"Ah, yes. you must be the priest sir Walter selected." seth said, turning to face father Rau. "Well, I can say this. I have served with Sir Walter for nearly forty years, and his judgement has rarely ever steered our war-band wrong. His logic is sound regarding this Lord William. A dog trapped in a cave doesn't take the stick that's propping the exit open until after he's gotten out. I think we may have to deal with him after this is all over, but for now he will be a strong ally."
"Ah, brother Wu." Walter said, welcoming the monk to the table. "Tell me, is there anything your expertise has to say about this?" he indicated the map. On it was marked in detail the complete landscape of the blacklands, indicating forests and rivers, but in even greater detail outlining concentrations of monsters, whether they be cave systems, villages, cities, or camps housing war-bands. Most notably a river seemed to run the stretch of the Blacklands, through the largest city of monsters on the map and towards Dracula's manor itself.
In the back of the hall, the soldiers were conversing. One conversation between a few of them in particular stood out.
"Hey, Axle, what was the last thing you ate?" A man adorned in knightly armor asked.
"A bat. Its wings are coming in handy." replied Axle. It was a ghoul, his eyes appearing to be rather sunken into his head. He wore what appeared to be rather rusted armor, but more than likely its state of disrepair was because he never truly needed it as a ghoul.
"uhhh....Bats tasty..." Noted a lumbering mountain of a monstrosity. It appeared to be a large humanoid patchwork, seeming to still be modeled after a human, rather than having hideous and grotesque 'modifications'. He was massive, however, and his custom-made armor looked more like someone had taken apart a steel house and beaten it into shape around him. he stood nearly nine feet tall and his skin was a palish green. On his back was the largest sword anyone had ever seen. it was a greatsword, even by the monstrosity's standards. The fact that it would take two of his gargantuan hands to wield said much for its size and weight.
"But...They too tiny to be more than appetizers..."
"Maybe to you, Zoltan." Axle said, looking up to the monstrosity. "But at my size they're nice snacks."
"Well, Zoltan had something to eat after that fight on the beach all right." Chimed in Shani as she approached, adjusting the greathammer on her back.
"Yeah. I'm surprised you didn't have a bite or two, miss regal werewolf." The knight said, looking up at the woman approaching.
"Sorry Athen, no full moon tonight. None of them looked appetizing."
"Man, something about a female werewolf's transformation is so....Pleasing." said what appeared to be a Nordic berserker. He wore nothing from the chest up save for bracers on his wrists, and his legs were covered merely by leather breeches and a fur belt, a long stretch of which stretched down to his knees on the front and on the back like a loincloth. His feet were shod in rough leather boots, and on his belt were a pair of vicious looking enchanted steel axes. His torso was covered in scars of all kinds, from claws to blades, and his fiery red hair stretched down to his neck, his thick beard resting square in the center of his chest.
"Hush, Wrynjolf, if you want to keep your manhood." Shani growled, glaring at the Nord, who merely laughed, taking a swig of ale afterward.
The men, women and monsters of the unit clearly knew each other well, well enough that differentiations such as nationality, gender and even species meant little.
