Open [The Herald's Arms] Today will be Different

[Lyrri Snowsong]

13th of Autumn, 513 AV
18th Bell

The Herald's Arms was mildly crowded, but surprisingly quiet. The front room was warm and welcoming, a peaceful atmosphere that had to be cherished before the more excitable drunks would pick up the pace in the later hours. Most of the employees here were ready for a break; the patrons indulged in some idle chatter; an old man dozed near the small clearing that ought to represent a stage.

Lyrri's turn in front of the crowd would come soon; she sat at a table hidden in a comfortable but dark corner of the Herald's Arms, half-watching the preceding act as she rifled through her bag. Her flute sat in her boot as always, tucked carefully as if she was afraid she might wound it, but today she had more items to enjoy.

With an almost-quiet squeak of excitement, she found her new toys; a set of five bright green juggling balls. She had tried to use them once or twice, to no avail; graceful as her hands had become on the flute after all this time, they were clumsy and slow in the simple task of catching and throwing.

But while she had some time, it couldn't hurt to practice!

Grinning as the performer up front- a young girl, a singer- finished one piece and started into the next, she took two of the balls- one in each hand- and looked from left to right and left again. Then, with a smiling sigh, she began.

The ball bounced over the table before her and slipped to the ground, seeming to mock her with jovial defiance.

Pouting, she slithered under the table to retrieve the bright object, popping up almost just as quickly, still energetic, not nearly as enthused. She sighed. Try again...

[Mac]

OK, so, an inn was an inn, right? And in an inn, one could find food, and drink, generally speaking. At least in the tavern part of it, and at least in MacMac’s experience. Of course the inns and taverns in Alvadas had been tricksy things, oft times shy and trying to stay hidden, by keeping on the move. That was one reason why she was getting better and better at tracking. Most of the buildings in her home town had a sometimes endearing, sometimes nasty, habit of trying to avoid being found. They shifted about on a regular basis, as did the streets. It certainly kept you on your toes. MacMac had not been exactly surprised that the buildings in Syliras behaved themselves with more decorum and less stealth. She’d been advised of that by the sailors on the ship that had brought her here. Still, it seemed odd to her to always know exactly where to find the places that she needed to frequent. Those weren’t so very many, so far. She’d only been in the city of the knights for eight days. Still, it was novel, to just retrace her footsteps of the day before and there it would be, unmoved, stationary. So very strange. But it did make life easier. Now on this evening, she’d found the little tavern that she’d been taking her evening meals in. But unfortunately, the entrée of the day was octopus soup! She had glanced in the huge kettle and seen a few of the tentacles and shivered. Not normally a picky eater, MacMac still would draw the line somewhere. And rubbery looking, wine and white colored appendages with suckers all up and down their floppy lengths, no, her stomach turned at the sight. So she had been forced to look elsewhere for her dinner and she’d been directed to this other place, the Herald’s Arms. As she had approached it, finding it exactly where it was supposed to be, she had looked up and noted it had three stories. It must be a grand inn, she had thought to herself, stepping inside. Well visitors to the city needed a place to stay, right? She hadn’t given it any further thought, though as she entered and crossed the main common room, with a bar at one end, and tables at the other, and some more comfortable couch like seating as well, she felt she got an odd glance or two from the others in the room. She paid them no heed though, assuming it was her hair. It always seemed to make people want to say stupid things to her. Instead, she went to a table over by the wall, in an out of the way spot, though there were still others sat around here and there. A girl was singing in a cleared spot that looked like it was intended for entertainers, and as MacMac took a seat, the singer ended her song, but quickly began another. With barely time to look about for a server, the newcomer was pondering whether to order a cup of ale with her dinner, when of a sudden, a bright green ball came flying through the air, bounced off the table top in front of her, and skewed wildly, coming right up to hit her in the nose. It was startling more than really painful, but MacMac jerked back, with a loud curse, and the sudden, violent movement almost sent her chair over backwards. At the last moment, she rebalanced it and the front legs fell back to the floor with a clatter. Emerald eyes blazing, she looked to the side from whence the ball had come, glaring, and ready to chew whoever had thrown it at her a new one. Fine way to treat a paying patron!

[Lyrri Snowsong]

Lyrri blanched. The defiant green ball hadn't simply rolled under the table; unfortunately, it had instead hit a rather violent-looking girl squarely in the nose. The event would have been more comical had she not had such a murderous look in her eyes- Lyrri slouched in her seat, half-trying to hide herself behind the table. Perhaps this isn't the place to learn how to juggle, eh?

Of course, that made little difference. The bard's current concern was retrieving that uncooperative juggling ball.

Well... No matter, Lyrri thought to herself, beginning to straighten just slightly. There's an easy way to solve this. I just have to apologize, and-

The girl was looking in her direction, quickly reddening face only serving to augment the deadly glare.

There's an easy way to solve this. I just have to get the ball back without her seeing me.

Attempting to be sneaky for the first time in ages, Lyrri slunk down, down, until she found herself crouching under the table. Her head whipped from side to side, a cheerful bounce completing the comical scene- This is sorta fun!

Finally she sighted it; it sat just beside some stranger's foot, seeming to laugh at her misfortune. Or maybe she assigned too much emotion to inanimate objects. Still, her flute didn't like the look of it, either.

But she could do this! Within half a minute she had wriggled her way under two tables, and now found herself staring down at the juggling ball. All she need do was reach out and grab it, and...

Hey, who did that foot belong to, anyway?

Oh. The angry girl.

[Mac]

By the time MacMac had righted her chair again and looked in the direction of the trajectory of the ball, there appeared to be no-one at the table beside her, or the one beside that. She frowned deeply, knowing that balls didn’t just fall out of the sky, but she could only assume whoever had thrown it had fled, and wisely so. For the moment, the girl pushed her irritation from her mind, as it didn’t appear that she would be able to discover her assailant’s identity. Her attention was further distracted by the arrival of a server who asked politely what she’d have to drink and if dinner was required as well. MacMac, now a bit put off, said for the moment she’d just have a cup of ale. The server nodded pleasantly and left to fetch the drink. MacMac settled more comfortably in her chair, and looked about the large common room, halfway listening to the singer, and wondering about some of what her eyes were now taking in. The place wasn’t packed, but there was a good crowd of patrons, and quite a few number of rather good looking men and women who seemed attached to the establishment, yet were not offering food or drink. Her green eyes narrowed and her lips twisted a bit, as she thought to herself that this was not simply an inn. She wasn’t exactly experienced with such places, but she wasn’t completely naïve either. Her eyes followed one especially pretty young woman who had taken an older, and far from attractive man, by the hand, smiling at him, and leading him to a set of stairs that led upwards. Ah well, that was the way some sought pleasure, she supposed, dismissing it from her mind. Shifting a little bit more, her boot moved and ticked against something. She looked down, and saw the wretched green ball go rolling away across the floor. But her eyes were arrested by a much more surprising view – that of a young woman crouched on the floor, under the table! What in the world? At this, MacMac’s eyebrows shot up, and she asked the most natural question. “Um, have you lost something?”

[Lyrri Snowsong]

Lyrri sat for a moment, frozen, wondering how to proceed. She was quickly interrupted, however, when the girl shifted and the ball began to roll away, gloating in its escape. A barely audible noise of surprise escaped the bard's mouth as she reached for it; she stopped herself this time, watching the cruel green object find its new home among a group of almost-as-intimidating dock workers, then turned back to see its original recipient stare at her questioningly.

"Um, have you lost something?"

She sat there for a fair ten seconds, neon green shock and pale orange sheepishness coloring her ever-changing eyes as her mind drew an absolute blank. "Ah... Well..."

She looked down and sighed, recuperating quickly, then faced the girl with a bright and unwavering grin. "Ahh, sorry to bother you," she laughed just a bit too loudly, inching her way toward the juggling ball and its new friends. "I'll just... Get that... Over there... Bye!"

And with that, she made her escape.

That is, she would have, had she not stood directly under the table.

She let out another of those small, surprised noises as her head hit the heavy wood, followed quickly by her back. Unfortunately, the table gave little to no resistance. It keeled over to the side, landing with a loud clatter and leaving Lyrri feeling very much exposed. She paused for a moment, looking up at some disbelieving faces, before standing slowly and uncertainly. She looked very small amidst the crowd; taking only another small moment to grow accustomed to her surroundings, she chose to afflict the still-frightening girl with an awkward, sheepish smile. "Well hello there," she said, still a bit too loud. "How are you this fine evening?"

[Khepri]

Khepri was in the lounge area close to the bar. She was currently entertaining an older patron by sitting in his lap and keeping him company. The man could have been her father if he didn't lack an extra pair of arms. At the thought of her father, the Eypharian scowled but quickly hid her dislike and brought another fake smile and giggle at the older man's corny jokes.

She enjoyed her new job because she was free to go as she pleases once she was done but she was use to high class patrons with sophisticated taste and needs. Here she was reduced to crass travelers and questionable residents of Syliras.

Apparently she was a rare sight in Syliras and already a few customers had ask for her. She had only been working here at the Herald's Arm for about seven days and was causing such an excitement or at least it seemed so to her. Her racial pheromones probably wasn't helping the situation as well. Khepri figured it was extra coin in the pocket and not her fault if the ignorant humans wanted to fall for the alluring smell.

The man had switched from jokes to telling Khepri about his latest adventure. He was clearly exaggerating trying to impress the woman, of which wasn't working but she made no show of it otherwise. What kind of entertainer would she be if she didn't please her clients. He was going on about horse clansmen and them showing him their magnificent mounts when a loud crash rang out through the bottom level.

Khepri searched for the source of the clatter and it was coming from the restaurant portion. It seems a girl was under the table and had tousled it over. However there was another woman, with a Mohawk, who looked to have been sitting at said table but was now clearly confused. All in Khepri's mind it looked like the girl under the table was suppose to 'service' the woman with the wild hair but got a tad bit too gung-ho about it and knocked over the table and ruined them sneaking about it. She had seen the black hair girl a few times before and only thought she was a performer here. Guess she's a companion for women

She scoffed and whispered under her breath, "Amateur," before getting up (despite the old man's protest) and sashayed to the two ladies.

[Mac]

The girl crouched on the floor looked up at Mac with odd, color swilring eyes, though Mac recognized them, for she had encountered Vantha before, back in Alvadas. But for the moment, she was much more focused on trying to figure out what this girl was doing creeping about under the tables – and under her table – and coming to a quick conclusion that it might have something to do with the ball that had smacked her in the nose. This brought a deep scowl back to Mac’s face, and her suspicion was quickly confirmed by the girl’s reply, as she indicated that she did claim ownership over the errant ball. In the next instant, though, the ball was forgotten, temporarily, as the Vantha tried to rise up, apparently forgetting about the table. There was a noticeable smack of head to wood, and then, worse yet, she reared up and sent the table flying! Mac again jumped back, to avoid the upset, and her own chair went clattering to fall behind her, as she stood with a quick agility, looking at the other girl as if she had lost her mind. Around them, every eye was drawn by the loud crashing sounds and all within the common room were looking their way. The Vantha rose slowly, now unimpeded by any table top, and cast a sheepish look around. Mac, for the moment, just couldn’t find any words to sputter, she was so confounded by all this outlandish behavior. In the intervening silence, the other girl made a quirky and ostensibly friendly greeting. ”Well, hello there… How are you this fine evening?” Mac, her arms loosely at her sides, looked at the girl for a long moment as if she was some odd species of alien life that she’d never seen before. Then her arms came to cross over her chest, as she said with a suppressed acrimony, “Very well, with the exception of being hit in the face with a ball and then having you creeping abut my feet, and upsetting my table.” Her eyebrows were drawn together in a deep frown and her eyes were spitting green fire. “If that’s the best you can do, I suggest you go elsewhere and find someone else to entertain” she hissed, the use of that last word clearly a sarcastic one. “Perhaps you’ll light upon someone who finds your antics a bit more amusing.” Out of the corner of her eye, Mac noted the approach of a very 'colorful' young woman, who seemed one of the crowd from over at the bar. A gawper, no doubt, come to see what fun could be had from all the kerfuffle, but Mac paid her little heed, all her attention and vexation focused on the Vantha.

[Lyrri Snowsong]

Lyrri's forced her smile wider as a more nervous orange continued to flicker in her eyes. She thinks I'm crazy.

Then the woman recuperated, crossing her arms and glaring daggers at the bard. Her expression was more intimidating than ever; Lyrri wasn't the type to shrink under such pressure, but her body grew stiff as if she was taking hits. This girl didn't seem the forgiving type, did she?

Nope. And I think she's going to punch me...

"If that's the best you can do, I suggest you go elsewhere and find someone else to entertain." Lyrri paled slightly. She hadn't had much experience with angry Sylirans... And now more were staring. She noticed as a lady of the Herald approached; the Vantha had seen her around from time to time. Her name was... Something with a Ke... Oh, well. She didn't look to be the most cheerful girl, either.

Lyrri had been standing there for a few moments, a more nervous orange still interrupting her yellow eyes, when the music stopped behind her. The singer had gone on fairly well despite the ruckus; now she was on her way back toward the bar, her shift over. That meant it was the bard's turn...

The orange joined with a cheerful green. Nothing to worry about; she could get out of this.

"That's a good suggestion, and I'd love to comply," she said, turning back to the angry girl. Her demeanor was friendly as ever- overwhelmingly so- even if a bit of anxiety hid underneath. "Unfortunately, I don't have much time to chat. I'll have to be going-" As she spoke the final word, she twisted around; she wasn't the most graceful creature, but she could surely make it to the performer's spot. Without pause she rushed the stage, creating even more clatter as she clumsily wove her way around the crowding patrons. So long as she doesn't catch me...

[Sicha Verpisaen]

Sicha raised one arched eyebrow as she looked in the direction of the fallen table.
Idiots
Not that Sicha herself wasn't clumsy occasionally, but she liked to think of herself as more graceful than this girl now scurrying away through the packed throng. She saw a furious-looking young woman with a pink mohawk glaring at the girl who had knocked the table over.
Interesting... I wonder what happened?
She put on her most haughty look and left her drink and comfortable seat, heading towards the table. Not to help, of course, she merely wanted to find out what was going on. And then (hopefully) be able to smirk at their embarrassment. She saw another, very beautiful woman walking towards the girl with a mohawk. She had seen that same woman sitting on the lap of a man at least twice her age a few minutes before and she sniffed. Sicha was poor but she still considered herself above that kind of job.

[Khepri]

Khepri didnt get a chance to explain proper etiquette to service before she got to the Vantha woman and wild hair child. Her actions seemed to have further aggravated the other girl and ran away. Probably to cry in shame, as she should. Cause that was rather embarrassing.

There little skirmish had definitely drawn attention but all the customers and patrons had turned their attention back to their drinks, meals, drugs, and or companions. All but one, another woman. She seemed rather interested in the two women and was making a beeline for them as well. Jealous lover perhaps Khepri thought tonight was going to be slow and uneventful but things were definitely looking otherwise.

Khepri arrived at the toppled table and the blonde pink hair customer. Taking her fan out of her waist band, the Eypharian pretended to fan herself but really spread the faint pheromones she knew she was emitting. She used it to block most of her face and left only her eyes to peek past the edge, letting her heavy kohl lined eyes work their magic. Since she lost her previous client, no reason to try to get another. Her turn on the stage wasn't for another two bells anyways.

With a hint of arrogance she addressed her, "I understand your fetish to do things in public. It gives you an adrenaline rush like no other but there is more subtle ways to go about it, such as someone with more experience for starters."

The pink hair girl scoffed at the idea and without word turned and left Herald's Arm without a single look back. Khepri stood there unsure what to do. She had never been turned down before, this was a new experience for her. One she did not like, she was tempted to storm after the wild hair child and drag her back in but she reeled in her anger. As if nothing ever happened, Khepri's face was stotic as ever and looked on at the retreating Vantha