Trog's Tavern CCLI

[Morty]

"You could say that, yes. I'd heard people from my homeworld were already here, so it felt like a good place to go to," Fayyaad explains. "And I'm afraid many things will surprise you in the future."

[Zefir]

"That sounds quiet bad." the man replies. "Maybe you could tell me about the biggest suprise. Just to prevent a heartattack"

[Morty]

"Hmm." Fayyaad considers the request. "Well, to start with... humans with horns and tails won't be the strangest sort of people you'll meet. You can meet practically anyone and anything here, including dragons in various sizes."

[Zefir]

"But all those dragons are just summoned, right?" he replies. "I mean if you beat them you can summon them , right?"

[Morty]

"Not to my knowledge. I assume where you're from, such beings are only summoned," Fayyaad guesses.

[Zefir]

"That's right." The man replies "Only the Summoner and the common wildlife are not summoned. It would be a real mes if we would need space for every sommoning. Just the required ares would take over half of the world."

[Morty]

"So it's either people who summon or things that are summoned?" Fayyaad asks, somewhat confused.

[Zefir]

"Exactly." the man says. "And I guess this Nexus here is more a place for sommoned beeings without be sommoned?"

[Morty]

"It's more that summoning is only something some people do," Fayyaad says. "I haven't met anyone who was actually summoned, I think."

[Deathkeeper]

Sam's here again. Not many necessarily saw him last time he was here, so that statement doesn't necessarily mean much.
What might mean more is that a very round blue fellow, as hirsute as he is large (very) entered the place, ordered a drink, and spent most of the wait for it finding a seat sturdy enough to not give out under him. He's given up on wearing nice shirts to this place and is dressed in simple trousers and a vest that's been left open, leaving all four of his muscular arms as well as his round belly exposed. The jacket's weighed down by something heavy inside of it, but the only thing obviously strange about his clothes are the gauntlets hanging from his belt. The porcine teenager scratches at the reddish stripe of hair that has been forming on top of his head for a few days and sips at his beer, staring in some exasperation at the empty other end of his table.
[closed scene for now]

[Terumitsu]

It was.. Generally a little rude when someone you don't know sits down at the table you were already at without asking.. Though that got a little muddy when you get up to order your drinks at the counter and wait for them to be made before coming back rather than just sitting and waiting to be called. At any rate, Riss was soon paused halfway between what had previously been her table and the counter with a tray of seven variously colored drinks in her hands.

She knew she could just leave for a new table but then there was the principle of the matter... Then again, the.. He was some kind of orc, wasn't he? Some species tended to look more porcine than their goblinoid kin as far as she knew. Anyway, it wasn't like she had left any real indication that someone had claimed the table already other than the bags that were admittedly hidden by the tablecloth and opposite his seat.

Taking a moment's breath, she continued on, setting her tray down perhaps a little more heavily than one would to avoid seeming passive-aggresive and gave Sam a bit of a look that wasn't quite neutral but neither was it annoyed per say. "Hi." she said, taking a seat across his.

[Deathkeeper]

Sam starts in surprise, looking up at the lady, his tails unconsciously curling behind him.
"Uh, I'm sorry, Miss? Can I help you? Or did I do something?" he asks, entirely clueless. He scratches at his lip nervously, catching a finger on one of his little tusks. He has no idea how he keeps meeting pretty ladies in random places. And in the back of his mind, a little annoyed that they're always just a bit too old for him. It's practically mocking.

Now, would it be so odd to simply say he's a pig-person, and not a permutation of a broader fantasy category?

[Terumitsu]

Orcs were far more recognizable than 'pig-person' although perhaps the topic hadn't yet been verbalized enough for it to be an issue yet.. Though the tusks could go either way in helping his case.

"Well, you did but given the social context you're excused of it." Riss said, her musical accent accentuating her annoyance but not to the point where she was implying there was an actual problem. "It's more my fault for getting up instead of just waiting." she said, sitting down as she unwrapped her tail from around her stomach and reached down with the end to hoist up the paper bags that had been hidden underneath the tablecloth so Sam could see. They had the branding of an electronics store on their sides and there was a very light noise of many small things being jostled about as she held them up. Replacing them, she continued in a less strained tone: "Plus, this way I won't be getting side-eye from people wondering why I'd be otherwise sitting alone with a sizable quantity of alcohol... Not worth the dozen or so explanations of why I don't need their help in getting up or that I'd rather be left alone or that I'm not going to be so deleteriously affected like one would normally assume for my body type and size because.." the muse paused and sighed, brushing her hair back until her fingers bumped up against the shiny, steely horns that sprouted from her head. "So you get to be a 'chaperone' of sorts for me unless you'd rather be sitting alone yourself. And it's 'Riss.' You were one letter off there." she said

[Deathkeeper]

Sam's coat of hair makes a slight blush hidden, but his face doesn't hide his embarrassment nearly so much. As porcine as it is, his face is expressive as anyone else's.
"I'm so sorry. But I-well, I guess I can do that. Are you going to drink all of those? I don't doubt you could handle them. I probably wouldn't even feel anything until the third or fourth."
He self-consciously shoves his lower hands into his pockets and starts to fold his upper ones across his belly until he remembers he hasn't made any introductions yet. So he holds out a hand to her.
"Right. I'm Sam Bacon. Sorry for taking your table."

[Terumitsu]

Riss looked at the hand like others might look at a cockroach; the hair on her tail, at least the part that was draped over the back of the chair, was standing on end. There was that brief hesitation where one would swallow whatever feeling of bile was at the back of their throat as Riss exhaled and said: "I have a very.. Physical contact is a rather visceral thing for me so.. I don't intend to be rude, Sam, but I don't really 'do' casual contact with people I just met.." she said. "At least.. Not without some kind of gloves and a little mental preparation. ...Actually, have you heard of 'touch empaths' or something like that? That's... Not quite right but you've probably heard how many of them go covered up rather than risk the sudden intrusion of someone else's thoughts on their own? It's kinda like that." she added. She would have preferred to say something more along the lines of bacillophobia but that could be taken as an insult given how she was already making a refusal.

"And, hey, speaking of gloves, interesting gauntlets you have there. Any story behind them or a gift or something..?" she asked, trying to change the subject as she grabbed a pink drink with an umbrella and what looked to be fruit cubes floating around inside of it. "And yes I plan to finish these though if you see something you like I can just order another." she added.

[Deathkeeper]

Sam looks down at Riss and her reaction sadly. He's had that reaction before. Mostly people who take appearance and fashion quite a lot more seriously than him. Though, there's only so much he can do about his appearance, which many consider unsightly, and he really doesn't understand fashion at all, so it's nearly inevitable. His expression brightens a bit when he pieces together that there's something to it besides her just thinking he's gross, though. His hand is pulled back, laid across his chest with its left partner.
"Sorry but I'll have to warn you that I'm kind of dumb, so I won't know everything you're talking about. But empath is like...empathy? So, you get people's feelings from touching them?" Sam reasons, demonstrating an understanding of context clues that points to his problem being far more one of education than intelligence.
"And yeah, after me and a knight guy beat up a monster that was attacking a girl here, I looked pretty messed up, and I met this robot looking guy who offered to teach me some fighting basics. I got the gauntlets from him. But I don't wear 'em normally because when you wear armor around people think you're the kind of guy who goes around looking for a fight. I'm just a cook who likes to bring some protection around."

[Zefir]

"It's more that summoning is only something some people do," Fayyaad says. "I haven't met anyone who was actually summoned, I think."

"That's ok." he says "Sometimes the summoned didn't know about it. It's a little mess to tell them about it, but that is ok. It needs some time to create the bond after all."

[Morty]

"What sort of bond?" Fayyaad isn't sure if he likes the sound of that.

[5a Violista]

A college-age gal with white hair and what is hopefully red facepaint around her eyes...oh, wait; I hopefully have a picture that's close enough, to make things easier. Her name is Kamaria, just so everyone can know when she tells people.

Spoiler: small image

Show

...
Anyway. A gal appears in the Tavern. It's not so much like a "walk-in" appear as it is sort-of a teleport. Except more of a Sci-Fi teleport than a Fantasy teleport. She's wearing what can essentially be described as a short-sleeve hoodie, shorts, and a belt pouch that is too loose to work as a belt and works more like a hip-purse.

So, she appears and looks around the tavern in amazement. "Woooow.... uwaaaaa.... amazing..." she says under her breath. She walks up to an empty table and prods the table.
It's a table.
Once she's done prodding the table, she starts massaging it. "Wow, this is so cool, it almost feels real. I can't believe it." Still accosting the table, she gets a better look around the room. Still to herself, she says, "and look at all the people! There's so many. How does that even work?"

Judging solely by her facial expressions, this tavern is truly one of the seven wonders of the world.

[DoomITP]

Ethriel had been sat down in the tavern for a short time when Kamaria wandered in acting as though the furniture was the bounty of the gods. The strange lady prodded his curiosity enough to stand and wander over to her. The man was of average height and build with dark almost singed looking hair and ember colored eyes.

He tilted his head perplexedly at Kamaria.

Uh... Are you well, Miss?

[5a Violista]

The woman jumps; she wasn't expecting someone to jolt her out of her thoughts by talking with her. "Oh! I-I - uh, I..." she stammers, louder than she intended. She turns her body to face him, looking up at Ethriel.

Then Kamaria notices that she has been molesting the table with her hand. She suddenly becomes embarrassed and turns red. She quickly jerks her hand away from the table. "Er. I, well, um...nothing? I mean, yes?" she finally say. She vigorously nods her head, as if that proves she's alright. "Yes. I am perfectly well," she says.

She realizes that she's probably not very convincing, so she has to come up with some sort of excuse that's totally not in any way awkward or suspicious or weird. "Well, um. This." She gestures with her hand, to draw attention to it. "This...I was doing, um, that because it is my first time in here," she says, dropping her voice at the end as if it were a big secret that she doesn't want everybody to know. Then, she starts babbling. "And, well, it's really understandable if you look at it that way. I'm sure there's all sorts of people who like touching tables and other things, and so I'm just saying it's perfectly normal which is to say I'm perfectly normal and completely belong here even though it was my first time" and she desperately wants to be interrupted because this is just going into a train wreck and it's just going to pile larger and larger...she starts wringing her hands. "and, you see there's nothing at all worth noticing because I'm completely fine, you know." She makes some forced laughter. Oh my goodness, please God just strike me with a meteor so I can stop talking. "And, well, you see, because there's nothing out of the ordinary, there's nothing to worry about..." and she'll continue on like that, saying a bunch of nothing in a rushed and nervous voice because the only thing more nerve-wracking than prattling on is being silently judged.

[DoomITP]

Eth blinks... To be perfectly honest, he hadn't processed half of what Kamaria outside of "strange woman babbling". But still, he was curious and she was fairly interesting if not utterly confusing.

He sat himself down at the table attempting to appear nonthreatening.

You hungry? Might help calm the nerves some.

[Recaiden]

Well, she asked for it.

What's the flash of light? A shooting star! A meteor smashes in through a high window and crashes down right atop Kamaria. From the depths of space, down through the air, leaving a trail of fire behind it, all to arrive at just this moment.

It's not terribly big, probably everyone will be okay. But being hit by a giant space rock is ever so distracting.

[Zefir]

"What sort of bond?" Fayyaad isn't sure if he likes the sound of that.

"Well, I try to explain, but since your not from my homeworld it might sound odd so don't hesitate to ask." he starts.
"If a summoner summones a beeing more often a closer connection between the two will rise. At some point this will cause a bond. There are several different ways to achiev this, so I think we can leave that out. What happens when the bond is forged also warries in many ways. Some just lower the summoning time, others give the summoned beeing another ement type in addition to what it is so far. Some can even become weapons. You got all?"

[Morty]

"Yes, I think so," Fayyaad says. "If a summoner summons someone often, they bond. Makes a certain amount of sense."

[5a Violista]

Kamaria gets hit by a terminal-velocity rock! In spite of it being exactly what she asked for, it is rather surprising. She gets floored. Smarts like the dickens, too.

Half in a daze, she picks herself up and starts massaging her soon-to-be-bruise. "Ooooowwwie. That hurt, feels almost real, too..." she complains under her breath.

She sees that Ethriel is now sitting. Sitting's a pretty normal thing. She should do it. She realizes having her face contorted in pain is probably not a good thing. So, she smiles at him instead, as if to brush off having been knocked to the ground by a rock like it was nothing. "Ha ha. I'm so clumsy," she says. "Missed the chair."

The woman looks down at a the nearest chair at that table. Given her luck at the moment, the chair leg is probably going to snap as soon as she sits down, and everybody's going to think her fat or something. So, she makes sure to glance at the chair legs. Nope, they look all right. "Maybe the chair was just stuck on something, like the floor," Kamaria says, trying to keep up the bluff. "Oh, yes. There it is."

She slides the chair out a little more and then sits down in it. "Actually, so, food would be nice." She unzips her belt-pouch, reaches down into it and starts counting her money and doing some mental arithmetic, before muttering to herself. "So I've got some...twenty coins...silver? No, that's more nickel-copper-zinc...so that's worth, what, 10,000? And a meal in here looks like it cost around 500, but I also need to buy a sword and maybe a bow and arrows and maybe an alchemic set, judging, so..." So she does some mental calculations. 1500 for the arrows, 2500 for the bow, 2500 for the sword, 3000 for the alchemic set, that would leave her with, that would leave her with..."One coin," she announces. "which is exactly how much the meal should cost." That's good, that math works all out. "Yes, then, I am hungry," she decides.

[DoomITP]

Eth had pushed his chair back as the rocket came flying in. But more to the point he was disturbed that apparently the rock hadn't hurt the woman at all. In fact she was back to the incessant babbling. Trying to sort out money in some fashion that Eth had no context for.

He raises his hand.

Tell you what? I'll just pay for it. No need to work out... Exchange rates, I guess?

[5a Violista]

The woman Kamaria nods. "Okay."
Wow, that is extraordinarily fortunate. She was expecting to have almost nothing, but because she met someone willing to romance her buy her dinner she has at least half a day before she has to find a way to earn money or go hunting.

Actually, now that she thinks about it...no, wait. She waves her hands in front of herself, as if to brush away that thought. Fortunately, her thoughts get distracted by the dull ache where she got hit. She brings her hand back there to massage it, and there's a dull barely-perceptible light beneath her hand.

She reseals her belt-pouch. "Get whatever, then."
"Well," she says, trying to make conversation. "Do you know of any places to hunt nearby?" Questions are good to make conversation, right?

[Terumitsu]

Sam looks down at Riss and her reaction sadly. He's had that reaction before. Mostly people who take appearance and fashion quite a lot more seriously than him. Though, there's only so much he can do about his appearance, which many consider unsightly, and he really doesn't understand fashion at all, so it's nearly inevitable. His expression brightens a bit when he pieces together that there's something to it besides her just thinking he's gross, though. His hand is pulled back, laid across his chest with its left partner.
"Sorry but I'll have to warn you that I'm kind of dumb, so I won't know everything you're talking about. But empath is like...empathy? So, you get people's feelings from touching them?" Sam reasons, demonstrating an understanding of context clues that points to his problem being far more one of education than intelligence.
"And yeah, after me and a knight guy beat up a monster that was attacking a girl here, I looked pretty messed up, and I met this robot looking guy who offered to teach me some fighting basics. I got the gauntlets from him. But I don't wear 'em normally because when you wear armor around people think you're the kind of guy who goes around looking for a fight. I'm just a cook who likes to bring some protection around."

"It's not that I get their feelings.. It's like.. Imagine being soaked in an extremely viscous and greasy sludge that won't come off no matter how much you try to scrub. That's.. Not quite it either.. Well, mix that with also feeling like the sludge is like some kind of poison that seeps through your skin and you know it's there even though it doesn't hurt but it just sits there and you can't ever forget about it because of how anxious you feel." she explained. "It's like that with most people.. And.. It takes a lot of work to where I stop feeling like that for any given person so it's just easier to avoid it in a general sense." she explained, her tone wavering just slightly in what could be taken as embarrassment.

She cleared her throat and took a long drink from a vibrantly orange beverage. "Enough about that though." she said, waving in the air as if waving the topic away. "So are they just armor or do they have any secrets to them?" she inquired, letting herself show some honest interest. "Even if they don't, maybe you could make it a fun gimmick by wearing armor while you cook. Actually, what do you specialize in, anyway?" she asked. Food was always a fun topic even if one could technically just be powered by taking a rest on an induction couch for half an hour out of every few days.

[Deathkeeper]

Sam shuffles in his seat uncomfortably at the description, and lets the topic drop completely.
"They're mostly just armor, but they can unfold shields when I want 'em to. It's handy." he says, and stares down at the drink in his hand in embarrassment.
"I-I only got the job a few weeks ago. I'm an apprentice cook at best. I'm not good enough to have a specialty." he admits.