[The Rearing Stallion] Tavern Inspection! (Julian)

[Lucas Arias]

Flashback: Summer 50, 510 AV Lucas was outside unusually late this day. Somewhere above the fortress city of Syliras the sun had already set and made way to the darkened nightsky. Most of the other squires had already retreated into their dorm rooms where they talked, played games, argued or slept. But the sixteen-year-old was not in the mood to join them. He very much preferred to be by himself. Since he had just finished another drawing, and his career as a bard had been comparatively short-lived – he’d spent the past couple of evenings trying to earn money this way, which had unfortunately only resulted in people throwing foul eggs and rotten vegetables at him – he had decided that it was time for another inspection. A tavern inspection. It was one of his favourite pastimes. The patrols that his knight sent him on often bored him to death. Nothing ever happened, and thus he had eventually come to the decision that he would send himself on his own patrols so that he wouldn’t die of boredom before he ever get the chance to become a knight. As far as he was concerned, tavern inspections and knightly values didn’t contradict each other. On the contrary, you could learn something for the future, and it gave you a better understanding of the very people that the knights fought against! Besides, it usually resulted in free alcohol and barmaids that nearly fought for the chance to serve him! Since he was on important business, the redhead had dressed himself in his best clothes, a black and silver suit and black leather boots, and he also carried his father’s old sword. He’d even managed to make his hair lie flat on his head rather than looking as if he’d been electrocuted (or whatever the Mizaharian equivalent thereof was). He entered the Rearing Stallion with his head held high and strode right over to the bar. One of the barmaids asked him what he wanted, but rather than answering immediately the boy gestured for her to come closer and whispered, „I’ve been told that there is a problem with your wine, and I’ve been asked to inspect this place. There are rumours that your wine is actually half water and that there is horse piss in it as well!“ The poor woman’s eyes widened in shock. „That can’t be true!“ she replied. „Sir, I swear, there’s nothing wrong with our wine.“ Lucas just grinned at that and shrugged his shoulders. „How can I prove it?“ the woman continued. „Bring me a few bottles, different kinds of wine“, Lucas suggested. „I’ll sample each bottle, and if I like the wine, we’ll just forget this whole thing, shall we? I won’t even tell the proprietor of this fine establishment about it.“ The woman nodded, relieved, and five minutes later the squire – who had decided to temporarily increase his age to eighteen, just in case they minded drunk boys here – was sitting at a table, a few bottles of delicious wine in front of him and a huge grin on his face. This was going to be a fantastic evening!

[Julian]

From a comfortable spot in the far side of the tavern, Julian had watched the commotion as the squire had his exchange with the barmaid. Squires were always trouble when there wasn't a Knight nearby to keep them in check, so he was hardly fazed to watch him harass the woman to bring him free wine. Julian rolled his own wineglass in his fingers by the stem, watching him candidly from his quiet alcove in the shade between sconces. His ploy was as transparent as glass, but Julian could at least admire the young man's ingenuity. It lacked finesse, however, and he lost interest. His attention slid away, and returned to his own private world as he sipped his horse-piss wine. It wasn't his usual drink of choice, wine, but hardly anything could fit that description. When out with his own friends, ales and lagers suited him perfectly, or whatever everyone else was drinking. Wines were a brief reprieve from the rowdy drunkenness of Syliran tavern life, and the displaced former aristocrat could presume a bit of class now and then as he drank alone. He wasn't quite a connoisseur, but he could appreciate the complexity of its flavor. It may have been the social settings themselves, but he always found that a drink like this kept him more under control when drunk. His anger was less volatile and he was instead more dismissive and tired, instead of anxious and irritable when his mind was soaked with malted barley. The squire re-entered his consciousness when he settled on the nearby table, an armful of different wines. Julian watched him sidelong, taking a long, slow sip of his pinot grigio. He rubbed his thumb over the bottom of the glass, knowing that starting a conversation with this glorified miscreant would be a waste of time and energy. However, Julian was drunk enough by now that accosting what looked like a newly minted child squire might prove more amusing now than if he were sober. Against his better conscience, he initiated a dialog. "If you ask me," Julian said loud enough for him to hear, turning his wineglass in the air as he inspected the gold liquid in its bowl, "the horse piss adds a delightfully tart flavor." It was clear that he didn't believe the squire's little lie for an instant. To prove it, Julian paused to sip at the wine again. "Do you think you're old enough to handle yourself with all that wine in you?" He gestured toward the squire's private collection of bottles. "The women in here are particularly homely tonight. I'd hate to think you'll wake up with the taste of regret in your mouth."

[Lucas Arias]

Truth to be told, Lucas was always a bit surprised when people actually believed his lies, but at the same time he had never considered what would happen if they didn’t, that they might throw him out, report him to the knights or worse, that he could get in serious trouble. He never thought that far. The only things that mattered to him were a temporary distraction from the often dull life of a squire and a bottle – or in this case several bottles – of alcohol. Since he just couldn’t decide which bottle he wanted to try out first, the redhead had lined them all up alphabetically in front of him. He would sample one after the other. Since he wasn’t drunk enough to completely have lost his manners yet, he drank from a glass rather than the bottle itself – although he did put his feet on the table. His boots were nice and clean, so nobody should have an issue with them being where people normally put their feet, besides he looked kind of cool that way, as far as he was concerned. After a few moments he decided that this position wasn’t that comfortable after all though, so he put his feet back on the floor and emptied his glass. Since he had begun to do regular tavern inspections – and thus doing all of Syliras a favour – he’d developed a bit of a tolerance for alcohol, but more than two glasses still affected him in all kinds of negative ways. It took him a few moments to register the fact that somebody had just adressed him. Glass in hand, the boy turned around and started at Julian for a bit, as if he weren’t sure what to make of him, and then he grinned. „The flavour of horsepiss is definitely delightful“, he agreed, took a sip from his glass and licked his lips, as if he really loved horse piss wine. „Although I usually prefer cat piss in my wine. It’s a little spicier, you know?“ He took another sip, and then he eyed Julian a little more closely, going over what the man had said in his mind again. It seemed almost as if he had witnessed his exchange with the barmaid and didn’t believe him. Should he be worried? No, he wasn’t in the mood for that. He’d just continue getting drunk. „I’m eighteen!“ he claimed as Julian made a comment about his age. He was a little irritated. This man had no business criticizing him! In truth Lucas looked more like fifteen though due to his lack of height. „I’m pretty sure I can handle myself. Shall I prove it to you? As for the homely women, I don’t care, if they kiss well! Do you know what they say about ugly women?“ He proceeded to whisper something incredibly obscene which Julian probably wouldn’t be able to hear over the general noise of the tasvern.

[Julian]

Leaning back with his wineglass, Julian's expression remained lax as the absorbed the young squire's quaint response. He wrinkled his nose briefly, but avoided giving it any sort of verbal response. Wine was the only liquid he wanted to continue thinking about at length, and he took another long sip to affirm that. Tipping the glass away, the last of his drunk rolled around in the glass's bowl, so he shrugged and quickly downed the last of it. The wine glass was set back onto the table with a gentle tap. "Are you?" Julian asked in incredulous monotone without looking up, once the squire revealed his age. Much like his transparent lie about the wine, the musician was almost certain that this was just another fallacy. The boy looked young, with childlike features and a moderate voice still on the cusp of change, but it was entirely possible he was wrong. Some teenagers developed later than others. He let it slide for now. The squire's age was entirely unimportant. It was a rare occasion when Julian got along this well with any member of the Syliran Knights. Especially ones with an abundance of free, ill-gotten wine. Julian leaned in close to hear the squire's useful observation of ugly women. There were too many other ambient noises in the room for him to make out exactly what the squire said, but he was able to pick up a few key words. It was enough for Julian's eyes to widen briefly before turning to face his table again. He cleared his throat. "I hadn't heard that actually." With one hand he reached up, drawing his fingers thoughtfully across the slightly upraised Chevas mark on the side of his neck. "Fortunately it's not something I need to worry about." As polite conversation, Julian considered asking the squire if he were married, but based on his apparent age, he was sure he already knew the answer. Hell, the musician would be surprised if the boy had so much as kissed a girl. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, by the way." Julian extended his arm to the squire, but he wasn't offering to shake hands. Held delicately in his reaching hand was an empty wine glass. The squire had enough bottles of wine to drink himself to death. Surely he could spare some of it. "Care to make it an even greater pleasure? I'm Julian. You're a squire, yes?"

[Lucas Arias]

„Yes“, Lucas replied in the same monotonous voice as Julian, knowing, that if he insisted on being eighteen and talked about it at length, it would make the man even less likely to believe him. He decided to treat it like a fact. And he also decided to take another sip from his glass because he really liked the taste of the wine and because it made the conversation more interesting. And then he came to the decision that it would probably be better to stop now and try another bottle. He wanted to try all the wines he had in front of him, and if he emptied all of the bottles, he would probably pass out before too long. „Well, now you’ve heard it“, he remarked in a somewhat dry tone of voice as Julian admitted to not having heard that certain statement about ugly women. „Ugly women really aren’t that bad. In fact they are great in certain areas, if you know what I mean.“ He grinned as if he knew that from experience. In truth of course the redhead had never slept with a woman, ugly or not. He had never had a steady girlfriend. He hadn’t even been properly kissed. Not passionately at least. His fantastic love life mostly took place in his imagination. „Oh ... you are married?“ he murmurred, wondering if he should feign interest and ask about the man’s wife or pity him. Luas didn't want to get married. Being a married man with children didn’t fit into the fantasy stories he had created about himself. Julian seemed to be happy though ... As Julian extended his hand – with an empty glass – Lucas made a face. It seemed as if the man wanted his wine, but Lucas was reluctant to share his treasure with him, even though he would never be able to drink all those bottles alone. He looked at Julian, then at his bottles, and then he came to a decision. He took the least appealing bottle with the least appealing label – logic dictated that it contained the least delicious wine – opened it and filled Julian’s glass to the brim. And then he said, „Pleased to meet you, Julian. I’m Lucas. What makes you think I’m a squire?“

[Secret]

THREAD AWARDS Lucas Arias   Skills Skill Gain Notes Subterfuge 2 Drinking 1 Rhetoric 1 Observation 1   Lores Tyveth Would Not Be Proud   Notes Tsk Tsk naughty squire, too bad it couldn't get finished. Well done. Also, shocked or struck by lightning could be the miz equivalent to electrocuted Julian Meredith   Skills Skill Gain Notes Drinking 1 Observation 1 Rhetoric 1   Lores   Notes