Gaston grins. "If I weren't a soldier...or a rabblerouser before that, I would have become a chef."
She nods while swallowing another bite of chicken, "I think you would have done very well as one." She says before sipping on some more of her wine.
Gaston grins before serving Renault some food and then himself. He takes a sip of wine. "This is very good. Where did you get it from?"
She screws up her face into an odd look as she tries to remember his name, "It was at that Inn type place run by that Elf guy......Aldressan? Yeah...I think that's his name. We just sorta stopped by and I asked him if we could buy a bottle of wine from him. I figured if he ran a place that had good food, then he should have good wine as well."
"Ah, I usually eat at home," Gaston says.
Renault nods. "Though I just eat rations or whatever the caravan brings."
She shrugs, "We spend a lot of time making potions and things, so when we're not doing that, we're out delivering them to people. So, we really don't get to spend a whole lot of time at home. Sometimes we'll throw something together, but usually we pick something up or go to the Inn to eat. I really don't have that much experience with cooking though." She says as she enjoys a little more of the chicken with some fruit.
"On a busy day, if Derika doesn't remind me I've been known to forget to eat." Vishanti says with a chuckle.
She just shakes her head as she gets a little scowl on her face, "Neglecting your body's needs isn't funny." She says just a bit sternly, but gives Vishanti a slight nudge with her shoulder so it doesn't seem too harsh.
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"I know, I'll try to do better, love" Vishanti responds, suddnly blushing furiously at her own open endearment. "Besides, you'd never let me." she says smiling, though still blushing as she glances at Renault and Gaston
She nods as she smiles, "Damn right I won't."
You finish your meal and Renault looks to Derika. "So...you said you might have a solution to this ghoul problem?"
She kind of shrugs, "We have some ideas...and like I said before, nothing is going to be solved right away....but we might have some ideas after talking to that Sienna person that was here for a bit. There is something really unnatural about the way this has spread and it seems that it originated somewhere in Nimuz, so we were thinking that if we went there that we could figure out what was causing it and put a stop to it at the source. If we did that...the rest of it should be able to be contained and stopped. There is apparently someone being sent here by Cayden to help us with that, but before we leave we were going to brew as many potions as possible and Corda has something she can make that will make it harder for the men left here to get infected if they're attacked while we're gone. I know it can't happen right away and that there are things that need to get done before we could even leave....but I think this is our best chance of getting to the bottom of this and putting a stop to it, once and for all."
Renault seems to consider Derika's words carefully. "It sounds like more of a plan than anything suggested so far. Just let me know when you're ready to do something. Like I said, I'll have to get permission to let you through the gate."
She nods while looking a little excited at the prospect of seeing something of the world outside of the walls they had been confined to for over a year, "Oh thank you Captain Renault, I promise you won't regret it. Hopefully when you see us again, things will be much much different. We were told that our mission wouldn't be an easy one...but someone is coming that will be able to help us. Of course we still have a lot to do before we can leave...but we'll let you know as soon as everything is ready." She has to stop herself as the excitement sort of takes over and she blushes while losing herself in the feeling of the moment.
Renault smiles and nods, as Gaston begins to clean up. "Good. Gaston and I need to get ready for our evening shift. Too few soldiers leads to too much work."
Picking up the glasses and packing them back in the basket she nods, "Alright, we'll see you later then. I'm not sure how long it will be before that Eldan fellow shows up, but when he does..if it's not too much trouble we need to make sure he finds us so we can get him settled somewhere that he can stay at until we're ready to leave. Hopefully it won't take too long to get everything in order...but the potions and things can't be rushed because we want to make sure we have enough for everyone and we have to do it right."
Vishanti smiles as well,invigorate by the thought of being able to affect the larger issue that had plagued the area long before they'd arrived. To restore the region to true life would be amazing.
Renault nods and she and Gaston head off toward the wall. As you are heading home, you see a halfling walking with a piece of paper in his hand. He appears to be lost.
Walking up to him as she feels in good spirits she asks, "Can we help you find something?"
"Ah, yes, I'm looking for three women," the halfling says. "You seem to fit the description though. Cayden sent me."
"That would be us." Vishanti says calmly. "You must be Eldan."
Her eyes get a little big, "Oh wow...he really does work fast doesn't he? Well, I'm Derika, this is Vishanti, and the quiet one with the cute little fox is Corda. We have a place, but it's kind of small and if you stayed with us....well, Corda offered to share her room...but I thought you might like somewhere with a little more privacy and with people that can cook....so, would you like us to show you around? We were about to do some grocery shopping, but we can get you settled in first if you like." She closes her mouth as she realizes how chatty she's getting.
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Derika blushes a deep blue as she speaks almost at the same time as her love, "Sorry...we don't usually get a lot of visitors....well, until recently that is at least."
"Oh...I don't mind either way," Eldan says. "I don't have a lot of money, just what some friends gave me before I left...Yeah, we can finish what you're doing and maybe you can explain what's going on."
She nods, "Alright then....you can come shopping with us and we'll show you around. If you want to save some of your money until you're able to start earning some coin for yourself you can stay with us. Corda is fairly decent at cooking stuff up in the kitchen. Breakfast was pretty good this morning so we might not kill you with the cooking. I just really don't have that much experience in the kitchen and we're usually so busy that we just grab something somewhere. I might try to change that whole cooking thing though and learn how to make some things, especially since it's not just Vishanti and I anymore." She says with a smile as she takes Vishanti's hand. "Anyways, we'll explain everything after we get back home." As they walk she points out where different things are and gets him familiar with their surroundings, "Tomorrow we can take you to Gaston and Captain Renault to introduce you to them. I'm sure Gaston could find a way for you to make some money while we finish up things we need to do here before leaving for Nimuz....but we'll talk about all that later." She says as they get to the market district and she starts getting things to fill their pantry and root cellar with, along with a few casks of ale and some more lemonade. Thankfully they were marked differently so they would be able to tell them apart. When all is said and done she ends up spending about ten gold and everyone is carrying sacks of groceries, while she borrows a wheelbarrow to take the casks of beverage home in.
Eldan helps to stow everything after they arrive at their place. "Cozy place you have here. Smells like an alchemist's shop."
"That would be both my and now Corda's work. Since a little while after we got here Derika and I have set up a business, providing potions and such for the population here." Vishanti says. "You must have a rather acute sense of smell."
She smiles as she nods at Vishanti's answer and gives her a little squeeze, "Well...Vishanti is the genius, I'm just the help. Corda is amazing with the things she can make and the things she can do, along with her friend Morgor there....I think all of us working together can bring about a big change. Not just for Nicae or Nimuz...but all over." Smiling she looks at Vishanti, "Everything starts with a little ripple right?"
"Ehh, it's something I recently picked up," Eldan says.
Vishanti gives Derika a little smile, shaking her head as she describes herself as 'just the muscle'. She was so much more than that. [b]"Well we re glad to have you. It isn't everyday that someone comes along with the personal recommendation of one of the gods.
Eldan sighs. "I think Cayden is just giving me a second chance. I've lived a pretty rotten life and, after getting killed and reincarnated, I decided to try and improve that. It's not everyday that you can make a clean break and start over, right?"
Derika nods, all too well aware that this was her second chance as well. "Absolutely"
"I better show you what I really am, just in case the hat falls off at some point," Eldan says, taking off his hat to become a short, red kobold. However, the sight is made a little comical with his clothing.
Derika covers her mouth with her hand and tries really hard not to snicker, "Oh...oh okay. Well...that's okay. We're all a little...different. I'm no regular half orc as you can see, so it doesn't matter to us what you look like. What matters is on the inside anyways."
"I think I still need to accept that about myself," Eldan says, putting the hat back on.
"I understand that, so are you hungry or anything? I think we have stuff here to make sandwiches with if you'd like something to eat." She offers as she hangs her axe up on the wall.
"A sandwich sounds good," Eldan answers.
Nodding she goes into the kitchen and starts getting out sandwich making stuff. She slices up some pieces of bread and spreads some of that spicy mustard stuff they got a while back from one of their regulars as a gift on the bread before piling it with roast beef, pastrami, and ham. She adds lettuce and tomato while leaving the pickles on the side since not everyone liked pickles. She puts a few of the sliced fried potatoes on his plate to go with it as well. Taking a tankard out of the cupboard she fills it with some ale and sets it at the kitchen table for him. "There you go, lunch is served. That's about the best I can do in a kitchen for now." She says with a slight chuckle.
Vishanti smiles, things making a bit more sense. They certainly were an interesting group, but sometimes the universe picked the odd ones to shine. "Better than I can do."
"If this isn't your best, then I should prepare some room in my stomach," Eldan chuckles, sitting at the table.
She kind of laughs, "Well..I'm still learning, but I know how to slap stuff on bread and put it together with other stuff." She says before grabbing a tankard of the punch stuff they got from Aldressan's place and sitting down at the table to get off of her feet.
Eldan quietly eats his sandwich and drinks his ale.
Derika just sits quietly and drinks her punch so that Eldan can eat in peace.
Eldan polishes off his sandwich. "Thanks, that was pretty good. So, I guess this is the part where you tell me what's going on in this place?"
She nods and starts by telling him what they were told when they arrived, and then goes over the things that Sienna had told them about Nimuz. Having finished off her punch a while ago she fills her tankard with some ale as she talks to him, "That pretty much leads us up to the present. Right now Vishanti makes potions to help the soldiers guarding the wall, and Corda is going to be making some kind of potion called anti-plague which after taken by those living here should make it much more difficult for them to contract ghoul fever. It's for that reason that we can't leave right away. We have to be able to treat everyone that could be in danger of contracting it before we leave the city. We're pretty sure though that we should be able to track the cause of all this back to Nimuz though, that's why we gotta go there. Does that make sense or was I babbling?" She says in between drinks of ale as she tries to recall everything. Looking at Vishanti and Corda she asks, "Was that alright? Did I forget about anything?"
"I suppose that would be a good place to start." Vishanti says with a chuckle. "What the actual cause is we don't really know, since Derika and I have only been here a little over a year and Corda only very recently, but there is essentially a plague of undead of what seems to be unlimited numbers beyond the wall that protects this colony."
"Their attacks and incursions have been getting progressively worse and they are even washing up on the beach now. Every exposure runs the risk of full contagion if the infected are not cured if possible, and if not, taken down and destroyed quickly enough."
"I see," Eldan says, taking a swig of ale. "I guess earning my redemption isn't going to be easy. Well, I'm handy with a rapier, so I suppose I can be of some use to you."
She nods, "We're very glad you're here. Ummm....the things you have with you...is that all you have?"
"Pretty much," Eldan answers.