*Upon hearing Spirit fluttering about and shouting for the barkeep. Rathil begins to stir a bit. He raises his head a little looking for Boromir.*

"Water, could someone please bring me some water."

Boromir hears a faint noise from the kitchen as he is trying to prepares todays meal. He peaks out quickly and runs to get a mug of water. "Here my friend. You look like you have been through hell," he says in a worried tone.

*Rathil sits up slightly and gulps down the water.*

Yes, thank you my friend. I barely made it back into the city last night before the guards closed off the gates. I wouldn't have made it back in at all if I hadn't heard the messenger that came to our town gallop past my camp last night.

*After getting his bearings back a bit he looks around*

Did I hear Spirit in here awhile ago? I vaguely remember a tiny voice yelling

"I have never seen a demon and it seems like they are somekind of evil that most of us commoners don't understand. My father said this morning that he will sell his armorsmith and buy a sloop if they reach this town. We will try to escape far away from these lands if need to be. We have a big influence in the town's officials and am sure they will let us leave if the time would come," Boromir says shaking a little at the thought. He then goes back to get another mug of water for Rathil.

Well from the way this town is reacting they can't be good. We are totally locked down. Although there is something coming. Forces of evil are gathering. As I was heading back to town I noticed that there are camps of creatures forming around the forest that normally don't venture this far from their homes. Goblins, Hobgoblins, Bugbears, Kobolds. Creatures that try to avoid us as much as we try to avoid them.

"I have only seen goblins in books that my father owns. Never saw one in person? Are they really as grotesque as some say they are?" Boromir asks curiously as he hands another mug of water.

They are definately just as disgusting as you have seen in books, only the smell is about twice as bad as they look. I had the bad luck of stumbling over one of their camps as I was running back last night. I barely made it through. Nasty little buggers too. One of them slashed me pretty good.

*Points to a long cut in his arm that has been wrapped up with a piece of his clothing*

"Wow what a slash you have there. Fortunately it dried up! Yes indeed you are lucky to be alive! I guess my days of hunting with Criani occassionally will be at a end," Boromir says.

Yes, I am kind of worried about that myself. With no one being allowed in or out of the city I wonder how much the buisness in this town will suffer.

*a large explosion is heard coming from Barbus's Training Academy, followed by a series of others shortly after, however you see no smoke, no fire, and nothing at all wrong with the school. Finally, a figure appears at the Green Dragon Inn, bright red glowing eyes, an empty mug in one hand, and a fireball still burning in the other*

Who says I cannot leave town! Bah! *Throws fireball at one of the newly placed signs out on the road* I can come and go as I very well please. Who's going to stop me? These Royal Gurardsmen? Ha!

I was wondering when you were going to show up Barbus. I knew out of all the people in the town you would be most upset about this posting.

Upset, you haven't seen upset, I am slightly miffed. What are they going to do shoot me down? I have wings you know, gates don't apply to me. Sorry about the foul mood Rathil, something about cutting off my freedom always gets my blood boiling. I wake from a trance, with this scroll in my lap,that says the exact same thing as all them stupid signs out there. So I had a little target practice back at the Academy, even the ants didin't get anything from that guy. *flips a guardsman's badge like a coin*

ah yes, well luckily for you you do have the wings. For those of us that can't fly it's a little more inconvinient. I want to get back outside and pay back some of those little cretures I ran into last night. Disgusting goblins.

Run into som goblins did ye?

A lot more than that. I almost got locked out of the city. I barely made it back in before they locked down the gates

Oh hell, here we go again.... I have seen this before, it gets nasty.

what have you seen before? A city lockdown?

aye, about 400 years ago, I witnessed a town similar to this one being shut down, it was overrun by demons of some kind. Oh well ancient history.

Borimor, please, something to drink, and if you would, do you have any meat back there, my stomach is not feeling liver today.

well I would imagine that an infestation of goblins and kobolds beat out demons anyday. They are just lucky there were so many of the little bastards. I would have cut their whole camp down if I wasn't in such a hurry.

Well, from what I remember, hordes of goblins and kobolds is what it took to eradicate the demon infestation, drove them into the sea, and drowned them out.