Ale and Mimics
Log Info
- Title: Ale and Mimics
- Place: The TarRaCe
- Summary: Rune comes to the TarRaCe to clean up and get some food and drink after the encounter with mimics in the Felwood, and shares a conversation with Irshya about how strange the occurrence was.
The TarRaCe, lunchtime.
A gloomy day sees fewer patrons for the lunch rush, though the TarRaCe is well lit and warm. The lunch special, cured hydra meatloaf, seems to be popular, a testament to the Lucht chefs' skills.
The sign also promises a free Stormbrew Ale, which /could/ be helping the special's popularity.
The staff wait upon the tables briskly, mixing cheery greetings and cheeky gossip with patrons and other staff alike. The bar is manned by the pool-shark, who slides a variety of drinks to patrons across the polished black bartop.
After recent events, Rune is looking more than a little worse for wear. The half-sil has just come from the baths, her hair damp around her shoulders and wearing only simple draw-string trousers and a sleeveless shirt. Her normal traveling gear has been sent to be washed, and there are likely a few whisperings going around about the blood and other... strange substances that were covering it. Ew.
Signs of that encounter are evident, with one arm freshly bandaged and an absolutely exhausted look on the poor woman's face. "I'll take the special and ale, please." Then, she props her head on one hand and yawns, rubbing at sleepy eyes with the other.
Irshya is there after a moment, her eyes taking in Rune's exhausted look and posture. A little hand pats at the Half-Elf's forearm gently. "For you, it is on the house.", the Gobbo says softly.
While another staffer runs off to the kitchen, Irsh pours a tall glass of ale. A tall Helf-Oruch woman takes over at the bar.
"Want to talk about it?", the pool shark asks, sliding the ale in front of Rune.
On another occassion, Rune might have pushed back on the generocity, but on this particular day, she accepts it warmly. What surprises many a person about the diminuative half-elf is that she drinks like a mercenary. After chugging a good few swallows of it, Rune sits up properly and laughs. "I'm fine."
She rolls her shoulders, "Found a mimic disguised as a table, by stepping on it's face. Then got an unwelcome tongue-bath before being chomped on by one of the thing's pint-sized 'children'." Which would explain the bandages and the unique vicera that was on her armor. "Seems like any time people try to investigate that tower in the Felwood, something strange happens."
Irshya smiles at the Half-Elf's laugh, nodding enthusiastically. She attempts to keep a lid on her giggling, but it gets out. "Ah, mimics. A real threat at times, but you have to admire their disguise skills, yes? A table, you say? What were its children disguised at?"
She gestures at Rune's arm, "Did a cleric tend to you?" She chuckles. "One of my enduring memories is watching someone run by, screaming, with a mimic disguised as a chair biting his bum."
"Right? Not a single one of us spotted what they were before they decided to turn ravenous." Even Rune, who usually has a remarkable knack for noticing small details, missed the creatures until she was standing right on top of one. "The strangest thing was that the table was set with /exactly/ the right number of seats. Like someone knew exactly who was coming and set the mimics up. I'm just not sure /how/ that could have happened."
She stops to take another drink, "They were little jars of jam, that grew teeth. Their bites /fucking/ hurt." She huffs a bit, her hand drawing damp strands of hair behind one pointed ear. "The whole thing was suspicious, but you know some people... barreling in head-first."
At the question about her arm, Rune looks at it and nods, "Yeah. Harkashan tended to it. When you've got multiple clerics among your friends and allies, it's pretty easy not to end up with anything that will leave any permanent damage." The idea of someone with a chair-mimic biting at their rear end has her laughing again. It adds levity to the situation.
The blue-skinned priestess laughs. "Jars of jam, how adorable! Frightening, but adorable." Her eyebrows raise up, and a hand reaches out to take Rune's partially drunk ale. The drink is topped up and returned.
"That is kind of creepy, and suspicious. The Felwood, you say? Hmmm, not too surprising then, that area has always had problems with monsters."
She rubs at her chin then, "It could be that you and your group were being watched, or that the number of chairs was just a coincedence. I am glad that you survived, surprises are never good in the Felwood." She snorts then. "Yes, some feel the need to barrel in half-cocked. I trust that everyone survived? If you had multiple clerics, healing should have been amply covered."
"They're not so adorable when they are latched on to your arm with razor-teeth." Rune replies, her own brows lifting at the same time. "Sad part is, when we destroyed the main mimic, they all vanished. Didn't even leave any of the jam behind. Though... there were still biscuits. It's all very weird."
"We weren't the only ones. There was another group in the woods with us, but we split up to cover more ground. Apparently they ran into monsters as well." Rune explains, pressing her lips together thoughtfully.
"Everyone made it out alright. I think I took the worst of it." She looks at the refilled ale, knowing full well that it would be all too easy to get completely drunk the way the propriator topping her off. "Mostly healing in the aftermath. It was a little rough when getting anywhere close to the thing meant you might find yourself being ... tongued." She shivers, having not enjoyed that experience whatsoever.
"Yes, it is strange. But not unexpected out near the Felwood. I mean, this whole country is weird, when you think about it." Irshya chuckles. "Oh yes, sharp little teeth." Her own grin is full of teeth, shark-like triangular ones.
Irshya shivers also at the mention of being tongued. "Ick. I imagine their breath was terrible, and the tongue was slimey, because of course it would be..."
The mouth full of shark-like teeth causes Rune to tilt her head slightly, "Just so long as you don't attach any of yours to to any part of me, I think we're good." She smirks, "I don't tend to enjoy non-consensual biting."
"You sound like you have some experience in the Felwood, yourself?" She taps her fingers on the edge of the glass, looking over it at the Goblin. "Or is it just stories you've heard?"
The recollection of being tongue-captured then nearly bitten and swollowed is enough to make Rune give an unlady-like 'urk' of sound. Definitely not something she's interested in. She'll never understand perverts who are into that kind of thing. "You'd think, if it was a normal mimic, though, there would have been a body left, right? But these just up and vanished. Nothing. Just some plateware and scattered biscuits."
The pool-shark's eyebrows rise up, and she blinks a few times at Rune. "I tend to only bite my meals. I am not saying I have never bitten a person, but, well, any non-consensual biting would be reserved for uh people who are majorly aggravating me, or attacking in some way. Shark teeth don't do delicate biting, is all I can say."
"I have done a few incursions into the Felwood, ages and ages ago. Back when the rip, the tear in the divider keeping the hells out of our world, still existed. But it's been sealed for some time now, so the fact that there is still demonic happenings is surprising. Part experience, part stories I've heard."
Irshya pats at Rune's arm, "If you want, go have another bath, yes? Soak the memory right out of your head." Her head cants sideways slightly. "Just vanished? Hmm, that /is/ new. Might want to investigate that more. Isn't there a fort or big camp out there, for investigating the spire, as well, the lost tower than came back? Haven't they been investigating the Felwood and the recent... extra oddities?"
"I'll make sure not to aggrivate you if I can help it." Rune smirks. "Can't say I go biting people, myself. I'm pretty sure most people don't taste very good, anyways." There are many people who desperately need the bathhouse and are not making good use of it, in her opinion. Her nose scrunches.
"I'm not sure if what is happening is strictly demonic, or something else entirely. Our group found this strange black stone after we killed the mimic. I think there's some plans to have it examined." Her brows furrow.
"We actually signed on the job from the camp. We've been trying to help where we can with the strange occurances going on. Sometimes they all seem connected, and other times they seem like there just so happens to be multiple powerful forces pulling strings at the same time." She takes another sip of her ale, seeming thoughtful.
"Do you think what's going on there now might hve something to do with that rip you encountered?"
"I doubt you could aggravate me, unless you were intentionally doing it.", Irshya says with a grin. "And I doubt I would bite you anyway. You're right though, most people don't smell good enough to bite, and ... yeah, not tasty at all."
The Gobbo nods, "I would suggest not touching the stone, or keeping anything from those woods. Be careful. Don't be too close if they are going to muck about with the stone."
She rubs at her chin. "It's hard to say, I wouldn't call myself an expert, but, it would not surprise me if these occurences were related. Tell me... what's your gut feeling about it? Perhaps I will make an effort to join up with a group who's headed into the Felwood, get a look at things myself."
"Well, the mimic thought I was tasty, but I've seen the sort of things they eat, so I have to question their flavor pallete." Rune sticks out her tongue at that, shaking her head.
"I don't have it, and I wouldn't be fool enough to bring it here, so you don't have that to worry about." She explains, "Lucius wrapped it up and was going to bring it to the guild. He said something about a fire demon having come from one before." Her shoulders lift in a small shrug, as if she were taking his account at face-value.
"Mine?" Rune catches her lower lip between her teeth, seeming to really consider the matter. "It seems to me like whatever is going on with the tower isn't related to the other werewolf and cultist activity, despite the similar location." However, she does seem quite uncertain on that fact. "Then again, Simony would probably know better than me. She seems to have a pulse on everything going on around here."
Irshya laughs then, slapping the bartop with a hand. "The mimic had good taste in meals, I would say of the two of you, you look tastier than I imagine the mimic did." She giggles a little more and then sighs. "I am teasing. Just wanted to poke and tease and try to get you to laugh a bit."
"As for that stone or gem, anything coming out of the Felwood should be treated very carefully, and thought of as dangerous until it can be confirmed to be safe. It's history goes a ways back and its story is always full of demons and fell beasts, and strange happenings. It's been a little thorn in Alexandria's, and Mythwood's, side."
She nods then, and shrugs. "Talk to as many people as you can, honestly, don't just take one person's word for it."
Rune smirks, "The mimic also tried to eat Lucius. So at least I wasn't alone in being drooled on." Propping her chin on one hand, she adds, "A little surprised it didn't go after Harkashan. He's the slowest out of everyone with that heavy armor of his, but... maybe it thought that it would break a tooth or something."
The advice is taken with a nod, "I've been trying to better outfit myself for dealing with those kind of threats. Silver, cold iron, magical weapons. Whenever I have coin to spare, I'm usually investing it into those sort of things." She chuckles softly, "Though I always keep at least enough to pay for visits here."
Reaching up, Rune rubs at one of her shoulders as if she were trying to work out an ache there, "That's the plan. If I keep asking questions, sticking my nose into things, sooner or later I find answers."
The pool shark giggles, "Ah, the mimic had really good taste, going after the pretty people. Perhaps it was jealous of your looks. Or thought prettier people taste better. That's a benefit for me, eat the ugly ones last..." Irshya snorts and slaps the bartop again. "Ah, Harkashan. Yes, Sith are well known for their tough hides. Also... he is rather warm... perhaps the mimic worried he was full of lava?"
She nods enthusiastically. "Yes, if you are not capable of heavy magical attacks, having an enchanted weapon, or one made of special materials, is a very, very good idea." Her giggle is heard once more. "That is very kind of you. I appreciate you as a friend and customer. And if there's anything you need help with, please ask. I will help you as best I can, if not, I can probably find a friend who can."
A faint hint of color shows on Rune's freckled cheeks as she laughs off the compliment. "If you say so. Luckily, I'm wiley enough to usually get out of those kind of situations. I don't know if Harkashan would have been able to slip the hold of a mimic." He does tend to move quite a bit slower than others, both due to armor and just his general nature.
"Well, I appreciate you as a friend and a provider of warm baths, good food, and pleasant drink." Rune tips the glass of ale again. "Right now, I think there's just a lot I need to figure out. Though... if you wouldn't mind warning some of your patrons of an uptick in Fey activity? There was one we ran into recently, wore someone else's face and was trying to lure Adventurers to eat them, I think."
She pauses, thoughtful, "We managed to handle ourselves." They really didn't, "But I imagine it might pose a real threat to others who aren't on the lookout."
Irshya's grin is cheeky, the look in her eyes mischievous. "I think Hark would cut its tongue off, grump a little, and carry on as if nothing untoward had happened. Probably complain about his knees, yes?"
Giggling, she nods. "Don't forget massage and laundry services. All the things an adventurer needs after a fight, screaming and exploring dusty, smelly ruins."
She snaps her fingers. "I will do that, and you've given me a good idea. I could post a board with all the latest tidbits of info. Could list rumours, confirmed and debunked, stuff like that. Could also list places, people and creatures to be wary of, yes?"
Pushing herself up from her seat, Rune downs the last of the ale before Irshya has the chance to fill it up yet again. "Probably." She chuckles wryly, appreciating the humor in regards to her Makari companion.
"Already making use of the laundry services, though I feel bad for your staff for having to deal with that mess." She winces, "Think I'll go soak in some warm water for a while." Rune seems to prefer that idea to having a stranger's hands on her.
The prospect of a rumor board has one brow quirking, followed by a nod, "Seems like it would be of really good use in a place like this. If nothing else, it's a good way to help protect customers." With a small bow of her head, she gives one last smile, "It was good talking to you again, Irshya. Take care of yourself and... if you do end up in the Felwood, be careful."