dtc, The Tavern, Deepdancer's Arrival

[dens-extra-pups.livejournal.com]

Wheeljill:  *looks up to the Shattered Highlands*  ...That's a lot of lightening.  Especially for the winter.

Viisaus: *looks up from his bowl of stew* ... *regarding the Shattered Highlands for a few moments*

Wheeljill:  Wonder if that's why 'Wish didn't come back.  Her new eagle might not like all that banging around.

Highlands:  *almighty thunder*

Viisaus: Perhaps...

Wheeljill:  *turns to look at him, her own bowl of dragon and turnip stew forgotten as she tilts her head and her bug hat blinks*  Hmm?

Viisaus: *withdrawing a piece of rolled parchment from his saddlebag* The inclement weather could also be tied to the letter I recieved this morning...

Wheeljill:  *leans over to look at it*  *cheerfully*  Mountain script.  You guys write like a worm crawling through mud.

Viisaus: *Dryly* So I've noticed.

Wheeljill:  So the letter said something about weird weather coming?  *doesn't flinch as it sounds like the top comes off one of the mountains, but her bug goes down the back of her shirt... okay, WakeJumper's shirt*

Viisaus: *chuckles* An old friend of mine is en route to this location. She happens to be a Storm Lord.

Wheeljill:  ....  Ouch.

Viisaus: *raised brow* I beg your pardon?

Wheeljill:  I've heard stories about those guys.  *reaches for her spoon and beeps her daughter on the nose as she discovers Thrrpt busy slurping up her stew*

Thrrpt:  Thrrpt.  *eat more*

Viisaus: *chuckles* Well, Deepdancer is a very capable fighter... *a bit quieter* And someone I know I can count on, no matter the circumstances.

Wheeljill:  Ladyfriend?  *trying to get a bit of stew herself.  Uses her fingers to fish out a turnip lump*

Viisaus: *nods* One I have known for quite some time.

Ironhide:  *leans over*  She's talkin' 'bout the kinda ladyfriend ya marry, Vissy.

Viisaus: *blink blink* Oh, goodness, no. Deepdancer and I are merely old friends, much like Old Lumen and yourself, Ironhide.

Ironhide:  *cheeks pink*  Ah... y'don't hit me as th' sort ta kiss yer old friends stupid.

Viisaus: ... *going to return to eating his stew now, thank you very much*

Wheeljill:  *laughing her butt off*

Thrrpt:  *finishing Mom's stew*

WakeJumper: *arguing with Eclipse about something, and losing badly*

Wheeljill:  *going to get more stew after getting the licked bowl back*  *snerks at husband in passing, and then yelps as the very tavern shakes with the force of a roll of thunder*

Eclipse: *Diving under a table now, kthx*

Viisaus: *chuckles as he works on eating the stew that's in his bowl* I forgot to mention that Deepdancer would be coming here....

WakeJumper: o_o

Thrrpt:  *looks amused and impressed*

Wheeljill:  ...So that's her.

Viisaus: Most likely.

Wheeljill:  ....  Sweet merciful boogie men.

Viisaus: *Chuckles and goes to get a refill of stew*


*moments pass peacefully, broken only by Ironhide going on a Mung Skull winning spree... without wearing the helmet*


Kriti: *making out like a bandit on the dimwits foolish enough to take on Ironhide at Mung Skull*

Thrrpt:  *sitting on a table after being banished from the stewpot because she poured Buckenbroth mead into it*

Perceptor: *watching Ironhide, concern clear on his face*

Banshee: *Sitting in a corner and counting out her gold after a trip to the shops*

Wheeljill:  *bowl in her hands flies as the door blows open so violently that it bangs against the wall.  Doesn't look, just scarpers as fast as she can to get away from the disturbance*

Thrrpt:  *GONE!*

Ironhide:  *Mung Skulls the last idiot and then stands up to frown at the tall figure framed in the doorway, its robes flapping around it as it holds another figure in its arms*  Hey... they got 'Wish!

Kriti: *looks up from picking the poor sap's pockets* Bhuh?!

Viisaus: *looks to the door, a small smile crossing his weathered features*

Deepdancer:  Well don't just stand there you slagging ninnyhammers!  Someone get over here and help me!  Or is it too much to hope that some local yahoo will give me a break after I hauled her out of a @$@#$#@ crack in the @##$#@ mountainside and carried her all this way!?

WakeJumper: *Up and at 'em!*

Viisaus: *gets up and moves to help his old friend* Hello, Deepdancer. It's been awhile.

Deepdancer:  *glowers at Viisaus and then tells WakeJumper to slaggin' well be careful or no violence rule or not he'll regret it*

Eruiste:  ....  *follows Thrrpt's example*

Banshee: *Collects her coins from Chug-A-Lugs, and books it for the back door*

Viisaus: *Moves to clear a bench* Here, WakeJumper. Set Nightwish on this bench.

Deepdancer:  *ordering hot water, YESTERDAY!*

Kriti: *going to get it*

Anna:  *fighting the urge to follow the exodus out the back door, her eyes wide as she bends over the offended stewpot*

Kriti: *carries the pot full of tea water back to Deepdancer. Has a feeling that this lady is NOT one to be messed with, even moreso than Ironhide, Chromia, or Flashpoint!*

Nightwish: *totally limp as she's lain on the bench, her face so pale as to make her dark skin nearly translucent*

Deepdancer:  *yanking out her satchel and the clean remains of her last robe, rips off a chunk and starts very carefully washing the nasty headwound that Nightwish is sporting.  As she works her expression holds more and more thunder*

Ironhide:  *biting her lip as she watches the doctoring*

Viisaus: *moving to assist Deepdancer*

Deepdancer:  *quiet rage*  I thought so.  There's nothing I can do.

Ironhide:  She's gonna be @#$@#$#@.  *squinting one eye with sympathy*

Viisaus: *going to get some food for Deepdancer... No, not any of the stew*

Kriti: *nods, will go and get a blanket for Nightwish out of her satchel*

Deepdancer:  *giving Ironhide a deathglare that phases the sturdy War Master not at all*  Don't you have anything better to do than stare?

Ironhide:  *looks at Deepdancer*  *quietly*  That's mah friend.  *even though she barely ever exchanges words with the tall Skyguard*

Kriti: Oy! *offering blanket*

Ironhide:  *takes the blanket and thanks the little Infiltrator, then tucks it around Nightwish*  *softly*  Shhhhh.  It'll be alraht, 'Wish.  Jes' a lil' longer 'n Ah'll gitcha some'a th' meat ah brung home th' other day.

Deepdancer:  *looking at Ironhide like she thinks the woman is mentally deficient*  She's dying.

Perceptor: *biting his lower lip and keeping his opinion that Ironhide is in denial to himself*

Kriti: *nods to Ironhide and moves to climb onto a chair so she can keep an eye on Nightwish as well*

Thrrpt:  *has come tippytoeing back.  Has some barley sugar, which she offers to Viisaus*

Ironhide:  *is ignoring Deepdancer as she focuses on Nightwish*

Viisaus: *Thanks Thrrpt, before moving to offer the barley sugar to Ironhide, and the plate of delicious smelling food to Deepdancer*

Deepdancer:  *gives him a stinkeye*  Is she too slagging drunk to understand the Common tongue?

Viisaus: No... Nightwish is much hardier than most are aware of, for reasons unknown...

Deepdancer:  Hardy isn't going to pull her through.  Her brain is mush.

Nightwish:  *breaths coming at longer intervals as her body realizes the damage and shuts down*

Thrrpt:  *sitting by Kriti and watching, her thin face serious and somber*

Kriti: *distractedly puts an arm around Thrrpt's shoulders*

Viisaus: *Quietly, to Deepdancer* Keep watching.

Deepdancer:  *expression puzzled, she looks at him and then turns her attention back to the dying woman and the small group keeping vigil around her*

Wheeljill:  *sneaking back to stand behind the youngsters, her expression full of concern and sympathy.  Puts a hand on the shoulder of each as she says quietly*  Maybe this time it'll stick.

Thrrpt:  Thrrpt.  *shakes head*

WakeJumper: *Also coming over to stand behind Thrrpt and Kriti*

Deepdancer:  *confusion growing as she watches the gathering, and then her attention goes back to Nightwish as the woman's breath leaves her body in a last sigh*

Ironhide:  *holding her breath*

Kriti: *keeping her fingers crossed*

Nightwish:  *faint colour touches her dark cheeks, and then she gasps and scowls as she opens her eyes*  Not... again.

Deepdancer:  *drops her bread and milk on Viisaus' foot*

Viisaus: *grabbing a chair for Deepdancer* Here... Sit down. I'll get you another piece of bread and more milk.

Kriti: *reaches to poke Ironhide to remind the War Master to give Nightwish the barley sugar*

Ironhide:  *already helping Nightwish sit up and offering her the candy*

Nightwish:  *coordination a little shaky as she takes the quick energy and stuffs it ravenously into her mouth*

Deepdancer:  *just watching in amazed silence*

some yahoo:  Undead!  Kill it!

WakeJumper: *throws one of the things he was going to sell at the yahoo's head* Shut it!

Ironhide:  *hand on Nightwish's back as the womans' shaking stops, and then gets to her feet*  Ah'll git ya some meat 'n bread.

Nightwish:  *nods as Ironhide pushes her way through the crowd to go get the food*

Kriti: *To Nightwish* What got you this time?

Nightwish:  *small braids swing as she turns her head*  Lightening startled Windracer.  *grimaces and rubs her head, then looks around for Viisaus*

Thrrpt:  Thrrpt.  *looks at Deepdancer*

Deepdancer:  *lips thin*  I'm sorry.

Nightwish:  *gives the auburn-haired woman a quizzical look*

Kriti: According to Viisaus... *indicates Deepdancer* This gal's a Storm Lord.

Nightwish:  *expression clears*  Deepdancer.  I didn't expect you to ever come out here.

Deepdancer:  *puzzled scowl*  Have we met?

Nightwish:  *quietly*  The mid summer's night ball.  When Viisaus went with a girl on each arm.

Deepdancer:  ...That Nightwish was older than both of us.

Nightwish:  *looks at the grey in Deepdancer's close wrapped braids, her expression stoically blank*  I still am.

Viisaus: *Back with a plate of food and a tankard of milk for Deepdancer*

Deepdancer:  *looks at her sworn brother, her expression slightly bewildered as her bright eyes flick toward Nightwish in question*

Ironhide:  *back with barley bread and some of the delicious preserved aroche ribs the people of the mountains make*

Nightwish:  *takes the food and eats with her usual tidy precision, Deepdancer forgotten for the moment*

Viisaus: *quick glance to Nightwish, nods* *Quietly, to Deepdancer, after he shoos Kriti away for the moment* It's some form of enchantment... I'm not quite certain as to what type, exactly...

Deepdancer:  *just as quietly*  She never ages?

Viisaus: *small headshake*

Deepdancer:  It's like the old stories of the water of immortality.  *frown*

Ironhide:  *has wandered over to show some yahoos the right way to play Rooski Wand Roulette*

Thrrpt:  *sitting next to Nightwish, watching her in supportive silence as the tall woman ignores her*

Viisaus: *another nod*

Ironhide:  *pwnt*

Wheeljill:  *laughing as she gets up to haul Ironhide off the floor*

Kriti: *looks over that way, decides she likes living, will not loot Ironhide's pockets*

yahoos:  *decide they don't want to play Ironhide's way and go to play something safer*

Deepdancer:  *quietly, with slow emphasis*  This place is fragging nuts.

Viisaus: *gives a hearty laugh as he offers Deepdancer the plate of food and the tankard*

Deepdancer:  *frowning as she sets her staff aside and rips up the bread before dunking it in the milk*  I've seen border outposts, and they weren't this crazy.

Thrrpt:  *has tackled her father and is trying to subdue him to get her nice steamwrench back*

WakeJumper: *Acks and tries to keep his daughter from getting the one tool that causes nine out of ten of her explosions*

Viisaus: *laughing harder now*

Nightwish:  *gets up to go scree into the gathering dusk and call her eagle home so that she can sell the loot he's carrying.  There's nothing but a little dried blood on a couple of her braids to show that she was ever injured*

Deepdancer:  *clocks brother for the laughter*

Viisaus: *lets her hit him, is glad she's here*

Eruiste:  *has slipped back inside and now offers Anna yet another dead dragon hatchling*

Anna:  ...A striped wyvern.  *glances at the window*  You won this round.

Eruiste:  *cheeky grin*  Yup.  *gets her gold for the bet on meanest dragon for supper and then goes to sit on her table by the door*

dog:  *sniffs what's left of the stew and backs away hurriedly*

Nightwish:  *bringing in her loot and going to the back room to store her gold*

Perceptor: *has had enough oddities for now, will go and get some food*

Wheeljill:  *getting more of that lovely stew.  Offers Perceptor a bowl as well*

Perceptor: *Thanks Wheeljill for the stew*

Wheeljill:  *grabs the whole container and hauls it over to the table where Nightwish had been laying*  Guys, look!  We can have all the stew we want!

Deepdancer:  *eye brow*

Ironhide:  *has returned to playing Mung Skull without a helmet*

Thrrpt:  *stew yes!  She'll get her steam wrench later, after Dad's asleep*

Viisaus: Is that the batch that Thrrpt dumped mead into?

Wheeljill:  *grin*  Yup, and she was right.  It's great.

Viisaus: *headshake* My apologies, but I will have to decline.

Wheeljill:  Right.  *gives him a sympathetic grin as her bug climbs back up onto her head and blinks*

Perceptor: *Being ushered back to the table by WakeJumper*

Deepdancer:  *looks at her brother*  And you've stayed out here over twenty years because...?

Viisaus: The company is good, and it is less stuffy than life back home.

Deepdancer:  *looks around at the roughly clothed, unwashed beings around them*

yahoo: *Yelling at Kriti as the tiny infiltrater makes off with some of his gold*

Kriti: *Laughing and running*

Thrrpt:  *offering Perceptor his multi-knife after watching him search his pouch for it*

Perceptor: Ah, thank you, Miss Thrrpt. ^_^

Eruiste:  *throwing knives across the room into the target*

Ironhide:  *BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP*  ^_^

Deepdancer:  *lifts her eyebrow again, and then turns back to Viisaus*  Let me see your eyes.

Viisaus: *going to humor you by complying, Deepdancer* *His eyes, as well as his other senses, are just as sharp as they were the day he left home*

Deepdancer:  *frowns deeply and looks around again*  *doesn't see the charm.  But then she rarely sees the charm of any company*

WakeJumper: *To Viisaus* Where're you planning on heading tomorrow, Viisaus?

Viisaus: I was considering heading to the Bravaki Wastelands, or perhaps Stangwood...

Thrrpt:  *perks at that last*  Thrrpt!

Viisaus: I do hope Old Lumen returns safely...

Kriti: *Snerk* He'll return alright... Especially if he works off that buzz he had going before he left.

Deepdancer:  What the slag kind of name is 'Old Lumen'?

WakeJumper: It's how we keep the Dwarven bezerker and the Moon Elf who share names straight when we're telling about their deeds.

Deepdancer:  *slight pause in her bread and milk chewing*  Name Brothers.

Viisaus: *Nods* Though the younger one tends to get into situations over his head...

Deepdancer:  *starts to reply, but then glances over as everyone else on the bench Ironhide is sitting on gets up to leave, thus leaving the bench to flip up and bean the War Master solidly on the head*  ....

Kriti: *soooo gonna pick y'all's pockets while y'all sleep!* *but first, will check on Ironhide*

Ironhide:  *bit dazed*  Ah spilled mah cider.

Deepdancer:  *snorts and resumes eating*

Kriti: I'll go get you another one. *moves to do so*

Viisaus: *quietly, almost as though he's remininiscing* Torque was more than glad to be here... I do hope he hasn't come to any harm...

Deepdancer:  *looks up at that*  Torque?  You mean the Earth Sage from Al'Victus Academy?

Ironhide:  *on her feet now, clocks her head on the underside of the table as she straightens from righting the bench*

Anna:  *yells and tells her to stop breaking furniture*

Viisaus: *nods* One and the same. He and Old Lumen have become fast friends, though they hail from different parts of the Mountain Kingdoms... Seems Dwarven brotherhood is stronger than blood... *chuckles*

Deepdancer:  *sourly*  I would've said only another Dwarf can understand a Dwarf, but watching that redhead over there makes me rethink.

Ironhide:  *chugging down her new drink, one hand holding onto Kriti's arm to keep her out of her pockets*

Kriti: *trying to wiggle out of Ironhide's grip so she can go pick the pockets of the people who made the bench hit Ironhide on the head*

Viisaus: *glances to Ironhide and Kriti, chuckles* I'm not quite sure what race Kriti is, to be perfectly honest...

Deepdancer:  I was talking about the War Master.

Ironhide:  *burps so hard she loses her grip on the little Infiltrator*

Wheeljill:  *catcall and laughter, and then more stew*

one of the guys who got off the bench:  *calls Kriti a gnome*

Ironhide:  *throws her mug at him*

Thrrpt:  Thrrpt!  *giving the guy a stink eye*

Kriti: Hey!!! *hits the guy with the scabbard of her short steel blade*

Anna:  Guys!  Don't get violent!

Deepdancer:  Don't get violent?  What're they slagging doing already?

Kriti: He called me a gnome, Anna! *Mad*

Anna:  I heard him.  *doesn't blink as Ironhide boots the guy right out of the tavern, knowing that he's going to get dragged off the grounds and schooled for his error*

Kriti: *going off to sulk now*

Nightwish:  *slips inside silently, pausing when she sees that Viisaus isn't in his usual corner.  Face impassive, she turns to go over to the furthest and emptiest one*

Deepdancer:  ...Yes, charming company.  I'm drowning in culture.  *elbows a yahoo for reaching to touch her staff*

Viisaus: *calmly as he gets up to get himself a piece of the roast or possibly a piece of drake* There's more to this place than meets the eye, my friend.

Anna:  *offers him a wyvern leg, then nods toward Nightwish*  She's sulking again.

Viisaus: *thanks Anna for the wyvern leg, will go over to Nightwish's corner and sit down near his fellow Skyguard*

Nightwish:  *looks at him, her eyes quizzical in her impassive face*  Your friend's over there.

Deepdancer:  *having a scowling look at the knife Eruiste decided to show her*

Viisaus: *Seriously* And one of my friends is sitting by herself in a corner. What's bothering you, Nightwish?

Nightwish:  *doesn't look away from Deepdancer and the Moonelf*  You need to ask that question?

Viisaus: Besides the obvious, Nightwish.

Nightwish:  Nothing.  *face just went totally poker smooth*

Viisaus: *Gives Nightwish a Look*

Nightwish:  *pretends she doesn't see that Look.  Instead turns her eyes over to where Thrrpt just tried picking WakeJumper's pocket again*

WakeJumper: *catches Thrrpt's wrist, will offer some of the stew he has*

Nightwish:  *eyes gazing right through them as the teenager razzes her father*

Viisaus: *reaches and gently patpats Nightwish's hand, wordlessly offering support*

Nightwish:  *quietly*  Please don't do that.

Viisaus: *Quiet sigh, nods and leans back in his seat*

Nightwish:  *now watching Wheeljill as the Steam Engineer lays her head on WakeJumper's shoulder.  Something like yearning shows in her impassive dark eyes for a moment, but then she's quirking a brow and looking up at the knife that Eruiste just sent into the wall over her head*

fly:  *is pinned by the knife*

Viisaus: *chuckles*

Deepdancer:  *giving Eruiste quiet slag for throwing sharp things in a room full of people*

Eruiste:  0.o??

Viisaus: *another chuckle* Perhaps I should go and rescue Eruiste from Deepdancer...

Nightwish:  *reaches up and snags the Moonelf's knife, then offers it to him hilt first*

Viisaus: Thank you, Nightwish. *Quietly* Will you be in the barn or the common room tonight?

Nightwish:  *shrug*  Probably here

Viisaus: *small nod, excuses himself to return Eruiste's knife*

Eruiste:  *has tripled the blank and dumb look by the time Viisaus reaches she and Deepdancer.  Is wondering if this woman ever runs out of vinegar, and is very glad that she'll be easily able to avoid her in the field*

Viisaus: *offers Eruiste her knife back*

Eruiste:  *takes it and gives him a shaky version of her usual cheeky grin*  Thank you, Viisaus.  I should go check on Weed now.  *gone!*

Deepdancer:  *snorts and growls, then finishes her milk*  Idiot.

Viisaus: Not necessarily, Deepdancer.

Deepdancer:  *gives him a stink eye*  Do you even know how that Nightwish feels about you?

Viisaus: *seriously* I do...

Deepdancer:  *frowns at him*

Ironhide:  *scooting back inside to grab her armor, weapons and louts.  Is going out!  ...Into the blizzard that just whipped up*

Viisaus: *Quietly, seriousness in his eyes* I am but a mortal man, however... And I fear any relationship Nightwish and I would have outside of friendship would only end in sadness...

Deepdancer:  *frown deepens as she sees the look in her sworn brother's gaze*  You're not telling me you'd actually consider it otherwise.  Out here?  *glances over as Thrrpt gleefully razzes her newly exploded bowl of stew*

Viisaus: *glances that way as well, chuckles as WakeJumper facepalms* Well, I certainly wouldn't be the only family man....

Deepdancer:  *pulls her eyes away from the cheerful group*  You're serious.

Viisaus: If the circumstances were different, and Nightwish were as mortal as you or I, then I would.

Deepdancer:  ...So what exactly are you afraid of?  *sets aside her empty eating vessels and absently ducks a flung drake bone*

Viisaus: Bringing more sadness into Nightwish's life.

Deepdancer:  There's something I read once.  Some poem King Roy's bard wrote.  *takes her staff and runs her fingers over the carvings on it*

Viisaus: *raised brow* Hmm?

Deepdancer:  *quietly, still studying her staff*  ' I hold it true, whate'er befall; I feel it when I sorrow most; 'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all.'

Viisaus: *quiet. Is contemplating this*

Thrrpt:  *blows a pewter bowl up so high it sticks in a rafter*

Anna:  *facepalming behind the bar*

WakeJumper: *Low, impressed whistle*

Eclipse: NEW RECORD!!! :D  

Wheeljill:  ...So how do we get it down?

Perceptor: ... I don't believe we can on our own.... Unless we stand on chairs, perhaps?

Ironhide:  *yelling at the twins, who've locked themselves in the bathing room*

Deepdancer:  *gets up and goes to sit by Nightwish, who is gazing into the depths of a tankard full of milk*

Thrrpt:  *on her dad's shoulders, prying at the bowl with a dagger as he stands on the table.  Manages to knock both of them over*

WakeJumper: *Acks as he lands on his butt*

Ironhide:  *gives the bathing room door a last mighty kick, and then sweeps out of the room and into the stormy night, the rest of her louts following faithfully*

Viisaus: *gets up and goes to ask someone about Ravenwatch, with the intention of finding a pirate sword for Nightwish*

((co-written with random_xtras))