Vathalyk didn't feel comfortable. For a few days after the event that presumably had been the fall of not only one, but [i]all[/i] of the gods, he had hardly noticed anything. Fyr didn't believe in the same gods as humans did -- in fact they didn't truly believe in any god in the conventional sense at all. However his close connection to his human friend had helped him notice the sudden change in behavior much more earlier. While he could only assume that the vast majority of his kind was still oblivious to what had happened, he had already come over the worst part of grief.

The village had turned into a strange place. Normally he would never ever have dared to stroll across any of its muddy roads so openly, but now it seemed as if almost all of the inhabitants were expecting the sky itself to come crushing down on them within the next hours. Well, in a twisted and metaphorical sense, that had actually happened... but in what way was locking onself into one's own small house supposed to help ? Didn't they know that life had to go on somehow until it came to a definite end ? Maybe they'd find out after they had run out of candles, but until then Vathalyk expected to have a lot more of unexpected 'free time' to venture into places he wouldn't have put one of his toes into just a mere were ago.

Currently he was located at the marketplace, in the midst of the bunch of traders that seemed to be much more worried about dumping their half-assed merchandise into the next unwary customer's pocket than about him. An unusual experience to say the least, but once Vathalyk dared to reach out for a promising looking apple a much more familiar reaction finally occurred: His hand, that enormous looking thing with nails resembling claws, was firmly slapped by the apple's current owner. "Don't touch that! You have to buy it!"

Vathalyk raised his head and looked at the fat man. If there was night one could see his ever-glowing eyes gently illuminating the spot he aimed them at, but at this time of the day it was nothing more than a simple stare. [color=ff9900]"Am I not allowed to inspect anything before buying it ?"[/color] He didn't wait for an answer, but instead lowered his head to sniff. Even the merchant could see how unfeasible it was to try and have any impact on those horns with bare hands, so Vathalyk was allowed to do what he wanted and come to a conclusion: [color=ff9900]"That thing's halfway rotten anyway! Can't you smell it ?"[/color] and he grimaced.

The man put his massive palms onto the desk, the latter thing protesting audibly against his overabundance of soft, wobbly girth. Just two words, spoken out with a decent degree of disgust, if not flat-out hate. "Get away!". Vathalyk complied. He wasn't eager to engage into anything right now, even if he could reasonably have. It was rather clear that he would not be able to pick up anything of real value here, even though the few pieces of cloth offered by the neighbouring trader indeed appeared to be in better shape than the worn-out shirt and trousers he was wearing. At least the rope holding the two things together around his waist was quite new!

Vathalyk continued his stroll. There was no real clue in his mind about the village's layout, so his next move was basically a random one. However, intentionally or not, it managed to get him in proximity to the local tavern. And what a mess it was! It seemed that those few who didn't have a home to barricade in or didn't want to go there for other reasons had decided to wash away their worries with... what was it called ? Beer ? Yeah, that probably was the name. He had not drunk that stuff himself before and had no real plan for a first encounter right here and right now, but a large part of him was intrigued by the gathering anyway. Maybe there was another reason to it than drinking as well ?

Not knowing what would await him inside, Vathalyk entered. Or well... he tried the best he could. As he could hear the tips of his horns scratching along the wooden ceiling the desire grew to turn around and get out much faster than he was getting in. Just going backwards however wasn't a real option since it would deteriorate the situation unfolding above his head by snagging. Turning around ? If that damned corridor would have been wider that would have been much more easy to achieve. So he ducked and ventured forth, into the main hall that, to his amazement, seemed to already have attracted other beings than humans and his own as well. What was going on here ?

Vathalyk instantly sought for one of the walls. With his back to it there'd be no chance of anyone coming in from behind -- and he would be able to watch everyone's move in front of him. Also neither the chairs nor the tables looked as if they were a match for his weight, so just leaning back standing appeared to be the best option.