IC Scene - The Alleys of Windholm

Mattus nodded slightly when the old woman left. He then returned to his meal and finished it fast. He gestured to his men when he finished and they packed their stuff.
Before leaving Mattus left he quickly put some coins close to his bowl and then made his way towards the door. He glanced shortly at the dragon still sitting alone in the corner but now was not the time to talk to him. Maybe there was time when he returned.

"Keep your eyes on the alleys to the left and right. Make sure no one is following us, and have your spears ready."

Together they made their way towards the Tempest bridge.

As Mattus left the bar, he was greeted quite quickly by the appearance of a barrel-chested Vanskerry male. He clearly wasn't a common raider, not with a golden bracelet and several gem-covered piercings in his ears. His beard was grey streaked with a few stubborn red hairs that hadn't surrendered to age yet. On his right hip were several small throwing axes, and a single larger axe at his left hip. His large chest was coated with mail and leather, while around his neck was a fur collar. It might have been fine once, but endless salt from the sea had largely ruined it.

He was flanked by several men, a quick count seemed to be not quite a dozen. Each man seemed to be wearing either chainmail or leather, and most had magnificent beards. Each one had an axe or several, and seemingly not one preferred spears or swords.

"An irradiant 'ross knight? I hear your Ordah 'as a lot'o'gold in a port neah that warm sea. I ain't nevah been. Hows 'bout you turn 'round and tell me all about why ya'd come to ol' Win'holm when ya got such a nice warm place to stay? Not makin' trouble, I 'ope?"

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Inside the tavern the Old Woman docked back into the storeroom, leaving Heleva alone up front. The young girl took the leftovers of the cheese wheel to the lone Dragon and sat down next to him.

"You're a Dragon, right?"

Mattus was taked aback as he saw the group that greated him so pleasantly. He had seen only a few raiders in his life but these had the longest and most colorful beards he had ever seen. If the beards were a sign of their prowess in battle than he had to choose his next words carefully because it wouldn't end well for them. Mattus had to tilt his a bit to understand what their leader was saying, half of what he said was swallowed by his beard and the other half sounded much like the talk of a drunkard. He must have looked like and idiot with his head nearly sideways and his mouth twisted. After their leader was finished he tried to talk several times but each time stopped shortly before the words left his mouth and returned to thinking about what he really said. Mattus tried to speak as clear as possible, if the hearing of the Raider was as bad as his speach he could start a war right here.

"Greetings Stranger, we mean no trouble believe us. We are only looking for someone. A huge guy wearing a grey robe. We have an important message for him."

The lead-man laughed at Mattus' expression, and soon most of this group joined in. Once he had calmed down enough, the man spoke again.

"An fancy pan's Valdor 'as a message too. 'e doesn' want any ah yah knights makin' trouble."

The Vanskerry pointed towards the tavern door.

"And Valdor's in a meetin'. So it's aw'bout time I start my drinkin'. 'ead back inside'n'buy us a round. Yah message 'an wait an hour."

Not what Mattus had planned but maybe he could get something out of them.

"Well then I think it is time for an ale." Mattus gestured his men to enter before him. "Please follow me inside if you will."

As they passed through the door he looked around and saw the girl from before sitting near the dragon who entered earlier.

"One round of Ale for my new friends." Mattus shouted. He then turned to their Leader. "My name is Mattus by the way, I am from Mettenheim, and you?"

He straightened up as she spoke.

"Yes, from Rane. My name is Alex and what's yours little lady?"

Heleva smiled back at the Dragon.

"I'm Heleva. My auntie runs the place, but I'll run it soon. Sometimes she forgets that chasing men out means less coin."

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The Vanskerry leader took a seat at a large table, facing the door. He motioned for Mattus to join him, along with two of his men. The others moved closer to the door and sat together.

"This is the best drinkin' 'ole in Windholm. Now then... ALE!"

He shot Heleva a wide grin as she looked away from the Dragon and rose from her seat. She hurried off to fetch a small cask and several cups. The cask was placed on the Captain's table, which was promptly opened by the Vanskerry's large hand. A bit of ale splattered on the floor as he began to fill each cup to the brim.

Kharad always liked making an entrance, so he stopped in the doorway of the tavern, observed the scene, before declaring.

"Who is it then that a newly arrived Order knight must make his presence here known to?"

Alex looked over toward the entrance of the tavern, he was certainly no northerner

"Wait Heleva send your Auntie here, I would speak with her."

He turned and looked inquisitively at this strange and loud man.

The Captain looked at Khadar for a moment, then motioned him over and to sit. He drained the ale from his cup in two massive gulps, then filled it again and set it in front of Khadar's seat. As Heleva walked by, he gave her backside a slap.

"'Nother cup!"

He turned back to Mattus with a grin, then steadied his gaze on Khadar.

"Two Orders 'n one day? Which 'n are yah from? Yah got the smell'o'tha sea... yah with tha' sea bitch? Legion I think it was."

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Heleva placed another cup in front of the Captain, while the Old Woman quietly walked to the Dragon's table.

"You're needing something, deary?"

For the moment at least, she didn't seem to sass this one like she'd done to Mattus earlier.

"Yes I need you tell tell me where Gareth the sly is. Before you bother denying we know he was seen staying here and talking for quite some time to your Heleva, so unless you would like me to talk to the girl I would kindly request his location."

He looked troubled, he did not like telling off old women but he had to do what he had to do.

The Old Woman huffed several times as she stepped away from Alex. Her face turned a kind of purple that only rage can cause.

"Threaten me and my Heleva will you? Free ale for the men who take this one outside and kill him!"

She looked to the table the knights, the captain, and two other Vanskerry were sitting.

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The Captain looked at the two knights with an amused look, while his men near the door stood up and looked to him.

"Two ah yah 're payin' fur this ale, might as well earn yah keep with blood!"

With that he motioned them towards the Dragon, his right hand slipping down to the throwing axes on his hip... his left staying on his new ale cup.

Kharad gazed upon the unfolding situation before him calmly. His only motion was a wave of his hand toward the bar.

"Yes, yes, killing the Dragon is all well and good but it wont bring my ale to my table any faster will it?

He rose to his feet.

"I find my recent travels upon the high sea have been most fortunate. Sheath your weapons you bloody fools and let us get back to our cups and i'll see to it that every man present drinks tonight to my expense. Im much to tired for bloodshed"

All the while his grip, iron like as it was, never left his scimitars.

And again the Dragons are causing trouble was the only thing Mattus thought. He surely wasn't the one to step between the Raiders and a foolish Order Knight. He was just sorry for him. He would leave now if he was a bright fellow.

"So my friend, as I said earlier, my name is Mattus from the Radiant Cross, as you correctly observed. And what is your name."

Mattus took a big gulp of ale and then looked shortly at the strange men who just entered and walked over to the table.

"Come now lady, don't take offence, it was a harmless question!" He held His hands up in surrender.

The Old Woman didn't seem to be interested in the excuse, and pointed at the Vanskerry men by the door.

"There won't be anymore service until this one is taken care of. If I have to do it myself, the bar will close for the day!"

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The Captain rolled his eyes at Kharad, then sighed.

"Drop 'im off tha wharf, then come back, aye?"

Three of the Vanskerry by the door approached the Dragon menacingly. They seemed to have no intention of being gentle in their attempt to follow orders.

"Yah two dis'ppoint me. And yah can just call me the Cap'n, it's what all yah Pendor'ans 'ave done since I got 'ere. E'eryone's a cap'n... that butcher, Conrad. E'en that sea bitch... she called 'erself somethin' differ'nt. Now then, let's get tah business... why're yah here in Wind'olm?

Alex looked around panicking, then stopped and bolted straight for the nearest window, closed or not he would go through, he may not be the fighter but he could run.

"Deepest apologies everyone!"

The window was indeed closed, a light wooden shutter that had been closed for most of the cold season. Fortunately the wood gave way to the force of Alex and he landed outside.

"Well, that 'andles that," the Captain said.

Outside the bar, however, Alex landed almost directly in front of the half-dozen Vanskerry raiders that had escorted Khadar to the tavern. These Vanskerry must breed like rabbits! The men made no hostile move towards Alex, but did laugh quite hard at his condition.

Watching the scout barrel himself through the window, Kharad buckled in laughter.

"What I wouldnt give to see that spectacle again! Nicely done, my good lady!"

Still heaving, he composed himself before taking a seat again.

"So, captain, to answer your original question, I come as an Eventide, not a Legionnaire. As to why im here, your guess is as good as mine. My superiors demanded that we arrive to represent the Order during this...crisis that the city finds itself in. However I am yet to hear word from my Brothers, and thus I find myself in this tavern talking to you, Vanskerry"

He took a deep swig from his ale and kicked his legs up on the table.

"So tell me, how goes the rebellion? And on that subject, why exactly is this city in revolt? Worry not about bestowing answers upon me captain. I may not know why I am here, but it certainly is not to aid the Duchess! Oh, and if you have any information as to the whereabouts of the other Eventide, I would happily recieve it"

The Vanskerry men outside the tavern took a few steps towards Alex as he stood up. Once he began to run, they gave up any indication of giving chase. One peaked through the broken window, only to receive a shrug from the still-seated Captain.

Heleva gave the Old Woman a scolding look, but kept about her business serving the other tables.

The Captain looked over Kharad sternly.

"Somethin' tah do with gold. Now, tha Greysword lady's gonna fall, I know fur sure. So, yah wanna make nice with tha new ruler? Go up tah this meetin' and support Mas'er Fancy Pan's. I'll make sure yah get a fair reward. Agreed?"

The Captain leaned forward and spit, quite accurately, into Kharad's cup. He then held out his own cup towards the Eventide knight. A Vanskerry tradition, one would hope.

Kharad was clearly puzzled by the meaning of the cup, but doing the only thing that came to mind, he too spat into the captain's cup. A silence followed as he waited to see if he had performed the right action.

Kharad was far from happy that his remaining ale now had a considerable quantity of grog amongst the foam.

The Captain pulled his cup back and drank it quickly, this time in a single gulp. He then refilled his cup once again. Upon taking a few 'small' swallows, he looked back to Mattus.

"And what about yah? I'd sen' yah to Conrad, but seein' 'ow 'e's in that meein' it ain't possible. Yah gonna fight fur Fancy Pan's?"

This is disgusting, he thought to himself before he quickly poured the ale down his throat.

Still puzzled, he spoke.

"Perhaps. There is much more chance that I will fight for him than for the Duchess. However, there is the small issue of my Order. Doctrine dictates I find them before I make any drastic actions. Unfortunately"

The scenes passed before Mattus eyes like in a dream. Was this real, everyone spitting in the others Cup and then drinking it. The dragon jumping out of the window and then this comicaly large Vanskerry looks back in. Mattus rubbed his eyes and pinched his arm until he felt better. As he opened his everything was the same. The gods must playing a game with him.

"One of my Order members is at the meeting taking care of Valdor and Barbarrossa. And I am here looking for someone. I don't know if I already told you, I think the ale is making me forget things. He is a huge guy wearing a grey robe most of the time. I think he goes by the name Grendel, or Grumpy, something with a "G" for sure. When I deliver my message to him my spear is ready for some poking."

Mattus tried to act a bit drunk even though he only emptied one mug. He put the next one to his mouth and took a smal sip.