Tales of Faerun

[AurianaValoria1]

Rhaine was unamused as the fight escalated, and she sighed heavily, "I suppose we'll have to tend to the wounded once this is all over."

 

"Lucas seems to be doing well enough," Conall noted, pointing to where the squire was casting beneficial spells here and there.

 

"Can't we just have one...normal...day?" Maydiira asked, snowy brows raised. "Without odd random fights and gods-know what else?"

 

The Doomguide shook her head, sipping her wine, "Unfortunately, it seems to be an odd curse of mine. Or, blessing, depending on the way you look at it. At least we're never short of entertainment."

[GrueMaster]

Despite having started off well and his inhuman nature, Kaji's prowess as a brawler only dropped after splitting off from Rameses, having been bashed in the head from a flagon-made-club and knocked prone. *Oof!* He exhaled sharply as his current foe stomped down onto his chest. The wu jen tried to roll away, only to be pinned under a table when his opponent flipped one over on him. The man sprang onto the table and used it to hold Kaji in place for a barrage from that nasty flagon from earlier.

 

"Ramesesama!" *CRACK* "Get off me, you" *CRACK* "AH, THAT HURTS! RAMESESAMA, SOME ASSISTANCE PLEASE!" He cried out, before wincing again from another blow to the face.

 

Rameses was occupied wrestling another brawler in the tavern floor with renewed vitality thanks to the healing magic Lucas had cast moments ago. When Kaji cried out for help, the fire genasi rammed his elbow into his opponent's skull before rushing to his companion's aid, bullcharging the brute who had the wu jen pinned beneath a table. "Get off of him!" Rameses roared, his left shoulder plowing into the man's abdomen. Similarly to his past victims, Rameses wrestled his new opponent to the ground as he attempted to grab him in a headlock. "Kaji, now!"

*CRACK* "This is getting tiresome!" Kaji cursed through his bloody visage. Luckily, though, salvation arrived, and he felt the oppressive weight of the table lessen as Rameses tackled the man off it. "Thank you, my friend!" Kaji yelled out, sliding out from under the table. At his comrade's beckoning, Kaji grabbed an errant barstool. "Aha! The table has turned!" He shouted in triumph and brought the piece of furniture down...

...into Rameses' face.

It sounded—and felt—like a thundering bolt of lightning had crashed into the fire genasi's head, blinding him as his vision was peppered with dusty spots of black and white. Losing his grip on his opponent, Rameses collasped as the *thwack!* sound of the impact echoed painfully through his mind before he quickly slipped into unconsciousness. The fiery runes blazing across his skin almost immediately extinguished following the accident, leaving Rameses's flustered opponent for the clumsy wu jen to deal with.

The poor wu jen could only stare as he dropped the stool, so confounded was he by the incredibly poor luck cursing him today. "Ah, ancestors... really?" He grumbled, and would likely continued to stand there dumbfounded for the rest of the evening. However, his enemy, recovering much faster from the friendly-fire incident, grabbed the fallen barstool and dashed it directly against Kaji's face.

Exploding into stars and pain, Kaji fell to one knee, dazed. Spirits... I really messed up today, didn't I? And it was such a good fight, too... He thought in lament, shortly before a second blow finished the job, and so both fireskins fell into unconscious heaps on the floor.

 

Even though the original instigators of the fight had fallen, the madness continued to rage on in the once-fine inn.

 

We'tak, who had evaded his pursuer due to the timely intervention from his fireskin clutchmate, found a place to hide behind a fallen table lodged in the wall nearby. Mother Moon, preserve us! The young thri-kreen could only pray. I did not think softskins would fight so much among themselves...

 

His confused pondering turned to concerned despair as he watched first Rameses, and then Kaji both fall, the former knocked out apparently by the latter himself. "Clutchmate!" He shrieked. I have to bring them out of there quickly! But how?! He couldn't carry them both away at once.

 

Ideas shooting rapidly through his worried mind, We'tak spotted movement in the corner of his vision and saw Sin, slinking around and skirting the edge of the fighting, avoiding it as much as possible.

 

"Dark Pointy-ear Female! Sin!" He called out, rushing to her side. "Please, help thiss humble one get Ramesesss and Kaji out of the fight." The hatchling pleaded. "They have fallen!"

 

Without another word, the thri-kreen darted back towards Rameses, dodging the eclectic projectiles dancing through the air, and picked the unconscious male up, and began dragging him away from the fight.

[FreemasonGamer]

After a few minutes following the tavern brawl's eruption, Eirene felt an unfamiliar numbness spread across her face and heal her broken nose, and she figured it was the magical work of someone in their midst. However, the healing magic seemed to have mended her nose at a slightly irregular angle, fixing it into its peculiar place before the Mulhorandi thought about setting it straight.

 

At the very least, the knot in Eirene's stomach gradually began to subside once her heartbeat began to slow its rapid pace brought on by the painful incident concerning her nose. Sitting upright with her arms wrapped around herself, the young ranger blinked rapidly as the odd sight of her crooked nose begged for her attention. While she could have possibly straightened it out if she was willing to endure the additional pain, the Mulhorandi hardly felt it was necessary. She then quickly dismissed the thought before glancing across the chaotic scene, sighing when she saw both Rameses and Kaji lying unconscious on the floor.

 

"Those two are a match made in heaven," Eirene remarked passively to Hai-chan, the caring little fire elemental who had thankfully brought her away from the brawl, "Maybe tonight will teach them how to behave themselves."

 

The ranger briefly contemplated assisting We'tak, but he seemed to have the matter of saving the two firekins under control. Not to mention, Eirene did not want to gamble with the risks involved in fistfighting any further, still grimacing at her brief lapse in control over her sinister affliction. So, she carefully rose to her feet before skirting around the outer fringes of the sprawling mess of fighting, and she soon found herself a safe haven at a table in the farthest corner of the room. From her secluded vantage point, Eirene watched her companions from afar after collapsing tiredly into one of the table's chairs. "Spare us from any further catastrophes, please..." She murmured quietly to herself.

 

In response to the sight of the group's trio of veterans concealed at a table underneath the staircase, the Mulhorandi pressed her lips into a thin line and deeply regretted not having enough coin to purchase a fanciful drink to soothe her own nerves.

Edited March 10, 2016 by FreemasonGamer

[josh900]

Some time after Leif went off in search of the Innkeeper, he returned with a light spring in his step, skillfully deflecting away random thrown objects with a serving tray before he slid into a seat by those of the group that decided to stay away from the brawl.

"Alright... So we're all set." He said with a smile before taking a sip from a cup that he had grabbed off a table along his way back.

"All of.. well this," he motioned to the ruckus with his mug, "done, paid for along with our rooms for however long we want to. Food too."

 

"And how exactly did you manage that?" Azuris asked, not at all believing that the childish half-elf was capable of earning them those services.

 

"Bought him a new common room, going with the owner tomorrow to buy new tables, chair and whatever else was damaged. Privately owned establishment so he wasn't about to balk at an investment opportunity like what I offered him. We go tomorrow to a bank with the proper connections, hopefully we'll be able to find one that can connect to my company and we'll sign up a deal of partnership and secure room and board for the whole party. If not.. then we pay out of hand like we would have had to anyways." He said with a shrug.

 

Azuris was momentarily stunned by Leif's explanation before speaking up. "Umm... company? Your company?" He asked with a confused look.

 

Leif met Azuris's gaze and nodded nonchalantly. "Yeah, I'm what you might call an.. eccentric businessman. Too much time and money on my hands to know what to do with and all that." He said before draining the last of the mug and tossing it over his shoulder. "I gotta be mature some of the time you know." He said said out of the corner of his mouth accompanied by a roll of his eyes.

[Lisnpuppy]

Sin, who had been trying to maintain an unobtrusive appearance as possible, closed her eyes tightly at We'Tak's urgent call and subsequent jumping into the fray. Lolth's toenails! What was he thinking just jumping in like that?

 

Not being able to leave the people who had been kind to her, and especially We'Tak who had accepted her out of hand, she drew out some of the food in her various hidey-holes and jumped on a clear spot on a nearby table. Hissing under her breath, she sent an apple flying at the combatant nearest to Ramses and the Fire Elemental. "We'Tak there IS a reason you call us soft skins!'

 

One apple flew, then another, hitting patrons in the head, eye, nose...all places that were guaranteed to gain their attention. Running out of fruit Sin drew out a chicken leg, shook her head sadly and ripped a piece off in her mouth before hurling it also, attempting to distract anyone from the fight in order to let We'Tak get the injured from the floor. It had the desired impact as one after another, heads turned toward Sin and away from Ramses and the others.

 

Heads with faces of growing irritation and menace. Sin suddenly stood stock still, hand over her head with the last of her stolen food. A nice, soft tomato whose twin still ran down the face of a very large and angry dwarf. It was cupped almost lovingly in Sin's delicate hand. Realizing her sudden popularity Sin bowed to the occupants with a flourish.

 

"If you'd like to see more tricks of speed and aim, just look up the Carnies in town and they will show you some real skill at throwing things around!" At this Sin jumped off the table and made for the door as fast as she could.

[AurianaValoria1]

"You have a business?" Maydiira asked Leif incredulously, unable to stop herself. Rhaine cast her old comrade a disapproving look, but May threw up her hands in protest, "What? Is it rude amongst you surfacers to be skeptical?"

 

Before Rhaine could reply, Conall gestured to the crowd with a slight, "Oh, dear...would you look at that." Both Favored Souls followed the path of Conall's finger, which indicated the speedy flight of Sin as all remaining conscious patrons of the tavern followed her out in an angry horde, food staining their faces and clothes.

 

"Cue guards in three, two..." Rhaine sighed.

[josh900]

"Company." Leif corrected Maydiira with an unsettling grin. "Means more than one business."

 

"And your company does what exactly?" Azuris asked, happy to know that he wasn't the only one that found Leif's declaration highly unbelievable.

 

"Trading mostly, Partnered with a few Inns and small settlements here and there to make things easier on our caravans and take advantage of the more out of the way ones being the only place for miles where you can actually buy anything." Leif happily explained.

 

"And you have the funds to do that how exactly?" Azuris asked as he looked past Leif to see Lucas begin casting healing spells on those left wounded by the fighting.

 

"Took advantage of a power vacuum back in Baldur's Gate about eight years back, the area hadn't quite recovered from the iron crisis that had hit it years back and with the closest iron provider south in Amn who was still not too happy with them, politics and all that, the locals were paying an arm and a leg per pound it seemed like. So knowing the location of an abandoned for good reason iron mine, myself and a few others went in, cleaned it up, got it working again, and within a few months over a third of the iron coming in and out of the city was pulled from my mine. Desperate blacksmiths throughout the city were willing to do just about anything for cheap iron, so for a cut of their profits, they received their iron for next to nothing and things just sorta... snowballed from there." He explained.

"Granted it really helped that we started pulling a bit more than iron outta that hole if ya know what I mean." He added with a laugh.

[FreemasonGamer]

"Oh dear..." Eirene murmured worriedly, witnessing the tavern brawl's remaining combatants storm after the adventurers' newest drow companion, "... Should we do something about that...?" She hesitantly asked her companions who were gathered at a nearby table, meanwhile gingerly rubbing the crooked bridge of her nose.

 

As the chaos waned throughout the Cheerful Sage, she felt exhausted despite her lacking participation in the violent fray. Thankfully, the young Mulhorandi's weariness was soothed once she indulged in Leif's story about his company's origin story in the distant place of Baldur's Gate. It was both fascinating and astonishing how such a... peculiar individual as Leif was also a crafty entrepreunuer, and the tales he spun captivated Eirene's attention as an uneasy peace settled upon the establishment.

 

Meanwhile, Lucas was marginally successful at reviving a particularly irate fire genasi We'tak was determined to drag to safety. In a matter of minutes, Rameses' consciousness slowly returned to his foggy mind while his mystic szuldar steadily ignited once again, and he eventually blinked his crimson eyes open in an erratic manner. "What the..." The groggy brawler mumbled almost incoherently, bewildered by his brief state of unconsciousness until his memories returned.

 

"That... Him... I'm gonna kill him... I'm gonna kill him..." He growled menacingly as he struggled to escape We'tak's grip, kicking his feet in a vain effort to stand upright, "I'm gonna kill that clumsy, scaleless salamander..."

 

Upon overhearing her fiery companion's half-hearted threats, Eirene turned her attention to Rameses and chided boldly, "Let this be a lesson of temperance, Rameses. There is no harm in showing some discretion when necessary or otherwise favorable."

Edited March 13, 2016 by FreemasonGamer

[GrueMaster]

"It would be a fool's wish." Hi-chan responded to Eirene's hopes for the two insufferable fighters. "They draw fights as easily as we do moths." With that, she went and recovered her silly master, taking advantage of the drow as she attracted the ire of the other guests.

 

Thankful for SIn's diversion, We'tak made sure to drag his unconscious clutchmate safety during the rush of softskins chasing after her. Spirits watch over her... He prayed silently as he attended to Rameses, hoping to see dark pointy-ear female again among their clutch. Luckily, by the time Rameses came to, the fight had ended at last.

 

"Fireskin should be careful," the thri-kreen cautioned as he assisted Rameses to his feet. "You do not sseem fully well yet..."

 

Moaning slightly, Kaji finally awoke from his injuries as well, rubbing the two very painful knots on his forehead as he lifted himself up. "Owwww! Why do they always have to use the chair?!" He muttered, before yelping as Hi-chan very suddenly reset his broken nose.

 

"Because you never stay down from punches like anyone else would and keep fighting like the fool you are." She answered, no remorse showing in her voice. "You could at least be more discreet as Eirene says."

 

"Yeah, yeah, okay..." The wu jen replied, submitting to the fire elemental's reproach. Wincing as he stood fully, he gave a stretch, before deciding to sit down in a nearby chair after wobbling uncontrollably. "Well, at least we know who won the bet." Kaji chuckled nervously at Rameses, overhearing the angry fire genasi's comment. "Even though it was through friendly fire..." His familiar added sourly, crushing his humor ruthlessly.

 

"Hi-chan!" He cried out, before dropping the subject. "Anyway, seeing as how we're not in manacles, I don't think the owner will be tossing us out, spirits be praised... Well, as we're eating, you wanted some information, if possible, Ramesesama?"

[Lisnpuppy]

Into the aftermath stepped some stooped old timers. Their dress respectful but slightly out-of-date, both male and female were bent with age. The old man, hat on head, holding out a shaking hand, like a husband to his bride guided the woman forward. Wearing a light blue dress once popular in generations past here in the city, the rounded elderly woman went forward, a slight limp marking a once graceful stride. Her hair, whatever color it may have been was lost in a lovely blue bonnet.

 

The woman, face still hidden looked at the almost empty tavern before pointing a gnarled hand toward Rameses and We'Tak.

 

"There he is, that one right there! He's the one I tell ya!" Making a feeble fist, the old woman shook it in their general direction and began shuffling toward them, her husband in not-so-fast pursuit. Coming up to We'Tak the old woman raised her hand and suddenly with surprising agility, whipped off the blue bonnet, long, red hair cascading down around her. At the same time the man shed his persona. Standing straight, he took his hat , tipping it with deft fingers and rolling in down his inner arm into his waiting hand. Dimitri joined Sin in a smile to We'Tak and Ramses and the others.

 

Sin tossed the large blue bonnet to We'Tak. "Since I lost all my food, I think you own me now." Sin gave an unusually Roguish smile.

 

After tossing the bonnet, Sin walked to the others Dimitri at her heels. Nodding to him, Dimitiri made a bee-line to the Inn Keeper and in low voice quick words and much hand-gesturing that seemed to have more meaning than just what occurred during normal negotiations, suddenly both stopped and shook hands. A coin purse exchanged hands from Dimitri to the Inn Keeper and the Carnie returned to stand with Sin.

 

"I have spoken to the Inn Keeper. He realizes this unfortunate incident was merely an accident. He knows that the fire elementals were not at fault for this. However the other patrons are uneasy and he is merely making ends meet. He offers a suggestion. Out back he has a a home for sale with room for you all. It is empty. For the same price and length of stay as here he will have you stay there and bring your meals and bedding there. It is all fired brick and so any fires would due little damage if something, not that it would, happen. His sister will go over now and get it ready if you are agreeable. There are only two private large bedrooms but there is a large shared bedroom with many bunked-beds and one more amenity. Down off the kitchen is a warmed salt pool that can be used to soak away your worries. The salt keeps the water clean and fresh. The warmth comes from the earth below."

 

Sin smiled widely, "Is this acceptable or should we just get the coins back?"