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"Yes, I agree, still the the idea was a nice one." Angel grins, "I feel naked without a blade or my armor." She frowns, holding Liri's hand tight.

"I have a small amount of money, perhaps I can buy something simple?" She asks, leading her outside.

(ooc: are the Chittons suitable to wear outside? Or should they wait to be clothed?)

[OOC] The chitons are decent enough to wear around. Not really formal, or even presentable, but decent. It's kind of in the same league as going to the grocery store in ripped sweatpants and floppy slippers. People might look at you askance, but nobody is going to call a cop. [/OOC]

"Let's go to our quarters and dress in our spare clothes before we decide on anything" Liri suggests. "And the first thing we should buy is food, I'm quite hungry."

All spare clothing Liri has are another linen shirt and knee-length linen underpants. Having put that on, she looks at the chiton and decides to fashion it into a wraparound skirt. She smiles at Angel. "How do I look?"

"Well.." Angel grins, blushing, "I think you know the answer?"

Slipping off the Chitton demurely, Angel lowers it to the floor, her back to Liri as she slips on a white linen shirt and breeches, finding her boots she slips them on with a single dagger in her left boot.

"I do not wish to leave my blade anywhere, it was my fathers." She says as she straps on her blade in its battered scabbard onto her waist.

"Indeed, food would be nice, I am rather hungry, perhaps the Merc Bar would be serving?" She smiles at the Elf, taking her hand tightly.

"The Merc Bar..." Liri looks at her outfit, then shrugs. "Strange attire for a place like that, but who knows... may get me to meet interesting people." She takes a few darts and hides them in the folds around the waist of her makeshift skirt before following Angel.

"A strange suggestion I know, and you look beautiful my dear." Angel says with another blush. "Stay with me, and you will be just fine." With that she heads to the Bar.

"I'm sure," Elias says. "Alright. You choose, I'll pay. I'm in the mood for a story."

Breila and Jenara - please proceed to the Merc Bar thread.

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The woman gives Elias a little smile and inclines her head toward one of the merchant stalls. The place looks much like any of the other food stalls, with a variety of meats cooking over charcoal stoves, and has a small seating area with a table and two or three chairs. She bypasses the only table and walks to the tent flap next to the counter and holds it open for Elias. Beyond it is a small courtyard with half a dozen tables, two of which are occupied.
“The legatus does not like people drinking openly on the street, or in the marketplace,” she says, by way of explanation, making her way to a counter slightly smaller than the one out front.
The barman greets her like an old friend. She orders food, and wine. He gives her a half-grin and says simply: “Coin?” at which point she looks at Elias expectantly.

Elias adds an ale to the tab and then pays the man.

The bill is steep. Not ridiculous, but expensive enough to sting a bit. Apparently her wine was top shelf stuff, and it arrives in a brimming beer glass.

She settles down with Elias at a small table, and launches into the tale. “It was ten or twelve years ago, in the northwestern forest. Maughus was with the Ninth Northern then, deployed in the Bone March. An army of uruks came down out of the Rakers, with demons for support. Maughus and another scout volunteered to scout their camp, on a suicide mission to kill the uruk warlord, thus sowing chaos in warband’s ranks. But they failed in their mission.
Maughus’ companion died, and Maughus was sorely wounded. But the Ninth engaged the uruk band and when tide of battle shifted, Maughus was able to escape, temporarily, at least.
“You see, a demon had tasted his blood that day, a great beast with night-black eyes and hundreds of sharp teeth and broad back covered in sharp spikes. Denied its meal, it now haunts him, forever over his shoulder, awaiting his death, that it might finish its meal, and in so doing claim his soul.
“Since then, he has been on the move constantly, seeking to evade the demon haunting him. That’s why he shaved half his head – so that it would not recognize him.”

She pauses, and says: “You sure you don’t want some wine? It’s very good. No? Well, anyway, that’s the story.

“The truth is…similar. Maughus was with the Ninth Northern back then. I was also with the Ninth Northern, serving in a more informal capacity, as it were. The thought a warband was nearby and sent out scouts. One scout did not return, so Maughus was sent to look for him, and ran straight into them. Not that this was known at the time. All we knew was that Maughus did not return, either. Then the uruks hit the Ninth. The Ninth held for four days until warband went back into the mountains. Then we counted the dead and buried them. Maughus we thought dead as well, until he showed up a few nights later at the encampment, bloody and dirty and babbling quietly about a demon. He took his effects and vanished.

“He’s on the rolls as ‘Dead’ you know.”

"This demon sounds interesting. What has he babbled about it?"

"I expect you can ask him about it yourself, next time you see him. But I've seen him drunk on occasion, and he sometimes goes into detail about it when he's in his cups. It was big enough to block out half the sky, he said. Two big fangs right at the front of its mouth, and a bunch of sharp teeth behind those, and a long red tongue. It was licking up his blood and pasting it to its spines, he says so that it would remember his scent, so it could track him. And it shook soil into his mouth, so he could taste the grave. I think that's why he calls it Mister Dirtnap.
"Maughus wasn't mad before that day, but he is now."

"Ah. I've heard him mention Mister Dirtnap before. We were pursued by a group of... raiders, outside town. He kept saying that Mister Dirtnap was after us. "

"He's always on the lookout for Dirtnap. But look on the bright side: even if Dirtnap isn't real, you can never be too careful."

"What do you think would happen if I asked him about it? I mean, he doesn't always seem stable."