Xalmann sat on a rock at the edge of the water, a rod in hand with a line extending into the gently rippling surface of the lake. He had been told by an elderly gentleman that fishing was a very calming hobby, similar to meditating. It might be a good one for him to pick up to help him get his fiery temper under control. He thought he might as well give it a try since it would also let him catch some food. Even if it wasn't as calming as he might hope for, if it provided dinner, it shouldn't be a total waste of time.

He sat there, emotionlessly watching the line in the water for any sign of a fish biting. He sat there. And he sat there. Contrary to the calm, meditative experience the man had promised, he was slowly getting more irritated by the lack of anything biting. He thought about just pulling the line back and going to find something to hunt instead, but the forest was far from here, where he was surrounded by a large, open valley. Any creatures here would be small game, like rabbits. Those were better caught with traps than with an axe. Maybe he could just try diving into the water to catch something by hand. No, fish would be even faster than a rabbit. He let out a sigh before just continuing to fish with the rod.

It had been over an hour since he'd cast his line into the water and if someone looked at him, they'd see a very bored Lizard man. He'd gone past the point of being annoyed and was now just completely bored. He'd tried breathing deeply while he sat there, and he supposed that might have helped keep him calm, but it didn't keep him from being bored. Not only was he bored, but he was hungry. He'd expected to catch something to eat by now.

Feeling a bit defeated, he reeled in the empty line. He would just have to eat his dried rations today and make sure to find something tomorrow. First, though, he'd take a quick swim to cool off. He removed his blue cloak and left it next to the rock along with most of his belongings, stripping down to his underclothes. He then waded into the water and began to take a relaxing swim in the lake to calm his nerves after his annoyingly fruitless fishing attempt.

It was warmer than usual at the lake that day.

When the group arrived, for a brief moment they stopped to watch what was lurking in the water, since it looked, on their perspective, there was a giant alligator. Far from discouraging them, one of the men pulled up a bow, while the other pulled two long daggers, but with a gesture from a woman with a feathery cloak, they sheathed their weapons back.

There were two women and two men, all wearing black.

The two men grumbled a bit and went to one side of the lake where the water was deeper - they both had fishing poles. The two women remained on the shallow side of the lake. They took off their cloaks, boots, their gloves, and one of them tied up her long black hair. She also pulled up her skirt around her waist, tying it up so they could enter the water without soaking their clothes. The other just rolled up her pants a bit, seemingly not that much worried about a bit of water.

The women entered the lake, apparently paying no mind to the creature that swam around in the water, even if keeping a good eye at it. From what she noticed, it didn't seem to be an alligator. She's met a dragonkin before, so she was betting on that. He was a nice person, that dragonkin. This one should be nice too, she guessed.

With water up to their knees, they seemed to be searching for something under the mud of the shallow lake. The woman in the skirt would show the other something small, maybe a small plant or pebble, and pass it to the other woman to put away in a pouch.

As for the two man, a bit further away, they spoke very softly, preparing their baits before casting their lines on the water. They sat and made themselves comfortable as they seemed to be in for quite a while......

While all that took place, a raven landed nearby, curiously searching through the dragonkin's gear.

Xalmann let himself relax, floating in the water, only his head piercing the surface. He had intended to only take a quick dip, but ended up staying in the water for some time, until he began to hear movement on the shore and the sound of others entering the water. He looked to see the lake had suddenly become much more crowded as a group of four had arrived and split into two groups of two. He also noticed a black bird picking at his belongings that he had left on shore.

He quickly swam back to shore before emerging from the lake, water running down his scales, making them glisten in the sunlight, as he stared angrily at the bird. He walked toward his belongings and shooed the bird away with a wave of his claw and a glare. He was annoyed. He had gone into the water to cool down and calm his nerves, and now that had been completely undone.

He looked through his belongings and noticed something. The rations he had been planning to eat were gone! He stood there for a moment in disbelief before becoming incredibly angry at the little thief. His scales heated up and the water began to evaporate, making the Lizardman look as if he was literally steaming mad. He looked at the others who had arrived and saw one woman with a feathery black cloak, matching the raven. Either the raven belonged to her, or that was quite the coincidence that they would arrive at the same time and have such an outfit. He picked up his belongings and held them under his arm as he angrily walked over to the woman and called to her from the shore.

"Is the bird yours? It ate my food." he hissed out, obviously quite angry.

The lean Lizardman stood awaiting the woman's response, still dripping wet and slightly steaming in his underclothes.

They felt their anger at the distance, the two men just following him with their eyes. It was hard to deny the bird was hers when it landed on the shoulder of the woman in the skirt, at the time bent over to search for something in the muddy shore. Still bent over, she looked up. Thank Ginma she was one of those people that was able to keep a straight, blank face when she tried really hard. She'd seen dragonkin before. She'd seen big, tough looking dragonkin before. They didn't have those impressive, glistening and scaly rectus abdominus and serratus anterior like this one. A part of her brain vaguely registered she'd been staring in silence, barely blinking, while still bent over with her hands on the water.

Poe slapped her arm.

"YES IT IS," she started, a bit louder than she anticipated. She stood up straight. "His name is Mischief. It's what he does. But don't be mad at him, maybe it's for your own good... you don't need any more fat."

Poe, the woman in pants beside her, shot her a weird look. Mischief seemed happily unaware of the drama he's been causing - either that or he was actually happy with it.

And, to rub further salt in the wound, Xalmann heard some happy noises in the other side of the lake, where one of the men had already gotten a fish. A good, big fish - and they just arrived.

"Maybe one of my men could teach you how to fish.... properly, I mean."

He couldn't believe this. First the woman had taken so long to answer, just staring him down like he wasn't important. Then, she implied that he was fat. And finally, her companions had caught a fish after such a short time here and she implied he couldn't fish properly. He was in disbelief at the rapid onslaught of insults. Little jabs and insults shouldn't affect him this much. He just couldn't believe how this day had suddenly been going since coming to this lake.

His scales glowed just a little brighter as his anger heightened just a little more. He took a deep breath, wanting to keep himself under control. Maybe a proper fishing lesson was actually a good thing. He hadn't really been taught at all before coming here, just told the basics by an old man that he had less and less faith in. This could be a good deal, logically, and he tried to remain calm and logical. But, it really sounded like she had just called him fat, a grave insult in his tribe. It meant one not only didn't do enough work for the tribe, but they also ate more than their share despite that. It was a grave dishonor.

He let out a slight growl under his breath before speaking in an even more hiss-like tone, more of his Lizardfolk accent being brought out by his rage.

"Did you just call me fat?" he said slowly, still trying to contain his anger.

His fists clenched angrily, the muscles in his arms flexing. He took one step forward, taking an aggressive stance. He almost forgot he was still in his underclothes, his clothing and equipment bundled up under his arm.

She blinked a few times more. What was with her that day?

"I meant..... You don't need it..... Because this is..... Good? I mean...... Nevermind...."

What was supposed to be a pretty backhanded compliment ended up infuriating the dragonkin, as she could see it. The gears were not turning too well on her side, she assumed - but his were even worse. She bent over once again to wash the mud off of her hands - or maybe to avoid him seeing her face getting red. Poe was deeply confused and shot a troubled glance to the other two man, farther away. They just shrugged, without following the thread.

Well, if complimenting him didn't work, maybe she could go the other way around. Once again, she stood up. It didn't take her much to assume his connection to the earth domain, even if she wasn't herself connected to it, anyone would've seen it.

"And if you don't want to learn how to fish with them, maybe you'd want me to teach you a thing or two about the earth domain and how to use its aspect of fire............

...Properly, I mean."

The Lizardfolk was floored. First she had called him fat, then she had said he can't fish, and now she was saying he couldn't properly control his fire magic. Was she just trying to pick a fight with him? She had just disrespected him so much, he couldn't stand by and do nothing about it.

The water fully evaporated off of him as steam, leaving him dry and burning hot with anger. He walked away from the pair in the water, and got dressed again, putting on his baggy leather pants, belt, and blue cloak. He left the wrappings he usually wore on his arms and legs in his bag, not wanting to take them time right now to put them back on. Once he was finished, he walked back to the women in the water and stared directly at the one that had insulted him repeatedly.

"Your bird stole from me. You keep insulting me. You have disrespected me. I will fight you." he announced to her from the shore, holding his axe in hand and pointing it toward her. In his tribe, the only way to repay such disrespect was a duel.

As he stood there, declaring his intent to challenge her to a duel, his stomach suddenly growled. He forgot he hadn't eaten at all since he hadn't caught any fish and the bird had stolen his rations. He tried to ignore it as he stood there, but his stomach just growled again, loudly. His face was completely emotionless as he refused to show any embarrassment.

That was....... weird.

The dragonkin walked away, but for some reason she knew it wasn't over. And her intuition was right, since in a few moments he was back. Once more, she was bent over, searching for something amidst the mud, small insects apparently.

An eyebrow was raised. A duel? Nope. No. Certainly not. She might have accepted a mage's duel, but she assumed that was not what he meant. Still, it was too great of an effort for too little......

His stomach growled, and it seemed the perfect way out. She straightened up once again, trying to put on the most straight, diplomatic face she could muster. Kamille tried to keep her eyes locked on his face, which seemed pretty hard all of a sudden.

"I wouldn't dare to accept a challenge of a weakened opponent. If my raven ate all of your rations, you must be hungry now, right? Come, I'll start making some of the fish my men got. EDGAR! GUT THOSE FISH FOR ME, WILL YA? I have a good selection of herbs in my pouch for this. I'm sure you'll gonna like it."

And that, with not a hint of shame in her body, she washed off the mud of her hands and walked to the shore, holding her skirt above the water, walking past him like he wasn't the menace he obviously was. No one but a mad one would walk past a giant lizard pointing an axe at your face.

"People say I'm a good cook."

Poe, the other woman that was also walking out of the water, shot the lizard a meaningful glance... and nodded in agreement, as if saying 'yes, she's a good cook'.

Surprisingly, the woman walked past him while he was holding his axe out in challenge as if he wasn't even there. He wasn't sure if he should be even further insulted or if he should be impressed. Either way, she was incredibly bold, or maybe a bit insane.

He lowered his axe after the woman walked past and made eye contact with the other that wasn't far behind. She gave him a glance and a nod and a look of agreement like she was agreeing that the other woman's actions had been outrageous toward the Lizardman. He was calmed a little by this, but was still angry.

She was right though, it wouldn't be a very fair duel if he was starving and she was not. Xalmann had to admit that he was hungry. It had been quite a while since he'd last ate and he was really hoping to catch a fish earlier. His rations being eaten had been a lot more frustrating because of that. She also owed him the food anyways since her raven had stolen his. If she had just offered this and apologized in the first place without all of the insults, he would have been much more forgiving. Now though, he was far too irritated to forgive and forget the disrespect she'd shown him. He sheathed his axe and turned to follow them away from the water.

"I will accept the meal. And then we fight." he hissed as he walked behind. The glow on his scales lessened, but never fully vanished.

The woman, of course, didn’t agree on that, faking a selective deafness.

"My name is Kamille, by the way.... What’s your name?"

As she walked to where her men stood, she undid the tie on her skirt she had previously done to avoid it getting wet. The other woman followed. Just like Kamille, she seemed to be a half elf, the ends of her ears slightly pointed, though her hair was short. As they got closer, he could get a better look at all of them, and one thing they got in common stood out: they all had the subtle features of half elves, and they all had pinned to the chest of their clothes the symbol of a black feather.

One of them, taller than the rest, wielded a long, thin knife as he finished off gutting a fish. The smaller man still sitting by the water was finishing up unhooking another one.

"It's all about the bait you'll use. And the spot, of course. Personally, Ginma didn’t provide me with his godly patience, so I leave the hard work to the men...."

A bit further from the shore, Kamille waved a hand, and the ground started to shake and churn. She started to grab a few sticks to start a fire.

"I have to say, I don’t see your kind around here often..... Any specific reason for your presence here?"

Other than to grace our mortal eyes with glistening pectorals....

Xalmann looked at each of them, sizing them up. So, there were two men and two women, all Half-Elves. This disrespectful one was name Kamille and seemed to be the leader of the other three. Kamille also seemed to possess magic that could shape the ground. She also was impatient by her own admission.

"I was fishing." Xalmann replied to Kamille's question coldly.

He felt like she was eyeing him up, maybe trying to get a read on him before their battle. He could feel her staring at him. He was glad he had taken a moment to put his clothing back on. His eyes narrowed as he stared back at her, but her eyes didn't meet his. She was clearly looking at his body to get an idea of his strength. Well, she wouldn't be able to tell anything about his magic or combat skills just from his muscles. He didn't really care if she stared.

He took a bit of pride in his physique. Another reason her calling him fat had been such an insult. Well, he would show her she was wrong. He subtly flexed just a little, showing off his arms and chest. Maybe this would even be enough to make her apologize. Still, an apology wouldn't be enough for him at this point. He would still be dueling her. After they eat, of course.

"Trying to fish, you mean...."

And just to rub it in how bad he was, she made a gesture to the man that was still on the shore, just then catching another fish. The bigger one brought them a couple of the ones they got, already gutted and cleaned. He started to make the arrangements necessary for the set up to cook them.

"This big one is Edgar, he tries to be the serious one. That one still fishing is Allan. Don't give him more audacity than he already has. And my girl friend here is Poe."

Kamille indicated as she spoke, all three of the half-elves that were with her. She searched her purse and started to prepare the fish with a mixture of herbs. With the snap of her fingers, the sticks gathered promptly caught on fire, and the small pit was ready in seconds for some roasting.

"And why did you want to fish, again? You didn't look like you knew what you were doing... Who taught you? Want some help?"

It felt as if she was caressing with one hand and slapping with the other, using the same breath to help and insult him. She was clearly having fun.

"So... Did they give you a name along with all those rippling pectorals?"

She really just didn't stop insulting him. He grew more and more annoyed with each of Kamille's jabs and taunts. but he controlled himself. He had already agreed to having a meal before fighting her and he had challenged her to a dual. A sudden attack from him after declaring such a thing would have been extremely dishonorable. He also wasn't sure how such a fight would go for him. He was clearly outnumbered here. That alone made him hesitate. He was confident in his fighting abilities, but he wasn't an idiot. He knew when to avoid a fight he might not win.

He also wasn't sure about Kamille herself. She must be extremely confident in her own abilities if she can so casually insult the Lizardman repeatedly and offer him food so that he could fight her fairly instead of at a disadvantage. She displayed a bit of earth and fire magic now, but her magical abilities were probably greater than she was letting on. Xalmann controlled his temper, but the heat of his scales slowly increased.

"I was not taught. I was told it was... relaxing." he said, doing his best to hide his annoyance as he spoke.

Even each offer to help him felt like an underhanded insult at this point. She looked like she was having fun mocking him. He was also confused by "rippling pectorals". His understanding of the common language wasn't flawless. He had been raised speaking the Lizardfolk language in his tribe and only learned the common language later when he had begun raiding caravans and wagons as a way to understand what the enemy was saying to each other. He kind of understood the word "rippling", but "pectorals" wasn't in his vocabulary. However, he wasn't going to ask what it meant from this person. She had enough to use to insult him already. Admitting he didn't know what a word meant would just give her more.

"Xalmann Dakarr" he introduced himself. He also didn't want to give her his usual "last of the Bloody Axes". It didn't seem like something she would use to insult him, but if she did, he wouldn't be able to control his anger any longer.

Edgar and Poe exchanged a meaningful look when Kamille asked for his name, and despite Poe keeping a straight face, Edgar snickered softly. Of the four of them, Edgar was the taller and clearly the strongest.

Kamille ignored him, finishing up the seasoning of the fish and setting it up to roast. She rummaged through her stuff, getting a waterskin out of her pouch.

She sat on the ground, near the fire, making a gesture for Xalmann to sit too.

"Staring at it won't make it cook faster. Come, sit with me. Where are you from? I've never seen you around Moonglade, so I'm assuming you're not from here...."

The woman took a sip from her waterskin, letting out a satisfied sigh. Extending it towards him, she offered the waterskin for him to drink too. If he accepted, he could smell some kind of mixture with wine and spices. There was a faint smell of alcohol, which was deceiving as how strong the drink actually was.

Xalmann took the offered waterskin and smelled it before returning it without taking a drink. He hated the smell of alcohol and didn't trust Kamille, even if she was drinking the stuff herself. He just wondered if she was planning on fighting him while drunk. That would be an even more unfair fight than if he had fought her while hungry.

"You will be drunk during our fight." he said, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

He didn't sit by the fire with her. He just stayed standing, waiting for the food to be finished. He looked over at the three others, wondering why one of them had been laughing earlier. Had Kamille said some kind of joke he didn't understand? Or had he done something embarrassing? The one called Edgar looked the strongest. Did Kamille plan to have him stand in for her in the duel? He looked back at Kamille before answering her question.

"I am from the Marsh Flats."