18+ The Plain Gate

(Oy.. The alert system is pure savage. Sorry for the wait folks, especially you, Nocte. And welcome, Gregor! It's wonderful to be working with you again )

Baroth bore a gaze into the fires. It was tired, weary, but resolved and relaxed. He felt that same empty feeling he felt at the end of every day, every night before he slept. It was the reason he never slept. A realization that after a long day, with thousands, millions probably, in gold, saving lives, or doing his little part, he still had nothing. At the end of the day, Baroth was given a cold reminder that he was nothing. Nothing but a shell.

Shuffling feet drew him from his tuned-out trance and he turned in time to catch Khamundar heading for the bar, ordering the bread and goat cheese combo with what he guessed was water. Odd, she didn't favor the temptations, considering where she had come from, but it was a refreshing sight. He thought he felt her eyes, but for that matter, he was never too sure. Khajiit always were quick.

She made some comment about meaning to see the city and Tsee-Keth volunteered to join her. the duo promptly exiting the inn moments later. Orvar turned to and approached Baroth, offering a sincere remedy to a dreadful day. Baroth paused a moment, quite comfortable and not wanting to move, but rose to his feet and humored the kinsman.

"Aye, that it has." He strode by him towards the bar, patting his shoulder. "Pick your poison, lad. My treat. The end of each day always has a story to tell." When reached the counter, he nodded to Hulda with a worn smile. "Hulda can take it from my savings of the week, including interest. I'll have a pint of mead, my dear, cold as it comes."

She flexed a brow, and returned a similar devious grin, collecting Orvar's grin and wondering off into the kitchen moments after. Baroth turned to Orvar, genuinely curious on how that Ice hunt had gone.

"You look well, albeit tired but nothing a cold drink and a warm bed can't mend. Not the usual case after tangling with a group of Ice Wraiths." he began, hoping to spark an explanation.

"I'm native to these lands," Orvar piped up as Baroth concluded his observation. "As you were probably already aware. There aren't enough hands for me to count on how many times I've tangled with wraiths. The trick is to study their movement. They usually move in an elliptical pattern, or whatever the bloody hell that word is."

Orvar grinned as his drink arrived; a treat by Baroth, and by extension, a good display of camaraderie. He took a hearty draught of it, thereby washing away the marks left by the day's events. That familiar warm feeling arose in his stomach once more, like a sleepy lion coming out of dormancy.

"I'm sure you know just how therapeutic a good mug is, aye?" Orvar said, guffawing in earnest. "I suppose I need to wait for another assignment now."

"Aye, Skyrim's riddled with all sorts of trouble these days. That leaves the breweries and people like you and I well occupied and fairly compensated." he paused as he lifted his drink, and took a quick sip. The frothy liquid went down with ease and wasnt too cold that it hurt doing so, a wave of cold respite washing through him. Just right.

"Ahh." he breathed. "Good stuff. One of the few things that can be more than one thing. A friend, a problem solver, a shoulder, an antidote. It's all in the perspective, my friend." he rotated the mug with his fingertips, staring blankly at the dull cylindrical body.

"Some guy used to tell me: 'If you don't trust a person well enough, get 'em drunk and you'll find out'. Guy was a regular around here, terrible alcoholic himself, rarely sober. But that stuck with me for a long while, lad." he trailed off, feeding the silence with a sip.

He chuckled, setting his elbows on the countertop. "Seems the only friends that really stick with us nowadays are these mugs. I cant complain, though." he glanced sideways at Orvar, smirking sincerely. "They're damn fine company."

As Tsee-Keth followed Khamundar out the door, he could feel the guards relaxing around them, compared to the wariness they'd had before the tailed duo introduced themselves to the Jarl. These hideous scale-less ones aren't all bad, he thought to himself, as they made their way out of the palace.

"T'har..." he said to himself, before looking at the back of Khamundar's head, "You call the no-tail Chief, Kha? Will kitty stay, then? In this water-less home?" He picked at his teeth before continuing, "Tsee-Keth heard of Whiterun from Chief, you know. Chief say, 'Oh, Whiterun! Beautiful city! I will take you, my scaled friend, and we will be pampered and saluted, because when we go, we will have gold enough to take the Jarl's place!' Chief tell me this more times than fingers on a hand. Many more. Tsee-Keth does not see beauty here, no. See cold air, colder Nords. Need to drink more."

As the pair passed beneath the dead tree again, he looked up through the branches. "Tsee-Keth pisses on plants, and they grow stronger than tree. Maybe Nords need to piss on it? Hehehehe..."

Continuing to walk along, Tsee-Keth remembered Khamundar's friend. Ri'saad, or something. Why Khajiit have such weird names? he wondered. "Kha, when you get Ri'saad? He need you, yes??

Orvar peered into the bottom of his mug, intentionally keeping his head down. It was no gesture of rudeness toward Baroth, but he simply couldn't muster up the energy to meet anyone's gaze, save for the inanimate one being produced by the mug.

"Well, mugs aren't liars, cheaters, or scoundrels. They only give you what you desire and nothing more. But if we did that to friends, we'd be taking them for granted," Orvar replied, allowing himself another swig. "You can take ale for granted as much as you want if you've got the coin. Or not."

He then looked up at Baroth, who was smirking. Orvar returned the expression with his own trademark sneer. He paused, as if to say something else, but instead resumed downing his beverage. Before long, the ale was depleted.

"This," said Baroth, finishing the last of his ale, "is what I live for. A hearty mug and people to share 'em with." He continued to inspect the mug, addressing Baroth with a slightly more wistful tone of voice. "My da used to let my older brother and I drink underage so as long as mother wasn't around. This brings back such memories. Hafthor would tell me that I'd come to appreciate ale as I got older. I so desperately wanted to prove him wrong... but here I am, lapping the booze up like an excited dog. It's delicious."

She is awfully talkative, isn't she? I didn't plan it that way, it just evolved.
"If- when- Ri'saad returns, Atahbah had best be with him, or this one will tie her tail to her hair," the Suthay responded sincerely, though she watched the ground as she spoke. She paused and then spoke up again. "Perhaps we understand 'chief' differently. To this one, a chieftain is a leader, but not necessarily a good one. Though the land- er, people - speak through him, he does not speak for the people," she explained. An expression of confusion gradually grew on her face. "It is hard to explain. People tell the leader what to do, but the leader does not always do what is best for the people." She drew a hand through her dreaklocks. "It made more sense in this one's head. Anyways, this one is going to check out the merchants around here. Even a traveler should be well-antiquated with people with goods and coin. Will the scaled one join Khajiit?"

"What, and let some no-tail get the better of Kha before Tsee-Keth? Hah!" As they descended the steps to the market, Tsee-Keth remembered something his Chief had told him about. "Tsee-Keth will return," he said to Khamundar, and disappeared behind one of the houses.

(I don't know how to do that thing you do, Balomew, so this will serve as a time difference... thing.)

Tsee-Keth returned a few minutes later, coin purse bulging, and with a pack full of supplies and items. Walking up to where Khamundar chatted with one of the vendors, he produced the bag to Khamundar. "Tsee-Keth is bad at the sellings. Kha can sell these for most, yes?" He grinned despite himself. "Chief tell Tsee-Keth about stash he had, 'Good in a pinch,' he say."

What is it that I do that you're having trouble replicating? I was going to ask you to tell me or Khamundar what's the supplies are, but it doesn't matter. I can imagine what they would be anyways: bandit apparel, weapons, and alcohol.
"Good for coin," Khamundar replied, responding by taking the pack in hand and taking a look at what was within. "This one can do with this. Come, then." She made her way into the marketplace. Though the citizens had virtually ignored them earlier, now she felt a few pairs of eyes following their progress. The citizens must have heard about the giant, or had been otherwise informed of their presence in the city. Looking up, she dared to meet one Nord's eyes straight-on, the tall blonde leaning against a pole. He quickly looked away. Confused now, the Suthay wondered if she had scared them, or if something had happened that she was unaware of. She looked at Tsee-Keth as she approached the door, walking inside and keeping the door open for him, unsure if she should comment on this unusual behavior. Instead, she looked ahead and greeted the merchant behind the counter. He didn't seem surprised to see her here, but he did seem surprised by her manners and the items that Tsee-Keth had acquired. She began to barter, the Nord's expression pushed to the back of her mind, though subconsciously she worried that something had happened to Ri'saad.

Oblivious to Khamundar's worries, Tsee-Keth looked around the general store as she bartered with the merchant. Unrolling fabrics before stuffing them haphazardly back in place and moving on, attempting to read upside down books, and bumping into shelves, nearly knocking one over. Finally, he found a large skull, big enough to cover his face, and promptly placed it over his head, peering through the empty sockets. "Oooh, Tsee-Keth is bone man! Booga booga!"

(OOC now to try it out)

Though Tsee-Keth wasn't the sharpest blade, he had quickly learned as a bandit to watch gold, and noted Khamundar placing some gold on her person. "Kha is bad bandit," he told her, as he took the gold she offered him, "Give much gold to Tsee-Keth, take little." Making his way to the door, Tsee-Keth remembered the skull he wore, and as an afterthought, left a handful of coins on a nearby table before making his way into the sunlight. "Tsee-Keth is hungry," he said to Khamundar as she closed the door behind her, "will Kha come? Or meet at inn later?"

Tsee-Keth led the way to the Bannered Mare, and ordered meat be brought for the two of them, getting ale for himself, and water for Khamundar. "Hmph," he said quietly, "Tsee-Keth still sore from the fireball. It was good against the giant, no?" Having passed out for a few moments from the exertion, Tsee-Keth had missed seeing what happened when he loosed the giant ball of fire. He had surprised himself with how large it had become, more than twice the size of any other he'd made before. "Tsee-Keth kissed ground after letting it go, missed the fun," he pouted.

After what felt like hours of walking, Dian'Mie and Qiana reached the gate of Whiterun. Compared to some of the cities in Hammerfell, this place felt...plain to the two. Upon walking up the gate, they were met with the gaze of the guards; tall with pale skin and dirty blonde hair, and the other wearing a helmet covering his face. After a short pause, the guards each grabbed a handle of the gate and slowly pulled it open. Qiana gave a quick bow to the helmetless guard before jogging her way to catch up to Dian'Mie.

"We made it. I thought we'd never get here," Dian'Mie with slight exertion. Dian'Mie rotated his left shoulder blade vertically to get some of the kink out of his aching arm. Fighting sabres and bears all day really wore him out. He knew that after he met this Khamundar lady and made sure she got the message he would head back to Ri'saad and received that gold he was promised. He would be damned if he was told he just killed those 9 beasts for nothing. Breaking out of his deep trance of thought, Dian'Mie saw two little girls running down the street. One of them, a little Imperial girl, stopped in her tracks and walked to up to Qiana to give her a Dragon's Tongue flower before running off to join her friend. The two watched the little girls until they were out of sight before walking down the street towards the marketplace.

"The people here seem quite friendly," thought Qiana while sniffing the flower with delight. The smile on her face left it as quickly as it appeared. "Hopefully Kirah is OK. I haven't heard back from her yet. It's not like her." While in thought, she didn't notice a beak poking her cheek. Turning, she saw Kirah roosted on the forearm of Dian'Mie.

"You remember what she was told?" said Dian'Mie with a slightly sarcastic smile. "Find a Khajiit inside a Nord city. He could've asked to put makeup on an angry Frostbite Spider and she'd have the same luck." Qiana rubbed on Kirah's head with delight.

"So I take it that we'll have to find this Khajiit woman ourselves?" Qiana said in a defeated tone. Dian'Mie shook his head and pointed towards the inn, showing an Argonian conversing with a Khajiit.

"We found our woman and we haven't eaten all day. How about we kill two birds with one stone?" Dian'Mie replied, while rubbing his stomach. Qiana nodded at the suggestion and walked into the inn with Dian'Mie right behind her.

As they ate, Tsee-Keth made a point of looking around, trying to memorize faces. As such, he was the first to notice the Redguard pair walk into the inn. He watched as they scanned the room for a moment, before both gazes finally rested on Khamundar. When the two started for them, Tsee-Keth quickly swallowed his food, and lifted his newfound mask to his face. "Company," he said quietly, so only Khamundar could hear him, and pointed a discreet finger at the incoming Redguards.

"Aye, that it is. The poisonous antidote, all that.." he realized a sluggish tone had settled in once he'd gotten a refill. Maybe he'd hit the hay soon enough. "Call it the shameless shame, if you will. I've been a drinker for years, my friend, and honestly? I know it may very well be rotting me inside out. I just don't give a damn. That's the trick to a happy alcoholic."

Suddenly aware he was leaning towards an unsavory topic, Baroth raised his mug in a toast, albeit uncertain that Orvar would even see it but heartily nonetheless. "To the sweet bliss, aye?"

Tsee-Keth eyed the Redguards warily as they looked expectantly at Khamundar. Though they seemed to be at ease, they looked able to draw their blades in the blink of an eye, and it was never good to be off guard in any case. Slipping his hand under the table, Tsee-Keth called up a fireball, and readied it in case things weren't ending as quietly as they started.

Glancing at Khamundar for a moment, he cleared his throat before addressing her, "What it say?" His voice echoed in his makeshift helmet, throwing his gravelly voice into his own ears.