Mushrooms and Man Left Behind

The sun is bright overhead, which means Culix is taking refuge. She slips into the TarRaCe, drawing back her hood once she is shielded from its relentless rays. She winces a bit at the motion, and rubs her left shoulder with the right hand a bit, massaging the still-healing flesh beneath with the ball of her palm, before heading further on into the TarRaCe. Her eyes are peeled for a particular fixture, but whether she spots a certain blue gobber or not, she heads over to find a table to claim for some lunch.

As soon as one can expect from the very professional and expert staff at TarRaCe, Culix' table is soon approached by a figure. "And in what fashion can the fair establishment of TarRaCe endear Knives today with?" A rumbling, sibilant voice asks, coming from a widely grinning, in rather macabre way, sith-makar. His ruddy scales were mostly exposed from his white waiter's shirt, unbuttoned and sleeves rolled, while he was wearing his black loincloth-waiter-apron.

Twirling a pen between his fingers, Aelwyn flicks open his notepad. "Wolf roasted with mushrooms and herbs and blueberry wine is today's special." He clicks his teeth, tilting his head. "Though the hot baths may be healthier for the body."

The bright, yet cold, day sees modest business for the TarRaCe. The daily special fills the area with a delicious, savoury smell

The proprietress isn't immediately present, but appears shortly, stepping out of the bath's area, halfway through a lengthy stretch.

Irshya yawns broadly too, and then tilts her head back and forth, the snaps and pops of her neck audible even at a distance.

"Bacon.", the pool-shark says to Aelwyn with a toothy grin, the hole in her toothline nearly filled up by one of her many replacement teeth. "And a coffee with nothing added." Her expression softens slightly, "Please."

Shehugs gently at Culix, burying her nose in the shadowy Goblin's cheek. "Long time no see.", she says with a little giggle, offering a wink as payment for the pun.

"Mushrooms sounds good. So does bacon. Bacon and mushrooms. And fried potatoes." Culix requests. "How you healing up?" she adds a moment later. "My shoulder's still sore where that thing took a bite out of me." she complains to the Sith-makar. As Irshya emerges, her ear-tips twitch, and she turns her head towards her, her lips parting into a grin. "Hey hon." she calls out as the sharky one draws near and returns the hug.

"Has it been that long? Feels like I see you all the time." she teases in return with a wink of her own.

Aelwyn twists his head as Irshya arrives, not even bothering to jot down her familiar order. Her words makes the draconian twist his lips though, and he leans his hip slightly as his tail moves to tap at the shark goblin's ankles. "But of course." He rumbles with a flicker of his tongue.

Attention slips back towards Culix, and Aelwyn dutifully jots down her order... in a manner of speaking, before he pauses. There's a moment as he inhales deeply, expression souring for the moment. "Tch, one cannot work here without Sharkie fussing one to death." The draconian complains, waving his notepad. "But hmh. That was an incredibly unsatisfying fight."

Taking another deep breath, he bows his head. "This one shall return shortly." The Dragoon turns and with a lazy rolling gait, heads over the kitchen.

"Oooh, fried potatoes! I want some too!" Irshya eyes Aelwyn. "Oh, did you get hurt again?" Her gaze goes back to Culix, a frown appearing. "Were you hurt too? Do either of you need some tending too?" She blinks at Aelwyn a moment. "Fussing one to death? I'll show you fussing...!"

The pool-shark huffs at the retreating Sith-Makar. "I want some fried potatoes too!"

she sighs and leans against Culix. "Twas a joke, hon. Hah, you know, how you can sneak and hide very well? So I don't see you coming in and out?"

Culix grins, "I was joking too! 'bout seeing you all the time. Since you'd never know~" she teases and then nuzzles into Irshya. "But, no, I don't see you enough." she admits, cheeks coloring a touch at the admission, and pecks Irshya on the cheek. "Mhmm. We got in a fight with some Daemons. We managed to nab the thing from them, but had to beat a retreat. Left someone behind." she admits, and glances back over Aelwyn's way, knowing how torn up the Sith was about that.

"I got some healing already, it's just sore." she says and unbuttons the second button of her blouse so she can widen the collar and show the marks of fading, tooth shaped scars on her shoulder. From the size of the bite, whatever bit her was pretty large.

Aelwyn waves his hand dismissively over his head at Irshya's words, not even bothering to look back at her before heading into the kitchen. It takes him a few minutes, but eventually he reappears with a large platter held above his head. It was teetering. "The pair were in luck - it is as if it was all already there." He rumbles as he lays the platter down - bowl of bacon, bowls of the potatoes and mushrooms. And pair of plates and utensils. The coffee is settled on the table then.

"This one was impressed at how she stole the vial," The ruddy sith-makar says as he continues to set out the table. "But tch. That should have been our fight." He clicks his teeth in annoyance. "Lucky cretins."

The pool-shark giggles and enjoys the intimacy, returning the peck with one of her own. There's a little intake of breath. "Daemons? That's not good.. oh.. who... who got left behind? Are you going to go back and try and rescue them?"

She is momentarily distracted by the arrival of the large platter, and it's array of delicious food. The tip of her tail can be seen wiggling back and forth, and she hugs at Aelwyn for a few moments, before remembering she's currently annoyed. "Thank you, Aelwyn."

Her eyes widen at the toothy scars on Culix' shoulder. Her hand goes to her teeth a moment, as if measuring their size compared to the ones on the other Goblin. "I'm happy you both escaped mostly unscathed. But uhm... if you are going back, would you like some help?"

"Our team play was pretty on point, I thought." Culix assures Aelwyn. "You did good at setting me up for the ol' flank and shank." she insists. "If they hadn't been flying we could have managed to herd them a little better, keep them pinned on the bridge and they wouldn't have been able to get to Schara." she adds then and strums her fingertips on the table. "Maybe I should get some scrolls of dispelling. It would have been pretty funny to drop the two on the sides in the volcano. They're so expensive, though."

She shakes her head at Irshya. "I don't know. A one armed elf, I'd never seen them before." she tells the other Goblin. "I don't know if they're still kicking. The cave collapsed. But they saved our skin. Even though I'm sure they could have made it out too if they didn't do the whole 'look at me being a noble hero' thing. So yeah, we ought to go back and help them if we can." she grumps, but it's half-hearted/

Aelwyn gives Irshya a curious, teasing glance as she moves to hug him. Anger so easily mitigated and bribed with a bowl of good tasting food. "Naturally." He taps at the shark goblin's flank with his tail again. Irshya gets a longer look though, and he shakes his head. "It was not a good fight."

Then the Dragoon gestures towards Culix. "This one did," He agrees, "And we felled the foul beast. We just..." He growls again, sliding his hand across his mane of quills. He doesn't finish his sentence though, "The vial was more important." He finally grunts, looking back towards Irshya with crossed arms.

"This one had never seen them before. They threw this one a glaive, of all things - and seemed to carry plenty of spears themselves." Aelwyn grinds his teeth together. "It is hard to leave someone behind with a debt, yet this one has no idea who they were or what they were after."

"Ah... erm, is... Schara okay?", the blue Gobbo wonders. She nods, a grin spreading across her lips. "Ah yes, a dispelling magic does play havoc with opponents who depend on it to get things done." Irshya listens pensively to the telling of a cave collapse, and she reaches out to muss Culix' hair a little, and stroke her cheek.

The angled tip of her tail fends off Aelwyn's tail, and the pool-shark peers at him evenly. "I can't speak to the situation you were in, but I would not be so cavalier in dismissing a life, Aelwyn. I'll go back with you, to look, yes? If they survived somehow, and got away, then you can be happy in that knowledge. If they perished, you at least can give them a proper burial and rememberance, yes?"

She pauses as she puts several pieces of bacon into her maw, followed by fried potatoes. "But.. mmph so good.. such is the adventuring life, yes? Life is fragile and we must fight for it."

Culix piles some of the food from the large platter onto her plate, and she shrugs one shoulder. "Don't reckon Ael was dismissing him." she says then. "Guy looked tougher than old boot leather to me. Wouldn't be surprise if we saw him again." she says and then nods over to Aelwyn. "Glaive he threw you was silver. So was one of his spears, saw a cold iron one too. Reckon e must be some kind of professional monster hunter. I carry different materials, myself. You should, too. Never know when you'll run into a situation where steel is not enough." she points at him with her fork as she speaks.

She piles some herby mushrooms, fried potatoes and a bit of bacon onto her fork and then shovels it into her mouth, munching away at it. "Even if you don't know which to use when, chances are in any party at least one of you will have a clue. After my first job with the guild I went and learned up on all kinds of monsters. The library and the guild have compendiums on all sorts of beasts, wort checking on 'em"

Aelwyn twists his head towards Irshya and for a moment, he narrows his pupils at her. Almost as if trying to discern the meaning behind her words. Slowly, he clicks his teeth. "Knives is right, this one was not dismissing. The skill was obvious for one with one arm." The draconian then takes in another deep breath and tilts his head. "This one has begun to consider it," He replies to Culix with great reluctance. "For emergencies."

Hand sliding down to his hip, he regards Irshya again. "Nothing suggests he walks the common streets, as Knives said. But Sharkie is correct, such is the adventuring life." Straightening some, he bows his head. "This one shall tend to the other tables," His teeth widen suddenly. "Do not make a bigger mess."

The blue Gobbo continues to scarf down bacon and roasted potatoes, and even gingerly tries out some of the mushrooms. They leave a slight frown on her face. "No matter how much I try to like mushrooms, they still taste like burning to me. More for you, though!" She giggles lightly and gets on with inhaling bacon and potatoes.

Irshya nods at what Culix says, "I agree, being flexible and being prepared are require for proper adventuring. I have considered getting better armor and weaponry. I am just .. unsure what would work best. Cold iron, or holy... or both. There's enough demonic activity as well as fey bullshit going on that those two things alone will improve your odds. Holy is also great against evil and undead. Hard to go wrong with those."

She eyes Aelwyn a moment, an eyebrow arching. "I was speaking of the vial..." Irshya blinks... "A bigger mess?!" Her robes move somewhat as her tail swings out, the finned tip aiming for the Sith's ankles.

Culix looks genuinely offended at Irshya. "You don't like mushrooms?" she asks, shocked. "And you think you know a person..." she mutters in disbelief, shaking her head. She shovels some more into her mouth and munches. "A weapon's just a weapon." she tells Aelwyn, then. "Might be magical and expensive, or ancient and sentimental, or whatever but at the end of the day if it's not the best tool for a given job, it's time to use another tool." she shrugs again.

Back to Irshya, "He's right about the vial, though. The daemons were summons, beating them didn't really matter, it was getting the vial that was important. Something about a zombie plague, I admit I was hazy on the details. It was all in Am'shere and I was trying not to get eaten alive by the local wildlide. And plant life. If we had the chance to stick whoever summoned them, it might have been different, but they weren't around at the time."

"... Ah," Aelwyn then clicks, understanding Irshya might not have been appraised of the details. "The vial -" There's a sudden growl as his ankles are slapped, and he narrows his eyes at Irshya. "... the vial, if broken, would have caused many sith-makar to fall and become Forgotten." The draconian idly brushes at his shoulder, trailing a memory. "This one included." Turning towards Culix, he rumbles, "Not just a tool, but an extension to this one's body." The Dragoon says, before flashing a macabre grin at the two of them.

At the Sharkie's tail attempt to swipe at the draconian's ankles but he was already stepping away, flashing his teeth. "Enjoy." He bows his head and then steps off, heading towards the kitchen again.

The pool-shark giggles, and kisses at Culix' cheek once more. "I've tried to like them so... I'm doin' my best." She rubs at the back of her neck at both explanations. "What I mean is, while the vial might be important, and may be worth the loss of someone's life, you were pretty cavalier in brushing it off. That's all I am saying."

Irshya watches Aelwyn head off to the kitchen once more. "That was the magical disease I've heard about, yes, it makes monsters of the Sith, makes them eat people? Insidious." She rubs at her face. "We should try to go back for that one lost in the cave in, hmm?"

Culix shakes her head again, and speaks once more- much more softly now. "Aelwyn was really torn up about leaving them behind." she insists then. "But we'd all be dead if we stuck around. Probably, anyway." she adds. "I did try to give the guy cover to escape, smoke bombs and stuff, but he insisted on staying behind to buy us time. He was more interested in us getting rid of that vial than escaping himself. I think Aelwyn would have stayed if doing so wouldn't have gotten me and Schara killed, too." she insists.

She eats some more of her food, a bit more solemnly now that they've been talking about heavier topics. "That reminds me, I really should put some money aside for insurance. Any suggestions on which temple would be best to stow a diamond with?" she wonders.

Irshya sighs lightly. "And here I am making an ass of myself. It just... hmmph. I'll talk with him about it later. Just rubbed me the wrong way."

She moves to hug at Culix once more. "If Rada actually built big temples, I would definitely advise you to go there. But uhm, hmm. I think Althea is probably the prime choice for that. If not hers, then Daeus. After them, Vardama."

More bacon is inhaled, the pool-shark hardly taking the time to chew much. "I would also be happy to hang onto the diamond for you, and bring it to the temple of your choice, if you cannot decide upon a temple to entrust it with. I uhm... hope it never gets used, though. I cannot bear that particular thought."

"I wouldn't worry too much. Just a touchy topic for him, I think." Culix assures Irshya and pats the other goblin on the knee, offering a small smile. "Mmm, you're probably right. I guess any of the big temples would probably work." she says then. "And well, I don't exactly want to use it, either. But better to have it and not need it than the other way around, right? 'sides, I'm nearly as good at getting myself out of trouble as I am at getting myself into it." she muses.

She shuffles the food around on her plate a bit, before taking another forkfull and chewing on it thoughtfully. "And daemons, at least, have vital points I can stick them in. I'll probably go back, whenever the next expedition is." she tells Irshya.

"Yeah, just as people dying are a touchy topic for me.", the blue-skinned Gobbo says somewhat unhappily. She nods lightly. "They should do well. If you can afford it, you should try to invest in two temples. You know how uhm rough and tumble this city can be, and not every temple is available in every location you might go to." Irshya crunches down another slice of bacon, and a few more of the potatoes, before licking at her fingertips daintily.

"Will you let me know when you are going to head out? I've got a to-go bag packed so... I am ready, even though I recently got back from my own adventure. We were exploring a tomb that'd been lost for almost a thousand years. The Vardaman's wanted to move the king buried there to some place in a big city, to protect the body and its grave goods.

Culix nods her head, "Mmm, I get that. But this guy came ready to fight daemons, and told us specifically to get out of there with the vial. He obviously knew what he was signing up for, whoever he was." she says, gesturing vaguely with her fork as she speaks. "Still, though, we owe him one. And I don't like being in debt, and neither does the big guy, so we'll make sure we find him, one way or another." she assures Ishya.

"Sure. It was kinda last minute that I signed up last time. But I'll try to let you know." she says. "Hey... I wonder if there's a magical doodad I could get so I can send you messages. I know there's a spell for it." she munches some food while Irshya mentions her own adventure. "Ancient tombs are the best. Lots of traps, lots of treasure. Plenty of shadows, less lava and man eating plants, although about the same amount of giant bugs. How'd it go?"

Irshya rubs her cheek and nods. "Even still, it is hard to let a person go. It is good that you will try to find him. I would like to help with that, if possible. At least I can perform the rights, if we can't get him out."

Nodding, "Yeah, that's how it goes with the Guild sometimes, they need you yesterday and you have to run like mad." The pool-shark lets out a long breath.

"I didn't approve of them moving the body, or hte grave goods. I was concerned they were just ... looting the tomb under the guise of official business. We solved a few puzzles which were tricky... the guardians were a pain in the glass, though. Tough buggers. It was all I could do to keep everyone alive at some points. Really touch and go there."

Irshya steps forward to hug at the shadowy Goblin. "The King was there in spirit form. He'd told his people not to bury money with him, and he was there among the coins. If he'd not be a Vardaman priest as well as the fairest, most down to earth King, he'd have been vengeful undeath incarnate. He was there, trapped inside his own tomb, alone, unable to do anything. That's a recipe for disaster. We had a long conversation with the priests to make sure that at least the money gets spent on his people. He wanted us to take it.. I am proud to say that none of us did."

Culix listens in and nods her head, "Eh, money is for the living." she says then. "The dead don't really need it. Other stuff, I get. Stuff that was important to them when they were alive- personal effects, or whatever. But money is just money, right?" she says then. "I dunno. I guess it's good the money went to his people but like, what if he was an arsehole? I know he wasn't, in this case, but if he was I wouldn't feel guilty about pocketing some coins and maybe a few doodads." she muses.

She lays her fork down on her now empty plate, and settles back into her seat a bit. "Seems a lot of folks are pretty squeamish about that sort of thing but isn't it better if the money's getting used rather than just collecting dust in some rotten hole in the middle of no-where?"

"Well, you're not wrong, honestly." Irshya's hand peats at Culix' stomach gently. "Full?"

She giggles lightly, rubbing a little before continuing. "The trouble with money from tombs is that you never know how the guardians or the residents of the tomb will react. Curses or undead attacks... is it worth the trouble? Better to have taken the money before any ceremonies were held or the dead interred. And yeah, if he had been an ass, I'd have less issues with people taking stuff from his tomb.. but there's always a risk. Kinda like stealing from a dragon's den, yeah?"