Trog's Tavern: Roman Numerals Are Dumb

[Morty]

The woman's eye briefly glazes over as Sele trades places with Zee, before shrugging. "No need to worry - I'll be quite satisfied with this in around four minutes and seventeen seconds." As she speaks, the water and muffin she'd grabbed earlier blip back onto her table, as though they'd been there the entire time. "Your movement along the tapestry is quite impressive, by the by."

"Ah, so my theory was correct," she says. "After a conversation I had tomorrow, I began to speculate that I had ended up in a crossing-point between many a world. What a pleasing place to spend my twilight years." the strange woman (who looks like her twilight years were still a ways off) pauses again, blinking.

"Ah, but I get ahead of myself. I am Rhaka, mage of Mhach - at least, I was, some time ago." She inclines her head to both Michalson, and whichever image of Sele is closest to her current point in time. "You say time magic is something commonly studied in your home? I am something of a pioneer of the field in mine, so the body of work to study was rather small."

"No, I wouldn't say it is. But I'm a meddler and I've meddled in a lot of things when I was younger." The bearded man stares off into the distance for a moment. "We call people who practice it lemons because... lemons and lime means messin' with time. You know how local lingo can be. And I'm Michalson Barring. Detective of the Intersection right now. Formerly a meddler."

[Ember]

Rhaka waved Sele off. "Oh, not at all. After so long having to be precise and calculated with my movement through the tapestry, it's been quite fun to just let loose with it. I'll right myself sooner or earlier." If the perception of forbidden dimensions and untold beings is harming her, she sure isn't showing it.

"Lemons and lime... ah, it rhymes. How delightfully quaint." She peers at Michalson from underneath her hat. "Detective, you say? While I'm unfamiliar with your world, this Intersection of yours sounds as a peacekeeping force of some sort or another. I'm reminded of the Judicars of my own home, ensuring that no walker of the black is using their magic for ill."

[Zefir]

Meanwhile!

"It was kind of my job to kill those people." he replies. "Kinda not really something i can just overlook. If I had some poison prepared I would poisen that muffin she already ate. Kinda funny if you see them die on something they didn't eat already. Urg time stuff just gets messy."

[bc56]

Sele nods. "All right then. I'll be back in... Four minutes and nine seconds." She steps away from the table and moves to take another order.

[Murkus]

[Pink and Red and Blue]

"Hey, you behave yourself now," Tsumi drawls, only barely serious, reaching out with her boot to nudge the tip of one of Ciara's heels. Her attention re-centers on Talah.

"Damn. Sounds like it's all you. Tough out there for a one-woman operation, huh?" Tsumi sounds sympathetic. "I could throw some cash at you, you know. We could do a radio ad, or fliers... or a poster, I guess. Like a pin-up!" Tsumi snaps her fingers. Sounds hot! People love hot stuff. "Hey, Ci, I bet we could fit you in there too!" A top-rate idea!

[Hraithre]

"Oh! Okay if it was a lightning snake then I know which one you were. The guy with the motorcycle and the really poorly defined name, right?" Zee replies, brightening up considerably. "I can patch you up, too. Hold still, this will itch."

Then she'll move along side the knight and reach out to lay a hand on him.

Shape
Matter
Information
BE WHOLE

Reality shifts as the reaper's parts are set aright to where they ought to be based on his body's pattern. Bones knit, nerves relink, blood vessels are restored, and soundness is returned as cells are moved and new cells are supplied where needed. This is pretty far from typical magical healing. There's no vitalism stuff going on. More like highly accelerated natural healing.

Which means!

It really itches.

Despite Zee's efforts, the knight doesn't appear much better. It's almost like something is missing that cannot be fixed just by shuffling what's still there around. Or maybe the man's natural healing reached its limits a long time ago.

Still, he lets out a sigh of relief. Maybe Zee cannot replenish his spirit, but it's not his spirit that's running out of time. "... one beer, please. The living cartoon in a top hat can pay, once he gets around", he mumbles, lifting up a finger to prompt attention of the next waitress that passes by.

A little gargoyle spies him from under a nearby table. The gargoyle came to the tavern accompanied by certain detective, and simply chose to remain out-of-sight for the time being. It was following its master's conversation with the strange lady about time magic, but the sight of a familiar face now distracts it. Well, not a familiar face, exactly. It's not like the man it is spying ever goes around with his face uncovered.

The gargoyle ponders, for a moment, if it should alert the detective to the man's presence, but decides against it. Its master seems to have a good conversation going, no need to interrupt.

[Morty]

Rhaka waved Sele off. "Oh, not at all. After so long having to be precise and calculated with my movement through the tapestry, it's been quite fun to just let loose with it. I'll right myself sooner or earlier." If the perception of forbidden dimensions and untold beings is harming her, she sure isn't showing it.

"Lemons and lime... ah, it rhymes. How delightfully quaint." She peers at Michalson from underneath her hat. "Detective, you say? While I'm unfamiliar with your world, this Intersection of yours sounds as a peacekeeping force of some sort or another. I'm reminded of the Judicars of my own home, ensuring that no walker of the black is using their magic for ill."

Michalson smiles slightly, an expression at odds with his generally morose countenance. This man has clearly been through a lot.

"Funny. That's more or less my job. I'm the one they send when spell-slingers are causin' trouble. Not always, but a lot of the time."

[Ember]

"Is that so?" Rhaka raises her hands to her shoulder-level, in mock surrender. "Well, let me assure you, I am not here to cause anything of the sort." She chuckles, before the glass of water blinks into her hand again and she takes a sip. "I have a healthy degree of respect for such a profession, even if I found the Judicars to sometimes be..." She taps her finger onto the glass a few times, carefully considering her next word. "...Rigid."

Rhaka's not unaware of her surroundings, of course. There was a source of some sort of magic underneath the very table she and Michalson sat at. Far more amusing, though, was the conversation some ways away, where someone so casually talked about how he would try to murder her.

She chuckles again. What a fun world this was turning out to be.

Her attention quickly returns to Michalson. "I once thought of taking on similar work. Introduce a little more discipline into the lives of my peers and my students. But the tapestry weaved a different course for me. And now, I am quite retired, thank you very much."

[Thursday Violist]

[Pink and Red and Blue]

Ciara and Tsumi need to stop flirting and joking around, because Talah is doing her best to keep a serious face on, to the point that she's biting her lip. At least, that's Talah's lip's opinion.

"As much as I love having people throw cash at me without regard for budget," Talah says, "I mean, I feel, like: target audience, if you're going for new customers or repeat customers, and so on would really affect how you do it, or where fliers should be passed out, or what you want to do with the posters." Of course, these practical matters are basically nothing in the face of 'people love hot stuff' but Talah would feel guilty if she didn't even mention it.

[Arkhosia]

[Pink and Red and Blue]

"I always do," Ciara replies sweetly, and giggles at Tsumi's suggestions. She does, however, tilt her head in thought as Talah speaks. "That's a good question, actually. I feel like we have a pretty strong, like, personal relationship with most of our regulars. Dunno if we could like, bolster that further though?"

[Morty]

"Is that so?" Rhaka raises her hands to her shoulder-level, in mock surrender. "Well, let me assure you, I am not here to cause anything of the sort." She chuckles, before the glass of water blinks into her hand again and she takes a sip. "I have a healthy degree of respect for such a profession, even if I found the Judicars to sometimes be..." She taps her finger onto the glass a few times, carefully considering her next word. "...Rigid."

Rhaka's not unaware of her surroundings, of course. There was a source of some sort of magic underneath the very table she and Michalson sat at. Far more amusing, though, was the conversation some ways away, where someone so casually talked about how he would try to murder her.

She chuckles again. What a fun world this was turning out to be.

Her attention quickly returns to Michalson. "I once thought of taking on similar work. Introduce a little more discipline into the lives of my peers and my students. But the tapestry weaved a different course for me. And now, I am quite retired, thank you very much."

"I sure am glad you don't intend to cause trouble, because this is supposed to be my day off." Michalson smiles under his beard. "One could say I'm retired myself. From the life of an adventurer and..." He pauses. "...revolutionary. Keepin' the peace is more peaceful in itself than my past life."

[Murkus]

[Pink and Red and Blue]

"Well... yeah. Gee, I guess I know almost everybody who comes into my place on the regular. The customer base is pretty fixed, as it is," Tsumi ponders. Here she was just goofing around and Talah and Ci are actually making her think. "I don't know how much more I could get the reggies to come in, if I'm honest. Ads, pinups, or otherwise. Maybe a new kind of customer would be good."

"But nobody annoying," Tsumi makes a horizontal cutting gesture with her hand. "No hipsters, no douchebags, no clubbers, no preppies..." She rubs her chin, starting to count off on her fingers. "No cultists, addicts, dealers... I gotta make a whole list."

[Ember]

"Then I suppose we'll get along just fine." Rhaka grins under her hat once again. "I commend you for your successful retirement, then. Such a career path has people exiting rather earlier, based on my observations."

[Morty]

"Aye. I've seen my share of bloods exitin' both the adventuring and the revolutionary career early and abruptly." A rueful smile passes his face. "My right hand and right leg don't work very well anymore. I had to take a job with a bit less excitement. I should mention, though, I'm not actually a wizard. Just frequently confused with one."

[Thursday Violist]

[Pink and Red and Blue]

"So basically you want to keep the same friendly, welcoming atmosphere but need to bring more people in," Talah says. She starts stroking her chin. "Because bringing in too many people at once or the wrong type would ruin it."

Talah snaps her fingers.
Or, rather, tries to snap. It doesn't really make any sound, other than a soft 'fwish'.
"Okay, first thought: run some kind of event that makes it really easy for your current customers to bring their friends to, and to socialize with each other. And maybe give discounts to people who bring people? Or something like that. You'd probably need posters, to make announcements, and maybe little in-house handouts, but getting friends-of-friends to start coming in would probably do that. Maybe some of them would stick around to see the new acquaintances they meet again."

Sadly, posters, announcements, and handouts wouldn't really involve paying Talah anything, since there wouldn't be anything for her to do.

Talah sighs. It's okay, though. She brushes her hair back and tucks it behind her ear again. Earning money through convincing someone they need something they actually don't will just hurt her credibility in the long run. Probably. Right?

"Definitely something you'll need to think about more and plan more. Probably later, since I imagine you didn't come here to this bar to talk business." Talah bites her lip, and takes a deep breath. "But," she adds, "I mean, even if you need to think about it a lot more to plan...well, for now, if you just want to take pictures of cute girls in fancy poses, you can just think more seriously about it later and just do that now. Could even call it 'practice' or 'inspiration' if you really need an excuse."

[Ember]

"The life takes its toll on all of us. Why, not even I made it out unscathed." Rhaka leans back in her seat, taking another sip of water. "May I ask how so? In Mhach, one's magical prowess was rather obvious."

[Hraithre]

"Different definitions of wizardry", a voice squeaks from under the table. The little gargoyle couldn't resist blurting that out, considering it had a similar discussion with the detective a while ago. Rhaka's line about magical prowess being obvious has caught its attention. The gargoyle gets up from under the table and gives the sorceress a better look. It is trying to see if Rhaka has an aura of spiritual energy, signifying that she has the gift of second sight.

[Morty]

"Aye." Michalson doesn't even blink when the gargoyle speaks up. "Had to explain this to her too. I know a lot about magic and I know where to poke and prod it. But I don't have any magic in me. I don't cast spells or anythin'. In fact when I was younger I learned how to resist it." He pauses. "Right, this is Bunny. She's... you could say she's in my care, temporarily."

[Ember]

"Ah, how nice of you to join us," Rhaka says without missing a beat, briefly glancing at the gargoyle. "Ah, yes, I've met a few adventurers who found their ways around magic. Some of them grew to be quite valuable assets."

There is an aura around and within Rhaka, but it's... difficult to place. It's close to spiritual energy, but not, at the same time. The only clear thing about the power she holds is that there is rather a lot of it.

[Hraithre]

The gargoyle gives a weird half bow, half curtsey. "You could also say I'm his familiar", she says. A totally non-wizardly familiar for a non-wizard detective. "Where I'm from, most magicians are closer to the mister here", she glances at Michalson, "than they are to you." She resumes looking at Rhaka. "Messing with time, in particular, is rare and forbidden. But I suppose, if you were a pioneer where you're from, there would not have been laws in place to forbid you."

[Gold]

Despite Zee's efforts, the knight doesn't appear much better. It's almost like something is missing that cannot be fixed just by shuffling what's still there around. Or maybe the man's natural healing reached its limits a long time ago.

Still, he lets out a sigh of relief. Maybe Zee cannot replenish his spirit, but it's not his spirit that's running out of time. "... one beer, please. The living cartoon in a top hat can pay, once he gets around", he mumbles, lifting up a finger to prompt attention of the next waitress that passes by.

A little gargoyle spies him from under a nearby table. The gargoyle came to the tavern accompanied by certain detective, and simply chose to remain out-of-sight for the time being. It was following its master's conversation with the strange lady about time magic, but the sight of a familiar face now distracts it. Well, not a familiar face, exactly. It's not like the man it is spying ever goes around with his face uncovered.

The gargoyle ponders, for a moment, if it should alert the detective to the man's presence, but decides against it. Its master seems to have a good conversation going, no need to interrupt.

Gaul DeGalles, the living cartoon in a top hat, has just entered the tavern. He comes up to the bar, where Zee and the knight are, and says to the latter "You know, you forgot to pay for the ride I gave you." His expression indicates he's quite annoyed about this.

[Rebonack]

Zee waves at the living cartoon in a top hat as if this were a perfectly normal situation with nothing at all odd going on.

Considering how much weird nonsense Zee deals with on a regular basis this probably isn't too far from the truth.

"Sure thing! Is there a particular type of beer you wanted? We've got several on tap and even more bottled."

C'mon reaperman.

This is a Tavern.

Coming in and asking for a beer is like coming into a restaurant and ordering the foods.

"Oh, hey mister DeGalles! Was there anything I can get you while I'm up and about?" Zee inquires.

[Hraithre]

"Oh, right. One Sandels, please", the armored man clarifies tiredly. He turns his head by the bare minimum necessary to see Gaul. "Please. You got all the loot that spilled out of that snake like it was a piñata. Wasn't that payment enough? What else you want from me? Souls of the damned?"

[Gold]

Gaul smiles when the barkeep mentions him by name. She must have read about him in the financial magazines!

"Sure, I'll take a little rum, triple distilled of course." Gaul responds to the bartender. As for the reaper, Gaul says "Look, I didn't get to where I am today by handing out free rides. You get one, you gotta pay for it. And I stopped trading in souls a long time ago - my own soul has a knack for setting them free when I'm not looking."

[Rebonack]

Zee isn't totally sure why the reaper is aware of a particular brand of beer from Finland (what the heck is Finland?) but she figures it must just be something from whatever universe he originally came from.

Also?

Rum!

That one is easy.

"Alrighty, coming right up!"

Off she goes! She should be returning with the drinks in a minute or two. She isn't about to interrupt an argument about payments for random nonsense.

[Hraithre]

His helmet obscures it, but the man quirks an eyebrow at Gaul's words. "Oh? Your soul does that? Interesting. You did say something about cartoon souls being slippery. I wonder, what kind of afterlife do you go to? Is it as cartoony as you are? With fluffy clouds and harp-playing angels? Or maybe demons and pitchforks in youe case? You seem to be on the greedy side. It's a mortal sin, you know."

[Gold]

Gaul blinks and shakes his head. "Nah, Heck is pretty gritty. The demons I've met are no Saturday morning villains, or mischievous imps with big butts - well, bar a few. The Heavens are a nice place, but I don't think I was recieved too well last time I visited."

Gaul rolls his eyes at the last part. "Yeah, yeah, it's a sin, blah blah. Sheesh, what are you, the Ghost of Christmas Guilt?"

[Morty]

"Aye, you could. I wouldn't, but you could." They've clearly been over this before. "Wizard or no, I sometimes wonder if I shouldn't have stuck to repairin' wheels like my dads. But what's done is done."

[Fenric]

Fenric enters again through the mirror and takes his usual seat. He takes a loot around at the bustle and smiles

Hello again, Zee. Looks like a good crowd today! I'll have a manhattan this time, on ice if you don't mind, and not too sweet.

[Ember]

"Hm." Rhaka leans across the table to get a better look at the gargoyle. "I suppose - though I've never known a conjured familiar with such cheek. Fashions pass with the times, I suppose."

Then, she laughs. "Oh, I'm sure they would have tried, if they knew. I was quite good at covering my tracks in my day, you see."