The group of adventurers was once again back at the tavern, merrily drinking along with the other clients, receiving their praise, free drinks and a whole lot of thank-yous. The villagers were very impressed and thankful for the achievements that they’ve accomplished in the short time that they’ve been in town.

And once again, a peaceless night was had. The music was playing, the drinks were pouring, and the people were merrily laughing and enjoying the night's festivities. There were old guests, new guests, mothers and wives coming and going, joining or stealing people from the tavern. Namely, Nomia who showed up to fetch her drunk husband, but she ended up staying for a few hours to enjoy the cheery atmosphere herself.

Before long, dawn approached the town and threatened to wake the rooster, signaling the start of a new day. Meanwhile, most, if not all of the party goers were in varying states of hungover or simply knocked out, in and around of the tavern.

A few barmaids and volunteers from the surrounding buildings began cleaning up last night's mess, minding the hungover clients and trying their best to not wake them up yet.

As all of this cleaning was ongoing, our adventurers were spread out in the tavern. Xandarr was upstairs in his room with Thirza, Marcus was splayed out on the dining hall floor holding a bucket and Drazdan was passed out at a table in the far end of the tavern with Brenda, who was also asleep, sitting next to him.

But as the start of a new day is inevitable, so is the rooster. And to prove this, our dear old rooster let loose the loudest wake-up call of his life. His ancestors nodded proudly at his near legendary morning call as he awoke the entire town in record time.

No one, not a single soul, managed to escape his call. His call reverberated in a 25 km radius around him, none were spared from his might, be it humans, squirrels or the wild bears in the forest and mountains. They all awoke in cold sweat and cursing at the infernal flightless bird.

The people in and around the tavern got it the worst, the loud and sobering cry wrecked havoc on their fresh hangovers, thus making them the grumpiest group around the bird. All of them were craving a meal that is heavy-handed with poultry.

Meanwhile, our group was also awoken by the blasted rooster, and they were far from jolly. Drazdan and Brenda woke up in panicked jump and hitting each other which knocked Drazdan off the bench, hitting his head on the wall behind him.

Xandarr and Thirza awoke in their bed as per usual, followed by Thirza throwing a dagger out of the window towards the rooster, catching a few tail feathers as the terrified bird managed to hide behind the neighbor's chimney somehow. Meanwhile, Xandarr had turned into a bear to run through the tavern to clean himself off by the well.

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As for Marcus, well, he tried to jump into a combat stance but managed to spill the contents of the bucket on himself instead. Which led him to feel sick, and he ran to the toilets, nearly running into Xandarr on the way there.

As all of this was unfolding, the rest of last night's customers were also waking up, some harder than others. Thankfully, there wasn’t anybody hanging from the chandelier again as Tarwick was in the comforts of his own home along with Nomia, enjoying a refreshing cup of tea in each other's company.

Back at the tavern, the dwarf from yesterday was once again sitting at the bar waiting for his breakfast. He didn’t have a hangover, since he didn’t take part in yesterday’s festivities. So as he awaited his meal, he was observing the customers in the tavern as they were trying to shake off their hangovers and leave. He kept a little grin on his face for the entire time, he was observing and chuckling every so often as he watched them stumble on their way out.

As the amount of people in the tavern lowered, he finally spotted the bipedal rabbit and the owner of the tavern at the back of the dining hall. Upon spotting the man, a scowl formed on the dwarf's face, but before he could do anything, someone opened the door to the tavern.

A pair of Ice elves from the far north marched into the tavern. Now this was such a rare occurrence that even back in Fendur which was above the equator and further north than this town rarely ever saw their species pass through. It wouldn’t be surprising if this was the first time ever that such travelers ever came here.

As one would expect, the dwarf wasn’t the only one that recognized the pale-skinned, long eared visitors. Drazdan having been part of the guard in Fendur instantly recognized them and stood there stunned while still supporting the dizzy Brenda.

“What's up sugar? Why do you like you just saw a unicorn?” the intrigued Brenda asked before following Drazdans’ look to the pair of elves at her front door. Upon spotting them, her face went from a mischievous little to smile to a surprised gawk at the pair of pale skinned elves that she couldn’t recognize in the slightest.

“Ice elves…” Drazdan said, refusing to break his stare at the pair. As Brenda looked up to Drazdan, he continued. “They are the rulers of the north, and they basically never come down from that frozen wasteland… Let alone come this far south, it's much too warm for them down here.” he explained, still staring at the pair of unicorns in the doorway.

“They’ve been suppressing the ice giants and troll clans for centuries on their own, without the support of any other nation. They are arguably the strongest people on this continent… And it makes absolutely no sense as to what they are doing this far from their homeland.” he finished.

The dumbfounded look Brenda gave Drazdan was self-explanatory. Ice elves were the thing of legends almost nobody under the equator even believed in their existence, let alone see a member of their species.

As Brenda realized of the rarity of this event, she straightened her back and smoothed out her disheveled hair as much as she could. “Dear, please help me get there. I must greet our honored guests personally.” she asked Drazdan with a look of pure determination.

“Of course. I am also curious as to their business here.” Drazdan responded with a soft smile.