The Prowling Lion Inn [IPGA]

[02youeng]

You step into the bar, smelling of smoke, beer and roast meat. The bar is dark wood, mahogany by the look of it. The tables and chairs are made of something cheaper, but stained the same colour, giving the tavern a dark look, even during the day. At the back of the room is an old, limestone fireplace, roaring with a hearty flame, illuming the room warmly.

The barman is an old Human, balding and, like the Orc recruiter, scarred. He moves with a limp, and he's missing two fingers from his left hand, but has a broad smile on his face as he sees the new gladiators slowly trickle in. He loved new blood, seeing them win glory like he once did. Made him feel less old.

As you walk in, the old barman calls three women out, all young-looking and beautiful. Serving wenches, only the best for those risking their lives for naught but gold and glory. A Human woman, long red hair and brown eyes, an Elf with silver hair and gold eyes, and a dwarf, with only a few whiskers. Beautiful, after all, is in the eye of the beholder...

Stairs lead up, to "warm rooms and comfy beds," as the Barman puts it.

[TheFallenOne]

The Warforged entered the tavern, the ground groaning under the weight of the massive metal figure. Unit 743A currently is in no need of services or maintenance and will be on Stand-By until required. With that, it moved to a corner of the room with long, but not hasty steps and stood there stock-still, betraying no sign of life.

Excellent. Let us stay here and observe for now. The more we learn about this place and our future 'comrades' before it begins the better. We have much to see and much to gain a familiar voice in what is the Warforgeds consciousness said.
Affirmative. Probability of success of current mission rises with additional information acquired. Abilities and personalities of future allies will influence rate of gained currency and power required for completion.
We picked the right place with this Arena. A crossroad in the planes, we'll get here what we need once we're ready. You can hear the call, the rebirth is near, came the whisper of the deep voice.
The Rite of Rebirth as elaborated by church of Bahamut is considered desirable measure in quest to achieve higher state of consciousness the Warforged rumbled monotounasly in his head.
Yes. Soon, my friend, we will be One.

With that, their silent conversation ceased and the unequal team continued observing the room, not betraying any emotion.

OOC

Spoiler

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the thought here is that in the creation of Unit 743A part of the essence of a dragon was used. It was enough to give birth to a second, draconic personality within the Warforged. While the Forged himself is calm and emotionless, the dragon personality is more wild and furious and may show itself sometime in a fight. In becoming a Dragonborn, both personalities would fuse and give birth to something new, with traits of both sides, but neither a Warforged with very limited self-awareness nor a raging dragon. It's one of the many Warforged Pinocchio stories, only that this guy actually puts the money where his mouth is and goes as far as changing his creature type to become a 'real boy scaled, winged horror'

[hustlertwo]

Reject #4 looks around at the bevy of activity, feeling out of his element.

I will have the water. And meat. Any meat which has not yet begun to rot. I have always wondered how meat tastes when it is fresh.

[02youeng]

"Certainly sir - no rotten meat here, let me tell you! Lord Squelzeth would have me fight again if I were to incapacitate one of his gladiators with rotten meat, yes sir! Not that I'd be scared you understand, I bought this place with my winnings, but I was a younger man back then, you see sir, without a bum leg and missing fingers." He turns to the women, issuing them instructions. "Helen, carve some of the roast beef for this fine gentleman, and bring him a pitcher of water. And the bread and the gravy and some potatoes - he'll need his strength!" The Dwarven women smiles and nods, before walking off the kitchen.

The barman leans in, talking quietly to the Half-Orc. "My name's Jim, by the way sir - if you've any questions, I know most of everything around these parts. But have you seen anything like the...man in the corner there? He looks more like a walking suit of armour than anything else, and his eyes scare me...glowing blue, you see sir?" Helen comes back with the food, and Jim takes it from her, placing it in front of the Half-Orc, patting her head absent-mindedly, as he is prone to do when he's busy talking - Helen being the same height as a large Human child. She clicked her tongue angrily, placing the water not too gently in front of the two.

[Dwalin]

Carrie makes her way to the bar, requesting a beer, or wine if they have it. As she takes the beverage, she notices the wounds on the old man, his hands especially. "Oh my, that must have been incredibly painful" she says, knowing it to be so from the time she spent as a nurse. "I have seen some of the higher priests heal these kinds of wounds, you could see what might be available to repair your hand." Wishing she could do more to help him, she moved on.

Though more than willing to communicate with the construct, she saw no reason, as she thought it was merely a decoration.

As the many barmaids poured in, she realized that she would need to do something drastic to be taken seriously in the arena, but seeing as she was using this as a means to an end, she thought that blending in might not be a bad idea. She quickly strolled up to the half-orc at the bar.

"Hello sir, I hope everything is to your liking." A light giggle escaped her lips, possibly giving her away, but more likely blending in with the normal repertoire of a prostitute. "Is there anything else I can provide for you?"

[hustlertwo]

#4 bares his teeth a bit at the barkeep's casual disdain toward the serving girl, as memories swirl up in his mind, but all that is quickly forgotten at the sight of the steaming meat and potatoes coming to his table. A feast! All this just because I am to fight in these halls?

He then looks at the strange being Jim had gestured towards earlier.

I have seen its type before, where I was...born. The master toyed with such creations, but ultimately abandoned them, saying he preferred the superior strength and healing abilities of truly living beings.

[VinGoodman]

Eleniel

The wood elf enters the tavern, a scowl clearly etched on her face. That spitting orc, who does he think he is giving me that look. I've a mind to go back there and...

She catches herself, realizing her temper is getting the better of her again. After that fiasco back home, she decides it's probably better to find a way to simmer down for now.

With a deep breath to calm herself, Eleniel makes her way to the bar. "Silverdale Rose if you have it. Otherwise, just bring me the finest elven wine you've got. And the best entree you can muster to go with it." With a glint in her eye and a smile for the barkeep, she takes the time to look about the room to see who all has joined them. "Think we'll all be fighting together?" she tosses the question out, to no one in particular.

[TheFallenOne]

743A stood motionless for a long time, glancing at the entrance to the bar. Not having any pupils to betray the direction of his attention came in handy.
First subject sighted. Orc halfbrood. Aware of Units presence, the Warforgeds thoughts rumbled after Reject looked in the direction of the construct after chatting with the barkeeper.
He looks strong enough, a welcome asset. We'll want someone who can stand beside us in the fray of battle.
Shortly after, Carrie entered. It seemed the draconic voice within his mind chuckled. Subject #2, female, human. Behaviour out of place, suggested interpretations: cover personality or unusual motivation for presence.
An.... accurate analysis. Treat carefully here until we know more of her. It seems she isn't aware that we're here... Ah, there's the third one. She seems a bit angry.

At Eleniels question, the Warforged rumbled in a loud, mechanical voice Affirmative. Current analysis indicates recently arrived subjects with assignation 'gladiator' form mutual alliance against yet undisclosed encounters- During all this, the metal hulk remained unmoving, but the source of the voice was unmistakeable.

I thought we agreed to just keep watching for now the dragon within admonished.
A question has been asked. Refusing answer could be interpreted as willfully shrouding awareness and lead to mistrust.
How... unusually insightful of you the dragon taunted playfully. This will be much fun.

[02youeng]

"Oh, I'm sorry sir, she hates it I know, but I can't help sometimes. Blame it on my age, if you will sir, and I'll apologise to her later. There's as much food as you please here, sir - Lord Squelzeth treats his fighters, he does. Enjoy your meal, sir." Jim slides down the bar to treat his newest patrons.

"Indeed ma'am, it hurt like a...well, I don't think I can think of a word strong enough to describe the pain at the time, ma'am. And I have heard of priests and healers so close to their patrons that they can regrow entire body parts, but I have never met one, ma'am. I imagine Lord Squelzeth has healers this good, but I never felt it would be respectful to beg for a favour from him. And I get along just fine - even should I had my whole hand ma'am, I'm too old to swing swords anymore, and I can do everything in here just fine. Just promise me ma'am, to never try to block a Drider's sword with your hand. You're much too handsome to lose fingers, if I may be so bold ma'am." He pours her a tall glass of wine as he chunders on, leaving the bottle next to her. Making sure she was sated for now, he moves on to the second Cleric to have entered his bar.

"Of course ma'am, I think we have two bottles of it left, I'll have to put in an order for more..." He continues muttering about orders as he leaves to the back room, returning a minute later with a delicate-looking bottle, decorated with drawings of roses and leaves. "I'm afraid the most I can offer for a delicate entrée is some crackers, a mature blue cheese, and a green salad. Not many of my patrons are that interested in this kind of fare, to be honest ma'am...tell me if there's anything you want ordered in, and I'll have it within a week." He lays all these out for the tough-looking Elf, staring at Carrie flirting with the large Half-Orc. "Say...do you have any idea what that lady is doing, ma'am? Looks a lot like waving a red flag to a bull..."

[hustlertwo]

Completely unused to flirtation, Reject #4 takes Carrie's question at face value, and stammers out a response. Well madam, I suppose there is something I've always wanted to try, and this place may have it. Could I have a glass of...milk?

[Dwalin]

Carrie laughs as the Half-orc is either completely uninterested or completely unknowing. "Sure sweet thing", she says with a smile, "I 'spect we can arrange that". She then heads back over to the barkeep, and places the order, determined that the half-orc was not a viable individual.

Deciding that it wouldn't matter too much what she did at this stage, since she would soon build her reputation on the battle field, she meandered around, until she heard the warforged speak.

Quickly striding up to it, she recognized the materials used, and was amazed with the craftsmanship. "Oh my, I haven't seen something made with this kind of intricacy. It is almost like a suit of full plate guarding a machine, except with adamantium. My you are remarkable. I could only hope to make something with this quality someday.

[Imbasel]

Sam walks over, deep in his thoughts. He doesn't notice what appears to be a large metal man. Slightly stunned he says " Sorry, friend I did not see you there. My name is Sam. Sam Draden.

[VinGoodman]

"Indeed, I do not know what that lady has in mind. Luckily, it appears no harm has come of it." Eleniel enjoys the light fare as she chats with the barkeep. The metallic thing that responded to her was a bit of a surprise, but she has chosen to chalk it up to some sort of magical response mechanism until further notice. "So, how do we look compared to the last lot who came to you. Think we stand a chance?" Eleniel is momentarily distracted by the introduction of Sam to the machine. Interesting. That thing may be more than it seems.

[zmasterofjersey]

Upon walking into the tavern, Alex looks and sees a variety of people. He walks to a table near the half-orc and sits.Wow, two other humans, a hunk of animated metal, a half orc, an elf, and a large sentient lizard. They better know how to fight, or we will be down and out in the first fight.

He notices the good food the half orc is eating, and asks the closest barmaid, " Can I get an identical plate?"

[TheFallenOne]

The Warforged stood unmoving as Carrie examined his plating. As a construct, he seemed to operate with maximum effieciency in mind, never wasting a move unless necessary.
This Units designation is 743A the deep monotoune voice rumbled in response both to Carrie and Sam. The protective plating has efficiency equal to a standard issue adamantine full plate. Details of this Units crafting process are classified.
Riiight, it's definitely not the right time to reveal the Dragon Within now the voice inside his mind chuckled.
In light of coming allegiance in battle multilateral disclosure of abilites is considered appropriate. This Unit was built for close quarters combat purposes, offensive and defensive, with focus on staying power.

[hustlertwo]

Reject watches the human female who just took his order as she departs, unable to shake the feeling that there was something to that interaction which had been completely over his head. He then turns to the hardy-looking human who just ordered a duplicate of his plate. Yeah, this food is great! No maggots or anything! I could get used to this.

[theterran]

A kobold with black-tinted scales leans against the door frame, his robes tattered, he surveys the room, a grim expression on his face.

They expect me to survive with a crew like THIS?!? great...well...if nothing else, there are some big enough where I could hide under their bodies if needed...

[02youeng]

"Well, ma'am...the last lot were, well....bigger. No one survived the first match. Pretty common, actually ma'am...most of the time, they all die, or mostly survive. If it's the latter, Lord Squelzeth normally adds new gladiators, to keep the number of people the same...still...it's not all about size, I suppose ma'am." Jim explains, feeling a little bad for the last crew - they'd been a raucous lot, which he enjoyed - made him feel like he was back in the good ol' days, when he'd end up so drunk he'd believe he could beat a hobgoblin in a head-butting contest...

Certainly sir, give me a moment. the Elven barmaid trills, her voice like birdsong. As she turns, you see her trying to hide a scowl - a woman like her must be wasted as a barmaid here...

[demidracolich]

Caeith steps in, looking around at the place with a slight look of disdain. He then sits down and looks over at the others sitting around. "Hmm, so these are the others I'll be fighting with? Well, they better be stronger than they look."

[Cadian 9th]

Jayden

Standing on his tippie toes, the brightly clad halfling tries to peer up over the bar to see someone. Swirling his small red cape around, he exposes his yellow vest and green pants. Mumbling to himself, he runs around madly, trying to find a stool. He runs into a pole, that is actually a warforged. Darting away, the Halfling tumles around the warforged and summersaults over, hoping to land on the warforged shoulder.

" Hello, warforged! My name is Jayden, what's yours! " he says, incredibly brightly, in a draconic voice, deep and ready to burst into song. It sounds odd coming from such a bright hallfing.

[TheFallenOne]

Whoa, eyes on the price buddy. See that kobold over there?
The sapphire eyes of the Warforged scanned the creature head to bottom. For a split second, his eyes seemed to flash with a red tinge. Black scales suggest likelyhood of draconic blood. Caution advised due to adverse nature of black dragons.
Suddenly, the silent conversation was interrupted when a halfling bumped against his leg. The impact didn't make him move so much as a milimeter. He didn't resist when the little creature landed on his shoulders after some exotic maneuvers. Warforged Unit designation 743A. Model not designed for service as mount, caution during movement is advised. Neverethless, the construct didn't move; trying to throw off the cocky halfling after this announcement would have been an act of humor alien to the Warforged.
Wait a second, did you hear that note in his voice? No, it can't be...

[Cadian 9th]

Jayden

Smiling brightly, the Halfling shakes his head in mock dismay. " No, no, nay! I cannot call you Warforged Unit designation 743A! It's too long, can I just call you JB? " he pipes in that draconic voice of his.

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My draconic heritage is battle, by the way. Sonic damage FTW.

[TheFallenOne]

Nonconfirmative. No link between Warforged unit and appellation 'JB' apparent.
Call sign 'Unit 743A' or '743A' deemed acceptable.
I'm sure of it now, it's in his voice... There's some dragon in him, I should know. Try to learn more.
For a moment, the construct paused in thought, then gently, but decisively grabbed the halfling from his shoulder and held him in front of his face, focusing on him with his gemstone eyes.
Inquiry about Jaydens combat abilities. Answer - questionmark.

[Cadian 9th]

Jayden

" Oh come on, JB! " He says, wriggling. " I Sing songs of battle which make mine and allies attacks much more devastating. And, I shoot things, heckle and throw dust at people. I'm pretty good at running away too. " The halfling says, hesitantly. " I'm a battle dragon. " He whispers.

[TheFallenOne]

Further information about latter ability at future point in time requested the machine spoke monotonously, then put the halfling down on top of the bar. Jayden classified as support fighter. Suggested Unit 743A block possible advance of enemy on Jayden in future battle.
A battle dragon, eh? Well, that was a bit blunt, but well done. He's less fishy than the black one, he might be useful in the ritual... But beware, he's a bit talkative.

[Cadian 9th]

Jayden

" Which ability, Hmm? Anyway, protection sounds mighty fine. Though, what with me being a silver dragon, I can do all right. Just let me hide behind you. " He says, rather shamelssly.

[TheFallenOne]

743A eyed the kobold for a second, wondering if he heard the halflings proclamation.
Two dragonblooded, one black, one silver... This doesn't bode well. Well, he obviously wants to hide behind us because he's not much use in close quarters himself, but we might need him later, so keeping him alive and making him owe us a favour for saving his hide is a good idea.
Unit 743A concurs. Measures about dragonblood kobold - questionmark.
Wait and see, like he seems to do. He's not necessarily evil, but it's likely... If he comes in conflict with the halfling we'll side with Jayden, he's a bit clueless, but the best help for the Rite of Rebirth we can hope for right now.
The Warforged nodded, seemingly in response to Jayden. Mutual discussion of battle strategy requested he announced to the room in general.

Spoiler

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not sure if you guys can tell, but playing a dual personality Warforged is A LOT of fun

[Cadian 9th]

Jayden

" Battle? I thought I was performing! I guess they're much the same thing... "

" I will sing a few songs and shoot enemies. I can cast some minor minor spells, good for tricks. I've learnt a fair bit about things through songs. "

[VinGoodman]

The chaos of the room gives Eleniel a pounding headache, and she rubs her temples to try to alleviate it. No, wait, that was likely the Silverdale Rose that's doing her in. Still, the taste was well worth the headache she now has to deal with. "Water and ale. Separate. Please." Did that pile of metal just ask for combat abilities? She looks about her through squinted eyes, trying to take in the people around her and see what they proclaim to offer for the upcoming combat. While the headache kept her from responding to the rude man at the bar near her, she caught the slight in his offhand comment. She considers something snappy, but it just made her drowsy instead. Suppressing a yawn, she decides to volunteer her plan for the battle.

"Corellon Larethian will surely guide us to victory for our debut. As for me, I'll be calling upon the crossbow to do the work this time around, I think."