Kyle's 18th birthday is just around the corner. His parents have been busy with preparing for it, his friends have been palling around with him / asking him about if he's going to get a girlfriend in honor of his birthday and all that teenage stuff.

As he's walking down the street, however, Kyle can see up ahead, there is a commotion. A small crowd has gathered around a brawl between two men.
This message was last updated by the player at 05:34, Sat 07 Sept 2013.

  On the one hand, Kyle should be thankful growing up in an environment of stocked shelving means he isn't quite so excitable about the prospect of free gifts.  On the other hand, it makes it so much harder to fake a thank you for half finished socks.

  Still, while we'd like to pretend otherwise, Kyle has not yet, nor will in the known future develop an amount of jadedness where he could ignore an apparent brawl in his home town.  So of course the young man heads over, wondering if he should offer a discount for healing on the guy with the least injuries.

It's a pair of men who have been at odds in the past and this brawl was seen coming. They're both stubborn, bull-headed tough guys. Neither looks happy. They are serious about this fight. But Kyle always had sharper eyes than the average guy and notices a little girl in the crowd who he doesn't recognize. Sure, that happens, what with passers by sometimes. But a few things set her apart; Some kind of cloak with the hood up (Most leave their hood down when out in public), a veil (the middle east isn't even known about, so veils are an uncommon sight), and the fact her eyes seem really intent on following the fight as if excited by it (most little girls don't like violence and would follow a fight with worry).

  We wish Kyle paid more attention to where dad got those silk imports, in hindsight.

  Kyle sidles his way towards the Girl while keeping an eye on the people trying to gouge out eachother's eyes with an overly waxed moustache to the face or whatever lunacy.  He was health conscious enough to know enduring a brawl, but got the feeling someone paying that much attention to what locals took for granted was...

  Oh, right.  "Not from around a place where people punch eachother over... honestly I can't guess even despite them doing this constantly."

Raichel seems to not even think Kyle was talking to her at first, though his talking drew her attention momentarily as her head tilts as if pointing an ear towards him. She glances up to see Kyle looking at her and ohs! "I... um..." the little girl starts, as if pulled out of concentration. She glances back at the fight. "Right. Not from here... Just passing through."

  Kyle nods, "Lots of families and traders just passing through.  Sometimes it feels like there are more people who leave on a given day than the ones who live here."  He looks back to the (allegedly) sober brawl.  "Is it really that interesting?  I mean, I could see some educational value for how now to fight."

The men are finally just laying on the ground, panting, exhausted from the fight as neither one can move anymore. So the law man comes and hauls them off.

Raichel groans a little like a pouting child who's been told she can't have a cookie. "...yes, it's that interesting." She looks up at Kyle. "Don't you have hobbies people think you weird for?" she almost asks like EVERYONE should have weird hobbies.

  "My mother wanted me to learn cantrips, I ended up working out how to turn crossbow bolts into acid."  Melf's Acid Arrow is a famous well respected spell, it's clearly discrimination against crossbows.  "Dad couldn't decide if it meaning you had to buy more crossbow bolts to replace the ones you lose was good or bad."  Bolts cost more!

Raichel didn't know what to make of this guy. "Sounds weird."

Kyle gets an odd dejavu feeling.

Just then, a villager says, "What's with the hood, kid? Steal something?"

Raichel's eyes show anger as she looks in that person's direction, and she says, "Did NOT! You take that back!"

  What's Dejavu for something that hasn't happened yet?  It sounds like a word a timetraveler would need.  "Yes, you did ask for weird."

  Then Raichel gets hit with the clothing equivalent of pulling over a red sports car.  "Has something gone missing?  Should be able to tell right?"  Not everyone actually pays the degree of many 'one free' peppermints were actually taken  attention your dad does to inventory Kyle.

  Of course, cynical nature means knowing it's easier to get some people to want to avoid looking like they don't pay attention to their business.

The man says, "I know how we can tell... empty your pockets, kid!"

The little girl hurumfishly yanks her pockets inside-out. "HAPPY?!"

The man says, "No, I'm not! And don't talk back to your elders like that, kid!"

The little girl turns her side slightly towards the man and says, "Next time someone older than me kicks you in the nuts, I'll remember to not talk back to him!"

The villager looks ready to slap the kid silly, hand cocked and everything.

  We would be lying if we said that, right now, there wasn't is totally an alternate timeline where in the aftermath, Kyle looks to Raichel and says 'wait, that wasn't a suggestion? Oops.'

  As it is though, Kyle instead steps in front of Raichel and says "Hello, it's my birthday.  How about you get me the gift of not knocking a little girl's teeth out of her head in front of the local law?."  Of course that might be out of this guys price range.

The man frowns. "Something's up with that kid... I suggest you find out before she takes something of yours." He huffs off.

Raichel says, "...thanks."

  "I would have felt bad if I let him just hit you."   Could they have hit Raichel?  Now there's a question.  "So who did you come here with?  As much as I like my hometown, you probably shouldn't be running around a new place alone."

Raichel says, "My family. They said they were going to be at the inn."

 Oh, so they were in the sensible place then.  Kyle you're supposed to have a good INT mod, figure these things out.  "Oh, right.  I'm Kyle.  Sorry the sights have been a sad slapfight and threats of one so far.  Anything you wanted to see while you were here?"

Raichel says, "I wanted to see fights. But the fights are over, so.. I dunno. Do you know where the town guard trains? Are there any real good fighters here in town?"

  Certainly dedicated to her hobbies.  Then again her's would probably have less property damage (he only melted a plate that ONE TIME).  "Well, I know where the guardhouse is.  But I don't know if they'd let us inside to watch them hit eachother.  Crossbow range is outside though."

  He shrugs, "I don't know about real good fighters, most of that sort are among the people just passing through.  The guards can handle bandits well enough at least."

Raichel shrugs. "Alright... then if you want, could you walk with me to the inn?" once they get going, Raichel asks, "How do you feel about other races? Like elves, dwarves, halflings..."