In-Character RP: No Stone Unturned

[Viciviser]

It is just at nightfall and a wiry lizard-folk enters the tavern. Clad in blue scaled skin with orange spots, a near headdress level of feather-hair, and a gecko face fit with a knowing grin he glances at everyone around. Yet the smile slips off his face soon after moving. His eyes scan the room again, quick and measured just as his stride is. His yellow-green eyes flash with purpose and yet he almost looks distracted.

The tavern itself is built of brick and wood with a mostly wood interior. It has a lofted ceiling with room for a second floor mezzanine. The hearth lacks a fire as it is still very warm before the turn of the hot season. The bar is lined with many folk of all races drinking and chatting amongst one another. Nothing all that loud or raucous at the moment. Many are garbed in armor and carry weapons, but no one is allowed to carry a weapon unsheathed unless it is strapped along the back. This is a place where adventures, soldiers, and mercenaries alike gather to find business, relax from travels, and maybe even swap stories of their experiences.

The gecko seems to only have a shield strapped to his back; ovular and made of a sleek metal. It almost looks like a loose shell. No upper garments either. Just some shorts. The shield with no weapon gets him a few odd glances. He moves unhindered, slipping easily past anyone that gets in his path. He stops in front of a large wall all to itself which has postings all over it. To the left are the stairs to the upper level and to the right is the bar. The bartender is a middle-aged minotaur gentleman who has many old injuries as if he had seen a lot of battle in his younger years. He laughs often and drinks a shot or two himself now and again. He gives a slight wave in acknowledgement to the gecko.

The lizard man nods to the bartender before reading his post. He notes if there are any names or messages written on it. He smiles as he takes the pin down and scans the crowd yet again but this time looking for those that might fit the name, description, or anything else written.
"I see I have some takers," He says loudly but not quite at a shout, "Can those who wrote on this-" he indicates the page, "-please speak up so I can meet with them?"
He asks with a cool and relatively polite tone and demeanor. Not shy but not bold. Neither boring but nor incredibly memorable in his speech. It made it easy for those not involve to quiet down for a moment and then turn away and go back to what they were doing.

He looks around expectantly in hopes that his responders are still present this evening.

[Talix]

[feraldraco]

Krebbic, the large crocodilian had lived his entire life in a nearby swamp tribe, until his family and most of his other tribesmen had caught an infectious disease that resulted in a few more deaths than Krebbic could bear. Stricken by grief, he took the saber-tooth necklace that his mother wore, and put it around his own neck as the only token of his family's memory. With that, he left the confines of his native swamp home, hoping to get enough city money for medicine so he can nurse the remaining few tribesmen back to health.

***

He has been staying near the alley for only a few days, and he still isn't getting the hang of how to fit in with the inhabitants of the city. Krebbic nearly jumps from his seat and runs straight to where he heard the call, the floor trembling with his every step. As he slows down to a stop, he notices the two people who, as he assumed, were the people he was supposed to meet. Taking a few moments to observe these two exchanging what seem to be a pretty awkward greeting, Krebbic only managed to make that greeting a bit more awkward. "Hello! I be Krebbic, I do what you tell me!" He clenches his fist and pounds his ample chest after saying his piece.

[Viciviser]

There's some creature approaching the gecko and at first he's not sure what he's observing. It seemed to be a man in armor, but there was something off about it especially given layers of clothing on top of the armor. Let alone the way the eyes glowed... The gecko widens his eyes slightly with a realization but he does not bother with inquiry.
"Eliizer." He replies to Talix as he shakes the knight's offered arm at the forearm.

Not a moment later a hulking lizard man approaches and introduces himself in an outburst as Krebbic. Eliizer looks up at first, then down. His eyes specifically avoid staying too long in any one spot. Eliizer has a crook of his mouth in discomfort at such a brazen male unclothed in public. Still his eyes take on a sheen of approval.
"Ah, oh.. okay. Umm, Krebbic. I was not expecting that sort of loyalty from a complete stranger, but it will no doubt make this job astoundingly easier."
The minotaur bartender grinned at Krebbic. Happy to see another big guy standing above the crowd. But he said nothing and kept to cleaning and dropping off more rounds.

The gecko glanced around to see if anyone else was approaching and then looked back up to Krebbic.
"In case you did not hear, I am Eliizer. I am the one who left this post."
He said and motioned to the paper. He then alternated between looking at Talix and Krebbic as he explained.
"Other than a few instances where I was forced to interact with other explorers, I typically work alone. This is not a typical job. I found my own skills not enough to get me in, out, and with my prize."
He winced at the thought. Not only due to the hit to his pride at being self sufficient but also...
"Let alone I suffered severe injuries and had to seek a healer. This job is an extreme danger to life and limb. Are you certain you both have good conscience signing up? I cannot afford for anyone to turn back or flee should they join me in this."

[Talix]

Talix glances over at Krebbic,
"A large fellow," he thought, "I like working with a strong front-line, but this guy is a front-line! I'll need to keep up."
And then back to Eliizer, who contrasts drastically in size from Krebbic,
"Although, if this mission is as dangerous as he says it is," Talix plans, "then, perhaps I should focus on keeping the client safe... we'll see."
Hopeful, Talix straightens himself up a bit, "Yes, Eliizer," and bowed slightly, "you have my word. I shall try and have no harm come to you on our mission."
He gives the gecko a friendly, reassuring smile.

[feraldraco]

All that Krebbic can manage at the moment is to stare at the little lizard with the shield. As if using what little he knew about the common language wasn't enough, whatever came out of the lizard's mouth was just absolute nonsense.

Oh well. Krebbic just nods along, and waits for the introductions to stop so they can get to doing their job.

[Mei]

A white wolf sits at a table in the corner, sipping on her drink. She is curvy and lean, dressed in light leather, with a short green skirt and tall high-heeled leather boots. Her hair is purple and pink and is braided to the side. She is listening intently to the conversation that the other creatures are having. Her purple-tipped ears twitch when she hears the word 'healer'. Once the drink is finished, she reaches into her coinpurse only to find it completely empty, minus a a few fuzzballs.

"Again?!" Mei exclaims, and glances quickly around. "Maybe I can make a run for it?" She begins a dash towards the open door, but trips over herself and lands face-down in front of the three adventurers. With a loud clatter and jingling of chains, two large, glowing scythes slide from the straps on her back and onto the floor. She turns completely red at the cheeks and bolts straight upward into a rigid-backed sitting position.

"H- hi..." Mei manages to stutter. "So, I hear you are looking for adventurers to join your party!!" She grins, changing the subject to distract from the scene that was just made. "I might be interested, seeing as I might have to kill just to get out of this tavern alive, my tab is enormous..." Mei shakes her head in regret and stands up. "Nice to meet you," she curtsies, "I'm Mei." She picks up the scythes and repositions them onto her back, wrapping the attached chains around them. "People call me a shaman of sorts. I can bend the elements to my will." She notices everyone starting to give her incredulous looks. "Fine! I'll prove it!!" Her large, floofy tail bristles with irritation.

She stomps over to the nearest table and sees a glass of water in a patron's hand. The wolf stares at the glass, closes her eyes, and takes a deep breath while muttering something inaudibly. The water leaps from the glass, soars around the table, and shoots directly into the stunned patron's face. "Oops!!" She shrieks, as the bear who is now soaking wet stands up, towering over her. "So.. so.." She begins backing away from the bear, "as I was saying..." She glances at Eliizer, widening her eyes as if to say 'get me out of this mess!!!' "I can even heal a little bit! It's not my specialty, but minor cuts, bruises and breaks are not a problem!" She groans as the bear starts towards her, still holding the empty glass.

[Talix]

Talix watched the events play out rather worriedly, and as the bear customer began to advance towards Mei, he hesitated, but finally stepped between the two as he reached into his own coin pouch and sighed, pulling out a couple silver pieces.
"This should cover it," as he handed the money to the angry bear, "hey, don't get me wrong, I don't know her." He added quickly.
Talix looked at Mei with a slight concern in his eyes, or was it disapproval?
"Er, you alright?" glancing away as he asks to look at Eliizer's reaction.

[Mei]

Mei lowered her head slightly and looked to the side, ashamed. "I'm sorry... my clumsiness got in the way again. I am fine, thank you." She was taken aback by the stranger's kindness. "So, what do you say, boss?" She instantly cheers up and questions Eliizer.

[Viciviser]

Eliizer smiled a bit at Talix's response. So polite. He thought before turning to Krebbic who seemed to be staring blankly at him. Eliizer raised a brow slightly wondering if the giant reptile understood, but he nodded so the gecko did not ask him again.

There was a crash as someone fell in front of him, and the gecko had already climbed up a few feet on the post behind him. Not out of fear but certainly overly wary as he narrowed his large eyes at the wolf woman. He at least gave a nod of acknowledgement when she curtsied to them.

Surprisingly she offers to join in on this job and showed off her magic... haphazardly. Eliizer jumped down from the post and looked at the minotaur bartender, who then reached out to get a hold of the bear and sit him down, but Talix offered to pay before the minotaur laid a hand on the bear's shoulder. The minotaur smiled and took the money as he gave the bear a new drink. But he gave a harsh glare at Mei. He knew her and her tendency to slip out without paying.

Eliizer blinked and looked Mei over as she asks him if she could work with them or not.
"I guess, if you feel you understand what's happening. I hope you don't hit us with anything if you use magic like that in combat."
He said as he obviously was still gauging the wolf.
"Nice axes. You'll be needing those." He commented cryptically.

Eliizer motioned to the stairs, "I have an area above where I can give the details of where we are going and what we are looking for."
With that he went up with a quick pace, eager to get explanations out of the way and on the road. Or maybe he did not like all of this interaction just standing around and drawing attention.

He came to separate booth rooms. Two of the four were taken with groups lounging, gambling, and smoking. There was one in the corner, large enough to accommodate them, including Krebbic, comfortably. He sat back against in the booth seat against the wall and motioned them to sit around him.
"I'll be brief. You three, along with a veteran wolf ranger I hired, are to help me infiltrate ruins which harbor a fabled stone. Fabled, but I have accounts that make it very likely a real object. I also have the sole advantage of having retrieved a similar stone already which was verified to be the artifact from legends. Now I am after this other one."
He paused a moment to make sure they were following and continued.
"The ruins themselves are the danger. The area is prone to cave-ins, inside still has many working traps, and I have come across a few dangerous creatures within... actually one nearly got me killed. I thought it was dead... A rotting dragon which has been animated somehow. Krebbic, I will need you for a specific task of moving a few caved-in areas. Between the dragon and the cave-ins I have not been able to get to the prize."

He made quite a few annoyed faces while recounting, especially when mentioning the dragon. He paled a little and seemed angry with the way his mouth down turned.
"Do any of you have questions that need to be answered now? I can explain more on the way if needed. Also if this doesn't sound like what you would want to sign up for you can turn back now."
Especially since he had been vague enough that they could not compromise his goal if they decided to leave and start asking about 'some stone' in 'some ruins.'"