Aimee could only watch the chaotic scene unfold. First was the hooded girl playing with the dragon boy's tail; strange but nothing that needed to be addressed. Aimee's first mistake. Then the boy swung his tail in surprise, nearly striking everyone around him with it's flaming tip. Instinctively Aimee was about to lunge forward and grab it to ensure it didn't strike anyone else, but Jasmyn had gotten in her way, stepping on her foot and blocking her path. It wasn't painful, but Aimee still knelt down to massage her slightly sore foot. Second mistake. The last came when, by leaving Jasmyn unattended, she had gotten the brilliant idea of throwing a bucket of water onto the dragon boy and subsequently, anyone else near him. Aimee had only realized this soon enough to roll out of the way, avoiding being drenched in water. The others couldn't say the same.

In less then ten minutes of Aimee's arrival, an orc jumped into a river, someone stepped on Aimee's foot, and two people are soaking wet. What a start to today. "Enough!" Aimee shouted with a tone of authority. The entire guild went quiet. Walking up to Jasmyn, Aimee took the bucket out of her hands and pointed towards a changing room. "There are towels over there. Help these two get dry." Taking a sniff, Aimee though the wretched scent came from the questionably clean dishwater, but no. That orc had returned, and he was already drinking. Great.

"If you're here for the Hero Trial, then wait in line patiently and do not cause any trouble! Those who cause a ruckus will be punished severely!" Aimee was almost tempted to take out her gun and shoot something just to make a point, but for now she'll just have to let her words handle it. Her training as an inquisitor gave her many bonuses to her intimidation modifier, which will allow her to cower the weaker willed. Even the strong-will or thick-headed would know that her threats were not empty. Only the truly foolish would believe she's bluffing. And it's those people that Aimee was keeping a close eye on.

Yuji had no idea what happened between the people in this group, but she was really curious about what went down between them all. Out of nowhere the Orc man wandered close to her and began to lean on her flank, looking back to the drunken man she listened to him talk about how the group was a bunch of random people, then he went on about how they can just be grave robbers or thieves.

Even though Yuji knew that he was clearly inebriated, his alcohol infused words weren't completely wrong, some of the people here could be thieves looking for money, and from how the dragon was wrapping himself up, they did look quirky. Yuji closed her eyes and put a hand on her chin as she analyzed the group of people, but before she could give her thoughts about them someone screamed, the sudden yelling startled the centaur woman, and she put a hand on her sword's handle. When she noticed where the screaming was coming from, she looked down at the woman screaming to the top of her lungs.

Once the entire room was quiet, and she was done having a meltdown, Yuji slowly trotted to the woman, Yuji stood towering over the darkly clothed woman and stared down at her." You need to calm down, screaming at people and threatening to punish them isn't the wisest thing to do." She told Aimee with a glare painted on her face." I'm not the type of person to cause trouble, but someone you yell at could be the type to, watch your tone." She told her.

As Metel stood waiting, she noticed a centaur woman arriving to the scene. She immediately caught the eyes of nearly everyone present as centaurs were a pretty rare sight. Not to mention her size made her impression massive as well.

She was certainly one of those people. She had never seen a centaur before as well. She'd only heard about them in books and bard tales. To be meeting one like this never crossed her mind at all.

...Well, today she already met a half-dragon man as well. That's another rare one for sure. Maybe she would even meet a lich today, with the way her luck was going.

...On second though, scratch that. Liches were never good news.

She looked back at the centaur and then saw an orc leaning against her body; a mug of ale in his hand. She wondered how she could stand him. If it were her standing there, she would have left immediately. She couldn't stand drunk people like him, much less one who got too close to her personal space.

"Enough!"

A loud voice suddenly roared across the room, making everyone turn silent and look at the source of the voice. It was a girl wearing all-black, with her face looking quite stern and angry. She quickly ordered for the two wet people to get dry, before threatening to punish anyone who made another ruckus like before.

Finally, someone taking charge, she thought. Maybe she could get a little peace and quiet around here.

However, the centaur woman didn't take kindly to her tone, as she trotted forward to her and pretty much intimidated her back with her superior height. There were truth to her words however, as being that aggressive could earn you the ire of some people. But still...

"Well, I believe someone should take charge around here," she said as she approached the two, interrupted their conversation. "I prefer to wait in peace over a bunch of rascals making a scene." She looked upwards to the centaur. She certainly had quite the impressive presence.

One moment Lupa had been playing with someone's tail, the next moment someone had dumped water all over her. Nasty water too. "Bleh." Lupa stood up and shook the water off her body, getting anyone close to her a little bit wet too. Lupa then looked at the one who dumped the water on her and gave her a stern glare. Wordlessly, Lupa asked the girl just why she thought splashing them with water was a good idea. Shortly after a very scary looking woman started shouting at them, which made Lupa back away a bit. These people seem very aggressive. There was even a centaur lady who had problems with the shouting lady, and Lupa sensed that this might turn into a fight. While she was a bit angry, she didn't want anyone to fight each other.

"Hey... It's okay... Let's not fight please?" Lupa said in a meek voice as she stepped between the centaur and the shouting lady. "We don't need to fight..." Lupa had her hands clasped together in front of her body, as if praying for this conflict to end. Though in truth it was because he hands were trembling, and her animal side of her was getting ready to come out. Lupa was hungry, and if things turned violent, it may go out of control.

As Aimee was trying to maintain some order in the hall, a large centaur warrior approached. Apparently she had some problems with Aimee taking charge, and if the inquisitor had to guess, it was cultural. People like the Centaurs were a barbaric race who only let strength lead them, or at least that's how Aimee categorized them. Like Minotaurs and werewolves people like her had a strong warrior culture, and likely don't take answers from any old stranger. Fine by Aimee though; she was never going to back down from a challenge. "Compared to this nonsense going on I am calm. If anyone has an issue with me maintaining some order here, they should come speak up. If you have a problem, then you'd best have more to say. Otherwise wait in line." Aimee's tone was as cold as ice. Even as a few others stepped in to say their piece Aimee didn't take her eyes off the centaur.

Before the darkly dressed woman could speak two others stepped in between the two, the centaur woman cocked an eyebrow to the human and the elf. Yuji looked back to the woman who said she was calm even though she just screamed at everyone before threatening to punish them, suddenly the human pleaded with them to not fight the centaur woman looked down to her with her arms crossed saying." Don't worry nobody is fighting anybody we're just having a discussion."

Then the elf mentioned that she liked that someone was taking charge instead of dealing with people acting like rascals and fooling around." I can understand that, but yelling at people shouldn't be the way to go when it comes handling things such as this situation, the situation whatever it was or is, should be handled calmly, or you could risk having the situation escalate to something it doesn't need to be."

She looked down to the darkly dressed woman and looked her in the eye, she had less of a glare towards the woman and seemed more calmed." Listen please, I'm not gonna fight you." Yuji made it clear to the woman." I just arrived, whatever happened here is over, if something else happens, please do your best to control yourself and try to handle it calmly, I don't wish to harm anybody unless the trial of the hero needs me to." Yuji stepped back from the three holding her hands out as if she meant no harm.

The centaur didn't know that much about human culture, or how long the people waiting in line have been there, but she knew that the people that were waiting in line would want to get on with the trial instead of having to wait with people in a yelling match nearby or a fight. Also, she had the lingering feeling that a fight would lead to a riot and actually cause chaos.

@Norschtalen@Ryonara@Hammerman

Metel sighed. She had to agree with the centaur's argument.

"You have a point," she replied, crossing her arms beneath her breasts. "Then perhaps you should be the one in charge. You seem calmer than this lady-in-black here--she gestured towards Aimee--and you have the presence to be our temporary improptu leader. I will gladly vouch for you to keep these people in line."

She looked back at the lady-in-black. Judging from her expression, she guessed she wouldn't be happy about the centaur being in charge. This could prove to be a problem, she thought. She seemed to be the kind of person who loved to settle things without talking or negotiating.

"Listen," she said to both of them, "I don't really care who does it, since I only wish I could wait in line in peace. I am only here because of one of the rewards posted, the rare plant I need for my potions. Usually, I won't participate in something like this so standing here like a tree for gods know how long already irritates me. And now, with all this rowdiness going on, I am even more irked. I am starting to be tempted to use a couple of my sleep potions--she gestured at the tiny vials hanging from her belt--on the offending parties. So if you're going to fight, I'm afraid I'll have to waste them on you two. And I hate that. It's not a simple matter to make them, you know."

Rex felt his anxiety rising. So many beautiful young women! He felt something dribbling down his face, and realized he'd gotten so excited his nose had started bleeding; yes, his life was that sheltered from sexy-looking girls. He shoved a handkerchief up his nostrils. "Um, there's no reason to fight," the Half-Dragon said, loud enough to be heard. He smiled shyly at Jasmyn. "I-It's okay. If you wanna make things up to me…" He held up the kebab, the chicken soaked with soapy water. "… Buy me something new to eat?"

@Ryougu

"Oi oi, come on now... Let's not get outa hand." Yaj approached the trio of girls, Aimee, Yuji, and Metel with his hands up. He had been wanting to just watch the scene unfold, but decided that now he'll interfere because why not? "Dis is just all a big misunderstandin'. Dragon boy over dere just got a bit jumpy, an' dat lassie just thought too quick like. One thing to 'nother an' ere we are. Now, no need fer shoutin' or threats. Dere's no trouble! No trouble at all." Yaj put on his best smile as he continued to involve himself in this matter.

Now to take things up a notch; he needed to direct their attention to something else aside from pointing blame or trying to appoint someone in authority. Time for a bit of an ice breaker. "Cides, we're 'ere fer dis Trial o' Heroes, ain't we? And heroes don't gotta fight eachother. De whole lotta ya seem ta be 'mporta nuff ta lead yer own stories. Heh, but befer I forget, me name's Yaj, orc brawler. Pleased ta meet ya."

@Otaku95
At first, Jasmyn was relieved when the half-dragon said it was okay, then a wave of guilt and terror came over her when she realized something of fair importance. I don't have any money. Scolding herself internally, before once more apologizing. "S-sorry but I don't have a--" Jasmyn interrupted herself when she saw his face. "Uhh, are you alright? Your nose... it's bleeding." She reached for Rex' wrist and decided to refrain from grabbing Lupa's, it was very clear to her she was not in the mood for it. Dragging Rex by the wrist, Jasmyn headed to where Aimee had said there would be towels.

Sure enough, there were towels. She handed one to Rex before returning to apologizing. "Um, sorry for ruining your meal, I uhh, thought your tail was on fire--well, it is, but not that way..." She sighed and took a moment to breathe. A deep breath later, she already felt considerably calmer, perhaps due to removing herself from the noisy group. Her mind a little clearer now, she decided to start from the beginning. "My name is Jasmyn, sorry for drenching you. I'm afraid I don't have any money, so I can't buy you a more food--but maybe there's something else I could do to make it up?"

Rex gave a slight bow. "My name's Rex," he introduced himself. He thought about what Jasmyn said. Maybe she used the last of her money to buy that armor? He shrugged, gratefully accepting the towel offered to him. "I'm fine. I've just lived a sheltered life." He bit his lip, pondering. Despite being a (somewhat) healthy young man, he didn't ask for anything pervy.

@Ryougu

Crossing her arms Aimee glared at those trying to talk her down. All she wanted to do was make sure no one else ende dup doing something stupid due to misunderstandings or reacting without thinking. Sure she may have come across as gruff and rude, but she'd rather look mean then have everyone else do something stupid. Sighing, she just dismissed the entire ordeal. "Wait in line and try not to cause any trouble. That shouldn't be too hard, is it?" Soon the orc from before had come back, sober and wet. She groaned slightly to herself and closed her eye, trying her best not to just whip out her pistol and shoot him. She could at least understand what he was trying to do, and for the sake of maintaining the peace she would humor his small talk. "Aimee the Inquisitor, of House Reiterpallasch. And the rest of you?"

Her head shot up as sweat poured down her forehead, she hastily looked around to find herself in a strange scenery. That was a very odd experience just now, a short moment of pain in her neck had taken her to some room with some goddess and now she is here. In this strange town somewhere in the medievals. She had woken up close to a small creek running through the town surrounded with quite tall houses. For the medievals it seemed pretty clean so maybe it was just all a dream she had experienced and ended up outside the city she used to live in... Sleepwalking? Kidnapped? Well whatever, exploring would help her a little right now.

Joy softly straightened herself and stood up, the moment of a slight dizziness arose as she stood upright. It felt like the blood in her veins had started running again. She turned her head both sides for a moment and decided to walk towards the road nearby. She had ended up in some back alley so she hadn't seen any people yet but once she stepped onto the streets eyes immediately fell upon her. Joy lowered her head a little and gave off a small blush. She wasn't so much of an extrovert so it felt a little embarrassing to have so many people watch her in real life. It was probably because of her clothes though. Joy shifted her hands between her legs a little and slowly started wandering again, this felt a little scary all of the sudden. Joy glanced at the people walking past her to spot them staring at them, it was getting worse the more people walked by.

As she walked over the bridge of the creek she noticed herself in the water for a brief moment. She swiftly turned her body towards the water and gave a loud yell startling all the others around her, her hands were placed on her cheek in disbelief as her mouth was wide agape. She had almost fallen to her knees but supported herself just enough to keep standing. She couldn't believe this actually happened!

Metel sighed in relief after hearing Aimee's statement. She'd thought things would have to become violent, and she would have to use her precious sleep potions to calm her down. Like she'd said, those weren't easy to make, and she'd hate to waste it on petty things such as a fight over who's getting to lead a bunch of adventurers waiting in line for a quest.

"Metel Illuvahyn, a potion-maker by trade. Pleasure to meet you." She lifted the hem of her skirt a little, curtsying to the inquisitor. She didn't like the sound of her occupation. Combined with her volatile temper, she could imagine her being someone who will think the criminal is guilty before proven innocent.
@Norschtalen

Back against the wall, both hands raised up in surrender, the eccentric and handsome masked Rogue of legend Elrend was currently trying to master a dangerous and secret skill called 'get the hell out of here with all my teeth'. A dangerous move, considering four men had him cornered in the tavern he had been staying in.
Obviously his plan to flee unaccosted was not going to work since sticky fingers earned you a fight if your hand gets caught in the cookie jar. Elrend eyed woman at the bar with both hands covering her mouth, dress a tad dirty and disheveled, watching her husband advance on her daytime lover.

Get your hand caught in that kind of cookie jar and you usually lose a hand..

"Come on now, fellas. Please. A simple misun-" A glass bottle shattered next to his head, eliciting a yelp as he tried to move further into the wall.

"You son of a bitch, told you to stay away from her!" The brute of a man yelled, brandishing a short hooked knife better served for cutting up wild game than an actual person. Bearded and dirty with a stained shirt, the man in question was a craftsman in town with the muscles to show his profession. Though Elrend couldn't help but snicker behind his beaked mask at the idea of a blacksmith using a knife.

To his left and right were his apprentices. Equally burly, also just as dim. They followed loyally enough to their masters whims.. when they weren't ogglin' the mans wife.

"I did. For a while." Elrend caught a fist to the stomach that doubled him over, two rough hands grabbing his shoulder and hoisting him back into a standing position to stare at Marcus 'Sorethumb'. An accident in the workshop had earned him the humerous last name. Behind them, his wife wailed and fled the room with fake tears in her eyes. "Wouldn't have gone into her bed if I wasn't asked to. You know that." Wrong choice of words.
A second hit took the wind from his sails and lungs but didn't take away his smile.

The knife pressed against his stomach. "Gimme one good reason why I shouldn't?" Sorethumb snarled, pressing his bright red face closer to the beaked mask.

"Uhm.. Do you accept substantial payments of currency for your anguish?" That twinkle in the mans eyes said so.

"You don't got the coin. Thieves like you never do!" The knife pressed in further, but now both apprentices were slacking their grip. They could see the full pouch on Viridians hip.

"Boss?"
"Boss?"

I wonder if either of them have been paid in the last month. "The pouch on my left hip. Give it to em boys, I'm beggin' ya." Elrend stuck his left hip out, further revealing the little cloth bag dangling at his hip. His coin purse ripe for the taking.
Greed got him into this. Someone elses greed would get him out.

Sorethumb put away his dagger for a moment and untied the strings to the pouch, feeling a familiar weight but not hearing the familiar jingle of coin. Thinking it a trick, he cautiously unfastened the top part of the pouch and turned a sour look at the thief. "This some kinda joke? DUST?!"

"Of course not. This is the joke." Elrends hands were both on both the boys' legs as they 'held' him. "[Paralyzing touch]!" A surge of wild electricity coursed from his left and right hand onto the cloth trousers of his 'captors' and to the soft meat below, the current of magic numbed their body in an instant while setting their jaws in full lock as the pair fell like a pile of rocks to the floor in a twitching jumble.
"WHAT ARE-"

Elrend slapped the bag with both hands with all his might. A plume of the dust inside shot out into Sorethumbs face, eliciting a howl as he dropped his knife to claw at his eyes. Blinding powder. Terrible stuff. That dosage would be irritating for hours. Elrends right hand slipped the extending metal rod from his coat sleeve, falling into his open palm with practiced efficiency, and cracked the rod hard in the mans forehead with a metallic thump.
A process repeated two more times as both apprentices began to shake off their numbing magical experience.

"keep the pouch, mate. I got more." He rubbed his sore stomach as he talked to the unconscious man.

By now every patron in the tavern had seen the interaction and were at that delicate crossroad of choice between calling the authorities or getting another drink and forgetting it ever happened at all.

"Barkeep! A round for everyone on me." Elrend hooked his finger through Sorethumbs own coin purse and flicked it to the tavern counter, much to the cheer of his 'adoring' crowd, and was out the door in a heartbeat. Every day was a new adventure and an exciting danger to avoid completely. Just how he liked it.

--------------------
Later at the bridge
--------------------
@liferusher

Elrend whistled a tune to himself as he paced through the overgrown township, blissfully enjoying the sunshine and good humors of those around him, as he counted up the coins he had managed to liberate from the oppressive purses of the masses milling about the place. Adventurers always had cash to burn so they wouldn't miss a few here and there, right?
His ramblings were interrupted when he heard it. A loud yell caught his sensitive hearing and forced him to scan the area. Not out of any sense of duty to protect a maiden, but because it was morally acceptable to rob a man who was committing a crime. saving someone was just icing on the cake so to speak.

Off in a run, metal rod at the ready up his sleeve, a new pouch of dust at his hip taken from his coat pockets, and his simple steel dagger hanging at his right hip. Worst case scenario Elrend mused that he would have to incapacitate someone.

To his surprise it was not the cry for help he had been hoping for, but seemed to be one of.. shock? Hells below, looking at a genuine young girl with cat ears, he felt like doing the same! Viridian was at the girls side before he even realized it, hunched over to view the girl up close. His hood and plague mask obscuring his face, he studied the girl rudely, eyes roaming up and down. From the tip of her pointed ears to the delicate tail at her.. Oh my!

"C-Cute!" Elrend thought loudly, not realizing he had actually said it out loud, and stuffed his hands under the girls arms to hoist her over his head and into the sunshine. "By the gods, girl, you're adorable! Look at you! Shining like a diamond of the coast!" Easily infatuated with the strange or the unique, he hoisted the girl like a trophy for the world to see. Completely unaware of his strange this might seem for the poor lass he was treating like an alley cat. The likes of which he was accustomed to admiring.

The line for the trial of the hero has finally started to disperse. The party of misfits soon find themselves holding the line up. The man at the counter gets up and starts to walk up towards the group with a pile of forms in his hand. The man hands the forms to the group. "Fill the forms out, hand them to me at the counter and get lost" The man seemed like he wasn’t interested in this trial at all.

The forms had basic information like how the trial was split into Teamwork, physical and mental stages, it also required the basic details like:
Name:
Occupation:
Why you take the challenge:
In 2 million words explain why you want to be the hero of Jaded Wilds?:

The man goes back behind the counter and awaits, taking forms from the other people who were registering. Something was a bit odd about the forms.

.

Metel sighed in relief. Finally, she thought. She had been waiting long enough.

She then took the form the man handed over and immediately read its content. Some information about the stages of the test, a place to enter your name and occupation, reason why you enter, and... in 2 million words explain why you want to be the hero of Jaded Wilds?

What's this? Everything is normal except for the last question.

She quickly returned to the man handing out the forms and said, "Excuse me, but it seems there's been a mistake. There's no way we're being told to write a 2 million words essay. We'll be here for a month writing it." She tried to be as polite as possible but there was definitely a streak of annoyance written on her face.

@Lady Athena

At long last, this Trial of Heroes can begin. Or at least the signup can begin. And old man appeared to give them paperwork to fill out and information about the trial itself. There was some teamwork activities, physical tests, and metal trials they had to go through. Seems simply enough. The paperwork was pretty basic too: it needed a name, job title, interest in the challenge, and in two million words why you want to take the challenge. Yaj certainly noticed the absurdity of a 2 million word essay, but the joke would be on the test makers. Two million words meant nothing to Yaj.

”Gunna need a lotta ink.”

Taking his paperwork Yaj went to get the required materials; he swiped a stack of blank paper he’ll need for writing, five wooden ink pens, and ten ink wells. He was almost certain that this two million essay was just another test in this hero trial, probably a test of resolve. After all only someone with a heroic spirit would bother trying to write an essay with at least two million words. But a true hero can get this done. Yaj was that hero. At least he hopes he is. Cracking his knuckles and neck Yaj sat down at the table and started writing.

After telling Yuji to get back in line, the centaur felt a little challenged she felt like she ordered her instead of asking her and stepped back closer to the group but at the second she tried to say something, the Orc from before appeared once more. This time the Orc told his name, and like a domino, everyone else began telling their names, and what they were good at, after hearing the screaming human's name Yuji spoke up. " I am Yuji Roien, a centaur knight."

The centaur pointed to the Inquisitor who said she was from a house with her last name." You shouldn't be so volatile." She spoke down to Aimee." Snapping like the way you just did back there shows the sign you are a bad inquisitor, you should keep calm and make better decisions." The centaur was not feeling as if she was herself at the moment she glared back down to Aimee." Someone with the title of Inquisitor should be more disciplined you, on the other hand, are like a small child yelling at people with weapons." Yuji shook her head in disapproval at the Inquisitor.

Yuji glanced down to the Orc from before who was taking another large swig from a bottle of Alcohol, the centaur crossed her arms before telling Aimee." It's odd that the drunken Orc is speaking reasonably and isn't threatening anyone than the Inquisitor that's suppose to be the one who's reasonable." Then centaur knight sighed " He's right about not fighting each other, save your anger and strength for the Trial of Heroes, it will help more there than here." The centaur stretched out her arms and her legs taking caution that she's not moving them fast enough to hurt someone who could be behind her. " Gotta limber up before anything, don't want to pull anything and end up useless."

After everything that went down the crowd soon thinned out and soon the group was, the ones who were holding up people in the line, a very disgruntled human with next to zero interest in the trial then handed them all forums before yelling at them. The centaur woman scanned the piece of paper before noticing the physical test she knew she'd decimate then her eyes went over mental test, a light layer of sweat formed on her forehead, the centaur felt nervous about the mental test then here eyes went back to teamwork, the thought of having someone help her made her calm down a little on the inside.

Without any hesitation, she began signing her name in cursive before stopping and looking over the sheet a second time and looking at the last question and cocked one of her blonde brows she walked back to the man who supplied them with the applications only to be beaten by Metel, the elf began talking about the last question." I agree, the last question seems like it will take too long for us to complete before the trial beings, can't we skip it or have a different question?" When she notice the Orc come back from getting his paper and ink Yuji went over to his table and stopped him from writing." Hold on. This doesn't seem right, why would we need an absurdly long essay?" She questioned, "Don't write anything till we get this sorted out."