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The goblin sat grinning widely with his magnifying eyepiece in place as he looked at a dark green gem that Cristianno had placed on the table. Gallow’s End Tavern in Brill was rather quiet, with less than five customers; four Undead and one Elf, aside from Ziggly and himself. The undead innkeeper Renee was serving the meat pies and Cris had decided to stay a while to see if she would be ordering more for future business. While he waited, he heard a few compliments about the food and Renee seemed please, but the meat pies were the least of his concern.
“Can I have this gem, Cris?” the eager little goblin asked, his grubby little hands touching every facet of the gem.
“Hm? Oh, I guess. I’ll get another one later.” The goblin squealed and put it away, removing the eyepiece. Cris opened his right hand and closed it. He opened it again and closed it. “Hm, interesting.”
“What is that?”
“Some sort of black stone. Solid black.” He opened and closed his hand once again. “And it seems to resonate.”
“Wha?”
“Vibrate. In my hand.” The goblin leaned in and was about to touch it when Cris closed his hand again. “You can’t touch this one.”
The goblin shrugged, folded his arms, and leaned back in his chair. “Isn’t that the pendant from that human place we went to in Stormwind?”
Cris nodded, “Indeed. I just find the stone so fascinating. I like how it resonates against my flesh.” He placed the stone against his cheek and chuckled. “It’s amazing. I just knew what it was and where I could get more of this.”
“What for?”
Cris chuckled, “Designs…” He looked up at the bar and noticed a few undead eating the meat pies. They didn’t complain. In fact, they seemed more than satisfied. “I think we have a winner, Zig.” The goblin looked at the innkeeper Renee smile and nod at both him and Cris.
“They’re undead. I’m sure they’d eat anything,” the goblin snorted and leaned back again.
“Now, now, don’t be rude, Ziggly. This is business.” He saw an elf approach Renee with a rather put off disposition.
“Do you have anything that’s not rotted or parasite-ridden?” Cris watched her closely, leaning in his seat and putting the pendant back in his pocket. Something intrigued her about him. Perhaps it was the fact that she was ready to tear Renee’s head off or the fact that she seemed so upset about the food in a living dead inn. He couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Try the meat pies. Just in,” Cris called out from his seat. The woman stopped and looked at him with a piece of hard, stale bread in her hand.
“Excuse me?” She began to speak in Thalassian, much to the grumbling dismay of the undead customers.
“The meat pies. Try them. I promise they’re not rotted or parasite-ridden.” Cristianno continued to converse in Orcish, out of respect to the undead.
“Meat pies in a place like this? Are they made of human meat?”
Cristianno laughed and looked around, as everyone seemed to stop and stare at him. “I guarantee you that the food comes from far away and it’s safe.” A few Forsaken looked at their plates and shrugged, taking mouthfuls of the pies.
“Right.” The woman tried to take a bite of her stale bread and sighed. “I rather take my chances with this stale bread.” She made a face as her teeth pieced the hard crust. A soft sigh and a shake of her head were her final actions before leaving.
“What was that about?” The goblin looked back at the female elf.
“Just someone who would rather destroy her teeth.” Cris winked at the goblin and stood, walking toward Renee, the undead innkeeper. “So? What will it be, beautiful?”
Renee’s yellow glowing eyes narrowed as she gave him a toothy smile. “Careful, boy. You might have the charm, but do you have the balls to go through with your flirting?” She gave a dry chuckle.
“Renee, you are as beautiful as I’m sure you were when you were alive.” The inn burst out in laughter. Cris simply grinned.
“You’re going to get yourself killed one day, boy. Very well, tell the supplier that we’ll take more orders. If there are other flavors, I won’t turn them away, but this one seems to be a hit with my customers.”
Cris wrote down the order and nodded. “Yes, ma’am. Give me a few days and I’ll return with more crates.” Renee shuffled her way behind the bar and Cris snapped his fingers, signaling to Ziggly that they were about to leave. Renee emerged with an envelope.
“Here you go, boy. For the crate.”
Cris bowed and smiled, “It will be a pleasure doing business with you, beautiful.” He took her cold, pale hand and kissed it softly.
Renee laughed. “If I could blush, I’m sure I’d be red. Now get out before I kick you out.”
Cristianno bowed and walked out, stuffing the envelope into his pocket. “Two more crates to go.”
“Where to?” The goblin lifted his arms as Cris lifted him onto the back of the hawkstrider, who had two crates attached to him.
“Silvermoon. Hopefully they’ll take them.” He jumped onto the giant bird and pulled on the reigns, signaling the bird to start walking.
“You think they’ll accept them?”
“Sure, why not. They’re just food, after all, right?” Cris shrugged and kicked the bird to make it go faster. Silvermoon wasn’t going to be a problem and both Ziggly and Cris knew their business was about to boom.
No one had to know that the pies were from Stormwind.
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