Time in the Tavern

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The Ox-Strength Ale Tavern is known for being one of the most dangerous dives in the city. Frequented by the worst sailors, mercenaries, thugs and looters, the place is hardly the prettiest nor the tidiest of taverns, though--of late, that has been changing. Locals claim the once foul-tasting food "No longer burns the stomach--as much, anyways." Plates show signs of repair instead of cracks, though the still infamous odor of old beer and stale sweat insists on hanging about the place, and the smell of brine is near-constant.

What used to be bricked-up windows have been somewhat opened. Heavy bars let in a reluctant breeze and prevent the clanging of heads against glass (which seems nearly afraid to exist). Bloodstains adorn both the nearby walls and the bricks themselves from thrown patrons and fists.

The lights are dim, a few oil lamps hung from hooks in the splintered ceiling beams. A smattering of tables, scratched and carved into by many a blade, dot the expanse of the floor. Most of the tables are arranged in a wide circle to give plenty of room in the center of the bar for hasty escapes or the routine bar-brawl or fight. A worn-out steam piped stove sometimes provides warmth to the tavern. Occasionally an aging dog of some mangy breed or another can be seen sleeping near the stove or by the bar itself. Overhead the fireplace is a tribute to Rada, the patron of fishermen and rivermen everywhere.

Towards one side, there is also a bedraggled dart board. Type +view here/darts to begin a game.

EXTRAS: +view

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Elessa Short olive-skinned human with black hair and brown e 0s 20m

Vuk Well Dressed Gobber Gentleman. 15s 1w

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Out <O>

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Vuk was warned about this place, but he was also a brave adventurer, having recently help subdue a Ruffian, oh, and he was supposed to try some thing here. He had already forgotten what the name of the drink was. Thusly, with his top hat a jaunty angle as if it'll help him fit in, he'll saunter up to the bar if he finds an empty spot, and begin to climb into a seat. Literally, he might have to climb. "Pardon me good Sir or Madame! May I have a tankard of the house's finest ale?" He asks.

Elessa is sitting at one end of the bar working on a few locks, tongue sticking out at the side of her mouth as she is concentrating with her lockpicks. "Come on... Come on..." There is a moment and then a satisfying *click*. "There!" she smiles and sets it down with a satisfyed sigh. The woman picks up her mug of ale that she's been working on to take a rewarding drink, spotting the goblin that has joined at the bar as well.

Vuk will remove a few silvers from his sleeve and lay them on the bar with a clink to try and get noticed, the downfalls of being a Gobber, it's when he decides to stand on his seat he might get served! Success! This is when he decides to look around and notices Elessa, tipping the rim of his top hat at her. "Good day Ma'am! Dreadful weather we're having isn't it? A right shame!"

Elessa raises an eyebrown at Vuk and his phrasing. Ma'am? She's not a ma'am... She's a woman, but not a ma'am. "Well, it is winter after all. Been through worse though, been in worse. If it's bad here, imagine what it's like in a place like Stormgarde to the north. Wandered through a glacier up there not too long ago," she shakes her head at the thought.

Vuk will take a moment to readjust his monocole as his ale arrives. Comically, the tankard is what, twice the appropriate size for a Gobber right? "Blimey! How dreadful that must have been. I'd have protested the journey most heartily and laid in extra stocks of brandy for the company!" He says and tries to carefully drink the Tankard. It requires both hands, and he still almost spills it all over him self.

Elessa smiles a bit at his reaction, "I don't know. I got paid, and then got to ride on a pegasus and a griffon afterwards as part of the reward, so it wasn't all bad. The ride was quite fun. And got to destroy an ancient undead king, and got to ride in an airship there and back..."

Vuk puts up his fists after putting the tankard back down, standing on his seat again, making a faux boxing motion. "That's the spirit! Show those blighters what for! A proper good fight it was I bet! I'm sure you and your companions were quite dashing Ma'am! Jolly good show! I would have loved to be along for it! Give them ruffians a taste of Goblin shot and steel!"

Elessa leans against the bar a bit, taking another sip of her ale. "And you? And you part of the guild?" she asks curiously, now taking another close eye at him in order to judge what he might be worth. He may be a goblin, but he seems to have some money... and at least thinks he's cultured with how he speaks.

Vuk will bow from his perch to Elessa with a sweep of his hat, it's a minor miracle he hasn't actually crashed to the floor. "Vuk Aleksy! Adventurer Extradionare, undead specialist, and camp steward at your service Ma'am!" He says, and then remembers guilds exist. "Oh, well, I've been known to be sought out by the guild to help deal with problems of course. They know I can't be troubled with minor jobs, they aren't quite my style!"

Elessa picks up one of the other locks that are in front of her, which is locked. "Oh? Have you gone through any sewers yet?" She asks curiously. She remembers her first time, and she highly suspects it won't be her last given the nature of things in this city.

Vuk scoffs a bit and hides his expression with a further gulp of his ale, and places a boot on the bar top, to try and look more grandeur and heroic. "Sewers aren't to my liking, to many foul things in them, give me the open road and stairs with the snow falling. That's where I belong unless the enemy takes to the old tunnels, then I'll show them no quarter by the gods I won't!"

Elessa chuckles, "I've gone down there. When you are in need of money and work, you go where the Guild sends you in order to have some money in your pocket." She starts working on the lock with her lockpicks, focusing on it, but still listening.

Vuk makes a flippant hand motion at her mention of coin. "The best reward is to simply do good and make sure the world knows it! When you are charging into a battle to save those who are lesser then you, that is the best reward. I just ask for a camp well stocked with provisions so I may craft a feast for my comrades after!" He says with a bright swirl to his eyes.

Elessa doesn't seem impressed at all. "Eh... I'd rather the money. Knowledge to, I mean knowing how something works, but I'm more interested in money, to make sure that I'll be good. I do send some back home to my parents, but it's not like they are scrounging for it either, not like when I first arrived in Alexandria."

Vuk listens, family is some thing he has in common with her it seems! "Oh, I left home too to pursue a life of adventure and fighting against the evil of this world. My family runs an Inn, alot of us adventuring types came through there. You could say it's thanks to my parent's establishment of fine victuals and drinks I'm the man I am today!" He says, still ..literally posing with a foot on the bar.

Elessa shrugs a bit more. "I still go to see my parents. I grew up on the Vast, being Tsuran and all. This is actually the longest I had ever stayed in one place. Growing up where always on the move. Saw adventurers from time to time, but I was initially more interested in coming for the city library."

Vuk coughs quietly, her story is more interesting already. "I am afraid I call from just a few days distant from where we sit. Fortunately my fast pony I can send a letter to my parents! They already asked me to return and it's barely been a few weeks!" He scoffs before deciding to sit down when his seat wobbles precariously.

Elessa watches Vuk to see if he actually falls off his stool. It'd be quiet funny, and yes, she'd laugh. "I don't get to see mine all that often being they are wandering around. And I've been here for some months. But oh well. What I do have to write home about is this though." She picks up some of her gear and lays a rapier on the bar. It's very finely made, actually quite beautiful.

Vuk will move to lightly polish his monocole when the rapier is put up, and he'll adjust it to get a better look. "An exqusite piece! Quite so!" He exclaims and drinks more of his ale, or almost falls in the tankard, depends on you view it. "No doubt acquired through valiant action!"

Elessa shrugs as she sets the lock and picks down as well, putting her elbows on the bar and then her chin in her hands. "Stole it actually."

Vuk looks at her when she says stole it. "Why Ma'am! That's a terrible thing to do! It might have been a family heirloom! What if it meant alot to a family?" he asks her in rapid fire question mode.

Elessa looks over to Vuk, not looking at all phased by his accusations. "It might have, but it didn't matter, they were dead. No, I didn't kill them. They died during the Exorcism. There was an estate sale going on, I saw this while I was... purusing their wares and just... took it. It called to me, and I mean in a literal sense. There was... something... about this sword..." She ooks back to staring at it, as if trying to piece it all together.

Vuk seems placated a bit, if only because she didn't really steal it from a needy family. "Well, that's most unusual, but I still think you shouldn't have stole it, you should have bid on it. I would have, it isn't proper to rob people Ma'am." He says.

Elessa tears her eyes away from the rapier to look back at the goblin. "The money would have gone to the city anyway, it wasn't going to really benefit anyone, so why bother? And is it my fault that their security was lax enough to allow me to walk out of there with it? It's mine now." She grabs the rapier, as if afraid someone is going to take it from her.

Vuk gently taps his chin and moves to lean his elbow on the bar. "Well, I've never heard a blade talk to me admittedly, but if I ever do, I'd likely be tempted to try and keep it. Course, if it talked about killing random people..perhaps not."

Elessa shakes her head, "It doesn't talk. It was just this feeling I got. I haven't used it yet in fighting, I'm still getting used to it..."

Vuk blinks his eyes a few times at Elessa. "Ma'am, maybe you should seek a priest to see if you are afflicted by the spirits? Normally feelings don't cause one to steal!" Maybe they do? Vuk wouldn't know!

Elessa looks back at Vuk once more. "You fail to realize that I have stolen before, it wasn't something new to me."

Vuk settles down, as if seeking to disappear into his seat. "Well that isn't a proper thing to do, you'd feel much better if you earned your living in an honest way, that's the way of Vuk Aleksy, adventurer extradionare."

Elessa sets the rapier back down beside her stuff, "I'm a Tsuran, we don't always earn things the honest way. Besides, I have a couple honest jobs> I work for the Guild and I work for the Under Lock and Key. If you have an security concerns, just ask me and I'll see that it's proper secured, or even test it to see what needs to be fixed. And no, I don't steal from clients."

Vuk looks down at him self, did he successfully dupe the world into thinking he was rich? Wonderful! "Oh, I don't worry to much about theft, my rule is to carry little, and own less of value, unless they wish to take my long gun from me, then by gods I'll show those ruffians which is the business end I will!"

Elessa shrugs a bit, "Well, if you know of anyone that might, that's what we're there for. Security consulting. But it can be fun to do, or when someone pisses you off."

Vuk's eyes blink in a slow manner when she mentions some one making him mad. He doesn't seem to comprehend the notion. "Why, no one has ever earned my ire! It wouldn't be very proper of me to go about deciding I dislike people for trivial reason!"

Elessa picks up the lock she was working on before and starts working on opening it again with the picks. "Well, I'm sure someone might eventually make you mad. A client that refuses to pay, or one that sends you on a fools errand. I had that happen. Said that his daughter was kidnapped by a ruffian and wanted us to rescue her. Actually, she had run away from her father because she was in love with this man, who was no ruffian. He was a wanderer that promoted peace and love. The guard that came with us then tried to kill us... We had a nice 'chat' with the noble when we returned."

Vuk scowls a bit at the story she recalls and it does seem to truly trouble him. "Well, that wasn't very kind or sporting of her father. I'd have been forced to give him a stern kick to the shin and chat my self! Maybe I'd serve him hard tack with out tea, that would learn him!"

Elessa smirks a bit and gets the lock to pop open. "And see, where you want to kick him in the shin or serve him... whatever that was, I want to steal something precious."

Vuk coughs quietly at Elessa when she mentions where he wants to kick him. "To be fair Ma'am, us goblins may short of height and forced to lay into a man's shins, but that is because the gods deemed if we were to tall, we'd be able to see above other races, and be able to fulfill their divine plans before they were meant to be. It's all very cunning and brilliant, but it would take years to fully write out their plans."

Elessa eyes Vuk a bit and shrugs, "The gods will do what the gods will do. But what you would do and what I would do are two seperate things. That's what makes us individuals, and all with our proper expertise. That's the fun in life though, getting to know people and see them for who they are, part of the tapestry of life."

Vuk rubs the back of his neck a bit. "Well, I suppose it might be alright to alleviate a noble of some of their burden of coin, assuming that some of it goes to the needy eh? No reason he gets to eat a piglet every day when his people starve half to death in winter!"

"It's not my plan," Elessa says, draining the rest of her mug. "If someone isn't careful enough to hold onto something or their coin, then it shouldn't be theirs and I get to spend it instead. True, I won't steal from a poor person because I can, I'll mostly steal from those who have coin."

Vuk will stare into his ale for a bit before sipping it again. "Perhaps you won't, but I bet if you were offered a chance to make a bit of coin and help a needy family, you would..you would, right?" He asks, giving her large innocent gobber eyes.

Elessa shrugs as she motions to the bartender to give her a refill. "I don't know, I might. I mean, I help where help is needed as best as I can. I helped during the Exorcism. I was even good and didn't take any of the gold bars from the bank... though it was sorely tempting to do so," she sighs. So close, they all were, and just a couple of those bars would have gone a long way.

Vuk cocks his head a bit and his large innocent eyes don't seem to change. "Well! See? You do understand that helping people to help is a good thing! Best reward there is! Of course, it doesn't -hurt- to get paid."

"Of course I know helping people is a good thing," Elessa rolls her eyes. "I'm not a completely amoral person. I just have sticky fingers... Plus I mostly do it because of the money, not necessarily out of the goodness of my own heart, to be honest. Plus the adventure. I like the adventure of it all."

Vuk has some thing wholesome to latch onto again! "Oh yes! I just help waylay a ruffian as of late, man was half mad!" he says, standing up again in his seat, precariously. "Crept up on him, and let loose a volley and then charged in to subdue em! Right proper show of muscle is all that was needed!" He says, making a motion of firing...and then his stool starts to tip back..and then Vuk is seen flailing to keep balance before the thing collapses to the floor.

GAME: Elessa rolls cmb: (20)+9: 29

Elessa reaches out quickly with one hand, mug in the other to catch Vuk and make sure he doesn't actually fall off the stool. "Watch your balance. They don't invest in stools that are very sturdy here, you might figure."

Vuk was -about- to have to make up a story on how he meant to do that, but he finds his stool is infact, not on the floor, and nor is he. "Wonderful display of agility and all that Ma'am!" He says and heartily shakes her hand..you know, once he sits down, and decides it might not be smart to stand up again. "Perhaps they should! It's hard to properly explain one's daring life if the stool gives out!"

Elessa lets him shake her hand, and she eventually recovers it in order to go back to picking locks on the bar counter. "I think it's mostly because fights happen and if they have to replace stools all the time, they want them for the cheapest costs. But the fights have gone down as of recently, so maybe they eventually will."

Vuk hasn't really taken stock of the patronage as a threat to his well being. "Yes, I was warned about that, some thing about if I come out with out having my face mauled by an angry patron, I hadn't had a proper experience. I'm rather taken with not being mauled." He says.

Elessa chuckles a bit, "I haven't seen it that bad in here yet, but I do keep my head about me to make sure that I don't get caught. I also make sure not to pick pockets while I'm in here either. Some people don't respect that, so do keep an eye on your stuff if you're exposed."

Vuk grunts a bit and looks at her drink and then at the bar stock. "Duly noted! I find this ale to be most unsatisfactory. To bitter for my likings, perhaps you'd like to take a cup of brandy with me eh?" He offers her.

Elessa shrugs as she looks at her mostly filled mug. "It's okay, not the best, but it's good, gives you a good kick. I haven't had much chance for brandy though."

Vuk is about to stand up to demand service, but he slowly lowers back into his seat. "Perhaps you'd do the honors of getting some one to notice me, least I risk becoming intimately associated with the floor and a broken stool Ma'am?"

"Elessa," she says as a way of introduction and just catches the eye of the bartender, but motions him over to the gobber.

Vuk is noticed, this is an accomplishment to him! "Good sir! May I have a bottle of your finest brandy? Preferably of a blackberry, and two cups so I may share with my friend Elessa?" He says, sliding more coin over and looking at her. "Thank you Ma'.. Elessa!"

Elessa gives a nod, but with a smile. Hey, she doesn't have to pay for it, so she's not arguing. She gets her latest lock undone and then sets them all aside so she can enjoy the brandy.

Vuk seems to know how to serve drinks with some flair, because he can pour the bottle from high up into the glasses before settling it down, and slides one glass down the bar to her. "To Adventure!" He says in his cheerful and loud tone and hoists his glass up at her.

Elessa takes the glass and holds it in a toast before sipping the brandy. She at least knows how to drink. "This is pretty good."

Vuk inclines his head a bit at her. "I found brandy is a wonderful way to end a meal when taken with sweetened cream served with preserved fruits." He explains.

"With what?" she asks, looking rather confused as she has never had anything of the sort. She continues to drink the brandy though, eventually finishing the glass.

Vuk might sigh quietly at her confusion. "You take the thick part of milk, the cream, and whip it with sugar till it's light, and then you serve it on top of preserved berries. A most wonderful way to end your meal on the road! Light, yet tasty!"

Elessa shrugs at it, "We'd never have time to do that, nor keep preserved berries out in the Vast."

Vuk strokes his chin a bit at her words and sips more of his brandy. "I should go see this Vast, it sounds fascinating and a proper challenge to my skills of survival!"

"It is beautiful out there," Elessa remembers her homeland. "Traveling with my clan, chance meetings with the Phurai Dae, traveling from city to city. We would play in abandoned ruins from centuries ago. But you must be careful, there are places where one might end up in another plane out there as the walls between them are so thin."

Vuk hrms quietly to him self and then glances up at her, or at her, depending on if she's still taller then him. "You should arrange an expedition for the sake of knowledge! I am sure many in the city would sojourn forth to see these ruins!"

Elessa blinks at Vuk for a bit. "An expedition? But many have gone in and never heard from again, or never got to their destination because they ended up in a different plane."

Vuk makes a wishy washy with his hand. "Then they were not prepared! Find a wealthy guild to back it and provide ample expertise! Then every one should be safe..well, at least from disappearing, right?"

"I have no interest in going back to study," Elessa argues. "I came to Alexandria to study. If others want to go and hire me as a guide, I'd do my best. Only those native to the Vast, like Tsurans, or of the Phurai Dae are able to navigate the Vast safely. But I'm no guide."

Vuk taps his chin again quietly and seems to be in thought. "I'm rather taken with the notion of exploring these ruins though, isn't there hidden treasure and secrets in them, and dangers of all kinds?"

Elessa nods, "There are plenty of dangers. There were areas of the Vast we didn't go, or at least only certain people went. Experienced people in ways of dealing with the dangers deep in the Vast."

Vuk grunts a bit and rubs the back of his neck. "It sounds interesting still, I'd love to arrange an expedition, but I suspect finding a backer would not be the easiest thing."

Elessa gives a nod, "I would imagine, but you could probably ask the Guild who you might approach. I have a feeling they would know the right connections on who to speak to."

Vuk winces a bit at the notion of having to ask around, but it passes. "Well, perhaps I will! I'll be sure to find you here, I'll purposely fall off a stool so you might save me again, and then broker your services as a guide!"

Larron has arrived.

Elessa sits at the bar, drinking and opening various locks with lockpicks like any locksmith, practicing her trade. She is talking with Vuk who keeps trying to fall off his barstool while standing on it. "We shall see. You'll probably find someone better to guide you though, even in my own clan."

Vuk waves his hand dismissively at Elessa. "Ah, but I don't know the rest of your clan, and you just need a chance to prove you can do the right thing! So you'd be a perfect guide, and I could share with you, culinary delights, and learn many of your homeland!"

Covered in a dusting of snow, the man who enters is only a little above average height, but he is quite a bit wider than average: Larron closes the door behind him on the wintry weather. He leans on that ominous looking pole arm for a moment and then makes his way towards the bar. His eyes rest briefly on the well dressed goblin gentleman, recognition flickering on his features - he sends a polite nod in his direction. Elessa too receives a nod of recognition, though he seems less certain at the sight of her working with locks. His progress angles him close to the pair, though not next to them, and his order is simple yet distinctive: "Berry juice."

Elessa raises her eyebrow at Vuk that she needs to prove she can do the right thing. Sure... "I'm still not sure. I might get us completely lost. I'm not that good out in the wild, but," she shrugs. "If you want to get everyone lost, that is up to you."

Vuk pounds a fist on his chest, which is his best attempt at being manly. "Fear not! Vuk Alesy! Adventurer Extradionare is never lost!" he says and looks at Larron and gestures to the bottle of brandy he ordered. "Berry Juice? Pshah! Good sir, join us in a nip of brandy!"

A few coins hit the bar, as Larron collects his drink. It might be berry juice, assuming the berries were fermenting - it's bubbling too much to really qualify as simple juice. All the same, Larron lifts the tankard, eyes returning to Vuk. "What kind of brandy?" He sips from his tankard and then carefully returns it to the bar's surface. His expression suggests that the beverage may have been swapped with the residue from an Alchemist's failed experiment. He coughs, and steps on over, bringing the over-sized stick with him.

Elessa is sitting at the bar with her locks and a mug of ale, but also an empty glass that once held brandy but she already drank it. She's over by Vuk and Larron. As the tw go over their own conversation, she turns back to her locks to continue practicing. Her feet don't even touch the floor, her toes barely getting there as she focuses, picking the locks before her as fast and cleanly as possible.

A blast of cold, but sweet air swirls from the back door of the tavern; which is a little odd, since no one opened it, and the typical back alley activity would leave the air anything but sweet. Then Mikilos enters, shutting the door behind him. Wizards, a fair explination. Miki might not be the prissy sort of elf to keep a perfumed hanky at hand, but a bit of magical air is certainly justified in this case. Some things are just foul.

Vuk looks at the bottle and carefully lifts it, to fill Elessa's glass again and then sniffs the bottle. "I believe, it contains blackberry." He says to the man who asked, it's likely, it isn't proper blackberry! "It may also be blood for all I know. I decided discerning taste isn't appropriate in this establishment." Oh! Hey! Mikilos!

The man that the goblin addresses is a little more than average height, but significantly wider than the average human male. When he speaks, his Tradespeak is cut with an accent far from local: the tones are clipped and polished, and yet he is dressed and accoutered like a man used to living in the wilds. "I was always more partial to apple," he tells the goblin as he comes to a halt, standing near Vuk and Elessa. "It is good to see you again, Vuk," he then adds, a hint of a smile on his features. "Have you heard about any interesting work?"

Mikilos is many things, 'average' and 'typical' are not amoung them. The elf towers well above the average human, or average elf, for that matter, falling only short of the truely imposeing giantborn. But, he smiles easily enough, nodding to Vuk as he makes his way to the bar proper. "Oh, plenty of room for taste, so long as you leave the drinking out of it. The apple pie is quite delicious, when they have it. The 'myster meat stew', distinctly less so."

Vuk doesn't look like he's tried the food here, he's still trying to trust the drinks. "Elessa mentioned her homeland, ruins! Actual ancient ruins! Planar magic! I believe some one should arrange an expedition post haste good sirs!" he says to both Mikilos and Larron. "I believe it would be both profitable and truly testing of my skills as an Adventurer Extradionare!"

Reserved and polite, Larron gives the much taller dawn elf a polite nod in greeting. "I am Larron," he tells the elf, before looking back to Vuk. "Planar magic may well be precisely the trouble that our last job enjoined," he reminds the goblin in a dry tone. "Though beating down one man in a group is a little.. unheroic." He glances down at the bottle and then back to the goblin. "Where abouts are we talking here? Rune? Or someplace a little less sedate?"

Mikilos says, "Mikilostravia Abrioudelanarchie Mithralla, Lord of Estranillia, Builder Arcane. Though just 'Mikilos' is perfectly acceptable. Anyway, my guess would be the Vast, their 'Broken Lands' are sort of known for such things. But ancient ruins and planar magics really aren't all that uncommon, if you want to be technically about it. Alexandros itself has a fair bit of both, though they've been picked over enough that an expidition is unlikely to prove profitable. Troulbe with things that are local, the locals typically got to them first."

Kiroth has arrived.

Vuk bobs his head at Mikilos once he names The Vast, oh, and his full lengthy title. "Oh yes, The Vast, it sounds positively fun to visit! I believe we should most definitely sojourn forth to explore it!" Vuk should never be allowed to make up plans.

"Might want to limit the expedition a little, Vuk," Larron notes in that same dry tone. He is standing near to Vuk and Elessa, who are at the bar. Elessa is playing with lock picks. Mikilos towers over the gathering, contributing to the conversation occasionally. Larron is notably without a drink, but Vuk and Elessa have been sampling the contents of a bottle near to Vuk. "The Vast is, well, kind of vast."

Mikilos nods in agreement. "Besides, if there were easy profit to be had, would hear of more people headed there." The elf leans across the bartop, rummaging behind a moment, ignoreing the protests of the bartender. Grabbing a small bottle, the wizard tosses a coin, quieting the protests. One of the few ways to avoid a watered drink, get it yourself.

Vuk remembers he did offer Larron some of the brandy, so he'll offer the bottle over to him. "Well, it isn't necessarily about profit, but the spirit of the whole thing! What if we find a ruin that has never been disturbed? By the gods! We'd be famous and no one could claim I didn't know a thing or two!"

Kiroth comes into the Ox and he moves over to get something to drink. "An ale please." He says with a smile and he nods to Vuk, Mikilos and Larron, "Good evening gentlemen.'

Larron coughs. "You're assuming the inherent wisdom about locals will not apply," he points out to Vuk. He shakes his head at the offer of the brandy, apparently shying away from the bar's offerings after his first experience. Then he notices the new arrival, and he inclines his head towards Kiroth. "Good to see you again, sir," he says, all polite once more: the tone remains clipped and polished, quite at odds with his appearance.

Mikilos quirks a brow and grins. "You want to be famed as a disturber of ruins? I suppose there are worse things to be known for, but still not my first choice." He nods greetings to Kiroth.

Vuk grunts a bit when he's being given a nickname that sounds like he's a bandit. "I meant it more that a ruin that hasn't been disturbed or plundered may still have valuable knowledge about the past and artifacts."

Kiroth looks over at Vuk, "That might be true, but usually it's better to let the dead rest in peace. They usually aren't happy when they are disturbed."

"If it is undisturbed," Larron says in a lighter tone to Vuk, "chances are there is a good reason for it. Big, hungry, cannibalistic evil monster, freaky magic traps, and yes: artifacts and curses." Larron seems a bit disapproving at the end. "That said, I would be more than happy to help out as a guide to assist someone on a journey to such a place. But not to venture in myself. I'm just not that curious."

Vuk grunts a bit and seems to hear some thing and sighs quietly. "Gents, I am afraid I must be off for a while! I forgot to send a letter by fast courier!" Letter to whom? Ask some time! "I'll attempt to return post haste!" Then the gobber is off!

Elessa is quite entralled by her work on the lock and finally gets it open. "Ah ha!" she calls out a little loudly, but then blushes as she realizes such. "Oooo," she smiles as she notices the glass has brandy in it again, which she downs, taking a look about the place since she was a bad rogue and not noticing her surroundings. "Oh! Mikilos!" she smiles at him. "Wonderful to see you. How is business going?"

Mikilos hehs, and grabs a glass, then a seat, joining Elessa before pouring himself a glass of something that looks a bit like orange juice. "Well enough. Think I've finally secured everything I need to build an actual shop, just a matter of getting it all finalized and doing so. How have you been?"

Kiroth looks over as he hears the Ah ha. "Everything okay over there?" He asks as he gets his ale and he takes a drink. He nods, "I too would help those who venture in there, sometimes the dead have all ready risen and need to be put to rest."

Larron watches the goblin go, wistful and bemused. "For some reason, I find that little guy fascinating," he observes generally, before blinking and looking around to see who might have heard him. Then he coughs and shakes his head. "Must have been the berry juice," he adds with a faint smile. "As for helping people in ruins, I suppose I could be convinced, for the right reasons. And, uh, I too should get going. I just came into town to check up on everyone, make sure everyone was okay. Visit the temple. That sort of thing." He nods politely to Kiroth, Mikilos and Elessa, gets a firm grip on his pole arm, and then starts off towards the door.

Svarshan has arrived.

Myrana has arrived.

Elessa smiles a bit and nods, "I've been good, keeping busy. I found a new sword." She picks up a very nicely made rapier. "I'm thinking next time I go on a Guild errand I'll take it with me." She looks over to Kiroth and just smiles, "Oh, just honing my skills in case anyone needs them, it's okay." She looks back to Mikilos. "Oh, since you're here, and things are going so well for your shop, perhaps you might have some time to help me with a couple magicial things?"

Mikilos frowns thoughtfully. "I sort of wonder what it is undead do in the crypts before we show up. Seems sort of boreing. Maybe is why they're so cranky." He shrugs, and nods to Elessa. "I've some time. What do you have in mind?"

Svarshan grasps one of the chairs and turns it around. He drops into it with a heavy sigh and creak of wood. He looks tired, tired but... And whatever he'd been thinking, he breaks off as he looks towards the old, bedraggled dartboard on the wall. "That..." he begins to say, and leaves off, just regarding it quietly and thoughtfully.

After a moment, he gives his head a shake, and looks around the room. He looks quiet, peaceful. Tired.

Kiroth hmms softly, "There seems to be a number of people who are interested in sneaking around, locksmithing and general skullduggery. Not that I don't appreciate those skills, I'm just noting there seems to be more of them about then before or maybe I'm just noticing them." He waves to Larron, "See you later."

Larron is on his way out, giving a wave to Kiroth, Elessa and Mikilos before slipping out of the rowdy establishment as quietly as he can, which is not all that quiet.

Elessa smiles at Mikilose, giggling about undead before people arrive, "Makes you wonder, doesn't it. I wonder if anyone has studied the subject." She has another sip of brandy. "Oh I was thinking of making my armor a little tougher. Also, there was a rogue a while back that let me borrow these really neat goggles of his that let me see traps and stuff better when I was trying to disarm them. Goggles of Minute Seeing he called them, I think. Think you can help me with those items?

It just so happens that Myrana is passing by with a platter of food and drink held above her shoulder when folks mention undead. The effect is pretty noticable, for her head jerks toward the speaker and she does in fact trip over an uneven board in the floor. Three tankards of frothy ale crash into their intended table and a few bowls of lentil stew go flying.

Mikilos nods. "I'm sure someone has, but I don't know who. Likely some necromancer or another. Anyway, yes, I should be able to help with that. You're talking just the base armor enchantment, made stronger? That shouldn't be a problem. As for-" The elf cuts off as a platter goes flying, hesitating a moment before spitting a spidery phrase. One of the bowls crashes to the floor, but the others are covered with blue shimmers a moment, drifting lightly to the ground... one sidewise, andother upside down, but at least an effort was made. "You alright? Everyone okay?"

Kiroth hmms, "It certainly does make you wonder. IF they are skeleton they probably play dice to roll those bones." He chuckles as he finishes his drink, "Well have a good night."

Svarshan jerks backwards as the soup goes flying. He sits there for a moment, staring at nothing and then...slowly begins to get u--no. "Sa," he says directly to Myrana. He halfway smiles and there's warmth to it as he settles back into the chair.

That lentil stew is serious business, and the sideways one actually doesn't slop out immediately. Which really just reinforces Crazy Maines' theory on Myrana cooking suspect gelatin into her stews. He starts hooting something excitedly that everyone ignores from where he sits near the door. Myrana picks herself up, red in the face but otherwise fine. "Thank you for your vote of confidence, Svarshan," she says, picking up the bowls and tankards and soothing startled (and wet) drunkards. "I'm fine!" She tells Mikilos, grumpily collecting everything onto the platter.

Elessa cringes as she hears the tankard and bowls go flying. "Are you okay?" She asks as she looks over at Myrana and then the customers as well. She blinks at the snap from the woman, but leaves her to clean up. "Oh... thank you Mikilos, that'll help a lot next time I go on a guild job..."

Mikilos tsks mildly, but smiles to Myrana before turning his focus back to Elessa. "Anyway, yes, the armor should be no trouble. The goggles I've never made before, but I've read about it. I don't anticipate any problems."

Elessa smiles a bit. "Good. I plan on selling my short sword here soon, so I can pay for both of them, but right nowI might be able to only cover one, depending on your pricing."

A pause. ...then the reptile nods slowly in response to the statement. He manages to make it somewhat regal--bizzare as that is, but the Tarienite look in his eye suggests he's doing it just to irritate the poor Althean. Nearby, one of the patrons suddenly falls over, a bowl of grog in his hand. He smells of old fish and ale. Of course.

Myrana returns after a while with a fresh un-lentil'd blouse and goes to give the people she spilled on their orders. After that, because Crazy Maines has rambled out and scared away a few customers, she finds time on her hands, and comes out to the tables where Mikilos, Elessa, and Svarshan are settled. "Is there anything I can get for you?" She asks, looking somewhat contrite for having snapped earlier. But not when she gives Svarshan a look. She is still peeved at the giant lizard.

Mikilos nods, and ponders a moment. "Armors are easy enough, though the more powerful magics will require more resources. I think 1,800 gold pieces should coever everything. I'll have to look into it to be certain, but I think only 1,500 gold for the goggles. The magics are a bit tricky, but the device is mostly mechanical in nature, the magics just assist with the focus, if i recall my reading correctly." Smileing to Myrana, he shakes his head. "Thank you, no, I'm fine. And should likely get going here before long."

Elessa listens to the numbers that Mikilos is offering and nods, "I think I have that already, that would be wonderful. You'll just need to tell me when you want me to drop off my armor so you can make the enhancement better on it. Thank you so much Mikilos," she smiles broadly. She looks up to Myrana and thinks, she probably should have something to eat. "Something warm and hearty, but nothing with the mystery meat, if there is anything like that tonight."

Svarshan returns the Althean Glower (TM) with a wide-eyed look of his own. And then, solemnly, "A horssse. Stomped on my foot." He looks grave after saying so. So grave and solemn and sad before looking over towards the sil. He nods a hello, and looks hesitantly towards Elessa before looking back.

And looks very sad.

He holds out his foot to demonstrate. Some small child has tied a bright yellow ribbon around one horrible, scaley toe.

'*wriggle. wriggle.*

Myrana smiles at Elessa and Mikilos, blue eyes wry but amused. "I'll get you a bowl," she says, nodding. A look is given to those big dark 'why are you mad at me?' eyes, and then she glances, raising a brow, at Svarshan's toe.

"Is it broken?" She asks dubiously.

Mikilos eyes the ribboned toe, but shrugs. Healing is not his forte. Standing, he nods to Elessa. "I'll get the lab set up, and read up on those goggles. If there's any trouble, will let you know. Drop the armor off soon as you can at the Academy when you get the chance. Anyway, I'd best get going if I'm to get everythign ready before tonight's lecture. Professor Brizgadget is speaking on the quasi-elemental planes."

"Have a pleasant lecture," Myrana says, waving.

Myrana might as well have said 'try not to sleep directly on your face' but she is reforming.

He looks sad. So very sad. "And then I sssteped in demon goop," he says, adding to the Litany of Things That Are Wrong.

'*wriggle. wriggle.* goes the horrible, sad toe with its yellow ribbon.

'*wriggle. wriggle.*

He looks on, deadpan except for the Obvious Sadness which Emanates From His Divine and Paladiny Eyes Like the Chorus of a Thousand Angels.

Myrana takes one look at that, and then makes a face and goes 'blargh!'

Myrana says, "I'll be right back with that."

Myrana goes to get Elessa her dinner.

Elessa smiles at Myrana and looks to Svarshan, "That is definitely eww," she cringes about the demon goop. "Though you could see a cleric or something about the toe, or just a priest..."

Svarshan turns the same, sad look towards Elessa. It is the ultimate of Saddest Looks. There are Sparkling Stars and Glimmering Angels...

"Yes," he says. Sadly. "Thisss is why I am. Here to sssee an. Althean."

And then he winks at the olive-skinned human before turning back towards the door, and settling in to wait. "For the record," he says, underneath his breath where Elessa can hear. "We are. Ffforbidden from having a sssense of. Humor."

And then the side of his mouth twitches.

He arranges his foot to where the horrible yellow bow is yet more horrible, and more visible.

On the horrible, scaley toe.

Myrana returns with bowls of lentil stew and thick slices of dark brown bread full of seeds. The former steams as she sets it down in front of Elessa and Svarshan, along with cold, tart cider. Elessa's is served in a glass, while Svar's is in a much scarred and dinted pewter mug without a handle. Then she goes and sits down next to Svarshan's beribboned foot, and rubs her hands on her apron as she inspects it.

Svarshan looks very sad.

"Thank you," Elessa smiles as she sets down her locks and picks in order to eat, making sure her rapier goes down back to the side and not on the table. "This smells wonderful. So, did you ever finish tearing apart your room for that nasty trip that Sandy did on you?"

Svarshan really did smash his toe. There's a half-circle of a hoof print on it...and then the horrible, yellow ribbon. He wriggles it once or twice, experimentally, before picking up the bowl and... "It ssmeelss very nice. Thank you."

"I did," Myrana flushes a little, lips tugging into a frown at the memory of Sandy getting one over on her. She ended up taking the paneling off of her apartment above the Ox in an attempt to find the mythical crawlspace dwellers hinted at by the villainus Sandiel. Not that there was a great deal of insulation or paneling to take out; the Ox is brick and solid, but still it was a huge mess. "I didn't find any Oxleys, but there was a colony of bees." She takes the toe very gently in her hand. And then pops it out away from the joint before setting it straight again like you would a badly broken nose. She does this without warning. "Fortunately the snow has put them into hibernation."

Elessa cringes at the mention of bees, "Oh, well glad that you found you had that there. Though if there is ever something you want checked out, you can ask me, I can do it, especially if it's security related. I'm rather good at those types of things."

Myrana looks over her shoulder at Elessa. "I'll definitely keep that in mind; I'm hopeless at this sort of thing." And then back at Svarshan's foot. She unties the ribbon from his toe and uses it and a washcloth to bind the broken toe to another for an impromptu splint. The bow, it should be noted, does end up with a tiny ribbon on top. Because this is Myrana and she has a mean sense of humor sometimes.

Svarshan grunts and tries not to jerk. Still, that hurt! He draws the foot carefully away from the Most Evil Althean and tucks it, you know, delicately, underneath the chair.

And then he eyes Elessa for a moment.

Svarshan looks down at the foot.

He looks at Myrana.

He looks sad, and then lifts his bowl. You know, to eat his prison-gruel.

It's all very horrible.

Elessa manages to not outright laugh at Svarshan's sorrowful look, but she is smirking as she eats her own food. "Though you're very good at cooking and turning this place around," she offers to Myrana.

Myrana warms up at this compliment. Svarshan just had his toe re-broken and set by /the devil/, you see. "Thank you! I am working on a way to keep patrons from breaking their heads open on the window bars." Standing, she dusts off her hands on her apron and then makes herself scarce to get work done, encouraging the two of them to enjoy their food and brew.

The reptile busies himself in his prison gruel.

They are both horrible, horrible females.

"She has me hit them," he says, solemnly. Implying she hires palathugs. It is all very horrible.

Elessa watches as Myrana lheads off and looks over to Svarshan. "So you're not allowed a have a sense of humor? Why is that?"

A pause, then a solemn... "Ssstereotypes," he says. Solemn. And then he gets up, and looks down at the be-spangled toe. Wriggles it.

"So?" Elessa asks. "Doesn't mean you can't have one. You can still have one and break the stereotype."

A slow smile spreads over the sith's muzzle, and there's Tarien's own glint there. Only a trace of it, though. "Yess." He pauses after that, and...rubs at the side of his muzzle. "I try. ...it wass good to seee you, She-of-the-Security-Expertise."

Elessa smiles as she is now left alone. With a sigh and finishing her dinner, she gathers up her things and goes off into the snow and the dark to buckle down for the night.