15. LADLE TAVERN

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“Hurmph, while we’re saying thanks, I’d like to say I appreciate my healed leg!” Stibs cheered.

“Rrghegh… I appreciate the healing too,” Drek agreed, poking at his green neck.

“Hmmm,” Colb mumbled. This woman could teach me something, yes? he thought to himself.

“27,” Colb whispered, turning to his friend. “Could this pit stop turn into a day-long trip? I’d like to learn how to heal like Vitra can, yes?”

27 nodded, scanning the town with his eyes. “AaAaaaaahhhh, I’d like to try making some sales here, too, yes I would. A day-long stop sounds most reasonable; I’d love to approach some customers here, like I did in Cantia. If this is really a town of scientists, I’ll bet they’d be interested in some of my wares.” He then glanced at Kashmir, whose frosty composure seemed to have melted slightly after Vitra explained herself. “Also, I notice you’ve taken a liking to that elf,” he continued.

“Hmmm, she reminds me of the children in Skaal, yes?” Colb replied. “She came here to drive the humans away… to freeze them, if necessary. I’ve been hoping to teach her a little empathy for them instead, yes?”

“AaAaaaaahhhh, you are just like Orta said, you know that?” 27 cheered with a smile. “So, how about this: since I can speak Hewmish, why don’t I take Kashmir with me? I won’t know what she’s saying, but with her amulet, she’ll at least know what I’m saying. We could tour the town together, and I could introduce her to all the different scientists while I’m meeting them myself. Perhaps that would enlighten her to the many different projects Vitra claims are helping the animals around here, yes it would? It might make her more comfortable with humanity, one person at a time, yes it might?”

Colb grinned. “Hmmm! That sounds great!” he rejoiced.

“AaAaaaaahhhh, most excellent!” 27 cheered back. The noble goblin clapped his hands together, and announced the plan to the team. Meanwhile, Colb went up to Kashmir, and explained why she should follow 27.

“Hmmm, I’m going to stay here for today, and try to convince Vitra to teach me to make medicine, yes?” Colb said. “Hmmm, but you should follow 27 around town, yes? He’s going to seek out some of the human scientists, and introduce you – if you listen carefully, perhaps they’ll show you how they’re helping Jaiphione’s Crescent, just like Vitra did? Hmmm! The humans messed up when they first arrived here, but it sounds like they’re all working really hard to fix their mistake, yes? Perhaps someday, the crescent will be even better off than it was before they arrived, thanks to their experiments, yes? Isn’t that nice?”

Kashmir put a bit of hair in her mouth, and chewed it. It flowed along her teeth like regular hair – Colb heard no crunching ice sound like he did when the elf ate food. “Um… I guess I’d be interested to see what else is happening here,” she said. “So… okay.”

With that, 27 and Kashmir broke off from the group, and head out to explore Claus. Stibs followed them, looking excited to test out his new leg on the town.

This left Colb and Drek behind at the laboratory. “Hmmm,” Colb said, looking up at Vitra. “I’m sure you’re quite busy… but I’m meant to be the medic for my group. As you can see, many of them came here wounded, because I had no idea how to help them. Could you teach me to make medicine?”

“Ehhhhhhhh,” Vitra replied, tilting her head. “That’s kind of a big commitment for the day. I just wanted to see what that elf was all about, and show you guys an experiment since you seemed interested. I’ve already down both those things, so I figure I’ll get on with my day. It was nice meeting you, though!”

Colb frowned. “Hmmm… alright,” he conceded.

“Rrghegh… wait,” Drek said. “What if we paid you? Gave you some rare metal for your research?”

The mop of hair on Borin’s head rose slightly with intrigue. He coughed, then replied in ratty Goblish. “What kind of rare metal?”

“Rrghegh… not this specifically, but how about a couple coins made of the same stuff?” Drek replied. He presented his shiny arrow, from his Yiklar Bow of Returning Arrow kit. “Rrghegh… but only if you teach my friend what he wants to know.”

“Iridhodium…” Borin muttered. He leaned close to the arrow, as if to get a better look – although his eyes appeared to be blocked by hair as far as Colb could tell. “How many coins?”

“Two,” Drek said.

“Six?” Borin countered.

“Three,” Drek conceded.

“Five?” Borin replied.

Drek thought for a moment. “Rrghegh… I’ll give you five coins, but you also must smith something for me today.”

“Like what?” Borin asked.

Drek’s teeth formed into a wicked smile as he reached into his cloak. He soon revealed some goldatinum coins he’d taken from the pirate ship. “I have chest full of goldatinum coins and precious gems,” he explained. “I want you to turn some of the treasure into an object that will signify my might. Something to strike fear into enemy hearts when I become king of Ratter tribe. Rrghegh, maybe goldatinum dagger or something. I’m not sure, but if you can make something good for me – and if Vitra helps my friend with his thing – then, I’ll give you five coins of the rare metal.”

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The dwarf stepped back in line with Vitra, and nudged her in the arm. Their armors reacted, setting off a quick spark. This startled the winter foxferret on the woman’s shoulder, making it grow an inch larger and wider.

“Can you clear your schedule for today?” he asked.

“Aw, look what you did to Bitty!” the woman complained, picking up the winter foxferret from her shoulder. Her armor glowed to protect her hands as she pet the beast in a calming manner.

“Iridhodium’s really rare,” Borin burped, switching to Dwarvish so Drek couldn’t understand him. “I could melt five coins down to make some very precise little tools. Please do this for me.”

Bitty purred as the human stroked her hair, and shrunk back down to her original size. “Fine,” Vitra said, placing the calmed winter foxferret back on her shoulders.

“It’s a deal,” Borin burped, switching back to Goblish. “Vitra will help your friend, and I’ll make you something good.”

Colb smiled at Drek, surprised and pleased that the friend had given up some treasure to help him. “Rrghegh… just give us a minute to grab the goods. We’ll meet you back here,” Drek announced. He pat Colb on the back, and head towards Claus port. Colb followed, then helped his companion carry the small-but-heavy treasure chest off the pirate ship and over to Vitra’s Lab.

Colb spent the remainder of the day learning basic alchemy from Vitra, hoping to become proficient in some type of health potion before the group moved on to the Frosted Wastes. Drek spent his time silently watching Borin in the back of the lab, eagerly inspecting the dwarf’s progress at every step.

At the end of the day, as Colb finished brewing his first simple health potion, the rest of his team knocked on the door of the lab. Vitra let them inside, and Bitty yipped at the three visitors.

“Hmmm, look at what I’ve made, yes?” Colb announced to the group as they entered the cold building. He held up a bubbling, clear potion. “This form of medicine has some similarities with cooking, yes?” he said with glee.

“Ah! It’s very nice, yea?” Vitra praised. She flipped out her notebook, and turned to a page covered in notes. “Fun fact about Colb’s potion: it’s a slight modification to my original recipe. We’ve replaced the sliced tomatoroot with crushed daisywheat. By my calculations, it should work just fine – not a bad discovery! I suppose this afternoon wasn’t a total loss for my research after all.”

“Hmmm, I tasted the tomatoroot, and it was an odd mixture of sweet and bitter, yes?” Colb added sheepishly. “I made the suggestion because I thought it would make the potion taste better… so it could be consumed, instead of injected. I’m not sure I feel comfortable injecting others, yes? Hmmm, and I was surprised when Vitra approved my suggestion!”

“The tomatoroot was just in there to act like a sort of glue for the other ingredients,” Vitra clarified. “Crushed daisywheat should work just as well for that, which is why I approved the idea. Colb’s modification to my recipe should be consumable, and able to work just the same as my injected formula – not to mention, it doesn’t taste half bad.” She pat Colb’s bald head. “If you keep up the ideas like that, you’re on your way to becoming a decent alchemist, yes you are!”

“AaAaaaaahhhh, that’s wonderful, Colb!” 27 cheered. “We had a most productive day, too! I’ve made some sales, Stibs ran circles around us with his newfound health, and Kashmir got to see lots of experiments!”

The elf pushed her hair over her face, masking her emotions. “Um… I did like seeing the ladybugmoth sanctuary…” she admitted.

Suddenly, a loud sizzling came from the back of the lab as Borin used his armor to cool down something he’d been working on. “Rhe! It’s done! It’s done!” Drek squealed with joy, hopping around in the back of the lab.

“AaAaaaaahhhh, you seem most excited, yes you do,” 27 observed.

Drek pulled the hood of his cloak off his head, then looked up at the dwarf. “Gimmiegimmiegimmie!” he squealed as the Borin took a cooled mass of goldatinum and gems off the surface of his armor. The hairy dwarf burped, then placed the item on Drek’s head.

“Ra-daa!” Drek shouted, scampering to the front of the lab to show off his new headpiece to the others. Atop his little green body sat a magnificently crafted goldatinum crown. Inlaid into it were some reddish-blue rubiamonds and bluish-green sappheralds from the pirate captain’s stash. “Rrghegh, I’m one step closer to king of Ratter!”

Kashmir rolled her eyes. “Hmmm, you certainly look like it, yes?” Colb praised.

“Is that pure goldatinum?” Vitra asked, looking at Borin.

Drek nodded excitedly. “I told him it wasn’t a good idea, but he insisted I don’t mix in any other metals,” Borin explained.

Vitra sighed. “Did you get the iridhodium coins he promised?” she asked. Borin nodded excitedly, his hair flailing as he did so. The alchemist sighed again.

“Alright little guy, I’m going to offer to do the right thing here,” Vitra said, pulling a spray bottle of misty purple liquid out from her yellow duffle bag. “Pure goldatinum will bend and scratch over time. Let me enchant it with this to make it structurally sound, yea?”

Drek thought for a moment, then nodded, presenting the crown to Vitra. “Magic crown!” he cheered, as she sprayed it with the enchantment.

“Hm, there we go,” she said as she finished spraying. Drek put the crown back on, and smiled at the accomplishment.

“Welp, looks like we’re all done for the day,” Vitra announced, packing up her duffle bag of potions. She then held out an arm, and Bitty jumped to it from the floor, climbing up onto the woman’s shoulders. “It was fine meeting all of you. I appreciated seeing the elf’s powers, I’m glad to have spread Tanja’s good will by introducing someone new to alchemy,” she continued, placing a hand on Colb’s bald head, “and I’m glad Borin got some iridhoidum. However, the sun is setting, and I think it’s high time we split ways.”

“Wait… uh, don’t you want to head to the tavern first?” Borin asked, switching to Dwarvish. “Today’s that big special I was talking about, where everything’s half price if you bring someone that’s never been before!”

“Oy, I’d rather rest tonight,” she replied in Dwarvish, stepping out the door. “Plus, you owe me one for helping you get that iridhodium today. You wouldn’t want to be indebted to me double, right? Make sure nobody’s left in the lab before you lock up.” Bitty let out a quick goodbye yip! as the duo stepped out of the building.

Borin sighed, then started packing up his blacksmithing supplies. “What’s a tavern?” Kashmir asked, her Yiklar Amulet of Open Ears having translated the Dwarvish for her.

Colb did a double-take. “Hmmm! What’s a tavern?!” he exclaimed. “A tavern’s exactly what I run back at my home tribe! It’s a place of good food, and complicated drinks, yes?”

Borin’s hair rose with intrigue. “Uh… I haven’t seen you guys around before,” he burped, switching back to his rough Goblish. “You’re new to Claus, I assume? Have you… uh, what’s the word… have you guys come under the Ladle Tavern?”

“MMmMmmmm… what?” 27 asked.

“Uh… come through? No, visited. That’s the word. Have you visited the Ladle Tavern?” Borin clarified. The goblins shook their heads. “Well, uh…” Borin burped. “Everything’s half price today, but only for customers who’ve never been to the tavern before… and for the customer that referred them,” he prodded. “Would any of you like to be my invitees, so we can all save some money tonight?”

“Hurmph, well it’s probably best we don’t set sail until morning, anyway,” Stibs noted.

“Hmmm! I’d love to go,” Colb cheered. “Just as long as we don’t stay all night, yes?” he continued, glancing at 27.

“MMmMmmmm, yes, I did stay at a tavern little bit too long back in a human city… but I just love them!” 27 replied. “We should all go, yes we should!”

“Rrghegh… I see no reason to reject dinner alongside my royal blacksmith,” Drek added, gleefully touching the crown on his head.

“Um… I am hungry, so I’ll come, too… I don’t have any money, though…” Kashmir muttered.