Chance Meetings and Rocket Carts

-=--=--=--=--=--=-<* Roleplay Nexus: Stonewright Brew Pub *>-=--=--=--=--=--=- The Stonewright Brew pub is the largest and oldest such location in the capital of Dun Mordren.

	 A great fire warms the building at its center, and a great many kegs line the back wall behind the always packed, at all hours counter. This place /never/ closes, and it never empty.

	 Constructed from sturdy stone, like much of the rest of Dun Mordren, the brewpub's walls are decorated with murals about the history of brewing in Dun Mordren, proudly declaring itself, with comical images of inebriated dwarves, the true inheritor of the finest dwarven brewing traditions.

	 A bust of the Dwarven King suits in the corner, serving as a place to direct toasts to.

Khazad here. Khazad there. Khazad everywhere. The Brew Pub is a popular place among dwarves. Its made of stone. It never closes. It's got that feeling of being underground without being underground.

Yes. Perfect for dwarves.

...and one new regular.

A shadow elf wasn't much welcomed into the Pub at first. But after Lorik made friends with some of the dwarves there, he was at least allowed to be there without half the patrons glowering at him over their mugs.

Only about a eighth do that now, a fourth on a bad day.

But its comfortable at least to him, compared to a wide street with no roof and the possibility of flying off without warning into that big sky above him. /Flying/ is fine. Under his own power. But floating away with nothing over his head? That is a much more worrying thought.

So here is where he likes to take dinner. And today is no exception. In one corner of the pub, a plate holding down a map of...of all things...the Felwood on the table infront of him. One mug pins a second corner as the shadow elf peers over it, trying to ignore the fact that a half dozen patrons are at the moment loudly whispering about how he's plotting some kind of evil raid.

Kisaiya was in Dun Mordren for... some reason. Trade, that's it. She's there for trade! Another good trade agreement written up and the beer is all sealed up and ready to be inspected before being shipped off to Alexandira. Kisa, for that reason, walks back into the Pub from the back room holding a mug of the stuff and sniffing at it... dubiously. Her nose crinkles, distastefully, as she wanders through the pub - weaving this way and that around tables. She would've just went right out the door except she noticed a map!

"OH! OH!" She reached out to poke a finger at an edge of the map, somewhat close to Alexandria but not right next to it, "ALBA LIVES THERE! She's my friend, and she's taking care of Hissy and Drooly, not to mention Friend Spider among all the other spiders." Kisa nods.

The shadow elf is slowly reaching for dinner, in this case a thick piece of bread loaded with so many different kinds of cooked mushrooms. But then he pauses as someone bounces right over to his table and makes a ringing anouncement.

That ALBA LIVES THERE!!

There is a smile on the elf's face then as he blinks once towards Kisa. "Oh! You know Miss Alba?" He asks with a cheerful tilt to his voice. "I've never been to her ranch but I've been invited!"

A pause. A blink.

"Oh! Sorry, I'm Lorik. A pleasure to meet you!" A pause. "That is how they greet people up here right?"

Kisa gives a squint at Lorik with a cant of her head to the side. Another squint, a furrow of her brow, "You mean down here? I dunno. I think Dwarves greet eachother the same as everywhere else?" A slo-o-ow shrug. Then she looks back to the map, "Oh, I think this is where we found the little spiders. They were cute. Fizzle spiders or something, I brought a whole backpack full to Alba. Alba is the best!" She sets down the mug and then flings her arms up.

"She's the absolute best! She's my friend, and she has so many friends there. And I think she was even watching some hyenas for a bit?" A shrug, "I'm Princess Kisaiya of Vandalheim!" She beems, and then points well off the map, "It's in that direction."

"Princess?" Lorik pauses a moment. "Should I bow or...?"

There is a bit of a grin though as she points out they /are/ underground. "I...um...well. I come from a place that's a bit deeper in...not /that/ far away..." He glances around as dwarven heads slowly turn in his direction and he starts to slooowly slide back into the shadows. "Er...well its further underground. Just recently came to the surface really. Its...very open up there!" He says and he shakes his head. "And there is so much green." He confesses as well.

"But yes! Alba! She was very nice when I talked to her a few times, invited me back to her ranch. And she even said she would keep an eye on the happenings in the Felwood." A pause. "I think someone is up to something there!"

A longer pause. "Hissy and Drooly are...spiders then?"

"Oh heavens no!" Kisa gives a waffle of her hand, "No need for any of that, just Kisa too, it's a long story and all." She beams again, she likes to remember that story too. A pause, then a slow nod as she looks around, "What do you mean? OH! Because you're one of them... Mul 'r' whatever, yeah? Meh." Kisa shrugs again and looks around some more, "I could care less, generally, though a lot of people do put stock in it. ANYWAY!"

Kisa sits down across from him, pushing the mug of beer in his direction, "No! They aren't spiders. Only friend spider is a spider, Hissy and Drooly are no more spiders than not-not Sandy is Sandy!" A fling of her arms up.

"Kisa then!" The shadow elf looks rather relieved that there isn't some complicated protocol that he has to obey when talking to her. Scooting over easily to make room for her on his bench he nods easily. "That is about the size of it, I mean its not entirely unfair. The rest of my family, my cousin and my sister excluded, are...not very nice people."

He takes the mug automaticly as he shifts it to one side so it doesn't get knocked over.

A pause. A blink. "...ok...what are they? I mean they sound like spider names." A longer pause. "Wait...Not-Not-Sandy? I've met Sandy, she's nice if exciteable, but not the Not-Not-Sandy."

"Oh!" Kisa says and bats at an imaginary creature that's clearly nearby with her hand, "Hissy is my bassilisk, he's the cutest. Drooly is a hydra that I helped escort to Alba's. I believe that one would technically be Svardvark's, or maybe Durr's. I dunno. One of 'em." She gives a half smile, a reach up to sweep some hair back behind an ear. A look about. "Hmm... wonder if the cider is any good." Pause.

"OH!" She grins and whips her head back around to Lorik fast enough to give some people whip-lash. "Not-Not Sandy isn't Sandy, Not Sandy is Sandy, but she's Old-New Sandy, which isn't New-Old Sandy who's Sandy right now. It was a wholet hing with a bow you see and so New-Old Sandy was Old-New Sandy, but New-Old Sandy became Old-New Sandy after Old-New Sandy got Svardvark to get rid of the rather cute bow that Not-Not Sandy gave to New-Old Sandy who's now Old-New Sandy." She nods her head.

"Oh its excellent! I can get you some if you like, after all that's a thing that new friends do right?" Lorik asks with a grin. "I hope that is what we are! New friends. I've made so many since I've come up here. And none of them even asked for a blood oath about it!"

...friends from his town must be serious business.

But then there is an explination of hydras and bassilisks and Not-Sandys and Lorik just pauses for a moment to stare.

"...you...might have to slow down a little bit. I'm new around here. I just found out who Sandy was in the first place a few weeks ago!" A longer pause. "Wait you have a /bassilisk/?! I have to introduce you to my sister. She has a raptor."

"Oh," Kisa gives a wave of her hand, "I can't exactly bring him home, can I? He's permanently at Alba's until we can finally release him." She gives a sage nod. "Though I have heard that there's a few large hyenas roaming around Alexandria lately, and Svardvark as a raptor too!" She grins and leans to one side, then the other, as she goes through all of this. Beaming really, and then a pause to look around at the dwarves.

"For being new around here, they sure seem to like you then. I dunno how else to tell you the story of New-Old and Old-New Sandy." Kisaiya gives a shrug, looking back to Lorik. "ANd I dunno if I wanna get it or not, just was wondering. I mean, really, I should probably go and work ont he shipments more than anything. Ugh. Work. Never ends."

"Never ever ends, though at least all the little jobs I take from the Guild take me places I haven't been before!" Lorik at least seems enthuastic about this. Not letting the new areas getting him down, or the glares from any dwarves. "Oh! Are raptors common? Svardvark...I met him! But not his raptor."

A flash of of grin there. "...but if you have to go I understand! Always on the move right?" A flash of a grin. "I'm staying in Alexandria, near the Guild with my little sister. So perhaps I'll see you around there? Or around Alba's house! I really should go visit!"

A pull of her mouth off to the side, her brows diving down and furrowing as she nods her head slowly, "Ma-a-a-aybe. I'm up in the Noble District these days! Doing all the work is finally paying off. OH! OH! I think Tami lives down there." Kisa draws in a deep breath, looking about to yell something out and - pauses, then releases it in a woosh.

"Oh wait, she's back in Alexandria. Something, something, date with a duke or something, I dunno. I don't think he's actually a duke." Kisa nods her head again, "But I don't think Tami cares. POINT IS! You might see her, or you might see me. I tend to frequent Sandy's and the Lower Markets. I do a lot of business there." She preens, then glances toward the back room again where it looks like barrels are being brought out and stacked.

"I think I got a few minutes yet."

Lorik is trying to keep up with this rapid fire release of information. I mean he is /really/ trying. His eyes flicker back and forth from her to the map and one hand itches for a moment as if he wants to take notes on all this but doesn't want to pull out a journal /right/ there.

I mean he's sure to remember right.

Right.

"Well if she likes him I guess it doesn't matter if he's a Duke or not?" He offers for a moment before he nods once, easily. That beaming smile of hers is infecting and he can't help but return it. "Well I hope I see this Tami, and I see you again too! And maybe..." A twitch of a smirk. "...I might get ot he Noble district one day too. Not till I work at it of course...but...one day." A longer pause. "Everyone has to have a goal right?"

"Well it's not like everyone's goal is to live there either!" Kisaiya says with a fling of her arms up and then then swing wide and she grins, "But hey! Look at me! Started with little and then I'm a Princess in the Noble district with a trade business on the side! I do trade agreements you see, helps with the connections." A nod, "Tami helps me with it." Another nod, then a pause-

"Maybe I should make her like a Countess or something. I think I can do that. I can do that right?" Kisa looks at Lorik, squinting at him as her mouth pulls off to the side again, one of her hands pulling up to tap an index finger against a lip in that contemplative moment. "Maybe? I dunno. Do you know?"

Tirrynelth has arrived.

"Well no, but it sounds like a nice place to live! Even if you can't keep Hissy there." I mean every place has to have some kind of limit on pets right? This just makes sense to Lorik. "I mean you've done really well for yourself it seems! And that is great!" She didn't even mention having to assassinate anyone to get where she was! So man that is a step up from what he's used too.

Though the last question causes him to pause and ponder. "I...yes? I mean if you're a princess it would make sense that you can make her a Countess or something? I mean you might have to figure out a title but...I mean it would make sense thats how it all works right? It makes sense to me at least!"

Kaelyn has arrived.

Another frown and Kisa seems to consider this yet further, she taps again at her bottom lip a few more times, "If they're female are they still called Sir if you Knight them? Maybe I should Knight Tami. I think I can Knight her. Or Baroness? That does have a nice ring to it." She nods her head and tilts her head to the other side, browns knitting and furrowing again. "Hm, maybe the Knight thing though. What's a female Knight called?" She focuses on Lorik as she asks that question.

The both of them are sitting in a bar in the dwarven city. The Mul, Lorik, is being glared at by about an eighth of the people (better than one would expect). Kisa is sitting across from him and pondering the meaning of Knighting - well that and Hissy. "OH!" Kisa flings her arms up, "Oh nono. It's not that they can't have Hissy there, it's that I can't bring him in city limits. Can you imagine the number of people he would accidentally turn to stone?"

In wanders well, yup, it's Kae! Everyone's favorite, very rumbunctuous elf! She's currently well she's got what looks like carbon all over her really, or it's smudges of carbon, or oil something. It looks like she's been in the bowels of a steam ship... Knowing her though, she probably has...

On entering she looks around after tugging her goggles loose, thus revealing that whole reverse racoon mask common to such getups while in sooty conditions... She spots the bar at this point, and beams cheerfully, her arms going up into the air "Yus! Refreshment after getting out of that steam ship!" She calls out happily and zips over toward it, litterally leaving a cloud of soot directly in her wake.... "Ice cold mead please!!! If you can't make it really cold, I'll do that my self, but mead! Yup!" She then tugs what has to be one of the largest mugs like ever, well it's kind of like a pitcher in its size and all, and thumps it on the counter "In this!!!"

"...Dame? I think I read something that its Dame..." Lorik shrugs helplessly. "I mean I'm not sure what kind of titles they use where your kingdom is though. But Dame would be my guess?" The Mul replies slowly as he sits back in the chair to ponder this questions.

A pause. A blink. "Oh yes! He's an exciteable type is he? I mean that would be kind of embarassing...he gets distracted by something and suddenly half your friends are stone before you can stop him. I'm sure he wouldn't /mean/ it but...ok...that makes sense. I suppose with Alba, and the spiders and everything else no one really visits her house. And if anyone bad does...bam. Stone. Not to mention spiders. And Alba too..."

Of course then of all things...an elf walks into the dwarf bar.

The eighth of the bar glaring at Lorik tries to figure out which to glower at more while the lady behind the counter just sighs and peers towards Kae. "...mead? You sure bout that? Its powerful stuff..."

Kisa is busy thinking on this and then Dame is suggested. She frowns more and then oozes down until her arms are crossed on the table and her she is resting on her arms. "Dame sounds funny, not nearly as respectable." It's a mumbled sort of thing as she ponders yet further. "Maybe Marquiessa? I dunno. I'll have to check what available. I can ask Sandy." A frown and her lips pull off to the side again, a Hmmm. Then a look up to Lorik, "What? No, he would totally mean to do it. It's not like he's tame-KAELYN!"

And without missing a beat, Kisa spins on her seat and shoots up with her arms shooting up in the air yet further and reaching toward the ceiling. Then they waves back and forth and her whole body mimics the motion, "OH MY GODS! KAELYN! WHY ARE YOU HERE?! KAE! KAE! KAE! It's been /AGES/. WHYYYYYY?!?"

Kae of course does her best imitation of one of those air-blown flail-y-tube-men when she notices Kisa, and like, with arms in the air she flail-wavies.... Honestly, if one were to not know better Kae'n Kisa coulda possibly been raised by the same folk... who knows... "I've been stuck in the bowels of a steam ship! I'm free, and I escaped here!" She says cheerfully... She even lifts her leg in the air and tugs up her pants leg, showing where there are marks from where a ball and chain had probably been attached.. "See?!? They tried to keep me there and force me to be their engineer as I could fix everything!" She then smiles cheerfully and puts her hands on her hips now, eblows bent. "Obviously, I escaped!!! Never an extra bobby pin around one such as I!" She says cheefully, then coughs..

She then looks at he bartender "Yus, mead please, fill the pitcher up?" She says happily... She then oh's "By the way most mead is about 15 by volume, maybe 20 percent if it's particularly strong mead... so it's fine!" She adds happily.

Kae now glances to the other person and smiles before flail-waving in his direction too, Kisa started it, really! "Hallo, new person whom I have not met, but may, if they wish, call me Kaelyn! There, now we have met and I have handled introductions!" She then looks back at Kisa, and holds up a steam gauge before tossing it to her "Something for your collection!"

Lorik is beginning to realize that most people on the surface are either /crazy/ or /enthuastic/ or a bit of both. In this particular case of the Two Kays. He will go with both. Yes. Both.

The poor Mul just sort of sits there while Kisa starts to flail-wave. For a moment he looks fairly concerned. Is she having some kind of strange fit?! Is this something they do here? Is she dancing?

He has no idea!!

But then someone /returns/ the flail-wave and the chances of it being a fit are slightly lessened. Lessened even more as it becomes obvious that Kisa knows the recipient of said flail-waving. So the Mul just sits there a moment, watching the pair greet each other with this wry and amused smile on his face as he just slowly reaches over to pull his mug further from Kisa's arms.

Just in case.

"Hello back, miss escaped slave-engineer and mistress of the bobby pin." The Mul replies finally, flashing a wide and sharp grin, eyes full of amusement. "And you may call me Lorik. Now that introductions are properly done." His eyes cut towards Kisa, then back towards Kae as he lets an amused smirk find its way to his lips. "I'm going to hazard a guess and say that you two know each other."

"PFFFT!" Kisa gives a wave of a hand, "You /wish/ I should totally show you the one lock that I saw a few weeks back that I totes worked my magic on." She nods her head, sagely. Then pauses, squints, stares to Kaelyn and then the leg. Back up to Kaelyn, down to the leg, up... down. Up, pause. "You were hijacked?! Why didn't you tell me!? I would've mounted a rescue!" She flings her arms up and waves them about. A bit like she might be signalling an airship to land without the flags. The final gesture, clearly dictating the birth to park in, is made toward the table.

Maybe Kisa really is giving landing signals to Kaelyn?

Maybe it's blind luck?

Maybe, it's just the fact that they're together and that's Kisa's way. Another flail of her arms and she says over Lorik, "HE'S LORIK AND HIS SISTER HAS CUTE PETS TOO. SHE HAS A SWIFTCLAW! I want to know how she got one because I've never heard of a Mul with a swiftclaw and that's surely got to be a story - unless."

Kisa pauses and looks at Lorik, "Adopted sister? Is she a Sith-makar?! DID YOU KNOW THEY HATCH FROM EGGS!?"

Kae interprets said signals as an invite to join them to sit, and so wordlessly does... Kae then grins "Well if I coulda figured out how to get word out I would have... as it stands, said slaver steam ship by now has probably gone caboom.... that gauge was off the steam chamber pressure regulator..." She says cheerfully "And don't worry, it went caboom after it dropped off its slaves... I also got the slaves freed too in the confusion!" She says happily...

Kae then nods "Yus, Sith Makar come from eggs and the young ones are like really insatiably cute..." She adds, then blinks at the mention of swiftclaw... "Oooh I don't have any cool pets, just a few of these..." With that, she pulls a tiny dragon automata from one of her pockets and sets it on the table.

"Thats a very noble thing to do though, freeing all the slaves on the steamship!" Lorik says with a bright grin, scooching over to make more room for Kae. "And quick thinking too..." A glance then towards Kisa before he shakes his head slightly. A flash of a fond grin coming to his face. "No no, she's not adopted. She's really my sister...though...I didn't know that about Sith Makar. That...well I guess it make sense..." A pause. "...my sister is better with animals and people. I'm better with books and machines."

Again that rueful smile as he looks between the two very energetic women. "My family is very influential in my home and got my sister an egg. Its..." A smirk towards Kisa. "...yes a very long story. One involving betrayal. Horror. Mistakes. A few knife fights and assassins." A longer pause after that. "I'm sure those have given up on me by now at least!"

He might have expounded on that but the appearance of an automata on the table gathers his full attention. "Oh my." A pause as he leans forwards to peer at it. "This is amazing! You built it yourself?"

"She builds all sorts of things!" Kisa says a fling of her arms up, and then with a sort of half-turn... she's in a dress. A black one that has a lace ovredress and a red sash. Yep. Best guess as to how she pulled that off. She heads off in the direction of the bar, the bottom hem moving contrary to her own and - about half way there - she breaks into a skip while humming. A pause at the bar, "Cider!" She calls out, a fling of arms, and then a look back to the table.

"You should see the little Sandy ones she makes!" Kisa is grinning, having seen several of the little toys that Kaelyn has made. And the none toys too. "What ever happened to your rocket-sled thing, Kae?"

Kae umms "Well what with no snow and stuff I got it stored!" She says happily... "BUt now, I have a rocket wagon!!! It's one of those kind that you usually pull around by a person? Cept I added a swivel in the front and stuff to steer it and there's rockets on the back to push... sooo much fun!" She adds and grins a bit, then as she looks at her mead she beams happily... "Well I'mma gonna drink this and pass out! You guys have fun... " She motions to the Automata "You can keep it if you want Lorik... I make looots of them..." She then oohs and pulls out one of said Sandy Automata and offers it to Kisa "For you!"

"Wait really? I can just...have it?" Lorik looks surprised for a moment there. "Its not...poisoned? Or going to spy on m--" A pause and a shake of his head. A slightly apologetic look. "Sorry, sorry. Old habits. Of course it isn't..."

That isn't how they do things around here.

So instead just reaches out to pull the little dragon across the table towards him, plucking it up with nimble fingers as quick eyes look it over as a smile settles over his face. "...thank you." He finally says. "I'd like to see this rocket cart some day! It sounds fun!"

A pause again.

"Come on then! You two must at least let me pay for your drinks! Its the least I can do for a gift!"

"WOO!" Kisa flings her arms up in the air, "My drink's on him!" And she gestures with one arm to Lorik while the other grabs her Cider. She starts to meander back over, grinning. "YAY! Rocket wag-Ooooo," She picks up the little Sandy Automata. A grin as she wiggles it from side-to-side. "My name is Sandy. Rarararararar." A wider grin and she pulls it in close, hugging it before pausing and furrowing her brow at Lorik.

"Hold up." Kisa purses her lips for a moment, "The other Mul would tell you if it was poisoned or going to spy on you?" And with that she sips her cider.

Kae blinks and tilts her head "Oooh." She then toasts with her giant mug, looking at the bottom one might notice an artificer's crystal... Also the drink is staying amazingly cold within, all on its own! There's even a little frost at the brim.. Leave it to Kae to create a perpetual frosty mug for her beverages... SHe then beams... "Well No, it's a toy, it'll move around on its own, even fly some, but that's about it....I stopped making them with the breath weapon feature, people were worried about their belongings!"

Lorik is facinated by the tiny dragon, poking at its nose. Marveling over the wings and the gear pieces. So much that at Kisa's question he hardly looks up as he answers entirely honestly.

"Oh no, they /wouldn't/ tell you and then it would turn out that's what they were for. That's one of the reasons I ask now."

He pauses for a moment after the words are out of his mouth. Then with a slight smile he looks up towards the pair. "Sorry sorry, old habits and all. But please!" And he reaches for his mug. "That's why I escaped and am up here now. To get some of that behind me, and to meet new friends. Which I just have! So..." And he raises his mug to salute both the Kays.

"To new friends and beginnings!"