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

Talryn had regained his composure after the help from Silverfish, and he begun to take another drink when he saw a small compainion sitting on a flying lady's shoulder. Talryn coughed and gaged and charged towards the front door. after pushing it open with great force he fell to his knees and 'cleared his system'.

A few minutes later Talryn walked calmly back in ordered some water and possbily some food and sat quietly down at Selax's table.

With some delight, Brianna's sharp half-elven hearing recognised Shinayne's high-pitched voice calling out to her, as her diminutive friend zipped across the room. She was even more delighted to see Moonshadow following along at a more dignified pace. Both she and Moonshadow were quite surprised, however, when Shinayne halted in mid flight scant inches from Brianna, hovering on fast-beating wings and staring at the cowled man sitting at the bar, his drink still untouched.

"Something's strange about that man," Shinayne squeaked. "His aura's all black!"

"Well," Brianna replied, "he is very depressing."

As fate would have it, one of the hallucinating patrons (backing away in terror from something only he could see) bumped into the man in question, and knocked aside his hood. The patron, already half out of his mind, glanced at the obstacle he'd impacted against, and screamed in even greater terror.

"The Undead! The Undead are invading! Again!"

The stranger turned, light glinting off his polished ivory head, and stared at the patron through flaming eye sockets.

What's the matter, haven't you ever seen a dead man before? sighed the voice in everyone's head. Why can't you just let me stare at my drink in peace?

This post has been edited by cache22: 04 December 2006 - 12:41 AM

The teenager in the hat and cloak, still sitting at the bar drinking his water moodily, turned to the dead man. As jumpy as he was, he seemed unperturbed by the sight; on the contrary he actually looked intruiged. "You know, I've heard of being hot-headed, but isn't that pushing it?" he asked, noticing the flames pouring out of his eyes. "If looks could kill... oh, wait... sorry," he said hastily. "Not to offend. I'm not very good at deadpan humour... ah, shi-!" He ducked his head and tugged his cap down over his eyes awkwardly.

Shi'nayne looked at him curiously. "Were you talking to me?"

"No." His voice was muffled, and he shook his head violently, seemingly trying to become invisible. "Nevermind. Leave me alone. Goodnight."

The others gave him an odd look, and were about to move on with their business, when the boy suddenly pulled his hat back up and stared at them, eyes wide. "Wait! Is it still snowing? Are you the proprietor? Is this an inn? Do you have rooms for rent?"

Brianna looked somewhat confused by the rapidfire questioning, but she attempted to answer. "Yes, we have some rooms available-"

"Great!" The boy dug around in his cloak pocket for some coins. "I need a room. Oh-" he said, finally noticing the bizarre looks he was receiving, and withdrew his hand from its frantic searching to extend to the group in general. "Sorry. I'm Alice. Pleased to meet you."

"Alice?" Shi'nayne echoed. "Isn't that a girl's name? Are you a girl?"

He twitched, knocking over his mug of water behind him. "No!" he said defensively, jamming his hat back down over his eyes. "Go away! Leave me alone!"

The silence that descended pulled at their throughts like a vacuum. Something just had to fill it.

Mort.

Brianna blinked. Her wide-ranging travels with her grandfather had left her conversant in many languages, and this one sounded familiar. "Mort? As in, dead?"

No. Well, yes. It's my name. I mean, since it seemed we were doing introductions. Morteous Bonaparte. Mort. Or Bony. That's what they used to call me, when I was alive.

Moonshadow stifled a laugh. Brianna almost did. Shinayne didn't even try, emitting a sound like tiny tinkling bells. Alice just stared at him.

"You look like that, and you're called Bony?"

Mort rested his skull on his closed, skeletal fist. Everyone heard the mental sigh. Yes. Life - I mean death - er, existence - it's so full of irony, isn't it.

This post has been edited by cache22: 04 December 2006 - 04:00 AM

Talryn had forgotten about the snow and only remembered it after Alice mentioned it and then he glanced down at his plate to find some of his food covered with snow. He sighed, This is one weird night, now all we need is some random invasion or someone bursting in require aid for a quest... The snow stopped falling and Talryn began to awkardly eat his meal and noticed that Selax was quite quite (no play on words intended).

[Edit: Fixed spelling errors that happen when your are awake for over 12 hours]

-Dark

This post has been edited by Dark Jet: 05 December 2006 - 01:33 AM

The brawl had stopped, almost everyone was chasing, or being chased by an hallucination, and didn't have time for brawling. A few non-hallucinating patrons were gathered in a small group, indulging in small-talk. The window had reassembled itself in its frame, but the cracks were quite obvious. Silverfish crept down the wall to re-meld it...

This post has been edited by Jehezekel: 10 January 2007 - 12:39 PM

Moonshadow rubbed her temples. Truly, this place got more bizarre every time she visited. She supposed she should be appalled about the lich, worried about whatever spell was affecting the patrons, and interested in the boy (or girl?), but all she felt towards any of it was mild amusement and some curiosity.
Almost absently she leaned a bit to the right, dodging a plate that came flying her way and shattered on the wall behind. Looking back up she saw one of the bar's numerous patrons readying another plate, seeming to be aiming it at something above her head. She glanced up, seeing nothing of interest. Apparently this patron, too, was suffering from temporary insanity. Nothing new there.
Next to her, Brianna grumbled. "Do you know how many of these I have to replace on a normal day?" She asked, not addressing anyone in particular, then ducked her head to avoid the next plate.
"And his aim isn't even any good," Shi commented.
Calmly, Moonshadow got up and walked over to the patron, taking the next plate from his hand carefully. The man blinked confusedly, staring at his now empty hand. "But..." he muttered. "The tournament.. have to... win..."
Shaking her head, Moonshadow reached out and brushed her hand across the patron's. "It's all fine." She told him. "Go home."
He turned his head to look at her, seeming on the verge of tears. Then abruptly he shook his head, rubbing at his eyes like someone who had just woken up, gave her a last confused look, and left the tavern.
Moonshadow quickly gathered the remaining plates and stacked some of the mugs lying on the table on top, then carefully balancing her load returned to Brianna, who took the top half of her stack off her with a grateful smile, then turned towards the doorway leading to the tavern's small kitchen area. Once they had deposited their load there -- and Moonshadow had secured a meal for herself and Shi -- they returned to the tavern area.
Shi squealed in delight and literally swooped down on her, grabbing a piece of cheese, while she and Brianna walked to the bar. She set the plate down on the counter and pulled one of the high chairs over to sit, while Brianna cleared a bit of the surface with a rag.
"Thanks Bri!" Shi chirped, giving the woman a hug (or rather, considering their size, giving her arm a hug) before sitting down cross-legged on the now clean(er) table.

This post has been edited by Moonshadow: 05 December 2006 - 02:48 PM

As he now heard nothing unsual from inside, Uzsuy carefully walked in to the Tavern.

Uzsuy quickly learned that the lack of sound coming from the tavern didn't necessarily mean all was calm, as a dagger, a broken bottle, and purple toad with red spots zipped past him from three different directions. He flattened himself againt the wall, and looked askance at the quivering amphibian half embedded in the wall next to his right earlobe.

In the shadows at the rear of the room, Sideline impassively observed the chaos, the stein of beer in front of him untouched. It had smelled a little odd, so he'd deemed it wise to wait before quenching his thirst. His companion apparently hadn't been quite so observant; the Scribe's cup of spiced wine was almost empty. This confused Sideline a little, as the elderly elf didn't seem to be showing any undue symptoms at all.

"I guess your drink wasn't tampered with," Sideline commented.

"On the contrary," the Scribe replied. "I've just spent the last few minutes listening to a serenade by a dragon, a nymph and a unicorn. Really most enjoyable, although the unicorn sang a little flat."

"Uh, sure, if you say so," Sideline murmured, shifting edgily in his seat. He covertly began to check for clear routes to an exit, just in case the Scribe got creative with his magic.

"Relax, my young friend," the Scribe chuckled. "I've lived long enough to learn to tell the difference between a fantasy and reality."

Sideline wanted to believe him, but thought it better to be safe than sorry. He determined to keep a close watch on the Scribe's behaviour, at least until things calmed down.

This post has been edited by cache22: 06 December 2006 - 12:59 PM

OOC, Well i got sick of not being able to post, although this post puts Rapierian in danger, I hope this doesnt irritate people, and Selax if you wish for me to change the post i will not mind. BIC

Wizard!....Time echoes with memories, you remember.....you still dont understand do you....we all have or little ways here or there........for I found you.....ye..t.....again...


Wizard shuddered as a unearthly voice seemed to speak through the void to him, it sounded familair....

Rapierian!...... The wise men say....... that time is like the ocean
............................it doesn’t care who it crushes under its weight............ nor what drowns in its depths.............

...........They also say that we all begin life with a small puddle at our feet.............. and it grows till we feel that icy cold water crush our heart.............
Now lets just say that I found a way to drain that puddle.........
but it means that I must then fill yours.


Rapierian fell to the ground people took notice, and the tavern seemed to calm down.


Timeless eyes stare into the oblivion, watching eons pass with a blink and eternity with a closing of the eyes, with all this time......Why wait.

A Ghostly appearance took form, Satori stood in mist and fog, And she smiled.

Having finished with the window, Silverfish climbed back up the wall, jumped from rafter to rafter, and dropped down at the far end of the counter from Moonshadow. He waved Brianna over and ordered a glass of salt water...

Brianna stared at Silverfish, suspiciously. "Don't I know you from someplace?" She queried, then snapped her fingers in recognition. "That confounded statue! You owe the bar for three crystal wine goblets, mister!"

"Can I start a tab?" Sliverfish enquired, sheepishly.

Brianna shrugged her shoulders. "Why not," she sighed, and slid a glass of salt water along the bar.

Brianna ran her eyes across the 'rogues gallery' that had assembled at the bar: a supremely self-assured winter elf, a phaery whose personality was as colourful as her hair and dress sense, an extremely high-strung, er, boy? A morose lich, and a tiny man who occasionally mimicked a metal sculpture. Really, could the day get any weirder?

This post has been edited by cache22: 07 December 2006 - 07:32 PM

*OoC*
Good to see some of the old posters coming back and good to see the high level of participation this thread is getting so far. Please, keep up the good work, everyone!

Pippin, if you have any ideas what you want to happen with Satori or any changes you'd like me to make in my post, please PM them to me, although I can't promise to respond before next Thursday. I probably won't be able to do any more posts with Rapierian besides this post before next Thursday either. By the way, the chaos in the Tavern is being caused by potions that he put in the drinks, not by a spell, so I think that it would probably continue after his collapse. Also, the mental battle between Satori and Rapierian isn't necessarily what would happen in a physical (i.e. Rapierian would probably be much harder pressed to defend himself against Satori's physical attacks of rage).
*BiC*

Selax continued to observe the scene around him from his seat in the corner. He was completely unfazed by the oddity of a lich sitting at the bar, since, at his age, one had seen just about everything that there was to see and more besides. Something else had caught his attention and had again brought past memories to the fore. Wizard, well acquainted enough with Selax to guess his moods despite Selax's stoicism and far more subdued emotions, noticed his pensiveness.

"What is it?" Wizard asked, mildly curious. He had known Selax long enough to know when the elemental was recalling the past. Selax had revealed little of this past to Wizard, and Wizard was always willing to learn more.

"That is the first Phaerie that I have seen since before this land or you was born and the first young Phaerie that I have seen out in the open world since longer than that," Selax answered, gesturing idly at Shi'nayne. "Of the past, I am again naturally reminded, as I so often find myself recently..."


Rapierian collapsed but only physically. In his mind's eye, he saw what was happening as...

He and Satori both stood facing each other, surrounded by complete and utter darkness. This physical illusion was a reality: all that now occurred was occurring in the minds of Satori and Rapierian.

What looked like a puddle of blackness was flowing from Satori into Rapierian.

Rapierian looked at it and then glanced at Satori.

Satori, for a moment, was actually surprised. For that moment, the face that looked at her didn't look like that of Rapierian's at all. Gone was the amused, laughing, or mocking expression, and in its place was one of utter blackness.

Then, it was gone and he smiled at her and spoke.

"Found a way to unload your death or some such thing into me have you? Think that'll kill me? Well, I think that as one skilled in the arts of death I might just be able to dispute that..."

Green light leapt from his fingers and his cloak as Rapierian hurled his will at Satori's rage; it smashed into the black light from Satori and she snarled in fury. Her attack intensified, and Rapierian ramped up his own assault in response. Black and green seesawed back and forth between the two, as Satori attempted to use her will and rage to shatter Rapierian's will and control.

"This is getting neither of us anywhere!" Rapierian yelled at her over the din. "I think that I might be able to help you! We can make a deal that doesn't involve either of us dying!"

Black and green winked out as Satori ceased her attack and Rapierian ceased his defense.

"Explain," Satori rumbled, after considering Rapierian for a moment.

"Certainly! As you on doubt are well aware, on our recent quest I encountered several ruffians out of whom I sucked the life energy. What you may not be aware of this that energy adds to my own and increases my life span, as well as having other useful side effects...in effect, I have all their life spans in addition to my own. I could give one of these lives to you. . .for something in exchange of course. What do you say?"

*OoC*
I'm new here, so I'm starting a new character. Hope no-one minds too much.
*BIC*

Suddenly, the door to the Tavern burst open, and a young girl with silver hair burst it, her midnight cloak rippling around her. She half ran, half stumbled towards the bar, and collapsed over it, panting.
"Please....help.....chased!.....must hide!" she wheezed to Brianna. Slowly the girl slid to the floor in a dead faint.

This post has been edited by CrazyChick: 08 December 2006 - 03:11 AM

Alice sat at the bar, cluutching his (now refilled) mug of water and sipping it somewhat compulsively. He had seemingly gone oblivious to everything going on around him, until the girl ran in and passed out directly behind him. She brushed him ever so slightly as she slid to the ground, at which point he gave out a yell and whirled around on his stool in a spastic motion, sending his water flying out of his mug again and splashing everyone in the vicinity. Someone yelled back irritably and Alice fell off his stool in surprise.

"Hello to you too," he muttered, laying face-down on the floor and eyeing the unconscious girl sprawled next to him. "Chased by what? Undead? Ruffians? Thunderstorms? Wouldn't come as a surprise, they're uncommonly good at stalking..." He went on mumbling to himself, only random snippets such as "stupid weather" and "zombies" and "voices, all day long, chittering away in my ear" audible to the others nearby.

This post has been edited by iKaterei: 08 December 2006 - 03:45 AM

Silverfish was swirling the saltwater with his fingers when the girl entered. When she slid to the floor, he jumped down and started to try to help her into a more comfortable position. But he kept one eye on the door, ready for trouble.

This post has been edited by Jehezekel: 10 January 2007 - 12:40 PM

Irritably Moonshadow brushed water off her clothes while behind her, Shi grumbled about having to dry her wings now. Then she slid off her chair, walked over to the new arrival and knelt down smoothly beside her.
"Let me see," she murmured softly to Silverfish. He looked at her sceptically, and she added. "I'm a healer."
He nodded, and together they propped the unconscious girl against the counter.
Moonshadow tested her pulse, than brushed her hands across the girl's face, carefully opening an eye and peering into it. "Nothing amiss," she announced, "but we should move her somewhere more comfortable until she wakes up. Brianna, are there any free rooms in the inn?"
Brianna nodded. "Most of them are, actually. Try the second one on the right."
"What about whatever is chasing her?" Silverfish inquired.
"If anything is chasing her..." Moonshadow began, only to be interrupted by Shi.
"Look around you!" She gestured grandly, waving her hands at a couple of the patrons. "We can cope."
Indeed, Moonshadow thought, she'd be surprised if the lich didn't have some tricks up his sleeve. Not to mention some of the other more exotic visitors, like the water elemental.
"Hey, Sideline!" Brianna suddenly called. "Come over and lend a hand."
Sideline resisted the urge to roll his eyes and rose from his seat, walking over and bending down next to the unconscious girl. He lifted her up easily, careful not to jostle her too much. "Second room on the right, right?"
Brianna nodded, and he left the tavern to deposit the girl in a bed.
"She looks like she hasn't eaten in a while," Moonshadow said thoughtfully. "Best to have some food ready when she wakes up." That said she went once more to the kitchen, picking up some food, before following Sideline.

Sideline put the girl on the bed, and covered her with the blanket. Moonshadow brought in a tray with some cheese and bread, and a bunch of grapes, and placed it carefully on the bedside table. Sideline extinguished the torch, and he and Moonshadow left the room, closing the door behind them. After about half an hour, in which the brawl had gradually died down to a few people still chasing hallucinations, the girl groaned and opened her eyes. Although the room was dark, she could see the room was small and spartan, with a torchbracket on the opposite wall. She could see the corner of a tray next to the bed, and she slowly eased over to investigate. The grapes she ignored completely, but she took a little of the cheese and sniffed it, then tasted it cautiously. It was obviously to her liking, as she quickly ate it as though she hadn't had a meal in days. She regarded the bread suspiciously, then decided to get up and explore the room. Firstly, she opened the curtains a crack, and peered out fearfully, as if she expected to see something dangerous. Then, with a creaking of bedsprings, she put her feet on the floor and got up silently. She padded over to the door, and tested the handle. To her surprise it turned easily, and she opened it slowly and looked around it. She could see into the tavern, and walked around the door and down the hallway. She silently walked over to the bar, and sat down at a stool, next to Alice.
Moonshadow saw her, and came over.
"Are you alright? What was chasing you? Who are you?" she asked quickly.
The girl looked at her with wide amber eyes. Moonshadow noticed they had pupils like a cat's.
"I'm... alive, I think. And the Hrothrim were chasing me. They must have stopped, for some peculiar reason, as I am still alive. But I do not understand your last question." the girl replied.
"What's your name?" Seeing the girl looked even more confused, Moonshadow clarified "I mean, what do people call you? I'm called Moonshadow." she added by way of explanation.
"Using a single word to describe someone? But you are not a shadow!" the girl protested.
"No..." Moonshadow struggled to explain "A name is just... something people call you to show you aren't... I mean... a name is just a label we give to people so we can call them, or ask if people have seen them. It's hard to explain."
"It seems ridiculous! How do you decide what to call people?"
"I don't, their parents decide, then they introduce themselves as that name."
The girl looked sad. "But I don't have a name! My... what did you call them?...parents didn't tell me if I had one." she whispered.
Moonshadow gave up. "Then in Cythera, you shall be known as 'Cat', because of your eyes."
The new Cat smiled. "I like it! But what's wrong with our eyes? You have normal eyes. I thought the others' eyes were wrong!"
It finally hit Moonshadow. "You aren't from Cythera, are you?" she asked, sceptically.
"What is Cythera?" asked Cat, clinching it.

This post has been edited by CrazyChick: 09 December 2006 - 06:50 AM

OOC: Welcome to the Tavern BIC:

Talryn finding no conversation with a spaced out Selax, got up and went over to the bar to see what was going on. Finding that it was just another stranger that had entered the tavern, he walked out side and noticed the necro's body. He knelt down, felt a pulse, dragged the body in and set him on a table than went back out side and summoned some forces of nature to amuse himself. Snow began to fall outside and Talryn entered briefly to grab some more food and drink.

Cat turned her attention towards Brianna.
"Can I have a glass of milk, please?"
Brianna looked at her. Boy, what a job.
"Sure. Do you want to start a tab?" she asked.
"A what?" Cat queried.
"A tab. It means you're going to pay me later."
"Oh. Yes."
Brianna handed her the drink. Cat turned around and started watching the last few people still fighting hallucinations. She started lapping at the milk, like her namesake.

Seeing the snow through the doorway, Silverfish suddenly remembered something, and dashed out the door as Talryn was re-exiting.

Moonshadow smiled slightly, watching the new girl that looked surprisingly similar to herself out of the corner of her eyes. She could empathize well with her -- she still remember when she had stumbled onto Cythera, and how long it had taken her to grasp the basics of human life. Well, the least she could do was make the newcomer's transition to Cytheran life more smooth than her own.
Reaching out, she placed a cool hand on Cat's forearm, smiling when the girl turned to look at her inquiringly. "If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. I know much of this -" she gestured around "- must seem confusing at first."
Cat nodded. "Thank you," she said softly.
"You're welcome. Oh, I noticed you didn't touch the bread or grapes -- still hungry?"

Talryn sat down and played with the wind, causing snow flakes to fall in different ways, and looked over to Sliverfish to see why he had suddenly dashed outside. while waiting for a respones, Talryn pulled out some paper and begun to write.

[Finally updated Talryn's info.]

This post has been edited by Dark Jet: 09 December 2006 - 01:18 PM

"Yes! I didn't try them because I've never seen anything like them before. Do you have any more of that yellow stuff? That was nice." said Cat eagerly.
"Sure." Moonshadow turned to Brianna and asked her for some more cheese. She handed the cheese to Cat, who tore bits off it and ate it. Once she had finished, she returned to her milk.
"Thank you, that's so much better." she sighed happily.
Then her brow creased as she remembered something.
"Who or what was that silver thing that just ran out? And who is everyone here?"

*OoC*
Hello, sorry I'm late, had to go out of town for the weekend. CrazyChick, welcome to the tavern.

Moonshadow, checked your PMs lately?
*BiC*

"Well," Brianna responded, "Moonshadow you know. She's a winter elf. I'm Brianna, a half-elf. The boy, here, is Alice. Don't ask, we don't know. The dead guy down the end is Mort."

Cat leaned as far away from Mort as she could without fallng off her stool, staring at him sideways as if doubting her own eyes' reports of his existence.

The creature's going to live, I see. I suppose some people are just naturally luckier than others. Perhaps she shares her namesake's purported nine lives?

"Behave, Bony, or I'll use your ribcage for a xylophone."

Mort's flaming eyes briefly flickered, as if the lich had blinked.

Sure, pick on the dead man. Although, that might actually be rather entertaining.

"Don't mind him, he's just upset at being, um, life impaired."

Oh, hah, hah.

"Right, then. The little woman with the wings is Shi'nayne. She's a Phaery."

"A what?"

"Um, right, that would take a lot of explaining. Speaking of which, you really should meet my grandfather, the Scribe. He collects and tells stories, so he might be able to help you out." She pointed to the ancient elf, still seated at his customary table, along with the mostly concealed Sideline, who'd slipped back to his familiar shadows as soon as his unaccustomed task had been completed.

"Although, perhaps that'd better wait until later," Brianna continued, as she noticed the Scribe begin to wave his hands as if conducting an imaginary orchestra. "He doesn't exactly seem himself, right now."

This post has been edited by cache22: 10 December 2006 - 05:14 AM