RP:How to Roast a Swamp Rat

How to Roast a Swamp Rat

A meeting between Nothrobalug and Ohan

Ohan sits at the bar, his elbows placed on top of the tree top. His hands lift a large mug to his mouth and tilts depositing the last of the grog into his mouth. The rogue then slams the glass down and places a few more coins onto the counter top to pay for a refill. As the cup is refilled a large, long, and loud belch escapes his mouth. Ohan bought 1 grog.

Nothrobalug enters the Grogshop loudly and proudly displaying a freshly killed bouquet of swamp rats. Nothro lets the bundle of dinner thump as he drops them on the counter. The large orc smiles at Grargh and gestures for a tankard of his usual to be placed before him. The bar smells as though someone has recently released a grog induced belch. Noth glances to his left and notices a man sitting upon a stool at the big wooden bar. Noth eyes Grargh and makes a motion with his eyes in the direction of the man as if asking Grargh silently, who the hell is that guy. Noth then gulps down his beverage and orders another before speaking in a loud voice to the barkeep. "Them rats be good fer payment right?" The barkeep does not look amused and Noth shrugs, "Ahhh well put it on me tab then!" The large orc scoots down next to the man and stares at him blankly before speaking to him, "You like swamp rat slow roasted over campfire little man?" Noth drank 1 fungus beer.

Ohan looks around to the bouquet of rats, he looks over the bundle as if trying to find the most favorable one though he doesn't get to close as to show possession of it. “The rats would probably grant you better payment in the sewers with the rat-folk.” he offers a slight grin to his remark “Slow roasted is better then a stew, I've never had a rat in stew that was good, but as long as it isn't burnt, I'll eat anything that doesn't eat me first.” while being half-elf Ohan didn't look like the usual elf, or human, his eyes held a sharper edge like those educated in combat rather then books. And even though he was pretty fashionable, he didn't look to belong with either cenril or kelay's population.

Nothrobalug Takes opportunity to sniff at the man as he overlooks the pile of freshly slain swamp rats. The man smells odd, yet not entirely unpleasant. Noth takes note as the man speaks of the sewers and decides that might be a fun place to look for mushrooms one day when he decides to journey away from his beloved Gualon for a vacation. Noth then wonders why rat folk would pay him for killing.....rats. Getting on the subject of cooking pleases Noth, as he has been getting rather good at it. The orc's bloodshot grey eyes light up and spark with interest. "Noth slow roast dem with plenty garlic and herbs. They be most delicious!" Noth grabs hold of one of the rats and rips it away from the bundle. The precooked rodent is then placed on the tree forged bar in front of the man. Blood still dripping from the spear wound. "Me not as good a hunter as some of Noth brothers, but get plenty for feeding Noth." The orc rubs his own belly to show that he is indeed well fed. Nothro looks at the man closer and tries to identify him, but is unable to place his race exactly and decides that he is a human, though from where is not certain. Grargh does not need to be asked and keeps the tankards of fungus brew coming steadily as Noth quickly pounds them down. "Where be you from man with nice soft clothes? And what do the people call you? I am Nothrobalug from Gualortan tribe. I will get pretty and soft clothes one day from lady who make me furry warm armors."

Ohan looks at the rat, and neither displeasure or enjoyment crosses his face, in fact emotion is one thing to rarely cross his face as the majority of the time he remains impassive looking from the rat to the Orc offering it. “Mushrooms and mint also taste well on the rat, takes away some of the gamey taste off it.” he then looks to the keep just as he finishes the last of his grog. “I'm from everywhere, never really had a place to call home minus a few cells here and there. They call me Ohan, No tribe, or family, just me myself and I.” he nods reassuringly. “And don't knock your armor, very strong armor. Not good to be on the other side of that armor I assure you.”

Nothrobalug grins at his newly met companion and widens his eyes further excited as the conversation of cooking and mushrooms pleases the orc very much. "Me love mushrooms. Everything better with mushrooms. Never used mint before, but Noth have many herbs and spices that he no use yet." Noth grabs another of the rats and simply snaps off the head, peels back the skin and starts consuming the flesh raw from the bones. "Noth no can build small camp fire in Grogshop to cook his dinner. Me eat this one now like this for snack." The orc sticks the skinless rat meat in the face of his drinking partner, "You try like this?" Noth stares at the man and smiles, though does not expect Ohan to take a bite from the raw rat snack. "Noth pleased to meet Ohan and wonder why everyone me meet does not wear metal armors like Noth. Me like the protection of the hard clothes, but want the soft for casual times like this." Noth beats on his shoulder plates with his club denting them slightly but proudly displaying the effectiveness of the gear. "Noth crush men with soft armor!" The orc chuckles and gulps down more fungus beer before enjoying another mouthful of raw rat. Some of the food falls from his mouth as he speaks. "Why Ohan man no home place?"

Ohan grins “Heavy armor help for big warriors. Light armor, help for small fighters.” He takes his mug and taps it against his coat lined with scales to show that not only is it fashionable but protective as well. “Noth can take more hits with out his armor then Ohan can take with armor, so I need to be able to move around faster to avoid contact rather then take it head on. And heavy armor would make me slower.” he looks at the offered meat and shrugs then stretches out his hand taking a chunk of meat and popping it into his mouth and downs it with a swallow from the mug. “Mushrooms would definitely make it taste better.” a look is given as he pays for a few more beer for the orc. “Noth may crush men with soft armor, but Ohan can get around men with big armor faster.” he wasn't so much bragging as explaining. “And besides, your armor allows for few weapons..” Ohan opens his coat to reveal an assortment of long blades, a few short blades and a leather satchel which hangs from his shoulder. “One weapon hardly serves every purpose.”

Nothrobalug listens as Ohan explains to him how a man with light and soft armor can make great use of it on the battlefield as well as for casual purposes. Noth is rather intrigued by the man and takes what he says with consideration and tries his best to properly understand the words. As Ohan speaks Noth inspects the scales of the armor and is impressed with the gear. The orc nods with approval and is a bit surprised that the man partakes in the raw swamp rat. Noth eagerly downs another fungus beer with a single gulp and starts upon another immediately. "Mushrooms make everything better!" Noth pulls out a bag of various fungus spores that he has collected from the swamps and fields of the Gualon area. The orc points to a few that look to be dusted with purple and gold flecks of colors. "Noth get these for shaman brother. They send brother to meet with orc god for spiritual advice." Noth laughs lightly at the idea, "Me no take stock in that very much and Noth just eat them for fun of it. Make me drink more than others and last all night!" The orc grins as he places the mushrooms upon the bar top for Ohan to look over if he wished. The large orc looks at his club weapon as Ohan mentions the single item style versus the multi armed strategy and he is amazed to see so many implements of battle inside the coat that the man wears. "That be many blades Ohan carry. Noth impressed! Ohan use dem all?"

Ohan wraps the coat back around his form concealing all of the blades from view, almost making it seem as if there was nothing below the armored cloth. “As I've said, different circumstances call for different weapons” he looks over the spores recognizing a few of them and looks a bit concerned. He takes a few of them and places them to the side. “You may not want to mix these...” he points to a deep green one with the purple one. “They are ok by themselves. But you mix the two, and it'll be the last meal you ever eat.” he nods “The rest are fine, and would make the rats mighty tasty. Just warn against mixing these two.” He then places his hand into the satchel hidden by his coat, a vial is pulled out with a fine mixed green powder in the vial. He then pours a little out and offers the mint to the orc. “Go ahead and try it before you put onto the rat.”

Noth smiles as Ohan tucks away his hidden armory o'fun and death. The orc only wants to eat the mushrooms together even more now that Ohan warns him not to do so. Many of the orcs in the camp often swallow many forms of poison type items to declare themselves stronger than one another. The ritual mushroom eating typically takes place on long nights of fungus beer drinking and wrestling matches. His kind had a very strong immunity to most poisons and the orcs often enjoyed the pastime of hallucinating to near death on various types of fungi. "Noth like mixing purple and green." The words are followed by an odd look of partial insanity as Noth seems to recall a night where similar mushrooms were consumed in mass quantities by himself and his brethren. The orc watches as Ohan produces a vial of green powder and offers him some to try. Noth had never had mint before, especially straight up and licked the amount that was poured onto the bar top, leaving none remaining. The expression of odd flavor explosion was apparent upon the green mans face. "Blaenverk!" The Gualortan phrase for 'holy crap' is blurted out as the mint is eaten. "Noth no like that herb. Me stick with Noth garlic supply!" Nothro quickly grabs his tankard of beer to wash the strong taste out of his mouth. It was perhaps not disliked, just overwhelming to his orcish palette.

Ohan chuckles as the orc acts over the mint. “Perhaps was a bit to much straight up.” he trys to hold back his laugh. The half elf downs his grog then places the vial back with many other vials that clank when the mint is dropped into the satchel. “Make a deal, You mix your rat with the mushrooms and mine with out, this softys stomach isn't as strong as yours.” he says hoping to flatter the strong warrior. He stifles his laugh and takes another grog. “Orcs have strong combat though, I remember stories growing up of the war between humans and orcs back a while ago. Were stories to put little ohan to sleep.”

Nothrobalug finishes washing the lingering taste of mint from his tongue via mass consumption of his favorite beverage. Grargh joins in with Ohan's laughter and Noth decides at that moment to never again try the herb in his cooking adventures. Noth nods to Ohan about how to flavor his rat and responds. "Noth have Ohan over to me hut for dinner one night. Noth no put mushroom mix on yours, just garlic and spice rub." Noth is proud of his iron stomach and Ohan's words make him pat at his orcish belly. "Noth eat anything! Well....not everything apparently. me no like mint or scotch." Noth is happy to hear that Ohan has heard stories of his kind from an early age and is quick to agree with the man's words. "Yes, orcs strong in battle. Melee combat with weapon or hands suits Noth and brothers very well. Noth make war with them who threaten Gualon now. Protect the Gualon humans." The orc points to a diamond badge of sorts tied to an armband on his left arm. "Noth enforcer of Gualon law and Captain of City Guard. Me fight bad men who against city and Tristram man who run it."

Ohan seems to be matching Noth drink for drink between with his grog vs the orcs beer. “Does Noth have any combat stories?”

Nothrobalug shakes his head in a vertical motion to signal that he indeed has a few stories of combat, after all what orc did not. "Yes Ohan, me have many stories of battle and combat." The orc finishes his last fungus beer and smiles at the man before standing from his seated position at the large wooded bar top. "Me have Ohan over to Noth's hut for dinner one night and tell him such stories." Noth makes a nod to Grargh before heading to the door of the Grogshop. With a wave to both Grargh and Ohan he holds up his rats and speaks, "Must be going for tonight. Noth have lasy friend to make dinner for. me lost track of time! Nice to meet Ohan, see you for stories and food soon enough." Noth smiles. "Noth provide the stories and food, but Ohan man bring da drink!"

Ohan said to you, "I'll bring the drink, I'll make sure to bring extra Scotch" the half elf smiles to show he is joking " I look forward to your stories."

Nothrobalug exits the Grogshop with rats in hand.