Decadents and Dropouts IC

The Narrator

"A raid? A raid in there? Are you insane? I can't even send an officer in there...he would be killed, and then...an outrage..we have civil war then here. No. If your friends walked in, the did it by free will." The constable crossed his arms, trying to look tough.

Canut snorted. Somebody who diden't even have the guts to hit a small-time house like this could never be tough. "I'll handle it myself then," he marched off, banging his way into the house with a minor explosion spell.

"Excuse me sir," the dopplegange came over as a male dryad. "Magic is stricly forbiddion here."

"I' wasen't here when I cast it, was I." he spat, waltzing over to the table where his freinds sat.

Phyliss Ovida

Phyliss nearly dropped her drink at the explosion, but relaxed as she saw the Kobald walking through the smoke, heading for the table. she took another deep drink.
"Ghee, you have kind a way to enter an inn."

I would have done it more sexier and finer then that.

Phyliss Ovida

"Still, quite impressive. Do you like to have a drink?" The gordon spilled down some more wine.

Dea laughed as he took some more wine and bumped into someone and they got mad but Dea punched him and started a bar fight.

Phyliss Ovida

"Oh no. So much for our room tonight." the gorgon kept drinking, watching dea brawling with some other fool.
"Want a seat, Canut?"

"I'll stand thanks," he tried to sound not completly paniced. "I think you should too," he glanced over his shoulder to get a fix on the doppleganger, but only humaniod figures where around now. " Seriously, whatever you do, don't get a room here!"

Phyliss Ovida

Phyliss felt dizzy from the wine already, and she knew the deep end would follow. She had to much, but after all the days, she desparetely needed it. But still, she wasn't that drunk not to notice the warning and be alarmed.
"So, you mean we have to run for it or can we plainly drink up and leave?"

Dea was done beating the asshole as he came back and sat down as he took a glup of wine and some good aile and smile.

Phyliss Ovida

The gorgon drank some more wine and looked over to dea. "I guess you can beat our room for the night here as well."

i did" he said with a smile and waved a key around his finger.

Phyliss Ovida

"Better drink up and listen, what our Kobald is goin to tell you." the gorgon was playing it rather cool, although she was aware of the danger. Of course, the wine helped relaxing a lot, too. Nevertheless, she prepared for running and some magic action.

The Narrator

In a backroom, located in the upper floor of an extension that was connected to the sandcrawlers complexs through a wooden stairway, two men held a conservation.
"Now. How about the two new arrivals?"
"Sikko let himself into a fight with the drow. He got licked, but I don't think the drow is to dangerous. He didn't use any magic,and I have seen tougher ones of their kind."
"Could be, could be. But you know how insidious they are. He might have tricked you."
"I wonder. He took the key for the room we prepared for him. Maybe he is an outcast, acting more human then I would expect of his kind."
"Hmmm. And the gorgon girl?"
"Hard to tell. But she had quite a quantity of wine already. It should affect her reactions."
"So time's working for us. Let the shapeshifter lure them in."
Another man stepped up the stairs and talked to the second man, and got out again.
"There's trouble. The little Kobald who just bursted in. Kipko recognized him. He escaped us about two years ago. He probably warned the gorgon, maybe the drow. They act as nothing has happened, but I think they want to fool us."
"Fool us? Listen, you go down and..."

(O.O.C. I'll be away for about three days.)
Edit: Back again

Phyliss Ovida

The wine was finished, and Phyliss stood up. She felt dizzy and knew that she had to act now, if she was going to act at all. Canut had appeared with his warning before the meal was served, so she had finished the wine to fast and on an empty stomach. She whispered :"I could produce some frog, and you boys grab my hands and my bag and we make it to the exit."
She hoped she was loud enough for her friends to hear her, and not so loud, that the others would.

"You're drunk, aren't you?" Canut whispered as he slapped her in the face. "Why don't you just put on a sunrod sign saying Come and Get me? All we need to do is stay put, wait for another party to come in, and then slip out when the shifter is tending to them."

The question was, what was the shifter now?

Phyliss Ovida

"Oooops!" The gorgon didn't expect to be slapped, nor did she like it, especially by a kobald. But she was to drunk and surprised to make a scene and just dropped back on her chair."Ouch!" (Did she really say "frog"? She meant "fog" of course!)

The narrator

A few moments later, two barbarian warriors walked in. They were from different cultures, but both very typical in their way. The first one was smiling broadly, only wearing a loincloth, fur boots, a cape and a large sword. His face was shaven, and he had long black hair. His body was so muscular that it almost looked like a parody of a bodybuilder. The second man had plaits, a very remarkable beard, leather clothes, a horned helmet, a buckler and a battle axe. He looked fierce, as if he wasn't even able to smile. They walked to a table, dropped down and yelled for beer.

Phyllis Ovida

Phyliss grabbed on of her snakes and hold her head. Did the kobald just mentioned a shifter? Why of course! The shark-creature and the others who just shortly appeared and had vanished now! How stupid had she been, to believe that a shabby tavern in a rooten little spot like this could burst with exotic creatures, who have nothing else to do to take turns in serving a few guests... The shapeshifter had used the exotic appearance to lure her and the drow in, to make her believe that anything goes at this place... She hissed. Her head was getting heavier, but she forced herself to stay alert, even if drunk. Now, looking around, who could be the shifter? Maybe one of the barbarians. Or a other new arrival?

Verialyn Kallidis

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Verialyn Kallidis
Age: 326
Race: Human/Vampire
Gender. female
Tall: 5'6
Body type: slim, 34-23-35 35D
Weight: 116 lbs
Description: A very beautiful woman, with almost unnaturally pale skin, dark brown eyes and more than shoulder long raven black hair.
Equipment: She is wearing light leather traveling clothing: A sleeveless low-cut leather vest, a pair of tight fitting knee long leather pants and short leather boots, all non-dyed natural dark brown. Besides that she carries a short sword at her belt and a lightly filled backpack with some spare clothing (no need for rations ) and a few personal items.

Backstory:

Verialyn had led the pleasant although rather unexciting live of the sole daughter of a rich merchant in one of the cities to the far east until the age of 17. Since the merchant had no son, either, Verialyn was trained to be able to look for herself, and got swordsmanship and unarmed combat training from a very early age on. Much to her initial surprise, she enjoyed this, just like the occasional interlude with one of her many suitors.

This could have gone on for quite some time if not one of her nighttime companions turned out to be more than met the eye at first - a rather old and powerful vampire. However fortune smiled upon her that very night. Just as her sire-to-be was about to turn her into a vampire a group of vampire hunters that had been tracking him for months burst into the room. The ensuing battle was fierce, but it ended with the vampire being destroyed and turned into a pile of ash.

The due to the loss of blood almost dead Verialyn was brought back to her parents home and nursed back to health, but unnoticed by anyone but herself some of the vampire's blood had made it into her bloodstream prior to the intervention of the vampire hunters. Thus started her slow transformation. She gradually started to notice a slightly uncomfortable feeling in bright daylight, and a change of appetite. Her senses also heightened, and her speed and strength increased. However, maybe due to the slow transformation process although noone can tell for sure that this was the reason, she never felt worse than uneasy in the sunlight, a stark contrast to the lethal effect it has on other vampires. However it also meant that some of the more esoteric vampire powers, like the transformation in a bat or a cloud of gas, never manifested themselves in her.

When it became more and more difficult to hide the change she had gone through - a diet of 100% blood is not deemed socially acceptable after all - Verialyn decided to move on. She left her family behind and started traveling the world, trying to keep her secret just that and learning from various masters on her way. During the more than 300 years of her travels she became a true master of bladed weapons and unarmed combat, further enhanced by her enormous unnatural strength and speed. Today she is a prime example of the fact that appearances can in fact be very deceiving.

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Verialyn had been on the road for three days when she reached the tavern. She welcomed the opportunity to rest for a time, and of course to feed. Plus whatever company awaited her at the tavern would be a welcome change from the monotony of the road. If you prefer to travel at night you do not encounter many other travellers.

So without hesitation she approached the entrance. She brushed back a strand of her black hair and opened the door. After she made a step in the main room and closed the door again behind her she took a moment to survey its inhabitants. Some of them, in particular the male ones, took the opportunity to study her thoroughly as well, and she did notice one or the other suggestive gesture made by a patron to his neighbor.

One thing almost immediately caught her attention: Was there a snake crawling a cross the head of the woman at the corner table? Actually more than one snake? She took a closer look and noticed that yes, it was indeed a gorgon sitting over there.

This did pique her curiosity, and so she approached the table the gorgon was sitting at. As she reached it she politely asked with a smile "Would you mind if I have a seat here?"

"I'll tell you what we need to do," Canut whispered. "We'll wait until the shifter changes, then we'll know who he is and can coordinate our way.."

"Would you mind if I have a seat here?" A voice spoke from behind him.

"Do you mind?" Canut turned around only to confront a simple human. "This is a private converstaion"

Verialyn Kallidis

Verialyn was a little surprised when something on the chair on her side of the table started to speak. She had a closer look, and indeed, hidden by the back of the chair there was a kobold sitting, now facing her and spitting an unfriendly "This is a private conversation" her way.

'Indeed' she thought 'for a simple tavern on the road this one has very unusual patrons'. But it was the gorgon, not the kobold, that had piqued her interest, so smiling again she addressed Phyllis a second time: "So, do you mind?"

Phyliss Ovida

Phyliss had just decided that the blackhaired barbarian was the shapeshifter. He looked so strong that it was almost unnatural. So the other one, the norse type, had to be an accomplice. Or another shapeshifter. The alcohol disturbed her senses, so it took some time until she saw a young blackhaired, rather pale woman standing beside the table. How wrong she was with the barbarian. Now she had to be the shapeshifter, a beautiful girl walking alone into the tavern in the middle of nowhere, did he think that Phyliss would be so foolish to believe it? She heard the voice of the woman and it sounded somehow familiar. She looked again, and she had seen the face before somewhere. Phyliss head was swimming and she feelt uneasy. No eating, but a whole jug of wine... she put her elbows on the table and leaned her head on it. She said slowly: "Wait...do I know you?"
She wondered if anybody would hear from her voice that she had one over the eight.

Verialyn Kallidis

"Wait.. do I jknow you?"

That made Verialyn think. She had met a gorgon once. Some five years ago. Phylis Ovida was her name. And now that she had a closer look at her face that could indeed be just the one sitting before her.

When they met first a mob of four rude country bumpkins was trying to make up their minds on whether to rape or to hang Phyliss first, without having any clue about what they were up against, but with Verialyn's aid they found out soon enough.

The world really is a small place...

Ending her reverie she carefully asked "Phyliss?"