The Bad Moon Inn

[The Editor]

"I have no wish to meet any master," said Hunt, "unless they can help me in my journey." She was beginning to doubt the reliability of the mage who had directed her here; it seemed no one knew anything about curing her condition. Not that she had asked any of the vampires. Those she had met previously seemed to be offended by the suggestion that their so-called gift even needed curing. The only ones willing to help her were mages and the occasional were.

[Keke Le Cat]

"The Master has many hidden... talents. He may hear your petition." Keke smiled reassuringly. "And once he hears of a new vampire in town, he won't wait for an invitation. He'll find you, and you will act like you like it. He considers himself the most powerful vampire in our realm, and considering he is Master of the City of the capitol, he just might be."

Keke sat at the bar near the girl and crossed her legs, smoothing her pants over her thighs. "Tell me, what is your problem. Perhaps I may be of some service and then you need not bother the Master of the City with it."

Then remembering, "Err... Umm, does it require... Privacy?"

[The Editor]

"My problem is not something I wish to share with our kind, thank you," said Hunt. "Suffice to say that those I have asked have been less than pleased upon learning about it the nature of my quest. The only help you could offer me is the location of the nearest mage."

[Keke Le Cat]

Camilla arched her brows and stared down her nose at the girl. Seriously? "I wouldn't know."

She turned her back on the unnamed girl to show her opinion of her statements. How very rude. It would be the last time that Keke went out of her way to help the insolent girl.

[Qoorl]

Anansi took this moment to intervene.

"It may shock and suprise, but I know a tiny bit of the arcane. Let me know what is it you want and I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, it won't hurt at all to give the elderly the respect they deserve. It might be you sitting in the rocking chair one day waving your cane at upstart youngsters."

He hopped to his feet now, making a sweeping bow.

"But I have been rude, both to you, and the current Lady of the Manor. I am Anansi, The Spinner of Tales and thus it is my duty to remember all the tales of the land, and I can see that both of you have tales in the making. I suggest that I travel along with you, and these other brave souls," He gestured wide at the recent volunteers, "As for you, M'lady, Humblest apologies for damaging your feelings. Unfortunately, Humility is a virtue that too many lack these days, and I sometimes find it neccesary to....teach it, as it were. No disrespect intended of course."

Another lopsided grin.

"So shall we all have one last drink to warm our bones before we descend into darkness to face the ugly stepgrandchildren of a god?"

[Keke Le Cat]

Keke smiled, flashing her fangs, deliberately taking the comment out of context, she said, "If you are offering... I did mention that lycanthropes are a delicacy."

Then smiling apologetically, "Sorry, vampire humor."

[The Editor]

Hunt shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I must go. I have come to the wrong place." She quickly left the inn and headed east beneath the darkening sky. It seemed her journey was beginning anew. Perhaps she would find someone to help her in the wilderness.

Hunt's End

[dragon_berry]

"Oh, little girl, you have no idea. I'm sure." The woman said

Even without his enhanced hearing he noticed there’s something interesting around him. Arc took another sip of his wine and focus on their talks

"I suppose you've never been in a Family and have no real idea about rank and order among our kind. Let me give you a few tips. The older we are, the more powerful we are. I am well over ten times your age. That means that I could easily place you in a silver bound coffin and deny you sustenance for several years. When I released you, if I released you, I suppose you would then have an idea of my power and why exactly I call you child and you follow my lead. If you were sane, when released, that is."

"I have no wish to meet any master, unless they can help me in my journey." the masked girl from before join the conversation in a doubtful tone

"The Master has many hidden... talents. He may hear your petition." The woman paused and smiled. "And once he hears of a new vampire in town, he won't wait for an invitation. He'll find you, and you will act like you like it. He considers himself the most powerful vampire in our realm, and considering he is Master of the City of the capitol, he just might be."

The woman seems to be most ‘informed’ about what’s happening since, I assume, she’s the oldest one around. I think this could be a good thing to kill some time before dusk. The conversation started to get muter. Arc’s held his ears tight and lost his enhanced hearing after a few seconds.

"So shall we all have one last drink to warm our bones before we descend into darkness to face the ugly step grandchildren of a god?" The brown haired man, or who they called Anansi broke the silent.

Arc knows he shouldn’t eavesdrop on their conversation but it was too hard to miss. Vampires? They do put me on a surprise. But this… ‘Master of the City’ is something really interesting. Well, I went this far, it won’t hurt if I just follow them to this ‘Master’. Arc took his robe from the wooden chair and left a few tips at the bar. Stepping out from the inn Arc put on his hood as he followed his way to the ‘Vampire Master’

[global "Warming"]

I stood in front the door of Bad Moon

when I want to open the door four people come out of the door and walk past him, and of course they don't smells like a normal human. I knew that they're just like him. Then a person also come out of the inn and stalking those group. He's not a human but also not an elf too. But I felt that I have met him. So I tried to catch up with him

[Ninetails 009]

Room Number: 27

Name: Fraise Praise

Age: 11

Nationality: Andoria, City 1, the land where the harbour rules

Race: Human

Mutation: Werefrog (Strawberry Poison Dart Frog)

Description:

Click on the pic and get a peek at the animal she becomes.

Personality:
Fraise is young, and very trusting. Almost too trusting. Trusting to the point where if you point and say "Ooh, there's candy at the bottom of that cliff!" she'll squeal "Ooh candy! I love candy! Candy, here I come ~♪" and jump down. Course, she'll turn into a frog on the way down and land unhurt, but she'll still spend half a day at the bottom of the crevasse enthusiastically looking for the non-existent candy. No, she does not have ADHD, but a lot of things do catch her attention easily. With an almost uncanny talent for focus (brought on by her froggy nature, perhaps), she is able to sit as still as a stone, contemplating the object which had caught her fancy, before efficiently moving on to the next thing down her list.

Fraise makes friends very easily too. No matter what the species, she loves almost everyone. She even spends a whole day chittering away happily to little bugs before eating them. Of course this trusting nature tends to result in dangerous types gravitating towards her, but maybe it's because she has the luck of an angel, she always escapes unharmed, maybe even unknowing of the bad fate that might have befallen her. Still, despite being occasionally aware that she (as she puts it mildly) 'might have been hurt', this has not dimmed her trusting nature at all or her voracious appetite for friends. What type of demonical weapon for defense she might have against such shady characters is a secret that is hidden in her backpack.

Perhaps another thing which has resulted in her current predicament is her desire for exploring and seeing the world anew. As a girl who has spent more of her life lounging on feather covered cushions or playing with rich toys with other high-class, parentally-approved kids within golden gated walls or giggling with her home tutor, it is surprising that she is willing to leave all these and spend a night out alone, enduring hardships on the road and camping out in the forest, but to her, that's just the price of trekking towards knowing more of the world.

A last thing is somewhat of a power that she may have been born with is slight powers of hypnosis. She is aware of this but hardly uses it since, to her, it's more or less pointless anyway. She does love humming "All glory to the hypnotoad" though, as a joke. While in frog form, what she loves to think most is just "Boing ~♪ Boing ~♪ Boing ~♪" in time with her leaps.

There's a hint of her getting really psychotic if you push her over the edge, but seeing as there has been no precedent before, there really should be nothing to worry about. Maybe.

Background:
Born a rich but not snotty kid in City 1 of Andoria, the port-side harbour. Though most made their money off the weath of ores that were available in the city mines, Fraise's parents were more business-oriented; they controlled the shipping business. Export and import in Andoria all ran through them, and their wealth grew. Though rich, the couple were legit. They accepted no bribes, and paid proper wages. It was said that the Praise family was probably the only family of high society which no assassin targetted. They ran their business well so that the traders and merchants benefitted, they were fair so the workers were content, and should they be killed for the sole intent of taking over their business, they explosion of social outrage from both high and working class society was enough backlash to make any new or intruding business fail. Though they did not aim for political rule over Andoria, they did hobnob with the rulers of the city purely for social reasons time and again.

Those two parents were extremely protective of Fraise, but they did have a good sense of humour. Hence came her name. Fraise Praise! It rhymed! Fraise didn't find the joke extremely funny, but she did moderately like the name, for strawberries were her fruit of choice.

Fraise's main reason for being out of the streets now was once again, simply pure curiousity. She didn't have a huge quarrel with her parents, she didn't grow tired of the upper classmen's superficiality, she just wanted to explore the world more. Thus, she smashed her piggy bank and off she went, the rich, young, educated girl in the large and lonely world. She keeps all her possessions in her teddy bear bag. She does not have any formal combat training, but she does keep the previously-mentioned weapon in her bag, as well as poison which she can make ooze out of her skin at will thanks to her froggy counterpart. As predicted, when discovering that Fraise was missing, her parents went frantic. At the moment, huge posters of Fraise have been put up all over Andoria, offering a ten million dollar reward for her return, but Fraise is not very concerned. Thankfully, she has eluded capture so far, and will return home when she feels like it. At the moment, she is just in the mood to wander around aimlessly.

She once met a vampire and befriended him. The entranced blood drinker soon attempted to make her his underlining just for the sake of her company, but as soon as his fangs sank deep into her flesh, those teeth hit the poison sacs located right underneath her skin, causing the vamp to release her in a cry of pain. At this point, Fraise apologised profusely and tried to help him, but it was too late. Her friend died by the next dawn. It was the first time that Fraise cried, but then noticing a map falling out of the vampire's belongings, with Bad Moon Inn circled as the place the vamp had stayed the night before, she decided to pay that place a visit too. The last thing she did before heading off was to bury the ashes of her poor friend whose body had disintergrated upon death, give him one last salute as well as a headstone honouring his name, before continuing on her journey again.

How she was Made:
She was wandering in a strawberry field that was next to a rainforest once, when she saw a vividly bright red frog. "Oh, pretty frog!" she cried, and bent down to pick it up. A flash of pain, and the frog leapt away as Fraise slumped to the ground, unconcious. When she next woke up, that was it. After the first full moon, she has since learnt to control her power, and is actually quite happy with it.

Lalala, finished. ^^ Sup Keke, am I supposed to wait for you to accept/reject, or just start?

[dragon_berry]

lol Ninetails!

[global "Warming"]

OOC yay 1 more shifter! (y)

[dragon_berry]

Arc followed the masked woman and the rest through the inn’s door, sniffing his way to follow them. The sun shined too brightly after the rain over. The crowd and the scorching sun made the street tremendously hot. Arc tried to hide himself on shadows. This climate makes me feels burnt! Like yesterday wasn’t hot enough. Arc began to sweat heavily as the road getting more crowded. Arc slowed his steps as he realized someone following him. Taking a few chances, Arc took a quick glance to the guy who trailed after him.

A boy with a short curly hair around thirteen or maybe fourteen stared at Arc with his green eyes. The boy had some sort of tiger ears and an unusually bright pupil. With a simple glance anyone can see that he was morphed.

“Idiots, he became a half-predator but still can’t sneak like one.” Arc muttered silently as he saw the tall boy behind him speeding up his steps. I guess I don’t need to see this ‘master’ guy those peoples were talking about right now. Arc turned and blended in with the crowd and get behind the curly haired boy.

“You dare trying to snoop on me young Boisvert!” Arc said sharply toward the young boy with his usual formal language. “I thought what happened at Z was enough to send you back home!” Arc glared toward the boy.

[global "Warming"]

I'm still following him. Then the road suddenly became really crowded and it's really hard to stalk him.
The heat of the sun not really affect me because I lived in dessert before and It's more hot there. But this kind of crowd
make me hard to blend in and continue stalk him. Suddenly I lose the track of him.

"where is he?" Speak silently. Now I feel that someone stalk me. "Is he the one who stalk me?". I speak silently again

Suddenly someone shout to me from my back. I turn my body and look at him and I was right he's the one who stalk me.

“You dare trying to snoop on me young Boisvert!” He said sharply toward the me a formal language.
“I thought what happened at Z was enough to send you back home!” He glared at the me.

I'm shocked. He talked at me somehow likes he already met me, and what happen at Z? I think I never been there.
Who the hell is this person.

"Who are you?!" I said with dessert elf's accent

[global "Warming"]

OOC sorry if there are many mistake, because I'm posting using my mobile phone.
My laptop being taken away by my mother. So once again sorry

[dragon_berry]

Arc looked deeply into the boy’s eyes. The boy tried to avoid Arc’s glare, both confused and surprised in his face. Arc keeps glaring at the boy and quickly faced away and looked around. So that accident must have really erased his memory. And I thought he was faking to avoid more troubles that time. Well he’s not much of a threat now if he doesn’t remember anything. Shoot, now I have to find a good reason why I know his names. Well I guess it doesn’t matter if I spoke the truth. As long as I don’t tell him anything out of the line I guess it’ll be fine. But let me check it once more.

“You liar, do you think I’d believe someone who killed at least a dozen of people with such a cheap trick?” Arc amplified his voice, although he actually didn’t want anyone heard this one.

[global "Warming"]

What is he talking about?! Kill dozen of people?!

"What do you mean by killeng dozen of people with a cheap trick" I'm still feeling pretty shock about his statement.

I guess he knew better about me than mysel either. I need to dig more information about
myself.

"Who are you?" I said again

[Keke Le Cat]

Inez tugged her hat straight and pushed the door open. Confidently, she walked up to the bar. The floorboards creaked underfoot as she stood next to the little party gathered there to speak with the gnome who was tending bar and unashamedly eavesdropping.

“Umm... Excuse me.” Inez said, her confidence wavering.

“What do you want?” Barked the gnome.

“I'm Inez and I am-” She began, before he interrupted her.

“I'm certain that you are. But that doesn't answer my question. What do you want?” He snapped.

“That ain't proper manners there, sir. I introduce myself and you introduce yourself and everyone knows everyone and we are friendly like. Ya see?” She placed a hand on her hip as she spoke and smiled sweetly.

“They call me Mr. Tibbs.” He said, with a smirk.

“Why do I find that hard to believe?” She grinned at him as though he had told a joke.

“Probably because it isn't so.” He smiled at last. Her momma had always said that if you could get someone smiling with you, then they were halfway on your side already. “M'name is Callahan.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Callahan.” She extended her hand for a shake.

“No, just Callahan.”

“Oh. Right. As to why I'm here... I'm looking for work.” She smiled her winning smile and tried to look cheerful, “I can do practically anything I set my mind to. I am an expert at cleaning, and-”

“Not hiring.” said Callahan, wiping the bar with the same greasy cloth as before.

Big blue eyes filled with tears that trembled on the ends of her lashes in danger of spilling over. “But I-”

“Now, none of the waterworks, miss. None. I won't have it. Do you hear me? None!”

That did it, it pushed her over the gossamer edge. Her tightly held nerves snapped and she sat down on a stool, weeping into her hands. It had been such a long journey and she was so tired. She felt the weight of the moon pressing against her, and her beast writhed in torment, seeking an exit.

“Get hold of yourself, woman. This ain't no place for that. You think you walked into a tea room or your momma's kitchen? Well, you didn't.”

“My momma is dead!” She screeched.

He made soothing gestures with his hands, completely at a loss. “Look, there is a sign up sheet for a little job of work that needs doing over there on the wall by the door. Just put your name on it and follow this here party of misfits when they go out. Keep up, and keep your head down and when you get back, you get paid. You hear? Just don't get yourself killed.” He handed her the dirty cloth. “Here, dry your tears like a good girl and go write your name on that paper.”

She accepted the filthy rag with trepidation, but her eyes were full of gratitude for the gesture. “Thank you, sir. Thank you!”

Sniffling, she wiped her face with both hands before hopping off the stool and walking over to the table to write her name on the sign up sheet.

Apparently she had a job after all. Killing... Godlins? What were they? She had never killed anything in human form in her life, she even brushed spiders into jars and took them out to the garden instead of swatting them. Her cat had quite the appetite though, so how hard could it be? She had dim, hazy memories of clamping jaws down onto the neck, feeling the gush of hot blood as it filled her mouth. The elation of victory, the crunch of bone...

Her cat sat up and took an interest at the thought of killing. It usually laid dormant, napping and waiting for that moment when the moon hung ripe and bright in the sky and her freedom was finally realized.

Uncertain what else she could do, Inez scrawled her name on the list and tried to tamp down her beast.

[Ninetails 009]

If there was a mixture between trudging and bouncing, Fraise was definitely doing a very good job of it at the moment. She was tired, but she was excited, and somehow the mixture of these two high and low emotions were affecting her pacing. Gone was the usual "Boing ~♪" in her steps for she was upon two feet, not four, but if that dratted rain had just continued for a few minutes longer, she deifnitely would have been humming that tune now. A few minutes ago the weather had been nice and wet too, with lots of puddles to hop around and splash around in. Plus it looked so much nicer for a vividly red frog to be hopping down a drenched streets amidst the pouring deluge of angel's tears from the nicely grey storm clouds above, as opposed to a dusty road with the devil's sun beating down on her freckled back. It looked so unnatural then, no wonder people stopped and stared. Thus she was back to bouncing down those very same streets as a two legged creature in lace-covered shoes once more. Just as she made her way up the stairs with a renewed spring in her step, a bunch of people came out. Oddly dressed, too. Probably fellow inn-mates too, then, or perhaps they had just checked out. Either way, as the young girl skipped past the crowd, she could have sworn that at least one (or maybe two?) of those eyes within the group had tracked her as she passed. It was slightly eerie. But no matter! Maybe they'll get to make proper introductions later.

Pushing the door, it swing inwards with a heavy squeak, protest and a tortured groan. Sounded like some hinges needed oiling around here! Bouncing her way to the counter, she chirped "Room for one please! I don't have a friend with me at the moment~♪" The gnome eyed her, maybe suspicious, maybe puzzled. But his grumpy demeanor did fade a little. "Young lass like you, what'ca doing in a place like this? Go home to mummy, girl."

Fraise shook her head. Her golden curls bounced too. "Mummy's busy! Just me and myself in a single room, if you please!" The gnome raised an eyebrow "You got the cash for it?" Fraise nodded, emptying her purse on the tabletop. Coins scattered, rolled and gleamed. The gnome gave a low whistle. "Fine then young missy. Last question. Age of yours, need any protection? Bars or something?"

Fraise shook her head once more, nonplussed. "Why? All I have are friends. I want to see the nice scenery out here!" The gnome finally slid a psuedo silver glided key across the counter. "27" were the large numbers that the key boasted on its handle. As she pocketed it, the gnome gave a final warning. He might have been a grumpy old pig, but this young lass softened his heart. "You know, girlie, there are other creatures of the night on the campus. Fanged ones. Be careful and protect yourself, okay? They're under strict orders to stay good, but just don't run afoul of them and nothing will happen to you. You mentioned that you liked the scenery, so I gave you the room closest to the balcony, but that level is mostly the blood drinker's territory, so mind yourself around them."

Fraise laughed, a cute tinkle. "Don't worry! I know that vamps are good! I like them! They're my friends! Thanks for the room!" She bounced off. As the gnome watched the girl depart, he shook his head. Weird girl. Hope that things turn out alright for her.

As Fraise stepped away from the counter, she wondered that to do. There was no need to go to her room and deposit her stuff, her stuff were all already in her backpack. Maybe there might be some friends around this place? She smiled brightly in happiness and anticipation. Friends!

[Keke Le Cat]

Inez watched the little girl with a worried look marring her forehead. What was she doing in a place like that all alone? Where was her mother? Was she like Inez, an orphan?

She didn't want to meddle, but she also didn't want the girl to run into the same sort of trouble she herself had found. Inez walked up to the girl and smiled down at her.

"Hey sweetie, is everything okay? Where is your mommy?" She tipped her head to the side, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

[Ninetails 009]

Fraise tilted her head. She didn't get why everyone constantly asked about her mummy and not her daddy. To her, both parents were equally precious and were to be treated as such. And it certainly looked like the woman in front of her had much more trouble than she had. Adults almost never cried.

"Umm, no!" she smiled brightly. "I need food though, going out to find some, hopefully! Sweet is waaaaaaaaay nicer than sour." Doing a sudden twist, she rummaged around in the backpack that she slung behind her. "I knew it was somewhere...here!" The girl was triumphant as she pulled out a large, lacey silk hankerchief. She plonked it on the lady's hands.

"Yours." she intoned solemnly. "From me."

[The Editor]

Profile available here.

I'll be pushing ahead a little in this post to get the ball rolling, btw. The chronology starts before current events and ends at them.

Ed.

Isha shivered, drenched from head to toe. The rain earlier had dampened her clothes and spirits in equal measure. Of course she could have just cast a spell to make the sun shine, but she'd been taught that magic was a dangerous thing and shouldn't be used trivially. Sighing she headed for the nearest inn. Hopefully there would be a warming fire inside so she could dry off.

An hour or so later she was sufficiently dry. In the meantime she had heard of a little quest which seemed right up her street. A group of heroes versus a bunch of monsters was exactly the kind of scenario where her skills might come in handy. She signed up with the gnome bartender then set herself down in one of the chairs by the fire.

[Keke Le Cat]

Inez took the gift with the solemnity it was given. Seriously, she replied, "Thank you."

With eyes wide she took off her hat and tucked the hanky into it.

"Behold, the amazing Hat of Holding." She said with a flourish, turning the hat upside down and then spinning it on the end of a finger. With all the waterlogged theatrics she could muster, she tried to amuse the small child. "A kerchief went in, but what will come out?"

Reaching an arm in up to the elbow, she fished around for some time before finding what it was she was seeking. With a triumphant smile she produced a small pale pink spun glass rose with an equally pink ribbon tied to it. She presented it to the girl with a bow and a smile, "For you, my dear. A gift, from me.

"I'm Inez, by the way."

[Ninetails 009]

"Wah, thank you! Yay!" Fraise accepted the return gift with pleasure, though now by effectively transforming the hanky, there didn't seem to be anything for the lady to wipe her tears with again. Fraise comtemplated giving her another hanky, but then the cycle would just repeat.

Untying the necklace around her neck, the girl grunted as she tried multi-tasking between talking and showing her appreciation and getting the new charm safely around her neck without dropping it.

"This...shall...be...the...symbol...for...our...AH HHHH!!!! No droppie! No droppie! Whew, I caught it! Our...friendship!" Finishing both wearing her new good luck charm and her sentence at the same time, the girl smiled toothily up at her new friend. "I'm Fraise! Nice to meet you!"

"What are you going to do now, big sis Inez? I've nothing to do except look for food-" at this point, the surly gnome started saying "Well my dear, we do have a wide selection of-" whereupon Fraise interrupted with an extremely loud stage whisper of "Not that kind of food, my dear! I'm hungry in another way~♪"

And so she awaited a reply from her new found friend. Prospects at the moment were damp and soggy and looking good!

[Qoorl]

Anansi raised an eyebrow as he watched Hunt depart.

"And as One Tale ends, another begins. No matter. We have an epic in the making but we still have plenty of time before any sort of departure."

The man cleared his throat, but a sackful of coins on the counter to pay for a round for the bar, exemptimpg small children of course and hopped onto a chair.

I propose that we swap experiences before departing. It is always fascinating to learn new things about our new friends. Let's pass around... well we don't have a story stick per se, but why bother. Whoever feels like it, lay upon us your tale of weal or woe. It's story time people, who wants to volunteer to go first?"