Gill-outine

You think after several training sessions, both for oneself and instructing someone else, a person would take a break. But there wasn't time for that! Or if there was, Vertina wasn't making time for it. Not when she could be learning things to help with the matter that Tolbana has taken in a lot more people than originally intended. People that needed work and food, and it was stretching the limits of what her hired staff could do.

"There should be enough stored in the cellar to last you a week or so," murmured the Salamander brewster as she pulled shut the doors leading back to the distillery. "I shouldn't even be gone that long. But the sooner I get started on this venture, the better it will be for us and for the business."

She's just trying to not think too much about some of the other consessions she made to get her would-be instructor to agree to it.

So the rumor going around is that the purveyor of the Dragon's Larder is learning to cook in order to make the tavern have both booze and food. And so that's part of the reason why Kaydon has made his way down there. He opens the door up and slides up to the bar, "Hey Vertina, you still open?" He asks, hoping she actually is, because he really needs a favor from her.

"The place rarely closes!" Vertina replies as she turns her head. "I was just making some preperations before getting back to work training. If you're looking for Arashi, she's out working on what I've been teaching her."

"Actually I was looking for you." He says, as he lifts up his left arm and plants it on the bar counter, with the fish still attached, "I need your help." He motions to the piranah, which is dead but it definitely still chomped down on his arm.

"... That looks uncomfortable, I'll skip the something smelled fishy jokes." Vertina rests her hands on the bartop in order to lean closer for a look. "... This wouldn't happen to be from the same place that Arashi had that 'Weight of the Ocean' debuff from, would it?," she asks, even as she slides back and ducks behind the counter for a moment. "Going to need the proper kind of knife for this sort of task..."

"Actually it is." Kaydon replies, as he hmfs faintly, "Best I can tell is when it latched on, I managed to kill it, but the jaws won't let up." If Vertina checks she can see his HP is constantly dropping and has been for days, "Actually hang on a second." He pulls out a health potion from his inventory and chugs it real quick in order to top himself back off, "That's better. This has been kind of annoying.."

"My guess is the little bastards somehow lock their jaw, so it doesn't slack even if they suffocate being out of the water." Vertina comes back up with a fillet knife in one hand. "Or just die and pixilate." She notices the empty potion bottle and chuckles softly. "We can deal with that after the fact. Lay your arm out across the bar, with your fishy friend up." She grabs Kaydon's wrist with her free hand to brace his arm. "I think if I can clear off enough layers to get to the jaw bone..." Now she's partially musing to herself. "Hold still... and be glad it's not a blowfish."

"From what somebody told me you can make a nice meal out of it once you get it off." He says, as he lays his arm across the bar and takes a seat on one of the stools, "Figure once you get it off of there, it must turn into some kinda food drop." But he's disciplined enough to be able to hold still for her.

"Another reason to be glad it's not a blowfish. I sure as hell don't have the skill for that yet, game mechanics or not." As is Vertina has to be slow and steady, so she doesn't accidentally cut into Kaydon's arm instead of the fish as she's peeling back the scales, and then the flesh underneath.

"No kidding. I dunno if anyone has the skills for fugu yet." Kaydon replies, "I never had it before, of course. Don't wanna take that kinda risk when you can't just wake up at the cathedral.."

After cutting back several layers of fish Vertina sets the fillet knife aside and grabs a larger kitchen knife. "Okay now you -really- need to hold still a moment..." She wedges the blade in tip first, and gives the butt end of the handle a solid smack with the heel of her hand to drive it in. And again. And a third, which causes a hard to describe sound as the body of the piranha is severed from it's jaws. With no body to pressure them shut the jaws release, falling off Kaydon's arm and flickering away as the debuff status is cleared.

While Vertina grabs the body, goes back to the first knife, and continues cutting. She'll get a good stock of fish fillets from that, especially with Salamanders posessing Hunting as a racial trait to ensure the quality of meat drops.

Holding very still as she bashes the knife in, and then when she finishes and the jaws release, he lifts his arm up and rubs it a few times, "Damn. Well I suppose that's certainly one way to do it." He says with a bit of a grin, "Well done. Thank you." He says, as he takes hold of his wrist and rubs it a bit with his other hand.

"Glad I could help." Vertina sets the knife aside as she finishes, and reachs over to place her hand over where the fish had been clamped on and apply some of her Light healing. "There." Then scoops up the fillets. "And these will go great towards the cooking lessons, I'm sure. At least more useful than dangling off your arm."

"I can see why Arashi would come to you for healing training. Just think you can beat someone to a pulp and then heal them back up." Kaydon says with a laugh, "Might come find you when I wanna learn cooking. You know after you're a master chef." He doesn't get back up yet, "So can I get a beer while I'm here?"

Vertina chuckles. "That's well of a ways off. I'll just be glad to be able to help keep all these extra refugees from the invasion fed... of course, it's good business for the tavern as a whole." She wanders back into the small kitchen area to deposit the fillets, and comes back with a beer for Kaydon. "I honestly wasn't sure exactly -how- to teach such an abstract source of strength... but it turns out that funky sword of hers has a 'light' side as well she can use as a focus. I could preach the virtues of chi meditation for days, but having something she can visibly see results with will help in the long run."

"Interesting.." Kaydon muses, "Honestly I have no idea how one learns magic...I don't think it was possible before, you know..." He makes a general motion, "Everything." He shakes his head a little bit, "I've been learning how to do enchanting myself...Got this weird idea in my head."

"Tend to be the best." Vertina gives a nod, then goes to pick up her own stuff. "Will have to come back 'round to tell me more about it sometime. I gotta check on Arashi and then get on with my own training."

"Alright, well." Kaydon rises up from the stool, "Lemme just grab an ale to go, and I'll get out of your hair." He says, giving Vertina a grin, "Mind if I head back and help myself?" He tosses a few coins onto the bar to cover the tab for what he plans on taking.