Stonewall Abbey

[Sir Curtis Prise]

'Oh. She knows what cards are.' Curtis looked away, feeling silly in explaining the deck themselves. After seeing her reptilian display, and hearing her call herself an alien at one point, it was easy to assume that she had never heard of trivial things. "No problem."

Turning back to the bar, more like spinning about in the chair, he faced the lovely bartender. "I think I will copy-cat her order, if you don't mind!" He searched through his wallet. 'Four gold was it?' He fished out a few coins. The unicorn said earlier than his room was free, but he wouldn't believe the same for the refreshments. He placed the coins on the table before him. "Thank you."

[Heliko pylori]

Vibryo Duponte

Vee minded the invasion of her space as much as she minded being nude in front of everyone. It didn’t cause her any discomfort and she seemed to only smile as Shiro approached. Sinner’s Paradise… she mentally repeated as she searched her head for such a place; her eyes glazed over and she seemed to go into a daze. “You register on my radar…” she finally said after having spent more than a few moments in silence. To anyone else the line may have sounded random but Shiro may recognize it as it was something she had told him while they were on a tour of the building. Everything was coming back to her now like it had never been placed on the backburner of her mind in the first place.

With a knowing grin upon her face she turned toward Shiro and the distance between them suddenly got a lot smaller as she acted on impulse and hugged him. “Shiro!” she happily exclaimed as if she had been reunited with a long, lost friend. “Wonderful to see you again! How has your search been going?” She released the man and allowed the arms length of space between them again as she forgot about the almost empty plate in front of her. “I’ve been to so many places since Sinner’s Paradise that I had almost forgotten about it completely. I wonder how Nef and her little companions are doing.”

[ursi tonitru]

Gratefully, Muka took the large mug from her and took a large gulp.

She quirked a brow at the unicorn as she lowered her drink, dragging her free hand across her lips. "Too sweet? It tastes great to me. Sweeter than most beers, I'll admit, but it quenches your thirst well." It did have a honey-like taste to it, no doubt a trait unique to the mountain region it came from.

"How much business do you and the other people here get normally? It's clear this place is a bit secluded from the rest of the world, but are the permanent residents willing to spend enough to keep things going?" That and, based on some of the company in the tavern, travelers were bound to pass through the village from time to time. Tourism was always good for business.

Hearing the familiar 'clink' as Curtis placed some coins on the bar top, Muka perked up and dug through a deep pocket in her gray jacket. "Err, right." Before she forgot... "Four for the beer, right?" She set four coins in front of her for Gil to take.

[daintyone]

Gilrin gave a nod and fetched a matching mug and filled it with the same ale. She set it down for the wolf, "Thank you, Curtis." She collected the gold and glanced back at Muka the Dragon Rider.

She smiled. "I guess I"m more partial to bitterness." She laughed finding a bit of humor in that. "Well I haven't owned the place long enough to know the demographic but the old owner seemed to do well enough. " She shrugged. If a mean old drunk could run an inn, why couldn't a sweet unicorn?

"Ironbluff is a mining town. The locals make their profit by exporting their goods with the trade caravans." She hadn't had time to stop at one of the small encampments about the possibility of moving dome of John's wine. She had plenty after all and it seemed patrons preferred the beer.

[VEEB0MB3R]

Shiro Sokolov

The reliable one
隼

Those had been the words that she had told him when he discovered her disability. The man grinned as he confirmed it was the very same woman he had met before. "Small world isn't it." He told Vee before finding himself in a hug. The two were acquaintances but the embrace was okay, it meant he wasn't going to see the sharp claws and teeth of her natural form unless he slighted her.

The blonde took his arms and wrapped them around the friendly woman and let go a few seconds before she did. "There's been a minor schedule slip when it comes to my endeavor." Shiro answered before moving to grasp at his cup. Back in his hand he took another long sip. "I hope they are doing well. The owner was a nice individual." Yet sadly alone from the vibe and words he understood. Her domain was supposedly haunted if he remembered right.

"Maybe she has company like we do." Sokolov told Vee as he raised his cup in a quick toast before chugging the cooling tea down. Turning his attention to the woman talking to Gil the Russian listened in to the conversation with interest. "Ironbluff is a mining town then?" He asked the owner, his head titled to the side curioisty.

[Heliko pylori]

Vibryo Duponte

“Smaller than I realized,” she said with a smile in reply to his comment. Usually her world wasn’t so small and coming in contact with people more than once was a rarity. Let alone in a place such as Ironbluff. “Oh? Did your objective change? And I’m quite sure Nef has company. How could she not. Her place was amazing and she was as kind as could be.” There was a thoughtful smile on her face as she started to finish up what was on her plate but held off as she didn’t want her current hostess to think that she was comparing the two. “But Gilrin is just as great too. She even gave me money to go shopping with so we could get food for everyone.” The fact that the woman was more than hospitable was evident without her saying anything but she couldn’t resist the urge.

With no more delays she finished what was left on the plate, minus the garnish, as she listened to the others speak. She had missed a bit of the conversation from being distracted but would jump back in once she was able to speak on the topic.

[Sir Curtis Prise]

"A mining town..." Curtis tapped the side of the cup as he thought. "What are they mining for, do you know?" The talk of riches had attracted him all the way up this mountain, but so far he had yet to seem evidence of it. He'd think that if there was any great ore hidden away in the mountain, the town would display more of a grandeur. Not goats in the road. It might be more difficult to find such treasures than digging a hole in the ground. "And what do you know of that stone construction, across that questionable bridge I saw a bit away?" To Curtis, it looked rustic enough to explore later as well. For all he knew, it could have been an elaborate tomb. Something interesting may be inside.

[daintyone]

Her glossy eyes moved to Shiro as she nodded in agreement. She smiled at Vee and thanked her for the compliment.

Her attention snapped to Curtis and she could not stifle the laugh his comment conjured. "Iron of course." She smiled at him in a way of saying 'silly wolf'. "An amazing blacksmith lives here. As for the structure that's Stonewall Abbey. Pretty sparse and abandoned. Only John the mute monk remains but I haven't seen him." She shrugged, giving most of the information she knew.

As a filly she had been in the woods of these mountains on wobbly feet. The town seemed more lively then and the structure carved in the side of the mountain held more life. "It's quite the mystery," she added this musing on her memory.

[VEEB0MB3R]

Shiro Sokolov

The reliable one
隼

"My mission is still the same, but in my short time traveling I learned there's much more important things than an errand." The words coming out of the man's mouth told of events the blonde had faced or gotten himself into in his journeys. "A knight errant, isn't that what they call my type?" Shiro raised a brow before smiling. No he was just the right man passing by at the right time. Whether that was a good or bad thing was up to the local newspapers to say in his wake.

Hearing Vee speak fondly of Gilrin the man locked his gaze onto the pale woman and smiled. "That's very kind of you miss." Kindness begets kindness. "Hmm iron only then." Well that did make sense with the naming convention of the town. Piping down Shiro listened to Gil respond to the werewolf(he looked like one, or maybe he was part wolf) and found himself listening intently. "Do you think there might be something wrong? The monk not being seen I mean." It was a good way to make an excuse to visit the building he had seen on his way to Ironbluff.

[ursi tonitru]

"Seems simple enough."

The town wasn't as poor and isolated as she thought then. At least the residing community could provide for a good enough infrastructure. There were trading caravans as well, connecting the town to the outside world. How far were they capable of traveling? Were they mainly focused on the mountain region and surrounding area, or could they go farther? Perhaps, if she found out what their trading routes were, she'd be able to find out where she was on the map. The range of traveled roads was bound to be broad, Muka thought. Iron was a basic commodity after all.

Iron. Ironbluff. Of course.

Something about a stone structure by a bridge.

Stonewall Abbey.

An amazing blacksmith.

John, the mute monk.

She'd sat through most of the conversation, sipping at her ale periodically.

At the mention of the monk not being seen, her gaze turned towards Gil. "When'd you last see him? 'John', I mean. Determining whether or not he's okay."

[Heliko pylori]

Vibryo Duponte

How Shiro spoke about his mission caught her off guard. When he told her about it so long ago it sounded like it was very important but it seemed to have taken a backseat to other objectives. “Knight errant? Can’t say I’m familiar with the phrase. The things you’ve been going through must be very important. When you first told me about your mission it seemed pretty important on its own. I thought for sure you would have returned home by now after completing a most intense search.” She didn’t know any detailed information about his mission but thought it to be urgent for him to have been in search for as long as he was. “Maybe we can share stories at some point. You have me very curious as to what you’ve been up to. Interesting ones such as yourself tend to have the best adventures.”

When she returned her attention to the group she noticed that they were speaking of someone who had possibly gone missing. For a second her eyes narrowed at hearing such a thing. Normally she wouldn’t care too much as people went missing all the time but with everyone concerned about it she couldn’t help but the group was growing on her and if she could help to fix the situation then she would. “I can go out and look for him tonight, if you would like. All I would need is something with his scent on it.” She hunted people down almost on a daily basis and usually in areas much larger than Ironbluff. She was more than willing to look for him if it meant putting their minds at ease.

[Sir Curtis Prise]

"Oh, iron." He internally rolled his eyes. 'I do suppose that makes sense. But not really what I'm after.' Curtis sipped his glass. He wasn't too worried about the monk. They usually live in exclusion anyways, don't they? And the wolf was pretty sure he had seen the man at one point during his stay, which hasn't been long at all. It seemed silly that the inn-goers were out to go find him, but he would like to speak with the monk at some point if allowed. Sparse and abandoned, attended only by a single holy man. "I wonder if he'd be willing to give a tour. It would be a fun excursion, I bet."

[daintyone]

"He delivered the wine just the other day." She said, eyes grazing over each of the others.

Gilrin shrugged. She hadn't been that worried considering he had been here before she had arrived and did nothing but repair the Abbey. "He's probably left to follow the others of his faith." It seemed like a reasonable explanation.

"Stonewall is owned by no man. We are all welcome there but I do have to say I don't very much like the bridge." She grinned and sipped her tea yet again, the cup almost empty now. As the chill of night began to set in she pondered starting a fire.

[VEEB0MB3R]

Shiro Sokolov

The reliable one
隼

She didn't know what a knight errant was? Well that made his comparison fall flat. Still she got the idea as her questions made the man smile as he thought back to what was unspoken. "Oh they were." Just not for him. Listening on Shiro drank more of his cooling drink and shook his head at her statements. "Oh I'm not interesting." Or so was the blonde's own opinion of himself. Leaving it at that Shiro turned his attention once more to the possibly missing monk.

A day meant there was no need for worry. The explanation given by Gil seemed reasonable as well. Still he wouldn't be so easily persuaded to drop the matter. "Still..." Shiro drawn out word came as he looked at the pale woman. A thumb pointed back at the werewolf. "And since you did say no one owns it." Well the smile on the man's face was mischievous. "Could you lead us there?"

[ursi tonitru]

Gil

"He delivered the wine just the other day-"

Only a day.

All suspicions dropped, Muka settled back into her seat, flicking a lock of her dark hair over her shoulder. She internally scoffed. He was probably fine. Here she was thinking that he was in some sort of trouble.

"Maybe he's around 'Stonewall'", she suggested, balancing the place's name on her tongue. "Or if there's some sort of...holy place, whatever you call them around here, he's probably with other monks."

She gave a small smile as she considered Shiro and Curtis' proposal. "Personally, I'd like to see Stonewall for myself too. It seems to be a place of interest anyway."