[b]Dubious Wares And Questionable Methods[/b]
~[@13org] (FYR), [@Rezod92]~

The trip to Ambran was without any further incident, only small talk between George, [u]Freyr[/u] and [u]Kira[/u].

Upon getting to the neutral town, however, what greeted the trio first was a troubling sight. Plastered on a wall was a wanted poster of George Costava himself, awarding a hefty three hundred gold pieces for his capture. His crimes included possession and sale of illegal substances as well as forgery of information. "[color=crimson]Oh, that is not good.[/color]"

George immediately turned to [u]Freyr[/u] and [u]Kira[/u]. "[color=crimson]Look, it is true. I do sell drugs. But they are harmless and many people like it. Is demon-energy free too, no risk of corruption. Not to mention high quality.[/color]" He attempted to justify himself. "[color=crimson]Besides, I need profits to fund our operation against Ravager's Rest. Such ventures not cheap, you know?[/color]"

"[color=crimson]Listen, I pay you triple the bounty and we can all walk away from this happy. Fair deal, yes?[/color]"

[hr]
[b]Black Wolf[/b]
~[@Restalaan] (YNG)~

[quote=Yang Bethlehem]"First, a brief history on this Varjo and what they planned to do here. I'm a foreigner and most of what I heard are hearsays, ones that I thought were an exaggeration at first. Now it seems those were understating it. The other one...well, how and why did you leave them?"[/quote]

"[color=navajowhite]It's Varjo. What you see is what you get.[/color]" Nero chuckled before taking a swig. "[color=navajowhite]I heard that Varjo was long ago a not-so-bad kingdom. A magical kingdom but I forgot it's name. Once the change happened, Varjo's royalty concentrated all the kingdom's wealth to the capital and left all its lands for dead, turning them into little more than bandit dens. The Order was not happy with this but while Varjo's armies may be brutal and ruthless, they're also loyal and effective. And that's all the Order needed to keep them around.[/color]"

"[color=navajowhite]Then the monsters transformed into... what they are now.[/color]" Nero took another drink. "[color=navajowhite]The Order's usual tactics was ineffective against them. I mean, who's going to murder an innocent Holstaur and not be haunted by it? And that's where Varjo came in. I'm sure you already know but the warriors of Varjo aren't exactly right in the head. They're more than happy to slaughter the innocent, monster or otherwise.[/color]" He then sighed. "[color=navajowhite]The depravity of their brutality also scares away monsters so that's a neat bonus.[/color]"

"[color=navajowhite]Varjo gained prominence for being able to ward off monsters better than the other Order nations. And by 'ward off monsters' I mean horribly oppressive to your subjects and if they complain, execute them and build effigies out of their corpses.[/color]" Nero poured more wine. "[color=navajowhite]Their rotten methods haven't taken hold in many of the Order kingdoms, but it's spreading. It's spreading.[/color]"

"[color=navajowhite]As for me, well first you'll need context.[/color]" Nero sipped. "[color=navajowhite]Several years ago, the Order needed humanity to be united against monsterkind. There were a lot of independent human kingdoms that squabbled with one another and the Order needed to fold them in. In a miracle, the Chief God blessed several individuals into Great Heroes who would lead armies in a crusade and unite mankind.[/color]"

"[color=navajowhite]Long story short, it didn't work out. Half of those armies betrayed the other half and pledged their service to Varjo, plunging the Order kingdoms into a brutal civil war for several years. It was large, but still localized so don't be surprised you haven't heard of it.[/color]" Nero paused for a moment. "[color=navajowhite]I was part of those rebel armies, the Black Wolves in particular. But my own Great Hero, my brothers whom I fought and bled with, betrayed me because they considered me and several others loyalists. Not that they weren't right.[/color]"

"[color=navajowhite]I managed to escape the trap and drifted all the way to Zipangu.[/color]" Nero sniffed, memories coming back to him. "[color=navajowhite]By the time I came back, the rebels have won. The Order higher-ups were convinced by Varjo and branded us the actual traitors. So, here I am. Everything I fought for, everything I sacrificed, all that blood and mud and tears. It was all for nothing.[/color]"

[quote=Yang Bethlehem]"Sir Nero, I have a request, if it's not too much for you. Should the worst come to pass and Varjo comes here. Would you take up arms to protect those that can't?"[/quote]

Nero laughed. "[color=navajowhite]Varjo's not gonna come here. Don't you know the history of this place? This was once Varjan territory, but then it's garrison got bored of looking over fishermen and decided to pillage this place and slaughtered most of the folks before leaving. The monsters of the sea came not long after to help this port recover.[/color]"

"[color=navajowhite]But yeah. I used to think that fighting was pointless, much like what happened in the crusade. But you've shown me, that inside I'm really a fighter. A warrior and I will fight these Varjan bastards until my last breath.[/color]" Nero had made his position clear.

[quote=Yang Bethlehem]"Also, I'm sorry for breaking your sword. Do you need help fixing that? We have a cyclops and blacksmith in our guild."[/quote]

"[color=navajowhite]Nah. It's been high time for me to get one. Besides, as a single man, I don't think I want to owe a Cyclops anything.[/color]"

[hr]
[b]That's What Friends Do[/b]
~[@Stern Algorithm], [@ShwiggityShwah], [@Restalaan] (DIT), [@13org] (ADA)~

[quote=Ozzy Skyway][color=gold]"Sorry mame!  But he has a girlfriend!"[/color][/quote]

"Wait, what girlfriend?! Whoa!" Neil had to ask before being lifted off by [u]Ozzy[/u], but the Zombie held tight to the boy. [u]Ada[/u] had slashed at the Zombie's arms, not enough to cut it off, but it did release her grip on Neil.

[u]Ditzy[/u] carried the [u]Altissima sisters[/u] into the church which [u]Ada[/u] had opened, getting there first with her speed. Once [u]Ozzy[/u] and Neil were inside, the Liliraune closed the doors with their vines. The horde descended upon the abandoned church, surrounding the building and banging on its doors and walls.

Inside the church were the typical pews and empty candle holders. The pews were ruined but still intact and Neil had a plan. "Guys, help me with these pews. We need to block the main door." With that, the wooden double doors of the church were reinforced by the pile of pews behind it and saving the [u]Altissima sisters[/u] from the effort of blocking it.

The moans of the undead were unceasing as the party secured their perimeter. The other smaller entrances were blocked and the windows were too high to be reached by the Zombies. Soon, the party could rest and catch their breaths but they still did not have a way out.

After several minutes, Neil was the one to speak up. "Alright. What do we do now?"

[u]Ada[/u] was on the window as the group discussed. She saw a burly-looking Zombie among the horde, and in her hands was a small piece of paper that had clear drawings upon it.