Chapter 11
Beers and Brawls was a tavern like no other. Mostly because they were proud of the terrible Beers and Ales they sold. They also weren’t shy about brawls. The owner Grimlock Axebringer did have one rule about brawls though which was that the person who started it, also had to brawl with the dwarf.
Grimlock had not always been a Tavern owner. He was once an adventurer and often told stories when he had one too many ales courtesy of the house (since he owned it). He would talk about having fought with some other amazing adventurers and was quick to remind everyone that he had adventured for almost 40 years before he decided to retire for good. That length of time was not unusual for most Dwarfs that adventured as they lived twice as long as most humans.
He would talk about the monsters he fought including trolls, goblins, orcs, giants and even a dragon once. Though no one believed his story of the dragon, as it sounded made up as can be. He had belonged to a tribe of dwarfs that were miners by birth and originally, he had planned to stop adventuring so he could be a Miner in the city of Arama which was built at the foot of a mountain that held two gem mines. The dwarf decided to give up on mining when one week there was huge shortage of barley used to make the ale. He somehow managed to get some ingredients and decided to brew his own and then drank what he made. Followed by making more and drinking that. A cycle that repeated itself a several times until he decided that if the ale was so good that he wanted it, then so would all his fellow citizens.
Beers and Brawls was then born; located near the center of the four districts, an area that was well-travelled and led to a lot of foot traffic into his tavern. That is, until they tasted the Beer and then the foot traffic led itself out of the tavern. Often to never return. Over time though, the Beers and Brawls became a little popular for its incredibly bad tasting Beer. Something that Grimlock could not understand and felt that it was likely not true because he thought it was amazing, but he was willing to play along and let everyone else think what they wanted as long as they were paying.
Beers and Brawls didn’t have a huge selection of beers. In fact, it only had one type of beer. And for the people who came in that didn’t drink the beer, they were told that they also had the option of drinking the one and only beer. If you wanted water, you could get it, just not at Beers and Brawls. The only water they sold was called Beer. If you were the type to walk into bars and order a tall cold glass of milk for some strange reason, well then you can just have a tall cold glass of beer. Any complaints to the management were referred to the door and followed up never.
I walked in and stood at the door for a minute to take a look around. The place was bustling with crowds of people all over. The crowd was mostly men but also some women. Mostly humans but quite a few dwarfs that looked like they just got off the night shift working at the mines with long brown overalls and still with a miner’s helmet on. I spotted Grimlock working at the bar pouring someone a beer.
Grimlock saw me approaching. There was not much that the dwarf didn’t notice that transpired in his bar. He could spot the troublemakers from the ones that only wanted a casual good time. He could see the ones that were barely sipping on their beers and were mostly there because of the group they were in compared to the ones that had one too many and were about to tip over to one side. He didn’t bother to interfere much unless it was going to cause a serious problem in his bar.
As I approached, Grimlock brought out a tall empty mug and placed it on the counter. Then with the other hand he brought out a mallet and in a not very subtle fashion placed it also on the bar counter, “So little godling, fair warning today, if you cannot be affording one,“ he glanced at the mug, “then you will be affording the other.” He glanced at the other side where lay the mallet with a big smile on his face.
I looked at the mallet and shook my head, “That mallet will be hard to drink down.” Then I moved my gaze to the mug, “but I think the beer may prove even more difficult.”
Grimlock frowned. He picked up the mug and put it under the beer tap, pulled down the handle that seemed to have been made out of ivory with a carved white goblin head at the end. The beer flowed quickly and soon was overflowing past the top and onto the sides.
“We only got beer here. THIS beer!” with that he pushed the mug forward.
I grabbed the mug and took a long drink, “I know.”
I brought out the bag of coins that I had and placed it on the counter. After using the money, I was carrying for the iron beads, I had retrieved the rest of the sum from Demira. She was gladly helping me by “keeping” my money temporarily until I needed it. I did not want to keep much on me and sacrifice it to the curse from the coin.
“Besides the beer, I was hoping to buy a map from you as well.”
“A map?”
I was tempted to make a sarcastic remark and describe how it’s a piece of paper with squiggle lines and drawings indicating important places but thought better of it at the last second. Especially, since I had made fun of his mother last time I was here. The dwarf was not grim like his name, but I didn’t know how well he would be able to take another joke. As I was briefly lost in my thoughts, Jimmy’s voice rang in his mind.
“I haven’t had a beer in forever. I don’t even like beer, but I really want one. Or really, I just wanna taste food, especially cakes. Do you like cakes, broski?”
I chose not to answer him since the only way I could, was to speak out loud, and then look like a complete loony to the hairy dwarf in front of me.
“Yea, I would like to get a map of the surrounding region but especially if you know the locations of any nearby dungeons,” I said to Grimlock.
Grimlock stood there thinking for a moment and nodding. He then took a deep breath and asked me to go sit at a table in one of the corners that was completely empty, and slightly raised above all others.
While sitting at the table, I noticed a man in a group look in my direction and then whisper to some of the others in his group. My perception had gone up quite a bit and now I could pick up things that most other people would not be able to very easily. Little gestures and movements that people made that gave away their intentions for example.
The noise in the bar from all the people talking made it difficult to tell what they were saying. I closed my eyes and focused on the table with the group that had been throwing me glances and whispering. I focused my hearing in their direction and tried to isolate their voices from all the other loud noises in the bar. They were a good thirty feet away. Even with my perception, I couldn’t tell what the few whispers were but a few of them did make a mistake of talking in normal tone thinking that the crowd would drown out what they said. It wasn’t like anyone would be able to hear, they were barely able to hear each other sitting next to each other and a few of them even tried to raise their voices but were quickly told to quiet down by the leader.
I sat there with his eyes closed and smiled slightly as now I could hear what they were saying about me.
The eavesdropping was interrupted by a raspy voice, “We don’t allow sleeping in this bar unless you have had at least 3 of these beers first.”
I looked up at the dwarf who sat down across from me, “Three of these beers and I’d be lying dead not sleeping.”
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
The dwarf merely picked up the mug he was holding and downed the entire content in one big gulp and slammed the empty mug on the table, “Well not everyone can have the amazing constitution of a dwarf. Neither the dashing looks.”
The dwarf was grinning, and I broke out in a laugh myself, “To the handsome Dwarves!” I said loudly, raising my glass in the air. Suddenly several voices belonging to other dwarves also rose in the same toast, “TO THE DWARVES!”
Another voice in the back of the tavern, screamed out, “GNOMES RULE!”
“Ok that was weird. They have Gnomes here too. I hope they are the friendly gnomes that build shit and not the evil lawn gnomes,” Jimmy’s said.
“Well now on to business,” the dwarf said.
Grimlock stared at me for a moment, “I heard of what you did out there.”
“Did…out there?” I asked puzzled.
“The fight after that night where you had no money for your beers.”
“You heard of the fight?”
There had been no one else in the alley that night except me, Daniella, and those guys that were after her. But they were all dead, weren’t they? I thought they had all been taken care of, but I did pass out, so it is possible that one of them survived?
“I heard of it. Now look, I don’t blame you and the girlie one bit. Those men had it coming to them from what I heard. If I was out there, I would have done the same. If anything, I have a greater respect for you now. More so than that night you were blabbering on about how powerful you were at one time.”
There was no way any of those guys survived. Unless it was by magic somehow. I saw her finish them off.
With my curiosity peaked, I asked, “How did you hear of it?”
The dwarf turned his head back partially and pointed towards the man behind the bar pouring beers for some folks.
“A Bulgavian!” I exclaimed. How did I not notice him before? Just when I was so appreciative of my high perception.
Bulgavians were a humanoid race that were hard to distinguish from each other due to their flat facial features. They were typically about seven feet tall, thin but muscular with long arms even for their height. They had grey skin tone, and all were hairless. They were not typically found in human civilizations except as assassins and hunters due to some of their natural abilities. They all possessed some ability to be able to track individuals though it was not certain how. Some hypothesized that it was a scent, others felt it was an aura. Whatever it was, was a closely guarded secret of the race. They also had an ability where they were able to enter a meditative state and expand their sight to outside their immediate vicinity through barriers of all sorts. It was like having an invisible and incorporeal eye that could travel out around you through non magical barriers. The distance was limited but most Bulgavians were able to send the eye out about 40 to 50 feet in diameter. They also had extreme flexibility and dexterity. They also had a few severe limitations as well to balance their otherwise abilities.
Given their special abilities and dexterity, they made for incredible scouts, assassins, and hunters. I had known some of them had established guilds for such things in various major cities. But I wondered why there was one here.
Before I could think any further on it, Grimlock spoke up, “It’s not what you think. You obviously know of Bulgavians but he’s not like that. He and I traveled and adventured together a long while back. When I decided to settle down in this town, he decided to settle here as well. He now mostly helps me run the bar.”
“And spy around in the alleyways?”
The dwarf laughed, “he had heard some commotion and decided to look outside to be certain.”
“He could have come out and tried to help.”
“That’s not possible. He has taken a vow of nonviolence. I don’t understand it but that is his path to walk.”
“And your path?”
“To drink, tend my bar and keep my loved ones safe. Which brings us back to business at hand.”
I couldn’t see anything wrong with living a simple but fulfilling life such as this, especially since part of me wanted the same thing. Even the drinking part though, I would opt for a better beverage.
“You want my maps. I need you to do something for me,” The dwarf continued.
I chuckled in my mind. Always a damn side quest attached!
“What is it that you would like me to do?” I asked the dwarf.
“See that lass there, “the dwarf pointed to a woman with a nod of his head, “she’s my daughter and she needs helps looking for her husband.”
“Well, I’m not currently in the market and I don’t know any eligible bachelors,” I joked with a grin.
“Though I guess there is Daniel,” I mumbled.
“Enough jokes! Her husband has gone missing for the last two months now which is very unusual for him.”
“OK. Tell me more.”
“He name was Feerix, and his work was as a lumberjack. He would often leave for days for work with his group. When he left two months ago though, it was different. He left without his group this time and we did not hear from him for almost two weeks. And then we got a letter.”
“And what did this cryptic letter say?” I asked.
“It was cryptic indeed. Or perhaps ramblings of a mad man, I can not be certain. He talked about their bein a conspiracy within the government aligned with the mages. He sounded like a lunatic in the letter.”
“Conspiracy to do what? And how are the mages involved?”
“Kidnappings of children. And then some were being experimented on.”
Kidnappings were a common occurrence in this world. People would be taken and sold into slavery, which was a common practice all over and many nations had laws against it. Though those laws did very little as the government turned a blind eye to this practice. Kidnapping to do experiment was something I had not heard of. And children no less. If this was true, then I needed to put an end to it any way possible.
“Do you have the letter? Can I see it?” I asked.
“No lad, that letter is gone. My daughter showed me the letter, so I know what it said. But the letter is gone. You must be understanding that she was too saddened by his disappearance and when we got the letter, she held hope again in er heart. She still having hope but during a moment of grief, she burned the letter.”
I nodded. I could understand irrational behavior from grief. Been there quite a few times myself in the past.
“So now you want me to look for him? You know, there is a possibility that he may not be alive.”
“I realize such a thing is possible. If he is alive, find him. If he is not, that may be what the gods had in store for him. Find out what happened if you can. Aide still like to know if he’s no longer of this world and I be sure my daughter would need to hear such a thing too.”
I likely would not have agreed to find this man if it wasn’t for what the Dwarf had mentioned about children being kidnapped. I had no idea where this man could be. I had no connection here that I could get more information from, and I had no idea where anything was in this region. I would be walking around aimlessly unless I had a clue. But the content of that letter was too important to ignore. Demira would need to be told of this too just in case It was true.
“Any suggestions on where I should start looking?” I asked with some hope.
The Dwarf sat there thinking for a moment and then said, “Perhaps, try the cabin at the edge of the woods. The woodsmen often stay there during cold winters.”
Before I could say anything, the Dwarf added as if he could read my mind, “You, seem like a little babe when it comes to knowing our neck of the woods, so I’ll provide you with a map to help you find this destination.”
“If you think that I don’t know my head from my ass then why even ask me to find this man?”
“Well, I be thinkin that you may not know of us and our land, but I also be considering you a very capable man in all else.”
I nodded. He explained a little more about him and his daughter.
Beirana, had always thought she was a strong woman but when her husband disappeared and then she got the letter saying he was ill taken with something, she felt her world collapse. Her entire life had been spent in this city with her adopted father, Grimlock and her husband, Feerix. She had hoped to make this family even bigger with the baby on the way. And now her husband was missing and possibly even dead. She wanted to know for certain though. She wanted to know so she could learn to be strong and move on as she needed to for her child.
Grimlock had adopted Beirana as his own when he found her one morning at the gate of the city as a baby. He had retired for the most part from his adventuring days but on occasion he would still go out and explore with his friends. But when this girl came into his life, he decided on no more adventuring because he had to look out for this girl who was left by the cruel world.
The cabin unfortunately was in a forest and almost a day’s walk away from the city. Grimlock said that he would have gone himself but given the situation that his daughter was in, he would not feel comfortable leaving her on her own.
New Quest Alert: Son-in-law Search
You have been offered a quest from Grimlock Axebringer. You have been asked to search for Grimlock’s son-in-law, Feerix Tanner. Grimlock has suggested he may be staying at a cabin at the edge of the forest. To complete this quest, you have to find Feerix and notify Grimlock and his daughter.
Rewards: Multiple Maps of surrounding territories including one which may show locations of various dungeons. Experience points.
I told the dwarf I would try my best to look for this man but made no promises that I would be able to find him. I asked the Bulgavian, if he would help find the husband but the bulgavian said that hunting ability was like a plant and would wither if not watered regularly and that his had not been watered in over a decade. Part of me regretted taking on this quest. I did not have to go searching all over for some guy trying to escape his wife, most likely with another woman. Part of me wanted to continue to investigate it to figure out about the kidnappings but that was a long shot too. I wasn’t even sure if any of that was true. Even if it was, I would need to find this guy first and see what he knew about all of this. It was entirely possible that this conspiracy about the kidnappings was true and the people who may have been behind it were also responsible for his disappearance. So, I guess I got my weekend plans all figured out now.