The tavern is busy during lunch, The dull roar of everyone talking greets me as I enter. The smell of food and alcohol pervades the (mostly) well lit room. The first of the place's owners I run into is, of course, old Sandro, the bouncer.
Sandro was their muscle back when they were fighting monsters in ruins and whatever else it is these treasure hunters used to do for a living. Even in his advanced years he can still put an unruly drunk out the door with ease, and the last guy that tried to rob the place learned that his walking stick isn't to help him get around. The massive scar running across his face draws many questions but no one, as of yet, has been able to get a reliable answer. Every time you ask he comes up with something new.
“Well hello there, Nivar.” He takes a look at Ken as we enter, “Stuck with some new blood, eh?”
“If it's obvious, then I haven't been as useful in helping him train as I had thought.”
Ken get's a look at the scar, “I bet there's a story behind that one.”
“Ah, yes, I will never forget the lesson I learned that day...”
A pause, he always leaves a pause, I think it's so that he has time to come up with something new or perhaps to think back and remember which stories he's already told the current listener. I've heard about ten different explanations for that scar, from the serious to the absurd.
“Never shave with your magical dagger.”
“You never had a magic dagger, Sandro!” That would be Dekrom, the serious dwarf is always quick to dispel any of Sandro's fantasies. Dekrom currently works as the cook and sometimes waiter of the tavern. From what I've gathered, he is a wizard and not one of low caliber. If he see's someone about to get unruly he often takes the initiative of casting a sleep spell or some other similar enchantment to save Sandro the trouble of a fight.
The two start a very colorful exchange of the sort you only see between two friends, this is always a good moment to let them be and move on to the bar. The fellow that the victim talked to on the day he was killed is not around today. Oh well, hopefully I can glean some useful information from Selena, the bartender. If you ask her she'll tell you she was the groups scout, and that 'Oh no, I've never used my skills for anything illegal,' but while I've yet to catch her at it, she is a pickpocket at the least. The way she puts it is that she 'always gets a tip' even if the barfly in question didn't leave her one intentionally.
She and Dekrom started running this place when Sandro's old age finally stopped him from being able to fight the type of things they planned on encountering on their treasure hunts. The elves and dwarves live so much longer than we do, I wonder if befriending humans is hard on them? It would explain why their kingdoms tend to be so isolationist.
She gives us a smile, “It's so rare for you to bring a friend Nivar. On duty or off? Not that it changes what you order.”
“On duty, so nothing heavy for the kid here.” She knows that I only come here on duty if I have questions.
Ken look a little downtrodden, “I guess it'll be lemonade for me then.”
She already knows what I always order.
No comments:
Post a Comment