The Bearded Siren

[Memoria]

Inside Domrhask's northeastern tower - the structure devoted to commerce - resides a tavern lovingly named "The Bearded Siren". It is presently owned by a 123-year old Dwarf named Jilteq Duskryver who acquired the establishment from his departed father. The tavern had another name before - a title forgotten by Domrhask residents. When Jilteq inherited the place, he changed the name to "honor" an event in his father's life where the drunken man wandered off into the northern icy islands of Irtuen Reaches, claiming that he saw, "the most beautiful mermaid ever, with a chin full of red hair so thick, it'd make any grown Dwarf envious".

When The Bearded Siren was just a fledgling tavern, it shared a floor in the tower with other taverns and restaurants, but as time went on, it became the popular spot due to drinks that were bountiful, wide, and fierce in taste; hearty meals full of breads, sausages, and exotic game meats; and its gathering of customers that primarily consisted of crazy adventurers who have trekked through precarious mountain paths of Irtuen Reaches. Because of its excel in fame, Jilteq purchased a majority of establishments neighboring The Bearded Siren which allowed him to knock down walls and create one of the largest taverns in Khy'eras.

It is, on most days, not a very lively place though. While there are ample customers who visit the tavern, there is never any music playing or dancing going on. The building is mostly meant for those who need sustenance (of any kind) or those who want to discuss business. However, there have been frequent occasions where Jilteq cleared out a sizeable space and built a ring for sporting events such as wrestling matches, knife throwing, and yes, even axe battles.

Note: You may use this thread to introduce characters or meet new characters. Staff (as they have time permitting) will likely create NPCs to respond to posts.

[Vent]

Vent had just returned from a rather messy trip to a cave. The client neglected to mention it was inhabited by a sizable group of orcs that didn't like guest. The rangers charge swore that the inhabitants had stolen some valuables but, none were recovered. Vent's twin short-swords and armor all dwarven made were splattered in smelly gore. He cleaned them with his elemental power as best he could. Unfortunately, the repairs on his light chain was going to cost a crazy amount of money. He decided his troubles warranted a meal at the Bearded Siren of the unique sort just for a change of pace.

The elemental sat in his usual place in the corner so he could watch the customers. He gripped his beard in one hand as a server finally made it to his table. Vent smiled when his favorite server looked at him “Hey, Goldy are you being tipped well tonight.”

The pleasantly plump blond lass returned the good humor and spoke. “You hush now Vent, Baldur wouldn't be to happy if he saw you flirting with me again. Jilteg doesn't want another broken table because, of you.”

The ranger showed a brief sign of remorse than smiled again.”Aye I know, so whats today’s special” Vent pulled Trevor of his shoulder and set him on the table as he waited for an answer.

[NPC]

Goldy leaned forward, exposing a bit of cleavage as she did, and reached over to the table giving Trevor a few good scratches under the animal's chin. The little beasty purred, rubbing its head into the palm of her hand. In a room full of typically grumpy Dwarves, she couldn't stop herself from cracking a smile. Trevor was a nice ray of sunshine in the tavern, and well, it was good to see Vent also.

She straightened herself back up, folding her hands behind her back for a moment. "Oh! The special, is it? You just right wait there, hun. Yer gonna love it!"

Without explaining what Vent was getting himself into, Goldy dashed off to place his order. In the time that she was gone, another Dwarven waitress with a heavy tray full of drinks managed to sway by Vent's table. With expert fluid motions, she slid him a beverage across the table not saying a word, then moved on. It was a standard Dwarven ale, but the tankard it was contained in had to be at least 64 ounces.

Goldy returned about fifteen minutes later with large bowl that wafted snake-like tendrils of steam. She slid the bowl and a spoon towards Vent, giving him a chance to see what he was served. Inside the bowl was a stew that look relatively safe - rich brown-red colored broth, chunks of potatoes, carrots, onions, and peas accompanied by at least two different types of meat.

"This, dear Vent," she said with a wave, "is our most delicious stew made with snake and turtle meat! I do hope you enjoy it."

A smile was still on her face, but if Trevor had been able to properly express emotion, the little dragon turtle's jaw might have dropped at the mention of turtle meat.

[Vent]

While he waited for his food Vent scanned the room casually. He noticed a few sly smiles directed his way by customers that usually glared at him with anger. He thought something was up tonight that might not go well for him.

Meanwhile, while his master was deep in thought Trevor had managed to scale the sixty-four ounce mug and started drinking greedily. Eventually, he fell off the tankard and slid into his shell as he quietly hit the floor with a thump. The ranger was brought out of his thoughts, when his companion hit the ground. “Goodness Trevor, you know alcohol goes straight to your head.”

Vent leaned over and scooped the turtle up to raucous laughter all around. As the guide was about to order another drink since Trevor drank all his, Goldy returned. The stew smelled wonderful and looked even better. The elemental spoke “Wow, thanks Goldy I'm glad Trev is drunk given the meat choices.” He gestured to his friend as he pulled a small metal bowl out of his pack that had Tre inscribed into the metal. In case Goldy was wondering he explained. “The prices of goods in this city are high, so I figured half price is better than full. They charge by the letter and my friend can't read anyway.”

The ranger started transferring some of the rich broth first followed by potatoes,carrots peas and a small piece of snake meat. He kept the onions out because Trevor's breath didn't need to smell worse than the ale breath he already had. Vent just couldn't give him any turtle meat because, his friend was not going to become a cannibal on his watch.

Next, he dug in and savored the flavor. Vegetables grown by dwarfs were the best, much better than eating wild ones. They were larger and he felt like he could taste the care dwarf farmers took cultivating them. The snake meat was that of a tundra python that was only active in summer in the reaches. The cook somehow turned a very tough meat into tender heaven. The turtle meat was something he hadn't had since his exile to the frozen islands. Northern snapping turtle, vicious things bigger than Trevor that often bullied his buddy back then. Vent thought the cook had outdone himself making the naturally salty meat into a sweet delight.

The elemental smiled broadly as he pushed the empty bowl away. “My compliments to the cook he or she is a genius.” Vent put the money on the table for the food. Then he held up an additional ten copper. “For you lass, since your beauty makes the food better.”

[Vent]

Goldy made the large tip disappear in the blink of an eye. Then lowered her voice to a whisper. “You should be careful, I think the less kind sort are up to something tonight.” She gave Trevor another scratch before heading to her other tables for awhile.

The swaying server was right on her heels with a new mug of ale. It was only twenty ounces this time. Vent passed her an extra three copper for the trouble. She must not usually work when he came to the bearded siren. If she wasn’t so quick to head on he would have asked her name.

While he was patron watching Baldur came in. The Dwarven miner was looking like his normal smug self as he strode over to the Ranger’s table. He grinned then spoke. “Well shrimp did you enjoy your day. My cousin said you went to the wrong cave. It seems he won’t be paying for your failure.”

Vent could sense the sarcastic tone easily. Then answered back calmly. “Your cousin aye, why am I not surprised. Well to bad for him my service is always in high demand by honest customers.

Baldur’s face darkened. “Are you calling my cousin a liar. Well, you and your stupid pet can challenge me about that anytime.”

Suddenly, the whole tavern got quiet. Vent turned a shade redder as he adressed the larger dwarf. “You can hurl insults at me all day! However, when you bring Trevor into it you’ve gone too far! Name you’re challenge and we’ll settle it now.”

Baldur’s smile widened as he answered. “Wrestling is usually my first choice. However, your known to be unfairly slippery. So I choose a duel with real weapons to third blood. Do you accept?”

“Oh aye, you’ll soon regret your insults!” Vent answered.

While they were talking the other customers moved the tables leaving a sizeable ring for the battle. Then betting began as the fight started. The miner wielded a two-handed battleaxe versus a pair of short swords.

Enraged the ranger charged without thinking. Several minutes passed as metal met with a clang over and over. Until a reverse swing caught Vent across the back. “First blood Baldur,” declared the judge. The onslaught continued until a shallow stomach wound gave the axe man another point.

Finally, the elemental’s head cleared and he began to fight normally. One wound on each wrist caused Baldur to lose his grip on his weapon. A stab to the shoulder finished the duel. Vent had triumphed.

A third of the room clapped as their bets paid off. The dwarf new he was beaten and apologized reluctantly.

The victor was given a surprise cheek kiss as Goldy smiled. “Thanks for tripling my tips tonight.”

[Tazroth Ilix]

Tazroth didn't really like civilization - too many rules and too much talking.

But if there was one civilization that he had to choose as a favorite preference, he'd probably have gone with the dwarves of Domrhask. They could be a dour group of self-righteous pricks, but they would give as well as they got and to Taz, that was all he expected of anyone.

The Bearded Siren lingered in his vision. Wind whipped through his cloak and chilled his muscles. "Finally...enough of this damned cold." He muttered to himself. Even if it wasn't going to be the most welcoming place, he'd settle just to get out of the accursed cold of the mountains. He'd been through worse, but it had already been a long day, and he just wanted food. And alcohol. The good stuff too. He wondered if he'd still have to fight the barkeep for it. A slight grin crept across his face - he'd honestly be disappointed if he didn't have to.

It looked like the inn was going to be as lively as ever with dwarves turning as he entered the building - he did have to duck slightly to get through the doorway though, and he swore some bastard had made the door like that on purpose. Many of the dwarves there greeted him with the typical welcome of a blank look and then returning to whatever it was they were doing before, except a bit quieter than before. Taz didn't really care - the tavern was warm (well, warmer) and that was better than outside for now. As he walked over towards the bar, he took a brief look around at the events. It looked like a ring wasn't set up right at this point. 'What a shame.' Taz thought to himself - a good fight would have helped with dealing with the chill in his muscles, but he'd have to be patient for now.

It looked like right now most of the dwarves were more interested in business. With all the talk, Taz wondered if he'd be able to find some work here to get him some coin. It was going to be annoying if he'd come all this way just to get drunk - though at least unlike the groundlings at Fellsgard the dwarves knew how to make good beer.

There was no bartender at the bar right now, but Tazroth knew a certain kind of magic to make one appear. He pulled out a few coins and dropped them onto the bar with a clatter. "Beer." he said out loud, waiting for the empty air in front of him to be replaced with a dwarf, ideally one holding a tankard of beer for him.

[Vent]

Goldena noticed the bartender was missing again when a non-dwarf came up to the bar. Jilteg should just fire the lazy old dwarf. She ended up giving her tables to the other servers so the bar would have someone. The woman moved behind the bar with practiced grace. "Sorry about that sir, seems our bartender came down with another case of gutlessness." She slid a freshly tapped beer with the skill needed. The coins vanished expertly as the large mug stopped in front of the Ue'drahc. "Is there anything else I can help you with sir?" She gave her best smile that melted many a heart and waited for a response.

Meanwhile, Vent walked in and looked around. He stroked his red beard as he looked for Goldy. There was no sign of her however, the Ue'drahc was hard to miss at the bar. The thought of a potential customer in need of a guide took him to the bar. Then her saw her acting as bartender and sat beside the much larger person. Before he could order his usual Goldy had already got the Dwarven ale he craved. He slid his coins to her and waited for the conversation the two others were having to continue. The ranger planned on jumping in when he saw an opening. He did suddenly wish he had his new armor when he heard the ring being setup for the nights entertainment. Trevor seemed very interested in the big person beside him as he sat on Vent's shoulder.

[Tazroth Ilix]

As expected, his magic trick had worked - Taz watched with a practiced eye as a mug of beer was produced in front of him, followed by the gold coins disappearing - almost in one smooth movement. He'd expected that - the bartenders here were practically magicians when it came to alcohol - but he was honestly more surprised that the bartender was acting surprisingly warm towards him. Any other time he'd been here he'd been given alcohol if only reluctantly, and even then rarely with kind words. For a moment Taz wasn't sure how to respond - had Domrhask become more open to non-dwarves than all those years ago? "Thanks." he finally responded to the bartender lady after a few seconds. "Not right now. Maybe when I finish this." It was strange, trying to be polite in a bar - most of the times he was told to bugger off, either by the staff or by the guard.

Taz took a swig of the beer - and was quite delighted by the taste, letting out a hearty laugh. They'd even given him some of the good stuff! Last time it had just been 'the stuff non-Dwarves could handle'. "No-one does beer like Domrhask..." he mused to himself, before finishing off the tankard in quick time, letting out a satisfied sigh as he finished. It wasn't until after he finished and put the tankard back down on the bar that he noticed someone had been sitting next to him for quite some time now.

'An Elemental...?' Taz was curious. What would an elemental be doing here? Especially being the closest thing to a ball of pure magic in human form, Taz would have thought the dwarves would have chased him out of town ages ago. Yet nobody seemed to mind him being there, and he sat looking as though he belonged as much as anyone else. Well, far be it from his concern, but Taz had a feeling from the way he was sitting and watching the ring so intently, he wanted to talk about something. Taz wasn't quite sure he was in the mood, but the beer was at least of good quality, so he figured at least talking to someone who didn't want to insult him would be a change of pace. "Setting up the ring? Finally. About time there was a good brawl." Taz was momentarily distracted by the realisation that there was suddenly a turtle on the elemental's shoulder looking up at him. Taz just looked right back at him. "You want something?" he asked the turtle.

[Vent]

"Oh aye it's usually decent entertainment here. You can participate yourself or gamble if you need some coins." Vent became aware of Trevor being a little rude when Ue'drahc spoke to him. "Sorry about that, my companion is just trying to figure out how he could get as big as you. Trevor stop it we've talked about this before." The turtle reluctantly hoped down after breathing a cloud of steam in his masters face. If the elemental was normal the heat of that breath attack could cause third degree burns. However, Vent was completely immune to such things so nothing seemed to happen.

"I haven't seen you around here before. I'm Vent professional guide to the Irutuen Reaches. If you wish help I have fifteen years of experience under my belt. So please don't hesitate to ask my rates are quite reasonable." He gave a practiced bow of his head to the half-dragon. "Might I ask your name of choice sir?"

Meanwhile as if by magic Goldena Bridgetdottr had put on thick leather gloves that went up to her elbow. The material was darkened in a way that showed it was water resistant. While outfitted this way she took a clean rag and soaked it in the moisture left after Trevor's steam breath. She then smiled as she wiped the bar off. When her work was done she gave the dragon turtle a small bowl of mixed greens. Then the woman gave him a little scratch of appreciation before the little creature started eating in ernest. She wondered what entertainment would happen tonight as she waited for more customers.

Unfortunately, a different kind of party was happening tonight. The usual bartender had started a loud argument with a male dwarven server. Once the first punch was thrown the bar brawl was unstoppable. Every single dwarf in the bar joined in. Goldy waided in towards a much larger dwarf. With impressive speed she clutched his wrist as he went to punch her and flipped him on his back. The man was unconcious as she sighed heavily and moved on. She would do her best to see this ended as soon as possible.

[Tazroth Ilix]

As the elemental began to explain himself, Taz half-listened to him, staring at the ring. He barely even noticed as the turtle on the elemental's back hopped down. "It's alright. I've been here once before, many years ago." Taz looked at the ring, a surprisingly wistful expression in his glowing eyes. "I remember in that ring, there was a dwarf I fought once when I was younger. Kulgrim Ironview, I think his name was." Taz let out a deep, rumbling chuckle. "I thought I was tough in those days, until he threw me head over arse across the ring." Taz looked into the now empty tankard. "I wonder where he got to?" he mused, more to himself than anyone.

Taz looked up. "Vent? Hmmm." He looked the elemental up and down. For someone who didn't really seem like he fitted in, he seemed a decent enough kid. Then again, he'd tangled with enough elementals to know that riling them up wasn't the best of ideas. And he seemed to be at least making an attempt anyway. Or maybe it was just the beer. As Vent asked his name he looked down at the elemental. "Tazroth." he replied after a moment. "I'm a mercenary." Taz looked over and put another coin on the bar, gesturing to Goldena. "That's the nicest way of putting it. I'm looking for work, and here seemed as good a place as any other."

Though before he could get farther with his conversation, he heard a shout from the other end of the bar. A cruel smile crossed his face. "Heh. I've heard that kinda shout before." Taz turned to witness a pretty impressive right hook from one dwarf to another, and it looked like another good fight was about to get underway in the bar. Taz leant back slightly on his seat. "Beer and a show? Lucky me." There was an almost lazy expression on the ue'drahc's face as he watched the carnage. "Shame I'm not going to get my beer for a while..."

But as soon as he finished saying that, his eyes shot open, and his arm snapped out lightning-fast, grabbing a tankard out of mid-air. He put it down on the bar, before standing up, with a cruel grin on his face. Tazroth stood up tall, stretching his neck and cracking his knuckles. It wasn't like he hadn't expected it - being an ue'drahc anywhere tended to earn Taz a good thrashing from someone who didn't like him because something something dragons ruined everything. He didn't mind - gave him good exercise. And he'd learnt plenty about fighting dwarves over the years. Taz looked around. "Somebody got a problem with me?" he asked out loud, looking around for the one who'd thrown a missile at him.