RP In the Tavern: Open to Everyone

[thecryoftheseagulls]

The Herald's Rest was mostly dark and silent, except for the fire lit in the great hearth casting flickering shadows about the walls, and the blue glow emanating from a certain apostate sitting before the fire next to Marian Hawke.

Anders took a deep breath and the fade cracks receded from his skin. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between two fingers, and cradled a mostly-empty mug of some piss-quality ale in his free hand.

"Sorry," he said, yet again. "We've all but given up Justice's return to the Fade being a possibility. Really, I think he expected to die when I did. Seeing as I didn't, that leaves us both in a bit of a lurch." He looked into the flames with a frown.

Comments

[greenhawke_fadewalk]

"Maybe you should consider looking for the Herald of Andraste when this is all over. They may know how to sent a spirit back to the Fade."

She drank more of her ale, frowning.

"Well, considering we can go back to our homes and considering we remember any of it.

[keelah_selai]

A hooded figure in purple and gold poked her head through the front door of The Herald's Rest. The firelight reflected off the purple-tinted glass of her helmet and the golden plates of her armor as she stepped inside and closed the door after herself. She stood, awkwardly, shifting from foot to foot, looking around the dark room.

[greenhawke_fadewalk]

"Looks like we have someone to share a drink."

Marian smiles, hand motioning to invite the figure closer.

"C'mon, have a seat."

[keelah_selai]

(OOC: Should we wait for Anders, and start a posting order?)

[greenhawke_fadewalk]

(ooc: guess we should wait for Anders, since he started this rp ^^)

[legacyofhousepavus]

Walking into the Herald's Rest felt almost like stepping through a doorway into the past. The atmosphere was so familiar it made Dorian nostalgic. Regardless, someone had said "drinks," and he wasn't willing to pass up the opportunity. After a quick glance around to find a lack of familiar faces, he placed himself at the bar. There were very few places better than a friendly bar to meet new people.

[hallianna]

Well, thought Isabela, at least the open call for drinks worked.

There was nothing like a shared bottle that loosened lips and made people feel right at home.

Even if home was kind of murky and green and a little worrisome. She glanced out the window and saw swirling green shapes cluster near the glass. She shivered, then turned her attention back to the bottles in hand and the tables that were slowly filling with people. Faces she knew, others she didn't (but would love to.)

But instead of joining a table, she placed herself at the bar, the closest she'd get to a full view of the room, and waited for someone to start talking to her. There was no doubt someone would, but she was curious if it would be a familiar face or a stranger.

[legacyofhousepavus]

Dorian at least had the courtesy to let the woman settle in before approaching, waiting until she had a drink and looked at least a little more relaxed. Once he saw such tells, he leaned over and raised an eyebrow.

"Am I right to guess you're the woman behind that open invitation?"

[hallianna]

Isabela turned slowly, glass in hand. The sight before her was glorious - beautiful man with a particularly dashing mustache looking at her quizzically, curiosity making his mouth twist just a little.

Oh, she thought, I could be in trouble. The best kind.

She waved him over with a hand, saying, "That'd be me. Admiral Isabela, of the Siren's Call II." She waited until he took the stool beside her and then asked, "How'd you know?" She brushed a hand across the brim of her gorgeous - and yes, she admitted, ridiculous -hat. "It was the hat, right? I love this hat. So tell me, stranger, who are you?"

Her eyes caught sight of Varric coming like a storm through the tavern's door and jumped to her feet. "Hold that thought, stranger, I'll be back."

Open

[varricmod]

Varric practically slammed into the room, pausing just long enough to scan the bar before heading straight for Isabela--who was already talking to Dorian. Fine. Varric wasn't exactly in a chatty mood anyway. He jerked his chin in welcome and reached over to root around until he found a bottle of the hard stuff. Bianca was set carefully out of the way before he twisted the bottle open...

...and drank three hard pulls straight from the bottle.

Re: Open

[hallianna]

"Varric!"

Isabela called his name over the growing din in the tavern. She didn't wait for him to turn.

Throwing customary caution to the wind (this was *Varric* after all), she strode across the room and didn't wait for his reply before wrapping her arms around him, snagging the already half-empty bottle from his hand and tossing it aside.

"Fuck this place," she said, lips close to his ear. "And fuck if you aren't a sight for sore eyes."

Re: Open

[varricmod]

In the shaken (rattled, unsettled, unhinged) mood he was in, he might not have responded to well to the embrace. But this was Isabela, no matter the world she came from, and Varric immediately returned the embrace.

"Maker take a giant shit on it," he muttered, then laughed. Even if she was just standing there, the pirate always could make him laugh. "Shit, Rivaini, it's been an age since I saw you--for me, at least."

[legacyofhousepavus]

If the invitation itself hadn't already confirmed it, Dorian was certain he was going to like this woman from the moment she opened her mouth. She sounded like trouble. Get-drunk-and-sing-crude-songs-a-little-too-loud-in-the-pouring-rain-in-the-city-square kind of trouble. Flirt-until-you-both-simultaneously-agree-to-start-a-bar-fight-for-the-fun-of-it kind of trouble. He settled onto the stool so he might be as close to trouble as possible.

"Admiral!" he exclaimed, paying a respectful nod to the hat. "Now it all makes perfect sense. The hat, the jewelry, your stature, that slight air of command that I would wager makes men quiver in their boots on bad days." His following smile said, Or on good days, but he left that implied. Seizing the chance to introduce himself, he put his hand on his chest and gave what small bow he could from his seated position.

"Dorian of House Pavus, most recently of Minrathous," he recited, getting suddenly struck with the strongest sense of deja vu. "And what brings you to this humble little corner of the Fade?"

Of course, he never did get his answer, as the Admiral Isabela went dashing off to--apparently a mutual friend! He lifted his mug towards Varric in a quiet toast. That dwarf knew just about everyone.

Re: Open

[hallianna]

Isabela laughed, pulled back, but the smile dropped from her face when she saw the strain on her friend's face.

"Shit, I needed that." She straightened. "Listen, Varric, I don't want to stop your..." and she eyed the bottle she'd practically ripped from him a moment ago. "Drinking binge. This is all too much."

She hitched a thumb over her shoulder toward the bar. "Tell you what. If you want to talk, I'll be over here, talking to man with the mustache. You come over when you're ready." She squeezed him one more time, winked, and walked off.

[varricmod]

Varric watched her go with a fond half-smile, gaze traveling over to Dorian. The smile grew and he nodded once.

Friendly, familiar faces. This was good, Varric reminded himself. The old family was here, as well as the new. Isabela, Sera, Dorian, Cullen, Anders--

And then his eyes skated from Anders to the woman he was talking to, and Varric turned firmly back to the bar, grabbing the bottle with stupidly trembling fingers. Though at least this time, he bothered with a glass.

Drinking. Right. That sounded like the best of plans.

[hallianna]

"Sorry about that," she said as she came back to the bar and the seat she'd abandoned. "I saw a friend. Someone I haven't seen in a long time."

Isabela readjusted her hat then turned a smile on her new friend. "So, Dorian Pavus. Minrathous." She eyed him a little more closely. "Tevinter. Interesting." She let her gaze wander over his impeccable clothing, perfectly shaped mustache, and then chuckle. "Oh, fuck me. You're good."

She leaned over to top off his drink and purred, "So, you were complimenting me before I so rudely abandoned you. Do continue."

[legacyofhousepavus]

"I had half a mind to join you when I saw who it was," Dorian commented, glancing to Varric again. Briefly, his brow wrinkled in concern. It passed as he turned back to Isabela. "But he looks like he could use a moment to get friendly with that bottle first."

"'Interesting' certainly is one way to describe it!" he laughed openly. "I would say it's beautiful. Magical. Learned. Charming." It wasn't really clear anymore if Dorian was talking about the Imperium or himself. He welcomed the refreshed drink and smiled over the rim of his mug at her in thanks.

"If you're expecting me to wax poetic about your exquisite taste in accessories and company, I really will need to know more about where you come from. The Siren's Call, was it? Am I drinking with a pirate?"

[hallianna]

"I can't say I'm surprised you know Varric. He knows everyone." She topped off her own cup and drank deeply before continuing. "And yes, he needs the drink. Fortification, the best kind."

She touched a hand to the heavy jewelry around her neck and smiled, an impish thing that lit up her face. "The Siren's Call II is my ship. So yes, sweetness, I'm a pirate. You caught me." She winked. "Though it's not like I'm trying to hide it. But I'm from Rivain originally." She tapped her lips in thought, trying for serious but the glint in her eyes gave her away. "Our countries make quiet nice bookends for Antiva."

The impish smile grew. "And oh, Antivans do like being bookended. Take that for what you will." She waved a hand at him. "But enough about me. Do tell me about you. What made you leave Tevinter?"

Open: Second Floor

[serafadewalk]

The noise downstairs was enough to drive a person crazy. Too normal, too right in this big pissing pile of wrong. Sera slipped out of her garret room, feet silent and steady as she moved in the shadows to peer down over the second level railing at the people beneath.

Dorian, maybe. Some blond man in a chicken coat, and she'd eat the biggest hat she could find if he weren't a mage. Looking all shifty and magey. Lucky for her there was a plenty big hat on the lady at the bar, plenty big lots of stuff on her. Woof. She crouched to get a better angle on that, then shook herself, because she still hadn't sewn up if these were people or ghosts or demons or some new stupid shite like Coriphinus.

Varric's face made her heart hurt, all wrecked, and she wanted to punch it. Because that was stupid too, this place, his face, ugh. She bonked her head softly against the banister. Hawke, that was Hawke! Hawke was dead, or lost, or... Sera could see why Varric was making that face now.

(OOC: Or Sera can be coaxed down to join an ongoing thread, possibly. Maybe. You might have to answer her riddles three.)

[thecryoftheseagulls]

(OOC: Ack, my apologies, guys. I had to go out for a bit and a bit turned into several hours unexpectedly. I'm back now, and good with whatever posting order).

[thecryoftheseagulls]

"Right. I'll...just...keep that in mind, then. For the next...what did you say, three years? it takes me to catch up to you," Anders said.

He clenched his hand around his mug at the mention of not making it back home, and looked away.

"There isn't much fucking point if we don't make it back, is there?" He muttered. "I've got two things to live for, and neither of them are in this shithole. Fuck." He drew a hand down his face, and looked bleakly into the flames, only rousing when Marian noticed the newcomer.

That's about when he noticed Varric, as well, catching the look the dwarf sent to his companion. Anders glanced at Marian, and back to Varric, and gave a small frown.

"Right. Excuse me for a moment," he said, getting to his feet and crossing the tavern towards the dwarf.

[thecryoftheseagulls]

Anders crossed the room to Varric's side, gnawing unconsciously on his bottom lip. He looked for a moment like he was going to drop a hand on Varric's shoulder, and then thought better of it.

Instead he leaned his hip against the bar next to the dwarf.

"Varric. It's...it's good to see you."

[greenhawke_fadewalk]

(ooc: my apologies too, had to go to bed early for a job interview. I guess we should go like Marian, Tali, Anders and back to Marian. Is that ok for you, Tali?)

[varricmod]

He looked up, tilting his chin to better read Anders's face. "I might not have admitted as much even half a year ago," he mused. "But it's good to see you too, Blondie. Do all the black feathers mean what I think they do?"

[dorianfadewalk]

"Decorating the bar, waiting for the attention that is your due?" Dorian tsked, moving to lean artfully against the bar next to the other man. "Some things remain constant across universes, it would seem."

He eyed the other...him...with frank curiosity. Older, dashing, and yes, the silver really did look rather good. That was good to know.

For his part, Dorian was dressed in a most unusual--and beautifully elaborate--robe that seemed as much metal as cloth in places, its delicate pieces reflecting the light.