PM to join [The Broken Casket] The Joy of Company

[Garland]

Fall 30

It was dark and foggy on the docks, the fog was thickest here, but nothing could get between a sailor and his drink, despite the

Garland walked into the Broken Casket, he had been here before, under the guise of a disgruntled sailor, although now, some faces recognize him as a squire of Syliras, he was still a fresh face in the tavern.

The Rearing Stallion was closer to the dorms and he was well-known there, and the stallion was generally a very happy place. Garland wanted some company, but didn't want someone to talk to him as a squire, he wanted to talk to a person.

The Swan was also an option, but he wanted some company to talk to, not to sleep with. Garland looked over to the bartender and ordered a drink. "Anything that's not kelp beer. Why does anyone drink that stuff anyway?"

Mortimer, the owner of the Casket just shrugged and poured a mug of Syliran brewed ale. "Reminds the sailors of the sea I reckon. Three copper if you don't mind." Mortimer said and took Garland's payment.

"Don't sailors ever get tired of rotting fish and seaweed? Whoever thought of Kelp beer is just plain crazy." Garland said and took a swig of his ale. The fruity sweet liquid burned down his throat and warmed him up in the cold night.

Garland thought about the docks, he had met April here two years ago, not in the bar specifically, but on the docks, he remembered enjoying the short time they had together, and then she vanished.

After a year Garland found a basket in his room, with a present. Twin babies, and he knew that they were from April, he had given up on her and focused on raising his children, but one cannot forget so easily, he wondered what she was doing now, was she even still alive? Was she in trouble? Should he go out there and search for her? He had no clue where to start or even if she was still alive.

He took another deeper swig of his drink and just stared at the yellowish-brown liquid, thinking of his children's mother.

[Evana Joywave]

Evana liked the atmosphere in the Broken Casket because you got all sorts entering the tavern. She came in most night for a drink since she had arrived in Syliras and she new the regulars faces. Tonight she had been enjoy a quiet drink at the bar when a young man she had not seen before had come in and started analyzing the purpose of kelp beer. Her blue eyes twinkled laughed heartily at this as in her hands she had a mug of the drink in question. “Aye the drink Does remind us of the sea. It a cure for loneliness.” she added to Mortimers’ observation but was unlikely to be heard because she was sitting at a table near the other end of the room. She stood up and strode across the floor her red curls fanning out behind her. As she came closer to the bar she spoke again. “I suppose that would depend on your definition of Sailor. Most of the time all there is to eat is fish and seaweed especially on long hauls. I just came up from Zetiva - a 125 day trip and i am not sick of fish yet. However to think up such a drink as kelp beer, I do believe you would have to be some sort of madman.” Evana said taking the chair next to the man “I don’t believe we have met my name is Evana. “ She said offering out her hand a friendly smile on her face

[Garland]

Garland looked up from his drink and looked at the voice, for a second, he saw April, but when he blinked it was someone else sitting beside him, slightly disappointed.

He paused at the thought, did he still miss her? It was most likely the drink. "Zeltiva huh? Hope you've been liking Syliras, though the timing could be better, it's usually not as foggy. I'm Garland, nice to meet you."

Garland shook her hand and even though Garland was a bit cautious with her, he was still friendly. "A drink for a sailor such as yourself? Kelp or local? Or if you're feeling fancy, there's wine, but you'd have to share a bottle with me."

Garland ordered Evana's drink and gave it to her. "You out of town right? I should show you around sometime, when there isn't a fog so thick you can barely see your hand in front of your face."

Garland took another swig of his ale, and just it was empty already. "Huh, that was quick. Mort, another ale please!"

"Please? What are ya, some momma's boy taking his first ale?! Ha!" A rowdy dock worker yelled from across the room.

Mortimer poured another drink for Garland and the young man took a swig. "At least I have manners, dicks for brains. Or am I using too many words for you?" Garland placed his drink down on the bar.

The man looked over to his mates and signaled to surround him. Garland didn't look back and just looked over to Evana, and back to his drink. "Do you really want to fight? You know how thick the fog is outside, no one would miss a few dock workers if they decide to take a midnight dip."

Garland didn't need a blade to take them down, he was more than happy to beat the living tar out of them and like he said, no one would miss them if they decide to pick a fight.

"And who do we have here? A pretty lass that spending time with this bum? Why not sit on a real man's lap for once!" With that Garland smashed the tankard on the man's face and pinned another one on the bar counter.

He looked over to Mort. "Sorry." And then he started slamming the man's head down the the counter, getting blood and teeth until he was good and unconscious. Garland took the one he attacked with the tankard and grabbed him by the neck. He looked over to Evana. "I'll be right back."

Garland squeezed hard on the man's throat while he dragged them out of the bar and he dropped the unconscious one and held the near over the docks. "Say sorry, I'll pass the message along."

"Shove off!"

Garland tossed him into the water and heard the splash, he waited and heard another splash and a gasp of air. "If you come back. I will drown you." Garland didn't sound angry, just annoyed, he gave a smile to the fog and thought that he needed something to hit.

He walked back into the bar and sat down beside Evana. "Sorry about that Mortimer." Garland picked up the tankard, seeing the ale spilled on the ground. "Aw..."

[Evana Joywave]

Evanna smiled at Garland as he shook her hand, she was happy that she had gotten a friendly response as she felt like talking to someone this evening. Despite seeming carefree she still did have her guard up as all sorts of things can happen to a woman drinking alone “”Even with the fog it still an lovely city. I am just glad that i have my ship docked as i don’t facey sailing in this weather.” she grinned widely as he offered to buy her another drink and decided to go with Ale to see what the difference was to kelp beer. Evana watched carefully as Mort filled a mug from the casket of ale and placed it in front of Garland. She saw the coin exchanging hands before her drink was held out to he by her new friends. She accepted it gratefully sniffing the liquid cautiously in case he had slipped something into the brew but she was already sure she would of seen it if he had. Taking a sip of the fruity blend she nodded her head and stated “I would like a tour from a local you find the most interesting places that way.” her face creased at the dock worker jeer hoping that Garland would just ignore the jerk. But at his witty retort she couldn’t help but laugh only to have it end in a nervous chuckle as the worker surrounding Garland and consequently her as well. Evana look at the dock worker with disgust as he tried to flirt with her and had half a mind to sit down in Garland’s lap only to see him pinned the dock worker down on the bar and bash his head in. As garland dragged one of the dock workers out of the door his friends remained with Evana. “come on pretty, you can come sit with me” said the closest of the remaining dock worker as he reached out for Evana. Face contorted with disgust Evana through the rest of her ale into the man eyes allowing he to stand without being detected and kick the jackass right in the groin. “I think not” watching as the last two dock worker picked up their fallen comrade moving back to their table. As Garland returned back inside Evana echo his apology before ordering a bottle of wine with two cups “There is always more drink Garland.” she stated with a grin

[Garland]

Garland gave a surprised look followed by a smile. "Pour you a drink?" He took the wine bottle and poured both of them a drink. He raised his cup. "Cheers."

He downed the wine and gave a small smile to Evana. "You have a ship? Well, I've always wanted to ride a ship, and I... have two people I want to bring along, if that's fine with you. They've never been on a ship even though they've both Sverfa."

Garland wanted his kids to embrace their linage, even though their mother left them with him, he still wanted them to know about her, even for a short time. Garland poured another drink, his face hid a deep sadness, but he had a smile to cover it.

"Oh, I'd love to show you around the city, but I think the fog would be here for a while. The spa here is fantastic by the way." Garland remembered the warm waters of the spa and looked over to Evana. "I remember I had a friend that almost drowned there, Sverfa too, it was kind of embarrassing, but to be fair, I think I may have accidentally hit her across the head."

"Well, it's not everyday a beautiful woman talks to me at a bar, what do you need? Just a friendly chat?"

[Evana Joywave]

Evana laugh at the surprise on Garland’s face “What a Women not allowed to by a round?” she ask smiling as he poured the drinks before joining Garland’s toast “Cheers” she side sipping at her drink only to end up choking on the wine. “Svefra who have not been on a ship that is unique.” she paused a long moment looking Garland in the eye as she pointed to her sky blue orbs “and i should know as a Svefra myself. My guess is they must be young to have not known any life at sea.” She commented slyly as she wanted more details about the two strangers but the she saw the shadow of sadness in Garlands face and not wanting to upset him changed the subject “Well I do have a small casinor in my possession and I don’t see why one day in the future we couldn’t go for a Joy ride,”Taking another sip of wine Evana watched Garlands face noticing the way he used his smile to mask his emotions. She couldn’t help but wonder what had happen to him to leave such a mark. “Well you certainly do know a lot of svefra Garland let us hope you don’t accidently hit another, say me across the head. Do you offer to show all of them around?” she asked curiously wondering where the man got his generous nature from. Evana laughed at the compliment blended in with another question and despite herself she found herself blushing at being called beautiful. “”Well it not everyday a handsome man come into the Broken Carsket and tries to start a conversation with Mortimer. While he quick to fill orders he not much of a confidant. So what brought you here cause all i did was pick up on your conversation.”

[Garland]

Garland gave a small smile and watched Evana. "Handsome eh?" Garland leaned in close to her face, his blue eyes locked onto her own blue eyes, he could feel her breath on his face and vice versa.

"If you're fishing for compliments, it's working, beautiful." Garland leaned away and poured another drink for himself. "I don't feel like telling my secrets to someone I just met. How about we make this into a game?"

Garland placed the cup down on the table and gave a smile. "The game is called 'never have I ever', I've reckon you know this one, if not the rules are simple. I say 'never have I ever' and then say something, if you have done that something in your life, you take a drink."

Garland gave a smile and refilled her cup in case she had emptied hers. "I'll start..." Garland looked her over, from what she said she was a sailor, a woman of the seas, she's also a Sverfa, 'Hardy' is usually in her blood, what would be a good statement that's not too obvious. "Never have I ever fall overboard a ship."

ooc :

Sorry it's kinda short

[Evana Joywave]

As Garland leaned in Evana rolled her eyes and took a deep breath trying to stop blushing. It didn’t help that the word handsome really did suit him. Blue eyes of a different shade of her own where frame beneath a mop of neat brown hair stand of which were mixed up with her auburn locks Her heart raced as his lip were hovering less than an inch away as he spoke. As he pulled back she let out a small sigh but weather it was of relief or disappointment she wasn’t sure. Either way she quickly pushed the feeling to one side in favor of trading witty remarks “You started handing out compliments and i can think of more than one to cutie.” she said smug grin on her face as she refilled her own cup and placed it next to his as he explained the game. She nodded picking up her cup. ” I do know the game.” she said taken a sip. “And usually an explanation accompanies a sip. In my case i fallen overboard a few time so I’ll tell you about just the one.” she said placing the cup back down before continuing. “It was back when i first started going out with the fishing fleets of Zeltiva to earn some money. It was on a bigger ship the mine and I got knocked on the head by the boom.” rubbing her head as she remembered the pain she pause looking at Garlands blank face and tried to explain what the boom was. “It the bit of wood that moves with the ship when turning. Anyway after being hit i lost my sense of direction and ended up over the port side. Had the whole crew laughing and some over nearby ships. Me i just wanted to forget about it.” She shrugged her shoulders trying not to mind when she looked back on the memory that she had been the laughing stock of the ship. However she still had a small chip on her shoulder about the incident and now watch Garland with a hostile gaze daring him to even giggle at the idea. Eventually she continued the game. “I never ever worked in a job that did not involve Ships.” PSSorry it been so long between posts I fell ill and have been stuck in bed the last week

[Garland]

Garland sniffled a giggle, a bit by biting his lower lip, but eventually he calmed down and had a semblance of self control. "We all have those bad days, don't worry about it. I remember a few times that I've had just horrible days."

Garland gave a smile and took a drink. "I've never properly worked on a ship before, but when I was a young scamp, I was a carpenters assistant, normally it wouldn't involve boats at all, but there was a big ol' ship this one time and had almost all the carpenters, shipwrights and builders help repairing it and refitting it."

Garland thought about who was the captain of that ship, the name escaped his mind, but he shook his head. "That carpenter was also a toy maker in his spare time, I've worked on a toy boat if that counts."

Garland thought about what to say next. "Never have I ever... got lost at sea." Garland never knew how navigators did it, they had maps surely but how do they use those maps when there weren't any landmarks close by?

They could follow a direction sure, but was it enough to find out where they were going? Garland would make a horrible navigator.

[Evana Joywave]

Evana shrugged at the tiny giggle but dropped her hand “Horrible days indeed.” she said nodding liking the fact that Garland had left it at that.It was rare to met someone in the broken casket that knew when to leave a subject alone. As she listened to his stories of his life as a carpenter she ideally wondered what had brought him to the bar on the docks. Most of the customer were sailor, fishermen and shipwrights, not carpenters though Evana doubted that that was his current job. After a pause in the conversation while garland worked out what to ask next Evana laugh and shrugged not touching her drink. “It maybe the fact i have only done the one trip but i havn’t got lost at sea. For me the coast line was always in view but i been told that It easy enough to avoid getting lost so long as you follow your compass and map. I guess i find out next time i go on a long trip.” evana smiled as she thought about the next question she wanted to ask. “ Never have I avoided the nearest tavern when going drinking.” she stated wanting to know the reason that Garland had chosen the Broken Casket