Lian entered the restaurant with a shaking nervousness. His only guide through New Dwarden had been lost amongst the shuffling of the crowds. Lian tried not to make eye contact with the restaurant's sea’s of red nosed and cheeked patrons but he had to find the owner, as he thought that would surely be where Taylum is. As Lian sifted through the often stumbling crowd, he came upon an empty wooden stool at the bar. The stool was very large, infact, Lian had to climb two pegs to get to the top. Lian felt triumphant when he finally got comfortable on the large stool, making sure to place the basket with the fox directly in front of him. He took a large breath while taking in the smells, sights, and sounds of the restaurant. The restaurant smelled of grilled and smoked meats of all kinds, Lian could smell the spices and smoke even as he climbed the stool, only made stronger the higher he got. The bar appeared to be the centerpiece of the the whole restaurant. Lian gazed at the restaurant in awe, amazed at how faithful it was to recreating the shape of a tree. The bar or trunk- as Lian put it- was located in a large atrium lit generously with orange floating musca and crackling torches hung nicely on the many walls and numerous pillars that littered the area while the branches -Lian thought- were the many rooms and hallways that stemmed out of the atrium through winding stairs and steaming pulley systems.

“Amazing!” Thought Lian to himself, wiping his eyes and nodding his head in disbelief.

As with everything else Lian had seen so far, Croak N Crunch was built with the usual combination of gears, wood, and brown/orange-colored metals, only this place didn’t use too much metal. Aside from the metals patched behind the torches or stairs, they were simply used for engravings or patterns on scattered sections of the walls and ceilings. It wasn’t long before Lian became caught up in one of the metal patterns of the walls. This one was in a peculiar is of a spiral shape. Inside it, were a large number of Fire Musca rotating along it’s many grooves like little rivers of splashing bright orange water. Lian was mesmerized by the Fire Musca once again, even drowning out the swarms of chatter around him.

Lian gazed left and right, curious to see the size of the bar. Lian was not disappointed. He cocked his head backwards in shock and widened his eyes, He was sitting roughly towards the end of the left side of the bar but the other end stretched almost as far as the eye can see. The atrium was massive. Behind the bar was a wall covered in thousands of beer’s, vodka’s, and drinks of all kinds of colors organized meticulously from end to end. Lian tried counting one aisle of drinks but quickly became distracing after watching one of the numerous employees running from one end of the bar to the other, holding a pyramid of glasses comparable to a circus act. Some employees wore brown vest and polka dotted bow ties with dark dress pants and dark dress shoes while others wore a stylish tuxedo with a strange variation of a top hat. Lian stared as he observed some employees sweating at the seas of customers before them while others just continued endlessly pouring bubbling golden drinks into large wooden cups and small glass ones.

“Kid!” Shouted a deep voice from Lian’s left side.

Lian had become so distracted in his surroundings, he had forgotten that he was indeed at a bar and someone would had to have inevitably asked him what he wanted. Lian turned to his left and found a large bald headed individual with beady sunken black eyes -like that of Cannoli-, a pale white face, and no nose to boot.

“What do ye want!? Stop wasting my time!” He said, growing annoyed.

“I-I apologize sir. I hadn’t noticed you were there.” Lian stuttered, desperately trying not to stare.

“Ye wouldn’t, wouldn’t ye. I’m just a 7 foot bickering beast with a gleewing red bow tie and more muscle in one arm then your entire body combined!” He sarcastically retorted.

“I-I just-” Lian tried replying.

“No more whining, just tell me what ye want? I’ve got a line of customers who’d chew me arse up windways if I don’t get moovin.” He complained slamming an empty wooden cup in front of Lian.

“Yer a bit younger than what we’re used to.” He said, looking deeply into Lian eyes.

“Festival was getting crowded.” Said Lian, quickly composing himself.

“Aye it is. Won’t be getting’ much better in here dou. Best head upstairs towards the top. Myt grant ye a li’l more breathing room. Best do it now ry now if ya know what’s good for you.” He said passively, casually wiping the wooden cup in his right hand.

“May I have some water?” Asked Lian.

“‘Fraid I can’t do that now. BEST BE MOOVIN.” He warned, his voice becoming increasingly threatening.

Suddenly Lian heard a loud thud coming from his right side. It was a wooden cup slamming on the edge of the bar, breaking from it’s handle. The person sitting to Lian’s right was a very angry well dressed burly man; his nose cocked slightly to the right like from a fight, his beard scraggly with small pieces of food hidden beneath, and his black hair reaching under his chin. Lian thought he looked largely normal, yet he knew that in New Dwarden nothing is as it seems. When the man opened his mouth to grit his teeth, his teeth were sharper than that of his foxs’. Lian stared at him momentarily as he locked eyes with a somebody wearing a worn down trench coat and a patchy top hat next to him. Lian couldn’t really see what the man looked like in detail, only that he appeared to be smirking.

“You spilled my Skoro ya bloomblighter!” Yelled the bald man.

“Ruined my new pants to! I just got them today! You gonna pay me back twice over now.” He continued to yell while threatening the smirking man.

“Take it outside ye Moguls!” Commanded the bartender before Lian.

“Oi, Breckle! You stay out of this! This man is going to pay.” He shouted.

“Do as ye wish! I’m not dragging any of ye bodies outta here!” said the bartender, casually returning to serving other patrons.

“Boy! Leave!” He warned Lian one last time before turning his back to him for another customer.

Lian nodded his head gratefully at the Breckle, scooting his rear towards the left side of the chair.

“Oi, if I wasn’t looking your way, I’d be inclined to think this was some funny accident. But lucky for you, I was staring right at you.” The burly man spoke from behind Lian.

“Lian over here!” suddenly shouted a couple of feet to his right.

Before Lian knew it, he heard a large popping sound from behind him accompanied by a loud splash of waving skin and a groan louder then the crowd itself. The immediate crowd around Lian gasped and laughed at the scene before them as the burly man broke Lian’s stool when his head came crashing down each peg towards closer to the ground.

“Lian watch out.” Shouted Taylum again.

Lian attempted to hop off the stool before it collapsed but it was too late. The stool bent erratically to the right and broke off it’s four legs from the burly man’s impact. All of a sudden Lian began falling towards the ground following the tiny piece of wooden slab that was the seat. It was a short fall, but his tailbone absorbed the brunt of it.

The crowd huddled immediately around Lian began laughing hysterically, some even falling to the grounds themselves while holding onto there stomachs and drinks as laughter crippled them.

“Dude! What we’re supposed to lay low.” Whispered Taylum in Lian’s ear, helping him stand from his seat.

“What are you? Some martial arts master?” He whispered again.

“It wasn’t me! Some guy in a beat-up trench coat wailed this guy to the ground!” Replied Lian in disbelief.

“I’d believe you but what’s left of your chair is on this man’s unconscious face!” Whispered Taylum in a panic, helping Lian stand.

“C’mon! I found Drock’s brother! Get the fox and let’s get out of here before this guy wakes up!” Whispered Taylum.

Lian nodded his head in agreement. Everything had happened to fast, he found it hard to believe he was even on the ground. Lian paced away towards a stairway on the right while rubbing his tailbone in pain.

“Wait! Where the baby!” Said Lian also in a panic.

“He’s safe. He’s with Drock’s brother.” Replied Taylum.

“What!?” Said Lian.

“He’s fine. He’s in like a VIP room with comfy couches and more importantly food! So I think your fox will agree with me when I say let’s move!” Said Taylum in a hurry.

Lian peered over his shoulder hoping to see the assailant behind the burly man's downfall. To his dismay, he had simply vanished in the thickening crowds around the bar, as if no one had seen him.

“Does everyone think I did that?” Asked Lian while rushing towards the stairs.

“Not me and I’m sure a few others, but everyone else does.” Laughed Taylum.

“OK! These are the stairs! Drock’s brother is a couple of flights up and a walkway down!” Said Taylum.