Kaelan

"A well deserved fate it seems." Julian pauses for a moment and takes a sip of his drink. After lowering the glass from his lips, he sighs and his shoulders go slack. "I see no harm in telling you," he mumbles. "Afraid there isn't a woman in my life. My guess is that is that way because of the nature of my lifestyle. No woman wants to be with a man who has little money to buy her gifts, or who is never in a place permanently. Always moving around I am..." his voice trails off. "There was a woman at one point in my life, but it didn't last." Julian raises the glass to his lips and takes the final sip of whiskey and sets it down on the counter. "I had met her on the roads outside of Petrus. It was the first time in two years I had been near that city since I left my family there. We both were going in the same direction, where to I do not recall, and had decided that the trip would be made more entertaining if there was someone to talk to. Like the young, inexperienced fool I was, I slowly fell for her. She had a charm about her that you just couldn't resist falling in love with. The way she joked and the way she talked about the future that she imagined for herself. You just never wanted to leave her side..." Julian gives a sigh but soon after shakes his head as if snapping back into reality. "Mind you she wasn't bad looking. She was quite fair, that I do remember. But the details are lost to me. I could not recall her name or the colour of her hair even if someone held a knife to my throat and demanded such answers. But to make a long story short, we had stopped in a small town after a few weeks of travel. Tired and giving into the soreness of our bodies caused by sleeping outside, we decided that we would rent a room at the town's tavern. When I awoke the next morning, she was gone. My clothes, which were set aside in a dirty pile after a long night of food and drink, were on the dresser, clean and folded. She had simply left without any other trace." Julian pauses a moment and looks around the tavern. "Since then, the majority of the time I have traveled by myself. And I find that a feeling of loneliness creeps up on me more often than it has in the past. Sometimes the thought gets in my head, 'Perhaps it is time to stop this and settle down?' it asks me. But I am conflicted as I want to see more of the world." Julian shrugs and says, with all the energy drained from his voice, "I simply do not know... There is a group near Felsen that I had met. They offered me a job a place there. More recently the thought of finally belonging to something has entered my mind and I have considered taking up their offer." A small smile, seeming somewhat forced, appears on Julian's face as he attempts to change the topic. "You mentioned that you were a guard in Felsen. So tell me, what news about events near there reach your ears? Surely you must know of something going on in the area."

While listening to Nikolay talk, Julian drinks from his glass, finishing it off. "A hard life you have had there, my friend," he says while pouring himself another half glass. "Being a mercenary is dirty work. No structure to your life, no honor nor respect. You're easily disposable and no one will raise a question as to why you're missing." Julian stands up from his chair with his glass in his left hand and picks up the bottle with his right. "But if you say you have changed your ways than who am I to question that? You've become a guard, serving and protecting the people and the nation. Another hard life you have chosen but with a bit more honor to it." He makes his way across to the other side of the tavern to where Nikolay sits and places the bottle on top of the counter. "Finish it off if you like," he says looking over towards the barkeep. "He seems to be too busy waiting for something else to happen than serve you." Julian takes a sip from his glass, drinking about half of its contents and then takes a step back. "I have little experience dealing with royals, mostly nobles if I am to be honest with you. But from what experience I do have, they can be real snobs. They think they're all powerful and can abuse anyone around them for their own personal gain." Julian shakes his head. "Which is exactly why I avoid any dealings with them. It's people like you and me who make this world what it is, so why bother with them who only take?"

"Finished that bottle already have you?" Julian says taking another sip from the first glass he had poured. "Why not enjoy it like I am?" Julian quickly waves his hand in front of him as if swatting the thought away. "I'm a traveler, as you can tell from my garb," he says making a sweeping motion towards himself as if to highlight the clothing he wears. "So I do not have consistent employment. But that doesn't matter as my costs are little, especially when you don't mind drinking the cheapest alcohol around." He turns to the barkeep and raises his glass as a symbol of thanks and turns back to Nikolay. "So I take odd jobs here and there. I plant crops when the farmers are planting, harvest when they are needing to be harvested, and join up with small merchants who will pay a small amount for a travelling companion and protection. And through all of that I am able to make enough money to last me most of the year. I have been doing that since I left Petrus in Athera and I will likely continue doing that until all the sights crumble away or I can no longer travel." Julian takes a sip from his glass and adds, "Most likely the second one there." "And yourself? What do you do?"

Julian allows a smile to show as he grabs the glass with his left and and the bottle with his right. "I believe that would be true," he says while pouring the contents of the bottle into the glass. With the glass half full he sets the bottle back down on the table top. Giving a small sigh he sinks back in his chair and takes a sip from the glass. He waits a moment and takes another sip from his glass. "My name is Julian Argansi. And who might you be if you don't mind me asking?"

"The bottles fine," he says noticing the look from Nikolay from across the room. With his right hand he reaches to his side and fumbles around for a second while maintaining eye contact with Nikolay. After a moment he raises his fist from his side, clenched, and places it slowly on the table. Upon opening his hand, a few more coins to pay for the bottle are revealed. "Do I have a quarrel with you, sir?" he asks across the room. "I meet so many people in my travels, so perhaps I do. But I would think I would remember a character like yourself..."

"Something cheap but strong. What you think is best around these parts," Julian replies to the barkeep. "I have few Minas to spare to indulge myself in drink. But with these recent events I might as well allow myself to enjoy what peace there is." Julian motions to the coins placed on the table for the barkeep to take to pay for his drink. "An interesting crowd this place draws, eh? You allow children in a place like this? Some would frown upon such a thing," he says gesturing towards the child writing in her book.

A rush of cool air rolls through the tavern as the door is swung open. Stepping through the door is a well groomed man in travelers clothes with no markings of allegiance. He closes the door and stands for a moment, surveying the crowd that has gathered. "A brute and a child," Julian chuckles quietly to himself as he notes the two among the crowd. Giving a quick shrug he makes his way to the other side of the tavern and takes a small table in the corner. Upon putting a few worn Minas on the table, he raises his left hand with two fingers extended to catch the attention of the barkeeper.