S@squ@tch's N1: Against the Cult of the Reptile God IC

[s@squ@tch]

Location: The Last Chance Tavern -- outside of Hochoch



It is a late summer evening. You have been travelling the North road for most of the day, and having just passed through Hochoch, now heading east, when, about a mile or so from the outskirts of town, you spot a tavern, set up and off the road about 100 feet. The carved wooden sign out front depicts a comely lass in the middle of a rich repast, with a frothy mug in her hand.

The rumbling in your stomach alerts you to the fact that you haven't eaten dinner yet. So you approach the tavern.

As you open the door to the small tavern, you are greeted by the fine aromas of fresh baked bread and what smells like a hearty stew slowly simmering.

The interior of the tavern is somewhat sparse, but welcoming. The main room is not terribly large, with a single main table with 10 or so chairs occupying the middle of the room. There is a smaller table along the back wall with some additional seating. Currently, there are 8 other patrons in the tavern - all look to be travellers by their gear and equipment.

Upon entering, you are greeted by the Tavern cook and proprietor, Daron, he seats you at the main table and gets you situated with a drink while he hurries off to bring you a plate of the freshly baked bread.

Sitting down, you notice that the tavern is a simple two room building, the contents of the second room are unknown, as all you can see is the door.

Daron hurries back with the bread, sets down the plate, and hurries off to check the stew, which you can see slowly simmering over the hearth in the corner of the room.

You begin to unwind - the calm and relaxing nature of the tavern has begun to work on you, undoing the many hours spent on the roads today, you lean back in the chair, slip your feet out of your boots and exhale deeply while you wait for your bowl of stew.

About five minutes later, Daron places a hearty bowl in front of you that immediately perks up your taste buds, causing you to salivate profusely. You mumble your thanks as he takes his leave to wait on the other patrons.

With the type of service at the Last Chance Tavern you have received, you realize that this tavern caters to the traveller much more so than the city dweller -- the remote location, and the attentive, but unbothersome service, suits you perfectly, allowing you to sit back, ponder the depths of the spirit you are sipping, and reflect upon the happenings of the day.

[D]----[/D]

After what seems like an hour of so has past, you realize your bowl of stew is empty, your glass is almost finished, but your stomach is full. You toss a few coins on the table, sit back, and continue conversing with a couple of the others at the table, who, like you, have spent most of the day travelling.

[D]---[/D]

Thread guidelines:

1. Put all IC Character Speech in your chosen color
2. Italics denote thoughts
3. Put all OOC information at the bottom of your post in Orange
4. Use Invisible Castle for die rolls, post the link in the OOC section of your post.

I'll advance the scene once all of the character sheets (FreeXenon, YeOldeAlbatross) have posted theirs to the RG thread. Feel free to chat amongst yourselves -- all of the adventurers are now located inside the tavern.

 

[airwalkrr]

The elf in green robes relaxes back in his chair.

Ah, the sweet boredom of inaction. I crave adventure, fellows. But this sleepy little tavern seems to hold none. Say, barkeep! Might you have a dash of wine to cleanse my palate?

 

[Ayden]

Draining the last of the beer, weak though it was, Krager set his tankard down and sopped the last traces of his stew up with a piece of roll. Across from him, an elf spoke of the quietness of the inn and his desire for a spark in his forge.

Chuckling as he finished his musing with a request for wine, Krager raised his empty tankard and called out as well.

"A beer as well to finish the meal. No need to ruin a great flavor with fruity water."

 

[s@squ@tch]

"Let me go see what I have left down in the cellar." Daron, the sole proprietor of the tavern, says as he goes through the door to the unseen room. In about 5 minutes, he comes back to the table with a tapered green glass bottle.

"Almost out of this -- it has always been one of my favorite wines." He says as he pours you a glass,"Local winery, from a town called Orlane. This vintage is a few years back, one of their best. I haven't gotten any wine from them in the past year or so though."

He returns to his counter to set down the bottle of wine, and pulls out a brown bottle from underneath, returning to the table, he uncorks it and pours the dwarf a hearty stout with a thick, foamy head. "Enjoy." He says as he returns to overseeing the kettle of stew.

 

[Ayden]

Feeling the lightness of his coin purse, as well as thinking that having a free tab in a place that seemed this relaxing to visit, Krager grabbed his tankard and walked towards the bar.

"Hanseath bless ye and yer place Daron, and since ye seem to be runnin' short on help, and I seem to be needin' somethin' to fill me purse and stomach at once, I wouldn't be against taking a mule and cart to get ye some more of that flavored water the elf seems to be enjoyin'. It isn't the sort of thing I normally do, but for a lodging where Hanseath could be praised well, it seems easy enough."

 

[YeOldeAlbatross]

Alessin Greenbond

"I'll try a sip of that wine, if you don't mind." The high-pitched, lilting voice of the second elf at the main table speaks up over the buzz of conversation. He proffers his own glass to Daron the barkeep, eager to sample the highly praised wares.

Following Krager's offer of assistance, Alessin cannot help but subtly roll his narrow, violet eyes. The long-windedness of certain dwarves (and elves too, for that matter), never failed to amuse. Still, the situation as it unfolds does beg an obvious question. The roguish elf sweeps back a strand of his dark hair with an idle hand and asks Daron, "Pray tell, if the wine is so highly prized, why have you allowed a year to slip by without replenishing your stores?"

OOC: I know, my character sheet isn't up yet, but I wanted to get in on the role-playing. I hope that's okay! I promise, the sheet will be up soon.

 

[airwalkrr]

The robed elf swirls the wine in his glass before taking a taste.

Not as excellent as Celenian fire wine of course. But then, nothing is, he says with a smirk, Still, I agree with my countryelf*. This vintage is quite good, and it would be a shame for you to run out.

*Countryelf, of course, being the elven equivalent of countryman.

 

[s@squ@tch]

Daron turns back to face the table,"To be honest, we haven't received much from Orlane in the past year or so -- whether that be wine, grain, or other foodstuffs. The only thing I have received in quantity from that direction has been rumor and wild speculation -- it is as if the town is drying up."

 

[scranford]

Gideon Novak - Human Mercenary

Gideon tired from the long walk today and still sore from his recent adventures, starts to remove his worn boots. Then he hesitates remembering the odor last time he removed them. Well what the heck; if the others don't like it thay can leave. My feet hurt. He then drops large pieces of the bread into the stew to soak and soften up. His lip still hurts, and his teeth haven't tightened up yet from the last blow he took. When sufficiently soft he uses his grubby hands to remove the stew soaked bread, and hungrily (And sloppily) begins to shove it in his mouth... This is good stew.

Gideon mumbles under his breath "Hmm Orlane. What a coincidence thats where I was headed. Should be able to relax a bit there".

OOC: I should be able to get Gideon posted this afternoon.

 

[s@squ@tch]

Distasteful Dessert, Round 1

You all turn as you hear the front door close -- you hadn't noticed that it opened to begin with.

You see two small children, maybe 7 or 8 years old, dirty and beaten, the fresh bruises and cuts on their exposed skin, and their threadbare remains of clothing, tell a story of much hardship and pain.

"Please, help...." They manage to croak out. One of them collapses onto the floor -- out of exhaustion.

The other appears quite frightened, and out of breath ,"They...are....chasing.....please...save...us...." she manages to say with a wavering voice while she is bent over, clutching her knees, trying to regain her breath,"....Orlane....reptile god...."

Everything slows down and starts to move in slow motion for you, for as soon as the one child stops speaking, the door bursts open and you see two lizardlike men rush into the Inn - holding javelins and having stone axes strapped to their backs - they see the two children and immediately hurl their javelins at the two children -- both children are struck and look to be critically injured. The two give one last dying scream and then are finally released from the hell that they have appear to have been living in.

Two of the travellers at the table drop their glasses on the floor and cry out in horror.

You see two more lizardmen are immediately behind the first pair, about 5 steps behind.

The lead lizardman turns his head to the side and shouts to the others something in a strange tongue.

[sblock=Ari] You recognize the language as draconic -- you heard him say,"Kill them all" [/sblock]

OOC:

Surprise Round over - you see two lizardmen in the doorway of the Inn, with two more close behind.

Roll Inits and Actions for Round One.