(Author Note: Sorry for a lack of updates, real life has been kicking my ass and I need to write my actual book more XD... Anyway, Hope you all enjoy this chap!!!)
...
Yawning as I walked down the stairs that lead into the inn's main bar area, I was met with the smell of freshly cooked meats and perfect eggs. The din of voices below spoke to the delicious nature of the food here as it was abnormally rowdy in comparison to what I experienced in the Emissary or even the inn I found my current party at. The Inn itself was rather unique in lay out, having a central courtyard tavern space ringed by a second story balcony on the inside that had four different doors to enter into the sleeping space. A white oak tree sat in the direct middle of the chamber with small stages for passing bards to play their instruments.
Scanning the room I could see hundreds of plain clothed men picking at food on wooden plates and an almost equal amount of women sitting amongst them. Presumably they were all wives or girlfriends of the men as many of them were surrounded by kids of varying ages. Some ran across the room chasing one another, whilst others were busy brooding over the opposing gender. Holding back the smile that wished to release itself from behind my face I slowly continued my scan. Barmaids moved with ease amongst the large crowd when my eyes finally fell onto a conjoined table of all 8 of my travelling companions.
The Elven women were all convening together, speaking quietly whilst nodding at one of Qal's statements or Angelica's every now and again. Ethillar and Ragana were playing some form of card game with two other female adventurers off to the side. Whisper and Angelica were inseparable now, both of them eating side by side as they laughed and pinched one another when sarcastic comments were made. Elaris was containing her emotions at this current juncture, her pain from the losses not fully gone; time would have to heal those slowly... Slipping into those thoughts no longer, I decided to join my group for a morning meal. I needed to know what the plans were for today.
Lightly rushing down the stairs, like an overenergetic teenager, I made my way over to the table where the others were seated, waving down a waitress as I went. Very quickly I was served by a buxom barmaid and she assured me the meal would get to the table in a ten minutes. Smiling towards her, giving her assurance that the wait was fine, my attention coalesced onto the the party around me.
[Ethillar]
{Relationship Trust Level- 68/100}
{Relationship Level- Acquaintance/Starting Party Member}
[Adaneth]
{Relationship Trust Level- 71/100}
{Relationship Level- Acquaintance/Starting Party Member}
['Qal']
{Relationship Trust Level- 69/100}
{Relationship Level- Acquaintance/Starting Party Member}
[Angelica]
{Relationship Trust Level- 97/100}
{Relationship Level- Best Friend}
{Current Emotion Towards You- Sisterly Love}
['Whisper']
{Relationship Trust Level- 90/100}
{Relationship Level- Sisters}
{Current Emotion Towards You- Satisfaction/Happiness}
[Eldalótë]
{Relationship Trust Level- 73/100}
{Relationship Level- Acquaintance/Starting Party Member}
[Ragana]
{Relationship Trust Level- 50/100}
{Relationship Level- Acquaintance/Starting Party Member}
[Elaris]
{Relationship Trust Level- 100/100}
{Relationship Level- Bound Companion }
{Love Level- 91/100}
{Sexual Desire Level- 99/100}
{Virginity- Maintained}
{Current Emotion Towards You- Devotion}
All of their trust in me was unexpected given the fact that I'd only met them a day or so ago... Going from expecting all of them to be like Ragana to seeing this, was discombobulating for me. In my past life I had very few friends due to the amount of time I spend at work and the lack of free time given to me. This was an entirely new experience for me, earning trust this easily. My DM in my past life had been the closest I'd gotten to social contact for years, an odd choice that came to me after playing Baldurs Gate for a little time. DND seemed fun, so i decided why not!
'Little did I know that it would be the start of this... 'adventure'...Haha'
I couldn't help but see the hilarity of the situation. Here I was on Earth wishing for some change of pace, some interaction with fellow human beings, and then I wind up here. Seeing my smile Elaris flashed me a gorgeous but refined smirk, tapping the seat next to her. Adaneth and Eldalótë continued to eat as I walked up beside her, sitting down as the Barmaid i had spoken to walked off at a brisk pace.
"Good morning Lumina!"
Angelica was bouncing up and down, beaming from the closeness she had with Whisper. It was obvious that she wished to be praised for 'go getting her', like I had told her to. I sent a small wink at her whilst looking towards Whisper and grinning. The girl's cheeks instantly brightened at the smugness that was plastered over my face, her hand grasping for the mug of beer in front of her. She knocked it back when the raucous shouting from Ethillar's table exploded outwards, one of the women drawing a dagger before being headbutted into unconsciousness by Ragana, who proceeded to rake in several hundred silver coins.
"Pleasure doin business with ye!"
Laughter burst out from most of the Tavern as coppers were thrown at the poor sop on the floor. She would definitely need every copper coin she could, her face was nose was broken all over her face. Several Dwarven men who were at the corner of the Tavern elbowed one another before running fingers through very long intricately braided beards. It seemed that Ragana was quite the catch for a Dwarven man...
"Ragana, ye need to be more cautious, ye hear?"
"Look Ethillar, ye keep outa me business and I keep out of the young human men I be seein comin out of ye room late at night..."
Ethillar put on one of the most disgusted frowns before walking ahead of the smaller Dwarven woman, her posture looking rather defeated.
"So! Adaneth! Are we going to continue travelling today?" Qal pestered the Elven woman as she halted the conversation she was having with Eldalótë. Despite her expression being passive, emotion was evident in how she held herself, her ears lowered significantly and sporadically twitching.
"Child. You must learn manners."
"Nope! Now, what are we doin?"
Closing her eyes for several seconds Adaneth regarded the younger woman with a calm façade of benevolence. The rest of us were watching rather languidly, most of us wishing to drink or eat before it got cold or began to sour. During this moment the barmaid slipped my plate onto the table, her respect for the conversation being shown in how she tried to slink away very quickly. Feeling that she deserved some recompense for having to conform to our mood, I slipped ten silver coins into her hand and gave her a wink. Widening her eyes she grinned and nodded before slipping off...
"We will stay here for today. We need supplies and rest. Even if Assassins are coming for us they will not think to immediately search here."
"Hmmm, but what if they consider the possibility that we would wish to escape to politically disadvantageous territory?"
"I understand that you understand politics, but, we are not dealing with intelligent politicians. These are assassins and they will not think of politics at all, they will be more concerned about obvious transport options and descriptions. Lumina will just have to avoid the worst parts of Berdusk and the slums."
Qal turned her head to the side, her eyes gazing off into the distance for a moment. Then, as if she had had an enlightenment she immediately readjusted her posture, nodding at Adaneth's words.
"Good point. However, Lumina may need to go to a book store or some sort of magical store..."
"I didn't think of that..."
Adaneth looked defeatedly at me before sighing. Ethillar sat down at her chair next to Qal, huffily dragging her plate of food off the table and chewing at the edges of a piece of bacon.
"Qal. Let Lumina be."
"H-hey! I am not that annoying!"
"Come join us Qal... Me and Whisper were going to check out a fighting pit in the city!"
The young woman was instantly intrigued by Angelica's words, her gaze switching between me and Whisper before shrugging and turning to the two love birds.
"I'll join you bozos at the ring then."
"Hey...! You don't need to make it sound so boring!?"
This particular argument continued for a minute or more before they once again became engrossed in their food and drinks. Meanwhile, I was searching my map function for a book store or magic item shop.
'Aha! Found one.'
...
An Hour Later
After telling Elaris about my plans, we both said our goodbyes to the group of dysfunctional women, who were currently arguing about the cost of booze in the town; the young women already having left without any curtesy.
Using the veil of their argument we slipped out and began to scour the streets. Elaris was beside me, her eyes scanning the entirety of her surroundings. From the limited conversation we had last night I knew that she wasn't exactly the most knowledgeable woman in the world, her information only spanning Elvish society and the few outskirt cities that resided around the Elven cities.
In that way we were very alike as I too was 'touristing' around Berdusk, my eyes snapping to unique displays of tomfoolery when it came to children's games and even the things sold on the side of the streets. For the next hour we continued to do this, some five gold coin being used to but Elaris some clothes and basic necessities. I did have a plan for a gift though, one I would get when she was back with the rest of the party later today. Regardless of my plans however we reached the location I wished to visit.
It was a cosy building, made entirely of warm woods and spotted with verdant plants. The spot itself was out of the way, several streets away from the main road that bisected the city in half. This made it much more comfortable to take in the sights around us, worries of thieves or untoward men ditched at this current time. Knocking the front door I heard some movements inside, hurried footsteps that inched closer to the door after many seconds. Struggled sighs and gasps resounded on the other side as a complaining voice was easily hearable for us.
"Bloody whippersnappers, ye don't need to be knocking! I told ye how many times..." Several locks snapped open as the door creaked wide, the hunched figure of a man standing there gazing at our legs before slowly creeping his eyes up until they met our faces. Shock rang through his posture before he coughed deeply, covering for his lack of manners at the first meeting.
"Huhu... What can I do for ye fine ladies?"
Elaris looked to me and waited for me to speak as I couldn't help but overlap this man's figure with my grandfathers, when he was alive. Both were crotchety looking and called children whippersnappers... No resemblance was there physically but the memories did come to me as he waited for a response.
"... Um... I had heard you sell magical objects here?"
"Who'd ye hear that from...? Ah, never mind, it's probably that old betty. She does be spillin her mouth too bloody often."
We both stood there awkwardly, wondering if were fine to come in. This didn't clear up until the man suddenly snapped from his murmurs and thoughts.
"Ah! Come in, come in. Don't be expectin too much but I do be having some items of the magical persuasion!" He slowly hobbled over behind a rather well-polished counter, several items of questionable guise and substance hung from the wall or placed within small cubby holes in cupboards.
"Now, what ye be lookin for?"
"I'll have a look at whatever you have."
"Ohh? A big buyer eh? That's good, i don't be gettin too much attention these days."
"Well, gimme a sec and I'll go grab said items. Feel free to peruse the wares if you be interested."
Turning and walking as fast as he could, pep in his step, he vanished behind a staff door behind the counter, a small jingle causing me and Elaris to look at one another in question.
"Want to look?"
"Do you want to Lumina?"
"Eh, sure? I guess it beats waiting half an hour doing nothing."
"Hehehe, he is certainly an interesting shop keeper!"
'You could say that again...'
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