Meanwhile, back in the Watering Hole Tavern ….

[Phineas J. Pennefeather]

Phineas J. Pennefeather, the Halfling proprietor of the Watering Hole Tavern, emerges from the bush carrying a large sack of what appears to be the gatherings of an afternoon in the local woods and meadows.

Stomping and wiping his boots on the doormat, he then walks into the Tavern, through the back door, across the main room and directly to the corner kitchen. He carefully puts the sack on the floor behind the counter and without taking off his coat, he goes over to the stove and checks for fire.

“Damn it!”

Phineas looks around and, not seeing anyone in the main room, he pokes at the fire and finds a few coals still showing a little red. With first the kindling and then a few well-placed pieces of dried wood, he gets the stove fire going to his satisfaction.

After taking of his coat, the Halfling ties on a well-used leather apron and returns to his bag of gleanings. He begins by placing four handfuls of wild onions on the counter, wiping the last of the soil away and soaking them in water to wash away any remaining dirt.

Phineas put a large kettle pot on the stove to boil and returns to his preparations.

[Lessa]

A woman, face tattooed, steps in. She wordlessly places a headless rabbit on the counter; it is dead and cleaned. She nods at Phineas and steps out again, seating herself on the stoop in the sunshine.

[Phineas J. Pennefeather]

Phineas continues cooking and readily incorporates the rabbit into his flurry of food preparations.

”Thanks for the rabbit, It looks like a nice one!”, he says to the tattooed woman as he looks up and to the right making an addition to his mental book-keeping..

The Halfling washes, tresses and otherwise readies the rabbit for roasting over the fire while he continues to cook. After adding a few herbs, it’s cooking over a low flame.
He returns to his gathered wild vegetables and carries on with his work of cooking for the local folk and travellers alike.

[Phineas J. Pennefeather]

Phineas the Halfling has been doing his best to sweep and mop out the tavern’s main room. The wooden floor, still damp, smells of the pine needles that Phineas used to infuse the cleaning solution of water and vinegar.

Far more noticeable than this, the simmering stew pot fills the room with the mouth-watering aroma of roasted rabbit stew flavoured with wild onions and the unmistakable fragrance of wild celery.

[Torvallis!]

A figure can be seen in the corner of the tavern, a spoon upright in either hand, a bowl in front of them. An orb spiderweb has been woven between the spoons.

"It's been a full day, Phineas. How much longer does the stew need and will fire magic help?"

[Phineas J. Pennefeather]

“Hey, there, Fire Wizard!” the Halfling greets the little settlement’s resident pyro. “I did see you through the window earlier, wandering around outside. I’m glad that you finally made it inside the tavern!”

Upon noticing the spider that the little mage has brought with him, the Halfling adds the following:
“Torvalis, you have to leave your “little pet” outside. After what my new helper went through, we are not very keen on spiders of any size in the Tavern.”

Phineas grabs the broom and sweeps around the mage to dislodge any stray cobwebs.

“As far as the food, goes everything is ready, the stew is one of my best, and the bread is fresh. The ale I made while you all were asleep, is not quite up to my best, but it will do.”

“Now, as far as payment, what will it be?”

[Borin Ironhammer]

The front door of the tavern swings open and the tall dwarf, Borin, with his beard braided and his giant axe leaned haphazardly over his shoulder enters. His boots thump and his armour clinks as he begins to walk across the room.

"I'll take a mug of ale" he says gruffly to Merryweather throwing a couple of coins on the counter as he passes by.

When he looks to the other end of the room and sees Torvalis! he turns around and with a look of exasperation on his face throws several more coins on the counter "actually, you had better make that a flagon of ale."

[Phineas J. Pennefeather]

With the entry of the Dwarf into the Tavern, and especially the clink of the coins, Phineas pours a large frothy flagon of ale. He quickly sets the drink, along with a trencher of rabbit stew and an end of bread in easy reach of Borin Ironhammer.

“Enjoy!” the Halfling chuckles. “We should talk about some business sometime soon.”

[Horns]

Having praised Lord Fire for the final time, Horns put the mixture over the fire and waited. He had told Torvalis! that he didn't want to try to make the potion again, but he knew he would never get better at alchemy if he didn't keep trying. He chose to make his attempt away from the Watering Hole, for three good reasons:

Firstly, he didn't want to burn it down if things went wrong again.
Secondly, he didn't want anyone to watch him mess up.
Thirdly, he didn't want Phineas to notice he wasn't cleaning up the bunkhouse.

Thinking himself clever, he popped in some wax noseplugs, so he wouldn't have to deal with the smell of burning sulfur, and sat back while the cauldron bubbled. 'I could go for some stew right about now,' he thought absently, leaning back and looking at the sky. 'I wonder when Phineas will have supper ready.' The bubbling got louder, and a look of terror walked right across the lounging faun's face. "Oh, no."

The explosion wasn't terribly large, and Horns quickly put out the series of small fires that it caused. He sighed, and grimaced at the smell, which wasn't completely blocked by his noseplugs. The smell of his own burning leg-fur, however, was.

He stashed his cauldron with the regular alchemy supplies as stealthily as he could, grabbed the broom he had taken with him, and walked into the Watering Hole. "The bunkhouse is, uh, gonna take another little while!" He gave his most charming smile and turned to the stove. "I see the food is ready!" He ditched the broom, and started on a helping of stew, completely oblivious to the fire just below his backside.

[Borin Ironhammer]

"Your arse is on fire" Borin said, his voice muffled by a mouth full of stew. He then took a large gulp of ale straight out of the flagon to wash the stew down, spilling a little bit on his beard and wiping it off with the back of his arm.

[Phineas J. Pennefeather]

Phineas pulls a draft of ale for his Faunish Alchemist-in-training and sets it down in front of Horns while he hands him a wet towel to put out the flames.

The Halfling waves his hands through the air to dissipate the smoke and smell of burnt Faun-fur.

“Here!” he says to his apprentice. “Try to keep your spirits up!”

A good employer has to keep his staff happy. He looks around, checking for other signs of fire where it should not be.

“Remember to always keep an extra bucket of water and a bucket of sand on hand, just in case, Horns.”

The Halfling catches a glimpse of somebody outside and then he turns to the door to invite the newcomer inside.

“Is there somebody there? Welcome to the Watering Hole!”

[Timmean]

Just two steps into Tavern, Timmean froze as the mixed smell of stew and ashes met his nose. Grimacing, he glanced around then groaned.

"Torvallis!, what did you do? That stew smells excellent, but something was clearly... overdone."

"Anyway, Phineas, it looks like you're a bit busy right now, so I won't take up much of your time. However, when you get a moment, I have some plans I'd like to discuss for the winter. And a few other... questions. Oh, and Borin! Would you happen to have an axe for sale? Not a war-ax, just something to cut wood."

[Volkihere Malacalo]

The door that Borin swung open has slowly closed. A quiet click is heard from the door latch. A young man clothed head to toe in the darkest black sits down next to the door, a blade at his side and another one on his lap.

"Borin! Afternoon. How have you been? He says this in a very friendly tone.


This time in a more serious tone." Oh Phineas, Torvalis! Have ether of you seen the Centurion?"

[Horns]

Horns timidly used the wet towel and blushed deeply. "Yes, of course, Phineas. I'll be more careful." He winced as he touched the burned area, and took a big swig of ale to dull the pain. He sighed contentedely, and started cleaning up the stew he'd dropped in surprise at Borin's outburst (And the realization his arse was on fire). He drew up another bowl of stew, grabbed a heel of bread, and shoveled it all into his mouth quickly, so he'd be ready to help the new arrivals if they needed anything. He gulped, shrugged, and finished off the ale for good measure.

[Horns]

Horns blushed again. "Uh, it wasn't Torvalis, Timmean." He gave a short, embarrassed laugh. "Little alchemical accident; shouldn't happen again." He smiled, and turned so he was facing most of the room. "Can I get anybody anything?"

[Borin Ironhammer]

"Ay," Borin says to Volk taking another sip of ale "not bad. It's been an interestin evnin, how about yerself?"

He tips the bottom of the flagon up finishing the last few drops. He waves catching the faun's attention "another ale over here!"

[Torvallis!]

"Ah! So many distractions! The stew has certainly brought out the community, eh, Phineas?
Ahem, I haven't seen the Sergeant, Stabby-murder-person, but I do have things of great import to discuss with both of you! After supper!

Now, Phineas, payment! Can I offer you the lack of suspicious arso- I see you're not interested in that method of payment.
Save your eternal self from boredom! And deliver you onto the great, everburning- Nono, I see I'm losing your interest.
Mushrooms!", T! exclaimed, hauling forth mushrooms of many sizes, caps and stalks from the various pouches affixed to their robe.

Singling them out into groups, they began explaining, "These ones make a good broth, and these ones taste good when fried in butter, and these ones kill people instantly, and these ones, OH BOY, these ones summon dragons! I ate just one and this purple and pink-polka dotte- I see you don't believe me.

Okay, how about a story?"

[Horns]

"Mug or flagon?" Horns asked his Dwarven friend. Realizing he already knew the answer, Horns grabbed a flagon and filled it to the brim without waiting for a responce. "Here you are!" He said cheerfully as he laid it in front of Borin. He extended his hand for payment.

[Borin Ironhammer]

Borin looks at the faun then looks towards Tim "I'll have a woodcutters axe ready for you by midday tomorrow, pay for my ale and you will owe me nothing for it, if you ask me an axe for the price of an ale is a damn good deal."

[Volkihere Malacalo]

Volk replies to Borin "I am fine I just returned from a patrol of the area, nothing out of the ordinary."

With a little more suspicion he sits up and looks at the lady with the tattooed face. "Thoes are beautiful tattoos, it seems like a feature I would remember, and I can't remember you, who are you?"

[Phineas J. Pennefeather]

The Halfling takes a long look over the locals filling the Tavern’s main room and smiles. This is what he was hoping for when he came to this little corner of the Isle of the Dead, a little life.

“Horns!, he says quietly to his apprentice Alchemist. “For the time being, you have the run of the taps and the kitchen. In exchange, yours, in moderation, is on the house. Serve what you can from the ale and food but keep the payment and barters simple.”

Turning to Torvallis, Phineas takes a quick survey of the mushrooms and applies his knowledge of such things to fully evaluate the collection.

“Not a bad days work,” he muses. “Although you may have the “good-in-butter” ones confused with the “this-one-kills” types: a fairly common mistake that is usually not repeated.”

He waves a hand to the large sack sitting on the kitchen counter.

“I was out picking earlier, as well. But I will take them for part of the payment.”

“For the rest of your keep, I believe that we should try out your bard skills.”

(OOG: If you are about to tell a story or sing a song, please start another topic thread entitled something like “A Tale of … “ or “Torvallis’ Song of …” . This allows for easier archiving.)

[Lessa]

Jennet stretches and steps out of her sunbeam into the dim and busy tavern to join the rest, nodding at those she recognizes and looking carefully at those she doesn't. She grins at Horns - a friendly smirk - and notes Borin's presence with interest. To Volk she says, "You don't look familiar either. Nice armour. Did you get it around here?" She slips a couple of gems out of her pouch and onto the counter, gestures to Horns for an ale, and settles in for an afternoon at the tavern.

[Volkihere Malacalo]

"No, I aquired it some time ago, and you also answered my question with a question, not a good way to start our first interaction." He responds teasingly.

[Horns]

Horns looked at Timmean and Borin. "Well, it doesn't matter to me who pays, or how you pay, so you two can work it out among yourselves and pay me when you're ready; I'll be around." He made a mental note of the drink so he'd remember to collect later, and walked over to Phineas. "You can count on me! Everything will run smooth as silk! I can pour drinks with the best of 'em!" Turning back to the room, he returned Jennet's smile and ran to the bar to grab her ale. He scooped up the gems and laid the mug in front of her. "Enjoy!" He said as he smiled again, broadly, and nodded to Volk amicably. He sneaked a glance at Phineas, to make sure his employer could see how well he was doing, grabbed an ale for himself, and set about cleaning some mugs behind the bar.

[Borin Ironhammer]

Borin takes a sip of ale and make up his mind "never mind I'll pay for it." After finishing the last few bites of stew he turns to Phineas "thanks for the stew, it was delicious." He finishes off the second flagon of ale and wipes off his beard and gets up he walks over to Timmean "I had better go get started in on that axe come by the forge tomorrow afternoon to pick it up, we'll talk about price then." Borin heads out placing a few extra coins on the counter for the second ale and the stew which he didn't remember asking for but thoroughly enjoyed.

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