Old Rivalries Never Die

The food and drink here is good, despite the clientele's rough and frankly undesirable nature and the smell of pipe tobacco and beer that never seems to come out of the wood; the most popular thing being the curries redolent with spices and the hard ciders, both of which she makes herself in the kitchen. Part of the bar itself, it should be noted, bears the marks of electric damage, with spidery black burn marks radiating out from a charred spot right near the inner edge, where the 'tender stool is located.

Over against one wall is a pot-bellied wood stove, with two much-abused leather chairs facing it. Near to that is a locked door that appears to lead to the owner's apartment above the Ox, while a pair of swinging doors at the end of the bar leads to the kitchen.

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Azog            A huge male orc with long black hair in a topknot.    18s  3h
Celeste         A muscular half-oruch woman who looks like she's just 0s   50m
Kaelyn          Tall-ish, extremely curvy 5'4" redhead Elf... (VERY E 3m   10m

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It's a rowdy afternoon at the Ox-Strength Tavern; and really, what else would you expect it to be? The bar has spent the last twenty minutes embroiled in a chair-smashing test of ferocity between a crew of orc and half-orc sailors, and a band of mostly human mercenaries, with a couple of bugbears and a minotaur on the roster. ...Actually, nobody really *won*, just the Tavern owner yelled at everyone until they stopped fighting and started buying each other drinks to smooth things over.

Now, things are getting back to normal; a couple of barmaids are busy replacing the smashed chairs, and people are getting back to eating the awful food.

Among those eating the awful food is Celeste, the half-orc Barbarian who's been away from the city for some time; she didn't get involved with the brawl earlier, other than to place a (winning) bet on which side was going to come out of it with more people still standing when time was called. So now she's doing the most logical thing possible: spend her winnings on booze.

Azog is here. This, by itself, is unusual. Not that he doesn't fit in, he certainly looks rough enough. But he generally avoids the Ox because there's generally nothing here he's interested in. But today, the weather drove him here, and the one quality he seeks in an establishment right now is a roof. The Ox has one of those. The whole ruckus went on past him without involving him because he's a seven foot oruch and he's got a glare that makes people nervous. He's drinking beer, technically. That is, there's a mug in front of him that he paid for. But he's not really drinking from it. Perhaps because he knows a little bit about this place. He'll give Celeste a thumbs-up if she glances his way. Judging the results of the brawl was well done. Not participating in it was cagey, too. Not that he'd turn down a fight. But in here, he'd probably die of tetanus even if he won.

Look! Its... well It's a goofy elf who's currently litterally skipping her way into the bar! SHe's pulling behind her a little red wagon on 4 wheels, on it are a few small machines with lights, buttons, levers, crystals and of course gears!

She pauses just inside and looks around, eyes wide, before making her way to the bar and waving to the bartender... "Pudding! Ooh and umm, mulled whine!!!" She says happily.. She's quite possibly one of the loudest, and definitely the most energetic elf, probably ever!

The bartender, a grizzled looking human woman rumored to have formerly been a pirate, looks down at Kaelyn with her puddings and mulled wine. "Fancy restaurants are somewhere else," she growls. "We don't want no pudding here."

Just as this admonishment is being handed down, the door slams open, and a colossal giantborn in heavy armor squeezes his way in. The man has an Earthbreaker strapped to his back, and has a warhammer gracing each hip and literally a bastard sword strapped to his shin. His beard is neatly tied into a long braid coming halfway down his chest; he studies the inside of the bar, though after a moment, something makes him laugh, quite out loud. "Well, well," he bellows, to the sudden attentiveness of many.

Of those who don't choose to pay any attention to the Giantborn is Celeste; the half-orc stays seated at the bar, and grins at Azog. "Easy money," she comments, before adding "Youd ale isn't going to drink itself." And then, Kaelyn is there too; after the rough treatment from the bartended, the barbarian woman grunts, and shakes her head. "I'll try one of your puddings," she offers. "Why not."

Azog says to Celeste, "I know what goes into the beer." He leaves unsaid what is -in- the beer, but it's strongly implied that it's not something he'd want to drink. Given the number of people happily drinking, or at least energetically drinking, his fears can't be too horrible. But he's fairly particular, as far as that goes. Go figure.

Kae blinks at the bartender... Another blink, then another person is wanting pudding! Kae points "Yaay PUdding!" She says, waving her arms up and down. "Sooo, two puddings! Chocolate please!" She says happily.... "And umm yus Mulled wine or epicrass!" She says, bouncing on her toes lightly as she grins like the completely loon she is!

"I also know what's in the beer." Celeste raises the mug to her lips and drains her ale, before pushing the mug over to the bartender. "More!" she barks. "Also pudding for the elf. Shut up and give it to her." The bartender looks at Celeste like she's gone completely off the deep end, but shakes her head and yells into the back while she's pouring more ale. "Mulled wine," she declares, "And... pudding." A pause. "I don't know!! Go get some from somewhere!"

The Giantborn walks slowly across the tavern, making the floorboards creak under him with every step. Most people, it seems, know to stay away from him; and he seems perfectly happy with that, moving to take a seat at the bar beside Azog, on the opposite side from Celeste. It's possible he might be recognized; certainly he is by anyone who pays attention to the fights in the colosseum, He's a fighter from Charn, who seems to have a really hard time with the idea fo 'non-lethal' fights. Nobody has died yet, but at least two careers have ended with serious injury, even though the referees can find no serious fault. "Ale," he demands, "And whatever meat you've got on a spit."

Azog will offer a nod to the giantborn, as one heavy hitter to another. He can only shrug to Celeste. If she knows what's in it and drinks it anyhow, she must have her own reasons. He's just watching for the moment, rather than offering comment.

Kae is well, Kae is Kae, and of course she's holding both hands up and slightly off to the side some "Yaaay!" she calls out happily as someone is sent on an errand to aquire pudding "Pudding!" she calls out again. Probably getting an evil look from the bartender... Kae then turns about now, and peers at the thumping... her peer goes from her eye level, up, and up and up some more...

Kae then tilts her head to the side, the goofy 'knife-ear' now mulling things over, before she offers a two-handed wave to the giant born. "Hello extra big person whom I've never met before!!!"

Celests's fresh ale arrives, and she downs half of it in one gulp. Seeing as how pudding is on the way (mainly for Kaelyn's benefit but hey, she can enjoy pudding; makes a change from stuff like fresh rabbit, anyway. Fresh as it practically still alive when she eats it, afterall.) For the moment, she looks like she's intensely pissed off about something, but gives no voice to it.

The big giantborn receives his ale as well, along with a plate of... something. It's meat, anyway, but it seems to be good enough, as the large warrior devours a large piece of it. "So," he inquires of Azog, speaking with a pleasant, amicable voice, "How well do you know the coward sitting on the other side of you?"

Azog offers the Giantborn a shrug. "She's not bad looking, for a halfbreed. I like a bit more tusk, myself. Never met her before in my life, though. She duck out on a fight with you?" he asks casually. Kae is ignored! She blinks a few times and flails her arms "Hellooooooooooo giant person who is now insulting the lady who also wants pudding!" She calls out cheerfully...

"You could say that," answers the Giantborn. "We were supposed to fight in the great Arena of Aby'ssa. But on the day the fight was supposed to take place, the great and brave Celeste wasn't there. What happened again?" He stuffs a hunk of meat into his mouth, and continues to talk with it in his mouth. "Oh, that's right, she *ran away--*"

"*ESCAPED*," Celeste loudly interjects. "Along with a gorup of other gladiators who felt like I did -- dieing pointlessly for someone else's amusement held no honor to it." She sucks in a breath, "If you were smarter you might have figured that out on your own." After a pause, the half-orc glances to Kaelyn beside her, then looks back properly. "Don't worry about him, he's a horrid creature. Ignore him."

Azog looks between Celeste and the Gianborn. This is a bit of a topic with him as well. He says to the Giantborn, "Then the victory is yours. By her own admission," since she said she'd die if she'd faced him. He says to Celeste, "There -is- honor in meeting your end and fighting your hardest even if your cause is doomed. Going to meet your fate when you expect to die shows more bravery than if the outcome is in doubt. But few anymore have the stomach for dying for their honor, and they /claim/ there is no honor as an excuse." He doesn't seem to be bothered one way or the other about it, though.

Kae tilts her head to the left. "Isn't there also honor in escaping your captors when there is little hope of escape and taking those like minded individuals with youa s well?" She asks curiously, rubbing at the back of her neck....

"If the two of you," Celeste growls, looking sideways at Azog and past him towards the Giantborn, "Are stupid enough to be willing to die for entertainment, then it shows how little worth you think your own lives have." She picks up her ale and chugs down another quarter of the mug. "When I meet my end it'll be for something worth it, and when I stand at the gates of whatever afterlife is afforded to me and I'm asked why and how I died, I will not be saying 'so a group of children, women, and soft-hearted men could get a laugh'." She glances sideways at Kaelyn, then, and smiles. "Yes, there is," she answers.

The giantborn throws his head back and laughs, a sound that makes the rest of the tavern go quiet for a minute. "Hilarious," he pronounces, before he punches Azog in the shoulder, hard enough to leave a bruise. "I like you, orc. My sort of man. A real man." he stuffs more of the meat into his mouth, and continues talking. "Do you know what happened after you left, Celeste? I will tell you. I killed all of your friends, and you weren't there to stop it. So tell me. Where is the honor in that? Or was it just entertainment."

Azog shakes his head to Kaelyn and says derisively, "Typical elfish nonsense. Honor," and he gives a semi-synonym in Oruch which doesn't precisely translate, though 'honor' is often given as the closest Tradespeak equivalent, "is about risking your life," he explains. "If you're not risking your life, there's no honor in it. Period, end of story. What you and the humans and such all call honor is your own word for it. You can call translate it as 'honor' if you like. I don't." To Celeste, he says, "Entertainment's not worth dying for, no, but that's a touchy slope. If it's a valid challenge, you either meet that challenge, or decline it and accept the loss of honor. If you're not allowed to decline the challenge, as gladiator-slaves, then escaping is legitimate." To the Giantborn, he says, "Killing for entertainment is not good, either. Fighting for honor is fine, but killing for vengance is not. Killing for vengance is the province if the Lord of the Hells," he uses the Dranei name for Maugrim.

Kae tilts her head curiously. "Everyone,every people have a very different idea of what 'honor' is." She says simply and shrugs. "Fighting to free folks, tobreak out of being owned and enslaved is quite honorable I would think." She says and shrugs "Either way, should you succeed in freeing your self,and others and whatnot, I imagine that would fall under heroism too." She says and grins a bit...

Kae looks at the Giant. "I imagine inside an enclosed arena, with rules in place and controlled circumstances you are quite well able to guarantee yer victory, somehow I doubt in a wide open engagement with no rules to said engagement, you'd fare as well." She says and smiles cheerfully again.

The Giantborn grins at Kaelyn. "Come and face me then, little one," he offers, "In an arena or out of one. Try it, and I'll squash you. Otherwise shut your mouth and stop making bets your ass can't cash." He continues to sit where he is, calmly and contentedly eating his food. "I earned my freedom by winning," he answers to nobody in particular. "Vargr the great, they called me. ...Celeste the cowards, that's what they called you... for about three weeks, then you were forgotten." He glances sideways at Azog, and shrugs his shoulders. "You're right about risking your life. If there's no risk, then it's pointless. Like the fighting they do here -- it's money, and nothing more."

"I've heard enough." Celeste stands, tosses her mug behind the bar (much to the ire of the bartender), and shoulders her shield. "Come find me somewhere outside the city, Vargr, and I'll kill you. Or better yet, find a crowd so they can watch and be entertained." Without waiting for another word, the half-orc barbarian turns and stalks out of the bar, snarling at one of the orcish pirates who looks like he might want to wolf-whistle but quickly thinks better of it.

Kae blinks and peers at the Giant.. She smiles cheerfully "Ya knooow, yer sooo not a nice person... I seriously doubt you'll be able to land a single hit on me, as I'll engage you at range, rather than point blank. Soo if you wish to continue to throw threats at folks and whatnot, I'd be happy to meet you outside the town, where you can fight to your hearts delight, and where I'd happily blow holes in you too." She says, and yes this is about as violent intent as anyone has probably ever seen Kae. Kae casually slides her half cloak back, revealing the fact she does have her death ray, and a pair of dragon spitters to boot. Not to mention other weapons, probably just as dangerous are somewhere on her person. She being an artificer and all...

Azog says to Kae and Celeste, "Fighting to free slaves is fine. Running away from a fight is not honorable. Running from a fight you didn't pick, though, or were forced into, is a much smaller loss of honor." When Celeste issues her challenge, though, he says to her, "Wait. If you're just saying the original fight wasn't fairly set up, then there's no loss of honor. If you're willing to fight now," he says to her, and to the giant, "And you're willing to face her here," he says, "Then you two should fight until your honor is satisfied. If you like, I will officiate."

"Face her? Here, in this rude hovel?" Vargr laughs, and shakes his head. "A waste of my time. Let her earn the right to face me and then I'll consider it. There's no honor in facing her here and now." He stands, rising to his full height. "Make me notice you as a real enemy, half-orc coward, and then we can fight. Until then your challenge means nothing." He glances towards Azog, then Kae, and then back to the half-orc. "You had a choice, Celeste, you *chose* to escape instead of facing me. You could have chosen to fight and earn your freedom the way I did. Honestly. Without cowardice. But you *chose* to run away, and I won't waste my time fighting you."

Celeste pauses on her way out, and snorts. "On fighting in here being the wrong place, we agree on," she replies, "But not on anything else. We'll fight, Vargr, you piece of filth. But it'll be another day." She glances back and forth between Azog and Kae as well, giving a nod to the latter. "Thanks for the support. ...Another time."

Just as Celeste is leaving, the bartender appears, with two puddings; both chocolate, both made to perfection and both presented in glass bowls with little spoons. ...Seeing Celeste on her way out, the bartender shrugs, and puts them both down in front of Kaelyn. "Her you go," she states, turning her back to wander off. "...Weirdo," she mutters.

Azog looks back and forth between Celeste and Vargr. Now both of them won't fight, after talking so much smack. This confuses Azog, who is a straightforward oruch. "Whatever," he says, and shrugs. He goes back to not drinking.

Kae blinks and watches the two, Celeste and the Giant wander off... But well she's distracted by the pudding! "Yaay pudding!" She pays for both and proceeds to happily nom on the chocolate desert!