Trog's Tavern CLIV

[Hattish Thing]

Unfortunately for the newcomer, the woman's bright yellow hair has attracted the attention of a wicked little creature sitting at the bar. No, not a "creature", a woman - clad all in grimy, mismatched clothing.
She's smaller in stature, somewhere around four and a half feet, yet she carries herself as if the largest thing in the room. All confidence, there.

With a toothy grin, the colorful goblin waves. Each finger ends in a painted fingernail sharp enough to act as a claw.

She's gesturing for the woman to approach!

--

Spoiler: Colorful Goblin

Show

[Rebonack]

Zee gives a nod to the angel. "Thanks for the offer. I don't know how much of this I can actually fix, but I would be betraying who I am if I didn't give it my all trying. As for GLoG? Hehe. Well, my little ones all have their purpose. They're spread around the Nexus doing their work. I can't be everywhere at once, but I can have my little ambassadors all over. I know it makes the Watchers pretty antsy that I'm reproducing but so long as me and mine are tending to outsiders that are preying on mortals I don't think they're going to complain too loudly. They don't want a direct confrontation with me any more than I do. And we both want the Nexus to be safe for its people."

That doesn't stop some of them from hating her on principle, though.

Thankfully the more heterodox orders are most prevalent in the Nexus, those willing to work with non-human supernatural beings. It would be kind of hard to operate Inside if they were suspicious of every non-human they met.

Oh hey!

It's that goblin again!

Zee will offer up a large cup of coffee that has been altered by her PHENOMENAL REALITY WARPING COSMIC POWER! to rehydrate the hungover body more than should be physically possible.

What?

If you've got the ability to rearrange chemistry why wouldn't you use it to help with hangovers?

Zee also waves at the new girl! "Hiya! Welcome to Trog's Tavern! I'm Zee. If you need anything you just let me know, okay?" says the completely unremarkable human barmaid.

[bc56]

The woman stands up and heads over to the beckoning goblin curiously. She smiles. "I love your outfit! Where do you shop?" It's an odd thing to say. Her fashion sense looks nothing like the goblin's. She's neat and tidy, without a single hair out of place. The grungy mismatched style doesn't seem to fit her.

[Hattish Thing]

[At the Bar]

The goblin grins as the stranger comes closer, sharp teeth flashing in the light. She had her now, time to sink her little claws in. "Ou, flattery wull git ye far wi' me, girlie." Larza narrows her eyes and bats her lashes. "Mibbie, if ye'r jammy, ah shall shaw ye juist howfur far." The goblin is about to say something raunchy, even for her kind. That'd be awkward for sure. Fortunately for the stranger, she becomes far too distracted by the fresh mug of coffee before her. "Ou, lookie 'ere. Milk o' th' de'il!" Larza cups the mug within both of her hands, happily clacking her nails up against it as she breathes in the scent.

She offers a sideways glance to the other woman as she does so, finally responding. "Dinnae shop, ah fin'. Bit o' a collector, we is." There was a certain atmosphere to found clothing, a bit of history which the goblin found irresistible - a kind of ancient magic inherent to things both unwanted and forgotten. She rubs her hands up against the mug, enjoying the warmth which radiates forth. She seemed to very much enjoy the heat.

Larza turns her head to the side, giving the other woman a proper look over. "Ye'r nae tae ill keekin yersel', fur a skinny-malinky longlegs."

[bc56]

The stranger laughs cheerily. "Aye, thank ye. If'n ye's a collector, wha' alse dae ye collect." She mocks the goblin's way of speaking. "An' whar dae ye collect et fram?" She leans backwards and reaches over to a nearby table, where a couple is having a very intense discussion, and steals a fork while they're distracted, stuffing it into one of her dress pockets. The item disappears into the pocket without even leaving a bulge. "Ahm a bit o' a collector meself."

[Hattish Thing]

[At the Bar]

At first, Larza is quite pleased with herself, having made the other woman laugh. Then, she's just confused. Not insulted, confused. You see, for a creature such as her, the idea of being insulted by something as lowly as a mud person is laughable. No, this must be some weird quirk of hers. "Nou juist haud oan, witless heid!" She raises an imperious brow before continuing, claws still tapping at her mug. "Ye didnae tell me ye speak wi' tongue o' fae." Who was this strange human being that spoke, albeit poorly, as she did? "Ah ought tae gie ye a skelpit lug!" It was a secret language!

One so pervasive that it influenced even the common tongue, hence her strange manner of speaking. Her objections are quieted as the other woman steals a fork. Now that was exciting! Distractions were the easiest way to descalate conflict with a fae. With a flourish, Larza produces a handful of small gemstones from up her sleeve, grinning as she trickles them from her palm, through her fingers, and onto the table.

They were real, pilfered months ago from a museum in the city. "A'm certainly nae in th' business o' silverware, girlie."

[bc56]

"Nahr 'm ah." The woman produces something from her pocket. It's a slice of hot, greasy, pizza. Somehow, it hasn't gotten any grease on her dress, and, just like the fork, it somehow fit into the pocket without creating a bulge. "Ah collect ahll saerts o' stuff. Ye ne'er ken when it'll be useful." Maybe she's trying a bit too hard to do the goofy speech?

[Hattish Thing]

[At the Bar]

Larza's narrow eyes widen in envy as the stranger produces an almost unreasonably perfect slice of pizza. She makes a strange little sound before a long, thick blue tendril lashes out in the other woman's direction. Like a toad catching a fly, the slice will likely find itself pulled directly into the goblin's toothy maw, where it will be swallowed whole.

She does not appear bashful. Rather, she belches and grins. "Ou, that skelp th' plook, didnae it?"

[bc56]

"Hey! Get your own!" The woman struggles to keep hold of her pizza, but eventually loses the contest to the goblin tongue. Her hands slam to the table in frustration. But maybe someone will notice that one of those hands landed on an edge of the spilled gemstones, and when it moves away, some of the stones are missing.

[Purple Eagle]

[Two Angels]

Uri nods, then smiles when the conversation moves to lighter topics. "These Watchers do interest me, I must admit... but I feel I must go and check up on the daycare." She prepares to leave, but clasps Zee's hand in hers. "Meeting you and talking with you is a pleasure, friend. We should meet up more often. Next time, you can tell me all about these Watchers."

After Zee responds, and they've said their goodbyes, Uriel gives a final wave, walks towards the door and teleports out of the Tavern before she even reaches it.

[Hattish Thing]

Larza is quite smug, licking her lips before washing it down with a long sip of hot coffee. "Git mah ain? Haw, bit ah did, girlie!" She does not notice the missing gemstones as she scoops them up. The goblin grits her teeth as she looks the stranger down once again. "Ye said ye cam fur speirins. Whit sort o' speirins?" An old fae term for information.

With a rub of her hands, she continues. "Mibbie ah kin hulp ye. Whit wis yer name?"

[bc56]

"Hmmph." The woman in the white dress seems both disappointed and pleased, for different reasons. "I just want to know where I am, and what I should be doing here. Oh, and it's Ada. Ada McGraw."

[Hattish Thing]

Larza scoffs at her line of questioning. How like a mud person, agonizing over a concept as ridiculous as one's own 'purpose'. "Trch, ye'r in th' Nexus, girlie! Whaur time 'n' space gah at eachother lik' cats in heat." She sneers, clearly unimpressed with the world around her. "It's a howfin steid, 'n' drab. Reeks o' mud 'n' sweat." A frown, there. Ah well, she'd have time to miss her homeland when she was alone.

For now, there were names to extract, not that it did her any good. "Ada is a guid name. Ye hae a middle name, girlie?"

[bc56]

Ada looks apprehensive, but continues. "It's Elizabeth. Why?" Something's fishy here, but she's used to fishy things, and she has stuff on hand to use in case this goes south.

[Hattish Thing]

Larza grins, flashing her sharp teeth. She had it, but her powers had been taken. Try it anyhow, see what happens! "Whit a guid name! Hek ek ek! Ada Elizabeth McGraw!" She snickers before her vicious eyes narrow, an evil look forming on her face. What would she have her do? "Be a dear 'n' tak' yer claes aff." Make the mud thing dance, bare as her swine-cousins!

She continues, sipping absently at her coffee in the meantime. "Dae a bawherr dance fur us, quickwise!"

--

For a split second, Ada will find herself supernaturally compelled to obey.

Then? It's gone.

[bc56]

Ada sheds her vest and reaches for the zipper on the back of her dress before suddenly stopping. "Huh? What was that about?" She quickly puts the vest back on. "How did you do that?"

[Hattish Thing]

The goblin seems only slightly less surprised than Ada. Ha, this one was so suggestible, it almost bloody worked anyhow! With an unusually thoughtful expression upon her face, Larza starts to stir her coffee with her long, sharp nail. She missed the old days, the chaos of it all. Dancing naked in the woods with the mad goat. "Yer name, beslubbering malt-horse! Tis a' in th' name."

She nods sagely there, as if that made any sort of sense."Tis a pity pure, ah wis keeking tae peepin' th' dancerly wench, plainsome as ye'r." That would have been fun, but no!

Larza doesn't get fun things. She pouts for a moment before sipping at her drink.

[bc56]

"I'm no flipskirted dancing girl. Try someone else." Ada pulls a pocket knife on Larza and brandishes it threateningly. "Try that again, and I'll make you regret it."

[Hattish Thing]

Once the knife is drawn, Larza slinks back slightly, hissing all the while. "Eek! th' gall o' ye, puisny-tilted harpy!" How dare this dirty creature draw a blade upon her? "Aff tae stick me wi' that, urr ye?" Not that it would do much, unless that knife of hers happened to be forged of silver. It certainly didn't appear to be, with brought her some degree of confidence. "Taught ye a bloody lesson, ah did! Trust na yin wi' yer name!"

She wags a sharpened finger, spitting her words through her teeth. "Ye shuid 'ave been grateful! Nae goan tae sell yer name back tae ye nou, girlie!"

[bc56]

Rather than seem irritated, a mischievous, self-satisfied grin plasters itself over Ada's face. "Well then. If you don't return what you took from me, I won't return what I took from you." She stands up and starts to walk away, making a big show of being ready to leave the tavern.

[Hattish Thing]

An inquisitive expression forms upon the goblin's face. What was this 'Ada' creature even getting at? "Nrgh, viperous hedgeborn! Whit urr ye keeping frae me, girlie?" She grits her large, sharp teeth before taking a longer sip at her coffee. She did not like when things were kept from her! It upset her mightily - an insult that would not go unchallenged!

She continues to gnash her teeth before leaping out from her chair, coffee held in her hands.
"Whit did ye tak'? Tell me, tell me nou! Or ah will downsell ye tae th' satyrs!"

A terrible fate, for certain.

[bc56]

"I wouldn't do that. Then you'll never get it back." Ada has no idea what the threat means, but she's confident she can fool this goblin.

[Hattish Thing]

Larza snickers at this. Ah, that got her attention. Better go into detail. Not that it was difficult, satyrs were notoriously wicked. "Haw! They'll bile yer lugs 'n' wear yer guts fur garters, wench! Efter they've hud thair wey wi' ye, o' coorse!" She grins evilly at that. It wasn't a lie, there were several bands of truly awful satyrs. A truly terrible fate, to have ones true name sold to so vile a group of creatures.

At this, she crawls atop a nearby table, sitting crosslegged. "Caem sit, wayward moldworp, sae that we kin bargain!"

[bc56]

Ada smirks and sits back down. "Very well. Let's deal." She gives a very serious expression. "I want my name back." She won't accept anything less.

[Hattish Thing]

As the goblin crosses her legs, she rests her hands upon the tip of her pointed boots. She returns the other woman's smirk with a sideways grin of her own, all sharp teeth. "Trch, ye think ye hae th' advantage 'ere, dae ye? Silly cratur, ye dae nae realize th' trauchle ye'r in!" Ada was confident, too confident, for a woman in her position. "Hek ek ek! If ainlie ye knew!"

Larza taps a little tune upon her boots before rolling her eyes in frustration. "Aye, we ken! Whit hae ye tae offer me, girlie?"

[bc56]

"I can return what I took from you." Ada smiles. She has the goblin right where she wants her. "It's a small thing really. But once you realize it's gone, you'll miss it so badly. I'm just dying to see how you react when you find out what it was." Everything Ada has just said is true. But that doesn't sound like the gemstones. "Give me my name back, and I'll return what I stole from you."

[Hattish Thing]

The colorful goblin's eyes widen as Ada continues to speak. Just what in the world was she going on about? What could she possibly miss so badly? Nowadays, she made a point of avoiding getting close enough to anything, or anyone. As such, how could she possibly have something to miss? "Trch, this is a riddle, isnae it? Ah suppose ye think ye'r gey clever then, dae ye?" She scrapes at the table.

This was becoming interesting, more interesting than she thought this evening would be. "Na, ah wull nae speil yer gam! Ainlie a fool bargains in hings whit micht nae be. Ah will nae be tricked wi' yer wordplay!"

"Shaw me whit ye'v git, or thir's na deal! An' ye'll regret it muchsome!"

[bc56]

"If you can show me my name, I can show you what I took." Ada is well aware that this request is nonsense, but whether or not Larza can actually fulfil it, it serves her purpose. "Go on then. Show me."

[Hattish Thing]

Larza scoffs, still tapping a tune out upon her pointed boots. "Pah, eejit girlie! A wullnae be fooled by blethering trickspeech." A small smirk forms upon her face. At this she spins about upon her rear, lying down so as to hang her legs off one end of the table while staring up at the ceiling. She points a clawed finger up into the air, beginning to trace the other woman's name.

As she does so, she speaks out. There's power to her words, albeit muted. "Ye'r name, freely given: Ada Elizabeth McGraw!"

[bc56]

Ada looks up at the words traced through the air with an odd expression. Almost as if she can actually see something there, not just the movements of the finger. As Larza is speaking, she suddenly lunges forward, driving her pocketknife towards the goblin's heart (not that she expects it to do much) with her left hand, and reaching up and grabbing... Something out of the air with her right. Larza should be able to tell that somehow, by some unknown power, Ada just snatched her name back.