It was a beautiful winter night, snow gently falling from the gray sky, and a few moonbeams piercing through the snow-filled clouds above. The beautiful city of Taras was blanketed in the soft white blanket of icy color, but it seemed to fit the large town almost naturally. Lights from various parts of the town gave the scenery a glittering effect, as if the Gods viewing the whole scene were looking a pure and flawless diamond. The streets were scattered here and there with various people, but at the approaching hour of midnight, most were retreating to their humble beds. But still, beauty reigned in this town, and it was obvious to the naked eye.

At this particular night, right around the hour when the elves of the city began to go into slumber, and the various business turned out their lights to follow the same fate, one building stayed active. Right in the heart of the slow slumbering city, one thing stayed perfectly awake, and perfectly active. Though the name spoke of a "Song", at this hour, all sorts of wonderful and yet perhaps forbidden things were occurring inside, as well as the beginning to one particular story. It was fairly quiet at the moment though. Not much of a "song".

So, to any God's whole may be watching, look close. Look not at the beauty, look not at the entirety of the diamond, but zoom in your gaze just a little more. Look at the one young elf who was starting his own story.

Look to the door of the Song of Elves Tavern & Inn.

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Xendral entered the inn slowly, a small grin on his face, a flutter of pure excitement coursing through his veins. This was the feeling he always got whenever he was about to be a daredevil, and not even the greater prospect of getting caught this time could distinguish the flame he had already helped fuel within himself. A few eyes slipped to him as he slipped within the inn, and a waitress approached him, but he gave either thing little thought. Eyes could easily be swept away, as well as attentions diverted. The smile on his face grew to that of a rogue, his light blue eyes shining devilishly. It was to be a fun night.

He was wearing a sleeveless white shirt, torn and muddy in several different places. On his legs, he wore ratty brown trousers, which looked just as poor as his other articles of clothing. It was strange attire to be dressed in during such cold weather, but most gave it no attention. Whatever struck his fancy, they thought. He was wearing a dark black cloak that swirled around his body and pretty much hid most of his physical features from the neck down, but still had his dagger hidden to his left thigh.

As the waitress finally reached him, flashing him a brilliant smile, he returned it, waiting for her opening statement. The minute she opened his mouth, he jumped in, giving her a wink.

"I need no food, nor drink, nor board. I simply came in to get warm, to find a corner. You are already helping me get warm, just by standing there in your pretty little way."

The girl blushed lightly and once more opened her mouth, and once again Xendral cut in, talking before she even got a chance.

"I am just going to go into my little corner, and you continue on with your work. Just look over at me every now and then to make sure I am still watching your beauty be displayed, OK?"

Before the girl could even formulate a response, Xendral was gone, walking briskly to the corner. She wouldn't be able to work up the guts to approach him now, he hoped. The little blush she had given was the one shy types managed to work up. She would certainly keep her attention on him now however, but she was to be a part of his plan, and her attention was a part of that plan too.

His plan to rob this place.

His devilish grin widening to show teeth, he found his way to a single table and chair in a far dark corner, across and to the left of the entrance, took a seat, and waited. Not as dark as he would of liked, for the place had alot of lighting, but it was the most shadow in the entire room.

Xailich watched the newcomer enter from the corner of his eye, completely uninterested in him; but still glaring at him as he moved about. There was an exchanging of words between him and the waitress that ended in her blushing and him walking to a corner. Xailich rolled his eyes and returned to his drink, which captured his attention. The man seemed to stand out among all of the other people in the tavern; then again so did Xailich. He looked at himself, cramped and crammed into a small booth to the far wall. He was the closest to the stairs, as if it mattered, but it was just an observation that he made.

Xailich looked at the swirling pool of red wine that was in his glass, but soon found him captivated by the snow that fell lightly from the sky, which he could see from the window he was sitting next to. He smirked, remembering that the last time he had sat next to a window, a tree had nearly killed him; his arms still ached lightly from the cuts that covered them. They were just another addition to the scars that covered his arms and the rest of his body; the thought of them made him cringe. He turned away from the window and sighed heavily taking a final, finishing gulp from the glass that stood before him. Xailich pushed it away slightly and caught the attention of the waitress who passed by.

“Could you bring me another red wine, please?” Xailich asked politely giving her the glass, as she reached for it he leaned closer and whispered quietly, “Who is that man? Do you know him?” She just blushed slightly and shook her head, leaving Xailich with no more information about him than before she came. Xailich looked at the man and raised an eyebrow; this man stood out, much more that himself. He waited, saying nothing to anyone else and keeping his eyes fixed on the newcomer, for the waitress to return with his wine.

As he glanced about, checking everything out, watching for dangers, and complications, and even things to add to a plan he had formed before he got here, his eyes settled upon the large... thing at one of the tables. As any any good and well-thought out plan, any new variable would make it so most of the plan had to be rearranged. Due to his size, and the fact that he looked like he could crush Xendral with one hand, he was the new variable, the new twist to the scene, and now he had to adjust his ideals to meet such a twist. The grin on his face never lessened, however, so one would suppose that he was not at all opposed to more and more twists of fate. It seemed he got his kicks out of things such as these, so added challenges only helped his amusement grow.

The demon/dragon thingie would find him staring intensely at his face for a few moments as he sat there, his own face halfway covered by flickering shadows, the nearby fireplace keeping him warm and part clothed in light. He was trying to pierce those eys and look inside, to see if there was anything that he needed to worry about. He had little to worry about in the way of opposition to his thievery, for he could see no real weapons on anyone. Unless some had a hidden blade, like himself.

Only more complications.

Finally making up his mind, he stood, and quickly made his way over to the tall, big, bulk of meat. On the way, Xailach might notice a bit of his theivery shining through. As he passed the table of several men, he casually, perhaps by accident, perhaps not, bumped into a pitcher of ale sitting near the edge of the table. The drink fell and shattered as it hit the ground, raising a splash, curses, and angry looks. He let loose a shrug, but made no move to clean it, simply standing there with a dumb look on his face. Growling and letting out another string of curses, as well as shouting at Xendral a bit for being such a klutz, the first man took off toward the barkeep, likely to get a towel. The other two men got off the table and down to their knees, picking up the shards of glass. Noble, truly. Meanwhile, Xendral grabged one of the glasses of the group of men, and took a deep swig, before placing it back down on the table and continuing on toward the rather bulky man he had noticed. He let loose a wink at him, holding a finger over his lips in a "Shhh" motion. A few chuckles could be heard around the room, obviously a few people had noted his roguish personality, and were amused by it.

Xailich furrowed his brow at the man, signifying his disinterest in the man, as he returned his glare and began to cross the room. As the man reached a table in the middle, the waitress brought Xailich his wine, and jumped a little at the sound of a crashing pitcher. Xailich took a sip of his wine and forced himself to swallow a laugh as the man made not attempt to clean it up and stole a swig from another man’s drink. The man then winked at the other, the one he had stole from, and simply brought his finger over his mouth. Xailich rolled his eyes and turned back towards the window, obviously unimpressed by this man’s performance.

The snow continued to fall, the window fogged up slightly as Xailich realized that he was a lot closer to the window than he was comfortable with. The past experience with windows caused him to have a dislike for them, whether it was storming or not; the weather wasn’t half bad, just cold. If he had one complaint, it would be that near the window and far away from the fire was a bad combination if he was looking to get warm in the tavern. However, that was not his initial reasoning for going into the tavern; he was looking to drink, and had already had a few wines. Though he was not planning on getting completely drunk; for his frame, he would need much more than three glasses of red wine to get him drunk. His mind wandered to memories of previous encounters in Imythess since his arrival from the Shadow Plane; the woman in the graveyard, the one at the inn with the falling tree, and the odd woman that he missed the most, from the lake.

Xailich smirked and took another drink of his red wine, turning his back to the window and pulling his legs out from underneath the booth as if he were about to stand, but paused. He sighed quietly, and let his eyes wonder around the room, looking for no one particular and finding no gaze to match his own.

As he neared him, he made a quick observation. He was a stranger to this particular inn, and perhaps city, from what he could tell, or had no friends in the area, as he was sitting alone. That would serve his purposes well. In a few quick strides, he had brought himself to his table, and then somewhat rudely set himself down across from him. Not yet speaking to him, he quickly glanced around, catching the eye of the waitress that he had flirted with earlier. Giving her a wink, he motioned her over, and then quickly turned to this new variable in his plot and set his newest plot into motion.

"What if I told you I was going to steal something from this inn, and these people?"

The grin that shone his teeth grew wide once more, and he folded his fingers together, and rested his chin onto the surface. A raised eyebrow told the half demon that it was his move, and the grin told the half-demon that Xendral had somewhat of a ounce of control over the situation. And that he was going to add yet another twist. From the side, another voice injected, her eyes all on Eleth, her voice intended for them both.

"May I take your orders?"

The waitress again. The demon now had a choice. Should he try and tell the waitress of Xendral's apparent claim to thief the inn? Or perhaps not?

The smug grin still printed across his face, the human apparently oblivious to Xailich's apparent annoyance at the whole ordeal, Xendral didn't take his eyes off of the half-demon, but replied to the waitress anyway.

"I would actually like the biggest mug of ale you have, please. Except, just bring me the mug. No ale."

The waitress stared at him, as did a few of the other people in the general area, who were close enough to overhear what Xendral had said. What kind of weirdo asked for an empty cup? It was ludicrius, but that didn't seem to faze Xendral. No, he wasn't looking at the waitress, or anyone else in the pub as a matter of fact. He was still staring at Xailich, that look of pure amusement in his eye.

Xailich rolled his eyes and looked off towards the window even as the man sat himself across from Xailich. He raised an eyebrow and turned away from the white scenery and waited for the man to introduce himself formally. Though, Xailich halfway didn’t expect one, seeing how rude he was at not cleaning up the mess that he made; he seemed like a bit of a klutz to Xailich, though his judgments of people had been wrong before. He smirked, he was wrong once, but then again, for every one time he was wrong, he was right twenty times. Xailich opened his mouth to speak and ridicule the man though the man spoke before he could.

Xailich looked at the man and cocked his head to the side, wondering if what he heard was actually what the man had said. Was this man crazy? Why would he reveal a plot to rob a tavern to the largest man in the room? Xailich looked around the room to confirm this assumption; he was seven and a half foot tall, at least a head taller than any one man in the room. He turned back to this newcomer who was now speaking to the waitress who seemed to appear out of nowhere; Xailich was a bit startled by her. He realized that she had asked them if they wanted anything and he had given her silence in return. His mouth dropped slightly with a look of stupidity as he waited for the newcomer to finish asking for a mug; with nothing in it.

Xailich gave him an odd look and asked for another glass of wine and then turned back to him. He posed a question for the newcomer, “What the hell kind of question is that? Do you expect me to help you in this little plan of yours? I am no thief…” He whispered angrily and quietly. Xailich found this newcomer to be annoying, and obnoxious, as well as cocky. If he thought his skills of thievery were well enough for him to steal things right out from under people’s noses then let him try. Xailich waited for a response, as well another glass of wine.

As the waitress stood there, waiting for more, Xendral finally took his eyes off of the half demon across from him and glanced up at the girl, giving another wink. He was full of them, it seemed. The girl blushed brightly and danced off, taking this as encouragement.

Xendral was tall, at least for a human, at about 6'1. He had shaggy black hair, the ends looking as if they had been cut with a knife, very ragged and uneven. The hair came down to about the top of his eyes, the two colorful parts of his general structure being a bright, sky blue. The rest of his face was dirty, but had strong features, a prominent nose and a solid jaw. Quite the looker.

"It is a question designed for an answer. Which it got, and the answer is making me think you are easily angered."

Xendral gave another wink, glancing down at the hand that the demon/dragon had wrapped around the glass of wine. For a moment, a look of worry crossed his face, but it was soon replaced with the former look of smug cockiness that the half demon was going to have to come to expect. It was pretty much Xendral's default setting, and the bright, toothy smile was always tuned up to full blast. Never just a slight uplifting of the lips. A huge, full blown grin that was much like any other rogue's.

"Or perhaps you are just in an ill mood today? In any case, I should probably try to avoid your wrath. You look like you could squish my head with a simply snap of the finger."

Then why are you talking to him like this?

"Oh, shut up."

The last comment wasn't aimed at Xailich, it would actually be aimed at no one in particular. It was strange, but for some reason, fit well with his personality. A look of brief annoyance would flash across Xendral's face as he made this retort to thin air. But he would soon get over it, turning on his smile once more, and replying to the half demon again.

Xailich was slightly offended by the incorrect judgment that this man made about him; he leaned forward a bit, about to correct him when he added more. There was a slight pause, in which Xailich was about to speak a second time when the man spoke again, to no one. Xailich knew that this was aimed at no one, because it would have made little sense for this man to tell him to shut up when he had not even spoken to him since he began his reply. Before that another wink was given away; which he found to be only causing a greater annoyance in Xailich for the man. Xailich made the quick judgment that this man was completely insane and that he talked to himself. Xailich realized that he may be speaking to a person who read others; at least that’s what he determined from what the man said. He then also realized that he had been read incorrectly and figured that as deceitful as it may be, he would allow this man to believe him to be easily angered. Perhaps he would think twice about robbing the place if he knew another man was over a foot taller than him and was easily anger; he smirked, thinking of the words the new comer spoke. It was true, he most likely could crush this man’s head, though he would much rather preserve the man’s shape; a crushed head meant little to a necromancer.

The slightly dark thought of making this man’s dead body dance quickly left; Xailich wasn’t an evil person at heart, as he had told himself many times before, he acted on impulse. He sighed, a moment passed, and then the waitress brought him his fourth glass of wine and set it on the table in front of him. He nodded and then expected the new comer to give her a wink, then Xailich had an idea. He smirked and then asked very loudly; enough for the waitress and everyone to hear, “What do you mean you talk to yourself?” He let the smirk stay on his face as he waited for the man to say something. Xailich knew that a slick person could get themselves out of complications; though his comment was not much of a complication. His size, was the only thing that would cause this man to not doing anything.

The smile didn't drop from his face, instead, he let out a booming laugh, which only did more to draw the attention of just about everyone in earshot. The special thing is that the laugh wasn't just a laugh, if you will, it was a huge cackling laugh that was pretty high-pitched and that spoke of plently of insanity.

Then, Xendral just stopped the laughter, his face going straight back to the grin of before.

"You are funny."

Everyone in the room eyed Xendral, a little wary now, wondering if his sanity was all there. After all, the half demon had already said something about the guy speaking to voices that apparently didn't exist, and now he was bursting out into random spurts of laughter. The waitress had also brought Xendral's empty mug along with Xailich's red wine, and now slowly set it down in front of the grinning rogue, her eyes doubtful, the hand on the handle of the glass mug trembling a bit. He had lost his earlier shine with her, it appeared. Xendral didn't appear to notice, instead, he took the glass mug and held it tightly, sitting there while complitating his next choice. His eyes shone with intellect, interesting enough, and for some reason, his earlier fear of the half demon was gone. Either that, or he had lost it, and had no fear whatsoever.

But his mind was working perfectly. He was already moving onto the next phase of his plan.

"Okay, here is the deal. A big guy like you has to have something I can buy from you. Weapons, jewelry, anything like that? I will take whatever you have to offer. And I can pay well too."

God, not this scheme again.

And once again, Xendral started to talk to the voices.

"Oh be quiet, I am serious this time."

No you aren't.

"YES, I am."

Meanwhile, he smiled at Xailich expectantly, as did about ten others. The two were drawing almost all the attention in the pub.

And most of it had been due to Xendral's well-timed and just-loud-enough laugh.

Xailich raised an eyebrow at the response that came from what he had said; he figured that this man was cunning enough to get out of such a simple trap, though he thought that the man would be able keep the positive attention of the patrons. They now looked at him with suspicion; hopefully they all had the same negative suspicion that he himself had. Xailich spoke and did not move until the man spoke again; asking him if he had anything to sell. Xailich was curious as to this man’s true intentions; perhaps if the man had not incriminated himself there might have been a slight trust between the two of them. The man had a way with words, even if he did talk to himself; not to mention he must have been a generally likeable person if he was able to cause the waitress to blush.

There was an obvious silence between them and Xailich allowed it to continue as he just stared blankly at the man as if he were crazy to ask him such a question. He took another drink of wine and looked out the window again to the snow; just looking at the snow caused a chill to go up his spine. He looked back to the man, choosing to actually say something instead of leaving the man in silence, “You think me to be a fool don’t you?” He asked with a smirk; Xailich wasn’t sure what this man was up to, but a feeling inside of him told Xailich that this man was cunning and able to steal things under people’s noses. How else would he be able to rob an inn? Xailich kept the smirk on his face, waiting for an answer, realizing that the man was too small to steal anything without getting pounded by someone much larger than him. Humans were relatively small, compared to Xailich, and other races; this thief was out of luck.

"A fool? No, no. I see you as a massive-sized man who is quite afraid, suspicious, and wary of what I might do. You saw me steal the drink of ale, and you are wondering just what I might be planning to steal from this in. Perhaps I am wanting to steal from you?"

Xendral cocked his head to the side, his eyes still affixed upon Xailich, the grin STILL affixed upon his own features. He was definitely amused by this, he could see the mistrust in the eyes of the half-demon. He didn't need to glance around to see he also had the attention of everyone in the inn, which was helping his case just a little bit. He had no cares for what these people thought of him, he only had a yearning for what he was planning on setting into action.

"Don't worry though."

The man leaned forward, almost like he was sharing a secret, whispering at Xailich part of his plan.

"You see, people in here are beginning to dislike me. They think me annoying perhaps, unstable. Therefor, I would think it easy to make them even madder and perhaps more scared of me, and get me kicked out, correct? They would have no qualms. I know our waitress would be relieved to get me out of here."

Sliding back, he cocked his head to the side again and gave Xailich an inquisitive stare, a gaze that was questioning if Xailich realy understood or not. After a moment though, Xendral would stand, still holding onto his glass mug.

"Oh well. Just watch."

Without waiting for a response, Xendral headed over to the table he had stolen the drink from earlier. The three men gathered at the table stared at him mistrustingly, not really wanting to talk to him now. They had been part of the group that have overheard the laughter, and the apparent fact that he spoke to invisible people. Xendral merely gave them a toothy grin, coming into arms reach of the first and giving a short bow. Another table of men watched as well, a look of slight anger on their faces. They were one of the few that were simply annoyed by the rogue. Slowly, Xendral would straighten from his bow, and the smile would drop from his face to settle into a serious line, although his eyes spoke of glee.

"I apoligize for this, my dear fellow."

The man blinked, and then was instantly smashed aside the head by the huge glass mug. Xendral moved remarkably fast and with ease, and the sharp blow instantly knocked the man silly, and left the rest stunned.