As the moon flashed between the clouds, and the cold wind of the north made it's way into the small cave, Siegfried slowly opened his eyes. His tub's water, once almost boiling, was now cold, holding the remains of heat that were fading away. As he slowly pulled himself out of the ridiculously small wooden tub, a chill ran through his back from the cold temperature of the cave.

Siegfried, naked, looks around his only property. The small cave, barely illuminated by the dying fire of the forge and a few torches he placed on the walls gave him a sensation of home. The cave has a rather rectangular form, and was divided in two clusters, separated with convenient round holes. The first cluster, where he was standing, was the living quarter. It's a small instance, composed by the tub he was in at the back, a wooden bed to his left which blankets were mostly animal pelts, and a rather small square wooden table, which has lost it's color and now displays a dying brown color. On top of it lies a bread, and a bottle of Fire beer.. A chair lies next to the table, as old as the table, but definately not in the same set nor style. Behind the chair stands a big wooden cupboard, which drawers doors have been removed, and now show the peculiar collection of dishes and cutlery, most of them from different colors of wood, some of them metal, and some of pottery. To his right, a big board covers the entire wall. Different job offers are scattered around it, linked with linen thread of different colors from one another. Notes written by him are what really stands out, both because of the beautiful calligraphy, and by the size of the letters.

Siegfried sighs, and ventures towards the bed leaving a trail of water behind him, as he is wet from head to toes. He crouches, pulling a wooden rectangular case from below it, scraping the floor as he does so. He opens it, and looks inside as his hair and beard drip water into the multiple clothing items that are held inside, which Siegfried does not hesitate to scavenge between in order to find a cotton towel that almost looks like a rag. After finding it, he places it on top of his head, and closes the case, pushing it back where it came from. He stands up, heading towards the other cluster.

The second cluster of the cave consists roughly the 70% percent of the cave, and it's purpose is easily discovered upon sight. The forge stands in the middle, with a dying fire inside it. Siegfried looks at the anvil that lies to the right of the forge, and the hammer on top of it. Next to the anvil lies the slack tub against the wall, with the water almost gone from previous uses. The rest of the cluster is filled with large wooden tables, on top of which lie several armors and shields, most of them broken or heavily damaged. At the back of the forge the moon can be seen through the entrance, shyly peeking through the dark clouds around it, that are being carried away by the midnight's wind in a rush.

Siegfried heads to the entrance, as he uses the short towel to dry his hair, and looks outside. The woods below move with the wind, the leaves struggling to hold it's grip to the branches, like rejecting the fact that winter is already here. A fox can be heard in the distance, howling with a rather high pitched tone. The path down the entrance is slowly eroding, as the wind fights to take the soil away, like if it was trying to prove something.

Siegfried now proceeds to dry his beard, ignoring the fact that he is both naked and at the mercy of the harsh temperatures of the night. After making sure his beard and hair are dry enough, he proceeds inside while drying his body with the now soaked towel, that now not only looks like a rag, but also smells like it. He goes to the living cluster, and after searching into the case below the bed, dresses up with the first items he finds.

He then proceeds to sit on the chair, sitting on it carelessly of the wood's scream for help due to his weight, and breaks the bread in two, taking a bite of the hard and old bread partition. As he struggles to chew the rock that calls itself bread, he opens the bottle of Fire beer and takes a sip of the spicy drink inside, helping him chew. As he leans back on the chair, still chewing the old bread, he remembers the good meals his companion Ryuk used to make, most of them meats from diverse animals, including boars, bears, wolves, and if he was lucky, cats. She has been with him for years now, helping him find peace and to hold his sometimes brutal characteristics at bay. From the day the met, till now, 4 years had passed.

"It was a beautiful day of Summer, around noon. The sun was high on the clear blue sky, with no sight of a cloud nearby, as if they were afraid to face the unbeable heat. The Tower District was almost empty, as most people were either sleeping the heat off, or working inside their shops, safe from the sun. Siegfried was walking through the tight streets, looking for a tavern in which to rest from the long journey. He felt the sweat under his plate armor running down his body, making him feel highly uncomfortable as it did not seem something a 'True Man' would experience. After taking a turn to the right, he noticed a big building on a small hill, almost looking like a Oasis in an infinite desert. It was clearly a tavern, not only for the laughter and loud chatter that came from inside, nor the big sign in which the name of the stablishment was written, but mostly to the multiple individuals regretting drinking too much that were in front of the tavern, having a bad time digesting the fact that they were vomiting the whole ammount of alcohol they just drank, and that their wives would happily torture them after finding out they have been wasting the day between whores' boobs. Neither way, he felt relief to have found his oasis, and quickly headed for the entrance.

Opening the door was a big mistake. The chatter heard from the outside was nothing compared to the screams emanating from the people of the overpopulated tavern, trying to communicate desperetely. It was even hard to think. But that was not the worse part: the smell hit him shortly after. There was no word to describe the foul stench that flooded the taven, but a combination of poorly washed armpits and fresh vomit would be a good approach, without counting the horrific smell that was probably coming from the junk of a dozen prostitutes. Despite all these unpleasant details, Siegfried headed inside, pushing his way through the crowd, most of them being commoners, merchants, or simply boozers. The tavern was circular, and had two floors. In the middle stood the bar, and to it's sides some round stairs towards the second floor. The rest of the space was taken by tables filled with folk, causing the remaining customers to stand on foot on the back of the tavern.

The long and exhausting journey to the counter came to an end eventually, finally able to see the last amount of people that stood between him and his drink. Seeing the bar was overpopulated, he quickly spotted a boozer that was simply lying on the far right side, holding his pottery flaggon tightly with his hand, not being able to accept the fact that he can't take anymore as his stomach is already full, and that he'll have to return to work under the nightmarish sun. Siegfried approached him, and placed his hand on his shoulder, causing the boozer to open his eyes, and barely look at Siegfried's comforting smile, which for a moment made him feel better. That quickly changed when Siegfried pulled his shoulder backwards, making the man slide off the bar and loosing balance from both the strenght of the pull and the ongoing effect of the multiple drinks he has had. He somehow managed to spin to avoid falling on his back, which seemed important at the moment. Fortunately for him, the tavern was way too overpopulated for him to fall on the ground, so instead he landed between a whore's breasts, who was surprised for a moment, but then realiced she had a customer to rob in some alley, so she simply laughs and pushed the boozer's face deeper between the two mountains that were her breasts. It was then when the man's stomach gave up, and decided to spill the contents ingested in the tavern, the breakfast, and part of last night's dinner through one of the two possible exits. Seeing both options would be fatal for the poor man, the stomach seems to give him a bit of dignity, and spilled it's contents through the man's mouth, directly between the whore's sweaty breasts, which was followed shortly after by a high pitched scream from the woman, as she felt the hot substance on her skin, and falling down under her dress towards the stomach's corset.

Siegfried, now positioned on the bar, raised his hand towards the barman, who turned out to be a half-orc, but being as ugly as a full one. He ordered a beer, as long as it was dwarven, and was inmediately served a pottery flagoon filled with a foaming beer, to which Siegfried did not hesitate to attack fiercely, drinking half of the beer before even realizing the foul taste of the beer, which seem to explain part of the tavern's stentch. Even so, the drink felt good, as it was rather cold, and therefore refreshing.

"...he's not going to make it. Just you watch."

Siegfried heard the comment coming from the left, and identified the speaker as a half-elf dressed as a simple farmer. He turned to the left, leaning his heavy plate armor on the bar, and looking towards the scene the half-efl and his human friend were watching. He quickly realiced what they were talking about. A young girl was a few seats away from them, sitting on a stool in a refined stance, while she stirs the wine inside an abnormaly clean glas, using the other hand to hold her head as her elbow was resting on the bar. She had straight long dark hair, and perfect face features. Her clothes were mostly made of leather, fitting perfectly, and showing smooth curves of the body below it. To her left, a Sun Elf was giving his best trying to caught her attention, as he's been ignored completely by the beautyful woman, without success. He did not last long, as she simply continued stiring the wine. He returned to the Half-efl and the human next to Siegfried, not saying a word and simply extending his hand towards the human, and opening it to reveal a silver coin.

The human takes it laughing, and watching the beaten Elf heading to the exit, now knowing he is not as irresistible as his mother usually told him.

Not wasting a moment, Siegfried took part of the coversation, as both free coin and a woman for the day is not a bad combination at all.

"I bet I can get her in 30 seconds." - Said Siegfried with his tenor voice, giving a new meaning to the expression "loud and proud". The Half-elf looked back, with raised eyebrows and gave Siegfried a quick look from top to bottom, turning to his human friend, in order to release an almost histerical laugh. Seeing that Siegfried's expression did not change, they stop laughing suddenly, and after cleaning cleaning his throat, the half-elf talks.

"The bet is finding out her name, but seeing your enthusiasm, I'll bet you a quarter gold." - The half-elf smirks, knowing that he'll never make it. Seeing Siegfried's determination, his smile slowly fades away, as he now realices that he does not have that amount of money.

Siegfried looks at the woman once more, and proceeds towards her, grabbing his flagoon with him.

Ryuk, sick of this tavern, it's smell, and above all, every drunk man who thinks he has a chance just by talking of the amount of pigs he owns, or how dangerous selling arrows is. She sighs, and takes a sip of her wine, which is actually nice and well made. As she places the glass down, and readies herself to stand up, she caughs a glimse of someone approaching. As she turns her head to the right, she is inmediately amazed by the man's apparence. A tall, blond man, with blue eyes, in a big shining plate armor, walking slowly towards her with a serious expression, holding a pottery flagoon in his right hand. His long hair partially covers his face, and the rest is covered by a well fashioned beard, but even then she realices he is as handsome, and as perfect as the tales of knighs she always loved. As he approached, her heart began to beat heavily inside her chest, and her stomach seemed to have shrinked under the man's gaze. He was obviously coming towards her, so she swallowed the wine, and cleared her throat in order to accept the courship that was about to take place.

Siegfried arrives next to the woman, who is staring at him with a slightly open mouth. He decides knows what to do, so he displays his best smile as he places the flagoon next to her glass, and leaning sideways on the bar, as close to her as possible, feeling as his greaves slightly graze her knees. He then proceeds to seduce her, with his loud and proud voice, a mistake Ryuk ignores.

"Hello, woman." - Siegfried's bad choice of words confuse Ryuk for a moment, but she is still caught into the man's gaze, so she ignores it.

"What's your name?" - Ryuk realices the poor introduction of the man before her was a simple mistake, and now the tale of the damsel and the knight continues as it should, despite the peculiat way of communication that the man uses.

"It's Ryuk..." - Siegfried, satisfied with the result, slowly turns his head back, towards the amazed half-elf and his friend, who are looking at him while searching for a word to describe the awe. Siegfried returns his gaze towards Ryuk, not being able to resist to quickly inspect the woman's body, which seems even better than before.

"Tell me, Ryuk. Would you like something to drink?" - Ryuk tilts her head lightly, not wanting the image of the man before her to fade away like if it was a dream. She blushes slightly at the mental image of the man's body, as he carries her towards the sunset while reciting a poem for her, as they live in a palace and she is surrounded by luxuries he buys for her every day, and he brings her fresh flowers every morning, waking her up with a gentle kiss that tastes like berries...

"No? Well, let's get a room and have some fun together. I might even let you touch my pectorals." - Siegfried just finished his sentence, as he felt the swift palm of the woman hitting the left side of the face, making him turn it towards the bar. Caught by surprise, he does not move, but tries to think of the motive of this attack. Suddenly, he sees the woman's left hand grab his flagoon, and before he can react a severe blow to the head greets him, as the pottery flagoon breaks against his head, spiling the dwarven beer on his head. His upper body falls on top of the bar, mostly due to the surprise, and he simply stays there, thinking. He hears laughter to his right, and slowly pushes himself up, looking at the left where the woman once was, and then turning towards the laughter.

The half-elf and his human friend, among some boozers with their respective whores are laughing almost histerically, holding each other in order to avoid falling. He sighs, and realices that he lost the bet, the woman, the beer, and the coins. After a quick beating to the half-elf and his friend, which caused the rest of the amused crowd to quickly dissipate between the population of the tavern, he gave the coins to the half-elf, now lying on the floor with broken nose and hands, and left.

Siegfried swallows the hard bread with the help of the Fire beer, and looks down at the rest of the disgusting meal. He stands up, leaving the bread on top of the table, and goes to the next cluster in search of his armor. After a complete inspection on it, and the whole process of putting it on, he returns to the table, and takes the fire beer bottle with him, to calm his hunger on the long journey to the nearest village.