"Three for the new stuff, eh? Anything for you lasses?" She looks at Andra and Nexendia before fishing a juicy-looking fresh fig out of her blouse and lobbing it to the hungry mini-dragon with a cheeky grin. It seems that she is perceptive in addition to being...charismatic.
Scarf will be happily picking up and munching on bits of fruit while his eyes dart suspiciously back and forth among the strangers. Since he knew Andra well, he keeps his back to her and his master expecting them to protect his flank in case any of these ruffians tried anything dangerous. When Eran offers a hand, Scarf curls up his snout suspicious at his intentions.
"Not really," Nexendia replies to Eran with a tiny smile. "Offer him a taste of your Hameen and it will warm him up almost as much as your belly."
[OoC: Scarf will be constantly using his Perception +6 to spot anything suspicious. I just noticed he also has Scent so he can sense everyone within 30' (60' upwind and 15' downwind)
She nods to the barmaid. "Just bread, thank you." She doesn't feel it is good to fill up with heavy food before a long journey, knowing that can lead to stomach-aches later.
Valdi smiles through his red mustaches and beard at the little dragom. But makes no move toward it, instead, while they wait for their meals he spreads a small cloth out on the table before him, moving his half full mug of ale out of the way to do so. embroidered onto the cloth is a circle, 9" across, in the middle of which is embroidered an eight spoked wheel with arcane marks along it's spokess.
"Shall we see what the portents hold for our journey?"
After spreading out the cloth he pulls out a small embroidered pouch.
Opening the pouch he closes his eyes and begins to murmur something in Skaldic, gently squeezung and shaking the contents of the pouch as he does. Whatever is in the puch makes clicking noise as it is shaken, like a bag full of stones..
His brother (and any others that speak Skaldic, can just make out the words of a poem said to have been sung by Odhinn himself.
"Veit ec at ec hecc vindga meiði a
netr allar nío,
geiri vndaþr oc gefinn Oðni,
sialfr sialfom mer,
a þeim meiþi, er mangi veit, hvers hann af rótom renn. "
"Við hleifi mic seldo ne viþ hornigi,
nysta ec niþr,
nam ec vp rvnar,
opandi nam,
fell ec aptr þaðan!"
As he almost shouts the last words of his ritual poem he dumps the contents of the pouch onto the cloth.
He sits gazing at the rune stones that have fallen on the clothe a moment before he quickly gathers up those that landed outside the embroidered circle. Then he seems to make note of the positions of any that landed face up, before carefully turning over any that landed face down, always turning them over with his left hand, and always right to left. His deliberate nature seems to imply there may be a great deal of ritual behind this that is not seen on the surface. When all the rune stones lie face up he silently sits, pondering what his casting has revealed. He looks a little worried, as he chews his mustache while thinking.
[Translated from Skaldic:
I know that I hung on a windy tree
nine long nights,
wounded with a spear, dedicated to Odin,
myself offered to myself,
on that tree of which no man knows
from where its roots run.
No bread did they give me nor a drink from a horn,
downwards I peered;
I took up the runes, screaming I took them,
then I fell back from there!]
Nexendia will make small talk with Andra about their family. If asked about her children she will pull out a small flask of colored sand and pour it on the table in between the women. Nexendia will then gently swirl her finger above the small pile causing it to shift and move about in random patterns until two small children's faces begin to emerge drawn with the particles. [Taking 10 on Perform Art +1 = 11] The pictures are a little rough but they share a resemblance to her two younglings. She then uses her spell to push the colored sand back into the vial.
"They love when I make little animals out of the sand," Nex says with a smile.
Then she notices Valdi setting up for some ritual. She watches curiously as he flips the tiles and then gazes intently at his expression trying to glean any information she could about what he found. [
Sense Motive +2. Rolled a 15. Needed a 20 for a hunch. I can't remember if you can use SM on a PC or not but I figured Valdi is just roleplaying so I rolled for fun anyways.] Nexendia glances toward Andra and slightly shrugs her shoulders in bewilderment.
Andra makes small talk with Nexendia, and sneakily pokes Scarf on the back, quickly pulling her hand back before the paranoid little dinosaur turns to see what touched it. This, of course causes Scarf to glower suspiciously at her, because he knew that she was messing with him.
As Valdi began his ritual, she watched him. She had, of course, seen it before, so she wasn't particularly surprised.
[OoC since he isn't masking his intent or the result, I'd think the sense motive auto succeeds, unless the DM steps in and tells me different I will assume the rune reading to be suiotably vague, just indicating adventure and risk ahead.]
Vidar stops his drinking when he sees his brother begin to take out his runes, not wishing to anger his brother or their gods. His eyes dart to the fallen runes and it is quite obvious that even this red haired barbarian pays heed to his people's gods and the magic of the future. He wonders silently if their quest will bring fame and fortune to them, will the gods bless his sword arm in battle, will he find the father that left them bastards long ago?
Vidar wonders why this Elven sorcerer would risk her life while her children are left motherless at home... She must be very brave or in very much trouble to take such drastic actions. His mood grows dark as the time passes and he mulls over these thoughts, his ale, and the coming quest.
Eran asks the barmaid to bring him a small plate. He shares his Hameen and gently pushes it to the little dragon. It's yours.
He slowly eats his delicious food and quietly listens to the small talk of girls.
What did you see in your runes? - asks Valid when the girls finished the gossiping.
As if in response to Valdi beseeching his gods for understanding and an answer, the barmaid reappears with a platter, on which she balances several hot bowls of Hameen. The smell of the food is simple and homely, instantly reminding one of home and hearth. In terms of appearances, it is very bland, just a brownish stew with no garnish. But perhaps that is where the wonder of this dish begins. Simple, unelegant, unrefined, Hameen seems to be designed to evoke memories of the home. The first bite is of meat, slowly cooked and then broiled in abundant amounts of water-soaked beans and barley. The taste remains as simple as the appearance as golden-brown potatoes join in and leave the taster feeling at once satiated and hungry for more.
More cannot be gleaned from Valdi's runes, save that the direction they take leads to a 'green' area, with a prominence to the 'belt' rune. Underscoring this general directional encouragement is the hint that adventure, excitement, and a chance for glory abounds in such a direction.