Fools & Booze

• Location: The Thorn and Shadow (Collinsel)

• Participants: Sandy, Jazmyne, Carn, Amos, Stubb, Soclose

(Sometimes Club)

Since her arrival to town once again, Sandy had been loosening up, due to all of the drinks. She seemed more comfortable now than she did back at Marshank... Maybe something about that location was making her grumpy.

Jazmyne slowly walks into the room, she has had some needed rest and looks around, she sits down in a chair and orders a simple drink.."No..alchol" she mutters, the barkeep rasies an eyebrow and the vixen frowns, "I'm..with child." she says quietly, the barkept shurgs and brings her some water and walks away.She sips her water and looks around .

Carn comes through the front doors of the tavern after a quick walk around the town. He strides up to the bar and orders a drink, also feeling a bit more comfortable here now.

Sandy had taken to leaning against a wall, glancing around at all the other patrons of the bar. Though when she saw Carn come n, she felt a bit happier - someone she could talk to, for certain. Promptly going to take a seat next to him, she smiled over at him. "Not a bad place, this town, eh?"

Jazmyne drinks her water quietly as she still needs to get use to the town, a tall fox todd walks over to her and she decides to ignore him, he decides to talk.."Hey ya..how ya do-", The sentense is cut short as she punhes the todd in the nose and narrows her eyes, he holds his sore snoat and goes to the other side of the bar as she shakes her head and drinks her water.

Carn takes a sip of his drink as he waches Jazmyne deck the fox, he chuckles as he looks over at Sandy, "Och, aye, it's nae that bad when yew get used tae it."

Sandy,seemingly ignoring possible drunken fighting, smiles over to whom she considered a friend by now. "I really should consider doing something to earn a little coin, maybe buy myself better clothes."

Carn looks at his own kilt and pants, sufficiently worn by now, "Hmm, probably a wise idea. Any thoughts on 'ow ta do dat?" he asks before taking another sip of ale.

Sandy shrugs, frowning a little bit. "I honestly have no clue. The way I used to do it, I see that it was wrong now. I guess you could get on as a blacksmith's assistant, or possibly help out in a bakery, or something..."

Jazmyne looks over at the group she remembers from the other day but no sign of her father, she finishes her water and stays where she is quiet and maybe thinking even.

Carn shrugs, "Maybe so. Anyways, it's worth a shot." he finishes his ale, "But ah suppose ah'll get tae that tomorrow. Yew seem happier than usual," he observes.

Sandy leans against the counter, smiling. She definitely was happier. "I don't know, there was just something about that empty fortress that rubbed me the wrong way. Something bad had to have happened there... I don't know what, but I have that feeling."

Carn sighs, "Now that yew mention it, t'was kinda dreary, wern't it? Depressin's tha word fer it."

Sandy smiles weakly. "I almost felt like escaping from my master was a bad idea... But since we're in actual civilization again, I feel relaxed."

Carn grins back at her, "Good tae hear." he looks around the tavern, "Ah'm beginnin' tae like this place mahself. Betta' than some crumblin' old fort anyways."

Jazmyne sighs as she watches beasts come and go from the doorway.She looks over at the squirrels.

Sandy nodded softly, and tapped her fingers on the bar idly. "Definitely. I don't think I'd have lasted much more there."

Jazmyne sighs again and watches the room quietly, she looks over at a group of rats playing cards and laughing loudly as she puts her ears agaist her head.

Carn glances over at Jazmyne again before turning back to Sandy, "Well, let's 'ope we don't go back, eh?"

Sandy nods softly. "Yeah... I did hear Stubb, and that cat and the drunkard that there might be an attack on the fort..."

Carn waves an arm to emhasize his words, "All tha more reason not tae go back, ah say. Nothin' good tae come outta that fort."

Amos emerges from the kitchen, grumbling as he removes an apron and curses about a certain hare. Handing it off to the help. The debt paid he looks about the tavern for any familiar faces. The squirrels and the female fox seem familiar but he doesn't approach them. Instead ordering drink, paying for it and sipping from it as he hangs around the bar casually.

Jazmyne stands and slowly walks over to the group.

Sandy nods again. "Except meeting a rather sick-minded lizard..." she said with a shudder.

Stubb trudges in from the entrance, his fur slick with rain, his torso encased in a tunic that, though fresh, is also dappled with water. He crosses toward Sandy and Carn and orders a drink, then climbs into a stool beside them. "Wha's go' you two bumpin' 'eads? Plottin' ta ditch us verminfolk?"

Carn glances over at Stubb, "An' if we are? We're nae yer slaves yah know." he turns back to Sandy, "Och, c'mon, Scaly wasnae so bad, once yew got over tha fact dat he wanted ta eat ya most of tha time..." he pauses, "Alright maybe 'e was that bad." he chuckles.

Jazmyne looks over at Stubb as he walks over and and looks to the squirrels as she is beside them too and speaks, "Umm..excuse me..may I ask a question of you?"

Sandy shudders again from thinking of that horrid guy, before looking over to Stubb. "I'm not ditching anyone. I actually think that, if we all stuck together, we'd actually have a chance to live to die of old age..."

Stubb shrugs at Carn. His eyebrows knit irritably as he lifts the col beer to his lips. "No' sayin' you is, ma'e," he says, wiping the foam from his mouth and weighting the word 'mate' with a sardonic cadence. The weasel looks at the young foxmaid. "Aye?" he asks simply and takes another drink.

Jazmyne nods, "I am looking for my father, he was here couple days ago, Is he still here I..I wanted to tell him something"

Stubb looks at Jazmyne without recognition. "Yore favah," he says dumbly. "An' wha' makes you fink oi'd know anyfin' abou' dat, eh li'tle laydy?"

Jazmyne narrows her eyes at Stubb, she keeps her calm, "My father is Hactor.." she says firmly.

Comprehension dawns slowly in the weasel's eyes as he meets the young girl's gaze. "Ah..." he emits in a subdued voice. "Oi... ah... You say 'Actor's been 'ere?" He presses the lip of the tankard to his teeth in a ruminant pose. "Damdest fing. Can say oi seen 'im moise'f, but oi can' see whoi he'd..." He drinks again. "You sure you wasn' mistakin' someone else for the ole codger?"

Soclose steps into the tavern a bit later, the osprey looking rather damp himself as he moves over to one corner by the stage area. "Rain's worse enough," he croons conversationally to a nearby patron as he mantles his wings, "but at least we don't have snow, /he-ie?/" He shakes his feathers to shimmy the water off, walking over to meet up with Stubb before the unfortunate patron can react to the water spray.

Jazmyne folds her arms over her chest, "It was him, I know my own father."She sits down and almost orders a drink and then stops and shakes her head and mutters.

Sandy glances over to the door, frowning a little bit. "Really raging out there, I guess..." she muttered, before looking around. "Wish I had a bloody drink..."

"Hmm," Stubb says. He's too absorbed in this new puzzle to notice Soclose's entrance. "Oi... believe you. An' you spoke to 'im?"

Carn zoned out for a bit there but shakes his head and cathces up on what he missed. He orders himself another drink with his dwindling amount of coins, having missed Sandy's earlier lament about her own lack of drink.

Soclose exclaims, "Good wishes! Good wishes! A drink, something besides water that is, would be most appriciated." Soclose says to Sandy as he moves around to speak with the squirrel, "What will you have?--make it the same for me too!" The eagle exclaims, "And don't forget to put mine in a bottle!" He keeps his wings mantled as they slowly drip water."

Sandy gives him a weak little smile, blushing. "I only wish because I'm as broke as the windows at that damn fort."

Jazmyne sighs, "Sort of..passed out in front ofg em...but someone said he caught me, wanted to tell him something guess it can wait a short while"

As absorbing as the Mystery of the Disappearing Foxlord is, Stubb can't help but notice the encroaching presence of an enormous seabird, whom the weasel duly shoots a friendly wave. He turns back to Jazmyne. "I' don' make sense. 'E were always a tough nut to crack. Always sneakin' off, always hatchin' schemes. One day he was wif us a' Marshank, an' tha next..." He opens a supinated paw to reveal an empty palm: "Poof. Wifout a word, no' ta me. No' ta anyone, 'far as oi know. Now 'e turns up again. Collinsel. Place where 'e got 'issewf kidnapped, same toime as oi did." He sighs. "An' 'e don' even say 'ello."

Soclose shakes his head, "You do the ordering and I will do the buying." The eagle taps the pendant on his chest and remarks, "Surely they would not refuse someone like us of a little credit. /Haie?/ We're important people." He turns to glance at the bar before saying a bit louder, "My beak has held the ear of the mayor of Collinsel and--and other important people besides!"

Jazmyne sighs, "Maybe he will show up soon, like said wanted to tell him something..important"

Sandy glances to Soclose again, and quirks a brow. "You couldn't order for us both? I mean, I'm not too fussy..." she said. Maybe she was just too nervous to address the barkeep.

Stubb eyes her carefully. "What is i' you wan'ed ta tell 'im, li'tle laydy?"

Jazmyne glares "Not ya...ohhh" She suddenly blinks and puts a paw to her middle and blinks again, "Ok..strange feeling.." She looks at Stubb, "Just..well, he is gonna be a grandpa, now like right now but in few weeks."

Stubb starts to reach for Jazmyne, but then he stops, not wishing to alarm her. "A grandpa?" He pauses, eyes on her belly. "Weren' much of a pa, though, were 'e? 'Ope you'll pardon moi askin', bu'... Whoi do you care if 'Actor knows?"

Carn has been quietly watching this whole event unfold, leaning back against the bar.

Jazmyne is slightly quiet, she blinks again and chuckles "Its..kicking.." She looks to Stubb, "Well he..may be intrested and..why shouldnt he know, saddly the kits father is dead so the kit will just have a mom..and why not a grandpa too."

"Oh, very well then," the osprey replies to Sandy, ruffling his headfeathers and giving the bar a critical orange eyed look until it is ready for his approach. Stepping over into the silence, the osprey pipes calmly, "I'll have two of your ales--one in a tall bottle, and the other in a wide cup--and have that carry-boy of yours check back later to see if either of them are empty."

Sandy drums her fingers on the bar idly, waiting patiently for a drink. "Hm..."

"You fink 'e'll make a good gran'pa? Don' seem loike 'e was around much for you. Fink 'e's gonna change for yore choi'd?" Stubb asks. He sighs. "Oi loike the ole feller, but oi know 'im well enough ta give 'im 'is space. Loike oi said, 'e's always got 'is oiyes on a proize."

Jazmyne frowns, "Well maybe he can tell me why he left, like ta know and..I can always go..well back somewhere if he dont want me around "

Stubb looks at his empty mug, rocking it along its bottom edges.

Soclose turns and finds Sandy has followed him up when the drinks are poured and set on the bat, "Ah-hee! The tall one is mine. Of course, the other is yours. You can carry them back to the table, can't you?" The osprey tilts his head to look back at Jazmyne, "I want to find out how this story ends--that's the fox that passed out here the other night, do you remember?"

Jazmyne goes quiet, "Maybe was a mistake walking all this way" she says afrer a while

Soclose turns to Sandy once the drinks are poured and set on the bar, "Ah-hee! The tall one is mine. Of course, the other is yours. You can carry them back to that table, can't you?" The osprey tilts his head to indicate the one Jazmyne and Stubb are sitting at, "I want to find out how this story ends--that's the fox that passed out here the other night, do you remember?")

Sandy smiles sheepishly up at the other, giving a little shrug. "I could, but I was talking to Carn..." she replied, before smiling. "I do remember her though. Bit of drama, that."

"Oi didn' say i' weren' worf a troi, dear," Stubb smiles sadly. "'E cou'd always surproise us." He shrugs a bit sheepishly. "Guess oi'm a bit mad at the ole fool for ditchin' us. 'E weren' much use, but damn me oi missed 'im once 'e left." He glances at Sandy and Soclose.

Carn nods, getting into the conversation with Sandy and Soclose, "Aye, it was pretty dramatic. Not sure exactly what was happenin'."

Jazmyne nods "Well..I will stay a few days, if do head...back where was will take it more slowly then, rest more so dont get over tried or ill"

"'Ow long d'you expec' before tha baby comes?"

Soclose tilts his head and looks over at Carn with a look, "What was strange is the crowd that left shortly afterwards." He looks about the room, "I don't see them today--no." Tilting his bottle and taking a drink, the osprey sets it down before crooning, "Maybe we'll keep our drinks over here. If something strange is going on, then we'd best keep our beaks out of it, /Hee?/ Or-noses, you-know."

Sandy frowns a little bit, and scratches her head a little bit. "You mean that fancypants squirrel? I think I've seen him before... Like, before the shipwreck..." she said, tryign to remember something from the distant past.

Jazmyne answers , "Late spring so...before summer..why did you ask?"

Stubb shrugs. He summons a bartender and orders a drink for himself. He looks at Jazmyne. "What'll you 'ave? Oi'm payin'."

Carn shrugs, "Ah don't know anythin' 'bout him, but he seemed too stuck up fer his own good."

Jazmyne shakes her head "No thanks, cant have most drinks here with...the kit"

"Yes, I have seen part of the shipwreck," Soclose says, "did this friend of yours go overboard as well?"

Sandy quirks a brow from his question. "What friend?"

Stubb blinks. "If you say so. Me muvver drank a plenny when oi was in de oven. Don' see i' did me any 'arm." He waves the bartender off to fetch his drink. "Moigh' be better for you to stay in Collinsel. Bes' not ta be on tha road when you deliver." He smiles. "An you bein' 'Actor's kin, oi figure oi shou'd do moi part." He digs into his pocket, then slides his paw, face-down, across the bar. "'Ere. Ta look after yorese'f. Shou'd be good for a couple weeks' board."

Soclose tilts his bottle again, "This squirrel you were just speaking about," he shakes his head, "It amazes me how you managed to wreck in the first place, was their mutiny, everyone onboard drunk? Ah, or was the water just too deep?" He watches Sandy closely.

Stubb leans in. "But bes' not ta let proyin' oiyes catch soight a gold 'round 'ere. So keep it 'idden till you spend i'."

Jazmyne nods as she takes the coins andsmiles faintly "Thanks..., I may be going to a room soon, little tried."

Stubb nods, "Ay, li'tle laydy. Get yore rest. An' oi'll keep an oiye open for our friend." He grins and thanks the bartender as his second drink is delivered. "For yore pa, oi mean."

Jazmyne nods as she stands "You are kind sir, " She then heads to a room upstairs and is soon out of sight as she disappears up the stairs and into the hallway to the rooms.

Stubb watches the fox leave, stands with his drink, then drifts off to a corner to think.

Soclose whistles a low note and says, "No apology needed then, I take it?" He tips his bottle back and watches as the fox takes her leave again, turning his stare over to Stubb when he doesn't come to meet them at the bar. "More mysterious all the time, don't-you-know?"

Sandy seemed a little dazed, but finally realized she had forgotten her drink - promptly taking a long drink, before looking up at the ceiling. "Maybe one of these days, everyone will settle down somewhere nice..."

Amos finishes off his mug of brew, crossing over to the bird, "Yo bird, you see that bloody hare around?" He mutters.

Soclose stares about the room, "No I don't!" He tilts his head and looks over at Amos, "I could go out and look for them, but it is wet outside /Heie/--and raining! so this is the most likely place to stay." He stares out at the entrance and says with a off-hand note, "Unless you really need them, then we should check closer to the docks."

"Nah, its alright. I'll find that bloody hare and fix her later, " Amos grumps, shrugging, "Bloody hare broke sumthin' and I had to do kitchen duty for her is all, what's about you bird ya's got any plans? Or you just following us around eh?"

"Following," Soclose nods, "and watching!" He tilts his head up and finishes the rest of his bottle off before crooning, "I have been making my greetings all day, but the weather--well! It is hard to keep your visits happy and short when it's so wet outside." The osprey pipes in a mimicing voice, "We could hardly let you go out in a storm such as this, Soclose!"

Amos errupts into a bellyful of laughter, his grumpy mood lifted for the moment, "Aye, you've really been of help, ain't gonna send ya out into no storm." He grins.

Carn stands up straight, stretching and then yawning. He says to no one in particular, "Ah should get some sleep, be back around later." he starts towards the stairs with another loud yawn.

Sandy looks over to Carn, and tilts her head. But shrugs it off, and takes another drink. "Sleep well then, friend."

Soclose preens his wingfeathers, "Not that we osprey dissolve so--so very quickly in water, you know." He eyes the bar as his bottle is replaced behind him and he turns back to Amos, "Do we have business here other than social calls? And before you answer that--mind you I don't regret changing a nice warm tavern for a cold rooftop in the north! No, sir!"

"I don't reckon I know, I ain't usually one for plans and such. I usually follow along after ol' Stubb, though I suppose that ain't always been so bright after a few scrapes we been in, " Amos smirks, shrugging, "I just hope we don't head back to that bloody fortress or what have ya and stay here for a bit."

Sandy glances over to the other two, quirking a brow at that. Inching closer, she tilted her head. "Thought the whole lot of you wanted to head back. So it's only Stubb and that damn hare that want to return?"

"/Ah-hh weel,/" Soclose whistles, "I am curious enough to follow and see if that happens." He tilts his head, "No mutiny from me! Though, it is a long way to walk, is it not?"

"Oh I'll go if Stubb wants to go back that way, but I ain't be wanting to spend the rest of my days in some drafty fortress if I can help it, " Amos points to the squirrel maid, "What about you, what do you say? Maybe we could have a meeting of sorts to figure out our next destination of what our bloody little group's goals are."

Sandy rubs her head a little bit, frowning. "I really don't know, but if we go back there, I swear I'll be driven mad... There's just something about that place that makes me feel like dirt."

"It certainly has enough of that!" Soclose says agreeably, "but it was also a nice place to get rid of that General fox." The osprey mutters quickly, "/Ayye!/, or so I thought at the time. It is perhaps too large to be held by such a small number as ourselves, that is its biggest fault."

"I ain't say we should stay here, I just think going back would be a mistake. Is time for us to move on to more exciting things, " Amos rubs his chin, "Ya got any ideas bird brain?"

Sandy scratches behind her ear, frowning. Exciting places, exciting places... "We could always try our luck around Mossflower... There's bound to be something going on there.

Soclose nods, "A move west would do us good, alright." The osprey brightens up a bit at the mention of Mossflower, "That may be a good idea as well, there are plenty of settlements beneath the trees in that forest. We'd have no problem impressing ourselves upon them as guests as long as we brought news to share."

"Not sure about Mossflower, it'd be exciting sure but west is new, " Amos grins, shrugging, "Wouldn't hurt to go somewhere new, Mossflower ain't unless ya got a specific portion of Mossflower in mind tree climber?"

Sandy shakes her head, smiling weakly. "I've not been to Mossflower. I just figured there would be some sort of settlements or something we could visit..."

Soclose nods, "I've had occasion to fish there more than once." The osprey takes a drink from his almost neglected bottle and croons, "If you don't mind the occasional knock from another eagle it's a rather quiet place to fly over."

"Okay, maybe Mossflower ain't out but eh. Maybe we can find somethin' a bit more exciting than a woodlander village or such, " He calls for a drink after getting the attention from a server, pays and sips at his drink, "You been very far around these lands bird?"

Sandy frowns a little bit, and scratches her head. "Who's to say there's no vermin settlement?"

"Why, I am quite the far-traveller!" Soclose croons, "Across oceans and lands...alike! /He-ie../ But for visiting, I am only known in large places, and those small places travelled to by my family." He fidgets a bit and brings up a talon, "You name the place and I can find--probably find a fish there!" Considering his talons a bit, Soclose puts his foot back down again with a hop.

"Maybe there is, but that closer to Mossflower be heavy with slavers I reckon. Unless ya got some pals in them sort but maybe they're the sort we could throw in with as well, "The wildcat chuckles, turning to eye the bird, "Uh huh, where's the most exciting place you been? Any vermin settlements ya know of?"

Sandy scratches her head a little bit, frowning. "If I could just get something better to wear, anything that'd hide this stupid cuff on my ankle, I'd be okay, I'm sure..."

Soclose shakes his head and says to Sandy, "Cuff? Your feet are so small, I never gave it a second look..." Not too reassuringly the bird suggests, "We could get you a second bracelet.. ah? Then it'd be a style." The osprey considers by taking another drink and says to Amos, "In the time before my father's father's hatching we claimed two islands for ourselves--" Soclose bobs his head and croons, "It is no doubt like what you have on land--the most dangerous and exciting things you may know might just be your neighbors."

Amos finishes off his mug and calls for a refill, buzzed and trying to focus his eyes as he laughs but grins crookedly at the squirrel, "Maybe ya could see if you could get hired as a cook or somethin' while we're here, or do dishes to earn some money ta buy somethin', " He eyes the bird as he takes his refill, "Aye, I come from way south of these parts. Some of my neighbors ain't too kindly, but that's a story for another time eh?"

Sandy shrugs a little bit from the suggestion, and smiles. "I could... I mean, I cook for the lot of us when... that sick lizard ain't cooking other beasts..." she said, with sheer disgust and hate in her voice at that idea.

"A good idea," says Soclose agreeably. "And I haven't complained once when you cooked the fish, haven't I?" The bird stares about the tavern and tilts his head towards Amos with a nod, "You're right, perhaps I'll ask someplace less busy on a better night and--and we don't have drinks."

"Ya, ya ain't burnt the fish and ya did save our skins. Might as well put them skills to a good use eh?" He yawns, shaking his head warily, "Hmm, I think I'm gonna have to find a place to sleep, as soon as I finish this..." He takes his time finishing his mug before handing it off to a passing tavern wench, "Thanks ya luv, ya two are of course welcome to continue talking among ya self, " Amos smiles at them both.

Sandy smiles a bit. "Think I'll put that in tomorrow. Tonught, I think I'll just relax, maybe find a book laying about..." she mused, before getting off of her chair, nodding to the two. "Good evening to you both." she said, before going off in search of a book.

Soclose nods to the both of them, "And I'm going to finish this and go upstairs." He tilts his bottle back and stares at the ceiling for a moment before setting it down, "Someone should keep a watch on the weather."