[ We find Kenji and Anastasia headed off for the pub Kenji visited last night. Kenji, surprisingly, still knows the way. Ana is still in a completely new underground city, however, although she's familiar with the general sights and sounds. ] [ The streets are mostly clear, since this is mid-morning and most dwarves are already at their work. ] [ Session Start! ] * HKenji turns down a seemingly random side street. "It should be this way." (Cannot escape the goddamn phone) * Anastasia follows, looking around carefully. "These cavern streets all look the same after about the fourth one." [ Kenji leads through the side-streets of the city like a pro. These areas are dimmer, but he's doing a good job of not bumping into anything or anyone. ] It's somewhat disturbing, but I think the trick of it is to remember the people, not the places. Since the places all look alike, but the people are different, and never really change. * Anastasia narrowly avoids bumping into a swarthy dwarf. "I see." * HKenji stops in his tracks just before an alley as a dwarf comes barreling out on an errand. "It's a disturbing inversion from Rokugan." * Anastasia nearly bumps into Kenji from behind as he stops. "Disturbing is exactly the word." * HKenji laughs lightly as he continues on. "It's not much farther, and the dwarves are at least a personable people." And they have this wonderful drink, as well. Liquid enlightenment. * Anastasia raises an eyebrow in the darkness. "If dwarves are the secret keepers of enlightenment, they hide it extremely well." The problem is remembering the enlightenment the next morning. * HKenji steps lightly down a small staircase and pulls open a stout wooden door, holding it for Ana. Now that kind of enlightenment I can get behind. * Anastasia walks in! * HKenji follows Ana inside and looks around for a free table. "You wouldn't think something made from honey would be so effective." [ Inside, the pub is mostly empty, save for a few dwarves consuming enormous breakfasts. The pubmaster looks up as you enter. "Oi, 'tis the lad that was here las' night. Come ter pay yer tab, or tae add to it?" ] Both! What have you got for breakfast? * Anastasia smirks. "Clearly, last night's enlightenment didn't sink in." There was a bit of a brawl, unfortunately. That _definitely_ sounds like enlightenment I can get behind. Well, it's that enlightenment that brought you here, so I suppose I can get behind it, as well. [ The pubmaster smiles. "Good! We've got muffins, bacon, saussage, flank steak, Dwarven Toast, and seasoned throncaps, at the moment. All fresh, all delicious." ] All of it, if you please, as well as a pitcher of that liquid enlightenment you were serving last night! * Anastasia holds up a hand. "I'll have the same." [ The pubmaster raises an eyebrow. "Hungry, eh? Well, I'll have some food out inna few minutes, and the mead out sooner 'n tha'." [ * Anastasia drums her fingers on the table. "How on earth did you find this place, anyhow?" We stumbled on it quite by accident, actually. Were you already drunk at the time? No, we were actually gathering supplies for this little outing. * Anastasia quirks a smile. "Mead being, of course, an entirely necessary supply." Ah, we were done with supply, at that point. Besides, they said it was made from honey. Everyone knows that strong drink is made from grain. Yes, but so is bread. * HKenji blinks. "What does that have to do with anything?" * Anastasia points. "Just because something's harmless in one form doesn't mean it's harmless in another." [ Soon, a large metal pitcher of sweet-smelling liquid is brought to you, along with two large metal steins. "Food'll be a few more minutes, sir and madam." ] * Anastasia grabs the pitcher and pours for herself. After a second, she pours for Kenji too. * HKenji bows slightly over the table and takes the mug. * Anastasia takes a sip. "Mmm, that's rather nice." * HKenji takes a sip at the same time. "Just as good as I remember it." I'm rather surprised you do remember it. [ At one of the few other occupied tables, the two dwarves sitting there settle their bill and get up to leave. ] There are some fuzzy bits. I don't remember much of anything after the brawl. Waking up to that idiot Istvan trying to scold us, though. I very nearly killed him. * Anastasia snorts in her mead. "I must confess I don't know much about your friends." Istvan is the sort of person one should place in the smithy and never let him leave. Not very personable? No, simply that the smithy is very obviously where he belongs. [ The pubmaster comes out with a tray of food, then. Four large muffins with berries in them, about a pound of bacon cut into thick slabs, two links of saussage, two 12-ounce flank steaks, two large stacks of what looks like bread that's been battered and fried, then covered in melted butter and syrup, and six large mushrooms with spines on the top. ] He never really pushes himself, and only goes as far as he is forced. * Anastasia grabs a fork and stabs it into a sausage, then wraps a nice thick slice of bacon around it, and sandwiches it between two of the slices of fried bread. "Where's the fun in adventuring if you're not facing certain death," she says, before taking a nice healthy bite. Exactly. * HKenji takes a slice of bread and a muffin and begins slowly eating. But Istvan is the least of our problems. * Anastasia gestures with the fork. "The one I really want to know about is the paladin. I'm riding into certain death with her at my back, and I'd like to know a little about her." She takes another bite. What about her? * Anastasia shrugs, her mouth full. "Amythn." She is one of the few people in this strange land who I would trust at my back. She is much like a samurai, in fact. She shows little regard for her own safety, so long as she is protecting others. * Anastasia nods, and takes a swig of mead. "Not untypical paladin... she good in a fight? I'm guessing she has to be, if she's riding with us." Having finished the impromptu sandwich, she cuts the steak in half, stabs one half with her fork, and rips off a bite. She has more sheer destructive power than any of the others, save possibly Max, whose capabilities are still mostly untested. Not unusual, for someone who draws power directly from one of the... "gods" * Anastasia nods and speaks around the food. "Good." I am actually considering recruiting her into the Lion, if I can. * Anastasia almost chokes on her steak. She takes a big swig of her mead to wash it down the right way. "Her? Into a Rokugani clan?" * HKenji laughs. "Yes, her. What is so odd about that?" She doesn't ... seem the type, is all. She would fit right in with the Matsu. So would you, in fact. * Anastasia narrows her eyes slightly before polishing off the other half of the steak. "I'll pass, thank you." * HKenji smiles sadly and takes a bite out of a muffin. I wish I could see through your eyes for a moment. * Anastasia shakes her head. "It's not particularly enlightening." She smirks, and pours herself another stein. "Unlike the mead." No, I'd just like to know how you see samurai. That, I think, would be enlightening. * HKenji takes his mug and drains it in one long gulp. * Anastasia deftly changes topic, while going for another of the bacon/sausage/french toast sammiches. "So tell me about the rest of them." There is not much to tell. Seylin has a good heart, but lacks the will to apply it properly. Patrick has great skill, but cares about little besides Seylin. Tia has the body of a woman and the mind of a child, and skills somewhere in between. A formidible fighter, but much like an arrow. Shoot it and try to stay out of the way. * Anastasia takes another slug of mead as she finishes the sandwich, and nods. Max is powerful in potential, but thoroughly undependable, and he has no loyalty to anything, not even one of your gods, or even a code of honor. Will... Will may as well not exist. He follows orders well enough, but I am frankly amazed his patron still grants him power. He doesn't seem to do much more than exist, especially since Alcinoe left him. * Anastasia quirks an eyebrow. "Interesting.: Still, he has always been there when he was needed, and sometimes that is all that is necessary. [ And so they continued chatting about things. Session End! ]