[Tiburon] [U] The Sunken Barrel Tavern

[Magikeeper]

The Sunken Barrel Tavern, conveniently located within sight of Calceta Harbor, prides itself on being the cheapest place in the city to get a drink and place to rest your head.

It is somewhat less proud of <i>looking</i> like the cheapest tavern in town.

<b>Note: As a thread describing a public location, it's generally assumed people can freely enter and leave the thread as they go about their business. When making a new public location, it is fine to double post in order to have the initial post only describe the location. This helps in the long run, as you might want to edit in more information as various NPCs that work/frequent the location are described by others.</b>

[Kage]

Kage only got into town recently. He had been in a bit of a daze recently. Not quite sure where to go or what to do. Then he heard some bits and pieces about a job. Feeling like it was a call for him, he made his way to the Sunken Barrel in his shifted form, his suit shifting to blend into his fur. It was not an impressive place to look at, but generally the most interesting jobs came from strange places. With a shrug he strolled in and went to the barkeep.

"Looking for a guy named Garza about a job. Could you point me in the right direction?"

[Magikeeper]

The bar was fairly quiet - it was still early in the day and most of the sailors probably wouldn't be in for another hour.  A few men eye Kage as he walks in, but loose interest shortly after in favor of their own conversations.

The barkeep, clean-shaven but otherwise built like a bear, points towards two men chatting with each other in one of the side booths. A map lay on the table. "Garza's the one that looks like someone sat on him. Other bloke's a local hunter." The barkeep starts to turn back to his work, but thinks twice of it.  He waves Kage's attention back to him. "Say, could you do me a favor and tell Garza to buy another drink or seven if he's going to be here during the evening rush? I'll be needing the booth otherwise."

[Lilly Mato]

Before Kage could reply, he found a slight young woman with hastily tied back hair standing beside him. She smelled like dust and sweat and her crimson eyes darted from the panther to the barkeep and back again a few times.

"Seven sounds good. The booth will take six shots of Tiburon Taut and whatever my new shifter friend here would like."

Lilly flashed a smile Kage's way, as she dropped a few silvers on the bar.

[Kage]

Kage's attention flicked around as he was spoken to and directed. He eyed the newcomer next to him, pretty in certain ways, but not really his type. No matter, he flashed her a smile and just said, "Same." before he would assist her with the drinks and gesture for her to take the lead to the table. Upon arriving, he looked to the two men seated there. "Heard you needed help. What's the job entail?"

[Magikeeper]

"Garza wants us to check out slant-rock isle.", replies the taller of the two, a tough-looking man wearing hardened leathers and more than a few blades. He points to a small island on the table. The location is about a day's walk north of the city, off the coast of the nearby long hook peninsula.

The squat Garza nods in agreement. "I'm certain that's where the pirates would have ended up, my son's a sailor, y'see, and he noticed that their ship was damaged. There's no way they could have gotten farther than that island."

"Assuming it didn't sink beforehand, you mean."
"Yes, assuming it didn't sink." Garza suddenly turns back towards Kage and Lilly "SO! Who might you-"
"- and they weren't eaten by the dragon."

[Lilly Mato]

Lilly decided to slip into the booth, pulling the tray of shots along with her so that it rested in front of their would-be hirers.

"A dragon?"

She punctuated her sentence by reaching over and taking one of the drinks, drawing it close and smelling it.

[Kage]

Kage raised an eyebrow as they spoke. He chose to sit beside Lily and mimic selecting a shot. She probably had a plan to get them drunk enough to give them more gold. As far as he was concerned, that was a good idea. And if he could help it along, he would. As he grabbed his he gestured to the other shots and the two men, implying they should drink.

"Sinking ships and dragons. Quite the adventure you have building here. How many people do you think you will be needing?"

He asked only for trying to figure out how much gold he could get out of them for it. Surely they could afford good pay if they were seeking a big crew.

[Magikeeper]

The taller of the two nods at the offering, lightly grasping a shot but leaving it at that. The fidgety Garza, for his part, downs a shot of courage and fingers a second. "Well, a couple?  I just want confirmation the pirates are there, you don't need to fight them."

The taller one scoffs at the notion. "A couple? Garza, you need to send more people. The dragon's.. wait, let me start from the beginning." The hunter clears his throat and continues. "I'm Dalton, a hunter by trade.  A few months ago a group of kids set out to have an "adventure" on slant-rock isle.  None of them returned.  Some worried parents set out to the island themselves, they didn't return. The other parents and some relatives hired a rag-tag bunch of mercenaries to find out was going on.  They didn't return either, but one of them threw out a message in a bottle, the word "dragon" scrawled on some parchment.

"The group after that probably injured it though, right?" suggests Garza (while he downs the second shot).

Dalton half-frowns at the notion "Possibly, but I wouldn't stake my life on it.  Bertie and his crew were professionals, but most of them were green and Bertie always had more pride than sense.  If some of the locals hadn't heard a massive "bang" the night Bertie went hunting I'd be wondering if the thing took them all out in an ambush." Dalton narrows his eyes as he gives the newly arrived duo a closer look. "You sure you're up for this?"

[Lilly Mato]

Lilly leaned forward and placed her shot on the table before rolling up the sleeves of her crumbled looking jacket.

"So let me get this straight, you want us..."

Lilith flicked a finger towards a nearby candle, ushering the flame to come loose and dance towards them through the air.

"To travel over to slant-rock isle, get a peek at your pirates."

The flame danced across the table into the shot glass, lighting the amber liquid.

"Without getting burned by the roaming dragon. Sounds like fun."

Lilly punctuated that last comment by throwing the lit shot down her throat in one smooth gulp.