Lightfoot
02-02-09, 08:48 AM
((SOLO; One Shot))
"So there I was," Jasker's voice overcame the hushed crowd of the Peaceful Promenade, a fine establishment located in the heart of Underwood, their eyes were bright and their cheeks were red, "standing toe-to-toe with a monstrous troll! Green fetid skin sagging languidly from its skeletal form. Black, coarse hair glistening with the blood of my companions. It leaned in close and I tried desperately not to breathe in its acrid breath." He looked down on his listeners from his perch up on the bar and paused for dramatic effect. He smiled on the inside when he noticed a pair of local beauties, fear in their eyes, watching him closely.
"Silently, I prayed," Jasker took his hands and cupped them to his lowered face. After holding the position for a moment, he let it go and began to speak with a normal tone as he paced along the bar making eye contact with every patron. "And what did I pray for, you may wonder? What thoughts of reconciliation and redemption passed through my mind at what I thought to be...my final moments?" He retook his position in the center and donned his dramatic voice once again. "Did I pray for a safe passage to the afterlife?...Nay. Did I pray for the well-being of my family and loved ones? Nay! I prayed...to get out of this endeavor alive." He paused once more to gauge the reaction of the crowd. The halfling could see that many of the patrons disliked the comment.
"It may seem selfish of me to pray for such a thing, only moments before death. But remember! There was a small boy, dying, depending on the rare herbs I held so protectively to my chest, not so far from where I stood." As the faces of the patrons began to soften once more he continued. "And if I was to fail in saving that small, small child, not only would I be disgracing my own honor...I would be disgracing the honor and good name of my family fifty generations back!" Jasker saw a few heads nod in agreement.
"Then," the halfling spoke softly, "as by sheer dumb luck, or some act of divine intervention, the troll, with a puzzled look on his face, began to back away slowly." Many of the patrons' eyebrows raised in disbelief. "With every step its back became straighter, until finally...it turned and lumbered away." Jasker leaned over to the group, as if to tell them a secret and they squeezed as close as they could. "Now...I know not what made that hulking beast act the way it did - I may never know. But I do know this: the boy survived with the help of the rare herbs I procured, and I am glad - nay, grateful to have seen the look on that poor boy's face. For there were two lives saved that day...and a humbler halfling stands before you know."
Jasker stood from his crouch and drank in the applause and cheers and satisfied sighs. He wanted to laugh so hard his insides hurt. He knew he had just spoonfed them a complete crawk. But he just smiled, took a bow or two and announced, "That was the Tale of the Terrible Troll and the Rare Herbs of Dheathain!" Applause and cheers thundered in the tavern. Oh, how Jasker loved to stir a crowd. He saw, walking through the crowd, the pair of beautiful women that had been eyeing him before, heading his way.
Here come two of the benefits now, he thought to himself with a wry grin. The two women, one a blonde with a thin lithe frame; the other a redhead with a full chest and beautiful green eyes, wore cute shy expressions as they tried to speak to the man they believed to be a hero.
"Is it true?" The blonde asked. Jasker shot a confused look, though he caught the question entirely.
"Your story with the troll and the sick boy and the rare herbs. Was it true?" The inched a little closer in anticipation of the answer. Jasker leaned in close, nearly touching lips with the buxom beautiful and replied.
"Every syllable." The two women smiled and began to giggle at one another. Jasker began to devise his next move.
"You know," he said in mock surprise, "...oh, no...that'd be crazy." And he waved his hand through the air in a dismissive gesture. The two women noticed and almost immediately began asking, "What?" Over and over and...
Thank the gods for their looks...
"Well," he finally said after the fiftieth question, "if you ladies would want to follow me up to my room, I can tell you another tale. A private telling that no other on the face of Althanas could boast over." The women looked at each other hesistantly and whispered to each other. "See, I knew it was a crazy idea...forget I said anything." And before Jasker could even take a breath they were already agreeing to go up to his room.
Like taking a baby from its mother's teet.
But before he could escort the lovely ladies upstairs, a rough calloused hand grasped his shoulder. For a brief moment, the halfling thought the women were married, and the strong rough hand grasping his shoulder belonged to a jealous husband. He breathed easy though when the voice of his friend Owen, the innkeeper, greeted him.
"Jask," he said. Jasker looked back to the strong-built man, long brown hair tied back into a horsetail, a full dark beard masking the smattering of scars he had on his face and chin from his days of thuggery back in Radasanth, and watched as he jerked his head towards the door. A man, maybe halfway through thirty winters, stood at the doorway wearing a sword and the colors of the Underwood Guard on his tabard.
Gods... The halfling turnedback to the two women. "Why don't you two head up to my room without me?" He handed the blonde his key.
"You aren't coming with us?" They whined.
"Yes, yes," Jasker assured them, "I just need to take care of a couple things first. Now, off you go!" He patted them both on the behind and they giggled as they made their way upstairs. He couldn't help a last look.
Jumping back up onto the bar, the halfling put on his most courteous and calm face. "Captain! What a surprise. If we had known you would be back so soon from your patrol we would have more ale!" Jasker and Owen laughed a hearty laugh, trying to diffuse the Captain's dour face.
"Indeed," he replied stoically. "We're here investigating a break-in at the Launer manor." Jasker acted surprised, when in all honesty, he had caused the break-in.
"How terrible," he replied with mock concern, "I trust everyone is alright?" The Captain eyed the halfling suspiciously, then replied.
"Yes, no one was harmed. But Old Man Launer says that something was stolen from him. A rare artifact dating back before the time of the Salvic Kings." The Captain looked Jasker in the eye and asked, "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that...would you?"
"My...Captain, you aren't implying that I had anything to do with this break-in, are you?"
"Where were you earlier this evening?" Jasker sat up straight, cleared his throat and answered loud enough for the crowd to hear.
"I was here...wasn't I, guys?" A loud cheer came out from everyone in the tavern, even a couple shouts of Jasker's name intermitten.
"And yesterday?" The halfling could hear a slight raise in the Captain's voice.
"I only just arrived this morning, my dear Captain." Jasker gauged his reaction: one of poorly-concealed contempt. "After I settled the things in my room, I came to catch up with Owen here." Owen gave Jasker a quick friendly smack to the back and the halfling continued. "After a while I had suggested we get some of our old friends together - and that was about midday - and we've been here ever since."
"Quite the welcoming party", the Captain stated.
"Yes, well...I have a lot of friends." Jasker took a small amount of pleasure at the split-second narrowing of the Captain's eyes in regards to his veiled threat. But, to the Captain's credit, he didn't back down.
"And what did you say your business was in Underwood?"
"I didn't," replied Jasker. "But, since you are asking, I'm in aquisitions." The Captain's eyebrow raised in a question. "Yes, my employer in Alerar was looking for a new taste for their tavern, 'A real outdoorsy taste.' they told me." Jasker looked at Owen gave a big smile. "I told them, 'Then I think I have the man for the job!' So they sent me up here to have some forms signed in case he accepted, and I'm to aquire a few barrels of Owen's finest for the return trip!"
The Captain's eyes narrowed. "Well, have a safe return journey." He turned around and began to walk away, but Jasker's voice stopped him.
"Oh and Captain," he turned to look at the halfling, "this Master Thief you're looking for...I suspect he didn't leave a trace of his actions." The Captain's face reddened. "I do hope you catch him. For someone like that to escape?...Well that'd be downright criminal!" The Captain stormed off out of the tavern.
Jasker's well-mannered, smiley-faced attitude melted away to a scowl. He dropped down into a stool and told Owen, "Give me a big one, Owen." The burly barkeep pulled out a pint mug and filled it up.
"Why're you so down? You just got away with it!" Owen tried to give a big wide smile, but Jasker's scowl trampled it dead.
"No...I didn't." The halfling took a gulp of his ale. "I won't be able to show my face around here for a while, my old friend." He looked Owen in the eyes. "I need to leave...tonight."
"What about the two beauties up in your room?" Owen pulled out another pint mug for himself and filled it up.
"You take them," Jasker replied, "I've lost my appetite. Just tell them I had to rush off on urgent business."
Owen laughed. "You always could find a way to drag me into your lies." He raised his mug and Jasker followed. They clinked them together and took the last drink they would have for quite some time. They gave one final nod and handshake to one another.
Jasker made his way to back of the tavern, among the storage. All of his belongings were in a big pile in the middle. He had placed them there before the job. He had a feeling about it. He was just glad his feeling was right.
"Here I come ladies!" Jasker heard Owen shout, followed by the thundering steps of the big man hurrying up the stairs. A small smirk cracked at the edge of lips.
"So there I was," Jasker's voice overcame the hushed crowd of the Peaceful Promenade, a fine establishment located in the heart of Underwood, their eyes were bright and their cheeks were red, "standing toe-to-toe with a monstrous troll! Green fetid skin sagging languidly from its skeletal form. Black, coarse hair glistening with the blood of my companions. It leaned in close and I tried desperately not to breathe in its acrid breath." He looked down on his listeners from his perch up on the bar and paused for dramatic effect. He smiled on the inside when he noticed a pair of local beauties, fear in their eyes, watching him closely.
"Silently, I prayed," Jasker took his hands and cupped them to his lowered face. After holding the position for a moment, he let it go and began to speak with a normal tone as he paced along the bar making eye contact with every patron. "And what did I pray for, you may wonder? What thoughts of reconciliation and redemption passed through my mind at what I thought to be...my final moments?" He retook his position in the center and donned his dramatic voice once again. "Did I pray for a safe passage to the afterlife?...Nay. Did I pray for the well-being of my family and loved ones? Nay! I prayed...to get out of this endeavor alive." He paused once more to gauge the reaction of the crowd. The halfling could see that many of the patrons disliked the comment.
"It may seem selfish of me to pray for such a thing, only moments before death. But remember! There was a small boy, dying, depending on the rare herbs I held so protectively to my chest, not so far from where I stood." As the faces of the patrons began to soften once more he continued. "And if I was to fail in saving that small, small child, not only would I be disgracing my own honor...I would be disgracing the honor and good name of my family fifty generations back!" Jasker saw a few heads nod in agreement.
"Then," the halfling spoke softly, "as by sheer dumb luck, or some act of divine intervention, the troll, with a puzzled look on his face, began to back away slowly." Many of the patrons' eyebrows raised in disbelief. "With every step its back became straighter, until finally...it turned and lumbered away." Jasker leaned over to the group, as if to tell them a secret and they squeezed as close as they could. "Now...I know not what made that hulking beast act the way it did - I may never know. But I do know this: the boy survived with the help of the rare herbs I procured, and I am glad - nay, grateful to have seen the look on that poor boy's face. For there were two lives saved that day...and a humbler halfling stands before you know."
Jasker stood from his crouch and drank in the applause and cheers and satisfied sighs. He wanted to laugh so hard his insides hurt. He knew he had just spoonfed them a complete crawk. But he just smiled, took a bow or two and announced, "That was the Tale of the Terrible Troll and the Rare Herbs of Dheathain!" Applause and cheers thundered in the tavern. Oh, how Jasker loved to stir a crowd. He saw, walking through the crowd, the pair of beautiful women that had been eyeing him before, heading his way.
Here come two of the benefits now, he thought to himself with a wry grin. The two women, one a blonde with a thin lithe frame; the other a redhead with a full chest and beautiful green eyes, wore cute shy expressions as they tried to speak to the man they believed to be a hero.
"Is it true?" The blonde asked. Jasker shot a confused look, though he caught the question entirely.
"Your story with the troll and the sick boy and the rare herbs. Was it true?" The inched a little closer in anticipation of the answer. Jasker leaned in close, nearly touching lips with the buxom beautiful and replied.
"Every syllable." The two women smiled and began to giggle at one another. Jasker began to devise his next move.
"You know," he said in mock surprise, "...oh, no...that'd be crazy." And he waved his hand through the air in a dismissive gesture. The two women noticed and almost immediately began asking, "What?" Over and over and...
Thank the gods for their looks...
"Well," he finally said after the fiftieth question, "if you ladies would want to follow me up to my room, I can tell you another tale. A private telling that no other on the face of Althanas could boast over." The women looked at each other hesistantly and whispered to each other. "See, I knew it was a crazy idea...forget I said anything." And before Jasker could even take a breath they were already agreeing to go up to his room.
Like taking a baby from its mother's teet.
But before he could escort the lovely ladies upstairs, a rough calloused hand grasped his shoulder. For a brief moment, the halfling thought the women were married, and the strong rough hand grasping his shoulder belonged to a jealous husband. He breathed easy though when the voice of his friend Owen, the innkeeper, greeted him.
"Jask," he said. Jasker looked back to the strong-built man, long brown hair tied back into a horsetail, a full dark beard masking the smattering of scars he had on his face and chin from his days of thuggery back in Radasanth, and watched as he jerked his head towards the door. A man, maybe halfway through thirty winters, stood at the doorway wearing a sword and the colors of the Underwood Guard on his tabard.
Gods... The halfling turnedback to the two women. "Why don't you two head up to my room without me?" He handed the blonde his key.
"You aren't coming with us?" They whined.
"Yes, yes," Jasker assured them, "I just need to take care of a couple things first. Now, off you go!" He patted them both on the behind and they giggled as they made their way upstairs. He couldn't help a last look.
Jumping back up onto the bar, the halfling put on his most courteous and calm face. "Captain! What a surprise. If we had known you would be back so soon from your patrol we would have more ale!" Jasker and Owen laughed a hearty laugh, trying to diffuse the Captain's dour face.
"Indeed," he replied stoically. "We're here investigating a break-in at the Launer manor." Jasker acted surprised, when in all honesty, he had caused the break-in.
"How terrible," he replied with mock concern, "I trust everyone is alright?" The Captain eyed the halfling suspiciously, then replied.
"Yes, no one was harmed. But Old Man Launer says that something was stolen from him. A rare artifact dating back before the time of the Salvic Kings." The Captain looked Jasker in the eye and asked, "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that...would you?"
"My...Captain, you aren't implying that I had anything to do with this break-in, are you?"
"Where were you earlier this evening?" Jasker sat up straight, cleared his throat and answered loud enough for the crowd to hear.
"I was here...wasn't I, guys?" A loud cheer came out from everyone in the tavern, even a couple shouts of Jasker's name intermitten.
"And yesterday?" The halfling could hear a slight raise in the Captain's voice.
"I only just arrived this morning, my dear Captain." Jasker gauged his reaction: one of poorly-concealed contempt. "After I settled the things in my room, I came to catch up with Owen here." Owen gave Jasker a quick friendly smack to the back and the halfling continued. "After a while I had suggested we get some of our old friends together - and that was about midday - and we've been here ever since."
"Quite the welcoming party", the Captain stated.
"Yes, well...I have a lot of friends." Jasker took a small amount of pleasure at the split-second narrowing of the Captain's eyes in regards to his veiled threat. But, to the Captain's credit, he didn't back down.
"And what did you say your business was in Underwood?"
"I didn't," replied Jasker. "But, since you are asking, I'm in aquisitions." The Captain's eyebrow raised in a question. "Yes, my employer in Alerar was looking for a new taste for their tavern, 'A real outdoorsy taste.' they told me." Jasker looked at Owen gave a big smile. "I told them, 'Then I think I have the man for the job!' So they sent me up here to have some forms signed in case he accepted, and I'm to aquire a few barrels of Owen's finest for the return trip!"
The Captain's eyes narrowed. "Well, have a safe return journey." He turned around and began to walk away, but Jasker's voice stopped him.
"Oh and Captain," he turned to look at the halfling, "this Master Thief you're looking for...I suspect he didn't leave a trace of his actions." The Captain's face reddened. "I do hope you catch him. For someone like that to escape?...Well that'd be downright criminal!" The Captain stormed off out of the tavern.
Jasker's well-mannered, smiley-faced attitude melted away to a scowl. He dropped down into a stool and told Owen, "Give me a big one, Owen." The burly barkeep pulled out a pint mug and filled it up.
"Why're you so down? You just got away with it!" Owen tried to give a big wide smile, but Jasker's scowl trampled it dead.
"No...I didn't." The halfling took a gulp of his ale. "I won't be able to show my face around here for a while, my old friend." He looked Owen in the eyes. "I need to leave...tonight."
"What about the two beauties up in your room?" Owen pulled out another pint mug for himself and filled it up.
"You take them," Jasker replied, "I've lost my appetite. Just tell them I had to rush off on urgent business."
Owen laughed. "You always could find a way to drag me into your lies." He raised his mug and Jasker followed. They clinked them together and took the last drink they would have for quite some time. They gave one final nod and handshake to one another.
Jasker made his way to back of the tavern, among the storage. All of his belongings were in a big pile in the middle. He had placed them there before the job. He had a feeling about it. He was just glad his feeling was right.
"Here I come ladies!" Jasker heard Owen shout, followed by the thundering steps of the big man hurrying up the stairs. A small smirk cracked at the edge of lips.