“The Skeleton key.”

“The Skeleton key.”

These words echoed in the goblin's head. It was supposedly a magical artifact that could open any lock and it was recently seen in this little shop. It hardly seemed possible but it was worth a try. The goblin was small, barely 4 foot tall, and had bony frame. His face was ugly with a mouth filled with sharp crooked teeth. His eyes were red and atop his head sat a leather cap.

He approached the store. It sure looked like the sort of place that would sell weird artefacts. He opened the door slightly. Slowly and silently. There were many people in the shop but it seemed like everyone was occupied with something. He took a few steps inside, making sure to not let the floorboards creak. If they don’t see me then maybe I can just nick what I’m after an’ get outta ‘ere. he thought to himself as he approached one of the shelves when he noticed that it was all just a mess. Some of the things were pretty shiny though... As he stared at the shiny things in awe he took a misstep on a loose floorboard. “Sod it!” He fell to the ground with a loud thud. But he was back on his feet just as quickly as he had fallen. “I ain't done nuffin’!”

Laila’s pace was leisurely as she made her way down the winding path between the two sloped buildings towards the shop. It was a nice day, the late spring air fragrant and sweet, and she had a long twelve-hour shift looming ahead, so she was in no hurry as she made her way to work. As she walked, she ran over her mental list of tasks she needed to get done - there was the usual, helping out the shop’s somewhat unusual clientele and making sure the shop-floor was presentable, but she also had to repot a few of the seedlings they’d planted earlier in the year. The little plants were starting to outgrow their small starter pots, and with magical plants you never could quite tell what the consequences for leaving things to late might be.

She reached the door and paused, taking in a deep breath, anticipating the warm tingle she felt every time she walked in. It was an old building, layer upon layer of stories and history too deep for Laila to even start to try and untangle, ingrained with so much magic it was hard to tell where one sensation started and the other stopped.

She gripped the handle - long red hair tied back in a ponytail, thick gardening gloves in her pocket, she was ready for whatever manner of weirdness the shop decided to throw at her this time - even if it was just True’s usual sarcastic running commentary.

The door swung open, she walked in, and…. It was absolute chaos. Because of course it was. Great.

Customers were everywhere - a man taller than Kale himself, someone with a mechanical arm looking a bit lost, a girl around the same age as Laila who seemed to be watching everyone’s shenanigans, and a goblin sprawled on the floor in front of her, to name but a few.
“I didn’t do nuffin’!” the goblin said, pulling himself to his feet.

Deciding to give the obviously shifty goblin the benefit of the doubt, she scanned the shop for Kale, before seeing him with a customer. She gave him a little wave to let him know that she was here and would help-out soon, before moving behind the counter and dumping her backpack with her lunch in out of the way in the corner.

That done, she looked around to see if any of the customers need any help. She walked over to the girl from before(@OliviaV), “Hi there, was there anything I could help you with?” she said, putting on her best ‘being nice to the customers’ voice.

She could see True's sharp eyes scan her poster in a critical fashion. She wasn't the best artist, and perhaps it would have been wise to get an actual artist to do the work but she was in a hurry. Added to that was the fact that Alexander had took most of the money with him when he left on his supposedly quick errand. Her duties as a cleric called for her to remain behind in another town not too far from this one, and he promised her this task of his would lead him here where he would wait for her. He always waited for her when she couldn't travel with him right away.

It had been weeks since their last interaction. "It's been quite a while since I've seen him. He was supposed to meet me here, but I've waited for more than a week with not a word from him. May I look at the scrolls you mentioned...?" As she spoke to True, the door opened and a man walked in. Cerys turned to look at him and caught herself staring at his arm. It was mechanical, all of it. She quickly looked away, afraid he might have noticed her and would find it rude. His shaky manner of speech surprised her. It's not what she expected from someone as intimidating as he appeared.

The door opened once again, and a young woman came in. Her bright red hair stood out amongst the chaos of the tiny store that seemed to be reaching max capacity. Cerys saw her walk behind the counter and understood her to be an employee. The girl turned and left to talk to another woman that Cerys hadn't seen before.

"It seems the shop is getting a little busy." She smiled at True. "If you could just point me in the direction of the scrolls, I'll let you assist them and get out of your way."

@MiraChan True looked over the poster again and nodded at the girl, "Of course, look at any scroll that doesn't have a silver handle. The silver handles have a tendency to be dangerous. I'll take your poster and put it outside for you." True reached out with his foot and carefully took hold of the parchment. He felt sorry for her and she looked so young and lost, especially next to some of the more intimidating characters in the shop at the moment.

True lifted his head and narrowed his eyes at the sight of a goblin, then even further as Laila walked into the room. "Laila since you're late, it's your job to get rid of this goblin, it's only going to steal something. Maybe V can help you, it's my test for the newbie," he growled, before jumping from his perch and gliding out of the newly opened door. He flew swiftly across to the noticeboard outside and pinned up the girl's poster right in the centre. If anyone was going to look, they would see it there. When it was secure, he flew back inside and looked across at the man with a mechanical arm. "What do you want with quicksilver then, inquisitor?"@J Silversmith

Olivia was about to answer when Kale returned. He held something in his hand and instantly took over. She decided to step aside let Kale do his boss man thing and handle his business. As people entered the shop, she smiled and offered her help in anyway possible. Slowly but surely she made her way to the woman that had entered earlier and had stood quietly in the back of the shop.

"Excuse me Miss. Is there something you are looking for? I'm new at working here, but if you are looking for a potion, balm, or salve, I am can at least assist you with that." @MissCapnCrunch She gave a flashed a smile, hoping to prove herself more the Kale.

As she waited for an answer from the woman, another woman approached and offered her help. "Oh, no! My name is Olivia, but I like to be called V." She gave a quick curtsy with a smile. I just started working here.... I think? I haven't really received a word of acceptance from Mr. Kale, but he hasn't complained about me helping so far...." As she was finishing introducing herself, True order V and the other girl, Laila, to kick a goblin out of the shop. "Oh! You must be the other employee here. I'm so pleased to meet you!" She glanced at the lady again, feeling rude for all of the interruptions. "Miss is there anything I can do to help you?"

“Gosh! I didn’t realise you worked here! Nice to meet you, V!” she exclaimed, raising her voice to be heard over the din of the numerous customers, “And don’t worry about not getting your letter yet, I’m sure Kale’ll give it to you soon” she gave the girl what she hoped was a welcoming smile, before being subjected to True’s reprimand.

Laila cringed under True’s withering glare, “Sorry True!” she called across the shop loudly, “won’t happen again!” she’d be sure to walk faster next time, not that it would stop the crotchety little wyvern being, well, himself. She watched as the wyvern took flight across the shop, a poster dangling from his… hands? Feet? Laila needed to bone up on her wyvern anatomy.She spared a glance for the woman who’d handed it to him. She looked... Laila wasn't sure of the word, but it sent twinges of sympathy tippling through her gut. She hoped that she found whoever she was looking for.

Not that that mattered right now though, she had bigger fish to fry - or rather, bigger goblins@Hazy. Laila hadn’t thought he’d be a problem, they got somewhat dodgy-looking customers in all the time by having customers, but True thought otherwise, and he had been at this a lot longer than she had, so obviously there was something she was missing about this one in particular. She turned to the girl again, “Well newbie, you want to take the lead on this one? It is your ‘test’ after all - Kale may be the big boss owner, but we all answer to True as well, and he's much more likely to have you doing nothing but cleaning out used potions-gear for a week solid than Kale is.”

Waiting for the man with a mechanical arm to reply and take in the sights withing the shop, @J Silversmith, True began to pace along the side, flicking his tail from side to side. He watched Laila and rolled his eyes, 'damn kid..' he thought, shaking his slate blue head. "Laila.. just ask him what he wants.. V's busy so just see what he wants and whether he can pay for it.." @2plus2isnot5

The Inquisitor wasn't able to say a word as he was staring at the unknown creature. After a while his mouth opened and he talked without a single stutter. "You can talk?" He pulled out a notebook and a feather starting to write. "What are you? Is this the biggest your kind can grow, or are there larger examples? If so, could people use you for keeping areal surveillance of a city? Can people ride you? How fast can you go? Would demon hunting be a problem for your kind? What do you eat?" From his book he took a metal rod that was hidden in thr back of it and expanded the rod by twisting it's end. Then he continued to talk like a waterfall. "Can you hold still? I want to mesure your wings. This is so exciting." It seemed like he had totally forgotten why he came here in the first place. But then his talking came to an sudden end as he was just standing there, holding his book and rod, realizing he just made a complete idiot of himself.

"I'm sorry. I used to study creatures, actually my former job as a beast hunter made it possible for me to join the inquisition. I hope I didn't hurt your feelings, it's just... just forget about it. You asked why I needed the quicksilver, right? Well, it's for the inquisition of course. I want to develop a new gadget for our hunters. But I still need to run some tests on some varieties of quicksilver. It will be for the Orchestra, the main core of the hunters. It should help them to kill them selves with less pain, and quicker." He paused as he didn't realize that what he said may be misunderstood. Then it came to his mind. "Oh, oh no, not like I want them to kill them selves. Dying is just a part of hunting. We all swore an oath that if we where turned we'd end it to not endager our comrades. And with the device I'm working on they should be able to take demons and other vermin with them as they die, without harming other hunters."

@J Silversmith True growled lowly, bristling and hunching his shoulders. He flinched away from the man's metal rod and did his best to look dark and dangerous. He flashed his sharp white teeth in a sneer and stepped back up onto his perch, where he was at a taller vantage point than the man and able to take off should the man try to grab him.

He spoke in a low voice and spread his two finger-like claws as he gripped his branch to make sure the man knew exactly how sharp they were. "You come in here and speak of hunters to the hunted? You assume I would sell quicksilver to you so you can hunt more of us down? To answer your question, yes we do grow much larger than I am; I think you'll find that a full-grown wyvern would have no qualms in crushing your head with the weight of its tail so I think you should think carefully about what you babble on about next..." he kept his dark eyes firmly on the man. True was a dwarf-wyvern. He would never grow to anything but a third of the size of a common wyvern - he was a runt and had been pushed out of the nest as a babe for it. Unlike most runts, however, True had managed to survive and find company that had helped him do so. His ability to speak and quality of life rested solely on the kindness of the warlock he now served under, but it didn't make him any less bitter and cold towards anything bigger than him. "I'll sell you quicksilver to kill your fellow hunters.. but not to kill any so-called "vermin"."

The Inquisitor shook his head. "No, you misunderstand, I'm not a beast hunter anymore, I'm with the Inquisition. They have no interest in hunting..." He had to think of a word other than beast, monster or animal. "...such majestic creatures like you. We just want to free our city. A dark call has corrupted our people's minds. Foul creatures such as vampires and shapeshifters are trying to destroy our community from the inside by faking human faces. So you see, my prey pretends to be human, everything that is obviously... not, is not my enemy, Mister... Sorry I didn't catch your name earlier."

It was the first time the Inquisitor had to explain the concept of the Inquisition, in his home it just existed as a part of this world, like the wind, or the sky, everyone knew what is was and how it worked. It has been around for millennia. With the new Inquisitor, and the raise of demon-sightings, it would be a time of uncertainty, but still the Inquisition was part of the city like its stones and walls.

True cocked his head to the side slowly, listening to the Inquisitor. His spines settled slightly as he became less concerned that the man was going to harm him. When the man asked for his name, he wrinkled his scaley nose softly before replying, "True.. just call me True.." He shifted on the branch, before settling again, this time slightly less defensively. "Though.. I must ask where these creatures you speak of come from.. I have met shapeshifters and vampires and they have been quite friendly.. if not annoying," he rolled his eyes, recalling his last encounter with a shapeshifter, "perhaps it is a curse or an infection that is causing their actions?"

@FalkiThomasThe Inquisitor had to supress a giggle. Hundreds of puns where coming to his mind. -No, you're in a high position now, humor is for free time... But I'm offshore, nobody knows me here, no hold it together, you're also here to make first impressions for the Inquisition.- he thought. "So Mister True, you're asking the one thing every member of the Inquisition is asking themselves for centuries, where do they come from? If I could provide an answer for this question there would be no need for the inquisition, which creates a political drama on it's own. We are not only hunters but scientists aswell, since the first inquisitor rose they have been working to understand where the call comes from. The late inquisitor was close to an answer before he got assassinated. He believed that this call to destroy all humans in our city comes from our dreams. He used to say that we can only dream of faces we have met in the waking world, so where come the monsters from our nightmares from? Truly a question that lets me shrug." He opened his book and flipped the pages till he found the right passage. "Here: A hunter's duty is not only to slay, but to seek the truth, that is what makes us an inquisition. Old worlds, surely, but true words aswell." The inquisitor remembered when he first had to learn the seven rules of the hunt by heart, it was sure practical that he was allowed to keep the book.

"But something bothers me about what you have said, I am positive that some of the friendly examples of ,what we call nightbreed, fell victim to the so called witch trials. Trials wothout judges or defenders, just an angry jury and us executioners. This is why also I want to find the truth and make an end to those trials. The fire pit used to serve for sacrifices and festivities in the ancient times, I want to restore that instead of using it as a means of striking fear into the croud. ...fear..." The Inquisitor had to think for a short while. "It's ironic in how we fight fire with fire. The people are afraid of the nightbreed abd still we are striking even more fear into their hearts, by making them look even more suspicious. I dream of the day where we won't need the inquisition anymore, but there are many parties in it that would think the other way. For them the inquisition is just a means to power, and I bet they wouldn't give it up so easily."

@J Silversmith True felt his stomach drop at the mention of the witchtrials. He felt a sudden swell of annoyance and anger as he listened to the Inquisitor, finding him harder to listen to because of how excited he sounded. He was being factual and honest, but the way he rabbited on and mused over his own thoughts wasn't settling well with True, especially not since a good friend of his was a shapeshifter. "Perhaps your efforts would be better suited to finding an answer then, instead of all of the slaughter... perhaps if you offered a truce and spoke to these creatures you speak of some would be willing to help you with investigating the cause of the rogue creatures... rather than striking fear into the hearts of those with the power to kill and execute you should be showing them that you can reason and that not all creatures intend to be evil."

@bloonewb Kale cleared his throat softly and looked at the giant of a man. "Is there anything more I can help you with, sir? Or should I show you to the scrolls and leave you to search for yourself?"

"No, no, scrolls is good," muttered Sergei, flipping through them. A shame, however. None of them come from the homeland. All the runes are inscribed with southern magics, completely foreign to himself. Still, though, it would not hurt to keep a few on him. "I take this one, is good healing, yes?" he asked, holding up a scroll marked 'Thundering Death'. Then, his ears perked up at the sound of quicksilver. "Is Werxez Tyunom?" he boomed, standing up to his full height. "Yes, must of be! Very good for potion of many make! I have more money, and sheep in sled! I buy all, and return to homeland to heal my people!"

Cerys excused herself and headed towards the area that True had pointed out. "Any scroll but the silver handled ones..." she mumbled to herself, scanning the aisles for any scroll that could help her. Most of them were in languages she had never seen before, and it didn't help that she only knew Elven and common in the first place. As she carefully walked around the store, she felt something bump into her knees. Looking down, it was...a monster? Here? In the shop? She gasped and backed up quickly, almost knocking over a shelf in the process. The weird green creature had a hideous face, reminiscent of the monsters back home that had plagued her town and caused her to leave in the first place. She shuddered as the night her city was set on fire came flooding back to her. The screams of the village people as they were set upon by bloody beasts.

Cerys got in a stance indicating she was ready to fight, reaching for her mace. To her surprise, she felt nothing and remembered. "Idiot, you didn't bring a weapon with you because you were just handing out posters." Of course, it was back at the inn. Not to be discouraged, Cerys formed fists with her hands and awaited the monster's attack. (@hazy) She didn't hear a word between anyone else, too focused on what was in front of her.

The goblin was ready to turn around and run away when a large woman (@MiraChan), at least to him, appeared before him. The sound of her almost knocking over the shelf startled the goblin who climbed up another shelf. He clutched his dagger and looked around the shop for an escape route when he realised that what he had said was true. He hadn't done anything... yet.

He took a deep breath to calm himself down and then he jumped off the shelf. He was still frightened but calm enough to speak. "Ummm, 'Ello... buddy. It troubles me ta trouble ya but ya work 'ere, don't ya?" He shuffled closer to the door in case things took a turn for the worse. "And yer job is 'elpin' costumers, innit? 'Cause I 'appen ta be a costumer..."

Kale let Sergei look for his scroll @bloonewb and for the moment that he was distracted he slid a letter onto the desk and looked across to V who was interacting with the woman he had caught entering the shop earlier@OliviaV. "V, when you get a moment you should look at this." he told her, before looking back at the giant of a man, who had found and was waving a scroll around in front of him rather excitedly. Kale frowned at the name of the scroll and then back up at Sergei. "Sir, I'm not sure this scroll is what you are looking for.. can I help you perhaps in translating some of these scrolls to help you find what you are looking for..?" the giant man swerved to look across at True instead and he sighed, rubbing his head.

The man was quite an excitable one, but Kale wasn't quite sure what he wanted from the shop. He was happy to help with whatever he actually needed, though he wasn't so sure that he wanted to sell them for sheep. While Sergei was, once again, distracted for a moment, Kale's eyes fell on the other customers. A small girl was staring down at a goblin that had entered and he could see Laila @2plus2isnot5 gearing up to go after it - no doubt because True had told her to. True had a specific dislike for goblins, but Kale was happy to help them if they needed something from him. He spoke gently to Laila. "Laila? Sweet pea, leave the goblin he is doing no harm. Could you perhaps do me a favour? I forgot to look in the post this morning, could you go and see if there are any letters?"

True's ears pricked up and he looked across at the huge man, Sergei. He frowned slightly, wondering whether he would join them or not. @bloonewb

It....talked. And not just the weird, gutteral, semi-human noises that those monsters sometimes made. Cerys lowered her fists cautiously and stared at it. This was new. She noticed it wore a little leather hat and seemed just as anxious as she was. The hat made his whole appearance less threatening, and she wondered why she hadn't noticed it before. "I actually don't work here...I'm...I'm sorry, I didn't realize..." She trailed off, apologetically looking away. She was confused as all hell, but she felt that she may have already made a scene and didn't want to make it worse. He didn't appear to want to hurt anyone, and if he had he probably would have done so the moment he walked in the door. Cerys spun on her heels quickly and went to the far end of the store, aware that she was walking further from the scrolls she needed. Glancing back, she decided to wait for it to calm down and clear out a little before she continued her search.

As Olivia waited for the woman to answer her, Kale slid a letter to her. She smiled at the lady she was trying to help, picked up the letter and beamed. "Excuse me for a moment. If you need anything, anything at all please just flag me down." V tucked the letter into her bosom and bounced over to Kale. "I would love to accept the position. Thank you very much."@FalkiThomas She gave a quick curtsy before going to follow True's orders regarding the goblin. But before she could offer her assistance, Kale informed Laila to not worry about him and to offer him help instead.

V decided since she was headed in that direction, she would help the other she-elf that had wondered into the store. "Hello. You were the girl hoping to find her friend right? The one with the poster? My name is Olivia, or V if you prefer. Is there anything I can do to help you?" @MiraChan

"Oh, hello! I'm Cerys." She smiles at the kind employee who came up to her. @OliviaV "I'm looking for some scrolls that True suggested, ones that can help track and locate people. I can't seem to read most of them,however." She pauses, a bit embarassed at her own lack of understanding. "My mentor has proven difficult to contact, and I'm hoping one of these can help me find him."