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 Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 3:32 pm
 Bars were good things. They were sources of potential entertainment. When he became Patron he was going to specifically build the most awsome bar in all of the city. It would even have trap doors and secret panals just for the sake of his own personal amusement if need be. And of course, plenty of hiding nooks and crannies...
Wait..that wasn't a Bar...that was a indoor labryinth... well... what better place to put a drunk drow then in a labryinth, then tell him there is a gorgeous naked drowess on the other side who has drank herself oblivious...wait...
That was not a bar either..that was a hedonistic fantasy. Eh...
Back to the bar!
Mica sat perched on a barstool, happily nursing a mug of some sort of ale. He never bothered ordering his drinks by name. he tossed a few coins at the bar tender and told him to give him the best that amount could buy. Normally it was very good. Showing off you didn't care how much you spent often misled others into thinking you had more then enough to spare. Good service, oh such good service this brought...
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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 4:08 pm
 Bars were disgusting, full of noise and trouble and stench, either the stink of alcohol and too many bodies pressed together, disgusting. Taliesin had barely been old enough to start experimenting with drinks when he was shipped off to study magic and the one thing a mage needed at all times was a clear head, so alcohol was of the menu. This lead to Tal developing the view that drink was for dullards with no use for their brains, this had little to do with him hating bars though. Tal just hated anywhere with large groups pressed close together, too many potential threats or too many witnesses, depending on your perspective.
As he passed another ale house Tal paused, staring at teh doorway he could here the sounds of what might have been a bar brawl inside. The sounds of fighting ended abruptly and several drow were thrown out the front door, who were soon followed by two towering Bugbears, looking to make sure they didn't get back in. Shaking his head Tal continued on with his search.
He needed to find someone with the right kinds of skills for a task he had in mind, sadly people with the particular skill set he needed rarely advertised in public, at least not those with any sense. And from what little he knew the type of Drow he needed tended to conduct business in the lower class of bar. Idly Tal wondered if he should just toss a few fireballs in through a doorway and hire whoever got out the fastest, rather than go in himself. While an amusing thought, he'd rather avoid drawing attention, the whole point of this was not to get caught himself.
Sighing he came out of random thought to look up at another bar sign, this one seemed quiet enough and he knew he had to go into one of these blasted places sooner or later. Sighing out of resignation this time, Tal went in, moving through the people mulling about inside as quickly as he could as he made a beeline for the bar. Catching the bar tenders eye he ordered a wine, Tal had no intention of drinking but it would be suspicious if he didn't order anything. Tal waited until the drink was poured before he started picking for information.
"Perhaps you can help me with something. you see I... lost something and I believe it's come to be in the hands of another and I'd like to get it back. Unfortunately there is a certain dispute over rightful ownership, so I was hoping to find someone who could retrieve the item on my behalf?" At this point Tal took out a fat purse and let it make a loud clink as he dropped it on the bartop.
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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 4:46 pm
The thing about bars was, Micarreth thought to himself, was that you couldn't just pick one and stick with it. You had to travel around. Get an idea of which one suited you best. Now...there was one bar in which he met a drow and had a wonderful time takeing advantage of him. It was nearly empty, so it had little in way of interference. Sadly the drinks were only so-so and again..with so few people to choose from it made it hard to find the right fool to mess with.
This bar had wonderful ale, and it probably wasn't even the best that he was drinking right now. Micarreth limited himself normally to just one drink, so this meant he'd have to come back again if he wated to try something different from this place. Yet the downside was the amount of people here. Tooo noisy. Too many eyes. Micarreth did not much care for that. He supposed there was no such thing as the perfect bar.
For the most part Micarreth was inspecting the patrons of the bar. After all, how could he enjoy himself without a victim? When the robe dressed drow approched the bar, already Micarreths ears were perked. Robes meant mages. And Mages tended to have exceptionally low levels of alcohol tolerance. His brother was living proof of that...
And a mage by itself meant either someone powerful enough to tend to themselves, or someone too low on the ladder to afford friends as back up. Such was Micarreths thought. Of course he heard the exchange of words between the young drow and the small shrug from the barkeep. If money were a issue he probably would have jumped all over the man at the sight of the purse...but something else had occured to him....a job like that could make wonderful...practice...
"Hey now. I know someone who could help you." He piped up with a overly cheerful tone. No need to sound all sly, secretive, and dark after all...
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Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:58 am
Tal let out an annoyed sigh, he had hoped this could be dealt with quickly and he'd be on his way back to teh academy. If the bartender didn't know anything he was done here, Tal wasn't about to wander from table to table shaking cash in peoples face and asking those kinds of question. It drew the wrong kind of attention and Tal didn't want people asking why he'd been forced to reduce some dull witted, opportunistic, mugger to ash.
Just as he was moving to leave a too cheerful voice called out to him, turning to look at teh speaker Tal was instantly suspicious. True suspicion was his gut reaction to just about anyone, regardless of race, gender or appearance, but this person with his cheerful tone raised a few more flags than usual. Still if the man was telling the truth, it saved Tal from wasting anymore time.
Picking up his untouched drink Tal moved closer to him and spoke in a hushed tone. "If you don't mind watching your tone, I'd rather not draw any undue attention to myself. You say you know someone who could be of use to me?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 9:30 pm
Well, this other drow at least seemed cautious enough. Mica quieted his voice, though not his smile. Shifting off his barstool he easily approched the other drow, and selected the seat beside him so they could speak in softer tones.
"Ah right right. The less ears hearing the better." Micarreth leaned slightly against the bar and made a show of taking a deep swallow from his mug. Of course it was only show, as he only took one shallow swallow before setting the mug back on the bartop.
"Now then. Your looking for someone who is skilled in the art of discretion right? I happen to know someone with a talent for that. Though it'll cost you something a bit different from gold to hire them."
His head tilted slightly towards the door that led to the private renting rooms. "What say we find somplace with less ears in it to speak?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 11:41 am
Something about all of this just seemed a bit off to Tal, but he put it down to the fact he wasn't used to such clandestine meetings, at least not the short you had in bars. The thought of going somewhere a little more private was some what comforting to Tal, though the thought that he might be heading into a trap of some sort crossed his mind. Still in a small room, he could keep an eye on this guy without worrying about being surrounded by a bunch of drunken strangers.
Rubbing his thumb over the rim of the glass as he thought this over, Tal eventually looked the other Drow in the eye and nodded his approval, he uttered a warning though as he stood. "Just so you know if this is a trap or ambush of some sort, you die first. Even if it costs me my life, I'll see to it you don't live to gloat of your victory.." He spoke in a low whisper, but with a smile on his face, so to any casual watcher, Tal could have been giving a simple greeting.
As he moved from teh table, he paused for a second to give a slightly puzzled look to the stranger. "And what did you mean exactly by this individual costing me something other than gold?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 3:46 pm
A continual smile was a hard thing to keep upon ones face. particularly one that you were trying to hold without any sort of malice or sharp edge involved. Mica, however, viewed this as a prime opportunity to practice some of his lacking skills. That in particular being holding up a false and believeable front. he was not too certain how successful he was being.
He did seem to be making some sort of progress though, as the other drow seemed to approve of his suggestion of seeking out a more private area to chat in. That was a plus. The following threat was rather amusing though.
He thought this was a trap? Well by the Abyss! It could have been. How easily it could have been, and now that he had the thought bouncing around in his skull he almost wished it were! What a excellent test for his budding skills! However...these were not the current skills he was attempting to practice. Something a lot more low key was what he was looking for. This drow definatly had dropped enough hints for him to be certain this was the type of practice he needed.
"Is that a promise now?" Micarreth easily responded to the threat. he'd have added a smile to the words if he had not already been smiling like a damn fool. Instead he decided that his jaw was already acheing enough and it was time to see about that room. He dug a pair of coins from his pocket, and tapped them on the counter to get the bar tenders attetnion. All he really needed to do at that point was gesture towards the door to the back and he was rewarded with a worn skeleton key baring a tagged number.
"Shall we now? I'll explain more about his price once we are nice and cozy. It's just far too crowded out here for pleasent talk." Wow...that sounded like something his brother would have said. the sheerful words tasted sour on his lips. Maybe he'd have to drop this whole 'practice' quicker then he had anticipated.
Micarreth assumed, given the nature of the 'friendly' warning he had recieved, the drow would not be agreeable as to walking in the fore. So Mica did not bother with the whole 'after you' polietness garbage. Instead he plucked his mug from the counter and led the way himself. He flipped the tag on the key, so as to see which room it would be that they had been given. It was only a two minute journey. Not nearly enough time to even bother asking names before they reached the room.
It was only after they had entered the small cell sized room that Mica brooked such formalities. He was in the process of deciding if he ought to sit on the bed, sit on the chest, or remain standing when he decided to speak more...plainly...
"My name is Micarreth. I'm the one, if you hadn't already surrmised, that is interested in this little job of yours."
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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 11:45 am
Tal could feel the hairs on the back of his neck starting to stand up, something was wrong, he just didn't know what. Though he was pretty certain it had something to do with the other Drows grin, Tal couldn't think of anytime he had seen someone grin like that and for so long without a very good reason. Tal was beginning to wonder if the reason might be a rather unpleasant joke at his expense, Drow humour could be a rather bloody affair at times. Still Tal hadn't any other ideas and so followed the strangers lead.
As he followed the other Drow down the corridor, Tal began to reconsider teh wisdom of the entire plan, realising he had been far too naive going into this. Simply wander about a few bars and hope to find a competent thief for hire? What had he been thinking? He was far too inexperienced at this kind of thing and lacked the sort of contacts one needed for these types of endeavours. Still the only way to learn was by trial and error, provided you survived your errors that is.
As they stepped into the room Tal had a quick spell in mind, ready to cast in a heart beat if needed, convinced his naivety had led him right into a trap. He was so convinced this was going to be a trap he had visibly tensed when teh door opened and was in fact almost disappointed when nothing happened. Stepping in he choose to lean against the wall beside the door, keeping his eyes on the Drow before him.
"I'm Ta- tan-tar, Thatantar Despund." Tal cursed himself for not having the forethought to come up with a false name sooner. There was no reason to give his real name and besides the less Mica knew the smaller the chance any of this was tracked back to Tal, should things go wrong.
"As you already overheard, there is an item I want recovered, but before I go share the details, I want to know what it is you meant by not wanting gold as payment?" In Tal's mind thieves wanted wealth, so what would this Drow want besides gold? It was just another inconsistency that irked Tal about this whole meeting.
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Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 7:52 pm
Was he on edge? Micarreth was not skiled enough yet to be able to read other drow easily. He supposed the other drow had to be on edge. What with the warning he'd given. Besides, if this other drs not at the very least wary then something had to be wrong with him. So yes...Mica assumed the drow was at the very least paying a lot of attention to his surroundings. So...he of course studied him in turn! This was a excellent time to start making mental notes of his behavior, so he could compare it to othersin the future. There was nothing like 'nothing happening' to provide one with optimal field study!
The other drow choose to stand, so Micarreth decided to stand as well. Just because he had nothing up his crimson sleeves did not mean he had to let his guard down completely. For all he knew this object belonged to a bloody high priestess. Then he'd just have to get violent to possible get out of here... Or...well. Violence should not be his first thought, that was stupid. he ought to be..er...focusing on the other drow?
He nearly missed the stammering of the others name. Nearly. Obviously since he seemed to have 'forgotten' his name for a moment it could not be his true name. Maybe he should have provided a false name as well? Eh. What is a first name really? Just one of hundreds right? Odds are others would think it was a false name anyways.
"Well...Thatantar." Mica had finally dropped his continual smile to adopt a more serious appearance. They weren't out in the bar anymore and this was, even if he considered it just practice, a busniess type situation.
"I simply do not want to be paid in gold." His eyes moved with a deliberate sweep over the garments he was wearing. He let silence follow in the wake of his observing gaze for just a few moments. "Your a spell caster correct? What's your school?"
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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 12:32 pm
As Tal watched teh other Drow awaiting Mica's response, he came to suspect he was being scrutinised just as closely by Nica. Tal kept trying to figure out what this other Drow was up to, it was more than just wanting to pick up a job, but Tal was at a total lose as to what else Mica might be up to. Thus leaving him little choice but to play along, besides there was always a chance Mica was genuinely interested in the job.
When Tal heard Mica repeat the false name, he remained stoic, but inside he was cursing his own foolishness. He knew in his gut Mica had seen through his petty attempt at deceit, not only was Tal a novice, worse he had revealed just how inept he actually was at this kind of dealing. From now on Tal was decided he'd have to be more direct and drop his clandestine foolishness, he was bad at it and realised he just made himself look the fool attempting it.
In response to Micas question Tal stood up straight, things making a little more sense to him now. "Yes I'm a Mage, I specialise in Evocation spells, in more mundane terms you could say I'm an Elemental Mage. I take it there is some form of magic you are interested in?"
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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 8:19 pm
He rather wished the room was bigger, so that it would allow for him to pace a few steps. it was hard to scrutinise a person for too long while standing still. That was just downright creepy, and not in a wickedly acceptable way.
Thus far Mica was not picking up much from the other. He blamed it mostly on his inexeperience. Even with the others calm features Mica was certain he should have been able to pick something else up off the drow..er...wait? Maybe there was nothing -to- pick up. The other one knew not a damn thing about him, and now that they were in a private room, and Mica had made no threatening moves, it was altogether possible the other drow was not trying to hide anything. Damn...well that was a loss.
"Evocation?" Those were the big explosion spells and such right? Mica's lips twisted into a faint frown. "I was rather hoping you knew more about enchanting. I can't see what sort of trade your spells would be worth for me... Ugh, well thats a bit of a dissappointment..."
Waste waste waste... Mica doubted he'd get anything good from a mage like this...unless...
Placeing a hand to his chin, Mica mulled over a sudden thought. " Perhaps we can work out a sort of...bargain instead. I might need a mage in the future for something... Perhaps chalk it up as a personal favor you'd have to return at a later date?"
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Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 1:29 pm
A frown darkened Tal's face as he heard Micas reply, it was a rather annoying thorn in his side that Tal lacked any apptitude for Enchanting and now this Drow was basically calling teh magic Tal could use worthless? All this poked Taliesin's ego teh wrong way, causing him to try and defend his abilities as a mage. "Just because I specialise in Evocation, doesn't mean I'm ignorant of the other schools of magic! In fact I know quite a lot about enchantment... I erm.. just lack an aptitude for it..."
Perhaps teh best way of describing Tal's relationship to enchantment magic is to compare it to a fanatical football fan versus an actual player. He knows all teh rules and strategies, understands teh physics behind the games and can quote the results from thousands of different matches, but has the physical fitness of a couch potato and can't put any of that knowledge into practice. So it was with Tal, he understood the principles behind it better than most of those who practiced it, he just failed horribly whenever he tried to put that knowledge into use.
"So why don't you try me, if it's a question or a problem you have perhaps I know the answer, if it's a spell you need.... well at teh least I can point you in the right direction and make sure you aren't scammed?" And if worst came to worst Tal would agree to this mans proposal, though the thought of being in anyone's debt seriously irked him, Tal needed someone willing to attempt the job he had in mind.
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Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:57 pm
Mica crossed his arms as the other drow, Thatantar, spoke crossly at him. His lips turned into a small frown, but he had not takken offense at this other drows words. No, was quite simply dissappointed.
"If it were a magical question I would not waste a bargaining for the answer. I could just hire someone easily enough to look up the answer in some dusty library somewhere. In addition the same would be true if I had a problem of a magical nature."
Mica lifted his hand and gestured dismissively at the offer of 'helpful advice'.
"Ugh. No. That would be a waste of a bargaining as well. Getting your 'opinion' hardly seems like a fair exchange for what I may do for you. Goods for goods Thatantar. That is what I want. I was thinking you might be able to provide an enchantment for me of the permanant sort. But since that isn't your specialty I don't want to risk ruining my outfit. I'll just hold out for that favor being owed at a later date."
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Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2008 7:00 am
Tals frown deepened as he gritted his teeth, trying to contain his annoyance, obviously he hadn't intended to offer up some random bit of arcane lore as fair payment for the job. While Tal was very good at controlling his pride and ego, he had dedicated himself to the study of magic and tended to become easily riled when someone called his ability or knowledge into question. Inwardly he cursed himself for teh outburst, Tal had nothing to prove to this thief, rather it was the thief who was being hired and being paid for a job. And if all he wanted for doing the job was some act of magic, then Tal had no complaints.
"Enough. If that's your price so be it. Though I wonder if you'll still feel that way after hearing the details of the job?" That was another thing Tal had found a bit odd, that Mica had already suggested a price even before finding out what it was he was supposed to recover. "All I actually need you to steal for me is one ring. Magical of course and currently in the possession of another mage, one who is no doubt paranoid of said ring being pilfered, to the extent that I doubt he ever takes it off. All you have to do is sneak into his home, which will probably be warded by who knows how many spells, snatch the ring off his finger, replacing it with a duplicate I'll provide you with and then return the real one to me. Sound easy enough?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 10:06 am
His acceptance of Micarreths price brought a rather pleased smile to his lips. There was so much more one could do with a 'favored owed' and...well...the mage might not be able to give him a magical item, he could at the very least provide for him some sort of destructive act later all. Make things go boom!
He could tell the other drow was not too happy though. Well, it did not matter really. He had accepted and Mica would see where this led them. Tal's subtle hint that he might not be pleased with the job was not enough to fade the smile from Mica's lips. Only hearing the details did that. Though it was more out of thoughtful consideration then anything else.
"Stealing from mages is a rather.... delicate task." Mica slowly agreed. It would be difficult to steal from this other mage. "How soon do you need the ring? The more time I have to plan the easier it ought to be to accomplish."
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