As Shina went to leave she heard the dragon lady mention staying at her workshop. She had barely enough room for herself let alone two other people, one of which she had to remember being a dragon!

But her panda ears twitched at the word 'dragonfire'. Damn it she loved her trade and any chance to try a new way of forging was too good to miss!

I'm sorry but my workshop isn't big enough. The inn might have room though...right Minnow?! Shina shouted over to Minnow who looked swamped. I have some stables behind my workshop that would provide room. They are clean as my horse is put on pasture. Although I don't feel like a princess should stay there. But I would love to try dragonfire at the forge.

@Kumbaris @Forsythe [Goldeagle1221]

@Ozzy Cross

D'Artagnan Riverwood

Location: The Road To Lorenstad

D’Artagnan rubbed the back of his neck, he did not think of himself as a very good fighter. What self defence he does know, is mostly used to protect himself. “Again you seem like good folks, and I would rather have run into you then some thief trying to rob me of everything including my clothing.” Looking over towards the young boy with a big smile, the mention of the name Jango Riverwood gave him quite a bit of nostalgia. “ I mostly venture to where historical artifacts are, and bring them to the museum for preservation. And I know Jango Riverwood, he is my father although his real name is Alexander. Jango was just a nickname that stuck." Having a wave of good memories of his father telling him of his many adventures as a child. “Have you heard of his venture into the dwarven tombs filled with goblins, trying to retrieve an ancient dwarven tomb?”He asked the child, wondering if he had heard of that story. He stopped for a moment feeling idotic for indulging the child’s questions.

Feeling a bit more comfortable around the group of men, they did not seem like bad people that would try to rob D’Artagnan of his newly acquired artifact. Pulling out the dagger from his coat pocket, the bright green blade shining brightly in the sun. The group could make out some orcish words etched into the blade. “I found this in an old orcish tomb, I had to convince the elder to not use my hide as a rug in exchange for participating in a cleansing ritual.” He quickly put away the dagger back into his coat pocket, so that it did not fall out of his hands. “Grandline Isles? I have not been there in quite some time, what kind of cargo were you transporting from there if i may ask?”

The gigantic mostrous creature followed the cat with her violet eyes and chuckled lightly. "Not to worry dear, not to worry." She sat down away from the firepit this time, perfectly aware that water coming off of her would make it difficult to use the thing to cook. "My boy won't mind at all. It's still plenty enough for him... He's so small." She sighed, imagining just how tiny and adorable her son was.

"Do you live around here, darling? It's such a lovely area..." It was always so deliteful to meet another who walked on four legs gifted with speech. She did her best to seem casual and not at all threatening. Unfortunately, her face wasn't flexible at all like a human's. Her grin of sharp teeth was rather permanently fixed.

@Raylah

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Tags: @Forsythe@RedPandaGamer@Kumbaris@Goldeagle1221

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Just as the half-elf was just starting to enjoy the cool breeze and the sight of woodland creatures he felt a great disturbance in the Weave. Something with massive magical energy just suddenly appeared out of the blue and just as quickly disappeared. Rudolph let out a breath he didn't even realize he was keeping. "Ezaloth's warty ass, what in the world was that?" The wizard said, bewildered out of his mind. It was akin to a massive boulder crashing into a placid lake but only producing a ripple of a pebble before completely disappearing. It made no sense.

He was still quite a distance away from the village. But something that powerful was somewhere in the village and, Makers damn his soul to the Void, if he didn't do something about it. Lorenstad and all its inhabitants may be in grave danger for all he knew about that unknown phenomenon. The wizard shut his eyes and focused solely on the magical energies of the world around him and, despite the unknown phenomenon's relatively quick appearance, the mark it left on the weave was slower to return to normal. Re-opening his eyes he locked his eyes upon the last known location of the anomaly. "The Other Mine? Why there?" Regardless of his confusion, it needed to be investigated. He wished that he brought his wand along the trip as he could have more effectively and efficiently channeled his magic. But an emergency like this needed immediate action. A determined look was plastered on the half-elf's face as he cast a spell to give his steps the extra boost they needed if he were to arrive in such short notice. Viasýni. As the words left his mouth, the underside of his boots gained a bright teal glow. Taking a runner's stance on the cobbled road, Rudolph bolted off with the speed that could put a racing horse to shame.

The planned 15 minute stroll turned into a half minute's sprint.

It was very effective. Maybe a little too much so as he actually failed to estimate the stop time he needed to prevent crashing into the establishment itself. In a split second decision between a conveniently open window and a very sturdy looking wall, Rudolph barreled through the window and straight into an open broom closet. A plume of dust burst out of the room as the, now dusty, wizard stumbled out with wooden bucket covering his head. Hardly the entrance fitting for him, but better than splattered on a wall. " *cough cough* Sorry, Minnow. *cough cough* Put it on my tab...I'll pay for the broken brooms *cough cough* I swear." Rudolph says as he pulls the bucket off his head, dusting himself off as best he can, and regaining most of his composure. He took a quick look around the common room, he noted that there were new faces in Lorenstad. "Apologies for the intrusion. I was just investigating a strange magical phenomenon that originated here. I hope I didn't spoil your visit to TOM and Lorenstad."

Lady was surprised how friendly the crocodile talked, given she had stolen from her. But perhaps one fish was really not such a big deal for such a big creature. She did however notice the mention of 'her boy'. Was there a second animal lurking around? Even a small one could eat her in one bite. A careful look around the area didn't reveal anything else, even the river seemed empty, its calm water surface only occasionally disturbed by a fish jumping up to catch some insect.

She liked how the crocodile called her dear and darling. Normally it would sound condescending, but somehow coming from a huge mouth full of teeth it reminded her of Miss Binklesthorpe.

--She didn't have any teeth though.--

Miss Binklesthorpe, who did not possess any teeth at the brink of her life, but was always kind and gentle. Maybe slightly racist, but always well-mannered.

Not really having another choice anyway, she carefully climbed the tree down, keeping one eye on the huge crocodile at all times. Nothing terrible has happened. With a bit more courage, she walked back towards the fireplace and jumped on one of the logs that were lying around in the grass. The crocodile was sitting a bit away, which was a wise choice, given the water running down its body. Lady noticed a strange thing - the creature actually smelled nice. The ones she remembered from Grada always smelled like rotten meat and stinking mud, but for some reason, there was a smell of lavender coming from this one.

”Your boy is taking a swim?” Lady asked, peeking cautiously towards the riverbank. ”And no, I don’t live here. In fact, I have just arrived this morning. I lived in the capital, but needed a change of scenery.” Lady sighed and started licking her paw which somehow got sand all over it. ”Do you live here? The town looks very interesting, unlike any I’ve come across so far. Those were mostly boring farmer communities or tiny trading posts. There seems to be a lot going on here. And a dragon? Wow, we didn’t have those even in the capital.”

Realizing she had been blabbering for a longer time than she wanted to, Lady stopped herself. ”I have eaten your food and haven’t even told you my name, how rude of me. I am Lady Meowlune, but you can just call me Lady. And if you really don't mind,...” she jumped down from the log and walked back towards the half-eaten fish, “I’ll take another bite or two. You don’t really come across a delicious meal like this one on the road.”

@WolfredWolf

Minnow exited the kitchen, a clay platter in each hand. Each platter was signed with the mispelled name of one of the town’s children, and on top of each sat two bowls. One bowl on either side held a bunch of speckled green eggs — wafting with the smell of pickling vinegar. The other set of bowls held the sloshing orange soup known as Zaft to the villagers. In earnest it was completely unique to The Other Mine and an invention by Minnow’s own father — Mr Striper Dessalt.

Zaft was nothing more than a gibberish word Mr Striper Dessalt had used to persuade Minnow and her older sister Herring to try the exotic dish. In truth it tasted better than it smelled, and contained a healthy amount of salt, cumin, and cracked pepper which would have been aromatic if not for the mysterious grey chunks floating about — identity still unconfirmed.

Holding a glittering pearlesque smile, Minnow placed a bowl of each in front of her dragon-in-disguise customer and the red-headed easterner.

“Now careful,” came Minnow’s voice (steeped in customer service), “it’s rather hot.”

She placed a metal spoon in front of each patron. Looking idly over at the Easterner, Minnow continued. “Now if you need work, I could really use a hand. I’m running on two hours of sleep right now and it is not okay.”

Minnow pointed her chin at Shina. “And this one’s too busy to help nowadays… or so she says.”

It was at that moment that the wizard Rudolph came barreling into the tavern through the window. Minnow jumped in surprise, but the wizard simply blasted right by her and straight into the broom closet, conjuring a blast of dust.

Cringing, Minnow watched the clumsy wizard fall out of the closet, now dressed in splinters, dust, and straw.

“Put it on my tab,” he coughed.

Minnow blinked at her old acquaintance before summoning a scowl. “Oh no! Not this time, Rudolph! I already had it with the whole door thing last month — they still reek of lemons.”

Placing the empty platters gingerly in front of Shina, Minnow marched over to Rudolph and stabbed a finger into his chest.

“I’m calling your tab,” Minnow demanded, a sly twinkle in her eyes, “unless you want to settle it in a trade.”

@Searat@RedPandaGamer and others

@Searat @Goldeagle1221 @Kumbaris

Shina chuckled at Minnow as she came over with the food. 'Come Minnow, you know i'd love nothing more than to help you, after all, i'm sure you're a great boss to work for' She winked at Minnow as she stood to leave.

Suddenly something came crashing into the inn, giving everyone a fright! What a morning this was turning out to be, Shina thought. There hadn't been this much chaos in years!

As Shina saw through the dust a figure appearing, she knew exactly who that was. The scholar Rudolph, someone she had always been interested in but knew so little about. She had often passed by the scholar's guard tower on her way out of the town to go on one of her 'missions'. But she hadn't seen him for some months now.

Shina saw Minnow's face turn from polite inn keeper to very angry Night Elf!

Shina waved to Rudolph... 'Mornin Rudolph, nice entrance!' She turned to the dragon lady and her new soldier/princess friend. I hope you enjoy your breakfast and please stop by the workshop if you get the chance.

@RedPandaGamer@Goldeagle1221@Searat

"Finally!" She nearly screamed. Happy at the serving of food in front of her, the infamous Croogal Eggs and Zaft Soup, she's been waiting for seemingly eternity to had her hands over these foods, and happily enough, they did not disappoint. Now, most Sangakuans would be revolted at the sight of pickled green eggs and an orangish creamy soup that deserves more to be a condiment than a dish. But, combined with the good bread on the side, Yoshina ate her fill quickly and ravenously. Quickly finishing her breakfast and happy at a good meal.

"Omoshiroi-nee." She spoke, her face clearly satisfied with a good breakfast, stomach filled, and now recharged. She looks like a person that can tackle all the happenings in this little village. Nothing speaks peace than a content village with a happy populace. And just as she was about to hear the Elf's offer, another commotion suddenly occured. She turned her head only to see a someone just finished using a magic spell, and inviting the ire of the innkeeper and the attention of the fire-tailed woman.

Yeah, I'm going to sit this one out. Let's have them bicker among themselves.

And with that, Yoshina went back to her usual mannerisms. Observing as the Innkeeper and Mage started bickering, it's not like she can leave anyway, she's got a job lined up, and the Innkeeper hasn't told her what are the jobs parameters are.

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Tags: @Forsythe@RedPandaGamer@Kumbaris@Goldeagle1221

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The wizard winced at the poke. His body was still quite sore from the crash. "I get it. I get it. Please stop poking me, the bruises are still forming." He said while taking a step back and grabbing his satchel and placing it on a vacant table in search for his coin pouch. He heard their resident blacksmith greet him. "Morning to you as well, Shina." He said with a polite smile and wave of his own before placing both his arms up to their elbows into the satchel. Despite the convenience of the bag of holding, it was rather a pain in one's ass to retrieve something specific once you put one too many items in them. Realizing that groping around the bag wasn't getting him anywhere, Rudolph takes a deep breath and dives into the satchel. Leaving the lower half of his body out in the world while his upper half was looking for coin or something of equal value.

Not long after, the half elf separates himself from the bag with two items in each hand. One hand holding 10 glittering gold pieces and the other a scroll. "Here's 10 gold and a scroll for an unseen servant. This ought to cover my tab...but I really do think that a lemon smelling thing is better than any old musty smelling door." I mean who wouldn't like the smell of exotic fruit? The ancients liked it and it was also a bug repellant. Then again, Rudolph did the whole thing while under the influence of one too many bottles of mead.

Minnow snatched the scroll from Rudolph, a small smile forming. “Well I suppose this covers it all.”

Snapping the scroll open, Minnow roughly placed her palm over the inscribed runes and began a quiet chant. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, a flash of white pulsing from them, mirrored by a flash from the scroll. Another pulse and the scroll disappeared, two tiny footprints appearing in the dusty spatterings across the floor.

“Dishes,” Minnow ordered and the footsteps scampered away. Turning back to Rudolph, Minnow collected the gold as well.

“Thank you!”
@Searat

@Ozzy Cross

D'Artagnan Riverwood

Location: The Road To Lorenstad

D’Artagnan felt bad for indulging the boy’s questions, he could see the boy was about to let out an ear piercing scream. Quickly sticking his fingers into his ears, he cursed his species ability to hear well. Even with his ears plugged into his fingers he could still hear the boy’s screaming. Now he didn’t feel bad about answering the boy’s questions, he felt regret even answering him. Pulling away his fingers from his ears, being glad that he still had his hearing. His ears flickered at the mention of Thaddus being much older than he looked, D’Artagnan wondered how this human could live for such a long time. “Very interesting, and how do you keep such a youthful look?” He asked, taking a moment to scan the man’s face, thinking he used some sort of magic to keep himself from physically aging. “I have only been to the Grand Isles once, but I wouldn't want to go back anytime soon.” Thinking back to being almost stomped was quite traumatic for him.

He felt his coat pocket suddenly feeling empty, in a panic he patted his coat and pants before noticing that Thaddus had his dagger. The Katorian felt a twitch of anger, his trust seemed to be misplaced in showing the artifact to the group. Although perhaps it was not smart to show such a rare artifact to complete strangers. He quickly pulled out his whip moving his arm back and forward, letting his whip wrap around the dagger in Thaddus hand. Throwing his arm back letting the dagger fling into the air and towards D’Artagnan. The Katorian quickly grabbed the dagger, putting it back into his coat pocket. “ Your very quick, are you sure your not part Katorian?” He said chuckling, he did not want to anger the man who could easily sic his men on him.

@Goldeagle1221

Seeing the conversation finishing, Yoshina finally managed to gather a glimpse of the social fabric within this town. Seems like a very close knit community, and yet, unlike most small communities, it manages to be very dynamic and open-minded at the same time. The way they immediately opened up to Yoshina, and the interaction between the Half-Elf and bartender seems enough for her to know that this small town would be a most excellent base of operations during her travels to this land.

Now, back to current issues. "Hey uhh, so about that job?" Yoshina asked the Night Elf? "What am I supposed to do? Is it some artifact recovery? Slaying some ravaging beasts? Or perhaps something I didn't even consider?" She curiously waited for an answer from the barkeep, putting her Naginata to good use is something she always enjoyed, despite not enjoying the act of killing other humans and sentient beings.

As Shina walked back to her workshop, Lapoo flew from the roof and onto her shoulders. 'Oh so you're back then? That big scary cat has gone now, no need to worry' she chuckled as Lapoo's checks got big in her stance of anger.

As she stoked her fir back up she contemplated on the use of dragonfire for use of her work 'hmm could be really good...might be worth a try, at least whilst she is still in the town' she thought. She swept the floor of any dust and gubbins laying around, a clean workshop is a productive workshop. She set back to work on the farmer's fork she was repairing when she thought she heard the sound of lots of laughter on the breeze. Now as Shina's workshop was at the river, her keen panda ears could pick up noises fairly easily, and that sounded like alot of commotion.

'Ugh what now? I think it's going to be that kind of day' Shina put the (almost complete) fork on the rack again and walked out around the back of her workshop, which went up a little hill, giving her a good view of the main road.

On the horizon, she could just make out a convoy of wagons, being pulled by a huge cockatrice. 'Look Lapoo, looks like Thaddeus and his crew are back from their travels. OOh i wonder what sundries they have got, maybe I can get myself a new hammer i've been meaning to get for a long while. Lapoo just squeaked in her ear and flew up to get a better view.

Shina returned to her workshop and wondered why she still hadn't heard from Guan, it was unlike him to take so long on a mission. She wasn't too worried though, he was a fierce man and could take care of himself. She considered leaving in search of him but dismissed it, if he still wasn't back in a few days she would go and look for him.

Maybe Thaddeus and his crew had seen him on their travels.

@Ozzy Cross @Forsythe

Taraah / The Other Mine

The dragoness impatiently looked at the platters served. She wass no conisseur, moreso ahe liked to eat a lot rather than well. But she had to admit even to her those eggs smelled funny. Soup first then.

She took a spoon ful and her reptilian tongue found it a bit bland. She could taste some mystery meat in it, but she could not place it. She hungrily gulped down the rest of it in record time, her hunger finally abating somewhat.

Then she carefully took one of the eggs and sampled it. Mhhhm! This is exactly how I imagined it would taste like if an egg took a dump in my mouth. No wonder, I asked food advice from a pig! They'll eat anything! I should eat him!

She was hungry though and forced herself to swallow all of the sour nightmare fuel, hoping her stomach won't be churning later.

Her dinner was interrupted by a silly wizard in robes barelling into the eatablishment, proclaiming what could only be her spell failing a while ago. You know what? I'll let you figure it out. she thought, fed up with wverybody and their grandmother seeing through her disguise.

She shoved the platter away from her, left a decent sized silver ring with a pea sized ruby on the top of it as payment and shoved off, heading to the exit. Once outside, she felt an overwhelming need to stretch her wings. She could not help it, she was an avid flier. Looking over her shoulder into the Inn, she saw the wizard getting dressed down by the owner. "Aw screw this!" she proclaimed. Let them know there was a dragon in town. If all the food tasted like this around here, she would skip it before sunset.

She reached down to the amulet and silently chanted.

"I, who shall awaken;
I am the legendary dragon who took the principle of patronage from god.
I mock the lame, and fret over the gifted!
I shall become the dragon godess of perfection!
And I will bring you to the height of your talent!"

As she did so, she was surrounded by the illusion of a twisting firy tornado, obscuring her transfiguration. Once the spell was released, the illusion vanished, revealing the dragon in her glorious, true self. With a mighty roar, she launched towards the sun.

The air felt great up there, fresh with the smells of charcoal, and sunny side up eggs, bacon, and nectar. No vinegar!

Taking an aerial view of the town, she followed the ame of charcoal to the blacksmith. Landing on a nearby open area, she folded her wings and padded over. "Hello there!" she greeted cheerfully, her red eye peering through the window.

@RedPandaGamer@Goldeagle1221@Searat

@Forsythe

As Shina returned, and entered the workshop again, she felt the rush of wind and a voice greet her. As she turned, she was met with the full body of the lady-come-dragon, no doubt this time.

'Oh hello again, I see my eyes aren't deceiving me this time and you are your true self? I must say it's still a little unnerving. So...welcome to my workshop! She waved her hand across the whole of her somewhat tiny workshop. Hmmm didn't seem as awesome as she thought, at least not for showing a dragon!

'I'm sorry it isn't much but you are welcome to come and look around, that is if you can fit as a dragon?'

Shina went to her stove area and put on some herbal tea, 'So....have you used your fire for forging before? I'm intrigued to see how it works, that is, if you don't mind showing me?'

@Forsythe

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Tags: @Forsythe@Kumbaris@Goldeagle1221

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As the Night Elf thanked him for paying off his tab, Rudolph replied with a quick but polite nod. An unseen servant would be quite a good addition to TOM. Despite the rather simplistic nature, they make for decent staff. Almost as good as living breathing servants, but with a fraction of the cost. The only downside they have is the magical aptitude required to for them to manifest and bond with the caster. It's a good thing Minnow was a full blooded night elf. Magic came to them as naturally as green is to grass. If you didn't have enough mana, you'll just wind up with a spent spell scroll, no magical servant, and a lot of disappointment. "Glad to hear it. Now for the source of the magical anomaly..." Glancing out, he got an eyeful of Taraah's draconic transformation. "Ah. A dragon in town. That explains the anomaly." The wizard smiled at the realization before promptly fainting and falling onto the wooden floor with a dull thud from the sheer emotional shock of realizing that a dragon had suddenly appeared in Lorenstad.

@Raylah

"Oh, unfortunately my son isn't nearly as fond of water as I am. It's such a shame... I'm not from here either, I'm afraid. My home is a large wetland across the sea far to the West. The water there is unrivalled, but I must say this river is certainly passable on water quality, if not size."

Water was never the same in any two places. Sometimes it was cold and crystal clear, sometimes warm, sometimes murky, sometimes sweet, sometimes bitter. It could be pure and clean or contaminated and rotting. The salt levels could vary greatly. Sometimes it was thick with plant life, sometimes it was open and empty.

Her attention was drawn by mention of a dragon. "A dragon, you say? It's been some time since I've seen ome of my dear cousins... I'm afraid I haven't been to the Capital in some time either..."

"Lady Meowlune? Oh, what a lovely name." She chuckled at herself. "Oh, how silly of me... I forgot to introduce myself as well! I am Queen Victoria Elizabeth Louise Maria Dahlia. You may call me any number of those names in any order that suits you, though preferably with a title attached. "Your majesty" is preffered, but I won't scoff at "Lady" or perhaps "Miss" if I'm in a good mood.

"Help yourself, dear! It's no trouble at all. I'd gladly repay you for the pleasant company with a meal anytime."

She lifted her snout calmly, and air could be heard rushing through her nostrils. "Oh! Here comes my boy now! Antony, dear? Did you have a lovely time in town?" she called.

From the other side of the clearing, a tall humanoid with distinct sharp horns emerged from the trees, a sack in his arms and a bag over his shoulder. "Mother...?" he called back. "Who are you talking to?" He didn't see anyone... Maybe they were behind her.

"Say hello to Lady Meowlune, dear. Lady Meowlune, this is my son, Prince Antony James Grey."

"Lady... Meowlune?" He was close enough now to see the small black creature helping itself to the fish pile. He tilted his head slightly in mild confusion. It wasn't like his mother to hold conversations with random animals. He shrugged inwardly. He'd humored her on stranger things... And the cat was pretty cute. He smiled and gave the cat a small bow. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Meowlune. How kind of you to join us for lunch."

@Ozzy Cross

D'Artagnan Riverwood

Location: The Road To Lorenstad

D’Artagnan expected to be thrashed by Malvor, the Katorian moved his horse backwards trying to escape from Malvor’s wrath. His hand even went over to reach for his whip to try and defend himself. However he noticed Malvor walking over towards Thomas, grabbing his hand making sure his grip would be very painful. Moving his hand away from his whip and letting his horse stride closer towards the two, “Mr. Malvor it was my fault for showing the dagger to Thaddus, Please you do not have to be so harsh with his punishment.” The Katorian positioned his horse so that he was between Malvor and Thaddus. He backed up for a moment, rubbing his chin, “But perhaps he could do something for me as payment for his theft.” D’Artganan felt a sly grin coming onto his face. “I might need your sticky fingers for my next exploration.” The Katorian imagined the many uses for Thaddus’ sleight of hand, and whatever he was hiding behind his sunglasses.

“Of course if that is okay with you, I will pay you for your services.” D’Artagnan noticed the outline of Lorenstad in the horizon. He could drop off the artifact and then get his next assignment from the museum.