<div class="floatleft">(https://i.imgur.com/1pvC3a3.jpg?1)<br/><div align="center"><em>Hodge</em></div></div><br/>The door to the Applebarrel Alehouse opened, the afternoon light filling the mostly empty tavern. There was a bar to the right of the door, where a tall, muscled man in relatively cheap clothing was leaned over the bar counter, in the midst of a harsh conversation with another, much better dressed man in a wide rimmed black hat, who was facing away from the door, his face indiscernible.<br/><br/>A dozen tables and chairs were scattered around the room, with the left half of the room elevated by a step up to a higher floor where there were more tables and chairs, and a fireplace smouldering on the far left wall. The room smelled faintly of apples and, as Miriel looked about, she could see hooks on the walls where censers hung perhaps five feet apart, emitting faint wisps of smoke, giving the place its pleasant apple smell. Two chandeliers of candles hung over the room, which might have appeared gold once, but the gold paint that was trying to obscure its iron roots had chipped off in places.<br/><br/>Hodge, the muscled man, stood up from behind the bar and looked to the young half-elf, and then back down to his companion. He had a thick brow and through the thin fabric of his shirt, the muscles of his shoulders and arms bulged upward betraying his incredibly strong frame. The man who sat in front of the bar didn’t bother to look to the door, but only nodded to Hodge, who then moved farther down the bar towards Miriel.<br/><br/>“Get you something?” Hodge asked, his voice was gravely, his timbre rich and pleasing. He put his hands down on the counter, the big muscles of his arms flexing as he watched her. The strapping half-orc came in then, through the main door, standing beside Miriel as she pressed up against the wall. The half-orc gave a smirk as he blocked the door, his eyes carelessly and wantonly exploring her body.