Crumb listens to Mae’s tale and thoughts of the ones he’s lost flood his mind,  the ones he left behind and hopes to see again. A song from when Crum was young, fills his heart.

When Tine starts Playing Crumb starts softly singing to the melody, 

“The winds may wail, the stars may fall,
Yet I shall stand, though shadows call,
For love once bright, now dimmed with night,
Still glows within, a quiet light.

Though you are gone, and I remain,
I’ll hold you close, through joy and pain.
A flame unspent, though winds may blow,
In my heart’s hearth, your love will grow.

The days are long, the nights are cold,
But strength is found,in hearts grown old.
Through every tear, through every scar,
Your memory's light will guide me far.

Though you are gone, and I remain,
I’ll hold you close, through joy and pain,
A flame unspent, though winds may blow, 
In my heart’s hearth, your love will grow.

In time’s embrace, we’ll meet again.”

Love is not lost, it only sleeps...

Quote from chrisbodmann >>

"Tell a drunk bastard your story, Aspen," Orrin says, looking out the window at the storm.

Aspen wakes up, yawning and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “Yer nowhere near a bastard, Orrin, even though sometimes ya act like it. Are y’sure y’wanna hear my story? It’s a long one, and I can’t guarantee it’ll be interesting to ya.”

Crumb and Tine, as you play and sing, the tavern falls to a hushed silence. Mae watches every note, each up- and down-bow that gently caresses the taut strings, tears slowly drying from her face. When you finish, the room stays silent -- so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. Then, finally, the man in the corner speaks up, finally getting his nose out of his book. His expression is solemn. "That was beautiful." 

A chorus of agreement circulates around the room as everyone tries to outdo each other in their praise. "Thank you, once again, both of you," Mae says. "Now - come, enjoy yourself. Have a good time. Music is beautiful, but company is even more so." 

“I ain’t going anywhere. And before you disregard my bastardness wait till you hear my story.” The room spins, but Orrin starts sharpening and polishing the head of his halberd, despite the tight fit in the room. 

Eve will be sleeping in the room whenever somebody comes back

Tine let the last note linger in the air, the bow hovering just above the strings as Crumb’s final words faded into the soft crackle of the fire. For a long heartbeat, she didn’t move, just breathed in the stillness their song had left behind. Then, slowly, she smiled. She set her fiddle down with care and reached over to rest a hand on Crumb’s shoulder. “That was beautiful,” she said quietly. “You’ve a voice that sounds like it remembers the words before you even sing them.” When the man in the corner spoke and the tavern erupted into soft praise, Tine laughed lightly, the sound colored with warmth instead of pride. “Seems we’ve gone and spoiled them for silence,” she said, raising her mug toward Mae. “But you’re right, music’s best when it leads to good company.”

She stayed for a while longer, letting the ale warm her and the laughter of the room wash over her. The storm outside still howled, but it felt distant now, a thing that belonged to another world. Here, there was light and laughter, and for the first time in weeks, she felt something close to home. After some time, she rose from her chair, gathering her fiddle. “I’d best find a bit of rest before my fingers forget what they’re for,” she said with a teasing grin. To Mae, she added softly, “Thank you for the story, and for letting us be part of it tonight.” With a final nod to Crumb, she made her way upstairs, careful not to disturb the snoring coming from behind the other doors. She eased into the small room she shared with Eve, the storm’s hum pressing softly against the windows. Setting her fiddle beside the bed, she whispered, “Night, Eve.” and slipped beneath the thin blanket, the faint echo of the song still threading through her thoughts as she drifted off to sleep.

(OOC: Aspen, Orrin, I'm going to let you RP here, since this opens up some interesting paths. Crumb?) 

Tine and Eve, your sleep is plagued with nightmares. As you drift off, feeling the last dregs of excitement roll off your back, you're plunged into a world of half-finished colors, distorted shapes, and loud noises. Even Eve, whose ears have not let her listen all her life, hears the crashes and booms of water rolling against the cliffs below. You stand at the edge of the cliffs. Brown, clinging grass grows up between your feet, while cracks slowly widen in the rock. But you are immobile -- rooted to the spot, you're forced to watch as the water rises up and up in front of you, until a great wave -- water, foam, and force -- towers above you two and the town. It hovers there, as if waiting. Then, a voice, tinged with a majestic baritone that rings through your ears, speaks. 

"I have gone once, and I shall return again.
I have destroyed once, and I shall destroy again.
I have been revered once, and I shall be revered again.
I have been defeated once - but I will never be defeated." 

With that, the wave crashes down upon you. You feel the pressure building, your heart pounding as it draws nearer and nearer, then a scream -- all sangfroid abandoning you in the moment -- and then you know no more, sleep claiming you.

OOC(so Crumb payed for himself, Aspen and Orrin. Tine and Eve got a room for permonance. Gato, it looks like you forgot to add Eve here )

As evening turns night dragonborn walks to Crumb and if he agrees, he goes to a room and when gnome returns offers his part of pay.

“Alright then, Orrin, ya did this ta yourself… anyways, the tale begins in a humble forest, far, far away from here, on the shore of the great river, the Sroth Medan, or the lake of three. On a night, almost as stormy as this one, I was born to my two parents, who named me for the trees around the current camp we were staying at. We kept moving, our semi-nomadic village, until I was ten, when a shining light came down from the sky, the event known as the Miracle of the Dawn. Many people who witnessed it gained magic abilities, including me. I gained the ability to summon sprout, here,” A green and brown-ish Sphinx of wonder with a sprout seemingly growing out of it’s head jumps up onto Aspen’s lap, purring. “and then people from the main kingdom, The Trimachy, came to recruit me into the school of the dawntouched, for me to hone my magic and learn from experienced sorcerers. My parents stayed in the city, after all I was only a 20 year old elf, about 7-8 in human years. But I discovered books, and knowledge, and it almost consumed me, to the point where my teacher, Orin, had to practically drag me away from the library some days. Orin was a lot like you, an adventurer who was a little bit arrogant and stubborn. But I spent almost seventy years all managing the library, and it grew to be the largest in the nation. One day, we had a special import, a book titled ‘The Enchantments of The Hexblade.’ Books of magic were always my favorite, so I eagerly opened it, only to be telepathically spoken to by the magic of the hexblade. From then on, I studied the path of a warlock and a sorcerer, until my teachers had no more knowledge to give to me, and said I must go into the world, and return when I deemed myself worthy. So for the past 5 years, I’ve been wandering, until I I stumbled upon you, my friend, and came with you on this grand adventure. The only other thing I could ask for would be a happy ending, but I guess we’ve got plenty’ o time to make that happen, eh? And that’s how chapter one ends, I guess.”

Quote from Arcanmas >>

OOC(so Crumb payed for himself, Aspen and Orrin. Tine and Eve got a room for permonance. Gato, it looks like you forgot to add Eve here )

As evening turns night dragonborn walks to Crumb and if he agrees, he goes to a room and when gnome returns offers his part of pay.

OOC: crumb paid for two rooms. if I’m not mistaken, Aspen and Orrin are in one room. Eve and Tine in the other 

When Crumb sees Zofsaadi he politely but earnestly says  to not worry about paying. “ it was my first sea voyage and you all were so helpful. This gnomes still got a way to go to get his sea legs established. It’s the least I could do.” 

Tine descended the stairs later than usual, one hand pressed to her temple, the other gripping the banister like she wasn’t entirely sure the world had stopped swaying. The smell of salt and woodsmoke still clung to the tavern air, and for a fleeting second, the roar of the storm from her dream seemed to echo behind her eyes. Her curls were a tousled mess, eyes shadowed from a night that hadn’t offered much in the way of rest. She gave Mae a faint, crooked smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes as she reached the counter. “Mornin’, Mae. Or...whatever part of the day this is,” she muttered, voice rougher than usual. “Think I’ll need something strong enough to chase off the sea still crashin’ in my head.”

She rubbed at her face and then pointed vaguely toward the mugs lined up behind the bar. “Coffee. But…” she paused, squinting at the ale casks, “could mix a bit of that tale from last night in, will you? The good kind that still bites back. Could you also include a good breakfast.” Tine slumped onto a stool, propping her chin on one hand. “Had dreams I wouldn’t trade for treasure,” she said quietly, half to herself. “Water rising higher than the cliffs, a voice like thunder sayin’ it’ll come again.” When the coffee arrived, she gave a tired smile and raised it in mock toast. “To mornings after bad dreams,” she murmured before taking a long sip. The combination hit hard and bitter, but she didn’t seem to mind. After a moment of silence, she sighed and glanced toward the door, where the storm still murmured beyond the glass. “If the sea’s talkin’ in its sleep,” she said softly, “I’d like to know what it’s trying to wake.”

Leif had wondered if he should get himself a room before they are all gone. He didn't want to crowd his new friends now that they had "legroom" off ship. He doesn't sleep like most humanoids, but he doesn't think Mae would appreciate him just "disappearing in a dark corner" and having someone accidentally stumbling across him while he was in eleven revelry.   Normally he would just find somewhere in the shallows of the shore to rest but he doesn't know the seas here and their dangers.   

The sea elf steps outside and finds a shadowy out of the way place to become with the darkness for a few hours until the morning comes.

Leif returns in the early morning to look for and/or wait for the others, invigorated by the chill in the air.  He sees Tine and greets the bard with a wave an elvish good morning.  He turns to Mae and asks, "Have the others risen yet to break their fast?"

Tine blinked blearily at the sound of her name, or maybe it was just the movement, before lifting her mug in Leif’s direction, the faintest hint of a grin tugging at one corner of her mouth. “Morning, sailor,” she said, voice still carrying the rasp of a night spent wrestling bad dreams. “Or as close to morning as I’m willing to admit exists.” She tilted her mug slightly, dark coffee swirling with last night’s ale. “Mae’s keeping me alive by way of questionable alchemy.” She turned on her stool to face him properly, pushing a stray curl from her eyes. “Haven’t seen the others yet. Eve’s probably still resting. Crumb’s likely out chasing answers before breakfast, and Orrin…” she chuckled, shaking her head, “well, he’s probably at war with his own hangover.” She gestured toward the empty seat beside her. “You’re welcome to wait here, though. Mae’s got warm bread and a fire that doesn’t judge. Might even get a song out of me once I remember which way is up after that dream.”

Leif: although you don't admit it, during your rest, tucked in a dark corner of an alleyway while the rain gently trickles down your face, you feel a growing sense of dread which mounts, grows, expands -- until it reaches a climax, and you break out of your sleep to look around -- only for it to happen again. It takes several hours, but you're eventually able to shake the sensation -- but not the feeling that somebody, somewhere, is watching you.

"Morning, friends," Mae replies, then yawns, a bit of last night's revelries getting to her. "Where are you off to today, now that the sun's out again? Explore a bit of our humble town? Continue on to someplace else? Just stick around and have some more ale? Breakfast's on the house, so feel free to try whatever you want." 

(OOC: And morning to you all as well!)

“That’s quite a tale, Aspen. Like you, I’m trying to find myself worthy. But for me it’s about atonement. And I think a bit more tragic.

“I was once a Stonewarden, one of the elite defenders of the mountain fortress of Gath Varn — a mercenary stronghold famed for its unbreakable discipline. For years, I served under a commander named Halvek, a man I trusted like a brother. Together, we fought in foreign wars, selling our strength to the highest bidder.

”But on one fateful campaign, everything changed. Our employer — a noble seeking to crush a rebellion — ordered the destruction of a village harboring insurgents. I refused to comply. Halvek did not. When I tried to stop him, a bloody battle ensued. By dawn, the village was ash, and the snow ran red. I slew my commander with my own halberd.

“When the fires died, I realized I had killed my brothers — and that I was alive only because I’d been willing to do so.

”I buried the dead myaelf, marking each grave with a stone.

”The people of Gath Varn called me oathbreaker and kin-slayer. I left my homeland that same night, crossing the sea to this strange land where no one knew my name.”

(OOC: Cool. Working on figuring out Maps so I can put a town map here, but that might take me a bit.)

Eve finally gets up, after a long night

Crumb, stayed down in the tavern throughout the night, trying to get comfortable by the fire wrapped in his cloak but just couldn’t find that sweet spot to let himself relax fully, closing his eyes for only about 20-30 min at a time then feeling the urge to adjust in his seat again. 

When the dawn started to break, at this point being frustrated at himself for not being able to get comfortable the way he wanted, he asked Mae to fill his tin flask up with coffee and asked if there was a blacksmith close by “I’m wanting to get some of my tools sharpened and wondering if there’s a blacksmith awake this early?” hoping to make it there and back again before his companions from the boat awoke.