~The Inn's story~

The Ghost Light Inn is beautiful inside and out and has everything one could possibly need. It was built from the remains of a castle which had been destroyed by magic and has the expected rooms for guests as well as a dining hall and ball room. It also has a separate wing with a blacksmith shop and sewing room as well as other craft rooms. One could live in the inn, though it is not run by the living at all.

When the Inn was built the ghosts of the maids and butlers as well as other staff of the castle found themselves appearing inside it as if waking from a long nap. Many of the living were afraid and ran away including the owners who despite owning the title to the land consider the ghosts the true owners. As the town around them discovered the ghosts it was simply a forewarning of the end. Far worse things lived in the dark forests of Ashiana, even monsters of every size and shape. The attempt at a resort town failed and was abandoned.

Soon the ghosts found they were almost the only souls remaining, yet they still run the Inn and keep everything clean, every fire lit. They see the inn made from their beloved castle as the last safe place in the snowy mountains of Ashiana and the dark mysterious forests that cover it.

The Inn calls to lost travelers and explorers and asks nothing in return save that guests get along. The inn itself, filled with the love of the ghosts that run it, is a living breathing thing. It is proud of its purpose and stands ready to greet you. Please enjoy your stay at the Ghost Light Inn.

~Rules~

1. No GodModding. You must also have a weakness and you must control only your own character/npcs (such as the ghosts).
2. The Inn is run by ghosts this means that you are checked in by A NPC GHOST, and check your character in YOURSELF on your first post instead of waiting for someone else to do it for you. The only exception is if your character is unable to check in at the moment for some reason (example, if you wander in hurt and pass out or something.)
3. You must separate ooc chatter from your post in some sort of bracket system.
4. You must respect each other Out of Character, No fighting!
5. You must be semi-literate, i.e. no one or two sentence long posts, we need more to work off of than that!
6. Please include a picture or short text description including hair color, hair style, eye color, height, build, skin tone and any inhuman features in your first post. I'll take care of the rest.
7. There is no profiles, no requirement to ask permission. Just post your entrance and your in the inn!

~Characters~

Eye description/color: Bright Blue they looke like the eyes of a cat and seem to glow slightly.
Hair Description: Her dark, almost black, purple hair is always in a long loose braid that goes just past her waist.
Height: 5'8
Build: She has the muscles of someone well traveled but is also very curvy around the bust and hips.
Skin tone: Pale but with a slightly silver tinge.
Animal Features: Cat pupils in all forms. Has a full animal form and several in-between forms. To use any of her powers she must be at least in her stage one hybrid form, which has large cat like ears and a long fluffy cat like tail.

Aneka 'Ani' Kiki Augustine

Eye description/color: Blue
Hair Description: His hair is shoulder length and Red
Height: 6"1"
Build:
Skin tone: Pale

Regan

Eye description/color: green
Hair Description: Her hair is waist-length and orange
Height: 5"8"
Build: Curvy
Skin tone: Slight tanned

Karlin

*eyes change according to which personality is in control. Text of the personality name is in the color they become. Morana is the original, buried personality that was human before the blood experiments. She grows white feathered wings for Misa, silver tipped, white feathered wings for Loira, Purple tipped, black demon wings for Senka, and black demon wings for Vesta
* Morana * Misa of Healing * Loira of Light * Senka of Shadow * Vesta of the Dark Flame *

Janu Amerett

Johara 'Jo' Shaheen

Heiro

Julia Alsen

Lysene

Ren Carlisle

*Her left eye is gray blue and her right eye is a hazel green
Amaryllis Stone

Ishmael Telamon

Semirhage (Sem) Telamon

Danielle (Dani) S. Park

Rileytia

Rose

Roxanne Gray

Wolf form

Nenet

~Open For Posting~

((working on picture xD will be there momentarily))

Ani entered the inn slowly, simply hoping to find a place to get out of the snow. It was falling pretty heavy out there and she wasn't very interested in being frozen. As a chimere, a mysterious race capable of traversing the lines between life and death, it wouldn't kill her...permanently... but it could keep her body dead for a hundred years and she just wasn't interested in quite that long a rest. She knew the Inn was suppose to be abandoned but she kept hearing tales of ghosts that made her rather uncertain. She'd met a few ghosts that were less then kind...

As she closed the door behind her she noticed it looked better decorated and cleaner then a lot of other places... All the lamps were lit as well and why would become apparent as a woman walked out of the wall. The ghost stood behind the desk and motioned for her to come close. Jani hesitated but soon walked up to the check in desk. She was asked only to sign in her name so did so before looking up to find the ghost had wandered over to straighten a picture.

"I guess I'm checked in now then?" She asked quietly, not sure what to think. The ghost nodded and then walked back to the desk...or rather through the desk. Jani blinked and then watched wordlessly as the ghost took a key from the wall behind her and gave it too her. She was in room 35 apparently, which the ghost then told her had a beautiful view of the forest. She muttered a soft thank you and then the ghost was gone.

"A...all right then. I guess I have a room" Jani said before she began to laugh softly. At first she'd been startled, even a little scared but she'd felt no malice from the ghost. It was no different then being checked in to a normal inn... except you weren't asked to give over any money. She could get use to it she decided as she walked to sit on the couch that sat in the middle of the entry hall. It was across from the fire and definitely helped her warm up!

Julia Alsen

My age is unknown but I appear to be in my early twenties. My hair is brown and my eyes are hazel. I am a ghost who died long ago along with the others who run the Inn. When my spirit returned to this place, unfortunately my memories did not and I've yet to realize that I'm a ghost. Although I am solid and appear human, when I get nervous I just sort of disappear. When I'm sad, the room I'm in tends to turn shades of blue, flowers die, etc. When I'm angry, the area I'm in will get hot, turn shades of black and red and things can begin melting (paintings, ice cream etc.) You get the idea. When my emotions return to normal, everything goes back to normal as it was all just an illusion! Beware, I'm emotional and a clumsy walking disaster.

~~~*~~~*~~~

As she descended the stairs into the main lobby, Julia was humming a happy tune. She tugged at the loose braid over her shoulder and waved to the ghostly butler who stood near the entrance of the Inn. As she waved, she lost her footing and slipped, landing hard on her butt as she bounced down the last three steps. She tugged at the flowing cream colored dress she wore to ensure that she wasn't giving anyone a show, and rubbed at her rear end with a quiet, "Ouch, that really hurt..." The real question was if it did in fact hurt, or if her mind simply told her it was supposed to. After all, ghosts can't feel, can they?

So far as anyone would be able to tell, Julia was human and she was a permanent resident of the Inn. She couldn't recall when she began her stay here, nor would she be very happy upon being asked about it, which always made people curious. She wore a long cream colored dress with matching lacy cream colored flats. Her hair was long and braided to hang over her shoulder. She wore a deep red sort of cloak to protect her from the elements should she decide to venture out into the snow, but for now, Julia sat at the bottom of the stairs, wincing in pain at her newly bruised bottom.

Lysene



There wasn't much choice, as he fled the forest and those evil things within it. His left shoulder ached, but his left wing throbbed. Every step sent a new jolt of pain through the broken, delicate, feathered appendage. The silver bands around his wrists and upper arms glinted and reflected the light and snow. It was probably those sparkling things that had brought that creature, two headed ogre, though one head had been cyclopean, upon him in the first place. If he had been quicker, he would have been able to shift. To change to his true form. A small white dove, but Lysene had not reacted quick enough and now he had a broken wing to show for it. He could not change now, for fear of making the injury worse.

Blind luck, that was what it must have been, for him to catch sight of the building in the distance. Though he had been running towards it long before he had ever seen it. As if it had known he needed it's sheltered and silently urged his feet to carry him towards it. It was a building though. People would be in there. Humans most likely. The dove shivered slightly, his thin white toga like robe he wore tangling around his feet and nearly causing him to trip as he raced up the stairs to the door. The beast had given up pursuit, perhaps the creature didn't like being out of the forest, or maybe it didn't like being close to the building. Lysene didn't dare look over his shoulder to see if it still chased him.

He stumbled up the steps and fell heavily against the door, the dove didn't waste any time, throwing the door open and leaping inside. Hurriedly he shut the door behind him and dropped to his knees panting. His heart fluttered wildly in his chest, the heart of a bird, such a frail heart could burst from such a fright and so much fleeing. Lys pressed his right hand against his heart, as if to still it's frantic fluttering, his right wing twitched slightly and the left throbbed and pulsed with pain. Catching some of his breath, Lys slowly stood and looked around with grey eyes.

Snow melted in his gold hair and dripped off of him to the floor, his toga like robe was soaked. Only now did Lysene realize he was cold, all that fleeing had put such things as that from his mind. Though now he wasn't fleeing the pain from his wing seemed to intensify a bit as well. The dove winced. He glanced around warily, wary of the people that might be in a place like this. He was a bird and he knew people enjoyed caging birds, but then again. At this moment a cage seemed like a very safe place.

Ani stood up and whirled around as she heard a loud noise behind her. Her hand instantly went to reach for a weapon hidden in her coat when she realized it was just a girl who had fallen down the stairs. She sighed and shook her head, letting her hand fall. She went slowly towards the girl, about to check on her and help her up. Before she could quite reach her, however, she heard the door. She paused and put her hand in her pockets as she gazed towards the new one who entered.

She raised an eyebrow as she saw his wings, the cat in her wanting to play with those feathers of his. The scent of his blood made it want to taste his flesh. She suppressed the more animistic urges of the Chimere, inwardly wishing one of her animals had not been a predator. Her animals, however, were a cheetah and another type of cat. Both would love take advantage of wounded prey. As she approached, however, it was to help and not harm.

"Someone needs to tend to that wound" She said matter-of-factly. She then crouched next to him to look at it and reached out to push some of that golden hair out of the way. She would find there was only blood on the shoulder and the wing was wounded which made her nod to herself. She then began to look closer at the wing to see how badly it was injured and what she should do with it. She was pretty good at patching things up but wings were tricky.

The black and gold gryphon screamed as she was thrown into the third tree in about as many minutes. She had to have cracked ribs by now, but the wind wasn't letting her land. Clamping her wings to her body and tucking her legs in, she tried to have as small a surface area as possible, to make it harder for the wind to grab her. She plummeted, branches breaking her fall and slowing her decent, until she hit a snowdrift, sinking into it's depths as her warm body melted it.

She flailed upright, digging her way out of the snow and sneezing it from her nostrils. The wind was less violent down here, buffered in all directions by the trees. Johara slowly stretched her body, feeling the places bruised by the trees, and the three cracked ribs on her left side. "Why always the left side?" she whistle-whispered, voice drowned out by the howling wind. Or was that wind? She cocked her head to the side, lifting her feathered ears to listen better. There was the howl of the wind, but underneath... more howls. Definitely not wind. She sharpened her eyesight, pupils dilating until almost no gold iris showed, looking for a safe place. She wasn't the best a fighting on the ground in this form, and the howls sounded hungry.

There was a slight glow to one side, and Jo started off in that direction, making sure her pack was still secure on her harness. She'd spent too much energy on a couple items in there to lose, and didn't want to think of what might happen if someone else got a hold of them. She trudged her way through the snow, plowing a trench with her body. It was too cold to try to shift out here, for all that her smaller human form might make better time. She hadn't figured out how to shift and keep her clothing, yet.

After some time, Jo came to the edge of the trees, and looked up into the blizzard to see a castle. There were lights on, and something about it felt welcoming, even to her in this form. Like the place was offering shelter to anyone who might need it. She decided to take that offer, trudging through the snow, deeper here than in the forest, to the door. She raised one clawed fore-foot and knocked, wincing as the motion sent pain through her ribs. Hopefully they weren't badly cracked.

She shook her feathered head, clicking her beak in frustration and pushing open the door, only to stop at the sight of what looked like an angel being tended by what looked like some sort of animal humanoid. "If you would please, I would like to get in without stepping on either of you," she said, whistling voice very slightly harsh. Her eyes flickered around the room, taking in the fire, a ghost walking through a wall to the desk, and a girl at the stairs.

((I'm going to color a pic of this form of her's real quick, and put it up!))

Lysene stared, grey eyes a bit wide. Fear still clearly in them. He was just a bird, he didn't belong in a building of people. Nor did he belong in a forest where two headed ogres chased people. For now there was no where else to go, try his luck with the people, or with the ogres. When the cat girl approached him, Lys actually considered turning back and running to the forest. He was certain she would try to eat him, he was injured. Easy prey for anything really. Lys flinched slightly at her touch but he did not move away.

"...Please..." Whatever he had been about to say got lost in his throat at the sound of a knock on the door. Had the ogre chased him here? Was it trying to open the door to get at him? Such thoughts were foolish, but the dove didn't know how ogre's normally behaved, so such a thing might be possible. Then the door opened, Lys reached out to clutch at the woman trying to help him. He was certain the ogre was coming for him, when the creature revealed itself to be a gryphon.

A gryphon. Part eagle, part lion. A cousin of sorts to birds and felines, but gryphons probably ate smaller birds. The dove was on his feet in moments, right hand pressed against his heart. Trying to still it before it burst as it beat wildly in his chest, he moved away from the door. Away from the feline woman, away from the gryphon. All he wanted was a safe place to rest, a place to mend his broken wing and a place to quiet his fears. Lysene backed against the check in desk, and turned to eye it and the ghost behind it for a moment. Lys stood there, eyes on the ghost, he couldn't figure out if he were afraid of ghosts or not, but the ghost seemed to want him to sign a book. Lys frowned at the book, his right hand moving up to pressed against his left shoulder only because he couldn't grab the wing that throbbed with pain.

Being in her human form at the moment only her eyes were like cats but she could see why that might be enough to scare the bird. He seemed the kind to be scared of...well... everything. She sighed softly, about to try to calm him down when he suddenly gripped onto her. She raised an eyebrow and chuckled at him but there seemed to be a tension in her frame briefly at being touched. She didn't like strangers touching her without her permission but he seemed hardly enough threat to care. She gazed up at the new arrival and saw a gryphon woman. Well, that was new. She'd never seen one before really.

"Of course my dear lady" she said with a sweeping, mocking bow. She didn't react well to the harshness in the other woman's tone it seemed. She did, however, stand up and step out of the way. She looked over to see that the bird boy was confused and with a shrug walked over. Perhaps he could only right with the hand on the wounded wing side? She could always sign it for him.

"What's your name and how do you spell it, i can write it for you. Afterwards I'll get that wing patched up." She said with another shrug as she leaned back against the check in desk. She put her hands in her pockets as she waited, her eyes still on that wing. It needed to be tended to but she wasn't so sure he'd stay still long enough for her to... She was beginning to wish she was a healer...then at least she wouldn't have to care for it for the length of time it took to heal with him resisting her at every turn.

Lysene was staring at the book, hesitantly he had begun to reach for the pen with his right hand. Then the cat eyed woman was next to him, he tensed a bit and moved to the side slightly. "Lysene." He spoke his name quietly and then even lower he whispered. "I don't know how to spell it..or how to write it." Lys had lived his whole life in a forest that surrounded a lovely meadow. Reading and writing had never been important in that place, only in the places were people lived was such a thing needed and Lys had never intended to ever come in this much contact with people.

"I was only looking for a safe place to rest. There are frightening things in the forest." Forests were supposed to be safe, well of course they had the usual bird eating predators, but no monsters. Nothing like the two headed one that had hurt him and chased him. Lys shuddered slightly. His wing hurt badly, and he was trying so hard to hide how much pain he was truly in. He was a bird, already easy prey, the potential predators around him did not need to know how easy of prey he was. He was sure they already suspected. He pressed that hand against his shoulder again. Lys was tired, tired from the running, tired from being frightened by monsters and tired of this pain.

The very corners of her beak turned down when the winged person ran, but she just shook her head and walked in, shutting the door behind her with a paw. "Thank you," she said, shaking the snow off of her feathers, then wincing again at the pain in her ribs. She'd momentarily forgotten, perhaps they weren't as bad as she feared. She carefully stepped toward the fire, spreading her wings somewhat to let the warm air under them. After a moment, she started whispering in a light whistle, and the black leather harness started unbuckling itself from her frame.

As the buckles unlatched, she turned her head to the desk, and the frightened man standing there. She watched the way he gripped his wing, and noted the blood there. The harness fell to the floor with a thump as the woman walked over, and she shook herself again. Giving a whistling sigh as she sat, she pulled the pack on the harness closer, opening the oiled canvas with one deft movement. After careful rummaging, she pulled out a simple wool robe, fit for someone of a rather petite size. She gave the two by the desk a furtive glance to make sure they weren't looking, then quickly shifted to her human form.

Bone and muscle shifted and flowed under skin that lost all the feathers and grew hair, drawing hisses of pain. She yanked the robe on, tying it shut as soon as possible, glancing over again to make sure she hadn't been seen naked. Her wavy black hair hung down to her waist, tipped in gold. The firelight brought out the red sheen in it, and her obviously middle-eastern complexion contrasted with the gold of her eyes.

Leaving the pack where it was, Jo slowly stepped towards the desk, making sure to make noise. "I won't hurt you, if that's what you were afraid of," she said, her voice a sharp contrast to earlier. It was soft now, almost melodious, and had no hint of the earlier whistle. "My name's Johara, but you can call me Jo," she continued, stopping a few feet away from the two.

"Then I guess you'll just have to deal with how I spell it" Ani responded with a nonchalant shrug. That was just about how she reacted to everything really, very little caught her off balance. She took the pen and quickly wrote his name with a surprisingly accurate spelling even though neither she or Lysene would really know it. She would then drop the pen so that Jo could sign in with it and turn back to the boy. She looked over his wing again and took Lysene's arm in her slender but surprisingly strong fingers to guide him to the couch to lay down on his belly with the hurt wing stretched out so she could work on it.

"Yes, 'Here there be monsters' type of place. You can rest here anyway, they even accepted me so i'm sure they'll be fine with anyone. Lay down over here on your belly" She joked before growing serious. She often tended to sound mocking whether she meant to or not. A shield some of her friends called it and maybe they were right. She neither knew or cared. She simply focused only on his wing and getting him to lay down so didn't really pay attention to the other woman transforming. She might have continued to ignore her, in fact, if she had not spoken.


"Call me Ani." She responded and gave her a slight smile. She supposed she might have been a little harsh to judge her tone and words as her voice seemed gentler now. She really wasn't sure yet and honestly didn't yet care. Those who wanted to be friends would and those who didn't wouldn't. She was a fairly easy going gal even if being told what to do brought out her claws fairly easily

Lysene was too distracted by the cat eyed female and the book to notice the gryphon changing form. His eyes following the movements of the woman's hand as she wrote his name. Reading and writing were important to people, he wasn't a people, he was just a bird. When the gryphon spoke of not hurting him, he shook his head slightly. "Everyone eats birds." He glanced her over for a moment, he knew she had been the gryphon, but when had she changed? Probably while he was distracted by that book and the writing. That did seem a good opportunity for someone to change forms. Lysene wanted to change to, but it would only aggravate his broken wing. Probably make it worse somehow, knowing his luck.

He tensed slightly when the cat eyed woman took his arm, but he didn't pull away. He let her lead him over to the couch. Maybe he should have been more wary, but really she didn't seem like she wanted to eat him. Yet. Though it could be a trick. Lysene sighed softly. "I don't think I like monsters very much." He spoke the words matter-of-factly as he laid down on the couch as she had instructed. He was a good little bird, doing as the cat woman told him. Gods he'd probably sat down in a giant pot of stew if she told him it were a warm bath. Lys shuddered lightly. "Please don't eat me." He had mumbled the words softly and his body was a bit tense.

Julia blinked owlishly at the scene unfolding and pushed herself to her feet at the base of the stairs. There seemed to be a woman with cat-like eyes, a man with wings, and a griffin. None of those things startled her as she'd seen things of the sort often while living in the Inn. She watched quietly as the griffin transformed, blushing deeply and turning her head away almost immediately.

After a moment she peeked towards the group and took a few steps forward to make her presence known. She wasn't looking for recognition, merely letting the new guests know she was available should they need assistance. Julia placed one hand in the other and let them rest behind her, staying out of the way as she waited for her carriage, like she did every Wednesday night, that would never arrive.

"I already ate a boy on the road, all full" Was her teasing reply. She said it so seriously that only a glance at her amused smile would really show she was joking. It was just her way, not anything personal. She didn't look at him as she spoke, her eyes on the wing. She stretched it out as gently as she possibly could so she could look at it. A few of the bones were broken it looked like... She sighed gently and sat her pack on the floor next to her as she sat to work.

She warned him it would hurt but after that remained silent. She would work with expert hands, using some warm water the ghosts brought her to clean the wound. After she was finished she would begin working on stitching where it needed and wrapping where it needed. She would also apply various herbal salves she had that would help the wound heal and also keep away infection. Despite her earlier attitude making it seem like she didn't care she was a perfectionist about anything involving the lives of others. Life was sacred to her...

She sounded so serious, Lysene was almost afraid to turn his head and look at her. But he did look at her, she sounded so serious but her smile led him to believe she was teasing him. Lys let out a soft sigh, gripping the couch tightly and closing his eyes as she moved his wing. It hurt when she moved it, so he knew it would hurt even more when she warned him it would hurt. Lysene gripped the couch tightly, his eyes were closed tightly and the dove didn't move or make a sound as she worked over his wing. It was such a delicate and sensitive appendage, still, he endured. His nose wrinkled slightly at the scent of the salves she applied. Some smelled nice to him and some didn't. Though he figured it didn't matter what they smelled like, so long as they helped him heal.

The dove was exhausted, despite the pain of his wing, and probably because of some of the herbal salves he found his body relaxing and starting to drift off to sleep. He had flown far, and then been chased through the forest. After what he had gone through it should be no surprise that once the bird laid down and stopped moving for awhile, he would begin to slip into a restful sleep.

"you might want to go to your room before you sleep... where you can actually stretch out" She suggested as she saw he was starting to fall asleep. She had already put some numbing salves while she worked but they were for short turn. She now put one for long term that would relax the muscles and rubbed it over his shoulder as well since it seemed to bother him some. She then stood and pat him on the top of his head before she stepped to the side.

"I can help you if you need." she added with a shrug. She then perched on the arm of a chair before she glanced at everyone else again. She could see the woman, or rather ghost, waiting and tilted her head to the side. She looked like she was waiting for something. How strange... Nothing came out here. Maybe another guests or something?

Jo stepped toward the desk again, signed her name in a flowing script, and smiled at the ghost behind the desk. "Thank you," she whispered before walking to the couch, kneeling down beside her pack and unhooking it from the harness, laying the leather out to dry. "I make it a point to not eat anything that can talk to me," she said, watching the cat-eyed woman's ministrations with one eye and keeping an eye on how her harness was drying.

She stretched her legs out, wiggling her toes in front of the fire and letting it's warmth bring more of the feeling back. She was starting to notice just how bruised the trees had left her, and silently thanked the gods that she'd landed in a snowdrift. She didn't need anything to be broken, not now. And with how her luck had seemed to be going, she'd have managed to break a wing, like the poor man on the couch.

Speaking of... "Jani, was it?" she said, turning her head to look at the woman. "Are you some sort of healer?" The way she had dealt with the broken wing suggested as much, and she was hoping the other woman would spare a bit of time. She wanted to make sure that she wouldn't break her ribs if she stretched the wrong way, or something equally as silly. The ache was starting to grow, and she wasn't as sure now that they were such minor cracks.

"Healer? Me? No.... I just thought it was a handy thing to learn a skill or two" Ani responded with a chuckle. There was a slight darkness in the sound of the laugh, as if she knew something that made it amusing. She shrugged lightly then, doing one last double check on all of her stitches and things. She stood slowly once she was finished and turned to look at jo. She did see several bruises...

Do you need a healer? she asked curiously as she stepped closer to Jo to inspect her. She didn't seem to concerned with how close she was to the other woman, not being one to care. She wasn't one to flirt unless she meant it, and she seemed to expect others to realize that. Why was never clear.

Jo smiled a little, drawing her legs in to kneel. "I just want to make sure my ribs aren't more injured than I think they are," she explained, right hand reaching around to her left side. "The trees decided to try to play catch with me." She smiled a little more at her own joke, hand falling back to her lap. "Can you check them, or do I have to just take it easy until they heal?" She started thinking of what else would be good for her at the moment. Food and a hot bath were high on the list, and maybe willow bark tea to help with a bit of the pain... If they had that here. She would have to ask one of the ghosts that she presumed took care of the place, they seemed helpful enough.

"And maybe an ointment for the bruises, if you have any to spare. I think I forgot to pack some," she continued. That was one thing she'd never forget again. Though it might just be at the bottom of the pack, things seem to have gotten a little jumbled in the rough flight and fall.

Heiro hissed a bit as a spark from the wheel hit a sensitive spot on his arm, but didn't flinch, not wanting to risk altering the bevel of the blade he was sharpening. He kept an even pressure and a careful angle as he moved the katana along the spinning whetstone for a few more moments, then lifted it away to inspect the edge. The rest of his weapons were carefully laid out on the table nearby, the broad assortment of daggers, dirks and swords sure to make any aficionado envious. They were all receiving much needed care thanks to the strange inn's crafting rooms. He had been very surprised to find such facilities here, but didn't hesitate to take advantage of them, it wasn't often you found such a place anymore and even less you found one for free.

Turning, he moved to the more open area of the room, next to the warm forge and water pan, and gave the blade a few experimental swings and thrusts, listening to the sound it made as it cut the air. The motions were obviously well practiced, fluid and flawless as well as clearly controlled as he kept the swings tight as to not disturb anything else in the room. Once he was satisfied, he laid the weapon down on the table and picked up his other full sword- a unique, scimitar-like weapon made of what looked like blue steel. A smile came on his face as he lifted it up and looked down it's length and wrapped the silk cloth that hung from the hilt around the pommel.

"Finally your turn, old friend." He said out loud as he twisted and turned it, looking at the edge from a few angles before turning back to the wheel and placing his boot on the lever that started it up again. He lined the blade up and then began to sharpen it, contented with his work and the song playing in his head.

Aneka nodded slightly before she slipped closer. She'd feel the ribs carefully, her touch firm but cautious so as not to hurt her further. Nothing seemed broken but they were fairly bruised. She'd have to wrap them probably... she nodded to herself as she came to this conclusion and looked up at the girl. She wasn't too concerned with how her next request would likely affect her at all and it was clear in the casual way she said it.

You're going to have to take off your shirt, do you want to go to another room?

***

Janu awoke from her slumber finally feeling well rested and healthy for the first time in days since Heiro had found her here, terribly ill and barely conscious most of the time. If not for the ghosts she would have been in very real danger. She briefly wondered where he was as she got dressed but it wouldn't be too hard to find him. She'd just have to follow the piece of herself she gave to him and it would lead her alright. She smiled to herself and sniffled a yawn as her cat like ears twitched. The normally silent inn seemed to have slightly more rustle and bustle somehow... Perhaps more guests had arrived?

Silently she wandered through the halls, unconcerned with the guests and just with heiro. Considering the state she had been in when he arrived she wasn't one hundred percent sure he actually was here and it wasn't just a figment of her imagination. She would soon find he was truly here as she entered the forge, which she hadn't known the inn had. What a strange thing to have... Still as she looked at his back from the doorway the thought of such things fled and she had the almost irresistible urge to run up and hug him....almost. Instead she simply leaned against the doorway with her arms folded over her chest and watched him, a faint smile on her pale lips.

Jo nodded at the question, blushing only a little. A few years ago, the thought would have made her bright red, but she'd gotten more mature, living on the river. She stood, snagging her bag and harness as she did. "Would you like us to go to your room, or mine?" she asked, remembering the ghost had given her a key. Room 27 was hers as long as she stayed.

But how long would she be staying? Certainly for as long as the storm lasted, and it wasn't showing signs of slowing any time soon. She sighed, tucking her robe closer around her with one hand, then starting for the hall. She hoped both rooms were this way.

((Jo's gryphon form! picture!))