The Northmen are a simple people, everything that is has a purpose there is no beauty that does not also have an edge of use. Many large towns feature dragons carved from the beams of homes - these are not for show - a razor sharp net can be hoisted between the homes to entangle and potentially disembowel the soldiers of an invading army.
The lodge itself was a long squat structure that smelled of tobacco and the copious amounts of mead consumed on the premise. A barrel filled with fish heads sat, slowly freezing, under a window and every few moments another disembodied head would sail into it, rattling as it settled into the bottom. Inwe put a delicate hand to her nose, trying to ward off the smell of rot emanating from the barrel and would have stopped in her tracks, but for the strong hands of Eld, who pushed her forward and mumbled something encouraging to her.
Eld pushed the door open and let Inwe walk through first, before ducking in out of the cold himself. The warmth of the lodge would have been uncomfortable, had they not just came in from the blowing snow and icy daggers. Both approached the giant northerner standing beside a desk to the side of the door.
The man behind the desk sucked loudly at his teeth as they approached, before spitting a great gobbet of juice to the ground, where it nearly splashed over their snow covered boots. Eld stared at the man with a flat expression, from under his hood. Both of the travelers had pulled their hoods back over their faces as they entered the lodge, better to obscure their features it had been years since their heads were desired, but old habits die hard.
"I would like a room for two." Eld growled at the keeper, who stared back at him with equal distrust.
"Who's the other one?" the keeper called over the raucous sounds coming from the large empty space used for a pair of massive kegs filled with mead.
"My daughter." Eld lied, his heart leaping to his throat "Please, we are very weary."
"Take off the hood, girl."
Inwe and Eld exchanged a long look, before the elf reached up and dropped the hood to her shoulders. Her relatively small - by elven standards - pointed ears sprung back from where the hood had kept them hidden from sight.
The entire lodge fell silent, as the word was sent through hushed whispers and rough shoulder slaps - there was an elf in their lodge. Eld pulled his own cloak from his shoulders and dropped it to the floor, his snow white hair billows around his unnaturally pale skin, pinkish eyes stared angrily about the northmen staring at them.
Eld poised both hands over the pair of short swords strapped across his back. With his thumb and forefinger he gave a slight signal to Inwe, who reached both hands into her cloak and clasped them around a small sheathed dagger at the small of her back. The sheath of the dagger was cut away at the point where blade would sit flush against leather and the elf pushed her thumb onto the edge of the weapon until blood welled from her finger.
She took in a deep breath, drawing power from the blood welling between her fingers until the swirling tattoos around her eyes almost seemed to dance under her skin. Her slight five foot body suddenly felt as hard as granite and she knew that if she wished the power of her magic could tear this entire lodge down around them, but instead she focused upon the minds of the angry northerners staring at them with weapons drawn.
"I wish for a room, innkeeper." Eld said again and this time, the keeper nodded with a blank expression on his face - lips pulled back from cracked teeth and a line of drool inched its way onto the front of his leather jerkin. Eld reached down and signed the guestbook 'Mr and Mrs Hendeer'. "Thank you, see you in the morning." he said with an tone as icy as the snow being flung against the walls of the lodge.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When Mei and Joshua returned to the camp, Ral nodded at Joshua and looked him in the eyes meaningfully. He tried to communicate that he had known about his lineage, Joshua had asked the blood mage about his mother before Ral had began the interrogation that still pained the blood mage with each step he took. The thought of the blood mage, laying drooling into the sand a few feet away brought a stab of guilt to his mind, but Ral banished it - the blood mage deserved everything he got.
"The queen is dead. Your hall destroyed and your armies mostly scattered. What will you do now, Joshua?" Ral asked, tenderly feeling the new stitching in his arm.
)