Orky was picking his nose when Urdal whispered him for help. He only now just noticed the intoxicated woman on the ground. Orky thought she had some funny looking armor since it was considerably more bright. But Orky didnt care, he listened to Urdal and went to the lady and picked up up back the back of her armor to put her on her feet. "Look my mama always told me when you are trying to get something you want you have to stand proud and tall. It's not that hard but maybe that funny smell about you has something to do with it."

Orky let go of the woman when she had reached her feet, he directed his direction over to the scaly humanoid over at the bar who the 'priest guy' was talking to. Orky knew he saw something like that guy before. It took him about two minutes but when he figured it out he blurted out, "Oh it's a Dragon, I thought Mama said all you guys were extinct." Orky then proceeded to walk over the dragon in humanoid form. "So like what happened to like the rest of you, I thought you guys were suppose to be huge with wings and could breath fire and stuff."

"Dragons, yes. However, humans-" Aredis winced when the woman clasped his weak shoulder and then let out a small groan when she toppled over, nearly pulling him down with her. His shoulder ached profusely. Having lost his train of thought, he had meant to finish, yet the lizard had already stalked over to the apparent devout woman. Curiosity, as well as dull pain, tugged at his mind and drew him to follow the man beast and the orc to the woman on the floor. She was obscenely inebriated. It seemed she had plenty to forget and come to terms with, just as he. Another person of faith trying to discover themselves all over again. With a labored and slow movement, he grasped the carved badger head of his staff and would tap the woman's played leg with a gentle tink tink.

"Indeed, our eyes that were opened are now closed, gouged as you said." Aredis replied to her previous comment. "Yet as much as I would discuss such a thing, the world laments. The earth cries out in such abject agony that any of. Us may only guess at." The druid closed his eyes and let out some deep breaths and continued. "I understand that some find comfort in the arms of a maid, or the bottom of a stein. However, that comfort is short lived for reality must return eventually, and you would be none better off upon sobering. I suggest you and the other about this place accept what has happened." Hair had fallen in his face now, and he pushed it aside with a stained finger. He stretched his bare feet against the warm wood and dirt floor. They were were blackened by the elements, calloused from years of wear in the brush. Pulling his hair back behind his head, he removed his hands and it stayed in a makeshift pony tail with no apparent fasten.

The sound within the bar had begun to Mae his head pound. Without waiting for the woman to answer, he would turn brusquely to the lizard man and attempt. To finish his conversation.

"You appear a muddied half breed. That is what is unnatural about you. I love all creatures of this world that come about by the grace of the...former...Earthmother." Perhaps Aredis was indignant, perhaps he was still angry. Either way he was just going out of his head today. He instinctively rubbed the amulet, and shuddered at it feel.

Vathalyk didn't feel comfortable. For a few days after the event that presumably had been the fall of not only one, but all of the gods, he had hardly noticed anything. Fyr didn't believe in the same gods as humans did -- in fact they didn't truly believe in any god in the conventional sense at all. However his close connection to his human friend had helped him notice the sudden change in behavior much more earlier. While he could only assume that the vast majority of his kind was still oblivious to what had happened, he had already come over the worst part of grief.

The village had turned into a strange place. Normally he would never ever have dared to stroll across any of its muddy roads so openly, but now it seemed as if almost all of the inhabitants were expecting the sky itself to come crushing down on them within the next hours. Well, in a twisted and metaphorical sense, that had actually happened... but in what way was locking onself into one's own small house supposed to help ? Didn't they know that life had to go on somehow until it came to a definite end ? Maybe they'd find out after they had run out of candles, but until then Vathalyk expected to have a lot more of unexpected 'free time' to venture into places he wouldn't have put one of his toes into just a mere were ago.

Currently he was located at the marketplace, in the midst of the bunch of traders that seemed to be much more worried about dumping their half-assed merchandise into the next unwary customer's pocket than about him. An unusual experience to say the least, but once Vathalyk dared to reach out for a promising looking apple a much more familiar reaction finally occurred: His hand, that enormous looking thing with nails resembling claws, was firmly slapped by the apple's current owner. "Don't touch that! You have to buy it!"

Vathalyk raised his head and looked at the fat man. If there was night one could see his ever-glowing eyes gently illuminating the spot he aimed them at, but at this time of the day it was nothing more than a simple stare. "Am I not allowed to inspect anything before buying it ?" He didn't wait for an answer, but instead lowered his head to sniff. Even the merchant could see how unfeasible it was to try and have any impact on those horns with bare hands, so Vathalyk was allowed to do what he wanted and come to a conclusion: "That thing's halfway rotten anyway! Can't you smell it ?" and he grimaced.

The man put his massive palms onto the desk, the latter thing protesting audibly against his overabundance of soft, wobbly girth. Just two words, spoken out with a decent degree of disgust, if not flat-out hate. "Get away!". Vathalyk complied. He wasn't eager to engage into anything right now, even if he could reasonably have. It was rather clear that he would not be able to pick up anything of real value here, even though the few pieces of cloth offered by the neighbouring trader indeed appeared to be in better shape than the worn-out shirt and trousers he was wearing. At least the rope holding the two things together around his waist was quite new!

Vathalyk continued his stroll. There was no real clue in his mind about the village's layout, so his next move was basically a random one. However, intentionally or not, it managed to get him in proximity to the local tavern. And what a mess it was! It seemed that those few who didn't have a home to barricade in or didn't want to go there for other reasons had decided to wash away their worries with... what was it called ? Beer ? Yeah, that probably was the name. He had not drunk that stuff himself before and had no real plan for a first encounter right here and right now, but a large part of him was intrigued by the gathering anyway. Maybe there was another reason to it than drinking as well ?

Not knowing what would await him inside, Vathalyk entered. Or well... he tried the best he could. As he could hear the tips of his horns scratching along the wooden ceiling the desire grew to turn around and get out much faster than he was getting in. Just going backwards however wasn't a real option since it would deteriorate the situation unfolding above his head by snagging. Turning around ? If that damned corridor would have been wider that would have been much more easy to achieve. So he ducked and ventured forth, into the main hall that, to his amazement, seemed to already have attracted other beings than humans and his own as well. What was going on here ?

Vathalyk instantly sought for one of the walls. With his back to it there'd be no chance of anyone coming in from behind -- and he would be able to watch everyone's move in front of him. Also neither the chairs nor the tables looked as if they were a match for his weight, so just leaning back standing appeared to be the best option.

"Acceptance," She howled outwards, even as the orc lifted her up. Beast! She thought to herself, but her limbs refused to act, to show the creature the might with which she... No longer wielded. "I aught to accept what the world has thrown at I?" She wasn't making proper sense any more, but the words kept coming out, stumbling over one another even as the greenskined... Creature hefted her up and dumped her on her feet. She hissed at it, or at least she thought she did, it probably sounded more like she had almost sneezed. "My senses dulled! My divine gone! I stand here, prostrating myself to mortals for coin! Where aught I go for this acceptance?" She slammed her fist down against the top of the bar, stumbling back and away from the man offering out a job. The sheer force of her fistfall caused the stone to groan at the impact, and she had only just restrained herself from slamming the sharpened end of her axe down again.

She turned to the orc, inebriated to the point where obscenities wouldn't come out of her mouth, and nothing but obscenities. "Your... Mother sounds capable for an orc." She hiccuped unexpectedly, and then groaned. Why did this have to happen? "WHY?!" She spoke again when she intended to keep her mind and mouth closed. Damnations. DAMNATIONS. She managed not to say that one, thankfully.

Then her head whipped about. "The earthmother? One of the forest? Oh a cruel trick the world likes to play! I am of the field. Was of the field? I know not if I am or was or will be. " She reached in to her armour and yanked out her holy symbol, practically shoving it in his face, before turning back to the job-giver, the amulet clinking against her mail. "A job! Yes! A job. That is the one thing I require, a way to escape this inescapable. Lethargy! Yes, that is the word and the world that I inhabit. Lethargy, lethargy lethargy, it sticks to me like a parasite, I wish to strip it, exorcise it out of me in its entirety."

The dragon was getting a refill on his drink, watching the madness that was the two humans of faith doing their thing, when the nearby ork spoke up. He could forgive orks more than humankind. At least they didn't pretend to know everything, acting like they were the rulers of the world. Orks were down-to-earth warrior-kind, not like these squishy and frail creatures at all. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he recalled that it was orks who helped forge the pole-arm on his back. For that, if nothing else, there was at least some credibility to their kind in his eye. Taking a pull of his drink, he explained.

"What? No no no... It was never like that. There was a curse, one from so long ago that even we forgo-"

The human priest interrupted him. The damned priest, thinking he knows the world, when what he understood barely fit in this pint of rum. The scaled warrior put down his tankard at the bar, and stepped forward to stand before the man, dominating his vision now as he was glared upon like he was a field mouse waiting to be chomped. He was close enough that the priest would find the smell of burning on his breath.

"I am not a half-breed and I do not even know if it is even possible to breed with one of you. Any man who would doubt me is a fool as is, but a man of faith who will not believe has much further to fall."

To punctuate the word 'fall', he gave the priest a light shove...which would probably knock him on his ass if it connected. Either way, he would see that this dragon creature was fast and strong, and not one who liked to be trifled with. The slitted eyes narrowed a bit, now.

"Speak to me in such a manner again, and I will show you who is muddled."

With that, he returned to his drink, one of his eyes having momentarily focused on one of the nearby figures. No, not the demon. He saw him holding up the wall and did not so much as flinch. No, it was the other one...with the pointy ears. Impossible... Shouldn't they all be dead? Has the world changed so much now? What else was wrong here?

Orky looks over to the Holy Woman let's puts on somber eyes. He scratches his head and then let's out a sigh. "Ma'am my Mama was a Human, and yes she is a very capable person. But please you seem a little under the weather would you like a seat?" Orky then grabs the closest chair near him and put it near the Holy Woman so she may take a seat. He then turns to the bartender and pulls out a few messily coins out of his pocket. He had got them when some people threw it at him to go away. "Sir may I have a glass of water for the lady?" Orky didnt even know if it was enough gold for some water, he just wanted to help the lady even though she seemed reluctant to his help.

The bartender, who was a lanky, old man, took a long, hard look at the orc, then glanced at the drunken paladin, who's tab had grown quite large, and then turned around to look for some water. He walked into a room behind the counter, grabbed a mug and dipped it into a barrel of clear liquid. It WAS water, but what good was water anyway? It was dirty most of the time, and people got sick by drinking it. The lanky, old man returned and found the orc still waiting. Fair enough, the coins were also there... A little dirty, but dirty water got you dirty coins.

"Here you go, lad. Have her avoid breaking anything else..." Whined the bartender and placed the mug on the counter, right in front of the green skinned fellow. The old man's long fingers picked up the coins and dropped them in a sack on his belt.

"Err... Of course, it will cure your lethargy, whatever that is!" Proclaimed Urdal, realizing that he had actually invited the scary drunkard into the forming party. This was not pleasant. The fact that the priest with a limp was bothering one of the patrons at the bar was even less pleasant. Orky was there though, and so far Orky had only helped the half-elf, meaning the green fellow would diffuse the situation if it started growing dire.

The surprising thing was that Orky was trying to diffuse the situation involving the drunken woman asking for a job as well. What a priceless comrade, to do the work of the leader in his stead! Numenor was still a little lacking in presence though. The half-elf figured he'd let the drunken servant of the god of the Field, whoever that was, know where they were headed.

"You see, miss, we are going north. To find some stuff." He added, figuring this was far more information than the half dead from alcohol poisoning woman could take, and tried to lean against the wall to find some comfort in dealing with the recruitment. While doing this, his eyes spotted a huge, red and black thing with horns grinding against the ceiling. A gasp escaped Urdal's lips as his eyes widened at the sight.

So there would be more things that happened. A demonic servant of whatever hellish ruler ruled the burning Hells had come to slay all clerics, priests and paladins who had lost their powers... But hadn't the rulers of Hell also died? Were they not also treated as Gods by many humans? Suddenly the fear from the towering thing subsided, and rational thought made its way to Urdal's head once more. Most likely another patron for the tavern. Wanted to get drunk instead of mourning his lost masters!

"Yes acceptance. For nothing else will push your forward in this time." Aredis chided, sounding confident enough, even though the man was still coming to grips with what good accepting the death of his God would do as well. It seemed to calm him a bit to lie to others. It was all he could do to not break down the longer he dwelled on the thought. Perhaps that was just due to all of the pain he was experiencing from his shoddily repaired limbs. He had still not even come to see any of the mayhem that occurred in the civilized areas. Yet if the beasts of the forest had gone so berserk, he shuddered at the idea of what state the people were in. As it had seemed, his God was not the only that had perished, this idea shook him deeply. Who could have dismantled the entirety of the Heavenly Accord?

Amidst this emotional crisis, his thoughts were interrupted suddenly by a strong hand shoving him from the side and to the ground. In his stumble he landed awkwardly on his bad leg, wincing and letting out a sharp hiss from between grinding teeth. The cane with the head of a badger clattered to the floor beside him with a solid sound. Turning his head back to face the lizard man, who was no longer regarding him directly, he spit at the thighs feet. "You mean to tell me that you are a dragon? It had been some years since a dragon graced me with their majesty, yet I do recall them being significantly larger, with wings, and no walking upright upon two legs. So in that case you must be a half breed or no dragon at all. Just some pathetic beast that wishes to claim greatness."

He was sure he would regret that biting retort, yet it mattered little. The damned thing had taken such offense to what was a simple comment. While Aredis certainly thought less of the beast folk and half breeds, this one had not wronged him in any way so he had reserved judgment. It pained him that in his current state there was little he could do to defend himself. While the world still answered to his touch and would bend to his will to a degree, it might as well not matter as nearly all of it was dead or dying. That was going to change however, Aredis would heal this land. Make it whole again and relish in the song of the earth. For what else has he spent his life doing but training to bring peace to the flora and fauna of this land? At this unfortunate moment however, he would've payed someone to tear his leg off if it ended the pain. The one legged priest would've been an interesting sight.

That was the last straw. He would take the inane prattlings of this human whelp no more. The smell of alcohol burning came from the last gulp of his drink, ans he slammed the tankard down upon the counter, leaving a singed handprint upon it as he let go. One does not poke a dragon lightly. Even when he was confined to a humanoid form, he did not take the abuse of such creatures. Of that, he was certain. He turned and looked around the bar for a moment before muttering to the bartender.

"I shall spare the tavern."

With that, he walked towards the door, grabbing the loud-mouthed priest to take him in tow. Aredis would feel heat like an oven coming off of that grip, but he wasn't going to break it, not against this guy. He was dragged along, kept at relative head-height, as the dragon had grabbed him and just kept on walking. The door was slammed open and the two would head out into the street. However busy it was, it was about to become alot more vacant in a moment. The dragon had not boasted or bluffed or merely threatened. No one was going to deny a dragon his dignity. Whatever protests the man was giving, he was ignoring it, and any who might interfere. He let go of him - not caring if he fell to the ground or remained upright, then spaced himself a few feet away. It wouldn't be enough room, really, but he did not care.

Countless centuries of being under the thumb of the eternal ones, their curses keeping us in line... No one shall deny the dragon kind!



Crouching low, with arms spread out, the dragon reached down deep into the depths of his inner being with concentration and pulled forth the ancient form once separated from his kind. Aredis would see the scaled humanoid's body ripple and bend, as though extreme heat were surrounding him, and then he became indistinct in form and expanded! Legs and tail pushed back in the street, knocking over any person in their way, muscular wings slapped and brushed against the nearest buildings, forelegs rushed past the priest on either side of him, and his forward vision would be dominated by thick gray scales! Looking up, he could see the craning neck as first the dragon glared down at him, then reared back and ROARED!!!

Naturally, anybody who bore witness to this that didn't feel like being a hero today...panicked.

People ran the hell away, shop vendors were now closing, and anyone charged with protecting this town...well...we'll leave them to them, but they've gotta be wondering why the dragon was apparently just sitting there. Oh yes, he was indeed doing that thing. He had engaged the smug face, a BIIIG draconic grin that seemed to say 'Well, now what, human?'.

Aredis would've been lying to himself and all others if he pretended he was not frightened to a degree. Even the beasts who he had grown into manhood around still could scare him, regardless of their intent. Fear was human, fear was natural. His faith had taught him that fear was healthy. There were a great deal of things to fear and that was what kept a man alive. Aredis also was a man that could be humbled and admit when he's wrong. While he had never known a dragon to take humanoid form before, it was quite clear that it was indeed possible. At the very least they seemed to have to retain the majority of their appearance even in human form, and that thought comforted him. Couldn't have them running about completely disguised. There was no telling what kind of problems could occur if they were angered among those without an inkling of what they were. All of that said, Aredis had flinched and covered his face with his arms as a reaction to a large taloned foot flying passed his face. Had he not been rather peeved the dragon would have been amazing wonder to behold.

After a moment he collected himself and stroked his God's Favor out of habit before trying to rise from the dirt. Placing both palms on the ground he would lean onto his knees and try to bring himself up on his good leg. Bones protested with aches and pops against the pressure. Yet eventually Aredis would bring himself to stand upright and lean on his staff to compensate for the bad leg. Setting his gaze directly up at the face that was turned into a...grin? Apparently dragons could be as smug as the day is long, that was something alright. With a sharp clearing of his throat he once against spit at the feet...or talons more aptly...of the great beast. There was still a clear distaste in Aredis' tone when he would speak again, yet it was more for the arrogance that the dragon boasted. To attempt to flaunt yourself like a prized horse was not becoming of any kind of creature such as a dragon. Yet perhaps wisdom was not as widespread among the species as the man had been led to believe.

"I have encountered Jack rabbits that struck more fear into me then this display of yours. Let it never be said I am a difficult man. I can admit when I have wronged another, and that you are indeed a dragon. Yet you shame yourself and your race. If you choose to take this as an insult that is your own mistake. One so easily goaded into a show of display would find themselves quickly slain. What if this had been an attempt at forcing you into your true form only to have a round of mercenaries come around and slay you?" Aredis did have a small quiver in his voice, as this whole ordeal had put a good strain on his well being. Yet he felt there would be a far greater deal of conflict so he had best grow accustomed to it.

He climbed the stairs and entered his room, the image of the innkeeper still fresh in his mind telling him to vacate the room or pay for the previous day and this one, albeit said in less nicer words. He had also requested a bath to be drawn for him...the innkeeper gave him a look that said "you must be joking" before leaving the drunk.

Oh well, if they wouldn't draw a bath for him, he would invade another patrons' room to enjoy it. He hazily remembers the occupants next door to have requested such services.
*kick*
*boom*
It made a heavy sound as the door flew open, splinters of wood flying in all directions. A few seconds of pause insued derived from the shock of what had just happened. He was standing before 2 naked girls who wasted no more time to start screaming as they covered themselves, one even grabbing a knife.

"Ladies please, I mean no ha..*burp*..rm, I just need a bath."- he said in his drunken derilium as he kept walking towards them while talkin. Unshaven, dirty looking old man with stained clothes and a not so friendly attitude walking towards 2 naked girls....someone might, nay, will get the wrong impression if they happen about this scene.

But luckily a sudden tremor followed by a roar diffused the situation. Now he wasn't the biggest problem in the room. That roar, a roar he knew too well. Anger overtook him, the rush of adrenaline momentarily making him sober. He breifly entered his room to pick up his fighting sword, a sword which in the past weeks ,before this month, had slain more dragons than humans in the past year, and hurrying downstairs to put an end to it, his sworn enemy.

In his anger all he could see were memories of that dragon back then and although the size difference with the one before him was substantial to say the very least, alcohol still clouded his judgment although his motor skills were almost up to par with his normal form.

"DRAGON!!"-he spewed that word with such hate, leaving the impression that it was one of the highest forms of verbal offence the man could muster.

He had no real hate for the dragons as a race. It was even suspected that the dragon summoned during that battle wasn't even alive, just a big carcass from ages long forgotten. Even if he, in the past weeks before this month, had constantly and, funnily enough, religiously hunted dragons, finding a way to apply their weaknesses to the abomination that he faced that day, even then he held no hate for them. It was simply another job. But That dragon was something else entirely. Even the slightest memory of it made his soul tremble and during all his drunken crusade to drown it from his mind, the slightest trigger could set him off. The harder you try to consciously keep something out of your mind, the easier it is for it to suddenly burst through and flood it entirely.

Even if he realized that this dragon wasn't his Enemy, he was still another dragon endangering humans. And with that in mind, he charged forward with intent to cut the offending dragon up.

Orky had retrieved his glass of water from the long fingered bartender. He replied, "Thank you Sir." He then went over to the Holy Woman and put down the glass of slightly dirty water next to her. "This is for you...it seems as if me being an Orc disturbs you and I am terribly sorry about that." Orky then bows slightly towards the Holy Women. "But I'm afraid my race is something I cant control and I would like if you could treat me as I do to you." Orky put on a humble smile trying to seem as genuine as possible, when he had smiled his tusks had exposed themselves more than they already did. When he did smile his near the gums are what appeared were file marks from Orky grinding his teeth down. But before the Holy Woman could reply the Dragon and slammed his drink down and then proceeded to drag the 'Big Homeless man' out of the bar. Orky was going to follow to try and prevent a fight until he heard the sound of a door being kicked in followed by the scream of two woman. Orky stood up and was going to head up stairs, when he had heard a ear piercing roar. The kind of roar that would rattle your bones, and make you feel defensless. Orky stood there confused and bewildered for a second till a man who looked very pissed off ran past him to go outside. That threw Orky back into reality, Orky knew if he didnt stop what ever was about to happen that he wouldnt be able to go on the job.

When he had collected himself, Orky rushed outside to find the pissed off man, the dragon from before but now as in his true form and the 'Big Homeless Man' in a type of Mexican Standoff but every one was facing the dragon. Orky got between all three of them before anyone could say something. "Ok look I dont know what's happening but it looks bad. Mr. Dragon it looks like you are mad at the Big Homeless Guy, it's none of my bee's wax to intervene but I can guarantee it is not worth hurting him over it. Now Mr.Pissed Off Guy, it seems like you dont like Mr.Dragon for some reason, but I'm sure we could solve it by just talking it over ya know. But why dont we all calm down and go back into the Inn and be friends?" Orky put on his best award winning smile to try and convince everyone to listen to him. But his smile came off kind of creepy since its awkward for an Orc to fully smile because of their tusks.

Urdal had observed with an exterior of calm as one of the people, who had agreed to work for him, was dragged off by the patron, who had been harassed by the limping priest, and had also turned out to be an ancient being from children's stories, as well as Numenor charging down the stairs and out of the door shortly after the ungodly roar shook the landmass surrounding the tavern.

The patrons were all concerned. So far, the half-elf was glad nothing had happened in the tavern, as they would most likely be asked to pay for damages. However, considering they had went outside and something bad was going on, there might be damages to pay for nonetheless. Orky just ran past him, into the corridor and out onto the street. Oh well, he was hopeful his newfound, green skinned comrade would stick around, but if he felt like dying, so be it.

The drunken woman, now with a mug of water in front of her, seemed to be the calmest one of those he would end up hiring, in comparison to those outside probably breaking bones and cracking skulls. For a moment he hoped he could sit down next to her and wait it out, but he was too scared to stay still. Nervously, he ran a finger through the gap in his hair. A finger, because if he ran more than one of them through, he'd ruin his immaculate haircut.

He thought about going outside and bringing his comrades back in. Considering three out of four were there, and one, who was most likely not completely hooked on joining still, was in the tavern, it would be more leader-like to go out and deal with the issue. But his feet just would not go there. The big, demonic being was still standing there, horns grinding against the ceiling. Urdal figured that such a big guy would come out as imposing... Maybe usher some fear into them... Although anything the red and black man could do was probably not as scary when put up against the deafening roar.

"Hey... You lookin' for a job?" Asked Urdal, looking at the demon.

There was too much going on for her to care about. The orc spoke- she cared not what the beast said, it was all nonsense, and then she reached for the glass of water. It tasted filthy, but that was what she got she supposed. Filthy. Filllllttthhhhy. What else was filthy? Herself, yes that was true, her mind defiled and ruined, spinning around in an incomprehensible prison of its own making. She slammed the glass back down on the table so hard that vines of shattered glass crept up along it, and she squeezed down, the glass now actively groaning as it tried to stop itself crunching into a fistful of shards.

Luckily, she was distracted as the priest was dragged out. Much like the orc, she found this to be quite disturbing, and left the almost-destroyed glass to do whatever glasses did after surviving a near-death experience, and pounded out of the room. Her fingers clenched around the handle of her axe, she needed to enter the fray. Desperately wanted to enter the fray. Something spoke to her, in her mind, that she needed to do what she had been designed for. She was a weapon, like her axe, and she had to be used. Growling a little, she saw the dragon, holding the priest in her hand.

Tensing, she raised the axe up. There were no gods to ask for assistance before she attacked. No men that would see her glory, she supposed. She took a few steps forward, about to bring her axe down into the creature's hide, at least until that GODSBEDAMNED orc got in the way once more, and she found herself trapped behind a wall of ruddy green skin, the fury within her howling like a wolf chained.

"ENOUGH! FRIENDSHIP IS NOT MAGIC!" She pointed the end of her axe at the orc, and then towards the dragon. If she had been thinking straight, she would never have even considered this as a course of action, but she hadn't been sane. Not for a long time. "YOU! LIZARD! UNHAND THAT MAN OF THE FAITH BEFORE I TAKE IT AS A TROPHY!"

*!?!?!?!*
Who was this asshole? Was he with the dragon? He must be, why else would be protect a beast of destruction then? Screams of panic could be heard outside, people running away in terror from the big flying lizzard.

"Move aside orc.."- the man now having stopped his charge and turning to face the orc, aiming his sword at him threateningly-"unless you want to join the dragon in its grave."

Maybe...No it couldn't be..But just maybe he was a dragon riding raider? He rode his pet dragon in to raid the town?

Orky was right in the in the middle of everything. Orky was a bit overwhelmed to say the least, the Holy Woman was yelling at him for getting in the way and the Pissed Off Guy was pointing his sword at him. Orky isn't very smart, he doesn't go in any place with a plan. Orky just does what he feels is right. That's why he even put himself in this situation, is because he felt fate was telling him that he had to stop this. But in this midst of the violence, he had remembered his mother. He remembered how the villagers came to the house angry at them because they believe that the Gods didnt like how there was an Orc living there. Tears started to swell from his eyes, even admist all the noise the sound of the tears hitting the ground outmatched them all. Orky grabbed the Holy Woman's axe and the Pissed Off One's sword, when he had grabbed the sword the edge had dug into his flesh a bit making him bleed. He then proceed to snatch them out of their hands and throw them to the ground.

Orky then proceed to talk, still with tears come down his face, "Can't see violence solves nothing!? I know dragons are suppose to be bad and stuff but cant you see he is just frustrated at the world. Just because someone gets angry and goes on a little fit, doesn't mean you should kill him over it!" Orky then takes a moment to calm himself and to clean his face up a bit. "I don't know much but I know when I see someone hurting on the inside, and I see that in all of you. I don't know why you guys are hurt, but I'm sure if we could all just maybe sit down a bit and talk, I'm sure we could work something out. Mr. Dragon, I don't mean to be rude but it seems like you true form is scaring everybody, so if you could please change back into your small form." Orky whipped away the tears and but on a dumb little smile to try and lighten the mood.

Step, step, step.

The foot-worn path gave way beneath her massive greaves. Plated boots pressed into the dirt, her tremendous weight causing her to sink an inch down into the earth beneath her which each step. Her armor was dented, scarred and chipped. Nails driven through the extra plates she had covered over old broken gaps in her armor with dug into her flesh. She had hammered the ends of the nails down so they wouldn't poke and tear into her but the bent ends still grinded into her through the threadbare holes in her gambeson. They were of little concern. There was no pain to be felt from them as they rubbed into her shoulders with each and every sway of her enormous breastplate.

She had traveled many days and nights along this path. A traveling merchant had informed her that there was a town down this road. A couple months travel he said. He had made it sound like it was a long time but it really was quite short for her. Each day was but a moment flickering on past her unnoticed. Despite how unhealthy it was for her sanity the time she had spent wandering the great sea floor had taught her many a trick on how to pass time by. She could walk for years on end with little to no thoughts on how long she had been walking. She found that acknowledging the passage of time made it feel all the longer. Perhaps she did not craft such wisdom in such descriptive phrasing but it more or less meant that in summation.

Whether or not it was a long or a short time she eventually did arrive. In anemic daylight she stood before the old wooden gate which led into the heart of the city. Ordinarily there would be guards watching from the walls and checking the wares of travelers passing through but there were none. With the loss of the clergy's sway they found themselves more inclined to serve themselves rather than the city. Those who hadn't turned to banditry were hidden away like most of the citizens were.

Step, step, step.

The cobbled stone paths held her footing much better than the dirt road just beyond. They hardly sank at all beneath her armor's impressive mass. She continued on through the streets, moving along down her way. Through the narrow slit in her helm she scanned what little she could see as she was on the lookout for a smithy or perhaps a tavern where she could look for some work. She needed the coin and she needed repairs.

A place to sew up this cut in my pants would be nice. She considered as she peered through the thin slot in her helm. Instead of those things however she found people who were running past, running away from something. Well, perhaps they were running away from something. She couldn't really tell. Often times if people were running it was either towards or away from something. Perhaps there was something they wanted to get to that she missed? Maybe the carnival was in town!

Oooo! She did so enjoy carnivals. She reminisced upon a time her father took her, her three sisters and her five brothers out to see the carnival. It was quite a magical time in her life. As she lost herself in bygone memories she was quite unaware of who or what was ahead of her until she almost smack dab in the middle of it.

Step, step... Stop.

Her ponderous endless march slowed to a halt as she looked up at the scene before her. A man and a woman stood at one side of an orc and a large winged lizard stood at the other. Quite a spectacle indeed. With her anchor sat upon her shoulder, an ancient rust-bitten tool splashed with the old brown stains of blood it has spilled which as a whole made the orc look small by comparison, She looked up and marveled at the unusual sight.

"Owo? What's this?" She wondered aloud. Her voice, while pleasantly cheerful in both sound and tone, rang with an unearthly resonance and seemed to drag on towards the end of each sentence. She stood by and looked on at what was going on, all too curious about the big lizard with wings. From an onlooker's point of view they'd see a warrior clad in so much armor naught could be seen below but the dismal yellow glow cast by the dark eyeless pits in her unseen sockets.

Well, that and the ship anchor she had rested on her shoulder.

For quite a bunch of moments Vathalyk had just been standing there, observing the overall situation and carefully listening to the steady stream of interfering noises. As usual and as could be expected of your average tavern this one was a loud place, so it was putting quite a bit of strain on his mind to try and filter out what actually was relevant and what just random, everyday talk.

Yet there was one thing that didn't require any attention to identify as relevant at all. It was deafening even if heard from inside the crowd, causing the windows to rattle and certainly blowing off the major part of the layer of dust that had silently accumulated over the years. Vathalyk had to suppress the urge to cough, but even more so he had to suppress his inner demand to run outside and see what happened. He would have done so for sure if there hadn't been a man, seemingly an half-elf hybrid, approaching him all of a sudden.

"A job ?" he asked, glowing eyes staring onto the top of Urdal's head as he craned his neck downwards. One could hear his horns detaching from the ceiling with a grinding noise. "What kind of job would that be ?" Vathalyk narrowd his eyes, sensing the possibility of a spontaneously laid-out trap. Yes, the overall situation of the world was very particular to say the least, but had things changed so dramatically that even he was being offered a job by a half-human so easily ? The man hardly knew anything about him! Either he was treacherous or very desperated. Possibly both.

Anyway. He could no longer resist moving, so Vathalyk turned away from the wall and started the return journey through the undersized hallway. While Urdal could very well get the impression that Vathalyk had about the grace and overall way to move of a brick he was at least signaled to follow outside. Then, with the tavern finally no longer confining him, Vathalyk could see the true dimension of the issue: A dragon! At least it looked like one... But it had not started eating any villages, at least there was no spill of blood on the ground or burning houses nearby. Was pure, helpless acoustic rage all that being could offer ?

"What the hell do you think you are doing ?" Vathalyk addressed Endrokin straightforwardly.
"The very fact that you roam about here without doing what your kind usually does dramatically weakens the point I assume you are trying to make -- and that probably is making other people believe you are far superior in every aspect and must therefore neither be insulted by even the slightest accidental degree nor harmed in any kind that is either real or something your mind spontaneously came up with because it suited your current mood." Vathalyk crossed his arms in front of his breast. "Look at me. Do I have to scare everybody off and shout around as loud as I can in order to address a problem ? I believe not. And that is in full spite of the fact that the vast majority of people regards me as a demon of some kind."

Urdal was overjoyed. It looked as if the individual with demonic ancestry was well aware of what it was that bothered him, as without need of explanation, the big, horned man had walked out and had addressed the issue the half-elf was about to ask him to address! He would have thanked the Gods, but there were no more Gods, and, on top of that, his 'savior' did not look as if he would be supported by the Gods.

"Yes, what he said!" Announced the half-elf, throwing a worried look at the ones he had, supposedly, recruited. Numenor was angry. Very angry. Orky looked as if he had cried, and his hand was bleeding. The limping priest was standing up to a dragon. The drunken paladin of the female variety was not pleased and also looked angry, although her wrath was lacking when compared to Numenor's anger.

He then threw a glance at the street. Good thing it was a way out of the town, otherwise this could have created far more panic than it had already. There were a few distressed souls, and then there was one person who looked nothing like distressed. Then again, that person did not look like a person.

"Let's calm down... And try not to kill each other!" He appealed the strange crowd, which had almost started cutting itself to shreds. The dragon was most concerning for him. Big fellow could straight up kill half of those outside of the tavern with just a tail swipe, figured the half-elf. At this moment he was just hoping he'd be fast enough to end up behind the demonic person.

"Also, if this is about the job, I can hire you all!" He added, hoping that could help diffuse the situation. Work offers usually calmed mercenaries down, they could calm... Dragons down as well?