It took them around half a day to get the lay of the land. Blackrock Bay was unimaginatively named after the ebony black stone that the city was built upon. There was a large circular outcropping of stone that was what the city was built upon. It stood out starkly from the rest of the surroundings, as for the most part the land around Blackrock bay was all level ground. No one knew where the stone got there or how it got there, but a large stone, over a mile wide, had been placed or been pushed out of the ground. Once it was in place the rivers seemed to have cut their way over time through the center of the large stone.
With the convergence of two of the major rivers that spanned Escar, Blackrock Bay had become a booming metropolis. The city of Blackrock Bay had become a center for trade, as a lot of the goods and wealth of the north western half of Escar had to pass through it. As such the city itself was made of finely cut stone, which seemed to come from the rock around the city, as the buildings matched the color of the stone perfectly.
Even with the city cut in half by the ravine made by the Sandbourg running through the center of the city, that hadn't stopped the industrious residents. The city itself was built into tiers. With 4 tiers to the city, the lowest one was the one where the friends came into. The lowest tier was used for low end residential. The next highest was used for commercial work. The next was for the wealthy. And the last being where a large defensive structure had been built. Unlike Vanta there wasn't any segregation, as the low end residents were still fairly well off, being a part of a major trade hub. Besides being cut into 4 rings each with a defensive structure in between, the city was further complicated by the city being cut in the middle-ish.
The Sandbourg River didn't cut the city truly in half, in true water fashion it went wherever it pleased, which resulted in one half of the city taking up roughly 65% of the total landmass. The citizens also built a series of stone bridges spanning the ravine, with at least one bridge on either end of each level, often two or even three. The levels weren't evenly built by square footage either, the bottom and middle sections were substantially bigger than the upper two sections. Out on the land surrounding the city itself were large sections of fertile farmland, which seemed to be heavily used as such. There were several large roads that led to the base of the city which were met with large gates and further had large thoroughfares that led deeper into the city.
It was on one of those thoroughfare that the group found themselves heading further into the trade district, which was a smaller part of the commercial district. It was an odd assortment of standing stone and mortar buildings and haphazardly thrown up trade tents and awnings. The entire trade district was a large section of land, being almost 2 acres of space. It took around 10 to 15 minutes of looking before they found what they were looking for. There was a building by itself on the edge of the trade district that had smoke coming out of the roof of the building.
Walking into the building they found an assortment of weapons lining the walls. As well as there being racks that occupied the floor, filled to the brim with weapons. There were also a few sections that looked to be covered in shields. As they entered the building a bell came ringing out from two different places, one right over their heads, and another from somewhere on the other side of a large arching doorway built into the building. The room took up the entire space of the building, there were two sets of stairs in one corner with a rope tied to a wooden support beam blocking off access to the stairs.
The trade district was built right up against the side in between the residential and commercial districts. As such this building was pressed up against the wall separating the two areas. The doorway leading out of the room ran right through the wall connecting a building on either side of the wall. There was a constant ringing of metal on metal that reverberated through the stone passage between buildings that made no sign of stopping. Inside the large stone room the sound that reverberated through the building was loud enough that it started to make Bjorn’s ears ring.
There was a counter in between where they stood and the stone arch, and behind the counter sat a woman elf. She perked up at the new visitors and gave them a smile before standing up and walked towards the arch connecting the two buildings. As she made her way towards the ringing she reached up and pulled something from her ears. After a few minutes they could hear loud voices, shortly afterwards the elf came back. Giving an apologetic smile she just stood there waiting for the ringing to stop, but it continued on for a few more minutes before the sound stopped.
The elf’s smile grew, “Hello, and welcome to Ella’s emporium of gear and weapons. I am sorry for the loud noises, we don’t get shoppers very often and Ella gets her work in whenever she is able to. My name is Yanda, what can we do for you?”
Alaric stepped forward towards Yanda. “Hello, my name is Alaric and I seem to have found myself in need of a shield.” As he finished speaking he unslung the shield from his back and set it on the counter between them. “We got into a fight with a rather nasty toad and it did a number on my shield. I am looking to either repair this one or buy a new shield that would protect myself a little better. As you can see and probably guess, I have some concerns about this shield's ability to fully protect me.
Yanda's face became one of schooled professionalism as she took a look at the shield. “You are right to worry.” She said as she picked it up. “This shield is almost useless, and by the looks here whatever did this probably made it into your arm.” She looked from the shield to Alaric’s bandaged arm. “And it looks like I am right. You would have gotten stabbed 5 maybe 6 different times, depending on how long your arm is. I think we can help you, let me get Ella for you.”
Before she finished speaking, a woman who was somewhere in the middle of a dwarf and a human for height. She had the characteristic grace of elves, while having the large frame of a dwarf, it was an odd mix. Her long black hair was braided and running down her back to mid back. She was wearing a sleeveless shirt which exposed well defined muscle. She didn't have the characteristic thick arms that were normally associated with smiths, but hand long, hard, lean muscles. To top it off she had long tapered ears that poke out of her head helping keep her braid in place.
Her appearance was such an odd grab bag of characteristics that Bjorn couldn't help himself and used W.A.I.L.A. on her.
Name: Ella
Race: Half elf, half dwarf
Age: 37
Level 14
Half elves and half dwarves sometimes get some of the characteristics of one parent, sometimes the other. Rarely do they get both from each parent. This is true for the inherent racial gifts of each race as well.
“Ah, welcome to my shop, I am Ella.” the woman said as she moved forward to clasp wrists with each of them. An odd quirk of the Eld was that everyone clasped wrists instead of hands in greeting. When Ella made her way to Bjorn her grip was firm, it was strong, he got the sense that if she wanted to she could crush his arm with her hand.
After introductions had been made Ella turned and picked up the shield. After just looking at it for a few seconds she said. “this shield wasn't made for you, you got it off someone. And whoever it was made for, it wasn't truly made for, it was mass produced, as if for an army.” Alaric gave a brief nod in assent to her insights.
“This shield is completely useless, and beyond repair.” As she said that she put her hands on opposite sides of the shield and with what looked like little to no effort she snapped the wooden part of the shield into two halves. The metal ring that held the shield together did its job kind of, as it didn't snap but it did bend easily enough.
“What are you looking for in a shield?” She turned towards Alaric as she and him started talking about it. She asked him questions at a rapid pace, barely waiting for his answer before snapping into the next one. After 10 different questions she gestured for them to follow her, as she walked behind the counter. They followed her.
On the other side of the arching stone doorway was a well stocked smithy. On one side of the room there was a large open forge, where a large man was standing at, working the bellows of the forge. There was a long piece of metal sitting inside the embers of the forge, which was slowly starting to change colors as it heated up. Right next to it there was a large anvil that was set to just about the right height for Ella. Along the wall behind the forge and anvil there were wooden pegs that had been set into the wall where all sorts of metal tongs, hammers, and different tools were hanging. On the opposite side from the forge there was a small room with a heavy door separating the two. Currently the door was sitting open and inside they could see coal piled high inside. Right next to the fuel room there was a large stone wheel that was suspended in the air by a wooden dowel running through the center. Below it were foot petals that were likely used for turning the wheel. In the center there was plenty of open space.
Ella walked over to where the grinding stone sat and picked up a medium sized round shield off of the workbench there, tossing it over to Alaric. She walked over to the anvil and picked up a long poker made of iron.
“Alright, defend yourself if you can.” Ella said. Alaric was about to make a pithy comment but before he got the chance Ella sprung forward leaping at Alaric, poker raised high to bring down in an heavy overhand swing.
Her sudden swing took Alaric by surprise, he had to cut his reply short as the poker was moving unnervingly towards his head. Not able to bring his shield up in time all he had time to do was shift his body to the side as the blow that would have landed on his head came in contact with his chest and belly instead. Staggering to the side when Alaric recovered his feet the poker was already on its way this time in a lunging motion aimed at goring Alaric. This time he was able to get the shield in the way and the poker's tip dug into the thick wood. Ella smiled as she withdrew the poker and started again.
They spared for a few minutes, Ella was surprisingly adept at fighting with a metal poker. Finally after a long clash she spoke out. “Enough, you can put that down, I have a good enough idea.” To punctuate her words she set the poker down and turned her back to Alaric.
She led them back to the shop side of the store. Yanda was sitting there. “You are a surprisingly good fighter Alaric, not many can defend as well as you did against Ella's barrage.”
“Thank you, I came by it honestly.” He replied, giving a small bow.
“We have a few options that could work with your fighting style.” Ella said, going straight back to business. “But if you ask me, I don't have anything that would fit you perfectly, maybe if you gave me two weeks I could come up with something.” As she said that her tone turned up slightly towards the end turning it into a half question. “Let me ask you again, what do you want in a shield? Do you want something that will fit you perfectly, or something that is good enough?”
Alaric was silent for a while, I think I'd like perfect, but I feel like perfect will cost a pretty penny.”
She nodded. Alaric kept talking. “What if I give you a rough cost and you do what you can for that. From what I've heard in town is that you are the best, and that skill comes at a price.” Once again she nodded in assent.
With her assent the group started to talk amongst themselves. After a few minutes of deliberation Alaric turned back to Ella, who was starting to look antsy. “Would one gold be enough to get it done?”
“I can't make any promises, but I bet I can get close. Whatever I make for you I will keep it close to a gold… not that I don't trust you, but a gold piece is quite a sum of money.” she trailed off towards the end of the sentence.
Realization at what she was getting at dawned on Alaric and he reached into his pouch. After a bit of rummaging he produced a gold coin showing it to her. And he took a step forward to place the coin on the counter.
“No, keep it, I will collect once the product is done. I just needed to know that you were able to pay the cost. With that settled, if you don't have need for me, the sword I've been working on should have been ready for another around for a while now.” Before she turned to leave she gave a slight bow to the group before heading back to the forge. In short order the sound of metal on metal came ringing through the building once again.
Yanda got their attention again. “Is there anything else we can do for you?”
“Uh, I think we are good for now, thank you.” Bjorn said, everyone started filing out of the door, Bjorn bringing up the rear. Just as he was about to make his way out of the building a thought came to him, stopping he turned back to Yanda. “We do have some parts that could be useful to people that we got off of a monster, is there a place we can go to sell them?”
“You might want to try the alchemy hall. I bet you'll be able to get the answers you are looking for there.”
“Thank you.” Bjorn walked through the door letting it close behind him. When the door closed it did a good job of muffling the cacophony from the inside of the shop. Instead of metal clanging the sound was replaced with the sounds of a bustling trade city.
“Well we have plans to stay around for at least two weeks, what next?” Tayla asked.
“Hmmm, I think our next move should be to find a place for us to stay.” Meira said.
“That might be a good idea, I do want to see what I can do to get rid of these bone arrows from the toad, I am getting awfully tired of carrying them around.” Bjorn said as he stretched his back.
The portable pockets' ability to carry large quantities of bulky items was amazing. The downside to it was that anything that was too big to fit into their packs easily went into the portable pocket. Even though most of what went in was light weight stuff, the sheer amount of items that went into the bag was really starting to add up, and the weight was starting to get to the point where it was uncomfortable to carry.
“Alright, let's find a place to stay and then we can do whatever we want.” Meira said.
With no objections they started to find their way to boarding houses and inns. They passed a few on their way to the metal workers house. With no better information to go on they made their way towards one that stood out to the girls as they went. It was right around where they made their way into the commercial district.
As they were traveling through the streets of the city Bjorn could see a large building standing by itself off in the distance. Based on the description he had gotten so far it was the alchemy hall.
It was late afternoon, right in between lunch and dinner. Not really wanting to backtrack Bjorn stopped the group. “Hey, I think that is the alchemy hall, I think I am going to check it out, that way I don't have to backtrack over here later today.”
“That is fair. Alaric, do you mind staying with him? I would like to go take a bath, and I'm pretty sure Tayla is in the same boat as me.”
“Sure, why not? It’s not like I want to get clean too.” Meira gave him a flat look. “Fine, fine.” He relented. “I'll go with Bjorn and look at plants that shouldn't even exist and smell stuff that will make you retch just for being around it.”
Tayla flashed them a beaming smile. “Perfect then, we will see you back at the glittering goose. We will arrange the lodging for us for the next two weeks.”
With that the two groups went different ways. Bjorn and Alaric started to pick their way through the streets packed with people. The building that Bjorn saw in the distance was the alchemy hall, and it was actually substantially larger than it looked from where they first saw it. The size of the building was misleading as it took them a long time to make it to the base of the hall. When they finally got there they stood at the base looking up, the building had to be at least 3 stories high, and that guess was based on the spacing of the windows. The floors had to be around 12 feet high as well, as the building was close to 40 feet tall at the peak.
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Where the street met the hall there was a large open doorway leading into the building. Inside on the first floor it was a large open space, at least for the front half. Lining the walls and the inner three rows were a bunch of alchemy stalls. Each one was manned and those people were selling all sorts of different potions. Making their way into the interior they asked one of the stall owners where they could sell some stuff. He directed them to the back and through a doorway. The inside of the hall was packed with people, so picking their way to the back was slow going. Once there they found the doorway and went through. They walked into another room, this one a lot smaller, with a few doors leading out of the place. There were 7 different merchants all sitting behind their booths doing various tasks.
Not sure which one to talk to, Bjorn just decided to try his luck with the closest one. “Hi, I have some thing’s I would like to potentially sell.”
The man was a large overweight human, covered in large flowy robes which helped cover his excessive bulk, but wasn’t able to ultimately do much based on his size. His appearance surprised Bjorn, as he was the first fat person he had seen since coming to the Eld. Looking up at Bjorn the man got an almost wicked grin on his face. “Of course I would be willing to help you, what is it you have to sell? Also you have the look of someone new here, you aren’t by chance a member of the alchemy guild?”
Getting a flash of Deja vu, Bjorn replied wearily. “I have an assortment of herbs, and I have a set of spikes that I got from an arrowhead toad that I would like to sell. I am not a member of the alchemy guild, does that matter?”
The almost wicked grin changed from wicked to down right predatory. “Of course it doesn’t matter. It was more to sate my curiosity. Well take them out and let's see what you got.”
Bjorn started to offload a few of his various herbs that he collected on their journey, and he also took out a small bundle of the spikes. What then ensued was a rather fierce round of talking about the herbs, and haggling. While they were haggling about the price of things Alaric got bored and started to look around. He was about to head out of one of the side doors when one of the merchants stopped him and told him that those rooms were only for alchemy guild members. Not being one to push the issue Alaric made his way back and started to search the sellers.
As it turned out the spikes weren’t worth much when it came to alchemy ingredients. The herbs on the other hand were worth quite a bit more. Bjorn only sold off a portion of his herbs and a handful of the spikes. The combined total was sold for a little under a gold piece. Bjorn was satisfied with the results as he left to try and find Alaric, the man’s smile started to turn towards lecherous with how creepy it was getting. Paying no more mind to the unsettling trader Bjorn made his way back out to the traders selling potions and goods. It took a little while to find Alaric as the man was shorter than the average person in the crowd by a large margin.
“Well did you do well?” Asked Alaric when Bjorn finally found him.
“Decently enough, how about you? Did you find anything worthwhile?”
“I did find a few cool nicks and bobs. Was there anything else you’d like before we head out?”
“Yeah, two things. First I'd like to pick up a few more vials and maybe a nicer alchemy set. Second, I have a feeling I was just scalped by that trader. I want to see what it takes to become a member of the alchemy guild here before we leave. I still have a lot of herbs that I currently don’t have a use for, I would like to sell them if I can, but not for the prices I just got.”
“Follow me, I saw a few selling what you are looking for. There was one I talked to briefly and she seemed a little more honest than the rest of these vagabonds.” Alaric led them through the crowd to a stall that had a woman dwarf behind the counter.
As they neared, Bjorn could see exactly where Alaric was leading him. Bjorn spoke quietly to Alaric, “I am sure the only reason you talked to her briefly was because of her looks.” Instead of answering Alaric just smiled. Bjorn didn’t have much attraction for dwarves, but he had to admit, the dwarf lady was attractive.
He was right in the end. The lady behind the stall had plenty of glass vials, and even a nicer alchemy kit. Bjorn bought over 100 vials, 4 large containers to hold liquids, and he got a rare level alchemy set, which was a bit of an improvement over his common rarity set. He got all of it for 29 silvers and 70 coppers. Leaving him with over a gold in silver coins. Once he finished trading, he asked her how to become a part of the alchemy guild. She directed them to a doorway set off to the side.
Making their way to the door they entered a small office space, there were two desks up against one wall, which sectioned off an area that was filled with shelves piled high with paper, books, and scrolls. One was occupied by a species that Bjorn had never come across yet. The humanoid had dark blue skin. On the surface of his skin there were runes that were glowing in a soft orange. The runes slowly drifted across his skin in a mesmerizing way, creating intricate patterns. He had short cropped black hair that was peppered with streaks of white.
When they entered and Alaric saw the man he took a soft rapid intake of breath, and held it for a bit. A soft word escaped his lips as he exhaled. “Runic.”
Alaric’s reaction to the unusual person made Bjorn curious and so he used W.A.I.L.A. on the man.
Name: Skarit.
Species: Runic.
Age: 63
Level: 19
Procession: Alchemist.
Runic’s are a rare and mysterious race in the Eld. Their powers are not fully known to any except those of their own race. What is known about them is that they have a predilection to runic magic, and everything that entails. Runics get 4 points to distribute per level.
You have become aware of a new area of study: Runic magic.
Upon seeing Bjorn and Alaric enter the room Skarit raised his eyes. They were the same glowing orange color as the runes that were running over his skin. When one of the runes made its way across his eye the iris began to glow more intensely briefly before the rune moved on and his eye returned to its normal glow. His facial features and eyes were soft.
“Hello, and welcome, my name is Skarit. I can tell by your reactions you have never seen a runic before. It can be a little jarring, that is alright I am used to it. What can I do for you?”
Bjorn stepped forwards. “I’m sorry for my staring, but your skin is mesmerizing to look at. I would like to become a member of the alchemy guild here, and we were directed here.”
Skarit’s facial features changed from soft and welcoming, to welcoming and surprised. “You are an alchemist then? That is good.” He reached one hand under the desk and grabbed a small clear crystal orb and set it on the table. “Well come here.”
Bjorn stepped up to the desk.
“Stick your hand on this orb. It has the ability to find out what your skill level in alchemy is, there is a lower limit that you have to be to be accepted into the guild.”
Bjorn stuck out his right hand and tentatively placed his hand on the clear crystal ball. It was cool to the touch. When his hand came in contact with the orb a white mist began to fill the inside of the ball.
The runic’s face fell ever so slightly. “I am sorry, but you don’t have the required skill level to join the alchemy guild. There is a base requirement of a skill level of 25 to join. I bet that if you keep practicing you will be able to join eventually.”
The kindness in the tone of the old alchemist made the news a little less disheartening. “That’s alright, thank you for considering me.”
Bjorn turned to go, but Skarit spoke up. “If you don’t mind me asking, what is your skill level in alchemy?”
“16.”
“Really? You honestly aren’t that far off, if you practice you will get there. What potions do you know how to make?”
“I haven’t really had much formal training, a little over a year ago I was saved by a woman who was an alchemist, and she taught me a bit. I know how to make health potions, mana potions, stamina potions, I know a few different recipes for each one. I have made a few weak potions from scratch. I also know how to make a smattering of pain medications, and a few other healing ointments.”
Real surprise crossed the alchemist's face. “That is quite impressive, I don’t think you understand how rare it is to even know that much.” He looked around conspiratorially making sure that no one was watching. He turned to Alaric, “If you could do me a favor, master dwarf and close the door.”
Alaric walked over to the door that they had left open when they entered the office and closed it. When the door closed Skarit reached into a pouch at his waist and pulled out a small object that Bjorn didn’t get a good look at. He reached out to make it look like he wanted to shake Bjorn’s hand. Bjorn reached out to shake the runic’s hand. When he did, the small object entered Bjorn’s possession. Understanding what the runic was trying to get at, instead of looking at it right away Bjorn quickly put it into his portable pocket.
“Look, I wish I could make an exception, but there isn’t much I can do.” Skarit said. “If you practice I am sure it won't be long and you can join our ranks. If I was to give you any advice, it would be for you to pick up a few new recipes out there.” He gestured to the trade hall. “If you can afford them, that is. One of the best ways to progress as an alchemist is to make new potions. I would suggest going to Penny, Kenny, or Lenny. They have the best recipes, and they sell them for the more fair prices.”
“Penny, Kenny, and Lenny? Are they siblings?”
“I honestly don’t know, but I doubt it. Penny is an elf, Kenny is a sprite, and Lenny is a human. I don’t know exactly how the characteristics are passed down from parent to child, but I think due to their different heritages they are most definitely not related. I do find it a little odd that their names are so similar, and that they are all in the same field as well.”
The runic started to angle his face and gave a small nod as if to say time to get going.
Alaric picked up on it. “Come on Bjorn, it is getting late and we need to meet up with the girls, besides, it is time to take a bath. I feel like I can taste my stench.”
“That is a fair point, I wasn’t going to say anything about it though.” Skarit said. “Farewell sirs. When you get level 25 in your alchemy skill, come back here and I will be waiting.”
Once they made it back out of alchemy hall and were on the streets they started their way to the glittering goose. After they made it a good distance away from the alchemy hall Alaric turned to Bjorn. “So what did he give you? I didn’t get a good look as it transferred hands.”
“I don’t entirely know, I didn’t really look, I got the impression that he wasn’t supposed to hand whatever it was over to me.” Bjorn mentally opened up his inventory, which was attached to his portable pocket. Mentally he hovered over the slot that the item was in.
Book
Rarity: Uncommon
Weight: 1.1 lbs.
It's a book, if you are really curious as to what is inside of it, why don’t you open it and find out instead of reading this description.
“Well I can say with absolute confidence that it is a book. Not quite sure what its contents are though.” Bjorn reached into the portable pocket and retrieved the book. It was a small black leather-bound book. It was around 3 inches across and 5 inches tall, and closed by a leather cord. Unwrapping the cord he opened up to the first page and started reading.
After the first page he said to Alaric. “I think it is a book filled with alchemic recipes.”
Alaric whistled. “I don’t know anything about the price of such a thing, but Skarit. That was his name wasn’t it? He made it sound like alchemic recipes cost a pretty penny, if he gave you a book full of them that is quite the gift he gave. I wonder why he gave it to you for free, I got the feeling like he wasn’t supposed to give it to you at all.”
“I got the same feeling, like him sharing the book was taboo. I wonder if the alchemy guild here is the same as the mage guild was in Vanta. Trying to restrict how much information made it to the masses.”
Bjorn began leafing through the book as they walked. It was a small book, it only held 7 potion recipes. There were the stock standard health stamina and mana potions. As it turned out there were many different ways to accomplish the same end result. The pages dedicated to those potions used ingredients that were more local, as well with brief descriptions of what they looked like and where to find them. The book also gave a detailed recipe on how to make a stronger variant at the cost of rarer and more potent herbs.
There was also a recipe for a potion called a danger sense potion. The brief description said that the danger sense potion would increase one’s ability to sense danger. That name was spot on.
The next potion was one of a fast acting paralyzing poison, something back on earth they would identify as a neurotoxin. Instead of doing permanent damage to someone’s nervous system, it only briefly paralyzed in the area of administration and did a constant health drain while also affected by it. The next potion was the antidote to the previous poison, it also gave a brief immunity to the effects of the poison.
The last potion in the book was called a minotaur's strength potion. The description said that whoever drank the potion would have the effect of their strength attribute increased by a flat 10 for a minute. Once the effect wore off the person’s strength would be decreased by 10, regaining one point per day until the strength returned to its initial value.
As they walked Bjorn read off the effects of the potions to Alaric. He also gave the detailed descriptions.
“Honestly they all sound useful, your healing potions have been a little lackluster as of late.”
“Hey, at least it’s better than nothing.”
“I never said it wasn’t. I am just pointing out a fact. Also personally, I don’t know if the minotaur’s strength one is worth it. You basically cripple yourself for 10 days for 1 minute of a power boost.”
“Yeah but if 10 points of strength is the difference between life and death, that is a sacrifice I would make every single time.”
Alaric thought for a second. “Yeah, I guess you are right. If it was a life or death situation I would probably use it. But the uses of the potion are actually quite limited. If I had one when we were fighting that ugly troll bastard I would have still lost, and even if somehow I was able to manage a win I would have been weakened and the rest of the bandits would have killed me.”
“Fair fair, I am still going to make one for you though as soon as I find out was a wartgnat is.”
They kept up the conversation while they walked, it wasn’t long before they made it to the glittering goose, by then it was getting close to mid evening. As they opened the door a welcome sound of merriment and laughter came spilling out of the open doorway. Once inside the room it was quick to find Tayla and Meira sitting at a table with mugs of a light amber liquid inside. They looked fresh and clean.
Meira wrinkled her nose at the approaching men. She threw them a key from a safe distance. “You are in room 6 upstairs, go drop your bags and talk to Kent at the bar, he will see you to the baths. They also have a laundry service here. We put some clothes that should fit you in your room, on the beds.”
They turned to go. “Before you go, did you find what you were looking for Bjorn?”
“Yes, kind of. And at the same time I found more. I will fill you in after the bath.”
Alaric and Bjorn didn't pay much attention to the tap room, instead just heading to the stairs making their way to their room. Once there they dropped their packs and removed their dirty clothes for them to be collected and washed. The thought of the bath was a welcome thought so they quickly made their way downstairs, grabbing the new clothes that the girls had got for them on the way out.
Kent at the bar was a jovial giant of a man. Who was pouring beers and drinks for people. When they asked about the bath he directed them out a side door and to a room quite similar to what Bjorn found in Nontorum. The major difference was this bath house was quite a bit nicer than the one he went to in Nontorum. It was a large open area with multiple doors leading off of the chamber. There was a room separate from the bath itself for them to strip down and leave their clothes behind. There was more than enough space for Alaric to use his own room.
Bjorn plunged into the bath, letting the warm water seep into his body and start to relax him. Once he was finished washing, he hit a nob and the water drained. Once the dirty water fully drained something happened with the controls that Bjorn didn't fully comprehend, and the bath quickly began to fill with warm water again. Where before the water had a slight sheen of soapy water. This time the water was clear of regular warm water. Once the tub filled fully the room began to fill with a light steam, turning the room into a bath sauna mix. He could feel all of the stress, worries and tension leave his body as he soaked in the relaxing environment.
He stayed like that for over an hour before he decided it was time to get out. When he left the bath and made his way into the middle room he found that his dirty clothes were gone. Figuring they must have taken them to get washed he paid them no mind.
Where Bjorn started to take issue was with the clothes that the girls had provided him. His shirt was a crème white and made out of a soft stretchy material. The shirt itself wasn't the issue, it was the cut of the shirt that he took issue with. When he pulled the shirt on his torso it turned out that they had picked a shirt at least a size too small for what he liked. The new shirt fit him like a glove, it also was cut low in the front. The front of the shirt was a v neck that was cut down to almost his belly button.
The pants were also of the same type of material, and were a soft gray color. The pants were also cut a little too close to the skin for his liking, especially the high crotch area. Between the high crotch, tight butt area, and the pants hugging his legs almost like a pair of leggings, there wasn't much modesty left.
The entire ensemble was tied together by a pair of gray slippers, his leather boots being nowhere in sight. Swearing at the nerve of the women he walked out of his room to bump into Alaric. Who was also as elegantly and flowery dressed.
Alaric was wearing a flower print shirt that had a strong flower perfume wafting off of it. They had given him a pair of shorts that came up well past his knees. He looked like an overweight tourist who didn't care that they had gained 50 lbs. in the last year and still thought they were fit with a six pack.
By the look on his face he was fuming. “They took your clothes to be washed too?” Bjorn asked.
“Aye. And those daft bints gave me this ridiculous outfit to wear. I swear, when I get my hands on them they are going to regret it.”
Making their way back to the main lobby of the inn they started to draw a lot of attention. Thinking it was because of their outfits they made a beeline for the table that Meira and Tayla were sitting at barely containing smiles at their appearances. Tayla's lecherous eyes strayed up and down Bjorn more than a few times as they made their way across the filled room.
They made it to the table and as Alaric started to inflate to chew them out an oddly masculine hand snaked around Bjorn's waist resting on his pelvis, entirely too close for his liking. Looking behind him there was a large rough sailor looking man standing right behind Bjorn. Quickly surveying the room he noticed that every single of the servers were men, and most of them were dressed in a similar fashion to both he and Alaric.
A deep voice spoke out from behind Bjorn. “Hey there big boy, how much for me to take that sweet ass up stairs with me for the night?”
He tried to extricate himself from the sailor hanging on quite firmly. As he did so he looked at the women who were now full of pure unadulterated mirth. “God damn it, again?”
(If you don't care you may skip to the next part.)
You have advanced your skill level in trade, reaching skill level 11. Items you buy and sell prices will be 5.5% more in your favor, this also includes bartering.