<< Game Recap: 02/02/2016. Thanks for the great game everyone. Horden we still need a song!! >> The barback's head continues to ache painfully. He tries to focus on his morning chores, washing clean the spilled ale from the bar and tables. But his head refuses to allow him to do any work without reminding him about the 5 ales, and 4 shots of Dragon's Breath he had consumed the night before. Orma laughs loudly from the plushy chairs by the fire. Apparently Brenna had made quite a funny joke. The two had spent the past four mornings discussing some kind of sculpture, that Brenna wanted made. They had become fast friends. The barback grimaces as the sound hits his ear and makes his head ache even more. He almost wishes that they had not killed the dragon. Alux, Brenna, Naomi, Horden and Turki came back from the wilds 4 nights ago. They had quite a party to celebrate the killing of the small green dragon, who had evaded and killed so many of their brethren. The following day Turki and Alux had set out south, apparently in search of another dragon to the south east. The staff cleaned up the bar, and all life seemed to get back normal. However, news quickly spread throughout the town. The next night, as Brenna, Naomi and Horden were having a quiet dinner, every farmer in the entire town lead by Ellry Donbriar marched into the tavern to congratulate the adventurers. Dragons were a serious problem for farmers, as they often would eat the farmer's live stock. Ellry gave a speech, and every farmer there insisted on buying drinks for the "Five Teeth" (Master Lightfoot coined the term after seeing their dragon tooth battle trophies). The staff worked late into the night, serving alcohol and food. Master Jonath had a big smile all night as the money flowed into the coffers. The tips were also quite good that night making up for the long hours the staff had to work. The next morning the staff tiredly cleaned up the bar again, and prepared for a normal night. But now the whole thing had became political. That next night, Knight Jericho and his whole routine showed up to the bar, followed by much of the town. Not to be outdone by Ellry, and always looking for a way to capitalize on events, Jericho took the occasion to celebrate the adventures conquest and implied that they had had been requesting the deed all along. The bar was filled to capacity, and Thumper had to stop people from entering to prevent a fire hazard. Speeches were made, proclaiming a brighter future for Udro and its people. And then the drinking began. The Rusty Spoke Tavern and Inn ran out of every single drop of alcohol that night. Master Jonath had so much coin that night that he couldn't fit it all into the small safe in his office. He had actually slept with the left over coin in a bag and a dagger clutched in his hand that night. The following morning the staff woke up exhausted. Jonath smartly closed the bar last night to keep his employees from quitting for overwork. He threw a staff party in celebration of the money they made. The barback had stupidly agreed to a drinking game with Thumper, and is now paying for it. And since he was the barback, he got to clean up this morning while the rest of the staff slept off their hangovers. "Stupid dragon," the barback mumbles to himself. "I wish he came back so I could kill him myself." Just then the door opens, and in walks Turki and Alux. The barback looks up and sees something quite different. Both Alux and Turki looks...happy. Alux gives a quick nod to Turki, and heads up the stairs to his room. Turki walks to the bar and sits down. The barback walks back to the kitchen and returns with a small bowl of poridge. He walks behind the bar and sets the bowl down in front of Turki, who is winding up a small mechanical horse and chariot, small enough to fit in the palm of a hand. "I am afraid the cook is sleeping off a hangover. I am not much of a chef, but at least its warm. What is that?" Turki looks up at the barback. His eyes are wide and almost child-like. "Hope. It's hope." "Feeling poetic today are we?" the barback asks with a smirk. He returns to cleaning the bar top. Turki laughs out loud, which makes the barback wince. His head really did not like that last shot. "I guess so," Turki says. "This toy was given to me by my Uncle Stor, when I was 5 years old. It was the only gift I ever received in my whole life. My family was very poor. My mother and father could barely afford to feed my two older sisters and me. But my Uncle Stor, he had just become rich. Apparently his bakery in the province of Klevin had suddenly become quite popular. He was doing so well he was going to open more stores, a "franchise" he called it. He had come to recruit my father to run one of the new ones. We were going to have food, a new home, and a real future instead of the poorhouse we all seemed destined to. "And then three days after he left, the great plague of 721 struck the city. My whole family died, and I was left an orphan to be raised by the streets and the theives guild. But I kept this toy. Many other children tried to take it from me, but I always fought them off. Of course over the years, it began it fall apart. When I was 10 the spring fell off and it would no longer wind. At 12, the wheels fell off the chariot, and by 15 the chariot had cracked in half. By the time I arrived here in Udrus, all I had left was the horse, the rest long disintegrated." "Is this the toy that Mirroth, the bronze dragon took from you?" asks the barback. "Yes," Turki replied. "In exchange for a magic sword to free the water spirit. Mirroth told me that if we killed the Green Dragon in the north he would return my toy to me. That is why Alux and I left so quickly after our return. We showed him the dragon's tooth and he gave us back our...trinkets I guess you could say. "I nearly cried when he gave it back to me. Apparently Mirroth is a bit of a tinkerer, and in the time that he possessed it he completely restored it to full working order. I have often cursed him in the middle of the night, and now I would fight to the death to defend him." Turki sets the toy on the counter top, and releases it. The chariot's spring release and the little toy races down the bar, the horse bobbing up and down the whole way down. It stops after traveling just two feet. But Turki's smile couldn't be wider. Turki stands up and retrieves it, and then turns to head up stairs. "And what did Alux get back?" the barback asks. "What improvement did Mirroth work on his item?" Turki turns back and looks at the barback. "That is not my story to tell." He turns around and heads upstairs.
