Magyar carefully ascends the rigging to the crow's nest. It is chilly, and an unseasonably cold wind is blowing in from the ocean. As he approaches, he hears soft weeping from the nest. Naomi is crying herself out in Colmarr's arms, the stresses of the past few days and her entire life finally overwhelming her.
Eloise recovers and accepts Troth's handkerchief. "Thank you," she says, wiping her eyes and blowing her nose. "Oh, I know I must just look simply dreadful aweful now, with my face all puffed up and red. I hate it when I cry. Why do I have to weep so much?" She begins to weep again. "He's just so noble," she says to Malachi. "He gave me a message for you. He told me to tell you not to try to do anything tonight. He said he needs to learn to trust Adonai--that's a funny thing to say, isn't it?"
It is about this time that Grondar approaches the ship, a furtive mutt trailing cautiously behind.
Over at the Wharf Rat, the man behind the bar gives Denther a hard look, eyeing him up and down. His face is weathered and rugged with a three day growth of salt-and-pepper stubble bristling his chin. He spits to the side before turning with a thump to the wall of casks behind him and pulling tap. When the mug foams over, he turns back with another thump and slaps the mug of booze down in front of the young man, sloshing amber liquid onto the much-stained bar top. Denther notices that one of the man's legs is missing below the knee, replaced by a wooden peg. "That'll be two coppers," he says in a gruff voice. The ale is quite strong, with a hard-edged bite to it.
When the man in the corner finishes his song, the bartender calls out to him, "Say, Jon, don't you know any more cheerful songs?"
The man looks up from tuning his instrument, apparently surprised at being addressed. "Well, I do got somethin' I been workin' on today." He strums a few minor notes, then immediately launches into his song in a loud, raucus voice.
[sblock=His song]
"Some friends and I in a public house
Was playin' a game o' chance last night.
When into the pub ol' Dietrich ran
His face all a pasty white.
'What's up?' says Mac, 'Have you seen a ghost,
Have you seen your Aunt Mariah?'
'Me Aunt Mariah be buggered!', says he,
'The bleedin' pub's on fire!'
And there was Mac, he was sittin' back
Pullin' at the whiskey in the jar.
And 'Booze, booze!' The firemen cried
As they came a'knockin' at the door." Here he stamps his foot hard, twice, making two knocking sounds.
"Oh don't let 'em in till it's all drunk up
Somebody shouted 'Save the town!'" He pauses, as if waiting for something. The patrons stare at him leadenly for a moment, before he shrugs and moves on.
"And we all got blue-blind paralytic drunk
When the Arrow in the Bull burnt down.
'Oh well,' says Mac, 'What a bit o' luck.
Everybody follow me.
It's down to the cellar,
If the fire's not there
We'll have a grand ol' spree.'
So off we tracked after good ol' Mac,
The booze we could not miss.
And we hadn't been there ten minutes or more
Till we were quite pissed. (But happy!)
And there was Mac, he was sittin' back
Pullin' at the whiskey in the jar.
And 'Booze, booze!' The firemen cried
As they came a'knockin' at the door." <knock knock>
"Oh don't let 'em in till it's all drunk up
Somebody shouted 'Captain Ben!'" Again, the musician pauses, looking up. The man behind the bar cups his hands around his mouth and calls out, "Captain Ben!"
"When the Arrow in the Bull burned down last night
We didn't lose a drop o' gin.
Then Smith walked over to the port wine tub,
Gave it a few hard knocks." <knock knock>
"Started takin' off his pantaloons
Likewise his shoes and socks.
'Oh, no,' says Mac, 'You can't do that,
Yer not doin' that 'round here.
Don't go washin' your trousers in the port wine tub
When we got Gnomish beer.'
And there was Mac, he was sittin' back
Pullin' at the whiskey in the jar.
And 'Booze, booze!' The firemen cried
As they came a'knockin' at the door." <knock knock>
"Oh don't let 'em in till it's all drunk up
Somebody shouted 'Turion!'" Several patrons around the room hollar back, "Turion!"
"Though the Arrow in the Bull burned down last night
We weren't gonna stop till we were done.
Then there came through the old back door
The cleric of a nearby church.
And when he saw our drunken ways,
He began to scream and curse.
'Ah, ya drunken sods! Ya heathen lads!
You've taken to a drunken spree!
Now you drank up all the sacramental wine
And you didn't save a drop for me!'
And there was Mac, he was sittin' back
Pullin' at the whiskey in the jar.
And 'Booze, booze!' The firemen cried
As they came a'knockin' at the door." <knock knock>
"Oh don't let 'em in till it's all drunk up
Somebody shouted 'Save the town!'" "SAVE THE TOWN!" The entire bar has now joined in, chuckling and joshing each other good naturedly.
"And we all got blue-blind paralytic drunk
When the Arrow in the Bull burnt down.
Then there came an aweful crash,
Half the bloody roof gave way!
We were almost drowned in a watery grave
But still we were gonna stay.
So we got some tacks and some old wet sacks
And nailed ourselves inside
And we sat up drinkin' the finest Rum
Till we was bleary-eyed.
And there was Mac, he was sittin' back
Pullin' at the whiskey in the jar.
And 'Booze, booze!' The firemen cried
As they came a'knockin' at the door." <knock knock>
"Oh don't let 'em in till it's all drunk up
Somebody shouted 'Captain Ben!'" "CAPTAIN BEN!"
"When the Arrow in the Bull burned down last night
We didn't lose a drop o' gin.
Later that night, when the fire was out
We came up from the cellar below.
Our pub was burned. Our booze was drunk.
Our heads was hanging low.
'Oh look,' says Mac, with a look quite queer.
Seems something raised his ire.
'Now we gotta get down to the Sleeping Sailor,
It closes on the hour!'
And there was Mac, he was sittin' back
Pullin' at the whiskey in the jar.
And 'Booze, booze!' The firemen cried
As they came a'knockin' at the door." <knock knock>
"Oh don't let 'em in till it's all drunk up
Somebody shouted 'Turion!'" "TURION!"
"Though the Arrow in the Bull burnt down last night
We weren't gonna stop till we were done."
[sblock=OOC]The Arrow in the Bull, adapted from the traditional Irish drinking song, The Old Dun Cow. Click here to stream a low-quality rendition by the Brobdingnagian Bards (I believe a higher-quality mp3 of the same song is freely and legally available to those who look for it).[/sblock][/sblock]
Eloise recovers and accepts Troth's handkerchief. "Thank you," she says, wiping her eyes and blowing her nose. "Oh, I know I must just look simply dreadful aweful now, with my face all puffed up and red. I hate it when I cry. Why do I have to weep so much?" She begins to weep again. "He's just so noble," she says to Malachi. "He gave me a message for you. He told me to tell you not to try to do anything tonight. He said he needs to learn to trust Adonai--that's a funny thing to say, isn't it?"
It is about this time that Grondar approaches the ship, a furtive mutt trailing cautiously behind.
Over at the Wharf Rat, the man behind the bar gives Denther a hard look, eyeing him up and down. His face is weathered and rugged with a three day growth of salt-and-pepper stubble bristling his chin. He spits to the side before turning with a thump to the wall of casks behind him and pulling tap. When the mug foams over, he turns back with another thump and slaps the mug of booze down in front of the young man, sloshing amber liquid onto the much-stained bar top. Denther notices that one of the man's legs is missing below the knee, replaced by a wooden peg. "That'll be two coppers," he says in a gruff voice. The ale is quite strong, with a hard-edged bite to it.
When the man in the corner finishes his song, the bartender calls out to him, "Say, Jon, don't you know any more cheerful songs?"
The man looks up from tuning his instrument, apparently surprised at being addressed. "Well, I do got somethin' I been workin' on today." He strums a few minor notes, then immediately launches into his song in a loud, raucus voice.
[sblock=His song]
"Some friends and I in a public house
Was playin' a game o' chance last night.
When into the pub ol' Dietrich ran
His face all a pasty white.
'What's up?' says Mac, 'Have you seen a ghost,
Have you seen your Aunt Mariah?'
'Me Aunt Mariah be buggered!', says he,
'The bleedin' pub's on fire!'
And there was Mac, he was sittin' back
Pullin' at the whiskey in the jar.
And 'Booze, booze!' The firemen cried
As they came a'knockin' at the door." Here he stamps his foot hard, twice, making two knocking sounds.
"Oh don't let 'em in till it's all drunk up
Somebody shouted 'Save the town!'" He pauses, as if waiting for something. The patrons stare at him leadenly for a moment, before he shrugs and moves on.
"And we all got blue-blind paralytic drunk
When the Arrow in the Bull burnt down.
'Oh well,' says Mac, 'What a bit o' luck.
Everybody follow me.
It's down to the cellar,
If the fire's not there
We'll have a grand ol' spree.'
So off we tracked after good ol' Mac,
The booze we could not miss.
And we hadn't been there ten minutes or more
Till we were quite pissed. (But happy!)
And there was Mac, he was sittin' back
Pullin' at the whiskey in the jar.
And 'Booze, booze!' The firemen cried
As they came a'knockin' at the door." <knock knock>
"Oh don't let 'em in till it's all drunk up
Somebody shouted 'Captain Ben!'" Again, the musician pauses, looking up. The man behind the bar cups his hands around his mouth and calls out, "Captain Ben!"
"When the Arrow in the Bull burned down last night
We didn't lose a drop o' gin.
Then Smith walked over to the port wine tub,
Gave it a few hard knocks." <knock knock>
"Started takin' off his pantaloons
Likewise his shoes and socks.
'Oh, no,' says Mac, 'You can't do that,
Yer not doin' that 'round here.
Don't go washin' your trousers in the port wine tub
When we got Gnomish beer.'
And there was Mac, he was sittin' back
Pullin' at the whiskey in the jar.
And 'Booze, booze!' The firemen cried
As they came a'knockin' at the door." <knock knock>
"Oh don't let 'em in till it's all drunk up
Somebody shouted 'Turion!'" Several patrons around the room hollar back, "Turion!"
"Though the Arrow in the Bull burned down last night
We weren't gonna stop till we were done.
Then there came through the old back door
The cleric of a nearby church.
And when he saw our drunken ways,
He began to scream and curse.
'Ah, ya drunken sods! Ya heathen lads!
You've taken to a drunken spree!
Now you drank up all the sacramental wine
And you didn't save a drop for me!'
And there was Mac, he was sittin' back
Pullin' at the whiskey in the jar.
And 'Booze, booze!' The firemen cried
As they came a'knockin' at the door." <knock knock>
"Oh don't let 'em in till it's all drunk up
Somebody shouted 'Save the town!'" "SAVE THE TOWN!" The entire bar has now joined in, chuckling and joshing each other good naturedly.
"And we all got blue-blind paralytic drunk
When the Arrow in the Bull burnt down.
Then there came an aweful crash,
Half the bloody roof gave way!
We were almost drowned in a watery grave
But still we were gonna stay.
So we got some tacks and some old wet sacks
And nailed ourselves inside
And we sat up drinkin' the finest Rum
Till we was bleary-eyed.
And there was Mac, he was sittin' back
Pullin' at the whiskey in the jar.
And 'Booze, booze!' The firemen cried
As they came a'knockin' at the door." <knock knock>
"Oh don't let 'em in till it's all drunk up
Somebody shouted 'Captain Ben!'" "CAPTAIN BEN!"
"When the Arrow in the Bull burned down last night
We didn't lose a drop o' gin.
Later that night, when the fire was out
We came up from the cellar below.
Our pub was burned. Our booze was drunk.
Our heads was hanging low.
'Oh look,' says Mac, with a look quite queer.
Seems something raised his ire.
'Now we gotta get down to the Sleeping Sailor,
It closes on the hour!'
And there was Mac, he was sittin' back
Pullin' at the whiskey in the jar.
And 'Booze, booze!' The firemen cried
As they came a'knockin' at the door." <knock knock>
"Oh don't let 'em in till it's all drunk up
Somebody shouted 'Turion!'" "TURION!"
"Though the Arrow in the Bull burnt down last night
We weren't gonna stop till we were done."
[sblock=OOC]The Arrow in the Bull, adapted from the traditional Irish drinking song, The Old Dun Cow. Click here to stream a low-quality rendition by the Brobdingnagian Bards (I believe a higher-quality mp3 of the same song is freely and legally available to those who look for it).[/sblock][/sblock]
[/sblock]
