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As soon as you finally enter Bhern village's large, gray-iron gates after having waited for hours before being verified and deemed fit to enter, you heard a girl's voice start speaking to you out of nowhere:
"Hello, Hiya, Yo! Welcome to the village of Bhern; the final resting place of the tyrannical Dragoness Veralinn, slain by the great King Alderic the 3rd, who was born and raised in this very village!

...Well, guess I'll tell ya how things work around here, seein' as ya look like you'll need some directions. Now, lets see- despite the famous events wrought here, we don't get very many outsiders coming in, except for cult fanatics and whackjobs who are always tryin' to perform some ancient and probably forbidden black magic. I'm gettin' off topic- as I said, not many visitors, though recently we've had more people coming by then ever! The last time this many outsiders showed up, was when Queen Arev disappeared..."

"Anyway, please enjoy yer stay here! Just follow the town rules; No exploring the mountain and Monument without an Elder's permission, no going into the forest at night- for your own safety, of course! I'm the only exception, seein' as I live there with my flock. Aaaa-nd... be kind to our people! We don't appreciate strangers just barging in and demandin' stuff from us, or going through our things! Now, what else should I tell you- hmm... oh, I know! There's a tavern where you can rent a room- though now that I think about it, there might not be many left with how many people we've got visiting. There's always more places to find rooms- the people of Bhern are such friendly folk, ya see! There's plenty of places to buy nearly any item you'd need- or trade, if you've got no coin- but between you an' me you get any offers for genuine dragon bone, it's fakes. The Elders would never condone sellin' anythin' like that.

"Uh, lastly i'd recommend bein' careful 'round here- There's a bunch of people gettin into fights lately- probably about Queen Remilia takin the throne, or whatever it is all these snobbish nobles get their silk knickers all in a twist about!"

The fairly odd-looking girl who'd just started speaking to you as soon as you'd entered the town gate finally stopped speaking, and immediately starting another conversation with someone else who'd just come in before you could say or do anything. If you bothered to listen, you'd hear that she was explaining the same thing she'd just said to you, with very little deviation in her little lecture. She oddly reminded you of a goat.
Of course, it was getting rather dark, and with how exhausted you were from travelling, you'd figured it would be best to try and book somewhere to sleep for the night, and get some food if possible, before you started on whatever it was that you came here for.




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Skata raised an eyebrow at the strange girl at the gate, quickening her pace as she stepped around her. She made sure to stick to the sides of the street, largely unnoticed and out of sight. Her dark gray cloak swept around her ankles as she came to a stop near the entrance of a small alleyway, glancing around a bit to make sure no one was watching before stepping into the shadows. The change was natural, smooth and quick as she slipped into the form of her namesake, black and blue feathers vaguely iridescent, the white of her wings almost icy.

The magpie looked largely average, except for the violet glint in it's knowing eye, and wasted no time in taking to the skies. She soared over buildings as she neared her destination, close to the market's entrance, perching on a nearby roof. She sat in wait, her keen eyes observing the bustling crowd of people in the streets, watching for any dropped coins or similar prizes, swooping down to scoop them up and return to her perch. This behavior was common for Skata, one of her favorite ways of gathering spare change and trinkets in new cities. A strange avian smile slipped across her features for a moment before resuming her watch.

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The quiet noise of black, flat shoes on stone could be heard by the people walking next to her. She glanced around whenever someone stared at her and whispered. The girl continued on her way to go to the market. She took out the black leather pouch and opened it when she was out of a bit of traffic. She had some bronze coins, with gold and silver ones too. But sitting in the bag was a necklace made of jewels. The jewels were a dark green color and complimented her grayish blue-green eyes very well.

She stared at it for a moment before closing the bag and strolling off to go to the market. People glared in her direction as she shrank away, flinching. She kept walking until she reached the place she was going to. "Ah, Lauren!" the woman sang out, while her son sat down next to her, his arms crossed. "O-Oh! Hi Miss Aligarch... Hi...Sebastian." She took out a few coins and put them down. The woman bent down and grabbed something, putting the item on the "table".

Lauren nodded in a thank you before picking the object up. Miss Aligarch, like herself and Sebastian, were able to use magic with ease, if they had a wand with them. Sebastian's mother was able to read minds, though she didn't really care much about that. She found herself walking home alone, thinking about Sebastian and why he was so arrogant.

"Thank you. Your advice is much appreciated." Ivy said to the girl. As she walked to the inn, she could tell there was a lot of people here. She had to get a room there. The rest if the rebels were coming in a week. If she didn't prepare herself.... She would let the prince down.

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Kovu offered a bright smile to the odd girl as she had explained the town to him with a gentle thank you before she disappeared. Strange, it certainly wasn't his first visit here, but that was the first time he had ever gotten one of those introductions. It was a fairly pleasant surprise to him. His vibrant eyes scanned the crowds of people curiously as he began to walk down the road, trying his best to keep himself look nonthreatening and avoid running into other passerby's.

It has been quite a while since he had actually been to this town in particular, perhaps somewhere around a hundred years ago. None of the children recognized him but they certainly noticed the tall man. He smiled warmly when one little girl ran towards him and tugged lightly on his pant leg.

"Sir? Could you help us? Our toy got stuck in the tree..." The little girl asked shyly when Kovu crouched down and gave her another bright smile.

"Well of course, who am I to say no to a pretty face?" He chuckled and made the girl blush, but she lead him to where her friends were waiting, beneath a large tree. He couldn't quite reach where the toy was caught but the little girl had him pick her up so she could grab it herself. Kovu decided that he would rather have fun for a moment, it's been awhile since he had. So he sat on the ground to play with all the kids and decided to do what he needed to right before he left for home.

Lamb, who'd just finished giving her final little introduction to the final person through the iron gates before they'd closed for the night. "Bah- I really hope everyone actually listened to me. It'd be a shame if they started causin' a ruckus in my village-" she sighed, before smiling as she usually did. "Now- time for me to go get my babies!" She said cheerily, as a few of the villagers gave her a friendly look and a wave. She quickly grabbed her ironbark-wood staff - which she called her sheephearding stick, immedietly after heading towards the barn where she'd left her flock.


Prince Elodios sighed quietly as he relaxed in a rather large and luxurious tent, having heard that the gates to Bhern were already locked and shut tight for the night. Plus, having to deal with emissaries and nobles who often came by begging for a meeting with him, just to try and demand that he challenge his sister to a duel immediately. "First of all, I have no desire to fight my sister at all- I hope that I'll be able to talk to her about this whole thing. Secondly- I'd lose immediately. My sister is a far better swordsman than I,-" was his usual response. He sighed agsin, took off his glasses, snd laid on the fine silk hammock that'd been set up for him to sleep in, wondering endlessly about the whole situation of him becoming some rebellion's figurehead, and of his sister sudden desire to be queen.

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Derc gave the girl at the gate a polite nod as she was done talking to him and moved onto the next person to enter. He was so going to break the rule about not going to the forest at night. If the rule truly was put in place to protect the safety of the citizen, he wouldn't even feel guilty for not following it. Surely, he was far safer in the woods than a stupid dead stone maze packed with too much people.

Speaking of people, Derc gripped the strap of his bag flung over his shoulder slightly tighter as he walked through the streets. He was getting The Look and some were avoiding him. Nothing groundbreakingly new there though, he was making them uncomfortable and that made him uncomfortable. Therefore Derc quickened his pace and took a turn to a street that didn't look as crowded. Then he took another turn. And another. And in no time, he was lost.

"This is why I do not like cities," Derc muttered under his breath as he looked around with a small frown. Everything always looked the same. Too many buildings and streets. He couldn't see far enough, his vision was always blocked by some ugly construct too soon no matter where he looked, which made it hard to figure out where exactly he was. Of course, the best option would be to find a tall building and climb on top of it to see the layout of the city. However, it was getting late and he was losing light way too fast. He wouldn't be able to see enough.

"This... is problematic," the poor lost bek told himself as he tried to form a plan B. And ultimately failed. So akin to the very nature of his people, Derc merely continued walking. He'd run into something useful eventually, things tended to solve themselves if you stayed in motion.

((Using an NPC for a few posts, just for a bit of RP "drama".))

Lauren stared at the trinket when she had reached a stone bench. It was a glass orb with a glowing, though not brightly, galaxy swirl in the centre. It was on a golden colored stand. As she thought about what to do, a man sat next to her. "Whatcha got there?" he asked. She scooted away from him, glaring. "You have f-five seconds to move away. Please." They were locked in a stare for five seconds before Lauren stood up and started to walk away. She felt something grip her arm.

"Let go!" she squeaked, turning around and pulling her arm out of his grip. Clutching her money bag and her new trinket tightly, she tore off, hoping she could get away. When she saw he wasn't following her, she sighed and stopped running, walking toward another bench when she was stopped. Him again. "What do you want? I thought this looked interesting so I got it. There, I don't know what it is! Now go away!"

She took a few steps backward before dashing off once more. What was up with this guy? She had never been so afraid before. Perhaps Sebastian or his mom could help her. As much as she hated Sebastian, he might be able to help. She was intercepted by the man once more. "Stop. Running. Away!" he yelled, striking his hand across her face. She staggered backward, shocked.

"Please, just stop chasing me! Leave me alone!" She moved backward a few more steps, hitting a wall. She realized that she had imagined everything. She thought she was looking for a bench, but in reality, she had wandered into the dark alley between two buildings. "Get away!" She put the strings of her money bag on her wrist and feebly reached for her wand.

Skata had long since been dome with snatching from the passerby, and was now resting on the roof of a building overshadowing an alley. She was quite content nesting there with several other birds, until the sounds of a scuffle caused most of her perchmates to flutter off.

With an annoyed clack of her beak, she peered over the side of the building to see what was causing the disturbance. It appeared to be a man seeking to rob a young girl, who was quite obviously distressed. Skata gave a displeased hum, shuffling over to the edge of the building, her form doubling in size.

With a screech, the bird swooped down at the man, sharp claws scrabbled for a grip on his scalp as two of her avian friends followed. Now, magpies aren't exactly small birds, so it was likely quite a surprise to the man to be accosted by such an abnormally large one, not including the two smaller ones that followed. As the man attempted to shoo the corvids off, Skata snapped her beak on one of his fingers, causing him to recoil in pain, spouting a curse or two.

After several moments of being attacked by a small flock of aggressive birds, the man seemed to have forgotten his objective of accosting the girl in favor of not having his eyes pecked out. With several swears and curses, he fled down the street, only escaping the harsh claws of the corvids as he rounded the corner. With a pleased clack of her beak, Skata and the magpies returned to the girl, their intelligent eyes seeming to be judging her condition, the tilt of her head implying an unspoken "Are you alright?"

---

Lamb sang out loudly as she traveled through some of the darker alleyways, trying to get away from the rush of travellers who were running about trying to find whatever- there had already been 4 idiots who'd tread on her previous sheep's hooves! So she was leading her precious flock through the more deserted alleys, when she'd heard quite a loud scuffle. "Oooh, let's shee-p what it is, shall we?" She murmured with a little grin, patting the wool of one of her sheep. "Come along now!" She'd said loudly, herding the flock into the little alley. "Ahoy! Who goes there? Please refrain from doing any illegal businesses in- Oh. It's just a little girlie. And a big birdie. And more little birdies." She'd said, a bit surprised as she looked at the small group in the alley.

"Huh. Guess nothin' illegals happening here- unless you're being accosted by those birdies-" she hummed, tapping her staff against the ground. "Don't seem to be the case though. Those birdies get real mean 'n loud when they're trying to take your shiny things." She finished her thought with a little satisfied smile. "Maybe she's lost? Do you think she's lost, Woolsey?" She asked a rather large sheep who was butting his head into her hip. Abother sheep let out a quiet "Bahhh." And Lamb had held her hands up. "Oh, good idea, Mary!" She'd exclaimed, before turning to the girl in front of her, surrounded by unusual birds. "Do 'ya need some help gettin' home, little one? Mary here's offered to take ya home herself! If you need it, of course.-" she rambled on happily.

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Lauren yelped in surprise at the group of people next to or in front of her. "Lauren!" She turned to see Sebastian and his mother. "Oh goodness, darling, we saw him chasing you, we weren't here in time... Are you okay?" Miss Aligarch asked. Lauren nodded. "I...I'm fine. Don't worry everyone. I'm fine."

She gripped her dear friend's hand and let the woman lead her out of the alleyway, with Sebastian following. "Honestly, if that man had hurt you," Sebastian started, but was cut off. "Lauren, I'm going to inform your family that you'll be staying with us tonight. You've had a rough night as it is." They were approaching the town square. Lauren eagerly raced to the fountain. "C'mon Seb!" she called.

She was still worried about why Sebastian wasn't exactly nice, but hey! She wanted time to calm down. She saw Sebastian walking after her, a small smile on his face.

The magpie clacked her beak in approval, pleased to see the girl had someone to return home with. With a squawk and a beat of her wings, she and her avian friends took to the air. It was getting a bit dark, and though Skata's companions had a nest to return to, Skata herself found it to be in her best interest to search for an inn or suitable roost. She turned her gaze to the streets below, taking note of those with unusual magical "scents." It wasn't too hard for her to pick out a strange few who might be accepting of someone to share a tent or room with --Skata prefered being in a flock after all.

She narrowed down her choices down to one poor fellow who seemed lost. He seemed like the type in need of directions, and perhaps one to foot the cost of a room? The corvid ran this thought through her mind, considering her other options. There didn't seem to be any better choices, being in an unfamiliar city, so she resigned herself to fluttering down into a nearby empty alley, landing soundlessly and slipping into her more human shape. She took a few moments checking over herself to make sure she hadn't missed shifting anything, before stepping out of the alley. She had shifted into her usual pale, short self, androgynous features and all, and casually strolled in the wanderer's general direction.

She raised an eyebrow at the man's solid black eyes and pale skin, his only a few shade's lighter. She breathed in an inexplicable feeling of dread woven through his aura. It wasn't an unwelcome feeling, more like a familiar one, or at least for Skata, being the horrible nightmare-eater she was. She quickened her steps just a smidge, a cheerful bounce in her step, pausing just in front of the stranger.

"Heya, you seem lost." She began, violet eyes flicking up-down-up, taking in his visage before calmly resting on his face. "You need some help there?"

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