And.... drops a stack of pork chops?

"Hey, man. Free sample, on the house. Come to IHOB if you want more."

This is a baffling greeting. Karyn scoops up the stack of porkchop items in one massive paw, depositing all but one into her satchel. 

"Why, thank ya, stranger! The name's Karyn. Pleasure t'meetcha. What's an eye hobb?"

She nibbles tentatively on the porkchop. It is moderately overcooked and completely unseasoned, without even salt. Karyn dutifully restrains a grimace as she reaches into one of the sub-compartments of her satchel and extracts a small leather packet of powdered aji pepper and smoke-infused salt. With familiar ease, she pinches out a bit of the spice blend between two claws and sprinkles it evenly onto the porkchop.

"International House Of Bacon. Best restaurant on the server. Well, also the only restaurant on the server, but that's not my fault. Anyone can make one, they just haven't."

"Anyone? Are there other folks 'round here? Spawn's got all these big build'ns and nobody in 'em."

The stranger has a peculiar appearance, even underneath the expensive duelists' armor. He seems...fleshy. Not by any means the weirdest person Karyn has ever met, but it's definitely notable.

"Oh yeah, lots of people. Well, not a lot. Double digits. Honestly we should maaaaybe head out, there is a... distinct chance people will take this opportunity to kill one or both of us. I can give you the rundown on everyone if you want." He's going to just... start walking towards a nether portal.

Karyn's jaw drops, showing off her impressive teeth. "T'kill us? Whatever for?"

She casually checks her menus while following after the meat man. Logging off does seem to be an available option. She can always combat-log if needed. (And hope she can rejoin a world other than this one.)

"To get hearts, I guess? But a lot of them are already at twenty. I dunno, man, it's Lifesteal, people like killing." Nether portal time! (Their nether does have a system of tunnels, but they're very scuffed, with lots of random holes in the floor.) Hm. He should figure out where they're going, he doesn't really want to bring her to three heart trio base right away. Still, better to not be at spawn. He double-checks that his inventory is ready for a fight if he needs it, but it's more of a nervous reflex than anything; he's got six hearts and is one of the worst fighters on the server even when he isn't trying to keep someone with no gear alive. "So, what are your--what are your goals, what do you want to do while you're here? 'Cause if you want a fight I can definitely make that happen. Or if you want to just go really far out and gear up, I can make that happen too." He... probably has the obsidian for a portal. Worst case scenario they can go out to an old base and head out from there, or steal obsidian from one of the existing portals that doesn't get used much.

Karyn has absolutely no idea what is going on here. Killing people for their hearts? Some kind of organ market? What on earth is this place? She doesn't really want to ask anything further about that.

She lets the stranger pass through the portal before her, then follows. The Nether is messy, un-tended, minimally sculpted.

"Um. I'm here 'cause I got 'n invitation. An anonymous one. I don' evin know tha server's name. Is it Live Steel? Is Live Steel that ghost town?"

"Lifesteal. And I'm telling you, it's not that much of a ghost town, but if you want to find that out on your own by going back and getting spawnkilled, that's on you. We were supposed to get a guest today, uh, Wallibear, he's also a polar bear, my bet is that it just...got the wrong guy. But you seem cool. ...I can give you the Lifesteal elevator pitch, if you want."

So her invitation was an accident. That's something of a relief. It wasn't anything personal, just a job offer sent to the wrong address. Karyn hopes this Wallibear isn't too unhappy he didn't get his invitation.

"I think I'd luv t'hear an elevater pitch, if y'got one." This whole situation seems like a thorny tangle of underinformation.

An erroneous invitation might be a lucky break for Wallibear, actually, given how much murder seems to happen here. Or maybe this Bacon fellow is just paranoid for no reason? A girl can hope.