The bar seemed to be rather quiet. Then again, it was rather late, and the people there had either gone upstairs to sleep, or didn't have many people to talk to. One person who was sitting alone in the back seemed to fall into both crowds. In red leather armor, Caius, the witch hunting, drunken swordsman, was face down on a table, with no less than three empty bottles next to him.

Zendra was actually surprised to see a familiar face in the bar tonight... or at least some familiar armor as the face was currently occupied with the table in front of it. The woman acquired her drink and found herself slipping into a seat across from him. She said nothing as she drank from her glass.

Caius's face turned up as he heard a chair move. His eyes showed tired intoxication as he noticed her. Oh. Zendra. Immediately he pulled his scarf back over his nose, and let out a raspy cough. His throat was sore from all the drinking. He slowly peeled himself off of the table and leaned back. "And what beingsss a... a... fine lady to... a place like thsis?" He asked, slurring his words.

Zendra downed half of her glass and set it down on the table, "Does the drink give no indication?" Zendra asked, finger touching the rim of the glass. "Or do you come to such places with other things in mind?"

Caius almost laughed. "I see. Seemes to make shense to me." He kicked his feet on the table and waved for another drink. A waitress tentatively gave it to him, and he smiled. He held it in his hand, but didn't drink from it as he spoke. "Drinkin' away your shorows or are you tryingngu to forget somethin'? Or is that the shame thing? " He sighed through a hiccup.

"They say a hard day of work makes the drink taste better. I just finished my day of work." Zendra replied. Indeed she did have the light musky scent of sweat and dirt about her as if she had just spent most of the day outside in the summer heat. Her gaze settled firmly on the man across from her, "Which is it for you?"

The swordsman nodded at her explanation. "Listening," he responded with. "Nobody really will walk up and ask me to deal with witches. Magic users are acceptable. But, a few people might talk about being uncomfortable, and it's what I want to know." He leans in, "Also, I wanna hear about a certain long haired woman in a black dress."

Zendra took another long drink from her glass, ice clanking quietly as she nearly emptied it. A warmth spread to her cheeks and she could feel her senses starting to dull, but she was probably still good for a few more drinks. "Is this a normal hours for talkers?" She asked, eyes sweeping over the remaining people in the bar.

Caius smiled with his eyes as he looked over to her. "Well you're here aren't you? You're talking." He placed his still untouched glass on the table and leaned back once more. "So, what have you noticed? Anything worth stabbing?"
"I have no information for you." Zendra said. She didn't know much about the witches this man hunted so she couldn't say she had heard or seen anything that would be of use to him. She sat silently for a moment, wondering if she should ask the question that had been on her mind for some time now. Eventually she reached her decision, finishing off the last of her drink before asking, "What happened to your last business?"

Caius raised a brow. "Other business?" He shook his head. "I've been traveling since I popped up in Viorar. Fished out of the ocean. Afraid that I've been doing this since I got here." He sighed, pushed his glass towards Zendra, apparently losing his desire to drink, and crossed his arms. "Not that this is much of a job..."

Zendra raised an eyebrow, "You resemble a man I encountered once. You stand at the same height, you have the same eyes and your style of fighting is also similar. It seems I am mistaken though." She turned, ordering another drink for herself which the waitress quickly supplied her with. "Have you always hunted witches?"

“In a way." He shook his head as he looked at Zendra. "I've acquired the Silence Rune, so that makes the job seem pretty natural. Always been decent at fighting." He shrugged. "But, I don't have a lot of talking to do about myself. What about you? You seem significantly more interesting."'

"I am not anyone of interest. I came here a few years ago and am trapped here like many before me." Zendra answered, looking down at the table and the drink next to her hand. "What is a Silence Rune?"

Caius presents his left hand. "Middle aged runemaster in Viorar gave it to me. Says he used to be a knight." He shrugged. "Something to do with me being cursed. Nulifies the magic in my body, so it doesn't travel. Dunno what he was talking about. But, it shuts down hags well enough for me."

"Nullifying magic in the body?" Zendra picked up her glass, deep in thought for a long moment. Eventually she broke the silence by rubbing her forehead. "What do you mean it shuts them down?"

"Turns magic off. Like a lightswitch. Poof!" Caius made a hand motion to emphasize his words. "Those big ones? Can't heal anymore? Those pretty ones? Not nearly as charming as green walking... things." He chuckled at the thought, but then sighed. "Hags are generally a 'blessing' though. It's a shame, so many girls fall for it. Shape shifting is nice, but... what it really does to them..." He shivers.

"Magic kills all who possess it eventually." Zendra held her drink to her lips and chugged it down, taking a gasp of breath once her glass was empty and wiping the remaining liquid from her lips with the back of her arm, "Then you ssshould be able to kill it entirely. Can you kill it?"

Caius raised a brow. "Uhh... kill what? Magic itself?" He thought about that. "As good as that sounds, no, I don't think that this rune alone should be able to do that."

Zendra shook her head, "Uselessss then." She muttered. She had been hoping that this man with his silence rune would have been able to do something about the plague that was infecting her body. She should have known better than to expect to find some sort of cure for it, especially here.

The swordsman shrugs. "I suppose so. But, if I'm cursed, and the runemaster says that it helps, then I'll keep it. Hasn't done any harm." Silence passed between the two before his eyes got wide. "What did you say about all magic killing those who possess it?" He turned his head suddenly as he looked her in the eye. "How long does it take?" It was obvious from the way he was speaking that he wasn't intoxicated. But, he also seemed to not care about selling the rouse.

Zendra shrugged, "That I don't know." She peered down into her empty glass wishing she had another infront of her. "When the plague hit it was a matter of a few moments for sshome people. Afterwards minutes, then hours, then days...weeks... years. Haven't seen as much death from it here yet."

Caius crossed his arms and sighed. "Damn. Would make my life easier if all I needed to do was wait for that bastard to die because of it..." His voice trailed off as he shook his head. "Regardless, I don't think that the rune is going to kill me. I haven't even tried to cast a spell though. Just going off what that man said." He looked at the ground. "I should talk to him again."

"Mmn." Zendra grunted in agreement, "Magical artifacts existed before the plague. They were giftss to man from the gods. Maybe your rune is the same. Magic in the body taints the soul though." So he was probably safe. Probably.

"Taints the soul? The gods never served me too well. They can do what I want with my soul. I'll drown it in booze and red my hands with the blood of the wicked." Caius chuckled lightly. "Though, I don't know about you. I don't know what the gods think of me. I just want to be a good enough person that the rest of the world cares, y'know?"

All the gods in Zendra's world had fallen save for one. And he had abandoned her here when she had failed him. "The gods don't matter anymore." Very little did in fact. Zendra couldn't care less about what the world thought of her, it wasn't her world. Her world by now was probably dead or broken beyond repair by now, and she couldn't even die along with it. Zendra slid out of her seat and stood up. "It is late." She said, looking suddenly eager to leave.

Caius nodded. He smiled at her with his eyes and picked up his glass again. "Drop by again sometime. You're more interesting to talk to then half of the rabble that walks in here." He raised a toast to her and waved her off dismissively. When his head was turned away from her he pulled his scarf down once more and finally drank from the glass.