Xanadu Weyr - Wanderin' Wherry Tavern
It is often whispered in the crowds that converge here, that a certain Weyrleader was asked what he wanted in the remodeling of the pub that was not so long ago given a refreshing. He muttered back over the rim of his ever-present mug, "I don't care what you do with the place, just so long as there is plenty of ale." With that in mind, cask after cask of ale lines the walls of the tavern, the remodeler's idea of a jest. As they age, the casks bring a real rustic atmosphere to the pub, along with the deeply wooden flavor that seems to be the theme throughout.
The lighting is dim, as it should be in all good pubs, and the tables and chairs are plentiful. A long mahogany bar, intricately carved with runner beasts, stands vigilant duty at the head of the bar, lined with stools for those patrons that seek the bartender's company.
OOC: This is just Derin's version of what happened at The Wanderin' Wherry during the brawl. I suppose it could be considered a vignette!
IC:
Derin had had a bad past few days, all he wanted tonight was to get drunk and forget about the sevenday and its challenges. Entering into the tavern, which is apparently already pretty full at least tablewise, he sighs rubbing his eyes as they adjust to the light of the bar. A straightening of shoulders and the young Journeyman finds himself heading towards the bar to slide onto one of the few remaining bar stools. A nod given to some of the locale’s patrons, but Derin is mostly here to drink alone, so he doesn’t get the attention of any company as he orders a shot of whiskey from Beldar. As he waits for his drink to arrive, his mind wanders to a few days ago, and Keziah’s Alosynth’s flight. That’s when the troubles of the sevenday started, see? Normally he finds a way to hide himself away during any kind of mating flights, whether it be in the mines or in Dersk and his den, but Alosynth’s was different…it had made him antsy as it started. Maybe it was the fact that he was there to see the dragons in the air over the bowl, or maybe it was just the fact that his blue wher had recently started flirting with a certain green wher whose handler Derin wants nothing to do with. Ah, his drink is delivered at last, and he tips it back before turning to catch Beldar before he can get too far, Derin has had his shot, now it’s time for some mixed drinks. “Keep the tab open, too, would ya?” He calls, before he lets his mind wander again.
Second drink in hand, and he can hear the most recent flight outside, another greenflight that shouldn’t bother him, but it does, he’s tugging at his collar this time as his mind wanders to the night before his turnday, oh what a fiasco that was. Only a day or two after Alosynth was caught by Zaoth, that’s when it happened, the worse night of his life. It was a dark moonless night, he remembers, and him and Dersk were working as usual, stuck in the same area as Yulio and his green Yulsk. ‘I should’ve known she looked different, how could I not have noticed the way her hide gleamed?’ Derin thought to himself. The bluehandler shakes his head, why is it that he remembers that night so vividly? And he remembers Dersk was so distracted, his blue kept wandering closer to that sharding green. ‘Sharditall, why didn’t I take Dersk and run that night?’ Derin knew the reason..he didn’t want to run, he wanted to stay though he didn’t know why at the time. As his mind wanders to that wherflight, his body gives a shudder, was this how dragonriders felt? Or maybe it was worse for them, he would have to ask one if he ever got up the nerve. But luckily his thoughts are interrupted as people start milling into the tavern, green’s flight must be over. ‘I wonder who won.” Derin thinks to himself. He drains the rest of his drink quickly enough, ordering his third drink of the night, he’s going to get so drunk he’ll forget all about the past few days, he’s determined to.
Third drink in hand, and the tavern is filling up rapidly. Derin recognizes some of the new arrivals, Matrin and Ers’lan nearby him at the bar. And there’re Thea and Keziah, how could he have missed seeing them when he entered? But the women are too far away from his current position, so he turns attention to his nearest rider, Ers’lan, as the brownrider greets him he returns it. Someone pushes up beside Derin while he’s greeting his drinking buddy, the miner doesn’t realize who it is pressed right up close against his opposite side at first. But then the pusher’s lips are on his ear? He could almost give in to the kiss to his ear, that is until the voice follows the kiss. “Are you drunk yet? You want to join me outside?” Yulio is the one at his ear and Rin stiffens at the realization that it’s not some pretty caverns-who girl kissing his ear, it’s..it’s HIM, it’s Yulio. Hands are clenched into fists and before really thinking about it, Derin finds himself swinging one of his large fists towards Yulio’s face, knuckles meeting jaw with a crack. “I’m not going anywhere with you, drunk or not!” These are Derin’s words now, strike first talk later is apparently the reaction he’s going with tonight. He watches in satisfaction as his fellow Journeyman staggers backwards from the strike. But then yulio is fighting back? Aiming his own fist for Derin’s face, knuckles strike paydirt as Rin feels his nose crack, that’s gonna hurt in the morning. And then Yulio is drawing backwards away from Rin. ‘That coward, he’s gonna make a run for it.’ Derin won’t allow this thought to become action as he moves after the other wherhandler, intent on beating the snot out of his constant annoyance. He tracks Yulio to one of the darker corners of the tavern, and closes in, reaching for someone he can only assume is the other wherhandler since one eye is already swelling closed and the other hasn’t adjusted to the darkness from the light just yet. Unfortunately, the man Derin gets in a headlock isn’t Yulio, instead it’s one of the other burly men, one of The Wherry’s regular drunks looks like. “Oh shit!” These are the words that escape Derins lips as he realizes he has headlocked the wrong guy. Well, the burly drunk doesn’t take too kindly to being headlocked, so of course he’s going to fight back. Derin feels multiple strikes of fists and feet to his body, but he keeps the man headlocked, because who knows what will happen if he lets go, right? “Lemme go ya fardling wheerybrain!” The man is yelling, trying to beat Derin off even as Derin is trying to land blows of his own. It can only get worse as the whole tavern is now in chaos, Rin’s head whirling and pounding from the blows. And then there it is, the feeling of something striking his rib, a sharp pain. “Ya sonofa…” He looks down to see the blood trickling from his side, and for good measure the headlocked man slices that knife upwards, Derin of course stumbles back, releasing the man from the headlock. ‘Dammit’ Bluehandler thinks to himself. A though that is soon interrupted again by a sharp blow to his head as another brawler, or maybe the same one, Derin doesn’t know, takes a bar stool to the back of his head. And that is what takes the enraged and pained Derin out, finally, as he crumples forwards onto the floor. ‘Dammit..my wher. Dersk!’ He can’t get his thought to words though as the room starts to go black. ‘Dersk…Dersk I’m sorry.’ That’s the final thought, hopefully aimed towards the fretting blue wher outside the brown-dragon blocked entrance.
