Rings of ancient ale marked the top of a table meteor scarred from the tips of daggers, slashes of knives and runnels of nails. Two tankards, untouched, sat at either side of a lone sputtering candle made of the cheapest tallow. It hissed and spit as it burned what seemed to be wax that held bits and pieces of some thing?s hair, and an insect?s wing. The greasy smoke it belched occasionally into the air added to the miasma the dozen?s more let hang in the air.
The Brazen Wench was not a tavern few dared meander into, though it was located in the eldest part of Rhydin proper, it held a reputation few other taverns were able to boast having anymore. Even the filth was filthy, here, and if you wanted the dirtiest of dirtiest?no better place could one ask for. Secrets and gold traded hands here, the things in which kingdoms were born in, murdered for, and erased from history after.
Suliss?urn enjoyed visiting, for many of her sisters and brethren frequented here. Many of her marks could be spotted in addition to?It felt..there were no giant metal beasts here, that carried people in their great bellies. No elektrissiteas and no strange devices. The lines of magic hummed beneath her feet as they once did years ago when she first came here, bright enough for her to almost see it. Best of all, this was her domain. This was what she knew best; being a splotched shadow in darkness.
The female across from her was similarly cloaked heavily with hood drawn. It was all well and good to come here, but even better if one pretended to be another name or face. Everyone here kept their masks in place; they were no different, even though the two of them that shared the table were not actually there to do business but?to catch up with one another. The other drow female, taller and broader than the fabric covered Suliss?urn picked up the tankard of ale and pretended to drink from it.
?And you have not seen him in months??
Yellow eyes within the hood had been distracted by the distinct, though distant yelp of someone?s death-grunt being smothered from the alleyway behind the tavern. They turned now to her sister, Skikudis, a second time and stayed. While they were unseen within the hood, they were no doubt felt.
?Nau. I returned from Rhilshen and received naut else.?
?And what of your pack??
"I have naut sought them actively, but they are naut dead,? Adamant. ? I have not run into ?the other male, either.?
Skikudis made a low, husked laugh. ?The pretty one with all the teeth you admired??
Suliss?urn?s shoulders twitched. ?Xas. Odd one, that.? That was, of course, coming from Suliss?urn.
?Where are you staying?? Skikudis raised a gray palm before Suliss?urn could further raise hackles over giving away where she slept. ?If I need to contact you about the gem.? Her elder sister paused here, then took a second breath. ?Are you ever going to tell me why they?re after that thing your man-toy put into your claws??
Just as Skikudis could not see Suliss?urns gaze, Suliss?urn could not see Skikudis?, but she could feel her sister?s eye drop to the hand which was encased in mithril, unfinished, uncut ruby red stone within the palm.
?It is just a rock,? bluntly, and Skikudis did not question further. Suliss?urn?s eeking recovery had been amazing to watch from a distance, but painfully long as well as certainly no where near over. Perhaps it never would be, but far be it from her to piss her own sister off enough to throw such a thing back several years. Let her keep the rock then, if it pleased her?and yet..
?They are busy as usual, below, killing one another. But they have no forgotten what you have done. For a woman who does not exist, your name is spoken heatedly in many circles with the sound of whetstones of swords in the background.?
Suliss?urn chuckled darkly. With her ruined voice, it sounded more like autumn?s leaves over uncovered bones. ?Let them come.? I have little else to do these days.
Skikudis twisted the tankard in her hands.
?Was it worth it, Sulleeee?? The question posed seemed almost?child like.
?Was what, worth it?? Growled impatiently.
?Getting your heart broken by a human, of course.?
Skikudis had time enough to duck the stream of ale-swill that the younger sister threw at her in sudden violence, the liquid pattern of it falling reminding one of much more vicious material collapsing in droplets on the table between them. Skikudis? laugh was purposefully harsh, bitter, the sound of broken nails digging against closed coffin?s lid.
By the time she had collected herself to look across from her again, Suliss?urn had long gone, leaving the eldest with nothing more than a greasy candle and the memory of her own empty laugh.
The Brazen Wench was not a tavern few dared meander into, though it was located in the eldest part of Rhydin proper, it held a reputation few other taverns were able to boast having anymore. Even the filth was filthy, here, and if you wanted the dirtiest of dirtiest?no better place could one ask for. Secrets and gold traded hands here, the things in which kingdoms were born in, murdered for, and erased from history after.
Suliss?urn enjoyed visiting, for many of her sisters and brethren frequented here. Many of her marks could be spotted in addition to?It felt..there were no giant metal beasts here, that carried people in their great bellies. No elektrissiteas and no strange devices. The lines of magic hummed beneath her feet as they once did years ago when she first came here, bright enough for her to almost see it. Best of all, this was her domain. This was what she knew best; being a splotched shadow in darkness.
The female across from her was similarly cloaked heavily with hood drawn. It was all well and good to come here, but even better if one pretended to be another name or face. Everyone here kept their masks in place; they were no different, even though the two of them that shared the table were not actually there to do business but?to catch up with one another. The other drow female, taller and broader than the fabric covered Suliss?urn picked up the tankard of ale and pretended to drink from it.
?And you have not seen him in months??
Yellow eyes within the hood had been distracted by the distinct, though distant yelp of someone?s death-grunt being smothered from the alleyway behind the tavern. They turned now to her sister, Skikudis, a second time and stayed. While they were unseen within the hood, they were no doubt felt.
?Nau. I returned from Rhilshen and received naut else.?
?And what of your pack??
"I have naut sought them actively, but they are naut dead,? Adamant. ? I have not run into ?the other male, either.?
Skikudis made a low, husked laugh. ?The pretty one with all the teeth you admired??
Suliss?urn?s shoulders twitched. ?Xas. Odd one, that.? That was, of course, coming from Suliss?urn.
?Where are you staying?? Skikudis raised a gray palm before Suliss?urn could further raise hackles over giving away where she slept. ?If I need to contact you about the gem.? Her elder sister paused here, then took a second breath. ?Are you ever going to tell me why they?re after that thing your man-toy put into your claws??
Just as Skikudis could not see Suliss?urns gaze, Suliss?urn could not see Skikudis?, but she could feel her sister?s eye drop to the hand which was encased in mithril, unfinished, uncut ruby red stone within the palm.
?It is just a rock,? bluntly, and Skikudis did not question further. Suliss?urn?s eeking recovery had been amazing to watch from a distance, but painfully long as well as certainly no where near over. Perhaps it never would be, but far be it from her to piss her own sister off enough to throw such a thing back several years. Let her keep the rock then, if it pleased her?and yet..
?They are busy as usual, below, killing one another. But they have no forgotten what you have done. For a woman who does not exist, your name is spoken heatedly in many circles with the sound of whetstones of swords in the background.?
Suliss?urn chuckled darkly. With her ruined voice, it sounded more like autumn?s leaves over uncovered bones. ?Let them come.? I have little else to do these days.
Skikudis twisted the tankard in her hands.
?Was it worth it, Sulleeee?? The question posed seemed almost?child like.
?Was what, worth it?? Growled impatiently.
?Getting your heart broken by a human, of course.?
Skikudis had time enough to duck the stream of ale-swill that the younger sister threw at her in sudden violence, the liquid pattern of it falling reminding one of much more vicious material collapsing in droplets on the table between them. Skikudis? laugh was purposefully harsh, bitter, the sound of broken nails digging against closed coffin?s lid.
By the time she had collected herself to look across from her again, Suliss?urn had long gone, leaving the eldest with nothing more than a greasy candle and the memory of her own empty laugh.