Closed [Pigs Foot Tavern] Taverns and punchlines

[Fir Springhollow]

Fir walked into the tavern and took a moment to see who might be lurking behind her and in front of her. In a normal city, that might seem excessive, however this was Sunberth where looking under your bed at night wasn't always a bad idea. Keeping this in mind she walked in like she owned the place, even this was far from the case. The last thing she needed was to attract the wrong kind of patron, the fact she was a regular patron did not stop poor men with too much drink and time of their hands from getting grabby when the notion struck them.

She had found a solution of sorts. It was the way one squared their shoulders when they walked into a room taverns or otherwise. If you looked as though you were lost or out of place then very quickly some one would notice and your night might take a very bad turn indeed, not something that she was planning on, at least for tonight.

Having scoped out the room Fir made her way to a table along the side of the tavern allowing her to get a good look at the comings and goings. She leaned back in her chair, pleased that it seemed sturdy enough and waited for the show to begin. Not that she knew anything was going to happen, but they usually did and sometimes those things were in her favor, one of her main reasons for hanging around the tavern when she had the time.

[Aladari Coolwater]

Timestamp: 8th of Summer, 516 AV

The Pig's Foot Tavern wasn't exactly Aladari's favorite place. She loved to be near the bay, with the comforting sounds of ocean waves and loud, friendly sailors. She loved the smells that came off the water; they were fishy, and they gave her a certain sense of home. Even the people there were ones she knew, and ones she was happy to be around. But since the floods of Spring, she had a hard time enjoying The Drunken Fish. It was too empty. It was more run-down, and less exciting. So, in the mood to enjoy herself, Aladari had moved to the Pig's Foot Tavern for the day.

Pig's Foot Tavern was in the middle of town, the heart of Sunberth. It hosted both the best and worst people in the city. There could be anyone there, from great musicians, to rowdy drunks, to scammers and swindlers, all at once. Today, it would hold at least one young girl, looking for a drink and a chance to have some fun.

Aladari swayed a little when she walked. She couldn't tell if this was from habit, by watching the sailors walk on their sea legs, or if it was from being drunk so often. Either way, it wasn't something she could change, and so she swaggered into the tavern. This clearly upset some of the more regular patrons, who took this as confidence, but no one made a move yet. Instead, they let Aladari walk all the way up to the counter, where she leaned over and slapped the hard wood with a smile.

"Aye, got any good ale 'round here?"

[Fir Springhollow]

Fir had been relaxing at her table more or less minding her own business when the door opened and some one came walking in very strangely. She leaned forward a little in an effort to get a better view of the show that was sure to ensue. Sunberth's taverns were rarely empty and people tended to come and go back walking into one was an art, something this one clearly had yet to master.

As the door shut and the light behind the figure dimmed enough for Fir to make out who they might be, she fought down an inner sigh. The figure who Fir had assumed up to that point to be a slight male was in fact a female, and one who was clearly alone not something that she would suggest on the best of days. Of course she too was on her own, but she would like to think she knew who to watch out for here abouts.

She fought down a mental sigh when the woman slapped the counter and demanded ale. There were people who could pull off the dangerous, and demanding look here, she was not one of them. Against her better judgement she stood up and moved towards the counter. "I wouldn't slap that if I were you." She said saddling up beside her and keeping her voice low.

[Aladari Coolwater]

The soft, womanly voice coming from beside her startled Aladari a bit. She had been expecting some man, looking to gamble, or perhaps the owner, come to tell her to leave if she was going to beat on things. But this was nowhere near what she had expected.

The woman was petite- tiny even- and was pale as Morwen's snow. Her hair luscious, her face shaped like a statuette shaped from clay, and her shining, light brown eyes almost verging on orange in color. She was beautiful, obviously, but she also appeared weak, and this simple fact bothered Aladari. She didn't take orders, but especially not from people such as this woman.

Standing up straight, she looked the woman right in the eyes, her own eyes coloring in a mix of green curiosity and black irritation. She took a deep breath, trying to gather the words in Common before she spoke, so she wouldn't make a fool of herself.

"I dunno abouts you," She began, "If you're new here or what. Maybe you never been visit to the docks. But I'm named Aladari, I live down in Baroque with the sailors, and I'm thinkin' I know what I'm doin' here."

Aladari turned back to lean over the empty bar. Carefully, she glanced at the glasses behind the counter and picked one up, examining it. Finding it satisfactory, she placed it on the counter beside her and leaned farther in search of something to fill the glass. The bar and its ale were no longer the first things on her mind, of course, but she needed to keep up the cool ruse. Now, she was interested in this woman who thought she knew better that Aladari how to survive in Sunberth. And if she did by some stretch of the imagination, know better than Aladari, then by the God's, she would make a fantastic friend (and allegiance) in the city.

[Fir Springhollow]

Fir looked the woman up and down, she might appeared to be amused for any one studying her face. Clearly she was at least semi new judging by her reaction. Fir was not going to stab her for her reaction but she could think of a number of people who would, thankfully none of them seemed to be in sight. "If you did you wouldn't tell the entire tavern where you lived. That's just asking some one to follow you, and I assure half the men in here wouldn't just rob you." Which was true, being female and in Sunberth upped your chance of running afoul of some drunk man who wanted more than conversation.

She looked under her lashed around the room just to be sure. "Clearly you're new. Half the people in this room would be happy to leave you for dead. This is Sunberth you're a woman by yourself, the things they would do to you wouldn't be pretty." She leaned her back on the counter and kept up her amused assessment. "If you're at the docks you're lucky you're not doing some time in a brothel by now."

She tapped a nail on the counter top. "You're not unattractive and that's what half the women in this town do anyway but you don't strike as the type." Fir ran and hand through her hair, in an effort to get a better view of the room. " You look more like you could be some woman's maid or some such. Not an aspiring fish wife."

[Aladari Coolwater]

Maid? Fish wife? The hair on the back of Aladari's neck bristled at the percieved insult. But somewhere inside, she also felt a little nibbling that the woman was right. She knew, of course, that there were plenty of people here who would leave her for dead and rob the corpse blind. But she had never really thought about herself as a woman, and a pretty woman at that. She was a hard-worker, a gambling partner, even a couple people's friend. But...wife? Crush? No, those were not things she was familiar with in the faintest.

Perhaps, though, this woman was. She was pretty- that was certain. Her smooth pale skin, perfect hair, and soft eyes left Aladari with no question about that. But was she a wife, a date, a whore? Did she know anything about keeping the men of Sunberth in their places? Still slightly bitter about being told off, Aladari huffed off her anger. She took a slow sip of her drink (simply water, as she didn't know of the bar's layout, and could find little else) before speaking again.

"Okay, then. How do you know so much about these thin's? And how do you stay out of the brothel, too? You aren't some woman's maid?"

[Fir Springhollow]

Fir was aware she had upset her a little bit, she could see Aladari fairly bristling at the comment she made. Well, there was no help for it. Her denial about herself wasn't going to do her any good as a matter of fact it was a wonder some one hadn't harmed her yet, maybe she could care for herself at least a little bit. None the less Fir could easily see her laying in a ditch some where if she were not careful.

She looked her up and down, trying to take her measure perhaps. Some one has a temper, that might work on the docks. But every where else it's going to make some one mad." Which was true enough and while Fir as a general rule tried to avoid fights or angry weapon wielding people as a general rule she was well aware of what tended to happen to those people.

"A maid? No." Although, she was not above taking work as a maid if it came up, it was well known that, that would be one of the more steady and respectable work one could find in Sunberth. "Depends on the brothel. There are brothels and then there are brothels. Some of them are nice, if you want to close your eyes, besides there are men who if they like you enough will take you home." Then she thought about it and felt the need to add. "Then there are the one to stay away from. No one lasts long in them." She was rather blunt on the second. Women who had the bad luck to end up in one of those tended not to live long.

[Aladari Coolwater]

Aladari raised her brows, almost unbelieving. She knew full well the conditiom of the brothels in the city. She had seen the signs, with sales on the "specialty" rooms. The sound of screams was hardly avoidable during those times. But here? In the middle of town? Here, she felt as though she had a relatively good handle on the men. They were tamer than those at the docks. They weren't nearly as rowdy here, nor were they as hungry as the men who had been at sea. Surely, there were none in the tavern she couldn't handle a night with.

Inevitably, with the blood of a sailor flowing through her veins, Aladari found herself leaning towards gambling. She knew she could handle herself in Sunberth, but she wanted to prove it. She smiled at the woman and put her glass down, making a definitive clink in the somewhat empty tavern.

"What you say to a bet, huh? Jus' frien'ly. We'll both see who can make the most money tonight off'a men. Rules are, ya gots ta stay in the tavern, and ya gots ta have it counted by 18th bell. Then, at the end, we'll see who knows ta handle themselves, yeah?"

A cocked head and bright purple eyes were the only indication Aladari gave of excitement. She didn't want the girl to know that she felt she had certain victory. If the other gambler thought they would lose, of course they would never bet. It was a basic rule, something she had known as long as she could remember, and something that she kept close to her heart.

Let her think she'll win.

[Fir Springhollow]

Fir did nor possess telepathy, if she did she might be really amused with what was going on in the other woman's head. Instead she listened to the rules of the game, thinking upon it for a moment. Surely she wasn't one to step down from any sort of a bet and there wasn't a whole lot that could go wrong so long as they remained in the tavern. Sunberth might be bad at times but it wasn't that bad.

Besides, she wasn't one to set down and loose either. It would give her some way to pass the time, and besides it might provide a challenge, she nodded. "Deal, we shall see who manages it." She would look pretty self assured as she spoke, already scanning the room to see who might be willing to bite.

[Aladari Coolwater]

OOCHopefully we'll be able to make these next few posts a bit longer.

Aladari could already see the woman scanning the thin crowd, searching for her prey. She looked confident, almost sly in her approach, whereas Aladari, she felt like a baby deer trying to stand.

Her first move was to find a man. She did so rather easily, as men flocked to bars like vultures to a fresh carcass. Her eyes were set a scrap of a man, tall and skinnier than a sheet of paper. His dark hair was slicked to the side (probably not with any sort of product, however), and his eyes lolled around the room lazily. He already had a drink in his hand, but it was nearly gone- a good sign for Aladari.

The next thing she needed to do was approach him. That's where she started to fumble. The girl put her best sway into her hips, trying to push her lips out into the thick pout she had seen on Brega's girls. But when the man caught sight of her, she immediately stopped, as a laugh erupted from him.

"Whatcha doin', hon? Tryn'na find your land legs?"

Aladari had no trouble then pushing her lips into a very real pout. "No!" She snapped. Then, remembering that she had to be nice, she quickly backtracked. "I mean, I just had too much ale, s'all. Feelin' a little funny." She hesitated, unsure of how forward she needed to be. Luckily, the man filled in for her.

"Well, ain't that a shame? Why don' you sit down ova here afore you fall flat on your pretty little face."

Aladari smiled and nodded, both relieved and nervous. She moved to the table, but as she went to sit down, she found there was only one chair. She instantly turned to grab one from anearby table, hoping to pull it up backwards, so that she could sit in that cool, relaxed way that her gambling idols did. She was interrupted, though, by the man's laughter.

"Now whatcha doin'? We ain't needin no more chairs. I got room righ' here." He patted his lap, another chuckle slipping out as he did so.

Aladari gulped visibly, her knees almost giving out. She examined his pant legs and shirt pockets, trying to assure herself that he couldn't have possibly hidden any sort of weapon on his skeleton of a body. After a tick, she smiled back at him, forcing a giggle.

"I told ya I weren't thinkin' straight, didn't I?" Slowly, she moved over to him, inching closer. "I, uh...Sorry. She scrambled to think of an excuse for her aprehensive attitude. "I get, uh...what that word, where you're scared, a'cause somebody is too much better than you?"

Aladari breathed another sigh of relief when he laughed at her broken Common. "Intimidated, hon. Why would you get intimidated by me? I aint nothin' special, and there's plenty a men in here who'd take you home just the same as me."

"I dunno." Aladari admitted. She glanced around the room as shet sat down sideways on the man's lap. She was hoping to see what her opponent was up to, and how much she had earned. Then, at the reminder of coin, she added, "You might be somethin' special to me, if ya got enough Mizas."