Brethren of Grath - Gameplay

"I hope the one he reminds you of was in good favor with you," I laugh.

Ragnar and I unload the 10 barrels and patiently wait for Aerl to return.

"He was a good friend." Aerl said as he moved into the tavern.

Upon his return seeing the barrels unloaded he smiled a beautiful smile. "You work fast. Thank you." He and the bartender pick up another barrel and start moving it into the tavern.

I grab a Barrell under each arm and carry them into the Tavern behind them,
"Where does this need to go?"

Aerl points you in the right direction, you see a few other barrels sitting in the tavern..
"You have impressive strength!" He says jovially. "I assume you want something, since most folk around here wouldn't be offering to help for free."

I look at Aerl with a kind look.

"We were hoping to talk to you honestly. We have a friend who would like to meet you and discuss doing business."

Aerl's smile turns to a frown. "I don't need anymore business. Tell your friend they are out of luck." He rolls a barrel into the tavern.

"How come? If I am not miss informed, is this not the only place you do business with? Or is there anything that we might could do for you to change your mind?" I say in a persuasive manner.

Aerl stops rolling the barrel. "I appreciate your help with unloading my stock, but I have arrangements that must be kept. Those arrangements do not include your friend who wants my drink." You were not very persuasive. He gets close to you and points to Ragnar. "Even if he crushes me into a pulp, I cannot sell you my supply. Forget it." He continues to roll the barrel inside.

"Could you tell me why by chance? Just to fuel my curiosity. I mean I was attack at knife point just because I wanted to talk to you and now that I have, do you know what could happen to me?"

Aerl hollers from in the tavern, "Not my problem, friend."

The bartender at this point has disappeared inside the tavern and has not returned.

Aerl comes back for another barrel. "You should drop this, as you said, you have already been attacked from someone wanting to prevent you from talking to me, and you made the stupid decision to talk to me?" He starts on another barrel.

"Go talk to the bartender, I'll finish up with Aerl" I say to dook.
"We should try a different approach"

Sigh... "Fine, sounds good. I will go see what the bartender has to say...mostly am curious to know why Aerl picked this place out of the countless others."

I nod at the giant and walk inside to greet the bartender. Hopefully he will be as hospitable as last time.

Zylo: The bartender greets you inside, "Hello again, thank you for helping unload the barrels. Aerl is an odd one. But he is reliable." You are in the back of the tavern, so no patrons can see you in the bar, you feel like you are safe from getting kicked out back here. "So, he won't sell to you? I guess that makes since. He came here on his own and offered to do business. I guess he likes to pick where and who he deals with." You notice two medium sized chests beside the door, with large padlocks on them.

Ragnar: Aerl rolls another barrel in the tavern and comes out for another. "You will have the same luck as your friend if you are trying to buy my spirit." He says dismissively.

"No, I'm not, and we weren't the buyers anyways. We are just the middle men , and the muscle"
I say laughing as I turn to carry in whatever barrels are left into the Tavern.
"I understand its your product, and you sell to who you want, I just want to find some extra work, and maybe we can earn your trust somehow, do a favor or something. I'm sure you could use some hired mercs occasionally. I know I'm good in a fight, and my friend seems to be as well. We have two other partners too, but they seem to be frozen in place for some reason."
I pause, notably concerned and confused at our partner's predicament
"I'm new to town myself, and I'm still trying to figure out who to trust and not to trust, plus I could use the money from the occasional odd job here and there."
I look to Aerl and wait for his reply.

Ragnar: Aerl smiles. "Smart man. You should be able to find work in this city. Grath is a beautiful city if you know what real beauty is." He flips his golden hair off his face. "You're friend said he was attacked for wanting to talk to me. Seems the Zealots still have a presence around here. You should be careful, too. They are a merciless people."

He looks up at you. "I might have a task for you. If you are up for it?"

"He is an odd fellow indeed, strangely beautiful for a man as well. Could easily have mistaken him for a woman." I say as I chuckle, slightly being reminded of a man I knew with long curly hair that easily gets mistaken as a woman by the opposite gender.

"What could you tell me about Aerl? His person, his product, anything that could help me understand him more. See I am a foreigner to these parts and probably do not know how to properly speak to people on this island."

I eye at the chests by the door.

"Are those for him or is that the profit from the spirits, if so good job!" I say as I chuckle at the comment.

"Depends on what it is, but I'm in need of some coin, let's hear it."

Dook wrote:"He is an odd fellow indeed, strangely beautiful for a man as well. Could easily have mistaken him for a woman." I say as I chuckle, slightly being reminded of a man I knew with long curly hair that easily gets mistaken as a woman by the opposite gender.

"What could you tell me about Aerl? His person, his product, anything that could help me understand him more. See I am a foreigner to these parts and probably do not know how to properly speak to people on this island."

I eye at the chests by the door.

"Are those for him or is that the profit from the spirits, if so good job!" I say as I chuckle at the comment.

The barkeeper looks to the chests, "Those are for him. I don't know much about him, but I do know that he must be smart to be able to negotiate a trade deal with the zealots. That nasty cult has plagued the island for decades." He goes to a cabinet and pulls out a small bottle and hands it to you. "Here is a sample of his drink. It is....special. So be careful with it." He sits in a chair at a small desk and props his head up with his arm. "You said you got attacked? Well, the Zealots are probably after you then. For trying to interfere with their business, if I had to guess."

ASeaFaringLlama wrote:"Depends on what it is, but I'm in need of some coin, let's hear it."

Aerl smiles a beautiful smile, making you question your sexuality. "I am travelling tomorrow. To Grathport. I could use a few more hands to help with security for my goods. I have a small boat that will take us there. Grathport is a...very seedy place. I'll give you, and each of your friends 1000 gold each for your help. Normally I would reach out to someone I knew better to help, but this trip was a little spontaneous." He turns away from you, "You in?"

"That sounds good to me, let me see what's going on with my partner, he should be close to finishing up" I say as I turn to go into the bar.
"That sure was a weird smile, if he's into me he's going to be disappointed" I laugh to myself as I turn into the bar

Ragnar: As you turn into the bar, you see Zylo and the Barkeep are mid conversation. You catch the tail end of the conversation from the Barkeep, "-Zealots are probably after you then. For trying to interfere with their business, if I had to guess." He then turns to you, "Aye big fella, watch it in here, not a lot of room. Hehe." He chuckles at you.

From outside, you both hear Aerl speaking...to someone, but cannot make out what is being said.

I look to the bartender.

"Thank you for your generous gift and advice. This could prove to be useful to us."

I tuck the small bottle into my bag for safe keeping.

I give Ragnar a strange look.

"If your here....who is he talking to?"

I make my way closer to the door steathly to try to see what is being said.

The bartender smiles at you. "Sure thing, just be careful."

The muffled voices from outside continue, the voice you can recognize as Aerl seems to be...shouting?

I rush outside to see the commotion and what the disturbance could be.

As you run outside, you see Aerl in the back of the cart, he is shouting at a short cloaked humanoid.

"I told you not to bother me here!" Aerl shouts at the little fellow.

Tolr'ax wrote:As you run outside, you see Aerl in the back of the cart, he is shouting at a short cloaked humanoid.

"I told you not to bother me here!" Aerl shouts at the little fellow.

Not, in fact, cloaked in cloth, but in a haze of smoke and liquor fumes, the figure gives Aerl the finger. "Let's just agree that I'm the drunk and you're the hack, you stupid-ass, fart-saving, carpet-store motherfucker."

The smoke dissipated briefly, and there stands a goblin with dusky skin and dark, bristly hair. Beneath his broad jut of a nose, in his teeth he clinches a wad of smoldering paper stuff with some leafy concoction.