Mikajia couldn't remember the last time he had the time to just sit back and relax. He had been taking so many requests lately, he could do little more than eat and sleep in his spare time. The lack of free time typically didn't bother him too much. He had set a goal for himself, a goal he had no intention of falling short of and which he pursued with ruthless intensity. His determination had already seen him climb two ranks amongst his peers in almost record time, and this was only the beginning.

He had a goal, and possessed the determination and conviction to reach it. All he needed now was time to move on. But that was something out of his control. Whether he really wanted to take a break or not, he simply couldn't make the day go by faster than it already was. Finding himself with more free time on his hands than normal, he decided to distract himself by being social for once. A grimace passed over his face at that thought. He could be quite charming and charismatic when he wanted to, or if needed, but most of the time, Mikajia honestly preferred people to simply leave him the hell alone.

He wiped the grimace off his face as he entered the Swineherd Pub. He still wore his gear, even in a pub, which honestly actually helped him blend in a bit. The black on black of his hunter's coat and pants seemed to be a part of a popular theme; most of the guests sporting common bland and muted tones, very little standing out about most of the guests. A few eyes wandered in Mikajia's direction but didn't linger too long, his appearance common enough compared to everyone else, he didn't seem to arouse much interest or suspicion, which he was perfectly fine with.

The hunter looked past the people spread out within the small pub, focusing only on the counter and the bartender cleaning a mug behind it. He strolled up to the counter, grabbed a free stool and sat down. Once the bartender was finished with his task, he wandered over to Mikajia and asked what he would like, "I'll take a Whiskey, on the rocks." Mikajia said simply, placing the jewels down on the counter for the bartender to take. He grabbed them with a nod, quickly grabbed a fresh glass, tossed in some ice, then filled the glass with the amber liquid before handing it back to Mikajia.

He accepted the drink with a nod then took his first drink. The liquid burned as it should, running down his throat to his stomach; he reveled the feeling and taste as he gave a small satisfied sigh, closing his eyes as he brought his free hand up behind his neck. He massaged his neck as he tilted his head around, stretching and popping it. He had to admit though, it was pretty nice to relax once in a while. "Good Whiskey." Mikajia said, lifting his glass a little as he motioned to the bartender, "I'll take another when this one is finished." He said as he placed down some more jewels on the counter for the bartender to take. The man nodded once more towards Mikajia as he grabbed the jewels.

With that he turned around on his stool, leaned back against the counter, propping his free elbow on its surface as he took another drink, reveling in the warmth once more. His eyes opened slowly this time, surveying his surroundings.

As Gunter and Kratos were walking through the streets, enjoying the nice food from the food stands on the main street, they were wandering around and taking in the sights. Eating what was called an "Oak Omelette". They were looking around for one of the famous bars that Oak has to offer, and being that Kratos and Gunter are frequent patrons to all bars in Fiore, they decide to see what all the fuss was about. As they were standing outside, before entering in, Gunter lights up a cigar and says to Kratos "This must be the place." As he looks it up and down, he says "I have to say Kratos, I don't think this place even compares to Cheesey's."

Kratos says jokingly in response "Ah, nothin' beats Cheesey's, boss. The only bar you can go to drink, kick the shit out of people, and not have to worry because most of the patrons inside are fucking dead. A glorious place, truly."

As Gunter stands outside enjoying his cigar, a thug approaches them and says "Some nice clothes you got on ya! You one of those noble types? I don't know if ya knew this, but there's a new tax going around." Gunter, who finds this somewhat humorous, says "Oh really? I didn't know, I wasn't taxed at the front gate, is this a new thing?"

The thug smiles thinking he's got a sucker, and says "Oh yeah, it happened like an hour ago. I do volunteer work for the guards around here, I'm supposed to collect taxes from any people in town after this law was passed, while guards are getting the front gate." Kratos then pipes up and says "Alright champ, how much do we owe you?" The thug smiles and says "Oh, not too much, just a measly 25,000 J."

As Gunter reaches into his wallet, he says "Kratos, the man looks hungry, why don't you give him some of your sandwich?" Kratos smiles and says "Yes sir boss!" and with that, Kratos grabs the thug by the face and chucks him straight through the door of the Swineherd Pub. The thug slams into the door, ripping the door off its hinges, and flying into the bar. A commotion can be heard inside, and the crunching of bones. Gunter then looks at Kratos and says "Oh, I guess he's full. We'll have to pay him back another time."

Gunter then walks inside and puts a pouch of Jewels on the counter, saying "My apologies bartender, it seems my friend who came in before me was drunk. That should cover the damages." He then looks at Kratos and says "Kratos, you should take our friend home." Kratos smiles and nods. He walks over to the unconscious man, picks him up, goes around the back of the building, and tosses him in the garbage.

Gunter looks at the bartender and says "I'll get a bottle of your strongest stuff. Whiskey." Kratos then puts another pouch of Jewels, and with that the bartender snags up all the money, and drops a bottle of whiskey on the bar table for them with two glasses. The bartender then looks at Gunter and says "I trust that you won't be arriving with more drunk friends?" to which Gunter simply replies "No, just me and my buddy."

With that, Gunter takes the bottle and wanders over to a corner table just as Kratos comes in, and they both sit down at the table together. At this table, there are four seats, therefore there are now two empty seats. As Gunter and Kratos begin pouring, their glasses full of the amber liquid, Gunter then glances around to see any patrons in the bar. Most keep their heads down out of fear. That's when he notices a man sitting at the bar, wearing black armor.

The reason why this man caught his attention was due to the fact that the armor he's wearing is armor that Gunter's friend Tomoe would normally wear. Gunter would then say to this man "You seem like you have more balls than most in this bar. Come, sit with us and join us for drink. It's on me."

Kratos who just finished slamming back three glasses at this point, would look confused as he looks over at the man sitting at the bar. He'd then say to Gunter "Hey, isn't that the same kind of armor that that fucking Tomoe dude wears? I never understood armor, especially armor that looks like that. It kinda reminds me of a gimp suit." Gunter would look at Kratos and say "Come now, no need to be rude like our drunk friend."

Should the man join them, Gunter would look at the bartender and say "Get an extra bottle ready, we'll probably go through this one quick. This man looks like a drinker." Should he also join, Gunter would offer this man a cigar if he smoked.

As he sat at the bar, taking a few more swallows of his whiskey, Mikajia’s attention was drawn to the entrance of the pub. A few short minutes after sitting down in his chair, the doors to the pub would be sent flying off of their hinges as a man was sent flying into the pub, the stranger tumbling over himself on the ground; blood dripping from his lips and his ears, groaning as he attempted to steady himself. Mikajia watched the man struggle on the ground, only cocking an eyebrow in response to the man’s abrupt and destructive arrival. He needed to watch events unfold for a little while longer before he decided how to react.

Fortunately, he wouldn’t need to wait; a rather peculiar looking creature and a handsome man with chiseled features would be seen following the stranger into the pub. The man that followed after the creature spouted some nonsense about the man being their drunkard friend before placing down a sack of jewels as payment for the damage to which the bartender quickly swept up. Another moment later he was instructing the creature, Kratos, as he called him, to take their drunken friend home. Though he couldn’t see exactly where the creature was dragging the stranger, Mikajia felt he could safely assume he would find himself very unceremoniously tossed down an alley or in the trash, considering the creature was back in the pub mere moments later.

Soon after, the man would place another sack of jewels down on the bar, asking for a bottle of their strongest whiskey before wandering over to an empty table; a bottle and two glasses in tow. Mikajia watched the creature, Kratos, down three glasses with impressive speed, but his attention would be drawn by the man as he spoke to Mikajia, saying something about his balls which garnered an arched brow from Mikajia, as well as a small smirk a moment later in response to Kratos’ ‘gimp suit’ comment.

The man was correct in his deduction as Mikajia noticed. Though he typically refrained from arrogance, he could tell that most of the people in the pub were actively avoiding looking at the man and Kratos. And Mikajia felt he could deduce why. In this world, even those who didn’t possess any substantial magical power, could almost sense when something was off about someone. He wasn’t completely certain his hunch was correct, but Mikajia would be more than willing to bet that the man certainly wasn’t human. His charisma, his confidence he’d displayed just in the short time he had been in the building told Mikajia that he obviously possessed strength and power. But hell, even if he didn’t have the man’s behavior to gauge off of, the companion he possessed would be all the information he needed to determine that the guy wasn’t normal.

It didn’t take him long to decide. A moment after Kratos’ comment, Mikajia had stood up from his stool before wandering over towards the table, ”Quite interesting powers of deduction you possess.” He said once closer, smirking once more at the man’s comment to Kratos, then pulled a chair out to sit down. He would accept the offered cigar with a nod, lighting it before refilling his empty glass with the offered whiskey. Mikajia would lean back in his chair, propping his right leg up on his left; the glass of whiskey in his right hand, cigar in his left.

”Personally however,” He would start, then take a puff of the cigar, letting the husk of the smoke roll over his tongue; blinked and brought his eyes to look directly at the man, then began to exhale as he said, ”I don’t think I would initially judge a person’s apparent worth or capabilities based entirely off of their physical features.“ He would lift his glass to take another drink as he continued, ”No matter how…” Mikajia’s eyes would give the man a once over as he said, ”Gifted, they may appear to be at first.” Then he would take another drink.

This would appear to be rather obvious flirting, but for Mikajia it was a bit more. He was testing to see how the two strangers at the table would react. He considered himself to be a particularly good judge of character. But what he was most interested in right now was to see how they handled themselves when approached in such a manner. Would they be shocked? Would they be embarrassed? Would the man flirt back? Would the creature, Kratos, take this moment and constantly use it to insert crude and perverse humor for the rest of their potential conversation, as his personality suggested he would?

”Tell me stranger,” He would say, not quite giving either enough time quite yet to respond to his previous comment, his eyes and smirk just forward enough to still be taken as flirtatious, but subtle enough that the man could easily second guess it if he wasn’t very perceptive, ”What’s your name, if I may ask?” He asked, then added a second later, ”Mine’s Mikajia.” He gave his name first as a sign of good faith. He had no intention on continuing to flirt the whole time, simply using it as a means to judge a portion of their character. He took another puff of the cigar, rolled the smoke over his tongue before tilting his head back and exhaling, waiting for a response.

(Invading)

The Creaturr made his way to the bar, drawn from sieghert to oak by some strange feeling. He wondered what he would find. The creature was oh so very curious. The darkness he felt wasn't like that of the void. It wasnt like that of hell. No... the darkness was uniquely human. The creature smiled wide as he approached the bar. The door was busted open and he felt the darkness was inside. The creature walked toward the bar and entered with a inhumanly large smile.

Looked around the room, his senses were bombarded by new smells and sounds and sights. He enjoyed it so much that he could only explain his excitement with the human word of "aroused." So much knowledge, so much information in just this one room he could literally live there and be very happy...at least till he ran out of subjects to have fun with.

But he was drawn to the table where the darkness was coming from. The creature was well dressed, suit and tie that fit so well it might as well be skin... which it was, at least made of mana for that moment. His hair was messy red, his eyes were like living stars that sparkled with the touch of the void.

The creature waited till they had spoken before walking to the table and past Kratos. If he tried to grab him and stop him, the creature with quickly dodge it with an inhuman movement of his body. Regardless of if Kratos did or not, he would pull a chair up and sit down, flashing his inhuman smile. The voice that came from his lips wasn't human, that was clear. It still had difficulties with speaking words as the creature had been able to communicate with its mind in its home. It pulled out a bag of jewels and set it on the table. Before looking at Gunter and Mikajia and speaking. "Let us... drink together. You both interest... this one." He smiled again having heard them speak of tomoe. "This one... knows Tomoe. This ones host knows... Gunter."

He had been looking forward to the man, or Kratos' reply, but it appeared he would have to wait. Because shortly after making his question, they gained an unexpected visitor at their table. Mikajia wasn't the type to deal with uninvited guests very well, and more often than not, depending on the behavior of said guest, things would turn violent.

However, their new guest's behavior struck Mikajia as more than a little odd. He took another puff of his cigar and as he slowly exhaled, his eyes scanned the face of the newcomer. Based on how he was speaking, it was more than a little certain to Mikajia that he most definitely wasn't dealing with a normal person. He got the feeling almost immediately that the man wasn't human when he approached, however, his speech pattern, the way he seemed to stumble over the words told him much more than a feeling. And finally, when he referred to himself in two variations, his eyes narrowed dangerously.

He hated dealing with possessions. That was his assumption right now. The fact the man referred to himself as an individual and a vessel told him that it was either a possession, or a severe case of multiple personality disorder. Of course, the very odd, and entrancing eyes probably gave the biggest tale of all. He couldn't say for certain what or who he was. And he looked forward to figuring that out. He kept his eyes glued to the man, saying nothing as he took a long drink from his glass, emptying it.

"And you are?" He asked the newcomer, grabbing the bottle and filling his glass once more, then set the bottle down closer to the stranger. He rolled the glass slightly between his fingers, the ice clinking against the edges as he continued to stare, his eyes intently focused on the man, waiting for his response.

He took another puff from the cigar, slowly letting the smoke escape as he lightly rapped his finders of the hand holding the cigar, against the table. His head slightly tilted.

As Gunter is sitting at the table, an unexpected man walks in, if he could be called that. There was definitely something off about this extremely rude cockroach. But it's not the first time Gunter has been in a bar with roaches. He looks this creature dead in the eyes, and ignores it for now. First saying to Mikajia in response "Perhaps after drinks we'll find out if I'm truly as gifted as my looks."

He would then smile and look at this rude individual, saying "I don't believe we've met. How do you know my name, by chance?" Gunter would wait patiently on the response of this creature. As he did so, he would look at its eyes curiously, for it reminded him of the void. In Gunter's mind, he hadn't decided whether he'd sever this creature's head from its shoulders. Depending on its answers, Gunter would make that call.

Kratos, who was at the table, would look at Joshua, then look back at Gunter, and say "Hey boss, is this guy being rude? If you want, I'll break his legs right here and feed him to the hounds. Actually, I think our Leviat needs a meal." Kratos would then stand up out of his seat, walk over behind Joshua, and put his hands on Joshua's shoulders. He would then lean in close and say "You know, when you join a table uninvited, best thing to do is introduce yourself and apologize for being a rude cunt. I would start with that."

If Joshua makes any sudden movements, Kratos will try to rip his throat out with his claws. Regardless of what happens, Gunter, after hearing this creature's response, will open his Eye of Kaom and stare directly into the eyes of this creature, giving off an expression of dread to it, saying without words "If I don't like your response, I will send you to the void."

The Creature smiled and laughed as he waited patiently. It had a crazy look in its eyes for sure. But it knew to behave. He knew it was suppose to "stay low" or Tomoe would be very unhappy. The creature put both hands on the table. As if still unused to its new body and how to act human. Its fingers drummed as it listened. Its eyes moving back and forth rapidly as if it could not decide what to focus on.

As he went to answer, the large creature stood up and made its way behind it. He felt the hands on his shoulders and despite a strange guttural noise of disapproval deep from within the creatures chest it did not attempt any other action besides somehow smiling even wider then it already was. Gunter spoke to  him directly again and the creature focused its eyes on his so quickly it would give most vertigo.

"You will find this vessel dies harder then most. It will not be so easy to send this one home." It would turn to look at Mikajia then turned its neck like an owl to look at Kratos. "Please remove your Manus* from this ones body. This one has no intentions of causing trouble."

Regardless it would return to looking at Gunter.

"This ones vessel served in penumbral guard along side both you and Tomoe. During Joshuas battle with Tomoe, this one was born from within his soul, and as such this one now OWNS this body." It didn't yell, but there was a force behind its usage of owning the body that made it very clear, Joshua no longer existed in any way shape or form. There would be no miraculous return from the dead for Joshua any longer.

"This one has come here because," It would stand up if possible and move to kneel before Gunter. "This one was drawn to your life-force, just as this one was drawn toward Tomoe."

(Editors note: manus is another noun for hand)

Mikajia simply watched the events unfold. He did get a rather interesting response from the man he came to know to be Gunter from listening to the newcomer. It seemed his charismatic nature wasn’t just for show, and he could roll with the punches, so he wasn’t uptight. Mikajia gave a little smirk at Gunter’s retort before turning his attention to the newcomer once more.


There was absolutely no denying now that this man had been the victim of a possession. Been, being the operative word. It had been a while since he’d witnessed an actual inhabitation. They were fairly rare, considering most possessions were temporary; the demon or spirit getting what they wanted or needed before being cast out or exercised. But an inhabitation took it a step further. The original host of the body would be utterly obliterated, their spirit severed permanently from their body and tossed into the afterlife, leaving the new host to retain permanent control, therefore inhabiting the vessel.


Mikajia observed the exchange with mild interest, but knew it would need to come to a stop soon, or they would all find themselves being thrown out if things escalated. From what he gathered from the stranger, the vessel used to be a member of a guild known as Penumbral Guard, and he had apparently worked alongside Gunter and another man named Tomoe. This man had apparently battled this Tomoe at some point, losing all sense of self and sanity during the fight, and giving rise to the creature that now permanently inhabited the body. But it wasn’t just some type of mental break, the way he spoke made it plain to everyone, the creature they were interacting with, was clearly not the original owner of the body.


As he listened to the man speak, he arched a brow, watching him get up from his chair and actually kneel before Gunter, telling him that he was drawn here from Gunter’s life force. He took a long puff of his cigar, now half way done with it, then said as he exhaled, ”’Ey, meatsuit. I think we get it.” His gaze a deadpan stare, unwavering as he continued, ”Now why don’t you sit back down and have a drink with us.” He leaned forward and refilled his glass, then filled another for the man. ”And while you’re at it, perhaps you can tell us exactly, what you are, and what we’re supposed to call you”

The creature saw the vision as well, it rose excitedly as its eyes blinked quickly, before it sang gloriously in joy a shrill note of some strange language, it was almost insectoid. It then stood and as if under some other force then its own it leapt into the air and landed on the table.

"Joyous! For he has seen it." It spoke loud enough nd drew attention to itself. But if tried to be stopped it would tip the table away and jump to a nearby one. "You are not the one my king seeks. But you are blessed with far greater purpose then he would have you fullfil." It spoke a name. Again, in a strange language. But everyone who heard the name knew instantly it was a cursed and blighted name. "That is the name of the Great Old One you embody."

As the few people who were in the bar tried to leave, the creature would turn to Kratos. "Slaughter them will you please? This one would be ever so grateful. we have no need for...living witnesses."

Regardless of if he did, the creature would smile and display its sharpened teeth. Its control over the body was improving. "You are King-Maker, World Dreamer. You shall make this world right again, or you shall erase it. That is what I see in your future."

[[Daemon transformation post req. start]]


Mikajia watched the exchange with mild interest, still smoking his cigar and downing his whiskey. He didn’t get the chance to drink very often, but that really did nothing to lower his tolerance apparently. He’d tested it out a few times in his past. He didn’t really know why, considering he wasn’t a frequent drinker, but when he did, he could challenge the best of ‘em.


He simply sat back and listened, his brows raised slightly as the odd man spoke to Gunter, supposedly giving some kind of prophecy or prediction of sorts. He could really make neither heads nor tails of the situation, but he didn’t really feel like prying. He decided to simply sit back and watch as things unfolded for now. He certainly wasn’t opposed to getting a bit more physical, should this strange man decide to attack or provoke him in any way. But he honestly didn’t feel like really exerting himself right now.


However, as things progressed, it appeared their situation was about to take a rather peculiar turn. From what the odd man was saying, his little tid-bit about proclaiming Gunter as a king of sorts, or some shit, that was supposed to be death worthy information. Information that would mean the death of anyone that heard it aside from the intended party? Quite frankly, he felt that was going a bit far. After all, he had no doubt that at least ninety percent of the people in the building didn’t really have a clue what was going on, couldn’t really hear or understand what was being said, or would be too drunk to remember anything that happened here when they woke up the next day.


Whatever happened next was anyone’s guess, because he certainly didn’t have a fucking clue. Mikajia simply took another puff off his cigar; his eyes blinking, before shifting from the odd man to Gunter and back again. Brows raised as he waited to see how things unfolded.

Gunter listens to this creature go on about king making and eldritch gods and what-have-you, and as this goes on, Gunter watches in horror as this creature transforms suddenly into what seems to be a small panda girl. Gunter can only respond by saying "I'm not fucking a panda." As this creature jumps from table to table with skirt flowing in the wind, unfortunately revealing to Gunter what he did not want to see. As this abomination panda creature begins singing some inaudible tune of what could only be described as the wailings of a madman. Gunter watches as this creature jumps through the window, breaking glass, and can hear it running down the street saying "Ooga booga, let's make kings!"

Gunter then turns back to Mikajia and says "This is the most fucked up experience I've ever had at a bar, and I've been to Cheesey's." Kratos then looks at Gunter and says "Can I eat it?" and Gunter says "Yes, and leave no bit of that disgusting abomination left."

Kratos then runs out of the bar after the panda girl, licking his lips. As Gunter picks up his glass and finishes off the last of the amber liquid, he then pours himself another. Without looking at Mikajia, he would then say "Well, hopefully there's no more interruptions. Why don't you tell me about yourself? What brings you to the wonderful land we call Fiore? Or perhaps you were born here."

There were no words. He literally couldn't speak as he simply watched in horror, the events unfolding in front of him. Mikajia honestly couldn't begin to describe or even understand how or why the odd creature they had been speaking with suddenly transformed into a rather odd and equally disturbing panda creature. He simply sat there for a bit, mouth slightly agape, drink in one hand, cigar in the other and slowly burning up. Mikajia's face was a mixture of confusion, horrified and disturbed. Eventually he was brought out of his trance by Gunter's voice as he agreed to let his companion chase after and eat the odd panda creature that had hopped up and left the pub, shouting through the streets.

He first looked down at his drink, thinking he might have been drugged, but then realized that there were several other people in the pub looking equally horrified and confused with what had happened so far. Mikajia took a deep breath and shook his head slightly before taking another large swig from his drink then taking a large puff of his cigar. "I'm right there with ya. I've had a fair number of odd experiences in my time, but very few can top this moment." He said, agreeing with the man about what had just happened.


"A local, I'm afraid. Sadly I haven't had the chance to travel very far from my hometown. Not that I haven't tried. Life just hasn't seen fit to let me be rid of my roots." He said in response to Gunter's question about his heritage. "So I guess you could say I'm mostly making use of a bad, or annoying rather, situation. What about yourself? What brings you to these parts? You don't particularly strike me as a local."

(Invading)

Ravanna was not pleased. This entire night had been a bust. She had been following a lead on someone that supposedly knew the nobleman she was looking for personally, but like all the others, it had turned out to be a ghost trail. Fucking typical. It was bad enough she couldn't trust the nobles or the Rune Knights to do their fucking jobs, but now even her informants couldn't be trusted to get their information correct? It was literally their only fucking job.

She needed a drink. But probably more than that, she needed a good brawl. Ever since Ravanna had participated in the tournament in Baska, she had been itching to fight that man once more. It was rare for her to find someone that fought like her, with honor. That seemed to be a dying trait nowadays, people being far too concerned with their wealth and popularity than with integrity and virtue. This place continued to disgust her.

After yet another failed attempt at searching for a lead, she made her way to the local pub. She'd heard decent things about this place, but all she really cared about was whether they could make her drink exactly how she liked it, strong enough to knock her flat on her ass. She barged through the doors, not much caring for delicacy right now, and quite frankly, anybody that had a problem with it, could kindly kiss her ass.

Ravanna strolled up to the counter, sat down, and said, "Oi, bartender. I'll take a mug of your strongest ale, and keep 'em comin'." She said with a small grin, passing a decent sized bag of jewels to the man. He took them with a small grin himself before nodding to her and getting to work on her drink.