RP:Beldur's First RP

Kelay Tavern

Built and rebuilt, torn apart and set like stubborn bone, this tavern is the pinnacle of Hollow's entirety, wrought around the premise of peace, equality, and consummate amity. And of course, the old place had seen all of the three, but so much more. Dire markings of claw and steel cut deep into wall panels and floorboards. Set against the land's usual motif of destruction are signs of comfort. Twisting shadows and smoothing out a careful blanket of light with soft, quaint fires, a candelabra dangles down by thick cords, gripping the circular holder. Each twists up, converging upon the center, where they snake about one another and form a thick, secure anchor to Kelay Tavern's high, accommodating ceiling. The candelabra rattle now and again from the inn patrons overhead, pouring down globs of wax to the center of the room, which is wide and unobstructed. Cheaply carpentered tables and chairs grow outward around the bare dancing area, keeping to the rounded theme, and also keeping to a dwarven barkeep's avariciously born taste for 'economical' furniture. Hardly any expense has been wasted on the actual upkeep of the public center though, as can be garnered from the smell of deep pine, rich tobacco, and even richer spirits. Stairs twist away dimly near the high bar. And atop that side rests the inn logs, quill, and ink. This establishment's fine keeper, Mesthak, can be seen smiling out from his post at the bar, straight across to the room's always crackling stone-wrought hearth. Behind him, atop lofty shelves, sits an array of dark, amber, and clear liquids. Food smells waft from somewhere near at hand. A carefully printed and hung sign details the purchasable items here in the place of merriment, loss, laughter, and life. Also, tucked into a corner near one of two windows closest to the tavern doorway is a thickly papered bulletin board. A sign has been added next to the board that reads, 'The management requires patrons be fully inebriated at all times and that no curing spells be performed in this tavern-Thank you'.

You action looked about the inn a moment before heading to the bar. Taking a rest in one of the seats. It growns in protest as the heavily armored man sits in the stool.

Jiya looked at you. You looked at Jiya.

Jiya was sitting in front of the fire, fingers repetitively smoothing over her velvety fox-ears, eyes pinned to the fire. Her expression was trending more towards a grimace than anything else; such was her distress that she was fairly immune to most of the activity in the tavern.

You action shakes his head to Nancy when she asked for his order. After a few minutes the stood growned again as the man stood. The heavy boots taking stepts towards Jiya as he opens a canteen.

Jiya : It was the heavy tread approaching that finally pulled Jiya from her reverie; with a last pat of her fingers she looked up at the man. She was sitting on the floor, her skirts all twisted about her as if she'd sat without a care; she attempted to fix this with a few tugs at the skirt. She did not rise. There was, however, a brief frown soon corrected with a strained smile. "What did you say?" She was staring at Beldur as she said it, skin chased by an embarrassed flush.

You action shrugs his shoudlers as he smiles warmly. "I didn't say anything." He holds the canteen to her as he chuckles. Taking a seat on a chair he turned to relax near the fire in. "Thirsty? It's just water."

Jiya shook her head, ears flicking back and forth. She almost growled, but released her breath in a loud sigh instead. "I am hearing voices," she muttered, followed by an almost inaudible "again" at the tail end. "I am thinking better to wash my ears," she said, louder.

You action nods as he drinks deeply from the canteen. Wiping his lips with the thick gloves, he leans back in the chair as he sighs. "Perhaps. But you probably heard me tell Nancy that I have all I needed."

Jiya tipped her head to the side. "Did I? I -" but she stopped, ears flattening, and glanced to the fire. "Mm, that's it, surely, darling." She looked back to Beldur, wiping her palms down her skirt. "I am not thirsty." Her lips formed a moue, and she amended: "except for stories. Tell me one?"

You action shrugs his shoulder as he looks up. "Mmmm, I'm not much of a story teller. My name's Beldur, by the way. What's yours?"

Jiya shook her head, fluffing her mass of red hair as she did so. It was coarse, given to the odd curl here and there, but it kept to irregular and kinky waves for the most part. "There are always stories to tell," she returned, tone dry. The words were softened by a lopsided smile. "I'm called Jiya."

You action chuckles as he smiles. "Well, I'm not very good at telling stories, I guess. But I can try. You seemed rather disappointed when I walked over, Miss Jiya."

Jiya retained a pleasant expression, though her smile slipped away. Some polite surprise replaced it. "I was? Mm," the tip of her tail, stained a bright white, twitched. "I was deafened. I am sensitive hearing." Her brows scrunched together, and she repeated the words with a slight alteration: "sensitive of hearing?" She shrugged, and gave him a gamine wink. "My ears hurt."

You say Ah. I'm sorry to hear that. That would explain why you were pawing your ears.

Jiya : "Pawing," Jiya repeated, a thread of disappointment entering her tone. Her eyes narrowed, slightly. A gleam entered them. "You are frequently racist, sir?"

You action raises a brow as he looks to her. "No, I'm not trying to be racist, miss. I'm being honest." He leans on his knees as he looks to her. The heavy plate resting easily on his body. "I prefer to be honest over judging. I thought you were trying to entertain a child when I was over at the bar."

Jiya was taken aback. "A child? Mm. Do you paw at your ears to entertain a child?"

You action chuckles as he smiles. "No, but I would do something silly to entertain a child."

Jiya looked sidelong at Beldur. "You are always so calm?"

You action shakes his head as he smiles warmly. "No. But I was trained since birth to keep my fears and doubt to myself."

Jiya said to you, "And you do this?"

You say to Jiya "I do my best. The trick to it is remember what you are trying to do. "

Jiya slapped her thigh, and pointed a finger at Baldur. "Ah! This is what you must be changing, darling. How else would you tell stories? No wonder your face has lines that say 'sour'." She waved her hand dismissively. "You have stories, you are refusing to share, no?"

You action: He raised a brow as she spoke. Shaking his head after a moment with a smile. "Alright, alright, you win."

Jiya 's smile was sly and full of satisfaction. "Tell me what brought you here today." She pressed a finger against the tavern floor, looking at him with rapacious expectation.

You action tapping his chin, he seemed to think a moment. Looking back to her, and seeing her expectation, he smiles. "Alright. But fair warning, I'm not a great story teller. I was high in the mountians. Tasked by my father to pluck a feather from one of the Rocs that lived there. At the time I was untrained, in the art of sword play."

Jiya shrugged as if to dismiss his warning. "That is far from here, no?" She was watching him, her attention settling on him with a certain weight.

You say to Jiya "Aye, quite far. My kin moved about so much looking for a worthy lord to follow. But found naught but greedy barons and even greedier kings. But that's a different tale."

Jiya said, "Your kin?" Jiya's voice was suddenly velvety soft. "Who might they be?"

You say to Jiya "My mother, and father's last names are Havenwolf. As is mine. But they've been traveling so long that they're content with being knight errants. I'm wanting to become a full knight. Not a knight who has no worthy lord to follow."

Jiya closed her eyes in a slow blink. "You travel with so few?"

You say "It wasn't that we were few. My family numbered some twenty members."

Jiya said, "But you left them?"

You say "Yes and no. It's complicated.

Jiya readjusted herself so that she could pull her knees up to her chest, balancing somewhere between the top of her rear end and her lower back as she considered her conversational partner. "You wander into a tavern thirsty for water, and for a lord. What else has you thirsty, darling?"

You say to Jiya "I thought you wanted to hear a story."

Jiya laughed, the sound hearty and full-throated. She leaned back on her hands, bare toes peeping out from under her skirts. "Thirsting is part of living a story, for those who are making something worthy."

You action laughed as well, his was deep and hearty, in comparison to Jiya. "No matter. I guess what I want is to finally find a lord worthy of following so my kin can stop traveling."

Jiya : "A whole clan of you," Jiya murmured, the fingers of her right hand drumming on the floor. "Why this tavern?"

You say "Aye, a whole clan. For now, though, the hard part is finding a lord that's worthy."

Jiya watched Beldur. "I'm sure," she said, rising to her feet all of a sudden. "Hmm, I think so," she said. "If you return in a day or two, I might have a word to whisper in your ear, darling." She'd wink at him as she smoothed her skirts, and then was striding towards the door with some serious and secretive purpose in her step.

Jiya exited to the south.