”Have you really no idea?”

”No! I’ve never been much of a drinker, a beer now and then, maybe some local wine, but that’s all.”

”I see, are you sure you want to do this then? You know she isn’t making you do anything, right? Have you thought of…?”

”N, no!” The human replied her freckled cheeks flushing. ”I know she hasn’t asked me to do anything, but honestly this is the least I can do to repay her for her kindness. Please, show me again?” Cassandra asked and watched Jasuin, the ‘human’ bartender at the Second Circle tavern.

”Well, I’ll give you credit, you’re persistent.” Jasuin started to go over all the different kinds of alcohol that was behind the bar, how it was organized, where supplies were. The basics, yes, but with someone who had never done anything like this before and being that it was such a large stock, Cassandra had a lot to learn.

It had been just over a week since Cassandra had arrived at the Second Circle under the care of Serafina. As a newly turned lycanthrope Cassandra was unable to go home, she couldn’t take the chance that she would lose herself and harm her family. She had sent them a note to tell them that she was alright and would see them as soon as she could, but didn’t give many details beyond that. Serafina was helping Cassandra learn to control her wolf side, but the Goddess was a busy woman and couldn’t spend all her time with Cass.

So until a day ago Cass had just hung out around the Second Circle, or staying in her private quarters that Serafina had gifted her. Honestly Cassandra had never been in a place like this in all her life, she was a farm girl and that was all she knew. So what she saw in this place, and knew what went on elsewhere in the building, made her a little uncomfortable. But after those days had passed she was growing restless and needed to do something to keep her mind focused.

After going through all of her options, and immediately crossing one certain option off that list, Cass had landed on working at the bar. Jasuin had been kind enough to offer to train her so that she didn’t just have to deliver drinks to tables but could also make them to, which on a busy night would help him greatly.

Cassandra had already one night of training with one of the female bartenders. But it had been a slow night, so the bartender had spent her time flirting with Cassandra. Cass didn’t notice right away, concentrating on learning the bar, but when her freckles had been called cute she had caught on. After that it had been a night of Cass in a constant blush and trying to change the topic back to bartending. Thankfully that’s when Jasiun had cut in and offered to help Cass, who had quickly agreed. This had put off the female bartender a bit but Jasiun was in charge so there was little she could do.

He hadn’t hit on her and by Cass’ estimates probably wouldn’t, which was nice. After this pass of the bar, and with the time getting close to when patrons would arrive, Jasuin looked to Cass and grinned. ”You’ll be fine, go slow, ask questions, the patrons will know you’re and give you a break. If they get annoyed because you might be slow, tell them to talk to me. If you feel like you might, uh, lose yourself, don’t hesitate to go into the back.”

Cassandra nodded. ”Thank you for this, I just needed something to keep my mind focused and try and pay back her kindness.”

”You’re welcome, now, here comes our first customers.” Jasuin said as the door to the tavern opened signalling the start to the night.

Not soon after doors have opened, a rather unusal looking person steped through them dragging behind him an equaly unusual "package". It was an large, almost two meters tall, heavily armored and armed man dragging a heavily beat up and almost dead looking Orc by the scruff of it's neck. The armor of this new client was mostly dark grey with golden details although some parts were this hot-orange colour. Helmet, which covered his head in it's entirety, was decorated with three sets of horns and and blade like ridge just in between them, making it look like some sort of a crown. No face could be seen behind the T shaped, only a sinister dull orange glow.

Without a pause or a word he made a B-line straight to the counter where Cassandra was located, all the while still dragging the unconcious Orc behind him. As he arrived at the counter, he reached with his free arm, behind him and pulled out a small round pouch. He then promtly droped it on the counter in front of Cassandra. The pouch made a distinct and un-mistakable clinking sound that coins make when they are droped in such a manner. He then put his hand on the counter and nudged the pouch towards the newly minted Lycanthrope/Bartender.

- One Stiff and Hard Kicking drink, please - he said in a deep and gruff voice - This man here deserves it - he continued while pointing at the Orc he dragged into the establishment.

The first customers were… different, as Cassandra saw the look that Jasuin made when he saw who and what was coming into the tavern. A heavily armoured… being, dragging a nearly dead orc behind him. ”One of those nights.” Jasuin sighed under his breath just enough that Cassandra could hear him and she glanced sideways at him.

The being in armour came right over to the bar and dropped a coin pouch onto the bar top and Cassandra did as she had been instructed and quickly gathered it up and disappeared it behind the counter in the coinbox, Jasuin would help count everything later. Speaking of him, he subtly reached into the box and checked the weight of the bag, judged how much was in there on weight alone, so he’d know how much that would cover in terms of booze.

”Yes, coming right up, uh…” She turned and got a mug and started sorting through the booze.

”Remember how they are sorted.” Jasuin commented calmly as he watched, leaning against the back of the bar as he did, able to keep one eye on the armoured man and the orc.

”Right.” Cass replied and went to the one end and picked up one of the stronger liquors. She popped it opened and turned back and poured it into the mug for the armoured man where he could see it so he knew what he was getting. Filled to where, roughly, Jasuin had showed her, Cassandra corked the bottle and pushed the drink towards the man. ”There you are, and, welcome to the Second Circle.” Cass greeted with a small smile.

In the meantime Jasuin, who wasn’t nearly as human as he looked, just watched to make any corrections to Cassandra’s techniques as needed. Plus he wanted to keep an eye on the knight and his possibly dead companion.

As Cassandra was preparing the drink, the armored man pulled up the orc and sat him down on one of the nearby bar stools in a rather not too gentle a fashion and then proped him up against the counter. It was at this precise momment that the actual extent of Orc's wounds could be observed. First, it's face did not resemble a face anymore, it rather looked like swollen lumpy mess with no real discernable features except for two tusks which were located in the rough area of where mouth should be. Skin was torn off it's body in large patches reaveling bare muscles in certain areas (It also didn't help that the Orc was only wearing boots, pants and some furred leather straps, exposing most of it's body). There were also numerous bruises and cuts all across it. A pretty nasty sight.

When the drink finnaly arrived, the armored being didn't bother with responding to Cassandra, instead it took the mug in one hand and with another it opened the Orc's mouth and poured all of it in. As soon the liquid touched green brute's tounge, he woke up in distress and started choking and sputtering in suprise. So much so that it spat out most of the alcohol back on the counter, alongside some blood and one of it's tusks. Said tusk was then snatched up by Orc;s "Companion". As to the greenskin, it started to look around in clear confusion, stoping only after it laid it's eyes upon the sinister looking "Knight".

It tried to stand up but it quickly returned back to it's sitting position as it screamed out in pain and held one of it's legs. Said leg was now clearly bend in a manner that no normal leg would bend in and it was also twisted in a manner that no normal leg would twist in. Orc looked with barely visable, panicked eyes at the armored being and begun to whimper like a small puppy.

The Warrior in response put one if his hands on Orc's shoulders, squeezed it tightly and said, in a very calm albeit sinister tone
- You spat out your Victory Drink, let me get another.

Warrior then turned towards Cassandra and looked her straight in the eyes……..or at least it kinda looked like he was doing that. It was hard to tell due to the fact that no of his facial features were visable behind the dull glow that emanated from beaneth T shaped visor of it's Helmet.

- Get his another Drink, and ten more after that. He won two bets and needs to be rewarded for that.

Cassandra was put off by how the armoured man was acting, this wasn’t their usual type of clientele by the way that Jasuin was reacting. The sight of the orc was starting to make Cass’ stomach turn, and it didn’t help that with her newly enhanced sense of smell she could smell far too much at the moment. If she wasn’t trying desperately to keep her composer she’d be gagging right about now.

When the orc started to sputter and spat out the drink and blood Cassandra was just barely able to get out of the way of it. But with fresh blood in the air now Cassandra took a few steps back as the orc screamed, a low growl came from her throat and her eyes shifted yellow for a moment before she caught herself. Jasuin wasn’t blind to that happening, as the knight looked back to Cassandra who wasn’t looking at him anymore but still getting a hold of herself.

When the knight called for another drink Cass moved to make it but Jasuin cut in and placed a hand on a her shoulder to stop her while looking to the knight. ”No.” The bartender said flatly as he reached under the bar for the bag of coin that the knight had given them before. He removed from it an amount of coins before dropping it back in front of the knight on the bar top. ”I took out the cost for the drink and the cost to clean up this miss. Now, leave and take that thing with you.” He said, gesturing to the wounded orc as he did. ”Down the road is a tavern that’ll fit your style better than here.”

Cassandra had got a hold of herself and was standing behind Jasuin watching to see how the knight would react. In the meantime the door opened again and some of the more regular clientele walked, saw what was going on, and took seats away from the bar. With a glanced over his shoulder as a signal, Cassandra moved around the bar and headed over to take their orders and get things back to normalcy.

The knight looked over Jasuin for a momment, seemingly sizeing the not-quite human bartander in the same manner as a predator would do it's prey. He slowly moved his hand towards the pouch and then. nudged it back to Jasuin.

- Oh but I insist - He said witha particular emphesis on the "Insist' - My acquaintance over here, he said that he wanted to drink in the best establishmnet in this here Town…. - Knight's delivery became much more sinister and unsettling. Every word that left his mouth was dripping with venom, irony and ire - This is his reward, what he wanted when he started two bets with me. - Here he moved his other hand over orc's head, who then flinched, and started to gently pat him on the head.

- Like I said, he won and we had a very rich and…….educational expirience together and It would be a shame if it was to go to waste, wouldn't it? - Knight's hand slid down across Orc's back in a slow deliberate manner, forcing the greenskin to change his posture from sluched over the counter to an upright one. A low pained groan escaped from creature's lips as it did so.Additionally, while it was hard to read it's expression due to how swollen it's face was, it was very clear that Orc was on constantly on edge.

- You see, he will behave, he will act with according tact to the situation. He will sit here quietly, downing his drinks untill he passes out like a good client. He won't make any messes or at the very least he won't make any anymore, will you now? - As Knight reached the end of the his sentence he turned his faze away from Jasuin and to Orc, who visibly tried to shrink away but Knight's hand prevented that.

- So what will say, oh servant of lady of debauchery. Will you prevent this man from having some simple pleasures in this establishment? Will you realy stand in the way of him having some ……..justly…….earned fun? - Knight's gruff and deep voice completely oozed with sinister intent and venom. He wasn't bothering to hide it. Instead it was clear he relished in it. Took all the joy and pleasure out of this.

Cassandra was busy getting orders from the other gusts who had come in, still new she was writing down their orders as not to forget things. Since this wasn’t her first night some of them already knew who she was an that she was new so they were giving her a break when it came to small mistakes or clarifying questions. If Cassandra was asked and was truthful, she would say that was very surprised how respectful the normal clientele was given this location and all, she wouldn’t have expected that.

Meanwhile Jasuin was having none of what the knight was doing, the sinister tones and unsettling flowed right over Jasuin, he wasn’t impressed at all. As the knight was speaking Cassandra came back over and started to get some drinks prepare that she knew how to do, but had warned the other guests that some might be delayed until she could get Jasuin’s attention. They understand, given what was going on at the bar.

So Cassandra heard some of what the was saying, but the way he was treating the orc was unsettling to Cassandra. A small growl escaped her again but she caught herself and continued to mix some drinks together, away from where Jasiun and the knight were, as she listened. So the knight did know who’s establishment this was then?

When the knight was finally finished speaking Jasuin only grinned. ”Yes, I will. Now, I will say this one last time; leave.” Jasuin said flatly one last time, his voice still calm, but now held some annoyance in it that he had to deal with this in the first place. He was just happy that Cassandra hadn’t been here alone to deal with it.

Knight at Jasuin straight in the face. His face, as always indiscernible behind the omnimous glow. He was still for a mommen,t unmoving seemingly frozen in place and then…..a chuckle. A low whispery chuckle that soon transitioned into barely contained giggle untill it finnaly reached it's crescendo in a deep bellowing laughter that echoed throught the entirety of the tavern.

- HAAHAHAHAHAH HAAA FINNALY SOMETHING WITH THE SPINE! - He roared triumphantly - And I was beginning to think that this realm is nothing but cuddly, soft weaklings. Sheep playing at being wolfs. Not worth the effort of an proper fight! I should have gone to servants of Gods of this world outright it seems. Very well servant of the watered down Serpant, here I go.

As Knight finished his little speech, he took the hand that hovered over Orc's back and pushed the greenskin unto the counter. As the creeature's head met with the wood it exploded into gore, like an overipe watermelon struck with an warhammer. Chunks of bone, brain and other soft tissues flew all around and the Knight, in display of unnatural speed for somone and something of it's size and armour, lounged at Jasuin with his armored hands, ready to throw down with servant of Serafina. As he did so he laughed so more and shouted

- BLOOD FOR THE HOUND, SO IT MAY SLAKE IT'S THIRST. BONES FOR THE PILE SO IT MAY FEAST!

While one would assume that ascending in the manner that Serafina had would have exacerbated her more coarse qualities, it had almost had the opposite effect. In truth, she did reign over Death and Debauchery, and she enjoyed nothing more than having too much of a good thing. However, in more recent times, she had realized that she was capable of emotion and sentiment even with the position that she held. It was during this time of self realization that she had found Cassandra and had taken her under her wing, so to speak.

While the wolf was getting used to the change and how to handle herself, Serafina had given her a roof over her head. In exchange, she had asked that Cassandra make herself useful around the Second Circle, and she chose to do so by learning how to tend the bar from Jasuin. Jasuin was essentially Serafina’s second in command, so to speak, and she knew that she could trust him to do no wrong by Cassandra.

That being said, Serafina felt no need to check in on the pair constantly while Cassandra was learning. Of course, Jasuin was able to communicate with Serafina mentally if something came up that required her attention, but it was rather rare for that to happen.

That was why, when she was mentally alerted by Jasuin that there was a disturbance taking place in her bar, she was immediately concerned and transported herself from the Hall of Indulgence to the Second Circle.

In the meantime, Jasuin did nothing but stare down the knight that seemed hellbent on causing as many problems as he could. A small smirk came over the barman’s face. It was clear that this knight had no idea what kind of wrath Serafina could bestow if she so deemed it necessary, and he knew that in just a few moment’s time, his goddess would be there.

Jasuin was not wrong. Serafina swept down the stairs, her eyes widening at the gory sight that was now spread across her bar. The bar she had to have rebuilt after Sirona’s little episode. She could feel the rage seethe throughout her body but she drew a deep breath and made her way over to the altercation taking place, her red evening gown sweeping on the floor.

”Cassandra, my dear, pour me a glass of that dark red we had brought in from Kurayo, would you?” she said, the tone of her voice as she spoke to Cassandra rather endearing. She glanced at her with a warm smile, and gave Jasuin a bit of a nod in acknowledgement, silently thanking him for alerting her to the unfolding situation.

She then turned her attention to the knight. ”Sir, you find yourself in the Second Circle this evening,” she began, and it was clear from the tone of her voice she was making an attempt to remain civil. ”This is a fine establishment, and I am rather proud of that fact. The only blood allowed to be spilled in this place is spilled by me,” she added. ”It is apparent to me that you are not from this particular area. I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.” She took a few steps towards the knight, her eyes flashing crimson. ”If you leave now, you will not meet the same fate as this one,” she said, tilting her head towards the remains of the orc.

”If you choose not to leave, then I might just urge my friend Cassandra here to exercise her new found ability on you….” she said, and turned her crimson gaze towards Cassandra behind the bar, giving her a knowing look. Serafina was ready to rip the knight apart at a moment’s notice, but she would certainly give Cassandra the chance to exercise her abilities without restraint, if she wanted it and if the knight did not leave.

The reaction of the knight was starting to become what Cassandra expected him to do as laughed and roared. When the orc’s head exploded in a fountain of gore and some of it splattered Cassandra the lycan froze in place. The scent of fresh blood, the increasing tension towards violence, it was all combining to threaten her control on herself as she stood frozen with her eyes closed trying to keep control and composure. The other guests forgotten at the moment Cassandra opened her eyes again, golden now as the wolf was howling in her head to be released, and she was happy to see that Serafina had arrived.

At the sound of her name from Serafina Cass’ eyes snapped back to normal as she focused on the voice and the request made, giving her an anchor to grab on to. Cassandra nodded and quickly found the wine that Serafina requested and got a glass poured returning the smile to Serafina as she walked over to hand the glass to the Goddess. That done Cassandra went back to what she had been doing, mixing up the drinks that she could for the other guests while listening to what was going on.

Cassandra moved back to the other guests and dropped off the drinks that she could, apologizing for the disruptions and any further delays before heading back to the bar again. She was in time to hear Serafina offer the knight to leave without being killed. But what Serafina said Cass made the wolf’s brows raise a bit as she looked to Serafina when she looked to her and Cass gave a small nod of her head.