Emma
Having packed his materials away for now to keep them clean, Kohm got down to business.

Taking a whiff, he was pleasantly surprised by the piquant smell up close. The spices were strong with this stew!

A spoonful of this thick stew brought up savoury onion and pleasant potatoes, and Kohm was pleasantly surprised by the ardent richness of it. Chili and garlic... Now that were tastes he could get behind. It had been a while since a proper hot dish.

The stew coating his throat with it's presence, he dug in for another bite. The meat was tender, and the additional chew of fat chicken skin was a welcome bonus.

Soon, he found himself wiping what remained of the stew off with a final piece of bread, and a pinch of lard, which was downed with aid of the cup of water. Despite him consciously taking his time, he finished a tad faster than he had expected. Just a tad.
Sam
A minute after he finished his stew, Sirdan came by again, setting down an additional glass of water, while he started packing the dirty dishes into his tray.

"Enjoyed your food, Sir?" He said, beaming at him.

He packed the last of the dirty dish into his tray, and added a question, "You don't look like an ordinary adventurer. I haven't seen anyone read in the tavern for quite a while."
Emma
"Quite good. My compliments to the chef, it's been a while since I had such a good spiced stew. Take this from a Siui native!" Kohm nodded with a broad smile. Blindness or not, he could feel the enthusiasm of the elf, and he was inclined to return the favour. 

Warm establishment, good food. What reason did he have to not return that courtesy?

"Of all the things, that was what gave that away?" Kohm chuckled. "I kid. But well, my preference of noisy atmospheres is a bit of a personal choice, I suppose. Most academics wouldn't take to an establishment like this, whether the hearth be warm or not. Not that I'm much of one!"
Sam
Sirdan smiled at him, and placed his hand to his stomach, and bowed lightly to the man in front of him.

"Why, thank you." His eyes aligned with Kohm's, and he blinked for a second - something looked off about this man's eyes... He isn't staring at him, is he? He stood still looking at Kohm's eyes rudely, trying to confirm his suspiscion.

"Indeed, this place serves all kinds of odd people though - but you, you have an interesting air around here. I'm an odd person, too." He sat down on the chair opposite him - yes, chair, for the tavern is luxurious enough to have chair instead of bench (At least on some table).

"Name's Sirdan, an adventurer from New Sunlight - The tavern owner's away, and I'm here to help him take care of the place for a few days. You?" He introduced himself.
Emma
Alas, after so long of not using his actual eyes and a lot of suffering from his awakening in a field to making his way to civilization, Kohm had completely forgotten how to look like he had eyes. Not like he could hide it, because since his eyes got ripped out all he had was two perpetually shut eyelids. He wasn't using a blindfold today because it got stuffy with use, but it would still be quite obvious with a closer look.

"You are a courteous fellow, aren't you? Quite a contrast to your appearance. I suppose that's part of why you would address yourself as odd, but as we know, odd is the norm around here."

Sedate smile on his face, he drummed his fingers.

"I'd say that I'm flattered that you consider me interesting, but well, I get looks everywhere I go, so that would be a silly statement." He chucked. "My, where are my manners? Kohm Fidres, a simple hedge mage at your service." 

Placing his right hand to his left breast, he bowed slightly.
Sam
"Is it? Perhaps I'm too tall and rough-looking to pass as a gentleman." He chuckled. If only Kohm could see, he could see that this man have a face that utterly, totally mismatched his physique - A body made of steel, rippling with muscles and lean bulk - and a baby-like, semi-feminine (By Runran standards), handsome face. 

Sirdan set down the tray of dirty dishes to the side, and nodded in acknowledgement of his bow.

"Good to make your acquaintance, Mister Kohm. I'm a native of the steppe - far away from here, in the wide, wild plains out west. My family's served for generations as soldier for hire, and they - my parents, gave birth to a son who took to the finer parts of life in civilized world quite well." 

"I'm enjoying this tavern work as a vacation - all those jobs can take a toll on your mind - really, it feels nice to sit down and cook and serve others for once." 

When Sirdan finished his monologue, a servant came by and picked up the dirty dishes, taking them back to the kitchen.
Emma
Kohm wasn't unaware of Sirdan's baby-face, but to be entirely honest, baby-face or not, he was an incredibly tall man by the standards of most races, and with the muscles filling in his frame to boot, which was reason enough to be surprised by his conduct and mannerisms.

"I understand." Kohm nodded in understanding. "I worked as a spellslinger for a mercenary band for a good number of years as well before I decided to see the larger world. It was mainly honest work among good friends, fortunately, and there were a lot of fresh sights-" The irony of the statement not being lost on him "-but indeed, the slow life calls for all to take respite at some point. Something which you are taking to it quite well from what I can see."

Seeing that Sirdan was being surprisingly open for whatever reason, he decided to add on a few details of his own. "Well, I shouldn't leave you hanging after you told me so much about yourself. Right now I'm working as a tutor on the runic arts- or at least my personal brand, and what I can say is that the feeling of nurturing instead of blasting is quite a pleasant experience as well, in a way not dissimilar to your job, I say."
Sam
A brief smile came over Sirdan's face, and he expelled a blast of air from his nose. "Mmm. Yes, the slow life is quite enjoyable, Mister... Fidres. First name basis?" He asked. 

"A tutor on the runic arts - Well, if you're open for it, perhaps you could apply for a job at New Sunlight - I always refer most talented adventurers there - they're hurting for mages right now, so you might make some decent money and stable employment there - and if you feel like risking your life, one of those quests could do." He held his hands together, resting his chin on top of it.

"Nurturing instead of blasting... I've been doing both for two years, maybe four? Don't recall very well. It was just... One fateful day, hunting in the field when I found this girl out in the open. Took her in, taught her - nothing shady between she and I, mind ya. Then she ran off with a random girl before I taught her the alphabets."

He laughed,"Afterward, I seems to be running into innocent girls of all sort in need of teaching. Perhaps it is my corrupt heart or something." He said, patting his own chest.
Emma
"Might as well, just call me Kohm, Sirdan." He shrugged. 

"New Sunlight? I've heard good things about them... Well, I'm not exactly looking to risk my poor life much right now, but I might consider checking things out." He chuckled. "My schedule is relatively free, afterall."

After listening to Sirdan's whole story, Kohm quirked an eyebrow at him- something made a just little eerie due to his perpetually closed eyes. 

"Well... That's an interesting story, though not exactly the kind of story you should tell strangers like I, you know? It tends to lead to all sorts of weird misunderstandings."
Sam
"Yes, Kohm it is. Mister Mister here and there's gonna get tedious, aye." 

"Mm... There's plenty of relativel safe quests and jobs around. Plenty of students you can instruct - a lot of rich snobs, and honest kids too - Perfect for income stability and mental stability. You won't regret it, probably." 

He laughed again,"Oh... Hmm, you're probably right about that. Forget it. I'm just an honest man. But I do get some questions some of the time. Not that I mind taking in someone else under my tutelage but, for some reasons... I'm not very popular amongst men." 

Another laugh,"Want anything else - special snacks? Food's on me."
Emma
"I already have a tutoring job, you know, and it's not exactly one I intend on ending anything soon. Probably will take my student on as an apprentice at this rate. I promise to take a look around, nothing more than that. That being said, do tell me more about New Sunlight..." He didn't have much experience with the guilds around the area, so more information from different perspectives was welcome. 

He still desired to get back to adventuring after he completely got back on his feet, after all., and such information would help as he would be based in Salvainia for the forseeable future due to multiple reasons. In fact, he might even join the guild depending on what he heard. This fellow seemed like a reliable source.

Looking at Sirdan's whole figure, Kohm had to suppress his mirth which suddenly threatened to burst from his cheeks.

*Coupling everything I've seen so far, that's exactly why you are such a lady's man, damnit. It's no wonder that you get the attention of the fairer sex...*

"Tutelage? What do you teach, exactly?" While he could guess, it was better to hear it from the man himself. "As for snacks... Well, if you are offering, just whatever you think is good, thank you."
Sam
"Huh - Well, if you plan to stay around here, I am sure you could just rent places in New Sunlight to tutor your students - I do that all the time. I heard they might be working on something for safer practice of magic, or something like that." 

Sirdan simply used his own servants as live target - very inhumane, yes, and he planned to learn a spell to fix that issue - but for now, this will do. 

"New Sunlight's a guild of... Uhhh... What's the hubble bubble. Yes, a guild founded to train adventurers. But really, it is more of a rag-tag guild of cheap hired sword-for-hires and no good, hot-blooded, magically talented teenagers and sucklers refuge. With a lot of experienced, rich adventurers at the top who act as tutor." 

Sirdan tapped his finger impatiently, and another servant brought over a cup of water and a mug of ale. Sirdan took the cup and gulped from it. 

"I teaches melee combat, sword maintainence, horsemanship, fighting - I'm not the most qualified or orthodox swordman, but one thing I have for me is that I've fought and risked my life for real. Plus, I also know some summoning, very handy." 

After Kohm made his reply, a soldier he summoned would arrive with his snack of choice - a platter of fried food: 
4x Pan-Fried, thinly wrapped dumpling with shrimps, and 4x with pork, green onion and a bit of flour
4x Tempura with shrimp - 17th style, no sauce, but adequately salted
4x Fried Falafel with chickpea, with the chickpea having been soaked beforehand to avoid mass farting. 

"Try it out, these are all... Exotic Runran import - at least culturally. Ah, how neglectful." 

Sirdan mentioned, and another servant brought over some soy sauce to dip the dumpling in.