot through her veins in a fury she could barely quell within herself, an urge to not unsheathe her sword already.

"So who be this contract for?"

"....Venius Carthenwald, the president of the Carthenwald Trading and Logistics Company...." Matthias replied, immediately conjuring forth the woman's desires for retribution. "Matthias...tell me! Tell me he is the target!" Oh how she wished the bastard was so. Her very enemy delivered unto her vengeful blade with divine intervention, it would be such joy to Alena to see her dagger grace the neck of this vile traitor who be her uncle, but it was naught. Matthias spoke again, unfazed as ever by the bloodlust in Alena's...already blooded eyes. "I am indeed astounded by your desire for payback, Alena, but sheathe thy blade for now. Venius is the client unfortunately. He's asked of us to eliminate some business competition for him, the crooked fiend, a few vendors in the Market District who are taking away revenue from his company." Surely Matthias meant Alena's company or what would've been offered to her had this vulture not swooped forth and clawed away her father and mother, her fortune, her home... She would be damned to work for a nefarious wretch such as Venius, as much as she would be damned to consider him family anymore, not after all the pain he inflicted upon Alena!

Matthias continued. "Luckily for you, I've arranged a special meeting between you and Herr Carthenwald, tonight, at a symphony performance in the Dream District. That way, a little music will distract you from carving the bastard's throat. I understand what he's done to you, Alena, and as much as you, I would love to see your blade send him into Death's justice...but he is a client and not our target. Perhaps after the contract is fullfilled, you may gain your due retribution. Until then...save your blade for the target, the Decree demands it so." And damn the law of the Coven as well! But Alena had no choice...except afterwards. "And you can guarantee I will come for him once my mission is complete, Matthias....by my family's grave, the ruins of my home.....I will kill him." Her decision made just, Alena left Matthias' chamber and stormed onward to her own to prepare for tonight....

Jace stared up at the stone man with a blank expression. He had no idea what the man was talking about, and was a little worried. ‘What is a Sniggit?’ Jace thought to himself with a dumfounded thought pattern. Then, he noticed the small, rat like person… or rather… The small person like rat. He watched as the small beast kin walked up and ordered some food in a way he could barely understand. It was official; Jace was totally lost in the conversation around him. He curled up in a ball on the ground in desperation.

“I am so confused” Jace said as he slowly stood up after a few seconds of being on the ground. He wanted a drink. Reluctantly, he reached into his bag and grabbed a small bottle he had been saving. He took out the cork and took a swig of the stuff inside. With a loud sigh he took the bottle away from his mouth. He always made sure to keep at least two small bottles of whiskey to help make the long nights shorter. Jace spent the majority of his time alone on the road, so he had to have some way to pass the time. He sat on one of the benches and took another big swig, finishing off the bottle. He took the bottle away, admiring the taste and warmth he felt. He made a mental note to pick up more before leaving the city. But based on the amount of money and food he had, leaving would be impossible for quite a while. With a tired chuckle he looked up at the sky, admiring the clouds, patiently waiting for his food with a rumbling stomach.

Well... this was new.

Mizuko was certainly used to various races. And she definitely knew of various animal-like races other then her own kind. There were all kinds back in Akitsushima. But... she wasn't used to races that looked that animalistic. At least, not intelligent ones. So she found herself very surprised, looking at the ratkin. However, race mattered not. A customer was a customer, regardless of what they were! ... Unless they were a monster or something, since monsters typically were not good customers at all. "It depends on what you order, valued customer ~degeso!"

The squid beastkin girl was... still feeling a bit overwhelmed as she offered the first plate of fried rice to the giant rocky man. But at least she only had to focus on one meal at a time, now. "I don't have my menu ready yet, but I can prepare what you ask about, for now ~degeso!"

"Want fish with rice, pay with coin! How... wait."

While Sniggit was ordering food, she'd heard some kind of commotion. Turning around, her suspicions were confirmed; a few people were harassing her laborers, taunting them even though they couldn't be taunted. One of them was complaining loudly to a guard about the unhealthiness of having undead in the marketplace. The guard tried hopelessly to calm the citizen in front of him down, but wasn't successful as far as Sniggit could see. "Fix food, fish girl" Sniggit said, "I be back". The ratkin scurried over to the guard, announcing her presense.

"Grey Guild collector Sniggit here. Problems?"
"Um, well" the guard began, clearing his throat, "The good citizen here have some complaints about your corp- I mean laborers."
"Damn right I have!" the aggrivated person cut in, "You can't bring your corpses to the food stands!"
"Why?" Sniggit asked, with a puzzled look on her face.
"Because it's disgusting! And hazardous, too; who knows what diseases they could spread! They're... unclean."
"Is not" Sniggit replied flatly, "More clean than human. No disease in laborer, dead and clean. Disease only in dirty living human."
The citizen seemed taken aback by this. "Are you suggesting" it began, "That I'm dirty? You, a filthy rat, are suggesting that I'm filthy? Guard, are you going to stand here and allow this... creature to slander me so?"
The guard winced, sweat covering its forehead. Sniggit, however, spoke first.
"No insult human, just truth. Laborers clean."
"Well, they shouldn't be left to their own devices like this. Who knows what they could do! They might even harm someone! We've all heard stories about the ravenous undead."
"Look" the guard whispered, leaning in close to Sniggit, "I don't think this is winnable. Can you just take the laborers with you? I know they're harmless, but they're upsetting people. What do you say?"
Sniggit sighed. "Fine" she squeaked, and led the two undead bodies with her to the food stand.

"Sorry, must bring laborers, fish girl. Food ready, yesno?" Sniggit tried to look as apologetic as she possibly could with two walking corpses standing behind her.

Fish and rice? That was simple enough to make! She had rice ready, too, it wouldn't be hard at all to make it alongside the fried rice...

"Of course, valued customer ~degeso! I'll see you when you return ~degeso!" said Mizuko, cheerfully, waving to the rat-person as she walked away. With that, she began to open up a place on her hot plate and brought out another filet of fish from her cold box. She acted quickly, setting it out and then beginning to prepare a fresh batch of rice. It really... was quite overwhelming to be preparing so much food all in a row, but Mizuko was confident she would have no trouble with it at all! Instead, she hurried to have all the food prepared as soon as possible. It wasn't long before the rest of the friend rice was finished, and the squid girl swiftly plated it and presented it to her customers. Now, all she had to do was focus on the fish and rice.

And then... she saw the rat-person return with two... laborers? More people to cook for?

"Eto... I didn't realize that you were ordering for three ~degeso," Mizuko said, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly with one hand. These people were dressed strangely, too... bandages and such old clothing? Maybe she could sell them better outfits... "Unless they're having something else, ~degeso."

Food for three? Sniggit turned around and immedietly understood. "No" she said, smiling and waving a dismissive paw, "laborer dead-dead, need nothing. Sniggit Grey Guild. Collector."

The evening hour had soon approached with the fall of the sun behind the thick and shadowed treetops of the misty forest and the rising of the first full moon of the season, already bathing everything in its blissful pale hues of white and yellow and conjuring forth the howls and wails of the wolves who stalked this dark and silent hour amidst the very forests where the most cunning and devious of predators lurked. And along with the beginning of night, so came the beginning of Alena's reluctance towards this very mission entrusted upon her by Matthias, this very unfair and divinely cruel mission where she was to, what else, bring aid to her enemy rather than strike him down in cold blood as she so desperately yearned for. Venius, the bastard had no right to continue walking the earth, not after all that he had inflicted upon his very niece, pain...suffering....torment....sadness, but fate be a cruel mistress, for Venius was not the one Alena was to deliver unto Death, but the bearer of the executioner's axe. In other words, he was the client, and it would be folly for Alena to go against the Decree and murder him right then and there. Forced was she to serve such a selfish, conceited, cowardly, and unscrupulous man such as her uncle. No! That man was not her uncle, he was not family at all to the woman.

What would also be folly was to parade about the Dream District and the Carail Theatre in her usual dark and foreboding attire of the assassin, at least that was according to Matthias, so a disguise was tailored for the woman at the Ravenhead's request. Standing amidst the tall, polished mirror of her bedchamber, Alena looked to her reflection with a bitter sigh parting her lips and a flash of disdain across her eyes. The dress Matthias had the city tailors personally craft for her was marvelous indeed, but it reminded her so of the past. It had been ages since she donned such a beautiful and elegant evening gown as this, lace trim, valuable red velvet, smoother than the finest silk imported from the Ahkshribah Deserts, and buttons and fasteners crafted of the purest silver, it was all so wonderful....but all so saddening as well. My mother.....she once made a dress as beautiful as this for me.... Was Matthias as enigmatic as she assumed? Did he decide to search into Alena's past while she slept and glance forth upon this pain-invoking recollection. Not really, it was pure coincidence, and she didn't blame the dark man.

Alena jumped a bit as a few knocks sounded at her door, opening to reveal the man in question. "Are you ready?" Matthias asked of her blunt and to the point, his usual demeanor. "The performance is to begin in a few hours. That should spare you enough time to seek out Herr Carthenwald and arrange the assassinations. He's recently made an amendment to his contract. Now he's offering to pay fifty thousand for one target alone." A contract worth fifty thousand in gold, it would be the largest and most grand of contracts the Coven has ever accepted monetary wise and possibly casualty-wise. Only a crooked fiend such as Venius could orchestrate a foul scheme as this, anything that better served to his gain of profit, no matter the expense, but to Alena, the creep would soon learn the price to pay for his greed. Not now...but soon. "Herr Carthenwald is quite the philanthropist, is he now?" A bite of poison upon her reply to Matthias. "I shall accept the contract then, Matthias, but I still live upon my promise to kill him once this is all said and done." Matthias nodded curtly, a gruff sternness to his voice, "I am aware of your desires of retribution, Alena, but keep your blade upon the other targets till then. Also, you will need this." From behind his back, the older man pulled what appeared to be a sort of mask and handed it to the woman. Alena had to wonder why, as she looked upon the decorative designs and felt the cold porcelain upon her soft hands, Matthias would give her a mask, but he continued.

"Carthenwald was yours once upon a time. As you've told me, your father entrusted his business and all that followed with it to you, but Venius, like the snake he is, slithered forth and stole it from you, but....he knows not that you still walk among the living. Should he discover you, there is certain guarantee he will not hesitate to end your life, be it in his best to protect his ill-gained assets. That is why I ask of you, Alena, to conceal your face from him. Let him not look upon the visage of the past, for it will invoke in him...murderous intentions." Of course, should the higher authorities and the Madame Mayor herself know of this travesty, then it was due certain Venius would be up to his neck in hot water, his wealth and his glory stripped from him, and he thrown into the darkest cell of Karstberg's prison, and Alena....returned to her rightful place, but what to say indeed that he would not murder the woman just to keep his money? Alena nodded shortly in understanding of her master's reasoning and placed the mask upon her face...now she was without identity, merely...just another citizen come to enjoy the show at wonderful Carail Theatre. "I'm glad you understand, Alena. Now, get you to the theatre where Herr Carthenwald awaits. Make Haste!"