A little detour for a snack.

Alyssa takes off through the winding streets, when suddenly her stomach starts to growl, which reminds her that apparently with her VR-Pod, if she eats in-game, it releases nutrients into her system, one of the benefits permitting players to stay in-game for longer periods than the basic headgear. Slowing down, she glances about at her surroundings, before noticing a small restaurant nearby, with delicious smells emanating from within.

Entering the seemingly unnamed eatery, Alyssa is greeted by a nearly empty room, with a tired dwarf at the counter, who perks up upon seeing her.

Dwarf: "Hello lass! Welcome, please, come in, come in, we are open, I promise."

Alyssa walks up to the dwarf, questioning why it's so empty in here.

The dwarf appears a tad upset for a moment, before answering. "If you must know.. this city hates non-humans, well.. non-officially, officially it's a "paradise for all races to co-exist" blah blah blah, yet most of them bleedin' human folk don't give a rat's ass about us demi-humans." "Now of course that's not everyone's view, but overall.. my kin, the elves, the orcs, and a few other intelligent races just tend to be looked down on here, so when word got out that I, a dwarf, owned this humble restaurant, and wasn't just the chef, well... soon my customers dried up.. luckily I still get enough to live on.. barely, but I just have to make do here, can't go anywhere else these days, what with war'a'brewing and all."

He sighs gently, before putting back on his business smile. "Now.. what can I get you lass? Our special today comes with Roast Boar, breaded duck, and a honeyed pudding, and to pair, I'd recommend the "Gleaming Paradise" to wash it down. Or if you want, I can get you the menu."

Alyssa: "I'll take the special, it sounds delicious thank you, but what's the price?" she asks a bit apprehensive.

The dwarf looks her up and down for a moment. "Well lassie, you are quite the looker, and seem nice enough, normally I'd give you a little discount.., but as I mentioned earlier, I am barely making a living as it is, so I'm afraid the price will be 8 silver and 40 copper. "

Alyssa: "Well.. that's not too bad I guess, puts a small dent in my budget, but sounds alright." she draws 9 silver coins from her inventory, and after a minute, the dwarf hands her the copper change back and goes off to the kitchen to prepare the food.

Alyssa waits patiently, watching the only other patron, reading while eating a bowl of soup incredibly slow, when the Dwarf returns behind her with a tray covered in plates of meat and pudding, and sees where she is looking. "That guy is here nearly every day... always orders the same soup and just reads for hours.. hardly says a word to me besides when he leaves.. don't rightly understand it.. but I won't say no to coin," he says, setting Alyssa's plates out in front of her.

After watching the soup-eating man for a moment more, Alyssa turns her eyes to her own food, the breaded duck looks practically identical to fried chicken tenders, and the pudding looks delicious, almost like a flan, but oddly square. But the boar is...extreme, an entire Boar's head, with an apple in the mouth of course, graces the back of a massive platter, the rest being covered with various roasted chunks and slices of boar meat. "Wow... this is more food than I expected for the price, and it...smells incredible." Alyssa stares at her food, mouth-watering, and stomach growling, before finally remembering to dig in, she has never had boar or duck in real life, but both are intensely juicy, the breading on the duck nice and crispy, and the meat reminds her more of pork than chicken, the boar's meat is seared and roasted to perfection, having a mild nutty flavor to the meat, but when she finally tries the drink, she's surprised, It's possibly the strongest alcohol she has ever tried, another glass of this.. and she would be wasted, even this one glass is enough to get her tipsy. Finally Alyssa tries the pudding, whose' sweetness radiates perfectly with the juicy umami of the boar. Eventually Alyssa collapses back in her chair, very full, very satisfied, and slightly drunk. "What... was that drink? It was...so strong.."

The Dwarf laughs at the girl's question "That was grade A real dwarven ale, straight from the Dwarven Capital of Ven Ladur, the Gleaming Paradise for all dwarven kind, hence the name."

Alyssa realizes that she's been here far too long, and needs to get going to finish her quest now, but as she stands up, she feels quite wobbly from that single ale. "I.. need to get going sir, but I promise.. I'll visit again for more of your delicious food and ale, and I'll bring my friends!" The dwarf says nothing, but inside, he is a bit touched that she promises to come back, used to the few customers he gets these days never returning, or hating the food for one reason or another. "Maybe these Immortal ones aren't that bad..." he thinks to himself.

the now drunk Alyssa stumbles out of the restaurant, before continuing towards the dockside brewery.