Arcaea and Kurai sat down reluctantly at the bar table.
“So…” said the hulking dozku man leaning back in his seat, half shrouded in darkness. “I hear you two are looking into these murders and disappearances we’ve been having lately.”
They had flown for almost a day to Pyke’s Crossing using Sal’s ship (again) in an attempt to get more information about the blood mage they were hunting. Quickly upon arrival they realized that the population of Pyke’s Crossing was almost exclusively dozku and varg with a few hox and even a single ruukai to be found. But no dval. In fact the residents of Pyke’s Crossing were very anti-Infinitum and therefore very anti-dval. So Janette and Raven had opted to stay onboard the ship while the other two girls went to investigate.
They’re investigation had brought them to a bar called The Wretched Tharix which seemed to be filled to the brim with all manner of miners and criminal lowlifes. Each of them scarred, nasty and likely to stab them at a moment’s notice. It was a menagerie of furred, scaled and chitinous patrons, all feral to the last. After asking around they were pointed to the hulking dozku gentleman sitting in the back who seemed to be a big shot around these parts.
“We are, Mr Irithid. We’ve been employed by the Keystone peacekeepers to get to the bottom of this and put an end to whoever is doing it.” said Arcaea, choosing her words very carefully.
Kurai kept looking around, half expecting someone to come at them with a cleaver or perhaps something long and jagged. The air in the bar was heavy with thick cigar smoke and the stench of old booze. Kurai, with her acute sense, thought she even detected a hint of urine coming from somewhere.
It wasn’t just the two of them at the table with Mr Irithid. There was also a wild looking varg male with thick black fur and razor sharp claws and a hox sitting to either side of them. Kurai correctly guessed the varg was some sort of mix between the urgai and helion ethnicities, which had yielded a massive man who could quite possibly tear her apart with his bare hands. The hox were not a common sight where she was from so she wasn’t sure how she felt about him. Her? It? She wasn’t sure. It was hard to tell. The hox were an insectoid race whose bodies were covered in chitinous shells, offering them a natural armor. Some of them had the typical two leg/two arm limb arrangement but not this one. This hox had about twelve limbs and it was unsettling Kurai immensely. Arcaea seemed completely unfazed and kept her attention fixed on Mr Irithid.
“Ah. Keystone is finally taking steps to protect us poor border-folk, huh?” said Irithid in his raspy voice.
“It would seem so. We are getting paid for this but if we can help and make sure this ‘fiend’ doesn’t take any more innocent lives, then all the better.” said Arcaea, again, choosing her words very carefully.
“Indeed. We do seem to have a ‘fiend’ terrorizing our lands. A fiend with a penchant for blood.” His gaze remained on them as the last word hung in the air.
Kurai wasn’t sure if it was bad that they knew or not but it was clear that Mr Irithid was well aware of the situation.
“So it would seem.” said Arcaea.
“And you still seek this individual?” said Irithid.
“Absolutely.”
“Good. Then I just might have the information you need.”
There was a sound of shattering glass right behind them, which made Kurai jump right out of her chair, ready to defend herself. Arcaea barely flinched. As they turned to look they saw a man wobble his way towards them. He was clearly drunk, which wasn’t surprising in a bar. What was surprising were his dvalish features. Arcaea looked at Kurai who seemed just as surprised. But as he came closer and entered into the light they beheld a dval unlike any they had seen before. They were used to the sunborn with their brown skin and the blue gray skinned moonlet. This man was neither. His skin was a sickening shade of green and the horns that sprouted from his forehead were twisted and malformed. His features were gaunt and his eyes pale. His hair was long and black but had the same greenish hue to it. His teeth were jagged and uneven and he smelled faintly of vomit.
“Misser Irithirid…” the man slurred.
Kurai could see frustration brew in the men around them at this individual’s approach.
“Mister Garland. I’m sure you can see that I am already busy right now. Come back when these two ladies have departed, will you?” said Irithid with an underlying seething hiss to his voice.
The man’s eyes lit up as he looked at Arcaea and Kurai.
“Oh mah goodness. I am sho sorry. I will, uh, I will come bach in a bit.” he said, hiccuped and then wandered back to the bartender.
Arcaea waited until the man was out of earshot. “Curious seeing a dval here. I thought his kind weren’t welcomed.”
“Oh, Mr Garland isn’t of the type of dval that we dislike. His kind are very much native to the wilderness of the Frontier. That doesn’t mean we like him or his kind, but they are tolerated much more than those torkers from Infinitum.” said Irithid.
“His features are…”
“Distinct?”
“Yeah.”
“They say his kind, the draug, came into being during the Downfall. Nobody knows how but many hypothesize that hemoturgy was involved.”
“Curious coincidence, since that is our current topic of discussion.” said Arcaea who was wondering if Mr Irithid had somehow arranged this to make a point of some sort.
“Not really. It’s just one theory. Some say that an archon made them this way. Others say they mutated into their current condition due to the toxic environment they came from. Who knows? But that’s not what we were talking about, were we?”
Arcaea leaned in to seem more assertive. Kurai leaned back and tried her hardest to not look scared.
“You were about to tell me what you knew about these murders.” said Arcaea with a confident smile.
“Right. It would seem that the attacker or attackers came from the Badlands up north.”
“That’s...not good.”
“It isn’t.”
“Why do they call it the Badlands?” asked Kurai.
“Scholars say that those lands carry the scars of an old war, perhaps a battle that took place during the aforementioned Downfall. No one truly knows but what is known is that it is a breeding ground for strange creatures and unnatural phenomena.”
“Like what?” asked Kurai again.
“Some say that ghosts wander those lands. People have gone missing. Vanished into thin air, never to be seen again. There are also bands of roaming cannibalistic raiders who hide in the shadow of those lands and emerge only to attack our fine folk.”
“You think these attacks could be their doing?” asked Arcaea.
“No. Not their MO.”
“There were reports of people being abducted and possibly carried up north. Can you confirm this?”
“I can indeed. It would seem that those stolen from their homes were dragged back into the Badlands. All signs seem to point to this blood mage residing somewhere in that desert.”
Arcaea thought on this for a second. “Any idea where?”
“No idea, however, you should go to the Havoc Farm to the north east. They got hit just two nights ago. Should offer the freshest leads to track.”
“Thanks, that’ll help us get started. Any idea if there are any survivors or witnesses to these attacks?”
“I believe I’ve told everything I can. If you want any more information I’m gonna start charging you.”
“Then why have you divulged this much?”
Kurai felt Arcaea was pressing her luck with this guy. She half expected him to rise up and strike her in anger. But he simply smiled.
“Call it community service.” he said before nodding at the bartender. “And with that I’ll say our business is concluded. I will invite you to share a drink, as all good business transactions should end with.”
The bartender walked up briskly and placed five glasses on the table, one for each of them. The glasses contained golden colored ale whose froth spilled over the brim. Kurai thought nothing of this until she noticed dark flecks swirling in the glass.
She opened her mouth to ask but decided not to so all that escaped her was; “Uuuh…” followed by an awkward silence.
Mr Irithid laughed. “You’re clearly not from here.”
His two companions laughed. Kurai smiled and laughed as well. Arcaea simply observed.
“Pyke’s Crossing is a mining community. Out here our lives depend on the soil we work with. And so we sprinkle some of this soil into our drinks to become one with the earth we live off of.”
“It’s fine.” said Arcaea. “It’s just a little dirt.”
They then raised their glasses, Kurai somewhat hesitantly, and then held them together at the center of the table.
“May the soil guide you to good fortune.” said Mr Irithid.
They then all finished their drinks. Kurai was surprised to find that she enjoyed the taste of the ale but when the soil first touched her tongue she almost threw up. It wasn’t so much that it tasted bad, it was more the idea that she was drinking dirt. But she held it together and finished her drink as well. She smiled at their host and then burped loudly, much to her and everyone else’s surprise.
She quickly covered her mouth, fearing she had disrespected their host but felt relieved when they all started laughing.
“That was a good one!” said the varg.
“She’s small but loud.” said the hox in a stilted manner, struggling to pronounce the words in Okuzan Standard.
Irithid laughed so hard he had to wipe a few tears away. “You might not be from here, little cat, but you sure could be.”
Arcaea smiled back. “Well, then I guess we’ll be on our way.”
As the two of them stood up to leave, Mr Irithid raised one hand, as if to ask them to wait.
“You have familiar features.” he said to Arcaea. “What is your name?”
“Arcaea.”
“Ah. Sidonis?”
Arcaea paused for a moment. “That’s right. Why?”
“Our families have history. History related to the last two uprisings.”
Kurai looked at Arcaea, surprised.
“Well, in that case I salute you, blood brother.”
Irithid chuckled.
“Be very careful when dealing with this blood mage. Several mercenaries and bounty hunters have gone hunting for this vampire in the desert. None have returned so far. Consider it a freebie. My way of saluting you back, blood sister.”
Arcaea placed an open palm over her heart, nodded solemnly to their host and the two of them made their way out of the bar.
Kurai liked the extra info they just got but all this talk of blood and family histories was putting her on edge.
“What. The tork. Was that about?” whispered Kurai.
“Old history. People out here don’t forget.” said Arcaea.
“Awesome. Great. Can we get back to the ship?”
“Yeah. Looks like we’re heading into some dangerous territory. So we better be prepared.”
“Fantastic.” said Kurai in her typical sarcastic tone. She was already beginning to regret this.
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