<KingTao> Siralael placed her greatsword on the cart and instructed the crew members to take it and the gold back to the ship before turning to the others and telling them to enter the inn with her. A quick glance over the crew showed Kol was noticably absent, but Siralael was certain he would show up sooner or later, he always did. As the crew entered the inn, they (with the sole exception of Remy) noticed an inconspicuous black raven perched on the
<KingTao>  wooden sign hanging over the street for the Sea King’s Cabin. At first, some thought it to just be a prop, albeit an odd one, until it looked at Kownu and crowed loudly, spooking the small Kolbold.
<KingTao> The crew entered into the Sea King’s Cabin and found it to be a lively tavern, not unlike the one they met in at Raviniya. There were small circular tables spread around the bar with chairs for each, and the music played loud and the patrons enjoyed themselves thoroughly. Perhaps the only thing that really stood out to the crew was that the patrons were predominantly human, with only a trio of Triton soldiers at a table near the back, six m
<KingTao> ountain dwarves enjoying some drinks in a booth near the tavern’s entrance, and two Tabaxi in merchant garbs with brown turbans enjoying their drinks near the bar. The crew found a table to sit at and ordered their drinks from a young servant girl and sat about planning their crossing.
<KingTao> It was shortly after their drinks arrived that a man from a table next to the window that looked out into the street approached them. He was slightly taller than normal for a human, but he wasn’t quite human as he had pale purple eyes, ghostly white skin, and black hair that went down to his shoulders, and an almost supernatural beauty to his face, a sort of imperfect perfection. He seemed to downplay all of it with simple black traveler cl
<KingTao> othes, dirty black gloves, some worn black boots, and a torn black cloak with the hood down. He had white bandages wrapped around his right forearm and lower bicep, and more white bandages wrapped around his upper right thigh, and seemed to walk with a slight limp from what Kownu and Arryn picked up. He walked over to the table and placed his hands on the table, palm down, before he quietly spoke to Siralael and Arryn in an hushed voice tha
<KingTao> t gave away a distinct foreign accent that Siralael recognized as somewhere near Coventry, “I overheard you speaking on the street about crossing the river.” His words were spoken articulately, perhaps hinting that he was educated, but also pointedly, showing that at the very least, he was from a family of means. “I might know of a way across, a man working on a way of traversing the lands unhindered by the Blue Legions or any other force o
<KingTao> f Mortals.” He flipped his right hand over and simply said to the pair, “For a small fee, perhaps I can make the proper introductions for you.” His eyes seemed to linger on Arryn as he spoke to the pair, but he did not stare at her, simply… lingered.
* Siri used one of her arms to shield Nauriel from the stranger from the man while also eyeing him up and trying to place his accent and face. He was certainly not human, but he wasn't elf either. She breifly chewed on her tongue before asking him quietly, "And how much would that fee be?"
* Thel finds himself at the bar inquiring about a bottle of wine from a local vineyard and how many bottles they may have in stock, glancing over his shoulder at the rest of the patrons and trying to keep the others in sight..
* LeRoy had split from the group after promising he'd be back without drawing attention to him. He'd spoken with his now slightly less uncharacteristic serious tone. The one he took when he made promises he meant to keep.
<Arryn> Arryn met the interloper's gaze easily, with a small grin as she took in what he offered and his appearance, quirking a brow. "Sounds interesting. Lot of middle maning work out in this neck of the woods?" She asked, leaning back in her chair. "Force of mortals implies they can only escape the mundane, selling them short?" The rogue added in a joking tone.
* LeRoy had made for the bar too and sat next to Thel. He spoke jovially. "Did you owe me any ale, or vice vista?" He was trying his best, but fancy words were never his forte.
* Emrys noticed the man that walked over the cap and Ar but didn't pay him much mind and continued to enjoy his drink.
* Rudyard , for the moment, contented himself with a cup of tea and a few doodles on a napkin, annotated in technical gnomish.  Siri and Arryn weren't talking nearly loud enough for his ears to pick up.  And besides, he had his own thoughts on the situation at the moment.
* Thel cocked his head, "I think you owed me an ale, though I can't think of 'what for' for the life of me." He hints to the large lizard. "What can I do for you, LeRoy?"
<LeRoy> "You could tell me what ale you want, for starters." He slapped the Karinsian on the back with a laughter.
<KingTao> "Fifty gold should suffice." The man replied with a very suspicious smile to Siralael. He returned his gaze to Arryn and said, "Well, he has yet to be caught and he hasn't really had a chance to test his luck around the Wizards' Guild or the Paladins. He and the man he travels with tend to keep themselves out of sight of those they don't want to be seen by. I can bring you there, again for a fee."
<Arryn> "Will we get a discount if we piss them off and let them have the chance to test those skills?" Arryn asked, giving a wide grin to the deeply suspicious man.
* Thel chuckles, leaning against the bar. "Usually I prefer wine."
<KingTao> "Afraid not." The man said with some slight hesitation in his voice as his eyes darted to the table and then back to Arryn.
<LeRoy> "Alright, then." He hailed the bartender over and ordered. "I'll have your most local drink, something I can remember by name even when dead drunk." He then leaned in and pointed at Thel with non-existent subtlety. "He'll have one wine." He sat back down and nodded with satisfaction.
* Emrys finished his ale then pulled out his lute. He began to pluck a few strings while humming to himself.
<Arryn> "That's unfortunate." Arryn said, never losing her grin as she leaned on her arm, her other hand brushing against the man's closest hand on the table. "Is the fifty gold fee for you, or for your smuggler friend?"
<KingTao> "For me." The man replied with a smile that seemed somewhat stiff. "I'm sure that my acquaintance would be happy just to have people along for the ride."
<Arryn> "You doing alright there, handsome?" The warlock asked, glancing over his appearance with raised brows. "You seem a little tense. Relax, we're all friends here."
* Thel settles himself in an open bar-stool, "Thanks for the Drink." He told LeRoy with a smile, leaning on the bar with one arm, looking up at him.
<KingTao> The bartender, a middle-aged human that was short, fat, balding, and looked like he had recently been in a fight, turned around and reached under the counter behind the bar for a glass and then for a bottle. He poured the red contents of the bottle into the glass and turned back to Thel and LeRoy and said, "Some wine straight from Coventry." He handed Thel the glass and then turned around and pulled out three small glass bottles and began m
<KingTao> ixing the contents together before pouring them into a glass and popping a small green orbish fruit into it. He turned around and handed it to LeRoy and said, "Draught of Eternal Embrace. Lime juice, seawater, and Eternaberry cider, topped with a Mossfruit. Eleven gold."
* Rudyard slid down from his seat, picking up his cane and tucking the napkin into his pocket.  The sound of his cane tapping across the floor could be heard as he approached the pair of (at least partial) elves.
* LeRoy handed the gold over to the bartender. "Sounds delicious, anything special I should know about it?"
<KingTao> "I'm fine, we're fine." The man said as he emphasized the words 'fine'.
<KingTao> "Don't consume it if you plan on going anywhere anytime soon." The bartender told LeRoy as he took the payment.
* Thel addresses the Bartender, "I'll take two unopened bottles."
* LeRoy nodded at the bartender, then looked to Thel. "Watch my drink, please." He then went back to the table where everyone else was seated and looked for an opportune moment to ask Arryn or Siri a question.
* Emrys went from pluking to strumming, while continuing to hum along ''Practice makes perfect.''
* Siri reached under Nauriel and grabbed her coinpurse and counted out fifty gold and placed it on the table and said, "If you cross us, I'll take my money back, and whatever else you have on you."
* Thel chuckled to himself and kept an eye on thing at the bar as LeRoy made his way elsewhere. "What's up with that one..?" He asked himself rhetorically as he took a swig of his wine.
<Arryn> "We are indeed." Arryn said lowly, watching the man closely. "Well, I'm on board."
<KingTao> "They cost twenty gold a piece." The bartender informed Thel.
* Rudyard gives a polite nod to the slightly uncanny man, then turned to the bluer of their two elves.  "Ah, captain, apologies for interrupting, but- Oh?"  He paused as the coin was set on the table, then raised his eyebrow, turning to the man.  "I apologize again, my boy. I wasn't aware this was a business matter."
* Thel nearly spit his drink, "You running a business or an extortion racket, chump. I'm not paying you twenty gold for a bottle of common swill."
* LeRoy tapped Arryn on the shoulder when she looked like she wasn't too busy. He whispered. "Theorythmical question, if I were to fall into a state that could be described as blacked out drunk, would that affect the mission, or are we hanging for a while?"
<KingTao> Hearing Thel's outburst, the trio of Triton soldiers all stood up in unsion from their table and put their hands on their weapon hilts and stared at Thel
* Emrys saw the three Triton soldiers all stood up, and quickened his strumming's pace to match the tension in the air.
<Arryn> "What? Yea, whatever, we'll have Em carry you, I'm trying to make something happen here, walk away." Arryn replied, shooing LeRoy away before turning back to the mysterious man and giving him another wide grin.
* Thel glanced over at the soldiers, "What? This guys just tried to sell me a bottle of wine for twenty gold... Any of you even know how much of a mark up that is?"
* Siri shook her head to Rudyard and said to him, "We're finishing negotiations, Professor. This man believes he can find us a path to our destination, and I was paying the toll, so to speak." Her eyes glanced in Thel's direction and then she turned her attention back to the man who had approached them and said, "We never got your name. May we please have it?"
* LeRoy glanced at the mysterious man, then back at Arryn. He hoped that this one wouldn't lead them into a genocidal terrorist campaign and walked away, satisfied.
* Rudyard raised his eyebrow higher, if anything, then turned an appraising eye back on the mysterious... person.  And to think he'd been just about to do the same thing.  "Is that so?  Well, my boy, it's most kind of you to offer, then."
<LeRoy> Back at his drink, he noticed the altercation between the guards, the bartender, and the man watching his drink. He rescued his drink swiftly, and wondered how wise it would be to drink it in such an environment.
<KingTao> "Then take your busineth elthewhere and don't dithturb the peath." One of the Triton soldiers shouted to Thel.
<KingTao> "Isaac." The man said as he bowed his head to the two elves and halfling, "Isaac Shadowfist. At your service."
<Emrys> dithturb the peath | Is that gurad Mike Tyson?
* Rudyard gave him a polite nod.  "A pleasure, my boy, a pleasure.  If it wouldn't be rude, may I ask what clever plan you have for spiriting us over?"
<Arryn> "That's an exotic name." Arryn said as she traced a small circle on the back of the man's hand with her finger. "So are you escorting us just to your friend, or all the way across?"
* LeRoy had an idea that would defuse the situation. "Now now, soldiers, we're not disturbers, we're fond of merriment. How would you feel about a small drinking game? I just bought a Draught of Eternal Embrace. If I can drink it without falling off my stool, you buy my friend a bottle of... economical wine." LeRoy grinned. "If I can't, I buy you a glass of the Draught."
* Alexoren (~Alexoren@pool-173-73-151-77.washdc.fios.verizon.net) has joined
* Alexoren is now known as Rook
* Emrys was on the edge of his seat as set the mood for Thel's confrontation with the gurads.
* Thel grumbles under his breath, "Disturb the fucking piece, every fucking city I have been in lately..." He shoves the glass back on the counter, unwilling to finish it. "Let the captain know I'll check in in the morning, I'm not staying in this shithole." With that he made his way out.
<KingTao> "You and your friend can fuck off." One of the other guards said to LeRoy
<KingTao> Isaac withdrew hs hand and said, "I suppose that would rely upon my acquaintance." He eyed Arryn as he took the gold and put it in his own sack and took a halfstep back
<Siri> /me rolled her eyes when she saw Arryn trying to seduce Isaac and she said to her quartermaster in their shared tongue, "You did it wrong, now he is out of the mood. You need to grab him by the waist or ass and make the circles there."
* Siri rolled her eyes when she saw Arryn trying to seduce Isaac and she said to her quartermaster in their shared tongue, "You did it wrong, now he is out of the mood. You need to grab him by the waist or ass and make the circles there."
* LeRoy shrugged and went back to his seat at the counter. He apologized to the bartender about Thel and drank his wicked elixir.
<KingTao> As LeRoy sipped his draught, he felt a feeling of warmth engulf him and sustained the feeling, but he also found that should he try to move his body, he was now paralyzed from the neck down. But he felt warm and great.
<Arryn> "I'm pretty sure he's leading us to a trap." She replied cheerfully in elven, waggling her eyebrows at Isaac as he stepped back.