Tale #1-Bill:

Bill, for all his past has been, likes to live a simple life.

The smell of beer and a wood fueled hearth. Sounds of clinking mugs and slurred laughs. Sights of bright smiles on blushed cheeks, the glow of that hearth, colliding mugs with freshly poured drinks spinning around inside. Those are the senses he's used to, and it has been that way for so long, it feels normal whenever he's around them. It's his tavern, his home, and his area of expertise. The mug that spins effortlessly in his burly hands preaches to that fact, as he wipes it down with a clean rag.

His whole life revolves around this bar, his time spent brewing ale and serving customers. It's a simple life, his simple life, and he wouldn't want it any other way.

Dolgen leans back in his barstool seat, downing half of his ale in two gulps. His backpack, most definitely full of explosives and mining equipment, rests on the floor next to him. Though he still has his helmet on; Bill has never seen him without it resting on his bushy red head. He slams the mug down, letting out a satisfied sigh.

"Graaaah! That hits ther spot!"

He works in vain to wipe excess fluid caught in his beard, then goes back to finishing off his drink. Bill grins, leaning on the bar to get closer to his Dwarven friend.

"How many drinks is that now, six?"

In the firelight, the dwarf returns the smile, moving his emptied mug next to the others.

"Eight."

Bill let's out a barking laugh, taking note that Dolgen is starting to sway in his seat.

"My goodness friend, it's barely noon. You need to watch out or you might kill your liver."

Dolgen makes a noise only drunk people make, it sounds like a guttural burp.

"Oh me liver left me eons ago."

He eyes the barrels that line the wall behind Bill, getting that strange twinkle in his eyes.

"It's meh wallet that needs a lookin 'out fer. Ore don't go for gold these days anymore."

Besides Dolgen, the tavern is basically empty. That makes perfect sense, it's nowhere near the evening yet. Only depressed fools come to drink at this hour, that and dwarves. Bill spots one such fool at the other end of the spacious room, where he has passed out on the table, three mugs of ale surrounding his withering form.

Ludo, a man that is well versed in arts, crafts, and painting. Bill doesn't know how the Painter came to be so gloomy, he never presses the question. It was about a year ago that Ludo first came storming in here, looking for nothing more than to drown his sorrows away. He has been a regular since, and spends more time here than at his own home.

Other than these two, it's quiet silence, a little off-putting for Bill. It's not like it's out of the ordinary, but the town has been especially quiet lately, when the man with the violet sword entered town last night. Bill turns his attention back to Dolgen, drawing a little closer.

"So, what do you think of the newcomer?"

The Demolitionist watches his empty mugs like they have the answer.

"Strange one he is, strong too."

Bill slides Dolgen another drink, which the Dwarf happily accepts.

"That blade of his is a pretty thing, it's not somethin normal folk come across."

Dolgen meets Bill's gaze, he makes a pinching motion with his calloused hands.

"There be something off with him. When he looks at you, he be lookin through you. He don't speak much, and his face be like it made of stone, not a smile or frown in sight."

"So what do you think we should do?"

Dolgen seems to think about it for a moment. Foam slowly drips down his expended mugs, Bill quickly scoops them up to clean them. Dolgen grunts, talking to Bill's back as he stares down at the tan liquid in his mug.

"Nothin we can do, Trevon be our best fighter, we saw how fast the tides changed."

He finishes off the ale, it's his ninth drink now.

"Don't take him as a malicious one, best not to worry about it."

As soon as Bill turns back to face him, something catches Dolgen's eye.

"Fish." Is all the dwarf says.

It's their little signal, it means that there is a child doing what he shouldn't.

Bill wheels around, snatching the shadow that creeps by next to his feet, and brings it up into the light.

"Hey! Put me down!" Shouts Adam, a young boy dressed up like he's ready to go on a fishing expedition.

He's a young one, barely into his double digits. A rambunctious child, and a naughty one at that.

"Let go!"

Bill drops his smile, his bushy eyebrows knit together.

"Adam! how many times do we need to tell you!?"

Dolegn watches as Bill brings the Angler out into the foyer, plopping Adam down on a chair.

"You are too young to drink! You need to stop this... this, this immature attitude!"

For the past few months, Adam has been sneaking in to try ale. As to why, Bill has little clue. His best guess is that Adam wants to prove that he's an adult, show that he's not a kid anymore. It's a foolish way, kid can hurt himself.

Adam averts his gaze, crossing his arms and pouting like, well, a child.

"You can't tell me what to do, bushy face!"

The fire in his eyes as he looks back at Bill, he recognizes that look. He's had the same expression, in his days as a dungeon crawler. When comrades died in his arms, supernatural monsters of this world and the other world came up against him, looking for nothing more than to devastate him with claws and fangs and flames. Bill has since left that look, along with that past behind him. He hopes he never needs to pick up a sword again. He's found a job he likes, a quiet town he can call home. Times are different, Adam doesn't know yet the horrors of the real world, what being an adult would mean. So Bill lets the rude comment about his eyebrows slide.

"Young man, is that any way to talk to someone?"

"Shut up fatty!" Is his reply, and Adam leaps away, running for the entrance.

Bill lets him go, Dolgen sighs.

"How I wish I were youthful again, the lad has it lucky."

Bill nods, crossing his large arms.

"He really is, I think everyone in this town goes too easy on him."

Dolgen winks at him.

"That would be yerself too."

Bill slowly shakes his head.

"I guess I do."

Adam will return, he always does. Bill can only hope that one day, he will return, and stick around. Their relationship doesn't need to be so contentious. "Give em time." Dolgen once said. "If you try intervening, he might be the next Trevon." Just more time. It's all he needs.

A tall figure enters into Bill's tavern, Adam runs right into him. It's as if the kid hit a brick wall, he stumbles back. If it were Eugene, he would have yelled at Adam to watch where he's going, if it were Trevon, he would probably just cuss him out. But the Newcomer stands in the doorway, watching Adam with a look in his eyes Bill could only describe as profoundly confused. And mildly hostile. Adam goes silent, watching Jack as if he were a demon. He whimpers, and does something that Bill never would have expected.

He runs and hides behind Bill.

Jack seems not to take notice, as those sapphire blue eyes scan the room, landing on Dolgen, Bill, Adam's face poking out underneath Bill's elbow, and Ludo, who's still passed out in the corner. No emotion, not a blip. As if he were a statue that gained sentience. It's off-putting, makes danger signals in Bill's head go off like crazy. His sword is nowhere in sight, and he's in clothes that were probably borrowed from Trevon, they look rather silly on him. He reaches into his pocket, and pulls out a slip.

"I need…" He says, squinting at the paper as if whatever is written on it is small. "Two quarts of distilled alcohol…" He whisks his eyes off in a random direction, as if trying to remember something; then makes a small bow with his head.

"Please."

Tale #2-Kati:

"Aw come on!"

Eugene catches the small jar full of dirt that's tossed to him, nearly letting it hit him in the chest.

"This stuff is hard to come by!"

Akbar crosses his arms, looking down at the Merchant. His stark contrast of bright blue and purple silk clothes makes him stand out almost as much as his foreign accent.

"I find no reason in your words Eugene. There is dirt everywhere."

He gestures to the ground, brushing up against the strange sword that's attached at his hip. Eugene points to the jar; Kati, who watches the whole thing, rolls her eyes.

"Not this type of dirt though! It's special."

"How so?"

The Merchant seems to get a little bit happier, which for the penny-pinching old man, it means more mischievous.

"Well, I'm glad you asked!"

"Save your breath."

Kati drawls, propping her elbows on the fencing between her and the conman.

"There's no way we're buying that stuff for… how much again?"

Eugene eyes the dirt bottle, then those wrinkly eyes flick between Kati and Akbar.

"2 gold coins… But I promise you, it's good stuff!"

He seems to explain things with his hands, which to Kati, seems to be a thing parasitic people do.

"It comes from the farthest reaches of the Northern Lands! Word is that it's from a heavenly spring, that one can only find in the deepest ice caves-"

It's easy to tell Eugene is making this up as he goes, from the sparse times Kati has had the luxury to trim his receding hair, she's heard many stories of his. Basically, all of them are laced with lies or half-truths, he probably got that dirt from behind his house or something. Akbar seems to be eating it up though, he's a sucker for rare things.

"It has color changing properties too! I bet it will make a fine addition to your, *ahem*, dye collection."

Akbar touches his chin thoughtfully.

"Well, I have never had a brown dye before, what do you think Kati?"

Eugene drops his smile when Akbar asks for her advice, he knows she's not as easy to fool. She gives a big thumbs down, her long magenta hair sways as she shifts her weight.

"Big no, I wouldn't want a brown dye even if that stuff can make it."

"You're a big buzz kill woman, you know that?"

"Go slag yourself."

Eugene clicks his tongue.

"Temper woman, there's a reason you haven't gotten married yet."

Kati feels a vein bulge in her forehead. It's not like she can't get a boyfriend, nobody in this town interests her, that's all. But it rubs her the wrong way, and her clenched fist comes inches from Eugene's face as she swings it.

"Woah!"

He loses hold of his stupid bottle, and it clatters to the ground. Kati snatches it and throws it as hard as she can toward the river.

"Hey!"

Eugene hops the fence and runs after the bottle as if it really were worth gold coins. He trips on something in the grass but doesn't slow down as he crawls to retrieve his dirt.

"You need to stop trusting people so quickly, Akbar." Kati remarks, eyeing Eugene's primal behavior with a tone of disgust.

"Not everyone is a Saint."

Akbar turns to her, the turban on his head makes him look taller than he actually is.

"Eugene is a good man." He says as if he's trying to defend the Merchant. "Just last week, he gave me a miracle potion that will cure any illness!"

Kati knits her eyebrows together.

"Oh yeah? What'd he call this potion?"

"Snake oil."

Kati bites her lip.

"Wow. He didn't even try with that one."

"So, you know of snake oil?" Akbar asks innocently, it sounds like he thinks it's a real thing.

"Yeah, sure, something like that."

When she turns her head back to Eugene, she freezes up. The Newcomer is there, standing over Eugene like a hawk. The Merchant took notice of the approaching shadow, and has since scrambled up to standing.

He looks terrified, that jar of dirt has been forgotten in his hands. The Newcomer, Jack's the name if Kati remembers right. First time Kati got to see him, it's when he was bare chested, wielding a large sword like it weighed nothing. She would be lying if she said she didn't have an intimate attraction to him, with that muscular body, strong jaw, and almond eyes.

But the hair, that's what really draws Kati's attention.

She didn't know such a golden type of blond existed, she's surprised Eugene hasn't tried shaving Jack and selling his hair as "gold string". He's a figure, but his cold stares and abrasive words are a big letdown. Kati can't place it, but she gets a dangerous vibe from the man, making her skin crawl. But despite the fear, she is incredibly interested in this man. Akbar follows Kati's mindless stare, and cocks a dark eyebrow at Jack.

"Now what could that mysterious man want?" Akbar asks.

Kati pushes herself off the fence.

"One way to find out."

Tale #3-Cherry:

"I'm telling you mom!" Adam shouts, his eyes red from tears. "He is out to get me!"

Cherry places her hands on her hips, unable to do anything but smile skeptically at her adoptive son. Yes, it's weird that he's half her age, but so what? Cherry has seen a lot worse age gaps in other towns, that is, before they kicked her out for causing disturbances during the night. Really, just a bunch of party poopers, the whole lot of them. No matter. So what if this is the only town that accepts her? Nobody here wants to party often, so Cherry usually parties alone… What was she thinking about again? Honestly, she's so scatterbrained, it takes her a moment to realize that Adam's waiting impatiently for Cherry to remember that she's supposed to say something… Oh yeah! That's what Cherry was thinking about! The fact that Adam's twelve, and that Cherry's just barely an adult. Well it's no matter. Cherry doesn't want to get into the specifics of it now, no no no.

Her curly pink hair bounces slightly as she speaks, voice high pitched and joyous.

"The only one out to get you is my party tonight!" She exclaims, making Adam flinch. "Don't worry about the new guy, he's a party animal, I can tell!"

Adam sniffs, pouting the slightest bit.

"How would you know? You haven't met him yet."

Cherry merely shakes her head.

"I don't need to meet someone to know what they're like." She taps the side of her head. "That's my secret weapon!"

Ooh, she gets an idea, and she kinda, maybe sorta. Nah, she completely disregards her son's apparent terrifying run-in with the Newcomer at Bill's Tavern, as an amazing idea pops into her head.

"Oh, I know!" She exclaims, grabbing Adam by the shoulders. "I'll invite him to our party tonight!"

Adam goes pale.

"No please don't."

Cherry grins.

"Awwwww come on! It'll be fun!"

She whisks her eyes back and forth, as if she's checking to make sure nobody else is nearby. There isn't, it's just the two of them in Cherry's house. Her house, to put it frankly, has a lot of pink in it. And a lot of confetti. And a lot of streamers. And a lot of… What was she thinking about again? Oh yeah! There's nobody anywhere remotely nearby, but Cherry puts the back of her hand next to her mouth, as if telling a secret.

"I bet he can do a few cool sword tricks. Wouldn't'ja you think?"

Adam looks partially disgusted, partially astonished.

"I think I'll pass."

She sticks her tongue out at him, but she's internally happy she was able to get Adam to stop worrying.

"Bleeeeeh, you're no fun!"

Adam is a bright kid, he acts way too mature for his age. But he's not even a teenager yet, so there is still so much about this world he doesn't yet know. Cherry has been around some of the worst people this world has to offer at her parties. But she has also been around some of the best, the brightest, the nicest. Jack is a good person, she can tell… though there is a strange sensation he gives off. Makes Cherry's skin crawl, and if Jack ever looks her in the eyes, she feels something that she doesn't feel often. Fear. But Adam doesn't need to worry about that. Jack's intentions are good. Oh! A party really would be the best idea! She'll need to get started right away.

"Just wait right here! I'm going to go fetch some supplies."

Adam watches Cherry run for the door, he messes with his angler's hat he's always wearing.

"Who are you going to get supplies for a party from?"

"Eugene of course!"

She calls back, reaching for the door handle.

"He always has-."

The Newcomer's standing in the doorway when it swings open, making Cherry jump a little. He's nearly a head taller than her, he actually nearly clips the doorway from his height. Only Bill is taller, but that doesn't make Jack any less intimidating. Adam makes a noise, and books it for his room. With a slam, only the Party Girl and Jack are left. Jack slowly retracts his hand, which seemed to be in the motion to knock. He looks slightly confused, and mad. But his eyes, for how terrifying they are, have a hint of embarrassment to them, like he got caught with his hands in the cookie jar. Cherry immediately swallows her fears, her smile doesn't falter for a moment.

"Oh! Howdy Newcomer! What brings you here!?"

Jack hesitates, studying Cherry over. That crazy huge sword of his is nowhere to be seen, though Cherry is pretty certain Jack could pulverize her with just his bare fists if he wanted to. He brings his other fist forward, but instead of punching her, it opens, revealing a little fishing lure. One of Adam's.

"The Angler boy dropped this."

He lets it fall into Cherry's hands.

"At Bill's Tavern."

She gives it a quick glance.

"Oh! Well that's very kind of you."

She was expecting something a lot more monumental, but returning lost possessions isn't something special. Well, at least she gets to talk to Jack for once. Jack turns to leave, and gets a few steps away… until… What was Cherry's idea again? Oh yeah!

"Hey Newcomer!"

She calls, Jack slowly turns.

"Tonight, I'm having a party! You should join!"

Jack is the quiet type, Cherry could tell right from the start. He's a good person, but his cold personality can be off-putting to some people. What he needs is to open up, and Cherry knows the cure.

He needs a party.