Open Search for the Valley of the White Lotus

The town center has a large statue of a green dragon rearing on it’s hind legs and water spurting forth from it’s jagged-toothed maw and spilling into the basin at it’s feet. The dragon’s eyes seem to glimmer with a yellow light, but it’s otherwise normal looking. The cobblestones of the street are even and smooth from years of feet, and there are a few humans milling around on their daily business. A dog can be heard barking in the distance. Overhead, the sky is streaked with the reds and golds of the setting sun.

To the north lies a small inn, a sign swaying in a slight breeze depicts a plate of food with a mug of some sort of liquid next to it. There is the sound conversation inside. To the East is a path to the forest, the breeze tousling the leaves on the trees. To the south is a group of houses, the road splitting into many that lead to more homes. To the west, a path leads to a row of small businesses, of which the signs of a weapons dealer and a magician.

The only odd things that stuck out about the small town was the tall cloaked figure that towered over the humans. The figure grumbles softly as the humans mill pass them, receiving odd looks and hushed whispers about what they may be. After some time the figure slips into the inn and sits at the bar, ordering a mug of strong alcohol. It didn't take long for the people in the pub to notice the figures scaled hands.

"H-hey, it's one of those...like...Dragonborns!" Slurs one of the patrons at the bar. Accompanied by his friend, the two slip off their chairs and approach the dragonborn. One grabs the cloak and pulls on it, not getting more than the cloak as he tries to pull the dragonborn off their seat. After a few feeble tries, the dragonborn slips off of their seat and turns to them, the light of the candles playing on the scale breast plate of their Armour.

"Humans. I suggest you stop trying to stretch out my cloak before I stretch you out myself."

Both men step back, one muttering that the "goddamn lizard" is a woman. After a few slurred words both men turn back to her and starts to pick a fight. She easily side-steps them and lures them out of the pub away from the peering eyes of those inside.

A few moments later, she returns to the inn and sits back at the bar to enjoy her drink. The only difference about her is the reddish color on her knuckles.

Hilao smiled as he walked to the town square. His bandaged leg pained him, but not enough to stop him. He hadn't been to his home town in several years, and was looking forward to laying eyes on it. As he headed for the tavern, where the Dragonborn had requested everyone to meet her, he noticed two men, bruised and bleeding in an allyway. One of them groaned, "That...dragon..born...too....strong" the man managed to say before slumping down. Hilao stared at the men in the allyway and turned to leave. "Wait..." the other man said, "I...need a....medic...so...does...my-" the man stopped to cough up blood. "my...friend" He slurred. He sounded drunk, so Hilao decided not to get involved. These men had picked a fight with a person who was stronger. Their mistake. It's not my problem... Hilao thought as he stepped into the tavern.

"Uwaaaa!"

Sayuri was sort of lost. She got lost a lot, but now was a very bad time for it since she was supposed to be finding someone to adventure with! The town wasn't very large but hey, neither was she, and it was getting dark. She could see fine in the dark, it just made her uneasy; her parents had told stories of nasty beasties lurking in the darkness waiting to eat young maidens like her. She walked faster.

Eventually, she found the large fountain that marked the centre of town, and, sighing, sat on the edge. Her tail swished quietly behind her as she watched the water, a few small fish swimming around. Her feline eyes traced the little goldfish for a second, before she swung and grabbed one with feline grace, quickly stuffing it into her mouth and chewing. She loved fish. She paused when she heard footsteps, swallowed, and looked towards the sound.

A tall human man was entering a building, from which the sounds of merry drunks could be heard when he opened the door. That must be the place! She got to her feet, brushed of her robes, and skittered after the man and into the tavern.

Inside was very loud and hot and full of sound and smells, and Sayuri's eyes widened. So many humans and other things... She quickly scented the air, looking for lizardy smell that followed Dragonkin. When she finally found it, she immediately ran for the area it was coming from, ducking under arms and slipping between small gaps with ease. She plopped down at the bar and smiled widely at the cloaked female Dragonborn. Sayuri noted an odd...staticy sort of smell, like the air before a thunderstorm.

"Hi! Are you, uh...the Dragonborn...? The one who was looking for people to have adventures with? My name is Sayuri! I'm training to be a cleric, and I thought that this would be a great chance to train and learn and stuff..."

She was interrupted briefly by the barwoman, who asked her if she needed anything to drink or eat.

"Oh! Milk please. I already ate," she purred happily, starting to fish though her little red bag when the big, motherly woman patted her fondly on the head and went off to get the drink.

"So yeah...uhm, are you?" She said, looking back at the cloaked figure.

((hey pssst, Pichu Chris; paragraph breaks for dialogue. Makes it easier to read.

Keibeitreilei heaved in a breath, small, bare chest swelling and then shrinking in short bursts. The sky was nice today, and the hugeness of it remained a slight novelty to the childlike being; having grown up in a tall, thick forest, he wasn't really ever exposed to an open space before he had begun traveling. And also clouds were pretty cool also. They were all puffy and white and stuff, and they looked too big to float like that.

Where was he again?

Oh, right, he needed to get to that tavern thingy. They, of course, didn't exist in the Wildkinder forests; besides, the barkeeps never even let him try the stuff since he looked about twelve to the lot of them and it smelled terrible anyway so why would he even want it, right? Plus it made people (humans, at least; he wasn't sure about others) really really stupid like those guys over there in the street hey that's where he was going!

Keibei leaped down from the roof, landing in a roll that scuffed his already rough-looking gray pants but left him unharmed. The 12-year-old-going-on-23 half-ran towards the tavern, avoiding the moaning-and-groaning pair of knucklehead giant humans as he did. He had just seen a girl (with a tail! !!!) enter the place, and shee seemed interesting since Keibei hadn't met too many humanoid things with tails yet.

The youth crossed the threshold and tried to catch up to the girl (?) with the tail. He maneuvered easily through the crowd (they were just like loud, moving trees with faces [not that all trees had no faces]) and soon located the telltale tail of the telltold tailed girl. Luckily, there was one of those sitty-downy chair things open next to her. She looked about his age (but definitely wasn't) so he thought they might be friends or pals or something. He perched on the seat with his feet under him (drawing strange looks from the staffpeople) and poked the girl on the shoulder. She was talking to the tall scaly robed woman who oh my wasn't he supposed to meet up with a Dragonborn like that?

"Ohh, are you doing the questthing too? Is that the Dragonborn lady?"

She sips at her drink quietly, ignoring the stares and people walking past. She looks down at knuckles and sighs softly, rubbing the free hand on the inside of her cloak before casting her eyes on the crowd. She watched as a archer walked in, sizing him up before returning to gazing at the crowd.

One of them has to be here do to my post...

""Hi! Are you, uh...the Dragonborn...? The one who was looking for people to have adventures with? My name is Sayuri! I'm training to be a cleric, and I thought that this would be a great chance to train and learn and stuff..."

She turns to the seat next to her and looked down at the feline child. She stared at her for a considerably long time before opening her mouth to respond, when another child walked in and sat next to the kitten.

"Ohh, are you doing the questthing too? Is that the Dragonborn lady?"

Children? Oh all the men and women in this land, children come to fight?

"...Aye. I'm the one that posted the quest." She finally mustered, returning to her drink and looking down the mug disheartened and disappointed. She had hoped that someone of more...experience and looked to be able to join her dangerous mission would come along. But here she sat with a mewling kitten and a young child.

Things were not looking good for her mission.

Keibei pursed his lips. Did the dragonlady sound... disappointed? That didn't make sense, since she had two people willing to work for her right here... Maybe she just needed an introduction? You know, since it's hard to gauge how well a person will fight just from looking at them! Keibei half-stood from his perch on the barstool and looked at the Dragonborn, leaning around the cat-girl.

"Well, um, I am Keibeitreilei. I am twenty-two years old, I come from the Arbonove forest due west from here," Keibei scratched his head and then continued. "I am a pretty decent climber, compared to most of the people I have seen in this place. I can travel at speed pretty well, and hunt, and heights do not scare me."

The youth took a small breath, and sat back down in his seat. He kept having to shake his head at the staff, since they seemed to think he was going to buy something; most places he had gone didn't like bartering and they probably didn't have a need for charicahri clusters here anyway.

Istvan trotted down the street. Today was a fine day, a fine day for a drink, among other things. It was an omen that this quest might go well. There were humans walking around doing... whatever urban people did. Towns were still quite a mystery to the satyr, though he was one of few who dared journey outside the forests.

A dog barked in the distance. Bogdana, Istvan's wolf companion, howled in return. She seemed well-behaved despite being around so many humans. Then, however, she suddenly started barking.

"What is it, girl?", Istvan asked.

He looked in the same direction as the wolf to see two hurt men. Well, they didn't seem that badly hurt, and their stoop and proximity to the tavern suggested a mere scuffle that did not end in their favor. However, it did mean that Istvan had found the town's tavern, noticing the seemingly universal sign.

"Ah, there's the place!", Istvan said to his companion, "Unfortunately, I don't think I can take you inside. And if I could, I doubt I could trust you in there. With all those humans and their kin."

Bogdana barked fiercely in response.

"You don't trust me?", Istvan replied, "Oh come on. I don't antagonize everyone and lead them to believe I'm going to snap at their arms when you're not around. Just wait out here and be good, OK? I'll get you a side of meat."

However much the wolf seemed to resent this, she acquiesced to being tied to a nearby post by vine. Istvan then went inside the tavern. Predictably, the atmosphere was warm, with all sorts of people drinking and being merry. He even spotted a few prospects. But that wasn't what he was here for. First, he had to meet the dragonborn. Then, he could chase skirts.

Sitting down at the bar, Istvan ordered, "I'm... feeling like brandy, if you would be so kind.", he asked of the barmaid, who promptly plopped a snifter in front of him, "Thank you kindly."

Then, he looked left and right as he took the brandy in. Nobody around seemed like the dragonborn. Nearby was a really chatty feline. Exotic, but rather young. Another patron seated at the bar appeared to be a human child, mostly normal. He... also seemed chatty. And between them was a cloaked figure. The sort you'd see in a tavern by themselves, seemingly brooding, but one never really knew their true motives. But, they were usually outsiders.

"So.", Istvan experimentally asked the people around him, "Heard anything about a Dragonborn, ah, lady in town looking for... people?"

Sayuri had just pulled another little bag (this time white) from her red bag when the young-looking human-y thing sat next to her and started to speak. She stared at him with her large eyes, the pupils widening a bit at the change in light. She smiled at him, and picked out a few coins from the purse, placing them on the counter for when her drink got there.

"Hi!" She managed to cheep, before the Dragonborn spoke. She watched the new guy - Keibeitreilei, was it? - introduce himself...he was older than he looked. When he was done, she decided it was her turn.

"I'm Sayuri! I'm thirteen, and I'm a...a...oh, what do humans call us...Bakeneko! that's it. We call ourselves The Furred People, though. I can change my shape! And I can heal people, sorta..." She chittered, trailing off when the barwoman put down the glass of milk, took the coins, and walked off to attend to other patrons.

She scooped up the glass and started to lap at the milk, her little pink tongue darting out. When someone new spoke to them, she looked over, eyes getting wider when she saw what he looked like, but she didn't comment.

"This lady is the Dragonborn!" She squeaked, pointing at the cloaked one.

Amaturasu was leaning against the side wall of one of the shops across from the pub, the small alleyway putting her in the shade from the setting sun. It's not like she was trying to stay out of view - Alchemists were known for being an eccentric bunch, but her outfit was a bit much even by their standards - she just preferred to stay out of the way.
Her hat was pulled down over her eyes, and short cap draped all the way over hey shoulders, covering most of her upper body. A short spear-looking weapon with a leather cover was leaned against the wall next to her, and a small wooden handcart, tied tightly over with a cloth cover, was parked next to her. Her pointed blue tail swung rhythmically between her feet, and one could tell she was about to doze off.

That was, at least, until the rather familiar sounds of a fight breaking out echoed down the alley from across the street. Immediately jolting awake and ears perking straight up, Ammy quickly patted at herself with quick back and forth gazes to make sure she wasn't a part of it this time. Full conciousness returning, it was clear it was a one-sided wipe-fest, a pair of drunks already on their arses outside the bar, bloodied up and garnering an amusing variety of glares.

"...Geez, it's already going dark.. guess I should check in.." Ammy mumbled under her breath, straitening her cloths properly and standing her spear up in her cart, wheeling the lot behind her with one hand. "This better pay as well as it promised.." she continued, grumbling to herself and passing her own glances at the two men outside the pub. The place was noisy, smelly and humid as always, and the pup quickly perched herself at the counter as far from the door as she could manage. There were a couple chatty kids a few seats down by a rather complacent and very large cloaked figure. Ammy held her head in her hands, rubbing her eyes under her glasses. "Lovely, like this place doesn't give me migraines as is. Who the hell brings their kids-"

Her train of thought was cut off by one of the bar staff, cheerily feigning their interest in what she wanted to order.

'Vodka. Straight..... please.' She barked in a wispy monotone, before spinning around in her chair to give the place a size-up.

Hilao nodded at the Bartender. "Just a half-pint." He nodded, and pulled the small pouch from his belt. The Bartender returned a moment later, and accepted the coins merrily. Then, she noticed his sword. "Trouble on the road?" She asked.
"Like you wouldn't know." He mumbled. "Lost at least six arrows yesterday. And my sword got bent. I gotta say, the Blacksmith is a very quick worker." He said with a nod. He took a sip of his drink, then looked around.
"Happen to see any dragonborns come in?" He asked her.
"Didn't you see the two drunks outside? She's over there, the one with the cloak." She replied with a smile.
"Thanks." He gave the Bartender another coin, then slid from his stool, grabbed his beer and headed to the indicated person in a cloak. "Are you the Dragonborn?" He asked, sitting on an unoccupied seat next to her.

In the town, many stares were now being drawn towards the Wraith idly floating about in the street. Occasional passer-by would take a long look at the crystal dangling from the neck of the Wraith, but the Wraith floated away before they could do anything else.

This Wraith's name was Cusillu, and had he noticed those eying his gem, the reaction to said eying would have been very, very messy.

For whenever Cusillu thought someone was going to go after his crystal, one sentence would repeat in his head until he did something about the offender:

Protect the crystal at all costs.

Cusillu wanted to know why that was, and he wanted to know so much more about himself. So, when he had heard of a mission to help some dragon creature, he decided that it could be another chance to find out what he really was.

Now then, where did that message say? Meet at the Tavern of the inn... tavern of the inn... there?

The Wraith saw what indeed was the inn, and idly floated inside, not caring if he was in the way of anyone. Once inside the inn, the Wraith scanned the crowd for the dragon.

And looked it over two more times when he couldn't see any dragon. Deciding that he was merely early, Cusillu floated to the bar, not bothering to apologize as he accidentally jostled a tall, cloaked figure that was taking a drink from a mug.

And the circus continues.

The two children next to her started to speak again, the youngest looking one claiming to be 22. She gave him another look over, taking in what she thought was a average human child that played in the forest. Though, from her travels she has come across beings that looked human but were of a more...mystical sort. She shrugs and returned to the feline, claiming to be a creature called a Bakeneko. She smiles a bit, having heard of these tricky creatures before.

That cat boy still owes me 20 gold.

She then sighed when the cat girl expressed the fact that she was a Dragonborn to a fellow down the bar, causing a few people to turn and stare at her. Some looked on in anger, others in fear. The bartender just continued his work as if it didn't phase him. The sweat on the back of his neck didn't get passed her smell. She let out a light groan before bringing the mug to her lips when she was bumped by a being behind her. With a short snarl with the amber liquid dripping on her armor, she turns her gaze to the offender.

What she saw was a very odd creature with a crystal around their neck. Before she could comment on his manners, another person sat near her asking if she was the Dragonborn.

"Aye. I'm a Dragonborn. You here for my post or do you want a round outside like the last two humans."

She was starting to get annoyed. But she covered her emotion with a neutral tone in her voice.

"Something about your post, yeah." He said. Judging by the way some people had looked at him after asking the bartender, they probably thought he wanted to teach her a lesson about being polite to drunks. Not that he was a big fan of that anyway. He took another sip of his beer. "So, is anyone else coming, do you know, apart from us?" He asked, gesturing at the other two people at the bar next to the Dragonborn

Ammy spun her stool around so fast it almost tipped to face down the counter. The odd gatherings should have been enough to tip her off, really, but one of the children had flat-out spouted about the large, cloaked figure being a dragonborn. The dragonborn, no doubt, there wasn't much room for error there.
She groaned, sliding off her stool carefully, hoping they were just some unwanted attention, like kids were. She didn't care for kids, reminded her too much of her kid brothers. 'Perfect', 'Smart', 'Precious', whiny irritating goodie-two-shoes more like.

" 'Cuse me" she interjected quickly, ignoring the freak show and idiot fest whom were trying to get words in with the scaled beastie. "So I heard some dragonborn was starting some kinda quest" she continued, looking around wryly at the closest of the crowd.
"You look like the only dragonborn 'round here, but I was under the impression this was high level stuff, yannow, high-paying. I'm not mistaking it for a kids camp, am I? Because this isn't what I expected out of your party."

Ammy wore a smirk the entire time, fishing into the pockets under her cape and fishing out a few coins, sliding them onto the counter in the meanwhile and snapping up her drink as it appeared.

Banavio, figuring he was late, was anxious to enter the town. It was much different than his forest, mostly because of all the burning wood. He decided to go anyway, though. Word of a Dragonborn had traveled through the trees, all the way to his civilization. As Banavio passed a needlessly large bonfire, he chanted Hanasselamanasoni, forming a small raincloud over the fire that soon disappeared, along with the raincloud, leaving the owners of that building baffled. Continuing on towards the tavern where they were all to meet up, Banavio noticed two beaten idiots on the ground outside. guess I really am late he thought. Having to stoop down immensely, Banavio had a particularly hard time getting in. With people looking at him in the utmost horror, Banavio wondered if he had something on his face. Pushing that aside, he noticed an odd group of creatures, most of them probably not even coming up to his knees. "Hello. I am Banavio, a hamadryad from the Avetpo Clan. I have come to fight with the rest of you." he said, smiling and holding out his hand to the cloaked one.

I'm not mistaking it for a kids camp, am I?

Keibei blinked. Was this masked chick calling him a kid? Honestly, It was getting really annoying having these giants calling him a child. He was twenty-two, he could probably run circles around this purple freak, and she had the nerve to think he was an annoying little child.

He stood up, thanking the trees that she wasn't all that tall for a giant. He glared petulantly up at her and flared his nostrils.

"I'm sorry if this sounds rude or something, but I am twenty-two years old and about tired of people calling me a child," Keibei kept his voice low but loud enough for the dogfaced offender to hear him clearly. "Every single adult Wildkinder looks like this and I'm annoyed at how all of you tall people assume I'm a child. I know it's weird and I don't blame you but..." Here the childlike being closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his nose.

"I am Keibeitreilei, by the way. What's your name?" Although he would deny it, the Wildkinder's way of switching emotions was quite childlike...

"I am not sure if this is everyone or not. Keep in mind I made my post for all to come...so as far as I know, there may be more coming" she muttered into her mug, placing down another gold coin for a refill. As her drink was taken care of, she turns back to the group and studied the ones before her. Before she could make a final decision on the state of her party, yet another being strolled over and voiced a question.

"I'm not mistaking it for a kids camp, am I?"

What stood before her was a two-legged dog that wore a fairly large hat. The creature's tone was a little picky, but the fact that she was a canine was what made her sigh again.

Great. Now I have dragon kibble following me...this just gets better and better.

"The Bakeneko is fairly young, but this one here claims to be-" she started to respond, but fell short when the boy himself explained about his kind and why they look as they do. She turns to him and looked slightly impressed.

"Wildkinder...I've heard of your clan before. Haven't seen one but I've heard about you none the less from my care-taker. Well, that explains your appearance Keibeitreilei."

She then chuckled softly, her first of that night as another being approached with a hand held out. She looked up at the being before her with mild surprise by their size. She takes their hand and shakes it, noting the bark-like texture of it under her thumb.

"Well, aren't you a tall one..."

She then glanced back to the dog, studying her again.

"Yes. This is the party for my adventure. I do hope the lot of you are ready for some...dangerous terrain. We will be going after some very powerful beings"

Cusillu turned around at the words of the cloaked one, and after hearing the mention of a group for adventure (and upon seeing that the cloaked one was a humanoid dragon) he wondered if this was what the flyer meant when it had said dragon.

He decided not to voice his concerns, fearing that it would draw attention to him and his valuable jewel. Instead, he just floated over beside some of the others near the dragon humanoid, not realizing that he was drawing even more attention to himself in the process.

I must remember that if I need to give up the crystal in any way, I will abandon the mission. Finding out what I am is not worth failing this other command in my head.

Istvan set the snifter down on the bar.
"Well... I thought danger was part of any good adventure. Especially if you're gathering all of us.", he said to the Dragonborn at the head of all this, "But... more importantly, what's in it for us? For me?"

The cloaked one turned around, revealing herself to be quite an interesting beast. "Why yes I am!" he said proudly. Shaking his head when the bartender asked if he wanted a drink, he walked over to the child-like being. It baffled Banavio, the fact that he was almost the same age as the man, but their difference in height was remarkable. "Hello, I'm Banavio, pleased to make your acquaintance." he said, holding his hand out rather lowly.