Seaside Tavern {IC}

[MerlotBeauty]

When she was a slave, the bustling crowd might not have bothered her. At least as a slave she might have known her place: on the floor, next to the princess’ chair with hands folded and eyes cast down. The trouble was she was not a anymore. Instead of looking down, she looked up at Tobias winking at her. Quickly, she looked away and over to Sraia.

The girl’s heart sank. Another dream shattered.

Sraia promised her a safe home. New clothes, and it had been an offer, rather than a command; the girl would have accepted the offer had she been given a chance. Instead the nice elf girl turned… eerie. Scary, even. She remembered the glowing skin, the speed to which the elf managed to change her attire and weapons. All of it seemed to come and go in span of a few heartbeats. The girl knew magic and danger when she saw it; definitely best to stay away from such things.

Then there was the matter of bandits. The girl knew she was not capable of fighting bandits. As the truth of the quickly deteriorating situation a single tear escaped her eye, despite her best efforts to fight it. She regretted ever coming into this tavern. As if cold, the girl gently rubbed her arms and shivered. A moment later she found herself looking up at Tobias, again.

Barely noticing her own actions, she inched closer to him. At least being near this not-slaver was a comfort. It was odd that she felt closer to him than anyone—he was the one thing she dreamt of getting away from. He was the one thing she knew she could not escape. That he gave her little in the matter of choice was a comfort. The girl’s heart sunk even lower.

Again, she held up the silver coin out to Tobias. Why did he not take it the first time? Didn’t he want recompense for the other slaves lost at sea? All merchants wanted repayment for lost shipments. Slavers were just another kind of merchant. Surely Tobias needed the money for what was lost.

Besides, after what he’d said to her earlier, the girl was almost certain she was now his property.

[Nron]

Praesent found herself being held several feet above the ground rather quickly after leaping on the table and shouting. The Magician had covered the ten or so feet between them in less than two seconds with his size and was currently holding her well above the heads of most of those present in the bar. Praesent did not look at all apologetic about her actions.

"DO I EVEN NEED TO BOTHER TO ASK YOU WHAT YOU ARE DOING? YOU SAID YOU WERE NOT GOING TO DRAW UNNEEDED ATTENTION?" He said, his voice echoing thru the tavern. The majority of the eyes in the tavern were currently focused on the two of them and a number of those present stood up to leave the moment they recognized the Magician, the exact kind of thing he had hoped to avoid. Anyone who recognized him could let slip his title to Praesent and then there would be trouble.

Praesent was snickering in the air, looking not at all inconvenienced by her current situation. "I did! But that wasn't unneeded! How else will they know we want to go on wild and exotic quests if I don't tell them?" The Magician rotated her so that he was 'staring' into her face. Sure enough, Praesent had that small twinkle in her eyes that foretold of long hours of tedious work and putting up with annoying 'companions', all in order to fulfill some farfetched desire she had. The Magician didn't actually mind all that much of course. It was better than having her be bored and ask him personal questions all the time. Not that he would ever admit that to anyone but himself.

"I THOUGHT YOU DESIRED TO EXPLORE THIS ESTABLISHMENT FIRST?"

"I can do that later silly. Right now is a purrrfect time to find something fun to do! Besides, the wait will make the experience all the better!" she responded, a cheerful grin spreading across her face. The Magician sighed and let her god, dropping her to the ground unceremoniously, though her catlike reflexes made sure she landed on her feet. Praesent always landed on her feet.

"FINE. THEN LET US ASK ONE OF THESE 'FINE'... PEOPLE IF THEY HAVE ANYTHING TO OCCUPY OUR ILL SPENT TIME ON." The Magician began to scan the crowd, eying those present. Eventually he decided to just ask anyone in the general vicinity, raising his voice above the clamor of the place in order to be heard (not that it was very hard with the way his voice seemed to work). "MY COMPANION AND I WISH TO INQUIRE ABOUT ANY PRESENTLY EXISTING OPPORTUNITIES FOR EMPLOYMENT IN ANY JOBS OR CONTRACTS THAT WOULD CLASSIFY AS 'QUESTS' OR 'ADVENTURES'. LENGTH IS NOT OF IMPORTANCE SO LONG AS IT KEEPS HER OCCUPIED FOR MORE THAN A COUPLE HOURS." Beside him Praesent began to purr excitedly, grabbing hold of his cape and bouncing up and down slightly. The only thing missing was for her to squeal and the trifecta of annoying adorability would be complete for the Magician.

He really hoped that there would be something to keep Praesent interested.

[Reytrx99]

Galus noted the odd duo. Yes.... they would do. "Hey kid! Over here. And bring your friend! I have some adventures you could do!" He needed a crew, and knew by looking that these two would be perfect.

[May]

He watched Cait walk away from him with something like annoyance on his face. He was not one for being turned down. It happened, as much as he didn't want to admit to that, but it did. But he doubted she was going to be leaving the tavern right away, and it was so early in the afternoon. He'd not let her get away without another shot. Later, after another draft perhaps, when he had a bit more confidence. Or at least liquid confidence that often didn't let him back down.

But then something even better presented itself. He had turned to look at the girl who'd slipped away from him to listen what she was going on about. Bandits? That sounded like a good thing to do with his day. He had nothing better to do but chase skirts anyways. Not that there were all that many to chase in this place it seemed, sadly. And this would hopefully cut any desire to start a brawl later on for the sake of some rough excitement.

He watched as some of the other scattered to find their weapons, he didn't need to. His one was already by his side. He didn't need his armor that moment, he'd be fine with a couple of thugs, no problem. And he wasn't going to be alone after all. He watched the newest new comers to the tavern as he made his way back to his seat to finish his tankard of ale while the others gathered and readied themselves.

[Hale]

Stumbling through the woods and arriving at the Seaside Tavern.
(With dialogue provided by Unlit!*)

While it was not his intention originally, the young hunter found himself wandering through the dense woods when it became too dangerous to keep to the main road from the city. A string of bad luck on his part, gambling with nefarious types to whom he had collected a rather large sum of money from. Well, that rarely ever ends on a good note, within a few hours of leaving the local tavern he found himself being pursued by a group of men who wanted to 'make good' of his lucky streak by stringing him up at the neck. Being lynched was not in his blood, he managed to escape with both the money and his neck but he was not 'out of the woods', not yet. Fortune seemed to be on his side, when he ran into three of the henchmen pursuing him on the road he was nearly run over by one of their horses. He was only able to kill one of the three, wounding a second while the third man fled to rally more swords from the city. It was obvious that he would not be able to travel the roads from there on, so into the woods went the young hunter hoping that he would not be followed.

That was three days ago, had he have stayed on the road he might have reached his destination but the woods was thick and he had not the faintest idea where he was going. During the day he slept and at night he moved in darkness, even his keen eyes couldn't make sense of his surroundings so he had little idea where he was or where he was going. He only stopped once when he came across another road, there on that road he saw a rather large, burly man wearing an eye patch that at first he believed to be one of the henchmen that was pursuing him. With bow raised and an arrow drawn, he stepped out into the man's path and asked where the closest village might be. It came as a surprise when the burly man showed more disinterest in who he was and more annoyance that the young hunter was blocking his path, that was enough for him to lower his bow and ask in a more civil manner.

“I'm looking for a place to... rest, if you can point me in the right direction I'd be more than happy to pay ya for your services.” Grael said carefully, his sharp emerald eyes peered from beneath his hood across to the man who looked apt to kick his ass should he dawdle in his path a moment longer than what could be tolerated. The guy gave Grael the heebie-jeebies, the young hunter lowered his hood and donned his long, brown hair tied-back neatly behind his head. The silence between any response given was the second indicator that Grael might regret ever pointing his bow towards this man, his skin crawled when nary a visible or audible action came from the man for what seemed like hours.

*Finally, the burly man hawked loudly, broke his stare, turned his head, and spat. He wiped his bearded lips with a swipe of a meaty forearm, then he was eyeballing Grael with that single eye all over again. That one eye remained none too impressed with what it was seeing. "Not in the business of taking worthless alms from dirty beggars in the woods," the man said gruffly. "Count yourself lucky I don't take that bow from you and cram it in your arse sideways. And THEN shoot that little arrow of yours right up your bung." The large man sucked his teeth for a moment, that one eye narrowed. "You want a real village, you got a long way to go. But there's a tavern and a few folk live not far back the way I came. Keep walking, and you'll see it. But that tavern's mine, boy. Name's Grim. And if I hear you been pointing arrows around my folk when I come back, well..." The burly man named Grim smiled. It wasn't a pretty smile.

Grael winced at the thought of his bow being shoved up his bunghole, he wasn't even sure if that was possible but what he was sure of was that this man known as Grim looked intent on giving it a go. Grael cleared his throat and gave a curt nod, not really sure what to say but certain that he wasn't going to impede the burly man's travels lest the aforementioned bow-up-the-arse remark come to fruition. The threat sounded familiar in his mind, like something he would say to another; only now it was directed toward himself and that in itself was a terrifying thought.

“Er... thanks?” His voice squeaked unintentionally, avoiding Grim's eye like it belonged to the mother of gorgons. “Safe travels and all that... uh, see ya!” Grael took his leave and ejected himself off the road, disappearing back into the woods without bothering to pay attention to any grumblings the man might make. Charming bloke, Grael shuddered internally.

After getting the information he needed, Grael returned to the woods and made his way toward where he was told the old tavern would be. That was a day ago, the 'Seaside Tavern' was nowhere in sight and by this time Grael was behind exhaustion; he was on the verge of collapse. Because of his flight from the city in such haste, he had no time to gather provisions needed for the road. He had drank the last couple of droplets from the skin and didn't trust the local berries enough to eat. Instead, he ate leaves and caught for himself a small bird that had very little meat to feast upon. Grael was downright livid, he was starting to think the burly man had played him for a fool; his anger was probably the only thing that kept him on his feet. A day's travel was not exactly 'nearby', woods or not, his feet were blistered and his throat burned for clean water. Was there not a stream in these woods? He had half a mind to go back and find the old bastard and pepper his body with every arrow in his arsenal, threats be damned, just when he thought the woods would never end he noticed the trees around him were thinning. Hope! Fucking glorious, beautiful, sweet hope was now shining toward him in the form of light ahead with what appeared to be a clearing! If there are gods then surely this must be the place the burly man had told him of, his pace quickened and within no time he came bursting forth from the trees and into grass. He stopped as quickly as the surge of energy had come, his chest heaving, shoulders drooped as eyes caught sight of a building a distance away...

...what steaming, pile of manure kind of tavern is this?!

It looked older than age itself and apart from a small lean-to kind of hut and some stables it seemed the only building around, Grael had been duped! This wasn't a tavern! It was some godforsaken, derelict shack in the middle-of-fucking-nowhere! The only patrons, Grael was sure, were ghosts and rats! Oh-, his mind stopped when he saw smoke billowing from a chimney stack, not completely deserted but still! What kind of person would come to this place? Grael shook his head and then thought of something else, it was rather remote and that meant the henchmen may not know of it's existence. It was a possibility and while every fibre in his being screamed for him to keep moving, it was his exhaustion that bade him to stay and at least find out what it was like inside. Less people meant a less likelihood people would grow suspicious of him, after-all, Grael was just an innocent hunter looking for a place to lodge for the night and possibly enjoy a warm meal and a cold pint. Gods, he prayed, if you fuck me on this I swear I will raise an army in hell and march on your cloudy gates!

Too tired to be indignant, Grael muttered and plodded along the grass toward the building that looked like it was about to collapse at any given moment. A small woodland creature bounced merrily across his path, he careened toward it and gave it a firm boot and sent it flying off to the side with a loud 'squeak' sound before a 'thud' could be heard once it made impact. If Grael was a crusty character prior to his excursion through the woods, now he was one hundred percent, bona fide asshole. At least it wasn't terribly bright out, thankful enough that there was some cloudy overcast. Hopefully it wouldn't be as miserable as the storm that passed a few days back, it had come during the night and Grael had not thought to put up any shelter. Being rained on while marching through complete darkness is like getting pissed on after getting kicked in the-

“Finally... huff... here.” He wheezed as he stood a few feet away from the door, looking up at the old sign with the painted mural of a building with the sea in the distance. He could smell the salt in the air and hear the occasional gull mewing but the ocean was not really in sight, maybe that was back before there were trees in the way. He furrowed his brow and looked back down to the door, noticing for the first time that he could hear voices coming from inside. Sounded important, not important enough for him to wait until it died down before making his way inside. To hell with that, Grael grimaced and yanked the handle until the door was ajar, he listened again and thought he heard the word 'bandits' being said. That wasn't a good sign, he wasn't a bandit though... just an extremely talented hunter with a knack for gambling, as he discovered in the city. Stop dillydallying, he commanded himself and then stepped through the door and closed it tightly behind him. The scene was less abysmal than what he had imagined, still not as cushy as any city tavern but it did have a certain 'homely' quality to it. The people, on the other hand, were a ragtag group of what appeared to be misfits and an odd looking bunch. Even those behind the bar proper seemed out of place, no surprise given the clientele.

“Still beats bushwhacking.” He consoled himself, looking around once again toward the group that seemed deep in conversation, tilting an ear to see if there was any information to be gained. After a moment of listening, he concluded it was not really helpful, turning his attention toward the bar and grinning at the thought of food and drink. Now that captured his interest, he sashayed his raggedy form across the floor and stopped shy of the counter and looked around for the barkeep.

“Grog! Mutton! I don't care if it's still breathing, put it on a plate and if you have broth, bread and some jellied preserves I'll name my firstborn child after you!” Grael bellowed and leaned forward intently onto the bar top, feeling his body shake at the promise of food and drink. He could smell wonderful things cooking in the kitchen, the stench of old ale wafted into his nostrils and given the weakened state he was in would almost be enough to intoxicate him. He didn't care if he became sick with spirits, he was going to get right plastered and put the last three days out of his thoughts for good. He hoped that the rest of the day could go by without event, he felt eyes on him after his abrupt announcement but internally paid as many 'fuck yous' as a man good conceivably give.

[Aydan Tenaebra]

“It might be best to go back to the tavern, first. If Jorn is not there we can at least ask around and find out if anyone has seen him.” Thelus added...

“Gods,” He winced after the spasm continued, “...tell me you have some of those herbs you offered from earlier?” even he had his limits to how much pain he could tolerate...

“Just give me a minute.” Thelus nodded, turning back to scan the woods ahead of them.

Aleria eyed him from beneath her hood with a small smile. Slim hands sifted through the contents of the bag at her hip before producing a small pouch that smelled an odd mix of sweet and bitter. Taking out a small pinch, closed the tiny pouch and returned it to her bag. She moved directly in front of him and stopped, "Hold out your tongue. This will help."

As she waited for his compliance she scanned the woods a moment. Alucian would be just fine on his own, so there was really no need to track down this berry patch and ruins. Not that she could see anyway. No, she could agree with Thelus that it would be better to return to the tavern and look for the boy. The herbs in her hand would ease the pain the warrior felt for a time and allow for them to look for Jorn without much trouble. When and if he did as she asked, the small Drow would reach up and drop the pinch of powdered herb on the warrior's tongue.

[tirgesfu]

Tobias to Eleri and Sraia

He looked over the said Bandit Hunters with amusement. He had no doubts that they would just be targets for another robbery. Not him of course, and not this little blanket ship fleeing salve or Sraia and her blue headed pet. He would make sure of that. And maybe there would be something in this for him. Maybe something more than just entertainment.

“All right then.” He smacked his tankard down on the table. “You all heard the wench, I mean the huntress leader. Let’s move out.” He winked to Sraia and then moved toward Eleri. “You are coming with us.” He moved his head close to her ear and whispered. “Because you want to. Because left here you will be in chains before the sun sets. Because if you behave the bandits will leave you be and I will be nice. Because you want to see me nice.” He pulled back and grinned at her. It was not a happy face let’s be friends sort of smile. It was a do as I say face, with a smile thrown in.

He put his hands on the back of Eleri’s chair and looked to Sraia, “She’ll come with us. What was her name again?” He pulled out her chair waiting for her to stand.

To Puli he nodded quickly, “Let’s go kick some bandit’s soft behinds, shall we?”

He actually added a real softer sincere smile to Sraia, “And I will get to see if you really know how to use those fancy things in your hair.”

Gnap underground


“Am I lost?” Gnap cried out in a whine but soft call. He could not remember where he was. Oh he knew he was underground. He knew he was holding feathers. He knew Todelu was hurt. But shouldn’t they be out of here by now? Were they getting any closer? And what the heck were Angel and Adler doing, playing games? Children all of them.

Gnap finally just stomped his foot to get their attention. “Can we just get out of here please!” If they were all going to just fool around in the dark then he would just have to take charge. Any direction was better than just standing here.


Jorn

He sat in the middle of some weird circle he had made for reason he couldn’t even remember. He shouldn’t have let them wonder out without him. He should have stayed with Thelus. He finally stood and dusted the dirt off his trousers. He would go to the only place he knew to go, back inside the tavern.

He was surprised how full the place had gotten. But some were leaving. In fact the woman who stood along the path earlier was gathering them for something. Jorn nodded to her not sure she would remember him of even have time to notice him. He remained by the door and tried to understand what they were all doing. It didn’t matter very much really. He would blend into the wall or counter or table even if he could.

[Fallenreaper]

“SSSHHHHHH!!! Calm down Gnap,” Chided Angel, her eyes tense and looking as if all the world he was a child,” You will wake up Harry and then we are all in trouble…”

Never the less he was right. They’ve been down here to long, much to Angel’s dislike as she turned Adler about. He was frozen in some sort of stasis, mind gone as he moved stiffly like some bot or cheap toy in her room. Her hands gentle and coaxing, while Grism seemed to toy with Todelu making her realize how fitting it was he was so easily distracted with a kitty. A human one but a kitty never the less, her eyes narrowed watching the holes that lined the walls of the greenery with her ‘little brother’ getting impatient and whining. His foot stomp echoed causing her to become high on alert.

“Grism, play while you’re moving please? Lets go this way…,” Angel spoke as she held her hands against Adler’s shoulder steering him into the direction she wanted to go.

Minding the plants and their strange flowers, she made sure to step on the right tiles and skipped about to avoid them. It was like a ballerina dance with Angel tittering to and fro around the former eagle man, his form ridged and not fluid while she danced about. Grism merely ambled about; his tongue still flickered and jerked out at her with gleeful mischief as his clawed feet moved. One and two, then three and four in a steady pace that didn’t jarred or hurt Todelu in anyway while he moved towards the end of the room.
Upon reaching Angel stopped Adler with the flat of her palm while darting her red head out. Flipping her hair about, vision darted one way then another as she scanned the hallway. Nothing…,” Alright looks safe..”

~~~

Harry deeper in the ruins.

A crack and boom, Gnap’s loud shout rumbled deeper into the tunnels and halls. The foot stamp was only the mere topping echoing into the recesses as the vines of Harry stirred, stretching and snaking their way about the king’s corpse coffin. The air stuffy, stale from centuries of lacking life save for the sole inhabitant of this large room. Gold coins jingled softly with the movement while flowers reached for the roof as if seeking sunlight that would never reach the dark ruin depths. The sound disrupted his sleep but not enough, the plant merely shifted and rolled back over into a lighter slumber.
Harry was slowly waking up…