In reply to Titus Blackwell (msg # 876):

The innkeep is more than happy to allow Titus to perform in exchange for food and lodgings for the night.

"The Bone Bowl?" he asks with a shrug, "Times were it was the kind of place for bold ruffians.  Now it's the kind of place for old ruffians, and there are no old bold ruffians."

You find the named establishment without too much difficulty.  It is a large squat building made of grey brick and great jagged uneven rocks piled with their pointier sides facing outward from a black hole that is the front door.  It is only a story high, with the roof built as an open terrace for sitting and looking out over the fields of dark thorns and the marsh beyond.  The top wall is crenelated so that the building has the look of a very crudely constructed fortress.

There is no sign, rather a small humanoid skull atop a wooden shaft painted bright colors.

The doorway is covered by a simple leather flap and the interior is dark and greasy with the smells of smoking meat, blood and candle wax.  The blood, it appears, is largely in the form of thick red sausages and a nearly as thick pudding which a large woman ladles into ugly broken bowls that do appear to be the tops of skulls.  The beer and reeking black wine too is served in similar fashion.

The lower level is packed earth with thick tattered tapestries on the walls too choked with soot and grease to have any recognizable patterns remaining.

When you ask after Flynn, you are directed upward and a plate of blood sausages shoved into your hands.

When you climb the thin stone steps, you indeed find Flynn sitting in a big wooden chair beside Turncoat Dan.  Between them is an upturned barrel serving as a table, and on it an empty plate and full cups.

In reply to GM (msg # 1):

Well then!  You lot finally show up! Flynn taunts good-naturedly.

Well don't just stand there!  Sit down!  Have something to drink.  He eyes Godrick carefully.  Likely Flynn's already had several to drink today.

You have some money for our Lord I take it?

In reply to Flynn Goodall (msg # 2):

Titus slinks up the stairs completely faking looking at ease.

This is Uldaf's kind of place, I'm glad I have my room sewn up for the evening.

Well you know... we had to worry about interdimensional travel, and wolves, and birds, and demonspeakers, and animated scarecrows that tried to murderfuck us but other than that... peice of cake.

He says with exaggerated nonchalance sliding into one of the chairs and taking over the table with his presence.  He reaches out and swipes one of the skull bowls and takes a tiny sip of the wine.

Enrei does as he's told, sitting at the barrel and taking a drink.  He tucks into his sausages as Titus details their trials, "And a bridge," he chimes in, remembering Arule's state between mouthfulls.

In reply to Enrei Omal'i (msg # 4):

After securing the horses in the stables and a room for their prisoner in the first tavern where he can "sleep off last night's revelries" -- a room in which the prisoner is bound, gagged, and locked -- Brennan follows the rest of the group to the rendezvous point with Flynn.


Upon arrival, he takes a seat and picks uneasily at the blood sausages for a moment. He sniffs one, tests its firmness and relative "done-ness", then shrugs and takes a bite.

"We've done our duty and then some," he says, swallowing his first bite and debating a second. "The roads on which we traveled were not peaceful. We killed many beasts... and several men. I fear the war grows closer than we'd wished."

Leaving the sausage alone for the time being, he glances at Flynn and the others, as though to assess their injuries or lack thereof.

"I trust your travels went more smoothly than ours?"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:51, Mon 17 Aug 2015.

In reply to Brennan Otthild (msg # 5):

Along the way, Brennan is able to find a place for the horses for the night as well as a small inn not far from the main entrance in which to "house" the demonspeaker.

These arrangements, due to Brennan's stellar negotiation skills, cost in total a mere 4 pennies (OOC: I took it from your sheet but feel free to get your companions to help pay for your foresight.)

The Bone Bowl

"Truly?"  Traitor Dan asks, eyes agog.  "It sounds as if there is a story or two in there?  Pray tell us, and leave out none of the violent or lusty bits!"

Godrick clears his throat and steps toward Flynn with the sack of money he's collected, but the big man waves him away with a look that clearly says "I don't want to talk work right now, I'll look at your book later."

Dan chuckles.  "And when you're through, we'll see if our own adventures add up to yours.  Be eloquent singer, the gauntlet is down and our journey was not as uneventful as you may think."

The sausages, for those who try them, are thick, mealy and greasy with suet and blood.  The stuff in the bowls and in the large jug set on the floor beside Flynn from which he will fill them, turns out not to be wine but something else.  It tastes vaguely of apples and rye, is the color of watery blood, and is fearsomely strong.

In reply to GM (msg # 6):

Titus arches an eyebrow at traitor Dan and takes a long pull of (formerly) Traitor Dan's drink.

Story or two?  PHEH!

Titus makes a dismissive brushing motion.

You have no idea of what we have been through and seen on this most recent trip, story or two is a horrific underestimation for us.

Titus pulls out 4 pennies and lines them up infront of him.

I've got four stories for you.

He says picking up a coin and spinning it as he says

Each tale.  More Interesting.  More outlandish.  More Bizzare.

He slaps his hand down on all four coins

Than the last. 

He says with finality.  He pushes the coins towards Dan with a devilish smile.

How many stories do you have?

In reply to Titus Blackwell (msg # 7):

Dan smiles.  It is the sort of smile a crocodile would give a bird that asked it for directions.

He places four pennies on the barrel, matching Titus'.

"One story, but that is all I need.  As the ladies down the street would agree, length and finesse can more than make up for quantity."

In reply to GM (msg # 8):

Titus cocks an eyebrow.

That good huh?

He lifts up his hand that you saw four coins disappear under to see that there is now only one.  He holds out his hands in the classic magician's pose of nothing up my sleeve.

One story... you made the challenge, you start the contest.

He flourishes his hand and sits attentively listening for a story.

/ooc is this the sort of time I would do a perform roll? /ooc
This message was last edited by the player at 12:15, Tue 18 Aug 2015.

In reply to Titus Blackwell (msg # 9):

Sensing the direction the wind is about to blow, Uldaf stands from the table.

If you would be so kind, I have ample need of coin to replenish the medical supplies we used in keeping our

Eyeing Arule directly..

useless escorts alive. If you're angling for me to be able to work magic again, I'll need to visit the apothecary, and set to brewing overnight.

Or we could just take our chances with the party's demonstrable history of vitality.

In reply to Uldaf Asbjorn (msg # 10):

Yes, Flynn agrees following Uldaf's gaze to Arule.  I will indeed want an accounting of how you came to be injured.

Once Godrick is satisfied that the ledgers are balanced, you'll all be paid the balance of your contracts.

He looks Uldaf over once more.

And I will certainly not deny you reimbursement for your administrations, nor fresh supplies should you continue to work in my employ.

He turns to Dan.

We have, it seems, a new assignment but we can get to that in a moment.

In reply to Flynn Goodall (msg # 11):

Dan nods and smirks.

"Our tale then, begins much as yours did, with a parting of ways on the road.

For us, the going was easy and none were foolish enough to try anything underhanded.  A few brigands we did see, but they didn't make any moves on so large a band, no.  The real fun began in a small hamlet a few days out..."

Dan is a serviceable enough storyteller, though he relies far more on details of bloody injuries, fantastic feats that are unlikely to be true, and long drawn-out descriptions of the women he bedded "for the good of the company".  He too is more long winded than eloquent, but he holds attention well enough.

In short, the company proper made its rounds of the larger towns at the base of the mountains, collecting taxes with little or no issue.  However, in one small hamlet, they were beseeched to journey into the woods and track down a witch that had begun plaguing them.

When they investigated, they indeed found a young man with the power to summon animals.  When they approached him, all manner of small critters attacked though they eventually ran down and incapacitated the man.  Flynn adds that the witch was also able to summon fire from his fingertips and that poison dripped from his tongue.

The crew then bound the man and brought him along, the intent being to turn him over to the Inquisitors.

He sits now, you are told, under the lock and key of the city watch with Sir Twelvepenny left to watch as well.

"And THAT," Dan concludes.  Is our tale.  Now, are you ready to retract your wager then?"

Enrei sits, rapt, as Dan recounts the company's story, what remains of his sausages are untouched for the duration.  He is the source of many a timely "And then what?" during the story.  When Dan challenges Titus to match the tale Enrei immediately speaks up, "Ooh, tell him the story of the house with the demon.  I like to hear it again," he encourages the bard.

In reply to GM (msg # 12):

Titus feigns a disconcerted look and makes an attempt to collect his coin when Enrei chimes in.  Titus smiles... slow and wide... wiggles his eyebrows at Dan in much the same way a spider would if it had eyebrows.

Who am I to disappoint my audience?

He muses aloud.

I would invite Brennan and Flynn... one from each party to be arbiters of the contest.  Additionally either arbiter may call bullshit if either of us strays too far from the realms of reality.  Agreed?

He asks, all the while gesturing with the Dan's drink that he stole earlier.

In reply to Titus Blackwell (msg # 14):

Flynn chuckles and nods.  As a barmaid pokes her head up onto the terrace, he signals for more food and drink.

In reply to Flynn Goodall (msg # 15):

Brennan, too, nods his acquiescence.

In reply to Brennan Otthild (msg # 16):

Titus fans himself dramatically and makes a show of taking a drink from the mug that was formerly Dan's.

It began at our bittersweet parting of companies... clearly I knew that our party was destined for great adventure....

Titus embarks on a (relatively) full retelling of their misadventures since leaving. He begins with a warmup of how Arule was injured and tells of his headfirst dive over the side of the cliff to save him.

He then talks about the town that had been put to the sword and were stacked up in a tent around a crystal for some coven ritual.  How they had interrupted it and caused the crystal's destruction which appeared to power the witches.  One with the ability to grow vines, one who could turn cloth to steel and so on (He DOES NOT mention their superpowers, instead showing cleverness, tactics and teamwork to break the witches... complete with a brief demonstration of knife throwing where he casually takes three knives and throws them all at once in a tiny grouping.)

The tale then shifts to the story of the birds and scarecrows, and Titus blends his telling of high heroics and farce, making the whole tavern look at him as he impersonated Brennan's presumed antics to chase away the birds (Titus seeing Brennan smiling slightly to himself).  He tells the story of the demon in the house and children they saved.  He even shows some of the scars from the battles to further his credibility.

He tells about the revel after the slaying of the demon and how the townswomen ravenously pounced on Lump.

The whole tavern is watching and leaning towards him at this point he pitches his voice so that they can easily hear.

I would tell you the story of when I sung the sun out in the middle of the night to face a pack of wolves, or the performance with the king of the mill but you will have to attend my show at the frontgate inn this evening. 

He then tells the tale of the brigands and the one witch they had with them, they tried to capture the witch but he flew away into the night.  He says they brought back a prisoner as well and plan to do a full interrogation of him to determine if he was just a dupe or a willing consort to the witches.

As a counterpoint to Dan's style Titus does not focus on the impossible feats or over description of the events.  The tale that Titus tells was designed with some small sparsity of detail that allowed you to insert yourself into the tail as an active observer.  Enrei got so excited at on point he even cheered as the group of heroes mopped up the big scarecrow, even Dan had curled his hands into fists during some of the fight scenes and you could see him panotmiming the moves he would have done in that situation.

With his story completed Titus sits back and smiles...

Brennan have I told it true?  Do you think that maybe I made that final scarecrow a little too small?

He gestures at Flynn and Brennan...

Gentlemen I leave the contest at your feet... unless of course Dan would like to retract his wager.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:22, Wed 19 Aug 2015.

In reply to Titus Blackwell (msg # 17):

Sufficiently unimpressed with Titus's latest attempt to measure his genitals in public, Uldaf shrinks into a corner, taking solace only in the small pleasure that his stein of mead does appear to be made of bone brings.

At least there's some of the comforts of home, for what little they are worth..

In reply to Uldaf Asbjorn (msg # 18):

Brennan looks to Flynn and Dan, as if to defer to their responses before proffering his own.