Kali

Kali drank in the appearance of the dwarf and considered the scene she’d just seen. He wasn’t the prettiest man she’d ever seen and, with looks like his, the stew must be good to have the confidence he was presenting. She hadn’t heard the chefs yelling, just saw his shouting, and assumed the dwarf had played grab-ass with one of the staff or something. 

“Kali Freeman. Charmed.” Kali flashed the dwarf a suggestive smile and pushed the pitcher toward him. It had been a long few weeks and she decided she could use a little stress relief. The dwarf set the large pot on the table and pushed a chair close to Kali before climbing up. He poured himself a mug and took a long draft before setting the ale down. After smacking his lips a couple times he ladeled out two bowls of stew before passing one to Kali.  

Most nights, the stew would be a watery brown color, not that Kali would know that on her first night there. Looking around the room, however, she was able to see that the soup being nursed by other patrons was a different color than what she was served. A light red color glared back at her as chunks of meat and herbs could be seen floating around in the broth. For a moment she considered the possibility that she was being drugged, a sentiment that she found unlikely and disregarded at the behest of her empty stomach. 

“Holy shit, that’s spicy!” Kali practically choked on the stew in her speed to spit it back out. Although she spewed a bit of the stew onto the dwarf, he just laughed heartily and ignored the flecks of food in his beard. Kali chugged her ale and started stuffing the bread roll she’d ordered into her mouth to try and calm her taste buds.

“Yeah it is! Thatta girl! I make it with these peppers I’ve been picking in the forest. They are really deep in the forest, hidden behind aggressive boars and other fauna, but they’re worth the search. I just ignore the things and keep ‘em away with my shield while I harvest them for cooking. If you ask me, the peppers are gonna be the way of the future.” The dwarf rubbed Kali’s back as she sputtered and waved her mouth to try and cool it down. After a few moments, she managed to calm herself down. 

“You can’t find these things anywhere else, I’m telling ya the truth Kali. A home grown delicacy that’s unique to the forest and, if you believe the reports, the dungeon as well. Heard a couple rumors, I did, that there are even darker peppers deep in the dungeon. ‘Course I don’t have a party so I can’t verify the rumors myself.

“The peppers are magical too. They boost mana recovery for any fire-aligned, although only slightly, and they can dispel minor illusions, although that might need a bit of verification. Of course, I’ve also heard that they can ignite other fires too, if you know what I mean.” The dwarf wiggled his thick, bushy brows aggressively, making it impossible for her not to know what he meant.

“If you say so, Isaac.” She pushed the bowl away and reached for her ale to try and wash the soup from her mouth. The only fire lit inside of her was going to be an unpleasant one later if she swallowed that mess.

 As the two of them shared the table and pitcher of ale, they joked back and forth about different heat-related puns, a few of them being risque. To her surprise, the dwarf even ordered another pitcher of ale when hers ran out. She’d pegged him for a free-loader, or a poison master, so it was a pleasant surprise when the alcohol showed up. 

“Hail! How are the two of you doing tonight?” Just as their flirtatious behavior was peaking, a new intruder waltzed up to Kali’s table. ‘Oh, great,’ she thought to herself, ‘A vagabond.’ 

The new approacher was a taller man with a nearly bald head, extremely short hair fighting to spring up on his scalp like grass in a desert, with rough clothing. Judging by his faded brown roughspun tunic and trousers, as well as the liberal layer of dirt covering his neck and barefeet, she judged him to be homeless. 

“How’re you doing, buddy? You hungry?” Before Kali could respond, Isaac received and returned the bum’s greeting and offered him food. She was annoyed at first that he’d give the other man the time of day while they were mid… conversation, but quickly remembered the taste of the stew. With eager eyes, she turned to the tall man and offered him her bowl. 

The human grabbed the bowl with both hands and brought it to his nose for a whiff. Kali frowned, sure he would smell the spicy peppers and place the bowl right back down. To her surprise, as well as Isaac’s, the human put the bowl to his lips and chugged the whole thing right away, not pausing to chew the meat, potatoes, or pepper chunks. 

“Ahh! That’s just delightful.” The human was smiling so widely that his eyes were pressed closed. Kali’s mind could only register confusion but Isaac, oh man Isaac. Isaac shot straight up and stood on his chair to lean across the table and look at the man who was now holding the bowl above his mouth trying to drip out any remaining juices.

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“You! Me! I! Ugh! I’m Isaac, what’s your name and do you actually like my stew?” The dwarf was so flustered that Kali was sure it was the first time anybody had ever been able to stomach his ‘delicacy’. With shaking hands, the dwarf poured an ale for the human and pushed it across the table, oblivious to the fact that Kali was, in fact, still sitting next to him. The girl felt spurned and crossed her arms, watching the exchange.

“Oh no, I can’t drink alcohol. Thank you though. Is there any chance that I might have another ladle of your delicious stew?” 

“!” He used the word! Kali cursed to herself, now sure that her date for the night was successfully poached from under her nose. Sure enough, the dwarf was falling over himself to serve up more of his ungodly spicy stew to the boy, even going so far as to flag down the server and ask for a pitcher of water, drawing a strange look. It wasn’t often a dwarf ordered water while in a tavern.

“Thank you for supper, esteemed dwarf. My name is Marcello, no last name. I’m a new adventurer, fresh from the temple to accumulate real world experience.” The boy offered his grimy hand to Isaac who wasted no time grabbing and shaking it.

“A monk then? That explains the clothing, and the hair cut. Where is your temple?” Kali did her best to butt back into the conversation, determined not to be forgotten at her own table. 

“Ah! I didn’t notice you there, sorry! My temple is located on Destiny peak, within the Devout Mountain Range in Southrin.” A foreigner then, Kali thought to herself. Also, he definitely noticed her there! He greeted them as 'you two'!

“I thought that Southrin was run by the church? How is it that a temple is allowed to exist within their borders?” 

“The same way that Laevell is able to exist as a Kingdom, through the power of force. Monks we may be, but we are fighting monks. My temple dates back hundreds of years before the church, before the kingdom. Back before all this westernized magic became commonplace, but let's not get into that right now. I’m here to get real world experience, I’ve given you my name as well, so I think you should introduce yourself, no?”

“Kali, I’m here to forget that I exist in the bottom of my cup.” She didn’t like him, that much was clear to her right away. For a monk, Marcello was rude and arrogant. 

“The stew! Tell me, what did you think of it? I know you said it was delicious, but I’ve been thinking on how to improve it. The peppers that make up the flavor are found locally in the forest, but I’ve heard rumors that there are even stronger peppers located deep in the dungeon.”

“Oh yes! The dungeon, that's exactly why im here actually. I’m new to the area and would like to join your party, if you’ve got room of course.” The monk propositioned the dwarf, once again ignoring Kali. 

“I, uh. Well, I don’t exactly have a party. But I can tank like nobody’s business! I wasn't the best smith but I did manage to forge myself a massive hunk of steel before leaving home. My profession is Shieldbearer by trade, chef by heart.” 

“Perfect, we’ll start our own pick up group then, I hear the dungeon is open to visitors again next week. I’m a monk, I specialize in unarmed close quarters combat. I don’t possess any healing mantras though, before you ask.” 

The boys got quiet, causing Kali to look up from her cup and find both of them staring at her quizzically. In their minds, one did not go to a dungeon town without hoping to explore a dungeon and a girl at her own table did not have a party. It didn’t help her case that the tavern she was in was Adventurers’ Guild owned and sponsored. As it would have it, she had been entertaining the possibility since she was told that Ostlind was being relocated.

“Kali, merchant by trade, although not anymore I suppose. I specialize in knives and sleight of hand. I can pick most locks, so long as they aren’t enchanted, but I’ll need to get a new lockpicking kit first.” Kali scowled at the thought of her lockpicks sitting at the bottom of the harbor in Ostlind. She’d tossed them in when her father promised they were going clean and now regretted it, considering the locked chests in her house.

“That’s three then! A tank, a damage dealer, and a thief/” “Hey!” “Now all we need is a healer or buffer of some sort and a ranged damage dealer. We could probably use a resource gatherer as well.” The monk continued on, ignoring Kali’s protest at the moniker of thief. 

“I can have my uncle put out the word that we’re looking for a couple tag alongs. He runs this outpost of the adventurer’s guild with his party. If we do well enough, they might even allow us into the clan they’ve formed. I’ve been meaning to talk to him anyways, he and my parents didn’t part on good terms, something he and I share in common, due to his affinity. I’ve got a room upstairs, should we meet up here again in a few days? Where are you staying?”

“I’ll figure something out” “I’ve got a house in town, near the piers.” Both Kali and the monk replied at the same time. 

“You’ve already got land here!? What a merchant you must be! Perfect, why don’t I get my things from the room and we can all crash at your place, save the money so we can upgrade our gear. Oh man, Kali, you’re the best. Don’t worry, I’ll cook us dinner every night!” Isaac pushed himself out of his chair and shuffled off toward the stairs, seemingly sober despite the copious amounts of consumed ale.

Kali blinked a couple times and considered turning them down before ultimately accepting it. It wasn’t like she didn’t have the beds to spare, although they’d need to dig them out of the pile. When the dwarf returned with a large sack and even larger shield, the group departed the tavern and started heading toward the piers. 

‘Shit!’ 

Kali remembered her ‘locked’ door and flustered with embarrassment.