“Oh you know,” Minnow replied to Yoshina, “Dishes, sweeping — though I suppose the magical servant can do those things, so housekeeping…” She was counting off her fingers now, “Checking in and out guests, serving — oh can you cook?”

She stared intently at the woman, awaiting a response. Only when Rudolph announced a dragon did Minnow startle.

“Dragon!? Where!?”

The innkeeper nearly tripped over the fainting Rudolph as she dove for the broom closer, scrounging up a broken piece of her broom. Rolling to her feet, Minnow brandished the wooden pole angrily.

“Pesky Dragons! Point me to em, Rudolph!”

But Rudolph was still ill disposed. Frowning, Minnow poked the wizard with her foot.

Taraah / Shiina's smith

"Put your mind at ease, If I wanted to do something bad, you would not get a warning. I meant what I said, I'm looking for a home. I wouldn't want to torch it beforehand." She said, the corners of her closed maw tugging up in an imitation of a hominid smile. She learneed quickly that a toothy smile looks rather threatening on a dragon.

She poked her head and neck in through the door. The workshop looked rather cozy. The door wouldn't fit more of her, and she did not fancy changing skins again, especially since Shiina seemed immune to it. She lied down on her side like a lazy cat, only her neck and head up looking at the inside of the shop.

"I never touched a hammer in my life!" She said with an excited happiness in her voice. "I have enchanted weapons before though. I wonder if the magic would be stronger if used during the forging itself. However..." She grinned, "I fancy myself a bit of a patron of artists. So, show me your wares. If you are worthy of my attention, I shall shower you with bleasings!" I should make a religion out of this! she thought to herself, wondering if she should dare the actual gods.

@Forsythe

Shina cringed as she watched the dragon attempt to get through the workshop. She sighed with relief when the dragon gave up and left only her head in the doorway.

Shina cleared her throat, still a little nervous 'Uh thanks? I think? she suddenly felt shy to show the dragon her wares, after all they weren't much to see, since most of her wares came from the townsfolk. But she did have a few nicer pieces, one of which she was NOT going to be showing.

'I have a few pieces here which might be of interest, although, i'm sure not a patch on your own power and magic! Shina went over to her weapon rack and grabbed a couple of swords... 'These pieces came to me from far afield, this katana was sharpened by forge, note the kissaki has been hardened and laced with fine silver. This longsword came to me in shattered pieces, see how I have re-forged the blade with the strongest of iron? I even re-leathered the hilt.

Lapoo heard the commotion and flew down from Shina's bedroom. When she saw the dragon's head she let out a sharp frightened squeal and flew back up. 'It's OK Lapoo, she is a ....friend? Shina turned back to the dragon head, 'So, what do you think? I know it isn't much, i'm hoping my good friend Guan will return from his journey soon, so I might head out with him and get more loot!

@RedPandaGamer

Taraah inspected the presented pieces with keen eye. One of the blade looked rather exotic, not like the straight blades favored in this land. In fact... "I believe our mist islander friend may be a potential buyer for the Katana. If I am not mistaken, blades likle these originated there. The plating seems rather well done!" She said with an approving murmur, reaching into her bag.

She pulled out the blade she uaed when disguised as Margaret. It was a normal straight blade, one and a half hilt, with rubies set into the pommel and guard. "My own could use a new coat. Perhaps we can strike a bargain later." She thought out loud, setting the blade in sheath at her feet for now.

The reforged piece puzzled her: "Surely, a reforged piece must be worse than melting it down into a bar to be used anew in different manner? If the blade has shattered once, it may do so again, no? Wouldn't it have a more meaningful life as a shaving razor?" She asked, interested in the process.

"You have my attention, young one. If you have a piece of scrap weaponry or tool lying around, let me show you what I can do for you." She offered. She also produced a bottle made of obsidian glass, blowing into it. The inside of the bottle seemed to glow orange. She plugged the bottle with obsidian cork and handed it over. "A sample for the forge. Fair warning, this fire is three times as hot as a charcoal that is being blown at. It will melt iron, stone, and if she is not careful, the smith. This amount should last you for an hour, enough to get you hungry for more if you like it." She winked.

---

Tags: @Kumbaris@Goldeagle1221

---

Despite the respite the unconsciousness gave the half-elf wizard from the waking world, like many things good or bad in the world, it didn't last. Rudolph winced as he felt a boot nudge his cheek. "Murgh..." Was the only sound the wizard made in reaction to the intrusive prod. Standing himself up from the floor, he held the side of his head with one hand while the other used a table as a support. After blinking away the confusion and dizziness he felt, he finally notices TOM's owner wielding a broom handle akin to a soldier would a spear and a fire of determination in her eyes. "My dear Minnow. I appreciate the moxie but we need to redirect that energy to evacuating the town as soon as possible." Rudolph said calmly as he used the tip of his index finger to lower the elf's impromptu spear. "We're talking about a genuine fire-breathing dragon here. A living calamity if you feel poetic. Ain't no broom handle wielding elf going to stop that." The wizard then claps his hands together. "It's a bloody miracle that the town hasn't been razed to the ground. So let's not look at the proverbial gift horse in the mouth and save as many citizens as we can before the calamity gets into a burning mood."

Lady raised her eyebrow when the crocodile introduced herself. She had seen a few queens - once there was some sort of fancy noble event in the capital, lots of foreign guests arrived and few of them were royalties. None of them animals though, let alone gigantic crocodiles. Maybe it’s different across the sea? Animals rule and humans serve them?

--That sounds like the right way to run society.--

Anyway, it was up to Victoria how she introduces herself. If she claimed she was a queen, she was a queen. Lady herself often claimed she was an ancient goddess suffering from a curse to fool dumb humans, so… who was she to object?

--When someone gives you free food, you indulge their weirdness.--

Yes, plus there was the abundance of free food. “Thank you, Your Majesty,” she said between the bites.

When Lady heard Victoria sniffing, she raised her head and tasted the air as well. It was strange. Whoever was coming smelled almost like a human. Almost, but not quite. She couldn’t place the scent and was fairly certain she had never come across it before. One thing was for sure, it was not another crocodile.

Just in case, she quickly eyed the escape routes. Humans could actually climb trees, which was unfortunate, so her previous hideout was not really safe. She could try to run into the woods, hide under a log, or maybe jump into a river?

--Yea. Forget that.--

No, that was probably not a good idea. After all, humans could swim too.

When Anthony arrived at the clearing, Lady bristled up a bit. A human boy. Not a child anymore, but not a man quite yet. Those were the worst. Small children often tried to ‘play’ with Lady, using their dirty hands to grab her tail and put it into their snotty drooling mouths. But you could easily outrun them. The older ones were much more malicious and dangerous. Lady had a friend back in Grada, a ginger cat named Scratchy. A group of bored kids kept chasing her around the streets with sticks and even tried to put her into a bag and throw it into the river! She would have to be careful around this one.

Then she got a good look at the ‘prince’ and noticed the tail. And horns. What kind of a weird animal-human hybrid was he? Those features didn’t look like any beast she knew of.

--It’s a baby Devil!--

Her old landlady often spoke of the Devil, describing him with such horns and tail. But he was also supposed to have hooves. And a sleazy beard. The Church of the Pure had a lot of crazy ideas.

--He doesn’t like evil incarnate.--

No, the boy didn’t look evil at all. He watched Lady looking just as confused as she was. She decided that having a tail and horns was not a crime. And, at the risk of repeating myself…

--FREE FOOD.--

… they offered her free food. You don’t say no to that, horns or not.

“Your mother was kind enough to offer me a part of your lunch, Your Royal Highness,” she bowed her head in front of him. “I hope that is alright. I will not bother you much longer, I will just finish the fish and head back to the town. Surprisingly, I’m in the mood for an adventure, plus I want to see what this town has to offer before deciding if it’s worth settling here for some time.” Lady lazily sniffed the almost entirely eaten fish, deciding which parts are still worth eating. “I have seen a noticeboard on the town square, so I will head there to see if anyone in the town needs help.”

--Not work.--

“Not with work, of course, but maybe with some simple… tasks that don’t require too much effort.” No, Lady was definitely not in the mood for working. More like a stroll before a long nap.

@WolfredWolf

@Ozzy Cross @Forsythe

The dragon was not impressed with Shina's weapons and she had to admit, she was a little hurt, not least because this was a dragon who was downplaying her hard work! But if she looked deep down the dragon was right, she had done better work in the past. Her heart just wasn't in it recently.

But all that was swept under the rug when the dragon produced her own flame to use in the forge... 'Wow really! That's fascinating! I've never seen such a bright flame before! This will be a great experiment to try!! She was giddy with all the ideas that sprung to her mind, it was like her spark was igniting again.... 'Scrap weapons...hmmm...scrap...weapons... Shina looked around the workshop and went to an old chest lying in the corner, one where she kept old pieces she had not got round to doing anything with, she un-did the latch and routed around inside until she found an old longsword that had had better days. She got up and turned to show the dragon when in the corner she could see the familiar sight of...Thaddeus? What...was he doing?! Oh no.....

Shina watched, as if in slow motion, as Thaddeus went to touch her tail 'Thaddeus, DONT'!' Too late! The dragon obviously felt the strange touch and naturally swatted the intruder away!

Shina dropped the longsword and scrambled over the dragon 'So sorry mam, but i think that's my shipment you accidently swatted!

Shina stood over Thaddeus, who had been thrown quite a way. She couldn't help but laugh though she tried to cover it up, 'Hah Thaddeus, you have always been a bad judge of timing! Let me help you up... Shina extended a hand to the very dusty and bewildered man.

@RedPandaGamer@Ozzy Cross

"Oh do forgive me," The dragoness said, looking over her shoulder and sounding none too apologetic, "I thought it was an annoying fly. My apologies kind sir." she got up from her side and reversed form the workshop, coming to stop over Thaddeus, who would now get a full view of a toothy dragon grin. "You have a weird smell. A Mesmer? I hear they go well with mint sauce!" She purred excitedly. "Now do tell me," she said, all mirth vanishing from her face as she closed a little bit to his face, "Is it common for men round here to greet women by touching their bottoms?" If so, the town needed a new mayor. A scaly one.

@Ozzy Cross @Forsythe

Shina was still giggling whilst she watched Thaddeus apologising to the dragon lady. She had to shake her head when she remembered him saying she was pretty. 'Pull it together Shina, it's just Thaddeus'.

She leaned against a tree and watched him approach the dragon 'I warned you Thaddeus, if you go around touching everything you see, eventually you'd end up on the floor!'

Lapoo, ever the eaves-dropper came swooping in, very careful to avoid the scary creature and landing on Thaddeus' shoulder. She sniffed around his clothes, no doubt trying to see if he'd brought anything tasty back from his travels. 'Lapoo...leave the poor man alone, he doesn't have anything for you.

@Goldeagle1221 @Searat

"....Eh?"

Serving? As in, a waitress?

As in the women who she was served food to during her many times visiting an Izakaya in Yoshika? Or during her time visiting Hinoki's red light district? Or maybe that time when she was staying at an onsen in Shomita and she was greeted by waitresses that are more than willing to do every 'request' she made?

Even when it was a joke?

Well, at least there was cooking. But her time spent traveling was more about learning the customs of the people of various lands, in terms of food... well, she preferred eating the food compared to being served food. So the only types of cuisine she know of is...

Sangakuan. Heavy on Rice and specific types of meats and vegetables native to her islands.

"Umm. I don't know about serving... I don't think I want lecherous eyes peering at me or something." Yoshina hesitated. "I can cook, but only Sangakuan cuisine, but... Ah screw it! I'm okay with serving, is there some special outfit I need to wear or something?"

Yoshina was already regretting her decision to be a waitress, she is not someone you would typically think of as having features desirable for a waitress. She's not patient, she's not demure, and she is definitely not cheery. All her stories usually involve intrigues at the court or some sort of battle where she distinguished herself, not exactly something patrons would like to hear. But nonetheless, a promise is a promise.

Her conversation with Minnow though was interrupted by the sudden transformation of Farrah, the fainting of the mage, and the Night Elf suddenly grabbing a broom out of all weapons, when all was said and done. She could only shake her head as the two Elves were visibly scared and thinking in a panicky manner, not something she was happy in seeing.

"Hey, don't worry about that dragon." She responded to both the Elf Academician and Bartender. "Probably just went and stretch her wings or something, just don't bother her and it should be alright. I have talked to her, and she is not someone that wants to destroy the village, so please, don't provoke the dragon if you don't have to. Alright?"

"Oh, right!" She turned finally to Minnow. "Do you have a room where I can stay for the night? I just came here and I don't have any lodgings for the day. I have some baggage from my horse that needed unloading."

Taraah / Shiina's smithy

"Your kind calls me Pyrona." The dragoness said, a different name than she gave to the humans earlier if they were paying attention. "And forgive me, I have already tried the local cuisine, and it will be a while before I trust the recommendation of a local again. Mint sauce will do if you do that again." She warned, backing off.

"I would not call us friends just yet, she has tried to slay me for merely existing, but we're getting along for now." She shot half annoyed, half sad look at Shiina. "What is it that you do here, Thaddeus? And miss Sheena, who is this Guan fellow you mentioned? Should I post protection charms around myself since he is a Friend of yours?"

@RedPandaGamer@Ozzy Cross

@Forsythe @Ozzy Cross

Shina looked away as 'Pyrona' mentioned about her wanting to slay her. She felt ashamed, but she just couldn't trust a dragon...not yet anyway. She had been hurt so much in the past, it would take along time to heal. Nonetheless, this dragon had been very kind so far so she would try her best to be more compassionate.

As she was deep in thought, Thaddeus' voice broke through... 'Oh yes, thank you Thaddeus, just what I ordered. I was just showing Pyrona here some of my work, though i must admit that my heart hasn't quite been in it... Shina trailed off again...then turned to the dragon, who still looked menacing as she stood there with those red eyes..

She looked at the dragon and bowed 'I apologise again dragon...I mean Pyrona..for my earlier behaviour towards you. I do hope I can show you some of my new work with these metals if you are likely to stay long enough? Oh and as for who is Guan; he is an old friend and mentor, I often go on 'trips' with him, often bringing back some rare loot, but he has yet to return from his last mission...which is very unlike him.'

Shina was about to return to the workshop..when she remembered payment! 'Thanks again Thaddeus and yep put it on the account if you please. Oh and one last thing, you didn't happen to come across Guan on your journey did you?'

@RedPandaGamer@Ozzy Cross

Taraah looked at the not-mesmer greedily. "I did not intend to harm anyone or attach the town in the first place, but I do like being adored, feel free to do so at any time. That said, I am on the lookout for several materials of magical nature. If you can compile a list of your inventory, I shall have a look." she bowed her head politely, "I can pay you in materials that more commonly give you buying power, or offer my own services."

Her head then snapped to Shiina. "We shall depart then and search for your missing mentor!" she proclaimed, somewhat wanting to foster a friendship with the person who seemed so far the most hostile towards her. If the others saw them overcoming that, hopefully it would tell others with the same mindset that just because something has four libs, wings and scales, one did not need to necessarily run for the hills. Well, some of the time. When she was concerned. Dragons like her five black brothers, well... "So that you can show me your finest without worry and we shall craft the mot beautiful and powerful things together! Which way?"

@Ozzy Cross

D'Artagnan Riverwood

Location: The Road To Lorenstad/ Lorenstad

D’Artagnan shrugged his shoulders, he didn’t expect Malvor to see the potential that Thaddus had to assist him. “Do not worry Mr.Malvor i will keep an eye on him.” Chuckling but knowing that he would need to watch Thaddus like a hawk. “I shall find you after I have unloaded my own cargo. Although I apologize I would not be the one to pay you, the museum would be paying you for assisting me. But they will pay generously for your help.” The Katorian noticed the familiar buildings on the horizon. He worried that Thomas would be worried about Thaddus’ absence, but this worry was relieved thanks to Thaddus’ ability to hypnotise the boy. “I assume I will meet you at the local tavern, to discuss our next job.” D’Artagnan rode into the heart of the city making a quick stop at his favorite bookstore.

Location: Lorenstad/ Montgomery’s Bookstore

“Hello Mr. Halbour, how are you today? I was wondering if you had Katorian History Volume III available to purchase?” D'Artagnan stood a couple of feet away from the counter. “Oh yes I just got it a couple of days ago, I took a look at it and it was a very interesting read.” The old man walked over towards a tall bookshelf grabbing a large green book. “Thank you, I have been working on it for I believe four years now. I hope this volume gets enough sales so I can work on volume IV.” The Katorian took the book, taking a moment to leaf through some pages. “I hope so, I want to know what happens to your people after the war between the Katorian and Caninties?” The older man smiled before interacting with an Elven gentleman. D'Artagnan walked out of the bookstore with his book and made his way towards the local tavern.

Location: Lorenstad/ Lorenstad’s Musuem Of History

D’Artagnan walked into the museum while walking to the head of the museum’s office, he was admiring the many exhibits. Taking a moment to look at a display for Dwarven stone statues. His eyes noticed a small human boy that was not admiring the display but D'Artagnan himself. He had to chuckle at the thought of being observed by outside eyes, he knew that not many people see a living breathing Katorian right in front of them. “Never seen a Katorian before young man?” A question which was given a slight nod. “Does it hurt if someone pulled your tail?” The boy pointed towards D'Artagnan’s tail. “It would, but it would not be a good idea to pull on my tail.” D’Artagnan shook his head with a smile on his face. He had been asked similar questions before, but by this point it has become quite bothersome for him. “I apologize but I have to leave, I need to give an artifact to the museum.” And with that D’Artagnan left the room heading towards the curator’s office. However he noticed the human boy was following him, wanting to lose him he walked though a couple of exhibits. Bobbing and waving through the displays, but the boy was persistent he had to give him that.

D’Artagnan thought he had lost the boy and assumed it was safe to head into the curator's office. Just as he opened the door he noticed the curator and the boy talking. D’Artagnan’s mouth was wide open as the curator and the boy were laughing, presumably about D’Artagnan. “Ah D'Artagnan you finally arrived , how was your trip? Have you met my grandson Bort? He’s visiting me from Orgoth with his mother, my daughter.” The old man pointed to the son who was waving and smiling at D’Artagnan. The Katorian thought who the hell would name their child Bort. “Well it was quite exciting, I almost lost my life while trying to negotiate with the orcish tribe. And trying to venture though the tomb I almost got my…” He trailed off not wanting to mention what he almost lost in front of Bort. D’Artagnan pulled out the dagger and handed it to the curator. “I have the dagger that you were looking for.” Handing the dagger to the man who smiled, putting the dagger on his desk. The curator handed D’Artagnan a heavy pile of gold pieces, which D’Artagnan took into his jacket pocket. “Thank you, now I believe you wanted to discuss the next artifact you want me to retrieve?” During the conversation the curator told D’Artagnan about a religious statue that belonged to an ancient civilization called The Grumpus. The statue was located in ruins that was unfortunately preoccupied by some not very friendly Kobolds. I need you to retrieve the statue and if necessary.” The man paused for a moment signaling for Bort to cover his ears before continuing, “Defend yourself from the native population, This venture will pay better than the last.” The curator marked the location of the ruins on D’Artagnan’s map. Leaving the museum and heading to a tavern wanting to wait to meet Thaddus.

Location: Lorenstad/ The Shouting Melons

D’Artagnan opened the door of the tavern, filling his nose with a mixture of alcohol and sweat. The Katorian covered his nose walking over towards a table. He was greeted by a busty Orcish woman, “Hello sir, what would you like to drink today?” She spoke in an overly friendly tone of voice. D’Artagnan blushed trying to hide it by covering his face, “Just a water please and thank you.” The Katorian paid the woman the proper amount as she gave him a glass of water. Wondering where Thaddus was, taking a sip of his glass while waiting impatiently.

@Forsythe @Ozzy Cross

Shina was startled by the dragon's statement, perhaps she shouldn't have said anything. After all, she never brought others on her missions, unless it was Guan; and then that was him bringing her as his apprentice.

'Um i'm not sure, I don't know how far he has travelled and I wouldn't want you to journey with me on what could be a wasted journey! I'm sure you have over more pressing matters to attend to... Then again, Shina thought, having a dragon would minimise the risk of injury to her, probably! Unless she decided to turn on her! Oh what to do, what to do!!?

Lapoo from Thaddeus' shoulder flew back to Shina and then did something unexpected...she flew to the dragon and landed on her shoulder! She had NEVER done that before! Maybe this was a good sign? Ah screw it, what did she have to lose...apart from maybe her life??!

'On second thought, he has been gone for far too long. I need to at least find out what has happened and if you truly want to then you are welcome to join. Perhaps we ought to see if anyone else would want to journey with us? We'll pop back to Minnow's and ask around.

Shina turned to Thaddeus 'If I don't return, you are welcome to take your metals back!' she laughed, anxiously.

Minnow frowned deeply at Rudolph, her gaze only being broken by Yoshina’s sudden response to the job offer. Striking up a forced smile, Minnow nodded eagerly.

“No uniform required, and I’ll even include a room for free while you work. You’ll be pulling the night shi- well the morning shift, six in the morning until two in the afternoon.” Minnow clasped Yoshina’s hands, shaking them. “Would a silver a day be enough?”

Only when Yoshina reminded Minnow about the dragon did her demeanor sour again, “Shit, right — the dragon… Rudolph, do you have any handy spells for dealing with the larceny loving lizard?”

The night elf wagged a finger at Yoshina. “You can’t trust dragons, no matter how nice they seem to be or what they say. They are 100% always up to no good and it will always result in disaster and destruction, it’s honestly for the best that we deal with it now.” Shiftering her voice towards Rudolph she continued, “hopefully with a sealing spell or perhaps transfiguration into something more palpable and able to be shoved into a jar.”

---

Tags: @Kumbaris@Goldeagle1221

---

The half-elf wizard only offered an apologetic smile back at the frowning innkeeper. During rare disagreements between the two, Rudolph learned that Minnow sometimes just opted to frown deeply when she knew that the wizard had a point. The traveler then mentioned something rather peculiar about the dragon. She claimed that she had spoken to the winged beast and, even stranger, stated that the dragon they saw had no ill-will to the town and its townsfolk.

Unless provoked that is.
The kind of provocation Minnow was trying to bring Rudolph into.

"You heard that, Minnow? The dragon doesn't want to burn the village down and eat any of the townsfolk. How about we keep it that way by not antagonizing it?" But it seemed that the flames of determination had been re-ignited by the simple mention of the word 'dragon'. Maybe he can dissuade her again? "Minnow, bear with me alright? Dragons are naturally massive sources of magical energy. That given, they can simply choose not to be affected by things by letting their innate magic reserves negate the effects. By the mercy of the Makers, they can only do so a handful of times in a day...but I can only cast that level of transmutation magic twice a day. With an 8 hour interval of rest in between castings. What do you suppose an angry dragon could do with that time after realizing that we're hostile?" Beads of sweat appear at his brow and his hands shake slightly as he is reminded of the encounter of a white dragon while he was exploring in the frozen Northern regions. Despite white dragons being the weakest of the dragons, Rudolph can still vividly remember the deadly encounter. His scars made sure he'd never forget it. "So please. Don't do this. If not for yourself, for the innocent folk that'll be caught in the trouble." Rudolph racks his mind for an extra incentive for stopping. "I'll even throw in all the gold I have on me right now if you stop with this suicide mission. Nights in Lorenstad will get quite boring if you go." He finishes with a nervous and almost desperate laugh. He'd already lost a lot of friends to the sands of time and his field research. He wasn't willing to lose any more.