[IC] The Lonely Tavern

[Legion-114]

Something was wrong, Alex could feel it. Something in his blood tingled, made him nauseous. He stood up and left the tavern to look up at the sky. The barrier was in place, but something, something did add up. He was sensing someone or rather something looking down at him, or rather at them. But it wasn’t demonic, they wouldn’t have found him so soon. No, this was a familiar feeling, like them time Marble City was destroyed… destroyed by him…

His head ached, placing one hand in hope to relieve himself of some of the pain. And if he was looking for him… then he must also be looking for them.

“Bouldy! We’re leaving.” Alex yelled.

Bouldy, who was in the middle of carrying something gave a low, regretful sigh. It seemed that he was enjoying helping and meeting the others. But soon the rocks making his body fell to the floor and the crystal that gave him life flew into Alex’s hand as he mounted his horse and began to head East.

[Skyrte]

The Clock rings five times.
It is evening. As the sun sets early, bringing the darkness and the cruel winter, the men and women lock their doors against the horrors of the night. The peasants huddle around the fireplace for warmth against the cold. They stir their stews, one bowl for each. A warm meal, for a cold night. The nobles sit at their six meter long tables, preparing for a full course dinner. Guards watch the walls.
As the night sets and the long dark comes. Winter has arrived. To the North Frost Isles, they ride their longboats to raid the Central Continent. To the Western Deserts of Lesrek and Dushai, nomadic warlords set their sight eastward. The southern pole stirs, glowing eyes lighting ruins that have been long since forgotten. The sea-leviathans of the south migrate northwards as colder waters begin to set around the globe. Within the Central Continent itself is no safe haven. Black bile secrets from the ground. Creatures of the dark and of sin wander the night. Cities fortify their walls. Villages arm their militias. Travelers set their perimeters. Sometimes the only sound in the night is the occasional scream of death. These are recent events. The people are unused to war. To fighting a foe that commands fear. Where they come from, nobody knows. The world is at unrest. Yet none of this seems to reach The Tavern. The creatures avoid it. Nobody knows.
The Clock rings five times. And sets on The Star. Hope. The Long Dark is usually fraught with dread but this night, the people can sleep soundly. They dream of the summers and springs, wheat fields and flowers. The Sun. The Star. They dream peacefully, yet not all of them would wake.

---

Ihri spent the last few hours cleaning the kitchen, primarily the spit and the oven. She would need those. Before she went into the kitchen to make dinner for everyone, she told the Warforged that she would do the examination over dinner time. In the meantime, Black would keep him company. Black was not a very talkative person, but he did consider himself strong. Maybe a tad bit weaker than a Warforged... It wasn't long until he put his elbow on the table for tests of strength. Arm wrestling, for a start.

Luckily the kitchen was still stocked with a few things, smoked fish and pork, dried wheat and oats, some candied nuts, and an uncanny amount of alcohols. The lack of ingredient variety meant that she couldn't make much, but gruel was an easy make. After half an hour, the gruel was ready. It wasn't particularly much, certainly not a meal for kings, but it did the job. Bits of smoked fish and pork would make it tastier as well. She grabbed a few bowls and washed them, walking out to the bar with the bowls and the hot gruel, she put them on the table. Along with a plate of the smoked meat.

"Gruel with meat?" The aged bartender asked, "Is that all we have?"
Ihri gave a rather dejected, "Yeah," fearing that she hadn't done a good job.
"Good work. We'll send someone to get supplies from the city in the morning." The Bartender took out an ink pen and a small notebook, writing in a reminder. Ihri smiled, walking back to the table that the Warforged and Black were sitting at. She put a bowl of gruel, topped with some pork on the table and let it sit. Grabbing the magnifying glass, she spoke up to grab their attention.
"Now it's time for your examination." She sat the Warforged down, stepping back a few steps and peered at him with the magnifying glass. After a few minutes, she spoke up, "Whoever made you didn't do a very good job. I should be able to patch you up, but it might take a while...

[shagranoz]

Sabara hovered near one of the tables, looking for something to do. Being what she was meant that physical concerns were nothing to her anymore, but she still needed to do something to stave off boredom. That was why she worked here; that, and the chance to meet new people.

The floors hadn't been swept in a while, she noticed, so that was next on her agenda. She found a broom and essentially dove inside it, causing it to sweep the floor seemingly of it's own accord. She had to admit, it was a power that came in handy rather often, even if it wasn't as flashy as true combat magic.

[Idemus046]

When Ihri left the table to head for the Kitchen, Kitten took a few steps after her. After looking back and seeing that his friend was still at the table he chose to return to him hopping onto the empty chair and watching as Black put his elbow on the table.

He saw the gesture from the Knight in black and turned to Kitten. His tale was wagging lazily, and he cocked his head to one side. If he could have smiled he would have "Ok, Kitten" he said as he locked his hand in with Black's. Kitten leet out a WOOF! and he began trying to force the Knights hand to the table. It was more difficult than he had expected, which caused his eyes to glow with excitement and joy.

While he thought he had the slightest u per hand in the match he was content with calling this match a draw when Ihri returned to the table. He followed her instructions once she began the examination and then she spoke confirming what he had suspected. He was poorly made. While he knew this was not his fault it still left him feeling poorly. His sad mood did not last more than a second however, she said she could fix him. He hadn't felt this happy since finding Kitten. All he could manage to say was "Really? Thank you." He had made up his mind. He had made two new friends, and if she could fix him he would let her pick his new name.

[Skyrte]

"Really? Thank you." The Warforged thanked,
Ihri scratched her cheek, "You're welcome, but... Yeah, it will take some time." She admitted once again, "I have to find what kind of 'language' was used, then which 'dialect'. There's all sorts of different kinds of magics for the same things because of cultural differences. The spell for fireball might be completely different than the one for a fireball in another land, but they both produce a fireball. In this case, I can't add my own magic to the one already in you because the two 'languages' will be incompatible and bad things will happen. Although... I'm not sure what those bad things are." She chuckled nervously, scratching her cheek again, "So I have to study what is already in you, figure it all out, and then I can start adding or altering. It's..." She placed her magnifying glass into the box and closed it, the symbol changing again. She opened it, revealing several pieces of parchment and several pens with numerous inkwells of various shape and size. She grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and began to draw it out. First a box, and circles in the box.
"It's like this," She pointed at the circles, "There's lots of empty space between the circles." She drew another box, but this time, squares into the box, "And this is what it should be, no empty space. It stacks and gives a good foundation for growth, the circles would move around and it would be hard to put things on it and expect it to stay." She went back to the box with the circles, and filled in the empty space with four pointed stars, greatly reducing the amount of empty space and locking the circles in place, "But we can do this and fix it." She smiled, "Something like that. It should be something like that." She glanced upwards, finally done with her explanation.

She sat down and started on her dinner, hearing a brushing sound. She looked over and found that a broom was moving itself to sweep the floor. After a brief moment of befuddlement, she spotted the ghost. "You're a ghost!" She exclaimed the obvious, it was relatively easy to miss the apparition, her translucence ensuring that. "Are you... Making the broom move? Are you a magic practitioner?" She questioned, putting the bowl down at the table.
Black put his elbow on the table and rested his forehead on his palm. How she would ask if the ghost was a mage first and not question if the ghost was malevolent or not was beyond him.

[shagranoz]

Sabara popped herself out of the broom, which, no longer commanded by her, simply tipped over and laid down. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Sabara. Yes, I am a ghost, and I was a mage's apprentice in life." The ghost floated over and hovered just off the floor, glancing at Ihri. "But what I want to know is more about you. Who you are, why you came to this place, and how come you know so much about magic yourself." The ghost flicked a stray hair away from her eyes. She may have been incorporeal, but old habits died hard.

[Idemus046]

After thanking her, she began a very long explanation. She was trying to tell him why the repair process would take so long, but as he feared, he was having trouble understanding what she was saying. 'Languages and dialects?' He thought. He was trying to keep up but he was losing hope. That is until she began to draw.

Pictures he could understand. He loved pictures especially blue-prints and building plans. So when she began drawing the circles and squares he was able to keep up. He even understood the need for the four pointed stars and began nodding along. When she was done with the explanation he said " it's ok if it takes time. I'm just glad someone will try."

After that she went back to eating. Shortly after she began talking to the broom and the broom talked back? He turned to look at the broom when she first spoke. He was surprised when he saw the woman come out of the broom stick. Sometimes it made him extra happy he was warforged. This was one of those times. If someone would have been able to see is surprise he was sure he would have been embarrassed. As always though he relaxed when he realized Kitten was still calm.

Kitten stood up and began to stretch. He was getting restless and now that the wolf knew he could trust Ihri he began to sniff to see if anything interesting could be found. Sniffing the air to double check his suspicion, he trotted off after the scent. The trail lead him up the stairs to a bed room, which he sniffed thoroughly. Nothing. He followed the scent back down stairs and to a door that lead to the basement. Kitten went down the stairs and paused at the landing.

[Subject Zero]

It seemed to take forever and a day and Ember had lost concentration on more than one occasion but she had finally managed to stabilize the water in the basement bathhouse. The glyphs on the bottom of the large bath stopped pulsing and glowing and water was no longer spewing into the air. The pixie was proud of herself and but was also a little drained. She floated down to the ground and sat on the edge of the bath, dangling her feet down towards the water. She was so small that her legs barely reached to the top of the water and she gently kicked at the surface with her toes.

The bath was working again but the place was filthy and as Ember had touched down she kicked up a small cloud of dust. It swirled around for a second or two before it finally reached her nose. The pixie's face scrunched up in a way that made her look far less attractive than she actually was then settled. She repeated this action again and was pleased when she didn't let out a sneeze. She was taken entirely by surprise when a sneeze finally erupted from her mouth and nose, causing her entire body to tense up. She let out a noise so loud it seemed unnatural for someone so tiny to produce.

With the blasted dust finally free of her nose, Ember quietly groaned and said to herself "This place is filthy....And smelly to boot."

[Skyrte]

A real ghost! Ihri recalled what her Uncle had told her about ghosts. There were many different kinds, some locked in an endless repeat of their final moments, others vengeful for what had happened, some had unfinished business, and many more reasons. Most of the time people who died would unintentionally become ghosts and end up not realizing that they had become ghosts, resulting in some strange occurrences. The ghosts to watch out for were the self-aware ones, like Sabara standing in front of her. They knew of their ability to phase through solid walls, their transparency, some even had the ability to possess inanimate objects. Particularly powerful ones, even living beings. Where fear and caution should be, only curiosity stayed. Ihri as a small child had witnessed her Uncle speak to ghosts before, but she had never seen them. Her Uncle said that they could shroud themselves entirely from people they did not want seeing them, and while they enjoyed little Ihri's company, they thought that their gruesome appearance would frighten her.

Sabara did not look gruesome at all however. Ihri wondered why she became a ghost, an injustice? Unfinished business? An oath perhaps? She was a mage apprentice in life, perhaps this was intentional? The ghost floated closer.
"But what I want to know is more about you. Who you are, why you came to this place, and how come you know so much about magic yourself." She spoke.
The ghost had a point, not many mages had as much knowledge as she did. A grand majority studies under a single master, who studied a single craft in a single language, usually with the local dialect. Those that travel and witness other magics are not always so open minded to leaning the new magics they see as well.
"Ah, well, I um," She blushed lightly. She wasn't very used to this sort of talk, about herself. Most people were uninterested, and the ones she travels with are rather quiet, "I'm Ihri Vozal, I study magic under..." She thought, Uncle Bones had a formal title, what was it? "Tzud'Khozok the Undying Watcher, but I just call him Uncle Bones. He had something to do so he sent me here to find a job. He's spent his whole life studying the magic of the world, he started to teach me when I was small."
The Bartender rose an eyebrow at the mention of the name. He continued to wipe down the bar.
"An old friend said to me, 'a mile long but an inch deep'. I know lots about magic theory, but putting it into practice is harder." She gave a shrugging smile.

[shagranoz]

"That is true, there are a lot of ways of doing magic," Sabara commented. "I had an old elf named Tauricus for a master, and his specialty was clay runes. I could show you some of it, if you like." She rummaged around in a drawer, pulling out a small clay tablet with a circle and an arrow on it. "Take this one, for example. This particular rune is frezad, which means light. You have to say the rune's name as you carve it, and you have to focus energy into the clay. This essentially stores the spell for later use. When you want to cast it, you just break the tablet and..." As Sabara did so, a ball of warm blue light pulsed into existence, staying there for several seconds before disappearing. "So, what do you think?"

[Idemus046]

While he listened to the two women speak of magic he was trying to process the fact that a ghost was cleaning the tavern. He realized rather quickly that these two knew way more about magic than he ever would. He listened intently as they spoke, and when the ghost pulled out her tablet and talk of rune magic he became intrigued. His old druid friend had mentioned rune magic once before. She didn't say much about it only mentioned that it existed in a casual conversation. He knew that type of magic, in fact most types were beyond him. She broke the tablet and a blue light started to glow and a question formed in his mind. "Why is the light blue?" He asked feeling self-conscious. He always got more timid without Kitten near by. 'Where did he go?' He wondered to himself.

---

Kitten sniffed the air while standing at the bottom of the stairs. His head snapped to the bathhouse door when he heard a rather loud sneeze? He slowly creeper toward the door and peered inside. It smelt terrible and it made his nostrils itch. He took a few steps inside and noticed a small being on the edge of the bath. He recognized the being as a fary. He had seen one at the druids old tree when he was a puppy. He used to play with her, always chasing her and trying to catch her. The very only staid for about two days, once the druid helped heal her she left. Kittens tail began to wag, kicking up dust causing Kitten to scrunch up his nose and eventually let out a sneeze that shook his entire body.

[Subject Zero]

At the sudden and unexpected noise, Ember yelped and flew into the air before quickly vanishing from sight. There was a silent pause before she reappeared almost as quickly as she had disappeared with her mouth hanging open. With eyes wide and clasped hands slowly raising to her heart, the pixie made a long, slow sound like she was inhaling air until she was suddenly completely silent as she watched the wolf in the doorway.

Then, suddenly, she shot at the creature. She didn't attack though. Before Kitten would even have time to react, Ember had clutched onto his head and was hugging him as tightly as she could. "You're adorable!" she proclaimed in a squeaky tone. She seemed to care very little that this creature was a complete stranger, let alone that it could eat her with very little effort.