CH 13.1

Here it goes people, volume beginning to pick up the action, though maybe not in the way you’re expecting it might.

“The Great Eagle’s Nest”

As soon as Bash stepped into the tavern, he felt as if he had just wandered into a battlefield.

There was a strange tension pervading the atmosphere all around him.

It wasn’t a hostile, murderous air, yet somehow very close to it.

The Hero found it similar to the early stages of a large-scale battle, where both sides hadn’t fully committed to close combat and were just probing each other’s strength.

“An Orc…? Ah, yes, I heard that one of you had entered the country… Welcome to The Great Eagle’s Nest.”

The tavern’s owner greeted Bash, pointed at a table, and suggested he took a seat at a suitable spot.

There was a counter, yet no seats were lined up along it – guests could only sit around a series of long tables.

For a moment, the Orc wondered what the owner meant by a “suitable” seat, but he figured that out quickly.

For more,

Confused, he decided to just wait and observe Hembbit.

He watched as the Elven woman walked towards another table, took a seat, and began talking to another man.

“Zell, what should I do…?”

Bash looked over at the Faerie, deciding it would be wise to heed her counsel before doing anything else.

Unfortunately, Zell wasn’t in any condition to answer, being completely and utterly smashed from drinking a whole mug of honey wine.

“So I told him, “That’s why flower reading should be done with red flowers, and ONLY red flowers!”. And you know what he said? He said, “Which red flowers?”! Yeah! Imagine being that much of a dummy! You’ve gotta be kidding me… I mean, it’s not hard. Red flowers means red flowers! What do you mean what red flowers! Oh, hi mister!”

Bash’s love counselor was now rambling about anything and everything to a half-drunk glass of beer.

She was useless right now.

[What should I do…]

Should he go and accost Hembbit again? Or…

“Hello! Good evening, mister Orc! I’m Lilac! Wow, it’s so rare to see an Orc that I just had to call out to you!”

As the Hero was wondering what his next move should be, another lady came up to him.

This time, it was a female warrior that sounded like a gryphon imitating a hummingbird.

“I’m Bash.”

“So, Mr. Bash, do you own some land or something?”

[For the time being, let’s forget about that other lady and focus on this one.]

Is what Bash decided to do as he turned to face Lilac.

“I don’t own any, but the territory of Orc Country is – …”

“Oh, okay then, bye-bye.”

Lilac just waved at him and left.

It all happened in the blink of an eye, so fast that Bash could swear he could still see her afterimage where she once stood.

What just happened? What was she going to do next?

As Bash was once again caught up in his thought, the next woman came up to him.

“Good evening! I’m Spathiphillum! Sorry for bothering you, but are you an Orc Master?”

“Oh, no, I’m – …”

Once again pushed out of his contemplation, Bash began to answer the questions, remaining as honest as he’d always been…