EXX's Tavern

[Pandora]

Mirravin didn't see a reason to add anything to the conversation so she plucked a spare vile of goldy from her pocket, and ordered a glass of water to mix a drink for herself.

[alondor]

Alondor was listening with interest. When he heard that this controller of fate did not control all fate he had to ask a question. "Do you have control over the negative side of this world or just the positive?" he asked

[Ciarda]

Fate seemed to consider for a moment before she answered, but it did little to answer Alondor's question. While I gain my authority from a higher power, I am left to my own devices on how to best implement it. To some, I am a demon, to others, an angel." The woman took another puff of her cigarette before putting it out in the ashtray that Ex slid her way. She chose, for the moment, to ignore the challenge from Raiga, seeing little point in arguing on such a seemingly trivial matter. Indeed, if anything, she was happy not to discuss work for the moment.

[Ciarda]

(Actually Exanderous, not Ciarda.)

Exanderous set his steely gaze towards his wayward acquaintance. His countenance became laced with sarcasm while his tone carried enough weight to rip the wind away from a wing.

"The kid ain't right," said the Guardian as he turned his attention elsewhere. It came to the guardian's attention, much like a mallet to the face, that some of the tenants that graced the Tavern did not know who the enigmatic figures that shared their company truly were.

Exanderous closed his eyes as a faint white light traced the outside of their socket. A wispy, plasma like glow resonated from his features as his voice carried a calming tone with a slight echo, "Ye who stand here know her name, for she arranged the stars. And by her wrist and mighty pen, she guides you where you are."

Exanderous snickered as he slid a water towards Mirravin and patted her gently on the back.

"Or so they say. Frankly, I believe her legend is all talk."

A grin escaped his lips. The guardian turned to his audience with defiance booming in his stature.

"You may not realize the effect she has had on your life, and it is probably best you leave it that way. Some knowledge is eternal; some being not worth the agony. And my friend here, Switch? A few years ago if you saw this man draw his blade in anger, it meant only one thing. It meant you were dead. Now, you see him draw a flask. Obviously, it's not quite the same thing."

This time, it was a laugh. Granted it was small, but it was a laugh nonetheless.

[Dragon444]

"I have no doubts that their deads are worthy of legend, but have we all not done such acts on some plane or other? I once aided in the slaughter of a god on my home plane, and on at least 3 others my blades alone are symbols of fear and awe."
And with this he drew a curving scimitar from the æther. The blade, shaped like a tongue of flame, gleemed a peerless steel. The hilt, shaped like a wyvern defending it's home, was worn steel. The blade met the hilt at the wyvern's mouth and at the beast's tail, which curved to create a unique handguard.
"But, what can I say? The lives of inter-planar beings are rarely, if ever, mundane."

[Exanderous]

With a slow, wave of his hand, Raiga's blade levitated from the grasp of its captor, and like a bolt of lightning it flew into its sheath. Albeit unique and impressive, the blade nor the person wielding it did not impress the Guardian.

"Trinkets and toys of that caliber are not necessary in this place, traveler," said Exanderous. "I sense you possess a great deal of potential, but you are in my world now, you see? So save your breaths drowning in your boasts and have a drink. It would behoove you to listen and learn from these figures gracing our halls."

The Guardian reached behind the mahogany bar counter and pulled from a shelf an old dusty bottle.

"Some of my private stock, for the newcomer. Welcome aboard."

[Pandora]

Mirravin gave Exx a look that clearly illistrated she wasn't quite sure what to make of getting a pat on the back. Then it occured to her that Exx was such a friendly being he more than likely did it purely out of habit. She gave thanks for the water, and droped in a singel drop of the gold liquid from the vile before placing it back in her pocket.

While I agree most of the people who pass through here are mostly supernatural. Although, you should remember that these people don't have just raw power, and high status. The also have the kind of wisedom that can only come with passing of many, many years. They are gods in their own sense of the word. Mirravin directed to Raiga as she watched the contents of her glass mix together.

[Abel Teller]

A loud explosion from outside shoke the whole of the tavern followed by a loud roar and bright white and blue lights flashing by the window to eventaully come to a halt illuminating the bar from the outside. There was a loud grumbling for a few brief minutes then it just stopped at the same time the lights went out, there was the sound of a door closing and heavy boot steps coming up to the door. The door opened slowly until it was completely open and standing in the door way was a shadowed figure whose frame seemed to take up the entire doorway. As the figure entered the room everyone gathered could plainly see the rifle held to his shoulder and scanning the room, the black helmet and black mask on which was painted the lower portion of a skull, tan combat boots and cargo pants with a pistol strapped to his left leg were there happened to be a trickle of blood covering the upper portion. His upper body was splattered in the dark red liquid over the front and left side of what looked to be the remains of his armor vest and to which there were many pouches and a few knives attached.

He stared at everyone for a moment before he cleared his throat and lowered his weapon down in front of him, keeping his right hand on the grip he reached up and removed his face mask/helmet to reveal a large bushy brown beard and brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. "Ummm... can someone please tell me what is going on and where the hell I am?" he said in deep baritone voice.

[Ciarda]

"You re in the house of the Guardian, and therefore, have no need of the weapons to which you so futilely cling- they wouldn't do you much good anyway, given your present company. I would advise you to relax your hand and take a seat, traveler." The wave of a black, gloved hand and a seat near the bar, followed by a stool at the side of a woman garbed in black, moved across the floor.

Through all of her words, the woman in black had never turned, but she spoke with a weight of authority before anyone else raised a hint of utterance. Indeed, faced with this wild newcomer, she only brushed a stray ebony lock of her normally tightly-wound hair aside and sipped her wine, never bothering to face him. It was as though she felt that she already knew him, or at least sensed him. At the very least, she didn't feel that he warranted anything else from her for the moment.

[switchblade]

"Yes, sit and share your story with us, I'm sure all here would be interested in hearing your tale. Its not often we get travellers through here so ready for combat as you. I'm fairly sure you wont be needing any of those interesting little toys of yours either, we are not your enemys here." though not as heavy with the authority of Fate's voice it held in the air and let the stranger know without a doubt to trust him, he gestured to the seat offered and summoned a glass and bottle of bourbon over from the bar and sat them down in front of the empty seat.

[Abel Teller]

He visibly relaxed and moved to the offered stool next to the woman dressed all in black and the stange man with the black and white wings. "I'm... I'm just confused is all. The last thing I remember is going on a mission with my team through the mountains of Afghanistan, then a loud explosion and I ended up nearly driving my truck through the side of this place, and my entire team was gone from the truck and I was covered in blood." His hand visibly shook as he picked up the bottle offered and took a swig straight from it. "I'm just a little lost and confused at the moment."

[Ciarda]

Fate raised a brow at the man's explanation. True, she could see the turn of time, and could feel it around the individuals surrounding her, she had trained herself long ago to block it out. But at his mention of Afghanistan, which was on Earth, a ways from here, her attention piqued and she momentarily dropped the block. For a moment, odd lights and trails of time energy swam in her vision as the various patrons surrounded her. Only Exanderous' light barely registered, but that was because he had long ago cut his ties with the order of time. The Power could no longer read his temporal movement, but could only keep a steady eye on him, every now and again catching glimpses of his past.

After a moment, however, she managed to block out the rest of the Tavern, focusing solely on this stranger's energy signature and surprisingly, she found that she didn't recognize it entirely. It was difficult to read, at best. Clearly, Fate saw wisps of stolen memory floating around her like a hologram, but that was it. How had he gotten here, to this time, this place? Indeed, it raised more questions than answers, and so, with the shake of her head, she blocked everything out, until once again she saw only her wine glass before her, and Exanderous looking at her almost suspiciously. The woman poured herself another glass from the bottle sitting nearby and lit another fragrant mini-cigar as she simply ignored the look and addressed the newcomer.

"Let us hope the confusion passes, for your sake. It is lucky that you wound up here, though, as I'm sure someone here could shed some light on your situation. You're surrounded by the supernatural, there's bound to be someone who could explain it. The only thing that comes to my mind is the possibility of a temporal crack, rare though they are. You're fortunate to have gotten out of there, however, from what I remember of that place."

[Drakel]

Drakel walks back inside what appears to be an old tavern... The wooden walls that were fixed multiple times and were once of bright and full of life are now a dark grey brown color, holes were in the walls and it has become splintered to where touching it would lead to the wood on the wall piercing even his skin. The Walls all once had paint, but whatever is left are now chips of it here and there or dust upon the ground. to his left was the staircase, made from Azrivel and was once a living tree shaped and cut to be stairs, now has a hole in the ground from the old age, showing that it indeed was a tree and the staircase even hand branches on it but no sign of life. The roof had multiple holes, making the second floor visible above and if one walked in a certain direction; he could see the sky from even more holes. The pillars still stood, except for one wooden one, which was placed in the middle of the room for some desperate attempt for support, now broken in half from the weight of the now broken ceiling. The floor had nails out of their place and at times even a hole to prove that every step must be a careful one since the floor is breaking as well. Looking back outside Drakel examined the road that led to this tavern and across to another city was torn and old, almost forgotten while the trees around it had nothing upon them but the empty branches. The arena, where heroes, villains, or people would go to too fight one another would practice their skills in the art of combat just for the fun of it, or to solve issues every now and then.

Walking towards the bar and behind it Drakel walked through what appeared to be a broken door frame, with the door on the ground with its hinges broken. The Wine Cellar; shill holding barrels full of wine and ale or other common alcoholic beverages, which are now undrinkable due to time and dust in it. There were walls in the middle of the room which were wine bottle holders filled with nothing but bottles of alcoholic drinks. There were cabinets on the walls, which also were old and broken. Mold was clearly seen on the doors and on the wood while under the cabinets had shelves covered with glass bottles or potions, in the back was a chest which, if Drakel Recalled would hold the tavern decorations like coat of arms. Walking towards one of the glass bottles Drakel noticed more and more of how age changed this place. When he finally reached a nicely decorated glass bottle Drakel noticed that it was covered in dust, but due to the glass bottle being tightly sealed it was untouched and still drinkable, unlike the rest that covered the room. Drakel knew that all it would need is to be cleaned and all would be fine, so he walked towards the bar in hopes that the water system would still work. To his utter surprise it did, and so he cleaned the bottle, only for it to have the word “Vodka” on the glass.

Looking around again, the money that the Tavern had made was now gone, as was everyone who would take care of it… Glass was now on the floor, the place had aged and left to rot on its own, without anyone to take care of it. Drakel knew one thing most of all… That the Tavern’s tables were tipped or broken, as were most of the cares and the bartender’s counter had an axe stabbed in it. Only four chairs on the bartender’s counter was left standing, among the twelve (or maybe more or less, Drakel didn’t really count them all) and two tables with maybe one to three chairs around them. Drakel walked to the Bar tender's table and sat down... Drinking his drink... remembering the past, thinking of all the great times and some of the bad he had in the building.

For some reason Drakel looked down on the ground to his left, only to notice one thing that he had missed. A Azure blue rose, Which he recalled to have once been a seed, dropped by Azrivel long ago. The Rose was on just a single stem and had three leaves on it, the stem was popping out of a little hole in the wooden floor, and when he looked up Drakel noticed a hole, large enough for sunlight to constantly shine through it and make the rose live. Drakel smiled as he carefully used his magic to take it out of the ground carefully and slowly he used more of his power to create a pot for this Blue Rose. When all was done Drakel passed the pot with the rose in it on the bartender's counter, far on the side so it wouldn't be affected or affect others while they drink. "There may still be life here after all" Thought Drakel as he yet again took a small drink from the full bottle of Vodka.

After Drakel finally finished the small drink of the Vodka, he started to use his abilities to fix up the tavern a bit, at least then things would go back to normal; or so he hopes.

[Exanderous]

"You trespass here, wanderer."

A voice pierced the silence and darkness there interred and greeted Drakel's ears with a sense of surprise. When one barks words like trespass, it usually carries tones, which perhaps are not so underlying, that carry hostility. This was not the case.

The intruder turned, his curiosity peaked, and faced the direction where the disembodied voice originated. The sound of chains and metal resonated throughout the infamous tavern and carried a strange, horrific sense. A dim, ghostly light slowly manifested into the visitor's view and outlined a silver apparition. Its countenance was shrouded by shadows that were unnatural, even for the crumbled edifice Drakel found himself visiting.

A mighty form slowly revealed itself into a corporal shell that took it's form after the quintessence of strength: The posture of a pillar, broad shoulders and wide chest wrapped in leather strips, but the bottom half of the being faded into nothing from the waste down. Blood seemingly stained the wardrobe in its entirety. It was not like any kind of ghost the visitor had ever seen.

The identity of the specter could not be obtained based on visual perception alone. The apparition spoke once more.

"What brings you to this place, wanderer. Blood still courses through your veins, and only the dead find solace here. Why taint this place with your life?"

[Dragon444]

Raiga's body stirred for the first time in countless ages upon the movement. Exx's soul coulb be felt, and a new presence as well.

"Come forth, Newcomer," His voice echoed through the room. "Welcome to this dead place between worlds."

Raiga's trench coat moved in a non existant breeze as he stood.

"And welcome back, Soul of Exanderous. Your Tavern has missed you greatly."

[alondor]

The magic that filled the tavern shimmered and swirled as some dust and cobwebs were drawn to one spot on the floor. As the magic died down a woman made of dust with cobweb hair and clothes stood at the clear spot gazing with eyes of magic at the wanderer as she spoke to the soul of Exanderous, "He is right, this place has missed you greatly."

[Exanderous]

(OOC:I apologize for the terrible quality of my posts lately. I am way out of practice.)

The faded, crimson stains on the apparition started to resonate a strange light that traced the outline of the warrior. The travelers' suspicions were true: this was the spirit of the Guardian. His lack of a physical body did not discount his presence, for even his ghostly manifestation demanded respect.

"Travelers be wary. Your eyes deceive you. What you have stumbled upon is not the Tavern as you know it. This place is a cauldron of lies and deceit. It is a plane where the negative energies that beget pain and deception weave a terrible trick to deceive the unknowing. The trap has been sprung as we speak by a ravenous demon who's appetite is never slate!"

Exanderous lashed out in anger, "Do you really think the Tavern, a place constructed from MY design would die?"

The Guardian slowly kneeled down and placed the palm of his spectral hand onto the rickety floor boards of the edifice. At the instance contact was made between the Guardian and the floor, a blackened tar-like substance tinged with malice appeared as the walls and support columns synonymously started to dissipate into the air. The very threads of reality seemed to unravel before them as unsettling images and sounds of a spider's den began to take the place of the humble tavern that previously surrounded them.

The ghost vanished into a breezy wisp. Without warning, a giant arachnid with swampy green venom dripping from its fangs appeared and lurched from the darkness into view. Tiny hairs stuck out like daggers all over the arachnid's body, and the entirety of the spider matched the size of a seven ton dump truck both by height and width.

With the monstrous abomination came the sound of peeling flesh, the stench of cadavers, and all the unpleasantness these surroundings could inspire. The various beady eyes stared at the intruders intensely with an expression of pure hunger seething through its countenance. It moved its eight gigantic legs one at a time while inching ever closer to the party as it pushed dessicated human remains out of its path. Fear may not have been an emotion often felt by the current occupants of the spider's lair, but it should be. After all, self preservation is natural.

A voice called out to the inner thoughts of the travelers with solemn advice: "Fight, you fools."

[Dragon444]

Raiga drew his twin blades, Ranton the scimitar and Neviis the dagger. He entered his battle stance and stared down the spider. Waiting patiently for the beast to make its move.

[alondor]

As a being of pure magic residue the creature of dust and spidewebs had no name but for now she will be known as Diana. She drew even more magic from the surrounding area to form fire in her hands, she knew many others dealt with similar situations in this manner.

[Falconer]

The spider was between him and the door, and the historian felt it safe to assume that the creature would not care one whit about his commitment to observation and recording over overt violence. Summoning what offensive magic he knew, Janus traced an arcane sigil in the air, causing a sphere of dark energies to coalesce in front of him before launching it at the creature.

[Corva]

Time froze, just as the spider was about to be vanquished. Breaths hung in the air, Raiga stood still, the path of Janus' blast visible as it streaked towards the monster.

"No no no, that just won't do" a voice muttered. "They've been like this for over five years." Sighing, the woman to who the voice belonged searched her pockets. "I'm sure I had a spell for this. Though it's been ages since I used it." She drew a scroll. "Taka nei mo... nope, wrong method." Taking out a lighter, she set the scroll on fire and blew the dust around the room. As the last of the embers died away on the hard stone floor of the tavern, the chaos resumed.