Not Your Typical, Run-of-the-Mill Type of Adventure

[SoulofChrysamere]

Gavinyarel: The Roxey Village, the Roxey Steakhouse -- Midyear, 4E 201

 

Gavinyarel slowly opened his eyes and rubbed his forehead. He sat up lazily and cupped his head, massaging beside his eyes in an attempt to force the drowsiness from them. Then, he remembered the woman.

 

Gavinyarel hopped out of bed and slipped on his boots. He locked his room's door behind him as he headed downstairs to see if the innkeeper knew how the woman was doing. He'd seen novices trying to get a grip on the witchhunter's trade before, and most of them became nothing more than grim warnings and reminders of how dangerous the witchhunter's trade could be. He supposed she'd have become just another statistic if not for his timely intervention, but considering the state she was in, he hardly expected a warm reception if they met face-to-face. Still, he had to give her some credit. A bound sword and a crossbow were a step above some of the beginner kits he saw. Then, it hit him when he was halfway down the stairs. Her crossbow! Damn it... In his haste to tend her wounds, he'd forgotten it at the cemetery.

 

Gavinyarel headed straight for the bar upon entering the tavern area, and was caught off guard when he saw himself before the woman in question. In all her youthful spite of her state, she appeared to be requesting her payment for dealing with the zombie.

 

"Eh, wait a second. You seem to be forgetting something there, Miss." Gavinyarel said as he leaned against the wall.

[candymyne]

Riona Galsette: The Roxey Village, the Roxey Steakhouse -- 4E 201

"Hmm?" A raised brow and a curious look set upon her face. "Who might you be altmer?" She eyed him from head to toe, his grey attire and overall get up suggested he was a traveler. It wasn't uncommon to meet others like herself and she never minded seeing them pass her by in the many destinations she had been and was going to. That is unless they didn't keep to themselves and either stirred up trouble or got a tad too annoying her her tolerance. He was a tower compared to her small stature but her eyes were fierce and lacked any amount of intimidation or fear in them.

She kept a hand on the bar table and the other on the strap of her pack. She had been in brawls before over false and rightful accusations, if this was one of those cases she'd be ready. To her knowledge she owed no one anything, or had gained a bounty on herself. In her mind, there was no reason for a stranger to be calling to her attention save to hire her services as a witchhunter.

[SoulofChrysamere]

Gavinyarel: The Roxey Village, the Roxey Steakhouse -- Midyear, 4E 201

 

Gavinyarel took the movements of the woman's hands as preparation for a bar fight. Not that he hadn't been in one or two during his time, but Gavinyarel usually found folks unwilling to confront even an inebriated Altmer for fear of falling victim to some sort of magic. He figured he had to admire her resolve if nothing else. Also, bonus points for knowing the word "Altmer."

 

Then, he realized it. In her weakened state last night, lying there against the tombstone with her head bleeding and the alcohol fighting her adrenaline for control of her body, she must've not seen things as they truly transpired at the end; perhaps her memory was somewhat scrambled. Gavinyarel sighed, saying, "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

[candymyne]

Riona Galsette: The Roxey Village, the Roxey Stakehouse -- Midyear, 4E 201

"What?" Her brow went from curious to annoyed. "You got something to say pointy ears?" She crossed her arms and tapped her foot expectantly. She had nowhere to be immediately but was very impatient when people stalled on their explanations. She gave the bartender a look of sternness as if to remind him whom she was to collect her reward from. Never being the patient type, she tapped her forefinger in fast pace.

It never occurred to her to even try and remember the happenings of last night. She never liked to remember or dwell on the past and with good reason. Each day was anew and it deserved the respect to be lived to its fullest. whether short term or long, remembering past events was pointless to the young Breton.

[SoulofChrysamere]

Gavinyarel: The Roxey Village, the Roxey Steakhouse -- Midyear, 4E 201

 

"Pointy ears?" Well, I've been called worse. "Maybe I can jog your memory a bit. It has something to do with this village's cemetery, 'round about last night. A certain zombie minus a head, taking your bolts and glowing blade right in stride, punching you into a headstone...going up in flames just before it was about to finish you off? Maybe a tall, shadowy figure standing over both of you...wondering where his fifty septims are at?" Gavinyarel said, glancing at the innkeeper at the end of the last sentence.

[candymyne]

Riona Galsette: The Roxey Village, the Roxey Stakehouse -- Midyear, 4E 201

"Nope, don't recall any of that." Now her impatience was now really being tested. It was a perfect time to receive a blessing of the eight Devines for more patience and tolerance or soon there'd be a meltdown that no man could handle. "Listen mister if you want some sort of charity I'm the wrong girl to be asking." Riona wasn't heartless but she never trusted a man, not even harmless tramps in need. "Bartend, my money. I-AM-OWED." Someone better fork up the reward before bolts go flying in all directions. She was oblivious of course that her crossbow still lay in the cemetery where she had dropped it.

A flurry of assumptions coursed through her head and one in particular stood out this very instant. Maybe the high elf had stolen it and was seeing her as easy pickings to extort more from. The thought really angered the young woman. She was beginning to reach her threshold and contemplate on summoning her spectral blade.

[SoulofChrysamere]

Gavinyarel: The Roxey Village, the Roxey Steakhouse -- Midyear, 4E 201

 

Sensing the tension rising between the two people at his counter, the innkeeper grabbed his cutting knife and called his son in from the back room where they did the cooking. The son was relatively tall for an Imperial, standing at around six-foot-one. He was lanky and armed with only a ladle for the potential confrontation of which he wasn't yet aware. A few of the patrons, either rowdier than they first appeared or used to dealing with troublemakers proactively, readied whatever was in their hands at that moment for battle, be it a tankard or a fork.

 

Gavinyarel scarcely had time to process the woman's latest words before the atmosphere became considerably less charming. His switched from exasperated to wary as he eyed everyone, and he apprehensively bit his lip as he tried to think of something to say. Eighty years of staring down motley assortments of tavern-goers hadn't made it any easier when he found himself in this sort of predicament. He kept his arms folded, hoping his unaggressive stance would stave off the onslaught of kitchenware.

 

"Innkeeper sir, I don't want any trouble. I'm merely here to collect my half of the reward for helping to take care of that zombie that's been haunting your cemetery. It was supposed to be a one-time-only deal with my, eh, partner here. If you'd like some proof, I suggest we go take a look at the zombie's remains." Gavinyarel said, fighting the natural urge to stutter every syllable of the way. He dearly hoped the woman would catch on and play along instead of trying to shoot it out with a missing-in-action crossbow.

[candymyne]

Riona Galsette: The Roxey Villagem the Roxey Stakehouse -- Midyear --4E 201

Riona, clueless as ever, only cared about her money and nothing else. But before she had a chance to do anything too assertive over anyone, the bartender stepped in to intervene. You ain't getting my money mer, I'm warning you to back down." She took a fighting stance which made several people in the room stand from their seats with blunt objects in hand. She reached for her crossbow but her palms and fingers only padded her thigh. /"where's my crossbow?"/ a panicked thought set in as a heavy sensation poured all its weight on her head, chest and stomach. She felt around her belongings and only felt the quiver of bolts but her main weapon was not in her person.

It finally dawned on her that it might still be in the cemetery where she'd slain the zombie, somehow she must have dropped it in her drunken state and forgotten about it. It's absence from her belt was the only thing that stayed her wrath for the moment. The mer was trying to weasel out of a fight and maybe a coward like him could be easily "persuaded" to stop trying to take her for a fool in a more private setting away from all these peasants ready to start a brawl. She took a less defensive stance and agreed by simply nodding. "Yeah, checking the scene will clear up all kinds of things." She planed on getting her weapon and full pavement for her services. She was adamant and would not relent till she was well on her way counting her coins.

[SoulofChrysamere]

Gavinyarel: The Roxey Village, the Roxey Steakhouse -- Midyear, 4E 201

 

"Uh...well, uh...alright, but let's be quick about it." the innkeeper said, the uneasiness apparent in his voice.

 

Gavinyarel, the Breton woman, and the innkeeper and his son all made the short, tense trip back to the cemetery, where the stench of rotten, burnt flesh still slightly lingered in the air. The woman's crossbow lay there on the ground, thankfully undamaged.

 

"All right," Gavinyarel began as he walked over to the destroyed zombie. "Let's do a little thinking. I'm claiming I that I was here during the fight with this zombie, and as you can see, it's all black and charred from being lit on fire. Your witchhunter here had no tools that could have set it on fire. Her swords are unenchanted, as are her crossbow and bolts. I haven't seen her use any fire magic, and I reckon she doesn't know any." he said, hoping to build a case for himself around the fact that the zombie met a rather heated end.

 

Gavinyarel then proved his own spellcasting ability by conjuring a small flame in his hands. "I, on the other hand, would have no problems setting something ablaze."

 

The innkeeper and his son both scratched their heads, thinking a bit harder than they were used to. "Okay then, what say you, lady?" the innkeeper asked the woman.

 

Gavinyarel folded his arms and waited, praying he was being correctly understood.

[candymyne]

Riona Galsette: The Roxey Village, the old Roxey cemetery -- Midyear, 4E 201

As the high elf was explaining things, she darted and picked up her crossbow inspecting it. A flash of memory struck her conscious and she remembered fumbling a bolt unable to load it in time before she dropped it. The chipped tombstone when she had first missed one of her shots and the burnt rotted corpse of the zombie was all there with two major differences than she remembered. The other arm was severed and the body lay in two halves. She had not done this or maybe she did but her mind was cloudy. Her eyes inspected the whole scene and saw a blood stained headstone with a few scuff marks. That's where she had been struck. The reminder of seeing this made her would ache slightly.

The mer hadn't stolen her weapon but maybe this was all staged to get her money well after she defeated the zombie. Anyone could carve a lifeless body and claim they fought it. She stood and crossed her arms. "I don't remember any help from anybody last night. As far as I'm concerned I did the deed and the reward is mine." She had all her weapons now and away from the unruly patrons at the stakehourse, she could easily engage in combat here if need be. "I'll be taking my money now."