There wasn’t much more to do at that point and Myrtle was seasoned at keeping the awkward thank yous from going too long. She told us she appreciated our business as she shuffled us towards the door. Before I walked out she gave me a small pink bottle and instructed me to drink it before bed. When I asked what it was she just said it was “sleep better”. While I didn’t think that counted as an explanation, after the job she did on the healing, I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. After we thanked her one last time she nodded and closed the door on us. As quickly as we’d met Myrtle, she was gone. We watched through the window as the small flickering light shuffled its way back into the darkness from whence it came. As we heading back towards the center of town, I looked over at Freddy.
“Okay, why do I feel so good?”
“Because you have just visited a healer?” Freddy answered through a confused look.
Vix looked as though she too thought my question was odd. But I didn’t think it was.
“Okay, you have to promise not to say anything to Kara, but I feel way better now than I do when she heals me.”
The expression on Freddy’s face turned to fascination. He looked around a bit before realization covered his face. He nodded and took a moment before answering.
“While the Veil in general contains much more mana than our world, I would also speculate that the Serpents Valley is a very heavy mana area. In fact, given the predominance of elementals in the area, I can almost be sure of it. Being an area rich in mana would mean Myrtle had far more energy to work with than Kara typically does. Therefore the healing spell performed could be much more potent. You need not worry about hurting Kara’s feelings. This is simply a matter of geographical advantage.”
“Interesting. Maybe we should include transport to the Veil in our medical plan.”
“Perhaps,” Freddy offered in the way of a pity laugh.
“I’m just glad you’re feeling better,” Vix offered, grabbing my arm.
She then pulled Vlad’s bracer out and handed it back to me with a look of curiosity on her face. I put the bracer back on and gave her the short and sweet explanation as we walked back towards the sheriff.
We passed the Sheriff on our way back and Freddy offered a sincere thank you for the Myrtle recommendation. She tipped her hat and let us know we were welcome. The brothel workers tried to convince us that they were good for healing too and we all laughed. As much fun as I’m sure it would be to discuss the finer points of healing with the ladies of the brothel, there were much more pressing matters to attend to. I figured since the Sheriff hadn’t led us astray on the healer, we’d be silly not to take her dining advice. So following the lead of my stomach, I lead us all up the steps and through the swinging saloon doors of The One Eyed Troll.
CHAPTER 17
While I’ve never been much of a drinker, I’m always excited to find a great bar. Especially when that bar is in the Veil. I think I just enjoy the cross-section of humanity on display. Although considering where we were, I’m guessing humanity isn’t the right term. According to Freddy, the Veil contains hundreds of different races. If the inside of the One Eyed Troll was any indication, he wasn’t kidding. One look around the room told me this place could give the Mos Eisley Cantina a lesson on diversity.
The crowd roared and drinks were raised as we walked in. It was the very same reaction we heard when the two drunken dudes stumbled in earlier. Apparently that’s how everyone gets greeted here. But, while everyone seemed to enjoy the excuse to yell and cheer, very few actually even bothered to look our way. Of the few eyes that glanced our direction, most of them quickly lost interest. Those that lingered did not strike me as threatening or of note. Just curious folks I’d guess. To be fair, in a place like this, I was betting humans weren’t even a blip on their radar. This place was full of far more interesting travelers. As the loud roar of conversation continued throughout the room, we took a moment to look things over.
The room was enormous, but laid with lots of side rooms and dark corners to try and hide its true size. I’d bet you could easily fit a full sized hockey rink in here. There were several steps down into the bar proper, which meant the ceiling was much higher than it appeared from the outside. But, that meant we had the perfect perch to look things over before we headed down. Although, as I tried to focus on the room in front of us, there were a couple of things in our immediate proximity which required closer scrutiny.
Standing against the inside wall, one on each side of the door, were what I initially took to be full plate-mail suits of armor. They were incredibly large and far too big for a human to wear, but there was something else off about them. They stood at perfect attention in a way that made you sure someone was inside holding the pose. But as both facemasks were open and empty, I could see inside and I knew they were vacant.
Both suits were a brushed dull grey metal, neither seeming particular well cared for. Plenty of scratches and small dents were covering their surface. The one on the left was a couple feet taller than me and unnaturally wide in the belly. The helmet was also oversized while the legs looked a bit stubby for the frame. It was the kind of armor I thought Shrek might wear. The suit to my right was a bit taller, but the helmet sat a bit lower in the chest. It had a much wider breast plate and better-proportioned legs. The weird hoof design of the feet combined with the giant metal horns on its head made it look very much like a Minotaur. As the Minotaur suit was closer to me, I tried to look inside the helmet. It was not easy and required a great deal of tippy-toe gymnastics, but I managed to peek inside. There was a weight to the darkness, making it feel much denser than natural shadow. When I squinted, I was pretty sure I could make out the faint red glow of runes inside. The longer I stared, the more they seemed to glow. Maybe that was just my imagination. Freddy noticed my interest and spoke up.
“Fascinating are they not?” he smiled, “Enchanted guardians are very rare and extremely difficult to maintain. This proprietor must be doing very well to afford such splendid security. I believe they will animate and spring to action should there be trouble.”
“You mean these are magical robots?”
“In a manner of speaking, yes. Also, this confirms my earlier suspicion about this area being mana rich. Otherwise these constructs would be exceptionally difficult to sustain.”
“Well, I guess we should stay on our best behavior,” Vix smiled.
“Sounds like a good plan. I’d really like to avoid having to fight the magical robots, especially after I just got all healed up.”
“I’ll try not to cause any trouble,” she winked.
Vix and I laughed and Freddy smiled in a way that made it clear he was trying not to seem worried. But he had very little to worry about, I wasn’t in the mood for fighting. Unless of course I had to wait much longer to eat, then all bets were off.
Once we were done examining the bar’s security, it was time to look everything else over. As I mentioned earlier, the OE Troll was an enormous room with various subdivisions along the walls and corners. The main room was the largest use of space by far and its centerpiece was the enormous darkwood bar running down the middle. Occupied stools surrounded it and there were a few open spaces where patrons could walk up and place orders. I counted at least four bartenders working, although there could have been a couple more hiding at the far end. While I was very happy to report one of them was in fact a troll, I deduced she wasn’t the owner as she had two working eyes.
Several tables were scattered around the bar, almost all fully occupied. It would take me hours to try and describe the variety of creatures in here. Just to give you a small sampling, at the bar alone I saw humans, orcs, ogres, elves, goblins, lizard-people, dog-people, cat-people, squid-face people, and I shit you not, an owlbear. What is an owlbear you might ask? Just imagine an oversized owl head sitting on the bipedal body of a brown bear. Also, it was only wearing a loincloth and drinking from an enormous horn mug. Yeah, that was here.
The tab
les surrounding the bar were not short on variety either. It was like someone took the entire Dungeons and Dragons monster manual and dumped it out into this bar. What? I got to spend a couple of my teenage years in America, I’ve played DnD. Although, considering how often I find myself in the Veil, maybe I need to get another copy of that monster manual. Lots to be learned there apparently.
While most bars are dimly lit, the OE Troll was not. Or at least, the main center bar was not. Over a dozen chandeliers hung from the bar’s twenty foot high ceiling. Each one contained six glowing orbs, magical lights like the ones we saw on J Street. I assume they were also easy to maintain as per Freddy’s mana rich realization. But once you got to the edges of the room it was a different story.
While there were no actual closed doors, several smaller rooms managed to feel closed off. It was as if their archway entrances were blocking the light from entering. Plenty of booths were set into the walls, each one in varying degrees of shadow. Faint orbs glowed on most tables like candles, but there wasn’t nearly enough light to make out anything from a distance. A couple of the large side rooms had people stationed at their entrances. Security for the nefarious activities taking place inside I imagined. Another time I might have poked my head in to see what was going on. But the current mission was food. So, once we spotted an empty booth halfway down the right wall, we struck.
Our booth was better lit than most. Probably why it was unoccupied. It was comprised of a dark wood table and benches. Some type of shorthaired animal hide was on the benches as cushions. They didn’t look like much but they definitely added to the comfort of the seat. There were a handful of waiters and waitresses floating around the room and I looked around hoping to make eye contact with one. But I needn’t have bothered, as our waitress showed up thirty seconds after we sat down. They took their customer service very serious here.
She was very tall, probably close to seven feet, and had a very thin muscular build. Her face was very long and sharp in its features. Deep red skin covered her body and deep brown antlers grew from her head. Seven pointer if I was counting correctly. She wore a dark blue sleeveless tunic over grey pants. Her feet were hoofed and she didn’t wear shoes. Her hands had one less finger, but were otherwise fairly normal shaped. She smiled pleasantly at us and spoke.
“How are you folks doing tonight? Is this your first time in the One Eyed Troll?”
“This is our first time in your establishment and we are doing very well thank you,” Freddy beamed.
“Happy to hear that. My name’s Jozzettazz, and I’ll be helping you tonight. Can I start you off with one of our famous River Ciders or One Eyed Ales?” she asked.
“An ale sounds splendid,” Freddy replied
“I’ll have a cider,” Vix followed.
“Me too. I’ll try a cider. And a couple of menus please Jozzettazz.”
“Right away,” she smiled.
Her voice had a slight echo, sort of drawing the end of each sentence out. It was a pretty neat sound. She seemed very friendly and efficient so I had great hope we’d be fed in short order.
We sat in silence for the short time it took her to return with our drinks. She placed three very large wooden mugs on the table. The mugs were definitely well worn and aged, but I could imagine they were very fancy when they were new. She hadn’t mentioned what kind of cider we were getting, but the air instantly filled with the aroma of fresh berries. I had a bit of hope that my cider would be sweet. As you know, I rarely drink, but if there’s one rule I’ve found in rural areas, don’t trust the water. The alcohol is always safer. She placed a menu on the table as she spoke up.
“There are several things I might recommend, but if you’re meat eaters and looking for something hardy and delicious, there’s nothing better than our River Rat Stew,” she started.
“River rat you say?”
“Don’t let the name put you off hun. It’s made daily with fresh vegetables and a variety of meats. Easily our top seller,” she replied.
“How can all these fine diners be wrong? I’ll take a bowl. Anyone else?”
“Me too,” Vix said, “been too long since I’ve had well cooked rat.”
“Well, I certainly do not want to be left out. I will also have the River Rat Stew please,” Freddy smiled.
“Three stews, coming right up,” she smiled and spun on her hoofs to leave.
I had no idea what to expect, but I was actually pretty excited. There were many moments in my life where I had to hold up in less than sanitary places. I’ve probably eaten far worse than whatever stew they’re serving here. Plus, my folks had a rule when I was growing up. You try every thing once. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to eat it again. But you can’t let the look or the name stop you from giving food a fair chance. Needless to say, I tried some bizarre dishes in my life.
While we waited, I looked at our dining neighbors. Two very sturdy-looking gentlemen occupied the booth behind me. They had coarse looking grey skin with small pieces of rock protruding from random points. Gruff voices spoke in a language I didn’t recognize and their occasional laughter assured me they were in a good mood. The booth in front of me held four goblins. They each wore large leather pointed caps and fine leather clothes that made them look like traders. If they were speaking their voices were too low to hear over the background roar of the room.
Vix and I sat facing each other, her on the same side as Freddy. It was a fairly standard configuration, allowing one of us to watch each direction. She had the door, which meant I was facing the back corner. It was a very interesting corner.
From this distance, I couldn’t quite make out what game they were playing, but it was definitely gambling. There were three round tables, each one covered in green felt. Upon one of them I could see bone colored tiles being tossed back and forth. Alternating sides of the table would cheer depending on the outcome of the toss. The other two tables had playing cards on them. Something akin to poker I imagined as there were no cheering sections, just a handful of people playing each other. The last table in the section appeared to be created from a large tree stump. It looked like the tree had actually grown up from the floor and been chopped off to make the unusual table. Upon the top of the table were two handles, which fascinatingly enough seemed to have been grown into their current shape. There were well-worn groves down each side being used to hold forearms steady as giant beasts arm-wrestled. There was a large cheering section and a chalkboard against the wall where odds and scores were being kept. Judging from the size of the participants, I wouldn’t have stood a chance.
Many other interesting folks occupied the tables around us, but before I could really look them over our meals arrived. The bowls, like the mugs, were crafted from wood. A large wooden spoon rested across the top of each as she laid them down on our table. It was a giant portion of food and it smelled great.
“I’ll check back in a bit to see if you need anything else. Enjoy,” she smiled.
The smell was so good I could barely contain myself. I grabbed my spoon and dug in. Potatoes and carrots and chunks of shredded meat filled every spoonful. It was delicious. I’d tasted rat before, and this didn’t taste or more importantly smell like any rat I’ve ever eaten. Obviously normal rat taste gamey, but the biggest problem with it is the smell. Trust me, you can’t miss it. This actually tasted more like shredded buffalo, although a bit sweeter. Which suddenly made me wonder if the local river rats were as big as buffalo. Not the kind of thing I wanted to hunt. But however big these rats were, they were delicious. Vix and Freddy must have agreed as they were both silently enjoying their meals.
A few minutes later I caught Jozzettazz’s eye and signaled for another bowl. It arrived promptly and I begun the devouring that one as well. Eating the second bowl slower allowed me a bit of time for conversation. Especially since there was one thing in particular I was worried about.
“Hey Freddy, you do have enough money for this meal and all right?”
“O
f course. I anticipated our stay in the Veil and brought funds accordingly. The healer was an unexpected expense, so we will not be able to stay a second night. But we shall be fine this evening,” he smiled.
“Awesome. Thanks Freddy. I really appreciate that. Just keep track of what we spend and I’ll reimburse you for everything once we get back.”
He just smiled and nodded. Freddy was a nice enough guy that I’m sure he would have just sucked up the cost. But I wasn’t going to let a friend do that on his government salary. Don’t look at me like that. We’ve already established that he’s a friend. A far better one than I deserve, but brooding later, for now we eat. Or I guess I eat, as Freddy and Vix had already finished their meals while I polished off my third giant bowl of stew.
There was a comfortable silence over the table and we all enjoyed feeling full. The food was delicious here, but now I needed to crash. As much fun as the OE Troll seemed, we had a long day tomorrow and I needed to rest. I was sure the rooms above this bar would have been the far more interesting place to stay, but sleep was more important than interesting accommodations right now. Another time when the lives of Vix’s parents weren’t on the line, we could afford to be silly. For now, once we’d all had our fill, Freddy paid the bill and we made our way across the street to the Rock Bridge Inn. It was a short walk, but once we stepped inside the RB Inn it was like we stepped into a different world.
The inside of the RB Inn was nothing like the OE Troll. It was a wide-open room, set up for fine dining. Dozens of tables lined up in perfect rows across the floor. Each one had a clean white tablecloth draped across it. To the left an intricately carved wooden bar ran the length of the wall. It had a glossy finish, giving it a fancy shine. Wine glasses hung along the wall on pegs and frosted mugs sat on a counter behind the barkeep. Some type of magical refrigeration I bet. The barkeep was human-ish, with deep forehead ridges that made me think he was definitely from somewhere else. He wore a white colored shirt, bow tie and black vest, very formal. Just inside the door, a large wooden host stand stood proud with the name of the establishment carved into it in the same fancy font as the outside sign.
G.H.O.S.T. Teams (Book 3) Spirits Page 17