“Wake up!” shouted Birli, kicking Galas.
“Gah, damnit Birli!"
"Oh, come on. Like you’ve never had a hangover before.”
“Well I did once back in Raven Rock. Woke up on top of the Bulwark. Naked. With guards all around me.” Said Galas, trying to sit up.
J’kiir and Atharil then walked into the tavern.
“What’s going on here?” asked Atharil
“We got drunk. We danced. And he passed out.” said Birli
“I see. I apologise. I assumed incorrectly.” Atharil took a bottle of mead and sat down near the fire.
“Barkeep. Hit me another round, um water.” Said Galas.
J’kiir then pulled out a deck of cards.
“Who’s playing?” asked Atharil
“could I join?” asked Birli
“Khajiit is playing against himself. You are welcome to take bets.” Said J’kiir
“Ha. I bet 5 coins on the Khajiit.” Said Galas.
“Bets?” asked Atharil “how do we make bets if there’s just one person?”
J’kiir shuffled the deck a laid the cards out on the table “The cards are black and red. You chose a card. If it’s red, Khajiit gives you two Setims. If the Card is black, you pay Khajiit.”
“Sounds reasonable” said Galas. He took a card and turned over, only to find that it was black. “Damn! I’ll pay you your gold in a bit, Khajiit."
“Cheapskate.” Whispered Birli to himself.
“What!” shouted J’kiir “You will pay Khajiit now!”
“Fine, fine. Take your damn coin. At least give me a chance to win it back.” Said Galas. J’kiir grinned and lay out the cards again.
“By Azura, this better pay off.” Said Galas, picking a card. Once again, the card was black. “Damn!” shouted Galas
“ha-ha. Now pay up” said J’kiir.
“How do we know the game’s not rigged?” asked Birli “Yeah!” shouted Galas.
“What?!” shouted J’kiir “Are accusing J’kiir of cheating!”
“No.” said Atharil; being the voice of reason “it’s just that with the history of your people, they want to be sure that they aren’t being cheated.”
J’kiir smiled, turning over one of the cards, a red one. “Now, pay up Grey-Skin.”
“What did you just call me!” shouted Galas. “You’re lucky my grandfather was who he was, or I’d have you working the Saltrice right now!”
“This one works for no one.” Replied J’kiir before spitting at Galas’ feet “Now, pay up. Knife-Ear” Atharil sighed, and then exited the tavern.
“Just do as he says.” Birli whispered to Galas.
“This Ash-Walker must listen to its friend.” Said J’kiir
“You want to take this outside?” Yelled Galas “I’m sure the Guard would love to know how this started!”
“Uh, he’s a Skooma addict!” shouted Birli, running out the tavern, pulling Galas behind him.
The two then walked down to the docks at Lower Archfall, Galas with his hand on his sword. They walked up to the water, and in one motion Galas caught a small fish with his sword.
“Don’t take it personally. He just thought we were accusing him of being dishonest, a common stereotype amongst Khajiit.” Said Birli, trying to comfort his friend.
“It’s alright. I just wish he hadn’t made me mention…never mind” said Galas.
“Hit a nerve, did he?” asked Birli
“Well, I suppose it'll will come out eventually. The truth is, I never really liked my grandfather. One day my mother got very ill, and the priest said that it was because of my hatred towards him, being her father. So, I stopped talking about him. My mother got better, so I assumed it worked” replied Galas.
“You must love your mother a lot. Hatred can consume even the strongest heart.” Said Birli
“Aye, that I do. She’s the reason I’m such a good smith. She's the one who got me the job.”
“I’m sure she’ll be fine. I doubt she can hear you across the sea.”
"The Gods are powerful beings, but I suppose you’re right. We are your parents?” asked Galas
Birli waited awhile before responding. “Sovengarde.” He said in a saddened tone.
“I’m sorry to hear that. Say, how about we try and catch a fish! That’ll cheer us both up!” After fishing the waters a while, Birli caught a large Salmon. They decided to head back to the Commune to have it cooked.
They walk back into the Commune, and Birli gives the fish over to the Barkeep to have cooked. Birli notices a Khajiit in the corner by the fire looking at his claws, while sitting on a scratched chair.
“You know they’ll throw you out if you claw their stuff?”
“What, this? Ha. I did this weeks ago.” Said the Khajiit, whom Galas recognized as Na’ar from the night before.
“Tell me, Khajiit.” Said Galas "Your kind are close in this city, are they not?”
“Well, there are a lot of them here.” Birli said quietly to Galas. Na’ar glared at Birli, and then turned his attention to Galas.
“Close, yes. Why does this one ask?”
“I heard a rumour that J’kiir’s game is rigged. Any truth to this?”
“Sorry, J'kiir doesn't talk about his game much. You’d be better off talking to J’karri.” Replied Na’ar.
“Are they related?” asked Birli “Their names sound very similar.”
“Not related. Just good friends.” Replied Na’ar.
“Good friends? So, if something were to happen to him, would J’kiir be…saddened?” Galas asked
I don’t like what you’re getting at.” Said Na’ar, getting up.
“Um, Na’ar? Could I have a word with you? In private?” asked Birli. Na’ar grunted affirmatively, and followed Birli to the corner of the tavern.
“Ah, hi Galas!” said Nelyos walking into the tavern.
“Hi Nelyos! Come, sit down.” Nelyos took a seat next to Galas and asked “So, what have been doing today?”
“Ah, nothing much. Got cheated out of some coin by a Khajiit, but nothing much.”
“Really? Who?”
“J’kiir, I think he called himself.”
Na’ar walked up to the bar, and Birli went upstairs to his room.
“Na’ar, may I have a word with you?” asked Galas
“Fine. What?” replied the Khajiit "I know that there have been some…disagreements between our two kinds, but I’d like it if you and I could be an example of two different races being friends. What do you think?”
“I don’t think that two people shouldn’t be friends just because of their Race.” He said, letting out a small smile.
“Then I hope we can get along better from this point forth.” Said Galas. The two said goodbye, and Galas went upstairs to his room for the night.
Comments
Ok, I like the dialogue, it's pretty much word for word what we said, but the description seems quite rushed, I can only really build a blurred picture of what's happen... more