Open (Kelp Bar) First Day On The Job

[Carmony]

Season of Winter

Day 1

The Kelp Bar

Carmony had just gotten finished talking with the lady behind the bar. She seemed to be the one running things around here. She had said something about business being slow because of the Blight effecting the peoples of Zeltiva. Carmony had been fortunate enough to have no signs or symptoms of this Blight, and was able to come to work today and hopefully the many days to come afterwards. Now was no time to be sick. Things were happening around town, and Carmony had a feeling things were going to change.

Carmony had been in the bar once before, now being her second time, she was really starting to notice how...unsanitary everything was in here. A few sailors were posted up on the far side of the room, sitting at the tall tables drinking a few beers, but judging by the dazed looks on their faces they had been drinking a "few beers" for a while. The lights flickered around them, creating an almost eerie scene.

The brunette looked away, not wasting her time dwelling on the drunken crewmen. She had beem directed not to be behind the bar until she really got a feel of how this lovely place worked. She could just hear the woman's bitter, sarcastic voice in her head. Things would get better here, and if not than she would just grit and bear it. She couldn't afford not to have this job.

She examined the tables...all having grime and whatnot coated over them. Carmony held back a grimace, who would come here on their time off, but then again...everyone had their own preferences. Sailors seemed to like this place plenty, and other would come in also for a "good" drink. Carmony ran her finger across one of the rustic table tops, turning it toward her only to be face with an odd hue of green and brown. She rubbed her fingers togetehr quickly, before wiping it away on her pants.

She needed to tend to customers, for one couldn't make money by just standing around..well at least not here. She glanced over at the shifty eyed sailors, dreading the walk she was probably about to have to make.

[Erekez]

It was the first day in a new city, and Erekez had made it just in time for the first day of the season. Zeltiva was a very isolated place, being hidden away by Mirahil Pass, but that would only work to the cities advantage in case of an attack. Erekez had looked over to the bay from his journey into Zeltiva, and that was well formed to prevent attacks by sea also. In short, Zeltiva seemed like a stronghold. However, just because the city was well-protected from outsiders, didn't mean you were safe within its walls. The University was in the Old Quarter, a brilliant assortment of buildings that had survived the Valterrian. That was were Erekez intended to head shortly, but for now, it was a good idea to see what he could learn about Zeltiva's current events. There was one place in any city that would be the best for collecting such information, and that was always the local bar. It wasn't a good idea to go in to any bar unprotected though. Erekez hoped that his bow would serve as a deterrent for troublemakers. After asking around, a place called the 'Kelp Bar' was the more popular of places to go. It was near the docks, so it was safe to assume that some of the patrons would be sailors. That would probably make it easier for him, as they would be out of touch with what's been happening around Zeltiva recently and want to be filled in. Erekez head for the Kelp Bar. --- The sea air had not been kind to the exterior of the building. It looked rather run-down. Erekez had initially thought that it was. He'd been surprised to hear otherwise. There was indeed people going in and out, proving that business was still running. I don't think anyone would take a day trip to check out such a building unless there was something worth seeing. Alcohol was usually a good enough reason. Pushing the door open, Erekez stepped inside. It was poorly lit insides, to say the least. The flickering candles spread across the room made an admirable attempt to provide a source of light, but the atmosphere almost seemed to be chocking them. The inside didn't look much better than the outside. The only difference was that Erekez suddenly became aware of eyes on him, and he did not like being the centre of attention. Moving away from the door, the chatter from one part of the room caused Erekez to look over. A group of sailors sat together, seemingly enjoying each other's company, and the drink even more. Perhaps enough that their lips might be a little loose. He picked a table that was close enough for him to hear, and far enough for it to not seem like he was eavesdropping. It was close to the wall, protecting his back and giving him a good overview of the room. The chair creaked as he began to sit down, instantly causing him to get up off of it. It hadn't even dawned on him to inspect the chair, but it looked about as sorry as everything else in the building. I'm starting to believe that someone thought they were being funny. How can this place be popular amongst anyone? After moving any rattling chairs to one side, Erekez picked the sturdiest of the ones he had, and that was using the word very lightly. As he sat, he placed his hand on the table and closed his eyes. Clearing his mind, Erekez invoked his Lykata. He got very little information, a race, a name, both were unimportant, and a sense of drunkenness. That's to be expected in a bar. Opening his multicoloured eyes again, Erekez removed his hand from the table, feeling it stick momentarily. Looking at his hand, he was disturbed to see what had stuck to it just from putting it down. What am I sitting on then? Erekez considered wiping whatever it was off his hand, but the table had given him little information. He intended on trying with the few chairs and other items to get an overall impression. Placing his hand on the chair he sat on, Erekez tried again. I hope they start talking about something useful soon. I don't really want this stuff on my hands for any longer than I need to.

[Ka'Rael]

[DELETED]

[Philomena]

Three people walk into a bar - if this is the setup for a joke, then Minnie Lefting is almost undoubtedly the punchline. Wearing a dress that looks as if she put on a black wool dress and rolled around in the scrap bin of a low quality lacemaker, a brown felt hat smashed onto her head, and a bright robins egg blue men's ascot tied around her neck - despite the lack of accompanying collar - the woman would have reached the last entrant's… navel perhaps? … on her tiptoes. Over all of this was thrown a mackintosh that had seen, shall we say, far better days - one of the sleeves was missing, and she wore it as a makeshift cloak. The other two people walking in had the keen eyes of the observant. Minnie, not so much - her eyes, behind cold-fogged blown-glass spectacles peered hard at a wax tablet, one of her hands tapping the wooden stylus rhythmically against her (somewhat irregular) teeth.

Unlike the others who had entered the door, however, Minnie was more than a native - she was clearly a regular, navigating the room without even looking up. She brushed a table, but otherwise admirably made a blind circuit toward one of the high stools next to the bar itself - she climbed it. To say she sat in it, would be like saying that Kena Wright happened to dock in Zeltiva at the end of her circumnavigation - the fascination is not in the end but in the process. The barstool is, for Minnie, an ascent, preceded by placing the tablet, carefully shut, onto the bar itself, then followed by her climbing the supports of the stool, almost like a ladder, her short body trying to counterbalance the weight of an obviously heavy satchel on her shoulder. Arriving at the top, she settled herself precariously on it., crossing her legs beneath her flounced skirt, at the knee, the tips of her impractical boots peeking out the bottom, swinging free to tap, occasionally, irritatingly to these with sensitive nerves, against the side of the bar. Then, she reopened her tablet, began tapping her teeth with the stylus, an returned to the muttering.

She was clearly a regular. Without asking one way or the other, the figure behind the bar brought her a glass of the horrible smelling kelp tea they served in this god-forsaken to. Minnie took a sip absently without even looking up.