“Ah, so you a- oh.” Jacques frowned. It wasn’t every day that one started talking about dead gods of… sentient blood? He had no idea what in hell he was to think about that. Drumming his fingers against the counter and sipping his drink, he considered what to say.

“Well, uh. It’s a shame that you lost your, sentient blood god?” Jacques stammered, trying to tread carefully. “In more familiar territory, assuming your Great Flow assumes a form of energy just like any other kind of magic, be it the innate energies flowing through the earth, air, and sea or the leylines then I will be able to at least poke and prod. Who knows, perhaps even you could find something out about your cult-ish quarry.” Jacques continued, thinking.

He looked at the alchemist, examining his mannerisms. The man, who could be no older than maybe twenty five, seemed to have the bearing of a man three times his age. His blood red hair, not especially long, but still hanging down over his forehead, gave him an outlandish look. The darkness of his eyes belied little but an endless mystery, the sort of intrigue that accompanies those that society hasn’t immediately embraced. Jacques almost envied him, his experiences. He looked down at the counter, tracing the patterns in the woodgrains. The man was an enigma to Jacques, and he wanted nothing more to unwrap it. For a first meeting there was naught he could do but attempt to begin the process of introduction.

“The Church itself seems harmless enough. No worse than the endless amounts of other religions in the world. Perhaps yours is the right. Perhaps the Thaynes are right… then again those aren’t so much religions as cults.” Jacques said, raising his eyes to meet those of Nevin. Staring into them intently, he frowned as if something bothered him about them. Jacques shook his head and opened his mouth to speak.

“If you wouldn’t mind, perhaps we could move to the backroom? I have notes back there, perhaps we could exchange some information. But there is one matter to attend to before that.” Jacques continued as he moved out from behind the bar to stand next to Nevin. “So, while my fascination with your magic is pressing, I do figure this far into our discussion, we should at least get to know more than the details of each other’s sorcery. I’m Jacques, the owner and barkeep for this establishment. As you’ve seen, I’m a bit into the various areas of magic. Mostly to make my life a bit easier.” Jacques said, extending his hand.