RoL Test Party
Khanidi is the northernmost province of the region known as the Droia coast. A rich, fertile land that has been kept separated from the squabbles of the great nations of Ki'afisal by the large mountain ranges of Ki'afisal and Asfeltas. Bordered north by the rock formations known as the Fangs and south by the Dah'kin Kingdom of Skarrad, the Droia coastline is composed by over a dozen city states permanently struggling for control and influnce. They are locked in their little world and have become a melting pot of all cultures and races of Lemire. The perfect place for mercenaries and higher swords to make a quick buck and always be sure a small conflict or war will be right around the corner. Here in Droia, there is always someone willing to pay for a skilled mercenary.
The Seaside Den looks every bit as seedy inside as outside, however, a quick glance around is enough for anyone to know that if one wants to get skill or information, this is the place to come to. The first floor consists of a large, open hearth in the middle of the room, on a lower elevation than the rest of the wooden floor, above it was a large duct, probably leading to a covered exit for the smoke. Next to the entrance was the bar, extending along one of the sides of the large room, and behind it sat a diminutive old man, jotting down some things in a ledger which seemed way too big for him. Next to the bar was a staircase which probably lead to the rooms. Along the room, and surrounding the hearth (which already lit with a roaring flame, an entire pig slowly roasting on top) were several round tables surrounded with wooden stump stools, at mid afternoon. the tavern seemed kind of empty, however.
Chese still wanted a drink, and thus called for one right after having walked to the place where she could get one: "One beer, please." She looked a little sad and didn't even scan the place for a prospective beer-buying flirtee, though that might have had more to do with the fact that nobody else was in there.
Padma entered the inn after Chese, and plopped down into a chair next to the rysallean with a sigh. She needed some rest to recover her energy after the fight, and a meal sounded like a good idea at the moment. She still felt uncertain about what had happened to Lilee, and hoped the lynx would had managed to get out somehow. "Maybe we should search for her in the surroundings?" she said to no one in particular, wondering if the area was too dangerous to try that.
Virgil limped into the room and sat down in the chair on the other side of Chese with a "Hrmph". The knight leaned in to the bar and sighed lightly. His leg still hurt, but wasn't in the mood to try to find anyone to fix it right away anymore. He just sat there and waited for the rest to gather.
Having walked more slowly to keep a pair of shrewd black eyes on Radix,
Az'rim only barely passed him on the way into the Seaside Den. Dah'kin certainly had no love of the Planetarii and Az'rim, well, she had love for very few select people. Je'retiel was likely the only person she actually cared enough for to call it love, though her treatment of him was certainly conflicted at best. Stepping into the dim light of the seedy inn, Az'rim pushed back her cowl to allow her silver hair to go free and scanned the place. Empty, or damn near, a vast improvement over the bustle that they had encountered earlier that day in this very same place. Water formed in her mouth as she smelled the suckling pig roasting in its entirety over the fire and her hand instinctively rested on her concealed purse. Silently, she walked over to one of the round tables and took a seat at one of the stools, waiting for Je'retiel and the rest of the money so that she could appease her hunger and hopefully have a few private words with her brother.
On the heels of his sister,
Je’retiel trod into the Seaside Den, the apparent tension held in his stiff shoulders lessening visibly by degrees as he noted the quiet and fairly vacant atmosphere of the establishment. There was, of course, no change in the sour expression of his narrowed, beady eyes. As he traipsed across the floor, he pointedly ignored everyone else, catching only the tail-end of whatever Padma was prattling on about, and did not select a seat right aside of Az’rim, instead choosing to sit one chair away to her right.
The idea of food was firm on
Padma's head, and the woman waved to catch the tavern wench's or the barman's attention. "What's in the menu?" she asked, as the rest of the group gathered around the table. She hoped a good meal could lift the spirits after a long day, for the mood didn't appear to be good at the group right now.
Az'rim deliberately ignored whatever attempt at manipulation Je'retiel was trying by keeping his distance, however slight. With a graceful motion she placed her feet on the chair between them, as if she were as comfortable as could be with her feet propped on an ottoman. "I must commend you, Je'retiel," she said smoothly as she looked around for a wench to take her order - she wanted some of that boar. (Spot) "You've survived an entire day with total strangers,
and we managed to lose the lynx. A successful day overall, I'd say."
A fat woman, probably the innkeep's wife, came up to the group. She quickly plopped a mug of beer in front of Chese and stood next to the table. "Noon, you, don't bleed on the floor." she said to Virgil, then coughed and put her hands on her waists. "Where do you think you are princess, in the palace?" she barked back at Padma when she asked for a menu. "We got boar, we got stew and we got cheese and bread. If you want some booze, when we got a bunch of stuff. What will it be?" she asked.
"I'll have a beer, please,"
Virgil said as he stared down at the bar. He loosened his sash from around his waist and took it, tying it over the wound in his leg to stipen any bleeding before leaning in farther to the bar, leaning in on his elbows. After a moment, he folded his arms down and crossed them.
Chese thanked the bartender and drank her beer in a fairly swift manner, though not in one big gulp or anything. She looked at the empty mug for a moment while the talk of food reached her mind. Then, thinking of food, she found that she was hungry, and said: "I would like some boar and bread as well. And another beer, please." Watching as Virgil tied his wound some more with his sash, she smiled a bit and commented: "Maybe some dressings would work better..."
Radix entered the Seaside Den a good while after the rest of the group. Since Az'Rim had been following him so closely, he had eventually decided to slow down so she could pass him. Then he became lost in his own thoughts. Finally, he had to focus to find his way to the tavern. The first thing he noted on stepping inside was the bad mood his new allies all seemed to carry.
I almost wish I hadn't joined... He thought, but then abraded himself for his negative attitude. He now had work, and that was an improvement. Radix stepped up to the bar and called out for the bartender.
Unlike Az’rim,
Je’retiel maintained an upright and somewhat rigid posture in his chair. ‘I’m certain you were just as concerned with my welfare as I was with yours,’ he replied, his restricted voice as cloying as possible. While the other members of the party were occupied with procuring food and drink, the dah’kin reached a hand to tug at the opening of his balaclava. He then provided a scant glance in the direction of the others before deciding to just pull the entire knit garment up and off over the top of his head. The entirety of his pale face and cranium itched, thus he vigorously rubbed his fingertips over his scalp, then down over his face, to alleviate the sensation.
Letting out a sigh,
Virgil turned to Chese and smiled slightly, "Yeah, you're right, I suppose. Just didn't want to bleed on the floor. Hey, Padma, think you could do a patch-up job on my leg after we get something to eat?" The knight said, turning to the Caerhamian as he addressed her. He leaned back in his chair and smiled a bit wider, staring up at the ceiling waiting for a response.
"Bread and cheese please, if you would be so
kind", said
Padma raising an eyebrow at the rude response she had gotten. It wasn't as if she had asked something offensive or anything, but the young woman dismissed the issue and returned her attention to Virgil. "Yes, I'll try to help you after I get something in my stomach", she replied to the knight. Thinking Radix might have been feeling a little left out, she turned to the newest member of the group and asked, "so, what brought you to this town?"
"A plate of boar,"
Az'rim called to the innkeeper woman, concealing a sneer as she snapped at Padma. Seeing that Radix had finally entered the inn, the diminutive dah'kin watched him slyly until she was positive that he was heading towards the bar. When her black eyes turned back to her brother she saw that he'd finally freed his face from the concealment he had come to use as a security blanket of sorts. She watched him with apparently little interest and then amended her order. "Two plates of boar."
"If you wanna eat, yer gonna have to sit at a table." said the Wench to those sitting at the bar, crossing her arms as she took the orders, "So it's bread, cheese, three pieces of boar and two beers... that it?" she muttered. "You probably need to eat something, not good to be boozing up with that kind of wound." she added, pointing at Virgil. "I'll get you some bandages and hot water too, little girl." continued the fat woman, talking to Padma, who seemed the healer of the group, they had plenty of bleeders come in and sit for a beer after a stabbing, so she knew the procedure.
"Heh, guess you're right. Add on another plate of the boar for me as well,"
Virgil said as he stretched his leg out a bit more. He forced himself up from the bar and turned to look for Az'rim. He hobbled over to the table and took a seat across the table from where the two siblings were sitting. "Alright, We're going to need to start planning for tomorrow," the knight said as he looked across the faces of the two siblings, leaning in to the table and waiting for the rest of the group to come over to the table.
"Some bread for me too", repeated
Chese as she got off from the bar. "Mm, bread with boar..." She looked at the table where Az'rim and Je'retiel were and where Virgil was going, but decided to join in on Padma and Radix's conversation first. "Sorry for the gloominess. Let's hope the beer will make that go away", she said with a smile. "Talking about something else is good too. But let's go over to the table for that, shall we?" She then walked to the table and sat down next to Virgil. She looked at Je'retiel's face with some curiosity, but still didn't say anything because she wanted to hear Radix's story first.
Radix was about to answer Padma's question, but Chese interrupted him. He nodded gruffly and followed her over to the table, taking a seat as far away from the two Dah'kin as he could, on the opposite side of Virgin as Chese. The remaining seat at the table was on his other side, left open for Padma. "Can I also get some of the boar? And some bread and cheese on the side?" He asked the inkeeper's wife before she left. Turning back to the table, Radix cleared his throat a bit before beginning his tale. "Well, I originally worked as a--" He stopped short when he caught sight of Je'retiel's disfigured face. Having never seen it before, it caught him off guard. A bit flustered, Radix turned his head to the side and cleared his throat, then turned forward once again. "I came here for..." He'd lost track of his words.
In acknowledgment of Az’rim’s food order,
Je’retiel inclined his head slightly, and a very brief moment of gratitude flashed in his Cimmerian eyes. While the others gathered at the table, the dah’kin assumed an uncomfortable-
looking, but well-practiced, position: His head tilted slightly off to the side and downward, to hopefully keep anyone from fully viewing the left side of his visage. Unmasked and in such close proximity, Je’retiel presumed at least some eyes would be on him, not out of self-importance, but out of past experience. He was not disappointed when Radix’s tongue was apparently caught.
"Gotcha, I'll bring everything then." said the fat woman as she walked away heavily. After a few minutes, she appeared with some of the orders, she actually had to make two trips to get everything to the table. Once everything was set, she disappeared again and emerged from the back of the tavern with some rags soaking on piping hot water, all placed on a small wooden tub, which she lay down on the ground near Padma and Virgil. "There, we try not to have open wounds in the tavern, they get infected mighty easily." she said nonchalantly before leaving again.
With a cold blank visage that could very well (and accurately) be described as suspicious, Az'rim watched Radix assume a seat with as much distance between her and her brother as possible. With typical dah'kin reasoning, Az'rim was both pleased and displeased by this gesture: she took faith that the boon of her race was intimidating enough to keep the large man at bay, but a voice deep within whispered that they were being singled out, as per usual. With her huntress-trained eyes, she made no mistake about who she was staring down, seemingly doing so with little discretion and taking great pleasure that he seemed to lose his thoughts. She maintained this eye contact until she heard the inkeeper's wife mention open wounds and her eyes fell upon Virgil's thigh. In the commotion with the Exhorians and losing Lilee, she'd utterly forgotten about the knight's injuries, though she wasn't about to take up the rag and wash them herself - it was his fault he'd been injured in the first place. In a notably less hostile fashion, she looked back to the group she found herself a part of and figured that, even if she didn't catch any of them in the act, they were looking (or trying not to) at Je'retiel's scar. Clearing her throat, she ran her fingers through her hair and stroked her brother's thigh with her foot under the table.
Chese looked at Radix expectantly, and when his words trailed off, she began: "Yes? You came here...?" However, when the food arrived, she concentrated on it instead, thus missing Az'rim's staring. Chese ate a couple of mouthfuls of boar and bread hungrily, but then slowed down. "Would you like to continue?" she then asked from Radix.
Je’retiel cast a scant look of acknowledgment when the server brought the food, and almost immediately started to portion the meat into precise and small mouthfuls on his plate before he even started to eat. After that task, he forked and slid a sliver of boar between his constricted lips, and, like his sister, set his eyes upon Radix. He wasn’t so interested in the Planetarii’s life story, like Chese apparently was, but in the fact that the large man appeared to be put off by a relative pipsqueak like himself. After a moment, however, Je’retiel’s concentration disintegrated as he felt a gentle friction on his thigh. The young man swallowed slowly before tilting his head downward, enough to see Az’rim’s foot. He then, as discreetly as possible, traced his eyes up the length of her leg. Distracted and apparently forgetting to swallow properly, the dah’kin coughed on a morsel lodged in his throat.
Az'rim's unfavorable attention to both Radix and Virgil's foul - and potentially infected - wound turned into a cold sneer and an upturn of her nose. This was a dinner table, not a healer's office, but Az'rim did not need to voice her displeasure: her expression was enough. Though she was hungry she did not immediately set in on the boar that steamed on her plate and made her mouth water. Instead, a slight sideways glance told her that Je'retiel was taken with the sight of her leg, and her assumptions were solidified when she heard him start coughing. The boy never could deal with attention properly. Casually, Az'rim leaned forward and began to slice her meat into precise chunks that could be chewed and savored, though she left a whole half of her meat that she didn't bother cutting up - these portions were larger than she was accustomed to in Skarrad. With her foot still running slowly up Je'retiel's thigh, Az'rim leaned forward and forked a bite of meat. As she brought the food to her mouth her foot mimicked the motion, skating ever higher until she finally slid the fork out of her mouth and her foot pressed against Je'retiel's groin.
Radix smiled graciously when the food was served. He hadn’t realized quite how hungry he was until now, and his stomach protested to not having been given attention for so long. He immediately began to eat, though he was very respectful in his manners. Radix cut and ate each bite from the boar individually. After a few bites, Radix nodded to Chese. “Yes, thank you . . . Now, where was I? I came here in pursuit of . . . Well, it’s difficult to explain, really. I guess you could sum up my entire journey so far as a simple pursuit for knowledge and enlightenment,” he explained, conveniently leaving a few facts out. “I came here to the coast because I heard there were a lot job opportunities, and I was running a bit low.” Radix had directed the majority of his words at Chese because she was the one who had asked, but every few moments his eyes would wander over to Az’rim. He felt like her eyes were burning into the side of his skull. He had ignored Je’retiel’s coughing, but now he was staring at Radix too. Although he still appeared pretty calm, the two Dah’kin seemed rather hostile . . . And quite obnoxious. Radix directed his eyes to Az’rim once again, trying to figure out what her issue with him was beyond the obvious.
Chese listened interestedly to Radix, though his reasons didn't seem to be particularly extraordinary, quite the opposite. She didn't really pay much heed to Az'rim and Je'retiel until she noticed that Radix was looking at them oddly and after that saw both of the dah'kin glaring at him. Chese blinked a few times and decided to let the cat out of the bag sooner rather than later. "Haven't seen a planetarii eat before?" she asked innocently from the two dah'kin, but continued on a more serious note, addressing all the three non-humans: "I know your peoples don't get along, but that shouldn't mean we can't work together nicely. We'll be able to stick together, won't we?" Chese's tone was opportunistic and eyes brighter than in a while. The thought of cooperation made her mind further itself from the memories of Lilee dying.
It wasn’t so much that Je’retiel had been glaring at Radix; in fact, unlike his sister, he had been watching the fellow with a shade of indifference. When he aspirated, however, his focus was broken, and the young man hastily covered his mouth with the back of his hand. This was quickly followed by the clatter of his utensils hitting his plate after he dropped them, when Az’rim’s foot reached its destination at the sensitive junction between his legs. His left hand quickly disappeared beneath the table, to grasp at his sister’s ankle, and intended to pull it away. There was an obvious and pointed attempt on Je’retiel’s behalf to fixate on Chese, hoping to detract from what he assumed would be perceived as strange behaviour. ‘Is it not polite…’ he started, his restricted voice further choked in an attempt to maintain some semblance of composure, ‘…to give one’s attention to a subject as he speaks?’ He struggled a bit with the last of his words, ‘I was simply following protocol… of… social grace.’
Satisfied with her brother's reaction, Az'rim consented to pull her foot away with more grace than she had exhibited while gliding up Je'retiel's thigh. Ignoring the chair between them, the slender dah'kin pulled her legs in front of her and sat properly in her chair now that she was being addressed. She staunched what would otherwise have been a rather audible snort of derision at Chese's naiveté. After another bite of meat that she chewed with precise manners, Az'rim set her ebony eyes on the Rysallean woman that sat across from her, and folded her arms on the table in front of her plate. "I don't understand why it comes as a surprise to everyone that I am wary of the Nai'thar," Az'rim explained boldly, using a slur towards the planetarii that she had used freely while in the deep dark under of Skarrad. Then she turned her gaze to Radix and a moment of silence passed before she spoke the rest of her peace. "I have no intentions of leaving this party, but some habits die hard." Blinking to sever the hypnotic gaze she cast on the large Terran, Az'rim shrugged and settled back into her seat. "My apologies then, do continue," she replied with no real conviction, though she did turn her head to look at her brother for a moment before she chewed another piece of boar in silence.
Radix was silent and brooding for a moment. He nodded at Chese's comments, though his eyes narrowed as Az'rim spoke. His lips parted, and Radix had to use the full extent of his self-restraint to hold back a growl when she gave such a bold insult. "If anyone has to be wary, it is the Planetarii, not the Dah'kin," he stated coldly. His attention was focused on her, now, completely ignoring her brother. "I need the work, and I'm willing to work alongside Dah'kin to get it . . . I have nothing more to say." He slowly took another bite, chewing more thoroughly this time. Finally, Radix took his eyes off of Az'rim and focused on the plate before him.
Chese looked at the fidgeting Je'retiel understandingly, thinking that he was trying to be polite by explaining how he attempted to have manners. However, to Az'rim, she just said confusedly: "What?" Chese didn't understand why the dah'kin suddenly assumed that anyone at all could be surprised that dah'kin and planetarii didn't generally get along. Even she knew that and she had lived in the forest with just other humans and catfolk for the 25 first years of her life. Seeing as Radix suddenly seemed to get slightly more upset, she continued, looking at both Radix and Az'rim since she didn't know exactly what triggered Radix's reaction: "Oh, please don't be upsetting each other. We need to be able to trust each other out there, as well." However, since Radix seemed to wish to drop the issue, Chese didn't wish to press it more either, and instead focused more on her food again, though she did continue to pay some attention to the others as well.
Virgil looked down at his plate, staring at it for a moment as he listened to the others bicker. He raised a clenched right fist to a bit above the table and brought it down with enough force to gently rattle the party's mugs that were on the table, "Alright, enough." He said coldly as his eyes slowly raised to eye level with everyone else, locking on to Az'rim, "I get that you may not like each other due to your racial differences, but now is not the time to argue. Some of us lost a friend and companion today, and I, for one, am not ready to listen to a bunch of gibbering mouths going off because of the potential of racial prejudice. Just get along for now and we'll all be happy in the end. Az'rim, you'll get you money, Chese, Padma and I will get closure on losing our friend, and Radix, with us, you'll have your chance to prove yourself to others. That sounds about like what you want to do, isn't it?" His voice grew more and more weary as he spoke, and promptly after finishing, took up his fork and knife and boldly cut into his boar, taking the bite and chewing it over for a moment before readjusting his eyes back up from his plate to scan across at everyone else.
Even after Az'rim relented and removed her foot, Je'retiel spent a few tense moments trying to regulate his breathing and elevated heartrate. Under the table and likely unseen to all but perhaps his sister, he squeezed his legs together and arranged the bottom edge of his tunic just so, before finally returning his hands to their proper place on the table. Utensils back in hand, he started to eat again. Though he would not admit it, Je'retiel was too preoccupied to catch the specifics of the somewhat heated, but relatively brief, exchange between Radix, Chese and Az'rim, but gleaned what was necessary when Virgil put a succinct end to the discussion.
Radix's comment drew a sinister grin from Az'rim's otherwise beautiful face, but she made no further comment. Her intent had been fulfilled. At Virgil's dramatic display, she rolled her eyes. "I had already conceded to my rudeness," she said with a casual flip of her hand, emphasizing the word in a way that let anyone listening know that she was not at all remorseful for her hateful comment towards Radix. "You should concern yourself with cleaning your leg," she reminded Virgil sagely, her eyes drifting for a lingering moment on the large knight's thigh, which was in desperate need of a good soak. Then, without any more cold glares or icy words, Az'rim continued to chew her food, ignoring her brother entirely. She would have plenty of time to speak with him in private when they retured to their room. For the time being, she was content to sit and listen to whatever part of his story the Terran might now feel like sharing after her insult, ignoring Chese's idiocies as she politely chewed her boar.
No longer desiring to share anything more of his story, Radix stayed silent. His face grew angry for a moment when Virgil gave his monologue, and his eye twitched slightly when Az'rim continued to speak, but luckily it was difficult to see since he was looking down at his plate. By the time Virgil had decided to begin his dramatic speech, Radix had already resolved to end his exchange with Az'rim and eat in peace. Virgil's comments were more like rubbing salt in a wound than actually resolving anything. Radix did his best to stay silent, though. After a long moment, he sighed and nodded. "I . . . Agree. Az'rim is right; you should soak your wound."
Chese sighed and shook her head inconspicuously as Virgil and Az'rim kept talking, even though the knight meant well. While she was talkative for a rysallean, she knew when to be quiet.
As he wished to proceed as efficiently as possible, a now-collected Je’retiel callously overlooked the floundering remains of the racially-charged discourse and digression that Virgil ought to clean his festering leg wound, and spoke in his usual clipped and stagnant manner, ‘I wish to visit the marketplace prior to embarking on another venture. It would behoove us to all do so.’ The dah’kin spoke-up the best his malformed mouth would allow him, blandly matter-of-fact. He shifted his chin up enough to take a brief scan of those seated at the table opposite of he and his sister, not so much for affirmation of his suggestion, but to make sure that everyone heard him clearly.
Putting down his fork, Virgil sighed and turned to his leg. He rolled up his pants to above the wound on his thigh and reached into the bucket of water, grabbing out the wet cloth and blotting at the wound, trying to clean it of dirt and debris. He waited for Padma so she could do most of the detailing on his leg so that it was done right, "I think after we eat and get everything squared away here, a quick trip to the markets would be a good idea, too. I'd like to have a few more healing potions around to make sure we all make it back tomorrow."
Padma sat pacifistically, with a faraway look in her eyes, and quietly ate her plate of bread and cheese. She had truly been interested in what Radix, whom she was seated next to, was going to tell of his past, but it was apparent that would not be the current course of conversation. When attention had again been brought to Virgil’s leg, Padma wiped the crumbs from her hands and pushed back from the table to stand. ‘Yes, let's take a look at that before we have to amputate,' she said, hoping to bring some levity to the downbeat atmosphere. 'And visiting the market sounds like a fine idea, ‘ she agreed with a nod, glancing first at Je’retiel, then to Virgil. She reached a hand to take the cloth from Virgil and commenced a thorough and proper cleaning of the knight's leg.
After carefully dressing Virgil's wound, Padma managed to get it clean and carefully bandaged. The leg now looked perfectly serviceable and was no longer bleeding, or as painful to Virgil.
"Healing potions sound great!" said Chese as Virgil mentioned buying them. She didn't think up anything else that she would need, so she just finished her meal.
"I cannot deny the truth in that," Az'rim admitted when Chese made mention of healing potions, though her tone was less than flattering. Once Virgil's leg was healed and the shaman seemed to have rejoined the land of the living from wherever the girl's airy head was while the fighting had taken place, Az'rim pushed her plate of boar back in a gesture of completion, satisfied fully though she left a good deal of meat on her plate. She then looked around for the inn keeper who had taken their orders so that they could all pay and be off to the marketplace.
"Definitely necessary . . ." Radix replied simply. If he recalled correctly, they were going to be dealing with Exhorians, after all. He watched Az'rim push her place away, despite the amount of food left on it, and barely managed to stop himself from shaking his head. How wasteful. Dah'kin were always so wasteful. Radix himself was finishing the last of the food on his plate. He quickly took the final bite, then pushed his own plate away and stood up.
Having finished eating, Chese said happily at Az'rim: "It's nice of you to donate the rest of your dinner to the pigs, Az'rim." She then got up and looked around for the woman of the inn, but she wasn't around, so Chese instead went upstairs to retrieve her backpack. "I'll be back in a bit."
Je’retiel inclined his head slightly in recognition as Virgil, Radix, Chese and Padma all agreed to go shopping afterwards. He proceeded to eat the remainder of his dinner in silence, slowly and carefully chewing each small mouthful of food until it must have been nothing but tasteless meat gruel. When he was through, what was left on his plate was divided into three small, neat piles: Meat, gristle and fat. He sat back into his chair and rested his hands on his stomach; if anyone cared to notice, it could be assumed that he had indulged in his dinner too much. Like Chese and Az'rim, Je’retiel also scanned the Inn for the woman who had served them, one hand sliding over to palm his coin purse during his perusal.
With a smile that signified satisfaction in her handiwork, Padma returned the rag she’d used to clean the wound to the bucket provided, then gently patted Virgil’s knee before standing and reseating herself at the table. She shook her head at the ongoing, petty exchange of words between Chese and Az’rim, but said nothing, instead pressing her fingertips to some crumbs on the empty plate in front of her and rolling the crumbly pieces between her thumb and forefinger. She hoped a good night’s rest would see everyone off in a much better mood tomorrow.
Virgil turned to Padma and smiled, "Thank you," he said in an earnest tone. He looked up and scanned for the waitress as well. Without taking his eyes away from the search for the woman, he spoke clearly to the group, "With all these Exhorians we may be dealing with, make sure you are all well armed and ready. If any of us can, I suggest upgrading all of our equipment as much as possible."
Finally, the tavern wench came back holding a piece of paper on her hand, she left it on the table for them to read as she took the tub of hot water with which Padma had dressed Virgil's wounds back to the kitchen. Je'retiel, Az'rim and Virgil owed 2 gold pieces each, whereas Radix and Chese owed 3 gold pieces, and Padma has only spent one. After a minute or two, the fat woman came back and stood unglamorously next to the table, awaiting payment.
Having been the first to begin looking for the plump wench, Az'rim was the first to react when the target of her search made herself present, and useful. She reached over with a slim ivory hand and took the paper, reading what she and Je'retiel owed - 4 pieces altogether. Az'rim placed a hand on her younger sibling's to get his attention and then showed him the paper, her thumb underlining their tally since he was the one with the most cash between the two of them. Then, in a moment of consideration that was most unlike her, she put the paper back down in the center of the table so that anyone else could check their tally, quite glad that she had not ordered the bread with cheese as well since her stomach was quite satisfied.
When his sister prompted his attention, Je’retiel turned his head and gently leant in her direction to view what was owed and nodded as he read what was on the receipt. In a miserly fashion, he opened his purse only enough to slip a couple fingers inside and extracted the coins, two at a time, pinched between the sides of his index and middle fingers. Afterwards, he quickly secured the closure of the leather receptacle and set the payment on the table, the coins stacked neatly on top of one another, and pushed the small mass toward the center of the table where Az’rim had placed the bill.
Virgil deftly pulled 3 gold coins from his pouch and tossed them gently across the table towards the woman so that they slid across the tabletop. The boar had settled nicely in his stomach and had left him feeling fulfilled, "The meal was wonderful, thank you." the knight said, looking to the woman with a grateful smile.
Waiting patiently while Az'rim and Jeretiel scanned the tallies, Radix stepped out from his chair and stood by the table. When the others had tossed in their shares, Radix leaned forward to check what the paper said about his own. That seemed like a hefty chunk taken out of the money he had. Only 20 gold pieces... Now 17. But at least he was full. He hoped the pay for the job they'd be taking care of later would be good. Radix pulled three shiny gold coins from his pocket and placed them on the table in front of the wench.
‘You’re quite welcome,’ Padma said kindly to Virgil. After Radix was through perusing the bill, she stood, turned the slip of paper toward herself and mouthed the amount she owed after locating it. She smiled and produced a single coin, which she placed on the table with the other payments, in front of the serving woman. After sitting back down, Padma smoothed her skirt out on her lap, then cast a glance to the stairs leading to the sleeping quarters. Other than checking on Chese, there was no reason for her to go to the room, for she hadn’t left anything up there.
Chese retrieved her backpack and after checking whether anyone else had touched it, she took it and returned downstairs to find the woman of the bar as well as the bill. "Thank you!" she said to the wench and placed three gold along with the rest. Having done that, she looked at the others. "You wanted to go shopping, was that right? Let us go then", she said, smiling, and walked out of the inn while making sure her money was in an inside pocket of her backpack so that it couldn't be lifted.
While the others had politely left their payments in front of the serving woman, Je’retiel heedlessly left his and his sister’s somewhere in the middle of the table. Still seated, he pushed back to allow a little more room and turned toward Az’rim, as if doing so would provide him with some modicum of privacy from the others of the group, before slipping his snuggly fitted balaclava back over his head and face. He jerked the knit garment about, fingers slipped into the single, oblong hole for his eyes, until it was positioned to his liking. After a trademark, unenthusiastic glare at Chese, whose form he followed as she walked out of the building, he finally stood, but waited, of course, for Az'rim to take the initiative to actually move on out.
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