The whole of the city was abuzz with excitement. Today was a special day, for it was Imythess' birthday so to speak. On this day, many years ago, the lands of Imythess were created and legends were born. From the looks of things, everyone has pulled together to help with the party. The streets have been cleaned from top to bottom, streamers and banners are hanging from the lampposts and buildings. There were stalls with fun and games, prizes to be won, everything looked great.

And then, there was an explosion!

A balloon exploded and spread confetti everywhere, as the horse-drawn floats began to move forward. Children began to laugh as sweets and toys were being thrown. One young girl got lucky, for her prize turned out to be a small dragon that immediately began to circle her head and snuggled up to her.

And this was only the beginning. The Floats were the start... there would soon be fireworks and dancers and magical tricks and more. Today was going to be an amazing day, for it was Imythess' birthday.

(Note: This is a fun topic for all to participate in. There will be random prizes given to those who participate and there will also be a 'top prize' given to one lucky person who posts here.

Note2: No fights please. The Taras Guards will crack down on any violence and any player trying to intentionally turn the party into a warzone will be barred from the party. It's all about fun people!)

Lilith had dressed up in her finest clothing for the occasion of a birthday celebration. The dress reached down to her ankles and she had found a white pair of shoes that matched her dress perfectly. The dress itself was a mixture of white trim and light purple. It was pulled tight around her upper body and left to drape over her lower half. She had already found a few men to chat with and was doing so when a large explosion started the festivities. She smiled at the two men and moved off to get a better view of things.

Lilith was never one to turn down a party and the celebration of Imythess was one that she certainly wasn’t going to miss. She had gone to every expense to make herself look like a dream. Her coffers were nearly empty with spending so much on imported make-up, dress, and even the best hairstylist to put her golden curls into the perfect position. Right now they were in a bun atop her head with curls dangling from the piece to create a wispy, magical look. Lilith was proud of her appearance and so stood tall in the crowd as she watched the parade move down the street.

It was unusual for Melmoth to be happy without making someone else's life hell, but with Imythess's grand birthday celebration, it was hard not to be. Taras was cleaned from top to bottom and decorated enough to bankrupt the ruling class of the city. Very satisfying. He'd have to visit a few of the nobles after the party.

He'd left his hat back in his rented room, and had his long white hair combed, greased, tied back, and it paid off. He looked a hell of a lot better with the hair out of his eyes. Now if the worry lines would leave, he'd just look like a normal old man, instead of the wrinkly old corpse he resembled now. For his real age, he looked a hell of a lot better than most others would. The thought gave him only slight pleasure.

Now, in the thick of the party, he strode the streets in search of interesting things to do. Time was always ticking towards death, and he would spare a few days off his work to relax and party in Taras. He'd keep an eye open for particularly choice prospects, but would not make a move on his short vacation.

Voices of the crowd were a loud buzzing backdrop to his wanderings. Vendors yelled the qualities of their specially discounted wares and street performers moved through the crowd with ease, collecting coins here and there for their troubles. None of this really interested him yet. Surely the Taras main square would hold something truely worth his time.

Erin walked down the street with a dreamy look on her face like allways, she was watching the balloons in the air as she walked and of course ii ended with her walking right into some random person. Her face turned red and she excused herself, the one she had walked int frowned slightly, but then he smile and said that it was okey...it was a day to celebrate after all. Erin nodded, then she kept walking trough the city, she stopped a little here and there to see what people was selling. Not that she had much money but it was still fun to just watch, maybe she would win something nice...most likely not since she never won anything in times like these.

After a few minutes she feel tired in her legs and quickly searched for a place to rest, she noticed a bench in a small park and she walked there. She notied that this gave her a very good wive of the harbor and the sea. The storm kindler smiled and sat down on the bench. "Looks like I found a really nice place then, I must be lucky today then" she giggled to herself and calmly moved some hair from her face, then she looked up into the sky, there was no clouds so it would not be rain. That was good because rain would ruin this nice day.

She watched the people as they walked around the lower parts of the city, she had neverr ever seen so much people in Taras in her life, people sure celebrated today, and with good reason, why should one not celebrate the creation of the world? She laughed and shook her head slightly.

(OOC - All of Imy must participate. Non-posters will be set on fire for their lack of cheer.)

The Taras main square was not accessable to him. A parade outdoing all he had seen before slowly moved through the gigantic square.

Horse-drawn floats moved at the head of the parade. What they lacked in realism, they made up in enthusiasm. It was obvious the makers had put time and effort into their creations, and if a few were beyond his ability to comprehend exactly what they were... Well, they were very colorfull. Funny little paintings, too.

After the floats came a marching band. The players were dressed in what appeared to be standard Taras dress uniforms, so they might have been military, or hired for the occasion. Either way, they had a good beat and you could dance to it. Nine out of ten.

When it looked like the Taras military was going to turn out too, Melmoth pushed his way through the crowd towards a shadowed back alley. He didn't think anyone would recognize him, but why not be carefull? The guards who had captured him long ago for his little stunt were probably dead, but you never knew. Some of the old vets might remember, and for all he knew there was still a writ out on him.

Besides, he grinned, it would be cooler in the shade, and you never really knew just what was hiding in the darkness. All sorts of strange things happened in alleys.

((OOC: ooh, yay! someone went into the shadows! ^_^))

Aether Draka had spent a good deal of time getting ready for Imythess's Birthday. The very first time she had arrived in Imythess had been during one such celebration. Going back to Taras would require avoiding Rothardon though and most likely Gregory too. She remembered Manic mentioning her hair a lot so she had undone the braids and combed it out. She then had used a temporary red die in her hair. The die had been bright red but due to the color her hair was to start with it turned out to be just a normal red. She combed her hair back into a high ponytail and let it do it's own poofy thing from there. It might end up being a pain to redo later but the look was very different from her normal one. Then she picked out an outfit she had bought simply because she liked it. She had worn it to Taras once already but she didn't think Rothardan or Greagory would recognize it. She wore a fitted dress made of silk with what almost looked like clouds swirling across it. The top was more like shortened bodice in gold with black lace up both sides. In the same piece was a shortened skirt, only hitting just above her knees. Under that was a black dress that slowly became red at the ends of the sleeves and skirt. The sleeves were just fun, bell sleeves cut at just the right angle that when she lifted her arm it left her arm bare up to her elbow. The skirt only went just past her knees and she was wearing a new pair of shoes that were not made for travel. They were city shoes that were black with gold trimming. The entire thing felt soft and light and she had fallen in love with it.

Turin, the tiny copper fly dragon, was perched on her shoulder as she shadow jumped into a darkened alleyway. The shadows welcomed her before she stepped out of them and Turin took wing. The noise let her know she was right on time. She grinned as Turin did a loop in the sky. She was about to go find out what all the noise was about when she turned to find herself looking at someone she didn't know who was walking into the alleyway. Had he seen her appear? She wasn't sure. Either way... “Hello! Having fun today?” She asked with a grin, the fly dragon coming back down to perch on her shoulder.

Mitsuko sat in front of the vanity mirror in the hotel room she had in Taras. This was her first time participating in one of the Anniversary festivals, and she wanted to be sure she looked her best. She pulled a brush through her hair, separating what would be her "bangs" from the rest of her hair, then pulled the rest into a ponytail. The resulting effect was that she had two long pieces of hair framing her face with the rest pulled back away from her neck.
Her outfit for the day was laying out on the bed. The top was a formfitting dress with wide slits from the waist down, a black sash belt, a pair of tight black leggings, and knee-length boots.
A blare of music from outside her window grabbed her attention, and Mitsuko realized she was going to miss the parade she meant to attend. Quickly, she pulled on her clothing, leaving for once her dagger. She shouldn't need it today anyway. One of the thick streamers that decorated the town was tied to the balcony of her room, and Mitsuko took the liberty of using it as a quick way down.
She pulled the fabric up to her, held the end tightly, and swung down to the crowds below.

Startled, Melmoth reached for his sword instinctively at the sound of a voice from the darkness of the alley. His hand was on Fate's hilt, but he stopped. The shadows appeared empty.

The normal refuse of Taras, boxes, litter, slime, was for the most part gone. Here and there sat holders for the decorations of the party, apparently forgotten or thought out of the way in the alley, but none was high enough to conceal a person. A disembodied voice had greeted him from the shadows.

Then a small creature flew down and landed on the shoulder of a woman who had not been there the moment before. He had looked, but his eyes had slipped over her, or some spell had been in effect, or something more devious was afoot. She did not look like an immediate threat, however. She grinned, but not in a way that spoke of evil intent, and her words had been polite enough, though unexpected.

His fear told him no, draw the sword, but his reason won through. He took his hand off Fate and slowly raised his hand away from his blade. Inviting trouble with the Taras Army at your back was never a good strategy. Keeping his mysterious visitor from drawing blades was foremost in his mind as he spoke.

"Quite a large amount of fun, to be sure. You have the pleasure of meeting Melmoth the Wanderer, seer of many things, and friend to the unfortunate."

Melmoth thought about grinning, and then decided against it. Most races didn't like the looks of him when he smiled. Perhaps they saw the reality behind his mask of false cheer.

"Now, dear lady, you have me at a disadvantage. What name may I call you by?"

Eliel seized an ale from a woman who was serving drinks. He stood off to the side of the crowd, watching them dance. He was in a lighthearted mood, but not so much that he would join in the festivities of his own free will. The drow nodded to several people, whom had greeted him. Apparently, in their joy, they did not mind having a drow about.

Eliel smiled as several children came his way, whispering to each other and giggling amongst themselves. Apparently children still paid some mind. The tall drow watched them curiously, wondering if they would be trouble or merely a nuisance.

The sight of children drew his thoughts to his fiancé, Silendra. He would have children soon enough, sometime after their marriage. The thought drew a smile on his face, sending the children into a new round of giggles. They stood about fifteen feet away, looking at him and talking to each other. Eliel cocked an eyebrow and sipped at his ale amusedly, waiting.

One child, elven as it seemed, shook his head at the others stubbornly. Eliel took a large drink, emptying his mug, and set the glass down on a barrel. The children shoved the elven child his way, and the elf took a second to gather herself. After a few seconds, she beamed at him.

“Come dance with us, mister!” The girl asked kindly. The other children seemed to gain confidence from the fact that the drow had not eaten the girl, and swarmed around him. Eliel chuckled and looked at the kids, who grabbed at his cloak and white tunic. Their little voices pleaded for him to come along. They didn't even wait for a response before they dragged him to the center of the crowd, beginning to do a small dance.

The elven girl chuckled as he began to do a little jig, and the kids clapped to his own dance. It was simple, somewhat sloppy from the ale and sheer joy of the day.

Erin sighed to herself, she could hear all the music from around them and the laughing people...but she knew none of them. Her eyes moved around the park, none was there because most of them was out on the streets screaming there heads of. The storm kindler laid down on the bench and looked up into the sky above her. She closed her eyes for a second and made a small gust of wind moved trough the park, creating a harmonic sound. Erin smiled to herself and then she opened her eyes again. She slowly sat up again after a few minutes. "Oh mother I wish you would understand me better" she said with a low voice right into the air. "But I think you never will do that, you will always just think about my father when you look at me. Another year have past and nothing has changed" a sudden sadness came over her, but she forced herself not to cry...not today when al was so happy. She sighed and looked up into the sky once again.

Calmly she began to sing, a low song that her father used to sing for her when she was a child. The song itself was calming since it after all was a lullaby. The sound traveled out from the park onto the streets, but not many noticed it because of the other music and such, but there was some of them that stopped and listened, but they soon returned to what they where doing.

AD tipped her head slightly to the right as he spoke. Then she shook her head briefly before meeting his gaze. "Well, it's not dear lady, that's for sure. That's one thing I don't like being called. I'm not some snobbish know it all who can't take care of herself and shouts for the guards when anything looks like it's not going her way." She said very matter of fact. Then softer, under her breath she added, "Stupid guards."

Then she smiled and said. “You can call me AD and this is Turin.” AD gestured to the small dragon on her shoulder that did a little bow and used the dip to ready him self for a jump back into in air. He looped around AD then around them both and then further above them.

Aether Draka placed both hands behind her back and looked at him curiously. “So do you mind me asking why you’ve wondered back here? I normally don’t meet people in dark alleyways.” She normally met people on roof tops or in the middle of the street, at least when she was in a town. She wasn’t going to explain that though as she would then feel inclined to add that it was because most of them could fly or that she didn’t meet in cities because most of the people she would meet with were demonic…

AD didn't like being addressed in an overly polite fashion. He smiled at the thought. He'd have fun with this, probably with painfull payback later, but for now he'd see just how far he could push her. He'd find what boundries to cross, and then cross them again and again just to see her frustration.

"Alright, Princess, no more 'Dear Lady' for you." He bowed and tried to keep from laughing. This one would not be prey anytime soon, but for now he'd tease her without mercy. If she started throwing fireballs at him, then he might stop. For a while at least... Then he'd get her again later.

He sat down on one of the larger boxes for decorations. It only propped him a few feet above the ground, but was the closest thing to a chair in the alley. It was a bit uncomfortable, but would suffice for a time.

"I came here to avoid the Taras guards. It might have been their army, I guess, I didn't really stick around to see. I'm not on good terms with the law."

That was something of an understatement, but he'd let it pass. If the guards got ahold of him, or even worse, the Paladins... He didn't even want to think of the things they'd do. Death would be a kindness then.

"I guess I also came because I like the dark better than the light. It's concealing embrace is a comfort to those on the run, and a terror to their pursuers."

AD's features grew hard when he called her princess and she didn't say anything else while he spoke. "Well... that makes two of us on bad terms with the guards. The thing is, I won't say it twice. There is no princess here, but..." AD pulled out a card and smiled at what she saw she had randomly drawn. "... perhaps this will do." She held up the card before her, facing her, and then let it go as the shadows themselves curled up around her to take hold of the card. Using both hands she drew out the shadows into a ring around the card. Then AD opened both hands and empowered the circle with magic. The card turned black, then the circle, then it grew even more until it formed something that was about a foot taller then AD and looked twice as wide, then like a flower opening, the shadows fell away to reveal an angel. She was dressed in a long white dress with golden curls tumbling down her back. On one hip was a blade. When she spoke next, it was to her summons.

"Summoning is most likely still illegal in this city, so I want you to say that it was this man who summoned you. Go get these guards he is avoiding and show them how to find him. I'm going to go shopping. Come on Turin!" AD called and turned about. It wasn't like an angel would really cause trouble, would it? She didn't think she really trusted the angel so she paused and said, "One moment." To the angel who had just spread it's wings to take of. It paused, then relaxed it's wings. Her emerald eyes leveled on Melmoth. She didn't even bother trying to smile. She crossed her arms. "That is, if you have nothing else to say on the matter?"

Lilith moved back away from the parade, bored with the endless amounts of colourful floats that went by. She hungered to find a familiar face in the crowd and so backed up through the people, giving up her place at the front of the crowd. Once she had broke free of the people she dusted off her dress and fixed her hair back into the right place. It had barely been moved but she acted as though the whole thing had toppled off her head. Once she had fixed her hair she shook her wrists to put her jewellery back in the right place.

Satisfied that she looked her best she set off to find someone she knew.

It didn’t take her long to spot a man she knew. A smile crept onto her features, making her look even more stunning. He was dancing with some children when she saw him and she moved so that she wouldn’t see her. Lilith crept up behind him, gliding along the earth to reach her target, silently as she could manage. Once behind him Lilith wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning her body against his back. She fell into an easy rhythm matching the way his body had been moving. She smiled again before she leaned forward and whispered in his ear.

“Hello Eliel.”

Eliel saw some of the kids look behind him and figured it was just some interesting person.

Close enough.

Eliel felt the hands around his waist and felt the person lean into him and went with it, figuring it was Silendra. He chuckled and continued dancing, until the voice spoke into his ear, a way too not-Silendra voice.

The last time he had seen her, He was somewhat drunken and had led her to believe he liked her, then Silendra had shown up. Eliel slowed down his dance, not wanting the kids to think something was up. He put a hand on hers and chuckled heartily. If it weren't for the ale in his belly, he would be too nervous to do anything. He had feelings for the woman, true. As it turns out, he still might have some, buried deep down.

Eliel laughed and leaned his head back onto Lilith's. “How nice to see you again, Lilith dear.” He reached around behind him and gave her a quick hug. “Shall we go off somewhere?” He grinned and broke away, coming to a stop. “Sorry kids, I have to go now. Old friends.” The kids groaned and hooted.

Eliel chuckled and pulled Lilith off to the side. “So how are you doing, lilith? Still up for that goblin hunt?” He smiled at her, face a little red.

Well... The game was over, so it seemed. AD really didn't want to play. Too bad. There was more to the girl than met the eye, but it would have to wait for another day for him to find out.

He calmly took stock of his surroundings and options. He could go back into the street, the way he came, or he could continue past AD and into the street on the other side of the buildings. Apologizing was out of the question. Sadly, so was fighting... Butchering the angel in the alley, however satisfying, would just get him in more trouble. Twas a rare opportunity to spill angel blood, and as far as he knew Fate had never tasted such a delicacy. Like everything he wanted to do today, it would have to wait.

"You're just a bit touchy, aren't you? You're way too sensitive for this early in the day." He just caught himself there. Almost said 'Princess', and almost landed himself into deeper water. "I think that once the guardsmen found out the angel was not under my command, they'd let me go, and maybe find you. But I'd rather not test that. Unsummon the Angel and sit."

He hoped that would work. He'd not said anything too prissy, but had been possibly a bit too gruff at the end. She'd get over it, or he'd get to running into the crowd. Again, not what he was aiming for, but better than taking his chances on the bad memories of the elder guardsmen.

Erin stood up and shook her head. "This will not do, I have to do something to put this off my mind" she said to herself and then she slowly walked out from the little park out on the street with all the people. The storm kindler looked up and down the street and then she slowly began to walk down it towards the harbor part.

She was just about to walk past two stranger (Eliel and Lilith) that was standing a little to the side when the bad luck was with her again. some of the kids had thrown some kind of leather ball to each other in some game but one of them had missed the ball and it bounced away on it´s own, through the crowd, into a caravan stand, then of down the street. Erin did not see this ball and she placed the foot right at it when she was about to take a steep. The lady could feel that the world was moving very odd and with a high girlish scream she feel to the ground.
The leather ball kept rolling down the street and was soon out of sight...the group of kids quickly ran after it and did not care about the damage there toy had done.
Erin slowly began to sit up and looked around in a confused way, her face was slowly turning red...why did these things have to happen to her all the time?. "What happened?" she asked and shook her head slightly.

Lilith giggled and returned the hug. “Yes it’s been awhile hasn’t yet.” She smiled at Eliel. “Yes I’d like that.” Lilith leaned down to talk to the kids for a moment before she followed Eliel off. “Sorry kids, I promise I’ll give him back in the same condition as I stole him okay,” The kids nodded and laughed, even though it wasn’t really funny. Kids didn’t seem to care about much at all and so they continued their games.

Lilith let Eliel pull her off and when they were alone their conversation resumed. “Oh I’ve been doing alright. Mostly wandering around. There really isn’t much to do without a job so I’m just keeping myself busy.” Lilith reached out and rested her hand on Eliel’s cheek. “You know I wouldn’t pass up spending time with you and I believe a goblin hunt would be another way to do that. So of course I’m still up for it. Now what has Eliel been up to?”

A high girlish scream made Lilith drop her hand and look around in time to see a girl fall after stepping on a ball. Lilith couldn’t help herself and giggled when she saw this, trying to hide it by clasping one of her hands over her mouth. Her body shook a little as she laughed. After a moment she composed herself and looked at Eliel.

“Should we help her or…” Lilith moved closer, “Go somewhere with fewer distractions?”

Eliel chuckled. “Same here. I've not been doing much either. Except for get a family heirloom repaired, got myself a home, and joined the Annual tournament in Imythess. Also I have a new enemy, so that should prove interesting.” He chuckled and watched her sadly. There could have been something for them another time.

Eliel brightened at his next thought. “Oh and one more thing. I'm engaged.” He chuckled again, not too nervous. He could never cheat on Silendra. Besides, Gwen wouldn't let him do so anyway. Silendra had a panther as well, by the name of shadow. And it appeared Gwen had a crush on the male.
He looked around

“It seems I've lost my cat...” He searched the crowd anxiously, but began laughing hard when he spotted gwen. She had caught the leather ball and tossed it Erin's way, searching for some amusement. He tried to shoot her an angry look, but It sort of came off as amused.

“We should probably help her. As it seems my cat's the one who did this. Sorry.” He said to lilith, then pulled her over to the girl. “Hello there, I apologize. But i've found the culprit, if you'd like to punish her. I wouldn't advise any striking though, whe she gets hit heads roll. Literally.” He half-joked, but had a seriously concerned tone. He yanked gwen over by the scruff of her neck and smiled.

Erin turned her gaze up when she heard the voice and noticed the man that was talking. She looked at them for a moment before she said anything, she looked a little confused since she was not ready, her eyes moved to the culprit for a moment and then back to Eliel. "I see...well I´m alive and was not badly injured." she said and brushed some dust of her dress while she was talking. Then she slowly began to stand up from the ground, her back was acing since she had fallen on it. She also noticed that a part of the skirt was ruined.

Just her kind of luck then, well she would have to fix it later on. "The apology is accepted" she smiled and moved her hair in behind her eyes, she turned her gaze to Gwen and then she tilted her head slightly to the left. "No I could never punish someone so cute, but be more careful in the future okey?" she laughed and shook her head slightly, then she looked back at the other two. She wanted to have people to talk with after all and this was one way to do it in

"Oh how very rude of me, I´m Erin." she bowed her head slightly. "Very nice to meet you." she looked up again and a friendly smile was back in her face.

Aether Draka turned to look at him and said, “And what if I don’t?” then she shook her head and waved her hand dismissively. The angel vanished. She then crossed her arms and looked at him with a slight tip of her head to the right. “You might be ‘a bit touchy’ too if a God tried to rip your soul apart. The time of day means nothing to me anyways. Besides, the guardsman would believe the angel over what everyone else says because the captain of Tara’s Guard is a Celestial Infused and a chosen of the God of Light. You do the math. Either way, I came here to look around and perhaps do some shopping. Not talk in a dark ally with someone who is going to try and play silly games.”

AD uncrossed her arms then. “If you decide not to play them you can come with, but I came to go shopping and have some fun. You can hide in an ally way if you want.” Then she did turn her back on him and walk out into the crowd, pausing only a moment to choose if she was turning left or right. A booth right across the way caught her attention though and she slipped through the crowd and right to it. “Turin! Look!” She said happily and looked at the glass items in the both. Little glass bubbles on string and little glass figures in the shapes of dragons, unicorns, centaurs, and countless other little shapes. All of them could easily fit in the palm of her hand. They were so small and glittered in the sunlight. She had to get one, but which one?

He let her go. There were some questions he'd have to ask her later, but for now he'd best let her have her fun. Getting between a woman and her shopping was a potentially deadly idea. And AD would stab his eyes out if he bugged her anymore, he thought.

So, again it was time to wander the street.

The army had passed, and some other amusement in a long line of amusements passed, but his thoughts soured at the idea of watching again. He'd rather risk AD's displeasure than put up with the crowd and the badly done displays. Heaving himself from his seat, he walked down the alley away from the parade, toward a relatively quiet section of the city. The party was still raging all around him, but getting across the street was not an impossible task. You just had to push a few people out of your way, dodge a horse here and there, and keep an eye on your valuables.

No problem.

Soon, he found himself in the market district of the city. Things were marked down, and people had skilled the parade and other festivities just for the insane deals. He went from stall to stall, perusing their wares. Here, a blade drew his eye. There, an ancient, battered tome was being hailed as 'the awnser to all'.

He would find something out there. His day would not be spent entirely wrong.

As Sanvaer walked through the huge gates, he laughed. "Fools. The minions will swarm at this." He scowled at a man who looked at him with some surprise, and spat at the man, who seemed to be a guard, "Mind your own buisness. What I say is none of your's." He walked through the line of people, pushing that one out of his way, "accidently" pouring a "bucket" of water on that horibbly obese man who was too busy stuffing his face with meat pies to notice. He wandered around the many stalls, one with an array of spell scrolls, one for love, one for torture, one so horrible it has an opaque covering over it.

Stopping at that very stall, he stared at the spell, trying to see past its non-transparent coverings, whispering to himself, "The Mother would want that, yes." H scowled at the man working at the stall, wearing a midnight blue skull-cap, who turned to look at the strange man, who was oogling the dangerous spells. Sanvaer continued past, and stopped at another stall. This very stall, was an incredibly strange looking cart, shaped like like that of an arabian stall, which he himself had only seen once, in a drawing. He looking at it, and his eyes were drawn to the collection of daggers. Ones with poison, ones with ridges to deal the most damage. And even, his eyes were grabbed by a blade, almost a shortsword, slightly curved, and glowing with a gentle white glow. The shopkeeper looked at him, and smiled.

The man, wearing a navy blue turban, fastened by a clear crystal, and wearing a dark indigo vest, and pants made of a thin linen, that billowed out at the bottom and were tied down with strips of cloth. The shoes, made of soft leather, curved up at the toes, and into a point. He opened his mouth, and said, "So, you like the Starlight Dagger as well, eh? Not surprised. I've many an attempt to switch it out, but there is nothing like this dagger."

It had been the busiest day in a long time and the Bartender couldn't be happier about it. The tavern was literally overflowing with people. People were standing, sitting on both chairs and tables, hanging out of windows but most of all they were all paying customers. Of course, if you put several dwarves in the middle of a tavern and supply them with drinks, the resulting contest was sure to bring in more and more people.

It was so loud with people cheering, laughing and drinking their cares away. But the most noise was coming from those in the drinking contest. Goading each other, spurring their opponents and comrades on. Man of all types came to test their stomachs but of course, the Dwarves were beating all comers while still competing with each other.

Not one to pass up on free mead, Gromhir had been at the table for a while. A drunken haze had befallen him but he didn’t let it bother him. Not that it would bother any Dwarf. “’Ey Lads!” He cried out. “I think we need somethin’ st… stro…. Better ale!” As the contestants finished their last drinks of this round, one poor man collapsed bringing a roar of laughter from the crowd. The stronger ales were passed around in due course. Several of those with weak stomachs spilled them into the buckets next to them. But every single Dwarf was still drinking and in some cases, eating.

“I cannot help but think we’ll need more mead, Alexandra,” The barkeep spoke to one of his bartenders.