Chapter 1: Weston Welcomes You

[Shonuff]

The air is crisp and chilled for a clear early Stonetem (September) morning. the pines and elms sway in the breeze. The sun shine is making a light haze come off the wet grass from the night's frosting. Signs that it will be a hearty winter is evident everywhere.

First sign of a town is the massive cabbage and potato fields. You see farmers and laborers working the fields as you pass. you spot the two towered gate ahead marking you have arrived at Weston. No wall or surrounding palisaide but a massive ornate two towered gate greets your arrival from the East. four guardsmen atop the towers watch you enter intently as the bustle and smells of a city reach your senses shortly after entering under the gates. People walking past seem not interested in your arrival but move with a purpose. The road directly to your right leads toward a sign swinging in the morning chilled breeze. The sign is of a treant crying into his hands while a halfling holds up an axe. The sign is scorched around its edges, like it was saved from a fire long ago. The paint is chipped but it is still readable.

A few sell swords and armored men move around you as you pass. They are eating biscuits in hand or discussing something inaudible. The town is alive with mercantilism and people shouting to others is beginning to increase in frequency. Bakers putting up fresh breads i ntheir windows and vendors filling their storefront with fresh apples and other vegetables. The Town of Weston is waking up.

[MonkeyWrench]

Rakgu enters the gates of the town, his two massive dogs Dumat and Greshi walking beside him, Rakgu cannot help but stare at everything wide eyed. Never having the chance to see a town built that was not burning to the ground, Rakgu tries to take everything in, while still amazed he was not attacked by the guards for being an Orc. The other travelers walk past him as he stands in the middle of the road, just staring at the different races milling about, his only experience being a clan of Orcs, either fighting or bringing in meat.

After a moment he collects himself after a few failed attempts to shove him out of the way by passing people, the result being him not moving. He walks to the side of the street, coming face to face with the weeping treant sign, staring at it he remembers the few times his warband had come across treants, he refuses to believe a small halfling creature could do anything to those creatures.

Rakgu walks to the entrance to the tavern, hearing the many loud noises of people and monsters being in the same place but not killing each other also amazes Rakgu. This town seems to be in a completely different world from the one he knows. He opens the door and walks in, his dogs beside him. He sighs gratefully as his eyes adjust to the darker room of the tavern, bright light never being a friend to his eyes. He looks over the place, Dumat and Greshi sitting by his side as he looks for a place, as far as possible from the other people, to sit and eat.

[shaidar]

Grendon waves goodbye to the caravan master as he enters the town. He steps to the side of the main rush of people as he takes a few seconds to absorb the sights and sounds. It's been a while he has been in such a large place, although this is nothing compared to his birth city.

He brushes off his yellow sun-emblazoned surcoat and checks his belongings are properly attached to him, to foil pick-pockets the best he can. One day, a long time ago, it would have been him looking for a mark, not being a mark himself.

He pulls himself out of his reverie and looks around. He spies the tavern and decides that something to wash the trail dust from his dry throat would be welcome. He wends his way through the throng, finding that even after all these years, his instincts kick in and he slips through the crowd with a minimum of fuss.

When he arrives at the inn, he heads over to the bar to wait his turn for a tankard of ale, while carefully checking out the patrons, or rather trying to subtly see which patrons might be checking him out as a potential mark.

[Computer +1]

Youseff Bin Moubarrek feels excitement as he dismounts from the borrowed horse. He passes its bridal to the owner of the horse, a merchant who allowed Youseff to join their caravan in return for the many stories Youseff told about his homeland as well as some of Youseff's other talents.. I am in your debt, my friend he says to the merchant as he bows deeply.

He then makes his way on foot into the center of town. The sights and smells are new, exotic and in some cases rather disgusting. Youseff pulls his cloak a bit tighter as the air is much cooler then what he is used to. The brown skin of his people is born of centuries in the desert, not in this freeze that so many others seem comfortable in.

Although he is excited to see everything at once he know that it would be most prudent to first find shelter and food. Once settled he can then enter into his journal the last few days events and observations. His thoroughness will earn him much praise when he returns home, he is sure of it. Both his Master and even the Sultan himself will speak highly of his efforts.

Youseff walks over to the inn with the crying treant and decides to enter. Once inside he majestically bows and says aloud, I ,Youseff Bin Moubarrek, give praise to the owner of this fine establishment as I humbly seek food and shelter.

[OGRE MAGE]

Syd is up early once again on this day. It was a long journey from his home in Gothmoor and he is glad that it is behind him now. He arrived the day before this morning and is still trying to get his bearings straight in this new place. It seems so much more rugged out here in the West than he is used to back home. He notices that Weston does have all the same "comforts" that he is accustomed to, but this place is a lot different and it will take some getting used to.

Although he has only been in town for less than one day, he is already starting to understand the layout of the area. He is ready to start off the day with a little something to eat and then he will get to the task that brought him here in the first place.....finding his lost friends.

He has noticed that a certain tavern with an odd sign out front seems to be getting a lot of business already this morning so he assumes that they must make a good breakfast there. He enters the place and finds an open table and a pretty serving wench to amuse with his now worldly charms. As he waits to be served, he wonders if this new quest will be the one that brings him to his ever elusive "the" name.

One of the things Syd wants most in life is a good "the" name. Almost everyone that he knows in the entertainment business has what he calls their "the" name. You know......the name that is always preceded by a "the"? His friends from back home all have them (Theo "the" Thumb, for instance) so why cant he come up with one too? Syd the......WHAT? He has lived for 45 years now and he still hasn't come up with his very own "the" name.

[Shonuff]

THE WEEPING TREE TAVERN MAP

The tavern is unexpectedly busy for a morning. A wide range of folks litter the taproom, from dwarves in mining gear, to human farmers eating breakfast with burly Northmen adventurers. The stage itself has a duo of female bards. One playing a lute, another singing a light melody. The bar on your left has a large, barrel chested man with a bright red beard hanging braided, in front of a cloth apron. He nods to you each as you enter. Three men sit on stools at the bar, leaving two others standing. There are many empty seats, but only one completely empty table to be seen. Many people seem to offer empty seats to those who pass by and greet them.

The smell of eggs, bacon, and burning sausage hangs in the morning air. Beer is not being served, others seem to be drinking milk or water. A few seem to be drinking wine, but they are guarding the bottle as if someone would take it from them. A waitress passes you by and greets you.

Once you sit, a barmaid brings you your request for food, but nothing to drink. Water seems to be gotten from two big kegs stood on end at the end of the bar.

[MonkeyWrench]

Rakgu, sits at the only empty table, his two large dogs flanking him as he makes his way. He does not say hello to anyone and is a little shocked if anyone says hello to him, not knowing what to say back. He is completely unused to this level of acceptance from humans and other races.

When the barmaid comes by to order food Rakgu does not know what to say, looking around frantically he orders whatever the table next to him has and shrinks, as much as his large body will allow him, into the chair. His expertise is in battle, not in social undertakings with other races that would sooner kill him than talk to him. He asks the server if they had any meat scraps for his dogs, if not than he will just feed them his own rations of meat that are in his giant sack.

As the other players enter the tavern

Rakgu watches as more people enter the tavern, observing them, waiting for someone to shout "Orc!" and come at him with a sword.

[ybn1197]

Fastred Bophin

Fastred tips his hat to the caravan master, thanking him for the opportunity to accompany the caravan. He pays the man with some gold coins which Fastred had flinched off an unsuspecting guard the previous night as he was playing cards with some of the other guards. Not wishing to overstay his welcome so to speak, Fastred made his way into the crowds of the Weston morning, blending in with ease. A growl emanated from his stomach, reminding him that he had eaten breakfast yet, and that would certainly not do. Moving about the crowd, he began to look for an unsuspecting mark to filch a few coins from to pay for his meal but thought better of it. This is a new town, a new beginning, he thought to himself. Life on the road holds no comfort. I've been run out of one town, I certainly don't intend to have it happen again.

Moving along with the flow of people, Fastred spied the tavern. A suitable place to fill my belly. One must start somewhere and I will start with the house special. Pushing the door open, Fastred strode inside to the sights and sounds, and most importantly the smells, of the tavern. Moving about the patrons, Fastred made his way towards the least occupied table only to come face to face with a massive dog. Startled by this, Fastred nervously takes off hat to apologize to the dog's owner only to find an orc sitting at the table. Fastred jumped back in alarm. Well that explains the lack of people at this table.

"Good morning, sir," Fastred stammers and lets out a weak attempt at a laugh. "Do you mind if I share your table? Seats are a hard commodity to find in here this morning and I see your table has a plethora of them. Um, do you mind?" he says pointing at the chair furthest from the dogs.

[shaidar]

Grendon enters the tavern, noting the lack of beer. He also notes the orc at his own table, but keeps his surprise to himself. He returns any greetings sent his way.

Tempted by the smell of food he takes a free seat (one that affords him a view of the orc) and orders breakfast. When the food is delivered he asks the barmaid "I'm new around here, and this may be an odd question, but what is the deal with no beer?"

OOC

[shaidar]

Surreptitiously, Grendon watches the interaction between the halfling and the orc, ready to assist if required.

[MonkeyWrench]

Rakgu looks down at the halfling, Not sure how to handle him and never before seeing a halfling. He refuses to let himself seem weak however and gives the halfling a glare, maybe the halfing will not notice how confused he is. After a moment of this he looks at one of the empty chairs and nods to the halfling, "uh... yeah... I don't own it or nuthin..." He looks at the one of the Dogs the halfling bumped into, "Tha's Dumat." He places a hand on the big dogs heads and pets him as the dog simply stares and sniffs the newcomer.

[OGRE MAGE]

Syd

As he walks through the strangely crowded bar Syd sees the aproned man and nods back. Then he notices the beauty's on stage......and stares just a bit too long. How he didn't see a huge ORC sitting there he'll never know, but after "bumping" into Rakgu......literally, Syd seems a bit flustered.

I say man, you're an orc! An ORC!!! He looks around and sees that he's the only one who's actually surprised about this. Oh, I, am, sorry! How completely stupid of me. You are obviously civilized being in here, I don't know what I was thinking about. He takes another look over at the stage. Anyway, please don't kill me and I'll be glad to make your acquaintance. And your little friends here too. I must say, I do love your animals. Strange that they'd let you bring dogs in here.

I'm Syd. Syd the........well, it's just Syd I'm afraid. I see you have open spots at your table. May I join you both?

[Computer +1]

Youseff is momentarily surprised not to receive any acknowledgment to his initial speech. "Perhaps I have erred in my greeting and things are not done this way in the East" he thinks to himself. A smile reappears on his face as he tries a different tactic.

Taking stock of the diverse population in the establishment, he makes his way to the bar. This time he waits for the man in the apron to speak first. While he waits he listens to the music being played and takes mental notes about the differences to the music of his home.

The smell of food makes his stomach rumble slightly but he is pleased to see only a few signs of patrons drinking alcohol, a substance his religion forbids him from imbibing.

[ybn1197]

Rakgu looks down at the halfling, Not sure how to handle him and never before seeing a halfling. He refuses to let himself seem weak however and gives the halfling a glare, maybe the halfing will not notice how confused he is. After a moment of this he looks at one of the empty chairs and nods to the halfling, "uh... yeah... I don't own it or nuthin..." He looks at the one of the Dogs the halfling bumped into, "Tha's Dumat." He places a hand on the big dogs heads and pets him as the dog simply stares and sniffs the newcomer.

"Nice dog. A big one," Fastred says with a nervous laugh. Fastred climbs up on the seat and looks around for a waitress so he could order a breakfast. Once Syd arrives, Fastred looks back and forth between the two. "He told me he didn't own the table and that I could sit here. I'm sure he doesn't mind you sitting here as well." Fastred looks at the orc. "Do you?"

[MonkeyWrench]

At the Half-elfs initial outburst Rakgu quickly put a hand to one of his axes, thinking that this was bound to happen and now he would have to kill anyone in his way as he runs from the town. Then the second part of the man's speech registers with him and he loosens his grip, his two dogs look to him but do not take any action after seeing him relax.

Before Rakgu realizes the half-elf finishes with a question and the halfling from earlier has spoken, both are now looking at him expectantly. Rakgu panics for a moment and goes through his head as he tries to remember what both of them said before speaking. His eyes dart between the two people looking at him as he speaks, "My dogs... Dumat and Greshi" He says this with confidence and a bit of pride in his two dogs. "No one tol' me to leave em outside... and, uh.. yeah... The Halfling is right, I dont.. uh.. own the table..." After motioning for the half-elf to sit as well he finishes up speaking to them both in orcish but seeing their confused faces realized that neither of them speak Orcish and continues on in his clumsy common, "My name...uh... Rakgu... of...um.. Broken? Horn Clan..."

Greshi finally comes into view from behind Rakgu, the massive dog looking over at the half-elf and halfling, sniffing whoever is closer before heading back behind Rakgu and laying down again.

[Shonuff]

The barmaid walks by with a few mugs in hand. She pauses to smile at the young halfling and greets him. She listens to his question and then looks around the bar before answering him.
"Aye, There was a prollem with tha shipment las' week." Her face grimaces before continuing.The barmaid looks to Rakgu and then to his two dogs. her face gets a big smile on it. "Yer dags c'n stay as long as they don' bite or bark. if'n they do, they leave. okay? Seems tha towns been under tha thumb of a few people whoa took tha libery to push their weight aroun', making us lose our ale orders. Durvick in tha corner is lookin for some able bodies ta help solve the issue."

The barmaid uses her head to motion to a man in the corner round table to the right of the stage. The man, Durvick, looks to be about 50 winters. His small thin frame looks out of place in the frontier town. Noting his sleek black cottons and lace, marks him for a man of money or status. He sits alone, with three stools around his table and shuffles paperwork. He seems to be looking up from his paperwork from time to time, evaluating the mass of men and women in the taproom. He does pause a bit at your table, looking you all over before going back to his paperwork and quill.

"If'n yer lookin fer a job, Check tha board outside, on the front porch. Lots a jobs get put there, lovlies." The barmaid wait for a few moments, looking to you all waiting for a possible drink order.

[shaidar]

Grendon will order milk, and enquire about rooms

[ybn1197]

Fastred will order a full breakfast with milk.

[MonkeyWrench]

Rakgu looks down towards his dogs, speaking a command in Orcish to them before nodding at the barmaid. He opens up his large sack which rests near him, poking around a bit, those near him can hear the clink of metallic coins. He scrunches his face in thought before order a meal for himself and meat scraps for his dogs, he shows what money he has and offers what would be a good price, not knowing the prices due to them being written in common, something he is still not an expert on.

[OGRE MAGE]

Syd

Well I certainly won't be drinking any of your milk this morning my lovely. Don't you have some wine or other "spirits" in the house? Syd says a bit pompously. When he sees Rakgu struggling with his coin he slaps him on the shoulder and says Don't even bother my new friend, for allowing me to sit and join the two of you, the least I could do is foot the bill. He pulls out a few gold pieces and lays them on the table, then looks towards the Halfling and smiles at him while pulling out a couple more. The food and drink are on me this morning. I find it a bit easier to make friends on a full stomach so I feel it's the least I could do. We bards make a pretty good living if we are good at what we do, so I don't mind splurging a little from time to time. Please, by all means, order whatever you like!

Syd spies the strange looking easterner at the bar and asks the waitress if she knows anything about him. He also keeps an eye on the man in the corner, fully intending to speak with him before he leaves. He might be a good person to get to know around here he thinks to himself.