RPGWW

Hammergrim

Blinking, he looks between the members of the group, especially focusing on the two horses. Glancing over his shoulder back upstairs, he turns back to the six, speaking again if not especially eloquently.

"...What is this? How did...where..."

"...There's a door." Shawn said, indicating behind her. "Now, my question?"

Hammergrim

"There's no...

"...How long has that been there? Wait..." Glaring at the group, and reaching behind his back, he continues, "You're invaders! Trying to sneak into town!"

Thinking fast, Shawn gave the dwarf a sideways look.

"If we were invaders, why would one of us be a kid?" She asked, indicating herself for effect.

Hammergrim

Squinting suspiciously at Shawn, the dwarf keeps his hand behind his back for now.

"...How do I know you're not just a small human?"

Shawn's expression went a little flat as she replied. "..Beecauuse..I've got a big, goofy head-" She pointed to indicate. "An awkward little body," Again, pointing, "And I'm only three and a half feet tall."

She almost looked a little bitter when the subject of her height came up.

Hammergrim

Still watching the group for any sign of aggression, he drops his arm slowly, moving to pick the bowl up.

"I suppose you're making some sense. What do you want, then? Why are you down here?"

Lorraine quickly makes to insert herself into the conversation, moving forward and pulling her horse along with her. She points at nothing in particular with the index finger of her free hand as she says.

"Just passing through, we're on our way elsewhere. We'd appreciate it very much if you'd let us by... It would be most unfortunate if one of the horses were to do it's business in here. The smell would linger much longer than the offending offal itself."

This had generally worked for her in the past; With any luck, this would be yet another time it did so.

Hammergrim

The dwarf mulls over the concept, staring at Lorraine before he starts up the stairs backwards,walking slowly as he speaks, obviously wanting to avoid the circumstance Lorraine's described.

"...All right, you're just passing through. But you'll be watched while you're here. Don't try anything funny."

Lorraine just smiles sweetly at the poor man, and began to lead her beast on out of the basement.

Zant tilted his head in thanks to the strange little creature before following. He'd heard of dwarves before and even seen a few as of late, but this one was quite different from what he'd come to expect. He tried his best not to stare.

Hammergrim

Heading up the stairs, the party emerges into the tavern they may have expecting. What they might not have expected is the sparseness of the establishment; no tables, just a single bar along one side, and hardly anyone actually using it for now. The walls themselves are another matter entirely, however; rather than paintings, tapestries, or even simple paint, each wall is at least half-covered in bas-relief carvings; various scenes of duergar life, smithwork, the honoring of their god, and other such themes. For such a dismal-seeming people, their artistic talents are much to be appreciated, if this room is any indication.

The few customers here look at the party with expressions ranging from pessimistic apathy to suspicious intrigue, but with no reaction from the bowl-toting dwarf heading behind the bar, they make no motion to stop them, or even speak. The far wall holds no windows, but merely a single open doorway looking out onto the street. From what they can see, this city seems to be entirely underground; though torches light the interior of this building, the out-of-doors seems to only have a dim, slightly purple-tinted light casting down from the ceiling. Few other duergar can be seen out on the streets, giving what they can see of the city from here a general impression of emptiness. Hopefully, this bodes well for the ease of their trip out.

Zant waited a moment for the grey dwarf to resume his proper place behind the bar before approaching him. He cast a quick gaze out onto the street, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Greetings again. Would you happen to know anything about the whereabouts of the Mines of Marsellin?"

Hammergrim

Seeming to relax a bit at Zant's question, the duergar replies, "That's where you're headed, the Mines? Yeah, just head surfaceward, there's a portal sphere to that cube in sight of the exit. Can't miss it."

"My thanks." Zant gave the barkeep a nod, then abruptly turned to the party.

"Let's go." he said, already making his way towards the exit, moving at a brisk pace.

"Why the rush? I've never sampled Duregar ale before and I've heard it's got quite a kick to it," says Lux, scribbling a few notes about the carvings on a small scrap of parchment. "Besides, we're new to this plane, let alone this area, and we might be able to find some information about our destination that might come in handy."

"Fine, then. Enjoy you're drink. I'll...I need some fresh air. Please, excuse me."

And, with that said, Zant went to get himself some air.

Lorraine blinked a few times as Zant wandered off.

"I wonder if somethings bothering him?"

Hammergrim

The bartender gives an odd look to Lux, grabbing a flagon and bringing it to the tap. Still speaking with a brusque, unhappy tone, he says, "A drink, eh? That'll be a silver for a mug. Anyone else?

"And as for information, you've never been to the Mines before? Looking to make your riches there, I'd guess? Seems to be what everyone wants there, a way out of honest work. Hmph."

Meanwhile, as Lux gets his drink, Zant heads out of the tavern. Fresh air doesn't entirely describe what he gets out here, however. It's not stale, exactly, but it's got the stillness of the underground, with an unmistakable metallic tang to it. The ceiling of this cavern looms a mere 30 feet overhead, hardly the openness of the out-of-doors, and there's hardly a noise but the sound of smithwork in the distance, the clangs of metal against metal just barely audible from a number of directions.

Though distant, the sounds of metalworking grated slightly on the gensai. The open air was refreshing, but what he wouldn't give for an ocean, or even a river. That'd muffle the sound enough so that it'd sound...

He leaned against the wall of the establishment and tried to relax. He was supposed to flow and adapt around all these new sights and sounds, not balk in defiance of them. Still, he wasn't going back in there.

Vance replies, first to Lorraine, "Who the hell knows what got up his ass," before hearing the offer for others to get some alcohol; almost as if on reflex, he took it up, "Sure! I'll take two, in fact. And for that other comment, I'd say you shouldn't always guess people as being lazyass punks. We've got other business there."

Yeah, yeah, big deal. "Way out of honest work" my ass, you try to get your ass on the Godless and let's see if you call something like that a way out of honest work. Not all of us are going to be happy being guards or merchants, you know.

"I got a feeling, and a feeling we should let him be with it," Gulrd answers without thinking, wondering if by this point his purpose in the party is to countermand Vance's profound apathy.

"One here," never one to turn down an offer of ale, he produces a few silver coins and an empty waterskin, "and one for the road."

Hammergrim

With a glare to Vance, he pours the orders for the rest of the group, collecting the money and giving them each that ordered a stoneware mug, passing down two for Vance; simple, functional rather than aesthetic. It's an interesting beverage, darker than a normal ale or beer, almost opaque.

They drink, and...kick isn't quite the right term for it. It's an extremely smooth drink, with hardly even a hint of alcohol to it, but not flavorless. Instead, the myriad subtler tastes one finds in such a beverage are brought to the forefront, giving it an overall earthy flavor, and yet still enjoyable. Not alcohol-free, they can tell that much, but it's not the sort of beverage one drinks with the intention of getting drunk.

The two customers file out, talking to each other in their language and barely paying any mind to those inside, though giving an odd look to Zant as he reclines against the outer wall. As they head out, their bartender turns to the more polite members of their party, frowning a bit less as he says, "Well, then, what're you wanting to know about the Mines? Heard enough about it, though I'll have t' admit to you lot, I've never been there myself."

Shawn pulled herself onto a barstool, digging through her stuff. She almost planned to head out with Zant..Till she decided to try her luck.

Putting two silver down, she smiled at the tender. "One for me, please?"

If things went wrong, she could always claim not to understand why grownups could drink and not her.

Hammergrim

Taking her money, the bartender gives Shawn a slightly suspicious look, but he pours a mug for her anyway, pushing it towards her with a slight slosh over the rim. "If you're old enough to work, you're old enough t' drink, I suppose."

Lux drinks the dark liquid happily, muttering a few things between gulps about similar brews he has had the pleasure to sample. "So the Mines are a well-known area, eh? Might you know of a guide we could speak to or perhaps someone has charted the Mines and we could purchase a map?" The thought seems to strike a note with Lux, and he leans back stroking his chin. That would make an excellent addition to my collection. A map of part of another plane? It might even turn a few heads back at Candlekeep.

Hammergrim

"Can't say how likely you'd be to find either. Not exactly the sort of place a berk normally hires a guide for." He continues, with a tap on one of the mugs, " As for maps, don't know how well you know this place, but keeping maps here'd be a nice trick if you could manage it. Even outside the mines, something like that'd still suffer the layer sooner or later, unless you managed t' write it on a person's back or something. Best you'd probably be able to ask for is t' talk to the Mercykillers there. I hear they're looking t' claim the whole mines, they might be able t' help you out once you get over there."

Vance, as opposed to what appears to be Lux's sampling of the beverage, started chugging the substance down readily; it may not be something to get drunk off of, but it sure is a rather enjoyable drink, and something to take one's mind off of the recent mind-numbing journey up the long flights of stairs...

Slamming one empty mug down on the table, Vance's state went into one that could have been said to be less...abrasive, perhaps? Regardless, he kicked back...albeit a bit loudly... "Aaaahhh...now THAT is a damn good drink! What goes into that, anyway? Haven't had anything like this before!"

...shortly before starting to chug down the other one he paid for.

Hammergrim

"What's in it?" He shrugs, looking into the pitcher. "Eh...wheat and yeast, like anything else. A little petrichor to taste, but that's about it. You a brewer?"

"Smoothest stuff I've ever had, and I've had a few," Gulrd is perhaps answering the question intended for Vance, perhaps not. "Can you get this all over the place in these parts?"

"I'll take another," he doesn't miss a beat, "but what's the deal with the Mercy Killers here?"

Hammergrim

Shrugging, the bartender collects the empty mugs, wiping them as he glances to their youngest member, still sipping at her ale. He looks back to Gulrd, setting one mug down and moving to the next.

"It's not a rare recipe, if that's what you're asking. Just your standard Duergar ale. Probably find it just about anywhere in Hammergrim.

"As for the Mercykillers, can't say much about them. Like I said, they're trying t' claim the whole mines. Some group big on justice, I hear. Can't blame 'em for trying t' bring a bit of order t' that place, all those berks fightin' over it and all."

Vance snrked at the comment; did the bartender SERIOUSLY think he was a brewer? That...was...PREPOSTEROUS...

...and as such, the large armored man with multiple polearms now tries his best to hold back laughter. Him, a brewer, BRILLIANT... --well, it was hilarious until the thing that always happens when you breathe and drink at the same time happens, and as a result, he starts coughing instead.

...damnable drinks.

Lorraine, all the while, had been heading outside. She liked a good ale now and then, but at the moment she simply didn't feel like having one. So it was that Zant found he had some company outside, in the form of a woman, a hawk and a horse. She looks around with a sort of chipper sarcasm:

"Oh my. Not much in the way of scenery, is there?"

"That is how it seems to be, yes. Are we all ready to head surfaceward now?"

"No, it looks like our friends have decided to make a stop for ale first..."

She grinned.

"No worries though. If they all get drunk and pass out, we can load them up on the horse's backs and move out of here at our own pace."

"Or throw them into the nearest river."

"Ha! That's another way to take care of it, yes."

Smiling, Zant relaxed his posture, feeling more at ease now.

"What do you make of our diminutive companion? I can imagine a few possibilities that'd explain that one."

She shrugs.

"Maybe she's just a very clever child, but I've seen stranger things than a short, conveniently disproportioned adult that happens to look like a little girl. I'm not sure what to think of that one. Time will tell though, eh?"

Zant nodded.

"The way she speaks, though, you'd think she was our nanny. Either she has indeed seen more than we have or she's managed to fit quite an ego into her tiny head. Or both." he finished, with a smile.