Closed Blood, Tears and Broken Teeth.

[Russell Wood]

15th Day of spring, 514.

Russell found himself wandering around the city that day, he honestly couldn’t think of much to do. It was windy today, nowhere near as bad as the day before, but Russell could feel it enough for it to bother him. He was glad that he took his cloak with him, not only did it hide his basic appearance. Due to how common they were, Russell was sure that no-one would pick him out for anything. He decided that wandering aimlessly would do him no good, plus he could do with a drink. So he looked around for a Ravosalamen.

Having laid his eyes on one that was parked just a little deal away from him, Russell hopped on the vessel. ”Can you take me to the docks please; the Silver Silver Tavern would be nice.” Russell then proceeded to sit down, he just couldn’t get used to the idea of having to sit within a small canal boat to get to most places. Sure he could always try and jump across, and take the small walk-ways. But that was too much effort, and he didn’t want to try his luck too much, he’d been doing that enough lately.

”So, are you from here?” The ravosalaman had tried to make conversation, Russell himself felt a little talkative, but even then he wasn’t going to say something stupid. ”Not necessarily, I’ve been here for a while, came a while back ago.” Russell decided that not making much sense might just make the man give up, or move toward another subject. ”Sounds alright. So, you got a place here, or you renting?” The man continued to row as he spoke. Russell found it a little unneeded, but then again this job must get boring once in a while. ”I’m renting.” Simple talk that was all that he felt like doing, Russell found that he was contradicting himself a lot, in the last few exchanges alone. But then again when didn’t he contradict himself.

”Here you are, you’ll have to be a little careful though. Everything’s still pretty tense around here.” The Ravosalaman began, Russell found himself almost interested as he reached for his wallet. ”Tense? I wonder what has everyone tense then.” Russell asked, he was actually curious about this subject, plus this confirmed something else. It was the second time he had heard a Ravosalaman tell him something. These guys must be good for all sorts of information. ”Well it’s only a rumor, but it’s got everyone scared. People are saying there’s a monster within the lake.” The man said as he took the tip that Russell was passing to him. ”A monster? Heh, and here I thought it’d be something serious, please don’t waste my time with child-like fantasies.” Russell said as he got off the small boat.

His favourite bar was right in front of him, Russell was glad to be here; soon he’d be out of the wind. He opened the doors, and the familiar creaking made his arrival known. His every foot step made a noise on the floor board. Russell decided to walk straight up to the bar this time around, and see what they had to offer first hand. ”Alright, I’d like a mug of the silver silver.” Russell still hasn’t tried this places most famous drink, well there is always a first time for everything.

[Venser Rush]

A long day of work at the Emporium left Venser Rush with a sudden desire, the tedious, quiet monotony of the carving work both suited him and irked him, a desire for a change of pace apparent in the younger of the Rush twin's mind as he cast his gaze about the shop. Empty, sullen, and even intimidating in the dark, what was once a brightly lit shop filled with the vibrant, wooden faces of Mikayas' mysterious past were now dark sentinels, faces obscured, amorphous and, by perception rendered askew with moving shadow cast by a single lit candle, even changing in shape. It was rather unsettling, gooseflesh rising in the Rush twin's arms as he gathered his things.

In truth, the blonde had no need of doing such a thing, he was lent the key to the shop for the night so that he could close the place. Mikayas himself left for reasons unknown to Venser, leaving the young engraver to tend to the shop and to whatever business was to be had, not that the juncture was a foreign phenomenon.

Abandoned in the shop and left to deal with customers and at times, even arrange the works that Mikayas was to make, the shop's owner left him to the busy work so that the geezer could consume himself with 'the process.' Venser did not understand it, nor did he think he ever would, but it didn't matter. Venser took to Mikayas' employ because the man was a genius, and because of Venser's parallel of the applications of carving and engraving into his own craft of Zapatl.

But, the thoughts were senseless, unproductive and merely stalling the Rush twin's ability to leave. Fingers traversed the surface of the desk that Venser called his own, fingers feeling the presence of wood shavings and slivers that clung to it, staying despite Venser's earlier efforts at cleaning. Obviously unsuccessful, the blonde shook his head, frustration arise in his mind as he cast a hand along the wooden surface, wooden shavings scattering along the floor as the Rush twin lifted his rucksack from the floor, placing it within the hollow space of his desk before reaching for the key in his pocket. The key was to the shop's strongbox, a small portion of Mikayas the sculptor's fortune kept within, though Venser knew not to take it. Respect held him back from such an act. His respect for Mikayas was too much to subject him to theft.

The Rush twin left the vicinity of the desk, a draft pushing through the wide space of the shop's entry way, filling his body with a cool, welcome draft before he allowed steps to take him from the shop. At the end of the Merchant's Quarter, the shop was nearing the docks, a mere walking distance from both his residence in Tarsin's Boarding House, and the Silver Sliver Tavern, a place where Venser had nearly killed a man in a bout of violence spurred by his own desire to fight and the allure of the Flux's poisoning of the mind.

Several chimes passed as Venser sent his mind through the past, remembering the pain of the broken ribs, the rush of victory and the teeth (two of which were usable for Zapatl, one already turned into an artifact) that had been won through the violence, lodged in his flesh by the force that the magic empowered his body with. The power of the Flux is terrifying, but to become terror and manipulate it is to have it lose its grip upon the mind. The Flux was Venser's ally, the power that had, more than once, saved his life and rid him of his oppressors.

Passing through the threshold of the tavern's doorway cast the Flux out of the Rush twin's mind, instead bringing to him the allure of the smells of alcohol, the desire to drink immediately manifesting in his mind as he reached into his pocket for a fistful of silver mizas.Five SM to be deducted

"Set me a tab, Jeb. An ale to start out would be nice."

the elderly bartender scratched his head, a scrutinizing glance cast towards the younger of the Rush twins, as if a memory were at the forefront of his mind, but he shook his head, heading to the tap to serve Venser his drink, the blonde breathing a sigh of relief. Jeb didn't remember... That much was a relief.

[Russell Wood]

Russell looked around the bar, it was a little emptier than it usually was around this time, and strangely enough he found himself here more often these days. Maybe it was because he didn’t have much to do, and no-one to see. ”That’ll be one gold Miza.” Russell was snapped out his thoughts by a voice; he looked up and saw the bartended with his drink in hand. Russell reached into his pocket and brought out his money. ”Here you are.” He passed the gold coin to the man, and took his drink.

The first thing he noticed was the strange color which made him a little reluctant to take that first sip. The smell bothered him a little bit too, but there was no way it could be poisonous since a number of people here were drinking it. ”Well here goes nothing.” He downed the first quarter of the drink in one go. Every time he swallowed he could feel the drink burning through his throat, and making it’s way to his stomach. It was certainly stronger than he expected, this sort of a drink is usually found in a smaller glass. He placed the drink down onto the bar and took in a deep breath. ”First time eh?” The older man said to Russell, who was currently taking a few breaths. His throat felt a little hoarse after that, he wasn’t an avid drinker, he preferred sticking to your run of the mill ale.

”Yeah, that drink’s pretty harsh on the throat.” Russell said after smiling a little. He picked the mug back up, taking it slower would probably be better for him. He took a few sips and watched the bartender serve someone else. Russell did feel that spending this much money might have been a bit of a waste, but then again he could always try and earn it back. He decided to simply sit there and take a few small sips. Ignorant to the fact that behind him a small scuffle was beginning to start up, two men were in a rather heated discussion. Their voices were slowly rising; through that Russell was sitting there simply sipping from his drink with no care in the world. But soon enough it got loud enough for him to notice it too, there were jeers being passed along the bar and Russell turned around to see what was going on, maybe this would turn into some sort of entertainment.