Returning back to the table I could see that Jax, Selene, and Kaelen were all staring at me as I made my way into my seat and layed my head down on the table. The food wasn't at the tables yet, but there were several mugs of alcohol, of which Jax had finished around 3. So While Kaelen and Selene had concerned expressions on their faces, Jax had this dopey grin as he swayed to the music in the bar. We end up sitting there for a good hour before a very tired looking Liora and Thalia made their ways inside. They sat down at their seats as both of them let out a sigh that seemed to carry their soul out as they layed there tired.
"I apologize for judging you that first day. We had to sign 22 separate forms."
Liora said rubbing her eyes.
"Not willingly, you wanted to leave at paper 12, I had to convince you that we were already halfway through."
Thalia said grumbling. Looking at the menu there were a variety of items, from meats and BBQ to salads, and assorted foods. As everyone ordered their food I turned to Liora and Thalia.
"So I talked with the quest giver, they still want our help, they have a large metal vault that they are keeping their coke in with around 4 Salamanders walking on top of it. Hey have sealed the Vault to prevent the Coke from burning any more due to the lack of oxygen, but at the same time, the Salamanders don't need to breath, so everyone is at an impass."
Liora and Thalia nodded as Kaelen jumped in.
"We were given basically free reign on our approach, but just to make sure were not remembering wrong, here is the quest."
Smelter Salamander Quench(E)
A small fire elemental called a salamander has entered into the coke stocks in Coalhill and started to burn them to make its own nest by burning them. You must either kill them, or contain them so they stop burning the supply.
Reward - 800 Gold + 1 fire ward charm
Failure - 600 Gold for burned coke and replacements
We passed the quest around reading it over again as Jax asked.
"Now hear me out, what if like we like told them to leave?"
We all looked at Jax for a moment as Thalia and Liora glanced down at the table where several empty mugs sat as both seemed to recognize our inebriated leader as they turned to me. I knew what they were asking but I held the bridge of my nose as I said.
"I would, but he would use it as an excuse to buy more."
Thalia gave a worried look that broke through her normally neutral face. Most would just see her eye twitch, but after days with Thalia I had come to see the slight movements of her face as entire emotions. Selene raised her hand as we all turned to her.
"I-I think we also need to look at what our skillset in. While Lioras wind is very helpful normally, in a situation where there is coke that is burning and only kept extinguished because of the lack of oxygen, her abilities might not be as helpful. N-No of-fense to you I mean don't get me wrong-."
As Selene started to ramble Liora nodded
"No your right, my abilities won't be much help here, plus we can't use water or anything like that because it would ruin the coke below them."
We all took a moment to think as food arrived. Now I would like to say that we were polite, quietly grabbing our food, however we had eaten nothing but nuts, berry's, and beef jerky for the past 3 days aside from breakfast that one day. So a full succulent meal before us was not long for this world. We practically dove at the food, tearing into it with a ferocity that turned a few eyes. Lucky for us however we were not the only adventurers in the Steel palette today, so we were not alone in our ravenous appetite.
As we practically licked our plates clean we all let out a satisfied sigh. With food in his stomach Jax sobered up, if only slightly as he asked.
"So like is the plan to try to just lure them away or?"
We took a moment to think when Will piped up.
"Got an idea for you, wanna be my voice to the party?"
"I have my cloak that can store things in a space, if we emptied it, the room within will be enough to hold the 4 of them. We could close up the cloak and dump them out elsewhere."
The group looked at me over for a moment when Thalia nodded.
"With my strings, I could grab them, the question is where is the best disposal sight."
At that we took a moment to remain silent. After a moment we all shook our heads. Nobody had really had much time to explore Coalhill, and unlike when we were at Hopestone, nobody lived there and knew where things were. As we sat unsure of what to do Thalia left the table, walking over to the bar she used her strings trick to get up on the taller barstool as she made a motion to signal the barkeep. The Barkeep looked to be a lightblood beastkin, his skil holding small green scales here and there as a long green tail slighered out from below his shirt covered in scales. As he made his way over he nodded and asked in a friendly tone.
"Welcome to the Steel Palette, what kind of drink were you looking for?"
"Can I get a shot of fire wine?"
The Barkeep nodded as he grabbed a large bottle of orange and red wine that almost resembled tomato juice but with the orange colors it also seemed to look like it had notes of molten metal colors. He poured a shot as Thalia downed the shot and looked up at the barkeep.
"You mind if I ask a question while you refill me?"
Barkeep gave a curt nod as he poured more. Thalia swirled her glass as she said.
"Im new to town and trying to deal with a group of Salamanders, we have a way to transport them, but don't know where we can take them to get them out of peoples hair."
As she finished she downed the next shot as the barkeep filled her back up and said.
"There is a lava stream if you head down a few layers. Its filled with Salamanders, they love to play it lava so bring them there."
Thalia nodded, downed her last shot and placed the 15 gold on the counter for the 3 shots of the expensive drink. We were all staring at her surprised, but I did notice that she was swaying slightly as she walked, the alcohol clearly working on her. Getting back up to her seat she tried to hold her mouth but let out a small burp. The air reached a nearby candle as a sudden plum of flames ignited in front of Thalia. We all leaned back surprised as Kaelen said.
"Well, that's fire wine for you, I heard in some places its used as emergency paint thinner."
I stared at Thalia wondering if I would need that Antidote sooner than I thought when I turned back to the others.
"Ok, so we know Jax is the fastest of us all, so is the plan that Liora, Thalia, and I are at the coke pile to snatch the Salamanders while Jax, Selene, and Kaelen are down by the lava stream to dump them?"
The others thought for a moment when Kaelen asked.
"Wouldn't it make more sense for Liora to be with Jax and Selene and me with you two?"
"No, remember the vault has burned trough all its air, so when it opens it could suffocate us, liora is there to prevent that."
Kaelen and the others nodded as we all paid our tab and started to leave the bar. Splitting up Jax first went with Selene and Kaelen before planning to return to us to be ready to grab the cloak. All we needed to do now was execute the plan.