Fantasy RP

[Tikobe]

Othan

"Hmm... That seems to be the wisest course of action," I nodded, before looking at everyone else. At this point they've either conceded to our plans or someone is going to object right about now.

Kainer

Ugh...

Of course.

I didn't want to show him the proof since I don't know the Autumn Court's intentions, but at this point not showing him might lead to him being a detriment.

Like the sprites said: All humans are children. They cling to what they know and refute all else.

Deciding to show a mere one of the two, I pull out the dagger.

"I don't know why they put this in my bags, though I can assume a few reasons. Either way, it's the best I have in the way of proof. Just don't take it."

[Duck14]

Alfred

Maybe Brother Norin only said that because he himself worshipped Lord Ynedar. I wasn’t putting much stock in this god theory, not yet at least. It sounded a little extreme for what was a storm. But then what else could cause a storm besides a god?

“Well yes, Ybris is evil. What about one of those dragons, would they be capable of causing such a storm?”

————
Verous

“Then add to the list as well Prue. We need men here and Courtdell and everywhere in between will have plenty ready to chip in. Send it now, you have plenty on that list. If your father thinks of anything else he will send that along as well.”

[Bannanachair]

@ Jonos: The ride back to Norbury was uneventful, though it would have been much faster on Solmyr's back. Norbury was much as you left it when you returned. Hallon Talsworth greeted you briefly outside of the city, but didn't go in with you. Hallon's cousin, Herwin, was in the entry hall of the palace, having a conversation with Sir Oswald of your engineering corps. The Redscar was nowhere to be seen, but you were quickly approached by your highest-ranked vassal.

"Your majesty," Count Herwig Otterberg began, "I have some pressing matters of state to discus with you, if you have the time to hear me out. It has to do with the books and supply of Darmen var Norbury. The city and surrounding countryside can not continue to support your army for much longer without some significant rationing. You'll either have to press on with the campaign soon - and I mean within a handful of days - or disband the armies, raising them back up come springtime. Count Darmen did not stock for winter properly at all."

@ Othan: It was as you said would happen - nobody offered any further objections. Instead, all that occurred was simply a matter of clarification. "Our squires are going to be accompanying us, right?" Sir Arthel asked.

"Of course they are," Raethus answered. "And the numbers work out nicely as well - there will be five men in each party, three knights and two squires each. Well, six in our party, once we recruit Forlon.

"If nobody has any further questions about or objections to the plan, the women and children can rejoin us for dinner," Raethus said.

@ Kainer: Trihem unsheathed the dagger about halfway, revealing a blade just as curious as the sheath. The metal was blacker than any that you've ever seen, and was both a gaping pit of nothing and something that shone in the light. There was something that you at first thought to be a fuller, but upon closer inspection was actually an engraving of a tree-trunk, with branches of a stark white colour contrasting beautifully with the rest of the dagger.

"This is unlike any blade that I've ever seen," Trihem said, looking at some of the light that refracted off of the orange ruby in the pommel. "It could very well have been faerie made, and it has patterns here on the sheath indicating autumn... It's amazing. You clearly have some tie to the Autumn Court, and I don't see why you'd lie about what that tie is. Your next drink at the Black Goose is on me, to make up for questioning you and doubting your honour like that."

He resheathed the blade and handed it back to you, though he seemed slightly hesitant to let go of it.

@ Duck14: (I don't know if you saw this post, which was of my in-development religion that'll probably be added to the OP by Christmas. Either way, I can probably lean hard into Alfred's heretical tendencies to get a storyline out of it, if you want to. If not, we'll chalk it up to ignorance of scripture.)

@ Alfred: It wasn't Brother Norin who answered, but Duke Palron. "Not a blue dragon by himself, but if they were aided by magic of some kind it might be possible. If your immediate thoughts are of Nizeston, the dragon-king of Orevod, then I would cast those aside quickly - I have reached an arrangement with a rival of his, so that should he attempt to strike at us he will be attacked by his rival. If it was a different dragon, however, the most likely cause would be a natural death - many have a tendency to release some elemental energy into the world upon their death, or so I've read. Still, that would be unlikely, as there are no blue dragons of that age anywhere near the Nubarb. King Malcolm has kept a very meticulous list of all dragons in the Eredalian countryside, and of most in Vrelon, Traketus, Elusia and Orevod."

@ Verous: "It might be best to let the horses rest first, at least, so that they don't die on the road back," Prue said. "It would slow me down tremendously more to have to walk to Courtdell without a horse because mine died under me than to wait a day for them to be at least somewhat rested."

"I'll give you one of my palfreys," Count Ballus proposed. "Quite a few drowned in the flood, but the ones that are still alive are well-rested and would be able to take you to Courtdell very quickly - maybe not quite as quickly as you rode down here, but in short time nonetheless."

"Even so, I think that Darryl would be faster than I would be," Prue said. "Nobody is more experienced with the countryside than he is, and if speed is of the utmost importance - which it seems to be - there are few who are faster riders than he is." She seemed almost as if she were searching for excuses to remain in Oakwell.

[Tikobe]

Othan

I remain silent.

As usual.

Information gathering, basic planning. All that's left is the recruiting and the scouting followed by the attack.

I prepare to eat my dinner without saying much beyond responding to my friend Raethus.

Kainer

I take it back with a firm grip before I put it back into my bags. I understand Sir Trihem's fascination, but it's clearly not something meant for him, and whether he was meant to see it is another matter entirely. All that I can hope for is that the Autumn Court either doesn't get mad at me or understands my intentions for showing it to him. Either way, it's best to take it from him and let him know that before he has second thoughts, hence why I made sure to grip it with such strength that it'd bring a bear to shame.

Well, there's that, and that metal...

That is clearly not something to play around with. Mysterious crafts made by faerie hands with mysterious faerie materials are not toys to be taken lightly.

"Hmm? Oh no, that's perfectly fine. We live in a kingdom filled with faeries, and faeries like pranks. Trust me, with those guys around it's good to doubt. I, myself, have been a victim of far too many fae pranks due to naivety. Like walking into a tree after being told that it was a secret portal, or eating fallen tree leaves for a whole day after being told that it'd make me immortal or learning the woman's role in popular ballroom dances after being told that it was the man's," I explain as my face turns a little pale after thinking about all of the pranks that've been played on me. "Please, Sir Trihem, promise me you'll remain skeptical."

(So, I decided Kainer can now dance the woman's part. Skills + 1. Seriously though, all I can imagine now is him practicing the dip.)

[Duck14]

(I like the idea of getting some kind of storyline out of it but I wouldn’t put it down wholly to heretical tendencies. There’s a bit of ignorance there sure, but it would be interesting if we can get something out of that.)

Alfred

I shug. It seemed the dragons weren’t a part of this after all, or at least no one here seemed to think so. “Alright, it was worth asking.” What else could it be though. The brother seemed certain about the Ybris theory. But why would such a being do that here and why now? What was going on?

“Okay, say for a moment it is this Ybris. What do we plan to do about it? Dragons are something we can fight, stop even. But all-powerful gods are another matter entirely.”

————
Verous

Why would Prue not want to go back to Courtdell? Her father had put her up to this mission, she didn’t choose it herself. What would that mean? Maybe I was overthinking this, maybe she just enjoyed being out of the capital for a bit.

“Very well. But I’m going to need you to draft the letter either way. You’re the best scribe I brought with me. And Darryl is many things but he isn’t very good at writing.”

[Leggo]

Jonos

I wanted to take the time to muster as many soldiers as possible before entering Mescor. Atrekara was easy to conquer because we had the element of surprise, somewhat. Mescor knows we’ll be coming eventually, so they’re probably preparing. Even with Mescorian Barons on my side, it’ll be a hard-fought campaign.

I’m not here to ruin, I’m here to conquer and rule. It’ll be hard to have a broken, starved, city in my domain. We must press on.

“Then the campaign will continue. Prepare the men in marching formation, make all necessary supply arrangements in preparation for our campaign. We’ll leave three days from now, at dawn.”

Hopefully Vena agrees to meet with me soon.

[Bannanachair]

(There will be two new stories on this page, from the looks of things.)

@ Othan: Unfortunately, however, your family doesn't give you that opportunity. Wyst Shan's grandkids all came in, a large, rambunctious crowd for the most part, with Melery being the only one to have even the slightest resemblance of adulthood in her demeanour. Kirsa, who looked like she'd give birth at any moment, followed shortly afterwards, and the food followed her.

The mealtime conversation was mostly stories of the past, told by the knights to entertain the children and among eachother to reminisce. Sir Boderick told briefly a story of his grandfather, who was apparently an influential knight during the War of Gagh Buldir. Sir Arthel entertained the children with talk of the folk-hero Sarvoth the Sailor, a pirate king who warred against cyclopes. Even Raethus joined in, giving what was essentially a history lesson to many of the younger children describing in broad strokes how the Galbror Wars went. You managed to stay out of it for a while, but eventually, your son cornered you.

"Father, while we were out today, the man Forlon mentioned the Battle of Arlan's Field. What happened then?" He asked.

"You probably don't want to ask your father for another war story," Northan said in response, "Unless you want a repeat of the other night. And trust me when I say that when you hear about Arlan's Field what occurred the other night may occur again. I was there."

"I insist," Thander Marthus insisted.

"Then Othan, please, try not to go into too much detail about what is sometimes forced upon us in war. My four-year-old daughter is here."

@ Kainer: "I know enough about the fey to know to remain skeptical of their intentions no matter what," Trihem said. "Wait a minute, you said that you can dance the lady's role in some dances? I -" Trihem was then cut off by the arrival of another guard.

"Sir Trihem, sir... Kainer, right? The king has agreed to meet with you, and wants to receive the letter from you himself. You've been invited to his private banquet, normally attended by only the finest knights in the land."

"Oh, and Sir Percinet sometimes attends as well," Trihem added with a laugh. "I'll buy you your drink at the Black Goose after the banquet this evening, then - or before, depending on how drunk you want to be before the king."

@ Alfred: The petitioner behind you in line cleared his throat.

"You meant to ask what I plan to do about it, I'm assuming," The Duke said. "It's my job to deal with and worry about such things. That's the burden of leadership, after all. If you have nothing more to request or offer in way of information, I suggest letting the next petitioner up, so that I may deal with his worries."

@ Verous: "I'll write it, don't worry," Prue said. "Unless, of course, we need to add ink and parchment to the list of items."

"Those would be useful for keeping track of everything, but they're not as urgent as the rest," Count Ballus said.

Suddenly, Perrin and Darryl arrived, returned from bringing the horses to the stable.

"We finally found the stable, Ver," Darryl said. "The horses are now eating and resting."

"Just in time for you to ride them back to Courtdell," Prue said.

"What do you mean about that?" Perrin asked.

"Oakwell is undersupplied, and a list of items that we need for repairs needs to be sent to the capital immediately," Count Ballus said.

@ Jonos: The three days passed and still no response came from Vena. Your armies began marching towards the river for a crossing the day that you indicate. While it would be faster to have Solmyr fly you to Mescor himself, he wasn't nearly strong enough to fly the entire distance in one go, and you needed him well-rested for the battle anyway. And so you rode him on the ground with your men.

Afternoon found you at the head of the procession, with three men accompanying you - Sir Wallace Oakheart, Baron Hallon Talsworth and the Redscar. There was some idle conversation about childhood stories occurring among them as well - Hallon mentioned that some of his favourite stories growing up (as if he were an adult now!) were of Gunnar the Grey-Skinned, one of many Elsutian heroes who you're most familiar with as the supposed famous casualties of the Battle of the Nubarb three hundred years ago.

"Your majesty, what about you - what heroes and stories inspired you growing up?" He asked, after regaling you with the story of how Gunnar befriended a giant spider escaped from the Spiderwood and rode him into battle against a dragon.

[Tikobe]

Othan

I look off to the side with a bitter expression as I recalled the memory, and then returned my gaze to my son.

"I'll tell it later tonight, when we're behind closed doors," I sigh as I explain myself. "If you would recall, Thander Marthus, the man I met in Treehold, Darrien Gast, was one I met twice throughout the course of the Second war, with one victory over him and a defeat. Arlan's Field was one of those battles, and it was, unfortunately, not the one where we won. Indeed, the loss was so great that it could be said that Darrien effectively killed off further Mallowater involvement in the Second after Arlan's Field and created the opportunity for Duke Palron of Estermere to make contact with Lemurrath and orchestrate the failure of the Second War. It was only recently that I discovered that non-militants couldn't handle the story of Treehold. There's no way they'd handle Arlan's Field. So, later tonight."

Not to mention that even though there were a few who knew of this here, though limited to only Raethus and Northan, in my desperation to attain a victory for Orevod I had to call in a certain... friend, for lack of a better term. While I have no issue with their kind, it'd be a nightmare if it was discovered I was working with someone like him and as such I'll keep it a secret. It's not as if it's a crime here, but I've got too many enemies. They'd hold this against Mallowater for an eternity if it was found out.

Kainer

Hmm? Drunk?

I scratch my head to recall that term, and then it hits me.

"Maybe afterwards. I'd like to keep myself presentable," I explain.

After all, your skin turns blue when you're drunk. I won't meet the king with blue skin!

Who did I learn that from? The sprites!

[Bannanachair]

@ Othan: You finish your dinner without much fuss after that, and your son approaches you afterwards to hear the story. A couple of the other knights and squires, curious to hear your view on the Battle of Arlan's Field, joined him, as did young Thurum before Northan got his wife to take him away.

[Duck14]

Alfred

I sighed. Of course I had to give way for the next person, it was their right though I had forgotten that. “Very well, I will stick around so that you can get the accounts of my crew once you’re done here.” I was going to say something about this not being solely down to him. But those words never really made it beyond my lips. I moved to the side to sit next to Garry and watched the rest of the proceedings.

————
Verous

I nodded. “Count Ballus, these are Darryl and Perrin, the remaining members of my travelling party. Darryl since you’re the fastest rider among us I need you to deliver our list of requests to Courtdell. The people here are without many necessary supplies. The quicker we bring them here the quicker we can get this place back on it’s feet. Though that will take some time.”

[Bannanachair]

@ Kainer: "That's probably for the best," Trihem said. "The day's still young, though, and you're fairly new to Calbourne. What do you plan to for the remainder of the day today?"

@ Alfred: "Do you want me to go get the rest of the crew, cap'n?" Garry asked you. "They'll probably be all over town by now, but I'm sure I can round up most of 'em."

@ Verous: "Ah, and I only just found the stables," Darryl said. "It's cruel to the horses, telling them that they can get some rest and then snatching that away from them immediately after."

"What your horses want to do is nothing compared to the importance of ensuring that the people of Oakwell can survive and get back on their feet," Count Ballus said.

"I suppose you're right," He said.

[Tikobe]

(I'll post Othan's later. Just gonna put out Kainer's so he doesn't drag behind while I'm writing up Othan's little story.)

Kainer

"Uhm..."

I think.

I think again.

I think once more for good measure.

My head begins to hurt...

"No clue really," I reply.

[Duck14]

Alfred

I nod. “I might wait here a little while. See what goes on and if anything else comes up. This is looking to be something more than a storm.” I usually liked to stay out of this sort of thing but this event had me very interested.

————
Verous

“Besides, Ballus has offered us one of his Palfreys. We need to get this letter delivered as soon as possible. So do what you can to make sure it is.” I respected Darryl’s opinion and I would probably side with him in most things of this nature. But this was different and I needed to make the call.

[Bannanachair]

@ Kainer: "I can show you around the city, if you'd like. I've got nothing better to do, anyway."

@ Alfred: "Of course it's more'n a simple storm. I was right in the middle of it, and it nearly took my arm off," Garry said. "If it weren't for Naroth, I'd've probably bled to death, lost my arm or at the very best had it broken for months."

@ Verous: "Aye, I'll deliver the message," Darryl answered. "It'll be days before help can arrive, though, and the help will be slower than I will. Have you written the letter yet?"

"No, not yet," Count Ballus said. "We'll write it now. Do you need any supplies for the journey?"

"Three days rations of food and a canteen of fresh water, if you have anything to spare. If not, I can hunt for my own food and try to find groundwater, but that might slow me down by a few days."

[Tikobe]

(Still working on Othan's.

And sorry for the wait. I thought I posted to this for some reason.)

Kainer

"And I likewise clearly have nothing do," I smile back innocently. "I'd be glad to take you on your offer, Sir Trihem. At the very least, it'll help in the future when I become a knight, assuming the king is fine with that."

[Duck14]

Alfred

I nodded. Of course, though I had mainly said that for my own benefit. “You alright? I was right there with you through that whole thing. Though my arm didn’t get quite as ripped up as yours did. I know what happened but until now I just considered this was some freak storm that nature deemed necessary for some reason. Go, gather the others."

————
Verous

“We want him to deliver the message as quickly as possible. But Oakwell has little to spare. We’ll send you with what we can and you can decide if that’s enough. But don’t stop if you don’t need to." I brought out my seal ring which would notify those in charge that Darryl was working under my orders.

[Bannanachair]

(I'm slowing my posts down slightly until I hear from Leggo, aka Jonos Dawburn.)

@ Kainer: Much of the rest of your morning is spent with Sir Trihem, as he walks you from place to place. The two of you spend some time in the market, where he ran into two other knights with whom he was familiar - Sir Percinet the Purple, who purportedly purchased piles of pearls in exchange for five years service as the primary defender of a ship in the Oln Sea where he made a name for himself fighting cyclopes, and Sir Llydan, Count of the Stratmark Forest, who only recently arrived in Calbourne after fighting off a dragon who decided to try to lair his home in Prugon.

Aside from the markets, Trihem also showed you a rather tall cathedral devoted to the worship of the god Ynedar, a college of wizards who try to preserve druidic tradition, the Bards' Square, where musicians, singers and storytellers congregate and compete during the day and where angry ghosts supposedly prowl by night and a rather large library, boasting almost ten thousand manuscripts, letters, maps and books. After the library, the two of you found yourselves rather hungry and Trihem suggested heading back to the Black Goose for lunch.

(If anyone with a character in Calbourne wants to force me to write a story, all they have to do is visit the Bards' Square sometime.)

@ Alfred: "Aye, I'm alright," Garry said, though you couldn't tell whether he believed that. "God, we should 'ave asked for money to fix the ship! Or at least a guess as to when it'd be fixed by."

At that, he walked off, presumably, to go find the rest of your crew.

@ Verous: Darryl took your ring and the letter written and sealed by Count Ballus. "I guess this is good-bye again, Ver," Darryl said. "Expect me back here within ten days, though I'll just be back to tell you the letter was delivered - it'll take days more than that for Yalan to arrange all the resources and manpower that you need, and they'll be slower moving than I'll be as well."

[Tikobe]

Kainer

I was half-tempted to return to the Bard's Square, but that was less about the troubadours and more about the ghosts. According to the sprites, they're apparently really jolly fellows. Even then, since the stories only mentioned them appearing at night, there wasn't much reason to visit during the day so I nodded in agreement to Sir Trihem's offer. I still had a decent enough number of coins.

[Duck14]

Alfred

I nodded. I would ask for money soon enough, once everything was finished here. The Lord was aware of our predicament and would surely help us out as he had helped everyone else. All I needed to do was wait for these proceedings to conclude.

————
Verous

“Yeah, ride safely friend. I’ll see you when you return. We’ll do what we can here in the meantime.” I looked to the Lord. “I’m going to need a complete list of the resources and manpower that we can use and when that will run out. Could you prepare that for me?”

[Bannanachair]

(I got some information from Leggo - he's been grounded and does not know when he'll be back.)

@ Kainer: "So, what did the faeries feed you while you lived with them?" Sir Trihem asked with a laugh. "Twigs and leaves enchanted to look like a fat goose and cranberries?" He seems to be a rather jovial person once you got to know him during the day, and was asking you numerous questions about the fey.

Blyane the Innkeeper was polishing the bar when the two of you walked into the Black Goose, though there were still some people having food in a back corner.

"Trihem! Kainer, right? Welcome back," He said before you got a chance to answer Trihem's question. "What'll you be in for? I have some black wine from Corvale - it's as thick as syrup and as sweet as honey and nothing goes down better."

"Nothing to drink right now, though we'll be sure to take you up on that offer after our dinner with His Majesty the King," Trihem responded. "Some light lunch would do me some good, if you don't mind."

"What do the two of you want?" Blyane asked.

@ Alfred: The proceedings lasted the rest of the day, with the Duke sending some form of aid to all those who asked it, and accepting what information he could. As the day wore on, some members of your crew came by to tell the story as they knew it, though Artie is nowhere to be seen. One of the merchants also corroborated your story, and though you couldn't quite tell, you think he may have been the Vrelonian merchant who was causing trouble for you earlier.

@ Verous: "I'll try, your majesty," Count Ballus said, "though a lack of information is yet another of our problems. All I know is that we have very, very few resources."

"And sending people to find out more about what you do and don't have is wasting manpower that could be used in search-and-rescue?" Prue asked, likely anticipating his next point.

"Your majesty, my lord," Perrin interrupted, "I may be able to help in that regard. Before I became your bodyguard I was in the city guard at Courtdell, and navigating tough streets is what I'm best at. I can try to go out there, establish some sense of order among the people and figure out from them what's going on."

"You won't have the men," Ballus said. "My guards are already stretched thin doing their best to help. You must have ridden past the new slums that formed on your way into town. Crime is rampant there, and while those who own food are living like kings, all the rest are starving in the streets or turning to thievery and burglary. Meanwhile, there are some holdouts in the flooded section of town and only people paid from my coffers are willing to go there to save those. All help is appreciated, of course, but I don't know if you'll be able to do much more."

[Duck14]

Alfred

I leaned over to look around the hall. How had Artie not been found yet? What had happened to the young lad? “Hey, you two,” I called to a couple of my men who had stopped by. “I need you to look everywhere you can for Artie. It’s important that he shows up here.” After that I turned myself back to the proceedings. Perhaps the lord would offer me some payment and if not I would have to ask for myself.

————
Verous

There were people still stuck in the flooded section? Maybe that was how I could help here. Wait, maybe that was getting too far ahead of myself. Could I really manage such a task? With Perrin by my side I probably could. He knew what to do in such circumstances. But there had to be something I could do.

“I will go and speak to those who are withholding their food. No one should withhold food from the starving. Not after this tragedy. I may need your help Perrin.”

[Tikobe]

Kainer

I look to the bar tender and ask, "What do you have in terms of lunchtime dishes? If you have any available now, I think my preference would go to a stew of any sorts."

Even though I wasn't given the chance to answer Sir Trihem, the answer wasn't too spectacular. While there were numerous dinner time pranks, some of them may or may not have come out to be what Sir Trihem suggested, when I was able to eat in peace I typically preferred vegetables. As such, I typically ate stews or meats with a lot of greens on the sides. Food was one area where the fey didn't actually differ too much from humans. Actually, it probably did and they just gave me humanish foods in order to accompany me. Who knows?

[Bannanachair]

@ Alfred: "He's probably with his ma right now," one of the crewmen said. "She was probably worried sick about him." It suddenly occurs to you that you have yet to notify Matt's family of his death in the storm.

@ Verous: "I won't be going with you," The portly count said. "I have search-and-rescue teams to coordinate, resources to allocate, rationing to oversee... Besides, it should be fairly easy to find those with resources and to speak with them."

"I could lend you aid in all of those things, my lord," Prue said to the count. "My father was the steward and an influential advisor to Duke Varron for many years, and I learned a few tricks of the trade. If you'd like, I can help with resource management and bookkeeping."

@ Kainer: "I can make a stew," Blayne said. "What meat do you want in it? I have pork, beef and rabbit on hand right now, I think."

"I didn't know that you had rabbit stew!" Trihem exclaimed. "I'll have some of that. The rest'll be the same that you normally have in your beef stew, I suppose?"

(I do not eat stew in real life and don't know much about it other than "meat and vegetables in a bowl", so it was interesting to google and see what meat and vegetables specifically are in stew. I hope that any inaccuracies in my writing about it don't break the immersion.)

[Duck14]

Alfred

I was going to get around to that but demanded immediate attention. “Could a couple of you stick around to secure payment for ship repairs. My mind is everywhere at once today and didn’t ask when I was up there.” Right, Garry wanted to be there when I delivered the letter. Did Matt’s family live here in Esteremere or somewhere else? I find Garry and motion for him to follow me.

————
Verous

“That’s fine. You’re more useful here anyway. I’m just here to see what I can do.” I nod to Prue. “Have fun with that. I’m sure your father’s skills have rubbed off on you.” Seeing the outside of this building would remind me of why we were here. That is if I wasn’t reminded by the injured and sickly on my way out. “I’ll see you later.” With that I left the room with Perrin in tow in search of those keeping their resources from the others.

[Tikobe]

Kainer

"Rabbit stew also sounds amazing over here," I smile, taking up the same order as Sir Trihem.

Actually I preferred to eat pork, but rabbit's also pretty enjoyable and I didn't want for him to have to fire up two completely different types of stew just to accommodate me. Granted, he'd have to make some for the other customer's anyways, but that's no excuse to inconvenience someone.

Or at least, so the elves told me.