The Midnight Sun

"Ahhhh, that works." Davous prepares to fork over some cash while sniffing the wine and finally taking a sip.

"Your attention, everyone!" From her position on top of a table, Artemis's raised voice pierces through the laughter and clamor of the Midnight Sun. "I have an important announcement from the Madame!" After a repetition or two, and judicious use of the other bouncers, the crowd quiets enough for her to begin.

"We are going to be expanding our establishment soon, that we may better continue to serve your every desire!" Waving down the cheer that this produces, she continues. "Unfortunately, our staff alone is insufficient to undertake such a task. We can't very well ask Grandma to pick up a hammer and pitch in, can we? To the end of seeing this construction through, the Madame has authorized me to make an offer to you all, tonight. Starting tomorrow, anyone who works for at least six hours on the additions will receive drinks on the house that night. And, to the lucky individual who puts in the most time, Madame Naoki will extend her personal gratitude." The excited conversation this comment generates takes several minutes to die down.

"Before I let you get back to your drinks and companionship, allow me to extend the gratitude of our establishment to Mr. Reuben, who will be overseeing our construction. To his health!" She raises a shot glass of silvery-white liquid to the man, to the applause of the bar, before downing it and hopping off the table.

Hasdrubal doesn't pause, taking advantage of the distraction to swipe at Lorelei's exposed back.

"Hmmmm" Hasdrubal contemplates, jerking out the knife with a squelch. Carefully, he places it on the floor.

"I'm not sure, in your current state, you would be particularly useful to me as lab assistants. The combat side of life is decidedly more serious than what you just participated in. Some of my more ingenious creations can take twice as many hits as I can, and still punch you through fifteen feet of granite. I don't think there are many conventional fighter that could even take them on, really. Fortunately enough, I can offer you some shortcuts. I'll have to do some thinking about what kind of designs to use."

He trails off into mumbling, then snaps back into focus.

"Oh yes! In the meantime, you really shouldn't go below the seventh floor without me."

"Don't worry, girls, you did much better than expected. I'll try to limit my designs to those not TOO invasive. The last thing I would want is to mar those innocent faces of yours, or to stunt your growth. In the meantime, Would you be so kind as to help Kevin out with the bar?"

Jill is guided to Hastrubal's lab, where she awaits a response.

"Yes, I must be," she said, her head tilting aside, an exaggeration of an alarmingly innocent and curious stare in the face of such a bloody sight.
"What were you up to?"

Kevin looked up as the twins approached, giving them a friendly smile.

"Ah, why thank you, I've actually been needing a bit of help. Well, you see... We need to get a new shipment of livestock in as we're running a bit low on meat. If you think you're up to the task, I'd appreciate it if you could travel to the Salty Seaman. Once there, you should ask around to find someone who will bring in a boatload of meat for us. Cows, pigs, whatever they've got!"

Kevin then looks at his feet sheepishly, "I feel a bit bad asking you to go to such a place, but you seem to be able to handle yourselves pretty well despite being so young. If you aren't up for the task though, I'll find something easier for you to do. If you are up for the task, I'll have a carriage with drivers prepared to take you there."

If they accept, Kevin will hand them a contract for the meat that they can give the appropriate captain or trader.

"Well... yes, I'm not a master alchemist but I do know a lot of ingredients... more of an herbalist myself, but I come from a background in magic," she said, though didn't go into the depth of that background, the extent to which her people relied on magic and her capability in manipulating it. Few could know these things.
"And, I might be able to improve upon existing drinks."

She opened her pouch, which appeared small but as the black painted nails of her fingers disappeared into the pouch and rummaged around, her arm followed as she dug deeper and deeper for it--impossibly deeper into the tiny pouch. When it was opened, the faintest purple light emanated from the opening, and Jill retrieved the source of the glow--a mushroom, bioluminescent even after having been harvested from the Misty Woods months ago.
"Have you traveled much? Ever been to the Misty Woods?"