Inez saw the dwarf go back into the bag and chuckle. "Well, I guess we can start making an instrument when he wakes up from his nap, but for now I'm gunna see what I can buy here, I'm starved. You can join me if you want to!" She finds an small table that's empty and sits down.

Nine’s eyes flicker over Morgan’s book, wondering if it is her spell book, or another esoteric volume. He is intrigued, having no aptitude for Arcane magic, he wonders if that is where her skills lie. He motions to the book with a questioning little trill of sparrow song.

Morgan looks up at Nine, wondering about this latest vocalization for a moment until she sees his questioning gaze at the book.

"Oh, this," she says a bit defensively as she hurriedly closes the books and rests her hands atop it as though to hide it, "it's nothing, really."

A sullen human man enters the tavern quietly. Ink black hair and goatee on pale skin, with almost skeletal looking patches of black scale around his body and black markings surrounding his acidic green eyes. He’s a pretty large humanoid at just over 6 feet tall and almost as thick as a dwarf would be if 6 foot tall. (OOC: Think a mix between Kylo Ren/Hela/Loki but the body of a muscular but unchiseled wrestler.)

His eyes search the tavern for some open space, and walks over to a table. He casually lifts it and places the table to the side as if it were made of paper. “I hope no one minds if I make myself comfortable...” he says quietly but insincerely as he drops a portable hole onto the floor where the table stood. He opens his coat to reveal a muscular torso with a few scars, and either tattoos or black scales that look like ribs on his chest and places a hand into a pouch just above his belt. 

He pulls out a decanter, aims it towards the hole, and in a deep but eery voice speaks a foreign word  (for those that know abyssal it’s Geyser) as a column of water shoots into the pool, he repeats the command a few times filling the portable hole. He then removes a small metal block from his pouch, his hands glow over the block, and drops it into the pool causing it to bubble. Finally, the (minor) illusion of black smoke forms around him as he undresses and slips into the pool, sprouting black draconic wings once in and flexing them like a bird sunbathing.

Morgan blinks at the sight of the strange man entering and blithely building his own personal hot tub in the middle of the tavern.  And blinks again.

 The dwarf pops back out of his bag jumps back out of his bag, this time with an assortment of woods. "I have oak, willow, acacia, spruce, dark oak, and a few others that I often forget what they're called." Upon looking up from the pile of wood, he sees the man in a personal hot tub and walks over to greet the man. " Hello and a fine day to you, my kind sir. how are we doing today? it seems as though you have traveled from afar, the tavern has many different foods that you can choose from, such as cake or stew, dove or ale. Just let the kitchen know when you finish with the tub." And with that, he turns on his heel and returns to the bards to help pick out a wood best suited for scarlet.

Quote from NeoMagus >>

OOC:  Actually...that's an interesting thought.  Has anyone else ever thought that a thread like this might be an awesome way to assemble play-groups/parties IN CHARACTER?  I think it would be a great way to get a peek into a character's flavor and playstyle, in advance of jumping into a campaign with them.  Any other thoughts on that?

PS: I hope this doesn't derail the thread too badly, just had to get the thought out there.  Just to be safe, I'll put all of this in a spoiler tag now that I'm thinking about it.

 

OOC / DM Announcement

Yes, I started it because I wanted to break the old damn tropes about taverns being boring; you can absolutely get your own group going, why not. Part of the charm of the Immergrummel woods is that it's very easy to go on adventures and return to a safe spot, and if you need it, you can have a Hearthstone that can be used in a 10 minute ritual to transport a group of people back to the Tavern.

Don't mind if I do. She says while she grabs her stuff to sit by Inez.

Well, I didn't exactly decide to come here, but I was traveling through some woods and sort of wound up here, similar to you. I realized it was a great place to take some time off, so I decided to stay. As for getting back, just retrace the steps you took to come here, and you'll return to wherever you entered. Also, Whisper can help you if you're having trouble. She points at the Michtim in purple at the bar. And please, just call me Cloud. Where is Blue City? I'm not sure I've heard of it.

(OOC: @moonlightwolfgaming Please refer to this post when asking general questions and discussing things that are about the game https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/d-d-beyond-general/play-by-post/13361-ooc-the-tavern thanks)

Inez sees the dwarf pop back out of the bag and grinned, "Aw you're too kind, really!" she looks at all the different kinds of wood, thinking about what Scarlet would choose. "Thanks for letting us do this! What's your name?"

Thank you my dwarf friend. I will also have to repay you in one way or another. If you don't mind me asking what kind of wood do you suggest? She asks. Do you have any Padauk wood? I've heard that it's very beautiful.

The Elf man ceases his performance, picks up his hat, and wanders out of the bar having collected zero tips. On his way out he holds  the door open for another traveler. He bows to them and smiles as they enter and he exits.

The traveler, a human male mostly obscured by a simple brown cloak, gives his thanks and tips his head to the Elven bard. He flicks his hood off of his head and swings his backpack free from his arms before taking in the sensations of the tavern for a brief moment. He takes a deep whiff of the air and then looks for a place to rest his legs.

" 'Cuse me." he says to both Morgan and Nine-While-Nine. "Mind if I take a seat?"

Morgan, still a bit antsy after Nine's question about her book, nervously looks over the newcomer, trying to discern anything she can from his appearance about his general demeanor and personality.

Insight: 8

Regardless of what she's actually able to determine, she'll still politely nod her head to the man as she puts her book away again for now.

" I might. Let me check again." With that, he puts the wood down and heads back into the bag. In a few minutes, he comes back out, with a few logs that were not all that exciting. " I apologize. These are all I have. I once found an old tree, but I didn't want to cut down such a beautiful tree that had such a long life, so I climbed up to the upper limbs and trimmed some of those, then took some of the lower, thicker branches and spliced them with the upper limbs to keep it alive."

Quote from booksbooks3 >>

Well, I didn't exactly decide to come here, but I was traveling through some woods and sort of wound up here, similar to you. I realized it was a great place to take some time off, so I decided to stay. As for getting back, just retrace the steps you took to come here, and you'll return to wherever you entered. Also, Whisper can help you if you're having trouble. She points at the Michtim in purple at the bar. And please, just call me Cloud. Where is Blue City? I'm not sure I've heard of it.

Inez looks at the wood, "Well regardless I think they all look lovely!" she looks over at Scarlet, "Alright Miss Scarlet, I think you should get wood based on what instrument you want to make. " she says with a nod. She kneels down and looks through the wood, "Now, what did you have in mind? For example, I hear maple is great for a violent, but something like oak could be used for a wind instrument, or a harp," 

I've traveled quite a bit myself, although the only planes I've been on other than the Material one is the dream plane I mentioned earlier. That was...interesting. Before I started adventuring, I lived with others of my kind on a secluded island. It's far out to sea, and we don't like water much, so very few of us ever left. But a friend of mine and I decided we wanted to see a little more of the world, so we left. We met a few other like-minded people, and began adventuring. But we lost a lot, including some good friends, during our last adventure, so decided to split up, at least temporarily. Her eyes darken temporarily, remembering her friends. We still keep in touch with sendings, though. What sort of things did you do in the Blue City as a guard?

Oh no need to be so formal. I personally consider you as a friend by now. The instrument i'm planning to try and play is a Theorbo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theorbo). She replies with a little smile. You know I really appreciate your help. For about 50 years or so I had no friends, no family to go to.... her smile fades into a slight frown. She changes the subject So how are we going to make this thing? She tries her best to hide her sadness. 

OOC: but of course much smaller like 2 to 4 feet. Just for practicality.

The newcomer looks tired. His shoulders and arms slack, barely holding onto the bag he's now clutching in front of himself. He seems a bit detached, as  if his only concern at the moment is having a seat to fall into.

"Thank ya, miss." the man tips his head before dropping his backpack onto the table and collapsing into the chair. He lets out a deep sigh. "I apologize in advance, but if you could excuse me I need a moment to center myself," he says as he fumbles through his backpack before pulling out a book emblazoned with the text "The Sylvan Collection: Volume 1" he cracks it open to a page marked by a strand of rope and begins reading.