Enter Zenvo!
The Drinking Dwarves is a cheery establishment, and though there are only a couple of dwarves inside (one of whom is the bartender), the prices are fair, the ale is excellent, and the clientele seems happy. There’s no music as our friends arrive (other than the drunken group singing sea shanties, of course), but there are several dice games along one wall. Vito immediately moves over to the gamers to try his hand at dice while the party’s dwarves move up to the bar to order. It takes the bartender only a few minutes to get to them, and he introduces himself as Longburns. The name seems to suit him, as his red sideburns flow down to his shoulders. He serves them a fantastic dwarven ale and they order some food and ask for some rooms. Unfortunately, he tells them that the Drinking Dwarves is a tavern only, not an inn; but he recommends a place called the Mulled Mead as a local inn of some repute.
“You aren’t eating, Clambake,” notes Krunkshank. “Aren’t you hungry?”
“Arr, not really.” In fact, Captain Clambake suddenly realizes he hasn’t eaten since the battle with the orcs. It’s been several days... hmm. He decides to eat regardless. Scratching his head, he mutters, “Arr.”
Vito, meanwhile, is dicing with the folk in the corner, chatting them up and trying to catch the local rumors. He comes to the party’s table about twenty minutes later with a better understanding of the local politics.
It seems that the election has four contenders trying to be voted in as the new Governor. In addition to Tangus the Brilliant, a priest of Galador who is campaigning largely on a “keep adventurers out of Poppin” sort of platform, there is a rich fellow named Ooluts (the guy who’s throwing the party in a few days) who, as near as Vito has been able to ascertain, has no program to speak of; Vastter Holmes, a peasant whose campaign centers around redistributing wealth to the poor; and some halfling named Zenvo Dalais. “Apparently this Zenvo frequents this bar,” Vito tells the group, “and I hear he’s quite the performer. But again, I’m not sure that he has much of a program.”
The party downs a few rounds of drinks, relaxing and enjoying the atmosphere despite the suspicious looks they draw from some of the locals. After all, it’s hard to conceal the fact that they’re adventurers between their armor and weapons, travel gear, scars and obviously travel-worn gear. Still, nobody hassles them. Evening is falling outside when the room falls into a hush as a halfling enters the tavern with a flourish.
“Good evening, friends!” he cries brightly to the crowd, and a cheer goes up. He beams at the room in general, tosses a wink at Longburns and whips his gaze across the party of strangers. “Well, it’s good to see you all again! Why, if I didn’t know better, I’d say the drinks were on me!” There’s some good-natured laughter, and then the halfling calls out, “Longburns- a round for the house on me, my good dwarf!” The crowd cheers again as the halfling- clearly, this must be the Zenvo Dalais that Vito heard about- says, “Not that I’d try to buy your votes, oh no; I don’t have the money to compete with Ooluts. I hear he’s throwing a big party to try to get us all to vote for him.” He pauses, looks about craftily, and continues, “If you ask me, the way to do it is to go to his party, drink his wine, eat his food, smoke his pipe weed- and vote for me!” There’s some more laughter. “In fact, he surely doesn’t stand a chance in this election. Why, we all know whose side God’s on, don’t we?” He chuckles. “Yes, if you ask Tangus, we might as well skip the election. But... well... if God’s on his side, I have just one question.” He pauses again, making sure the crowd’s attention is on him. “Why is he on Dorla at all?” The bar bursts into collective laughter again. “Yes, I may get a laugh or two, but at least it’s on purpose, my friends!”
“This guy’s funny,” says Vito at the party’s table. The rest of the party nods agreement as they watch Zenvo whip out a pair of spoons and start playing the entire bar as an instrument, telling jokes and satirizing his opposition the whole time. His display is impressive, captivating the room. Soon the room is buying him rounds of drinks, and when he pauses from his display, Vito decides to join in on that. “A drink for our friend Zenvo,” he calls out to Longburns. “And could you ask him to grace us with his presence for a moment?” The dwarf bartender makes no promises for Zenvo, but gladly takes the halfling’s money and passes the message to Zenvo.
Zenvo is making the rounds, clapping shoulders, shaking hands, telling jokes; but soon enough he winds his way to the party’s table. “Hello, strangers!” he cries cheerily. “Thank you for the drink!”
“Why, thank you, Zenvo, for your fabulous entertainment,” Vito answers. “From one halfling to another, it seems only right that I repay you with a fine malted beverage.” The two shake hands, and Vito introduces the rest of the group, then settles down to business. “So tell me, Zenvo,” he says expansively, “I can’t help but notice the anti-adventurer sentiment in your town. How do you feel about such matters?”
Zenvo looks the group over shrewdly. “Well, adventurers do bring danger into town, and they have, in the past, caused problems. But of course, they’ve also done great favors for Poppin in the past. Why, Poppin was originally founded by adventurers. And they tend to help the economy by bringing in more money and lots of business. Why do you ask?”
“My friend,” Vito answers ingratiatingly, “it seems that your town is getting ready for an election. My other friends here and I couldn’t help but notice all the posters outside featuring a fellow named Tangus. Well, a lot of these seem to be inciting anti-adventurer sentiment. I can’t help but think that your town would be better-served by another, different Governor than him. A kind fellow, less likely to bring down the wrath of adventurers on this fine place. Someone, perhaps, like yourself.”
“Ahh... you’re offering to help me, then?”
“Perhaps. One favor deserves another, if you know what I mean.”
“Ah, of course. And what is it you need, my friends?”
“Well, we aren’t really all that interested in staying here for long. In fact, we’re seeking transportation to Dorhaus. We really just want to go home, where we have many matters requiring our attention. Perhaps you could help us find a ship?”
A shadow seems to fall over Zenvo’s face. “Unfortunately, my friend, there are no ships leaving Poppin at the moment.”
“Why’s that, arr?” asks Clambake.
Zenvo sighs heavily. “There are... troubles at the harbor. But I’m no expert on such things. Some sort of fungus or something. The person you should ask about these problems is the harbormistress, Bentricle.”
The group and Zenvo chat about local conditions and politics for some time, with the halfling bard impressing them all with his quick wit and insight. He laughs at their suggestion that he join them; “I’m no adventurer,” he protests, “I’m just an entertainer! Besides, if I was an adventurer, no one in this place would vote for me!”
“Well, is there any way we could help you?” asks Krunkshank, quite drunk by now.
“Hmmm...” Zenvo seems thoughtful for a moment, then says, “Well, first off, due to the unpopularity of adventurers around here, I’d say the first thing you can do is not admit to be associated with me. Now, if you were to clear up the mess at the harbor and let Bentricle know I ‘talked you into it’ it might improve my standing considerably with the sailors and fishermen around here.” He winks at them.
By this time, full dark has fallen. Droidi, looking somewhat uncomfortable (and still disguised by the orc ring), tells the group he’ll meet them at the Drinking Dwarves in the morning; he’s not comfortable sleeping in a town, and departs with his riding lizard to find a nice tree out of town to sleep under. Zenvo moves back to the center of the room to do some shadow puppets, and the rest of our heroes finish their drinks and head off down the street, a little drunk, to find this Mulled Mead place and sleep it off. Come morning, they decide, after they break their fasts they’ll meet up with Droidi and then go to check out the problem at the harbor.
Vito, however, is mulling over the message that Zenvo innuendo’d to him. It seems he may be able to make some valuable friends in this place....
Next update: More of Zenvo, the return of Horbin the Holy, and what's up at the harbor? And, most importantly, how can I post harbormistress Bentricle's dialogue??? She's got the foulest mouth of any npc or pc I've ever seen since I started gaming in 1980! Well, we'll see what I can do....
Oh yeah, for anyone who hasn't already done so, please vote in my poll about whether to stat things out in story hour threads....
