Trog's Tavern CCIII

[Reinholdt]

Eep! He's been noticed! By Raril no less! :eek:
Scoot closer to the wall! Scooot clooooser!
*shrinks*

"J-j-just milk and tuna p-please."
One thing that's stayed consistent is his voice at least.

[Rebonack]

That would be an important, easily noticeable detail!

Which means Zee totally misses it.

"Sure thing!" and with that she begins working on a tuna-melt. Because she makes sammiches, silly! Not just bowls of tuna. What would the sense in that be?

[McBish]

Jane keeps watching Reinholdt following his gaze to Raril and wondering what is so scary about the drow.

[Shadow of the Sun]

Kara snuggles up against Raril some more, curling her wings around him affectionately.

Raril is the closest thing she has to a big brother.

[Artemis97]

Raril looks down at Kara and smiles, giving the girl a hug.

Yep, he was real scary.

[Rebonack]

Hugging little girls is terrifying.

Zee finishes off the sammich and passes the plate to Cosmo for delivery. Kitteh now has a tuna melt and some milk! Isn't that great? What more could he ask for?

[Shadow of the Sun]

"How are you, Raril? It's been a pretty long time since we last spoke.

Kara stops snuggling Raril and sits down, near him and her mother, smiling a little. She swings her legs when she's in the chair- they can't reach the ground, because she's all of 4'10".

[Reinholdt]

A tuna melt and some milk for free?

"Thank you."

Oh. Right. Raril might not recognize him. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Reinholdt starts eating, thoughtfully, though his eyes will never leave the drow for a second.

*staaaaaare*

[McBish]

And so while Reinholdt is staring at Raril, Jane is staring at Reinholdt. She keeps sipping her drink, when it runs out she orders herself another one.

[Reinholdt]

The edge of the situation dulling, Reinholdt finally notices Jane. Huh. She's staring at him.

Reinholdt's eyes dart back and forth between Raril and Jane, trying to ascertain who's the biggest threat. He settles for sinking lower in his chair while trying to watch both of them at the same time.

[Artemis97]

"I'm doing just fine." Raril answers. It was true, for the moment anyways. Today had been a really good day for him. "And how are you? Been practicing that juggling I showed you?" He asks with a grin.

The drow knows he's being stared at, but ignores it, for now.

[Shadow of the Sun]

"No, I haven't. I got frustrated, and then, uh, distracted.

Kara blushes when she mentions 'distracted', which causes her rather long and pointy ears too turn a vivid red.

Raril might remember what Sunn told him about Kara's massive crush on Lakshmi.

[McBish]

Well Jane doesn't seem like much of a threat probably, but then again I'm fairly sure Reinholdt knows appearances can be deceiving. And by the way she is drinking she is on the fast track to being pretty drunk soon.

[Reinholdt]

Jane is probably the bigger threat then, clearly. A drunk woman smaller than he is.

Probably a drunken master capable of crushing his spine with a sideways look. And Raril's secret bodyguard!

...
I'm starting to think Reinholdt is becoming more and more paranoid lately.

All the same, he omnomnoms, while watching to make sure Raril doesn't try to cut off the little girl's ear.
And forgets to tip Cosmo.

[Artemis97]

Raril chuckles. "I see... that's understandable, I guess."

He then glances at Reinholdt, frowning. Why the heck was he staring at him like this?

[McBish]

Yep that is definitely Jane, her black eye shows that she is great at fighting. She considers getting a sandwich to eat.

[Reinholdt]

It's a basilisk's black eye of dooooom!

This is going to be a long and wordless night.

*staaaaaaaaaaare at Raril*
*staaare at Jane*
*eeeat a sandwich*

[Shadow of the Sun]

"She's...really pretty."

Her face is very red at the moment, and she's avoiding eye contact with Raril. Kara's never been embarrassed about being a lesbian- to her, it's just normal. But she IS embarrassed about admitting her crush to a close friend.

[Artemis97]

Raril just smiles. "I bet she is."

Another glance at Reinholdt. What was this guy's problem?

"I'll be right back." He mumbles, before walking towards Reinholdt.

[McBish]

Jane stops staring at Reinholdt, apparently he became a lot less interesting, though she still glances at him now and then. She goes back to looking out the window.

[Reinholdt]

Oh shoot. He's coming over here.

Reinholdt shrinks further.

"ItoldyoueverythingIknowaboutyoursister! I'm sorry about the Weald! I don't know really know where she is! Never did!"
...
"Please let me keep my ears."

[Rebonack]

Zee's in the middle of fixing the lil' winged girl some hot coco when the words 'she's really pretty' register with her. Which in turn causes her to quirk her head off to the side a bit and inquire, "She?"

Now, the thing that needs to be understood about Zee is that she isn't from a modern world. Closer to high Renaissance in terms of time-frame. It's also important to note that her culture has a rather decidedly middle eastern, patriarchal bent to it.

Very lawful.

Very traditional.

She has gotten more or less over her shock of people of the same sex showing affection openly. But often times the obvious doesn't register right away. The concept is still foreign to her.

[Artemis97]

"What in the Nine Hells are you babbling about?" Raril asks Reinholdt, entirely clueless. But a flash of fear crosses his face. "Wait... sister? One of my sisters is here? In the Nexus?" The questions were panicked, as was the drow.

[Shadow of the Sun]

Kara look up at Zee, her embarrassment forgotten, although her blush will take a while to fade. She looks Zee in the eyes, her own registering a high level of puzzlement.

Kara was born in Town, grew up in Town, and her family was not exactly traditional. She had two parents, like everyone does, but she didn't have a mother and a father- she had two mothers, and she feels they raised her well. Sure, one of them left, and that's left a deep mark on the girl, but she always had enough care, enough love.

To Kara, someone finding an issue with her sexuality is something completely foreign. For her, a woman loving another women is just something normal. She's been exposed to heterosexual relationships before- she spent a lot of time with her auntie, and is now living with her mother and stepfather. For her, all she really sees is love between two people, regardless of sex.

Suffice to say: she's just as confused about Zee as Zee is about her.

[Reinholdt]

Oh geez, what was this? Rerun night? Was he to be tortured for a location he didn't have again?

"Yes, that one at the other tavern that you were glaring at. Sibling rivalry. Likes kidnapping other elves. I DON'T KNOW WHERE SHE WENT!"

"Please don't hurt me."

[wxdruid]

Thecla will sneak over and try to keep Reinholdt's feet warm...

[Artemis97]

Glaring at? Raril would never dare glare at one of his sisters, unless...

The drow breaks out laughing. "Oh dear gods, you had me scared there for a minute. That's not one of my sisters. That was just Sszinyon. Hehehe..."

And Thecla might pick up that Raril is, in fact, a werewolf.

[Reinholdt]

:smallconfused: "That's just who... Gah!"

Reinholdt starts as a wolf lies down on his feet. He's being way overly jumpy today.

[McBish]

Jane pays her tab and gets up to leave the taverna, with one last glance at Reinholdt, if he sees this glance he might figure out the reason she was staring at him so much, he is hot, and she is blushing a bit as she turns away to leave.

[wxdruid]

Thecla notes the scent of werewolf from Raril as she passes him.

Once she's settled, she looks up at Reinholdt with a hopeful look.

[Rebonack]

There are few traditional families in Town.

Zee's human. Mostly at least.

Raril is a drow and a werewolf.

That's got to be all sorts of weird.

"Distracted by... she's pretty... So you're in love with a young lady?" it's taking her a while to work this out in her mind. She connects that back to what she knows about Aesa. And to other various people she would consider friends.

Certainly against the law of Deios. But... the people here don't live under the same law. Maybe they were created differently and that isn't an issue?

Hmmm...

"Well... Who is she?"

[Shadow of the Sun]

She's a friend of mine. Same age. Her name is Lakshmi...

Kara looks into Zee's eyes some more- while Sunn hasn't outright stated that Kara is Aesa's child, the resemblance is far too close for them to be anything but family. Zee's a clever girl- she'll be able to put two and two together.

I think she's a goddess.

[Artemis97]

"Sszinyon. He's my brother. Well, was. Got cursed and now he's a woman. It's pretty hilarious, really. Just don't tell him that. Her. Whatever." Raril shrugs.

When Jane leaves, he watches her go, concern plain on his face. He was sorry he didn't get to talk to her. He'd wanted to help.

[Reinholdt]

Reinholdt notices Jane leave, but is still new to this whole human thing and attraction isn't usually at the top of his list to consider.

He looks back at Raril. "Then... why were you looking for him or her?"

He looks down at the wolf.
"What?" :smallconfused:

[wxdruid]

Ah well, life is interesting, Thecla puts her muzzle on her front paws and watches Raril.

[Rebonack]

Oh, Zee can tell that Aesa is the mother.

Other mother.

Whatever.

That's easy enough.

She also knows who Lakshmi is. And who her brother is.

That would make Lakshmi Kara's Aunt by bond of marriage.

Which is, frankly, really really weird.

Not technically taboo.

But still really weird.

"Oh. Eerr... I see..."

[Artemis97]

Another shrug from the drow. "I have no idea. Probably wanted to kill him. Although, I had promised I wouldn't try that anymore." He frowns a bit. "I can't remember. Though, that's not surprising."

Raril was absolutely certifiably insane, now. Honestly i wonder what took him so long.

And speak of the devil... here comes Sszinyon.

[Shadow of the Sun]

Step aunt, actually. By strict definitions. As far as Kara sees it...they're not related, they're the same age, and interested in each other. She doesn't see an issue here.

It's also worth noting that incest taboos, while universal, tend to be different from culture to culture.

Kara looks into Zee's eyes, a little confused again.

[Reinholdt]

"You can't remember?! You held me at knife point and threatened slow and painful death if I didn't hand over this Sszyinyon brother sister messed up gender sibling of yours and even when I did you almost cut off my EAR!! Whaddya mean you don't remember?!" :smallmad:

Reinholdt must've failed his spot check.

[Destro_Yersul]

Oh look, it's Endrik as well. He and Sszy have been getting along rather well. Hopefully nobody tries any killing.

The paladin takes a look around the tavern. Who should we ask first?

[Shadow of the Sun]

Sunn smiles and waves as Sszy and Endrik walk into the tavern. She then squints, and stares at Sszy, as if trying to pick out something about her.

[Rebonack]

For reasons of biological compatibility of course. When a species has a genome all full of busted genes it's a good idea to find a mate that's distantly related.

But this is Town, where dragons marry humans and people turn into animals in the pale moonlight.

Things rarely make sense.

And Zee's trying really hard to smile pleasantly.

"Oh, don't mind me. The Being that created my people laid down laws about how we use the gifts that have been given to us. Love included. I'm... just not use to women showing interest in other women is all."

[Artemis97]

Raril doesn't reply to Reinholdt. His eyes were on Sszinyon. The drowess had just heard all of that and was standing near the door, her arms crossed over her chest.

"I believe I need to speak to my dear brother." Sszinyon says to Endrik, a glint of mischief in her eyes.

Raril goes pale. "I don't remember." He mumbles weakly. "Not that it's going to matter."

[Shadow of the Sun]

Kara nods. "That's okay..." She takes a sip of her hot cocoa, and then gives Zee a hug.

Sunn grins at Sszy and Raril. "Just know: if anyone dies, I'll punish the killer."

[Reinholdt]

A pale drow? Oh my. This was serious.

"What?"
Reinholdt turns and looks.
And throws up his hands.
"Great. We have the kidnapper and the torturer in the same building. You!" He points at Sszy. "No more tying up elves."

He points at Raril. "You! No more threatening cats."

[Destro_Yersul]

Of course. Do try not to be too hard on him. Endrik smiles back, nods to Sunn, and decides to try Zee while keeping an eye on the two drow. Zee, he remembers, has always been rather outspoken.

It has been a while. He says, walking over.

[wxdruid]

Thecla is content to watch and listen for now.

[Rebonack]

Kara is offered a warm smile.

And hot coco!

Then the paladin arrives!

"Oh, hiya Endrik. Can I get you anything to eat? I'm pretty skilled with sammich making!" she seems to be missing the nearby conversation between drow and cat completely.

[Shadow of the Sun]

Kara waves at Endrik. She's never met him before, and she's very shy, but a friend of Raril's is a friend of hers.

Can I please have a sandwich?

[Destro_Yersul]

No, thank you. I just ate. Not anything sentient, either. Despite being part wolf, Endrik doesn't go in for that. I actually had questions.

[Artemis97]

Both drow look at Reinholdt, thinking he was rather crazy. Oddly, for the same reason. He was trying to give orders to Sszinyon?

Raril also had the addition of confusion on his face. He really didn't remember any of this.

Sszinyon walks over to Reinholdt, probably coming to stand unfomfortably close to him. A wicked smile plays across her face. "Oh? Really? Why not?"

[Rebonack]

Paladins usually don't eat people.

Just one of those things.

"Sure thing Kara! What do you want?" Endrik is then provided with a quizzical look. "Eerr... Okay. What sorta questions?"

[Shadow of the Sun]

"Uh...a BLT? With mayonnaise?"

Kara's unsure, really. She doesn't have sandwiches often.

[Reinholdt]

Reinholdt stands up out of his seat. Now there's definite uncomfortable closeness going on!
"Cause now I'm actually big enough to stop you physically should it come to that."
Yes Reinholdt. Let the power of being almost six feet tall instead of six inches rush to your head.
Mwahahaha!!

Seriously... weren't you terrified just a few minutes ago? :smallconfused:

[wxdruid]

This is getting curiouser and curiouser. Thecla stretches her muzzle out to try and sniff Sszinyon's feet.

[Shadow of the Sun]

Sunn chips in here, as Reinholdt stands.

"Sszy and Raril are my friends. I'd rather you didn't try to hurt them."

This might not carry that much weight. Sunn is a 5'4" elven woman who is rather slender and isn't imposing in any way. Although her voice does have an edge to it.

[Rebonack]

"Sure thing!" the hydra-girl giggles as she gets to work on Kara's sammich. There's also humming! "Would you like the bread toasted or not?"

[Shadow of the Sun]

"Yes please."

Kara's shyness is most apparent in her voice- very soft, like she's almost trying not to be heard.

[Artemis97]

Sszinyon is even shorter, at 5'2". She is also entirely unintimidated. The drowess doens't reply. She simply smiles, showing rows of teeth filed to points and a set of very long fangs. Her red eyes glitter, daring him to just try something. To give ther the excuse to rip his throat out.

Thecla will notice that Sszinyon is also a werewolf, and she might be able to tell she's related to Raril. They probably smell similar.

[Destro_Yersul]

Just about recent events. Endrik says, slightly distracted. He'd like to be prepared to step in in case 'negotiations' over there go south. Namely, a large number of what appear to be armed cat-people. Dead ones.

[Reinholdt]

Oh my. Those fangs are long and sharp. The better to nom you with my dear.

"Welll... umm... you've been warned! Don't go kidnapping people you don't like and doing awful things to them! Or I'll just help them get free like last time!" Yeah!
>>
<<
Reinholdt slowly starts sitting down again.

...
In all respects, Reinholdt is now probably one of the people he's talking about not to kidnap.

[Artemis97]

Sszinyon laughs a little as she watches Reinholdt back down. She then shifts her gaze to her brother. "Now, what was this about you looking for me?"

"I honestly have no idea." Raril answers, trying to stand a little straighter. "I see you're still... cursed." He says, attempting to change the subject.

"So I am." The drowess confirms.

"Did you still want to know how to fix that?"

Sszinyon thinks for a moment and glances back at Endrik. She looks back at Raril, saying. "Not at present."

"Ookay..."

Sszinyon looks back and forth between Reinholdt and Raril, then walks away, chuckling.

[Reinholdt]

Reinholdt just sits at the table. As Sszy walks off he buries his head in his hands and shakes it, mumbling to himself. "Coward. No one takes you seriously."

[Rebonack]

Raril's 'oookay' seems like a pretty fitting reply, really. Town is weird. But some things are just weirder than others.

Like toasted sammiches!

The BLT is passed of to Kara. "There you go, enjoy!" And with that task done attention is turned to the paladin. "Well... from what's I've gathered they were all enchanted by this evil lich named Cauliflower to attack anyone who wasn't a cat person," Zee explains, getting Cal's name wrong as usual. "And then he killed them all. Probably because he's a bastard."

Her assessment is accurate!

[wxdruid]

Thecla leans her head back against Reinholdt's leg as she looks up at him.

[Shadow of the Sun]

Kara takes her sandwich, nods at Zee in thanks, and then moves over towards her mother. She's a bit uncomfortable with everyone around. Once she's close enough, Sunn runs her fingers through Kara's hair affectionately, giving her an 'It's okay' smile.

Kara nods at her mother and has a bite of her sandwich, which is just how she likes it: lots of crunch.

[Destro_Yersul]

I see. There was a wizard behind it, then. Endrik considers this for a moment. He shall have to be stopped.

[Rebonack]

Om nom nom.

"There are plenty of people who share you sentiment. And plenty of people who have died trying. He isn't the sort to come out in the open unless he has some kind of crazy back-up plan."

Evil liches are irritating like that.

"Though I think there's an expedition gearing up to take him down once and for all."

[Reinholdt]

Well Reinholdt was already looking down. He moves his hands a little bit to see the wolf.

"Oh. You again."
He reaches down to gently pet Thecla behind the ears.
"I betcha you're not taken very seriously either."

[wxdruid]

Most of the times not, until the moment she bites them or brings down the wrath of St Cuthbert on them. Her ears swivel towards him as he talks and she tries to lick his hand in commiseration.

[Artemis97]

Raril breathes a sigh of relief as his brother sister walks away. He flops down in a chair near Sunn and Kara.

Sszinyon crosses the room to stand near Zee and Endrik, listening.

Then deadtime strikes. Art's tired.

[Reinholdt]

Reinholdt makes a face and wipes the icky dog slobber on his pants, though gives Thecla another eat pet anyways.

"That's ok. We still get all the free food."

[Shadow of the Sun]

"I'm gonna go home, guys. I think Kara here has someone she wants to see."

Sunn smiles at her daughter, who blushes heavily.

Sunn then disappears, with her daughter in tow.

[wxdruid]

Thecla's sides heave a little as she wags her tail. A true statement, but she also finds it amusing. If she could, she'd jump on his lap and lick his face, but the furniture is in the way.

[Reinholdt]

"I should go. While they aren't chopping off my ear."

Reinholdt puts the rest of his meal down on the floor for Thecla to eat, giving her one last pat, before heading out and into deadtime.

[wxdruid]

Thecla isn't overly picky and she munches down the rest of Reinholdt's food and curls up under the table to take a nap.

[Who]

Out of dead time comes Francis, not like it matters really.

[Je dit Viola]

Well, Marin the catgirl walks back in. She's still a plotclone, and her metal collar has a little glowy bright blue light in the back (I think...it may not, depending on what my explanation is, but, for now, I'll say it is)

[Who]

Francis gives her a wave.

[Je dit Viola]

She waves back at him, smiling. "Hey, how are you?"

[Who]

"Not bad, a little dizzy. Is the back of your collar supposed to be doing that?"

[McBish]

Jane walks inside, a short women just under 5 feet, and shinny maybe 100 pounds at most. She has short black hair cut in a bob, and is wearing warm looking clothes that seem a bit two big for her, and she has a fading black eye at the moment. She takes a seat at the bar.

[Je dit Viola]

Marin quickly places her hand between her braided violet hair, and the glowing light of the collar, "Yes, I suppose it is," she blushes.

She then glances over at the recent addition, Jane.

[Who]

"Might I ask why? Things don't normally glow without a reason, sept snails I guess..."

He pauses for a moment, what is he going on about?

[Je dit Viola]

"Oh, um...it got activated." That's what she says.

[McBish]

Jane doesn't look up from the bar when she is glanced at. She seems to be thinking about something.

[Who]

"Activated? Activated how? What does it do?"

[Je dit Viola]

"Well..." She thinks of a good way to say it: "You know...how it's a collar? And collars usually come with leashes?"

"Yeah."

[Who]

"Oh...and you're okay with that?"

[Je dit Viola]

"Fortunately for me, a good friend is holding the other side." The catgirl smiles, and blushes.

[Who]

"I see, still doesn't seem right."

[Je dit Viola]

"Well...I trust her. And it's better than somebody else having it." She looks down, kinda embarrased.

Alas, alak, I must leave soon.

[Who]

"Well as long as it's not against your will. Can I get you a drink?"

[McBish]

Jane keeps sitting at the bar drinking only water.

[Je dit Viola]

"Sure." she smiles. Although, she'll most probably leave next post.

[Who]

Francis ambles over to the bar and starts rummaging through his pockets for money.

"What'll you have?"

[Je dit Viola]

"Just...anything." she says.

Which is unfortunate, 'cause I'm leaving for church. Regardless, though...she'll drink it before being deadtimed.

...it better not be poisonous or alchoholic or something.

[Who]

Nah, lime soda. Francis takes his back to his table and starts sorting through the contents of his pockets, there seems to be rather a lot of stuff.

[McBish]

Jane watches out of the corner of her eyes seeing what he is pulling out of his pockets.

[Who]

A small paper bag, a sword, several pieces of clockwork, a pair of slippers and a frog which quickly hops on to the floor. Francis seems rather perplexed as to how all this stuff got there.

[McBish]

Jane would be as well, how do you fit a sword in a pocket. She wonders what else he has in there. She considers trying to find out but doesn't act just yet.

[Who]

Well he's continued rooting and found a pink crystal, a piece of glass with some liquid in it and what would appear to be a tuba. The frog hops towards Jane.

[McBish]

Jane looks down at the frog and slowly reaches down to pick up the frog.

[Who]

It ribbits as frogs are want to do. Francis's table is quite full now, some coins he found have sprouted legs and are trying to escape.

[McBish]

Jane gets up and walks over to Francis's table. Hey I think you dropped this. She says setting the frog down on his crowded table.

[Who]

"Um...thank you."

The frog hops off the table again, Francis doesn't really care, he's too busy trying to work out how all this stuff fitted in his pockets.

[McBish]

Your welcome. Quite a bunch of pockets you have. Your money is running away. She tries to scoop up the money with legs.

[Who]

No problems there.

"I just wish I knew where it all came from."

[McBish]

You don't know where your pockets came from? She looks for something to dump the money in.

[Who]

There's a small bag with the rest of his money in.

"This stuff shouldn't fit in there though should it? I mean pockets just don't work like that."

[McBish]

Some pockets do, if they are magical. Fairly valuable really. She takes the bag and stuffs the money in making sure it is closed tightly.

[Who]

"I guess, wonder where I got them from? I'm Francis by the way."

[McBish]

I'm Jane. You have a lot of problems with your memory?

[Who]

"Like you wouldn't believe."

[McBish]

When did that start? If you don't mind me asking. She sits down at his table.

[Who]

"Since I got here a few days ago."

[McBish]

That's weird. You don't remember anything?

[Who]

"Nothing at all."

[McBish]

That must be annoying. No clues in your stuff? She says looking over the collection of stuff.

[Who]

There's one thing that might catch her eye, it's a silver stick, about the size of a pen, with a small hoop on top of it.

"Not really, going by this I'm a man with a pet frog and magic pockets who plays the tuba."

[McBish]

She reaches up and picks up the silver stick thing. Can't be too many of them around here should be helpful in narrowing it down. If you are from around here.

[Who]

The stick bit of it seems to be segmented in to a few parts.

"Maybe, some of this does seem familiar."

[McBish]

She holds it in her hands looking it over trying to figure out what it is for. Like what?

[Who]

"This building for one."

As she holds it, it starts to buzz and several glass items on the table shatter.

[McBish]

Jane's eyes go wide and she tries to turn off the thing somehow. Yikes. Um, well that's a good start. How did you get here anyway?

[Who]

"I don't know, I was just sort of not here one minute and then here the next."

As he's talking he reaches out and nudges the buzzing thing, it stops. He looks at his hand, not quite sure how he did that.

[McBish]

Well you seem to have a talent for this thing, whatever it is. She tosses it to him continuing to look through stuff for clues to who he is, a wallet with id, a key, some pictures.

[Who]

There's a key, it's attached to a piece of rough string.

"What is it though?"

[McBish]

Glass shattering device maybe. She picks up the key and looks it over. She is something of an expert on keys and locks, and trying using it's size and the style of cut tries to figure out what it might unlock.

[Who]

It would appear to unlock a door. Depending on how expert she is she might get the feeling there's something more to it.

"Maybe I'm a thief."

[McBish]

She flips the key over in her hand a couple of times looking at it carefully. Maybe, the pockets would be useful for a thief. But the stuff you have... I sort of doubt it. She looks him over for signs of being a thief, and she knows what to look for, the right calluses on his hands, the swift and careful fingers, things like that.

[Who]

He's got the fingers, not so much on the calluses though, his body seems pretty clean actually.

"I don't feel like a thief..."

[McBish]

I doubt your a thief, maybe it does something else, or maybe it's broken. Here what about this? She tosses him the key.

[Who]

He stares at it intently for a few second before turning away.

"Ow..."

[McBish]

What's wrong? She says reaching to take the key again.

[Who]

"It makes my eyes hurt."

He lets her, oh and if I suddenly disappear, my apologise.

[McBish]

She looks over the key. That's interested. Might be important. Anything else around her like that?

[Who]

He surveys the assorted junk.

"Not really."

[McBish]

Then it must be important. It opens a door somewhere, that might hold some answers for you.

[Who]

He smiles.

"That means I've just got to find it."

And this is probably deadtime.

[McBish]

Best of luck with that. She says giving no indication that she is going to help him.

[Who]

"Don't suppose you'd want to help me?"

[McBish]

I don't know. You might be a dangerous person. Don't know if I should get involved. She says and gets up as he falls into deadtime and heads to the bar. She starts to look over a menu.

[Reinholdt]

Reinholdt may generally prefer the Taverna Generica, but right now he's avoiding the place.

So back into here the flaming hot hooman walks. And sits.

And sees the drows haven't moved since he left. Huh. :smallconfused:

Well whatever. He ignores them for now.

[McBish]

Jane is there again sitting at the bar, eating some gyro's.

[Reinholdt]

Reinholdt, being a tad less terrified, and a tad more friendly, waves and smiles at Jane this time as he orders.

[McBish]

Jane looks over and recognizes him assuming he is still in hawt human form. She smiles a bit and returns the wave then looks back down at her food.

[Reinholdt]

He is. He tilts his head a bit curiously, then shrugs and goes back to his meal. Jane isn't the only shy one. Though Reinholdt's mostly over it lately, he's not going to anything if she's not interested in talking.

[McBish]

After a bit more eating in silence. Jane gets up and approaches Reinholdt's table. Hi, I wanted to, well apologize for staring last night. I guess it was rude and I wanted to say sorry. She says pretty quickly and it is fairly apparent she doesn't apologize to people often.

[Reinholdt]

Reinholdt looks up. "Rude?" :smallconfused:
Huh. Mildly disturbing perhaps.

He shrugs.

"Don't worry about it. No problem."

[McBish]

Thanks. I um, would like to buy you a drink to make it up to you? Even as she says the words she knows she is being dumb, and it shows in her voice.

[Reinholdt]

"Sure. You pick for me. I'm just used to drinking milk all the time." He motions at the seat across from him and invites her to sit.

[McBish]

Jane sits down across from him and waves down Paige. Um a vodka on the rocks for me, and... a white russian for him. Thanks. Paige heads off to get said drinks.

[Reinholdt]

"So... what's your name?"
Reinholdt tries to avoid staring at her black eye. And succeeds! Mostly!

[McBish]

Well the black eye is fading. I'm Jane. She shifts a bit in her seat waiting for the drinks. Um... how about you. I mean what's your name?

[Reinholdt]

"Name? I'm Reinholdt, Treasure Hunter Extraordinaire." He says, leaving out the flourish (it's hard as a human!) and studying her face carefully for her reaction.

[McBish]

She smiles a bit at this, like he told something of a joke. Really? You hunt treasure? Their drinks arrive, and in case Reinholdt doesn't know what a white russian is, it is an alcoholic drink that is mostly half and half. She figured he would appreciate the cream.

[blackouttwo]

Arthur and Lucas shake off their deadtime, and Lucas walks over to the table where his son, daughter and wife are occupying chairs, sitting down. So far, no luck on the real estate side of things. Found a few good places, but it turns out they were rat-infested, or something else undesirable while the person selling the house was lying about it.

[Reinholdt]

Reinholdt's player doesn't even know what half and half means! He's alcohol ignorant. :smallbiggrin: :smallfrown:

"Well I did once. My time with that is mostly over. Semi-retired."

[McBish]

Half and half is tuff put in coffee, half cream half milk, if I am not mistaken.

So you made yourself a pretty penny doing that I imagine, if you can retire from it. She sips her drink smiling and catching herself thinking about the security this guy must have wherever he keeps his money.

[Reinholdt]

"Well... ummm... thievery and looting do tend to result in large cash flows." Reinholdt winces. He does have a pretty penny and he's not very proud of it.

"What about you? What do you do?"

[McBish]

Jane blinks and thinks for a second, I am an accountant. She lies to him. And while he might not disprove of her real work, she isn't about to announce it to the taverna.

[Reinholdt]

"A head for numbers then? That's admirable. You in your own private business or do you work for a company?"

Reinholdt drinks from his glass. Mmm... alcohol has been growing more and more appealing these days.

[McBish]

Yeah a bit. I do a bit of both, I have steady work with a company but do some freelance stuff on the side when I have time. She continues to sip her drink, wondering if this is how normal people act, by lying to each other all the time.

[Reinholdt]

Oh indubitably. Though I'm curious as to what her real profession is.

"I see. But whatever pays the bills, right?" :smallwink:

"How'd you end up in the ACROverse?" Cause so few PCs are born and raised here.

[Artemis97]

Lillith shakes her head and smiles at her husband. "Oh, Lucas, you can't expect it to be perfect. So we'll have to do a bit of house cleaning. I think we can manage to deal with some rats." So long as they weren't like dire-were-rats of DOOM or something. They could probably handle that, too, though.

Victoria also wakes up, and waves at her father.

At another table, Raril shrugs off a bit of deadtime and picks up a drink menu, debating weather or not to order something alcoholic.

Up at the bar, Sszinyon also wakes. She's not thirsty, though. Which is probably a good thing.

It is a veritable family reunion in here. Let's see what happens next!

[McBish]

I was born in a small village, my parents moved here after a bad year on the farm. They figured there were more opportunities here. She remembers making up a number of stories like these for the psychologists who asked her questions, though she never actually told them any of her stories.

Well she often visits peoples residences and does some personal accounting for them, she figures out what they have n the way of valuables and cash and helps them invest it, in her future, without their knowledge. But only sometimes.

[blackouttwo]

I still refuse to hand a liar any money. Lucas frowns and then spots Sszinyon. Oh, great. Lillith better not look over in that direction...

[Reinholdt]

Reinholdt looks about. It seems Raril and Sszy were still around after all. Gotta keep one eye on those two troublemakers.

"Oh. So you are native to this universe. I see."

[McBish]

Yeah, never really had the opportunity to travel to any other one, so I stayed here. Plus this is where my work is. She shrugs. And I take it that you aren't from this universe?

[Shadow of the Sun]

The door of the tavern opens, without any fanfare.

In strolls a man, tall and lanky. He's wearing a mostly grubby blue jacket, with jeans on underneath. His hair is long and blond, and his eyes seem to contain an odd light.

He's whistling happily, with a lit cigarette tucked into the side of his mouth.

[Reinholdt]

Reinholdt shakes his head. "No. Not from here I'm afraid. I traveled for several years before ending up settling here."

[McBish]

That must have been interesting. She says sipping her drink. So what do you do you do to pass the time now?

[Reinholdt]

"Mostly be bored, visit taverns, and occasionally visit friends." By which he pretty much means Melody.

[McBish]

Sounds nice. She says with a bit of a smile as she drinks her vodka.

[Reinholdt]

"Not as nice as one thinks. To be honest, I really miss treasure hunting. The research. The pyramid ransaking. The cave spelunking. Sailing the seas just to climb impossible cliffs only to find someone's gotten there first."

He sighs and drinks some more. "It was always exhilarating at least. But there aren't really any good treasures around here to go searching for. Heck, half the time you don't even have to try to search, they just appear and you fight a zombie or two and it's yours. Takes all the fun out of treasure hunting."

[Artemis97]

Lillith smiles some more. Her husband could be so stubborn. "Lucas, You are going to be very hard pressed to find a truly honest man, particularly amongst salesmen."

Both drow look up when the blonde man enters. Sszinyon scowls. Raril, on the other hand, just tries to regognize the tune he's whisteling.

[McBish]

She smiles at his description, it reminds her of her heists she pulls, the careful research, the thrill of being somewhere you aren't suppose to be. The challenge of it all. Yeah I can understand that.

[Destro_Yersul]

Endrik seems to have woken up as well. This may provide an additional deterrent should someone decide they want to try and kill Sszy.

[blackouttwo]

...And deadtime. -_- Hooray for school-nights.

[Reinholdt]

Why would anyone worry about trying to kill Sszy?
They should be worrying about Sszy trying to kill them!
At least they would if Sszy was still evil. *poke poke the quasi-villainess*

"Oh well. Can't say it was really all the life for me anyways. Too many things wanted you dead at the end of the day."

[McBish]

Yeah but a little danger makes life more interesting. She says sounding as if she is speaking from experience. She finishes off her drink and waves down Paige for another one.

[Reinholdt]

"Believe me. I know." Been there. Done that.

Reinholdt shrugs and takes another glass as well.

[McBish]

She is quickly running out of topics to bring up and floundering to keep the conversation going. She considers just leaving now before it got too awkward, but she just got a drink, that was stupid, she thinks to herself. After a minute or so of silence she speaks up again. So you live around here? She frowns almost as soon as she says it, thinking that is a pretty creepy thing to say to someone the first time you meet them, and wishing she could take it back.

[Reinholdt]

Creepy? :smallconfused:
Perhaps. Reinholdt wouldn't know.

"Yeah. Have you heard of the Glass Citadel?"

[McBish]

Is that the big glass place that is around here? No duh she thinks to herself. I've seen it once or twice.

[Artemis97]

That's a good way to lose an arm, Rein. She's not exactly reformed. It's just there's a paladin in the room. And she happens to like said paladin. Look, she's even smiling at him.

Raril, for his part, looks a little weirded out by that.

And Lillith, in the interest of keeping her player from going sane, has taken a keen interest in her own children and is largely ignoring the rest of the tavern.

[Reinholdt]

I've yet to see Sszy do something truly evil since she arrived months ago and I'm going to keep poking her until she does.

*poke poke poke*

"Yeah. I live there."

[McBish]

Jane's eyes widen a bit thinking about the stuff he must have in there. That is quite a place you have. Guess you did do well in your treasure hunting.

[Reinholdt]

"Well... I, um, did alright in my treasure hunting. Still alive after all. And I do that Extraordinaire thing. But me living there is not related to my job in any way really." It just... sorta happened.

[McBish]

Really, then how did you get such a big place?

[Reinholdt]

"I only sorta quasi-own it. Well... it listens to me at any rate. I inherited it you could say. Or rather the right to live there and have it listen to me. How... is not something I wish to discuss."

[McBish]

Oh, OK, no problem, I understand... well I understand not wanting to talk about things. She shrugs.

[Reinholdt]

"Don't worry. You know all you need."

He drinks some more.
At least he would. But he's out again. Huh. He looks at the glass.

[McBish]

I wish. She says with a bit of a frown. Bet you have a lot of people breaking into your place and trying to steal all your stuff. Probably have some good security.

[Destro_Yersul]

And the paladin likes her. Funny how that works. Sszy isn't the sort you'd expect to go for a paladin, but there it is. Zee says the cat-people were the fault of a lich. One named 'cauliflower', though I suspect this is an error of her own and not his actual name.

[Reinholdt]

In counter to not seeing Sszy doing anything truly evil, I've yet to see Endrik do anything truly good either.
*pokity poke poke poke*

Reinholdt glances over at Endrik and Sszy and corrects them, having been keeping one eye on them as mentioned earlier. "Calublufiok." Says the resident expert on the lich. He goes right back to looking at Jane though.

"People trying to break in?" Reinholdt ponders.

"No... haven't had any of that unless someone wants me dead. And somehow or another I seem to talk my way out of that. I don't think anyone has ever tried to steal stuff."

[McBish]

Really? Still probably have some pretty tight security right? Gods she thinks, she came here to try and make friends not find a job. She puts on a fake smile.

[Reinholdt]

"Errr... you mean besides the building itself? No... not really. Why?" :smallconfused:

[McBish]

Crap you really suck at social interaction she thinks to herself. No reason, just interested in security, I guess. She looks down at the table and brushes her hair behind her ear, making her black eye very visible. She frowns a bit as her mind is two steps behind her body and figures out what she is doing.

[Reinholdt]

"... Right." :smallconfused:

"Say. How did you get that black eye? Get into many fights as an accountant?"

[McBish]

No not really, but well we all have personal lives right? She frowns and doesn't look up from the table looking ashamed.

[Reinholdt]

"Well I hope your personal life isn't dressing up in a dark suit at night and breaking into hideouts to fight crime. Though that would explain the eye."

Reinholdt smirks. Is a joke.

[McBish]

She shakes her head. Nothing quite that dramatic. I don't think I am quite the crime fighter type. She says motioning to her tiny little body. Its just... you know what just forget about it.

[Reinholdt]

Reinholdt shrugs and drops it. "Alright. It's forgotten."

[McBish]

She frowns and downs what is left of her drink having run out of topics of conversation.

[Reinholdt]

Reinholdt is tapped too. Both in terms of wine and talk.

This is what we call the awkward silence phase.





EMPTINESS

[Destro_Yersul]

That's part of the whole point of Endrik, you know. So quit the poking.

Calublufiok? Small wonder she got it wrong. That name is a bigger mouthful than Sszy's.

[Rutskarn]

The door slams open with a sound like a thunderclap.

Rutskarn stumbles into the scene like a repressed memory. He reeks of spoiled fish and worse, wrapped in a still-dripping greatcoat that's riddled with moth/bullet holes. His hat is tattered nearly into ribbons, trailing like a pom-pom as he staggers towards the bar. It is worth mentioning that from the neck up, he is covered in ashes and unidentifiable slime.

He's also got a #1 foam finger on one hand. It's still smoking.

He collapses into a seat, then raises the finger. "Go ettercaps. Also: something strong."

[McBish]

Yep. She sits there quietly for a bit more. Um, maybe I should just go.

[Reinholdt]

Then I maintain he's paladin only in that he calls himself such.
Besides, I'm poking Sszy. I want her to do horrible evil things to me already! Torture preferred! Death optional!
*poke poke poke*

Reinholdt nods at Endrik. Correct.

He looks back at Jane. "Up to you. It was a pleasure meeting you."

He glances over at Rutskarn. Jane wasn't the only one getting in fights.

[Rutskarn]

Rutskarn takes a swig of whatever's put in front of him. Distantly, he seems to notice Reinholdt's glance.

He turns, giving Rein a slightly unhinged glare. "Direct any questions towards my attorney...fellow traveler."

[McBish]

Jane nods drops a coin on the table and gets up and leaves, frowning a bit.

[Reinholdt]

"... Well bye to you too." :smallconfused: :smallfrown:
Was it something he said?

He looks at Rutskarn. "And your attorney would be whom?"

[Rutskarn]

This seems to give Rutskarn pause. After a moment of stern consideration, he says, "I'm still working on it."

He turns, taking another sip, and mutters, "One of these days, I'm going to murder all of the communists. Every single damn one."

[Reinholdt]

"All the communists huh? Even Magtok? He's a tough one. Clones himself and all that. Power to the people never meant quite so much when all the people are you." Reinholdt orders another glass.

[Rutskarn]

Rutskarn stiffens.

"Maggy's still around?" He turns abruptly. "Wait a minute. AMEN's dead...isn't it. I was under the distinct impression AMEN was dead."

[Reinholdt]

"AMEN? Oh yeah. Dead for months, though it limps on for a few seconds every couple of weeks. But Magtok has had his own cave for a long time now." So what's AMEN gotta do with anything Reinholdt wonders? :smallconfused:

[Je dit Viola]

Marin, the catgirl with a collar that has a glowy bright light blue light in the back, is here, haven drunken her drink (Lime, if I recall correctly?).

She's purple-haired, with one big French Braid. And has a tawny tail and tawny ears with little black tufts at the end. And she has kitty eyes.

And, she's sitting alone.

[Rutskarn]

Rutskarn relaxes. His hand slides away from his greatcoat pocket.

"Well. Small comfort, anyway."

Rutskarn takes a swig, but his fingers are trembling so badly most of it spills.

He grunts. "Cripes. I could use a few more of those, come to think of it."

Then, a bit more conversationally;

"Ettercaps don't run terribly fast, do they."

[Reinholdt]

"Not the fastest things around no. That's why they use webs. Sticky, icky webs."

And Reinholdt deadtimes there. How inconvenient.

[Rutskarn]

Rutskarn drains the last of his drink. He fishes for his wallet, breaks it open, then grunts.

"Oh. Yeah, that's right. I guess I...hm."

He glances around.

"Maybe...okay, I think I've got another..."

He reaches into his greatcoat pocket, then withdraws a severed human hand.

"Anyone want to buy a souvenir..." He examines it more closely. "...uh. Cadderly Ettercaps team wrangler 'memento'?"

[Rebonack]

Zee would be the one supplying the drinks.

A gal with reptilian golden eyes and clad in a Trog's Tavern apron.

And other things aside from that. This isn't a strip joint after all.

She's also supplying a rather repulsed look at the severed hand. If only because severed hands in a restaurant is a rather serious food-quality violation.

"Eerr... sir? Would you mind putting that away?"

[Rutskarn]

Rutskarn glances at her as if she were daft.

"What? How hungry would I have to be to eat something like..."

He blinks.

"Oh. You mean, like...okay, that makes more sense. Well, come on, what am I going to do, huh? Gotta pay for the drinks somehow. You restricting honest trade? You a commie?"

[Je dit Viola]

Well, Marin looks at the severed hand with disgust, before turning away from it.

[Rutskarn]

Rutskarn glances at Marin.

"What? Nothing wrong with this." He wiggles it at her. "It's dead, you see. Not alive at all. Not likely to..."

He wiggles a bit too violently. It flies out and lands in her lap.

"Oh! Oh, my. Alright, give that back now, you here?"

[Je dit Viola]

The collared catgirl picks it up, "Eew...", makes a face, and gets up, handing it back to him.

"It's still really gross."

[Rebonack]

It's like trying to carry on a serious conversation with Deadpool.

Though truth be told, that sort of behavior is pretty familiar to Zee. She's been known to engage in it from time to time herself. But here at Trog's, while on duty, she's supposed to be a little more down to earth.

Helps to keep the customers from being scared away.

"I-"

The rest of that thought is quickly lost when the hand leaps into another patron's lap.

"That was basically the reason, actually. And I don't think Trog's takes severed body parts as payment."

Several nearby trolls look rather disappointed at this announcement. So much for their plan of getting drunk and paying with their own noses.

[Rutskarn]

Rutskarn sighs expansively. The air smells like alcohol for a moment.

"Okay, no, see, that's a...what do you call it? Barter system. That's thinking small. See, what I'm doing...what I'm doing is, I'm exchanging this thing for currency, which I'll pay you with. you get it now? Huh? Understand?"

[Je dit Viola]

"Sorry for ruining this, but...
who would want a severed hand? It's just icky."

The catgirl sits back down, trying not to throw up.

Oh, she has a rifle too. And an extraordinarily large piston on her leg-holster. And she has a dagger too, slipped down the side of her pants, but you can't see that unless you have X-ray vision and are a pervert.

[Rutskarn]

Rutskarn jabs an unsteady finger at M.

"BUYERS MARKET, LADIES. Look it up! There's, there's someone for...everything..."

[Je dit Viola]

She raises her eyebrow, and turns away.

"If you say so..."

[Rutskarn]

Rutskarn snorts. This is impressive, since he doesn't really have a nose, and he's had to work out another way of doing it.

"I do say so. See, like, I understand the system."

He snatches the hand back.

[Je dit Viola]

"Okay...Let's just leave the crazy man to himself..." She rolls her eyes, and flicks her feline ears, symbolic of flicking the sound off.

[Rebonack]

"Look, no one is going to want to buy your gross, decaying hand," Zee insists, waggling a finger at Ruk. "If someone wanted to get a dead hand they would just go to the Misspelled Cemetary and dig up a grave. Or loot one off someone dead in the streets."

One of the best things about dead things in the Nexus is that they usually have all body parts intact. Unlike those inexplicable hoofless animals in WoW.

"There's no reason wh-"

Zee is interrupted when a creepy looking gnome walks up. "Excuse me sir, but I couldn't help but notice that you're selling a severed hand? I believe I may have use for it."

The hydra girl just stands there, mouth still open and finger pointing.

[Rutskarn]

Rutskarn brushes his suit with one hand, adjusts his hat with the other, and holds the first hand with the last.

"Yeah, right, spot me the drink and it's yours. No tax. Can't ding you up a receipt, I'm afraid."

[Je dit Viola]

Marin, since it's apparantly her turn to post,

is seriously creeped out by the gnome who wants to buy the hand. Necromancer, maybe? Or just really really canibalistic?

[Rebonack]

It's best not to think about what your average creepy gnome plans to do with a severed hand. Just put it out of your mind altogether.

*ahem*

The gnome will pay the drink bill and accept his payment upon completion of the task.

Zee's still standing there, pointing.

[Rutskarn]

Rutskarn tips his hat. "Pleasure. See you all later."

He walks out. Or tries to, since he passes out unconscious on the doorstep.

[Je dit Viola]

"Ummm..is he alright?" She gets out of her seat to see if he's alright enough...no nose?

[Shadow of the Sun]

Zerzura shakes himself out of electrician-caused deadtime.

He keeps on whistling cheerfully.

[Rutskarn]

Rutskarn is...

Well. He's dead, for starters. But he was when he came in, so that's a bit of a sticky issue. He's breathing, anyway. Even snoring a bit.

[Je dit Viola]

"Ummm..ooookay." The catgirl wearing a collar backs up from the passed-out dead man, and returns to her seat. Still creeped out.

[Rebonack]

Zee concludes that she's just going to let sleeping corpses lie.

The creepy gnome is presently working on the severed hand, humming cheerfully to himself whilst winding teeny little screws into the thing.

Gross.

Anyway, the hydra-girl addresses Zerzura. "Hiya! I don't suppose I can get you anything to eat or drink?"

[Shadow of the Sun]

"No, no, no. I'm fine, thank you. I came here too...see some folk, who seem to be out of it at the moment, haha."

He gestures over at Sszy and Endrik, grinning. It's not a nice grin.

[Who]

Francis undeadtimes once more and starts putting his things back in to his pockets.

[Rebonack]

Zee seems to have fallen asleep at the counter.

And in falling asleep her form has shifted and flowed and melded into what amounts to her 'default' shape. Her lower body has been completely replaced with muscular, sapphire scaled coils. The rest of her is still mostly human in build, complete with arms. But likewise scale-clad. Her neck has been stretched out to a truly serpentine length, sporting what is undeniably the head of a hydra. Somewhat snake-like, though equipped with a sharp toothed beak and a pair of long conical horns. She still has her human hair, though.

The half-hydra is also snorting rather loudly, wisps of cerulean fog rolling out of her nostrils with each breath. The caustic stuff hisses and bubbles as soon as it touches down on the counter, slowly eating a hole through it.

[Who]

Looks like something that could try and eat him....he keeps an eye on it while refilling his pockets.

[Amiria]

A distinct sound can be heard outside and it gets louder until it suddenly stops.

* vhroom * * vhroom * * vhroom *

Amiria enters the tavern and takes a seat at the bar. "A Darknight Coffee please. And whats going on out there with monsters and soldiers and stuff ?"

[Rebonack]

The hydra-girl behind the counter suddenly awakens with a snort, a cloud of blue fog rolling out of her mouth and eating a hole through the floor.

A general description can be found above. She's also clad in a Trog's Tavern apron.

"Oh! Eerr, hi there! Welcome to Trog's! Coffee, right."

She waves a hand at Cosmo. The disgruntled gnome hops to his task with his usual brand of enthusiasm.

"Soldiers and monsters? The first are something of a police force sorta thing. The latter depends. Were they scary black nightmare things or giant bugs?"