A Day at The Greedy Goblet

Gnarlus rises early in the morning prepared for another day of cooking. Ever since the opening of the tavern in S'ren-Ja, he had taken it upon himself to become Head Chef, as the regular barkeep is a fairly inexperienced provisioner. It worked to his advantage of course, as after finally tracking down his ship and retrieving his belonging and ingredients, he needed a new place to store them, so during the renovations he included a hidden room beneath the counter for himself. A small but cozy two room apartment. The first room has basic bedroom ammediates: a bed, a closet, two nightstands, a bookshelf and a cabinet, complete with small windows peering out to let the sun though. The other acts as a cold storage, with a number of Frost Glyphs crafted by Qa'han Sandscale (Aka, Rune-Tail) strategically placed around them room.

As Gnarlus pulls on his usual colourful attire (this time, wearing a blue with orange striped tunic, green jeans, and his chain tabard) he ponders as to what to make the special today. The last night's Mammoth, Goat and Cow Cheese Fondue was rather popular. Looking in the Cold Storage, he decides to try something new, conjuring up his floating disc, and loading it with Shanks, potatoes, carrots, peas, and other various vegetables.

Opening the hatch and moving the ingredients upstairs, with a simple hand gesture, he summons Kolmok the Scamp from Oblivion. Stretching as if just waking from a nap, Kolmok proceeds over to the door to unlock it. Just in time to, for as soon as Kolmok unlocks the door, the first customer of the day arrives.

Just as Mo'jahi Ice-Eye was about to knock upon the tavern door, a scamp opened the door and Mo'jahi stepped inside. He was slightly startled at the sudden appearance of this creature but didn't think further as his eye was paining him again. Mo'jahi looked about the room and realized he was the first one in. Not surprising since it was still quite early in the day. To him however the time made no difference as for the last 5 years now, peaceful sleep had always evaded him. Mo'jahi nodded in greetings to the Head Chef as the barkeep came in after lunch. He proceeded to order a heavy ale. Once he got his ordered drink, Mo'jahi poured his special Blue Skooma mix which he used as his medicine inside and started to drink. Feeling the pain dull almost instantly, Mo'jahi sighed. People might argue that Skooma this early in the day is extremely unhealthy but to Mo'jahi Ice-Eye it was a necessary part of his day else the day would never become a good one.

Arisel lets out a loud sigh as she swings the door to the tavern open, tired of the long return journey she made by herself from the Baandari Tradepost. She wipes the sweat from her brow, dusting her armor off as her eyes scan the room. She had heard that the goblin Gnarlus recently opened this place, and was curious to what the drink was like here.

"Damn armor," she grumbles under her breath, loosening a few buckles before walking towards the bar. Arisel was not used to wearing any kind of armor other than her cloth pants and shirt, but she was advised to wear heavy armor for the trip just in case. Losing the armor was the last thing on her mind when she returned to S'ren-ja. She unloaded her wares and bee-lined it straight for the tavern, not realizing how annoying it was until she began to sweat under the metal once again.

Arisel approaches the bar noticing Gnarlus busy over his cooking. She waits patiently, not wanting to rush him of anything. She closes her eyes, savoring the shade of the tavern after being in the sun of the March for over a week. When she opens her eyes she sees Ice-Eye several yards away. She hadn't noticed him when she entered, figuring her fatigue has just weakened her senses. She nods in his direction before turning her gaze back towards the goblin.

Lucrezia happily enters the tavern, humming to herself. She was told that Gnarlus was opening his own place and was excited to see it. She very much enjoyed the goblin's cooking, nearly as much as she enjoyed Milo's cooking. Most of Gnarlus' experimental dishes were exceptionally good and creative, but there were the occasional bad tasting ones. She hoped that today was a good dish because the trip from Baandari Tradepost was long and tiring, and she was starving.

She smiled brightly at Arisel and Mo'jahi before approaching the bar. She sees Kolmok out the corner of her eye and nervously nods at him. The creature had never given her reason to fear him, but she was still cautious.

"Good morning, Gnarlus!" She says when she finally sees him behind the counter with many different ingredients. "What are you making today?"

Mo'jahi watched from his seat as several females entered the establishment. The pain had dulled to bearable levels again and would stay so for a couple hours. A female whom he had seen around approached the table and chose a chair next to his. Slightly uncomfortable, as he had planned to just sit and be silent for longer, Mo'jahi Ice-Eye shrugged off the feeling and turned to greet the newcomer.

"Greetings, Mo'jahi believes we have never met formally. Let us change that. This one is Mo'jahi Ice-Eye and who are you?"

Gnarlus looks busy with his cooking and seems to have not heard her so she turns around and sees Synn entering the room with Ja'kar on her hip. Lucrezia can't hide her excitement and almost skips over to her table with a huge grin on her face, waving at the two Khajiit.

"Hi Synn!" she says to her with a smile and then turns to Ja'kar and says in a high pitched baby type voice, "Hello little cub, you look so much like your pretty mommy and handsome daddy, yes you do!" Lucrezia is unaware if her voice is annoying the other patrons and she continues, "You are getting so big, little one!"

She then takes a seat next to Synn, not bothering to ask permission as she is still gushing over the tiny cub, making faces at him and still waving. Finally she looks back to Synn and Mo'jahi, realizing that she has not yet meet him either. "Hello Mo'jahi, I am Lucrezia. It's nice to meet you."

Growing tired of waiting for her drink, she took a seat by Synn, smiling at the cub Ja'kar before lightly scratching him behind an ear. She also noticed Lucrezia sitting on the other side of Synn, so Arisel nodded at her with a warm smile as well. "Greetings friends," she says warmly. She then hears the door swing open once more. She turns around and notices another elf walk into the tavern, taking a seat next to her. She notices that the elf also looks weary as if from traveling.

"Long day?" she asks with a grin. "This one is Arisel. The Khajiit next to this one is Synn and her cub Ja'kar, and that is Lucrezia." Tired of waiting on Gnarlus who was very busy cooking, she reaches over the counter and grabs several mugs and a big bottle of ale, pouring a little in each cup and passing them to the four at the bar. She takes a big gulp, savoring the taste after being in the hot sun for so long.

Mo'jahi Ice-Eye looks back up from his ale. He had just been thinking again. He insults himself and tells himself that he should be careful, you never know when you have to pay attention. Mo'jahi looks about the table and realizes a few more females have joined. Somehow it seemed to him that at unusual tavern hours, more females crowded the place than males, something rarely seen. But no matter for him, he had given up the chasing of women a while back. Some 3 years ago if his memory serves him correct. Even though he has not yet entered his 30s, Mo'jahi has experienced and seen much, too much. 4 years of constant pain do a lot to a man, and there is no end in sight.

Spark creek in to the room ,walking on the celling as Argo was looking for him out side not knowing were he went

Gnarlus cooks furiously, cut meat and mashing potatoes, and before everyone realizes it, he places everything on the pan to coats it in Mashed potatoes, and puts it in the stove to bake, as he turns around he sees the extremely long line up "ACK!" he calls out, rushing to the bar.
He pushes a stool to the bar and hopes up on it, ready to start taking orders. He pulls out his most well known brews, knowing they would be requested first.

Author's Notes

I've kind of been focusing more upon writing my new characters Background. I completely forgot I started this. Opss.

The door of the tavern slowly creaks open, and a tall Altmer steps in. He is clad fully in stark white armor with crimson trim, with a matching cloak that covers his back and most of his arms. There are several tears in the cloak and many dents and scratches on his armor, and his broadsword is notched. He wears no helmet; his weary golden face has four or five small cuts. He slowly strides to sit at the bar, waiting for his turn to be served

Mo'jahi looks up and realizes Ja'kar is on the table, crawling towards him. When he reaches Mo'jahi, he gets ready to punch. Mo'jahi laughs as he looks upon the cub. He gazes upon Ja'kar invitingly and gets in a ready position himself, still siting. He then lets Ja'kar attack with all his might, the son of Ri'sari doing all he can to win this battle.

Lucrezia giggles as the little cub starts attacking Mo'jahi. She thinks to herself that he truly is the son of Ri'sari. His playful nature and readiness to brawl reminds her of Ja'Amore, Ri'sari's oldest son that recently died. She was sure that anyone that knew the two of them could tell that they were half brothers.

When she saw the line getting backed up, she stood from the table and walked over to the bar to help Gnarlus catch up with the orders. While he cooked, she offered to help pour the drinks, pouring herself one first.

The door opens and a weary Alyssia strides in, brushing some dirt off of her dark armor and muttering to herself about having to clean it off. Though in the light more than grime can be seen splattered upon the ebony leather and mail as a misting of drying crimson also adorns her right fist,arm, and chest. It's possible the blood could have come from her own mouth, as trickling down from one corner is a thin line of blood. It accentuates the slight swelling in her jaw, seeming to not quite have stopped it's flow yet. But it certainly wouldn't be enough to account for all of it.

Other than this however, she looks unharmed. More annoyed at the situation than anything else as her typically twinkling emerald eyes now glittered coldly to match the smirk upon her lips. Moving up to the bar, she nods to those near it and mumbles something about needing a stiff drink. As she reaches for her belt, the woman stops short. The coin purse she had been grasping for had somehow moved? Or...more likely...been lifted during the previous altercation. Her brows furrow...and then screw up entirely as she stares briefly at the far wall. A snarl begins to turn her lips but then the warrior's eyes close and she sighs heavily before reaching into an inner pocket and pulling out a small, but full, coin pouch from there.

Dropping it in front of Lucrezia, she still musters the ability to flash her a wan, but still somewhat charming smile. "An' who would I talk to about gettin' a drink? Strongest ya got... Enough ta knock out a Sabre Cat..."

Lucrezia watches Alyssia walk towards the bar. She looked like she'd had a rough morning already, her armor was dirty and bloody, and her face wore an expression of annoyed or just tired. Lucrezia already had a cup out, knowing Alyssia would want a drink. At least, she looked like she really needed one.

She laughed a little at her request, "Knock out a Sabre Cat, huh? I think I have something for that." she reached down under the bar and pulled out a bottle from the very back. It was a drink that Lucrezia hid away to drink when she was having a really bad or stressful day. A few cups of this and you would be either passed out on the floor for at least a day, or in a daze for several hours, giggling to yourself. She wasn't sure who made the drink, possibly something Gnarlus came up with and no one liked it so it got stashed away until Lucrezia found it.

She poured the liquid into the cup and pushed it over to her. Then took the coin and placed it to the side for Gnarlus.

"Having a rough day already, Aly?" she gave her a grin as she watched her drink.

Alyssia accepted the cup gratefully and downed the contents in short order. She coughs slightly, setting the now empty tumbler down upon the bar top and slides it over to Lucrezia for a refill. "Perfect!" The warrior wheezes slightly, the alcohol causing her throat to burn. "I'll have another!"

When Lucrezia asks the question, she smirks again. Only this time there is no chill in her eyes. "Every day is a rough day darlin'. It's why I like the night time so much. Night time is easier." With a rough chuckle, the woman shrugs. "It's nothin' really. Got accosted on the road. Bastards came at me an' knocked me off my 'orse before I knew wha' was 'appenin'. Two o' 'em grabbed me an' tried ta' 'old me back. Don' really know wha' 'appened to be honest. It was a lot o' noise an' yellin'...." She frowns, pondering the scene in her head for a moment. "I seem to recall a cub runnin' up in the fray, he must 'ave lifted my pouch. Then 'e was gone. Tha's the last thing I remember... At least until I looked around an' realized everyone but me was dead." Then she holds up her hands, "Except the kid o'course. I thought briefly about goin' after 'im but...." With a heavy sigh, she shrugs. "He's jus' a cub. An' he'll be needin' some money to take care o' 'imself now since 'is friends are currently inhabitin' the bellies o' the Scorpions out there."

Lucrezia is impressed when Aly gulps it down like it's nothing. She was sure that had to be strong and possibly burned her throat going down, as it always did when Lucrezia drank it. And when she asked for another she just grinned and refilled her drink.

"Be careful with that stuff, it will have you outside trying to hug the chickens." she joked. "I'm sorry that happened to you though. It sucks that you can't just go off by yourself without having to worry about getting robbed. And don't worry about this one, it's on me." she smiled and poured herself a drink. She made a face after she gulped it down. It was still a bit early for something this strong.

Alyssia takes up the cup and scoffs, "I kin' drink an orc under the table, lass..." Though, she eyes the cup a bit more warily. Grinning a bit wider, though the movement causes her to wince from the bruise, she takes another drink. Though instead of finishing all of it, she stops halfway and slowly puts the cup down on the bar.

A flush creeps up her neck and eyes start to glaze over. "Maybe...I should sit down..."

Swaying a little, she moves to the nearest chair and plops down heavily. "Robbin'... I tend to get targeted... Lone woman on the...the road. Usually ends up bein'...their mistake... " Then says as an afterthought. "Much like nae listenin' to you about tha' alcohol. Wha' the 'ell is tha'!? The room..." Her voice cracks audibly.

The woman attempts to make a little swirly motion with her finger. It looks more like a zig zag...

Lucrezia's eyes widen and she hurriedly runs over to the other side of the bar.

"Aly, are you alright? Sorry, I thought I didn't think it would hit you so fast." she smells the bottle and immediately turns her head from it. It normally had a strong smell to it but now it was unbearable. She couldn't believe she didn't notice it while she was pouring it.

"Wow, it looks like this stuff gets stronger over time or something. So sorry about that. I didn't realize it. I drink this stuff sometimes and it usually takes about three drinks to get me to go down." she giggles a little and pats Aly on the shoulder. "I'm not quite sure what it is. I just found it here one day. Probably something Gnarlus or Kazzah made and put away so no one would drink it but I found it and of course, I'll drink just about anything in a bottle." she smirks at her and the reaches over the counter to get some water for Alyssa. Once she finds a bottle of water, she pours some into a cup and holds it up to Alyssa's mouth. "Here drink some of this, it might help."

Everything was just a bit blurry. It was rare that Alyssia ever got drunk anymore. Truly drunk. Sometimes she would play up to being more befuddled than she really was but whatever had been in this bottle was more than just alcohol. She had realized that pretty quickly because when she went to sit down the room tilted in the oddest way. Was it laced with some drug? No clue, but the pleasant warm tingling that permeated her limbs told her that it was possible there was more to the mystery. Maybe she just drank it too fast.

It certainly wasn't a bad feeling...

Lucrezia held the cup to her lips and Alyssia raised her hand to take it. She took a long drink and grinned a bit goofily at the woman. "Thank'ee dear... Sorry about tha'. Maybe I jus' 'ave a concussion..." Though there was a distinct slur to her words.

Somehow, Maddisynn had slipped up next to her without her noticing. "Oh this is bad...", she thought. The fact anyone had gotten so close and under her radar told her she really was pretty out of it. She could feel their energy but it was like their vibrations came from far away. Almost drowned out by the overload of everything else. "Ah...heh... 'ello again Synn. I...I've nae seen ya in ...oh...qui' a'while..." The woman's usual brogue had thicked considerably in her inebriation.

But when she felt Synn's claws scrape her head, furred fingers running through her crimson hair...she just sort of slumped back in her seat. Aly's eyelids drifted half closed and instinctively she growled...rubbing her head against the Khajiit's hand like a puppy. "Um...cruel? I....ok..." she added, voice raising slightly in pitch and cracking.

As Mo'jahi looked upon the young cubs attempts, a genuine smile started to spread across his face. Trying to think back to a time when he had last earnestly smiled, Mo'jahi cant remember. Must have been before the incident. Speaking of the incident, the eye is not paining him. As he realizes it, the pain suddenly returns. Trying to distract himself from thinking again his eye wanders back to Ri'sari's cub Ja'kar and sees him stare up at him. A smile breaks on Mo'jahi's face again, the younger cub seeming to have the innate ability to make him smile. He continues to play with Ja'kar, realizing that deep down Ri'sari must have been similar as a cub. Looking around the room again he realizes that a new female had entered tavern. Studying her, he realizes that she is drunk, well and truly drunk, in a state that had been his goal to achieve when he had entered. Looking back at Ja'kar, Mo'jahi decides he shall stay sober for a while longer.

Lucrezia looks from Alyssa to the bottle that she poured from, trying to figure out just what on earth is in there. She made a mental note to later study the drink and see if it's possible that something else is mixed into it, to cause it to be so strong. She also noted to not serve it to anyone else ever again.

"Aly, I'm so sorry! I didn't realize the drink would be so strong. Honestly, I'm not sure what's in it. I've drank it before and it gives a good buzz right away but I thought it would be safe." she continues to give Aly more water if she wants it. And then steps out of the way when Synn appears.

She gives a light laugh after a while. "This is not your day, is it?" she jokes to Alyssa.

Opening her eyes a bit more and shifting her gaze towards Lucrezia, she laughs a bit. "No...it doesn't seem tha' it is. But honestly dear, nae yer fault. I may jus' be feelin' it 'arder. I took a few blows to the 'ead. An'..." she adds with a sheepish look, "I wasn't really wha' ya could call 'sober' before it 'appened."

With another laugh, she shakes her head. "So stop apologizin'... I's sure it'll start wearin' off 'ere soon..."

Sitting down was helping. The head massage...well she wasn't sure if it was helping or making it harder for her to concentrate. Fighting the urge to close her eyes again, Aly murmurs to Lucrezia. "An' 'ow are you then? Better than the other day I 'ope?"

Smiling, she takes the newly filled water cup and takes a small drink.