Shrugging his shoulders and grins, "Hmph. Well, good luck with that!"

Grabbing the jug of mead he offers it to Alexander, "Will you share our wealth?" If the offer is accepted he pours, if not he puts the jug down and returns to the conversation, "So, this is not your first journey away from the City, is it?"

Alexander waves his hand in the direction of the pitcher that Loukas is holding and says...I am afraid I am not much of a drinker and must make sure I wake early enough to get Armin's affairs covered in the morn. You are correct in reading me, I am very well traveled having visited the lands of the Rus before as well as Persia and even India."

Upon a closer inspection, Alexander seems a bit older than he has the previous week. Perhaps near thirty years old perhaps.

"Well, I am not sure I am such a read of a man, but it seems that one inexperienced in such things would not make you as useful to the Persian... Or Nicophorus for that matter."

Taking another sip, "Well, this is not my first journey either and I speak Persian and Rus as well... I am very happy to have joined the Persian's mission, but I can do more than 'port', so if you'd keep that in mind if your boss needs anything done, I'd appreciate it. For that matter, if I may be of use to yourself, let me know."

A'kos attention is absorbed by the woman sitting pleasantly upon his lap.

"You are a wonder," he laughs huskily, leaning forward to nuzzle her neck.  "Perhaps some privacy is in order - let us bring a bottle of spirits and go up to a room."

Snatching up the bottle of spirits, Jaleh hops off A'kos and heads for the rooms.

A'kos follows the woman, offering a brief grin and nod as he passes the other table.

"Why of course!  Here's a song I've utterly loathed for 15 long years, but it's been rearranged to a slightly more tricky form to make it a little more fun to play, this one is c-a-l-l-e-d Living In the PAST."  Out comes the flute and the one-legged stance...

Happy and I'm smiling,
Walk a mile to drink your water.
You know I'd love to love you,
And above you there's no other.
We'll go walking out
While others shout of war's disaster.
Oh, we wont give in,
Let's go living in the past.

Once I used to join in
Every boy and girl was my friend.
Now there's revolution, but they dont know
What they're fighting.
Let us close out eyes;
Outside their lives go on much faster.
Oh, we wont give in,
We'll keep living in the past.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:52, Sat 08 Aug 2009.

Alexanders eyes light up as Balthazar begins to sing the familiar tune. When finished he replies with much enthusiasm..."I have heard that song before, it is one of my favorites. I believe it was written by the bard known as Anders son from far in the western Isles! He is likened to Homer by some including myself."

The party continues well past midnight when all good travelers should already be in bed. Several of the revelers find companionship and head up to private or even public rooms including the much intoxicated Miroslav who seems to have picked his strumpet while peering through mead-goggles.

(Let me know what the rest of you are doing here and we will move on to the morning and the real start of this adventure. If I do not see anything fairly quick I will assume you all go to bed...and not together.)

In reply to Nestor (msg #112):

A'kos didn't need mead-goggles. But he ended up with a better class of woman than a typical strumpet. :)

A'kos and Jaleh will be claiming a room for the night and then Jaleh will be encouraging him to do his manly best.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:38, Sun 09 Aug 2009.

In reply to Alexander (msg #111):

Loukas claps his hands when Balthazar is done in appreciation, laughing, "There you go, Miroslav, a Byzantine response!"

To Alexander, "I do not believe I have heard this song before, but if it is by this Anderson, I agree that he is quite good. The Western Isles are known for their bards, no?"

To Loukas..."Aye, the western Isles are know for their bards...the son of Anders being one of the most famous. As fr me, I am full of wine and must check on Armin to make sure he has everything set for the mron. Goodnight to all."

When Alexander excuses himself Loukas says, "Good night, my friend. Until the morning!" But before the man gets away from the table he grabs his arm and moves in close enough to quickly whisper, "And, please, do not forget that I am here. I would earn myself some larger role in this expedition that porter, if permitted!"

When the scribe is gone he sits back down and tops off his drink. He spies a woman who seems as if she might like some company and nods a greeting to her. She approaches the table and he says something to her in a low voice, which causes her to laugh. She is not quite pretty, but he is not looking for a wife. Perhaps that is what he said to her? Probably not...

Nevertheless, she sits down next to him and he pours her some mead. They take a few more drinks from their perspective cups, but it is not long before she leans in, whispers something, he smiles, takes a big drink from his cup and nods and then follows her out of the inn. He waves at Miroslav, Balthazar, and whomever else is at the table as he leaves.

Morning comes as early as it does every day and Dobryny and Thorfinn were not jesting...they planned to leave with the sun. Of course the passengers had other ideas and slowly trickle onto the ship.

Miroslav is among the first, he looks surprisingly well rested for having such a wild time at the Boarshead. He settles in on the same bench that brought him here. One of the Rus crew members laughs and says that Miroslavs neck looks like it ran afoul of a dread Upyr in the night.

Alexander has all of Armin's gear on board is is patiently awaiting the Persian.

A'kos wakes Jaleh with the sun.

"C'mon, girl," he says contentedly.  "We better hurry, else we'll miss the tide.  Of course, I'm thinking that would not be such a bad thing!"

Laughing, he gets out of bed and gets dressed.

Loukas makes it back to the ship before the Sun's appearance looking rather worse for the wear. Stowing his armor and blade and washing his face he seats himself next to Miroslav, grunts an hello and awaits departure unenthusiastically.

Armin the Persian finds his way to the ship alone carrying nothing but a small bag. Alexander has obviously brought the Persian's gear aboard earlier.

He finds himself near the prow of the ship, smelling the salt air and already wishing for home. He asks Dobryny "How long till we reach the mouth of the Danube?"

Gasping when she became fully aware and thought of the time, Jaleh began fairly bouncing around the room and collecting her clothes. "Not such a bad thing? I am a member of the crew, I am already late! That northman could have me beaten for this. You are a passenger, you do not need to be there until the sunrise, I should have already been, preparing the ship for sail." Dressing herself as she moved, Jaleh hurried out of the room and ran for the ship.

"Northman won't touch you, I assure you," he calls to her, as they race from the inn.

If Thorfinn notices that Jaleh is a little late getting to the ship he does not seem to care. Dobryny gives her a slight disapproving glance but nothing is said.

The Norse captain says that all they are waiting on to sail is the Frankish knight, the Byzantine knight and the man called Balthazar. Once they are on board the ship will leave port under the power of the oars.

Assuming the events on the other thread have no surprising developments, Roderychus will present himself at the ship as soon as his morning rituals are done.

Balthazar arrives promptly, and he greets one and all with a slight nod, then retires to his cabin.

Just for the sale of moving on, I am going to bump us ahead a bit, get Jean on the ship and the ship out to sea. I will be starting a new thread for the next leg of the journey called Ships on the horizon.

Balthazar starts to hum in anticipation, "I see a dark sail on the horizon, set under a black cloud that hides the sun."

"Balthazar! You are killin' me with the Son of Anders!"