"Chye forget. This place, in bad neighborhood."
He changes his started posture, and rested against the bar, with the group.

Chou-Zhen replies in the same language the cook used (Sahudese, Aralaise, or Shevnian): "Apologies, good sir.  One ale is all I want, and a bowl of plain noodles in pork broth."  He reaches into his pouch for coins, drops four cash on the counter, then takes a couple steps away to await the food and drink.

He glances at the garishly dressed bakemono and her musical companion, then returns his eyes to his own business -- sampling the product of this shop that seems so out of place here in Red Light.

In reply to Chou-Zhen Mou (msg # 22):

The broth is rich and flavorful, with notes of fermented soy, ginger, garlic and scallion lingering at the back, with hints of spicy pepper around the side of the tongue.

The cook glares toward the entrance next door.

"These round eyed bastards pound wall, shake dust onto noodles. Whole batch had to be... served to foreign dogs."

"What they building, another brothel?"

"El menjar és bo..."
Iskander complimented as he took his third bite.

"You, sir, are very good at what you do.  I will certainly refer those looking for a meal in this district to your counter."  He lifts his ale cup, then sets it down again and sticks a finger in.  "And you're correct, this ale does pair well with your broth.  My compliments to the brewer, as well."

In reply to Chou-Zhen Mou (msg # 26):

"My brother brews the ale over in little Sahud."

He looks at the pair conversing, raises an eyebrow and turns his attention back to his comoanions.. He decides he'd rather not eat, instead paying for the round of sake. He stands and stretches, the sake warming him and making his nose a bit red.
Out of the corner of his eye he sizes up the group Chye had his.minor altercation with and sighs gently.
"If we're all done here, I believe Chye wanted to go buy some things. I'm quite enjoying my time out and will accompany him if he allows it. As for the rest of you, your company would be welcome too. We could get to know each other better at least."

With a slurp as he swallows the last of his noodles and broth, Chou-Zhen puts down his bowl and drops another cash on the counter.

"Let us go, then.  I have spent little time in this district; before joining the Omo's household, I mostly stayed in the Aralaise part of the city.  My mother wished me to be a part of this city, rather than an outsider where I was born, as she saw was the case with many Sahudese.  This is also why she did not raise me to speak Sahudese -- though she relented in time, once she understood that there were days when she could speak nothing else."

Having staved off gluttony, Chye opts not to eat again so early either, still feeling the satisfaction of rice in his belly, from earlier.
"Yes, we go. Little Sahud, Chye want to support local, legitimate Sahudese businesses.
Besides, they know Chye's style."
Chye stood up, indicating he was ready to go.

Ales was eager to go.  He dropped a few coins on the table in payment for his sake, and stood up quickly.  He could smell ogre.  He hated ogre.  They had led several raids against his home village back in Shevnia and turned it into dust and rubble. As he got up, he uttered a curse against ogres in Shevnian.

Then he turned to the group, and as he fingered the scabbard of his scimitar, Ales said, "we better get out of here before I do something stupid."

Iskander left his bowl and chop-sticks on the counter, with his payment.
"Marxem d'aquí."
This message was lightly edited by the player at 19:42, Fri 11 May 2018.

"Ales?  You seem perturbed.  Has something offended you?"

"Chye don't think Ales-san likes bakemono or oni much."

"You can say that,Chou. Orcs are nothing but filthy brutes that destroy everything in their paths. Any culture they possess they took as plunder of war. "

"You might wish to keep those sentiments to yourself, while in Little Shevnia.."
Iskander rubbed his chin.

"The High Elves might say much the same of humans.  In my father's eyes, elves, men, dwarves, ogres, bakemono, and kobolds are all much the same.

"Still, if you have personal reason to hate the bakemono, who am I to stand in the way of your honor?  Let us then leave Red Light, lest we become involved in a fight against far too many."

"Yes let's." Ales sighed. "Every time I see an orc I get transported back to when our village and some of the nearby towns were ravaged by the orcs. Weeks upon weeks of brutal fighting, but we we're no match for them. I still have nightmares of seeing one of them thrusting his fist right through my cousin's chest."

He stiffened up. "I do apologise for being so blunt with my opinion. I have no intention of starting a fight, especially one where we would be seriously outnumbered."
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:22, Mon 14 May 2018.

"Chye can understand why Ales-san, feel way, he do. The bakemono in Sahud organize sometimes, when a strong leader emerges, usually oni, but sometimes powerful sorcerers and necromancers, use them as pawns, in their schemes. We have had to gather the heroes and righteous of the orthodox sects and their vassals, to drive them back into the mountains, when that thing happen. Mostly, they maraud the countryside, and prey on small holdings and the roads. We take them down, as well." Chye clenched his fist.

Tanaka finally pipes in, understanding most of what was said by Ales.
"Your hate understandable, Ales-san, but many culture have their...how do you say, bad apples? Orcs generally bad, tho, for what I've heard," he says on very obviously broken Aralaise.

"Here in Northport there are not great problems with the bakemono; most of their crimes are against their own, and many of them are good, productive members of the greater community.  The smaller ones, especially, those called 'goblin,' are commonly peaceful folk who make things with their clever hands.

"Just as a Northport gaijin would be wrong to assume all Sahudese are the same, we would be wrong to assume the same of the bakemono."

"Maybe, but I don't think I will hanging out with them at the local pub any time soon, either."

Ales shifted his feet nervously. "Besides, I thought we were also going to check out some of the local trade shops.  We best be on with it, before they start gauging their prices."

In reply to Ales Konstantin (msg # 42):

The relationship Shevnian folk have with orcs is peculiar; they are either related to them, at war with them, or both. Even their languages are similar.

This neighborhood (Red light) is a tangle of contradictions. Many orcs live here, although the older construction is either goblin or old human imperial. Foreigners who are not specifically Sahudese or Shevnian make their homes here, along with Aralaise who are not terribly well off.
There are many untenanted buildings, some tagged with orcish graffiti and others near a recent street collapse where work is still in progress.  Visible from a few blocks away is a particularly large ogress who is hoisting baskets of rubble from the worksite.

14:16, Today: Iskander rolled 16 using 3d6.  streetwise - 14.
14:15, Today: Iskander rolled 9 using 3d6.  Area knowledge - 13 .
Ideally, Iskander would've liked to have found a fence, but he would pay a visit to the Sahudese apothecaries and alchemists, as he had a feeling the demon skull would be of a use to them.

15:20, Today: Chye Isuel rolled 9 using 3d6.  Area knowledge - 13 (Northport).
Chye made his way to an armorer in little sahud.