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At this point, the doors open and a spindly Tien man in a long black coat with shocking white hair, a bow and quiver slung over his shoulder walks in. He looks around for a moment, plops down next to Kyros, and undoes his face-scarf, ordering a pint. He looks over at Sichelgaita and points "Whatever she had. Galt is a stressful place." He then looks to Gorjo. "Hello there" He puts out his hand "Nagaji, I see. From the Continent? It's all so NEW here!"
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Gorjo shakes the hand of the Tien newcomer.
"Yesss, I am originally from the nagaji homeland of Nagajor. While the Inner Ssea iss different from Tian Xia in ssome ways, there are many ssimilaritiesss. In both, I am in landsss dominated by you mammalsss. But I left Nagajor as a child, sso thisss iss not that new to me."
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Handing Kyros a pinch sized packet, Salranna says
"Of course you can."
the, as Sichelgaita's eye widens Salranna laughs and spats the woman on the back
"Didn't realize how much of the world you were missing did you? what you eat and drink is quite different when your taste is increased tenfold. What once bitter can be sour, what was once sour sweet. Want another pinch to bring home?..... I have a whole jug with me for any here who wants try a pinch."
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Nesod immediately puts his hand up "Can I try? I'm no connoisseur of all the drinks in the Inner Sea, by any means, but this seems to be interesting." Sitting down, he starts sharpening an arrow while looking at Gorjo "Always wanted to go to Nagajor as a kid. The near-constant war meant I spent that time learning to be an archer. Still, I can't complain. Now I'm on a whole new !@#$ continent."
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Smiling at Sichelgaita whiole hand a small packet to Nesod, Salranna replies
"The formula to this creation is rather complex, but the theory behind it is easy. A creature's sense of taste is the chemical interaction between its taste buds and substances that it comes in to contact with. Flavor spike increases the ability of taste buds to detect those interactions."
then after pause to giggle she replies
"And yes I am popular on long journeys. No foodstuff ever seems bland. No one ever complains about carrying some of my extra supplies. I like you girl, catch!"
She tosses a small wooden jar to Sichelgaita
"Remember, just a pinch will do."
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Sichelgaita catches the jar, and inclines her head in thanks. "I'm in your debt," she says cheerfully. "Unfortunately, I don't have anything to give in return...except another drink, of course. What'll you have?"
Undoing her heavy gauntlets, she puts them in her backpack, them drops it, her long cloak, and her helmet on the floor, moving them into a corner with her battered shield. Leaning back, she sighs in contentment, obviously glad to just be Sichelgaita, not the Paladin of Iomedae, at least for a short while.
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Having polished his bow for the time being, Nesod intentionally misinterprets Salrana's question. "Personally, I'm a...free spirit! My hours are from yesterday until forever! But I play kazoo to get by." He pulls out his kazoo and begins to play/
He looks down at his kazoo in wonder. "How in the nine hells did I do that?"
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*Takes the mug from Salrana, eyeballs it, takes a whiff & gulps it down in a few sips.*
"Hmm, never had anything like this. Flavor spike you say? I'll have to tell my alchemist friend of this so he may concoct some for our journies."
*Annan then pulls out a special bottle from his backpack and extends it to Salrana in thanks.*
"This is some of my special reserve mead. A family recipe. I never leave home without a bottle. It may not be much of anything special, but it brings me good luck and great fortune. A toast, fellow Andoran. To Cayden Cailean! And, to all of us Pathfinders of Andoran!"
*This mug Annan seems to gulp down in one single swallow, like the tonic was water.*
"Ahh, now that hits the spot. Lets pour another!"
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With a nod of agreement, Sheliantha and Cuorecielo suddenly break into a Varisian drinking song, a tribute to the Drunken Hero himself, Cayden Cailean. There is much hand-slapping and foot-stomping, and places for those with mugs to hit them on the table. The words may be foreign to many, but the melody and energy are timeless.
If someone seems to struggle while trying to sing, the Lyrakien flits over and switches to that person's own language, seemingly effortlessly.
Sheliantha isn't drinking herself, but carrying the tune, and clapping and stomping the beats.
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"Other playing with chemicals, I love to read. I was amazed the first time I went to the libraries in Almas and the Grand Lodge. I also write to my father Gelran in Daggermark"
Salranna says while accepting her ale. Salranna also accepts the mead from Annon. A pinch of flavorspike and 30 seconds later the mead is gone and Salranna is beginning to appear the slightest bit tipsy for the first time. Interestingly enough her accent is turning Dwarven as she gets tipsy, as if Dwarven was her native language.
"fairly good mead Annon. Was the honey used in it from the Carpenden Plains? It's not as sweet as Belis honey, but it isn't inferior honey."
Smiling as she asks her questions and makes her observations, she slowly sips the Belis Ale. She seems to be enjoying it immensely. She also utters a line in celestial with a Dwarven accent.
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"I can see I'll need to make more of an effort to learn languages, with the friends I'm making these days.," Sichelgaita chuckles softly. "It's not a skill my assignments to date have needed over-much, but at the very least it'd let me keep up with conversations back here."
She eyes Salrana with a mixture of concern and awe. "I've never seen anyone drink mead so quickly and remain vertical. Hells, I remember seeing quarrymen back in Fusil keel over after half that - my mother's sister ran a tavern there, and I stayed with her one week while my mother was ill." She smiles ruefully. "I was fourteen, but I was already tall enough that Aunt Inara decided I could be the bouncer. Nothing quite makes you lose faith in humanity like throwing your friends' parents out and watching them fall asleep on the ground outside."
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Laughing at Sichelgaita's look, Salranna replies
"I'm an alchemist with built up resistances to poison and I had an antitoxin before I started drinking."
After a small pause she continues in a more serious tone.
"I was raised by a dwarven alchemist named Gelran. My mother turned out to be a Erinyes that had no interest in her daughter and my father died when I was 14. Tieflings grow to maturity slower than humans. In human terms I was 2. Gelran took pity on me and raised me properly. I know right from wrong and follow right."
Then she pauses again and says with a nostalgic smile of her own
"But let's move on to more happy things. It is hard to hurt me with poisons and that includes alcohol. You can tell when I am tipsy when my dwarvish accent slips through. When I get really drunk I can bearly speak anything but dwarvish. Gelran became immune to all poison 30 years ago. He can't get drunk at all; Caiden's stein he was angry at first."
Her accent is only slightly dwarvish right now.
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Sichelgaita's face goes from a smile to contrition. "I'm so sorry - I didn't mean to bring up unpleasant memories." She sighs. "We have the pain of losing a father in common, sad to say."
Shaking her head, she brings a smile back to her face. "But you're right. We'll talk of happier things, and I'll strive to be better, more sensitive company. Though I fear I'll not be the most genteel company - going from the daughter of a horse-tamer to being a holy warrior of Iomedae and Saint Lymirin wasn't conducive to polish or sophistication."
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With the energetic song now finished, Sheliantha leans over towards Salrana. "I wouldn't believe that. Just recently I found Sichelgaita's company lovely on an outing for dinner. She knows just the right things to say to this," a hand goes to the tattooed woman's chest, indicating herself, "slip of a Varisian girl, too." Her wide smile flashes to the paladin, before she moves over to circulate with some others.
"Kyros! I do hope you brought your dancing shoes. I'm not so good with a face in a mug all night."
"Gorjo! Nice to see you again. And, yes, I am a mammal, but I prefer to not be drunk. Might miss something important that way."
And then to Nesod, with an appraising eye. "It's been many a year since I heard a master of such an instrument as yours. You wouldn't happen to be a bard of some sort, would you?"
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*To Salrana and Sichelgaita.*
"I, too, understand the pain of losing family members. My uncle, brothers and a few non-blood family members are all I have left in this world. Well, them and the Pathfinder's. Thank the gods for this opportunity, it's surely saved my life. As strange as that may sound."
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"I care about how an individual acts and what is in their heart, genteel or not. Anyone here been to the alchemist's town Alvis? Since joining I haven't had time to go there yet. Maybe I can get Gelran to move closer."
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Sichelgaita inclines her head in thanks to both Annan and Alexite, and raises her own glass in return, her hand briefly straying to her eye as memories surge in her mind.
Shaking herself, she returns Sheliantha's smile. "Thank you for the kind words - and for showing me around the city. My horizons had been kind of narrow before that, and I hadn't explored properly beyond the main districts. Plus I know paladins have reputations as sombre types, so it was supremely kind of you risk being bored to death!" She pauses "That was before my last mission, of course - the one that involved an embassy, stealth - difficult when you're a paladin accompanied by a monk,a ranger and a sorcerer - and everyone in our group relying on me for healing magic."
That memory makes her laugh, and she looks to Salranna. "I agree completely. And every paladin knows a book can't be judged by its cover." She shakes her head. "No, I've never been to Alvis - I must one day, though."
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*Nodding to Alexite.*
"It seems we all have something a little more in common, indeed."
*He respectfully takes a sip of mead, and turns to Salrana and the rest of the group replying, "I have never been to Alvis, either, unfortunately. At least not yet."
*He pauses for a moment, dreaming of the places he will hopefully visit, then continues to speak.*
"Anyone here visited the lands of Tian Xia? I'll be leaving soon on mission and it always helps to be prepared."
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"Anyone here visited the lands of Tian Xia? I'll be leaving soon on mission and it always helps to be prepared."
"I sspent mossst of my life in Tian Xia. It is the Inner Ssea region that iss new to me. But I have visited or lived in many of the countriesss of Tian Xia. Where on the continent are you going?"
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"I sspent mossst of my life in Tian Xia. It is the Inner Ssea region that iss new to me. But I have visited or lived in many of the countriesss of Tian Xia. Where on the continent are you going?"
"Anyone here visited the lands of Tian Xia? I'll be leaving soon on mission and it always helps to be prepared."
*Annan grins slightly, trying not to let his inexperience show through*
"I've only been out exploring on my own for a short time. Most of what I know I've only learned from stories and books I've come across. I love hearing and reading old stories of the world."*He smiles a bit more with this thought. Then sips the mead once more, and clears his throat*
"Uh, I'm supposed to meet my group in Goka and we will receive all the travel information then. I've only visited once before, but it was briefly and I was quite the rookie then." *Grinning once more* "I didn't make the best first impression, and was hoping for a second chance now that I'm a bit more..seasoned..if you will."
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"Aszz I'm sure you already know, Goka isss the biggesst sscity in Tian Xia, about the ssize of Abssalom. If you have time to sstudy the Tien language before you go, it will help you communicate with thosse you meet there."
*Nodding in agreement*
"I do know that. I learn a lot by listening and watching, so I am hopeful I will learn at least a small bit of the language while I am there. I will study up for sure."|
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A towering, blonde haired elven man strides into the tavern, clad in gold tinged red dragon hide full plate, and a sword on his hip, some of the holy light escaping the lip of the scabbard. His armour is emblazoned with dragon motifs, and his left shoulder adorned with various medallions, ribbons, and a silver symbol of Sarenrea. Across his chest is a tabbard emblazoned with the symbol of the Eagle Knights in golden thread.
"I believe I heard the beautiful song of a lyrakian I know." The elven man says with a warm smile.
"My, what a large collection of pathfinders here, what might be the reason for such a gathering, and why am I not drinking?"
Striding towards the bar, Liran finds himself a drink and takes a takes a deep draught before raising the mug.
"I am sure congratulations is in order for something...so congratulations to something!" he yells with a following chuckle.
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Sheliantha flows down along the bar, diaphonous robes following after. She stops in front of Thaddeus, and smiles radiantly. "We shall have to drink deeply to your success, then. I'll have a whiskey sour, myself."
From behind the tattooed woman's shoulder, a much smaller person, winged and ebullient flies up, and looks around. A smaller version of a radiant smile graces the Lyrakien's face, and she flits to Sichelgaita. "You sound tired, Inheritor's Child." The azata's eyes study the paladin's visage as she croons, and the smile on her face returns as her magic takes effect.
Then off as fast as a dart down the bar, and she stops to admire the regalia on the Eagle Knight. "Liran! Liran Ver'Ha! My don't you pretty up nice. You'll be all ready for Elysium dressed up like that!" The tiny creature looks about conspiratorially, and then with a hand up to the side of her mouth, she stage whispers, "I keep telling Sheliantha to dress up in her full uniform, but she just laughs at me..." And then, quick as a flash, she moves in, wraps her arms around the elf's arm in a tight hug, and follows with a loop in the air in front of him.
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Sichelgaita grins at the sight of her good friends. "Iomedae on high, but it's good to see you again," she says, warmth filling her voice. She nods in thanks to the tiny azata. "And I feel much better, thank you. I just got back from a long journey, one that involved a great deal of swordplay, acid and undead. But we won through, and I made Andoran some new friends, so it wasn't *too* much of a hardship. And getting to enjoy a drink with friends at the end of it is a definite bonus. Especially when one's so generous as to restore me."
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Kyros, previously distracted, turns. "Uh, Sheilantha. I'l grant I don't know your culture but... are you doing what I think you're doing?"
The sorceress looks startled at Kyros, and tilts her head slightly. "Me, good sir? I don't think I'm doing anything more than greeting friends," Her smile goes to Sichelgaita, and a hand briefly touches the paladin's forearm. "And perhaps making new ones. Thaddeus here has completed his first mission, and is no longer a v... novice to the Society. I believe a celebration is in order, and if I can assist in making it good and memorable, I intend to."
She comes to a stop in front of the half-elf. "I'm told I have a talent for putting people at ease, and I tend to apply that talent to fellow Pathfinders. Is that so very bad of me?" Her finger trails down Kyros' chest, then her hand drops back to her side, and her great eyes look up to him with a slow blink.
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~Liran Ver'Ha~
Chuckling, Liran taps the small Lyrakian on the head playfully, "From my understanding, people tell Sheliantha many things she does not listen to."
With a long drink, Liran sets down the quickly emptied mug and sighs in relaxation. Tapping the lip for a refill, he turns to Sichelgaita, "My one-eyed beauty, finding yourself getting into trouble? Be warned. I thought my shield and blade, apt companions to defend my friends until recently. I have begun to find more and more frequently that my foes power is often far more than it is seeming, and that they care very little for armour. My unit was almost taken down recently in The City of Strangers by horrible creatures that were identified as War-Wisps. We almost succumbed to panic, and I regret to say I was one until I managed to get a hold of the situation. A keen mind and stout heart will take you further than a blade ever will my friend."
Taking the refilled mug, he turns slightly towards Sheliantha and Kyros Deun with a wink and smile, "A golden tongue can also win many fights without blades needing to be drawn. Let that be a lesson to the younger ones here. I have found many of the younger races to be...how should I put it...impetuous."
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"Now the thing is, Liran" Kyros winks "Us younger races think of the long-lived as insufferably boring creatures. Then half-elves like me get thrown in the middle, and it just gets nasty"
~Liran Ver'Ha~
The elf holds a hand to his chest with a look of mock horror on his face."Boring! Why I have been called many a thing in my time, but that must be the most preposterous and outrageous! Boring! Why I do not know how to contain my rage at such an insult! I may need to just drink even more!"
Liran yells the last part to the bartender with chuckle.
"I do care a great deal for the dichotomy of elven and human offspring though. My own daughter being half-elven herself. I cannot help but to worry. It will be difficult outliving her. As crass, arrogant, and precocious as she may be, she is still my daughter. The half-elven breeds have a very difficult life in that regard."
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Sichelgaita inclines her head to Liran. "I thank you for the compliment. And you're right - my blade has been less effective of late. Something that fellow Pathfinders have been wont to comment on...largely wondering how I'm still alive. Though smiting evil still seems to work just as well as ever. Still, though, I feel now may be a time to re-invest some gold in a new weapon."
She turns slightly, so that while she still faces Liran, the others are within her field of vision. "Sheliantha is *very* good at putting others at their ease. And she and Cuorecielo here were the first real friends I met after joining the Society - they managed to get this stuffy Paladin to loosen up considerably."