Jolly brevity and flagons clanging and clashing filled the cramped the Tavern of the White Horse. Most patrons were drunk and complete strangers to the establishment. Refugees likely spending their last bits of rescued money to drown away the poverty they'll be facing for the rest of their lives. Oh sure it looked like a cheerful sight but to those who could see it for what it truly was, the whole scene was pitiful. Only one of the current patrons displayed a more appropriate mood to the rather somber and depressing world that was slowly getting grimmer each and passing day. An Elven bard sat towards the back of the tavern, far away from the entrance, with her head and arms resting gently on the table she had to herself. She wasn't swollen with grief or despair but rather boredom.... At least it was better than that false cheerfulness.
Ellaria Marcell, the Emerald Bard of Val Royeaux, sat bored out of her mind, tapping her fingers on her table to a beat she made up in her head. Very quietly she sang along but nobody in their drunken stupors could hear her. But she didn't care because she didn't make a living off playing for tips, she was merely passing the time until something interesting would happen. Not to overlook the numerous contracts she had to carry out certain "work" that required discreet hands, but she just didn't really want to do any of that now.
As Ellaria kept playing a song along in her head, a man came up, stumbling as he did so, and dropped a silver coin on the table in front of the Elf. Such an insignificant amount didn't even attract Ellaria's attention to the coin or the man. His loud shouting did.
Ellaria's beat stopped as the man kept shouting for her attention and finally out of annoyance, the bard looked up and locked eyes with the man. He looked like a sailor just wasting away his recent voyage's pay. He was fat but not obese and awfully sweaty, likely due to all the drink he put away in his time. When Ellaria finally met the man's gaze, he stopped his shouting mid-sentence and sat there in dead quiet for a few seconds before finally finding his place again. "Hey! Hey! I want you to play a song for my friend over there!" The sailor drunkenly pointed over in some direction that Ellaria didn't even so much at glance at before continuing. "If ya know that song, Drunken Sailor..." He stopped unexpectedly and Ellaria gave him a few seconds to pick back up but he never did. It was like his brain died right then and there. He was probably trying to work that little wheel of his and summon up a joke or something about his friend being "the most drunk" or some stupid thing. Whatever it was Ellaria didn't care.
Turning back away, Ellaria slowly slid her arm across the table and shoved the silver coin off the table. It landed on the floor with a ping and Ellaria hoped that was the end of that conversation. She didn't play for coin (unless you were stupid enough to give her a large sum), but at least being offered coin for her music was a nice change of pace. Men would usually offer it for a desire a bit more primitive.
To the utmost annoyance of Ellaria, a second man came up to join the sailor. The two of them looked at each other and shared a brief exchange, using the ambience of the tavern to cloak their conversation, before turning their attention back at the Elven bard. "Hey!" The second man shouted. He kept shouting it to, but it didn't take as long for Ellaria to bring her attention to this second man, more out of anger than anything else. The second man displayed anger that probably matched Ellaria's temperament right now. "My friend offered you to play a song. He likes you girl. You should be nicer to men who like you." Ellaria clenched her teeth in fury as she knew where this conversation was going. The second man placed two gold pieces out on the table. "My friend isn't the... best with women and has never been with one." The man scooted the three coins closer until they just reached Ellaria's arm. It was at this point, Ellaria looked over at the first man who was now pooling in sweat, erect, and expressing complete fear in the tension mounting behind just what the answer could be.
Ellaria quickly rose from her seat, a sour scowl on her face. She slammed the table and was about ready to yell at the two idiots when...
"There are demons in the city! They're just underneath the bridge, a Templar is fighting them all by herself!" A man barged in, slamming the Tavern door open drawing all the attention away from what was in front of them to the man yelling about a Templar and demons. Even the two idiots who were standing before Ellaria. Her blood cooled a bit as a mischievous grin formed along her face.
Clung!
The second man was startled at the sound as he quickly turned around to see the cause of the noise. Right as he did, the blunt end of an axe came crashing into the man's face, right on the nose. Laughter soon followed as he heard hurried footsteps run towards the door. When the man was done nursing his, now broken, nose he pulled himself up using the table and noticed that his two gold were missing.
A light chuckle soothed Ellaria's earlier mood as she ran two gold pieces through her fingers. The easiest money she had ever made and she held no remorse for those two drunken idiots. Those two pieces were probably the man's savings for some time and maybe he even did intend on using it to get his friend laid but now that plan and those gold will never be seen or heard of again. Now time to see all this fuss about a demon and whatnot. Someone dying was better than sitting around that Tavern and if the Templar died, it only meant a body to loot. It was a win-win.
--
When Ellaria got to the bridge in question, people were gathered on one side looking down. A boat was slowly being taken by the current away from the bridge with a large, armored woman fighting three demons on the ship's galley, just like the man said. However what was undisclosed was just exactly happened before the demons. Bodies lay prostate all over the ship but one in particular caught her interest. The only body on the galley...
Ellaria had seen that face before so quickly she dug into a pouch located on her belt and dug out some crumbled pieces of parchment. She flipped through them to find that same face was also on one of the wanted posters but the money wasn't for his death, it was for his staff which he reportedly stole. That was the item someone would have to retrieve to get the bounty and there the staff was. Laying on the galley of the ship. "Oh happy day!" Ellaria sang in thrill. This day was turning out to be a good day after all.
Ellaria pushed and shoved her way to the front of the crowd and mounted the bridge's railing. From there, she leapt and grabbed a hold of the ship's mast. The crowd collectively gasped as they saw someone fling onto the ship. From there, she slid down the mast until her feet landed on a platform halfway up the mast. Taking no time at all, she found a rope rigging that would swing her towards the cabin of the ship but also where the fight and more importantly, the staff. She cut the rigging and swung up, releasing the rope timed just right so she glide up to the galley.
Ellaria paid no attention to the Templar woman as she drew her short sword and her tomahawk and charged for the staff. Of course she drew her weapons for the very reason of one of those creatures getting in her way. One of them, the farthest away from the Templar but the closest to the Bard, charged Ellaria with no hesitation. Ellaria breathed out a "Ha!" as she rolled to left. The creature quickly turn and swung his massive arm at the elf. "Way hay and up she rises Ellaria broke out into song as she dodged demon's attack. The demon unphased by his lack of success so far, continued with a barrage of pounds and swings. Ellaria kept on dodging and singing. Way hay and up she rises! Way hay and up she rises early in the morning!
Ellaria's dodges just looked natural and the demon landed nothing. Finally, she went on the offensive when the verse kicked in. Shave his belly with a rusty razor! Ellaria ducked and sliced at the creature's belly. It cut it but not too deep. She rolled to the side, dodging another pound that was designed to smash the elf. Shave his belly with a rusty razor! Ellaria swung and planted her tomahawk right into the creature's shoulder. She pulled it free and leapt back just as the creature swung wildly with it's arm. Shave his belly with a rusty razor early in the morning! Ellaria countered the wild swing with a swift stab to the creature's belly before pulling it out and leaping back out of reach again.
