Another day, another Tavern [Bruma, Open]

Cyrodiil! The home country! Gem of Nirn! At least it was in the opinion of the woman entering the eastern gate of the city. Entering being a good word for staggering in this case. The trip had been long and hard, not even including the escape from the depths of Skyrim.

Guards gave her a look as she wandered into the nearest Tavern. A quaintly named Tap and Tack. A booming voice welcomed the weary blonde woman.

"Welcome to Olav's! Ye've got coins right?"

Arla frowned and withdrew the ever lighter coin purse. Two gold pieces left. She held them up and the man grimaced.

"Two left eh? Well I can make you an offer then sweet thing. I'm Olgir by the way" The Nord grinned and grabbed something from a chest behind the counter.

About to get a word in, Arla was again interrupted. "Here ya are!"

A dress was thrown on her head. "What..?"

"Serving girl garb! You work here and I'll pay a good looking wanderer like yourself with room and board! What is your name girl?"

"Arla Neerus, from Chorrol..."

"A FINE CITY! Here." He hands her a key "Go change and clean up. I'll make you a hearty meal and we will get you ready for the dinner rush" Olgir turned to the stove "How do ya like your meat? Burnt?"

"Rare..."

His eyes went a bit wide. "Lookit that, young marrying stock taking her meat rare. You'll fit in here! Now go change"

Arla nodded, a bit flustered by the suddenness of it all. She walked up the stairs and unlocked her new temporary home. A quick wash in the tub and she soon found herself standing with a tray pressed up against her chest, hiding what was in her opinion, the most revealing dress ever. A stupid Nord design that gave everyone a great view but at least it was warm and of good material. She sighed, standing there awkwardly.

"Git serving Girlie!" Olgir laughed at her as the clientele began flagging the serving girl over. Arla took a deep breath and began the nights work, praying to the nine that no one she knew came in.

Alicia was... quiet. She wasn't there to socialize, after all; she was trying to figure out where to head to next, or what to do next. She wasn't expecting to find Arla there, of course, that would have been silly. But where the tomes were concerned, probability got complicated. She was wearing some no-frills leather armor, along with a dwemer-metal saber at her side.

Of course, she had to eat. She eventually flagged down a server, having figured that she'd get something fairly inexpensive - a simple stew and some mead. She had no clue that she was about to have her first encounter with the probability vortex.

Having had some experience, Arla knew a 'I want service' gesture when she saw one. Platter to her chest, she approached a dunmer, one of the three current patrons of the bar.

"Hi, what do you wish to order. I don't think we have any menus, just ask the owner"

Her voice started out quiet but she quickly grow more confident.

"I'm supposed to say that we accept all offers and can barter with trinkets too."

There, that wasn't so bad.

Some Dunmer would have taken that as an insult. Alicia, however, could tell when someone was making a sarcastic remark. "I don't think I'll need to dig that deep." She smiled just a bit. "Just some beef stew and a mead..."

It took her a moment before something clicked in her mind. "... wait a moment. Do I know you?" she asked, giving Arla a puzzled look.

"Dunno. Do you? I just kinda got here, are you from Bruma?"

She quickly jotted down the order and recovered herself with the platter.

"It is pretty slow in here. Do you mind if I just get your food and come back. I can sit by you for a bit"

Alicia shakes her head. "No, you just seem oddly familiar..." She couldn't quite place it. Maybe she reminded her of a friend she knew... no, that would be highly unlikely. She recognized her by sight more than anything else, and most of her friends were dunmer, so it would be very odd to confuse them for her...

"Uh, sure, so long as your boss doesn't go after you for it."

Arla rolled her eyes

"Hes been by boss for like.. twenty minutes now?" She laughed and shrugged. Hurriedly she took care of any other orders and placed Alicia's order as well. Olgir seemed satisfied so Arla headed back over to her. She sighed and plopped down in the seat beside her.

"Okay. Why am I so familiar?"

Alicia frowned a bit. "Just... something, I'm not sure. Something about how you look." She shook her head. "Sorry, it's just bothering me a little. I'm fairly sure I've never met you before, yet I recognize you for some reason. I'm usually pretty good with faces, too..."

She shrugged. "Well, one way to find out for sure. What's your name?" she asks, leaning back just a bit...

"Arla Neerus of Chorrol. And you are?" She held out a hand.

"Alicia Jornali." She shook her hand... and then it clicked. "Wait a moment, I am sure I've heard that name before."

"Did I suddenly become famous or did my farm girl looks proceed me?" She laughed, joking around with her. "Seriously though. I think I'm in like three records overall." She looked over, the food not yet ready.

That was when it really clicked for Alicia. Figuring that Arla wouldn't believe her unless she showed her, she pulled the ledger out of her satchel and set it down on the table. "I think you also have one, unless I'm mistaken."

"Nine! I have one of those too! I can't even get rid of it. It's in my room right now. You're that woman? Alica? Something?"

Alicia nodded. "Yeah, weird stuff I tell you." She shakes her head a bit. "Well, that solves the mystery of why I recognized you, at least."

She grinned. "Any other secret mystery that you need help with? I can be a bit helpful when it comes to these things." Nope. Food still not ready. Stew takes a while you know

"How did you end up in Bruma? Werent you by Windhelm?"

Alicia chuckled. "No, not really." She shifts about a bit in her seat, looking fairly relaxed. "Well, I was up around Winterhold, left for Whiterun, and still found myself getting insulted enough that I just figured enough was enough. So I left for someplace that would tolerate me a bit better... and before you ask, no, I won't go back to Morrowind for a number of reasons."

"Cause it exploded right?" she asked, a bit callously but with no intent to sound like a jerk. She scratched at her ear. "And because a thing from space hit it, and the lizards!"

She almost shouted, happy to know some history at least.

Bruma: all the cold, rudeness, and racism of Skyrim, only with more Imperials about. Really, if he was going to visit Cyrodill, he would've preferred to head to Cheydinhal. As he briskly walked through the darkened streets, though, he reminded himself that he wasn't here for a holiday. No, this was his chance to redeem himself for Morthal. If he failed in his task, he would get more than a new scar on his back.

The long trip had tired out his horse, and Dwemer was resting at the Wildeye Stables. He'd need at least a full night's rest before he would be ready for an escape, so he made up his mind to complete the contract tomorrow night. Any later, and he might risk his target heading back home to Anvil, and chasing after a noble would arouse more eyes from the guards.

He raised one hand and pushed open the door to an old, old tavern. Once inside, he pulled the hood off his head before heading to a small, empty table. His dark travelling cloak concealed the black and red armour he wore as well as the two daggers he carried with him. The only weapons that he couldn't hide was the glass bow and quiver on his back. He picked up the paper set in the center of the table, reading over what the tavern was selling for the evening.

She almost missed him, the cloaked figure. Nearly jumping up, Arla quickly ran over to him and took a seat beside him. "Hey, what will it be!?"

Alicia's order just rang up as Arla pulled out a piece of paper and some writing charcoal.

Sharp, cold, crimson eyes shifted to look at the waitress. Flighty and hyperactive; the worst kind to come across after a long trip. He looked back to the menu, then softly spoke. "A steak and bowl of stew. Maybe a bottle of wine if you have any. And if you still have some, a room for the night." He set the sheet down, then withdrew a small coin purse. Some places insisted patrons pay before eating, some after, and he didn't know which one this was.

Arla took the coins and the order, giving him a smile as she turned in the order. The bowl of stew Alica had ordered was ready and as fast as she could, delivered the food.

Lots of dunmer in tonight. Arla thought to herself as she returned to the newcomer with the wine, taking her place next to him.

"So what brings you to Bruma?" Her voice sounded slightly bored by the entire situation as she poured two glasses. "Oh, and your room will be ready for you soon" Another brilliant smile from the Imperial.

Once the waitress left, Nightshade started to settle himself into his chair. He took his bow and quiver off his back, propping it up against his seat, then pulled his tied back hair out from his cloak, letting it rest on top of the crumpled hood. He was just about to pull out the bookA Dance in Fire volume 1 when the waitress returned and plopped down on another seat, pouring out wine for both of them. He raised an eyebrow, wondering what she was doing, especially considering how some other customers were trying to catch her eye, when she started up some small talk.

Great; his analysis on her was right. He tried not to sigh, merely setting his book back down in his bag and leaned back. "My thanks. To answer your question, I am here for business." He kept his tone formal and clipped, betraying nothing. With any luck, she'd get bored and wander off.

"Uh huh... what sort of business? Merchant stuff? I'm always looking for a good merchant to help out with, I've worked with a few of them you know. My family has always been farmers and I've got a ton of brothers to work the fields so dad would take me out to help chat up the local merchants so I picked up a little bit of the merchant bartering banter there so I would know how to deal with them, Merchants I mean. Farmers too."

The lengthy sentence ended as she sipped at her glass of wine. With any luck, her barrage of words would get him to open up a bit!

The dunmer stayed quiet as he let the waitress jabber on endlessly, his eyes studying the glass of wine carefully. He saw her pour it, so he didn't see any tampering, and considering how she was enjoying her own glass, there wasn't any poison in the bottle. "No, I am not a merchant. I'm a hunter." He replied simply and quietly, doubting that she would be able to hear him over the sound of her own voice. He brought his glass up and inhaled slightly before he took a small sip, trying to detect if he could smell or taste anything out of order. Nope. Just wine.

"A hunter! My Mother used to be a hunter before she met my dad and she was really good. She stopped hunting once she had us though and we just lived off the farm. I saw her hunting gear once though and she yelled at me. I don't understand why she yelled though. It was just a black bow with hand prints all over it. But she got really mad and I never saw it again, weird huh. Anyways how's the wine?"

She turned back to look at Nightshade. A smile on her face but for an instant her eyes showed something not completely normal.