Rea led Aldritch by the arm to the third floor of the tavern via the single spiral staircase that wrapped around the inside of the building. He was already somewhat impressed by the number of people on the balconies. But that was nothing compared to the sheer number of people inside the tavern.
The first two floors were packed tighter than an Elf prince’s pants; You couldn’t move more than a foot in any direction without bumping into someone. Aldritch was thoroughly impressed by the way Rea seemed to glide through the crowd, and sometimes dodge people she shouldn’t have been able to see.
If he hadn’t seen the lack of a system for himself, he would’ve assumed she was a hunter like Sulika. But then again, it wasn’t true that you needed the system to kill demons. He was the perfect example of that, so… Maybe she was a hunter after all?
While he contemplated that, Aldritch was peripherally aware of the hundreds of eyes following him the entire way. Most were discreet about their staring, so he didn’t pay them any mind. Besides, he was used to being stared at. Having one or two pairs of eyes on you just became a part of life when you towered over almost everyone. But one pair of eyes caught his attention, and the bloodlust coming from them reminded him of a gnat buzzing around behind his ear; Not annoying enough to do anything about, but distracting, nonetheless.
“The human has some admirers.” Oakairo said in an amused tone. “Hey… This scene feels somewhat familiar, no?”
“My Lord?”
“Let me paint a picture for you, see if you’ll remember then; You're in unfamiliar territory, and you’re being led by the arm by a woman of incomparable beauty, earning the envy and ire of her admirers. The beat of a dozen war drums pound in sync with the beating of your heart… Ring any bells?” Oakairo asked, knowing full well that Aldritch would remember the night in question.
“Ah… Únsafá of Éclipse Totale. You’re talking about the princess of the leeches?” Aldritch asked. He only remembered one instance that fit the ‘scene’ Oakairo was describing, but the god was either misunderstanding the circumstances of that situation- or intentionally ignoring them.
“Únsafá~ That’s the name. Hey, whatever happened to her? She was attractive for a mortal.” Oakairo asked while projecting the image of a tall, dark-haired woman with an hourglass figure. The way her skintight red dress hugged her body would drive a man to sin. And that effect was only amplified by the semi-transparent veil that hid half her face from sight, leaving only her gorgeous obsidian eyes visible-
“She was much less attractive without her head.” Aldritch replied casually, and projected an image of the same woman back to Oakairo, only without her veil… And her head sitting on the ground between her legs.
Without the veil, it became extremely obvious why she’d want to keep the lower half of her face covered; An oval shaped mouth with six rows of dagger like teeth, and a six-foot-long tongue with a wicked barb on the end.
“Ah... Right, she did try to eat you, didn’t she?”
“One time too many. I forgave her once, after all, she couldn’t help what she was. But I could only allow her to fool me once.”
“Fool me once; Shame befalls me. Fool me twice; blood falls from you.” Oakairo chuckled.
“Here we are.” Rea said, drawing Aldritch out of his conversation with Oakairo. Aldritch hadn’t been paying much attention to where they were going, so he hadn’t immediately realized when they’d arrived at a door on the third floor.
Looking around, he noticed twenty other doors on the third floor. A part of him wanted to open all of them and see what awaited him on the other side. But for the sake of getting this meeting over with, Aldritch contained his curiosity.
Rea slid open the door to reveal a private room, with its own private balcony. The room was on the smaller side, but that was to be expected since they had to ensure each room had enough space to be used. Even so, Aldritch wondered how much they’d spent to get a private room in such a crowded tavern?
Aside from its size, the room looked like any other hotel room. There was a two-person bed against one wall with a small nightstand next to it, a rectangular table had been placed a short distance from the bed with enough room for eight people to comfortably sit, a tall storage locker beside the bed, and a spacious ‘entertainment’ area that took up almost half the room. It came with two large couches, one facing Aldritch and the other facing the exterior balcony, and a couple of plush chairs on each side. Aldritch could just barely see the small table sitting directly in the center of the two couches.
Of the seven people sitting in the entertainment area, Aldritch recognized three of them… Well, technically five, since Rea’s two friends were there too. But the final person was a dark-haired woman who was sitting on the couch facing away from him.
Zarud, the half-orc warrior of Sulika’s team, sat on the couch facing Aldritch, his right arm wrapped around the shoulders of a petite elf woman with dark skin, wavy blonde hair that hung to her waist, and eyes the color of sapphires. In his left hand, Zarud held a large tankard of some unidentifiable liquid that kept getting waved around as Zarud energetically spoke with the two other people Aldritch recognized.
Oladi, the Elven druid of Sulika’s team, wasn’t sitting on either couch. She’d chosen to sit in one of the chairs to the left of the two couches, with a dark-covered book in one hand and a skinny glass of some red-colored drink in the other.
The last person Aldritch recognized was Derrik Longhammer, a dwarf, and another warrior of Sulika’s team. The dwarf sat in one of the chairs to the right of the couches. He hadn’t bothered with a tankard, instead, he had a large wooden barrel sitting to his left. A small spout with a release valve on top extended from the front of the barrel. It had what appeared to be a three-foot long leather tube attached to the opening- Aldritch watched as Derrik placed the end of the tube into his mouth, gave the valve a quick twist, and let whatever liquid was inside the barrel flow freely into his mouth.
Aldritch tried to contain his chuckle- really, he did.
The sound of Aldritch’s voice drew the gazes of everyone in the room, including the other woman Aldritch didn’t know- “Sulika?” Aldritch asked, only now recognizing the dark-haired woman in a beautiful green dress that matched her eyes perfectly. He hadn’t recognized her because her hair was pulled into a high bun, and it looked like she’d put on make-up since the side of her face was darker than it should be.
“Aldritch?” Sulika exclaimed. Without really thinking, she stood up completely and turned to face him- That was when Aldritch realized she wasn’t wearing make-up. What he’d seen was a large bruise that covered a large portion of her face.
Aldritch’s body went eerily still at the sight of Sulika’s face, almost like he was replaced with a living statue- Or so it appeared to Sulika. But whatever she’d seen, it was gone in less than the blink of an eye and Aldritch was giving her a confused look. “What happened to your face?” He asked as he approached her.
“Remember Eli?” She asked- she flinched as Aldritch unceremoniously placed a hand over the bruise; He activated “Rejection of Pain” and “Regeneration” while nodding for her to continue. “Ran into him at the guild. Figured I’d take the chance to give him something to remember me by.” She said, and laughed- though it turned into a pain induced moan as Regeneration took effect and rapidly healed the bruise.
“The bruise on his fist must be huge.” Aldritch replied while inspecting the rest of her body for injuries.
“Ouch.” Sulika said in complete deadpan.
“What hurts?” Aldritch asked, wondering if he’d somehow missed something. He hadn’t seen any other injuries, but maybe they were subdermal?
“Only my pride.” Sulika replied while pushing Aldritch’s hand off her face. “You keep touching my face like that, and I’m going to start charging you by the minute.” She said, chuckling and taking a half-step back to put some space between them.
“My apologies,” Aldritch replied while smiling slightly. “I’ll endeavor to remember that in the future-”
“Hey,” Rea said, interrupting him and taking hold of his hand. “You can touch me. I don’t mind in the slightest.” She said, looking up at Aldritch’s eyes with a sultry smile on her face.
Aldritch looked down at their intertwined hands, then back at Rea’s face. Through their bond, Aldritch could hear Oakairo giggling. “Hey, we do need to rebuild the hoard at some point. And she would make a… Delicious addition.”
“Sometimes, I really have trouble discerning if what you’re saying is meant to be sexual or carnivorous.” Aldritch replied while wondering how he could convince Rea to release his hand without offending her.
“What’s the difference?” Oakairo asked, and sounded genuinely confused… Which was when Aldritch remembered that for dragons, sex and food went hand and hand. Much like snakes or lizards; Dragons digested food slowly. Sometimes going months, or even years, without needing to hunt for food. It was for this reason that it wasn’t uncommon for female dragons to eat their male counterparts after reproduction was finished. Most species of dragon gave birth to live young, but it took four to five years for the embryos to develop enough to survive being born. Consuming their partner would often ensure the mother wouldn’t need to hunt for the entire incubation period, thus guaranteeing they had enough energy to give birth to strong younglings. And while Oakairo was a god, he’s always said he was a dragon first and a god second.
So, it was really Aldritch’s fault that he hadn’t expected that response from Oakairo. He should’ve known better… “Well,” Aldritch sighed. “I’m not eating her, nor do I currently have access to any towers in a land far far away, so kidnapping is also out of the question.”
“Boo.” Oakairo pouted, but Aldritch ignored him and refocused his attention on Rea. Conversations through the bond happened extremely fast, meaning only a few hundred microseconds had passed between Rea speaking and Aldritch ignoring Oakairo… Even so, that was time spent with their fingers intertwined and the eyes of everyone in the room on them.
Aldritch gave her a gentle smile before extracting his hand from hers. “Thank you, Rea. I’m happy you would trust me with such a privilege. Hopefully I’ll never have to heal you, but if it comes down to it, I’m glad I have your permission.”
Rea’s smile twitched a bit, but she still looked happy. She nodded her head in acceptance before moving around Aldritch and joining her two friends on the same couch Zarud was sitting on.
Aldritch glanced around the room and noticed the strange looks everyone was giving him- save for Oladi, she had yet to look up from her book. Aldritch wasn’t sure if she was even aware he’d arrived. He wondered what those looks meant while continuing his conversation with Sulika, who's expression was a mix of amusement and bafflement.
“What brought you here?” Aldritch asked, he was curious to know how things went at the guild, but he didn’t want to say anything if the others weren’t aware yet.
Sulika shrugged a single shoulder. “Half to celebrate, and half to drink our sorrows away.” She replied. “I got in contact with Oladi earlier and she passed the news along to Zarud, Derrik, and Ralocan. The Odd Hawk was where we went to relax after our team was first formed; it seemed fitting that it would also be the place to meet and celebrate the formation of our next one too.”
“They’ve agreed to join us?” Aldritch asked, surprised by how easily they’d switched sides. He was half expecting a series of long conversations with each member of the team, but he certainly wouldn't complain about skipping those.
“Well, temporarily at first.” Sulika said while smiling nervously. “Right now, they’re just the extra names we needed to fill out the paperwork- since you need at least ten members to be recognized as a proper guild. Once we get the ball rolling, and the guild is functional, then they’ll join us for real. But for now, they need the money the guild provides too much to jump ship just because I asked.”
“Fair enough.” Aldritch replied while glancing about the room and counted those present. Aldritch, Sulika Zarud, Derrik, Oladi, and Ralocan made six. Aldritch assumed Faeyra would likely join, pushing their number to seven, so that left them with three names left… Unless the three were already here? “Are they joining us too?” Aldritch asked, nodding towards Rea, her two friends, and Zarud’s date.
“Oh, right.” Sulika said, and turned to face the women. “The woman next to Zarud isn’t joining, but the other three have agreed to help us out. I’ve known them for a while, and they’re all reliable. Want me to introduce you?” She asked while moving to sit on the couch opposite Zarud and the girls.
“No, I’d prefer to introduce myself if it's all the same to you.” Aldritch replied and moved to stand beside the small table, between the two couches. Now that he was close enough, he bowed his head to Rea, her two friends, and the elf woman- who Aldritch was amused to note Zarud was hanging onto like he was expecting Aldritch to tear her from his arms and make a run for it. “Ladies, circumstances didn’t allow it before, but that is no excuse. So please, allow me to make up for it by properly introducing myself here and now; I am Aldritch of Clan Blackshield, it’s a pleasure to meet you all.”
The four women looked surprised, Sulika rolled her eyes and sighed with an amused smile on her face, Oladi almost choked on her drink- apparently, she’d just realized he was here. While Derrik and Zarud looked nonplussed about the introduction.
“It's wonderful to officially meet you, Aldritch.” Rea replied with a big smile on her face. “You already know my name is Rea, but my family name is Palou. My family owns Palou’s Creamery in the market district.” She said, a sly smile spreading across her face, and she wrinkled her nose cutely. “We’re also responsible for 70% of the dairy distribution across Azuris Island.”
“... Aldritch, does ‘dairy’ mean what I think it means?”
“So, the milk I’ve been drinking-” Aldritch began, but stopped when he saw her nodding.
“It came from our farm. You’re welcome, by the way.”
“Aldritch, I demand you wed this mortal.”
“No.” Aldritch immediately replied to Oakairo through the bond. Outwardly, he moved closer to Rea and placed a hand on her shoulder- Prompting her to lean into his hand. “You and your family are doing this world a service that can never be repaid. For that, you have my utmost thanks. And I swear on Oakairo’s name, no harm shall ever befall you or your family for as long as you continue to do what you do.” He said with a seriousness that surprised everyone, especially Rea.
“But if you marry her, think of all the milk we could drink!” Oakairo said, pleading for Aldritch to see some sense.
“I’ll not force someone so young to wed a fossil like myself.”
“But-”
“Not even for chocolate milk. We’ll purchase it like everyone else. I promised I’d get a few barrels of god’s drink, and I meant it. But come on, would you really be happy getting it that way?”
“...YES! Yes I would!”
Aldritch sighed to himself and slid his eyes away from Rea, landing on the first of her two friends: A petite brunette with a small face. She was wearing a blue dress in a similar style to the one Rea was wearing, and a pair of sandals with five-inch heels. Aldritch wondered if they were as uncomfortable as they looked. “What’s your name?” He asked while looking her in the eye… She stared at him for a few seconds before seemingly realizing that he was talking to her. She lifted her hands in front of her body, and for a moment, Aldritch wondered if she was frightened of him. But that wasn’t the case- Well, it was, but that wasn’t the reason she raised her hands.
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Aldritch watched her go through a dozen motions with her hands while giving him an apologetic look. Confused about what was going on, Aldritch shifted his gaze to those around the room and saw they were all watching for his reaction.
“Aldritch, I think the girl is mute… Or deaf. Not sure which.”
Aldritch’s eyes returned to the girl. He knelt down in front of her and thought about what he could do- After a second, he met her eyes and mouthed the words “Can you understand me?”
She nodded in response.
Aldritch lightly tugged on his ear, then tapped beside his mouth. He hoped she would understand he was asking if she couldn’t hear or couldn’t speak, and not think he was just making faces at her.
The girl showed him a slight smile and lightly tugged on her own ear, followed by a nod.
Aldritch smiled. “I apologize for not making sure you could understand me earlier.” He said, mouthing the words as articulately as he could and hoping she would understand. “I am Aldritch of Clan Blackshield, it’s truly a pleasure.” He said, holding out his hand for her to shake- which she did.
“I’m surprised.” Sulika said from behind Aldritch. “To be honest, I thought for sure you’d know how to speak CSL, considering you seem to know how to do everything else." She said, laughing quietly to herself. "Would you like me to introduce you now?”
“No, I don't speak... CSL?" He replied, turning to look at her with a curious look in his eyes.
"Celestine Sign Language." Sulika explained. "It's the universal language used by non-verbal entities."
"I see... Fascinating." Aldritch replied, a pleased smile spreading across his face. "But no, I'd still prefer to introduce myself, even if it is slightly more troublesome.” Aldritch replied, speaking in a quiet voice while making sure his face was still facing a direction where the girl could see his mouth.
“... Fair enough, I guess.” Sulika sighed. “Even so, sorry for not giving you a heads up. I guess I was curious what you’d do, since you normally seem so forceful with people.”
“Don’t mind it. It's been a pleasant experience so far. I’ve never met an adult with a hearing disability before.”
“Really?” Rea asked in surprise and proving that she'd been listening in on their conversation instead of ignoring the byplay like everyone else.
“Mm.” Aldritch replied and turned his face to Rea. “Where I came from; if you were blind, deaf, or dumb, you were usually killed before you could drain resources from the community.” He said casually.
Everyone reacted to that, proving that they had also been listening in and were only pretending to be ignoring the conversation. Zarud, Rea, Rea’s other friend, and Zarud’s date all got angry and started talking about how barbaric it was. Zarud was especially upset, because not even Orcs- who prided themselves on their strength- would just kill someone for being disabled… But Derrik, Oladi and Sulika reacted differently.
Derrik was nodding; Without your senses and your wits, there were few places as dangerous as the old mines that once belonged to Dwarven Strongholds. Cave ins, poisonous gas, lava pockets, explosive ores, not to mention the predators that often stalked those tunnels. Even to this day, most of the old mines were left alone… for good reason. And back in those days, if you couldn’t work, most clans couldn’t afford to feed you. It was a sad fact, but it was seen as necessary.
Oladi was similarly nodding in understanding, though she looked sad about it. This was probably one of the few topics the druids; who loved the natural world more than anything, and the dwarves; who spent their entire lives striving to industrialize the world, could agree on. Of course, that didn’t mean Oladi was happy about it. It was just that the number of healers in the world capable of reversing disabilities could be counted on one hand, and their services didn't come cheap. Similarly, artificers were in the process of creating items that could replace limbs, but the technology to replace eyes and ears still seemed so far away...
Meanwhile, Sulika just looked confused. She motioned for everyone to calm down, and waited for them to do so before she asked, “Why?”
“Because there are worse things than just dying in your sleep. And where I lived, not every predator would kill you for food. Some did it for pleasure, some out of boredom, and many did it just because they could. Back then, killing them was the only way we could help them.” Aldritch explained in a quiet voice. He tried to be as succinct as he could, since he wanted to just move on with the night and leave this conversation behind.
Aldritch wasn’t obvious with his emotions, but Sulika was starting to see the signs. She saw sadness in his golden eyes, and they, more than anything, let her know he wasn’t as unfeeling as others might believe... She hoped one day they would see that too.
Aldritch briefly wondered if he could fix her hearing for her. He'd never really tried, at least, not since his priest class had stopped allowing him to learn knew spells. He'd once tried every spell up to Greater Heal to fix a soldier's blinded eye, but none of them were effective. Of course, he did have a few spells beyond Greater Heal that might work, but the stress they'd put on the body might actually cause more problems than just being blind.
Taking a closer look at the girl's ears was a bit difficult while maintaining a respectable distance, but he did what he could. He didn’t see any scarring or deformities, so he thought her deafness was unlikely to have occurred due to an injury. The more likely truth was that she was simply born with it- which was both intriguing, and a perfect example of how different Iolara was to his home world.
And he preferred it this way.
Aldritch faced the girl so she could see his mouth and asked, “What’s your name?”
The girl, who was very confused about the reason everyone got so hostile for a few seconds, moved her hands in a way that confused Aldritch. Thankfully, she moved her lips in time with her hands. “Veta Saviene. Nice to meet you, Aldritch.” She mouthed before smiling slightly.
Aldritch nodded and turned to the other friend of Rea’s; A tall, curvaceous blonde in a crimson dress that also matched with Rea’s- Which made Aldritch wonder if they bought them at the same time or if it was just a coincidence?
“Emrid Belna. I work with Veta at the guild.” She said, though her tone said she’d rather not say anymore. Aldritch assumed it had to do with something he'd said earlier and didn’t push it.
Finally, he turned and regarded the elf woman Zarud was hugging against him like a child with a favorite toy. “Her name is- oof” Zarud’s introduction was interrupted by the elf’s elbow impacting his stomach.
“I can introduce myself, thanks.” She said and shot Zarud a glare before turning her attention to Aldritch. “Hi, my name is Tessa Silverlight. It’s a pleasure to meet the giant who saved my Zarud.” She finished with a pleasant smile aimed at Aldritch. “And don’t worry, I’m sure your dick isn’t as small as Zarud said it was.” The entire room went dead silent at the casual grenade Tessa just dropped.
Sulika’s body tensed, and she prepared to grab Aldritch in the off chance something happened- She knew she wouldn’t, no, couldn’t stop him. But she hoped he would be more concerned with not hurting her than he was with skinning Zarud.
“Thank you,” Aldritch said with an amused smile on his face. “I’m also sure it isn’t, but I appreciate your faith in the size of my manhood. Maybe if Zarud had as much faith in his own, he wouldn’t feel the need to talk about mine.”
Sulika exhaled a deep sigh of relief while Derrik, Oladi, and the three girls not sleeping with Zarud laughed at the jab.
“Hey! I’ll have you know; my little orc has never failed to satisfy a woman.” Zarud protested, growing irritated from being the target of their mockery. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go! They were supposed to laugh at the giant, not him!
“I’m sure you’re right.” Aldritch replied. Growing tired of being at the center of the group, Aldritch moved to the couch and took a seat next to Sulika- Right as he sat down, the door to the room opened and Ortag, the bartender, appeared with multiple large tankards in his hands. He placed one tankard on the table by the door before making his way over to the group.
“Hey, I am right. Tell him!” Zarud said, directing the last bit at Tessa.
“Absolutely, baby. Best I’ve ever had.” She replied while smiling up at Zarud. She placed her hands on both sides of his face and pulled him into a loving kiss that made the much larger half-orc practically melt in her hands.
Ortag snorted derisively while handing out drinks to everyone. He saved Aldritch’s drink for last, so he could make a show of kneeling beside the giant and offering the tankard to him as one would a sacrifice to a god. “My lord, I present to you- your,” He choked back a laugh. “Your chocolate milk-” Ortag grunted as Rea kicked him in the ass with the heel of her sandal.
“Stop being an ass and just give him the damn drink.” Rea said angrily, furrowing her eyebrows and staring daggers into the side of Ortag’s face.
Two things happened at that moment. The first was Ortag quickly turning to face Rea, causing the tankard of chocolate milk to tip over and fall towards Aldritch- who thankfully snatched it up before a single drop could be spilled.
The second thing was- *Crash!* the wooden door splintering beneath the force of a huge boot, causing everyone- save Aldritch- to tense in surprise.
“That’s the stuff~” Oakairo moaned as Aldritch took a deep drink from the tankard. Aldritch's eyes fluttered as the slightly bitter, but sinfully smooth chocolate and the creamy sweetness of milk poured down his throat.
Maybe he should rethink that whole marriage thing after all?
“Tessa!” A deep, rage-filled voice spread throughout the room. Sulika, Derrik, Oladi, and Zarud leapt to their feet and moved the five non-combatants behind the couch to protect them from the intruders.
A group of ten men from various races crowded the doorway. And standing front and center was the biggest elf Sulika had ever seen. Easily over seven feet tall, with long, jade-colored hair, impossibly wide shoulders, a barrel of a chest, and legs like the trunk of a cypress tree. This man was a Terran; a species of elf that could never be mistaken for any other. Terrans were among the largest races of Iolara, and towered over their cousin elves by nearly two feet and a couple hundred pounds. They were also much closer in appearance to their elemental ancestors than other elves. For example, this Terran had small, stone-like plates that covered his exposed face and arms like a pseudo set of armor, but it didn’t stop there. The rest were just hidden beneath the tight red t-shirt and jeans he was wearing. But the true mark of his heritage was the eyes; his eyes looked almost identical to the precious stone known as a ruby, except they had a white light glowing in the center that functioned as a pupil.
“Zarud!” The Terran yelled. With his voice full of pain and rage, he jabbed a finger in Zarud’s direction. “I told you to stay away from Tessa!”
“Oh, shit…” Tessa said in a quiet voice.
“I thought you said you broke up?” Zarud asked her. He kept his body between her and the giant elf, partially hiding her from view.
“I did. Two-weeks ago.” She replied. Zarud could hear the fear in her voice, the anxiety the Terran was causing… And it was making him angry.
Zarud bared his teeth like a cornered animal, while his eyes remained locked onto the Terran’s face. The elf wasn’t much bigger than him by weight alone, but he had a longer reach. If it came down to it, Zarud would have to make sure to take the difference in arm lengths into account before charging him. “You dumb fucker!” Zarud yelled. “She’s done with you, get over yourself and leave or I’ll drag you out to the gutter where you belong.”
“Tessa…” The Terran said, stepping further into the room and allowing his buddies to file in behind him. “You don’t want to be with this piece of shit. He’s just going to break your heart like he did the other’s, you know that.” He took another step into the room, and more men filed in. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.” He said and held out his hand, beckoning her to come with him.
“Zarud?” Sulika said while slipping off her sandals and taking a few steps back. “I’m really not dressed for a scrap tonight. What’s going on?” As she spoke, Derrik carefully slid his make-shift keg behind his chair and pulled a long knife out of a sheath he’d concealed against his thigh. While he was doing that, Oladi positioned her body between the intruders and Rea, Veta, and Emrid- Wickedly sharp nails grew from her fingertips, each one sparkled against the ceiling's lights like obsidian blades.
“Tessa’s ex.” Zarud said and nodded to the big Terran.
“Really, Tessa?” Oladi asked incredulously. “How the hell did that work?”
“Is now really the time to be asking that question?” Tessa asked while still hiding behind Zarud.
“Point taken.” Oladi replied, bending her knees and flexing her arms in preparation for battle.
“Hey, buddy. We don’t want any trouble.” Derrik said, keeping his knife against his arm, and thus out of sight from most of the intruders. “What say we just get Ortag here,” He nodded at the half-orc. “To head downstairs and get us some more drinks. Then you and I can go out on the balcony there and wash our sorrows down the way they were meant to be- with large quantities of alcohol and some steak. Sounds good, right?-”
“Shut up!” The Terran yelled. He grabbed a chair from the dining area and smashed it on the ground in front of him, causing wood fragments to fly in every direction. “That’s not how this is going to work! That fucking homewrecker is going to understand the pain he's caused all of us. And he's going to learn it tonight!” He yelled again, slurring his words slightly and waving his hand at the other intruders, who loudly agreed with the statement. “Tessa, come here!” The Terran said while staring directly at her-
*Slurp* Everyone’s eyes shifted towards the sound. They found Aldritch still sitting where he’d been when Ortag first handed him his chocolate milk. He had the tankard pressed to his lips, clearly savoring the drink with every fiber of his being… And completely oblivious to what was going on around him.
“Um… Aldritch?” Sulika said. Without realizing it, the moment she’d remembered he was nearby, her body relaxed. “You know we’re having a situation here, right?”
“Yes, I’m aware.” Aldritch replied, tipping his tankard up and draining the last of the chocolatey goodness in a single gulp. He let out a satisfied sigh as he pulled the tankard away from his lips and placed it on the table in front of him. “But as it didn’t have anything to do with me, I didn’t see any reason to interfere. This is between Zarud, Lady Tessa, and the elf, is it not? Oh, by the way, Ortag?” Aldritch said, getting the scared half-orc’s attention. “Could I get another glass? It was different from what Faeyra made for me, but not in a bad way. It’s good!” He said, smiling at the half-orc.
“I- erm, that is- I brought two glasses. To- to apologize for earlier. Yeah, that's what it was.” Ortag said, surprising Aldritch.
“Really? Where is it?” Aldritch asked, and started looking around for it- He stopped when he realized Ortag was staring at the table across the room. There, as plain as the moon in the sky, was another large tankard… And it was surrounded by the intruders. “Oh, yummy.” Aldritch said, still smiling.
He stood to his full height and started walking towards the table, much to the utter confusion of everyone else in the room. Didn’t he know how dangerous this situation was? Was he really about to risk his life for a glass of chocolate milk!?
Aldritch moved past the Terran, who remained frozen in shock. The sheer bafflement on his face was enough to break Sulika’s tension. She laughed. She couldn’t help it, but she did.
“You think this situation is funny?” One of the men who came with the Terran asked, this one was a human of average height with a slightly above average waistline. “That scumbag over there is the reason me and my sweet Tielin broke up!” He yelled while pointing at Zarud.
“Hey, don’t blame me for that!” Zarud shouted back. “I’ve never, not once, told a woman to break up with someone to get with me. I have a damn policy for a reason; Don’t stick the little orc in a cave with a tenant. You should be mad at her, not me!”
“You’re a liar and a piece of-” The man screamed, his face turning red from rising blood pressure and anger.
*slurp* Everyone turned to look at Aldritch, who’d made his way to his other glass and was in the process of draining it dry.
“Would you fucking quit that!?” The human yelled. He reached out to grab Aldritch by the collar and stop him from making that irritating noise!... The man’s hand stopped just inches from Aldritch’s robe, the giant's hand wrapped so completely around his wrist that it made him feel like a child. The sensation sent shivers down the man’s spine and made his knees tremble.
Aldritch drained the rest of the chocolate milk from the tankard, and once he was finished, released a sigh of pleasure and carefully placed the tankard on the table. He still held the man’s wrist in a half-hearted grip, but he wasn’t looking at him. “Hey, Ortag. Think I could get some more before I leave?” Aldritch asked, completely ignoring the man struggling in his grip.
“Let go of Frank!” A kandis man yelled, launching himself at Aldritch’s back- The kandis yelped in pain as Aldritch lightly pulled the first man’s arm, which caused him to step directly into the path of the Kandis. Their head’s collided and released a sound that was reminiscent of banging two coconuts together. Both the human and the Kandis went down in a tangle of limbs and swears, and accidentally caused the table to flip and land on top of them, tossing the now empty tankard into the nose of a black-haired dwarf.
“You know…” Aldritch sighed and scratched at his left temple. “I don’t have any reason to fight any of you. No offense to Sulika, or any of my other new acquaintances that I've met for the first time this evening, but I don’t know Zarud well enough to defend him from what appears to be the consequences of his lifestyle. That being said, touch me, and you better pray you have… Hey, Ortag. How much would a barrel of chocolate milk cost me?”
“What!?” Ortag screamed incredulously. “What even is that question!?”
“Would a silver coin cover it?” Aldritch asked, ignoring the outburst.
Ortag threw up his arms in surrender. “I don’t know, damn… Yeah, probably. I don’t fucking know.”
“Perfect.” Aldritch replied before turning his attention back to the men surrounding him. “A silver coin each should cover it.”
“You’re out of your damned mind.” A dark-skinned elf laughed and stepped forward with a knife seven-inch long skinning knife in his hand. “If you think we’re paying for your disgusting fucking milk, you’ve got another thing coming-” The elf went silent as Aldritch’s hand landed on his shoulder without even looking- Then everyone went silent when the elf started screaming bloody murder. From the point of contact at his shoulder, Aldritch was gradually applying pressure while smiling down at the irritatingly vapid elf who dared to insult his favorite drink. The elf’s collar bone caved first, snapping beneath the pressure. That was followed by his rotator cuff, two of his ribs, and his left ankle- but before the elf could collapse into unconsciousness, Aldritch cast Greater heal; healing all the damage he’d just done, plus a pinched nerve that’d been bothering the elf for a few weeks.
Without saying a word, Aldritch reached into the elf’s pocket with his right hand and pulled out his coin pouch before lightly shoving the elf backwards. The moment Aldritch let go of the elf, he fell to the ground, his body not capable of standing due to the energy Aldritch drained in order to heal him.
Aldritch opened the pouch and saw three silver coins, and a few dozen other coins for the taking- yet he took only a single silver coin before closing the pouch and dropping it on the elf’s chest. “Now, would anyone else like to contribute to my chocolate milk fund or would you like to leave, sober up, and deal with this like sensible adults tomorrow?” Aldritch asked, his hands behind his back, and his vitals exposed for anyone willing to capitalize on such an opportunity… Once the intruders had all vacated the room- the Terran carrying the injured elf over one shoulder and carefully placing the pieces of door into the hallway, so they wouldn’t be in anyone’s way, everyone turned to look at Zarud.
“Oh, no. You’re not going to just sit here and act like the shit I’ve done is in any way worse than what he just did.” Zarud asked incredulously. "He just broke a guy for some stu-hmph!" Zarud grunted as Tessa slammed her hand over his mouth.
Aldritch ignored him and offered the silver coin to Ortag. “I would appreciate it if you could get this barrel expeditiously. I’ll be leaving as soon as you return.” He said with a gentle smile directed at the scared half-orc.
Ortag stared down at the silver coin in his hand and wondered, what would the giant have done to him if he’d gone through with his plan to spit into the second glass of chocolate milk…