[Pig's Foot Tavern] A fight for sore eyes (closed)

[Akiva Korvashi]

65th Day of Summer 510 AV

Akiva stepped into the small, dark tavern. Smoke lingered in the air around her. The tables were relatively full tonight, as far as any tavern she had seen. It was noisy in the tavern, a couple of rough looking men argued in the corner, another made a grab at a woman walking past, and a plate shattered to the floor at another table. The bartender was massively sized man, not appearing to be one of friendly nature. She made a wide ark around the bar to avoid him and sat at an empty table with four chairs and another chair laying sideways on the ground at an empty space along the table. The table itself was tilted to the side, carvings of various words, names, and pictures lined the perimeter of the table. In the center there was carved a picture of a unclothed woman with long curling hair wearing only a large jeweled necklace. She sat her pack in her lap, not trusting the people around her. She was armed with her daggers, easily reachable from her belt, and a knife in each of her boots. Her bow was at her back along with her quiver full of arrows. She was edgy about this place but tried not to show it. It didn't seem like a safe place, and letting people know that you felt insecure here was just asking for trouble. She wore her cloak today, hood drawn to cover her face, she knew places like this. Here she was bait for the damned, asking to be the bed slave of one of the corrupt robber barons she had heard of in tales. She kept her head down, watching those around her from the corner of her eye. She couldn't wait for Keorvic to get there too, he should have been right behind her. She could defend herself if need be, but it was always nice to have a strong man around to make her feel safe. A loud burst of laughter erupted from a table near the door, followed by more chuckles from the others at the table. A woman stood there holding her torn shirt closed, her mouth open in shock. Tears flowed down her face and she ran out the door leaving a sandle behind. Akiva shook her head, knowing that could just as easily be herself at some point tonight. As it were, they had arrived in Sunberth just past the 17th bell. The sun would soon set, and she had no intention of being out in Sunberth at night, at least not her first night here.

[Keorvic]

Keorvic stumped in, sweating beneath his oilskin cloak. He glanced around quickly, looking for Akiva. He had fallen behind her in the crowd when a scuffle had broken out and separated them, but he thought he had seen her duck go through this door. He finally saw her sitting at a table, and moved towards her when a woman scrambled past him with no regard for the fact that she might have hurt herself if she'd run into him. "Hm. well I have heard that I will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy than here. I must be cautious." he thought to himself as he moved to the bar. He approached the huge man behind the bar, more than a little intimidated. Keorvic was determined not to show it, and drew his hood back so that he could meet the bartender's gaze steadily. "Two Mugs of Beer." he said, dropping a single miza on the counter. He grabbed the two mugs, one in each hand, and walked over to the table where Akiva sat, sliding her drink across the table and leaning forward over his beer, sipping it slowly. This place was dangerous, and some of the stains on the floor looked like blood. The brawler in him told him not to relax, and that at any moment he might need to take action.

[Akiva Korvashi]

Akiva gladly took the mug and began to drink. Keorvic seemed well enough, anyone that knew him would say he wasn't afraid of this place, but to her he seemed to be acting as she was. Of course he was, he was a fisherman. It didn't matter, here acting was probably just as good as the real thing, as long as it got you out alive. Keorvic was leaned over the table sipping from his mug. She was glad she had worn breeches today, it would at least help cover up her feminine figure from these brutes. She had no wish to end up forced into bed by some barbarian tonight, besides, she left those kinds of activities to Keorvic. Though rough on the outside, she found herself to be the more...aggressive one between the two, at least in that sense."I suppose we'll need to get a room," she said over the table, talking low to avoid being heard. "This isn't the ideal place to stay, but I'm sure it's better upstairs than in here. I'm sure there are at least locks on the doors." Her gaze drifted across the crowd again, a man with a pipe held a knife in his palm, trying to conceal it. He was staring at a man directly in front of him with his back to him. He laughed and said his goodbyes and quickly left the tavern. Anger flashed on the face of the man with the knife then disappeared. He turned to a rough but beautiful looking woman to his side and said something. She smiled and got up, taking his hand as she led him upstairs. "Lively bunch of people around here," she looked back to Keorvic, hoping to drown out the world around her that way.

[Keorvic]

Keorvic looked around and saw a multitudes of weapons and glares. with a sigh, he turned his gaze back to Akiva. He was glad she had managed to wear something modest. based on the outfits he had seen, she would have been capable of starting a brawl with a smile. as it was, he doubted there would be trouble as long as they stayed inconspicuous. He nodded at what she had said though. "I didn't see any other inns, so I think this is our only option." he said. "Not that I'm very pleased, but at least it doesn't seem like anyone will actively start anything with us as long as we can keep out of trouble." he murmured to her. He looked up at a sudden scuffle in a corner that ended just as suddenly, but couldn't tell what had happened, and didn't want to draw attention by staring. glancing back at Akiva, he asked "Do you want to just get a room and eat the last of the field rations I have, or are you sick of that? we could probably stay down here and get something, but I have a feeling that the longer we stay here the more danger we are in."

[Akiva Korvashi]

She smiled at the offer, but really she couldn't take any more dried meat or bread. "A real meal would be nice, though hunting has gotten me quite a bit of meat on the trip here." She thought back to their long trip from Syliras to Sunberth. She was tired and rugged looking. Her hair was messy underneathe her hood, and her clothes were dirty. "How about a meal and then a room? I'm sure we can tough it out down here long enough to have dinner." She looked back to the massive, rough looking bar tender. "Why don't you go ahead and get that?" She smiled nervously and dug 5 gold mizas out of her pack, setting it on the table in front of him. "That should cover it, keep anything that's left over." She looked down at the table and studied the names written there, 'Jeffre' 'Izabiel' 'Morgan'. Many more were etched alongside them, but she lost interest. She didn't see the point of vandalizing something with your name on it, it would only lead people to you, though for some reason she had a feeling that nobody around here really cared about vandalism.

[Keorvic]

Keorvic reached for her hand before she could pull back when she set the mizas on the table. he held it for a second, then with a squeeze, he picked up the money, and stood. He shouldered his way through the crowded bar over to the bar and attempted to catch the bartender's eye. After the huge man had walked past him several times, it became obvious the bartender was avoiding him. Finally, Keorvic became frustrated and shouted over the noise; "Do you want money or not?!" this earned him more than a few glares and one large man turned from his seat at the bar to glare right into Keorvic's face. Glaring right back into the man's face, Keorvic looked past the behemoth and saw the bar tender glaring at him as well. reaching past, he set the five mizas on the counter, and gave his order. Then, pretending far more confidence than he actually had, he turned and swaggered off back to his table. He sat down next to Akiva, and leaned closer so he wouldn't have to yell. "Ordered our food. We'll see what happens." he looked around, timid for a moment, then added in a whisper, "If anything happens, stay close. Or if you need to get out, Change and run. I've gotten used to having you around...don't get hurt or anything, okay?" with that he leaned back and looked around some more, making sure none of the people he had bumped into had suddenly become hostile.

[Azerix]

Azerix stepped into the inn looking around. The mixture of smoke and little light made it hard to gaze around the room. his eyes went from woman trying to romance drunken men to tables with Drunken idiots and even a few muggers around. he noticed a small boy take a few coins from a drunken man aswell "brave...or stupid...hard to tell...perhaps a poor kid..." he decided not to say anything to the man and watched as the young fellow ran out of inn with a smile on his face "i bet that made his day..." He gazed around the room one more time "man...i go to clean myself up and loose a big man and a beautiful woman...i swore Akiva said something about going to a inn...and this is the only one ive seen" he sighed, "This...is annoying now..." he turned to leave when he felt something rub against his ankles...something furry he looked down to see Akivas friend kipps "well hello there Kipps...you seen Akiva?" the cat looked up to him and tilted his head then let out a low meow and ran to Akivas table jumping into a empty chair. "thank you kipps" he said approaching to the table. "well hello there friends its good to finally find you" he said with a smile "so how are you guys doing?" He looked around the room again feeling out of place. Everyone else in the room were big burly and tough looking (even a few woman) and Azerix was a small weak man he wans't one for fighting fist to fist he much preferred to read a book or watch the dancing flames of a fire he swallowed hard picking up the chair from the ground and sitting in it not looking around again. "if worse comes to worse..you both are more prepared to fight fist to fist than me...and the worse i can do is scare them with some Fire or shock them with lightning before worse comes to worse...one hit from any man...and maybe even some of those woman would take me down for the night...besides id hate to really hurt a person in this town..on the first day..." He sighed afraid to order anything knowing that the bartender would just laugh at his small frame and make some comments. instead he just pulled out his water pouch to drink and realized it was empty "oh..of course..." he sighed yet again and placed it back in the bag "i wonder how much a room is for the night...Without 'Company' along with it." he ran his fingers through his now soft hair "does no one in this place know what hygene is? i mean it looks the only person who has taken a bath in the last week..has been me...oh and you guys..sorry" He smiled feeling refreshed "nothing like being clean after a long LONG travel..." he smiled at Akiva and Keorvic looking at the table "well this is...decorated..." he ran his finger over the marks "its just childish to leave marks or your name..who you love..who you fornicated with on a public table..." he shook his head and looked at the two drinking there drinks.

[Akiva Korvashi]

Akiva smiled as Keorvic took her hand in his and squeezed it gently. He was becoming more like a lover than she had expected. Here she had just been looking for a new master in him. He could be both, she would like that. Akiva looked up as Azerix approached the table. Kipps jumped up into her lap and curled up, falling asleep almost immediately despit the noise around them. She thought they had lost him when he went off earlier on his own. She wasn't even sure that doing that in this city was safe. He did look considerably cleaner than he had the entire trip from Syliras to Sunberth. "Where have you been?" she asked him, not really needing an answer from his appearance. "This is the first real place we've been too that has food since we left Syliras, you should get something to eat. You haven't really eaten much on the road." she said, remembering how fond of berries and other poisonous plants he had been. He wasn't exactly the best at surviving in the wild on his own. She looked over to Keorvic and back to Azerix. "I don't suppose either of you knows how much it is to get a room? They're probably a bit cramped, judging by the size of this place. I don't think we'd all fit into one, not that I believe Azerix would be comfortable." She trailed off into thought for a second, thinking of how small the rooms probably were. "Good think I'm compactible," she said quietly and looked down. Her stomach rumbled, and she wished the food would hurry and get here. They were probably busy poisoning it still, she didn't have very high expectations of this place so far.

[Keorvic]

"Oh hey Azerix. good to see you. sorry we lost you out there." He leaned closer "Feels like there might be a fight in here pretty soon. We probably shouldn't go around toasting people, so keep your wits about you if things go bad." He smiled at the man's remarks about hygiene. Keorvic knew he was probably gonna be smelling bad pretty soon if he didn't get a wash in a day or two, but the scents in here were terrible, so he didn't mind. Keorvic stood as a serving wench reached their table. She looked haggard, wary beneath her makeup. Yet her eyes glinted like steel, unbroken by the lot life had cast for her. She stayed back, clearly unwilling to approach him as he was. Sighing, Keorvic reached into his pocket, and pulled out the rest of the miza he had in there. it would be enough for two rooms and another serving of whatever was in the bowl, plus an extra silver. He flashed the coin at her, and waved her over. expressing his wishes, he handed over the money, then sat back down and tucked in.

[Azerix]

Azerix listened to Akiva and nodded "i guess...ill take the room alone...after all you two are more...friendly together than with me" he smirked to himself remebering the nights and sounds of the journey "anyway...food does sound good something..hearty and filling" he placed his hand on his stomach "i'm sticking to meat from now on...i am not one for scavenging..." he looked back at the bar "although...i don't think my voice would be heard or taken seriously by the bartender...i think ill scavenge the market tomorrow morning for a tomato or something" He smiled at the two feeling parched "and perhaps a glass of water..." he sighed "I should go order my own room" He turned to attempt to order something when the woman approached he couldn't help but stare at her and Keorvic as he bought two rooms and she left "thanks...i really don't feel like making a scene here..." He turned back to the table keeping his eyes low "i think i felt safer in the wilderness...then in this..inn" he sighed standing up walking to the bar. His voice was low and even fearful as he attempted to get the Bartenders attention "sir...sir...bartender...sir..." no go. Azerix's anger began to rise as he tried to keep his cool the man walked by again ignoring his words "WOULD YOU PLEASE SERVE ME SIR!" he let his head blow after he let his voice rise he immediately tensed up feeling the eyes of the men around him he cleared his throat "just...just a glass of water sir" he placed the Miza on the counter and walked back to the table sighing when his back was to the wall and kept his head low "i hate not being built like you Keorvic." he placed his head on the table "damn it...i didn't order anything to eat!"