Gaius enters the Shady Corner and looks around. He heads up to the bar, orders a bottle of wine, hands over a coin in payment, and plops down at an empty table. Just before he pours himself a glass, he looks around, as if looking for someone to share a drink with.
Gaius chuckles at the shaman's joke and gestures for him to take a seat. "Please, I'd enjoy some company."
Gaius pours himself a glass of wine and savors the aroma for a moment before he takes a sip. "Ah, that's a good flavor." He sets the glass down on the table and looks at the liquor cradled so lovingly in the dwarf's arms. "You can have a glass of wine if you prefer a taste that's a bit... more refined."
Solas walks into the Shady Corner with a Thud. Slowly and carefully he feels his way to the Open doorway and walks through. "Who keeps putting things in my way?" He says loudly. His smirk quickly falls as he Inhales sharply and exhales slowly. "Blisdon, are you in here?" He calls out into the Tavern. He takes a few steps forward, knocking into a table. "Seriously?" He says. He breathes deeply again. swiftly and gracefully he makes his way to where his companion is sitting. "Do you mind if I join you?" He asks the Monk.
"Yes, please. Join Blisdon and I in a drink. Would you like a glass of wine?" Gaius pours a glass and offers it to the Esper. "Oh, and please try to watch where you're going Solas, I wouldn't want you to fall and hurt yourself. There's enough danger in this town as it is."
Solas smiles lightly, taking a seat. "Thank you kindly, Sir Monk." Solas reaches out and takes the glass. He sniffs, swirls it, sniffs again, and lightly sips at it. "You know everyone keeps telling me that but... I don't see it." Solas pauses for a second. "Yeah, no, that's what I meant."
Blisdon laughs heartily at the espers humor and pats him on the back. "I'll drink to that!" he says, opening the half full bottle of rum and pouring him a small tumbler full of the brownish liquid that he eagerly sips at before turning back to the monk before him. "aye, and the same offer goes to you, monk. Should you feel like ever trying somethin' wild and unrefined. "
The dwarf smirked and helped himself to another sip "So...That damn' monastery. What's going to be our plan for the next time we enter it's gates? Any ideas on what to expect from it's lower levels?"
Rasiri walks into the tavern very quietly and looks at the small gathering at the table and smiles. "Hello guys! Mind if i join you?" He walks over and sweeps his cloak and sword over the bench and goes to grab a glass of ale and then reconsiders, "I keep forgetting that i have lost my taste of ale... Mind if i have some of your wine my dear monk friend?"
"My dwarven friend, I do believe you'll drink to anything at all," Gaius says as he watches Blisdon in amusement. "As for that monastery, I've seen nothing but what you've seen inside: an endless army of zombies and a red drake. I fear that just throwing ourselves at the zombies will not help our cause. Of course, we have also seen that they are starting to come into town..."
Gaius looks up as Rasiri approaches the table. "Ah, Rasiri, my friend, it is good to see you. Please, I would be honored if you joined us." Gaius slides the bottle of wine over to Rasiri.
Akon enters the tavern, hood drawn and red eyes scanning the occupants briefly before stalking her way over to the group. She walks behind them and leans against the tavern with her back to the wall, folding her arms. She takes a moment, looking at the various people and beverages before adding in. "Undead don't awaken themselves. And it seems more and more that dragons are being mentioned about town. The drake we defeated was probably just after a cheap meal, but the goblins that came to our town's boarders were looking for Scorch. Then in the nexus we saw him be embodied. Are they connected? I'm not one to say that they are. It is merely an observation. As far as the monastery, my guess would be that there is one of my own particular profession stirring things up down there." She shrugs. "Just a hunch..."
Solas nods at Rasiri, welcoming his fellow esper to the table. He glances from the Monk, Gaius, to the Uordeq Warlock looking too cool to sit down. He sips at his glass of wine again before setting it down on the table. "I believe there's something down there." He says, staring down at the table, playing with the rim of his glass. "I'm not entirely sure what it is yet." The rim of his glass begins to emit a strange pitch of sound as he circles it with his finger. The sound is piercing, even to Solas, but he doesn't stop. "But whatever it is, It's evil." The piercing noise is suddenly silenced as Solas lifts his finger from the glass. His head tilts from looking down to looking straight ahead. "And I intend to stop it." He takes a full gulp from his glass.
"Aye, I could believe it if there was a warlock down there....schemin' and plottin'." Blisdon nodded in agreement to akon before taking back another sip of his strong drink. "But I can't say I'm comfortable in the slightest with a nest o' the dead not even a stones throw from Jastrey. And such ideal real estate that they are sittin' to boot!"
"I would definitely feel better if I knew that Jastrey was not neighbors with a family of undead and I would love to get that monastery back under control of the town. I too have noticed that the dragons seem to have become a bit of a theme as of late. It is definitely cause for concern." Gaius takes another drink from his glass as he continues. "I'm sure we would all love to be rid of whatever it is, but the truth is that none of us have any clue what we could be facing."
Solas takes a less passionate sip of his wine between looking from Blisdon to Gaius. "Yes an undead free monastery does seem like a grand place to relax and get one's head straight." He says. He takes another sip as He waits for the Monk to speak. "You're right. We wouldn't know what we're facing. So it's probably smart not to run in blindly-" Solas paused for a second. "Well, you know what I mean."
Rasiri smiles and looks at Solas, "Well said my friend. But i do see that thing in this town are going southward... everytime i close my eyes or stop to think all i can see is doom and Armageddon." Rasiri looks up and a strange far-away look takes his face and when he begins to speak his voice rises slowly in anger, "Ever since i got to this town it has been PLAUGED with demons, undead and all manner of THINGS!! I am SICK AND TIRED OF IT! I want to see a BRIGHT future when i close my eyes! I think it is time we get together and CLEANSE this shard!" He stands up suddenly and bangs his fist on the table as he looks around at the other people assembled then shakes his head as if just realizing where he is. "Oh... i am sorry... i must have lost my temper a bit there... when you dream of nothing but death for awhile it kinda gets to you..." Ras sits down looking kind of ashamed.
Solas stares up at the still newly transformed Empyrean, clearly passionate about the fate of a town that many called home. Indeed Jastrey was a safe haven for all sorts of characters who, under any other circumstances, would be at each others throats.
"Yes I couldn't agree more." He says. He begins to take a sip of his wine as Akon makes her joke from the side wall. He glances toward her. With the glass still half in his mouth he mutters something that sounds like, "Would Shou care to join ush A-Fonze?"
Akon pops the collar of her hood up from around her neck, adjusting the bones as they hang from her necklace underneath to sit more comfortably. "Oh? Another name to add to my growing collection? Or are you just drunk?" Akon then picks up an entire bench with one hand from one end of it, moving it so the end butted up against the wall, and then sits on it, cocking one knee up, head angled down slightly, and back resting once more against the tavern wall.
Solas Pauses for a moment. He waited for the room to go quiet again, before sipping his wine. "A little bit of both." He mutters, sheepishly. "But not drunk enough." He inhales deeply, then proceeds to sniff the air. He brings his face toward the dwarf's glass. He inhales sharply again, craning his head back up. "I'll have whatever the dwarf is drinking."
Gaius watches appreciatively as the Esper rants about the future. "Well said, Rasiri. Well said. Some peace for this town would be appreciated by us all and it looks like it's up to us to make it happen," Gaius looks down at his now empty glass. "Ah, but let us forget such serious matters for the moment and enjoy ourselves for a while." With that, the monk reaches over and pours himself another glass of wine, looking quite pleased with himself as he drinks some more.
At that, Akon rises with a dark heavy swish of her robes, taking long strides towards the door, only muttering as she leaves. "I'm going to go see if those corpses we left behind tell me anything about their creator...." The last of her words issue as her figure disappears into the daylight.
As if Blisdon were the genie itself popping from the bottle, the instant the cork is popped from the aged bottle of wine and the subtle airs of alcohol fill the air appears none other than the dwarven shaman himself, with what appears to be a half full bottle of rum cradled in his arms.
"Ahh...as a shaman communion with spirits is an interesting venture to say the least." He chuckles menacingly to himself, proudly cradling his liquor in his burly arms as his eyes wandered to an empty space on the bench " and I must say, These right 'ere are by far my favorite outta' the bunch...So, Ya got any space on at this table for a dwarf to..."
He spent a minute scratching his head in an attempt to find the right play on words before his face brightly lit up with an eccentric grin "...Channel the spirits!?"