Meeting the Talking Wood

Emilia and Eli had spent a lot of time in Talonia during their guildless days. Even though they had only just joined Sabertooth, Emi felt like she had been a part of it for much longer. Likely due to the amount of jobs available, since they had so much time between them in the few months before they joined, she had gotten used to only doing one job every couple of weeks instead of couple of days. It was good to be back in Talonia though, and in the ever familiar Soul Bar. It was a good place to spend time. Emilia had found her fair share of sparring partners here, Eli had also made a fair bit of money with his tricks and games here in the past. They had decided to go spend some time there once again. Emi still felt like she wasn't really in Sabertooth, and bet Eli felt even more like she did.

As she opened the door and stepped into the bar, Emilia found herself wishing something interesting would happen. Maybe a brawl, maybe something else. Maybe Eli could put on a show, or they could play some card games to win money. For now though, Emilia decided she would get a drink, first. Just one. A good black ale. She smiled at the thought as she walked up to the bar and waited for the bartender to see her.

Kaseki wandered in through the door of the bar. He held a scroll in his hand. It was an old, aged and rather brittle piece of paper. Whatever the level of importance was, it made a very odd sight. It was a man of a rather large proportion. His skin seemed to wrinkle... no that wasn't it... was it wood perhaps? A reflective wood? And he wore a long black robe, or rather, a cloak. He held the paper tightly as he took a seat at the bar.

He took a seat next to the other two people there. It seemed like a rather slow day at the soul bar. He sat without looking at anyone, a rather strange thing to do. Then he looked up and asked the bartender a very odd question;

"Do you have any tea?"

Talonia was probably one of three places Eli actually felt accepted in. If anything, it was the only place he would ever call an actual home. Not his birthplace, like Magnolia, nor where he slept, like Sabertooth's hall. It was a place where he felt he was amongst his kind. However, on his latest trip here, that all felt wrong. It wasn't his home anymore, nor did he feel accepted. He wasn't a free agent right now. He was guilded. Being here felt almost like a sin to him. He was going against everything he used to believe in and walking with people he used to be part of. It's not like he was being discriminated against now, no one even knew he was part of Saberooth. But to him, it felt like it. Every glance he got now felt like someone was judging him. He hated it, he hated this unwelcoming feeling in his peaceful place, even if it was just him.

Entering the Soul Bar, Eli felt almost assaulted by the memories inside. Old friends he used to meet here, the shows and games he'd had, all of them felt lost to him now. Luckily, at least currently, no one he knew was here. That was good. Sitting down next to Emilia, he waited for the bartender to serve them. He doubted he'd even need to order at this point. They'd been here earlier enough he should be able to get Eli a whiskey on the rocks before he even asked. Looking around the bar, there really wasn't anyone her recognized here today. There was something peculiar however, some sort of creature was next to the pair. It looked very strange, and Eli couldn't really place what it was made out of. It spoke as well, apparently, ordering a tea. From a bar. Weird.

He turned to Emilia, who sat between him and the creature, poking her in the shoulder for her attention. When he had it, he'd gesture to the space next to her. "Any idea who, or what, that is? I've got none." It truly was something strange, and Eli wasn't a fan of strange. Strange meant unpredictable, and meant he was unprepared. He didn't like that. He wanted to inquire into it, but he was not gonna be the one to start it. Emilia was his human shield for a reason, after all.

The bartender snorted a bit at Kaseki, surprised and amused by his question. "Nope, ya' came to the wrong place for that kind o' drink. Lemme know if there's somethin' else you want that we have." He went on to see Emi, who ordered a black ale, and didn't even bother asking what Eli wanted, knowing it would be a whiskey on the rocks. He came back with their drinks rather quickly.


Emilia looked at Eli when he tapped her shoulder, then glanced at Kaseki and shrugged. She didn't know, and didn't much care. It was weird that he wanted tea in a bar. She guessed he didn't tend to get out much. She looked at him and smiled. "Not much of a drinker, eh? I get that. Only the occasional beer for me, for the flavor. So what brings you to a bar wanting tea?" She wasn't afraid to talk to people out of the blue. If they were antisocial and told her to leave them alone, she would... usually. If not, things could get interesting and she could maybe find someone amusing to talk to.

"Tea is the only thing that silences the murderous demon inside me..." he said in a cold voice. "Pity, it seems I will have to make my own drink..."

Kaseki waved the bartender over, and in a short exchange of words, he received a warm beer. Kaseki smiled as he tapped the glass. It started to shine a bright light before settling down. He smiled as he took a few violet leaves from the inside of his cloak and put it into the bottle.

"The world must be shaped a certain way, if others won't do it, then I must." he lifted the bottle to his wooden lips, revealing his sharp teeth when he placed the bottle down. "They say this place is for the guildless, yet here we sit. I know you are not a guildless, at least, you don't seem so. You seem to be with that man there...  But perhaps I should introduce myself, I'm Kaseki. Some call me the Demon of Life, others call me the Plant Man. But soon... that won't matter." he smiled and took another sip of his drink. "They said I couldn't do it... They said we would never get power... yet we did."

"I have eyes all over Fiore. I don't know everything... but I have access to most of it. But with this comes a price... after all, there's a price on my head." Kaseki turned on his seat to face the girl that addressed him, "You must be in search of something. Money maybe? Skills? Friends? No, power perhaps? Maybe you want to rule the world? Humans are always in search of something..."

He turned away and humbly sipped his drink.

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Ability Used:

Drink of Man:

Eli felt almost dumbfounded after listening to Kaseki, "The Demon of Life" talk. Was this guy serious? There had to be something up. It was some kind of trick, scam, anything. There was no way that guy was serious, especially with that story. And he expected them to believe that? It took all he had not to spit the drink he currently had in his mouth across the counter. Swallowing hard, he tried to figure out this guys angle. There had to be an angle. Turning to Emilia, he gave her a look of utter confusion. "I don't even- Do you have any idea what he's on about, because I have none. Clearly, the bartender must have started serving something a lot stronger than normal and hiding it for me for someone to be that drunk."

Turning bacl to look at Kaseki. he tried to figure out how to approach the man, if at all. While he knew that the man-figure-plant-demon-whatever he was was definitely insane, he had no idea what to do about it. On one hand, it would be simplest to just completely ignore him and pretend that never happened. On the other, his appearance and speech both intrigued Eli enough to actually want to understand how that creature functioned. Turning back to his drink, he decided to try and do it at least casually. "We don't all search for something. Some of us are just wandering and trying to see what life brings to us." He took a drink of his own beverage, wondering how exactly Kaseki would respond.

Emi looked at Eli as well when Kaseki made his little speech, raising an eyebrow indicating she had no clue what the hell he was talking about either. She shrugged. "It takes a lot more than booze to have someone come up with something like that, unless it's true of course." She chuckled a bit, then looked to Kaseki. He was weird, but interesting. Talking to him probably wouldn't hurt, and if he turned out hostile, one they were in a public place and would have backup should he attack, two, she and Eli could probably take him if they worked together.

"We're in a guild, but only for the money. It's not really what we're looking for though, well it might be for Eli." She grinned before continuing. "Earning money is just another challenge to me, and is kind of a means to an end to beating other challenges. Winning in competitions or beating challenges, that's what I look to do. We only live for so long, I'm going to have fun with the life I've got."

Kaseki smiled as he set his glass on the counter. "Yet there are things you must bring to life. Your ideas, your choices... this is how we live."

Kaseki looked at the mages curiously. He wondered where they were from as well as the relation between them. He was a strightforward man, he played no tricks... or did he?

"We live, we survive, trying to learn and achieve. Whether you think so or not, we search for our place in the world." he paused to look at the girl, "Perhaps materials are needed to be acquired, like currency." then he spoke to the man, "Or maybe we want something that we feel like we belong in.."

Kaseki turned back, facing forward away from the two. "I've seen a loser win, a sad man grin and I heard an honest man lie. I've seen the good side of bad,the down side of up and everything between. Truth is, I've seen a lot of things that you would never believe... centuries of stories... centuries of death... There's only few places that evil truly doesn't exist..." Kaseki bowed his head in disgust of the thought.

What a this world come to?