Kaelynn looked up at Mortaar, a hint of fascination in her eyes at his story.  She winced noticeably at the mention of the blow to his arm and quickly took a drink.


OOC: Just to note that I'm still following this, between busy times.  Kaelynn doesn't really have much in the way of stories of battle and glory to share, so seems appropriate for her to be keeping quiet.
Also she's more the type to downplay her own achievements rather than brag about them anyway :)

Yes, I didn't think Kaelynn would have much to share in the Drake (but I made sure you were suitably informed by NPCs beforehand ;)), but that's okay - she wanted to go to a library at some point, right? ;)

Bryx listens with clear interest to this tale of distant minotaur clans.

"Ha!" he says, slapping his hand on the table in approval at the description of how the fight ended. "Sounds like a good clash, alright. But a bullclash here, you have no weapons save those you were born with. And you need to be careful even with some of those, else risk the world losing a warrior when there's no need."

He reaches up and taps one of his large horns meaningfully.

OOC: I'd assumed it was nearly night for now, and we were just here because Mortaar got invited, before we called it a night and went in search of our respective intellectual and physical pursuits in the morning.  May have lost track of time, hehe.


Kaelynn took another drink, her gaze wandering around the bar.
"Are there a lot of those things around these lands?" she asked, pointing towards the stuffed large red reptilian head mounted on the wall.  "The goblins we encountered had something like that held captive."

Yeah, it is evening now. I can't remember what time, actually. I really need to start making notes but I still haven't got round to it, and every day the backlog just gets bigger, lol...

"Hrmm?" Bryx looks around  "Oh, ha! Yes, that's a drake. You don't have drakes where you come from? You get a chance later, go take a closer look - you seen the name of this place, haven't you? Ah, but I best not be the one to tell you..."

He looks around and bellows into the crowd.

"Hey, Orrom!"

A broad-shouldered dwarf with a dark beard and wearing work clothes pokes his head out from the small cluster of people standing near the fire. He sees Bryx wave an arm to get his attention and come over to your table.

"Somethin' I can do fer ya, Bryx?" he asks.

The minotaur gestures to the two of you.

"Some new folks here don't know why the Drake's called what it is." he says.

The dwarf looks at you and beams.

"Ah, no? Well. That we can't have, eh? Well, my brother an' me, we own this place, y'see. Weren't always the case, though. This were just some buildin' not bein' used. But that were a long time ago - we was younger back then. But we wanted ta own some place. Some kinda tavern folks could come to an' ferget their worries an' all that. Sit around an' 'ave a good ol' drink an' some good times. Tha's me brother over there, runnin' the bar."

He jerks a thumb over his shoulder to indicate such - the dwarf at the bar is busy serving customers and isn't looking your way, so doesn't see.

"Stennek, his name, if 'e's not told ye. Anyway, 'e's the elder one, an' while I'm a dwarf, I got me pride, I know how ta drink, 'e's always been able ta put it away more'n me."

He sighs.

"But anyway, just 'cause 'e's often last under the table, it don't mean 'e don't feel the effects. Out drinkin', 'e was. Outside the city. we'd been meetin' some friends, y'see. Had ourselves a good ol' time in the local woods. Anyway, 'e's standin' there all 'appy, like, drink in 'is 'and, while we're all standing some way away. An' then we look around an' there's this drake standin' over 'im. An' 'e 'asn't noticed it yet 'cause 'e's lookin' the wrong way, probably thinks that growlin's bein' made by a dragonborn or somethin' - there was a few o' them with us, y'see. But then 'e turns round, sees this big ol' drake, and gives a scream like...well, like no dwarf I ever 'eard..."

Meek chuckles slightly and Bryx gives a snort of amusement, though surely they've both heard this tale before, and Orrom himself seems greatly amused as well. He picks up Bryx's tankard, which by now is empty, and waves it around.

"An' 'e just swings 'is tankard like this..."

He spins around, swinging the tankard and turning it sideways in a manner that would send any contents flying out.

"An' o' course, it goes all over the snout o' this drake. I must say, I didn't reckon them things could ever look surprised, but I swear this one managed it. Well, we was all fallin' about ourselves laughin', but we know this area an' we never set foot without our weapons. So the drake went down easy enough afore Stennek had a chance to lose his head or such. Not that he didn't help, o' course - chucked 'im 'is weapon, 'e helped down the beast pretty sharpish. Even full o' drink, ya don't wanna be angerin' a dwarf, leastways makin' 'im spill 'is drink. And somewhere out o' that we got ourselves a name for our tavern, somethin' that'd been puzzlin' us right strong for quite a time. An' some decoration for it too. So it all turned out alright in the end."

He gives a chuckle and folds his arms, apparently waiting to see your reaction.

Mortaar laughs dutifully along with the story, nodding with approval at the prepared dwarves and their ability to protect themselves. "I remember chancing on a wild boar once. It grunted and made a display at me. It did not feel sporting to simply attack it, but clearly it was making to attack. I put my blade to one side, and moved to charge at it with horns alone." He tapped his own head, in an imitation of Bryx earlier. "Of course, it had not been bristling at me, but the Ankheg that had emerged behind me. I unfortunately did not emerge from that with a trophy nor good name for a tavern, just a patch of skin on the side of my chest where hair will not grow. Still, a small price to pay for learning a lesson on paying attention to your surroundings. And no ale needed to be spilled."

Kaelynn chuckled along with the others' laughter.

"We didn't have any drakes where I'm from.  I saw pictures of them in a book once, but until we saw that one the goblins were keeping, I'd never actually seen one up close before" she said.  "I was glad it was more angry at the goblins than at us though."

Orrom seems to find amusement in the comment about no ale being spilt, and further at the reference to the goblins.

"Ha, ya managed to get some goblins 'tween you an' a rage drake, eh?" he says. "Sounds like a plan. Ha, good one."

He nods with approval, then looks around.

"Hm, well, sadly it's a busy evenin' an' I've not the time to spare swappin' stories of drakes an' the like." he says. "I best get back to 'elpin' customers. Good to meet that two o' ya and maybe we can swap more stories some other time, if ya stay round 'ere a while."

He gives a farewell nod and moves away to assist with other customers. Bryx, who had returned the nod, looks back at you.

"And something else to learn from that," he says, "is to never sneak up on a dwarf."

He gives another snort and goes to pick up his tankard, realises Orrom took it with him (and it was empty anyway), and grunts.

"Hmph. Back in a moment." he says, and rises to go over to the bar. You can see him gesturing to attract the attention of Stennek, the dwarf behind the bar.

"Intesting place, no?" says Meek, raising an eyebrow.

Mortaar gives a small wave to Bryx to indicate his fellow minotaur's brief exit. He then nods to Meek's. "Interesting place, interesting people, as advertised." The minotaur sounded satisfied. "Do the brothers have any further interesting stories, other than the naming of this place?"

Meek considers the question.

"Hmm, none so interesting as that one, I think." he says. "A few broken tables here and there, like tonight...perhaps the occasional incident of things ending up in strange places after a scrap, but that's the main one, for sure. Still, one person's fascinating tale is another's reason to find an excuse to leave, eh?"

He grins and takes a swig from his mug.

"Don't worry - I'm sure there are plenty of folks around these parts who'll be happy to share tales of various past adventures. And as someone from outside Embrachal, I'm sure there'll be plenty you can share yourself."

"I don't really have many tales of adventures" replied Kaelynn thoughtfully.  "I did get involved in the exploration of some old ruins back home, and sometimes had to deal with ancient magical defences, but I doubt that could compare to tales of facing down rage drakes and everything else that's happened in this land over the years.  I would like to learn more about it."

Bryx soon returns with a fresh tankard of ale and sits back in his seat. He takes a long drink, then looks around at the two of you.

"So. You planning on doing much now you're here?" he asks. "Just exploring the place, eh? I hope whatever you had to tell ol' Roo wasn't anything the rest of us really need to worry about."

Mortaar considers the question. "Earning our way, for a start. And not just by cleaning stables. I had come this way chasing something that had waylaid myselfand a previous companion, but that seems to have become a dead end. The Komtor did not seem to have any worries in that regard, and my own leads literally came to a dead end through their own actions." He looked to Kaelynn. "I suppose for the moment trying to help my friend here work out where her own homeland is, in relation to this place." Mortaar nodded to Meek. "And there sounds like there are interesting stories and people in this place. Getting a feel for it would not be the worst."

Kaelynn nods, taking another drink.
"Mostly I'm just looking to help out Mortaar here for now.  I can't fight anywhere near as well as he can, but I can help him with magic."


OOC: *waits for the room to go silent and everyone to turn and stare silently at her, before Bryx goes: "You use MAGIC to fight?!"* :)

"Ah, I see, you're a rogue and backstab those filthy mages when they're concentrating on the figher?"

Lol...to be fair, she's an Eladrin in a robe and wearing a pair of specs, with no visible weapon (well, I can't remember if she left her sword at the inn, so maybe she's carrying that, at least), and she's hardly gonna be carrying herself like a warrior so it's pretty obvous that whatever her specialty, it doesn't involve the kind of thing that people who frequent the Drake tend to favour ;).

Bryx gives Kaelynn a curious look.

"Still fighting, isn't it?" he says. "You don't need to know how to hold a sword in order to best someone. At the end of it, if you clash with someone and do something that ends up with them going down and you still standing, that's a fight. Well, that's winning a fight. Who cares how you get there? Just do whatever works."

He finishes with a shrug and now looks to Mortaar.

"And hopefully whatever gave you trouble won't be doing it any more. What was it? Goblins?"

"Mages. Powerful ones, causing trouble. But they also enlisted help of a goliath with a semblance of honour, and when they tried to take him out after it all started going wrong...well, they clearly weren't that powerful. I had worried there might still be some mischief being caused by them or their kind, but... I've found nothing myself."

Mortaar kept his own council regarding the rumblings from the elves. If the Komtor had thought it important and wanted others to know, he would tell them himself.

"Hmm, goliath?" muses Bryx. "Don't see many of those. Got a few up in the Northlands, couple of old clans I think, but don't think I've seen any down here. Well, if this one had some bad folks tryin' to cause him trouble, I'm not surrpised he handled it. I wouldn't fancy messing with a goliath myself. Strong folks, them. Hmm, but I wonder what kind of mages might be doing wrong. Nothing to do with the Circle, at least, that's for sure...still, I'm no magic-user myself. Can't really help with such."

"The goliath was going towards the Northlands. I should have perhaps tried harder to persuade him to stay, in case there was anything more. But at the time I was wary of his past misdeeds, rather than considering his more nobler actions. Still, I have mentioned my past encounters to the Komtor. I presume if anything more comes of it, he will be able to act. For now I suppose I am free to help Kaelynn."

"Hm." Bryx snorts, looking between the two of you. "So you each have the same goal right now, to help the other. So...you plan on helping each other help each other?"

He seems amused by this. Meek chuckles slightly too.

"Well, that's something that'll be interesting to see, no doubt." he says. "But I'm sure there's plenty you can do outside of that."

Mortaar snorted in good nature regarding how their words had ended up. "Let us just say then that we are both awaiting external guidance or lucky chance to move us forwards with our own individual problems. And whoever's srikes first, the other will lend a hand. And until then, we both seem to be predisposed to be helpful, at a loose end, and looking for others to help?"

Mortaar looked between Meek and Bryx. "While I understand there are public notice boards, if either of you have any work that you do not have the time or inclination to do something with, let us know. And the ver least to repay the hospitality."

"Hm. Well, no doubt some of us'll be heading out to deal with goblins some time soon." says Bryx. "Don't need to be in the Circle to come and help with that. The more of us that go, the quicker it gets done."

Meek is nodding along with Bryx's words, but then shrugs.

"Don't look at me." he says. "I'm something of a helper myself, as I'm sure you can tell by now - if people want information, they tend to come to me. Well, some of them do."

He gives a wry sort of grin but then looks between the two minotaurs.

"Anyway, if you two are planning on having one of those bullclash things some time soon, let me know when so I can come and watch."

"I would be happy to come over to the training grounds tomorrow, while perhaps Kaelynn checks out the library of the city," says Mortaar, looking to his more studious companion.

Kaelynn nodded at the mention of the library.
"I would like to learn more about the history of this land, among other things" she replied.

Both Bryx and Meek seem amicable to this.

"Ha, I'll look forward to it." says the minotaur with a nod.

"Perhaps I can escort you to the library first, then," says Meek, "drop off Kaelynn and head with Mortaar to the training ground...so Kaelynn, you don't want to see whether or not your friend gets beaten?"

He gives you a somewhat mischievous grin, while Bryx snorts again in amusement.

"It sounds like a plan," said Mortaar. "And it is probably best if Kaelynn doesn't see her protection lose in a fight. Assuming that it what will happen?" Moraar said it with a tinge of good natured rivalry to Bryx.