Trog's Tavern: Roman Numerals Are Dumb

[Rebonack]

Konstanze takes a sip of her beer. "Too long since I had a proper drink... and yes, I've only been here in the Nexus for a bit and I've seen more kinds of people than I knew existed!" She waves a hand generally at her fellow patrons. "And I suppose 'dead' could refer to a variety of things, yes---I ask mostly since I'd describe myself as dead, more or less---I believe the proper term is wraith, and I did just leave a Hell."

"Must have been a hell of a trip," Zee replies with a sagely nod.

See what she did there?

Get it?

A hell of a trip? Because-? Okay yeah you probably get it.

"See, where I come from a wraith is like... an ANGRY ghost. But ghosts aren't really people. More like an echo they leave behind in the world. Sort of. I guess? Between you and me I don't really get that stuff. BUT! You don't strike me as very angry. Or very ghosty. Or very not-a-person-y. You're definitely way more coherent than a shade or whatever would be."

And then comes the shrugs.

"Doesn't really matter that much though, right? Since you're HERE now! Instead of a place of terrible torment! Or boringness. Or whatever 'Hell' means where you're from."

Because let's be real here that word gets used for lots of different places and ideas that have very little do do with each other aside from the whole 'dead people are here' deal.

"I'm not actually new, I've been in the Nexus since I was eleven. Just, y'know, couldn't order alcohol before. Uh... sweet, please." Natalie turns to the wraith sat next to her and smiles. "My name's Natalie; I'm pleased to meet you Konstanze."

"Sweet it is! We just got in a few new casks from Applekick Farms," Zee says as she grabs a mug and heads for a nearby barrel with a tap stuck into it. "The ponies make some pretty amazing sweet-cider, but word of warning they don't call it appleKICK for nothing. This stuff is pretty strong, so take it slow."

Probably has to do with the constitution of earth ponies. They're closer to dwarves when it comes to their ability to resist inebriation. Zee slides the mug over to Natalie with a smile. "You need anything else you just let me know, okay?"

A man comes through the door. He sweats hard like he had just ran here. To be true he didn't, but for some reason he was in a very hot area in inside and just returned. He swipes the sweat away as he makes his way to the bar, obviously inhaling the much cooler air inside the bar. He takes a seat at the bar.

"God damn weather out there." he says. "I lived in a vulcano for years but that heat out there is killing me. Give me an ice tea, and some water. Please." he says to the closest bartender.

"Howdy there! Sweltering out there, huh? I've heard that if you get to the upside down part of town-" Zee begins, making a topsy-turvy gesture with her hands. "-the seasons are all reversed. Thanksmas in summer-time and all that. Or winter right now! Great for cooling off or for sledding down people's roofs at all times of the year. Once iced tea coming up!"

And so it is.

One ice tea!

"...just regular and not Long Island, right?"

[Beans]

"Must have been a hell of a trip," Zee replies with a sagely nod.

See what she did there?

Get it?

A hell of a trip? Because-? Okay yeah you probably get it.

"See, where I come from a wraith is like... an ANGRY ghost. But ghosts aren't really people. More like an echo they leave behind in the world. Sort of. I guess? Between you and me I don't really get that stuff. BUT! You don't strike me as very angry. Or very ghosty. Or very not-a-person-y. You're definitely way more coherent than a shade or whatever would be."

And then comes the shrugs.

"Doesn't really matter that much though, right? Since you're HERE now! Instead of a place of terrible torment! Or boringness. Or whatever 'Hell' means where you're from."

Because let's be real here that word gets used for lots of different places and ideas that have very little do do with each other aside from the whole 'dead people are here' deal.

Konstanze listens, nodding. "Ah, I see! In the Hells I left, a ghost is the soul of a person who dies, and there's sort of a sliding scale from ghost to demon---the soul sort of..." She wiggles her hand. "What is the word, you put meat in the sauce before cooking---marinates? Yes, the soul sort of marinates in the essence of the Hell it's in, and becomes more demon and less ghost. A wraith is still a lot more ghost than demon, on that scale." Her shadow mirrors the hand-wave, but out of sync.

[Zefir]

"Howdy there! Sweltering out there, huh? I've heard that if you get to the upside down part of town-" Zee begins, making a topsy-turvy gesture with her hands. "-the seasons are all reversed. Thanksmas in summer-time and all that. Or winter right now! Great for cooling off or for sledding down people's roofs at all times of the year. Once iced tea coming up!"

And so it is.

One ice tea!

"...just regular and not Long Island, right?"

Zefir looks up.
"Yeah, if i take alcohole now it will kick in big time and that might just down me." he replies.
"You got a point there, but I'm not a reverse bird who flys to the cols parts whenever they change. Most of the stores and stuff I have are in one place so I don't really want to change that. Thought Trogs is allways around. Also I'm familiar with the surroundings so i can avoid any headhunters. If there is a bounty on my head. You got it good just having this air-conditioned place. Or be a robot like that guy over there."

[Recaiden]

Once back on their feet, the bug-thingy stumbles over to the wraith.
"Say, what's it like being dead? We were just wondering about that."
Because of how worried she is about dying. Even here, it's not everyday you meet a sort of ghost.

[Beans]

"Oh, hello---and, hmm." She thinks, sipping again at her beer. "It's been decades and decades since I was alive... but I think the sensations are different, for one thing. Some sharper, some duller, some just... different. I'm also not made of flesh and blood any more---it's ghost-stuff, corpus, playing the part of flesh and blood."

[Recaiden]

"Does that mean you can't bleed?"
And she can still drink ordinary beer, so maybe being a ghost isn't all that bad.
"And, uh, if you don't mind, uhm, do you remember dying?" Is that rude to ask a ghost? She thinks, after asking it ,that it's probably rude. But too late now.

[Beans]

"It wouldn’t quite be blood. And oh yes, I remember, it was pretty unpleasant. Quick at least, though." She shrugs, unconcerned. "Very bad train accident, you see."

[Recaiden]

Okay. So ghosts can ghost-bleed. And drink.
And this lady doesn't seem to mind too much that she's a ghost. That's comforting.
"Oh my! Trains are scary enough when they work right..."
"So, did I hear, I heard you went to Hell and then came back? Congratulations."

[Beans]

"Thank you, yes!" She finishes her beer, setting down the glass. "I was in one of the Hells, then got sent to a prison Hell for reasons. Oh, and I was married before that, but that ended when I got sent to jail-Hell. Wonder what she's up to..."

[Recaiden]

"You were married when you were in normal Hell? Or when you were alive?" Wait, what she's up to?
More ghost or more demon? Maybe missing Konstanze terribly. But people usually don't do great in Hell. Perhaps better not to wonder about her in too much detail.

"I've never had...uh, anyone like that." The ghost sounds mostly moved on though. That's not too bad.

[Beans]

Konstanze spins once on her barstool. Whee! "Oh, when I was in the not-jail Hell---the Wicked City of Gahrov, 9985th out of 10,000---that's when I was married. My then-wife was actually the one running that Hell in particular. I suppose it was a nice few decades, but it wasn't to last." She doesn't sound all that broken up about it. "Well, there's probably someone for everyone, right? Maybe several someones. Unless you don't think you're looking for that sort of thing."

[Earl of Purple]

Natalie leaves Konstanze to her new conversation partner, instead chatting to Zee. "It sounds nice, and I will." Natalie grins and takes a quick sip of her cider and her eyes widen. "Ooh, that's nice."

---

"I've met him three times. When he comes for you, you can challenge him to a game. I choose arm wrestling, and win. And pulled his finger off the third time, but that wasn't deliberate. I've not seen him in... oh, years, now. Probably scared him off for good the last time." Mrs. Bloodplunder shrugs and grins, not too worried about the fact she's apparently intimidated Death into immortality.

[Gold]

TASBot and Changer are still talking about some inane stuff.

"Hey TASBot, you remember that bet we made about your TrackMania time?"

"Oh, yeah! You said if nobody beat my time within the month, I'd have to say one thing you tell me to in a public place!"

"Mhm. And the same's about to go for you too, buddy."

".......what?"

"Open up the leaderboard for your track please." "Okay, but I don't see how anybody could have beat my- oh. Oh no." "Oh. Yes." "No! But-I-it was... man, that just doesn't compute." "Oh, don't be so dramatic. Anyways..."

Changer reaches over the table and whispers in TASBot's ear.

"I'm not saying that." "Yes you are." "Am not!" "Are too!" "We're starting to sound like children!" "Are too-I mean, yes, we are, now just say it already!"

"Itusbtdntcrefrfxsrtlwmn."

"Louder. If nobody can heae you, that defeats the point of saying it in a public place." "Fine, fine..."

TASBot stands up straight and starts speaking clearly out loud. Everyone in the tavern should be able to hear this statement

"I've come to make an announcement: I, TASBot, do not care for foxes or tall women."

[Recaiden]

The bug-person manages to make it onto a nearby barstool. No spinning around for her though.
"Oh, your wife didn't send you to hell-prison, did she?" That would be about the worst way to end a relationship, but Konstanze seems fine.
"I, uh- several someones?" The bug-person flushes a darker shade of purple. "That sounds, uh, excessive. Just one is hard enough."

[Beans]

Konstanze checks her nails idly. "She did---to be fair to her, I did some... extreme things for the sake of trying to get out of the Hells. Not all of them were polite to her." She looks up from her nails. "It's not especially that I had anything against her---it was just a question of freedom from the Hells versus the marriage, and the former was more important."

[Recaiden]

Well, that's a real obvious signal of not caring about this lady. Maybe too obvious.
"Did you have anything for her? Or was it all just things you did to get free?"
The bug-lady would like think that she wouldn't do anything like that. But then, she'd probably like not to be in the 9985th hell, either.

[Beans]

Konstanze nods, smiling softly. "Oh, there was fondness. The union was partly politics, survival, but there was spice in the pot." She giggles with a little shoulder-shimmy to underline her point. "But between love and freedom... I made my grab for freedom. Didn't work that time. But I eventually got out of the jail that is the 1010th Hell. I won't pretend it's not unromantic, perhaps a little cold." Her smile turns a little sardonic. Her shadow makes a little heart silhouette between its hands, then breaks the heart by separating its hands.

[Recaiden]

The bug points both her right hands at Konstanze's shadow accusingly. She sees what it's up to there!
Right? That did happen and wasn't just her imagination and the alcohol working together to cause confusion?
"One can't expect Hell to be romantic, but then, it's still a little sad. Anyway, what do you do with your freedom, as a, uh, ghost? Wraith?"

[Fenric]

Fenric looks over at TASBot and Changer with a bemused expression.

How oddly specific. Why would you make someone say that as the penalty for losing a bet?

[Beans]

The bug points both her right hands at Konstanze's shadow accusingly. She sees what it's up to there!
Right? That did happen and wasn't just her imagination and the alcohol working together to cause confusion?
"One can't expect Hell to be romantic, but then, it's still a little sad. Anyway, what do you do with your freedom, as a, uh, ghost? Wraith?"

Konstanze notices the pointing and glances at her shadow. "Ah, it does that. Anyway... well, what I do with my freedom? This!" She waves a hand about. "I go where I want to go, do what I want to do. Just knowing I'm free makes everything sweeter."

[Recaiden]

"But what do you want?"
The bug-girl can't relate. It's always been about things she wasn't able to do at all. Not as a matter of freedom, but as a matter of lacking capabilities.
"Visiting this lame bar?"

[Beans]

Konstanze tilts her head. "I find it rather charming---and yes, visiting this tavern is something I want. Perhaps I will waste some time in that shopping mall place later, just to see what sort of things are sold. I'm still on my victory lap, and the world is mine to drink in." She spreads her hands wide. Her shadow does the same, then draws its hands to its face as if to drink from water held in cupped hands. "I can afford to want mundane things now that I'm free, so I will embrace the opportunity."

[Recaiden]

The bug-lady shakes a finger disapprovingly at the shadow. What is it up to, pantomiming on its own? It's a shame, is what it is.
"A victory lap, huh?" Most of what Konstanze is saying is confusing. Trog's Tavern, charming? Inconceivable. But...celebrating even small things after a big success. That's more relatable. They had so little time to enjoy anything with all the demon problems back then...

She decides she needs another drink to better understand all this, and waves one of the servers over.
"That does sound nice."

[Beans]

Konstanze giggles at the bug-lady admonishing her shadow. "Oh, and it is. There are so many little places I plan to pop in on, just because I have the opportunity and the leisure to." She tilts her head. "But what brings you here, then? You don't seem to think overly much of the place."

[Recaiden]

"I needed a drink, and I can't go to the normal bar. I might run into...someone." Someone in particular that is. Obviously she's run into someone here.
"And this place is better than nowhere."

[Zefir]

Zefir turns around from his barchair as he hears the robot proclaim his dislikes.

"This is not the internet. " he replies. "You can post your dislikes there like everyone else."

[Beans]

"I needed a drink, and I can't go to the normal bar. I might run into...someone." Someone in particular that is. Obviously she's run into someone here.
"And this place is better than nowhere."

"Which one is your normal bar? And... ah, it's one of those sorts of someones, is it?" She nods. "Yes, I can understand the feeling. How bad would it be if you did run into them?"

[Purple Countess]

Natalie leaves Konstanze to her new conversation partner, instead chatting to Zee. "It sounds nice, and I will." Natalie grins and takes a quick sip of her cider and her eyes widen. "Ooh, that's nice."

Someone arrives into the tavern. It's a dark-skinned young woman with shoulder-length black hair styled into a dreadlocked mohawk and amber eyes on black sclera. She's wearing a red leather jacket (with the front opened up so the light grey short-sleeved top she's wearing can be seen), leather leggings and a pair of black converse-style shoes on her feet. Her Omni-beads are hidden under the long sleeves of her jacket.

Looking around the bar, her 'resting serious face' turns into a smile once she spots her target, which she begins to walk towards. "Hi, babe." She says once she gets within kissing distance of Natalie, a kiss which is planted on her girlfriend's cheek just before she takes a seat next to her.

Karasu turns to face Zee and order something. "Evening. I'll have what she's having." She says, pointing to Natalie.

[Earl of Purple]

Natalie grins and waves when Karasu enters, and stands up to kiss her girlfriend's cheek before they sit down. "Careful, it's sweet cider from Applekick farms. It's made from apples, it's sweet, and it's definitely got a kick. All in all, well named, and quite nice." Natalie smiles.

[Recaiden]

"Which one is your normal bar? And... ah, it's one of those sorts of someones, is it?" She nods. "Yes, I can understand the feeling. How bad would it be if you did run into them?"

"The Battered Shield. And it would be awful! Just awful, she- ... not that bad, I guess, in absolute terms. But it would definitely ruin today all over again." Ah, Konstanze understands that part. Some actual sympathy.

She then points off into a seemingly empty corner of the tavern. "You know what I mean."