"Deal!" Liisa exclaims with a bright smile, counting the coins as she moved them from her pouch to the merchants hand. "Though I don't think I'll see rain for just a while, heh."
Once Johnny approaches she pulls out one of the maps to show him a bit. "They are a bit old, so I'm not sure if they are good anymore." she replies, ignoring his question as she wasn't really sure what they actually detailed - something she was reluctant to admit in the crowd. "But they'll look quite nice on the wall! I'm thinking the blacksmith's cellar - they'll accessorize nicely with his rocks don't you think?"
Luna kept an eye on the strange glowing ones since Neri confirmed he couldn't see them, they were likely tied to her power given their actions but now wasn't the time to venture off alone despite her curiosity. "So we can see people that effect our gems as well?" She asked quietly more to herself than the group.
"Yes, I'm sure the rocks could make excellent paper weights," Johnny says deadpan. Then turning to Liisa's merchant, he asks, "So, did you come from far away to be here? I'm curious how big of a deal this festival is. And is it just merchants that come, or also entertainers and the like?"
Heading into the inn you stopped in the first time, you find radically different settings going on.
The place is packed, with mostly humans. Of the people you saw before, you see no hide nor hair. Only the large mushroom man owner. And as he speaks, the shivvers go up and down your spine again. "Ahoy! Welcome!"
About a third of the people look up at the group, the rest are too busy arguing or talking or drinking or eating. Instead of the one young girl doing waiting, there's a half-dozen women of varying ages running around, delivering food, drinks, and so on. In the back corner two mushroom men who look even bigger and tougher than the bartender stand, glowering at the room, with large heavy cudgels in hand, ready to deal with any trouble makers.
Some dark stains on the floor may indicate some earlier trouble they have already dealt with.
The young waitress from your first visit looks up and comes forward with a smile. "Hello strangers, we don't have a table big enough for all of you right now. Do you want to wait a bit?" She asks loudly enough to be heard (and overheard) over the din of the room.
Kong smiles at the waitress and picking up on the hint their here for the first time says, "We'll wait for a table, unless you have a back room or somewhere else. This place certainly seems to be a happening place. Anything special we should know about?"
Hmmm, interesting. Nice to know they're discreet. Johnny smiles and nods in agreement with Kong. He then starts trying to zone in on some of the different conversations going on long enough to get a gist of the topic.
"There's more here than you think. This place is a haven," Lina responds, and casts Detect Magic as quietly as she can.
Neri quietly heads outside to slump near the doorway. He really mostly just wanted to not be standing for a bit after the long walk there... even if it was half as long for him as it had been for the others, effort-wise.
Uhum. So the regulars have made themselves scarce. That's good to know. Liisa noted as the barmaid did her song and dance. Which wasn't very encouraging either! At least we now know that! After a quick glance at the bouncers she swept her gaze over the crowd, trying to see if she could spot any more potential trouble-makers. Being involved in a bar brawl could be bad for their health, at least long term!
"Mmm. An alternative seating plan wouldn't be half bad!" she added to Kongs assessment.
When they enter Luna focuses on the building itself instead of the crowd of new people, she tries to spot any differences in the tavern such as expansions, building reinforcements, or changes in the layout.
The group waits a bit, and finally is led into a back room with a table. The human waitress smiles. "Beers on the house folks, but don't come out ok? We're all full up, so no rooms, unless you just want to rent this one out tonight. You want any food? Not on the house, but we have a lot of selection tonight, steak, chicken, fish, mushrooms, all of the above?" She asks, after closing the door on the din from the main room.
"Honestly... steak and mushrooms sounds amazing." Neri responds as she slides smoothly into his chair, turned around so that the back is to the table and his arms rest on the back.
Liisa sinks down on her chair. While it was growing more and more obvious that they probably shouldn't have come here, the prospect of an restaurant meal more made up for it. Until the torches and pitchforks come, of course! "Mm why don't we take in a little of each? It all sounds delicious!"
"Steak and mushrooms sounds divine! Now all I need is some buttery yeast rolls and an ice cold Newcastle! I think we better take the room here for the night and try not to start the Apocalypse right now." Kong sits down and drains the offer beer.
I wonder who else is hidden away in these rooms...
"Steak for me please." Never been a huge fan of mushrooms. Plus it'd be a little weird what with the host being a giant mushroom.
Picking up on the unease of some of his companions more than anything from the host, Johnny sits down facing the door. Given that that was the most likely entrance, he'd rather have several other people between him and it.
Lina orders the fish, figuring the mushrooms might be in poor taste, but not too keen on finding out where steak down here might come from.
Luna was in agreement with Lina and copied her order before trying to make small talk with the waiter to get a little more information. "Are you always this busy nowadays?" She asks innocently.
The girl wipes her forehead with the back of her hand. "This is my first year working the Trade, but yeah, every Trade gets this busy. Just never realized how hard it was. So, lots of everything, got it..." She heads back out into the noisy commons area.
She returns about 20 minutes later with a cart loaded down with bowls. There's a bowl of spiced meat of some type that she labels 'Steak', another bowl of heavily spiced fried fish, and another bowl full of small cubes of white and dark meat she labels 'Bird'. A platter has large capped mushrooms, each about the size of a softball, that have been roasted over a fire and coated with a bright red powder on their black skin. Two bowls of mixed vegetables, boiled, a bowl of potatoes, mashed, and a bowl of bread, freshly baked, round out the food. She drops a small bowl of semi-melted butter on the table as well. "Ok, if you need more ale or anything, pull the cord in the corner." She puts two pitchers of warm ale on the table, and then unless asked further questions, heads out again.
"Well, this looks nice." Liisa rubs her hands together in anticipation as the food arrives. She quickly helps herself to a generous serving of mash, mushrooms and ale - the later which quickly disappears after she samples the second. "Perkele! That's hot. But ah I've missed spices!" Pouring herself more ale before chomping down another mushroom Liisa enjoys the food and lets the other have a chance to try some before speaking up again. "So what's next? Lurking here for too long doesn't seem like an good idea, so find an guide asap and then gtfo?"
"Maybe. I wish we could see an obvious tactical benefit to this festival, but any church agents down here are probably under heavy cover."
"Thank you." Neri says, before the girl disappears once more. He takes a small sampling of the things he didn't order, and then as a manner of pride eats the steak that almost assuredly is not cow.
"Honestly, it's not going to be bad for 'intel' at all." he says, fingerquoting, as he slices the mushroom into smaller chunks to help them cool, and digging into the bread - which he hadn't realized he missed so much.
"I'm thinking we'll mostly see Korbran's people. Short spring and short fall, with ridiculously hot summers and bitterly cold winters. Seems to line up to me... and makes me think Korbran's time is the harvest and the trade times. Spring, we'll likely be able to buy art and the like, fall will be full of food. I wonder if their power waxes and wanes with the seasons, or if they pass the mantles off willingly?" he asks, almost absentmindedly, clearly making it up as he goes.
"Although that raises a good point, Neri..." Lina interjects. "The people who show up might not be Celestine's faithful. If we do want to go another route... this could be our best chance for a while to find, mark, and rescue those 'refugees' we've been talking about."
Johnny eyes the practically red mushrooms with suspicion, instead opting to take a little bit from each of the other dishes. Sure, he had ordered steak, but if the food was going to come family-style, he may as well take advantage of all the other dishes. He carefully takes a small bit of each item, making sure they're not going to kill him with spiciness before moving on and trying the next dish. He grimaces slightly as he tries the ale, only to discover that it's warm. Not at all what he had expected.
Kongs face turns red and he nearly chokes as he eats some mushrooms. He quickly grabs his ale and drinks it not noticing its warm. "Those are hot!" he screams as tears roll down his eyes.
After a minute he says "I think we should use this opportunity to sneak out with the others buying goods here and the head to where we want to go."
The group rents the banquet room for the night, and after moving the table to one end and stacking the benches and chairs on it, there's plenty of room to camp out that night in a warm room.
Breakfast the next morning is roasted mushrooms and scrambled eggs with bits of lizard meat in it (don't ask what kind of animal supplied the eggs though!).
The crowds the next day are thinning, and the group finds out the trade show is coming to a close, people are packing up early and heading out. It'll take another week for the area to fully empty, but at least a third are heading out today.
When they eat Luna tends to stick to the meat, avoiding the eggs and mushrooms, and watch the few remaining people leave the tavern. "Trades leaving town, we might start sticking out if we stay."
Kong nods as he eats, "Yes, this would be a good time to start out I think."
"Probably yeah." Liisa concurs and carefully examines the breakfast for that red powder. While copious amount of ale had helped with the ingestion of that meal, the other end of the process had been less enjoyable. "Let's see if we can't find a guide. Though I'm thinking we might not want to make our odd choice of destination too obvious to other people..."
"I have been thinking, I think perhaps it might be better if I returned to Hell and assisted there. With my other at weakened power, I will be a drain on the party should you encounter Avatars from the other gods." Daichi says solemnly, having been very quite the last few days.
"Eh. I figured. Most people go crazy in short order here. Do what you need to do for you." Neri responds. "Just don't get yourself killed going back."
"As for getting out of town, leaving in a way they don't expect actually might draw more attention than just staying a bit too long. I'm not really sure. It seems really... not ideal to expose ourselves in any way at all." he adds, shaking his head. "But now's as good a time as any. We just definitely shouldn't go to the surface, which will undoubtedly be very policed."
Johnny picks tentatively at the lizard. He had never tried it before. Though he did still think it was odd that they'd be eating lizard in the raptor town. Although he supposed some places back on Earth ate monkeys, which was probably the equivalent.
He represses a snort when Daichi speaks. And then in a deadpan says, "Ok, go to Hell then." And then more brightly, "As for us, I believe there were talks of lava? Maybe we should get some marshmallows for the trip. Y'know, before everyone but Neri burns up." He seems to be in a surprisingly good mood.
"If you think it's best I guess having someone to defend home base would be a good idea." She offered slightly confused at the idea of splitting up but understanding of not wanting to be out here.
"I don't think that burning is really the worry you need to have. Remember, my thing is volcanoes, which erupt. If we're not particularly lucky, the whole place could come down on us. Granted, Id is certain that nothing in one of his shrines would hurt him. With luck, we'll get a new route from the underground to the surface as well... and maybe tax their armies just a little bit more. Does anyone want to do anything else in town before we head out?"
"Ah - good luck Daichi. Take care." Liisa offers an hug for their departing companion.
"And I don't think I have any more errands here."
As the group prepares to go, the owner of the tavern, the massive mushroom man, enters the room. He looks the group over, and then gives a difficult half-bow, as his body doesn't look made to make that movement. "Greetings... friends..." The voice is as soft as he can make it, but it still feels like ants crawling on your spines when it rumbles out. "The girl tells me... you wish to travel to... my homeland... I strongly... suggest you do not... It is... very rare... for a human... to survive there. Not that... my people... are violent... by choice. As much... as my voice... pains you... imagine the loud... shouting of thousands... of my kind. The children... particularly... have trouble controlling... their voices. It is... particularly painful... death for... your kind. It is why... we have warred with... the raptors for so... very very very long. Our mere presence... kills them if we gather... in numbers."
"Are there any areas with volcanic vents where your people don't live?" Neri asks, "See, it's not that I particularly want to die like that, but it really seems like the best option we have for exploring at the moment."
The mushroom settles down into a squat, and his eyes dim as his arms cross.
The girl, who had been hidden behind him, can just be seen now as his head dips. "Oh boy... he's talking to the others... Sometimes it's a few minutes, sometimes it's weeks. I hope it's not weeks, I'd been on the job for 4 hours when someone asked him a question in the middle of the lunch room. He spent six weeks like this. I had to dust him..."
"Oh. I thought I'd pissed him off. I... do that a lot. With everyone." Neri says, leaning back against the table. "At least he's not out in the open, this time?"
"Well, I imagine we can spare a few minutes. But hopefully he won't be offended if we leave before he's done asking. I doubt we'd want to spend weeks or even days waiting for a response."
"Hmm." Lina frowns. "Last time we were here, we talked to a man who mentioned throwing things into a volcano. Which means there are safe vents... but it would be a shame to have to search for them blind."
"I mean, an hour or so wouldn't do much right? Or we could run our errand and come back ..." Liisa suggests with her eyes fixed on the mushroom man. She could almost feel her curiosity pour out of her ears, no doubt the others would notice too. But hey! Voice-killing telepath? mushrooms are certainly a treat! Looking up at the girl she asks - "You know how he does that?"
"Something about roots..." She nods at the creature's feat, which do indeed seem to have grown into the dirt floor of the inn.