Jaeger walked through the swinging doors into a warmly lit room. The room resembled a large carved cave, with all the strange things he'd seen so far, this place was strangely comforting.

“Welcome to Bear’s Bar. What can I do fer ya?” A rumbling voice called out.

Turning to look, Jaeger saw a bear behind a long extended stalagmite designed to look like a bar. Not a bear beastkin, or a bear like man, no, this was a large gray furred bear. Jaeger had seen a few Beser Cave bears, they were large and potentially ferocious omnivores. This one dwarfed them and stood on its hind legs. In fact, as he familiarized himself with the creature, he noticed other oddities about it. Not only did it stand on two legs, but it also had an apron over its chest and was somehow cleaning a cup. Every time Jaeger thought he'd come to terms with the magic of this new world, something more interesting would come along.

“’Ello. Y’all there?”

“Yes, sorry about that. I’m just coming to terms with the world.”

“What’s that then?”

“Not important right now. My cat and I need a meal and a room, if you've got them.”

The bear moved down the bar, effortlessly setting out drinks as he went, pulling drinks out of seemingly nowhere as he moved. Jaeger stepped forward to meet him at one end.

“Yeah I can do that. First though I’m gonna need a name and if ya’ve got one a tag put it here.”

With that, the bear pulled a cloth from his apron and wiped down the counter, cleaning off a pitch-black slab. It was covered in tiny runes that Jaeger could barely make out. Not trusting the bear, but trusting Lisette, who trusted the bear, he summoned his adventurer's badge and placed it over the slab. The runes glowed a soft blue before holding and then disappearing.

“Right then tag confirmed, welcome to me bar. Ya can just call me Bar.”

Jaeger blinked once.

“Did you say Bar?”

“Yeah I’m Bar.”

“And you run a bar?”

“I own, and run, the entire business but yes.”

“Is your bar called Bear’s Bar or Bar’s bar?”

“It’s called Bar’s bar, ya said it weird the first time.”

“I said bear weird?”

“Yeah, I’ve never heard it pronounced that way before.”

Jaeger wasn't sure if he was going crazy or if Bar was trying to tease him. He just couldn't read the bear's facial expressions well enough to know.

“I…okay. So about the meals and room?”

Bar responded with a low chuffing at this that slowly grew into a loud brassy laugh.

“Ah, now that’s a good reaction ta my bit. I appreciate ya humoring an auld bear like me. Take a seat and I’ll have someone run out meals for ya both. I’ll get a nice roast for ya and a plate of fresh fish for your cat. Ya got a drink ya like?”

“A dark lager for me.”

“A bowl of water for me, I don’t want to dilute the taste of the fish.”

Bar shook his head as he smiled and moved down the bar toward the kitchen. Jaeger still wasn't sure if he was in on the joke, but decided it didn't matter too much as he looked for an empty table.

“That bar has a scrumptious sense of humor.”

Jaeger ignored Mischief, finally beginning to understand why no one seemed to find it strange that the cat could talk. He began to wonder if talking cats were a common phenomenon.

“Here’s your food sirs, one auric roast with a side of tatos and a serving of fresh large finned bass served slashed style.”

A badger beastkin came to the table with two large platters, she set down a portion of what appeared to be roasted beef, but enlarged to portions Jaeger had never seen before, and next to it was a pile of potatoes. In front of Mischief was a plate of beautifully arranged, sliced portions of raw fish, resting on a fin large enough to cover the plate, with a fish head resting on the side. Before she left, she set down a pint of dark, thick lager for him and a bowl of water for Mischief.

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After she left, the man and the cat fell into a silence broken only by the noise of the people around them and the sounds of their own eating. Jaeger had been sure he would not be able to finish the large roast, but he soon found himself halfway through and still hungry. He emptied his mug twice before finishing the roast and was on his third when he finally sat back and looked at his plate, empty of everything but grease.

On the other side of the table, Mischief was not much better off. It was clear that the cat had eaten absolutely everything on the fish, including its fin. As Jaeger finished, he saw that Mischief was slowly working on the head of the fish. The cat seemed to nibble at it before he got bored, opened his mouth, and shoved the whole head in. Jaeger was no longer stunned by the things he had seen the cat do, but that didn't mean he wasn't impressed by his actions.

“I see that ya both be enjoyin’ mah food then. I reckon that just from watchin the cat swallow the fish head. You mentioned needing a room to aye?”

At some point, Bar had left his bar and made his way to the table. He was somehow taller than when he had left his bar, and while Jaeger had gotten used to it, it was still unnerving to have a large bear looming over him after a meal.

“Yes, I need a room for probably two nights, maybe more depending. Lisette recommended that I come to you.”

“Ah, the young lady. Well then with that kinda reference I can’t help but give ya a good welcome. Come along, then I’ll give ya yer key and show ya were yer bunked.”

The bear motioned over his shoulder and turned, striding over to a hallway that led off the main room. Jaeger stood and followed, feeling a sudden weight on his shoulders.

“Hurry along, don’t let the bear leave us behind.”

Holding back his words, Jaeger moved to keep up with Bar. The hallway, which looked more like a large cave, that he led them down had doors on each side and a set of stone stairs at the back leading up. While the stairs continued up at least one more flight, Bar got out on the second floor and led them to the end of the hall before stopping in front of a stone door.

“This here’s yer room. I serve three hots a day, one in the morning, one around noon, and the last at supper. Yer meals are included, speaking of which ya owe me ten silver for tonight and another five every day ya plan to stay. If yer an extended stay rates go down.”

Jaeger reached into his jacket and produced fifteen silver.

“If I plan to stay longer, I can just pay more in advance, right?”

Bar takes the offered silver, placing it in his giant paw.

“Aye. This ain’t a fancy hotel or boarding house. If’n ya need to stay longer on a short notice just let me or one of the servers know and then pay up. We also store yer belongings for ya if’n ya leave them behind, I promise the safety of any gear left in our care. Me and the Thieves Guild have an agreement.”

“Sounds good, now if you'll excuse me, I've been riding rough and sleeping hard for more time than I care to admit and could use a good lie down in a soft bed.”

Bar let out a quick laugh and patted Jaeger on the shoulder, causing the man to step back.

“I understand; I wasn’t always a bar running a bar. I tell ya what I don’t miss those days. Enjoy yer rest, and since it's yer first night I’ll set aside a bit of brekky in case yer late.”

With that, Bar leaves Jaeger and Mischief alone, having dropped a key into the man's hand. Using the key, Jaeger opens his room and surveys it.

The room was a comfortable size, reminding him of an old bear cave he'd stayed in once, but with more furniture. Jaeger couldn't think of a better way to describe its size. Inside was a bed, on which Mischief immediately appeared, a table with a chair facing it, a dresser and another door. When he opened it, he found that it led to a small closet with a mirror, a sink and a toilet. His mind might have known exactly what he was looking at, but he was still coming to terms with it. He stared at the closet in amazement before turning a facet and watching water flow from it into the basin. Running water in a room and simply washing with it was an amazing luxury; not to mention the wonders of magical plumbing.

“Oh, I forgot, you come from a backwater world. No magic, no indoor plumbing. Those religious zealots at the Black Lagoon Company may have done you a favor by bringing you here. That's not to say that you would have enjoyed your time spent in their Illustrious Torture Chamber, it's certainly not a welcoming place. But rejoice you aren’t there and you now know about magical plumbing, wonders never cease.”

Mischief now hung over Jaeger's head, looking down upon him.

“How do you know who brought me here?”

“I know what I know, what I know is knowingly within my knowledge and that means I know it.”

Jaeger felt a now familiar twitch in his eye as he realized what the cat was doing. He only got into meaningless riddles when he was being annoying. He'd done it on the ride to Patterson when he'd been driving slowly, and he'd done it on the walk to Bear's Bar. Reacting would only give the cat exactly what it wanted, it didn't matter anyway, he had more information to work with now. The Black Lagoon Company and the fact that they were religious, now all he needed was to find a place where he could look up information. If only he knew someone, say a mage, with a borderline obsessive need know things.

For the first time since his arrival in this new world, he felt motivated. He'd been increasingly worried that in this new world he would have to let go of things from his old one, things like the Bounty Hunter's Creed. He'd almost broken the most important rule, Capture or Kill, never both, with the innkeeper turned slave trader. He'd been moments away from taking the man's head after he'd brought it to the guild. But he'd stayed true, and now he had another chance to stay true. He'd find this Black Lagoon Company and repay the debt he owed them.

With thoughts of answers and revenge swirling through his mind, he enjoyed a shower and fell asleep.