"Aren't you supposed to be a priest? You could at least take this matter a little more seriously…" stammered a mousy, but well-dressed middle-aged man to his overly casual companion in the Silver Wheel Roadhouse.

The man he sat with, dressed in dark tones, with a long black coat and matching broad-rimmed hat was leaned back in his chair, propping his boots upon an adjacent stool. He was smoking herbs from an ebonwood pipe, and nonchalantly billowed the heady fume in his would-be employer's direction. Before the smoke had even cleared, he decadently downed a bit of the beer he had been nursing - a barley-rich stout with just the right amount of head atop it. "Sir, whatever gave you the notion that I didn't take this quandary seriously?" he replied in a deep, lazy drawl.
Downing the rest of the stout, he leaned forward, which only intensified his host's nervous disposition. His intense autumnal gaze, once obscured behind his hat, was now in full view. "Are you saying a man of the cloth can't enjoy himself?" his tone was calm, but he abruptly slammed the glass on the table. Wry grin spreading at the little jump the man did in his seat to this, he leaned back once more, crossing one leg over the other. "I don't reckon you're very familiar with religious institution if you take me for some sort of purist."

"Father Lazarus, please," the nobleman pleaded. "I can scarcely sleep at night. I know not of the nature of the demon that haunts my premises, other than it has given me an illogical fear of all felines that cross my path."
Lazarus stroked his beard. "I never said I disagreed to at least investigate, Avery. The price is fair…"

"Y-you'll do it, then?"

Lazarus chuckled to himself as he stopped the bar maid whilste she was making her rounds. "Darlin'…another round, if it's no trouble. If you could too, bring a sample of something hard for my friend here. He's had a rough couple of nights. You should wear that hair down, too. It's a shame to keep all that corn-silked crowning glory wrapped up tight."
The woman's normally listless green eyes brightened a little as she smiled and took the priest's money. Clientele through this place often left an air of boredom and up-tightness. Nobles such as the one he sat with visiting the sights, who rarely interacted with servers in a pleasant manner. Avery was fortunate enough to own estate right nearby.

Turning back to Avery, Lazarus held up a finger when he began to protest at having been ordered an unknown beverage. "On the matter at hand, sir…you've got to hold your horses. I need to go and feel the place out. I'm not going to perform some kind of sanctification until I know what sort of critter I'm dealin' with. Might even just be a familiar for something far more nasty."


Lazarus remained with the man awhile longer, coaxing him to a more relaxed state of mind before the two of them set out to the estate.

To Avery's annoyance, he walked at a rather leisurely pace, enjoying the perpetual autumn that surrounded them. He loved this place. The scenery, coupled with the nagging energy of spirits in and around the Roadhouse made it…a home away from home.

Petal was quite awed by what she was seeing. While she had heard many in the distances of her travels, she had never in person seen any sort of waterfall. It was especially impressive to her, as she was in her cat form at the moment, sitting on her haunches with a sort of contentedness that one wouldn't expect seeing out of a seemingly feral cat. The sound of the water soothed her, and the scents around her were pleasant. This truly was the best part of her status as a werecat. The scents of the world truly took on meaning in her current form. They were a sideshow, a distraction as a human, but as a cat they were up front. She could scent the vaguest of scents from humans around, including the always-odd scent that was herself, but her other self. It would seem quite oddly narcissistic to others, but Petal enjoyed the scent of her human form. It was of the forest, not polluted like many humans. 

Bringing her mind to the present, Petal rose to her paws, her ears swiveling as she tried to hear for anything about the sound of the waterfall. The power of water certainly was awing, but it had its own inconveniences to be sure. She decided to move on, turning and making her way downstream until she began to approach the shore of the lake. She wasn't sure where to go next. She had hung around the human-populated areas for most of her time, and she wanted to fully explore the natural biomes of the area. She decided to follow the shore so that she could reach the gigantic lily pads in the distance. She wouldn't be able to swim to them very well, but she could admire them from afar. She wondered how lively they'd be. She couldn't sense much, but she could normally sense when nature wasn't in tune with its surroundings. The slight sensations of distress that came from a tree in a densely-populated area of the world always made her cringe. It wasn't too big of a deal though, she could easily block these slight feelings out. She didn't even know if they were real feelings or simply her intuition from years in the wild. To Petal, it didn't really matter. She strode off, her tail and chin high as she carried on forward.

Cedric stood by the shore of the lake, he got strange looks because of his appearance, iron mask, leather and steel armor, he looked as if he was a soldier that escaped from war to enjoy the beauty of the world, but he, actually, was watching for a long shadow in the water, he had his hands on the hilts of his blades, though they were sheathed. People began to leave because of him, this bothered Cedric, he saw a cat strolling along the shore, he took his hands off his swords and he picked up the stray cat. The shadow appeared in the water, Cedric hurled a bolt of lightning at the water, electrocuting the serpent. The serpent rose to the surface, multiple fishermen threw harpoons at the serpent and began to reel it in.

The serpent was poisoning the water, and he had been paid to make do of it. But he required a bit more crescents, so Cedric began to move towards the forest, intending to look for another contract work, on the way, he overheard a conversation, a demon was haunting a manor? Fun! "May I watch?" Cedric chimed in, "I'd love to see how you banish this demon, it could prove helpful in my next endeavour" he said, his voice was layered, making it nearly impossible to figure out his real voice. As they neared the estate, the sense of dread loomed. The courtyard was unsettling, quiet. Cedric looked to the two men, before looking forward again, he had forgotten he held a cat. The feeling of dread was strong, and Cedric felt a little hesitant to continue, he prepared to cast a spell. The wind howled loudly and the atmosphere was tense..  

Lazarus keenly took in the scenery as he and Avery made the trek to the estate. At the lakeside, he witnessed a knight or herald of some sort assisting fishermen with some sort of overgrown serpent that had infested the waters. He continued to smoke from his pipe, seemingly taking no interest in the fact that his companion appeared increasingly pallid and sickly.

When the knight approached Lazarus and Avery, Lazarus gave his hat a tilt as he nodded his head. He paused, his fiery gaze lingered on the little cat the young man had scooped up into his embrace before answering him.
"You're watching the banishment unfold as we speak," the strange priest replied with a wry grin.

Avery, seemingly unable to hold the liquor that was ordered for him, feebly reached out to touch the cat. Lazarus quickly muttered an incantation, and a gold, shimmering light surrounded himself, the knight, and the stray feline. When Avery's hand entered the circle of protection, he recoiled, uttering an inhuman hissing sound.
"Acute, obsessive distaste for small animals, and a horrific reaction to wormwood…" Lazarus observed aloud. Avery's eyes bulged, and seemed to shift and distort. The skin on his hand was still crackling and burning from touching the protection rite. The cleric's grin widened. "That's right, Avery. The Silver Wheel's specialty is absinthe. I was onto you from the start of our conversation." He took another drag from the pipe, and continued, just letting the swarthy fume billow from his nostrils. "We can make this real simple…you could just leave now and I'll forget I ever saw you…"

The reply was a guttural, bestial roar. Avery strained to shed the frail human form he was in…grotesquely bulging and writhing as more of his flesh crackled and peeled away. Tried as he might, however, the drink he had partaken in seemed to stunt his power.

"So be it…"