“Life at sea can get real boring, especially after a while, so of course once we get back on land we let loose with all that pent-up stuff we got, every flavor of it all at once!” - Adishec Ra’Ggurh, veteran sailor, First Mate of an intercontinental trade ship.

“Lady Celeysria! I had thought I spied your figure earlier, but had thought I just be drunk! Haha!” greeted Arquivaldo when Cal approached him after the brawl settled down and the involved sailors either went back to their respective groups, or carried there if they happened to get themselves knocked out in the brawl.

“Nice to meet you again, Captain Da’hock,” replied Cal as she shook the man’s proffered hand and toasted him with the tankard she held in hand. Both of them took a deep drink from their respective tankards before Cal sat down on the Captain’s table, a few people from her group following behind her. “I came a bit earlier than the promised date, since I had the chance.”

The brawl had completely settled down by then, with the brawlers still conscious either nursing their bruises or downing tankard after tankard of strong ale as they laughed and cheered boisterously with their respective crews. Nobody seemed to mind the brawl that just happened, even if they were amongst the ones to sport a black eye or missing teeth, as they seemed to have just taken it as some good fun to be had.

Arquivaldo’s own crewmembers - the ones who had participated, at least, which was not many since his ship had a small crew and part of them were still on board at the moment - had better luck since Avigeya just healed them in passing when the brawl was over. The unliving orcish woman was a strong healer, and experienced to boot, which made the feat an easy one for her.

She had left Uruza’s cuts and bruises alone though, less out of animosity or meanness and more because the smaller half-merfolk woman was still sulking in her seat and best left alone. While Uruza was decidedly a lethal fighter in actual combat, she fared far worse when the idea was to not kill or maim anyone, especially since many of the sailors who were part of the brawl were easily twice larger than her, or even more.

Skills honed through centuries allowed her to easily hold her own when faced with people not too far off from her physically, but when dealing with such physical monsters, there was still little she could do, though they would not have been able to keep her around if she wanted to leave either. Either way, the brawl was a slightly frustrating experience for her for that reason.

Cal watched as a huge, scarred, one-eyed therian sailor who looked similar to the proprietor walked over to Uruza and offered her a tankard of ale in what sounded to her - they were speaking a language she did not understand, probably the local tongue - like a “we had some good fun so let’s have a drink!” now sort of entreaty. The way Uruza grumbled but still took the tankard and drained it in one go showed that she accepted the offer as well.

Avigeya told Cal in a conspiratory whisper that Uruza and that big therian sailor were the ones who had started the earlier brawl, and he was also the one who tossed her out of the door before they came in. Apparently she and that sailor went some ways back - not impossible, as the reptilian breed of therians were known to be rather long-lived after all - and frequently started brawls like these whenever they happen to meet each other.

At the same time, Cal noticed how nobody on the table blinked an eye when Uruza excused herself and left together with the large therian sailor and headed upwards to where the tavern’s many rentable bedrooms were located.

“So, that’s out of the hat now,” said Arquivaldo with a lewd grin on his face as he drank down another tankard of ale. “I hope you don’t be minding some waiting, milady Celeysria, we still be loading good and waiting for stuff for the rest of the week or so before we do be departing as planned.”

“Oh, that’s fine, I’m the one who’s early to begin with,” said Cal with a nod to the unliving Captain. She then gestured to introduce the others behind her. “Those four are students I’ve been teaching over the years, that one’s my nephew and his family, you’ve already met my nieces before, we also got a couple new friends along the way, and that one asked to come along when he heard we’d be meeting you.”

“Oh? Hmm… Lemme guess, you be a descendant of B’eng-Whu I bet? Deities preserve that old rat bastard’s greedy soul,” said Arquivaldo after he took a look at A’ng-Whu’s features. Cal noticed the flash of recognition on the rotund therian man’s face at the mentioned name. “Never seen anyone pick on so well on the idea of trading far and ripping off whoever you dealt with for all they’re worth. I be proud of that guy, honestly. Best trader’s instinct I’ve ever seen, and I’ve be seeing a lot in my life.”

“Y-yes-yes, benefactor-patron, I am the 27th generation descendant-progeny of great ancestor-patriach B’eng-Whu,” said A’ng-Whu with a nervous nod while he grasped Arquivaldo’s proffered hand with both of his hands and shook it eagerly. “The Goldclaw Union-Group forever-always thanks the great patron-benefactor for the enlightment-inspiration so freely-kindly shared-given, yes-yes.”

“Haha, do be chill about it, I be doing no great thing,” said Arquivaldo nonchalantly, seemingly unbothered by the rotund therian merchant’s infatuated look and nervousness. “Back then it was sort of a whim. There be this little guy back then looking at us trading our goods with just the right sort of curiosity in his little eyes, and be courageous enough to ask too! I merely shared him knowledge that be common for anyone in the trade, is all.”

“That he built one something so grand from that little bit of knowledge, be not my doing, but his own,” he added with a firm, respectful nod as he thought of a little rodent-like figure from a time long past. “You should be proud of your ancestor. He be seeing a chance and grabbed it with his claws hard, and never let go, until your Union became what it be today.”