Ambrosia Software Web Board: The Alraeican Tavern - Part VIII - Ambrosia Software Web Board

Welcome to next installment of The Alraeican Tavern—Part VIII the new Tavern since June of 2003! Everybody come on in! This picks up where Part VII ended.


Selax watched from his corner as one of the Tavern's drunks got up and managed to move more-or-less in Silverfish's direction. Silverfish unorthodox mode of entering the Tavern (which involved breaking a window) had gotten him yelled at by Brianna. Apparently, the drunk interpreted the yell as meaning that someone needed to kill Silverfish.

Silverfish jumped out of the way as the man lunged at him, and the man missed and hit the man standing behind Silverfish. This man went flying into a group playing poker at one of the tables, ruining the game. The group that had been playing the game all started to accuse one another of cheating by having someone fall on the game because the cheater was losing. They soon started a fist-fight. This fight quickly spread, and, in moments, the Tavern had erupted into an all-out brawl.

As soon as he jumped out of the way Silverfish swung around and used his electric charge to stun his attacker, but he had been caught somewhat off guard and so was too slow to stop his attacker from hitting a bystander. As the fight spread across the room, Silverfish decided to jump down on the floor and trip people. He started with the nearest enraged poker player.

The journey home from the Encampment (or what was left of it, rather) had been long and tiresome, but at last the group was relieved by the sight of Cythera's largest city, Cademia, on the horizon.

I need some rest, I think, Wizard told himself. At last he could relax for a bit. He was pleased to find that his mount had been well taken care of in his absence.

When Wizard entered the tavern, everything was chaos. He was pushed against the wall by a random patron of the inn, but the man was thoroughly intoxicated. Wizard found no difficulty in brushing the fellow off of him. He ducked suddenly to avoid a chair that was sent flying in his direction.

Looking around for a moment, Wizard detected Selax standing to the side, watching the brawl calmly. "Ahh, Selax!" he smiled. As he crossed the floor, someone's foot flew out, tripping him. Wizard fell flat on his face.

By the time the group reached Kosha, Talryn was able to walk. Talryn walked in after Wizard and couldn't help but laugh when he tripped. Talryn pushed his way through and ended up throwing a punch or two. He helped up Wizard, then headed for the bar.

After returning with refreshment, he nodded to Selax.

Despite her earlier display of clumsiness, Brianna deftly wended her way through the tumult with insouciance and aplomb, tray perched on a single hand held high above her head. A drunken patron lunged at her with a broken bottle; the high-sweeping kick she launched in riposte almost took his head off. The glasses on the tray didn't even rattle.

Silverfish leaped lightly onto the tray; at the same time bringing his metallic element to the fore. He stood on the tray, an oversized statue of a young fairy lording.

The sudden increase in weight caught Brianna by surprise, causing her to lose her balance. The glasses (and the 'statue') went flying as she toppled backwards, hitting the floor with a thud. The tray rolled around the floor, miraculously missing everyone's feet, then spun to a stop. Brianna blinked in bewilderment at the metallic form that was throwing specular highlights around the room.

"Where in the world did that come from?" She tapped it with her foot; it certainly felt like solid metal.

Brianna hoisted herself to her feet, picked up the tray, huffed, and stalked off towards the bar, rubbing her bruised rump as a substitute for rubbing her bruised ego.

This post has been edited by cache22: 13 November 2006 - 02:52 PM

Silverfish ignited the spilled drinks, and rushed toward a table in the far corner of the room.

Talryn had downed at least two pints before he saw the fire and drifted away from Selax. He got a refill and feeling a little pyro, splashed half of his pint onto the fire and cheered as the flames exploded outwards. Talryn became sober as soon as he realized that his pants had caught on fire and rolled on the ground trying to smother the flames.

Meanwhile, the brawl in the Tavern had worsened. It was so bad hardly any of the combatants noticed the fire. Selax sighed internally; he supposed that he may as well see about it putting it out. However, he needn't of worried. Talryn's rolling all over the floor had somehow done a fairly good job of putting most of the flames out; unfortunately—for Talryn at least—the flames on his pants had only worsened by the that Selax reached him. Selax looked down at him for a few moments, considering the best course of action. There wasn't much water in the Tavern, at not enough to smother the fire. Of course, he could've tried smothering the flames with a cloak or some such things, but something that told him that most such things in the Tavern were flammable themselves. He recalled that there was rain barrel outside; it might be of some service. Selax picked Talryn up and quickly made his way toward the door. Due to his haste and his burden, he didn't really have time to make his way quietly through the fight raging all over the Tavern, so he was forced to knock out, shove, or sometimes throw people out of his way. When he was finally outside, he located the rain barrel and dropped Tarlyn in it, extinguishing the flames. Then, having made sure that Talryn was all right, he calmly went back inside.


Rapierian strode up to the door of the Tavern and glanced inside. Seeing chaos and discord, he was immediately delighted; he began to think of ways to make the chaos even more amusing...

This post has been edited by Selax: 17 November 2006 - 12:37 AM

A cowled figure, face hidden in the shadow of the cape's hood, slouched up to the door of the tavern. He paused briefly at the sight of Talryn dozing in the rain barrel. A slight lift of his shoulders might have been a shrug. He entered the tavern, allowing the door to swing closed behind him as he surveyed the bedlam inside. Nobody paid him much attention at all, which was just as he liked it. A path opened before him as he shuffled towards the bar. It wasn't like there was any magical force pushing people out of the way - it was just that being anywhere near him was so darned depressing.

"What can I get you?" the bartender asked. The man didn't bother him much; depression was a bartender's stock in trade.

Beer.

The bartender blinked. It was like the word had entered directly into his brain, bypassing his ears completely.

"Er, coming right up," he said with a shrug. He'd seen too many strange things in this tavern to worry about a man with no voice.

Talryn got up some moments later and fought his way over to the bar and asked the bartender if he still had his room. Suprised Talryn went to the room he had paid for a while back, and changed clothes. Once dried off he headed back dwon stairs and bought a drink for Selax and admired the few flames still going. A small bit of snow started to fall and Talryn smiled and drank.

[OoC] In hopes that my writing has matured over the years, I'm introducing a new character. Also, I can't be bothered to look up my old characters. Maybe some day I'll get around to killing them all off, but for now, time to start anew. =P In the meantime, don't expect too much, but I'll try and keep posting here. [BiC]


The door to the tavern swung open and a tall, skinny boy of about eighteen walked in. He was wearing a somewhat tattered black cloak, a blue-and-black-striped woolen hat jammed over messy white-blonde hair, and a moody expression that looked like it had etched itself permanently onto his face. A bag made of rough-looking material was slung over one shoulder, and a sword hung from his hip on the other side.

He strode across the tavern, seeming to not even notice the catastrophic brawl going on, and sat down at the bar, muttering to himself. Most of the words were indistinguishable between the loud crashes and yells occuring around him, but the occasional comment drifted through the noise, sounding something like "snow... stupid weather... travelling... sleep outside" and interspersed with a colourful selection of curse words.

"Can I get you a drink?" the bartender asked in a voice that implied this was nothing out of the ordinary to him. The boy, however, nearly jumped out of his skin, looking around somewhat spastically. "What? What? Who are you? What do you want?"

Unfazed, the bartender repeated his question. "Something to calm your nerves, maybe?"

"I am calm!" The boy tugged on his hat in a motion that seemed habitual. "I'm fine! I want water. Yes. Water. I want some water." He peered around the tavern again, eyes wide, and suddenly something seemed to register in his mind. "Why the HELL is this place on FIRE?!"

The cowled man's fingers drummed against his still full beer glass, making and odd clinking sound. He neglected to acknowlege the newcomer's presence, yet the boy distinctly heard a voice echo inside his head:

Fire. Everything ends in fire. Or water. Or teeth. Or falling a really long way. Or ...

The voice paused, then sighed.

Anyway, everything ends.

This post has been edited by cache22: 18 November 2006 - 04:02 AM

Meanwhile, Selax was sitting at his table in the corner with Wizard and Talryn. Having little need of the drink that Talryn had gotten him, he had thanked Talryn and had finally ended up giving it back to Talryn. For the past few minutes, Selax had been considering whether he ought to do something about the growing fire in the middle of the Tavern or about the brawl still going on around them.


Outside the Tavern, Rapierian was trying to suppress his laughter. He had sneaked into the back of the Tavern and had dumped a few various kinds of potions—some of which he made himself and some of which he had obtained from the local alchemist—into the vats of drink stored there. By now, about half of the drinks in the Tavern must be laced with the stuff, he mused. Of course, there were those who wouldn't be affected by the potions at all, but still he hoped the results would be hilarious.

Since Talryn hadn't completely recovered from his earlier drunken state, the extra drink that he got back from Selax made him even more drunk. With this he felt like he was offened by the fight, staggered on his legs and then lunged after one patron and then tackled another.

Rapierian, frowning, watched from outside the Tavern.

"I know that concoction should've taken effect by now," he muttered to himself. He briefly wondered if Talryn's actions were related to it but dismissed that as unlikely.

Just as he was beginning to think that his mixture of potions hadn't worked at all, he heard someone inside the Tavern yell, "RUN! IT'S A GIGANTIC, FIRE-BREATHING, MAN-EATING TOAD!!!!!!!"

Someone else screamed, "WATCH OUT FOR THAT DRAGON!"

Listening to the chaos erupting inside the building, Rapierian smiled.

Much better, he thought to himself.

Wizard was relaxing in his seat when the sudden screaming awoke him. As he watched everyone run around aimlessly, one word came to his mind, Rapierian.

Upon realizing that most of the patrons were now hallucinating, Silverfish emerged from below his table, and started walking around on the underside of the rafters.

Talryn, who by this time had gotten two more drinks, downed one then walked over to a halucination and begun talking to it. He had begun to swallow some more of his drink (presumably it contains alcohol), then he saw Silverfish walking upside down and gaged. Talryn waved his arms around to get help with the fact that he was choking.

-Dark

Talryn was already turning quite purple by the time Silverfish decided that he himself was the only one in the room who either noticed or was concerned that he was choking.

Silverfish swung down from the rafter and head butted Talryn in the belly. He hoped that would work, since 18" is much to small to do the Heimlich properly.

Rapierian watched the chaos in the Tavern with a wide smile. Then, he began to plot how to make it even worse...


One of the patrons in the bar noticed Silverfish flying around and, under the influence of Rapierian's potions, thought Silverfish looked like a baseball. The patron quickly began searching for something to bat him with...


From his table, Selax calmly watched the Tavern deteriorate into chaos and wondered if he should consider doing something. In some places, the brawl continued and in others people were running in circles trying to escape their various hallucinations.

"...and so, Rin ended up having her wings turned pink!" Shi'nayne grandly swung her arm into the air, as if for emphasis, and Moonshadow giggled.
"And you're sure it was an accident?" She asked, an amused undertone in her voice.
"Of course." Her companion said, smiling a little too innocently. Oh how the little fairy loved mischief. Moonshadow shook her head, failing at keeping the smile from her face as they wandered through the town. Or rather, she wandered, and Shi sat on her shoulder, resting her wings (or so she said - Moonshadow rather suspected she liked being carried around).
Up ahead, from where she knew the Alraeican Tavern was, the noise they had been hearing became steadily louder. Curiously she neared the tavern door, noticing the human man standing just outside and watching whatever was happening with a decidedly satisfied expression. She stopped walking right next to him, peering into the tavern's interior. At first glance it seemed hardly worse than it usually was - until she noticed the patrons were not actually fighting each other, but instead seemed to be going after or running from invisible opponents. She sighed. It wasn't particularly hard to tell there was some sort of magic at work. something wrong with the food, perhaps, she mused. Or the drink.
On her shoulder, Shi squealed and pointed excitedly at the ceiling. What looked like a (very) undersized human male was walking along it, feet over head. Movement caught Moonshadow'e eye -- one of the drunker patrons of the bar had broken off the leg of a stool and was moving towards the little human in what he probably thought was a very stealthy manner, on tiptoe with the chairleg-turned-bat raised over his head. It was quite obvious what he intended to do.
Moonshadow glanced at Shi, who had jumped off her shoulder and was hovering near her, semi-translucent wings beating quickly to keep her in place. "Your turn or mine?" She asked, but the fairy had already raised her little hands, pointing them at the drunk patron. Shi new little of offensive magic, but her knowledge on defensive spells was superb, and she had quite creative ways of using them. Moonshadow leaned against the doorway, watching as a soft green glow began engulfing the patron, and his tip-toed sneak became slower and slower. His grip on the bat loosened, than failed completely, and it fell to the ground with a loud thud, incidentally startling the little human on the ceiling. He spun to face his would-be attacker, but whatever he planned to do became redundant. The drunk's eyes fluttered close, he swayed on his feet for a moment, and then fell over with another thud -- moments later, his snoring began to fill the tavern.
Definitely something with the food or drink, she decided. After all, nobody outside the tavern had been affected by this particular kind of madness.
"I really just wanted a bit of peace." Moonshadow remarked to nobody in particular. "Relative peace." She amended, considering the scene in the tavern. She pushed away from the doorframe decisively, straightening. "I think this has gone on long enough."
"Spoilsport." Shi muttered, but Moonshadow ignored her.
Instead she raised a hand in front of her face, flexing her fingers experimentally. After a few moments, they began glowing with a soft white light and she nodded, apparently satisfied.
"Oh look, that's Brianna over there!" Shi exclaimed suddenly, pointing. "Maybe she knows what's going on here."
"Maybe she has a quiet room somewhere where it's possible to relax." Moonshadow murmured, and Shi shot her a look.
"I think you've had too much quiet in the past months." She objected. "In fact, I think we should just watch the show a little!"
The man next to them made an approving noise - he, apparently, was enjoying the show greatly. Moonshadow graced both him and Shi with a skeptical look.
"Come on, it'll be fun." Shi grinned widely. "And if it gets really nasty, we can still stop them."
Finally Moonshadow shrugged. "Fine," she conceded. "Let's find Brianna and get something to eat." Shi nodded enthusiastically and flew off into the tavern, Moonshadow following at a slower pace. The glow around her hand never subsided; she wouldn't heal the patrons of whatever was affecting them -- yet -- but the spell she had readied would purify her food and drink of whatever was causing the patrons' strange behavior.

This post has been edited by Moonshadow: 02 December 2006 - 09:24 AM

Uzsuy hesitated entering the Tavern, but then desided to shrink himself and enter. Only he realised he couldn't open the door then. Instead, he waited outside near the door.

Silverfish was startled to see a would be attacker fall asleep in a green glow, and looked around hastily to see who was the source of the spell. But all he saw after a few moments of looking around was a female, half his height, flying in through the doorway. He hastily hid on top of a large chandelier, only peaking out every few seconds to make sure of he was safe.

This post has been edited by Jehezekel: 10 January 2007 - 12:34 PM