Raven's legs took her back to a known place in the city, it was still poor but it wasn't really bad, it was the kind of turf where Thorsen used to frequent, and of course, she found him in the familiar drinking place that he loved so much. The dwarf after not seeing her for a whole week just waved at her without much care in the world.
"The times go sour and the cat leaves her burrow" He said raising a mug full of Ale, and many empty bottles beside him.
Raven eyed the dwarf, his scruffy beard soaked in ale, and his usual carefree grin plastered on his face. Despite the roughness of his appearance, Thorsen was sharper than he let on. His eyes, bright and calculating, flicked up and down, taking her in as if assessing her condition. She knew he'd been around long enough to notice the subtle signs too.
"I missed your ugly mug too Thorsen, I bet you miss me as much as I did" She said jokingly and sat in front of him, she came to feel comfortable around him, and she imitated some comments that other dwarven made.
"Ugly mug!?" He pretended to be offended looking at his mug "Ya think my mug is ugly lass? It was made long before you were babbling"
Raven couldn't help but let out a laugh at Thorsen's exaggerated offense. She leaned back in her chair, feeling a small bit of ease she hadn't felt in a while. This corner of the bar, with its low ceilings and dim, flickering lanterns, was a place where the world felt just a little less complicated.
"I'm talkin' about your face, not that antiquity thing you like to call mug you're drinking out of" Raven smirked, raising an eyebrow "I bet even dwarven craftsmanship couldn't fix that mess"
Thorsen let out a booming laugh that turned a few heads. "Aye, lass, you've got fire, I'll give ya that"
After sharing a good laugh and after Raven received her own booze, they toasted for rencounter, but the dwarf eyes were sharp. She hadn't even touched her ale, and she was a voracious drinker at that.
"What's the matter, lass?" He said leaving his mug to a side.
"Things have been complicated" She said after a couple of seconds
"Of course, everything is complicated for a rascal such as you!" The dwarf friendly mocked her.
"That's part of my charm" Said smugly the cat.
Thorsen chuckled, but his gaze didn't waver. He came to know Raven well enough to catch the undercurrent of tension in her voice, the subtle twitch of her fingers, and the way her eyes darted around the room, never resting for too long on any one spot. It was like she was watching her back even in the safety of the bar.
"Come on, out with it. Ya didn't come here just to trade insults and admire my handsome face. Ya got that look like yar sittin' on a nest of thorns" Thorsen leaned in, his tone dropping lower "Ya've been in trouble, haven't ya? Who do I have to kill?"
Raven let out a wry chuckle, shaking her head at Thorsen's blunt offer "Always straight to the point, huh? But no, it's not that kind of trouble. Or at least, it's not something you can just bash over the head with that fancy hammer of yours"
Thorsen grinned, but the concern in his eyes remained "Aye, but it's always an option. Just say the word"
Raven glanced around the bar again, her feline eyes lingering on a pair of shady figures at a distant table, their hushed conversation hidden beneath the dim lantern light. She turned back to Thorsen, leaning in as well, lowering her voice so only he could hear "I've been noticing things. Weird things in the slums, you know it is always been bad, but now it is terrible. Masked bastards roam the streets, snatching people up. This new drug, Petals Kiss, it turns folks into walking corpses. It's spreading, and even if everyone realize it seems like none will do anything. I think… I think there's more going on here than we realize. And it's getting worse."
Thorsen's expression hardened "Aye, I've heard about that poison. Nasty stuff. Folks around here are callin' it a death sentence in a bottle. But why're ya pokin' your nose into that mess, lass? I thought ya said ya were gonna take a rest"
Thorsen looked around and took out his pipe, then he took a pair of dice carved in bone and threw them onto the table, Raven looked at him impatiently, it seemed like he knew something, after messing around with the dice some more and charging his pipe with tobacco, he began to speak once again.
"This ain't the first time this happened" Said Thorsen "Ya're new to this city, but I have been here for five years or so lass" The warrior seemed deep into thought "At the time I wasn't in the business of dungeonerin' I was merely a gambler, but people began to get abducted, and other drug, similar began to spread, first in the slums then everywhere else"
"What? Then the adventurers are just a bunch of drug addicts?" The bandit said in a mocking tone, but her frustration was evident in her voice.
"Many fall inta drugs nd' stuff cause they want to forget how shitty is life" Countered the dwarf looking at her directly into her eyes "Some resort to drinkin'"
That hit Raven like a punch in the face, but she didn't answer, what he said made a lot of sense, at least for her, not everyone have friends or companions to share their troubles.
"Those were darker times lass, I don't know the details, but they called em'selves the hollow brotherhood, they weren't a single group, but many, in the end, there was a big clash between em and the ruling groups of the city, many people died"
'The hollow brotherhood? Sounds like a group of fancy idiots' Thought Raven smirking to herself "Sounds fancy"
"If ya have the balls to challenge the top brass ya must be an idiot or have some aces well hidden'" And those words confirmed the suspicion of Raven, this was something she couldn't deal with, even if they annoyed her, there must be strong people supporting them.
"Sounds like history's trying to repeat itself" Raven said, her voice laced with a mix of frustration and resolve "But why now? Why would anyone want to stir up that kind of chaos again? I mean killing and looting sometimes is fun, but at this scale is stupid"
"Coin, power, influence" Simply stated Thorsen "But maybe something darker as well" He gave a big sip on his beer "Don't get involved, Raven" He said firmly looking at her in the eye. Then he got up and left a handful of coins on the table "Damn lass, I feel like swinging my hammer now, gonna find a group, ya coming?"
Raven shook her head.
"Not today" She said deep in thought, she was no hero but she felt perturbed.
"Stay out of trouble" He said and walked outside the bar.
Raven's headache struck again, she had to take a rest, her magic powers had been pushed to the limits and it would become an annoyance if it got worse, but this new info gave her much to think, if it was a brotherhood then there was more than the alchemist, she didn't have any proof, but probably they were more than the eye meet. She drank the rest of her beer in one go and left the bar as well, the combination of her headache and the dungeon constantly calling at her was maddening she needed to get away from this madness for a time.