"... did you hear about the attacks out of the sewers? They say, the monsters come out every
night and take only people drunken enough that they can not fight back. I heard, the bodies they found were missing..."
"... I told you, he is a womanizer! Now he again has another concubine. And she even is said
to come from Serendipity. What, if she again is a mage, he will not bear if if she again will be ..."
"... yesterday, another one came to the Mug and Bottle. Someone is buying books. Nobody knows what they are about,
and nobody can read them, but they are said to be of immeasurable value. If we only knew, where we could find something like..."
"...there again is another one. All the current camps are already overflowing with mages. But my cousin said, the
tensions are rising moreand more. They even rumor, that there will be attack. By whom? I have no idea, but..."
"... Yeah, I fear, we will never see them again. They really were the best for our filthy city.
They were not afraid of standing up against the lowest of the scum here and
really had potential to move something. But now they have gotten silent. Nobody knows, where they..."
"... You want to have fun? Well, what is fun to you? I always say, the best time of your life you will
get in the Ice Sirens. Let me tell you, you never have seen something like that and never will see it again..."
The marketplace definitely was the best place to learn more about a new city. Always. Everywhere. By this means she often had gotten valuable information after coming to a area she didn't know about. And often she had found good starting points for her search. Here it had worked again.
The "Mug and Bottle". It sounded like a tavern or something similar. There she would start her search, and she would eat her hoopak if she couldn't get more traces there.
Swiftly Peya rose from her seat at the base of the fountain at the marketplace, swung her bag to her back and picked up her hoopak. The small bells that she had tied to it were jingling brightly. Several passersby were looking at her surprised, most of them hadn't noticed her until now. And even when standing, she surely was no usual sight here in Reajh.
But she didn't mind getting funny looks. With a cheerful smile and a confident stride she approached the next best person and looked up to him with puppy dog eyes. A short conversation later she knew where to go and began strolling into the direction where she now knew she could find the "Mug and Bottle".
When she reached her destination, the night was already falling. The tavern was situated in the merchants quarter. Not in the best corner, but far from the worst. The building was old and not in best shape. A wrought-iron sign was hinged beside the front door, showing a bottle that was emptied into a mug. The sign was swinging slightly in the connlaothian winds. The windows were dimly lit and muted murmur could be heard from the inside.
Peya took her time to look around the surroundings of the tavern. But when she couldn't find something of interest, she walked up the few steps to the front door of the Mug and Bottle and entered the taproom.
She again let the bells at her hoopak jingle brightly when she stepped inside. Then she walked in, smiling, pretending not to notice the looks she got from the patrons. Peya walked directly to the bar, dropped her bag, leaned her hoopak to the counter and climbed on a chair to be able to look over the countertop. Smiling she waved to the bartender.
"Hello there, good man. Ansgar be with you. Could you please get me a big bowl of stew and something to drink that deserves its name?"