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Post by Vikram on Oct 19, 2022 19:04:23 GMT -5
It was a dark and stormy night in the Black Bog. Vikram could only barely see the soft blue light from the floating lantern guiding their way through the swamp. Lloyd had pointed them in this direction after returning with the description from the last job. Of all the people in this land Vikram loved he began to feel annoyed with Lloyd. It seemed interactions with him only left the old desert dweller cold and damp. Literally. He felt he had not been dry since venturing to this Sol-forsaken place. Maude followed him through the swamp with a similar stony affection on his face. It seemed whatever forces had led the sayad out here had tethered themselves to Lloyd and had obligated him to obey. Or so he assumed. Vikram found Maude an enigma, a man with a leash a thousand leagues long.
The lantern ahead of the pair had stopped. After a moment of adjusting his eyes to the dim light Vikram realized they had come upon the stoop of a rickety old wooden building. Who in their right mind would build a tavern in the middle of a swamp with nothing around for miles. It just didn't make sense, even economically. Looking up he could see the rusted metal sign swinging in the rain. "The Deep Root". An apparently aged and storied Inn/Tavern lasting out here in the muck for generations. He beat on the door.
"Just let us in, the storm rages out here and we are weary from travel!" Immediately, as if they were standing directly behind it, A gigantic man swung the heavy rotwood plank open and beaconed them inside. With certain haste Vikram hurried inside and quickly began to wring his robes out near the fire. Maude stepped in and surveyed the surroundings. There were only three persons inside the isolated inn. The one who opened the door was large and muscular, his golden hair swinging as he turned to close the door against the storm. Another sat in a rocking chair near the fire, eyeing the Sukhbir as he warmed himself near the flame. The sitting man was elderly, bespectacled, with legs covered by a tartan blanket. Finally, the woman behind the counter only looked briefly up from her novel to see the new arrivals. She was younger, black haired, and almost completely blasé about whatever ruckus had just been stirred up.
"Just hang me up to dry Maude. Ive been wrung out t-t-too many times."
Vikram had been careless in his summer clothes, splashing around in the muck and the mire. He smiled sheepishly at the man in the chair.
"Quite the storm aye, old chap?"
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Post by saintronan on Oct 26, 2022 2:47:59 GMT -5
He was used to the weather. Home wasn't but a fortnight of foot travel away from this rundown lodge. Hulking elm trees defended it from most of the elements and made it an easy location to remember. Being aways from the water kept the structure standing for as long as it had and building up every time they noticed how far down they had sunk. Brass latch turned and wood bar removed, the door burst inward and the pair shuffled out of the whipping winds into the damp warmth within.
Deep Root wasn't a well known hole to rest at. Chances of meeting those he'd recognize were slim but not nonexistent. Their equipment, though differing in many purposes, was of equal condition. The unending showers and mists would eat through any clothing given enough time. And Vikram did not appear accustomed to the consistent chill that set in through the moist air. The fire set besides the older gentleman would serve as salvation for the pair. His face coiled into a grimace with their approach. Obviously the state they'd arrived in was unappreciated by the elder.
"Aye, and with it come ill omens. Ice in me bones and ache in me belly. No amount of fire quells it. But summons sand and stone from the eye," he says, eyeing up the couple drying their clothes.
The door shut tight as the man barred and latched it once more. He had given enough time for more to follow them in if there had been any. Whether twas courtesy or the strength of buffeting wind that had stayed his hand Maude did not notice. Warmth permeating his sodden boots was far too comforting for his regular sharpness to be maintained. He released a deep exhale of stress over the open flames.
"Oh shuttup Barney. Yer just hungry. Stew should be done soon enough, just you wait," she said.
The woman had a smooth timbre and a hard face. Despite her words, she didn't look up once. Seems the old fellow was commonplace to her daily dealings. And the man at the door had an odd look on his face as he studied the match of strangers. He must have noticed something for he quickly lowered his gaze and resumed sitting by the door, ready to receive any more wayward travelers.
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Post by Vikram on Oct 26, 2022 18:55:50 GMT -5
Looking around, you wouldn't think there were an ooze lurking around. None of the patrons nor the barkeep had any sense of urgency about them, other than the muscular doorman. He seemed antsy, almost agitated in his animation around his empty mug. Despite the cooler temperature of the room the golden haired man also appeared to be sweating, his skin pallid and cool in the firelight. Vikram had seen this affliction several times in his days wandering the streets of his desert city. Alcohol withdrawal. the man has, willingly or unwittingly, abstained from Ginmas greatest gift a bit too long. Potentially fatal if taken too long, but wasn't this a tavern as well as an inn?
An educated assumption would be that whatever it was that Lloyd had sent them out here to take care of dwelled within whatever cellar they had been keeping their drink in. It did take them several days to get this far into the swamp, presumably several days before to send word from here to Lloyd of their problems. The timeline at least matched up. Vikram approached the woman, shaking off the last bit of cold still clinging to himself.
"Good day to you madame, I am Vikram, seeker of beasts and dealer with of monstrosities. My friend and I were sent here by Llo-" "Its in the cellar" She said, turning a page of her book and returning the hand to under her chin to rest. her affect definitely reminded him of Maude, though she did say significantly more in the last several minutes than his companion in as many days. "Thank you, we will take care of it posthaste" Vikram said, almost forcing a smile to the woman at the bar.
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Post by saintronan on Oct 26, 2022 21:18:29 GMT -5
Her candid nature was appreciated by Maude. Those accustomed to life so close to the Moonglade learned to parse their words finely before utterance. Some unknowable things may take note of that which is said without forethought. Admittance of the pair must not have been happenstance then. How Lloyd had gotten word ahead of them in these circumstances must have been via magical means. He didn't take the elderly fellow by the fire to be inclined for the arts but the woman glued to her tome was certainly a possible candidate. The goon at the door was the most unlikely candidate, though that would make for the most apt of covers he supposed.
Beneath their feet, the unmistakable racket of seeping ooze across wood and stone surfaced. The calm settling in the room halted with it. Maude took a deep breath. Drying by the fires didn't seem in the cards then.
"Is it a danger?"
The trio settled with the broken silence. One rocked in his chair while the others went back to busying themselves. He now saw it for what it was. Distraction from the looming threat below. The weather must have affected him more than he had thought.
"Not so far. 'T's why you're here, yeah? Kill it good, earn yous a hot meal and bed which to sleep'n." The man at the door had a grandiose and smokey voice to counter his rather uncouth accent. He was a bundle of quandaries. Striking features all wrapped in the telltale signs of destitution. In a better part of the world he would be sought after as a muse. Here in the swamps the best he could hope for was doorman at some poor hole in the wall. "'T's a right fulsome fig're, it is."
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Post by Vikram on Oct 27, 2022 2:05:33 GMT -5
Hmm, the blonde one said to kill it. Maybe he didnt realize that whatever Lloyd wanted to do with it, he didnt want the creature dead. More than doable, just have to find something water-tight to seal it in for the journey back. Or would it be Slime-tight? more questions for Lloyd. The woman at the counter placed a bookmark and turned to stir the stew. Without asking, she reached for the key that hung next to the sparse spice rack. Tossing it back, and simply stating,
"Round th' corner o'oer by the chimney outside. Gotte kick the latch sin'cn it sticks." "Right'o ma'am, be done in a flash."They approached the door again as the sweaty man swung it open for them. Vikram withdrew his blue light lantern and held it firm in the wind. They turned the corner once, and once more before seeing the old cobblestone chimney reveal itself in the gloom and rain. Its foundations questionable, especially since you could see the water streaming into a small gap in the cellar next to it. Its wood a similar rotwood as the door had been, any one solid blow would crush it. Vikram inserted the key and popped the lock, and gave the latch a swift kick before pulling it open. "Sure hope they don't notice the broken wood surrounding that latch before we leave."
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