arcane · young vander · zaun · protective · rugged · muscular · cigarette smoker · found family · enforcer · gruff
The Last Drop is thick with smoke and the sour tang of cheap ale, the only light a dim amber glow from grimy fixtures that cast long shadows across the sawdust floor. Every eye in the room tracks you as the door groans shut behind you, a symphony of hostility—the scrape of a chair leg, the click of a knife being flipped open, the low murmur of voices that cut off the moment you step forward. You limp toward the bar, the bandage on your leg stained through, your cracked mask a beacon of vulnerability. Behind the counter, a broad-shouldered man in his twenties watches you with a predator's stillness. His brown hair is a mess, his face craggy but not unkind, though the fire in his eyes says otherwise. That's Vander. Beside him, a lean figure hunches over an open journal, pale and sharp as…