An Odd Sight

A rather peculiar woman has recently begun to poke around Shadowdale and its outer areas. She could be spotted wandering outside of the town's eastern gate, traveling between Fox Ridge and Harper's Hill. She is abnormally tall, covered in crimson scales and has large horns protruding from her brow. The woman is almost always clad in armor that appears to be coated in grime, soot and dried blood. Burnt patches of earth, smoldering carcasses or corpses of monsters that appear to have been torn apart can be found in the areas that she hunts. Forest critters such as rabbits, deer and squirrels have likely diminished in number since her arrival. She seems to stare at most passersby, not entirely sure what to make of them and remains at a cautious distance.

((Should guard NPCs or PCs have cause to approach Kiha, this would be the thread to do it!))

Zazieri happens across the figure, a small hin clad in naught but a robe and hood of solid black, complete with a small lantern. She returns the figure's stare if she's noticed, and would even offer a polite wave, alongside a somewhat curious expression.

It would take Kiha a moment or two to notice the approach of the small halflling. She would straighten to her full two meter height and tilt her head as she observed Zazieri. She would furrow her brow at the polite gesture and return it, albeit rather awkwardly. The half-dragon would mutter something to herself, but otherwise continues to stare. As time passes, she snorts small gouts of flame from her nostrils. Kiha clearly does not know what to make of the halflling.

The guards will not approach just yet. It seems they are studying her warily and waiting to see if she tries to get into the town first.

After some time of mutual observation, Zazieri would walk right up to Kiha...

... then move past, continuing on her way. She has no weapons or armor, and she makes no hostile gestures. She just seems like she's heading somewhere else, away from the town.

Moric knew this woman, and he was not exactly eager to know if she recognized him. He had seen her about...he had mistaken her as a drow, which made her red hair so incredibly confusing. Naturally, that confusion eroded once it became clear she was not a drow..or..wholly one. He hadn't gotten a really good look to confirm much beyond she could breathe fire.

Nor did he want to. Moric remained somewhere in the background. That nagging curiosity of what she was doing here had pulled the gensai's feet forward and along the edge of the path and out of town, but not far from it.

Then came Zazieri. She was fearless...or, mostly fearless. Short things tended to be that way. They had an aggression to them, a passion to prove themselves. Moric wasn't really certain what they were trying to prove, but he didn't understand much of what most creatures did. He did know, the shorter they were, the stranger they thought. And the stranger they thought, the more prone they were to be or get into trouble. Moric watched on, ever-listening. Waiting to see what the hin had stumbled into.

Kiha would watch Zazieri walk by cautiously. She did not reach for her axe, nor did any fire come from her maw. The large woman simply watched the halfling with the same tilted gaze, not entirely sure whether or not she should take the woman's nonchalant passing as a taunt or simple pleasantry. She was not used to the latter, but that was the more likely reality of the situation. With another snort and a shrug, she continued on her way, barely noticing the mountain of a genasi off to the side. Kiha offered him a nod before coming to stand before the eastern gate, looking towards the town within curiously.

One of the guards standing watch right at the entrance shift a bit upon seeing Kiha get closer. He doesn't seem quite sure what to make of her. Her whole appearance seems to concern him- especially the fact that there is dried blood all over her armor.

Granted, it could be the blood of any animal or being for that matter, but his duty was to watch for suspicious things. And this? He considered this highly suspicious. He stepped in front of her and cleared his throat, shifting a bit uncomfortable.

"Can I help ye, miss?"

Kiha would stop and look over the guard curiously with her smoldering blue eyes. For several moments, she simply stared as she had done when the halfling had crossed her path. The gaze was likely intimidating, given the woman's size and the state of her appearance. Then, the half-dragon nodded her head slowly. "Yes," she said and gestured to Shadowdale's interior. "I would like to enter."

Her speech was slow and the words seemed to be carefully considered.

He swallowed hard and looked around to the other guards. They seemed just as nervous, but glad that he was the one dealing with it, and not them. When he looked back at Kiha, he straightened up so as not to appear as frightened.

"Do ye mind if I ask ye a few questions before tha'? Ye uh..." He began, looking to her armor again. "S'lot o' blood. Ye look like ye just came from a slaughter...heh..." It was his attempt at trying to make light of things.

The large woman nodded and gestured for the guard to go on with his question when asked. She slowly grinned as the man spoke, revealing her dagger-like teeth. "I did!" She said with both pride and excitement. "The dog-men fired arrows at me, so I sank my claws into them." At that, she raised her bloodied hands to show the guard, bits of fur could be spotted sticking to her palms.

Once more, her speech is slow. It is as if she has to consider every phrase before speaking.

Seeing her teeth gave the man a jump. "Bloody Hells..." Taking note of the hair on her bloodied hands, he gave a small nod and continued. "What's yer name, Miss? And why ye here? I ain't mean ta be rude, jes...this be a small town and there's lots o' issues happenin that cause concern fer people's safety, ye know? Ye look a bit different from tha normal types tha come in..."

"Ki-ha." She says slowly while jutting a thumb toward herself. "That is my name." The Half-Dragon snorts small gouts of flame from her nostrils as she considers his other question. Why was she here? There was certainly no grand plan behind her wandering, so what answer could she give? Suddenly, a low rumbling was emitted from her stomach and she moved a hand to pat the plate that covered her gut. "I am in need of food and other supplies." She answered, glad for the inspiration.

Kiha reached up to scratch her scaly cheek with clawed fingers as she mulled over the guard's last remark. "I would hope most do not look like me. The blood of dragons courses through my veins." Another proud grin spreads its way over her face as she says that.

"Eugh..." The flames emitted from her maw furthers his nervousness. One of the guards to the side even begins to pull out his weapon partially, ready to attack if she shows any signs of hostility. The guard speaking to her shifts in his stance.

"Alright, well look. Ye can't go doin' that...that fire thing. We gots lots o' crops around here an' lots of folk who'll be scared shiteless once they see ye, aye? Ye want a word o' advice, keep ta yerself. We got lots o' issues in town an' the moment ye make a wrong move, lots o' people will come after ye, even if it be somethin' small. Ain't nothin against ye. Just eh..." He tries to be as diplomatic as possible in his approach. "Yer gonna be watched by tha guards. When ye go in, take a look at our laws. First thing ye do. Ye break any o' those, there's gonna be a problem."

Kiha nodded as the guard spoke. She wasn't entirely sure if she could keep herself from snorting flames. . The gesture was second nature, but she didn't let him know that. Much of everything else he said did make sense to her. It was not entirely different from the usual rules that she had to follow, however, there was one problem.

"I cannot read." She said bluntly. "At least not this tongue's script. "

"Oh. Erm...well I can read them ta ye. Just come with me." The guard motions her to follow him into the town.

Once they enter, many of the townsfolk look her over with wide eyes and mutter to each other about 'monsters'. Some of the parents usher their children indoors.

Finally, as they reach the sign, the guard would read all of the laws to her, making sure there were no misunderstandings before he left.

Kiha would nod as she listened to the guard, asking him to clarify a few points before assuring her understanding. The half-dragon tilted her head at the many stares that were directed her way, but simply shrugged them off. Now that she was able to walk around town, the large woman began to explore Shadowdale; wandering around to poke about curiously.