A couple of days had passed since Vanya's panic attack at the sight of the orc. She'd since learned from Geldis that his name was Mogrul and that he was relatively harmless as long as you didn't owe him money. She still avoided him, but she was determined to control the visceral reaction she had when he was nearby. She had more important things to worry about, like her quickly dwindling store of septims. She could afford one more night, two if she didn't eat.
"Morning," she greeted Geldis as she slid onto a barstool.
"Good Morrow, Vanya. Tea?"
"Please. And a couple boiled eggs." Geldis knew that she meant chicken eggs and not kwama eggs. He'd offered her a boiled egg yesterday morning and she gladly accepted only for him to bring a large reddish egg. When he explained that a kwama was a giant insect she nearly gagged but tried her best to keep composure so she didn't offend him. These people and bugs!
As she ate her breakfast, she pondered what she could possibly do to get some money. She'd spent the last couple days exploring the town, hoping to come across something she thought she could do for work. Fethis didn't need help, nor the farmer, Garyn. She definitely could not help the alchemist, Milore. Apparently, Milore could concoct magic potions from herbs, plants, and of course, bugs. Vanya still had a hard time wrapping her head around magic, though she'd seen and felt it firsthand. It blew her mind when Geldis or Drovas would toss a little fireball into the hearth to perk it up, casual as could be. Hearth was the correct term, apparently. Her cheeks flushed a little as she remembered how the two men had laughed when she referred to it as a fireplace, Drovas mocking through giggles, "Do you call a bedroll a sleeping place?" She had decided not to offer the term sleeping bag, figuring it might actually kill them with laughter.
"Alright Vanya, I've got something I want you to try," Geldis interrupted her musing, sliding a mug with some mystery liquid sloshing in the bottom.
She pulled the mug to her nose and flinched at the strong alcoholic scent. "Geldis, it's way too early for this. What is it?"
"A special blend of Sujamma that I've been working on. You've never tried Sujamma, correct?"
"Right."
"So I think it would be interesting to get your opinion."
Vanya looked into the mug skeptically.
"It's not made from insects if that's what you're wondering," he added.
Vanya smiled at him. That's exactly what I was wondering. "Ok, I'll try it." She tipped the mug back and took a sip. She swallowed and held back a cough. "It's bitter."
"Yes, perhaps I should have warned you."
The bite of the bitter alcohol was soothed by a light sweetness followed by a strong lingering spice on her tongue. She downed the remainder and slid the mug back toward a very pleased looking Geldis. "So what's in that?"
"Oh, the usual. Ash yam, saltrice, and a few proprietary additions," he said with a wink
"It's good. I'm not exactly a connoisseur but for what it's worth I like it."
"Glad to hear it. Now, I have something else I'd like to ask you."
Vanya was intrigued but hoped it was not a question of a personal nature. "Okay."
"What do you think of taking a tray full of samples around the marketplace this afternoon? I would pay you for your time, of course."
"Really?" Her eyes widened. She wasn't even going to ask how much before accepting, the prospect of actually earning some cash- or septims- was all she needed. "Yeah, I can do that."
Geldis told her he'd pay twenty septims and throw in a couple of free nights and to be ready around midday. She spent the morning flipping through a book that sat on her bedside table. Though she could understand speech with no problem, she had a little trouble deciphering the written word of this world. It reminded her somewhat of Middle English. She could get a gist of the subject matter but could not really grasp any of the finer points of the text. This book seemed to be about a religious temple, having to do with a tribute or maybe tribune? One thing she did understand is that the race of these people was called Dunmer. One of these days, perhaps she would buy a journal from Fethis and try to write some things down to study.
Midday arrived and after a light meal of bread and cheese, Vanya was ready for her task. Geldis presented her with a tray covered in small tumblers about half full. She called upon her couple years of experience as a server and carried the tray with ease up the steps and out into the market.
She did not have trouble finding tasters as it seemed Geldis' talents were very much appreciated. She made sure to share with Fethis, Dreyla, and Glover and maybe it was because she only approached those who she felt were friendly, but no one had refused so far. With only one cup left, she looked around her in search of someone who wasn't scowling or- she shuddered- an orc. She wandered a bit from the town center toward the beach, down the path she had walked when she arrived in Raven Rock and for the first time wondered how Teldryn was doing. She'd been so preoccupied she had not really thought about him, although thinking of him recalled the cave she was trying so hard to forget. She had walked far enough that now the only thing in her line of vision was the billowing volcano that Teldryn had called Red Mountain. Standing on the beach that was more ash than sand, she turned her eyes from the landmark that was so foreign to her and gazed at the small town- with its strange residents and unusual architecture- and felt the sharp sting of homesickness. Before the despair could latch on she pressed it down and walked back the way she came, thinking perhaps she would finish off the last cup of Sujamma herself- and then some.
"Watch out!" someone hissed and Vanya stopped, realizing she had nearly walked into a rather down-trodden looking dunmer woman who'd been crossing the road. Her clothing was tattered on the edges, and her cropped reddish hair seemed to match.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't- "
"You didn't see me, yes I know," the woman cut in as she turned to continue toward a shack that Vanya suspected was her home. "Now if you'll excuse me."
"Hey! Would you accept this Sujamma as an apology?" Vanya called after her. The offer gained the dunmer woman's attention and she stopped, though her eyes were still slits of suspicion. Vanya approached her as she held out the cup. "Geldis asked me to hand out samples of his new brew."
"I won't turn down Sujamma." The woman took the cup and downed the contents, savoring for a moment with an approving hum before giving a mirthless chuckle, "though it won't do that crusty old boot much good since he threw me out!" She deposited the empty cup back on the tray as if it had been the source of her ire, causing Vanya to have steady the edges of the tray to keep from dropping it.
"Geldis threw you out? Why?" Certainly not because of your sweet temperament.
"For buying too much," the woman said tartly, folding her arms.
"That doesn't...make sense." Vanya's brow furrowed at the thought of the barkeep banishing someone for giving him too much gold. The defensive way the woman held herself told her that there was more it than that. Perhaps she had become belligerent, that did not seem outside the realm of possibility.
"I agree."
Vanya could not help the crooked smile that crept across her lips at this strange encounter. She looked at the woman and despite her blue-gray skin she could see a flush on her face that indicated the Sujamma was probably not her first drink of the day. Then she looked at the rickety shack and the smile faded as she saw visions of homeless people in her world, sitting in alleyways and on street corners begging for anything to help them get by. Her eyes slid back to the woman who fairly hissed, "Don't look at me like that. I know what I am."
"No, please. Don't be upset. I..." Vanya looked at the tray she carried, her one and only source of income so far. "I'll probably be out here on the streets soon, too. I'm doing this job to get a couple more nights at the inn, but after that I don't know how I'll keep a roof over my head."
Ruby eyes softened as the woman sighed, "Such is the lot of this accursed town, though I've not seen you before today. Who are you?"
"My name is Vanya."
"I'm Bralsa Drel. Let me give you a piece of advice, Vanya. Take what gold you have and go back to where you came from if you can. This is not a place you want to be."
Bralsa's words pierced Vanya so thoroughly she could not form a reply before the dunmer turned away and entered the shack, her eyes welling up as she stared at the closed door. Her lids fluttered shut, pushing tears down her cheeks as her heart twisted in her chest. She was trying so hard. She could not dwell on what she had lost as it only served to turn her into a sobbing mess, threatening to cast her into the depths of sorrow she did not wish to explore because if she did she may not make it back. Her life had been spared. It was all she had and she would do what she needed to keep hold of it. Resolutely, she wiped the tears from her cheeks and took a few deep breaths to steady herself before she returned to collect her pay.
