Ambrosia Software Web Board: The Alraeican Tavern - part VI - Ambrosia Software Web Board

It didn't take long for Moonshadow to round up any idle people and get them working. Katerei spotted Moonshadow and went over to talk to her.

"So, what are we going to rebuild it with?" Katerei inquired. "Somehow I doubt wood is going to last long; stone might be a good idea."

Moonshadow nodded. "Yes, I think it should be built from stone. But you see those planks?" She gestured to some luminous planks and boards, some of which were still standing and some that had been pulled down. "We ought to keep those; they're not ordinary wood."

Katerei nodded and contemplated that thoughtfully as she wandered off to watch the work, helping where she could.

Indigo was working alongside Flynn and Lucas, pulling down burned wood and discarding it off to the side. Even Lemni was there, pulling away the wood so it was out of the way.

There was a brief conference assembled outside to decide what to do next. Word had quickly spread that they were planning on rebuilding the Tavern in stone, but that was certainly no easy task. It was obvious that before any construction could be done, the remaining wood would have to be stripped down, so they set to doing so.

More and more people were recruited to work. In under two hours the wood from the roof had been stripped away. The burned wood was disposed of; the usable wood was piled up, and the strange luminous planks were stacked separately.

The floor and parts of the wall were still standing. The floor was dotted with the occasional table or chair that hadn't been burned or knocked over in the confusion, as well as the Scribe's seat. It was decided that the floor could be left for the time being, but all the walls were taken down.

Not everybody was involved with the physical labour, though. Somebody had arranged for Wolmark to be responsible of designing the new Alraeican Tavern, and although he was a bit nervous about architecture, he was willing to do it.

Sya, in her fox form, was one of the swiftest. Sasha sent her off as a messenger to the dwarves, under the reasoning that they were going to need skilled stonesmiths soon enough.

Moonshadow and Katerei had devised a plan for the magical planks and beams. Since the building was going to be stone, they decided to use them to construct a wooden door.

The new Tavern was taking shape.

------------------
Arrogance and ignorance walk hand in hand.

As the owner of the tavern, Talos convened with Wolmark to select a new design. The new tavern would be placed in the same location, with a similarly placed door. The new tavern would be statelier, with the roof beginning at 14' rather than 10'; the peak would be at 20'. The tavern's area would remain the same excepting an area off to the right of the entrance, which made the shape of the tavern an 'L'. The counter of the bar would still be to the left of the entrance, but now it would go across the left and partway across the back wall, rather than just across the left. The fireplace would remain in the same place, as it was stone and had not burned.

As for materials, the roof would be made of the same red-brown shingles as before. The new walls would be made of stately blocks of granite, with lintels over the windows. Fine, strong, wooden shutters would be used to keep ill weather out. Inside, the cold stone would be softened by rich rugs hung between windows; these would also help to keep the tavern toasty. The counters would be made of polished granite, as would the tables. The same sturdy chairs would be used at the tables; barstools would also be of the same design. As Talos had an affinity for the old, warm, wooden floor and rugs over cold stone tiles, he struck a compromise: wood and rugs would be used, but an expensive magical fire-resistant film would be used over the floor.

Only one problem remained: how to support the roof. Unless a forest of supports was used, there would have to be some sort of girder to keep the roof up. Wood seemed to be the only usable material for this, but the film could not be applied to the underside of the beams. If the supports were to burn, the roof would collapse and render all the safety measures useless. However, they came up with an inventive solution: instead of using wood, they would use bronze cast into beams. Although much heavier than wood (the walls would have to be about twice as thick where they supported a girder), the bronze was immune from fire and rot.

As the final design was agreed upon, work began in earnest. The total cost of only materials would come to 25.000 oboloi; labor would cost at least as much. However, the problem of where to come up with the money was solved neatly by sympathetic patrons with rather magical pouches.

------------------
Bronze: the other gold metal.   | |   And so the space toaster hardened the outer layers of the doughy, ooey-gooey ancient Earth...
Bacchus Publishing: [url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/cgi-bin/vftp/show.pl?product=evo&category=guides&display=date&file=ChroniclesByJake101.sit.hqx"]Chronicles by Jake101: the unposted chapters[/url].

[This message has been edited by Talos (edited 08-19-2002).]

"Sel, sel a'mora...hythung urdhra fain, seli, fai cathre amun eal. Sel, sel a'mora..."*

Dheiva sang softly to herself as she looked out from her perch on a hilltop. A breeze sprang up, catching her mouse-brown hair and tossing it about her shoulders. Her sensitive nose picked up the scent of cowslip flowers on the wind, mingled with evening dew and a distant trace of smoke. But there was one- no, two- other scents she recognized. Human, and elf.

She shivered, unsuccessfully attempting to suppress the fears. She knew where the scents came from. Down at the foot of the hill, there was a large meadow. On the far side was a city; a human city. Yet elves lived there too, and dwarves, and other strange beings.

From Dheiva's point of view, that must be a terribly awkward situation. Imagine living among so many unfamiliar races! None of them minded, though; at least from what Dheiva had gathered by watching them.

Watching them, just watching. Most of Dheiva's day had been spent merely watching them. To herself, she had pretended that it was because she wanted to see if it was safe. But the real reason she hadn't yet approached the city or its inhabitants was because she was simply too scared.

Scared of all of them, with their big buildings, their strange languages, their magic. It wasn't anything like she was used to; no, nothing was the same at all. How different from the familiar forests of her people!

So the day had been whiled away, up on the hilltop, watching the city. There was one spot in particular that had especially intruiged her, though.

Yesterday, there was a big wooden building that had caught fire. Most of it had burned down and Dheiva had receded into the forest, away from the smell of smoke. But in the morning she had ventured partway down the hill, and could see that the city dwellers had torn down the building. At first Dheiva was terribly confused- why would they be ripping it down?- but then she realized that they must be planning on rebuilding it.

Her guess had been correct. In her curiousity (for she had never seen a building been made before), she had decided to watch them in their work.

But the scents of the people had woken her from her elongonated reverie- made her remember the lack of safety- and she had scurried back up to the top of the hill just after the sun reached its highest. And now, once again, the scents of people drifted up to her. There was something else on the wind, though.

Dheiva stood up and sniffed the wind. She couldn't identify the scent. Curiosity battled against the deeply-imbued fear. She'd met humans and elves before, and they hadn't hurt her. Maybe it was safe down there?

Curiosity won out. Dheiva stretched out her furred legs, testing the grass, then ran down the grassy slope, singing to herself.

"Sel, sel a'mora, hyaleth cal hyreyn. Sel a'mora, sel a'mora, hythung urdhra fai. Sel, sel a'mora."

She stopped at the edge of the meadow. Visibility was worse down here, since less of the sun could be seen over the horizon. Treading lightly through the thick grass, Dheiva had to rely on her hearing and sense of smell. Unfortunately, an indignant squeal quickly informed her that they weren't good enough.

A small figure rose up in the air, fluttering up and down rapidly, squealing at her. "Do you mind?! I was just sitting in the grass, minding my own business, and then you come along and nearly step on me! Watch where you're going!"

Startled, Dheiva took a step backwards. "Mei'la!** I- I didn't know you were there...I'm sorry!"

The small person stared at Dheiva accusingly, but then her expression changed into one of curiousity. "Hey! You're not human- you're not even an elven, like my friend Brianna!" She put her hands on her hips, staring at Dheiva in wonder.

"You're not a human either," Dheiva shot back. Her fear had quickly faded upon the realization that, unless this creature had hidden powers, there was no way it could be dangerous. It was no more than a foot tall, with wings. It was obviously a female, with long, wavy lavender hair and eyes to match.

The small girl nodded, completely unembarrassed. "Yes, I'm a Phaerie! Everybody thinks I'm a fairy, but I'm not." She rolled her eyes. "I wish they'd learn to tell the difference!"

"Um, I beg your pardon, but...I don't know what a Phaerie or a fairy is."

"Oh, don't worry about that," the Phaerie smiled. "I can't really blame you, because I don't know what you are! You don't look like a human, at least, or an elven. What are you?"

"I'm- I'm a Rennai." Dheiva was completely bewildered by this small girl. Nobody had ever actually asked what she was before. Normally, she would have avoided telling anyone, but the Phaerie's good mood was contagious and she would have felt terrible about lying. "Have you ever heard of the Rennai?"

"Oh, no, I haven't. I hope you don't mind? Oh, by the way, my name is Shi'nayne, but I'd rather you call me Shi. It's easier, you know? What's your name?"

Dheiva lowered her eyes. "Yes, of course you haven't. I should have known..." she drifted off, biting her lip.

"What's your name?" Shi'nayne persisted.

"Dhieva. I'm...not from around here."

Shi looked at the strange girl, concerned. "Are you okay? You seem sad. How can you be sad?! It's a beautiful day, you know!"

"Oh, I'm just...tired, I guess." Dheiva sighed, not particularly willing to explain anything right there.

"Well, you can come with me, back over there!" Shi fluttered up and and down excitedly. "You can meet all my friends! And if you're tired I'm sure they can find somewhere for you to sleep. It's a nice place, really. But they're building, and everybody's busy, so I came over here. It's nice in this meadow too, don't you think? And I was just sitting here, and then you came along. I heard you singing, you know! It sounded really pretty. Would you min singing for me again, maybe? I'd really like that!"

Dheiva was overwhelmed. Not only was the Phaerie very energetic, but she said all that without taking a breath. Even more surprising is that she didn't seem to care, or even really notice, Dheiva's strange appearance- which was almost a first.

"Well...I suppose I could sing for you. The Seina song, I suppose- it's the most common."

"Oh, thank you!" Shi said happily. "Um- is it okay if I sit on your shoulder while we walk?"

"I suppose so," Dheiva replied, bemused. "Come on."


*part of an old Rennai song- "Fly, fly little bird...the wind catches you, flier, and holds your wings. Fly, fly little bird..." The later quote is an extension of it.

**Sorry!

------------------
A sense of peace fell over me as I watched the sunrise from my room...then I realized my window faces west.

[This message has been edited by iKaterei (edited 08-26-2002).]

Avatara sidled up to SoySauce. "Sorry about the ship, but it was outdated anyway. Your brakes froze up and the steering locked, have you ran a diognostic recently?"

"That was because its encoded to me..."

"I'll find a way I can pay you back, I've got a few 'friends in high places.'" Avatara patted SoySauce on the back. He strolled off, glancing at the reconstruction, and everyone hard at work. He spotted a few unguarded tools lying on a bench nearby, that seemed like they might come in handy when fixing metal. He shrugged and slipped off into the night, unnoticed.

When Flynn returned from a quick break and a drink, noticed with a frown that he couldn't quite remember where he had placed the tools he'd been using...

------------------
"I hate that! Your answers are always short, precise, and utterly useless!"
"Yes."

[This message has been edited by Avatara (edited 08-24-2002).]

As SoySauce laments over his lost Valkyrie Class POS, a man with a long, black cloak and dark glasses covering his eyes walks into the ruined tavern (I didn't read all of the topic, so I don't know if the tavern was repaired or not). he pulls some strange green cards out of a pocket in his cloak and slaps them into Soy's hand. "Here you go, old friend. That Valkyrie was outdated. Go buy a Starbridge." SoySauce stares at the credit chits in his hand and looks up at the mysterious stranger.

"Zane Salazar!" Soy says. "How did you get here?"

"I have no idea. I was wandering the Great Beyond (EV BnB) when my ship took command of itself. I couldn't do a thing, so I punched out and ended up here. This place is somehow familiar, though...I can't quite place it."

"Well, Zane, let me buy you a drink. Talos, get us six pints of Fire and Ice."

"Nah, I've had too much Fire and Ice lately. Make that ten pints of Jack Daniels, Talos. I'm paying."

Talos extends his arm for his payment, but looks confused and angry when he sees green cards instead of the heavy metal of obols. "Hey, what kind of **** is this?!?! This isn't money!"

"Yes, it is," Zane replies. "That's 50 credits, the money of the The Great Beyond."

"What good are they here?"

"Well, you could put it in a bank. In 1200 years, when all this will be part of the Great Beyond, that 50 credits will grow to 53,000 credits. Do you know what you could do with 53,000?"

"Not much..." SoySauce says under his breath.

"Shut up, Soy. I'm doing the talking."

------------------
"The day Microsoft makes something that doesn't suck will be the day they make vacuum cleaners." -White Lightning
1500 posts as of 8.23.2002 8:55 AM (11:55 ASW time)
This is just your [url="http://"http://www.EVula.com/"]E[/url]v[url="http://"http://www.EVula.com/"]E[/url]ryday link to an [url="http://"http://www.EVula.com/"]E[/url]v[url="http://"http://www.EVula.com/"]E[/url]ryday w[url="http://"http://www.EVula.com/"]E[/url]bsit[url="http://"http://www.EVula.com/"]E[/url]. Th[url="http://"http://www.EVula.com/"]E[/url]r[url="http://"http://www.EVula.com/"]E[/url] is no n[url="http://"http://www.EVula.com/"]EE[/url]d to g[url="http://"http://www.EVula.com/"]E[/url]t [url="http://"http://www.EVula.com/"]E[/url]xcit[url="http://"http://www.EVula.com/"]E[/url]d about it.
Selfish Advertising | [url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/webboard/Forum23/HTML/003635.html"]Least Frequently Asked Questions[/url]. Post if you got 'em!

Talos, grumbling, accepted the payment of odd currency. He thought at first he could melt it down, but upon inspection he found that it was not iron, like oboloi: it was much lighter and shinier. Its surface did not feel metallic, either. Noticing the Cytheran's bewilderment with the currency, Soysauce noted that it was "silicon". Not wishing to look stupid, Talos quickly put it away with a look of mock understanding.

Meanwhile, all around them construction was taking place. A new foundation was being dug, to support the heavier weight of the new tavern. It would be at least a few days before materials would begin to arrive in earnest, but there was still plenty to do. Besides the foundation, various piles of burned-out scraps were being inspected for useful items. Already, a menagerie of random furniture and structure elements that were not badly damaged had been positioned at one side of the site for future use.

It would be hard, but the tavern would be rebuilt.

(Note: Katerei, please feel free to keep going with your subplot... I'm fine with there being a little naturalistic story going alongside here...)

------------------
Bronze: the other gold metal.   | |   And so the space toaster hardened the outer layers of the doughy, ooey-gooey ancient Earth...
Bacchus Publishing: [url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/cgi-bin/vftp/show.pl?product=evo&category=guides&display=date&file=ChroniclesByJake101.sit.hqx"]Chronicles by Jake101: the unposted chapters[/url].

Flynn pulled up a board from the floor to make way for a new stone piling, then paused to mop the sweat from his brow. He wasn't exactly used to such physically demanding labour, but he found it a welcome change from his more martial activities. He took a deep breath, and released it slowly before bending down to remove another plank.

"Hey, what's this?"

Lucas and Talos quickly joined him, peering down into the darkness beneath the floor of the tavern.

"Looks like a hole," Lucas replied, having the advantage of an infrared scanner in his articial eye. "Quite big, too - and are those arrows stuck in the wall?"

"Oh yes, I vaguely recall that," Talos replied, sounding vaguely confused. "I wonder why I'd forgoten? There was this hole, and a few people went down to check it out... I don't know what happened after that. Let's see - I don't remember everyone that went, but there was a woman... Katherine, her name was."

Flynn shook his head. "I don't think I've ever heard anyone mention her."

"It's strange," Talos continued in a puzzled tone of voice. "She was one of Rogan's friends, had a store here in Cademia. You know, now that I think about it, that was the last time I can remember ever seeing her!"

Flynn exchanged a glance with Lucas, his eyes bright with interest - and saw the same expression mirrored in the older man's eyes. "Up for a little exploration?"

"Sure," Lucas grinned back. "Hey, anyone else want to come along?" He gazed about the tavern, waiting to see if there was any response.

------------------
I will classify my lieutenants in three categories: untrusted, trusted, and completely trusted. Promotion to the third category will be awarded posthumously.

Zane Salazar rose from his bar stool after his sixth pint. "I'm always up for adventure, and I'm plenty relaxed now. We run into any trouble down there, I'll blast the opposition with my MB-Vulture Class Medium Repeating Dual Blaster Rifle." Zane looks around to see if anyone else is coming, but sees nothing but looks of confusion coming from everyone. "Um, I'll...defeat the creatures with my...uh....Magic Crossbow! Ph33r it!"

SoySauce looks over to Zane. "You just spelled 'fear' wrong."

"How did you know?"

"Okay," Talos says, "is anyone else coming?"

------------------
"The day Microsoft makes something that doesn't suck will be the day they make vacuum cleaners." -White Lightning
1500 posts as of 8.23.2002 8:55 AM (11:55 ASW time)
This is just your [url="http://"http://www.EVula.com/"]E[/url]v[url="http://"http://www.EVula.com/"]E[/url]ryday link to an [url="http://"http://www.EVula.com/"]E[/url]v[url="http://"http://www.EVula.com/"]E[/url]ryday w[url="http://"http://www.EVula.com/"]E[/url]bsit[url="http://"http://www.EVula.com/"]E[/url]. Th[url="http://"http://www.EVula.com/"]E[/url]r[url="http://"http://www.EVula.com/"]E[/url] is no n[url="http://"http://www.EVula.com/"]EE[/url]d to g[url="http://"http://www.EVula.com/"]E[/url]t [url="http://"http://www.EVula.com/"]E[/url]xcit[url="http://"http://www.EVula.com/"]E[/url]d about it.
Selfish Advertising | [url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/webboard/Forum23/HTML/003635.html"]Least Frequently Asked Questions[/url]. Post if you got 'em!

Talos continued, "I would like to come, but need to stay at least until the tavern's construction has begun in earnest. Feel free to leave without me, I'll catch up to you."

*OoC*

I'd like to keep the story in the tavern until it gets going. At that point I'll post a new topic for it.

*BiC*

------------------
Bronze: the other gold metal.   | |   And so the space toaster hardened the outer layers of the doughy, ooey-gooey ancient Earth...
Bacchus Publishing: [url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/cgi-bin/vftp/show.pl?product=evo&category=guides&display=date&file=ChroniclesByJake101.sit.hqx"]Chronicles by Jake101: the unposted chapters[/url].

Shi happily landed on Dheiva's shoulder, apparently not noticing the girl's slight discomfort. She smiled up at the Rennai expectantly, waiting for her to start singing.
Before long, Dheiva's soft voice was again raised in song. Though Shi did not catch all the words, nor understand what they meant, she soon found herself humming along with the fast, upbeat tune, small hands tapping on Dheiva's shoulder.
This immensely startled her companion at first, but Shi noticed that Dheiva was relaxing, anyway. So the next time the refrain - at least Shi was pretty sure it was the refrain - came up, she just joined in.
"Séina, aya, séina." Though the Phaerie's voice was somewhat off-key, she more than made up for it with sheer enthusiasm. "Cal tor amanya hith, fai mrei, séina, aya séina. Dao mrei opaline. Séina, séina, aya, séina."
Dheiva stopped walking so suddenly Shi almost fell off her shoulder. Startled, the tiny girl took wing, watching Dheiva anxiously. "What's wrong? Did I do anything? Oh, and I was soooo sure I got the words right. I'm sorry, really I am!" She blurted the words out so quickly Dheiva had difficulty understanding them.
Seeing Shi's wide-eyed expression, the other girl suddenly started giggling.
Shi stared at her for a few moments, not really understanding what she'd said, only knowing that it had somehow managed to cheer her new companion up. Cautiously, she approached the girl. "Uh... what did I say?" She inquired, not offended, but merely curious.
"You mispronounced it!" Dhieva explained, still giggling. "It's 'seina', not 'séina'. That means... something else..."
"Oh." Shi looked at her blankly for a moment, then her expression brightened. "Well, you certainly look a lot better now! And just wait until you have a place to sleep and got something to eat and... ooh, I'm so hungry myself! Today has been a busy day, don't you think, and I never got a chance to grab a bite between dodging all those big folks and - oh, and Brianna will be so happy to meet you, too! And the Scribe... he knows a lot, you know. About people and places and he can tell wonderful tales, you'll just love those!" Shi chattered cheerfully as she resumed her place on Dheiva's right shoulder, telling her whatever random thing came to her mind. "Of course, they're somewhat queer, the big folks, don't you think? Building stone houses and cutting trees and all and -" Shi paused suddenly, realizing she was talking to one of 'the big folks'. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you... did I offend you?" She asked hesitantly.
Dheiva shook her head. "No, you didn't. We... don't do that, either."
Shi looked up at her new friend, sensing from her tone of voice and expression that her good mood was fading, and quickly changed the topic. That wasn't hard, for Shi never really *had* a topic to talk about... Shi just talked. "Well, anyway, since you're going to meet my friends soon, I guess I better start teaching you about the ways of humans and elvens. You can tell them apart by their appearance, you know. The elvens are more delicate, and their skin is so pale, if you didn't see them walking in sunlight, you'd think they never even heard of it before! And they all have pointed ears... not like yours, though, like humans', just, uh, pointed. They hear better, and you can't put them to sleep so easily. Some of them have strange habbits, though... there's this one elven who looks like a human, but I know he's an elven, but he's wearing a mask all the time, and it's magical, and I don't believe he wants people to know he's an elven. That's really peculiar... what's more, it's even working, except on me, that is, but I can't see what he looks like behind the mask, it's all quite blurry, but I know he's got pointed ears, so he must be an elven, don't you think?"
Dheiva nodded, not knowing what else to do. The Phaerie's monolog had her quite confused. She was granted no time to try and make sense of it, though, since the small creature happily continued chattering. "Oh well, one day, I'm going to find out, you'll see!" Shi nodded emphatically. "Anyway, generally, elvens are nicer than humans. They get along better with nature and animals, and I've never yet seen one cut a tree, not like the humans, oh no, but there are nice humans, too, you'll see... even though they're still strange, and they do strange things... uh, gold, for example! You know that stuff? Looks really pretty and glitters in the sunlight... humans are almost obsessed with it! They form it into large discs which they call 'coins', and they work hard all day to get the 'coins', and then they go and 'buy' things with them, food, for example, quite ridiculous, if you ask me... there's food all around! And then when they go 'buy' stuff the 'coins' turn into 'oblis'... are you following me so far?"

------------------
Ich weiß wohl, ich bin nur ein Träumer, der vielleicht eines Morgens erwacht. Doch ich spotte dem Tag und ich folge dem Stern und ich lass mich entführen in die Nacht...
- Silk & Lute

[This message has been edited by Moonshadow (edited 08-28-2002).]

*** OoC ***
See [url="http://"http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/webboard/Forum5/HTML/000782.html"]http://www.AmbrosiaS...TML/000782.html[/url] for background. I don't intend to make an epic out of this, Talos' post just reminded me of that old unfinished story. If someone else wants to make something out of it, go ahead; otherwise, I'll probably wrap it up in 3 or 4 (shortish) posts, as time permits.
*** BiC ***

Flynn quickly dropped down into the hole and began scaling down the arrows, followed by the far more cautious Lucas. Salazar waited impatiently behind the old marine. Before long, Flynn found himself standing on a solid earthen landing, although the hole continued on downwards for quite some distance. A dark tunnel lead off the landing; Flynn drew the Ruby Fang, using its fire enchantment for light.

The far end of the corridor opened out into a small chamber, in the centre of which stood a pedestal. Flynn was studying it carefully when he heard Salazar walk up behind him.

"What have you found?" Salazar queried.

"It was some kind of spellbook, or journal - or perhaps a warning," Flynn replied. "Listen:"

'To those who might one day read this spellbook, I say this:

'There once was an age when mighty kings ruled. A day when the greatest warriors would fight to the death, and the world would be devestated, until another arose. Sadly, this day ended with the coming of the Tyrants. I was a mage who lived in these dark tunnels. Here, within this spellbook, is my life's work: ...'

Flynn's voice trailed off. "That's where it ends; the rest of the pages have been torn out."

"Let me see."

"Sure." Flynn handed the remains of the book over.

"Hey," Lucas called from the far end of the tunnel. "I can see something glowing, further down the hole!"

Flynn shrugged. "Well, there's nothing more here; might as well go check it out."

------------------
I will classify my lieutenants in three categories: untrusted, trusted, and completely trusted. Promotion to the third category will be awarded posthumously.

Avatara slipped under the stone archway of the nearly complete tavern. Several people were having drinks, celebrating their achievement at rebuilding the tavern out of stone. A few people were putting the finishing touches on the building, making sure everything was stable. Avatara walked over to the bar, finding himself thirsty. He caught himself in time, noticing the hole in the floor at the last instant.

"Someone is going to get hurt with this thing just lying here in the open. Why didn't they fix this?" With that he took some leftover bricks and held them over the opening, uttering an incantation. The bricks seemed to melt and expand, until they completely sealed the hole. When he stood up, there was no evidence the hole had existed, it was covered in at least a foot of stone.

"Slayer, I need a hand. Can you get me something really heavy?" Avatara asked.

"Stand back." Slayer did something Avatara couldn't catch, and suddenly a giant golem stood on the tavern floor over the sealed hole.

"Good, that'll do. The patch should be able to withstand well more than three dozen people, provided they can all fit onto that tiny area. Thanks." Avatara smiled at his work and ordered his drink.

------------------
"I hate that! Your answers are always short, precise, and utterly useless!"
"Yes."

A man, a fighter by the looks of him, entered the tavern. Upon entering, he quickly noticed the golem standing squarely in the center of the floor. "Where did this abomination come from?" he yelled.

"Er... I summoned it. We need it to guard the hole in the floor," responded Slayer.

The man glanced at the apparently solid tavern floor, then looked skeptically at Slayer. "Regardless of what it is used for, aren't you aware of the dangers of golems? What if you lose control of it?! I'm going to destroy that thing right here and now," the man said before charging at the creature. The golem struck the fighter, knocking him into the wall with enough force that had the wall been constructed of a material less sturdy than stone, he would have found himself outside the tavern. The man pulled himself to his feet and said, "On second thought, maybe you can keep your golem." The man staggered out the door, presumably to seek medical attention.

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Slayer's guide to Cythera:
[url="http://"http://www.macclassics.com/cythera/cythera.htm"]http://www.macclassi...era/cythera.htm[/url]

*yawn*

Eyes appear hovering in the middle of the tavern, blinking a few times. "Well, golems are only dangerous if the caster dies and they gain their own will. We just have to give Slayer some protection." A few chants roll out of the air below the eyes, and another golem appears beside Slayer. "There, that should do it."

*OoC*
Treat me as a newb, as I'm sure as heck not going to read all the posts
*BiC*

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If truth is a lie, who am I?
The One And Only:
~Theo Nean Donly~

A short while later, Moonshadow entered the Tavern. She took a quick look around, taking in everything from Slayer and Avatara at the bar to the two golems. Then she asked, to nobody in particular and the Tavern at large: "Ok, so what kind of new game is this? 'We-can't-destroy-the-Tavern-by-fire-any-more-so-we-summon-golems-to-do-the-job'?"

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Ich weiß wohl, ich bin nur ein Träumer, der vielleicht eines Morgens erwacht. Doch ich spotte dem Tag und ich folge dem Stern und ich lass mich entführen in die Nacht...
- Silk & Lute

"No, no," Slayer said to Moonshadow, "The golem's here to protect the tavern. I have it under my complete control." About that same time, the golem grabbed a table and threw it against the wall, smashing it into tiny bits. Slayer, slightly shanken up by that, said, "Well... for the most part. Don't distract me!"

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Slayer's guide to Cythera:
[url="http://"http://www.macclassics.com/cythera/cythera.htm"]http://www.macclassi...era/cythera.htm[/url]

"Um...." Moonshadow looked first at Slayer, then at the golem, and shrugged. "If you say so..." Turning back to the patrons she added, "so...anyone here seen Flynn?"
There was a short silence as that simple question tried to penetrate the layers of alcohol. Then one patron remarked that he wouldn't want to be in Flynn's place, and the rest of the Tavern burst out laughing.
Moonshadow stood silently, eyeing everyone.
The laughter slowly died down to nervous giggles, then faded alltogether.
Another silence descended.
"So?"
"Er, yea...I think he went down that hole over there..." the patron who'd spoken earlier said, waving in the general direction of Slayer's golem. Several other men nodded in agreement.
"Which hole?"
"Er...the one that this nice fella over there just closed..." The patron stammered, vaguely waving in the direction of the bar and apparently hoping the woman with the flashing golden eyes would go away and leave him to his drink.
"Thank you."
She turned and quietly walked over to the bar, coming to stand in front of 'this nice fella'.
Slayer looked up at the disturbance, noticed her icy look. "You've got the wrong person..." Then he nudged Avatara in the ribs. "You know..." He leaned back, smirking. "I think somebody wants to talk to you..."

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Ich weiß wohl, ich bin nur ein Träumer, der vielleicht eines Morgens erwacht. Doch ich spotte dem Tag und ich folge dem Stern und ich lass mich entführen in die Nacht...
- Silk & Lute

"You mean this beautiful young lady with those cute eyes over here?" Avatara asked.

"I thi-" Moonshadow started to say something but was cut off.

"Oh, her. I thought you meant someone else," Avatara sighed. Pretending to finally notice Moonshadow he asked, "Can I help you?"

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"I hate that! Your answers are always short, precise, and utterly useless!"
"Yes."

Oblivious to the events transpiring above, Flynn lead Salazar back down the tunnel to where Lucas was waiting.

"There's some proper stairs from here on down," the old soldier commented as they approached. "Should be a lot easier than balancing on those arrows."

"Can you make out what's causing the glow?" Flynn queried.

"Are you kidding?" Salazar exclaimed. "I can't even see any glow!"

Flynn ignored him, waiting instead for Lucas' response.

"I don't know what it is," Lucas reported, "but it's bluish, looks sort of round-shaped, and a bit taller than most men stand. It's hard to be sure, from this angle."

"Well, we've come this far," Flynn said. "We might as well see all there is to see."

The three companions set off down the stairs, not knowing what they'd find; but sharing an adventurous curiosity about the unknown.

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I will classify my lieutenants in three categories: untrusted, trusted, and completely trusted. Promotion to the third category will be awarded posthumously.

"Yes, you can. You could tell me whether you were actually thinking when you closed that hole, and if so, what you were thinking of."

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Ich weiß wohl, ich bin nur ein Träumer, der vielleicht eines Morgens erwacht. Doch ich spotte dem Tag und ich folge dem Stern und ich lass mich entführen in die Nacht...
- Silk & Lute

"Look, I had no possible way of knowing your husband was down there. If I did, I probably would have tried to fill the hole with water first. I saw a health hazard, I almost fell in it, and I can almost guarantee I haven't been the only one. Is it really smart to have a big gaping hole near the bar, in a tavern? Lots of people end up drunk in here, one just has to misstep and there'd be a catastrophe. It was an innocent mistake, like I'm sure some other things were. Talos, a beer please, I don't care which." Avatara tossed some oboloi on the counter.

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"I hate that! Your answers are always short, precise, and utterly useless!"
"Yes."

The old man who's still sitting in the bar after all it's rebuildings, shifts in his seat and continues from his [url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/webboard/Forum5/HTML/000920.html"]tale[/url] from long ago.

"So anyway, there in that valley was one especially big cave, set way in the back so to be harder to spot. I wouldn't have myself, but for the eerie glow coming from it in the dark. There was this light coming from it that glowed like a diamond in the moon, and it seemed to pull you into it the more you stared. I told this story to my nephew, and he being a young man full of recklesness, went off the next Tuesday with a pickaxe and a sack. Thought he would find jewels or something I suppose. He wasn't seen again for weeks, so we all thought he was dead. Then one of the winemakers thought they spotted him shambling along through their fields at dusk. Only it wasn't him, cause it was all white and hunched over almost to the ground. Gotta be some fool playing a joke on us, but I never laughed."



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"And so it goes, and so it goes;
And your the only one who knows" -[can't remember]
The One And Only:
~Theo Nean Donly~

As he walks into the tavern, Rogan freezes in his tracks when he sees the golem.
"There's a golem in here," he said, "and I haven't even started drinking yet!"
He then walks up to the counter and says "something strong, please" as he sits down.

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Some people say war doesn't solve anything... perhaps they're using the wrong strategy...

[OoC] I would have used the blue light that Overmind mentioned, but i think Cache might have something planned for it [BiC]

A tallish man flung the tavern door open with a crunching sound as the internal door knob made contact with one of the many drunk patrons attempting to leave, he groaned and fell over.
Dusk looked down, alarmed at the old mans lack of motion. There was an awkward silence, all eyes on Dusk. He could sense that blames were about to begin.
"Look I-" Dusks ready excuse was cut off by the soft snoring sounds coming from the motionless man. A few people laughed and conversation resumed.

"Um... Can I have a beer... something? Bar tender?" Talos turned round from wiping a glass clean and noticed the newcomer.
"Call me Talos, I take it you're new around here? Your cloak doesn't seem very... Cytherian that's all. Take my advice, get to know people and drink lightly. Keen wits are handy when fighting, but can be dulled by some of our heavier... substances"
Dusk smiled with enormous relief. The only person that'd talked to him since he'd arrived in Cythera had been a old begger, who seemed to say nothing but "Get off my yard!".
"Ok, something light. Got any suggestions.. uh.. Talos?" The bartender nodded and pulled from a shelf behind him a large mug and filled it with bubbling brown ale. "Here ya go, this oughta quench thirst and not reflexes Mr...?"
"Dusk, jus' call me Dusk please" Dusk took a long, deep gulp of the delicous ale, before turning back to Talos. Adressing the next piece of friendly advice Dusk queired "And get to know people? Who should i be, 'getting to know'?"
Talos nodded in the direction of Rogan. "He'd be a good start"
----------
A few moments later Dusk sat next to Rogan, who currently sipped some straight gin.
"Your helmet is... A make I've never seen Dusk. And whatever it's made out of is... well I doubt it would stop a ruffian wielded club!"
Dusk took of his WW2 style helmet and placed it on the table, tapping thoughtfully at the kevlar. "I got it from my past self. I aparantly fought in a war somewhere, but not a war of swords and arrows. One with... I've forgotten the word now. Bombs and bullets? I can't remember what he said, but he assured me it'd keep my safe from all but the mightiest of swords, and so far it has. My cloak is just as good" Dusk proceeded to remove his trench coat. it too lay on the table now.
"This is great, no rain ever gets through, it keeps me warm. It's fabric never tears or shows wear. blades glance of it most times, leaving me unhurt, and best of all-" Dusk took another sip of ale "-it gives me some imunity to magic. Spells like sleep, terror and other common magics don't affect me"
Rogan smiled knowingly "It seems you have quite the stuff. Do you fight yourself? Or only your... past self?"
Now it was Dusks turn to smile "Oh, I fight. My past slef also gave me this" the hilt of a sword now lay beside the helmet and coat. It's make seemed plain and unintersting, a gray dull metal handle and short hand guards, no runes or inscriptions. On one side the metal was a different colour, slightly redish. Rogan laugh "Tis nothing but a hilt! You fight with that and you fight better then anyone I know! I deflect a blow from axe or long sword most be quite a skill, considering you have no blade!"
Dusk gripped the hilt, fingertips pressed tightly into the red patch, suddenly a blade sprung to life with an odd scratching sound. The blade was long and curved, like a scimatar. It gave of a disturbingly cold sensation, whisps of mist trailing off it like streamers. The blade itself was a dark, yet translucent black, it seemed alive, crawling and moving as if a rough sea covered its surfaces.

"He called it Dusk. That's where i got my name from. He said it was a.. a bio-blade, but that means nothing to me. He told me that the war he fought was with bombs and bullets, but this was used also, and was feared by all who did not wield it"
Rogan paid little attention, being rather drunk, so Dusk simply squeezed the hilt again and the blade dissapeared with the same crackling noise. Dusk placed it in his arm pit, within easy reach should he need it. He got up to order another ale when Rogan held his arm, seemingly no longer drunk.
"Strangers are not always welcome in Cythera Dusk, be careful"
Dusk nodded seriosuly and headed towards Talos once again.

[OoC] Is this how you... umm.. write yourself in? [BiC]

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I am but a shadow

*ooc* great way of writing yourself in, Dusk! *bic*

"Damn.. water please," Rogan muttered, "had enough to drink I guess". The mug of water Talos gave him went down rather quickly, and he emptied a bottle of clear mind potion as well.
He then turned to Dusk again "second ale's on me," he said and threw some oboloi to Talos. Dusk thanked Rogan and sat down to drink. "So, where are you from?" he asked.

"I live here in Cademia," Rogan answered, "grew up in Odemia. I'm an explorer, like many others here. I travel alone or with company. Like Talos... and Avatara and Slayer over there."
He turned to Avatara, smiled and said, "remember the Undine Stronghold? That was definitely a great experience or what?"

"Of course," Avatara smiled, "that's how I met you and Jack Frost".

Rogan turned back to Dusk. "This is my favorite place to relax. Many dangerous and exciting adventures have started from this very tavern. It has quite the story. It's been destroyed and rebuilt several times, drunkards beating up eachother, monsters and madness and bar supports hitting people over their heads..."

Rogan ordered an extra-light beer, emptied it quickly and asked if someone was up for a game of cards.

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Some people say war doesn't solve anything... perhaps they're using the wrong strategy...