Conspirator’s Tavern
First Night of Autumn’s Turn after the Mausoleum Meet
Vanja's Autumn Turn costume (by Kate Quimby)Astarael is sitting at the bar across from Roux, looking at this new group of people. Roux says, “Hey, you should meet Bax!!” He calls Bax over, and with him comes a young woman.
“Hey! I’m Skau Vanja!” she says. She smiles wide and takes the seat next to Astarael, taking a mug of ale from the bartop.
“It’s a little intimidating, right?” says Vanja. “That they’re all friends already?” She drinks deeply, “and their other friend, the girl with pink hair, in the mausoleum they all acted like it was nothing, that she was glowing - I can’t even imagine what kind of power she must have.” She laughs a little, “Bax didn’t mention that when he told me about his friends from home.” She shrugs, at her now-empty mug. She reaches for a second.
“But the ones I’ve met seem like good men at least, from what I can tell. Bax, anyway, Ethan and Roux.” She raises her eyebrows to Astarael, “But you know Roux. He brought you to the meeting, yeah?” She laughs. Drinks again. “He’s true blisterkere,” she purses her lips, the smile gone for a moment, but then Vanja speaks again, translating the unfamiliar Dwarvish word, “I mean he’s strong. Tough. A good fighter - I’ve seen him at Pin’s,” she clarifies, “at fight club. I didn’t think it was an Isendelian tradition, fighting, but it’s different here anyway. In my hometown, it was training, for sport, with my brothers. And that sort of thing, you get hurt and the game is over. And you never get hurt too bad. Worst that happened to me was I broke my ribs. Well, my brother broke my ribs,” she laughs at this, “and once I stepped badly, and Sasha swept my leg, sent me down, cracked my head on the ice.” She grins, “But the next time I stayed low, got him in the stomach,” she punches the air, and the motion sends her off balance. She laughs, and overcorrects, unsteady on the stool.
“It’s such a relief to meet people, though,” says Vanja, continuing in what seems like one long sentence, “I was on my own for a few weeks before this, and it was difficult. I don’t do so well alone, you know?” She raises her own drink, and indicates she wants Astarael to respond.
Astarael gives a small nod.
Vanja shrugs and takes another swig of beer. “This Isendel beer, it’s not good.” She puts her ale down. The cup is empty again.
Astarael thinks the beer is ok.
“In my hometown we drink vodka mostly,” says Vanja, “because you can make it from potato, and that grows everywhere. This wheat beer is weak. My brother would say it’s for goats, when you ruin a batch but you can still give it to the goats?” The smile leaves Vanja’s face for a split second. She looks down into the cup, then over at the men next to them at the bar, talking, catching up, clapping one another on the shoulders, checking to see that they are still hale and well. Vanja smiles again, but it’s smaller. Not the grin she had before. “They remind me of my brothers a bit, all of them,” she gestures to the men. “That’s the worst part about being away from my village. Not knowing if they’re safe. I miss them so much it makes me feel sick sometimes.” She shakes her head, tossing reddish braids over her shoulder, and blinks. She looks back at Astarael, “But it’s nothing we can do, right? And I’m sure it’s the same for you. I bet you miss your family too.”
Astarael isn’t sure what to say in response, but Vanja doesn’t give her a chance anyway.
“You’re farther from home than I am, I bet,” Vanja gestures to her own braids, and then indicates Astarael’s hair. “Black hair like that. I haven’t seen that color in Northgate.” She smiles again.
It seems to Astarael that Vanja is always on the edge of laughing at something. Astarael has never met anyone so good humored before.
“Not like I would know, though,” Vanja continues. “This is the only place I’ve ever been. I don’t think I would have left my village if not for the Swans.” She nods at Astarael, mistaking her lack of response for lack of knowledge, “those are the soldiers. You’ve probably seen them around the city. These boys,” she indicates the men next to them, “they’ve spent the past few years on the run from the Swans. It must have been awful, being hunted like that.”
Astarael looks at her beer, and takes a deep draft.
Vanja purses her lips. “So I guess it could be worse. I had to leave my town when an inquisitor came, looking for me, but that’s nothing to what they’ve all been through.” Vanja pauses, silent for just a few moments, giving Astarael room to speak. Astarael looks at the room, and looks a bit pained. She stares intensely at her beer again.
Vanja sees Astarael’s face, but doesn’t push her to speak, filling the silence again herself. “I don’t know what I’d do, if I had to go up against a Swan alone,” she says. “I mean, I’ve been in plenty of fights, but never had to do anything that was actually truly dangerous—”
Astarael becomes very interested in her beer now.
Vanja shrugs. “What about you? Have you got any training?”
Astarael is mid-drink, and just nods a little. She moves her skirt, and shows Vanja the dagger in her boot.
Good,” says Vanja, “I’m sure you’re less likely to be bothered, if you’re seen with a weapon, anyway.” Vanja takes her own mug and raises it to Astarel, before taking a generous swig and frowning at another empty mug.
“Do you have magic, too?” asks Vanja, then. Astarael starts to say yes, but Vanja is already continuing, excited, “We all seem to, except Ethan. It’s why they found me, anyway. Lucky it was Bax and not an inquisitor.” She smiles at her friend, still in conversation with Roux. “So we’ve all got that in common, anyway. And hey, you’re safe now. We’re all friends here.”
Astarael looks up at the other girl, stunned by this entire interaction. After a moment, Astarael finally smiles a little and says, “You really want to be friends?”
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Can We Be Roommates (Astarael)
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