"Well, he likes to talk, that one," the barmaid said passively while she deposited a new mug in front of Riena. Her words had no tone of disdain nor amusement, as she was someone who had clearly seen it all. The heavy set woman was simply stating a fact while balancing a number of drinks on her small tray. Her round face was friendly enough, and her thick gray hair gave the sense of a gentle and caring woman without being inviting to unwanted pleas from beggars. With no other word spoken, nor glance thrown towards the young whip master, the older barmaid turned gracefully despite her larger frame, and walked off to the next table of random drunkards to help them stay that way.
Riena brought the new mug to her lips and paused. Gently, she reached in and plucked a wing from the fly that had decided to take a bath in her drink. She brought the little critter closer to her face for inspection. The creature started to buzz as it frantically tried to get free. Letting go of it, Riena watched it fly erratically as her right hand found the hilt of her whip she had placed on the table. She squeezed tight but quickly released it and let out a disappointing sigh. She knew she could snap the fly out of the air with ease, but cracking her whip in an unknown establishment had never ended well. As she resigned herself to being a good girl, she caught the glance of Manoel who, under the shadows of his hood, had been observing her from the far corner of the small tavern. The left side of her mouth curled up into a sly grin as she nodded towards the wizard. Seemingly satisfied, his gaze left hers and wondered around the room. Without him, they'd all be dead, Riena thought. She liked Manoel well enough, but would probably never outwardly admit it to anyone.
Taking a gulp of her now fly-free mug of ale, she turned her attention towards the little group sitting at the table in front of the fireplace. The fire cracked loudly as it burned through wood still wet of snow. Its flames danced wildly, giving even more life to the self-proclaimed tactical mastermind that was the warrior Lyc. He was in the middle of one of his wild self-serving tales. Riena had to admit that he did put on a good show, but she had heard the same stories a hundred times, so it became easy to tune them out. He was, however, quite handsome and she didn't mind looking at him. Standing well above six feet tall, Lyc had been gifted with a perfectly chiseled chin, and a dashing smile which was accented by his perfect long thin moustache. He would often gently twist it with the thumb and forefinger of his right hand when that hand wasn't holding his prized possession: his rapier. It was a very special family heirloom, according to the big man himself.
Sitting closest to the fire and across from the storyteller was the tiny axe wielding warrior known as Elsi. She was fairly new to the party, and Riena found her wide-eyed, child-like stare at the much taller Lyc rather comical. However, her bright and excited smile made her quite endearing. She was actually cute without her roughly sewn leather helmet, which now hung on her massive axe by the fire to dry. Seeing Elsi's bright orange hair dancing wildly every which way, Riena understood why the headgear was necessary, especially during battle. But watching her listen to her old friend, Riena wondered how long it would be before she also tuned him out.
Beside the little axe-girl was who Riena would probably consider her closest friend, if such a thing existed. Relaxed, with his feet up on the table, and probably thinking about the next course of action for their journey to the Twin Castles up the mountain, Josse sat silently enjoying his usual hot mug of cider. Not one for meads or ales, the well educated archer always had a calm sense about him. As reckless and chaotic as Riena was, Josse was cold and calculating. He never wasted an arrow, or took a step that didn't have a greater purpose. While Josse was as quiet as Manoel, he never seemed to be brooding or stewing. Unlike the wizard, Josse actually enjoyed the company of others.
"...and then! BOOM," Lyc exclaimed, knocking down his chair as he stood in a jolt. Elsi jumped back with a happy squeal, while Josse slowly looked up showing only slight interest. "Lightning struck as we reached the top of the Haunted Keep," Lyc continued, paying no mind to the new sets of eyes now fixed upon him.
Riena looked around the room and met the gaze of the old barmaid, who shrugged and carried on as if nothing happened. However, paying close attention to the storyteller and the small group in front of the fireplace, was a skinny man under a black cloak, sitting in the darkest corner of the tavern. In front of him on the table was a wooden bowl pushed at arms length to indicate he was finished with his meal, and a rather small but thick tablet. She didn't like the look of this man, nor did she appreciate the intensity in his eyes as he looked over at her friends.
Glancing away from the strange man for a moment, Riena looked over to where Manoel had been sitting earlier. The wizard was still there, caught her stare, and a nod of agreement passed between them. If there was one thing she liked about the sullen warlock, it was his ability to read the situation. Having both him and Josse with them made her feel confident that they could get out of any trouble they might stumble into.
She turned her attention back to the man, while setting her mug down and gripping her whip. Riena felt that they were not going to get more than one shot at this. She threw a quick glance at Manoel, and saw a small sparkle of energy in the red crystal that stood atop his golden wand. He was ready. Still seated, Riena lashed out with her lengthy whip, sending it flying across the room. As always, its aim was true, wrapping itself around the cloaked man. Stunned, the man allowed himself to be easily brought down when Riena yanked back with force.
Without hesitation, both Riena and Manoel stood up and rushed to where the man lay on the floor. Reaching down, Riena soon realized that the instant the man had hit the floor he had vanished, leaving only an empty cloak. She looked up at Manoel, who was making his way to the table and the object the man had left behind.
"A Tablet of Power, or so it looks like," Manoel said without looking back. "I'm guessing he was a summoner sent here to scout us out." His words were spoken without emotion, simply stating the facts.
"What's going on here?" It was the barmaid, and she had a rather large man behind her. Riena realized it was the bartender, who looked quite a bit bigger when he wasn't behind his counter.
"We were just leaving," Riena said, standing up to meet the old woman's eyes who had not changed her demeanor but was clearly hinting that she wanted no trouble in her establishment.
Riena put her fingers to her lips, and let out a harrowing whistle, interrupting the climax of Lyc's amazing tale of victory atop the tallest tower of the Haunted Keep. Elsi jumped three feet in the air, but landed gracefully and ready for battle. Josse stretched his long legs and got up as if nothing happened. For his part, Lyc looked utterly crushed that he didn't get to finish his story.
One by one, the three of them brushed past Riena as they put on their damp winter wears and headed out into the snowy darkness. Unfortunately, they had not had time yet to ask if the village had an inn. This would end up being a long and cold night.
"I'm going to keep this," Manoel said to the barmaid, showing her the tablet that had belonged to the individual they wished they knew more about. Hearing no protest from their hosts, Manoel shoved the weirdly shaped piece of brass into his thick robe before turning to leave. At the door, he hesitated, reached back into his robe and pulled his hand out with two gold coins. It was a lot more than what they owed the tavern for their food and drink, but the hope of overpayment was always to buy a little silence. Riena nodded to her fellow traveller, and he tossed the coins onto the table closest to him and disappeared into the night.
All eyes in the tavern were now fixed on Riena, but hers stayed locked with the barmaid's. Slowly, she let her whip uncoil, and with one quick snap of her wrist, the tip of the whip screamed through the air. It ended with a loud snap and returned just as swiftly, leaving behind only a dead fly slowly dropping to the dirty wooden floor.
"No charge for that," Riena said, ending her staredown with the old lady with a sly wink. She made her way to the door, had to laugh to herself as she stepped out into the wintery night as she heard the barmaid's parting words, "well, at least storytime is over."