DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Fantasy SKT: The Storm King's Thunder 3Ca - The Wink and a Kiss (Bern, Davroar and Jaliera)

Boolgin Syzpaq

The dancer glances at Bern and looks him up and down, sizing him up. Then he rested his elbows on the table and cupped his face in his hands and looked Bern in the eyes with an discomforting gaze and replied, "Boolgin Syzpaq, and who might you be? You look ... strong."

<Bern>

He sighed at the dancer's attention. He had a pretty good idea where that was headed.

"And you look like someone that likes men. I like women. Sorry", he said trying not to sound offended. In fact he was not, but he wasn't interested either.

Davroar

He is momentarily at a loss of words when Bern makes his comment to realize the dancer is a fancy. Given his barbarian heritage and his youth, it is his first time to actually meet someone like Boolgin up close. Feeling like he is staring too much at the man, be forcefully breaks out of his stunned condition and looks for their server and wonders out loud to no one in particular, "Where's our drinks?"

Jaliera

She smiles, understanding the discomfort but just glad it is not her.

"Thanks Boolgin, your help is appreciated. If we seek more information, can we speak to someone at the address you gave us or do you stay there?"

Boolgin Syzpaq

"Verbal thanks. How quaint! You do realize that I am here for your pleasure, do you not. There are expectations of me from management, to, umm, be friendly. "

At about that moment, the waitress with the long black hair returns with the drink orders and as she approaches, Boolgin lets out a hearty laugh and consciously puts his hand on Jaliera's leg while laughing. The waitress puts down the drinks and there are four of them, one for Boolgin. His reaction is one that hints it was expected. She puts down two mugs of ale, a glass of water and a glass of wine, which is for Boolgin.

"I'll be right back with the fish stew," she says smiling and leaves.

Once she is out of sight he says, "Slarina is sweet but she has too many friends."

He then changes subject and returns to talk about Beldabar's Rest. "I didn't give you an address. It's not difficult to find, once you know what you are looking for. You would go back into the town square and look through the windows of the gatehouses until you see one which is lit inside by a large ornate lamp that holds seven thick candles. The candles are arranged in a circle. There is only one such gatehouse and it is very close to here. It's a crumbly sort of building that stands by itself. Really, it's only there to provided guests with the opportunity to shed wet outer clothes when it is raining or snowing. Aside from the lamp, the only thing in the gatehouse is a staircase down."

Then Slarina returns with a large tray on which she carries a pot of steaming stew from which the savory aroma of seafood rises. On the tray there are also bowls and utensils and a loaf of bread. She the tray down on the table and spreads out three bowls and utensils. Then, using the laddle that was in the pot, she fills the three bowls. She puts the now half-filled pot in the center of table along with the loaf of bread, which is sliced. She straightens up and says, "That will be fifteen silver."

Jaliera

"It smells delicious thank you."

And she takes out the coin and pays the required amount plus a small tip. She waits for Slarina to go and then nods to Boolgin, before engaging Davroar's attention.

"See, you should trust me to find a good place."

At the words - trust me - she looks Davroar right in the eye, hoping he notices and hoping he knows her well enough by now.

"Maybe we can spend some time together in a more private setting.. but only once we have eaten?"

She smiles at Boolgin as she says this to him.

"I assume you have somewhere.. appropriate?"

<Bern>

While there was a lot he might have said, Jaliera was doing just fine and ... perhaps ... her 'demeanor' would get more useful information from the man than he would have.

He smiled when the stew arrived. It =did= smell good. He was looking forward to seeing if the taste was as good.

He looked up from his bowl when Jaliera seemed to be planning 'something'.

Davroar

He catches Jaliera's look and returns her gaze with some heat of his own. Silently he understands and trusts her, but he definitely does not like the idea of Jaliera being alone with him. If Boolgin gets out of hand, Davroar will not hesitate to track the man down in his five hundred pound grizzly form and scare the living crap out of him.

Quickly he says to Jaliera, "Long as it's warm and dry I'm fine wherever to rest for the night. Thanks."

The drinks and stew arrive which takes his mind off of all salacious thoughts of Boolgin spending time alone with Jaliera. Paying his portion for the meal, he says to Slarina as he grabs a bowl and drink, "Smells good."

Boolgin Syzpaq
"Of course," he says, answering Jaliera. "Enjoy your food."

A new minstrel wanders into the area, filling the room with a new tune. Boolgin stands back up and starts to gyrate and dance to the tune suggestively and parades himself around the table before leaning in to Bern and says, "I am jealous but, of course..."

He then dances away from the table and makes his way over to other tables. The trio are left to enjoy their dinner.

<Bern>

He frowned for a moment as he tried to 'make sense' of the dancer's comment. Then shrugged. He had decided the dancer was probably jealous ... perhaps thinking that he and Jaliera were an item. It probably wouldn't occur to the man that she could be interested in someone else. He returned his focus to the stew in front of him and gave it a taste to see if it tasted as good as it smelled.

Jaliera

As she had been warned that conversations here were not private, she saves her explanations for later, hoping the others will understand.

She sniffs appreciatively.

"This looks and smells good."

Dipping in a spoon she samples it.

Davroar

He is hungry enough that if it was yesterdays stew he would not complain. As it is he wholeheartedly agrees with Jaliera as he finishes his stew in record time then leans back to nurse his ale, with his stomach feeling quite content.
Looking around he wonders out loud, "I wonder how our other half of the group are managing?"

Even though this place was strange to begin with, he is feeling good that they did not stay the Pearl Handed Pipe.

<Bern>

He was still 'nursing' his stew, somewhat amazed at how quickly Davroar went through his. He did take a moment away from his bowl to say "I am sure they are getting by."

DM
A half hour passes before Boolgin returns. While the trio had a chance to sit, eat and relax, it did not seem that he had relaxed at all. When he returned, he was accompanied by a pair of beautiful half elfs that followed behind him. One was playing a flute and the other a lute and Boolglin danced to their tune. Both maidens wore identical dresses made from an ultra-sheer material that hid little. They also wore simple lace masks that covered enough to conceal an identity around the eyes. The dancer and his musicians made their way through the room, passing by other tables. At each they would pause, to flirt with the patrons. Eventually they made their way over to Bern, Davroar and Jalira. They women continued to play and Boolgin continued to dance. By the way the sweat glistened off of his body, one could assume that he had been dancing for the entire time that he had been away. Pausing, as they did at other tables Boolgin perform and flirt, Boolgin stationed himself in front of Jaliera, the flutist chose Davroar and the lute player chose Bern. While Boolgin twirled and gyrate seductively inches in front of Jaliera, the flutist and lute player made sure that Davroar and Bern's eyes were focused elsewhere while he danced.

ooc: Assume some BCD stuff we'll just side-step. And for all that follows we could roll dice or just roll with it

As the melody that Boolgin was dancing wound down, he snatched the cup of water that was in front of Jaliera and gulped it down. The musicians plopped themselves into the laps of the two men and after Boolgin takes the final gulp he says, "Shall we?" to Jaliera as he puts down the empty cup and extends his hand to Jaliera.

Jaliera

She is glad that she has had time to prepare herself for this for it would have been much worse otherwise. She manages a smile, only a slight blush and places her hand in his as she stands. Now the moment has come she feels nervous but she needs to trust Urlam and maybe get more used to the subterfuge necessary to obtain the information that they need.

<Bern>

He nods his 'approval' of the new 'entertainment' that Booglin has brought with him.

He grins as Booglin 'drags' Jaliera to the dance floor. Then his grin turns into a look of surprise when one of the women, uninvited, settles onto his lap. He did not have any idea what she expected or wanted. But as 'alluring' as she was, he is not looking for anything 'sexual'. He isn't sure that he wants to dance either.

Davroar

He can not help but stare at the women as they play in front of their table, and then his whole attention is to the flutist that is suddenly in his lap. His mask manages to hide his flush and perspiration across his brow. Fumbling for his drink to calm his nerves and to try and cool his head down, all he manages to say to the pretty maiden is, "I'm Davroar."

DM
Bern and Davroar see Jaliera and Boolgin weaved through the taproom and then leave it completely. They did not go off to dance. With them out of sight, the two half-elf women lay down their instruments and begin to talk to the men. Their intent is clear, and their hands work in conjunction with their words. They are hoping to lure the two to more private settings.

<Bern>

He smiled when Booglin convinced Jaliera to go somewhere more 'private'. And it seemed that their two ladies wanted to do the same. But he was not interested. Casual sex was not something he engaged in very often. He decided to play along for a bit ... until Davroar had made his choice. He didn't want to prejudice his friend's choice.

Davroar

He really loves the attention he is receiving from the woman in his lap, and like Bern he allows things to progress up to a point. He even sneaks a grab or an inappropriate touch, but just at the point where the woman seductively whispers in his ear to leave elsewhere, he has to quietly tell her, "I'm trusting another to uphold her virtue for me, so I must do the same, even though I really, really don't want to right now."

He gently grabs her by the hips and applies slight pressure to signal for her to get off his lap, and then bangs his tankard, "I need a cold ale!"

<Bern>

With Davroar having made his choice, he pats he the wonderful behind in his lap and then encourages her to leave as well. He does deposit a couple of coins on the table and with an appreciative smile slides one towards each of the ladies.

DM
The girls names, Bern and Davroar have learned, are Ivy and Rose.

Instead of hopping off of Davroar's lap right away, Ivy twists herself around to straddle and be face to face with him now and he feels her warm breath on the nape of his neck as she leans and whispers softly into his ear, "Are you rejecting me?" She draws in a deep breath through her nose and adds, "But you smell of springtime in the forest!"

Rose reacts similarly, turning around on him too, but she cradles his face with one of her hands and leans in to him and says, "Am I not pleasing to you?"

OOC: I'll say both men are distracted. Please give me a perception rolls at disadvantage (meaning, Bern roll 1d20+5 twice and Davroar rolls 1d20+4 twice. I'll take the lesser of each.

[[ MikeD rolled d20+5,d20+5 and got 20, 17. Clearly he is immune to the 'charms' of wanton women <weg> ]]

DM

While Davroar and Bern busily worked at trying to get Ivy and Rose off their lap, Bern feels Rose's hand reaching for the very same pouch from which he had just placed a few coins on the table from.