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"Hi guys! I'm Frankie! Mom dropped me off to hang out here while she goes and stands on the street corner downtown. She said she'll be gone till at least supper time, hopefully longer." He says scratching his head with a confused look on his face.
"Anyone wanna play board games with me?" Says the chipper little tyke, pulling out a game of Doppel and spreading the pieces all over a table while giving the most sad and pathetic 'Ppppllllleeeaassseee' face you'll ever see.
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"What?" A redheaded human woman stands up, surprised by the kid. The worlds fully soak in, and she shakes her head when she realizes Mama Frankie's mission. "Which corner? She's gotta try something else-"
From the wall a branch reaches out against Meredith's shoulders and forces her into the seat. "The boy wants to play a game, have some fun!" The creature stops leaning against the wall and sits down. She is humanoid seemingly made of tree bark and branches, with a wooden head that mixes elven and lupine features. "We'll play with you! My name is Denair, and this is Meredith. Tell me, how do you play?"
"You play. I watch." Meredith stands up, swatting the creature's branch when it reaches for her. Countdown until some of this kid's friends dig into my coinpurse while I'm playing with him...
Denair spends the time not really getting all of the rules, but also playing simple parlor tricks via prestidigitation.
Frankie watches the weird tree thing appear out of the wall "Wow!" That's so cool! How'd you do that? Can I try?" He gets up and stands up against the wall and poses like Denair. "Can you see me?" He looks down at his shoes and can still see them and gets disappointed. "Damn that didn't work at all." He sits back down in hopes of playing some games instead.
"Ummm I'm not real sure on the rules exactly like, all I know is I'm really good, I always beat mom when we play.. which I guess isn't too often, his smile droops a bit." He reaches down and rummages in his belt pouch and pulls out a beat up deck of cards. "I've got these too if you know more card games. I know how to play Go Fish and War and some game my mom's 'friend' taut me.. Poker? I think he called it." He giggles. "We only played once though, he wasn't very good I don't think and he got mad and left, Mom doesn't bring him home anymore."
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Meredith peers at the Lil' Frankie.
And sees he really is happy. Denair is also entertained without harassing Meredith, which is nice. She finally sits down.
"Denair is very good at hiding. She really likes to slide along wooden walls." Meredith sighs. "Let's play Poker for a bit. It may show you a thing or two about math."
I gotta teach this kid something...and Denair enjoys shuffling the cards with magic, so that will keep her busy, at least.
Frankie lets out a little cheer "Woohoo! Lets play!" and slides the deck over to his new play date Denair. "Sorry they're a little bit bent up, but it really wasn't my fault." He lets out a pathetic little sigh.
"Math? Waaaiitt one minute! I've always been told Math is a four letter word, and four letter words are bad! Don't you just need to match up the pictures and numbers?" He scoots over on the bench to get a better view of Denair's magic shuffling. "You're a good card mixer! I usually just throw them up in the air and pick them back up. Can you teach me that? Sounds more fun than MATH or pickup."
Across the street from the child and his new friends stands a beggar dressed in dirty old rags. He holds a simple wooden cup in one hand, which he rattles at any passers-by as he asks for some coin. From time to time, the beggar looks around the street, then up at the sky, as if he's waiting for something. As he looks up, he notices the sky beginning to darken with clouds, and a single rain drop plops onto his face. "Good," he says, seemingly to himself, "This'll be good for 'em. Heh heh." He smiles and turns again as another stranger wanders by. "Any coin, mister? Any coin for an old man?"
Frankie starts to get a bit fidgety as he waits for the creature to finish shuffling "You sure do mix those cards a lot. We should play ok? I'll deal first!" He snatches the deck and starts to deal.
As he deals he accidentally deals himself two cards "Oops, sorry its not my fault, these cards are sticky. I guess I'm not a great dealer, I need more practice I guess, good thing I've got ALL day to play!"
"Lets try that again." He sweeps up the cards and puts them on the bottom of the deck and starts over again counting out loud this time. "One for you, one for me, two for you, two for me..." As he goes dealing out until you both have 5.
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"Stop shuffling already and start the game." Meredith scolds Denair for taking what seems to be a day to shuffle cards. Denair looks up with her beady eyes enlarging like a puppy-dog. She then laughs.
"It's OK! I bet you will get better! Meredith was a terrible farmer but she got better as she grew up!" Denair jokes and waits for her cards to be dealt.
This is why I'm always late to the Pathfinder Lodge. Meredith muses as she watches the cards shuffle out. Times were simpler back then. Plant a seed here, pluck this weed over here, keep the wildlife away from here... wait a minute.
"Kid. I mean, Frankie. Did you take an extra card there? Yeah, you did, I see it!" Meredith becomes alert as he deals. "You gotta play these things fair and square."
"Nuh-uh! Do whatever you were doing! Anything to make Meredith frown again!" Denair grins from ear to ear. She's not sure what Meredith is talking about, but it's fun to watch her pout.
Frankie cocks his head to the side with a confused look on his face "I did?" He checks his cards once again, counting out loud, once he gets to the last he rubs at the cards and another one slides out as if maybe it was stuck together. "Oops! They must have stuck again. I'll put this extra one back ok? I don't want anyone saying I'm a cheater!" He slides the extra card back into the deck.
"Ok now what? We bet right? Then draw more cards? Then bet again? Then show who's the winner? You bet first since I dealt!" He then puts up his best poker face, while he digs in his belt pouch for a snack.
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Meredith plunks down a piece of silver. "If you win, you get this. But if you lose, we're going to have a talk about what you and your mother can do to pass the time. The streets are too dangerous. You don't want to wind up like him, do you?" She takes a sideways glance at the street beggar.
"Oh! One for me, one for me!" Denair grabs a piece of silver and puts it down.
Frankie raises one of his little eyebrows up then smiles "Sure! 2 silvers for me or you get to talk about me and Mom while we play another game? Sounds good to me!"
Little Frankie scoops up the two silvers. "I won didn't I?"
He looks around the Inn, "I thought there would be more people here to play with." He looks out the window and sees the beggar panhandling. "Hey that guy looks like he'd play a game or two! Should we go ask him?"
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"Um..yeah, you won. Good job." Meredith stares at her pair of 2s. The kid needs the money more than I do, anyway.
Denair flings her cards into the air, carelessly. "That was fun! Let's ask that man if he wants to play!" She uses prestidigitation to carry the cards back, then scoops up Lil' Frankie to bring him to the beggar.
Meredith shakes her head. "I'll clean up, I guess." She checks Denair's hand... Full House? Why did she fold?
Frankie squiggles and squirms in Denair's grasp. "Hey I got feet n legs, I can walk!"
Frankie scurries out of the fey's arms and runs on over to the beggar with Meredith. "Hey! Hey you! Old guy! Wanna come play cards with us inside the inn there? Give you these two silvers if you do!" He holds up the two coins, just outside the old guy's reach. "We're playing poker but I got this Dobbel game too if you can teach us."
He then goes about peeking into the old man's cup to see how well he's doing today.
The old beggar recoils as the child runs up and begins tugging on his rags. "Beat it, kid! This here's my corner, and I'm not givin' it up for no lousy two silvers! If ya wanna play a game ya gotta sit out here with me." As the words leave his mouth, a clap of thunder booms out overhead and the rain begins in earnest.
The beggar begins to shuffle past the boy toward the inn, snatching the silver pieces from his hand with practiced agility and adding them to his cup with a clink. "Like I was saying, let's get inside and play a game or two. I got a while to wait anyhow."
Frankie's jaw drops in awe as the silvers disappear from his hand. "Damn! Err I mean wow!" He coughs a bit. "Lets go play, Mom says I can't play in the rain without my slicker on, I'll get sick."
As they walk back in he practices the quick coin grabbing maneuver repeatedly with a smile on his face.
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Denair turns up to the sky and lets the rain wash over her. She gazes upwards, and gets a pensive look. Her feet spread a bit and her toes extend ever so slightly. Her feet absorb some of the water immediately.
Meredith looks on and sees the fey's sadness, mourning a time long lost. "We'll be inside, okay? Come on in when you're ready." She turns towards the inn where the child and the beggar just walked into.
"Yeah, sure." Denair mumbles toward nothing in particular.
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A pair of yellow amber eyes were following much of what was going on at the inn, sitting at a corner table.
The halfling, though by wearing shoes easily mistaken for a short young human, was looking slightly bored, and looked in the direction of a juggler, who had been performing for a while.
A juggler who was doing excellent with weighted spheres, yet he suddenly fumbles and drops them all on his toes, inciting laughter.
But then she spotted three new faces walking in.
A bum, a kid, and....a redhead?
Oh...my interest is sparked. Redheads are feisty.
*Watches what they will do*
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Denair gargles a few mouthfuls of rain before dashing into the inn. She's soaking wet.
"Denair. Dry up a little, please." Meredith stares at her like she would at a wet dog.
"Okay!" With some magic most of the rain dries right off. Her wet feet is still absorbing the remaining water.
"Thank you. So, we were going to play something?"
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A burly half-orc man calmly walks into the inn, rainwater dripping down his armor, boots, and nose. Taking a seat, he removes the menacing-looking double axe from his back and traces his fingers across the blade. "Ah, perfectly honed should some heads have to roll like they did in that time bubble. Not bad, not bad."
He looks up when the kid walks into the bar with a woman and, most notably to Zav, her eidolon. Intrigue washes over his face as he studies the eidolon. "A living weapon... Hmm... With a child? Seems dangerous," he says to himself as he tries to understand the trio.
You have been stationed at the Grand Lodge in Absalom, awaiting assignment for a mission of utmost importance. Things finally seemed in motion when Venture-Captain Drandle Dreng sent out a summons for available agents. Specialized in the history of Absalom, Dreng is known for putting off-duty agents to work on sundry tasks when he finds them resting within the city’s limits.
Coming to the meeting place—an odd choice of venue, as it is a street corner far from the Grand Lodge—you find a drab little inn that offers the only shelter from the oncoming winter rains. A raggedly dressed beggar joins a child, a young woman and her fey companion as they enter the inn and find a table where they can sit and enjoy a game of Dobbel.
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With the half-orc occupying a seat at the otherwise empty table, Alice easily overhears his comment.
Lots of things can be dangerous, yet said lots of things can also suffer bad luck.
She keeps her eyes on the unusual trio/quartet, assuming they will sit at a just now unoccupied table, which had become vacant after someone miraculously discovered the hidden cards of the other player, alongside with the ensuing brawl, that thankfully took to outside.
Frankie skips along, still practicing swiping the coin from mid air and pretending to drop it into a pocket, laughing to himself as he goes. "Woah! The rain brought in more people I think! WHO WANTS TO PLAY A GAME WITH US?" He announces as he pulls up a seat at the table near the beggar. "You really need to show me how you grabbed those coins! It was so cool!" He then shivers a bit and looks around for someone who may work here. Seeing a halfling he calls over to her "Do you work here? Do you know who does? I could really use some cocoa, and this guy here does too I bet." He says pointing to the quick reflexed old fella.
Frankie pulls out his game of dobbel and looks around hoping someone knows how to play.
"Sure kid, I'll teach ya. But first you have to do me a favor: go get me a wine from the bar. I'm dying of thirst over here." The old man takes a seat at the table where the child has set up his game board. He looks around and spots the halfling woman and the menacing half-orc caressing his ax. Good. Just waiting for one more. Then, when the time's right...
"Wine? Ok I guess. My mom drinks wine, lots of wine! She has lots of guy friends that show up with some wine to visit. What sort of wine, I'll get it." He gets up and heads off to the bartender.
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"Kid, don't talk to strangers." Meredith calls off Lil'Frankie. Denair laughs at the irony. Meredith turns to the halfling. "Sorry about that- I'm just trying to give this kid one good day. Sorry about that."
Meredith scratches her head awkwardly, then turns towards the bartender. "Frankie, you want cocoa, right? Barkeep, one cup of cocoa please. I'll just take some water."
Denair laughs. "There's plenty of water outside, though!"
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"Huh? Whoa. Um. Yeah, just trying to help this kid out for one day. At least before the Venture Captain shows up." So many people here... Meredith looks around. "Do you two come here frequently? This is my first time here. Normally I'm in the Grand Lodge when I visit Absalom."
She glances at Denair, Frankie and the beggar talking to the bartender. "Huh. Now I'm babysitting three people."
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Zavubak nods. "I received the Venture-Captain's summons as well. I'm Zavubak, and I'm hoping I'll get to put this puppy to use." He pulls the double axe from his back again, tossing it around as if it weighed as much as a feather and oblivious to the danger posed by playing with sharp objects. "Of course, one doesn't need a weapon if their veins already course with the might of dragons..."
When Meredith introduces Denair, Zavubak stops tossing his axe around and examines the eidolon again, looking it up and down. "Your weapon is a friend? Intriguing..."
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Meredith takes a step back when Zavubak twirls his double axe. In a crowded bar, no less. "Good to see you too."
She blinks, slightly stunned when Zavubak refers to Denair as a weapon. "A weapon? Nah, she's not like that. Denair, get over here."
The tree-like eidolon approaches, her head held high so she can gargle some ale. "It tastes like yeast, sugar and water. Very tasty." She waves to the half-orc and the halfling. "See, lots of nice people in here!" Trained warriors probably notice the twigs she has for fingers are refined to a point and are razor sharp.
Frankie's attention has been diverted from bothering the old man about his coin trick to the hot cocoa and now to the large double bladed axe being twirled around like a baton. "OOO now that looks like fun! Can I try? Pretty please orc man? I'll trade you the rest of my cocoa for a turn!?!"
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"Frankie, no. Enjoy your cocoa." Meredith scowls at the boy. I won't let your hands get dirty. Not until you understand.
Denair fashions a crude fascimile of the axe out of wood. Small enough to fit in Frankie's hands. "Here you go!" She smiles and turns to the other halfling who addressed her and kneels down, with her butt near the floor and her arms wrapped around her thick shins. "Oh, hi! People say I look like a living tree. Makes sense, I guess."
Frankie looks disappointed when the half orc is mean to him and pulls away the axe. He pretends to pick and throw a booger his way in response.. very goblin-esque. His mood perks up quick though when Denair produces a comparable replica. "Sweet thanks Denny!" He then proceeds to play chop the old man's arm off, complete with spurting blood and battle roars.
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Denair seems pensive. "A Dryad?" She clutches her temples, trying to remember something.
"I think that's what I was called? I don't remember the details. But I did call this oak tree home. Long ago, anyway..." Denair stares at the floor, forlorn.
Meredith continues for her. "Denair told me she was bonded to my home village's tree. Nice place, I heard they finally rebuilt the place after the bandit raids. I was..." she scratches her head "Kinda in charge of the counterattack, and used the tree as a rallying point. We weren't going to give up, easily."
"By the time a group of Pathfinders came to drive off the bandits, the town was ruined. Those damn bandits tried to scorch everything on their way out- they even blew up the tree with some magic. I heard it was there for a while, maybe hundreds of years old." Meredith looks down at Denair, whose eyes are closed. She seems to be listening.
"I decided to volunteer to join the Pathfinder Society to make sure no one else would be under attack by thieves and thugs. Came to what was left of the tree to say my goodbye, and out pops Denair. She was sick, half of the stuff she said didn't make sense. But she did say she needed to bond with someone, something. I couldn't let her die."
Denair suddenly cheers up, stands upright and hugs the human. "Now Meredith and I are now bestest of friends! Yay!"
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Zavubak claps his hands together slowly. "A touching tale there, Meredith. How nice of you to have saved your weapon," the half-orc again examines Denair, still insistent on calling it something it isn't. "I wouldn't mind having my own eidolon, but I prefer to dish out pain with my own hands." He grins and concentrates, forcing blood into his palms, and short claws begin to grow from the backs of his hands. With his eyes taking on a red glow, he holds them up for all - including Frankie - to see, then shuts his eyes to calm himself and retracts them, Wolverine-style.
"I've been able to do this since I was about Frankie's age, and I figured the Society wouldn't mind another skilled warrior in their ranks. It's why I'm here."