Cordus looked up as Octavious tapped him on the shoulder and walked beside him, asking, "Are you heading towards the alchemist by any chance? Mind if I join you?" Cordus smiled, shook his head and said, "Nah, man, I don't mind. But, uh, then I'm heading to the inn to take care of some ... buisness ..." Cordus looked away for a moment, then added somewhat unnecessarily, "Uh, you can't join me with that."

Sora stretched up towards the sky, her joints making a satisfying popping noise, despite the protests of her bruised stomach. She was pleased to be off the cramped wagon and finally arriving in Winterhold. Trannigan crunched past her, dropping his payment of 30 gold into her hand while muttering about his heavy greaves. Sora chuckled, and thanked him, as everyone pooled around the caravan master.

"I told you I'd get ya'll here, didn't I," He said gruffly. "Now, I know all you, just by your look, are here to answer the king's summons to go into that little deathtrap beneath the city. Honestly, I'd warn against it. Them ruins be forgotten for a reason. But, if you fancy losing your life, then the castle is over yonder. Just mind your manners around His Highness. The blood of Ysgramor runs in his veins, and he's quite used to deference." Sora scowled at the man, annoyed at his pessimisstic comments. Others in the group started to disband, many saying that they were going shopping. Sora decided to follow suit, as she needed some things herself, but she didn't want to dither around the city too much, for fear of enraging the King. Sora pressed 15 of Trannigan's coins into the caravan master's hand, giving a brief nod, and stepped away from the parked caravan.

The wind in Winterhold was even more biting than it had been at the campsite, despite the walls and buildings that shielded the city from the worst of the elements. Sora shivered a little, and began wandering around the square, searching for an alchemy store. One shop caught her eye, and, seeing that it brandished the Alchemical symbol, she entered it.

The inside of the shop was dark and gloomy, the only source of light being a few dull, green lamps. The air was humid, despite the temperatures outside, and plants climbed up the walls. A petite Nord woman with crazy hair stood behind an old desk, in front of shelves and shelves of potions. Sora stepped up to her, the floorboards creaking underneath her feet.

"Greetings, ashborn," the woman said, smiling pleasantly. Odd, Sora thought, Ashborn is supposed to be an insult. The woman had a goofy, friendly expression on her face, not at all seeming hostile. Hm, okay.

"Greetings, Nord," Sora said, "I'm looking for some strong health potions, and perhaps some herbs for cooking?"

"Well, you'll find them here!" the shopkeeper replied. Before Sora could say anything, the woman disappeared behind the shelves, skipping as she did. A few moments passed, and the woman came back, holding a handful of vials. She placed them on the desk. "Now," the woman continued, "These are all homemade, and the more expensive ones tend to taste better." The woman's mouth curled into a smile, revealing stunningly white teeth, as she leaned closer to Sora. Her voice came out in a whisper. "I add delicious imported fruits into them to improve the flavour. Or, if you really want, I have a 'special' herbal flavour. They're quite wonderful." The Nord giggled, and Sora wondered if the shopkeeper had recently consumed some of this "special" potion.

"Uh, I just need a strong health potion, thank you," Sora said, mildly amused, "I'll pay anywhere up to 60 gold for each." She removed her coin purse from her bag.

"Ah," the crazy lady said, "Well, since you have such beautiful eyes, I'll do you a deal. 10 of some of my finest health potions for 40 gold each. They're wildberry flavoured too. Oh, and I recommend these herbs," The Nord placed a smallish sack on the desk. A pleasant variety of scents wafted up towards Sora. "They can be used for cooking, as well as dressing small wounds. And don't worry, there aren't any 'special' herbs in there." The shopkeeper winked.

"Well," Sora thought for a moment, "That's a pretty good offer. Done." Sora plucked the correct amount of gold out of her bulging coin bag, as the shopkeeper rushed around, filling a sack with 10 vials and the herbs. "Thank you," Sora said, taking the sack from the Nord, "You've been most helpful."

"Welcome," The shopkeeper said, flicking her curly hair out of her face. "Your eyes really are gorgeous. I could just rip them out of your face and put them on my shelf. But that'd be a waste, you're too nice a person."

Sora chuckled. "Bye. Nice to meet you." The shopkeeper returned her farewell. I may just have to come and visit her again one day, Sora thought, stepping back into the freezing temperatures. Sora spotted Trannigan wandering aimlessly around the square, and she trotted up to him.

"Have you been successful?" She asked Trannigan. "When do we plan on seeing the King?"

As Trannigan walked back to where the others were, he overheard them discussing whether they should all go to see the king, or if only Hjolifur should since he was the only native in the group. He heard them decide that Hjolifur should be the one to go meet with the king and Trannigan smiled to himself. Well then.... Now that all that is decided, there is nothing more for me to do but get more ale! he thought happily to himself and turned back around to return to the tavern. As he was walking back, Trannigan bumped into Sora and he smiled warmly at her when she walked up to him.

"Have you been successful? When do we see the king?" She asked, staring into his eyes.

Trannigan stared back at her and replied. "I overheard Hjolifur volunteer to meet with the king himself, because he knew the current kings grand father, and he isnt sure if the king would be pleased with any of us non natives." With that Trannigan grinned mischeviously at Sora and continued. "And since I am not needed at the meeting, I am going to go get a drink, want to come with me?"

OOC: Just gonna move us to the alchemist alright?


Octavius, Whiterun

Octavius gave the man a bemused look as he awkwardly mentioned some business that Octavius could apparently not attend at an inn. He could only imagine what the energetic youth had gotten into in the thirty minutes they'd been in the city but he asked no questions as they pushed through the crowd to the alchemy shop. As they went to the door, the Dunmer girl came out of the store and Octavius slipped inside.

The inside of the shop was more depressing then the blacksmith but at least it smelled good, possibly due to all of the plants that crept up the walls. Making his way to the back counter he grabbed his gold pouch again and did a mental count of what was inside it. Another Nord ran this shop, but this time it was a strange looking woman with wild hair growing in all sorts of directions, almost like the plants on the walls.

"Greetings madam." he said with a smile.

"Good day young man." she said, with a strange, almost hysterical tone to her voice.

"I'm looking to purchase something to give my arrows a little.... kick, if you get my meaning." he said with a grin. He noted a look of fear that came across her face and quickly tried to explain himself. "I;m no murderer, I assure you! I'm going on something of an adventure and I would like to have a little more hitting power for anything that might get in my way."

The woman nodded in understanding, held up one finger and disappeared into the back room. She returned a moment later carrying a large, low-rimmed bow that was filled with tiny, pinky-finger sized vials. "I gots everything you need sir. Poisons that'll kill your quarry quickly or slowly, if that's your game." she said with a laugh. "I got's things that will send a shock through their muscles, or burn their blood or freeze their brains." she said, holding up different vials that had images of fire, lightning and ice on their labels.

"Do you have anything that will slow the muscles and the mind?" he asked.

"Indeed I do!" she exclaimed as she held up another vial. "This should coat 4 arrows. Eighty gold, for you only! And because I like you, I'll throw in one vial of electricity poison and one of fire for only sixty gold each!" she said, like she was making the deal of a life-time.

Octavius thought for a second, and recounted his gold mentally again as well as seeing if there was anything else to be bought. "Deal." he said firmly as he dished out the two hundred septims. His bag was considerably lighter but he had one more poison in mind. "What about something that will immobilize any foe?" he asked as he pushed the gold across the counter.

"Ahhhh, you are a wicked one aren't you?" she asked with a wink as she pulled out another vial, this one slightly smaller then the others. "Coats 2 arrows. One hundred and fifty gold pieces for most, but because you're somewhat of a heavy buyer today, I'll let it go for.... One twenty." she said in a serious whisper, like she didn't want anyone else to know of the deal.

"One-oh-five and you have a deal." said Octavius firmly, knowing he was playing harshly here. "Like you said, I've been generous today."

The lady frowned but nodded as she placed the vial with the others and Octavius almost emptied his gold sack. "Thank you madam." he said, before stepping away from the counter to let Cordus do his thing. He pulled his bolt pouch from his pack and opened it carefully. It had been specially designed to wrap almost entirely around his waist, as they fit two deep and slid into leather notches that held them point down for easy grabbing, but so that they could also soak in poison that would be poured into specially cut holes that the tip of the bolt covered up as they soaked in the liquid.

It was a gift, courtesy of the dead bandit who's mighty poisons were useless as the bolts broke upon Octavius' stone-like skin. He carefully poured the fire and electricity poisons into four holes on his left side and pushed the bolts firmly back into place, while closing the leather cover for that quarter of the special pouch. He did the same on his right for the slowing poisons and then right below his navel for the two paralyzing bolts. With this done he waited patiently for Cordus to finish up so he could at least walk out with him.

Sora smiled at Trannigan's offer of a drink. "Good idea, I haven't had alcohol in my system in days." Sora chuckled, and wandered to the nearest tavern with Trannigan. Heaving open the heavy doors, a wall of warm air and noise hit Sora. She weaved through the tables of slightly drunk Nords, and up to the bar.

Sora jumped up on the barstool, and hailed the bartender. "One mead, please." She handed over 3 gold coins, and her drink arrived. She turned to Trannigan.

"I suppose we shouldn't stay too long." Sora took a sip of the sweet alcohol, before continuing. "So, what brings you on this expedition?"

Juhanor - Market Square, Winterhold

"Alright," Juhanor said to Orlando and Hjolifur, "you two should head up to the Keep and talk with the King; Juhanor supposes that he will also look about for supplies, like the rest of our motley crew." Bidding the two men farewell, Juhanor headed off into the throngs of people milling about, in an attempt to find a supply shop of some kind. Hmm... I need to have something done with this Troll hand; I think I will head to the armory first. Juhanor peered about the Square, and noticed a Fine Clothier's, a tavern, alchemists, and a general supply shop before spotting the Armorer's.

Juhanor gently pushed his way through the crowd towards the armory's entrance. Shoving the thick wooden door open, Juhanor stepped inside of the portal, and took a moment to appreciate the heat billowing out from the forge. Juhanor glanced into the dark room, and noticed the large Nordic smith at work on a bright orange sword.

Not wanting to disturb the man's work, Juhanor looked about the otherwise silent shop, appreciating the smith's fine craftsmanship. As the blacksmith finished, Juhanor stepped up to the counter, and greeted the man with a smile on his face.

"What can I do fer ya, Khajiit?" asked the smith, turning about from the now chilled blade.

"Well," Juhanor said, "have you ever worked with animal bones and claws before?" "O' course I have, ya damn cat," the smith replied gruffly, "What do ya think I am, some sort o' second rate apprentice?"

"Of course not, good smith," Juhanor replied quickly, "this is what I need done, though." Juhanor pulled the Ice Troll's hand out of his pack. "Can you fashion this into a weapon? Maybe set the claw on one of my caestus?"

Whistling, the smith lifted the paw with his gnarled hands. "I dunno, Khajiit," the smith pondered, eyeing the paw and Juhanor's gauntlets, "I think its doable... but it'll cost ya, and ya know that ya're balance'll be off-put when its done. Hows about I put two claws apiece on each o' yer fancy gauntlets? That way ya won't be fallin' about the place all the time."

Thinking it over, Juhanor nodded his head in agreement. "Alright, sounds like a good idea. How much does this one owe you?" Juhanor asked, reaching into his pocket to pull out the necessary amount of septims. "Well," the smith said, "yer only payin' me fer the labor, what with ya givin' me the supplies, so hows about ya pay me 30 septims for each gauntlet?"

"30 septims? This one isn't from around here, Nord, but he does know a bad deal when he hears it. This one's counter offer is 20 each, and you can keep the rest of the hand when you are finished."

The Nord looked at the Khajiit with an incredulous expression plastered on his face. "Alright, damn it and damn ya. Ya got yerself a deal, cat." Juhanor shook the Nord's hand, then pulled out the 40 gold pieces that had been agreed upon. "How long until the gauntlets are finished?" Juhanor questioned the smith as he removed his caestus. "Stuff like this is easy," the smith replied, picking up the gauntlets. "Gimme half an hour and I'll have yer damn gauntlets finished."

Nodding his head, Juhanor remained in the shop, watching the Nord do his work. As he finished up, Juhanor walked back over to the counter. The Nord tossed Juhanor's caestus in the direction of the jaguar man. Juhanor snatched the weapons out of mid-air, and immediatly noticed the difference in their weight. "Thanks very much, good sir," Juhanor stated, backing out of the shop, "this one might have some more work for you later." Juhanor nodded to the smith, and left the shop.

"Alright," Juhanor said, slipping on the now-claw adorned caestus, "Time to find a clothier's." Juhanor headed back into the square, looking for the shop he had seen earlier.

Cordus followed Octavius to the alchemist, passing Sora as she came out. Well, aren't we a group of like-minded individuals, he thought, chuckling quietly at his little joke. He loitered quietly behing Octavius as he purchased what he needed. Cordus only caught a couple words, but it sounded like he was buying poisions. "Ooh, that could come in handy," he said to himself. As Octavius finished up and left, Cordus sauntered foward and leaned on the counter, addressing the Nord alchemist.

"Hey there. Um, how much for some good quality health potions?" he asked, untying his pouch of coins. The Nord looked up from whatever it was she was doing and said, "Hmm. Let's see ... 40 gold pieces, for you." Cordus laughed as he said, "For me? Only me? Well, I'm flattered, ma'am." he paused chuckling as he started counting out coins. "I'll take 10 ... How much does that come out to?" He asked, as she turned to get his potions.

The woman turned and set the small bottles on the table. "400 gold." Cordus handed her the gold and took the potions, placing them gingerly in his pack. He waved to the woman and said, "Nice to meet you! Thanks for the potions!" then headed out the shop. He turned down the street and headed into the inn. He was greeted by the sight of a Nordic bar. Oh, it must be one of those bar-inn combos, he thought as he scanned the room for his date.

When he saw her, he strutted up to her and sat down next to her. She looked up to him and murmered, "Hello handsome." Cordus smiled charmingly and replied, "Hey. So, we haven't been properly introduced. My name is Cord ..." He was cut off by the woman holding a finger up to his lips and whispering, "I'm really not interested in talking. I've already got a room." With that, the woman got up and walked towards the stairs, beckoning for Cordus to follow her. He did, smiling and shaking his head as he said, "Women. Gotta love 'em."

On his way to the stairs, he saw Trannigan and Sora enjoying a drink together. He waved to them, mouthed 'Hey guys!', then followed his latest female companion up the stairs.

Sora smiled at Trannigan's offer for a drink, ad responded with "Good idea, I haven't had alcohol in my system in days." while chuclkling. Trannigan smiled again at her response and said "Well, after me then." and made a quick goofy face at her then proceeded to walk with her to the tavern he had been at minutes before. While walking with her, Trannigan laughed a bit and said "It had been a few days since I had any alchohol too, the only other thing I have had in the past 5 days is water, and I was getting damn sick of that!" He laughed again at that as they stood infront of the tavern, and Sora pulled the heavy wooden door open then.

Immediately the aroma of food and alchohol wafted to Trannigans nostrils, making him lick his lips just slightly and head inside. Following Sora to the bar, he sat down in the stool beside her and ordered himself another ale after she ordered her Mead. Trannigan thanked the bartender for the drink and tossed his coins to the man.

Sora turned to face Trannigan then and said, "I suppose we shouldn't stay too long." Sora took a sip of the sweet alcohol, before continuing. "So, what brings you on this expedition?"

"Yeah.... even though I would love to stay here... we cant..." He said with a let down tone at not being able to relax with his drinks and continued on "Truth be told, it was just the adventure of it that was the main cause, although honestly I do also need the gold." Trannigan drank down half of his ale then glanced into her eyes. "I was living in Solstheim months before, but I felt like it was time to move on from there. As I told you last night, I love to travel this world and see what adventures can be found. I am a mercenary by trade so I travel from place to place, doing what ever deeds pay well, as long as they are things I agree with... If it has anything to do with slavery, or with drugs, I want nothing to do with it."

Trannigan looked deeper into her eyes then while finishing the rest of his Ale, and whispered. "What about you? What was it that drew you into taking up this journey?" While waiting for her to respond to him, Trannigan noticed Cordus walk past with a Nord woman. Cordus was smiling happily, and he mouthed a 'hey guys' at them before following his date up the stares. "Trannigan stifled a giggle at that and said looks like someone is gonna have alot of fun before we head out..."

Juhanor - Market Square, Winterhold

Juhanor spotted the fine clothier's he had seen earlier, and started to walk over to it. Halfway there, Juhanor stopped and decided to head back later; given his limited funds, Juhanor figured that he should buy the most important items first. Alright, I will go there last, Juhanor thought as he scratched his ears and looked around the Squard. I already have my weaponry all set, although I may stop back at the Armorer's for another look at his short blades; now I just need to get some general supplies and see if this place has an enchanter...

Turning his attention away from the clothiers, Juhanor sped over to the general store, and slid open the portal to the shop. Behind the counter sat one fat, greasy-looking Nord, who introduced himself as Herk the Merchant. This guy looks like a scumbag. Juhanor uneasily shook Herk's sweaty hand, and began to question the man about what sorts of supplies he carried.

"Khajiit, let me be frank: I carry everything and anything you need," Herk replied with a snide, "In fact, there is no other supply shop in Winterhold that has as many supplies as myself!"

"This one doesn't need that much, Herk," Juhanor said, "but he would like four or five metal canteens, and some candles, preferably of a dark color. Would you happen to have any of those items?"

"Of course, cat! I am a proprieter of fine goods, and would surely go out of business if I couldn't supply idio- I mean, fine adventurers like yourself with the necessary items to find the legendary city of Saarthal!"

Idiots, eh? Juhanor thought. Perhaps my friend Herk here would like this idiot to show him the business end of a blade... "Just wait here, fine customer! Old Herk will go get the items you desire!" As Herk trundled back into the storage room to find the needed goods, Juhanor looked about the shop, and noticed a stack of unopened crates, with a label of Vials, Beakers, and Assorted Glassware on the side. Sidling over to the crates, Juhanor deftly lifted the smallest of the bunch, slipping it into his rope pack, before shaking the rest of the wares, making sure to smash all of the glass inside. Teach that bastard to screw with the people who buy his damn wares.

Juhanor quickly returned to his previous position at the counter, just as Herk returned with the canteens and the candles. "Alright, Khajiit, here are your wares. Five canteens will cost you 10 gold a piece, and the set of 10 candles will be five septims."

I already spent 40 gold; this purchase will leave me with only 105 septims; no deal. "Counter-offer, Herk: this one will pay you half of what you are offering: seven and twenty septims." Juhanor replied, gazing into the human pig's beady eyes. "Twenty seven septims? No way, Khajiit. 40 septims."

"Alright, how about a compromise," Juhanor offered, "35 septims, and this one will even tell all the other 'idiots' of how fair your store is."

"Wait, there are others?" Herk asked, as Juhanor nodded his head. Mulling it over, Herk nodded his fat, porcine head, and pushed the goods over to Juhanor,k who placed them in his bag and tossed the septims at the vendor.

As he left the store, Juhanor snickered to himself. Oh, I will tell the other "idiots about your store, pig-man, and how they should most assuredly avoid it. Juhanor laughed aloud, and next decided that he needed some food to fill his new canteens. Glancing about the Square, Juhanor warily made his way towards the tavern that he had seen a few of the others slip into earlier. Maybe they are still there, thought Juhanor, perhaps we can share a drink... Juhanor pushed open the door, and stepped in from the cold.

Sora nodded quietly as she listened to Trannigan. He's a good guy, she thought, I could be good friends with him. When Trannigan finished his explanation, his gaze intensified, and, to Sora's surprise, he began whispering.

"What about you? What was it that drew you into taking up this journey?" Trannigan's whispering, coupled with his burning gaze, stirred something inside Sora, and she felt her cheeks go hot. She hoped her dark skin would hide the reddening of her face from Trannigan. She was about to choke out an answer, when Cordus rushed past with a woman, distracting Trannigan. Sora used the brief diversion to regain her composure. She took a long drawl of her mead, feeling her confidence and dignity return, and turned back to Trannigan, who was trying not to laugh.

"Looks like someone is gonna have a lot of fun before we head out..." he said, turning his attention back to Sora.

"Why does that not surprise me?" She laughed. In fact, Sora had barely noticed the pair run up the stairs, but it wasn't hard to guess what they were up to. She took another gulp of her drink before answering Trannigan's question.

"Well, I guess I'm kinda here for the same reasons as you. I love the snow, so I decided to to look for a bit of adventure in Skyrim. I've never been out of Cyrodiil before, so leaving for Skyrim was really quite exciting." Sora idly picked at a splinter on the counter as she spoke. "After only a few days, I heard about this, and so I joined up. I mean, since I love the snow so much, why not learn the history of the people who live in it?"

As Sora finished speaking, she felt a gush of freezing wind enter the bar as someone opened the door. She looked over, and saw Juhanor walking into the tavern. Maybe he'll join us? she thought. Sora stood up from her seat, and discreetly waved at him, trying to catch his attention.

OOC: Sorry everyone, I made the mistake of saying we were in Whiterun instead of Winterhold :facepalm:


Octavius, Winterhold

By the time he had fiddled around with his poisons, closed his belt pouches and re-shouldered his pack, Cordus had finished his business with the lady and rushed out of the store. Octavius was taken aback by how suddenly he had left but he hurriedly stepped through the open door and tried to keep up with the man. He knew he wasn't supposed to go on the business with him but since he was going to an inn, Octavius figured he could at least get a drink while he was waiting for the others.

He stopped outside as Cordus entered, and he stepped over to the alleyway next to the building, concealing his body with some empty mead barrels as he better hid his crossbow. Juhanor walked past him without noticing and entered the inn and Octavius followed right behind him, noticing the Dunmer girl and Trannigan were already at the bar. They appeared to be waving Juhanor over as Octavius wondered if they even remembered he was part of their little entourage.

Not waiting for the Khajiit, he slid through the maze of tables and took a seat on the other side of Trannigan. He placed his large pack beneath his feet, nodded a quick "hello" to the two and looked around for the barkeep.

"Glass of wi---," he said, but stopped abruptly and changed mid-word, "--ale please."

He didn't think wine would endear him to the Nords drinking their flagons of ale and mead in the inn, and he much preferred an ale over mead. The barkeep placed a large flagon of the drink in front of him, and Octavius looked at it and chuckled weakly before placing the gold pieces in front of him while wondering how he was ever going to finish the entire thing without becoming a bumbling fool. He could handle his alcohol, but with another chuckle, he realized this was ridiculous as he turned about to listen to the others talk.

OOC: Let's get cracking.

Glaragoth, Yrtti's Glen Alchemy Store, Winterhold
A tiny amount of magic flew out of Glaragoth's index finger, and the sweet smell of the tobacco wafted through his nose. The Bosmer was stumped, however. He couldn't work out what the plant was, let alone what it was used for, the ancient books that Yrtti carried in her cluttered bookcases were no help either, and the ones that did seem to have a sketch similar to that of the leaf, the writing was barely legible. The odd thing was, he'd found the plant growing in the store, yet Yrtti said she had no recollection of planting it - mind, she didn't recollect much these days.
Glaragoth finally tried to eat a little of it. He started coughing and spat it out, running through the shelves, he downed a health potion which made him feel better. Scuttling back to his notes, he scrawled down Damage Health next to his sketch of the leaf. The Bosmer picked up his pipe, now extinguished and was about to talk to the eccentric Nord woman about his findings, when the door slammed shut.
A young Dunmer girl walked in, with hair as bright as he eyes and moseyed to the counter, the floorboards creaking beneath her. The eccentric Nord running the store greeted her with words that could be insulting to a Dunmer with a background stemming from one of the Great Houses. Not taking particular interest, Glaragoth dawdled back to his research, listening to what the girl wanted. Glaragoth chuckled as the Nord woman rushed into the room, muttering things under her breath and crashing around with potions and herbs. He watched her come back with all sorts of vials with different coloured liquids in them, but Glaragoth noticed the lavender coloured potion and hissed at Yrtti "No!"
A look of bemusemant spread across the Nord's face
"You can't sell her drugs!"
"Oh, Glaragoth, free your mind, these aren't drugs. They're mind enhancers, why do you think I drink them when I'm researching" Yrtti argued, and scuttled back into the front room.
Glaragoth sighed and stood discreetly in the doorway, glaring at the back of Yrtti's head, hoping, for a second, that he could burn a hole in it. Glaragoth breathed a small sigh of relief when he heard the Dunmer refuse the drugs.
He was about to turn back to his reasearch when the fire-haired Dunmer trotted off, but two Imperial men walked in, one significantly older than the other and looked for poisons. Glaragoth didn't mind about the drugs there, so he went back to his reasearch. Which was now going to have to involve combining ingredients.
After the men left, a small bang made Yrtti rush into the back room, to find a smashed Alembic on the table.
"This is an evil herb" Glaragoth concluded.
Frustrated, he stood up and muttered "Off for a drink"
Yrtti tutted "Why don't you stay here and have some of my special juice?"
The Bosmer chuckled "Remember last time I did that? Yeah, I woke up in a cell in Dawnstar" And with that he slammed the door and left, taking off toward the tavern.

As he waltzed in, greeted by the sight of jovial drinking and men taking wenches upstairs, Glorgoth noticed the Dunmer girl and the elder Imprial sharing a drink, joined by a Khajiit and Armour clad Imperial. The Bosmer walked up to the bar, manned by a teen working for the owner and ordered an Ale. He took the drink and sat at a table in the corner of the pub.
A busty, tall and attractive Nord woman followed and sat on the table, pulling her dress up her legs further as she did it.
"Same as always then, my most loyal customer?" She asked.
Glaragoth chuckled, and stared at her for a while, but changed his mine. "No my dear" He kissed her hand "I'm just here for a drink today"
The woman seemed dissapointed and walked off to chat up another man. Glaragoth finshed his Ale and stormed up to the bar, yelling about the terrible service and not being able to get a drink. The man, who had taken over from the teen laughed and said "Glaragoth! I haven't seen you in a couple of days! I thought I'd lost you to that crazy Nord!"
"Haha, no, not yet, Sima. I'll have another ale, thank you." He said as he plonked 4 coins down on the bar, and himself two chairs away from the group, so he could listen to what they were saying.

Juhanor - Tavern, Winterhold

Juhanor noticed Sora and Trannigan sitting at the bar, each with a drink sitting in front of them. Sora, in turn, saw Juhanor walk in, and waved him over. As he maneuvered his large form towards their location, Octavius brushed past him and sat down next to Trannigan. Huh, didn't even notice him. Reaching the bar, Juhanor sat down next to Sora, and ordered up two pitchers worth of the bar's finest wine, along with a bowl of soup. Tossing the barkeep the necessary amount of gold, Juhanor started filling his new, shiny canteens with the different liquids. Having filled three canteens with wine, and two with the soup, Juhanor replaced the containers in his pack, and turned his attention to the other members of his group sitting at the bar.

Draining one of the pitchers, Juhanor faced the rest of the group. "So, men and lady, how has your city experience been? This one had that Ice Troll's claws attached to his caestus," Juhanor raised his gauntlets to show the group, "and then bought some supplies from a piggish Nord at the general store across the Square. Juhanor wouldn't recommend going there; he was a bastard." As he waited for a reply from the group, Juhanor swiveled around on his stool, gazing out at the rest of the tavern's patrons. Looking about, Juhanor watched as a Wood Elf entered the bar, ordered some drinks, and sat down a few chairs away from the group. Growling slightly under his breath, Juhanor nudged Sora on the arm, and waved his hand slightly to get the attention of Trannigan and Octavius. "Guys, look at that Bosmeri renrij over there. This one doesn't like the looks of him."

Juhanor tried to shake off his feelings of caution as he downed the contents of the other pitcher. "Weak stuff," Juhanor said, "but not every drink can be lava whiskey."

"So, guys, have you seen Cordus around? Juhanor has something to give to him," Juhanor said, as he reached into his pocket and pulling out the Ice Troll's slightly rotting jawbone, "this one picked up the jaw of the beast before we left, and wanted to give it to the bard for dealing with the creature's unpleasant smelling innards."

"Looks like someone is gonna have alot of fun before we head out..." Trannigan said while turning his attention back to Sora.

"Why does that not surprise me?" She laughed as she took another gulp of her drink before answering Trannigan's question.

"Well, I guess I'm kinda here for the same reasons as you. I love the snow, so I decided to to look for a bit of adventure in Skyrim. I've never been out of Cyrodiil before, so leaving for Skyrim was really quite exciting." Sora idly picked at a splinter on the counter as she spoke. "After only a few days, I heard about this, and so I joined up. I mean, since I love the snow so much, why not learn the history of the people who live in it?"

Trannigan smiled happily at Sora after she finished speaking and said "Well that is good enough a reason. It is probably a better reason than most of us on this trip." He winked at her and felt the same cold breeze as the wooden door creaked open, then shut again. He didn't pay much attention to who walked in, thinking it was probably just another local and only turned to look when Sora motioned her hand for whoever came in to come over. Seeing it was Juhanor, Trannigan greeted him as he took a seat at the bar, then turned to face Octavius when he sat down next to Trannigan.

"Hail! Did you and Juhanor get everything ya needed?" He asked and gave a quick glance at Juhanor before turning back to Octavius. Trannigan waited for an answer from either of them as the bosmer male walked past with his Nordic female friend walked past. He noticed them talk a bit before she parted ways with him then the bosmer marched up to the bar and spoke with the bartender.

Must be a popular local. he idly thought then turned his attention back to his friends. Trannigan watched as Juhanor ordered 2 pitchers of wine, and a bowl of soup for himself. Once he recieved the soup and wine, Juhanor proceeded to fill his new canteens up with the content, before returning them back to his pack, then Juhanor drained one container and faced the group.

"So, men and lady, how has your city experience been? This one had that Ice Troll's claws attached to his caestus," Juhanor raised his gauntlets to show the group, "and then bought some supplies from a piggish Nord at the general store across the Square. Juhanor wouldn't recommend going there; he was a bastard." As he waited for a reply, Juhanor swivled in his stool to look at the patrons in the tavern.

"It has been good so far, I got myself stocked up on potions incase I might need them then came here to have some drinks with Sora here." He said while nudging her again barely. "I think that I am going to rent a room in this tavern so that I can change back out of this armor since we did not all need to go to the castle."

Trannigan heard Juhanor make a comment about not trusting the bosmer in the corner. He silently dismissed the worry though as he never met a bosmeri enemy that came close to besting him, especially not in close quarters.

"So, guys, have you seen Cordus around? Juhanor has something to give to him," Juhanor said, as he reached into his pocket and pulling out the Ice Troll's slightly rotting jawbone, "this one picked up the jaw of the beast before we left, and wanted to give it to the bard for dealing with the creature's unpleasant smelling innards."

Trannigan gave a big grin and replied "Yeah, he us upstairs right now with a... ehm... 'female friend' if ya want to go find him." He laughed a little bit at the thought of any of them going to go ruin his privacy.

Virani- Winterhold

Virani stood under the gently swinging wooden sign of the armorer's shop on the side of the street. Opposite her was a massive Nord man, with a suit of mail visible under his fur coat and the wrappings on the handle of a large sword sticking up behind his back. He was a few inches taller than Virani which enabled him to look down on her physically as well as metaphorically. Unfortunately for her was exactly what he was doing right at the moment, his arms crossed and his eyebrows raised in an expression that to her seemed slightly amused.

"You're what, sixteen?" He asked her with a laugh, "I don't have time to babysit you."

Virani's cheeks were already red from the cold wind but she felt as if she was getting even redder from his attitude.

"I'm not sixteen!" She quickly replied a little more loudly than she'd intended, and even to her her own voice sounded defensive. She didn't think she was helping at all to convince him. "I'm a good healer, you can't say that won't be useful to you in the ruins in case you get injured."

"Yeah, well I've already got a bunch of good healers right here," the man said, patting a large pouch on his belt. The sound of glass vials clinking against one another emerged from it. He added, "And they won't end up getting mauled by the first beast I come across. You're going to have to help out if I take you along- can you use fireballs? Lightning? Summon some daedra?"

There was a short pause before Virani timidly ventured "Well, a little bit..." The nord raised his eyebrows again and looked smug, and she quickly added "I can cast shields, I can dispel curses, I could detect-"

He raised his hand to her and shook his head. "Look, find someone else to tag along with." He said, and with that turned and walked away.

Another cold breeze caused Virani to involuntarily raise her shoulders in a shiver, and when she exhaled she could see her breath like thick smoke. She wrapped her cloak more tightly around herself and rubbed her arms together. Even after being in Skyrim for months the cold still got to her, especially up here in the far north. She glared for a moment at the Nord as he walked away, and then began to look around the street again with a neutral expression. There was no doubt in her mind that she would have to find some capable adventureres to tag along with if she was going to enter Saarthal- she just hoped not all of them were of the same mind as that last man. I can't pay anyone to guard me, so it's either find someone like this or nothing she thought to herself.

Virani walked around the square, eying the stores for the kind of person who looked like they were geared up. She saw a Khajiit exiting a supply store and head for the nearby inn. Khajiit were rare way up here and she figured he was probably here for the expedition as well. She stopped to let an impatient cart driver pass by, before hurrying across the street and slipping into the inn door behind an exiting patron.

For a moment she stood still, taking in the warm air, the dark wood illuminated by the flicker of the fire contrasted with the harsh bright white outside. Scanning the room she spotted the Khajiit, sitting at a table with two Imperials and a Dunmer girl. She was almost certain now that this band was here for the expedition, and she approached their table collecting her thoughts. As she walked up they conversed among themselves and one of the Imperials let out a laugh. They seem nice, and the worst that could happen is I get told to piss off again she thought to herself as a sort of weak reassurance. She stood right next to their table for a few seconds to try and catch someone's attention before introducing herself.

"Excuse me- I don't mean to pry," She said, trying to be polite as possible. "But a group like yours up here, I mean with those weapons, and being foreigners, you must be here for the expedition too, right? I've been looking for a party going to Saarthal." As she waited for their response, she realized she didn't actually introduce herself and added, "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Virani."

Juhanor - Tavern, Winterhold

"Ah," Juhanor said knowingly, "Cordus will probably be busy for a while then." Letting out a laugh, Juhanor returned to watching the various members of the bar drinking their alcohol and wolfing down greasy food. As he gazed about the tavern, Juhanor noticed a young High Elf maiden step in through the doorway. The Altmer looked about the room, then started to head towards the group. "Wonder what she is up to," Juhanor whispered to the others, as he motioned for the barkeep to take back the two glass pitchers. The maiden, who had made her way up to the group, introduced herself as Virani after speaking to the assembled members of the expedition with slight trepidation.

"Yes, fair lady," Juhanor replied with a gallant smile, "We four, along with a few others, have heeded the call of the King to explore the legendary city of Saarthal." Pulling up a stool, Juhanor motioned for Virani to sit down with the group. "This one sees no problem in you joining our group," said Juhanor, "the more the merrier, as the old saying goes, correct?"

Juhanor stood up and stretched his arms above his head. "So, sirs and ladies, when are we going to head up to the Keep? This one thinks Orlando and Hjolifur have already gone up to speak with the King. Perhaps we should as well? Although, this one still needs to head over to the clothiers and possibly the alchemists, and pick up a few more supplies."

"Ah," Juhanor said knowingly, "Cordus will probably be busy for a while then." Letting out a laugh, Juhanor returned to watching the various members of the bar drinking their alcohol and wolfing down greasy food. As Juhanor turned around to watch the other patrons again, Trannigan noticed a young Altmeri woman slowly make her way to the bar before speaking to the group.

"Excuse me- I don't mean to pry," She said, trying to be polite as possible. "But a group like yours up here, I mean with those weapons, and being foreigners, you must be here for the expedition too, right? I've been looking for a party going to Saarthal." As she waited for their response, she realized she didn't actually introduce herself and added, "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Virani."

"Yes, fair lady," Juhanor replied with a gallant smile, "We four, along with a few others, have heeded the call of the King to explore the legendary city of Saarthal." Pulling up a stool, Juhanor motioned for Virani to sit down with the group. "This one sees no problem in you joining our group," said Juhanor, "the more the merrier, as the old saying goes, correct?"

Trannigan nodded his head in agreement at what Juhanor told her and extended his hand to her. "Well met Virani, my name is Trannigan drattmer. I agree with Juhanor that more travelers are always welcome, assuming you can handle yourself when trouble arises." He smiled warmly at her, and noticing that she looked as if she could indeed take care of herself, he offered to buy her a drink, and asked her what she liked.

Juhanor stood up and stretched his arms above his head. "So, sirs and ladies, when are we going to head up to the Keep? This one thinks Orlando and Hjolifur have already gone up to speak with the King. Perhaps we should as well? Although, this one still needs to head over to the clothiers and possibly the alchemists, and pick up a few more supplies."

"Yeah, I am ready when everyone else is." He stated to Juhanor then stood up from the stool he was sitting on. he quickly bought himself a half loaf of bread and a potato for the road then said. "I will just change out of this armor after we meet with the king then, unless we decide to head to Saarthal as soon as we leave the castle."

Glaragoth - Tavern
The Khajiit had said bad words about Glaragoth, he could tell. The way the filthy furlicker looked at him, and turned around and muttered something to his friends was an obvious sign. The Bosmer shifted in his seat, which made it looked like he was re-arranging his underpants, but he was really moving closer, so he could pick up what they were muttering. The Khajiit asked how everybodies city experience had been They're not from here... adventurers Glaragoth realized. He was even more impressed at the mention of an Ice Troll hand Must be capable, as well, and at the mention of six And interested in sampling the local delights! I wonder where they're going?. His queries were answere when a shy Altmer asked if they were going to Saarthal, and introduced herself as Virani. The Khajiiti welcomed her along, which confirmed they were going to Saarthal. Saarthal?! Amazing! I could use this to further my studies! Glaragoth got particularly excited at the as the Khajiit said 'The more the merrier'. I should offer my services.
Glaragoth cleared his throat and said, "Excuse me, but I couldn't help but over hearing you would be journeying to the ruins of Saarthal? Well, the ruins have always interested me and I have wanted to see what lies below." The Bosmer paused. "Maybe you would let a Bosmer join your party?" he asked, and quickly added "I am rather proficient with magic, quite a good shot with the bow. And I'm fantastic at Alchemy... So, what say you?"

Virani - Winterhold

"Yes, fair lady," Juhanor replied, and Virani smiled a bit at that. Fair lady? A charmer I suppose, she thought to herself. As he pulled up a stool for her she marveled at how big he was- truly the Cathay were a fearsome breed. She accepted the stool with a nod and sat down, and he said "the more the merrier, as the old saying goes, correct?"

"The more the merrier..." She repeated still with a faint smile on her face. It seemed that many Khajiit had that sort of easygoing air even though it often masked a cunning or devious nature. But this one seemed genuinely friendly- she couldn't be sure, she wasn't so good at reading people, especially the beast races. "Indeed. Thank you for the welcome. I appreciate it."

One of the Imperials at the table, a man with a bit of a rough look typical to adventurers, extended his hand to her with a smile. "Well met Virani, my name is Trannigan drattmer. I agree with Juhanor that more travelers are always welcome, assuming you can handle yourself when trouble arises."

She took his hand and gave it a small shake. "Very pleased to meet you Trannigan. I'm sure we'll get along fine." She neglected to confirm whether or not she could, in fact, 'handle herself.' She was sure her set of skills would come in handy and if she wasn't a good combatant, well, they weren't demanding to know that up front were they? He offered her a drink, and while she normally would rebuff an advance from a stranger, they were supposed to be comrades now, so she thought it would be alright.

"Just a cup of mead will do, if you don't mind. I used to think it was awful but I'm getting used to it." She said.

Her mead came in a small mug, which was good, because she could not hold down very much alcohol. As she sipped it Trannigan and Juhanor began to talk about heading to the castle to see the king or pick up supplies. She didn't particularly care what they did as long as it took them to Saarthal, and didn't want to seem presumptuous suggesting their direction when she just met them minutes ago. "I don't need anything more," she stated quietly and matter-of-factly, "my pack is actually quite full now-"

Virani paused, but before she could continue she was interrupted by a Bosmer, who appeared suddenly to introduce himself to the group and offered to join them. He must have been listening to know where we were heading, she thought, that's curious. He finished his introduction by talking up his skills. Of course he probably was a good spellcaster, and Virani had spent a few years in Valenwood and got on well with most Bosmer she had met. Yet she still sometimes got the impression that Bosmer liked to boast about their abilities to make up for their height. The thought made her smile and she brought her hand to her mouth to cover it, lest the newcomer think she was laughing at him.

"I just arrived so it's hardly my decision," she said, quickly regaining her composure, "but it seems a good idea to me. Between the two of us we'll practically be a traveling alchemist shop it seems."

Virani gently shook Trannigan's hand and commented, "Very pleased to meet you Trannigan. I'm sure we'll get along fine" She commented then said "Just a cup of mead will do, if you don't mind. I used to think it was awful but I'm getting used to it."

"A cup of mead it is then." He replied back with a friendly smile, then hailed the barkeep over to order one for her. He thanked the barkeep again and handed in the coins once she recieved her cup. While Trannigan and the rest of the group pvssyd with Virani, the Bosmer who had been sitting at the table near them walked up to the table and offered his services. Clearing his throat Glaragoth said, "Excuse me, but I couldn't help but over hearing you would be journeying to the ruins of Saarthal? Well, the ruins have always interested me and I have wanted to see what lies below." The Bosmer paused. "Maybe you would let a Bosmer join your party?" he asked, and quickly added "I am rather proficient with magic, quite a good shot with the bow. And I'm fantastic at Alchemy... So, what say you?"

Trannigan cringed a little bit just hearing the voice of a male Bosmer, and very much hoped that his face was not giving away his thoughts. He forced his lips into a polite smile and answered to the Bosmer, "As we told Virani here, the more the merrier, people with useful skills are more than welcome as far as I am concerned." I just hope that the personalities of Bosmer in this land are not as grating as the ones back home. he thought to himself.

Trannigan and Sora were soon joined by Octavius and Juhanor. Sora listened quietly to the conversation, until Juhanor brought a rowdy Bosmer to their attention. Sora had never liked Bosmer much, as most she had met in Cyrodiil seemed to be either stuck up or insane, altthough occasionally she met a nice one. She tried to ignore the elf and continued to listen to the conversation, taking gulps of her mead until the mug was drained.

Sora had just ordered another mead and a piece of bread to chew on, when a polite voice stopped the conversation.

"Excuse me- I don't mean to pry," Sora turned on her seat, and saw a pretty Altmer girl standing before the group, "But a group like yours up here, I mean with those weapons, and being foreigners, you must be here for the expedition too, right? I've been looking for a party going to Saarthal." The girl paused for a moment, before adding "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Virani."

Sora took in Virani as Trannigan and Juhanor introduced themselves. Poor girl, she thought, She'll have fend off Cordus with a stick. Sora gave a brief nod and a smile at her as she took a seat next to Juhanor.

"So, sirs and ladies, when are we going to head up to the Keep?" Juhanor said, stretching as he stood up from his seat, "This one thinks Orlando and Hjolifur have already gone up to speak with the King. Perhaps we should as well? Although, this one still needs to head over to the clothiers and possibly the alchemists, and pick up a few more supplies."

"Yeah, I am ready when everyone else is," Trannigan said, "I will just change out of this armor after we meet with the king then, unless we decide to head to Saarthal as soon as we leave the castle."

"Well, I'm ready when everyone else is," Sora said, her mouth half full with bread. "I don't need anything else."

Virani was in the middle of muttering a response when the Bosmer that Juhanor had pointed out earlier interrupted, asking to join their expedition. Sora felt a scowl creep onto her face as the Bosmer boasted his best traits. By the way he spoke, Sora suspected that he knew he would be allowed to join. She half hoped that he would be denied, but she knew that it was probably better to have reinforcements when they journeyed underground.

"As we told Virani here, the more the merrier, people with useful skills are more than welcome as far as I am concerned," Trannigan said, although Sora detected a bit of reluctance in his voice. She took a gulp of mead, before turning to the Bosmer.

"Personally, Bosmer, I couldn't care less whether you accompany us. But I suppose you'd be handy to have." She turned away from him and finished her drink. "I suppose we should head off soon then." Sora picked up her things and stood up, but was forced to grab hold of the bar as the mead started to take effect. Whoops, maybe a bit too much drink before meeting with the King. The warm feeling in her stomach the alcohol had left gave Sora little other reason to regret drinking as much as she had, however. The cold will sort me out, she thought. "I'm sure Cordus will catch up."

OOC: Does anyone else realize that we are in a tavern after Verlox specifically said he disliked the tavern setting? I just found that humorous is all.


Octavius, Tavern

When Octavius heard where Cordus had gone too, he almost choked on his ale as he began laughing and coughing at the same time. "No wonder he said I couldn't come to that business." he said, not sure if anyone was listening. He found it extremely funny, especially how the young man had said it so matter-of-fact back when they had met up.

Octavius watched the surrounding casually as he listened to the idle chit chat amongst his companions, and turned towards the door as the rush of air that came in signaled another patron entering. He glanced over and then back to his friends, but did a double take as he watched an extremely attractive (in his opinion) but extremely young looking girl walk into the bar. She couldn't have looked more out of place if she tried and Octavius felt the strangest sensation of heat come to his face as she walked over to the group. He had little.... no. He had no experience when it came to women in a romantic sense as he had never really thought about them like that, but as she came up and asked to join their group Octavius couldn't take his eyes off her.

He was quick and effective at covering it up however, and finally broke his gaze as he took a deep sip of ale, almost draining it. He nodded in agreement with everyone when they said that more people was generally better, though he could see the disadvantages of a gigantic group in the ruins, but they were outweighed by the advantages.

He hardly paid attention to the Bosmer who, like the Altmer girl who's name was Virani, asked to join their group. He was still fixating on the Altmer girl when he heard the others were suggesting they go back to the Castle to meet up with the others.

"I don't mind what we do. " he said with a shrug as he turned to the Bosmer newcomer who had interested Ocatvius because he was an Alchemist. Turning to him he asked, "How effective are you a whipping up poisons? Octavius, by the way." he added, smiling at the Bosmer, as well as shooting a grin over at Virani.

OOC: Yeah, just noticed that too. Humorous, indeed.


Juhanor - Tavern, Winterhold

Giving the Bosmer who had approached the table a distrustful glare, Juhanor told the rest of the group that he was going to go across the street to the clothiers. "This one needs to buy a shirt or vest and a hat," the Cathay said, "Hjolifur mentioned something about the King being less than... accepting of other races, so this one doubts that walking in wearing only pants would be a good idea. Juhanor wants to look his best, anyways, so he will catch up with the rest of you later, unless anyone wants to tag along." Juhanor tossed four more coins on the bar, and returned to the chilly outdoors.

Juhanor dashed across the icy stones that paved the street, and made his way to the entrance of the clothier's across the street. After he opened the orifice to the shop, Juhanor's nose instantly picked up the scent of the fine dyes that the owner had recently been using. Juhanor gently shut the door behind him, and called out to the owner, who was sitting behind the counter. "Greetings, good lady," Juhanor said, wanting to get down to business, "Juhanor would like to purchase two items from your fine business: a hat and a shirt, hopefully to match this one's black silk pants."

The Argonian sitting behind the counter gazed up at Juhanor, a look of recognition in her eyes. She knows who I am... have I seen her before? She declared that she had never seen a Cathay Khajiit up this far North. "Well, be that as it may, this one still needs those items." Juhanor reached into his pocket and pulled out half of his remaining gold, fifty three pieces. "Of course, if you don't have silk, this one wouldn't mind. Leather or cotton would do just fine."

The lady left her post at the counter, and walked down the stairs to the basment, probably to get the clothes that Juhanor had requested. Juhanor waited patiently by the counter, tapping his let foot to a tune he had heard Cordus strum on his lute earlier. Great, now I have that stuck in my head... Snapping out of his momentary daydream, Juhanor heard the woman's feet stomping up the hard wood stairs. Ah, the lady returns.

The Argonian woman pushed open the door to the basemant, holding a large package in her hands. She placed the bundle on the counter, and unwrapped the goods, showing the contents to Juhanor. "Fair lady, I only asked for the hat and the shirt... you seem to have accidentally included a longcoat," Juhanor pointed out.

"I know, Juhanor," she replied, "when I was but a hatchling, you saved my family from the harsh life of slavery. Remember the forest, outside of Haven? When you and those big tigers escaped, you broke my family out as well..." The lass smiled sheepishly at Juhanor. "My family and I ended up going to Morrowind; the land was too harsh, so we relocated to Solstheim and eventually ended up here. I could never have properly thank you, but I thought you could use these, no charge. After all, you gave me my life back..."

"Whoa," Juhanor said, smiling at the young maiden, "this one is glad that you and yours have been able to make this far... but Juhanor couldn't possibly accept such fine wares for free, madam." Reaching into his pocket, Juhanor pulled out the rest of his gold, and placed all one hundred and six septims on the counter. "It isn't much," Juhanor said, "but this one wants you to have it. This one would feel bad taking these clothes without pay."

At first, the Argonian maiden protested, but Juhanor would have none of it. Leaving the gold on the counter, Juhanor placed his rope sack on the floor of the shop, and undid the straps of his kukri knives, setting them next to the pack. Juhanor slipped on the dark shirt, but did not clasp shut the bone snaps. He then slid the leather longcoat over the shirt, followed up by restrapping his kukri to his bare chest. Juhanor undid the ties that held his rope together, and used the sharp claws that now adorned his caestus to slice the rope in two.

Juhanor retied one half of the severed rope into a smaller, but more maneuverable, sack, and placed the small chest of vials he had lifted into the container, along with the jawbone of the Ice Troll and his climbing pitons. Juhanor looped one section of the rope around his quiver, and another around his bow. Picking up the flasks he had purchased earlier, Juhanor began to tie the other half of the rope around them, and ended up cinching the flasks, along with his container of moon sugar, around his waist under the duster. Standing up, Juhanor nodded to the Argonian maiden, and thanked her for the clothes and the brief use of her shop to get his things in order.

Juhanor left the clothiers, and placed his new hat atop his head. "Alright, broke again, but if Juhanor has anything to say about it, at least he looks pretty good while doing it!" Shaking his head, Juhanor decided to return to the bar, in order to see if any of his friends were still getting their drink on.


As he crossed the street, Juhanor thought of the Bosmer who was just now joining the group. This one hopes that the renrij will prove useful. Juhanor began to snarl under his breath. This one isn't going to be foolish and start trusting him straight off... he will have to earn that privilege.

Juhanor pushed open the door to the bar, and hoped that the Bosmer wasn't still inside.

Standing up, Juhanor made c

OOC: Sorry for my disappearance again my video card gave up the ghost.

Nathaniel Leinheart - Winterhold

Nathaniel slept the entire journey to Winterhold the jostling of the wagon could not stir him from his slumber. Nathaniel woke when the caravan had made it's way into the grand city. Sitting up and peering from the wagon Nathaniel began to take in the beautiful sights before him. The wagons came to a halt near the center of the city. Nathaniel gathered his belongings and made his way out of the wagon. Nathaniel immediately noticed everyone else had already begun exploring which left him to his own devices for the time being.

Looking over toward the castle Nathaniel thought about getting an audience with the king as he was a noble and knew how to hobnob with royalty. Mulling it over Nathaniel decided against it as he needed to pick up supplies and he didn't have the proper dress to meet with a king as his current apparel was quite road worn. Walking through the market square Nathaniel came across a general store called Herk's General Wares. Stepping into the shop Nathaniel was greeted by a portly Nord who introduced himself as Herk the proprietor of the establishment.

"Yes greetings, Nord. I require some gear for an expedition to Saarthal."

"Well what do ya need." I guess that cat was good on his word.

"I require a bedroll, a lantern, three water skins, a length of rope, some parchment, ink, quills, a tent, and three months worth of preserved goods."

The overweight store owner rushed to and fro collecting the items Nathaniel had requested. Once the items had been gathered upon the counter top Herk began calculating the cost of all the items.

"Your total comes up to five-hundred and fifty drakes."

Nathaniel knew he couldn't part with that much coin so he used magic to his advantage by discreetly casting a charm spell on the merchant.

"I'll go as high as two-twenty-five friend."

"I like you but I can only go as low as five hundred drakes."

"Two-seventy-five."

"Four-thirty-seven."

"Two-ninety-nine."

With a heavy scowl on his face. "I don't know why but I'll go to three-fifty and that's my final offer.

"Deal.", Nathaniel cooed as he collected the coins from his pouch. Hefting the pack of goods onto his back Nathaniel cast a feather spell to help ease the load. Escaping Herk's with more than half of his gold intact Nathaniel decided his next stop would be the alchemist's to stock up on ingredients and potions for the expedition. Finding the quaint little shop quite easily, Nathaniel entered and swiftly felt like he was back at the arcane universities lustratorium. Walking past the rows of ingredients and vials Nathaniel reached the counter where a fetching woman greeted him with a smile.

"How are you today, sir. What can I do for you?", she said with a grin.

"I'm looking to purchase a set of empty vials, some healing herbs, fire salts, frost salts, void salts, and if you happen yo have any raspberry flavored tobacco that would be excellent."

"Ah, a fellow alchemist. What brings you to Winterhold if you don't mind me asking?", she asked as Nathaniel's requested items were collected.

"I'm part of an adventuring band heading into the Saarthal Ruins."

"Well that sounds exciting and quite dangerous. Are you scared of what could possibly be in there?"

"Honestly a little but I'm a treasure hunter and opportunities like this don't come often.

"No I guess they don't do they."

Nathaniel and the alchemist pvssyd for some time before he realized how much time he had spent talking with her.

"Well I have some other business to take care of. How much do I owe you?"

"Just for you a lump sum of a hundred-twelve drakes."

"Thank you.", Nathaniel said shocked by the woman's generosity. Placing his newly purchased items into his potion bag Nathaniel turned to leave.

"You come back alive and tell me all about your adventure. You hear?"

"For you I'll try my best.", Nathaniel replied with a wave.

Nathaniel sighed as he exited as he still had two more stops to make. Passing through several crowds Nathaniel guarded his belongings from pickpockets searching for an easy score. Nestled near the edge of the market square Nathaniel found the shop he had been looking for, 'Warl's Wonders'.

Opening the door and crossing the threshold the frigid cold was replaced by an unnatural warmth as the shop had no fireplace. The walls of the shop were covered in magic trinkets, shelves were crammed full of books, at the front of the store a wealth of magic equipment was locked in several display cases. Slowly traversing the store Nathaniel looked over the various articles for a time before heading to the mage at the front of the shop.

In a dull monotone the mage inquired to what Nathaniel wanted.

"I'm here for scrolls good mage."

"That's nice. What kind of scrolls?", the mage responded obviously bored.

"What do you have in summoning and illusion based scrolls?"

"Well I'm a bit low on summon scrolls but I've got plenty of illusion scrolls depending on what your looking for specifically."

"I will take any area of effect enrage scrolls, a couple invisibility scrolls, and the best conjuration scroll available.

"The best I've got is a daedra summoning all the other things you asked for are in stock."

Gathering the requested scrolls the mage began contemplating a price.

"The scrolls will run you two-hundred-twenty-three drakes."

Not in the mood to haggle Nathaniel produced the necessary coin, collected his scrolls and left the shop with less then a hundred coins to his name.

Nathaniel wanted to visit a tailor but due to his lack of coin he needed to hock the lion meat he had collected to a butcher. Walking through the market square once more the butcher's wasn't hard to find as it was near the center of the market district. Trudging into the shop Nathaniel opened his sack procuring the lion meat within before heading up to the burly Nord at the front of the establishment.

Barley looking up from the boar he was cutting.

What do ya want, Imperial!?"

"I'm looking to sell some lion meat I gathered last eve."

The Nord placed the cleaver he was using down. "Let me see what ya got and be quick about it!"

Nathaniel quickly placed several cuts of the meat onto the counter. The Nord looked the meat over and sniffed it several times before smiling down to Nathaniel.

"This is some fine meat you got here. I'll take all of it for four-hundred drakes no bargaining."

"That will be fine. Oh yeah, would you know if the king likes lion?"

"He certainly does but is there any reason your asking?", the Nord said as he wiped the blood off his hands and onto his smock.

"Yes there is. I would like you to send him the best cuts cooked to his liking. Tell him it's a gift from Nathaniel Leinheart."

"Sure. No problem.", the Nord replied with a hearty laugh as he placed a sack of gold into Nathaniel's hands and received the meat in return.

Shacking the Nord's hand Nathaniel exited the butcher's shop in better spirits. Nathaniel finally headed off to the tailors to have something done with the lion pelt and to purchase some new garments.

Nathaniel traversed the district for quite some time before happening upon the tailors shop. Entering the shop Nathaniel spoke with the Argonian who ran the shop.

"Excuse me Argonian, I would like a cape to be made out of this lion's pelt. I would like the head to sit on my left shoulder. I want it to be blue with a golden trim outline. Finally I would like it to have my family coat of arms on it. Before the tailor could respond Nathaniel removed his shirt revealing his chainmail with his family crest on it. The crest was of a lion with a pair of swords behind it.

"Oh yes I almost forgot I need a presentable outfit to meet the king in. I would like a black and burgundy shirt with a gold trim on the cuffs. Pants of the same color and a pair of black leather boots.

The Argonian agreed to the job for two-hundred and ninety drakes. She first traveled into the basemant to get the new clothes Nathaniel had asked for before beginning the work on the cape. Nathaniel had to wait for several hours before the job was completed.

Nathaniel placed his travel worn clothes into his rucksack bag before putting on the new outfit he had purchased. He then put his chainmail curiass over it before trying on the cape.

"Simply exquisite work I will include a bonus for this fine craftsmanship. Nathaniel handed the woman three-hundred and twenty drakes for the job. Satisfied with his purchases Nathaniel began making his way to the castle to speak with the king.

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Glaragoth - Tavern
The Imperial who introduced himself as Trannigan Drattmer to Virani accepted Glaragoth into the group. The Bosmer started grinning Adventure! Ohh... I wonder how Yrtti will feel?.
However, the grin was wiped off his face when the vivid Dunmer spoke
"Personally, Bosmer, I couldn't care less whether you accompany us." She said this almost angrily and she struck Glaragoth as extremely rude, but then seemed to make a lame attempt to cover herself by saying "But I suppose you'd be handy to have." Glaragoth was abouut to make a witty reply, when she got up and announced she was leaving, stating that Cordus would catch up.
The Khajiit followed, stating that he was going to by clothes, but what struck Glaragoth as interesting was the fact that he said 'the King being less than trusting...'.
The King thought Glaragoth, he was about to inquire but the elder Imperial interrupted
"How effective are you a whipping up poisons? Octavius, by the way."
Glaragoth was rather quick to respond, "I hold myself in quite a high regard when it comes to making potions and poisons. I can identify most plants and their effects, as a result of many years of research... Actually, I work at the Alchemy shop you bought those Poisons from, Octavius, so you better hope I'm good" Glaragoth said the last bit jokingly. Pausing for a second, he added "The furlicker mentioned the King... what exactly does he have to with this?"