The Purple Cauldron Tavern

"Hey, Robin Hood," The barkeep said handing him a glass of water. "You look messed up so you better start telling the story because you just tracked blood all over the floor."

"The name's Tolkalee, not Robin hood. And I just came from a war nothing special," he explained shaking his head.

"War…. just great." Calix said and looked at him.

"Well, the war isn't over yet," he explained. "And I can't say that either side is winning at this point. The only reason I'm here is I was injured, clearly, and I was told to take a few days off."

A figure wearing a black formal suit and a smiling, silver mask walked in. He held a suitcase with his right hand and a pile of documents with his left. He looked more like a business man than anything. He sat down at the counter, sighing. “Whatever you recommend, I’ll take it” He mumblingly requested the bartender, setting the documents and suitcase on the counter.

Tolkalee glanced at the man in the suit. "Long day?" he asked taking a drink of his water.

“Way too long…” the man replied while looking through the documents which were with him, picking out one of them and opened it up. He got out a pen and started writing on it.

The barkeeper poured out a glass of whiskey for the new gentleman. “Well Tolkalee, good luck. That’s just what this place is for. Resting when faced with danger. What about you new guy, you got anything to say?”

“Of course…” he finished signing the document and closed it. He moved his mask slightly so that only his mouth was visible. He took a sip of the whiskey and sighed. “Though it might be best if I introduce myself first…the name’s Lucas Throne from the infamous Soul Labyrinth and I’m currently on, quote on quote, ‘a break’” the man said before taking another sip.

“Oof, I feel your pain. Once I knocked out a little plague jar and killed like half of Europe. I was on a ‘break’ for fifty years.” The barkeeper said sighing with sympathy.

Lucas laughed slightly then took another sip. “This is actually nice…” he commented on the whiskey. He then turned to Tolkalee. “So what’s your story…?” he asked with his legs crossed, still not showing his face.

“Something tells me he doesn’t like talking about it but he’s in the middle of a war. All guts, no glory I imagine.”

“Makes sense” he commented on that. He finished the whiskey and turned to the bartender. “Got something stronger?” He asked.

“Depends what you mean by stronger. Knock you out stronger or make you breathe fire stronger?”

“Got something that can do both?” Lucas giggled. “Don’t worry, I can handle my alcohol pretty well”

The barkeeper raised her brow and poured some pale purple liquid in his glass. “Let’s see how well you handle that.”

“And yes, you may have another water,” The barkeeper said refilling her glass.

Lucas looked at the glass for moment before he started sipping it. Though it burned, he seemed to enjoy it. “Heh, now this is something I needed…” he said. “What’s the name by the way?”

“Mine or hers?” She asked.

“Well I was asking the name of the drink but since you mentioned it, what are your names?” He added, taking another sip while laughing slightly.

“Ah, yes. The drink.” The barkeep said sighing with relief. “It’s a mix of unicorn drought and Sphinx poison. They cancel each other out so instead of killing or healing you it burns quite a bit and wakes you up. You can give it an official name if you’d like.”

“As for the name, call me barkeep if you’d like to keep your hands and feet attached. I don’t go by my name anymore.”

Lucas bowed subconsciously. “Well, nice to meet you Adri” he then turned to the bartender. “I would rather not. I’m not good with names. Also, nice to meet you” he said to her before taking another sip. “Oh…this is starting to burn a little…”

Tolkalee gave a short sarcastic laugh at hearing the bartender's name. "I know that feeling."