Rebecca
It's a long way between Heatherstead and Felfatheas, but it's not too much of a trouble for a merchant with steadfast determination and enough time on her hands to actually walk across this (rather) perilous landscape. She was told that this pathway into Elven territory there's elementals and giants roaming the road terrorizing travelers sometimes, but she's sure she'll probably make it there fine if she's careful enough.

Though hiding this gigantic backpack that is her entire wares could be a bit troublesome. Traveling merchant prides themselves in having various wares to sell to adventurers in need, so she won't settle for less. She gotta have an entire shop's worth of items on her back!

'get a packmule or cart' you say? Cart are for sissies! Real Traveling Merchant use backpack and their own strong legs!

She marches, carrying tower of wares, wobbling onto the Elven territory one step at a time.
Tony
In the forest nearby Richard is prowling for his next meal. Although he is his hunger for adventure brought him here it was not a substitute for an actual meal.

He is extremely excited to hunt new creatures that he never encountered before as well as to try new cuisines. After leaving his tribe he went to walk the world and see what experiences he will encounter. Having nothing more on him then his clothes and determination he will become the next legend of his tribe.

But now to more pressing matters, dinner. Richard is following a small beast trying to understand it a bit better before going for the first and final strike. But the creature gets spooked by something and surprisingly get on the road. 

Richard follows it and just as it gets on the road he jumps out of the darkness of the forest and strikes the creature down. After confirming the kill he noticed the someone else is right beside him.
"Oh..." He looks her up and down to see if maybe she is dangerous but after assuming she is not he has a look at his pray then back at her. "Uhm strange first encounter... But hi!" He tried to say it in the most non threatening way and smiled, theat also revealed his enlarged canines.
William
*Severus walked down the path, taking in the sights and sounds of his surroundings. The sun was shining brightly, casting long shadows across the ground beneath him, and the cool breeze washed over him, rustling the leaves on the trees overhead. The air was crisp and fresh.*

*As usual, he had nothing really special with him at the first glance. The sword of darkness and an odachi was on his left hip while the a long rapier resting on the opposite side of the hip.*

*It would take a while before he could encouter the two other major characters. Since he was just quite far from them.*
John
"Gyaah!"

The merchant girl is startled, as someone just popped within her safe zone without any sign. She jumped a few inch from the ground, but manage to land on the floor without her tower of wares falling down on top of them. She has impressive balance, it seems.

"Whoa! How did you even get that close?!"

A quick look reveals a man in tribal(?) outfit, a critter dead in hand, and F A N G S oh no oh bugger I am dead

Wait. Actually... Not being attacked first meaning not-hostile intent... Hunter? Forager? Possible... Customer?

She adjust her demeanor, nudge her crooked glasses back in its place, and adjust her long ponytail hair, then return with her most friendly merchant smile.

"Ah, hi! Sally's Super Save Shop, at your service! I'm Sally Forth, shop owner and your today's lucky gal! What can I get you?"
Arlene
**A bit confused but also happy because she did not got spooked, he tries to straighten himself up after a hunt.**

"Oh! A merchant I see. Hmm..."
**He ponders a second.**
"First of all, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Richard hunter and adventurer enthusiast. Now... Well you see, I believe you have a lot of wonderful stuff buuuut... I am broke"
**He let's a small nervous chuckle. Then he has an idea. **
""Hear me out. I may not have money but I have this."
**And he brings out animals skins expertly cut.**
"Maybe we can trade if you want."
**He tries to persuade her while still having his hands covered in blood from the last hunt.**
William
*At the first glance, he was normal, at least. However, when you inspected more carefully, the bloody smell was lingering around him. Was that the result of not taking bath in 100 years? In fact, that was the obvious consequence of killing too much. His hands was covered in blood while a head of an old man was being held on one of the hand.The hair of the head was drooping, blood was still flowing profusely. It seemed like that person had just been sent to hell not long ago.*

"Thanks to you, I will have some more coin things to store. Your death was not useless at all. Hah."

*He kept walking for a while before raising the holding hand to mock at the dead head. Since the natural of undead was halting him from expressing extreme emotion, he did not feel anything after killing that man or mocking him like that.*

"Well. I should not have deformed the face too much... Hmmm..."



*Censored scene depicting the condition of the head...*

...

"Well perhaps they'll still give me the money."

*After that, he kept focusing on walking,*

"I need a mount... Sooner or later."
John
"Hm? Lessee lessee..."

Sally set down the backpack tower (which miraculously stays upright) and politely take the animal skin from the would-be customer, laid down on her lap to take a look as she crouches down, eyes locking to it.

It's not a super-rare thing or anything, but this shows that it has been meticulously prepared by an expert from the moment of the hunt up to skinning and drying. A high quality raw material for a craftsmen looking to create higher quality items.
She's a merchant and is all for making profit, but lowballing this would be an insult to her occupation.

"Umu. Fumufumu." She make noise as she inspects it from every angle, touching it, squeezing, stroking. "How many more of these do you have? I'm sure we could come to some agreement, definitely."
Tony
"I have around four, five with this little one if you want a fresh one."

Richard starts to sniff the air a little. At first is almost unnoticeable, as he is unsure if it's maybe a faint smell coming from his kill or something else. He gets back at Sally.

"So what would this bring me? If you don't want to go with money I would love condiments."

But then Richard snapped back in the direction of the wind and sniffed a bit harder.

"Something is coming this way."

He puts himself between the origin of the smell and Sally.

"Something that reeks of death. Not sure what it is but for sure it can be dangerous. Pack your things and stay on your guard."

Richard said as he was staying on guard, preparing to jump the target at the smallest chance of dangerous advancement of the target.
William
*Severus was not too far from them. The road itself made a curve around the nearby forest, which caused the hidden curved part of the path was invisible. Unless someone had the ability to feel the presence of someone including the presence of Undead, or was able to sense the smelling from afar, they would not be able to tell if there was anything. The bloody smell on Severus mixed with his 100-year-not-taking-bath Undead body (undead's characteristic) created a disgusting but charming smell for the ravens or necromancers. Moreover, the wind was gently blowing in the exact direction where the Jaguar man and the Wander Trader were.*

*From Severus's point of view, it was just a normal day without anything really special. He tried to remember the battle he just had the moment before returning here. Still nothing special. They were all hopeless in Severus eyes.*

*Behind Severus' back was some more soulless heads hanging using their hair, attached to the Knight's waist. No one could tell what he just did but the cruelty. *

"Hmm..." *He mumbled something.*

*He could feel it. The familiar things. There were living-beings around here. There was no doubt that this pathway had others, since it had a branch that connected to the Elves' land. Even so, he would not care if he encountered any people. Perhaps he would even show off to them what he just did and laugh about that.*

*Just after taking the aforementioned corner, the living-beings that he had felt recently could see him very clearly. A 7.1 feet tall Dark Knight bathed in blood would emerge from the light. A full-body heavy armour would shine under the sunlight while the heads swinging when he moved.*

*When he had seen the two, he would just normally look at them. However, from their point of view, it was possible that they would see his eyes glow like an evil red flame, slightly shine through the holes on the metal helmet. The wind gentle blew caused his orange fur cape to wave predictably.*
John
It had also occurred to her that she really need a protection trying to travel the world, but for her first trip choosing to stick to roads is a very, very safe bet. This road in particular is not so dangerous, or so she was told. Some stray Elementals here and there, no problem. She bought some pure elements for them to snack on and maybe befriend them. Orcs? Shouldn't be wandering near the road and if they do she should be able to outrun them easily.

But holy canned mackerel, a DEATH KNIGHT?! Not in the list of countryside road hazard.

She take out a folded shovel (one of her wares for sale. Digs well, made of quality metal, and does not take up much space. On 25% discount if you buy now) and hold it in her hand, hoisting her backpack back up ready to hightail outta here.

"Well, if you don't mind a side gig, I could really use your help getting out of here. What'll you say?" She ask the fanged adventurer, gauging response.
Tony
Looking a secondin the back.

"Well I was going to do that any way, let's just say you make a good deal and we are fair."

Now with his eyes back at the Dark Knight.

"I do not know who you are but we don't want trouble. But I assure you if you make an other step I will take it as an treat and respond accordingly."

Richard has his muscles tense, readying to jump on the target if he does get any closer.
William
"Hmm. Oh hoh? A couple of travellers?"

*He glanced at the merchant's backpack,*

"That's a lot of things you's got there."

*In fact, he did not know that merchant was a trader but thought she was just a normal traveller travelling with her fellow or so. He reached back to tie the hair of the head he was holding onto his waist. The knot was great and tightly tied.*

*After that, he waved his blood-stained right hand vigorously, letting the blood splash onto the ground.*

"Trouble?"

*Hearing the threat made him feel funny as he confidently took another step closer to them.*

"What now?" *He giggled.*
Tony
At the moment the Dark Knight took an other step, Richard still in fuman form pounce on him and trying to atack the joints of the armor using his claws that grown instantaneously. Trying to keep in mind the weapons he has.
William
*Seeing the man tried to attack him, he did not mind but welcome him by blocking the strike with his armoured arm. He did not expect the claws to grow like that from his hands at all, until he looked at the man more carefully. Quickly, he recognised the weird skin pattern of that individual.*

*The strike did tear the softest-looking part of the armour, which had happened a few times before. He did not feel anything but that annoyed him as it would take a small amount of his stored life-energy to repair that. His eyes then stared at the man with that weird claws. It was just like a flame, even though there might be no flame inside that helmet.*

"I didn't know that you can quickly grow your fingernails that fast. Some women may love that ability to grow nails as quick as the morons' actions," *He said mockingly.*

*The scratch was not too deep but if that was a normal person, blood could already leak out. He then use his other hand to pat and check the attacked one's condition.*

"Perfectly fine."

*He chuckled before quickly tried to grasp the clawed man with his hand.*
Tony
After Richard noticed that no blood is coming out he understood that some strange creature is inside the armor and not a normal humanoid and that surprises him.

Because of that moment of distraction he did not have enough time to dodge the attack so he does the next best thing and wants to start a grapple contest with the Knight. Richard is trying to do an arm lock on the arm that is grabbing him.

"Ironic for someone that smells like a pile of garbage to tell me what women would like."
Mark
*A small giggle, covered by rustling leaves and static bounced off the trees and into the forest path. Something or someone was watching, and laughing at the conflict. The giggle grew into a chuckle, a laugh, a cackle, and ending in a fit of screeching like nails on a chalkboard. From the tops of the nearby trees, yellow eyes peered down at the conflict. Though it made no move to intervene, it was slowly shifting through shadowed branches. As one yellowed eye stayed locked on the conflict, another drifted to the young merchant. Kafral looked the woman up and down several times before resting the one eye firmly on the pack. It was then that Kafral let his voice be known, the sound of nature perverted and twisted to fit into the rules of human speech. Strained and unnatural, the sound of Kafral's voice bounced between pitch and even volume*

"Bag of Shiny"

*The eye that had been watching the fight drifted to join the other now locked on the merchant. The little yellow eyes moved silently through the trees, ever so slowly closing the distance between Kafral and Sally.*

"Pretty Creature. Bright head."

*Kafral shuddered, the movement causing the sound of rustling leaves more than anything else. Closer now, Kafral was perched between Sally and the ongoing fight, yet seemed interested in getting any closer to either of them. Kafral called out to the woman in a voice different from his past words. The wilderling perfectly mimicked the voice of an older woman, but there was still something not quite right in the performance, a streak of I'll intentions plagued the playback that echoed through the mask.*

"*Where is my daughter? Where is my baby girl?*"

*The sentence was followed by another quickly stifled giggle. Despite Kafral's eyes being pretty visible, there was no way to discern his silhouette in the treetops*
John
While she is bad at perception, being a glasses blondie she is, but she's good at capturing *Intention*.
She gives herself a quick run-down of the situation;
A fight broke out in front, tiger(?)man marked as temporary allies. Horror armor now temporary danger/threat/generally oh-noes.
She has planned to rummage through the wares to find something that can get her out of this predicament, but the —intention— of something negative comes up from above. It make soe noise. Sound. An attempt to converse, perhaps, but she can judge the intention to a certain degree. 

Playfulness? Malice? Not sure.
One thing is sure though—

**"No stealing!"**

Turning to the source of the voice, Sally swings her (yet unfolded, silly her) shovel, only to hit air.
William
*They had a great and intensive grapple contest. Severus reached out to strangle the man. However, it was quite difficult for Severus to reach his neck, so he decided to grab and push the claw man instead to make he fall on the ground.*

*Severus laughed at the man's mocking words,* "That is why I am the garbage taker who will take out all the trash blocking my way."

*While trying to push the man to the ground, he also attempted to free his locked arm. Severus tried to swing him back and forth to keep him off balance. Without letting any body part being useless, Severus gave the struggling man a foreceful headbutt. Unlike mortals, Severus would feel less painful when his physical body being attacked or damaged. One of his free legs swiped hard at the man's leg also trying to knock him to the ground.*

*Even though he was really focusing on the battle, he could sense the presence of another very-living being. Its life was more abundant than the rest of the humans there. That was some what familiar. But he did not have time to think if he had met that living being before.*
Tony
While the pushing contest was going on, grunting he said.

"If you really want to take something, I suggest a bath."

Even though he saw it coming, because Richard was stuck in the armlock he got a headbutt full force and still keept the struggle while spitting blood.

"That is all you can do? You oversized thrash can?" 

After Richard said that he saw a powerful leg coming straight to him so he released the armlock while jumping into a backflip and getting back his balance.

While looking at him the shadow knight can se that the damage from the headbutt is healing extremely fast, in matter of seconds.

His ear twitched and heard a mix of disturbing sounds coming from the direction of Sally. He hates to let a hunt go but he made promise to protect the girl.

"Shit! I am not done with you." 

He said in frustration after that he started to run towards Sally.
Mark
*The wilderling dropped from the trees, some ten feet from Sally. Strangely, the creature made no sound upon hitting the earth, but carried a cloud of flowers with it. Kafral's wooden plank mask melded into his leafy flesh. Though he had the overall frame of a human, his arms hung far below his knees and his fingers were armed with curved wooden talons. He carried an ancient feel, something that has been alive for quite some time, something that was not supposed to exist. An aura of disgust flowed like smoke from the wilderling, smothering the scent of flowers with that of death and rot. Now between Richard and Sally, Kafral showed no fear, no emotion at all, but the shattered cries of a broken mother still rang out from the mask.*

"*No-no no no no, not my sweet baby*"

*The voice was broken not just by distortion, but by the sorrow that spilled from Kafral's face and onto the forest road.*

"***You can't have my baby***"

*The sound was drowned by a sudden loud buzz, quick and deafening but that faded in seconds. Kafral stood motionless staring at Sally, judging the effect of his intimidation*
John
This is bad this is bad this is bad! She sort of have heard something like this before. There used to be something that kinda like a scarecrow horror that she heard from the passing by adventurers. They mimics the sound of their prey that they took using the prey's last few sentences before their life ends. Maybe this is that?! But it doesn't look like a scarecrow at all... 

Anyway, this guy is clearly dangerous! Not something a folding shovel could fix! And the ongoing scuffle of the armor horror and the new ally is still something she need to consider about too.

But then there's that... Noise! A sudden sonic spike that made her ears rings! She was formulating plans, but that surprise attack scrambled her good!

"Agh...!"

She drop the shovel and trips on her own high heel boots! Her bum lands on the stony pathway, but the thing that follows with the fall is PHYSICS. 
A tower of wares, large and small, is falling onto one man and one armor that is coming towards her!
William
*Taking bath or not, Severus would never mind about that. The huge trash can's heart would never be touched by any of those insults, not even a single bit.

"Now you are the one who is running away."

*The unprecedented sound made by the strange creature was fearful. However, as for the Undead Knight, it was just a simple sound that could not even bothered him. Since the claw man ran towards the blonde girl and abandoned Severus, he felt quite disappointed. That feeling did not last long anyways. From a distance, he stared at the wooden-like creature, before slowly and carefully following behind the frustrated man. No matter what happened, Severus was ready to interrupt everything in front of his eyes.*

"Alright then..." *He muttered under his breath, a low growl escaping his lips. He clenched his fist.*

*Every steps he took, the closer he would approach all of them of course. However, he felt that something had got into him recently. A strange yet miracle aura was keeping him even stronger from expressing his emotions. His as red as flames eyes stared at the ancient-looking creature. It might be as 'old' as him or even older. However, age was not a matter for ancient creatures, but knowledge. Depends on their knowledge about the world, they could have an advantage over the others. That was why Severus took advantages of many good people to learn more about this land. He also paid them back if he could as nothing was free.*

*Soon, from a distance, all of them would stand in the corners of a triangle. Severus rested his hand on the pommel of the rapier on the right side of his hip. The sword was so long as it looked almost like a slim spear with a sheath.*

"Now now, we've got some souls here and a weird looking vibrating being. You cannot just run away from me in a battle like that. The lady over there could be in danger, but facing away from your opponent is a lethal choice. If I wanted, I could take advantage of that opportunity to cut your limb or your head off already."
Tony
Richard got close to her location and sees her falling and the armor that is falling towards her. He is not sure if he will made it in time so he activates his aura.

A fire like aura starts to form around him and a especially condensed color around his legs, his eyes started to look closer that of a feline. He accelerated extremely fast and dodged all the falling items using his fast reflexes and reaction speed.

He managed to bolt through everything fast enough to grab Sally just in time so that the armor would not fall on her.

"Are you ok?" Richard asked while trying to dodge everything else and put her at a distance far enough from the creature to not get her.

"The tin man is not normal but what the hell is that creature?"

He looks around at all her items.

"By the way I am sorry for your trinkets."

After putting her down she can see that one of her knives stabbed him in the shoulder. Who would have thought that is harder to dodge while carrying someone.
Mark
*Kafral seems almost completely unbothered by the chaos, even as Sally's belongings rained down on him. Boxes and blades, shields and bows, all fell heavy on Kafral's head. Despite the downpour of wares, Kafral remained unfazed, either unable to feel the pain or ignoring it entirely. In fact, the wilderling didn't seem to mind most of what happened around him, his eyes locked unmoving on Sally and paying little to no mind to Richard.*

*Kafral stayed unmoving, but something had caught his attention in the mess of trinkets. An ornate handheld mirror, now in several shards, reflected the face of the wilderling back at himself. It was only when Kafral's long arms obtained the biggest shard that his gaze was broken. Holding the piece up to the mask, Kafral began to touch his wooden face. As Kafral dragged wooden claws across his face, one of his curved nails dropped into the socket where blighted eyes lived. Though he immediately recoiled from the feeling, he still seemed curious about the shard. But such curiousities had always proven dangerous. The glass fell from Kafral's hand onto the stone, multiplying the shards as it broke once more. The wilderling looked back up at Sally, seemingly seeing Richard for the first time*

*Kafral's eyes pulled to Richard, his corrupt voice calling to the pureness of the wilds*

"*Half mud. Half stink*"

*Blighted eyes snapped back to Sally's, a sickening hunger hiding behind the mask*

"*Full killer. All stink*"

*Lastly Kafral's head spun completely around, the sound of breaking bone ringing out as his body faced forward and his face now gazed upon Severus*

"*Sweetness*"

*Kafral giggled slightly still looking at Serverus*
Rebecca
The wares, the supposedly her entire wealth, lies scattered on the stony roadside.

She got up with the help of Richard, then turn back in horror.
Not because there's a terrifying wood demon thingy(?) looking to eat her, or because of an approaching living armor(?) with a menacing aura

But it's because that fall just now probably cost her quite a bit. The damage figuratively bleeds her in terms of financial health.

"Oh no! My wares!" She exclaims, "And also OH NO THE KNIFE!"
She grabs the knife, but unsure if she should pull it out.

"I mean, given that this is a fine detailing cooking knife made from composite iron which is made specifically for working with extremely small detailing and thus require extreme sharpness, no wonder it could go through you as if it was phasing through. Totally a premium product, that!"

In the end, she does decide to pull that out and quickly press on the wounds with her handkerchief. The knife is too good at its job so the cut is very clean. Closing it should be easy.

Now, overpowered by anger of breaking her wares, she quickly whips a lamp out of her side pack, and after lighting it, waving it threateningly at the two assaulters

"I don't give a RAT'S bum about why you are here! I don't care about you and your STINK or KILLER or whatever! I don't care if you are even live or un-live or de-live or actually in fact I DO NOT CARE WHAT YOU ALL ARE!" 

She then points at Serverus and Kafral (the latter more intensely).

"You are going to say SORRY! And you are going to compensate my broken stuff! This cost REAL MONEY, Y'know?!"
William
*As Severus noticed the pile of items falling, his mind immediately began to process the situation. Some of the items were small so he could just use his hands to block it. However, for the sharpened metal blades, he could not just flail his hand recklessly. At that moment, he quickly assessed the situation, his eyes darting from one item to another. From his experience, normally it would not cut deep into his thick armour. Even the Wolven-howlers or Spurnhounds had a hard time biting or scratch him... Thinking too much left him without much time. Quickly, he released the whole sword and its sheath together, the Filthy Darkness inside its sheath made a perfect emergency club. A sharp sword flew over Severus and impacted but did not do anything much to the Dark Knight's armour, and the left was swiftly knocked aside, left an unharmed Severus. The items had clanked when it touched the floor.*

*Having dodged and knocked all the stuffs already, Severus directed his attention to the sound of the creature again.*

*"Sweetness"? Severus chuckled. That ancient-looking creature did really have something. Something really mysterious. Something really caught Severus' attention. It had a good taste in many things... Fashion? Moral? Evils? Whatever could it be, that creature has no humane sense for sure. Just like the growing Severus. He nodded as the creature as he assumed that gesture was a sight of politeness.*

*After that, he glanced at the two over there, at the girl who was screaming because of the fallen goods. If the claw man could heal from Severus' headbutt, Severus was sure that the wound would heal in the same way. Vampire? Possible a high-tier vampire if he was one as he was walking under the sunlight. But no, the characteristics on the claw man was obvious, he was a beast. A cruel beast, with a good brain, unlike the stupid monsters Severus had slayed out there. With the distinguishable marks on the skin... Panther? Whatever...*

"Money? Humans all care about money, aren't they?"

*Severus slowly and steadily approached the girl with a serious tone. His eyes stared at her through the holes on the helmet could cause the girl to be frightened. He gripped the grip of the sword tightly, the sheath was still there. But even without a blade, it could act as a dangerous club. A normal girl would not be able to bear an impact from it combined with Severus' strange strength.*

"Your friend could be dead if that *Cooking knife* Stabbed closer to his neck. At least you should give him a healing potion in case he could not heal the wound."

*He pointed the sword her while threatening. His voice was serious yet calm,*

"This world is not your protected village or the cottage you live in. If someone wanted, they could end your life. So first, you better know how to deal with such a situation. You should have run with your companion and leave behind all the things. He is an able-man, don't disable him. You all are mortals after all."

*Severus stared at the beast man to see his reaction. If he was about to attack again, with the sword in his hand, Severus would knock him out without mercy... Unless he dodged. Then he kept on his lecture about life,*

"You want me and *Plant*," *Severus pointed at Kafral,* "To compensate you? If I say no and leave you here. What are you going to do huh? Chase after me and stab me in the back? That will never work unless you were really powerful. Powerful enough to make me stumble under your feet!"

*Saying a little bit loud in an upset tone, Severus' feelings soon were halted by the mysterious aura. Because of that, his voice once again calmed down,*

"Real money means nothing when you are dead. And so do your friends. If they were dead, then can you think about money over your friends? If you could, then you would have been worse than me."

*He knotted the sheath back to where it should be and crossed his hands,*

"You better don't cut my words."

"Moreover, instead of sitting there and screaming, why don't you stand up and collect what you could still sell."

*He sighed, lecturing a stranger was not what he planned to do. However, he could not just leave a powerless stubborn girl to wander around this merciless world.*

"Here, take this."

*He precisely grabbed a head that was hanging freely behind his hip and handed to the girl. Many would say that he was insane, but for Severus, that was a huge sum of money.*

"No," *He replied,* "You will have to take this."

*No matter how would she refuse, he would still hand her the head and explain,*

"This is the head of the *Head bandit* Of Iron Blood. They raged around here, the land of Heatherstead."

*He rubbed his chin,*

"Bring it to a fancy building in Miller Dale. You cannot miss it, it's very unique. They will reward you a handsome sum of... 50 golds and a few silvers as I remember."

*After that, he turned his head to say hi at Kafral for no reason.*
Tony
First of all Richard was really surprised and he was not sure if the knife in the back or the big black tin can is although a bit deranged maybe good.

Seeing that the situation is at least stable with the Dark Knight he tries to regain his composure. He looks back at Sally and tries to calm her.

"It's ok, don't worry."
He moved her had with the handkerchief and although som blood was left around, the wound was healed.
"I am a bit more resilient than I look. Are you hurt in any way?"

After he straighten himself up he looked at the Knight.
"As I see you are not a mindless creature and maybe this situation is an unfortunate turn of events. If you don't want to harm us in any way then I will not do that to you either." About the head situation Richard will wait to see Kirin's reaction to see what he will do.
Then he looks back at the plant monster.
"I am new to this place. If by any means it was an misunderstanding with you as well I am sorry."
Richard is looking at the creature waiting a response.

Even though he gave everyone a chance to solve this amicably he will not let his guard down. Especially now that he is outnumbered. If any of them tries to do something threatening Richard will respond accordingly.
Mark
*As Kafral's head turned to Sally, the flames of the lamp lapped thoughtless memories in Kafral's pale eyes. Large wooden spines erupted from the wilderling's back like porcupine quills. Kafral's entire body began to shake and vibrate, the sound like rustling leaves as the fronds from behind the mask stood on end. With every passing second Kafral's body lost all softness. Large plates of dense wood covered his body like armor, and where the plates could not fit there lived a mix of needles and wooden spines. Even the unchanging mask had several thorny vines crawling up its edges. Diving a clawed hand between wooden plates and through thorny flesh, Kafral pulled a spear from his chest with a rusty iron tip that the handle seemed to grow around. Low to the ground, Kafral brandished the weapon directly at Sally, the light from the lamp reflecting the fear behind the mask.*

"*Kill the Stinky. Kill the Bright Head*"

*The wilderness swayed with Kafral's words, the forest that surrounded the roads held its breath at the repetition of history. Kafral, the last known wilderling, brandishing man's own weapon against the girl. Fear, hatred, and anger swirled in yellow eyes as small pink sparks began to pop from the thorned edge of Kafral's mask*

"*Monster*"

*Though Kafral lacked most all facial features, the sneer and venom could be heard in his words even with their distortion. The disdain only increased once his gaze drifted to Richard*

"*Disgusting, Filthy, Ugly, lie with Monster. False Child*"

*In all his insults, Kafral had not even considered Severus as a threat, or really what he was at all. Kafral recognized a similar stink in Severus that he smelled of himself. Though Kafral considered the undead an atrocity of mankind, he found more in common with mankind's dead than their living*
John
"Okay, while what you are saying have a point, I reeeeeally cannot discuss on that deal right now."

Wares scattered, life threatened, deal proposed, allies condition stabilized. In a single second she gathers all the information around her and analyze.

First off, the armor man is capable of talking! He's not just spouting random threats and phrases like what she thought. That means he can be talked to! Therefore reason with! This changes a lot of things!
To be honest, the head deal is actually worth considering, but she can't spare her brain power to close the deal as of right now.

Second, Jaguarman is safe! Another yay! What was that healing ability just now? That's kinda insane to be honest! But hey, good for him! Now he can stick close, fully fit! Though it feels kinda cheating taking advantage of other people's kindness, but girl's gotta do what the girl's gotta do! She's safe-ish for now, but we'll see.

Third, woodman's not backing down. In fact he's even more aggressive. This is growing worse by the minute...! But it seems that he hates fire. He probably won't dive if she keeps the lantern up. This should be able to buy her some time.

With all the data combined, she surmise that what she need is time. She need this woodman to keep its distance, and maybe win the armor over somehow? She really need to stack all the wares up and she can't do it with life threatening monster literally looking to jump her any second. Gotta break this stalemate!

"So... Hey. Not sure if you have anything you want, Mr. Walking armor, but..."
She grins.
"Is there anything you want right now? I'll trade it for your, erm... Service?"
William
*Severus simply nodded as he had nothing more to say to the beast man. He was so confident in his abilities that he would never think about losing in a fight. However, he would not be able to advance much further with only swords... Just for a moment, he though of trying out new prowess.*

*Just now he was lost in thought, staring at the flickering flame of the lamp when suddenly a memory flashed through his mind. It was an image of a Dark Knight holding a bright sword, and the armour he wore shone like the sun. But it was not just his appearance that caught Severus' attention, it was the melody that played in the background.*

*It was an unfamiliar melody with a dark and enigmatic sound, almost like a song sung in a language he could not understand.*

Ist das der Engel, der vom dämmernden Himmel hinunter flog?
Ist das der Teufel, der aus der Felsenspalte heraus kroch?




Mit Trauer und Entscheidung im Herzen
Zeigen wir den Willen weiterzugehen




*It reminded him of a group of powerful knights who had served under the Dark Knight's command. Yet their name remained unknown. He suddenly saw the flash imagine of Nine Lances of...- But the memory was cut short by the merchant's voice.*

*Severus shook his head trying to clear the haze from his mind. He was unsure of what to make of the strange memory or what it might mean.*

"Severus. I am Severus Lavendrature," *He said, so that she could not have to call him with the made-up names. No one knew what names could they come up with if Severus did not provide his name... Like Ironman for example.*

"I have a lot of things to discuss with you merchant girl."

*He stopped and looked at the angered Woodsy Creature.*

"But not now."

*The wooden quills, the newly made wooden plates as armour, the wooden needles and spikes, and the rusted spear. Severus' eyes scanned the Woodsy Creature's changes in appearance as he humbled interestingly something about the way the Creature stored items. Even though he did not know why the Forest's Creature was in such a threatened attitude, nor knowing if it was insulting anything. Severus' personality was just altered slightly.*

*He was no longer crossing his hand. At that moment, he started to slowly approach the Creature.*

"What is bothering you, my wood friend?"

*He did not feel afraid or anything. Nothing at all.*
Tony
Richard is looking at the plant monster with concern. And to be fair the pile of insults was surprising. After he saw that the creature got a spear, Richard was ready to jump him but then he saw Severus going calmly towards it. He then thought to see where this is going before doing something.

He positioned himself between the creature and Sally so if anything happens he can at least intercept it.

All in all this day was definitely something that he expected. A random girl with a entire shop on her back, a creature knight that although conscious and intelligent the sanitary aspect of him definitely needs work and a plant monster that has a lot of murderous intent and a speech impediment.
Mark
*Kafral stared straight through Richard, the once small sparks that popped from the mask now puffed small flames from the thorns and were accompanied by a low buzz. Even with Richard blocking his sight, Kafral seemed to watch the flame of the lamp regardless. Without turning, Kafral spoke, the low buzz making his already distorted voice difficult, but not impossible to make out*

"*Monster fire, liar. Ugly, ugly, ugly thing.*"

*The mask that was Kafral's face had adopted a bright pink glow as small tufts of fire escaped a frame of thorns. The low buzz had also grown, nearly smothering Kafral's voice*

"*Murder and Traitor. Death and False one*"

*Through the glow, blighted eyes finally appeared to see Richard. The disgust was almost palpable as Kafral looked at him*

"*More monster than real, more ugly than stinkys*"

*Kafral showed no sign of backing down, but also assumed that Severus was on his side. Though most of his mind had been lost, watching what Richard did had inadvertently won Severus the favor of the wilderling. The glow was nearly blinding to Kafral at this point, but his eyes were aimed dead center at Richards chest*

"**Hateful Creature**"

*The blast was nearly instant, the discharge of pure condensed energy left in a straight line from the mask. Like a little rectangular beam of pink light, the blast held true to the shape of the mask, encompassing even the blighted eyes of Kafral. The blast was short lived, as was the sound it carried. The sound of the blast like mortar fire, set off with a loud ear ringing crack and a low rumbling echo. Though the pink beam of light Kafral had produced would be sustained for less than a second, it carried enough power to burn several inches through human flesh, often leaving Kafral's victims with clearly visible or missing organs depending on armor. Even the wilderling was not free from his own destruction as the heat flicked and sprouted several orange flames across his shoulders and head. Though these wounds c

Ould be quickly mitigated, plant flesh burnt relatively fast while burns healed relatively slowly*
Tony
For a moment the last thing they see is Richard being blasted back by the beam. Because he was on guard he was able to react and concentrate his aura around the chest to take the most of the blast.

Richard is pushed back but still on his feet. His chest although not caved in because of the blast it had his skin superficial surface burn that it was starting to heal.
After a second of shaking of the impact he was angry.

"That's it, weed is going down."
Richard rushed the plant monster. On his way to it Richard's body started to transform. He was getting bigger, muscle mass was growing the head started to have a new shape, that of a big feline with powerful jaws. In this form he grew to 10' and all his strength was empowered, especially his jaw if also coated aura can brake through any non magically reinforced material.

Richard in his beast form at the moment that he got to the monster he clawed it with his claws powered by his aura as well.
Rebecca
So it really has come to this! They are going at it for real now!
She does have some combat training (AKA swinging sticks around), but this is far beyond her skill level, and it's best to stay the hell back and... Er, wish him luck?

If it was just her she'd throw down a smoke bomb and beat hasty retreat, but she really can't leave this kind man to fight alone with a wood demon that can fire deathbeam! She has to do something!

But first... Wares!
Gotta collect them all and put it back on her back so at least when she REALLY have to run, no merchandise will be left behind.
As she busy herself with recovering her stuff, she will also look for anything that could turn the tide of the battle.

**"Severus! Can you help him?! I'll compensate you for your service!"**

Sally said as she tucks away the severed head (that apparently worth fifty gold? Surprisingly!) and put it in a sack to reduce the gruesome factor.
William
*While trying to approach the strange Creature of Nature, Severus thought about what to say to it. He kept thinking as he approached carefully, until he strained his ears to hear the deep, humming sounds of that Deep Forest Creature trying to make out. Why so struggling? What fire monster? Severus found that confusing and meaningless. However, his instinct, or rather his intuition, was reminding him of something.*

"Flamable?" *He muttered under his breath.*

*That mask, why did it keep making some strange sounds. It was shaking continuously as a angry man who could not help but wanted to attack the murderers who slayed his beloved family. All of that thinking took Severus quite an amount of time.*

*It was only when he was as close as possible to that Creature of the Forest that something suddenly occurred to him in that dead head. That was possibly it.*

"The lamp! Put the f-"

*Severus could not spit all the words as it was interupted by an unfamiliar and unwelcoming sound. The streak of light suddenly flashed in front of his eyes, leaving him speechless without knowing how to respond. The bright pink light and the sound was loud, yet was fine for Severus.*

...

*The burning grass ground... The burning Forest Being... Severus' eyes glanced in the beast man's direction. That was incredible that he survived the powerful attack of Nature, or whatever it could be. If that was Severus, he could be cooked and have to use his precious gathered life-energy to recover the damaged parts. He chuckled. Then, the Knight took a few seconds to admire the Beast Man's ability, but seconds were too long for the angered Beast.*

*As Severus expected, the man was some kind of 'were-creature'. Cold-blooded, cruel and sometimes cunning, these were some typicals traits of Werewolf. But what about... That Were-panther, or Were-cat? It was still a big cat no matter what.*

*That was fast. Powerful. And conpensating or not, Severus already had his answer of what to do. They were all really interesting and Severus did not want any of them to lay down on this land. Therefore, he let her words fall on deaf ears and started to act differently from what they would expect.*

*Severus wasted no time in drawing his rapier from its sheath and throwing it like a dart in an attempt to pin the Beast Man's claw and prevent him from attacking the Forest Being. The sharp point of the rapier pierced through the air with precision, targeting the 10 feet-tall Beast-man's enhanced claw.*

"Halt right there! Halt!" *He shouted in attempt to tell both to stop. Hopefully...

*Quickly, he turned to the Blonde Merchant and shouted loudly to tell her to turn off the lamp.*
Mark
*Kafral's mask split horizontally where a mouth might be. The gaping maw was less of a mouth and more of a pit, no tongue or throat, the teeth that rested in his mouth were human, but were spread throughout the hole haphazardly. From the mask the wilderness screamed though it's last true child, the pink energy boiling in the newly formed hole threatening to burst at any moment. The horrid scream was shrill and chilling, a blood curdling cry from a heartless creature. The cry was cut off by a string of strange frequencies, bouncing in and out of what a regular human could notice. Kafral spoke in a language long since dead, burned to ask hundreds of years ago.*



*Kafral stood firm with his spear at the ready, waiting for a pounce, waiting to use the weight of his attacker to drive the rusted tip completely through. Entranced in the primal display of combat, Kafral only noticed the rapier when it entered his line of sight, but was not at all surprised. A one track mind, that of a real monster unlike the undead or the misunderstood. The malice that flooded from Kafral swept through every blade of grass and every tree. The sweet and sour stench of death billowed in clouds of red mist from between the heavy wooden plates. The misguided hand of mother nature stood on the cobbled street, wielding her raw wrath in its purest form.*

"***Freedom***"

*The pink energy flowed through Kafral's body, even the blackened burns that adorned his shoulders held a faint glow. Heat and power gathered from the mask to the tips of taloned fingers*
John
"Why is nothing going well today?!"

This is not about losing money anymore! The gravity of the situation finally being rationally realized that despite walking in a mostly safe rural road connecting two already established towns, this still count as wilderness, and wilderness has its fair share of lethality. To be honest, she's not prepared for this level of danger while traveling in this relatively safe area. But no use crying over spilt milk. The threat is here and is very real. The only way out is either through (extremely hard by the looks of it) or backwards.

Fleeing would hurt her wallet a lot, but... As they say, life is precious and worth more than anything.

"Hunter!" Sally yells, "Heads up!"
*Come to think of it, I still don't know his name...*

From the scattered wares she gathered, she grabs a bunch of colored smoke bombs and smoky incenses and throw into the lantern. It starts catching fire, and multicolored smoke bellows out of the handheld lantern. She tosses it forward towards the group.

"Let's run! No use staying here!"
Tony
Richard sensed the blade coming towards his hand so using his aura and fast reaction he managed to catch it.

At first he was surprised by the intervention but then the wooden creature started to make and ungodly sound that made his ears ring and fill like his head can explode. Thankfully it was cut short and although with a splitting headache he tries to refocus on what is happening.

Because his ears were still adjusting Richard did not hear the full message from Sally just someone yelling then a smoke explosion going off. The situation was going from bad to worse really fast. Then in all the commotion Richard heard just "Let's Run!", with all that was going on it did not sound like a bad idea.

He just stuck the rapier in the ground between himself and the creature hoping maybe that will confuse it and then bolt it out of the smoke towards the Sally's voice.
William
*Severus was left in shock as his warning to the blonde merchant girl had fell on deaf ears. Sometimes people would not listen to others for the best result anyways. Despite the potential consequences, he refused to let that deterring him from taking action. Therefore, he must remain focused and determined to protect both the Forest Creature and the Merchant no matter what. For his own sake. He takes a moment to gather himself before launching into action, assessing the situation and devising a plan to diffuse the tension and avert further danger. Or at least, that was what he could plan in a short period of time. Such a miracle for a dead brain.*

*He felt like his tongue was dried, the throat was a little bit bitter. But it soon passed. Severus rushed towards the Chunky Tree Being and held his shoulders, where the spikes were not resided at,*

"You! Have to go right now. This is no joke!"

*His voice was urgent, and instinctively, even though it was meaningless. He took a breath. The Strange Being was appearing like a magic caster casting some otherworldly spells and ready to self-destruct at any moment. Though Severus did not mind that, it would cost him a little bit.. Bitter.*

"Don't just stand here! We'll meet again. At where there's no one. We will talk, without rushing or having any stranger attacking."

*Severus was still trying to persuade the Otherwordly Tree Man, in a rushing tone, shouting while shaking the ready-to-explode One.*

"Go! Go now! Into the forest!"

*A strange feeling hindered Severus all other feelings of urge and frustrated, leaving him feeling as normal as possible. Really? In such a situation, who could feel so calm? Must be the Dark Knight, Severus who got the most weird developing personality. Despite the danger and the odds stacked against him...*

*He would release the Creature's shoulders soon after that, and was a little bit injured because of the dangerous natural wooden spikes embedded on the poorly mimicked body. The wounds quickly closed itself and healed after that anyhow.*

"You can do it. I'm Severus. Remember that. We will meet again."

"Don't chase, I have business."

*Rushing and rushing, in his calmed voice, he was still striving for a give up from the Mother Nature's Son. Then, he would quickly stand straight up and slowly walk backward to retreat towards the direction that two of the others were running. If it succeed without the strange colour patterns on the Creature acting out of control, he would... Just run.*
Mark
*Kafral watched the pluming smoke, the magnificent colors reminded him not of life and diversity, but of the burning souls of the Frako. Nearly lifeless in Severus' arms, the fog of war filled his vegetated skull, warping both his emotion and perception. Broken beyond any normal repair, Kafral's mind failed to comprehend the situation, and so played an augmented memory through blighted eyes. The deathly knight that had held him no longer wore a helmet, no longer bore a face of steel. What Kafral saw was another creature like him, another wilderling pulling him from the horror as two more disappeared into the smoke. Severus' words slipped easily through the cracks of Kafral's mind, his body to invested in coping from the imagery to focus on a language that wasn't his.*



*A mix of frequencies that hardly resembled language made up the tongue of the wilderlings, the scene so horrific, too much for Kafral to take once more.*



*A new look on a blank plank mask formed as the gaping maw closed and malice left Kafral's body. Even in the pale yellow, there was concern, there was worry, and there was a small spark of misplaced hope. He was determined to save what he thought were his own. The plates of wood, the thorns and spines, all would fall into a boiling mass of plant matter where only the mask remained unchanged. As his body fell into a disturbing mound, it quickly picked itself back up. The new form was far from the human mimicry, Kafral now stood on four strong legs at a height of nearly eight feet tall. Each leg ended in a wooden hoof, still adorned with long curved nails. The overall form was quite comical, as if someone who had never seen a horse tried to draw one from a loose description. With no tail and an strangely long neck tipped with an unfeeling wooden mask, Kafral now walked the line of being silly and fun to look at, or downright disturbing.*



*A strange string of frequencies followed by s

Light gestures and what Kafral was planning became a little less fuzzy. Though a strange build for a mount, Kafral was better suited to carry an ironclad night more than any steed*
John
After a long dash with the weight of about three grown man on her back, Sally looks back to check the situation. Even though she's rather strong, but this still take quite a lot out of her stamina. Still, it's good that they are not followed! Not sure what happened, but the woodman and the death knight does not pursue them both. The hunter follows behind not too far back, and he seems to be overall unharmed. That's a relief.

All in all, it was not a bad trade. Despite nearly getting herself killed by a raging wooden horror, she did lose only about half of her wares, and she get to meet a good guy! That could be considered a small win in a big but acceptable loss!
Still... Despite everything, she kind of think that the smooth escape was partly because of the dread knight's doing. She has her suspicion that he's more than meet the eyes (ha!) but she's not going to go back there and check. Not anytime soon, anyway. Maybe she'll wait until they left and circle back to collect her salvageable wares.

Making sure that they are both safe, she set her backpack down on the grassy meadow on the roadside, and lie flat onto it. The flower smells nice, and the grass are soft and comfy. Can't imagine the deadly encounter they just experienced a few minutes ago.

"Ha! Ahahahaha! What a trip! And this is just the start of it!"

She laughs out loud, happy to be alive.
William
*Severus stood at the edge of the dense forest, surrounded by a sea of trees that stretched as far as the eye could see. He was alone, save for the blackened bushes, which was still smouldering from the recent fire, the heads carefully tied behind the Dark Knight and a magnificent masterpiece of nature... The Wild's Child. In the early noon, the surrounding atmosphere was strangely peaceful, and the sun was just beginning to rise over the head. That said, the air was still cool, and the only sound left was the soft chirping of birds in the distance. There was rustling sound as well from the Mother Nature. As Severus took an unnecessary deep breath, the mysteriously cool air bathed his face beneath that heavy helmet, flew through the nostrils and cooled inside the armour. His mind was not put on the running away Merchant Girl or the Beast Man... It was all in, at the miracle appearance in front of those glowing eyes. As if time was stopped and the whole area was surrounded by a thick dim fog. The struggling light shined down at the newly formed odd yet attractive war horse. It was like a famous play that was created once in a thousand years waiting to be finished.*

*He stood straight up and passionately observed, a beam of memory about the horse he once rode into battle. It was just a dim memory but the feelings were so real as if it just happened the day before. The surrounding was unobservable due to impenetrable layers of memory fog, nor the appearance of the mount was revealed.*

*Surprisingly, Severus was brought back to reality. This day, the day he met the people and the strange Creature brought him to an ocean of strange phenomena. Heavy with melancholy and regrets, but he pushed those feelings aside to do what he knew had to be done.*

*Completely unable to understand what the Wild's Creature said earlier, the Dark Knight approached the strangely built Horse slowly, not wanting to startle the him. With a carefully outstretched hand, he reached out and stroked the horse's mane made out of leaves, feeling the soft imaginary fur under his ironclad and clothed fingers. The rough wooden surface just acting like it was not there. That was a real war odd horse, a true one was born for the most capable knight. The other hand was patting its really long neck. Even if it was temporary, it would be the greatest temporary glory.*

"Is it?"

*The mount was obviously ready,*

"What's your name?"

*Asking a horse for its name would be stupid, if that was just a normal horse. In their case, it was completely different as Severus had known that this 'horse' was not simple as any. It was... Something else.*

*With another unncessary deep breath, Severus positioned himself next to the Odd Horse and took a firm hold of the vine reins. The Dark Knight had waited for this moment, and he was determined to show the Mother Nature that he was worthy of his trust. With his hand still steady on the vines, Severus swung one leg over the badly mimicked saddle-looking wooden plate and then the other, settling himself into place. He felt the saddle, and the solid wooden muscle of the horse beneath him. This was going to be one of the greatest moments of his life... Or this life, a moment that would define him as a true Knight.*

*As he sat atop the Horse, Severus felt a sense of pride and accomplishment wash over him. He bathed in the fresh cool atmosphere. With a determined grip on the viny reigns, he had an urge to urge the pretty Horse forward. Once again, he patted his long neck.*

"Walk."

*He said calmly and tugging gently the vines. If the Horse did move, the Dark Knight reward him with a stroke.*

*After everything had settled down, the Dark Knight with the Oddly born Horse would ride up to the direction that the Merchant Girl and the hot-tempered Beast. Whether the Nature's Son calmed down or not, he would still ride after them. To reach them.*