Claramond giggled and Gia cracked a half-smile at Michael's little quip, but Uwa remained straight-faced. He had a long way to go to gain her trust; the only reason she was putting up with him at this point was because Claramond and Gia trusted him, and he was very, very skilled with magic. His brand of magic was darker than what she or Gia practiced, and looked like a giant pool of ink on cloud white paper compared to what abilities that Claramond had, but to be fair, just about any kind of magic would seem impure and tainted in comparison to the abilities of a paladin. No matter. If the others trusted him, Uwa would at least not try to kick him out.<br/><br/>Uwa did give a nod at Michael's observation, though. Claramond replied, "Mhmm. Elves aren't necessarily unable to hit harder than a human typically does, and just because you have a lot of strength behind that swing doesn't mean you're going to hit anything, either. I suspect he'll be like a boxer more than a brawler."<br/><br/>It wasn't too much longer before they would find out, either. As their meals were coming to the table, the doors to the inn were thrown open by a man who was about Claramond's height, if not a bit taller, and was built like he'd been a plowboy since he was old enough to walk. The dwarven barmaid shook her head and growled a bit as she put the party's meals on the table and made to return to the bar. However, she wan stopped by the man, who was soon backed up by, as the innkeeper had said, three other sizable men who were not far behind the first man, an elven man with sinewy, lean muscles, and a halfling with an eye patch and mutton chops that were thick enough to have been spread all over his face and still qualify as a fine beard. "What're yeh here fer, Elyan?" she demanded, her impatience showing immediately. Claramond had already started to leave her seat at the sound of his name.<br/><br/>Elyan gave a dark laugh, and said in an offensively sultry voice, "You know<i>exactly</i>what I'm here for." By then, Claramond was halfway from their table to the barmaid.<br/><br/>Another laugh- Claramond could have sworn that his chortle signified some kind of relation to a troll- and he then did something quite unthinkable: rearing back, he put all his might into slapping the barmaid across her breasts, the resounding clap echoing through the paladin's ears.<br/><br/>Claramond almost hesitated at that point, but instead of faltering, she moved faster. When she was right behind the dwarven woman, she hauled off and threw her fist into Elyan's face, who hadn't seen it coming until it was too late. Gauntleted knuckles met flesh and bone with a sickening crunch, and a marble of blood and spittle flew from his mouth as he fell to the floor. He hadn't been knocked out, but that certainly had to hurt; as he stood, one could see that his nose, now far more crooked than when he had first stepped in- was already bruising, and bleeding quite badly. His upper lip was swelling a bit as well.<br/><br/>At first, the entire bar went deathly quiet, apart from Elyan's heavy breathing. The barmaid squeezed behind Claramond, giving the back of her armored hand a soft kiss and whispering, "Good luck upon yeh, lassie," before scurrying off.<br/><br/>Claramond's eyes, normally warm in spite of how vividly blue they were, had a certain cold fire in them that almost looked like she was about to be wanted for murder. They met Elyan's grayish-brown ones, and the silence was broken with him yelling, "What are you waiting for, you half-wits!? Get her!"<br/><br/>Uwa slammed a fist on the table as all Hell broke loose. "Damn it, Clara! Must you be so quick to start hitting people?" she barked as she leaped from her chair and got herself back-to-back with Claramond. Gia was on her feet as soon as the punch had been made, and was snaking through the chairs and patrons to come at the gang from one side, where the elf and one of the humans were standing. She took a stance not unlike that of a wrestler, beckoning one of them to come forward and try their luck.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>