The City (IC) [M]

[Aisha deCabre]

It wasn't too hard to break Aisha's concentration as she kept her eye on the demon in the room...but it was a little harder to break her tension.  Thus, when she felt Gareeku's grip on the arm that kept close to her boomerang, her head swiveled and she looked back at him through her cloak's shadows with her ears pinned back to her skull and her crimson eyes narrowed.

But the wolf hadn't wavered.  And after a moment with her eyes locked to his, she released a deep breath and relaxed, the anger gone from her face.  He could feel the muscles in her arm slacken slightly before he gently let her go.  "You're right.  I'm sorry, mi compañero...old scars have a habit of opening easily, you know," she murmured back with a short, if uneasy, smirk.

So as promised, the huntress regained and kept her composure, only glancing once more back to the Creature on a crutch, and swishing her tail and glowing ring back under her cloak.  At the wink she received, Aisha just grimaced back with the point of a fang shown and returned to her food and drink...the turkey sandwich at least was good and filling.  She gave a smile of thanks to Gareeku for ordering her another ale as well.

Aisha also heard him offer to buy another meal for the gargantuan Mythos, so she curiously glanced back to him.  The guy had sounded apprehensive, but at least there was still time for some good will to be served yet.  She removed the hood of her cloak again, a small way to show that good will also came from her side.

Of course, things weren't peaceful for long.  The human with the badge was spouting his judgment on the situation and about Creatures--were the Mistress there right now, she'd definitely have a few choice words for him, if Aisha wasn't tempted to say them herself--and thus inciting an argument from the larger human further down the bar and certainly causing a little unease between any new patrons walking in.

It went without saying that Aisha followed the law as well she could, whatever variations of them were different in each town she visited.  But suffice it to say, she also knew that one could get arrested if they refused to do something that went against their moral code.

When finally the young lioness stepped in to help break things up alongside her friend, the panther smirked in approval and went back to her drink.  "Quite personally I think everyone should just shut up..."

[SpottedKitty]

Andrace nodded to herself approvingly as the young lioness confronted the sherriff. With four sisters and three brothers, she had wide and intimate experience of emotional leonine rants. At the end, she caught the girl's eye, grinned toothily, winked and silently applauded. "Good on y', kid," she called across the room, "Nil illegitimi carborundum, I always say." The lioness turned her gaze tolerantly — barely — towards the two humans. "An' if th' two o' y' got done wavin' 'em around, maybe a girl c'd have some peace t' enjoy her drink?" She made a gesture with one hand that suggested she was waving a flag the size of a toothpick with a postage stamp wrapped around it.

One ear twitched and turned towards the stairs at the sound of heavy footsteps from the floor above. Andrace tensed for a moment at the sight of the Demon girl hobbling down the steps, then she visibly relaxed. Her hands still looked ready to grab a weapon, though, despite being well clear of the enormous handgun holstered at her side. She didn't see many obviously injured Demons: their natural toughness generally protected them from what they would consider just a flesh wound (i.e. anything short of impaling or major dismemberment), and many of them knew healing magic anyway.

Andrace couldn't hide an ears-dipped wince at the wolf-troll's question. One thing she'd learned about Demons in this state was that it tended to make them even more irritable and short-tempered than usual. If the girl considered the question tactless or snoopy and took offence, there might be fireworks. She set her paws a little more firmly on the crossbars of the stool just in case diving behind the bar (or possibly out of the window) suddenly became a very good idea.

[Cogidubnus]

The other lionesses' gesture didn't escape Giles's notice. He snorted. "Well shit, I know you got me beat, sweetheart, thats f'sure."  he said, and scowled in her direction. He sighed a moment later, and turned his attention back in front of him.

"I'm too sober for this shit..."

[Teh_Hobo]

The Hobo looked around nervously.
Theres... too many people...
He could feel the madness beginning to creep back towards his consciousness. He needed to get away from all these people. It wasn't that he didn't like people, he generally had no problem with people. However, this many people in such close proximity... made him uncomfortable. He looked in the general direction of the innkeeper with unfocused eyes.
"Er, please cancel any order I might have made... I'm not, not quite myself lately. My apologies for any inconvenience..."
The last part was said as he jumped off of his seat and staggered towards the door.
Have to get outside. Need space. Need air.
He stumbled out the door, into the relatively fresh air. After a few breaths the madness receeded a bit.
Get a hold of yourself, man. Okay. Think. I haven't drunk anything at all for about a day, and haven't eaten for just as long. That place sells food and drink. I have no money. I'm near a city, though, from the looks of things. Where there are cities, there are people, and where there are people, I can get money. Right. Scrape up some cash, come back here and get some food and drink, maybe rest for the night. Getting enough cash for that shouldn't take long. Couple hours tops. I can live till then.
He set off towards the City. As he walked, he grew less and less optimistic. He decided to head into the city anyway, and try his luck. Before he got more than 15 feet, a shadow detached itself from a wall. It resolved itself into a what looked like a fox being with a built in chimney. The hobo blinked, and after focusing his eyes a bit, found himself staring at a gray fox carrying a massive rifle on its back.
"Thats quite the artillery piece you've got there."

[ShadesFox]

Ben was not liking the look of this place.  It was starting to get noisy.  And full of people.  Lots of people.  Too many.  Ben thought he would find somewhere else.  He really wanted to find a close place to sleep.  A close and quite place.  He was walking off when he noticed someone close by.

"That's quite the artillery piece you've got there."

"Thanks, it is something of a relic, but I rather like it.  Has a good punch to it and keeps well."

This fellow seemed... unkempt was the word Ben was going with.    But didn't seem to bad.  At least he seemed to have an appreciation for large guns.

"You wouldn't happen to know of another place to stay?  Maybe further in town?"

[Paladin Sheppard]

The Tasmanian Devil looked Ed in the eyes for a few moments before answering.

"Mainly cause everyone is entitled to their secrets...Unless I'm paid to uncover em" she said sipping her drink.

"I gotta admit though, this place is far far more crowded than I heard it would be. Maybe I will go for that walk."

[techmaster-glitch]

   As Traxen watched the feed from the spiderdrone in the bar, motion in his peripheral vision caught his eye. The human in seeming poverty was exiting the bar on the van's exteral cameras. Traxen was about to ignore the man and go back to watchin the bar, but he noticed the hobo turn a certain direction and start walking.
  He was headed for the City.
  Now that's interesting... Traxen thought, frowning slightly. After a moment, he decided to activate another flying camera drone and deployed it, sending it off to follow the hobo (at a reasonable distance). Traxen let Pamcawv mostly handle that while he continued watching the bar. After a few moments, something else caught his eye again. On the feed for the new camera drone, someone, or something else had entered it's field of vision, as the 'person' had something vey large and long attached to his back.
  Traxen soft-muted the feed from the drone in the bar, brought up the audio from the flying camera, and guided it closer...
  "...punch to it and keeps well. You wouldn't happen to know of another place to stay? Maybe further in town?"
  Shrugging, but still keeping one eye on that screen, Traxen returned the majority of his attention to the bar.

[Tipod]

Payden looked as though he wanted to continue, but it became obvious that all that would do was cause an even bigger scene. Already, at least three other people had told them to mellow out. "...fine, you're all right. Let's just drop the whole thing." Though as Giles went back to staring at the bar, Payden spoke quietly to Myskt and Kali. "It goes without saying that that miserable reprobate isn't joining us. I'd rather not have a party member that would stab me in the back." Though if the man really was conscripted in his teens, his antisocial behavior was no surprise. If I were shoved into service like that, I'd probably end up a wreck as well.

He gave a slight sigh, holding a hand to his brow for a moment. "That crazed fiend you kids helped bring down, at least he got what he had coming to him. How many people in here have tried to bring a Creature to justice within Council guidelines? You try getting a demon to answer for quadruple homicide, then talk to me about how they aren't such a bad species as a whole."

[Lisky]

Ed smiled back at Eph, after listening in to the human's rant he was worried for a moment that he'd be forced into killing several people, in the name of self defence.  All because some biggot didn't like creatures.  He nodded politely, got up and offered the girl an arm.  He was partially joking when he wispered, "whenever your ready, i too could go for a walk.   and just so you know, my original offer still stands."  he gave Eph a smirk and awaited her responce.

[Cogidubnus]

The glass in Giles hand broke. He turned, his hands leaving streaks of char on the counter.

His face was frightening.

No more words left his mouth, but two bottles of rum went sailing through the air at the sheriff. Before they impacted, however, they exploded, two gigantic fireballs spreading out and then homing in on Payden like snakes of flame. A barstool was shortly behind them, and then Giles himself, now screaming at the top of his lungs as he lunged for the man, spear in hand, and even as Payden saw the flames above him die, he could feel something in his chest get extremely, burn-inducingly hot...

[techmaster-glitch]

   Something seemed to explode off to the side of the spider drone. Traxen yanked the joystick to turn it around to see fire and the armored human, all crazed up. "Holy shit!" Traxen shouted in surprise, forgetting that his headset was still picking up his voice and broadcasting it through the spider drone. At any rate, he had no idea what was going on, but this was not something he wanted to be near.
  "Pamcawv, prepare motors for burst getaway, recall deployed spider drone at max speed!"
  "A-fir-ma-tive."
  Traxen then looked up to the roof of his van, and bit his lip as he considered something briefly.
  Ehh, better safe than sorry.
  "Pamcawv, prepare turret and standby."
  "A-fir-ma-tive."
  Traxen then scrambled back up to the front of the van again, getting into the driver's seat.

***

  When Traxen issured the order to Pamcawv to recall the drone, it beeped and clicked once as Pamcawv took over its functions. After a breif hesitation, the spider drone turned and immediately began skittering for the open window it had come through...

[SpottedKitty]

Andrace was almost looking in the wrong direction for trouble when it came. After her barbed comment to the two humans, her attention had been mostly on the Demon girl. Her ears flicked back at the sound of breaking glass, and she started to turn. The sight of the hurtling flames, and the soot-blackened human screaming as he leaped at the sherriff, kicked the lioness into almost unthinking reaction. In a blur of motion, she leaped forward over the bar, landing out of sight behind it with a clunk and a rattle as the bulky length of her sword banged against something. A moment later, she popped up again, gun first. Andrace bared her fangs in a silent snarl as she steadied her arms on the bar top, not quite pointing her weapon directly at anyone... yet. It would only take a twitch of her wrists to change that.

[Boog]

"Piss off," The demon replied to Raek, not looking up from her drink.
Moze was missing out on more bits of the conversation with Alex, the argument off to the side catching more of his interest. It was his inn, and he was the closest thing to a bouncer. He smiled and relaxed a little as the other patrons began weighing in on the discussion to shut the two humans up.
Then he overheard Payden's parting aside to the two young people.
Moze's face fell, then hardened into an exasperated mask that didn't so much as twitch as he felt the heat of the berzerker behind him deciding to raise hell.
"One moment, Sister." The orangutan said flatly, standing up and turning around. He walked toward the scene of the impending havoc at his own pace, as if he had all the time in the world. Jezebel winced. Things like this tended to get under daddy's skin, and the man had never been good at any job that didn't let him hit people at some point or another.

[Tipod]

One eye had been trained on Giles up until then; Payden had gotten an extremely bad vibe from the former paladin, even moreso than most others with a clear distaste for law enforcement. As the bottles flew through the air, he raised an arm and scooted back his chair--

And when they erupted into flames, his chair tipped and finally fell flat on its back as the barstool pegged him square in the head. His right hand reflexively drew the revolver, mind racing a mile a minute in the figurative and literal heat of the moment. --my jacket's on fire I might have a headwound shit why does my chest hurt he's screaming-- He had no idea if the paladin had managed to stab him in the chest with some barely perceptible attack, but it was obvious that the crazed man was still bearing down. Payden kicked out in anticipation of a bodyslam from Giles as he dropped his weapon; almost an entire second had passed before he realized that incredible burning sensation was his firearm being heated to God-only-knew how many degrees. "Fucking punk bastard--"

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Sister Alex's reaction to the sudden fight was to pull out paper and pen and begin scribbling. The pen was of highly polished wood carved with tiny symbols that glittered with magic. Her hands were lightening quick, the pen moving swiftly and it was only the work of a moment for two stick figures to appear. One had a star over it and the other a glyph for fire. Another glyph, one for sleep, was placed above them both then Alex tapped the paper with the end of the pen where an engraved stone was embedded. The sleep spell released towards it's targets.

[Kafzeil]

Jinx sighed in exasperation. "I'm too tired for this shit..."He muttered, pulling out his from his revolver  shoulder holster to make sure it was loaded and ready. Just in case he needed to use those six shots.

He opened open his bag and whipped out his rapier next. Twinfang had always said to be prepared, though truth be told Jinx thought Twinfang took this to the extreme.

Jinx stabbed the Rapier into the floor next to him as he propped his feet on the table, allowing to to grab it at a moment's notice should the need arrive.

Jinx tried to keep focused on Kafzeil's letter...though right now, something was bugging him...that boy...that damn boy....so quiet and meek...more then willing to let another with an actual spine rule steer him in any direction they wanted-

"He he....boy...that kid sure reminds me of you, Felix!"]A voice chuckled beside Jinx, the Assassin detecting movement out of the side of his field of vision, a chill running up Jinx's spine as he turned to look at the figure, a young border collie in his teens, wearing blue jeans a black tanktop stained red, his hair blond and black sockets were his eyes were supposed to be, a large, fresh wound in the side of his neck, the canine bleeding profusely.

[Noone]

Kyirri looked over at Payden in shock, he wanted to prevent a fight, and had utterly failed to do so. He would have minded, though what Payden said about demons quelled much of his desire to stick up for him. He let out a soft, mumbled, "Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy..." He shook his head as he took a few steps back, trying to distance himself from the conflict. Nothing else I can do here... he thought. He looked at Payden with cold eyes, observing him. Kyirri then gave a quick glance towards Mykst and Kali. He still didn't know their names, yet, he didn't want more to be involved in this mess. He started pacing towards Kali, then stopped himself, reminded again that he couldn't really do anything. The best thing he could do was to step back, and observe. He reached inside his jacket, softly touching his small vial of healing salve, there wasn't much left, and it was expensive. Kyirri didn't want to use it here, and silently hoped that he wouldn't be forced to.

[Myr]

Well, that was expected...she's as bad as one of our females. Raek's ears twitched slightly; and that certainly meant he wasn't going to be deterred so easily. If something could put someone like her out of action, he wanted to know before he ran into it himself. Afterall, demonic constitution was supposed to be much better than a troll's in most cases.

It also figured that, as soon as he decided he'd try again-granted, this probably saved him a much more awkward scene-, what could only be described as undisputed mayhem erupted behind his back.

Not that the lupine Mythos would have cared, usually -if a fight didn't involve him or whomever he happened to be working for, Raek was more than content to let the ones concerned settle it for themselves. However...

Heat, fire! The creature's muzzle twisted into a feral snarl, his pupils narrowing into slits at the raw detonation of heat that he could feel even from where the bottles burst behind him. Unfortunately he hadn't fully gotten a hold of himself from earlier, and now it was showing in full at what instinct spoke of as an unwarranted attack. The throaty rumble that came with it was that deep, wicked tone that reminded one of a cross between a bull alligator and a fully aggravated wolf as others already took it upon themselves to act...be it through magic, finding a reasonable defense, or other, more appealing means.

One needs to keep in mind, however, that while trolls abhor fire -it effectively cancels out their ability to regenerate if there's enough, and then it's a matter of time until their body has nothing left to continue the stalemate that causes- they do not fear it, nor death. One could say that infamous ability to repair themselves even when hacked into pieces eliminated that ability long ago. They could also link that almost abject stupidity of his race as a whole to that same fact. If one didn't need to think about protecting themselves, why think more than they really have to?

Raek wasn't quite that capable; he could die a bit more easily than others of his kind. He may still be lacking in the fear department, but his ability to heal, while impressive, paled in comparison to the rest of his more monstrous kin. Right now, he was defending himself in what he felt was a manner best suited to the situation...with what little thought managed to penetrate his rage, anyway.

Deformed musculature bulged as the Mythos turned, axe in hand.

Pale, completely incensed eyes took in almost everything in front of him. The two humans fighting each other, and the flame left in their wake as the innkeeper made his way over in an effort to directly stop the fight. No doubt the fellow was more than capable of it-he may have some hidden talent to use that could end it better than any spell. But not before the oversized brute decided to try something. Worst case...well, it wouldn't matter much, would it?

"STOP." The tone was thick, guttural; almost unintelligible even as it possibly carried through the room while his weapon swung in a loose, expectant fashion that showed more than a casual familiarity with it. "Now." If they paid attention or not was anyone's guess, really...it was just he'd had enough for the night, to be honest, what with the crowded inn, the slight embarrassment and the effort of keeping himself under control. And now this.

[Paladin Sheppard]

Ed smiled back at Eph, after listening in to the human's rant he was worried for a moment that he'd be forced into killing several people, in the name of self defence.  All because some biggot didn't like creatures.  He nodded politely, got up and offered the girl an arm.  He was partially joking when he wispered, "whenever your ready, i too could go for a walk.   and just so you know, my original offer still stands."  he gave Eph a smirk and awaited her responce.

Ephrael returned his smirk before sculling the rest of her drink, and then belching in a most unladylike way. "Sorry, fizzy drinks affect me that way" she said, with a slight giggle before standing up and placing her hand on Ed's arm.

"Oh and what offer was that?" She asked in a plainly false quizzical voice, obviously enjoying teasing the disguised Incubus.

[Angel]

Mykst hadn't anticipated a reaction from the armored man. He hadn't been sure how to respond to Payden's accusations about demons - and he could tell that Black Magic wanted to inform him that one of their contacts back to Dyixaz was in fact a half-demon they trusted - but before any of that could get out of their mouths, two rum bottles exploded and snaked towardxs payden before dying. They didn't hit, but clearly something else was wrong with the sheriff. The armored man was lunging at him, and Mykst reacted quickly. He seized his pearl staff and pointed it at the ground between the two, both eyes glowing. "Sanctus Ter-"

A tawny paw clapped around his forearm and the housecat winced in pain, the glow in his eyes dying as he looked at Black Magic. "Don't," she growled softly. The barkeep, the monstrous wolf-thing, and the schoolteacherish woman were among the few trying to stop the fight already. Besides, she didn't want them to get kicked out of the bar because a solid wall of earth tore up the floor.

[Yugo]

Elenor's paws scraped silently across the beaten and weathered path that led into the last holdout between her and the City. Ruts from wagon wheels, gryphon feet, and the many boots of what was surely a plethora of Adventurers that had passed through lined the dirt road, a testament to the town's (and City's) former glory as an explorer's hotspot. The skyline of the City juttted out above the roofs of the town before her, cloaked in an eerie mist as accursed locations were often found. An unusual darkness seemed to suffuse its buildings and atmosphere, although this was certainly not a problem for Elenor Jyraneth. She and Darkness were on more than friendly terms, and she would readily embrace it given the opportunity to do so. That hundreds of Adventurers had met their ends there left her relatively unfazed. Her goal was more than worth her own death, a death which she had expected to occur centuries ago.

With a glance behind her to ensure that her companion was still with her, Elenor strolled into the town, her succubus features hidden well from sight. Much to her delight, Katherine had been very talkative and exuberant, reminding Elenor of the faded memories she had of teaching the younger generation so long ago. In a sense, she knew that it was painful for both of them, but their mutual happiness had so far outshined their ancient loss. It seemed to be something that was shameful for them to speak of, as if saying the words would immediately reconjure the events in their minds clear as day. There were things they both refused to speak of. Whether it was for their dignity or their sanity, neither could or would say.

The tall wolf's dress swished slightly as she came to a stop along what she guessed was the main strip of the town, eyeing the decrepit wooden signs that once marked stores, shops, and taverns of all kinds. In a sad sense, it was why all Adventuring towns were eventually doomed to fail. Once it became too dangerous, or there was nothing left to kill and plunder, there were no travelers and tourists left to make use of the town. Eventually, albeit slowly, the village and surrounding area would dwindle away until the remaining residents finally left for something better. The town itself, however, was not her primary concern. She needed information about the City, and Elenor knew precisely who to ask. The most sacred, wizened, and learned of any society, who often heard and knew secrets and information that they should not.

"Excuse me, child," she asked politely to a younger resident passing by, kneeling on the ground so that her eyes were level with his. "What can you tell me about the City beyond this town? For a silver piece perhaps?" From between her gloved fingers she produced a coin of the Kingdom, twirling it slightly in her hand. It was a cheap parlour trick, of course, meant only to amuse and entertain, but it would serve her purposes well enough, and hopefully bring the child some happiness in its bleak existence.

[Gareeku]

"I understand how you feel, Aisha. I have experienced the same as well." The wolf replied, his normally gruff voice taking on a more understanding tone. "But letting our emotions get the better of us in a place such as this would be asking for trouble. Don't worry about it."

Glancing up briefly, the wolf saw the demon wink at Aisha. His facial expression not changing from a neutral look, Gareeku turned back to Aisha.
"Probably did that just to get reactions. Don't rise to it." The wolf said, before going to take a swig of ale, only to remember that he had finished it, cursing softly under his breath. He knew he was probably pointing out the obvious, but sometimes people needed to hear it, and he wasn't an exception to that.

No sooner had he set his glass down on the bartop had the atmosphere in the tavern suddenly go from midly tense to downright knife-edge. The wolf had done his best to ignore the escalating arguement occuring just along the bar, but now it was starting to piss him off.
"For the love of the gods..." Gareeku growled. "Will you two just shut the fu-"

His comment stopped right at the time the stool went flying, signaling the start of the fight. "...great."

All he wanted was a quiet drink...just one time in who knows how long, that's all he wanted...just one goddamn drink.
"You know what, screw this. I'm going." Gareeku growled, leaving the money for the next couple of ales and the troll's meal before downing the ale in one when it had been placed on the bartop. "If I see you in the city the fair enough, but if not, take care of yourself."

And with that, with his hood back up the lupine disappeared through the door.

[Boog]

The boy looked up at the succubus, in awe of the simple trick.
"Tell you about it? Well it's the City, marm." He coughed awkwardly, "The old ruins that got everyone so confused, what with all the buildings being really new and really old at the same time." He mentally replayed what he'd just said and shuffled it around, "That's to say all the buildings look like new ones, with plumbing and wires and all, but they been abandoned so not all the plumbing and wires and stuff works and nobody knows who built 'em. My folks say not to go in there cos it's cursed and only like twelve adventurers ever come back outta the place and none too together neither, but I don't think it can be that bad because my friend sez he once found the pipe where its sewers come out and he didn't see no monsters or nuthin'." The boy canted his head, "'Cept that one time we were down there he looked in and got this funny look and now he gets all twitchy 'round drains." The boy's eyes again alighted on the silver piece and his face brightened, "An' that's what I know! The way in's down the road, past Moze's Inn. Moze is a nice guy, he lets me look at his old adventurin' stuff sometimes. And he sometimes gives pretty ladies a discount so you'd probably like it there too."

Moze reached behind the bar and pulled out a shortsword, continuing on his way to the two fighters. He flinched as the shots rang off, snarling to himself as he heard one of the bottles behind him smash. He brought the sword up, stepping up behind Giles, ready to bring the pommel down on the back of the berzerkers head...
The demon snickered into her drink, mirthlessly.

[Aisha deCabre]

It was almost like clockwork, the events that happened.

Aisha listened further to the goings-on in the tavern, her mind a little more at ease with Gareeku's words of advice.  The huntress was indeed competent about knowing when and when not to cause trouble; but truth be told, there were times she was the one to start it when a demon made their appearance.  This was going to be an exception, if she could indeed help it.

But trouble came from a different direction.  Aisha barely heard the officer's next words about the larger human warrior, but as soon as she did, she flinched and glanced back to the bar at his instant reaction.  No sooner had the argument reached its peak...then, with a rise of heat and a couple of blasts of fire, he struck.

"Oh for shit's sake!" The panthress growled as the barstool flew.  She started to leap from her seat and pull out her boomerang, intent on either fighting the stray bit of magic or debris, or on stopping it altogether.  But when a few of the other patrons had started to intervene much more quickly, she thought better of it and ducked under the edge of the bar, a rather annoyed grimace on her face.  Her mind was racing, wondering what to do.  It had been a short while since she's seen any random violence, and a part of her wasn't prepared for it.

That was when she heard Gareeku make his lament upon the situation, and leave for the City.

A good idea, that, Aisha thought as she watched him after downing his last ale, sparing a brief nod.  She looked around as Moze was already coming up with the intention to stop things--albeit slowly--and glanced around, thinking.  The thing is, the panthress was looking for a small respite as well before entering the City itself.  She was about to catch up with an old friend at least, and perhaps a night of sleep at most.

But the fighting, and the uneasy presence of some of these people--the demon included--told her that she wasn't going to get such a respite anytime soon.  Aisha didn't care, for she could give up that respite easily, so long as she didn't have to keep constant watch for herself or any trouble at night.

Very well, looks like I'm starting things a little early, the panthress thought with a sigh, ending in a quick chuckle.  She took as much a drink from her ordered ale when it arrived as she could gulp, and finished her sandwich via a quick grab from the plate, setting her money for the food next to it.

***

A moment into his walk, Gareeku heard quiet, trotting pads on the path behind.  "Hope you don't mind some competent company, amigo," A hooded Aisha said, coming up.  "I had doubts that I could get any sleep there, anyway."

[Cogidubnus]

 Giles descended upon the lawman with his teeth bared - and likely, had not the Gutenberg magus cast a sleep spell, he would have sank the burning spear into the man's gut. As it was, however, his eyes closed mid-spring and he fell on the floor already asleep. The burning spear thudded into the wood inches away from Payden's face. He could feel the heat on his cheek.

Then all the ammo in his gun overheated and the weapon exploded, sending shrapnel in all directions. A few stray pieces pinged off Giles's armor, and barely missed the side of his head to thunk into the bar.

[Tipod]

"--gonna get... now... son' bitch..." Payden was ready to do... well, something, if his body hadn't been hit by a sudden fatigue and fell limp soon afterwards. Thankfully, the dropped revolver had at least been flung slightly forward after burning Payden's hand, causing the ruptured ammo and pieces of broken steel to narrowly avoid his face and plink into his breastplate, several smaller shards embedding themselves into his calf. It would hurt after he woke up, but not the worst injury sustained in the line of duty by a long shot.

Nearly killed by a random inn patron. And to think the real danger supposedly lied in the City itself.

[Myr]

Raek almost missed it as the armored man passed out in midflight-he was still quite open to venting his agitation despite the fact his momentary fervor had began to subside. So much for his attempt to intervene; personally it was probably overkill anyway depending on one's perspective. And one could certainly say it was for the best anyway.

One has to give him a little credit, though. Granted, berserk fury was a natural quality for someone like him, but past events had taught him the value of marginal self-control in such situations. So, with considerable effort, the oversized canid forced himself to relax -the small explosion that signified the destruction of one man's weapon didn't help, really-...and somewhat take stock of the situation. As it were, the humans were incapacitated right now amidst ruined tables and chairs.

Also of note was the fact that the multi-legged machine was gone-he'd decided it looked more like a bug than the other thing he'd encountered- along with that feline and her wolven companion. Seems like they'd left, like I'd thought of doing. At least he had been before deciding to talk to that demon...and the brief chaos that ensued shortly afterwards. Now I might as well help clean up before heading out.

So, the lupine troll waited a moment or two for things to quiet down before making his way over to Moze-whom may or may not have put away their weapon by then. "Innkeep," He grunted in what one could almost swear was an ungracious tone, "Do you want help moving those two?" He panned his head at Giles and Payden's prone forms. Granted, the big one in armor might even be moderately hard to lift even for him, but still. And maybe...

"Also, tell me about that one with wings." He nodded at the feminine demon behind him. "What's got her hurt, if you know." He tried a slight smile in a bid to appear friendly. "Figure I may as well know, see if it's worth looking to be hired." That last bit perhaps hinted at his own interest at being in the area; where there was danger, it stood to reason that someone might feel happier with a bit of muscle on their side.

At least that stood to reason for Raek.

[techmaster-glitch]

   The spider drone scuttled itself out the window, and made for the van as Traxen was in the driver's seat, with the van set in reverse and a foot hovering over the pedal. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon..." Traxen muttered as the drone scrambled up the front of the van and onto the roof. Finally, he heard a small thunk that indicated the top hatch had opened and then closed.
  Traxen pressed the pedal down, but didn't slam it; there were still buildings around. Nevertheless, the van immediately sped up in reverse, and was a good distance away from the inn in moments. He did notice two patrons, the white wolf and black jaguar, leaving the inn as he backed away, but didn't prioritize that very highly.
  After he was a safe distance away, Traxen waited. And waited. After a few minutes and the inn not being blown to smithereens, he figured it might have calmed down by now. Things like that didn't usually last very long, no matter how they went.
  He deployed another flying camera drone, a smaller model this time, half the size of the earlier one. He sent it back over to the bar, where it flew by a window to see what the inside was like at the moment.

[Noone]

Kyirri was watching Giles and Payden, however, while he wasn't within arms reach of either, he wasnt too far away. Instinct failed him when he saw the gun's ammunition explode. He should have got behind cover, at least ducked downwards, he simply froze, to his undoing. Three pieces of superheated shrapnel hit him, one struck his right shoulder, one hit his left hip, and a larger piece penetrated his belly.

Kyirri didn't scream, he tried, but he was unable to make a sound, he felt a force tighten around his throat as he fell to the ground. His vision blurred as he stared at the ceiling, he tried to get back up, to no avail. Kyirri also tried to raise his right hand, but it was no use, and only served to make the wound on his shoulder sting, as blood oozed from all three of his wounds. He made a soft groaning sound, as he placed his left hand on the wound in his belly to try and staunch the bleeding.

[Mao]

As quickly as it had turned to violence, it seemed that the fighting had finally ended.  Mao wasn't sure what caused it all, nor the exact manner in which it had stopped but he merely sat and observed the whole time.  He noted two of the other patrons slip out as things had just gotten ugly and considered following them, but decided against it.  There was still more to be seen and heard here and possibly even friends and a good job.

"For now, I'll wait.  There are still plenty here and many more things to learn."

Mao wondered if those who had wandered off had merely done so to avoid the fighting, or blow off steam, and if they would seen be back.  His feelings told him to not expect as much.  From what he had been hearing, this place had a tendency to draw folks in, and prey on them and he feared that those who had already left, would yet fall victim to the place.  He prayed that he was wrong in this.

For now, he would watch and see what friends he could find.  "The one who seemed to have cast the sleep spell, Sister Alex was it?"  he tapped his chin as he thought this and tried to recall if that was her name or not.  He couldn't remember for sure, but it wouldn't matter.  He would watch and listen quietly as always and look for opportunities as they came.