Reign of Winter: The Snows of Summer IC

[PersonMan]

"Well," Kira says after a moment, having not paid her full attention to most of the tale but catching the end. "I was going to just have a feast with it. Because that's just how it's done, and the ladies love it. But, yes - zombies, tzlatlyzstzrms and lots of snow. No lost noble ladies, though, but no dead noble ladies either."

[drayen]

"Yes, there is more." With a grunt, Vilgeirr hefted his overflowing backpack up onto the table and begin unstrapping four longswords from under the flap before removing suits of studded leather armour, three in all, and stacking them on the bare wooden planks. "These were also recovered and can go to the shopkeep for a good price in return for his earlier generosity."

[Frosty]

While some of the other may roll their eyes or get bored, the 'fire witch' is actually quite amused, and claps politely in approval as the tale is told in what feels like a single breath. "Yep, that about tells the tale. We'll have to get back out there tomorrow to continue the search. Hope y'all are hungry for boar!"

[The_Shaman]

The old woman clicks her tongue, but you aren't sure if it is in approval, amusement or frustration. "I hope she is okay - she seems like a nice young girl.She has to be found soon, one way or another. It would not be good if other nobles interfere. It is never good to be where they cast their eye when they are unhappy or scheming."

Having no place to call home - well, not most of you, at least - you decide to head to the tavern. The proprietress is not too happy with your offer to host you for free and cool the meat, but a bit of good old fashioned halfling haggling gets you what you want at the cost of a bit of the meat and Dorrin serving as the night's entertainment, with the right to any tips. Unfortunately, his performance is routine at best, but as a poor hinterlands village, Heldren does not see all that many halfling storytellers (or any halflings, for that matter), so it makes do. Tips are scarce, though, for much the same reason.

[Frosty]

Anastasiya is happy to join in the festivities, enjoying bits of the boar (and calling herself the master chef that night), and also enjoying telling (and somewhat embellishing) bits of the brief adventure so far. While the halfling's song and story are serviceable, the sorceress also provides some entertainment of her own (partly to relieve boredom). She spends part of the night dancing suggestively while wearing less and less clothes (thanks in part to the alcohol). Ana spends time with both Kira and one of the local boys, and wonders which of them will make a move on her first.

[PersonMan]

Kira doesn't bother with specifics of lodging and hosting, expecting a typical exchange of an eventual place to stay once things died down in exchange for bringing in the animal that's being served. Even before the food is ready, she starts drinking, and what subtlety there may have been in her flirtations vanishes. Whether she gets bolder because of the drinking or because of Anastasiya's dancing, before long she's moved past unsubtle implications and into the realm of open propositioning, though she does manage to weave it into an almost continuous line of stories about the most dangerous of her hunts.

[Stelio Kontos]

Having sold the massive boar at a wonderful discount to the buyer, Dorrin settled in with a few small pieces of the beast and a steaming cup of tea. Sitting quietly by the fire, his tales of sailing around the coasts of the Linnorm Kingdoms as a child, and the sights of the great narwhals spewing water high into the sky devolved somewhat disappointingly into the intricacies of international trade agreements. The attention of the audience was already beginning to wane when the dancing began in earnest. Impishly, he announced loudly to the crowd "Oh, so that's how it's got to be then?" and made a show of standing on the table, getting so far as to undo the topmost button on his shirt before climbing back down with a dismissive wave and a grin.

Content enough not to be the center of attention, he retreated to a corner of the room to let the show go on unhindered, before retiring for an early bedtime.

[The_Shaman]

Anastasiya's dances are rather different from the typical Taldan ones, but her body language appears to be... universal. Between the alcohol and just wanting to show off, she soon leaves next to nothing to the imagination, and quite a few men - and at least one woman - seem to be positively excited at the show.

It is at that point that a worried-looking village woman of some twenty-something years enters the tavern, calling the name of some Mihai. Her eyes go wide as they lock on one of Anastasiya's admirers,then on her, and back on him, and you can see on her face that her life seems to be crashing down around her.

What follows is a stream of curses that would impress a Chelish dockworker in its speed, vitriol and venom aimed at Anastasiya, her family, her faith, and everyone else around, including the lowlife piece of double-dealing offal known also as Mihai (apparently, the newcomer is taking it rather gently on him, as the rest is much, much worse. The newcomer practically throws herself at Anastasiya, eager to tear any remaining clothing, her hair and any other piece of her she can get her hands on. As people recognize her, some of them take her side in what appears to be a brewing scandal of colossal proportions.

[Aldurin]

Trallus sighs as the strip tease goes out of hand, he keeps one hand continuing to methodically tilt his ale for sipping, and the other stays free to intervene should the fiasco go violent. He's seen a few barfights in Absalom, and has heard of the brawls that stay in that city's legend, but there is a strange charm about the way that small towns go about drunken conflicts. At the very least, it does make it less embarrassing if he's caught staring in that direction.

Spoiler

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Readied action: If anyone accosting Ana starts swinging a weapon, he'll cast Shadow Trap on them.

[Frosty]

Anastasiya is clearly getting drunk, and is definitely not aware of anyone coming towards her with hostile intent. She continues dancing, but basically only one flimsy piece of clothing remaining on her. It would be easy for the angry woman to pull it off of her, or pull her hair. Even the insults are not heard, as she had her attentions more on Mihai and Kira.

[PersonMan]

Kira is just taking another drink as things suddenly grow far less relaxed. She rises from her temporary seat, and a plan comes quite swiftly, leaving her grinning as she makes her way over to the center of attention, her demeanor turning serious again as she rushes to get between the new arrival and Anastasiya before anything serious happens. "'Ey, hold up!" She says, voice raised, going up onto the table if necessary. "No need for a fight!" Kira announces, giving a grin as she chokes back a few undiplomatic additions. "I've got - how about a deal? You grab your Mihai and give him a thrashing, and I'll get this one out of here, how about that?"

[Stelio Kontos]

Dorrin had made it partway out of the room when he heard the unmistakable universal sounds of a woman scorned. This was an unexpected part of the show, to be sure. Not really wanting to get directly involved, he hovered in the doorway with a bemused expression, his hand dipping toward his spell component pouch in anticipation. Please, whatever you do, don't light them on fire, he thought to himself.

[The_Shaman]

The girl is stewing as Mihai is able to stop looking at Anastasiya for a second and try to dig himself out of a very deep hole. "Mira, it's okay, the woman's just drunk. I was ogling her,sure, but I didn't to anything, honest! I was just... watching, no harm done."

Between that flimsy excuse and Kira trying to get her to calm down at Mihai's expense, the newcomer has finally had enough. "Shut up, shut up! I'll give you a piece of my mind, you man-thieving ****!" she says as she dives for Anastasiya, eager to get a piece of the sorceress... and pull it off.

Spoiler

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Move action: get to Anastasiya
Standard action: grapple. Anastasiya has no dexterity bonus due to dancing and being distracted. CMB: (1d20+2)[21] vs CMD w-out dex bonus

[drayen]

Vilgeirr sat at the bar eating large slabs of boar steaks and consuming as much ale, or better, mead, as he can get the barmaid to serve him. He nods at the memories Dorrin provokes as he begins his tale, but he slowly begins to frown as the halfling wanders off topic. As the wee man takes a turn towards outright accounting, the Ulfen has a scowl and is looking for a bone to throw at the stage when the dancing breaks out. He watches along with the rest of the tavern, mildly amused at it all when the woman bursts in and attacks with her barbed tongue. Booing at Kira's intervention, the viking laughs out loud when the local lunges for the fire caster reveling in what finally may prove to be some excitement in this provincial backwater.

[Stelio Kontos]

Dorrin slipped through the crowd, muttering apologies to the bar staff, before arriving at the scene and tapping Mihai on the hip. "You know, it's obvious she cares about you very much. I think this would be a good time to pull her out of there, before someone gets hurt, and remind her that you care about her too. I'd also recommend flowers. A lot of flowers."

Spoiler: OOC

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Diplomacy roll, because why not: (1d20+6)[11]

[Frosty]

Ana is successfully grabbed by the woman! Since the woman is trying to tear her robe off, Ana attempts to do the same back to the other woman! "Hey, get off me! I hadn't done anything with your horny man here! All he did was listen to my stories, and watch my every move!"

Spoiler: ooc

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Grapple attempt: (1d20-2)[16]

[The_Shaman]

Mira's anger makes her reckless, and Ana pushes the angry, almost growling Taldane away before she can take away all of her clothes. The sorceress even manages to snag a loosely fastened shawl in return. Mira does not appear any put off by that, and the whole tavern is still torn between trying to watch the spectable and being shocked and outraged. Mihai looks on in confusion and uncertainly mutters "But what can I ...she's never... she'd never do that... I told her already, what can I do?"

((Kira and Trallus can still act, if there's nothing by tomorrow I will proceed)).

[PersonMan]

"You can pull her off, come on!" Kira growls at Mihai, before stepping forward herself, to quickly lead Anastasiya back - off the table and away from Mira, ideally, but her priority is getting her out of the reach of another angry tackle.

[Frosty]

Ana considers continuing the fight, but decided that it's not worth it to kill her buzz more. She follows Kira for now. "Yeah, we didn't do nuthin! Don't let jealousy cloud your judgement."

[Stelio Kontos]

"What you can do" Dorrin said, lowering his voice as much as possible so at least the ladies wouldn't hear him "is I'm going to give you one last chance to get out of this with your relationship intact, and if you value your life you are going to walk up there in about five seconds and plant your best kiss right on your wife's lips, you understand me? And don't get cute looking around."

Then he shouted "Hey, stop! My man Mihai here says he wants to settle this once and for all and put a big kiss on the most beautiful woman in this room! Would you all like to see that?"

[The_Shaman]

Dorrin's boast seems to go unheard in the general commotion, as he gets nothing more than a few snickers. Kira's harsh words do jolt Mihai out of his confusion, however, and he tries to get things under control. He takes Mira by the hand, as she looks like she would lunge at Ana again, and with a halting voice implores . "Mira, no, this has gone on for long enough. Please, don't embarass yourself any further. Let's go home."

For a moment, the woman looks at him with mixed feeling, but Ana's barb comes at a rather inopportune time. She turns and give him a resounding slap across the face with all her might, knocking him off his feet. "I'm embarassing myself? I'm embarassing myself? You have the nerve to ogle this naked harlot where half the tavern would have filled her like a stuffed turkey - and if the rumors are right, they have - and I am the one who embarass myself? I spit on you, I spit on your promises, and I spit on your honor. And as for you, you trollop," she turns pointing at Ana "A pox on you and your house. You've been nothing but trouble ever since you came here, and this has gone far enough. You have no shame, and if your father was a man worth his breeches he would have kicked you out of his house. You've broken what was supposed to be my family. May the gods break yours and give you double the heartbreaks you've caused. Get stuffed by the whole Imperial army for all I care," she says with a venomous tone to her voice, spits on the ground and leaves as the taver falls silent.

[Frosty]

Even as Mira turns to leave, Anastasiya can't help but shout back at least one last time. "Shame is overrated. And besides, it wasn't the entire Imperial Army. It was just a single squad. And it only happened like...one time! Two, tops!"

After the angry woman has left, the sorceress turns back to the other patrons in the tavern. "Don't let the spoil sport dampen the mood. You guys should continue enjoying the wine and the boar! Let's have some MUSIC again!"

Spoiler: ooc

Show

Ana attempts to get the party started again, or at least the mood back to normal. After that, she'll probably just settle for chatting with Kira.
diplomacy - (1d20+8)[21]

[Stelio Kontos]

Dorrin looked on with dismay. "Look, um, I think you'd better go do what you can" he remarked quietly to Mihai. "If you want me to come along, try to help, I would, but... I think she's had enough of outsiders for one night. Good luck."

Not really wanting to stick around for any more "festivities", he stepped quietly out of the room and retired for the evening.

[The_Shaman]

While a lot of the people snicker at Ana's comment, her appeal does find at least some of them willing to listen. The dark mood slowly clears and things calm down. A fair few patrons - maybe just over half - stay at the tavern as the rest slowly clear out without making a fuss, except one of them, a large, burly fellow who whispers to Ana as he passes "Wait, you really hmm, did a squad?" . Mihai sets up to leave with a heavy sigh,taking one last look at Ana, maybe waiting for a sign that does not come.

[Frosty]

Ana gives Mihal an annoyed look. “Go! NOW! Run after her. You know. Hell, everyone knows I don’t sleep with men who are taken.”

As the fat burly fella asks about her past experience with a squad of imperials, Ana nods in response. “Yes, about a year ago. They stayed in one of the big houses in town, and invited me over for drinks. I accepted, and somehow by the end of the night I was walking home naked. Nothing wrong with that.”

Ana keeps a lower profile for the rest of the night, just chatting with Kira and getting to know her better. In the morning, she has a small hangover, but it is mild enough to not affect her performance. She is ready for the day’s adventure wearing a different outfit. Compared to the previous outfit, this one covers up much of her cleavage, but doesn’t really cover much of her butt cheeks.

[The_Shaman]

Mihai looks at Ana, still in shock. "You were the one who..." he starts to shout, looks around, and turns away in disgust, leaving the tavern to a few snickers from the more drunken patrons The large fellow snorts with some amusement and shakes his head. "Unbelievable.".

The next day sees your group retrace its steps towards the forest. The weather is just as chilly, but the snow is a little lighter and everyone seems to be well-prepared, so you make good time. It is around noon that you come across a strange sight as you trek along the path. Over a dozen trees are decorated with feathered bundles and strange fetishes, hanging from the lower boughs. All the bundles are stuck through with small pins, holding pieces of leather around them. Even in the dim light, they seems to slightly sparkle.

[Stelio Kontos]

Dorrin trundled along the path, well-bundled but seemingly uncaring about the chill in the air, and abnormally quiet for the normally chatty fellow. "That's... quite unusual" he commented softly. "I don't believe there's a holiday that we've missed..."

Staring intently at the trees, he muttered quietly "I wish that I could only see, rev'lation of what magicks be"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Casting detect magic, because why not.

[PersonMan]

"Smells like a trap," Kira says after a few moments, frowning. "Could be for the tatzy, maybe for us," she continues, bringing Lyubimaya Sestra to her hands. She steps forwards, heading in front of Anastasiya rather than following behind her, and frowns. "Eyes open, then. Let's keep moving."

[Frosty]

The sorceress doesn't notice anything strange. "These don't scare me. Let us move forward."

[Stelio Kontos]

"Wait" Dorrin whispered insistently, cocking his head to the side and looking intently at the trees. "Nothing magical about it, but those are birds. Crows, actually. That's the sort of thing they might do in Irrisen -- treat them like rats up there, I've heard, string them up as a lesson to the others or some such. Peculiar to see something like that down here though...." The halfling trailed off, leaving that thought unfinished for the moment.

Suddenly, his head turned reflexively toward the woods. "What was that?" he asked nobody in particular, before answering his own question in an even more hushed tone as his hand went to his sheathed sling. "Flash of light, near the woods over there. I'd have thought it was a beam of sun, but with this weather that's impossible..."