Partida Rol por web

- What am I doing here? Looking for sex, obviously. But don't fear, I don't like dwarf males, nor females. But now that I know we're going to sleep with these young and beautiful ladies my search makes new sense. No, I'm joking: I'm an adventurer, a healer, and I'm traveling to find news ways to cure people and so I can teach it to my students. They've learned all I know, maybe no one of them have learned all my knowledge, but at least one of them knows every piece of my healing resources and they can teach it others.

- Anyway ladies -said winking maidens- if you feel alone tonight... maybe my face looks old and my hair is white, but my staff -and he shows his wood staff- is still long and hard and it has extensive experience -add with a loud laugh.

Hope you’re right, she said to the woman.

And not as a caravan guard or a bodyguard, or anything that requires protecting something or someone, or somethings or someones or whatever. Which was exactly what she expected to find.

Another one joined them at the table. An old man, the lecherous kind at that. The barmaids were actually quite comely, though. Not the type she was used to see at locals like The Triumphant Harper. A waste, they could have easily gotten better tips at a higher class establishment.

Weird that, she commented, glancing briefly at the two women. Too pretty for a place like this, aren’t they?

Maybe the elf’s lovers, she wondered, letting her thoughts about the subject wash away with another sip of her beer.

Still looking at the elf, I roll my eyes and let out a quiet snort at his clarification. Then I mumble some words.

- I guess that works for me.-It will have to do, as we don't seem to have any other options. At that moment I hear the bard's voice offering the young lady a song. I glance at that table and then turn towards Dwalin, with a wicked smile.

- You do realise we'll be sharing the room with that bard too, don't you? That could end up as a disaster.

I can't believe my ears when I hear the man speaking next to us. Well, that's a funny old man. I listen to the conversation Baster and him are having. - It is weird.- I comment, as I call one of the maids they're talking about, with the intention of getting some food and finding out a bit about why such pretty women were working in such a humble-looking place, as Baster had inquired.

- What's that you've got there?- I ask, pointing at a dish with some Brown stuff that looks like lamb. Then I raise my eyes to look at her. Sometimes my half-elvish nature had this kind of hypnotizing effect on others, even on women. Maybe it'd work this time too. - Long time working here? Looks like a nice place, doesn't it? And quite a handsome host, too...- I say, trying to get some more information out of the maid: anything about their boss and their role there, at the inn.

- Oh. - I was surprised by the elf apologizing about the room. I din't really needed that, I was just surprised - Oh, no worries. Will work as far as I have a bed just for me.

I turned back to the bard when I heard my name. Some free amusement? Sure.

- My father has the worst musical talent the world has ever known, so no need to worry. Besides, I bet you're better than you say and you're just trying to put my expectations low to surprise me afterwards. - I answered to the bard with a wink. 

I had perfectly heard the dwarf bragging and the lady that travelled with him warning Grimmel, but I still thought that it would be a fantastic idea to sing some music. Actually I was maybe more conviced about it because of it.

- Yes, I do. - I say to Ilesys. And I hope the bard sings tonight  to break his jaw. - I add whith an amused smile in mi face. This is the only form that the fools learn the lesson.

I really hope so.

Grimmel smiled, and answered the lady.

Well, that makes two who want a song, does it not? I shall keep it low, so as to not disturb the peace of mind of others.

The bard took a strange fiddle and careesed the strings, creating a melody surprinsingly beatiful and complex with little effort. Grimmel was looking to nothing, focused in the song that soon joined the melody. His voice was soft but echoed all over the hall.

I have a tale, a tale to tell
Of kingdoms come and earth on hell
A tale of bravery and lack thereof
A fallen lord, his heart too soft

The lands were far, but near to fear
Where food was scarce and ruled the spear
And sword of lords with iron fists
The poor ne'er lives, he just subsists

With confidence in might and right
The common folks stood and fighted
A hungry dog shall turn and bite
With disregard of king or knight

The widows weeped; were warriors' wives
Who hoped for hope, but war took lives
They couldnot win, their end was nigh
'Tis now that comes the Hero to fight

Grimmel stopped, looking at Sionnain and then Elaria as if something had just broken his concentration. 

I apologize, it was not my intention to bore you to sleep. He smiled. Maybe I shall bother you some other time with the end of the story. 

Grimmel rhymed, without music this time.

I have not seen, but have been told of evil lords and a Hero born.

Some said that there was a kind of magic in music, or a certain kind of music that was magic. If that was so, all the inn had been affected by a spell, and the last of the words in Grimmel's mouth had been the end of the enchanment.

Kholer clapped their hands with joy.

Great! He said in loud voice.

He raised and get near the bard.

You moved me, man. I would get you a free drink but my savings are not what they should be.

He took his chair and sat in the table with them.

The name's Kholer. I am in a travel of discovery. And I discovered a great bard here. Let me tell you about me for a second 'cause we are sharing this night a "common bed"

He started to pull out one's chin with a thoughtfull look in his face. Organizing his ideas.

I am looking for a especial leave, a leave of a strange plant who grows sometimes when the moon touches a water pond in the feet of a tree. It's a magical leave and it can be used in very special ways. As the focus of magical rituals or with good healing properties. It is called flameleave because it glows bright near a flame. So it is searched with torchs even in the midday.

His eyes growed sad this time

So many time I spent in this travel to look for a legend that I am starting to fall in despair. That's the reason i got so happy to hear a good tale for a propper bard. What a talent you have!

And he got his jar of gaze ale and drunk a short sip.

- Oh, this? - asks the waitress with a wide smile to Ilesys question while pointing towards the piece of meat she just dropped on top of the half-elf's table.

- Is smoked lamb, one of our chef's specialties. Very tasty and delicious. - nods cheerfully.

After serving the rest of the lambs around the table she stops for a second to address Ilesys other questions.

- Well it would be... let's see... three years this summer? Yes, three years - she shakes her head - Wow, time goes by so fast, doesn't it? - asks rhetorically. - It is indeed a very nice place. Maybe the pay is not as much as it could be somewhere else - she shrugs - but Gonore over there is a wonderful employer... and as you pointed out, a very handsome one too - she winks.

Then she turns around and leaves to follow up on her duties.

While dinner is going on, and you are attending your corresponding conversations, Grimmel stands up, grabs his bizarre instrument, and tunes a song.

For a while the whole Inn listens in astonishment at the bard's notes and verses. Everyone around is now listening to it and have turned their attention towards Grimmel's table. The maids, the bartender, the other patrons at the tables and the bar, and even the chef, who's head pours shyly out of the kitchen's door now, have stopped whatever they where doing and talking about and are paying all their attention to the magic words of wonder that come out Grimmel's mouth.

When the bard is done with his last, unaccompanied verse, the Inn falls absolutely silent.

For a while, no sound competes with what just happened, not one dares.

Then suddenly, the patrons, the workers and the entire Inn burst into applause and cheers. Kholer congratulates Grimmel and toast after his show up. The maid who was earlier talking to Ilesys approaches the table, clapping her hands and showing an enormous smile of joy.

- That was magnificent! - she says, her voice barely audible over the crowd's cheers.

Everyone seems to be enjoying the show... but, is everyone indeed?

The bard’s song brought back memories of her childhood. Not the bad ones. Those she left behind for good when she left home.

She let the music take her again to the small village, during the holidays when the harvest season ended, and that wandering troupe of musicians and actors stopped for a couple of days and the wind took the melodies everywhere. And the tales. Tales of the outside world, of adventures and romance, of great heroes and terrifying monsters, of tragedy and triumph.

I was a short memory. The music stopped, and the spell ended. Baster was sitting in the hall of the humble inn, again.

Damn, bard, she protested. What did the Hero do? Why stop when the good part is about to come?

Her late companions weren’t fond of stories. Down to the earth they were, heads buried in the dirt like fucking potatoes, just survive another day and be thankful you have something to eat and drink, when others don’t share such luck. She was different, though, she knew. She was restless. She wanted to live the kind of life epics were made of —not the life of a heroine, though, she wasn't that selfless—. It was that ambition what kept her alive through that fateful day, not the strength of her armas or her skill with weapons.

If not the stuff of legends, at least a life I might be proud of.

A great smile draws in the face of Sionnain when Grimmel starts to sing. He wonders his mentor's intentions about the lady. - Does he like her? - Asks himself with a wicked smile. The boy glances to the dwarf briefly, checking if he does something to attack the bard. Then he looks around the table, and his smile increases seeing everybody hypnotized for the music. 

Sionnain knows that momment is the best to make the people lose the contents of their bags, but the boy is tired and he is sitting with the pretty lady... Finally, he stays quiet and supports the chin in his hand, tilts his head and listens to the story like the other people.

When Grimmel stops to play -too early in Sionnain's opinion-, the little boy frowns softly. He wants to ask the man if he's feeling good, but the greetings starts and the people want to talk with him. Sionnain remains in silence, with the last words of the bard echoing in his mind. He knows that now he might be practically invisible for all, and he's used to it. Nobody pays attention to children. Even he likes it. It gives him another point of view.

The boy stares at the hood man that introduces himself like Kholer and his eyes grow listening his story. - Could that leave really exist? Flameleave? That must be impressive.

Grimmel bowed at the crowd's cheers, accepting the laughter and applause as a veteran artist would do.

He received specially well the praise by the man called Kholer. Angry dwarves or not, it was never hard for Grimmel to make new friends. This one was an interesting man, too.

Are not all the real quests journeys of discovery? Yours is a story worth telling, or will be when you find your powerful plant... The name is Grimmel, by the way. Well met indeed.

It was only then that the strong woman spoke, and Grimmel realized that his unfinished story had left an itch that only the bard could scratch.

My most sincere apologies, milady. It is the way of the artist to feed his public only a mouthfull at a time. To better digest the story, you might say. Besides, I would not want to bother the good dwarf present.

Grimmel the Great at your service bowed again, this time at the big lady and the dwarf too.

- It does smell delicious- I comment and ask the waitress to serve me a good portion as well. Then, I keep eating- it was really tasty indeed- when she comes back to answer my questions.

- I see...- and those are all the words that come out my mouth, since a more impressive show begins at that exact moment. Before readying myself to listen, I address the dwarf, with a comical gesture of my arms. 

- There you go. Your wish's been granted.

Then, I turn around on my chair staring at the bard as he enchantes the public with his song. It cannot be denied that he's got quite a talent. When he finishes- wel, he stops singing, as the story itself is not even close to finished- I clap, joining the rest of the crowd and focus my eyes on the instrument he's been using, admiring its shape, colour, material...it really looks like a masterpiece worth having. As every treasure-like thing, it catches my attention. It captivates me almost as much as the story that hooded man is telling about a fireleave. I look at him, with curious eyes.

- And tell me...are you supossed to find that marvellous plant around here or is this just a stopover on your trip?- given the properties that he's mentioned that has to be quite a valuable plant. I could make good use of it but even if I couldn't, I'm sure I could find lots of people willing to pay a good sum for it.

When the bard turns to introduce himself to Baster and Dwalin, I point at the fiddle.

- That was lovely.- I admit- I'm sure even my dwarf friend here agrees.- I add, with a twisted smile, glancing at Dwalin.- but please relieve me of my curiosity...where did you get such a wonderful fiddle?- or should I say weapon?, I think to myself.

Grimmel smiled back at the half-elf and answered promptly.

Well, it is a funny story. This little fidle was made by dwarves of the far east as a gift for me after I helped them with a little diplomatic issue. For no reason at all, the little Sionnain laughed at this moment.

It has a clockwork mechanism as well as the more traditional strings. With some skill, one can even made it play by it itself, although I am but a novice in its ways.

Grimmel could hardly hide his own curiosity. The man with the beard's talk about the magic plant had interested the lady-elf as well.

And leave 'em wanting for more, huh. She said, in a tone that made her words more a statement than a question.

It was reasonable. Give them a taste of what's to come, and leave them hanging until their purses are wide open and the coins are flowing. The problem there was the audience. She suspected that, if each and every patron that night emptied his or her purse on a table, said table would still be more valuable than the money.

He probably wasn't desperate for money, though, if he had not sell that instrument. It would undoubtly made a pretty penny, even if that story about dwarves and playing itself was no more than the bullshit it sounded like. Bullshit he shouldn't be be spitting out loud, if he didn't want to find himself with a knife through his neck.

She shrugged, not my business, and resumed her eating.

And i would be pleased if you tell the story of Kholer Flemafinger and the marvellous Flameleave.

He told the bard.

I travel after the moon. I made some studies that suggest that the leave will more frequently grow after a full moon. So I travel to forests with torches, a very dangerous atitude, days after the moon was full in that place.

He was answering Ilesys.

But now I rarely search for the leave. I've begun to love the travel itself. All this thing started with a stupid bet with my master. He said the leaf does not exists. And I am too stubborn to go back to the castle and tell him he was right. I think thick forests are a bad place to look so the lignt does not reach the proper place. And lonely trees rarely have ponds in their feet or the leave is step on before it can grow enough.

A sad look was in his face.

But I can't let dispair get the grip of me. I swore here and now I will find that leave or died trying.

And with a long gulp he finished his ale.

I leaned on my elbows when Grimmel started singing. That song was great, hands down. I enjoyed the music and the story and couldn't help myself but to start wondering if I would ever live in a song. Song of heroes, maybe, or song of aventures and treasures. Whe the bard was done I stood up and began clapping enthusiastic. I was about to thank Grimmel for the story when a strange man came to the table and even took one of the chairs. 

"Later I guess..."

The amn was not the only one amazed by the song as I could notice many more commented the talent of the bard or the beauty of the song. I could enjoy the company of someone like that during my journey, I thought. I hoped they were taking the same road I was. 

The story of the plant attracted my attention, as well as the attention of the girl I now noticed to be a half-elf, but I wondered if for the same reasons.

- And how does that plant look like? - said not aware that I was probably iinterrupting. - ​I'm familiar with the woods and I may have see this plant of yours.

The discussion goes on at both tables fueled by the inspirational song, the strong beer, the sweet wine, the spirituous liquors and the delightful food. All considered, the dinner was quite abundant. Actually, it was particularly abundant in drinks for some of you who now show clear evidence of intoxication. You all can still talk and walk, but you know... not all the words ar properly and politely formed, and not all the steps are in straight line taken.

During the warm event, you have lost track of time. It was the first time for a long time that you have enjoyed a dinner like this. Not just for the dinner itself, but also for the new people are getting to know with.

The dinner and subsequent discussion was so absorbing indeed that you didn't even notice when the other patrons left the inn and call the day. Now your two tables are the only ones occupied. There is no light coming out from the kitchen, and none of the waitress are around. Only the bartender remains at his place, cleaning the last mags that are coming from, of course, your tables.

With the fading blurry sight that mild drunkenness grants, the ghostly shadowy figure seems now a little bit grotesque, almost terrifying, like a deep black hole of darkness taken from the scariest nightmare.

Quickly enough tough, the shadowy figure comes into sight at the light of the torches and candles of your tables. The beauty features of Gonore, smiling as they were when he first introduced himself, welcomes your eyes one more time.

- I hope you all have enjoyed the dinner - 

He bows slightly but without loosing eye contact with you at any moment. Opening his arms in a welcoming gesture, he turns ninety degrees to show the path towards the stairs that lead to the upper floor.

- Now if you would make me the honor. I am convinced you are tired and wary and could benefit from a peaceful rest. -

Pausing for a second, he bows again, this time almost apologetically.

- And I must beg your pardon, but it is quite late and my employees and me would benefit from some rest as well so tomorrow we can prepare a meal as enjoyable as this one should you decide to stay with us for another day -

Bowing a third time, now he doesn't leave his position few feet away from the tables, but remains there waiting for you to go upstairs so he and the bartender can finish up cleaning these last two tables.

I don't answer to the bard. I don't want waste my time in this lost cause. I just want to enjoying the dinner.

When the elf appeared again just look at him.

- Why does he appeared like that? - I think. I can't understand why.

- Don't worry. - I said. I'm so tired and I want to rest.

Then I look for Ilesys and get up from the table.

- I retire to rest.

Then I start to go up the stairs to the room.

The people at the table nearby- the bard, the fireleaf guy...- ended up having quite interesting stories to share. And just like that, the night went on and one beer followed another, some rums came into play...by the end, I had reached a state of drunkenness I had not planned to get in. Thus, when the inn keeper asks us to leave the room I can't do no other than nod.

As Dwalin prepares to leave, I stand up myself, my head a bit dizzy, with the intention to get some rest as well.

- Wait.- I say to Dwalin, before he reaches the stairs- I'm going too.

Then I turn around one last time, to say goodbye to the new people we've met.

- Well, see you in the morning.- I pause, wandering for a second- Or shall I say tonight?- Since we were all sharing a common room, my slighty drunken mind thought this last option to be more appropriate.- Mmmm whatever.- I end up saying, with a random gesture of my hand and my eyes covered in a shiny alcohol veil.- Have a good rest. - Those are finally my last words before I head upstairs.