RP:Map Panic

Kelay Tavern

Built and rebuilt, torn apart and set like stubborn bone, this tavern is the pinnacle of Hollow's entirety, wrought around the premise of peace, equality, and consummate amity. And of course, the old place had seen all of the three, but so much more. Dire markings of claw and steel cut deep into wall panels and floorboards. Set against the land's usual motif of destruction are signs of comfort. Twisting shadows and smoothing out a careful blanket of light with soft, quaint fires, a candelabra dangles down by thick cords, gripping the circular holder. Each twists up, converging upon the center, where they snake about one another and form a thick, secure anchor to Kelay Tavern's high, accommodating ceiling. The candelabra rattle now and again from the inn patrons overhead, pouring down globs of wax to the center of the room, which is wide and unobstructed. Cheaply carpentered tables and chairs grow outward around the bare dancing area, keeping to the rounded theme, and also keeping to a dwarven barkeep's avariciously born taste for 'economical' furniture. Hardly any expense has been wasted on the actual upkeep of the public center, as can be garnered from the smell of deep pine, rich tobacco, and even richer spirits. Stairs twist away dimly near the high bar. And atop that side rests the inn logs, quill, and ink. This establishment's fine keeper, Mesthak, can be seen smiling out from his post at the bar, straight across to the room's always crackling stone-wrought hearth. Behind him, atop lofty shelves, sits an array of dark, amber, and clear liquids. Food smells waft from somewhere near at hand. A carefully printed and hung sign details the purchasable items here in the place of merriment, loss, laughter, and life. Also, tucked into a corner near one of two windows closest to the tavern doorway is a thickly papered bulletin board. A sign has been added next to the board that reads, 'The management requires patrons be fully inebriated at all times and that no curing spells be performed in this tavern-Thank you'.

Kyori travelled alone through the night. Before daybreak, the spellblade found a bed in Kelay Tavern and a quick shot to help him sleep. The incorporeal noises from Enchantment would ring in his head until then and only then, if he’s lucky. Sapphire eyes watch the unfamiliar ceiling of his rented room catch fire with morning light before sleep takes him. She never came nor went when beckoned. A knuckle rat-tat’s on Kyori’s door. A thunderous sound to his sensitive ears. He startles awake, cradling his throbbing head like a drunk. “What?” He barks at the door through dry lips. A slip of parchment slides under the door to the tune of receding footsteps. The warrior listens, frowning at the letter on the floor. He sighs, both feet hitting the floor with resigned exhaustion. Five minutes later Kyori is dressed and out in the bar, tensely chatting up Nancy with the letter folded and stuffed in his back pocket. “ C’mon Nance.” He’s rapping his index finger on the bar, narked by the dead end. “You gotta give me something, anything…” His blonde hair exists in the desultory fashion of a man unbothered by his appearance.

Penelope Halifax is lingering on a barstool on the opposite side of the bar. It was morning, and surprisingly she is settled in such a grubby establishment. The tavern, however, had become a part of her home which was Kelay. A Kelay civilian. The Kelay keeper of Halifax Roots—a rising branch. The woman sits idly with her breakfast that Mesthak had whipped up for the petite herbalist. A slab of smoked ham and two eggs with a glass of spiked orange juice for a little side, bubbly treat. Her chestnut hair rests on her shoulders. Always frizzy and unkempt. A strand tucked behind her ear. Her appearance is ordinary. A rustic orange, silk button-up tucked into a pair of tight black pants with a black belt. The tavern is quiet until a blonde man was sternly talking to Nancy. Moss eyes slide towards the quiet corruption between the two. The freckled woman was nosy that way. The girl tries to connect the dots. A letter, an interrogative attitude, and a letter keeper. “Perhaps you can slap it on the board. That may give it some attention and answer some unanswered questions.” The sound of her voice may or may not have a small hint of dry humor, and the woman does not look at him. Instead, she lifts her juice and sips on rim idly.

Kyori didn't see the woman when he originally approached the bar but there she is, offering advice on his mysterious situation, like she was in the know. He could smell the spiked component of the orange juice on her breath when she spoke. His sapphire eyes grew cold at her interjection, patting his back pocket to make sure the letter was still there. "Mind your own." The spellblade warns with Nancy making eye contact with Penelope from behind him, shrugging and rolling her eyes. He turns back to Nancy but she's walking away. She has no more to say on the matter. His only lead gone, the warrior turns back to Penelope with a seething annoyance. He doesn't speak but he doesn't need to. He lets loose a heavy exhale and scratches his stubble. Better check the letter again for clues. The parchment is torn and worn down. If it was freshly written, he must have opened and closed it repetitiously since it's delivery. Within broad ink strokes construct not words but structures. Uneven lines connect asymmetrical squares. To a Kelay veteran, it may look familiar. To Kyori, a newcomer, it looked like garbage. "Doesn't this place have good cartographers?" He grumbles, about to shove the letter into his pocket when he looks at the slight brunette. The male moves on to another bar patron when Nancy approaches Penelope with a sigh. "Don't mind him," the barmaid says casually wiping the bar top down with a damp rag. "Pretty sure he's a hissing cat." Yes, Kyori was hissing but not a cat. He just needed to find out what this gods forsaken map was and where it led. The patron Kyori approached shrugs and the man looks up at Nancy, gesturing behind the patrons back as if to say 'See what I've resorted to because you won't help me'. The man continues this pattern while Nancy refills the herbalist's drink.

Penelope did not even look at him once, but she hid the smirk that was on her lips. Testy. The opposite of the girl who rests at the counter. As Kyori looks back to Nancy, Penelope lifts her gaze with a knowing grin at the barmaid. The herbalist shrugs and places her drink back down and continues to dig into her breakfast while she stares at a book that is settled off to the side of her plate. The book has sketches of various plants and small print. The woman was studying up on her next venture to discover new plants. As Nancy wanders by to refill Penelope’s glass, Penelope holds a finger. “Thank you. Hold the bubbly. Will you, Miss Nancy? Leave the orange juice. The champagne was just to make it fancy, not to get me tipsy. I’m a little more classy than that,” the woman smiles slightly with a sheepish snicker. “Also, I won’t worry. I sort of ignited an already existing flame, it seems,” the girl grazes a finger on the pages of her own book. “Maybe he should check his local library,” her tone grows sort of loud so he can hear, but her tone is also full of gentle grace. Her face shifts to the side as to eye him as he keeps floundering.

Nancy nods and tops off only the orange juice portion of the other woman's breakfast beverage. "Of course." The barmaid grins before tending to other needs behind the bar. Kyori's exceptional hearing would have picked up Penelope's snide remark from across the room even if she'd whispered. So her intentional second dose of advise only leaves him one option. He abandons the patrons in favor of the bar. A library? Did this tiny town possess one? "If you're so smart," he looks her over, concluding she could be a witch but he wasn't sure. He'd already met two and a third was on the roster. She was pretty sassy for persecuted stereotype. "Can you tell me where this is?" He holds the paper up between them so he didn't have to see her smug expression when she inevitably ignored his rough request. The warrior looks at nice, face hidden by the crinkled letter, and gives her a look. Whatever look it is she responds with a shrug and goes about her business. "I'm trying to find...it." Wow, how articulate Kyori, you're doing a bang up job with your investigation. His free hand digs into his pocket, toying with three silver pieces. "Or just tell me where the library is." He holds his silence. Ashen blonde hair peaks over the parchment. He grits his teeth. "Please."

At this point, the girl has a straight line on her face and squinted eyes as he shows the design to her. “Unfortunately, that’s not my specialty. If you had a question with medicine, I could,” her voice is lighter and, now, more genuine. Her eyes blink back into her doe-eyed moss gaze after looking at the map. “But I didn’t mean to really say local. I guess local for Lithrydel. Cenril will be your best bet. There’s a fountain of healing there a little pass the inn there going east. Then just go north from the fountain I think?” Pause. “I used to work in Cenril before I became settled officially in Kelay. The library is huge there. There is probably specialists who work there that deal with cartography and I've heard they're very friendly,” the girl smiles politely with pale lips, not like he can see with the parchment in the way.

Kyori starts to lower the parchment when Penelope addesses him. He lowers his paper enough to see her book. He still couldn't tell if she was a witch. Cenril was close but the city was significantly larger than Kelay. Gritting his teeth, he tries to apologize. How did her eyes get so big? His keen warrior senses tell him she smells like herbs and tonics. "D-did you work in the Library?" The warrior clears his throat, folding the parchment back into it's native ackward square. "Sorry," He tries his hand at apologizing again. "I'm trying to find...someone. It's urgent. Who do I ask for? At the library?"

The healer shakes her head promptly at his question. “No, sir. I like research. I was working at the bakery there a time ago, but now I work as an herbalist in Kelay with Yerrel. He sort of deals with the magical healing while I work with the actual making of medicine. I’m the owner of a new branch called Halifax Roots.” Her smile is easy-going, and she is not bothered by him whatsoever. “No worries, I was sort of a… rude one, myself. Takes two to tango,” she finally gives him a long linger of a gaze to take him in. He was blonde. She was reminded of the old lover elf Linken who was always ever-so-frustrated with her, and then reminded of her dear friend Lionel O'Connor who always babbled for adventure and glory. There is a small tug in her chest before she continues on. “I would ask for Darryn Wilmore. I heard he dabbles in the map setting. Though, friendly, he may ask for a favor in return—or you may be lucky. He helped me when I was asking about the lands of Vailkrin. He said that when he needs my medical favors, he will seek me,” there is a beat between her speaking. “I apologize, though, I’m Penelope. Penelope Halifax,” her hand finally extends towards the man. "I would say I sent you. He might loosen up a bit. He is rather stubborn."

Kyori’s still restive but his frantic gestures dial back. “I’m no sir." He hadn’t heard of Halifax roots but the title of ‘medicine maker’ fit her scent and easy demeanor. The warrior squints. Is she the same woman who snarkily answered his question before? Man, you’re slipping Kyori. Her juniper eyes are kind at second glance. He flinches, almost like he could sense the tension in her chest. His eyes dart around, shoving all the information hastily into his memory. He repeated the cliffnotes for clarity. “Cenril Library, Daaryn Wilmore, Penelope Halifax.” The spellblade’s index finger points to Penelope and should she give her approval on these ‘facts’ he’ll nod and thank her. “If you owe this guy money, tell me now.” Ms. Halifax didn’t look like the kind of woman who owed anyone money. But not in a prissy way. “Thanks Pen.” He gives her a thumbs up walking shuffling backwards towards the entrance, waves at Nancy behind the bar, and turns to pull the door open. Nancy approaches Penelope again with a full smile. “His name is Kyori, since he rudely forgot to tell you.” Then Nancy winks at her and goes about her business.

Penelope remains stoic at his backlash to saying he is not a "sir". Her mistake, she guesses. She leans back against the bartop as she stares at the sporadic man. Maybe he was ill. She found comfort in that. The human slowly nods at the warrior's comments and then quickly answers with, "No money." Her answers are short with him now, but soft. "Of course," she then cants her head at his demeanor before leaning forward and turning back to finish her breakfast on her plate. The freckled girl begins to dig in as she glances up at Nancy. "I don't think Kyori will be seeing any of me any time soon, nor would he want to," she smiles knowingly, and Nancy and Penelope begin to laugh. "Hopefully things work out for the poor guy." The girl then bites her fork that has a sliver of egg on it and watches Nancy go about her day. What an odd morning.