GPEKO said:
As he notices the look on the woman next to him, he speaks his mind. "What be problem ?"
She grins and offers him some of her soup. "No problem with me, if there's none with you, big guy... Some people around here just have to loosen up a little." She elbows her seatmate, who has settled into an offended silence. The guardsman sitting across the table pushes her soup bowl back towards her and ladles Gath out some from the common trencher.
"That's Darla, she's addicted to scandal but sweet underneath it all. Are you with that councilman who just came in? He passed through a couple of days ago with just his brother - whats the area up north need with this much outside help? Oh yeah, sorry, I'm Karloth, I've been hanging around the last week looking for a paranoid noble to 'guard'. What do you go by?" The others at the table seem to be in various states of attention to their food or watching the main table, and the air of tension that sprung up with Gath entered has largely diffused.
When the bartender returns, Joseph meets his eyes and speaks softly. "I am sorry for my rashness. I tire to see the spirits of my companions trodded so upon. If I may I should like to barter some wine for some hearty Dwarven spirits. Perhaps the men over there are more my caliber." A soft hiss of the lips flows from Joseph's throat.
The bartender seems a bit uneasy, but smiles at the suggestion of barter. "Be glad to take a look, sir, we're off only one trade route as you see, so I'm always looking to diversify a bit... I do have to be respectful of all my customer's you know - sometimes my balance may offend, but I try to offend the least number. Just good business, you know..."
With an unconscious shudder, Dioran tries to shake off his involuntary sympathetic reaction to the tensions his fellow travelers exhibit. He looks around for a moment, trying to determine the most relaxed group of people around.
OOC:
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: assuming we are not the most relaxed group here
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He walks over to them, all smiles and friendliness, asking "A good and merry evening to you all. If we may be so bold as to intrude: What amusement brightens your night, and more importantly, may we join in the fun?"
A group of apparent merchants is sitting at one of the smaller tables at the front, seemingly engaged in the good natured ribbing of one of their own. At Dioran's aproach, one blurts out "How many of you?" but is nudged into submission by a grinning gnome who apears to dominate the conversation from a booster chair.
"Sure, have a seat. We were just trying to figure out where Marcus here put all his customers." The others laugh, including Marcus, who is apparently drunk enough to see the humor in whatever mishap they are all joking about. "The bountiful feast before you was bought by the master of the house at a loss to the poor chap because he laid in a supply of tender morsels to sell in a village he fought for an exclusive lock on... But I guess he should have looked into the length of the folks leases, because when made his trip this season, the whole lot of them had up and moved away!" The others laugh again, and one says "Maybe they struck it rich and moved south!"
Marcus downs his drink and signals for another while looking to the newcomer for a bit of sympathy. "Strangest thing, I tell you... small village, but they had good craftsmen, a nice location and a harvest they left rotting in the fields... Some broken windows and doors, but no real sign that they are been all taken out... strange thing..."
OOC:
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I'll respond to the barn talk later...
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