Isle of Carandia (RPG)

[Narric]

"I know West Gemos is known for the money that flows, but these prices are ridiculous Brindle!" A Half-orc adventurer moans at the bar, the Halfling owner of the Nightinggale Inn cross-armed and unimpressed by the attitude.

"You know I've been having trouble with supply, so either go sort it out, or stop complaining." The Half-Orc grunts and returns picks up the fresh pint of mead he had paid for. "I thought so..." Brindle carried on serving other less bad tempered customers. A gnome had arrived at the bar, and had overheard the exchange. Brindle smiled as he served the fellow short stack. "Don't mind this bozo."

A Cleric found themselves in the middle of the tavern sitting at a fairly large table. Most found themselves at tables by the windows and back walls, but the cleric found themselves joined by an elvish rogue as they rested their crossbow in front of them. There was a nod of acknowledgement between them, but nothing more felt needed to be said for the moment. The inn doors opened with a crunk as a Mountain Dwarf and Halfing simultaneously shoved past each other to enter, chainmail jangling and rattling across leather.

"Careful buddy. I didn't quite see you there" The Dwarf goaded the Halfing.

"You're barely a rats-paw taller than me, who do you think you..."

"Oi!" Shouted the Halfing barkeep, surprisingly loud for an individual of his stature. "If you're gonna fight take it back outside. If not drink and play nice. Kindle, please see what that table wants to drink?" The Dwarf and Halfing that had entered together grunted, and sat at the large table in the middle, managing to sit at opposite ends, and avoiding disturbing the Cleric and Outlander. A young halfling waitress arives at the table, using a stool to jump on top to see all the patrons sitting.

[Cammerz]

"Oh it's quite alright" replied the gnome with a broad smile, "One of the benefits of being small, half the measures for half the price" which she demonstrated by ordering a thimble of brandy.

The barman looked at her quizically for a second.

"Don't have thimbles? That's okay, I have one here somewhere", and she reached into one of the many pockets of her cloak and withdrew a handful of items; a few coins of various values and places of origin, a battered thimble and a small brown mouse which took one look at the Half-Orc before scampering up the gnome's arm and diving head-first into another pocket.

"Don't mind Wigly, he's just shy", she said whilst passing the thimble over to the barman who gave the thimble a subtle clean before pouring out the measure and returining it to the gnome.

"Oh, I'm Nyx by the way", she said, holding out her tiny hand to the barman and the Half-Orc in turn.

Nyx was small, even by gnome standards, thin almost to the point of malnourishment and if she stood on tiptoe then she might just about exceed three foot. As it was she was balancing on the top of her barstool, feet dangling a long way from the floor. She had a shock of short to medium length red hair which looked a mess from every direction and was wearing a long dark cloak that seemed almost to be made of pockets, outside and in. Beneath this she was wearing what appeared to be light armour, made from wide strips of leather that had been dyed a deep red. Her large eyes seemed to express that the smile was genuine although if either of them looked close enough they might see an brief glint of something otherworldly flash across them.

[Narric]

"Bwahaha, see Kadoo!" Brindle hollered. "Getting school by someone half your size! Hahaha!" The Half-orc grumbled, downed his pint while getting up to leave. A couple younger looking men followed suit, following behind. Brindle leans close to Nyx. "You've made my day, so I'll say you can ask for thimbles of booze whenever you're in West Gemos. Just don't go spreading it around, okay?" With that he gives you a wink and returns to his customers.

[Scout Sergeant Mkoll]

The mouse's reaction to the half-orc brought a wry smile to Hlaine's face for half a second. He was fairly average height for a Halfling, though more slight and nimble than you'd expect if you knew the village he came from. His hands were covered in small cuts and a couple of scars and he had a scar on his right cheek which was revealed when his shoulder-length blond hair moved back as he raised his head to address the barmaid.

"Ale, please." Hlaine said, addressing the barmaid. As he reached for his coin purse a set of bone dice fell from a pocket and he reached for them, catching all but one which was intercepted by the gnome before it could hit the floor and roll away.

"Thanks" he said as the gnome passed him the die. "Hlaine" he added with a curt nod before looking away, pointedly looking anywhere other than the Dwarf at the other end of the table.

[Jacurutu]

Aela was going to buy a drink. She'd made the decision, but had failed to act on it for the past twelve minutes. How hard could it be? Get up, walk over to the bar. Force those facial muscles of hers into the semblance of a smile, put money on the counter and order a drink. No big deal. She took a deep breath, possibly incurring some reaction from the Cleric, a man whom she had been travelling with only briefly since entering Western Gemos.

"Okay Aela." she said quietly to herself as she got up. "Go to the bar. order a drink, no big deal.." she sighed as a wave of anxiety hit her, and she sat down again.

Although she loved to explore, had always dreamed of a life of adventure, had even achieved her goal and been entrusted a task by her people, it was perhaps a little too obvious that she had never done this before. Never travelled this far out of Merivoon, never been to a bar or even drank alcohol. It all seemed disastrously difficult, but she was not without determination. A mild-to-severe case of agoraphobia was the least of her concerns.

After sufficiently psyching herself up. She suddenly stood up, perhaps a little too dramatically than she intended, ignoring the fact that her bow had been knocked over in the process and arrows loudly clattered about the floor. With an air of confidence she didn't really feel, she approached the broad wooden counter surface, drawing back her green woollen hood and shaking free her tousled, messy auburn hair and with a pained look of sheer determination etched across her Elvish features decreed,"Barkeep. One alcohol please." and slapped one of her precious few gold coins on it's seemingly expansive surface.  Relief and pride washed over her for but a moment. She'd done it. She had ordered an alcohol.

Doubt arrived as she realised mid response that perhaps something with her plan was awry.

[Narric]

Kindle stepped aside as the Elf stood and made their way to the bar, returning her attention to Hlaine as they made their order. "Very good sir, and what may I get for you as well?" the last part directed at the Cleric and the Dwarf.

Bwindle watched as the seemingly nervous Elf walked up, drummed up courage and... asked for "one alcohols?" This threw him for a moment, regaining his composure. He gave the Elf a quick look over, noting the clenliness, well-kept armour and gear, and the manners. Still he had to be sure.

"One Alcohol, you say?" with an eyebrow raised, sending a shiver of regret through Aela. "My dear, I know Elves have been known to abstained from the drink, but they at least know what is on offer...." Aela fidgeted a little.

"I'm sorry if I've offended you. This is the first time I've been so far away from Merivoon...."

"Merivoon?! You managed to get all the way to West Gemos from Merivoon without once sampling a drink more robust than Elven Wine?" Brindle tried not to cause much of a ruckus for his customer. He knew less savoury folk still managed to wander the streets and into the inns, and didn't want them to target such an innocent woman. He rubbed his eyes with his fingers, and remembered she had arrived with the Cleric so figured if she managed to stay near them she'd have a chance to stay out of trouble. He subtly waved her closer. "Tell you what, I'll pour you a half of Mead for free, but after that you gotta pay like everybody else if you like the taste. I just overheard the other Halfing order a drink, so I'm gonna be fair and make sure your whole table gets a free round." With that he quickly got Kindle's attention and waved his hands in what seemed an obscene fashion, but she soon nodded and smiled in acknowledgement.

[Mabbz]

Benjamin was too focused on his own thoughts to notice the elf's situation, but roused at Kindle's question. "Oh, I'll have red wine, if I may. Any interesting news in these parts? I haven't had a chance to catch up."

[Jacurutu]

"Ah.. I didn't travel all the way alone. A strange, travelling fortune teller man was kind enough to let me ride on his cart. I got off at the border, as he was merely passing through."

As the barkeep offers her the free drink, her eyes widen. "Oh. Thank you!" She said, a little taken aback at his kindness. Still feeling a little awkward, she waited in silence for him to pour out a half measure of mead for each of those at the table before timidly picking them all up and giving him a nod, carrying them carefully over and setting them down. She stared at her own half mug quietly as she reseated herself. She lifted it and cautiously sniffed, smelling the sweetness of the honey and the acidity of the fermentation. She'd never even tried alcohol before and the prospect of swallowing what was effectively poison still didn't feel right. But since she was an adventurer now, she'd have to learn to drink like one. Mustering up a bit of courage she held her breath and shut her eyes tight as she put the mug to her lips and drained its contents in a few gulps, nearly choking at the unexpected strength of the liquid.

[Scout Sergeant Mkoll]

Hlaine acknowledged the free drink with a nod and a half smile. "You might want to check if you damaged any arrows when they fell."  he said. "Should be alright, but worth a look."

[Cammerz]

Nyx could hardly believe what she'd just witnessed, that an elf could cross the entire island and be as amazingly naive as this one and yet the barman had just been kind, generous even. In East Gemos, or at least the parts Nyx had grown up in, this elf would have been chewed up and spat out the moment she opened her mouth.

As Nyx's gaze followed the elf back to her table she caught a look at the assortment of people around the room and almost did a double-take. These people were adventurers, proper adventurers. People who went out into the world seeking glory and riches beyond the wildest dreams of a little street rat like her.

Maybe this is what that little voice had meant when it told her to go out and do something different with her life, not just to cross the bay to scratch a bare minimum off a different city, to actually go out and do something.

Nyx gulped down the rest of her drink, climbed down from her barstool and wandered over to the elf's table, smiling at the current occupants.
 "Hi there, my name's Nyx. Mind if I join you?"

[Narric]

Aela coughed a little as she gingerly slammed the half-pint tankard down on the table. The taste lingered and the alcohol burned her mouth and throat, but otherwise she was unaffected. She barely caught half the Halfings comment about her arrows. Obsidian nodded approval of the naive Elf, and quickly downed her own half of Mead.

"Oh... *cough* Thank you for reminding me." She half-whispered, shaking a little, but managing to lean down and pick up the few arrows that had scattered across the floor. Kindle the barmaid stepped around her as she returned to the table with the wine for Benjamin. Nyx walking just behind her, and taking a seat between the Cleric and the Dwarf.

"For you sir. Aside from fathers' ale and mead supply troubles, I don't know of many other issues for adventurers to go on...." She stood up straight with her hands held in front, turning to Aela. "You may want to be careful of those that wonder the isle, Ms. The less worn routes, and a few of the main roads are easy targets for bandits, and some of the clever ones have started using decoys to lull unsuspecting travelers into traps. I'd say you were lucky this time, as the only known benevolent traveler is the pugilist preacher, Gulk."

"What kind of trouble is your Father having exactly?" Obsidian asked, handing the empty tankard to Kindle, who took it to be refilled.

"Jois is our supplier. He manages a combined Meadery and Brewery over in Lakenvale. He seems to have cut what he supplies us in half, and Father hasn't had the chance to bargain with new suppliers yet." She paused as she went to the bar and got a full pint tankard of Ale, dark red in colour, for Obsidian who took readily and paid the gold for.
"It is strange behaviour from Jois, as he is not the kind of man to underdeliver on a deal or sell out to others. He is clearly still brewing considering the quality of what we do recieve hasn't reduced, but I can't think of why he would half our supply like that so suddenly...." Kindle shuffled a bit, realising she had been simply standing around talking instead of serving other customers, a few of which she could were clearly becoming a little disgruntled with the service.
"I have to go. Speak to father as he knows more than I, or maybe the town hall would be better?" With that she pattered off to the other tables, apologising profusely to the patrons and rushing professionally to fill the orders.

[Scout Sergeant Mkoll]

"No problem" Hlaine replied to Aela.  He was fairly sure the arrows would be fine anyway, but he'd seen more than one shot go wild thanks to damaged fletching.

"Supply problems?" he asked. "Could just be an issue with staff. Shame though, 's good ale."

[Jacurutu]

Aela furrowed her brow slightly and averted her eyes at the warning from the barmaid, her cheeks flushing a little red. "Got it.." she knew better than to argue, though the man she had travelled with had seemed nice enough. She crouched down to scoop up her arrows, checking over them individually to make sure the fletching hadn't distorted, or the shafts warped. They were decent quality arrows, and she prided herself on that. She carefully slid them back into her leather quiver,  flint tip first and set them against the table leg with her bow.

As the Barmaid left, Aela's eyes turned on another figure approaching. "Oh.. Hello." Aela replied, suppressing a cough as the Gnomish woman made her introduction. "Uh, yeah! Sure. Pull up a sea-- stool or *cough* you get what I mean. We were talking about supply problems this place is having... I think."
She shrugged and scratched the back of her ginger hair awkwardly. "Oh I'm Aela." she added, giving the Gnome a sheepish smile.

[Railgun Convention]

"Good ale it is indeed," said the dwarf to the halfling, "and ah'd hate to see such a brewery go down. Maybe we should..."

Obsidian got up and headed over to the bar, making sure her Vantadurn Captain's badge was conspicuous. "G'day, sir. Apologies for the altercation at the door earlier, but ah hear yer' having supply issues as of late. Would ye like us to check it out for ye?"

[Scout Sergeant Mkoll]

Hlaine sighed as the Dwarf approached the bar. "Oh good, just dive right in, why not?" he muttered with a shame of his head. "Don't worry about asking round first or anything."