[color=92278f][h1]Honoria[/h1][/color]
In one of the inn’s dark recesses sat a quiet woman draped in a long grey hooded robe. The old dirty wool did not make a fancy piece of clothing, but it served well enough to keep her hidden in the room’s dim light. Upon arriving in Nepharie, Honoria had been left feeling vulnerable amongst the open sea of fields; there were no thick forests to hide her trail or to shelter her from the wind. Worse still, the damaged shade came across far more people than she was used to and the men all seemed to stare at her in the same fashion as the Red Legion scum not so long ago. With some reluctance she brought the robe off a travelling merchant and had worn it ever since. 

“…I have never run that fast in my life!” boomed a voice from a table not too far away, and it was followed by a chorus of laughter. Honoria tiredly rubbed her eyes as she felt the onset of a headache. She was not used to the sheer chaos of noise that emanated from a city, let alone from the nearby group in the dainty tavern. She was struggling to eavesdrop on as many people as she could, desperate to hear to whispers about the Red Legion. In the few days that she had been staying there she had been told a few rumours, but she learned the hard way that asking every soul that came through the door was a waste of time; instead she merely sat alone with open ears. 

“How can people live like this?” she muttered quietly under her breath as she took a bite of the bread in front of her. Before a couple of days ago she had never eaten the stuff, and she found it to be rather dry and tasteless. She sat perplexed for a moment and wondered if it tasted much different to the small wooden table that it had been sitting on - not that she was willing to find the answer to that question. She could smell the rich aromas of other dishes around the room and she contemplated ordering something else, but knew that their menu lacked dishes with no meat. She was completely vegan, although her belly and nose seemed to want to argue otherwise. 

“Ey, lady!” called a burly man from a nearby doorway, “Could you, erm, sort ya fella out? I need to change some barrels!” 

Honoria simply nodded in response before her black smoky eyes became diluted with swirls of red. Colubra, her Shadow-Snake, had been granted lodging in the Tavern’s basement. Whilst the Landlord had been initially against letting a giant snake into the building, they had quickly realised that it was the perfect solution to the giant rat problem. Still, many of the bar staff understandably wouldn’t go near the thing unless Honoria did her little magic trick to control it. “Thanks” said the bartender before making his way down. He grimaced as he entered the dank basement to find more rat entrails strewn over the place, but at least Colubra (whose eyes now also had swirls of red) was curled up in the far off corner. The man didn’t understand how a snake, who supposedly ate most things whole, could somehow be such a disastrously messy eater. 

Back upstairs, although Honoria was unable to tell, a few new faces walked into the tavern and a few people begun to mutter their anxiety at the presence of a dragon and a giant scorpion. 

[color=a36209][h1]Kuruk[/h1][/color]
Dark emotions filled the stone streets of Maceron, its people fleeting around in fear of the coming fight. There was perhaps a singular smile amidst the chaos, and it rested upon Kuruk’s menacing face. “We crush little men!” laughed the giant Centaur as he slapped a nearby guard on the back. The young guard simply crumbled under the brute’s hand which caused him to laugh even louder. “Argh! I fucking love a good fight!” he beamed loud enough for all nearby to hear. Most people simply blocked out the hulk and his exclamations in their attempts at getting to safety, but it he seemed to be frightening the nearby guards. Well, him or impending Red Legion forces. “Why can’t we fight now?!” he shouted at a nearby commander, but the man simply waved Kuruk away. Kuruk began to get impatient and hyper, like a young child on Christmas Eve, and so found himself cantering up and down the busy streets in anticipation. 

“Come on Daisy, around the big [i]horse man thing[/i]” muttered a small old man off to Kuruk’s side. The centaur turned to find a feeble old elven farmer slowly guiding a fat dairy cow. The farmer looked up at the giant to find him giving his precious cow a strange grin.

“Erm… can I- er- help you sir?” mumbled the farmer rather nervously. The farmer was short, even for an elf, and he removed his flat cap to show respect. 

“How much for this pretty little thing?” Kuruk drooled as he lovingly stroked the cow’s face. Daisy seemed oblivious to the situation and let out an offensive gust of wind. “Ooo! That sound’s healthy!” he chuckled, “I bet she’ll be a lot of fun!” 

The farmer was confused for a moment, but then he realised what a male horse man might want with a female cow. “[i]What?[/i] No! She’s not for sale!” cried the farmer, mortified by the situation.

“Oh come on! You can have her back afterwards…” Kuruk replied as he slid his hand along the cow to her hide. 

“No! Leave Daisy alone!” whelped the farmer. “He’s trying to have it off with my cow! Someone help!” he begun to scream when he realised the Centaur was no longer paying him any attention. The street was packed with people, including guards, so surely someone nearby could save the farmer and his poor Daisy.