This is a log from the most jesterly, biased and arbitrarily unfair charity quiz at the Half-Pint tavern in Milford (may 2012).
The whole event was organized by Sefir (She ran a simultaneous card-game
on the second floor) and was made in support of rebuilding Charali dwellings in the devastated Southside of Lithmore after the great flood).
There is a bit of an introduction to this, so I've tried to divide things up
in sections for an easier read. Also I've coloured the jester (the game host's)
replies in green to further aid readability.
The Half-Pint Inn
[Pleasant]
A sturdy pine bar runs the length of the north wall, built far enough
away to leave a spacious aisle between it and the casks and shelves built
five feet up. A considerable amount of space is cleared in the middle of
the floor, the square tables clustered closer together to provide ample
room for dancing or rough housing; the thinning layer of rushes and sawdust
attest to some form of frequent activity. The west wall opens up near the
bar, evidence of hinges indicating that a door once sealed off the room to
the side.
(The sawdust covering the floor adds a musty air to the bustling tavern.
Travellers and frequent customers alike line the bar and tables, their
mixed conversations mingling to form a boisterous, lively mood. )
People arrive
The Jester sits by the bar, chatting with Berrik. The rather fat man is chuckling loudly at something she just said.
Orban strolls in with an easy grin on his face, doffing a broad-brimmed charcoal grey hat bearing a peacock feather to The Jester. "I hear there's to be some sort of quiz round these parts?" he wonders, pulling himself out a barstool.
"Orbie! Ahem, Baron le Orban!" The Jester grins sideways, lifting her pint to Orban. "You heard absolutely correctly!" She gestures to herself. "And I'm the one to handle the quizzing, yessiree. Are you plannin' to join in?" [The Jester]
Beth arrives from the south.
Beth slows to a halt.
"Hello! Miss op Yay! Master op Orban! I mean.. Lord Orban!" Beth chirps excitedly in greeting. [Beth]
"Wow, I think that's the first time," Orban muses to himself thoughtfully at The Jester's greeting, though his grin unfades. "I am indeed planning to join in, since the quiz mistress is such fantastic company. Ah, hello there, Beth!" [Orban]
"That lord thing is difficult, isn't it?" The Jester agrees with Beth with a small chuckle. She sips her beer. "Hi Elizabethany, here for quiz or cards? The Charali card game is up on the second floor." [The Jester]
"Oh, I want to join in too!" Beth proclaims, skipping up. "I want the quiz. That's down here, right? Is there anybody to be my team?" [Beth]
"I'm playing too, and don't have a particular team yet; we'll have to see how that works out," Orban suggests to Beth. "I'd happily be with you
rather than against you, though!" [Orban]
A woman of dark complexion and light eyes arrives from the south.
A woman of dark complexion and light eyes slows to a halt.
"Excellent!" The Jester beams at Orban's words, "flattering the judge is always going to end well!" She nods to Beth, "Yep, it's right where I am, in fact. Right now it's just the two of you though - we'll see how many show up before we decide on teams methinks." [The Jester]
"We all have to be against -someone- though!" Beth proclaims to ariel. [Beth]
A woman of dark complexion and light eyes wanders into the inn, "You can be against me! I got this in the bag. Or mug. Or whatever it's in."
"Isn't it lucky for us that flattering the judge is so easy, then, with her many good qualities?" Orban tosses a sly wink in The Jester's direction. "I should not be so confident, Miss Nettesheim! I know... things." [Orban]
"Another participant!" Beth cries in delight, beaming over to a woman of dark complexion and light eyes. [Beth]
The Jester nods to a woman of dark complexion and light eyes. "Welcome then, friend. She looks between Orban and the newcomer. "Don't think we've met. Well, I'm the local fool" she says, gesturing to a blue-green jester's cap with three belled appendages on her head. "Nettesh..heim, was it?"
A woman of dark complexion and light eyes peers at Orban, maybe a little tipsy, but not blatantly so, "I've seen you before, but no name." To The Jester, "Is that your name, then? Miss Fool? Not a very nice name. Isobel Nettesheim. Scholar and novice."
remember dark Isobel Nettesheim
From here on you will remember a woman of dark complexion and light eyes as Isobel Nettesheim.
"Lord Ariel le Orban, Baron of Savir - but let's not worry overmuch about standing on courtesy for the duration of this event," Orban informs
Isobel Nettesheim, his grin good-natured and lopsided. "And she has many names, does the Jester." [Orban]
The Jester bows her head to Isobel Nettesheim, "Nice 'ta meet ya then, Miss Nettsheim. As Master Orban says - I can call him that since he's actually a master bard, you see -- I have many names. You are welcome to pick one for me that you like better if you like!"
Isobel Nettesheim peers a few moments at The Jester, "... Marcy. You look like a Marcy."
"-Marcy-?" Beth protests. "But Marcy sounds so.. so.. normal!" [Beth]
"Hush, now Elizabethany" The Jester grins to Beth, "If miss Nettesheim thinks I am a 'Marcy' - then a Marcy I am! Thanks for the name!" [The Jester]
Isobel Nettesheim grins at The Jester, "There we go. And Isobel's fine. I'm nobody important. Yet. So help me I will be." She looks to Beth, "Elizabethany?"
"Elizabethany le Marke," Beth proclaims with a pretty little curtsey and a beam. "But Beth is alright too!" [Beth]
"... don't forget to remind me of it whenever we meet too" The Jester tells Isobel Nettesheim. She gestures grandly to Beth echoing her own introduction, "Elizabethany le Marke, a great dancer of the Troubadour's guild, Miss ... Isobel." [The Jester]
"Marcy's not half-bad, really. It has irony value, wouldn't you say?" Orban points out to Beth, his voice light and flippant. "Besides, it's also
a pretty enough name." [Orban]
Isobel Nettesheim raises a brow, "Irony, eh? How so?" She gives a nod to Beth, "I like Beth better. Easier on my poor tongue."
"Well, I -suppose-," Beth allows in response, looking decidedly not sure. [Beth]
"Yes, why is it irony?, Master op Orban?" The Jester asks sweetly. [The Jester]
"Her other names are things like Mirth and the Jester and Trouble, so Marcy is amusingly... well, as Beth says, normal," Orban explains to Isobel Nettesheim laughingly. "Come now, Trouble," he adds for The Jester, "wouldn't you be offended if I said an ordinary name fit you swimmingly?" [Orban]
Isobel Nettesheim giggles a bit, "Well good. Hate to be just one of the crowd thinking up words when she asks for names."
Beth giggles as well. "Well, I guess if you're just trying to be -different- instead of picking a perfect name for her."
Rules are explained and money starts flying
"Marcy is a wonderful name, don't let anyone tell you otherwise" The Jester says firmly. She then climbs the bartop. There are a few other people who have joined in, mostly common folk who have showed up to watch the spectacle. "I think we should probably start." She looks at Orban, Beth and Isobel Nettesheim, "Maybe best if ya all participated on individually, eh? Two against one's doesn't sound very fair." [The Jester]
Action set to:
The Jester stands on the bartop, hands on her hips.
Isobel Nettesheim grins and shrugs, "Bet I'd win anyway. Do I give ye the money now?"
Beth climbs to a seat at the bar, hopping in place.
"Remember, this is all for charity" The Jester adresses the room. "Rebuilding of the Charali dwelling in the Southside of Lithmore among other good things. So I will need a donation from those who want to partake in the quiz. But I don't want anyone to go bancrupt, so offer only what you feel your purse can handle!" [The Jester]
"I'm fine with individual participation, aye," Orban agrees, nodding - his grin hasn't flagged a whit yet. "Why not? Any way that we do it should be entertaining." At The Jester's words, he detaches a coinpurse from his belt and hands it over. [Orban]
[Action: Orban is sitting on a barstool, looking in high spirits.]
Orban gives you 500 silver.
"Besides, further bribing me is part of the quiz anyway ..." The Jester muses. She accepts the purse from Orban. "You are most generous mylord!" she beams to the man. "A good start!" A few of the common folk come by and drops a few coins in The Jester's hands too. She thanks everyone with equal cheer. [The Jester]
A well-defined, blonde haired man with grey eyes arrives from the south.
A well-defined, blonde haired man with grey eyes slows to a halt.
Isobel Nettesheim shifts her weight a bit, "I'm pretty dirt poor these days. Can't even fix my cottage. But I bet those other folk need it more than I do."
"How much was the donation again?" Beth asks, pursing up her mouth and rummaging into her purse. [Beth]
Isobel Nettesheim gives you 50 silver.
Beth begins to count their money.
"Initial donation is what you feel you can afford!" The Jester says, throwing up her hands. "Come here, come all, don't be shy, it's all for fun and charity." She waves to a well-defined, blonde haired man with grey eyes, "You there, wanna join in the quiz? Now's the time to chip in!" [The Jester]
"Well, I brought this," Beth proclaims with a beam, passing a handful of coins over. [Beth]
Beth gives you 5 gold.
A well-defined, blonde haired man with grey eyes begins to count their money.
The Jester says, "Winning includes a special, VERY nice drinking mug, and free beer for a month at the tavern." She accepts Beth's donation with a raised eyebrow, "Most generous, Miss Le Marke!" she says, "don't forget that bribery is part of this too though."
"Oh - is it too much?" Beth worries, wrinkling her forehead up. [Beth]
A well-defined, blonde haired man with grey eyes asks, "Is there a minimum donation?"
"It's for charity - there's no such thing as too much," Orban tells Beth, his grin crooked. "But speaking of bribery I have a little present for the quiz mistress... okay, it was your Yule gift, Trouble, but I kept -not- running into you..." [Orban]
Isobel Nettesheim shifts her weight a bit, "I sure hope my smarts'll make up for being dirt poor, living in a run down, rotting cabin."
A well-defined, blonde haired man with grey eyes shrugs and pulls out a few coins and hands them to The Jester.
"No, no worries, dear" The Jester chuckles to Beth, "You donate what your heart feels like." She waves a well-defined, blonde haired man with grey eyes over to her position on top of the bar, "No minimums, it's for charity, so donate what you feel your purse and concience can bear." [The Jester]
A well-defined, blonde haired man with grey eyes gives you 1 gold.
"Ooh, right!" Beth agrees with a beam back to The Jester. [Beth]
"I don't think Trouble would be the sort to discriminate based off how much someone can afford," Orban assures Isobel Nettesheim. "I reckon how you play the game is going to count a lot more... and how much you praise her many and sundry fine qualities, of course." [Orban]
"Thankyou, kind sir!" The Jester bows to a well-defined, blonde haired man with grey eyes so the bells of her a blue-green jester's cap with three belled appendages jingle about her head. "I can assure you, miss Isobel, that wits have very little to do with a Jester's quiz, but that a woman who can come up with such a fine name for me should have no trouble, poor or not!" She eyes Orban somewhat suspiciously, "a Yule gift eh? Ladies and gentlemen, HERE is a man who knows how to butter up the jester! Take heed from this fellow, I can tell he will go far in tonight's events!" [The Jester]
Isobel Nettesheim shifts her weight a bit, "Yeah, can't afford bribes neither. Oh well."
Orban flashes a toothy grin at The Jester, extending a small purple box tied with red ribbons, reading 'Trouble'. "A yule gift," he confirms, "about five months late. Who's counting, right? Anyway, this isn't meant to be bribery, unless you like it, in which case uh... I'm bribing away!"
Orban gives you a small purple box tied with red ribbons, reading 'Trouble'.
The Jester grins as she accepts the package from Orban. She doesn't open it however, rather tucking it away unopened. "Why thankyou, Master op Orban, and a happy Yule to you too. I'll open this when you all fine folk are not all waiting for the quiz to begin." She starts to prance back and forth on the bartop. "Right, lemme quickly recap the rules ..." she draws a breath.
Beth bounces excitedly in her seat, watching on to The Jester.
Orban sits up straighter on his barstool, grinning wider now, and listens to the rules in polite silence.
Isobel Nettesheim waits patiently, herself.
Lien le Storm arrives from the south. She looks to be trying to avoid notice.
Beth is sitting at the bar, excitedly watching The Jester.
A well-defined, blonde haired man with grey eyes shrugs, "Eh, just came her for the charity. You all have a good day."
A well-defined, blonde haired man with grey eyes begins to move south.
A well-defined, blonde haired man with grey eyes leaves south.
An athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars arrives from the south on a clipped step.
An athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars slows to a halt.
"But... aren't you going to play?" Beth protests, watching after the man with a frown. [Beth]
Lien le Storm steps quietly into the tavern, attempting to remain unnoticed, she tugs at a stormy grey velvet winter cloak, lined in soft rabbit fur, pulling the hood down over her eyes as she finds a quiet wall to lean against and watch.
"First of all, welcome all" The Jester says, bowing deeply. "I am the fool, the jester, the local idiot. I will be your quizzical host tonight. Take your seats, stand or linger about, but most of all have fun. So here's the rules! I shall ask a question for you all to ponder. But none of you may guess at the answer until I give you word to do so, understood?" She sweeps a mock-stern glance over the gathered patrons. "You will all get your say, but the order is decided by me. I am highly bribable, affected by flattery and antics of all sorts by the way. Remember, this is all for charity." She gestures to herself. "After having heard your guesses, I shall pick the most correct one - or the first correct one should it come to that." She gestures to an athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars, "You there!" she gestures, "Wanna join in?" [The Jester]
"By the way, Miss op Yay," Beth puts in with an utterly over-innocent look that just isn't believable, "You're looking simply -lovely- today." [Beth]
Orban casts a brief glance over his shoulder at Lien le Storm as she enters, but doesn't call out, quickly returning his gaze to The Jester. "What are you -talking- about, Beth?" he scoffs. "Lovely -today-? She's lovely every day!"
"He doesn't think you're looking especialy lovely today," Beth confides to The Jester. [Beth]
Isobel Nettesheim holds up an Arien's Blood flower towards The Jester, "Does this count as flattery? I'd say yer pretty, but people might get the wrong idea. True though it is."
Slipping through the doorway quietly, an athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars pauses just on the threshold, a slender, athletic figure dressed in a patchwork of dark leather and battered steel plate. Coal-dark eyes scan the room impassively, though with a hint of nervousness. At The Jester's call towards her, the woman shakes her head very slightly, and then takes a step to one side, seating herself by the door. [an athletic
young Farin woman with multiple scars]
A towering black-skinned man with a shaved head arrives from the south.
A towering black-skinned man with a shaved head slows to a halt.
[Action: an athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars is sitting just inside the doorway.]
Hearing the sound of Orban's voice is enough to prompt Lien le Storm to push away from the wall and approach him from behind. Once close enougher, she greets him with a light kiss on the cheek, "Brother." She says quietly. [Lien le Storm]
Isobel Nettesheim gives you a red Arien's Blood flower.
Quiz starts (sort of)
"Allow me to demonstrate just how this will work, to make things all clear" The Jester says, holding up a button eyed jester puppet with its own tiny puppet. "Mrs Buttons will be the mock guesser. Ahem." She says aloud. "So, Mrs Buttons, the question is: 'What do I have in my pocket'?" a button eyed jester puppet with its own tiny puppet shivers in her hand and returns with a squeaky voice: "That is a silly question, silly Jester! But since you are the bestest Jester in the world, I will say that you have a golden ring in your pocket that you once stole from me!" The Jester shakes her head to the audience. "Well, Mrs Buttons is wrong, but it was a fun answer, and that is what matters. Remember, this is a jesterly/ quiz, things are never as it seems." Seeing Lien le Storm appearing, she addresses her: "Lady Le Storm, care to join us? And you -- big fellow over by the door! Now 's the chance!" she adds to a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head. [The Jester]
A towering black-skinned man with a shaved head pauses near the door, then, eyeing an athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars a moment expressionlessly. "Brother? I thought he was your cousin," he claims distractedly, before he bows his head over towards the Farin woman. "You are the smith, yes? I've been seeking you."
Action set to:
The Jester is running the show with large gestures from atop the bar.
A towering black-skinned man with a shaved head glances over to The Jester, then, bowing his head over to her. "Jester," he greets, quietly, distractedly.
An athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars is sitting on a stool by the doorway, legs stretched out before her and crossed at the ankles. She's chewing on her lower lip when a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head addresses her. Turning a face up towards him that's smudged liberally with a mixture of coal and sweat, she bends her head, responding in a thick Farin accent, "Yes, if it is Amira Khalid that you look for,
" she answers, her eyes sliding over his frame distractedly, "You are knight?", she questions, her voice low.
"It will be a lot of fuuun!" Beth proclaims excitedly to those The Jester is tempting. [Beth]
"Ah, Sir de Laerne," Orban greets, turning a faint smile to the doorway. "Hello. We are cousins by blood, but in Tubor, blood isn't what matters. In our hearts, we are brother and sister, so that's what we claim." He reaches to squeeze Lien le Storm's shoulder by way of greeting, nodding to the barstool next to him. "Come play, sister?" [Orban]
"I promoted him." Lien le Storm remarks simply to a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head at his question. The Jester's question draws her eyes and she offers the woman a smile that settles only briefly upon her lips. She takes the barstool on offer, settling down within it and pulling a stormy grey velvet winter cloak, lined in soft rabbit fur around her. "Ahh.. sure...?" [Lien le Storm]
"See, you fellows are doing just fine!" The Jester laughs, as she bends down to accept a red Arien's Blood flower from Isobel Nettesheim. "And before I even asked my first question!" She repeats her question to those not yet 'in' the game, "Come now, join the quiz, for charity? It's good for the soul - and I ask no more from your purses than you yourself feel you can bear." [The Jester]
"I ahh.. do not have much coin on me though, I will need to return to the bank after." Lien le Storm says quietly to Orban next to her. [Lien le Storm]
[Action: Lien le Storm sits atop a stool next to ari.]
"I thought -I- was like your little sister," Beth protests with a pout to Orban. [Beth]
"I am no longer a Knight, lest you count Royal Templar as a title worthy of one," a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head claims, while he does move to approach The Jester, then, inclining his head to the girl. "I am here to play." To an athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars, he claims, "You wrote a letter to me. I would like to order a sword."
"Do you need any? I don't have that much on me, but enough to spot you," Orban murmurs to Lien le Storm. Beth's question wins a laugh from him, and he notes, "Who says I can only have one sister? All the troublesome young ladies in my life can be related to me if they choose!" He blinks at a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head's words, then grimaces slightly. "My apologies. I knew that but forgot. How should you be addressed now?" [Orban]
Isobel Nettesheim taps her foot a little, frowning as people chatter.
"So ..." The Jester waits patiently for people to decide to join or not. "If ya don't carry much coin, mylady, I'm sure your ... brother will be most happy to cover for you." she offers slyly to Lien le Storm. To a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head, she smiles happily, "Excellent, excellent! A small donation of your own choosing to join, and as much bribery during the game as you like!" she tells him. [The Jester]
A towering black-skinned man with a shaved head begins to count their money.
Clearing her throat, an athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars extends one hand to rub at the back of her neck. Finally, she nods to a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head, "Ah, yes. You were once Grand Master of the Knights, then," she guesses, "Am can speak with you after quiz if you wish, yes? Or you may visit forge, the one which belong to Morgan." The tall Farin sends an almost amused look towards Isobel Nettesheim, and then glances back towards a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head. [an athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars]
A towering black-skinned man with a shaved head gives you 200 silver.
Lien le storm whispers to Orban, 'I have not more than twenty five silver on me, but I do not think that's enough.. If you could cover me till I can get to the bank?'
A towering black-skinned man with a shaved head moves his hand down to his belt, to give The Jester a rather hefty coin purse, bowing his head to The Jester after. "Miss," he murmurs, before his eyes trail over to an athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars. "I was, aye. And very well."
After checking the weight of her coin purse, Lien le Storm leans in close to whisper a few quiet words near Orban's ear, her cheeks holding a light blush. "Silly of me to forget to bring money really.. to a charity event and all that." [Lien le Storm]
"It happens - give me nine silver?" Orban murmurs to Lien le Storm. "Then I can donate a nice round amount in your name that should be sufficient. " [Orban]
Lien le Storm gives Orban some coins.
The quiz REALLY starts - first question
"Very good" The Jester nods to a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head. "Please have a seat." She looks over the group. "If either of you want to group up two and two, you can do so. You will then compete together. Alas there will be only one mug to share in that case though. If so, just tell me, okay?" The Jester puts her hands behind her back. "So let's start with a simple one - one that even rehearsed before. Ahem. 'So what DO I have in my pocket'?" [The Jester]
Orban gives you 200 silver.
"Remember the rules" The Jester says, "I decide who gets to answer first, and I decide who guesses right." [The Jester]
Orban accepts Lien le Storm's coins, adding them into a coinpurse, and then hands it over. "That's for the Lady le Storm!" he calls to The Jester, grinning. "And I shall be patient and quiet until it is my turn. Well, patient anyway..."
Beth giggles brightly, squirming in her seat.
Isobel Nettesheim shifts her weight again.
"Well, this first round, people have already been greasing my palms as well as said very kind things to me." The Jester says, so I shall decide the order based on that. "And based on that ... I think we shall begin with Elizabethany le Marke. So, girl, what do I have in my pocket?" An easy question it is, a warmup question really." [The Jester]
A towering black-skinned man with a shaved head moves for a table nearby an athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars's own, watching The Jester.
[Action: a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head sits at a table here, hand on the surface.]
"You probably have something for dinner," Beth proclaims to The Jester. "Maybe.. roasted apples and sugar canes." She gives a bit of a giggle. "Or Mrs. Buttons is in there eating them." [Beth]
Leaning back to touch her shoulders against the wall, an athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars sends a rare grin towards a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head. Pushing a dark, disheveled lock of hair from her eyes, an athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars shifts in her seat, wriggling her athletic body within the worn leather that traps her form. [an athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars]
"Only one answer at a time." The Jester smiles. "Right, Mrs Buttons is eating roasted apples and sugar canes in my pocket. Good. Next person to guess is the man with the Yule gift, coin purse and honeyed tongue, Master op Orban. What is your guess?" [The Jester]
"The hearts of Lithmore," Orban dramatically declares to The Jester, a hand pressed over his own heart, "enraptured by your merry wit and charming smile! ...How you got them all to fit in one pocket I can't imagine, but your arts are beyond the ken of us less-talented folk!" [Orban]
Isobel Nettesheim smirks a bit at that.
The Jester guffavs briefly. "The hearts of Lithmore is in my pocket according to Master op Orban" she grins. "Man, I LIKE this game. Next up is ... Isobel Nettesheim, who gave me such a nice name earlier tonight."
Isobel Nettesheim grins, speaking up, "Gonna be a bit more mundane about it, as is my way. Coins. Lots and lots of coins in your pocket."
Beth giggles at that, clapping her hand over her mouth.
"Mundane, but to the point! Coins in my pocket is suggested by Miss Nettesheim" The Jester nods. "Next, I think I need to let the huge towering Farin fellow say his mind - he looks so intimidating over there! What guess you, kind sir?" [The Jester]
"Yep, I'm asking you" The Jester smiles to a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head, waiting patiently. [The Jester]
"Intimidating," a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head echoes without tone, while he watches The Jester. "I too, would guess coins."
An athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars glances around the room from her corner, drawing a silent breath; her chest expands momentarily, and then falls as she releases it.
"Ouch, no can do, that guess is already taken and said before your turn too" The Jester says apologetically. "Well, better luck next question, eh?" She turns to Lien le Storm, "And last, but not least, lady Le Storm. Your turn to guess. What do this here fool have in her pocket?" [The Jester]
A towering black-skinned man with a shaved head furrows his brow at that rule, before he just presses his lips together, then.
Lien le Storm stares at said pocket for a moment, her teeth chewing on her bottom lip as she considers the question The Jester poses. Eventually she says with a half-smile, "Oh, I would guess a mouse. You look like the sort of woman who would keep a mouse in their pocket, just in case."
"That's the spirit," Orban compliments Lien le Storm, grinning crookedly. "Good answer." He leans back on his barstool, stretching his hands above his head. "I like this game too." [Orban]
"I should have perhaps just gave a lot of coin and go on my way," a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head laments, then, eyes flicking to the door. "I am not known for intelligence."
"You don't have to be just smart!" Beth protests to a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head. "You can be silly too!" [Beth]
"That is indeed just the kind of woman I look like" The Jester agrees to Lien le Storm. "Ladies and Gentlemen, the unflinching, eternally fair jester has decided that there will be TWO points for this first question. Because I make the rules, and any questions you have to direct to Mrs Buttons anyway. You see - I DO have coins in my pocket!" She gestures to Isobel Nettesheim, "and thus I will grant Miss Nettesheim a point. Close call there, my towering friend, you nearly nabbed that point, sooo close. BUT, I shall give a bonus point to Lady Le Storm too. For few have seen through me so completely. If I had a mouse, I would certainly carry it in my pocket." [The Jester]
"I'm not particularly known for intelligence either," Orban offers to a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head, his tone light and flippant, "but frankly, I've never let it stop me. A little absurdity can be a nice breath of fresh air sometimes, aye?" [Orban]
"No," a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head replies, perhaps unsurprisingly, to Orban, eyes trailing over to The Jester then. "So by your rules, if the first person guesses right, no one else will get a point?"
Isobel Nettesheim claps once gleefully, "Yay!"
An athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars unpicks her legs, and then crosses them the other way, right ankle over left. She watches in silence as the debate unfolds, her mouth puckering at one corner into the faintest smile.
Lien le Storm's lips draw into a broad grin and for just a few seconds, dimples form on her cheeks. "I got a bonus point." She says, nudging Orban at her side with her elbow, and with his words to a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head, she glances his way. "I got a point." She reiterates, "And I didn't guess first. I think, you need to use a little imagination, de Laerne."
"Ah, well," Orban laments with a deep sigh, shaking his head, "I suppose we can't all spend every round trying to come up with something more over-the-top than the last thing we said." He grins fondly down at Lien le Storm as he's nudged, concurring, "You did indeed get a point. I'm sure you'll thrash me entirely." [Orban]
Second question, in which Miss Milbry gets an interesting life
"That is the way I just decided, yes" The Jester nods to a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head. "The way to get ahead is to convince me to allow you to guess first, you see. As I said, I'm most bribable in this regard, and I assure you all coins go straight to charity." She raises her voice again. "Next question, friends" she announces, "Ahem. 'What happens if you walk into the book store on Miller's lane and shout really, really loud?'" She looks about. Hmm, lemme see who gets to guess first ..." [The Jester]
Beth giggles again, clapping her hand over her mouth.
"The way you just decided," a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head murmurs, furrowing his brow, then, before he murmurs, hand moving for his coin-purse, eyes flicking to Lien le Storm, "Very well. I'll give you five hundred more silver so that you allow me to go first until someone gives more coin then that. If this is a game of favoritism."
Isobel Nettesheim wrinkles her nose a bit, "It's a game of charity and having fun!"
"Meeeee," Orban suggests sotto voce, lifting a hand and waving it about to try and catch The Jester's attention. "...Ah, it's a game of favoritism, just... not very logical or straightforward favoritism," he tries to explain to a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head. [Orban]
"My five hundred coins will go to charity, and I don't expect them back," a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head replies tonelessly.
A towering black-skinned man with a shaved head begins to count their money.
An athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars's black eyes swivel back towards Isobel Nettesheim for a moment, then crinkle at the corners. She then looks back towards the group.
"I think five hundred silvers is enough to jump the queue for a little while-- but! I do not need to go first to win a point. As I have proven, I'd rather go last, and see what everyone else says first and then do better." Lien le Storm says, explaining her strategy to Orban and a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head. [Lien le Storm]
"Trust me, I know a thing or two about this" The Jester winks to the audience. "Well, who particularly wants to go first?" She opens her arms in an inviting gesture as she reaches for the coin purse. "Five hundred silver to charity. Excellent my dear fellow." She grins to Orban, "It's a game of favoritism and raw cash. You my dear towering fellow has bought yourself the first guess!" The Jester says generously. "Go ahead, hit me. Well, don't hit me literally, that would hurt since you are so big and I am so small. Hit me ... with words ... well you know what I mean." [The Jester]
Isobel Nettesheim giggles softly at this, moving to finally take a seat and lean back in it.
"Four hundred," a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head murmurs, then, as his hand moves for his coinpurse, furrowing his brow. "Four hundred, sorry. I don't have five hundred," he laments, while his eyes search at The Jester's face for a change.
"I take four hundred just as easily" The Jester says, "I'm cheap that way." [The Jester]
(Continued in next post)
The quiz at the Half-pint tavern
(continued)
"Can I go second for no reason whatsoever other than that you like me?" Orban asks of The Jester, a plaintive note in his voice. "Cause I am -out- of money, let me tell you." [Orban]
"Ooooh, I take reverses, bank notes, jewelry, heirlooms and estates too" The Jester offers to Orban. "I'm not picky, not in the least." [The Jester]
"Alright, I'll save my desperation bribes for a question where I feel exceedingly motivated," Orban declares, chuckling. [Orban]
The Jester walks back and forth atop the bar. "Master op Orban has pulled the 'like me' card on me, my towering dark friend" The Jester tells a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head, "Ya got the first chance to guess - but I cannoe give too much thinkin' time lest I might have to let Orbie get away with this pathetic plea."
"... and the rest of ya?" The Jester asks the rest of the gathered group, "ya okay with letting me pick ya just half-arsed? You can affect this, people! Let the convincing fly!" [The Jester]
Beth giggles brightly, bursting out to The Jester, "Well, you aren't going to find out what my answer is until you pick me!"
"I understand," a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head murmurs, though he still remains without expression.
An athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars's brow furrows in a frown as she listens to the conversation. Anyone looking at her might notice that her lips are moving minutely, and her expression is blank, and a little confused.
Isobel Nettesheim glances over a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head, "You gonna guess? Not gonna let me beat you, are ya?"
"Sssssss - that's sand in the hour glass" The Jester says. "So, the question again, 'What happens when you walk into the book store on Millers lane and give out a really, really loud shout?' Lemme hear it." [The Jester]
A towering black-skinned man with a shaved head rises to his feet, then, approaching The Jester to offer her coins. "Miss Milbry comes and greets you, blushing and meek," he guesses.
A towering black-skinned man with a shaved head gives you 400 silver.
"Miss Milbry is one to blush a whole lot" The Jester agrees as she accepts the coin purse from a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head. "A fine guess and a fine pile of silver. Next I think I really want to hear what miss le Starke has to say - she has aroused my interest now." She points to Beth. [The Jester]
"Well, if you're saying it -very- loudly," Beth explains to The Jester with a proud beam on her face, "All the books would fall off their shelves!"
[Beth]
"The power of my personality is insufficient," Orban laments to no one at particular with a deep sigh. [Orban]
The Jester sticks out her tongue to Orban as she points to Lien le Storm, "I shall have your guess a bit sooner than last time, Lady le Storm" she says, "can't have you sneaking up behind the rest of the field like that all the time."
"And I am thinking I have to throw in a few insults to keep going to the back of the queue!" Lien le Storm says, peering at The Jester's nose and then declaring, "Is that a wart that grows?" Finally, she makes an attempt at the question, humming thoughtfully and making a show of deliberating on it. "Well, if someone walked into my book store and shouted, I'd throw the book at them. So. That is my answer." [Lien le Storm]
"No! That was my answer!" Orban complains at Lien le Storm, albeit laughingly. "And I was going to say it -so- dramatically, too..." [Orban]
The Jester says from her bartop: "So, so far we have a blushing miss Milbry, books falling off their shelves from the sound, and books falling onto my warty face" She makes a grimace, rubbing her nose, as if checking. "Due to this insult Master op Orban is demoted due to the blood relationship. So next in queue is Miss Isobel who has been quiet but kindly un-insulting this whole time."
"Dearest brother of mine..." Lien le Storm says, nudging him with her elbow. "Well! At least you have plenty of time to come up with something better." [Lien le Storm]
Isobel Nettesheim grins at that, "Well, I was tryin' to think up some, but I just couldn't think of anything about ya to insult, Marcy." She ponders a moment, "Well, if that same girl is tending the store these days, I actually did surprise her once. So I'd say the shop attendant would scream, fall off a ladder and drop books."
"Life... is unfair," Orban declares, heaving a mighty sigh. [Orban]
"It's a variation on miss Milbry's reaction that our first guesser came up with, but it's different enough that I'll allow it" The Jester allows, "We ll then Master op Orban, let us now hear what yat got on your mind, shall we?" And The Jester turns to Orban, hands on her hips in an attempt at looking disdainful that fails quite spectacularly. [The Jester]
"Well, if -I- were to walk into the book store on Miller's Lane and give a really loud shout..." Orban makes a show of considering it, hmmming deeply and stroking his chin. "...all the ladies present would swoon from the sheer masculine force of my voice, clearly." [Orban]
Beth giggles brightly, protesting to Orban, "You're supposed to flatter Miss op Yay! Not yourself!"
"Well, I don't think ladies would swoon at the sheer masculine force of -her- voice, do you?" Orban points out to Beth, quirking a brow. [Orban]
Isobel Nettesheim pipes up, "They might!"
Lien le Storm calls over a pudgy young boy and whispers a few words in his ear. She makes a show of drawing a circular motion with her finger then directs him outside.
The Jester chuckles. "Good try, miss Isobel, good try indeed. Miss Milbry does live an interesting life, this much is clear. Nevertheless I cannot get out of my mind the time *I* actually did this and books started falling all over the place. I swear miss Milbry was nowhere to be seen at the time. Elizabethany gets the point this time around."
Beth beams brightly to The Jester with a proud hop in place. "I -knew- they would!"
"Alas," a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head murmurs in lament, drifting back to his seat by an athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars.
"Of course you would have actually done that before," Orban remarks to The Jester, fondness lightening the amusement in his voice. "I'm not surprised." [Orban]
Third question, in which hugs are given and messengers sent
"Very well, next question!" The Jester calls out. "And since my towering dark-skinned fellow over there has such a glowering stare, I'll count his bribe from last question for this question, unless someone trumphs him. The question is as follows: 'What is the correct jesterly use of armour?' The word 'jesterly' is a hint here, people. Anyone wants to go first by means of excessive flattery or coin? Or shall our towering friend get free reign again?" [The Jester]
"... Oh, miss Milbury gets a nervous twitch whenever she sees me" The Jester assures Orban out of the corner of her mouth. [The Jester]
A message has arrived for you.
message receive
A pudgy young boy, cheeks blushing and eyes looking everywhere but directly at the young jester, stammers out a few words. "I ..Lady le Storm,
said for me to tell you, that you are the fairest lady on this Urth, and that she mistook the cute little button nose of yours for a wart in the
dim tavern light. She offers her most humblest apologies."
Isobel Nettesheim giggles terribly at this.
Orban snorts aloud at the boy's message, accusing Lien le Storm with a guffaw, "That's -far- too cute to be remotely fair to the rest of us!" Judging by the unclouded mirth in his expression, though, he doesn't really mind. "My dear Jester, in your munificent magnanimity, do you accept IOUs?
"Your... hat is... looking... ah, particularly... fashionable," a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head struggles to find words to compliment The Jester with, though he unsurprisingly keeps a straight face the entire time.
Beth giggles brightly, clapping her hand on her mouth again.
"You just wish you had thought of it first dear," Lien le Storm whispers to Orban, cheeks dimpling with her grin as she watches for The Jester's reaction. [Lien le Storm]
The Jester blinks as the pudgy young boy appears and blurts out his memorized tirade. "Oh ... thanks, kid" The Jester says, patting the boy on his head. He blushes even deeper as he quickly scurries off. The Jester laughs to Lien le Storm, "that's so clever I almost ..." The Jester is interrupted by Orban and a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head almost simultaneously. "I accept AIW, IOU, TTW, PLO, TRA and MOO" The Jester tells Orban with a straight face before turning to a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head, "Why thankyou" she answers, "I am most fond of my cap, glad you like it too!"
"You're going about compliments the wrong way, though," Orban tells Lien le Storm, tsking softly. Flinging a hand out to point at The Jester, he declares, "I say, you're quite the most foolish jester I've ever seen! Not so much as an ounce of sense in your empty head! I would go so far as to say you're as addle-pated as a drunken cow on a night of five full moons!" [Orban]
Isobel Nettesheim goes wide-eyed at that, "Mmnnn. Hmm."
Lifting one hand to conceal a soft clearing of her throat, an athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars rises to stand, creaking in her heavy leathers and patchwork armour. She steps towards the door, and then glances through it. [an athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars]
"If she keeps to form, that will result in -me- getting punished for that, not you..." Lien le Storm complains with a roll of her eyes at Orban's declaration to The Jester. "That's just.. sneaky." [Lien le Storm]
"Yes, you ah... silly... idiot," a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head awkwardly adds on to Orban's tirade.
The Jester makes big eyes, "Now, master op Orban knows me too well! That's a great way to flatter a fool!" she laughs. "Well done indeed! But .. as much as I enjoy being called a fool as well as little pudgy boys coming up to tell me I'm pretty, it's really our towering friend here who put charity money on the table, so I will let him this one time. But you two --" she's flicking her hand between Orban and Lien le Storm, "I'm warming up to you folk, I really am."
"I don't care about going first, I only want your esteem," Orban tells The Jester, winking. "Go on, let him." In the meantime he digs out a velvet-covered blue songbook embroidered in musical notes, flipping to a new page. [Orban]
"So ... towering friend, Let us hear it" The Jester tells a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head. [The Jester]
An athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars begins to move south.
An athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars leaves south on a clipped step.
"To allow said jester to tumble," a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head answers, quietly, after a long pregnant pause, waiting for someone to out bribe The Jester to go before the giant does, sitting at his table.
"So the correct jesterly use of armour is to allow the jester to ... tumble" The Jester nods to towering. "First guess down. I think I will have to let Master op Orban follow up on that, closely followed by Lady le Storm. But Orban first. Go ahead, I know you're dying to. [The Jester]
"I think we should bribe her to work as a team and pool our points-- wait, but you don't have any." Lien le Storm complains to Orban next to her. [Lien le Storm]
"Clearly when a Jester says arm her..." Orban pronounces it with just enough of a break between the two words to hint at the pun, "...she's asking for a hug." He spreads his arms wide. In an aside, he comments to Lien le Storm, "Pfft, I don't care about -winning- this, where's the fun in that?" [Orban]
Beth giggles brightly at Orban's words, grinning over.
Without hesitation, The Jester crouches on the bartop so Orban can get to hug her.. [The Jester]
Isobel Nettesheim giggles a bit, "Oh, I should have thought of that one."
"I call fowl of the chicken sort. My brother is scared of being beaten by his sister is not even trying to win. Cleary he mis-understands the purpose of the game." Lien le Storm complains to The Jester, with a teasing look at Orban next to her. Then, she makes an attempt at a guess. "Well." She begins, her words lowering into a loud whisper. "Clearly being a Jester is a dangerous game. Knowing just what to say and when to say it to get the maximum amount of laughs. But sometimes.. it can go wrong. Lethally so. And someone might throw a tomato or a radish. When such things happen, armour could be all that stands in the way between Jester and death. Really, its for her own protection." [Lien le Storm]
Orban leans in to sweep The Jester into a quite energetic embrace, ending it with a little squeeze before uncurling his arms. "See, whether I get a point or not, I got a hug!"
The Jester dissappears into Orban's arms for a moment. "Mmmf. Well, not bad, not bad. So the arm-our is for hugging according to master op Orban. She stands up and returns back to her point on the bartop. "... and armour is for defence against tomatoes and radishes, according to Lady Le Storm. I think ... Miss Isobel is up next. Elizabethany did after all nail the last one - she deserves more time to think."
Isobel Nettesheim grins a bit, "Been thinking on this one. Baron over there had a good idea, but I guess I'll do. Armor only gets in the way of jesterin', so I figured she'd use it for cookin'. Stew in a helmet. Seems right foolish to me."
Beth beams proudly over at The Jester, squirming in her seat.
"Making stew in a helmet is indeed downright silly" The Jester agrees with Isobel Nettesheim, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth. "Well, Elizabethany, you are the last one to guess?" [The Jester]
"I bet a jester would use a nice suit of armor for a combination mirror and musical instrument!" Beth proclaims proudly. "Thumpety clank and isn't there a lovely -and foolish- jester reflected in there!" [Beth]
"Thumpety clank," Orban muses, tapping his fingers on the bar. "Could write a good little symphony with that. Armor for One." Flashing Lien le Storm a grin, he notes, "Oh I'm terrified, alright. The specter of loss is just too much for me. Forgive your weak brother for not being able to compete with all his heart." [Orban]
A towering black-skinned man with a shaved head glances at his own armour, then, before his eyes lift to The Jester.
"A most pretty jester would be reflected there indeed!" The Jester laughs. She ponders. "And yet the answer is so clear! Armour is clearly best used for hugging and cooking. So I shall give out TWO points this turn - because I can, and because I'm generous like that. So one cooking point to miss Isobel, and one for Master op Orban - who is a great hugger, let me tell ya'all." [The Jester]
"Okay you have a point, you now meet the minimum requirements to join the Storm-Orban quizzing team." Lien le Storm advises Orban with a nudge of her foot against his leg. [Lien le Storm]
"I'm sorry, sister." Orban fixes Lien le Storm with an intensely dramatic stare, his expression resolved - chin high, jaw set, brows a straight and low line. In all seeming solemnity, he declares, "I quiz alone. ...thanks for the point, Trouble!" he adds in a much lighter tone, voice abruptly flippant once more. [Orban]
Fourth question, where things start to get ... cold
"Trudging on we are, onto the next question!" The Jester continues, "And sorry, my towering friend, but I need more convincing to keep ya at the front line this turn. A most lucid judge am I, only living the moment of the last bribe or flattery. So hear ye all, my next question!" The Jester makes a flaring throw with her a blue-green jester's cap with three belled appendages. "It goes like this: 'If you stand out in the snow with your pants down, what happens?'" [The Jester]
"Alas," repeats a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head, then, before he begins to rise to his feet. "I actually need to go," he laments, somberly.
"And I'm obviously very poor at this game, being the one who's yet to earn a point," the giant adds in his hushed rumble, while he bows his head. "I forfeit. Thank you. Please excuse me." [a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head]
"Who will be the one to answer first?" The Jester muses. "Who indeed?" People are starting to come down from the upper floor, talking about the card game that seemingly has ended now. It seems a gentry woman won the big prize and several of the patrons are talking excitedly about the damascus dagger she won. [The Jester]
"Oh, no, don't go!" The Jester calls to a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head, "You are just warming up! There is plenty of quizzing in you, this I can tell!" [The Jester]
"A shame - I reckon you'd win a point had you time for more questions, but if you must go... I'll see you around, no doubt, ah... Templar de Laerne." There's perhaps a slight uncertainty in Orban's voice as he offers the title. [Orban]
"No, I must go," a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head claims quietly, inclining his head. "I should have... just paid coin and left anyways. My apologies." With that, he begins to slip off.
Lien le Storm calls out to a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head as he starts to depart, "A pity, that you must go. Take care Templer de Laerne."
"I think our towering friend deserves a round of applauds" The Jester proclaims. "And I hereby give him a bonus point for being big and intimidating and really bribing me appropriately. Which the rest of you seem pretty damn bad at so far, I might add. That man is a role model I tell you!" [The Jester]
Orban chuckles at The Jester's words, duly providing applause without hesitation. "I'll bribe you more shortly, don't you worry... I just figure it's someone else's turn to wheedle to go first on -this- one."
"But I gave you what I brought!" Beth protests with a whine at The Jester. [Beth]
A towering black-skinned man with a shaved head begins to move south.
A towering black-skinned man with a shaved head leaves south.
Isobel Nettesheim wrinkles her nose, "You got pretty much all I have to give, unless I want to go without food the next month."
"But I've got an aaaanswer," Beth tempts The Jester with a bright grin. [Beth]
"Oh, I was really adressing those with more funds than you and me" The Jester tells Beth and Isobel Nettesheim. "I'm not naming any names, master op Orban... But anyway!" She grins broadly, "I think Isobel just won our hearts with her plea. So lemme hear it, fair Isobel! Can you answer my question? What happens?" [The Jester]
"Hard part about being rich is that everybody knows you're rich," Orban complains, sighing. "Next question! Next question I'll write an IOU to bribe you most prettily, my dear Jester." [Orban]
Isobel Nettesheim grins over at Orban, rising for a curtsy to The Jester, "Thank you, Miss Marcy. I imagine what happens is you get called a fool and given a job as a bard."
Beth flutters her eyelashes over at The Jester, squirming in her seat.
Orban chuckles at that answer, nodding approvingly with a broad and crooked grin.
"Haha, bravo! That is indeed what might happen!" The Jester laughs. "Well, miss Le Marke. Whining gets you everywhere. Lemme hear it." [The Jester]
"Your pants get buried in the snow and stuck under it all, and then they're still there when the snow melts in the Spring and everybody wonders what happened to you even though you just left them behind!" Beth squirms happily. [Beth]
"That they would, that they would" The Jester nods to Beth. "Sooo" she eyes Orban and Lien le Storm. "I have not heard much from lady le Storm this turn, whereas master op Orban only promises future rewards and nothing this turn. So I think we'll delay him until last to make his incentive all the better until next round. Lady Le Storm?" [The Jester]
"I'm the jester's favorite target, a walking jest," Orban gloomily bemoans to the tavern at large, albeit with a twinkle in his eye. [Orban]
Looking somewhat distracted, even perhaps for a second a little sad, Lien le Storm returns her focus to The Jester belatedly. Blinking, she quickly glances around, "Oh.. my turn. Let's see. Snow. Pants down. Really, given the Lithmorran weather, one could do little more than freeze." There's a pause and she says with a blush. "Sorry. I couldn't.. think of anything much else." [Lien le Storm]
"One would certainly freeze, I grant you that" The Jester nods kindly to Lien le Storm. "Well, my 'favourite target' is yet to speak. Come on, Master op Orban!" [The Jester]
"Very well," Orban remarks with mock solemnity. His hand sneaks out to pat Lien le Storm's gently, for just a second, even as he announces to The Jester with a straight face: "Snowballs." [Orban]
Beth protests innocently, "But you don't get any snowballs just from standing there!"
Isobel Nettesheim stares at Orban a few moments, then snorts and breaks out laughing in a very un-ladilike manner.
The Jester looks at Orban for a long moment, then she breaks out into an uncontrolled giggling. "Snow...balls." she breaths. "Yes, master op Orban. You would gain snowballs. I was very close to giving another one to Isobel there but ... snowballs. A point to master op Orban!"
"Um, you'll - you'll get it when you're older," Orban tells Beth, a brow twitching. He breaks into a grin at The Jester's comment, bowing from the waist up in his seat. "Many thanks, sweet Trouble." [Orban]
Beth grumps over at Orban quietly, folding her arms up.
Fifth question, in which the Jester meets the king
"Four questions down, two to go!" The Jester cries. "Now we have a really interesting one coming up. You see, there was this time when this here wee fool met the King. It was completely accidental I assure you, since I was doing something quite special at the time. Not something you usually do when you meet the king. What do think it was I was doing?" She puts her hands behind her back. "I really need some help with picking an order now ..." [The Jester]
Isobel Nettesheim purses her lips a bit, "... well, I got a little bit of coin left.. I think I can skip dinner tonight."
Isobel Nettesheim gives you 25 silver.
Orban dashes off a quick message, but winces as he writes. "Don't skip -dinner- for this," he disagrees, shaking his head. "Here's an IOU, Trouble - I'll drop it in for Miss Nettesheim."
"Thankyou most kindly" The Jester asks Isobel Nettesheim with flourish as she accepts the coins. At Orban's offer, she pauses however. "Well, look at that, miss Nettesheim, it looks like Master op Orban chips in for you!" She lets the coins fall back into Isobel Nettesheim's hands. [The Jester]
give 25 silver to isobel
You give Isobel Nettesheim 25 silver.
Isobel Nettesheim eyes Orban a bit, "I do got my pride, Baron sir. But thanks."
"I've my pride as well, Miss Nettesheim, and it wouldn't allow me to throw in my silver at the cost of someone going without dinner and -still- not getting to go first. Besides," Orban wheedles, "isn't charity more important than pride, anyway?" [Orban]
Lien le Storm directs a hand to Orban, remarking quietly, "My Brother can have my turn this round. I'm a little lacking in imagination at the moment."
read paper
You examine a piece of paper.
Subject: IOU
Date: Sat May 19 17:26:59 2012
Arendas, Aprilis 30
The bearer of this note is entitled to a 500 silver payment from Ariel
le Orban, Baron of Savir.
*marked with an official seal in wax*
The Jester looks to the paper handed to her by Orban. "Well, since master op Orban so generously supported your entry, Miss Isobel, I shall of course offer you the first guess" she tells Isobel Nettesheim. She then nods to Lien le Storm, signifying the woman's words were understood.
Isobel Nettesheim wrinkles her nose at Orban, "Alright." She looks to The Jester thoughtfully, "Mmm. Normally I would say a hand stand! But that's hardly special for a jester. Perhaps reading a book? A fool reading is quite special, and not at all what one would do when meeting the king."
Action set to:
The Jester walks to and fro on the bartop, running the show with waving hands. She causes a distinct jingling with every movement.
"The fool in a corner quietly reading a book" The Jester nods to Isobel Nettesheim, "How about that, certainly not a common thing when meeting the King!" She pauses, gazing at the paper in her hand. "Well I shall let master op Orban have the next one, if nothing else because this was given in the spirit of charity and all. Let's hear your guess?" [The Jester]
"Oh, dear, now I have to have a good guess for what you were doing... I'm going to say you were napping in the throne at the Court Malenta, because there's really nowhere else to sit there," Orban proposes with a light laugh, though his eyes search Lien le Storm's expression carefully.
[Orban]
"So I was either napping or reading a book? A quiet, contemplative sort, aren't I?" The Jester says with raised eyebrows. "Elizabethany, what is your guess?" [The Jester]
"Oh, you're not quiet and contemplative at all!" Beth proclaims. "You wouldn't think things through! I bet you.. had climbed up the side of the palace and were dangling from a chandelier!" [Beth]
"... and there you have it" The Jester says pointing to Beth. "Sleeping and reading a book my arse. No can do - I was dangling merrily from a chandelier when the King stepped up and wondered what the heck I was doing in his throne room. A solid point to Elizabethany this turn!" She stops to count on her fingers. "So ... one question to go, and apart from Lady le Storm, you all have ... two points each. That's right! Last question is the divider. Win or loose!" [The Jester]
Isobel Nettesheim bounces a little in her seat, "So close!"
"Were you actually dangling from the chandelier," Orban wonders curiously, "or was that just the best answer?" He chuckles lightly at The Jester's declaration of a tie, deadpanning, "Oh, time to get -serious-, ladies." [Orban]
Beth grins brightly over to Orban.
Lien le Storm lightly nudges her brow against Orban's shoulder, her eyes focusing back on The Jester in preperation for the final question.
Sixth question, where Mrs Buttons gets to decide
"What, you question the -truth- of these answers?" The Jester asks Orban. "Say it is not so! You are all exceptionally accurate with finding the exact right answer, just the way it happened. Yessiree, the royal candle makers tell their kids about me as a warning example." She pulls herself up. "Well, final question - oh, and lady le Storm, you are with us on this one as well I hope? It's all for fun after all. And lots of beer." Here it comes ..." She hauls up a button eyed jester puppet with its own tiny puppet, and asks the question with the puppet's squeaky voice. "What is my first name?" The Jester points to it. "Yes, what is Mrs Buttons' first name. This better be good people. She won't accept just anything, lemme tell ya!" [The Jester]
Beth narrows her eyes and considers over at The Jester and Mrs. Buttons thoughtfully, giving a slow measured nod of her head.
"... last question. This is the big one. Giving the first suggestion MATTERS!" The Jester says with emphasis to the crowd. [The Jester]
"Oooh... tough one." Orban grimaces, shaking his head just as slowly as Beth nods hers. "I don't know, ladies. I'm going to have to -think- about this one." [Orban]
Isobel Nettesheim frowns a bit, "I got, uh... a towel. Never hurts to be prepared, right? Never leave home without one? Is that a good bribe?"
Lien le Storm nods to The Jester with her words, her lips drawing into a bit of a smile. "Aye, I'll be answering this one I think."
"I saved the toughest one for last" The Jester grins happily to Orban. "A towel is never a bad thing" she tells Isobel Nettesheim. "Hand it over and I'll consider it." [The Jester]
"I have..." Orban roots through his things, silent for a moment. "Hrm... aha! I have..." He pulls out a small bundle of black hair, which he busies himself smoothing down into neat order. "...a -moustache-." [Orban]
Orban gets a formidably full, bristly moustache, of genuine black hair from a spacious black linen backpack, with several large pockets.
Isobel Nettesheim gets a linen towel embroidered with a pink chalice in the corner from a threadbare traveler's bag made of brown burlap and straps.
Isobel Nettesheim gives you a linen towel embroidered with a pink chalice in the corner.
"Well ... surely you must all be bursting at the seams of guessing Mrs Buttons first name?" The Jester calls aloud, "I have miss Isobel offering a towel for the privilege, I ... it's a very nice towel." She looks incredously at Orban. "And ... master op Orban is offering a moustashe it seems. I ... would need a motivation for that one I think." [The Jester]
Lien le Storm gets a crystal tumbler of whiskey from a silver buckled, black leather satchel marked with a crest.
Lien le Storm offers out a crystal tumbler of whiskey to The Jester which she promptly pours a flask full of whiskey into, "Well, I'll pour you a drink of the finest whiskey, stolen from my Brother's very own personal liquor cabinet. The stuff he only gets out for the most prestigous of his
friends."
"You don't think my moustache is amazing?" Orban remarks, eyes widening in what seems like possibly genuine surprise. "Look!" He places it on his upper lip with a few dabs of something from a small tube. "What could be more foolish than a woman with a big hairy moustache?" [Orban]
"You are saying that you are actually a -woman-?" The Jester asks with raised eyebrows to Orban. "That ... IS funny!" She accepts the whiskey from Lien le Storm with near distraction, still staring at Orban and his moustasche. [The Jester]
Isobel Nettesheim giggles softly at that.
Lien le Storm gives you a crystal tumbler of whiskey.
Beth giggles brightly herself, covering over her mouth with her hand.
"You know I'm all man," Orban mock-leers at The Jester, waggling his eyebrows and pursing his lips like a mock-kiss under th bristling moustache. [Orban]
The Jester sips the whiskey. "Oh, nice stuff!" she now says, paying attention again. She counts on her fingers. "Alright. So, we have a bottle of stolen whiskey from Lady le Storm, a towel from Isobel and the admission of femalehood from Master op Orban ... you guys sure know how to pick your bribes." She sips her whiskey, then accidentally spills some of it. Instinctively she reaches out with the towel in her other hand ... "A towel is damn practical" she observes. "I shall let miss Isobel get the first chance. Besides, she already named me once today, can't wait to hear what she comes up with for Mrs Buttons."
"... what she guesses Mrs Buttons name to be" The Jester corrects herself. "She of course has a name already. I however fully expect one of you to nail it exactly - after all it has worked well so far!" [The Jester]
Isobel Nettesheim grins at that, "Damn practical," she confirms. "Well, pretty obvious she's the smart one of the pair, so she needs a smart name. Mrs Isobel Buttons, clearly." She grins wide.
Beth squirms impatiently in her seat, leaning forwards.
Orban wears a formidably full, bristly moustache, of genuine black hair over his face.
Orban seems to have forgotten he's still wearing his moustache, frowning contemplatively with an unfocused gaze.
"Oooh, subtly hinting at my silliness and boasting your own name all in one go!" The Jester says, impressed. "A good start." She sips her whiskey. "Lady le Storm next." [The Jester]
"Oh, yes. My turn." Lien le Storm says, humming thoughtfully and considering the question. Eventually she grins and says, "Well, long ago, before she met Mr Buttons and became a Mrs, she was known as Ing. Miss Ing Buttons from a little place known commonly as Jacket-town." [Lien le Storm]
Beth giggles brightly at Lien le Storm's suggestion, grinning over.
"Oh, good one," Orban admiringly tells Lien le Storm, chuckling under his breath. [Orban]
"Ing, a literal maiden name!" The Jester grins. "Good one indeed! Master op Orban? And hand over that moustasche buster, before you hurt someone with it." [The Jester]
"You didn't let me go first, you don't get my moustache," Orban declares to The Jester sulkily, stroking it. "Well, I for one think it's utterly suspicious that we've never seen this Mr. Buttons, actually. Really, every time I see Mrs. Buttons, she's a little... awfully intimate with the Jester here instead. I think it's a clever trick to throw off our suspicions... and Mrs. Buttons' first name is actually Mrs.!" [Orban]
"Are you suggesting Mrs Buttons is really a man?" The Jester laughs "Have you heard, Mrs Buttons? I always wondered why you would hang around in the bath house!" The Jester grins as she turns to Beth, "Well, we have Isolde, Ing and Mrs for names. What say you, Elizabethany?" [The Jester]
"Well, I do think she -has- officially changed it to Mrs," Beth informs with a quite serious nod. "But originally it was.. um.. Maribundia! [Beth]
Isobel Nettesheim giggles softly.
Beth nods her agreement, repeating for the benefit of the group, "Maribundia Buttons."
"I don't know, maybe she indeed actually is Mr. Mrs. Buttons," Orban points out to The Jester solemnly. "All number of sins could be hidden behind such a clever trick of a first name." [Orban]
Final, dividing round, where coins are guessed and a winner found
"Maribundia!" The Jester laughs. "Well, Mrs Buttons, what say you?" a button eyed jester puppet with its own tiny puppet re-appears on The Jester's hand. "Thanks for your suggestions. It is of course clear that my name is Ing. Miss Ing Buttons is my maiden name, thankyou very much." The Jester grins, "There you have it, the point goes to Lady le Storm, which means that ... oh." She looks a bit sheepish. "It means you all have the same amount of points. Look what you did now, Mrs Buttons!" She ponders.
Beth says OOCly, "Alas, I do need to go. So.. assume Beth says something cute but not terribly clever"
Beth has lost link.
"Now we have to fight to the death, huh?" Orban sighs wistfully, shaking his head. "What a shame; the evening was going -so- well, too." [Orban]
Isobel Nettesheim wrinkles her nose, "I can't fight. I don't got my towel anymore."
"I guess there is really only one way to resolve this" The Jester finally says happily. "And I won't say bribing since that's not really fair to everyone." She waves her hand in the air, clearly making things up on the fly. "Soo ... how about this. "Each of you answer this question: 'how much bribe money have I collected in total from all of you tonight?' Write it on a piece of paper or something. The closest one wins!" [The Jester]
"That would hardly be fair, I would obviously win." Lien le Storm boasts with a grin, poking the side of Orban's leg with the toes of her boots. With the decider announced by The Jester she hums thoughtfully. [Lien le Storm]
"Counting my IOU, I take it?" Orban calls, grinning thoughtfully. [Orban]
"Sure" The Jester nods. [The Jester]
Isobel Nettesheim wrinkles her nose, "Wonder if I still got paper somewhere..."
l paper
You examine a piece of paper.
Subject: Ari's Guess
Date: Sat May 19 18:45:41 2012
Balasdes, Maius 1
2750 silver, my dear Trouble!
"Given I've not the paper to write on, I'll do an open guess of 950 silver." Lien le Storm says, chewing her lip thoughtfully and watching the
others as they write down their guesses and show The Jester. [Lien le Storm]
You examine a torn scrap of paper with 'Isobel' written on the back.
Subject: Isobel's Final Guess
Date: Sat May 19 18:44:48 2012
Balasdes, Maius 1
I guess 15 gold marks, or 1500 silver.
"Oh, I included the entry fees, which I hope was part of the question," Orban realizes, blinking at Lien le Storm's guess. [Orban]
"Oh, I didn't think about those too. Ahh well." Lien le Storm says, a light flush setting upon her cheeks. [Lien le Storm]
Charali arrives from the south.
Charali slows to a halt.
Charali walks into the tavern proper, wearing what is decidedly non-Lithmorran dress. Her arms are bare, save for some bronze bracers, and the feathers sewn into the outer seam of her pants almost float in the air as she moves. Her hair is worn unbound and loose, with a beaded headband with white feathers trailing on the right barely holding it back at all. She weaves through the crowd, attempting to get near the front where The Jester is running the show.
The Jester has been flipping through her coins herself, turned away from the rest. She then checks the notes handed to her. "Right, so we have a winner!" She declares. "Let met first tell your guesses. Lien le Storm - openly - guessed 950 silver in total bribes. Miss Isobel guessed 1500 silver, whereas Master op Orban guessed 2750." She waves to Charali. "Oh, my Charali friend! This is the owner of the tavern everybody, and the arranger of everything. Your timing is perfect. We shall just reveal the winner, and the amount of bribery earned, all in one go. Come over here. Love the dress!"
"Miss Mara'aye," Orban greets with a light inclining of his head, quirking a brow as his gaze sweeaps her from head to toe - he doesn't comment, though, nor does he lose his easy grin. [Orban]
Charali weaves through the crowd, and as most in attendance have he sense to get out of her way, approaches The Jester quickly enough. Charali inclines her head to Orban in passing, generally asking those in the crowd, "You've been having a good time, yes?" Charali accent is, perhaps, a bit more noticeable than usual. "What is the answer then, little sister?" Charali asks of The Jester.
"Our total charity bribery ended up to be ..." The Jester double-checks in the little coin purse she has been depositing coins in -"2550 silver, one red flower, a towel and a bottle of whiskey". That makes Master op Orban, who guessed 2550, the winner of the quiz. Everyone, give a hand to Master op Orban!" The Jester bows. "You all did great though, to think you knew the answers so well, all of you!" [The Jester]
"Can I go second for no reason whatsoever other than that you like me?" Orban asks of The Jester, a plaintive note in his voice. "Cause I am -out- of money, let me tell you." [Orban]
"Ooooh, I take reverses, bank notes, jewelry, heirlooms and estates too" The Jester offers to Orban. "I'm not picky, not in the least." [The Jester]
"Alright, I'll save my desperation bribes for a question where I feel exceedingly motivated," Orban declares, chuckling. [Orban]
The Jester walks back and forth atop the bar. "Master op Orban has pulled the 'like me' card on me, my towering dark friend" The Jester tells a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head, "Ya got the first chance to guess - but I cannoe give too much thinkin' time lest I might have to let Orbie get away with this pathetic plea."
"... and the rest of ya?" The Jester asks the rest of the gathered group, "ya okay with letting me pick ya just half-arsed? You can affect this, people! Let the convincing fly!" [The Jester]
Beth giggles brightly, bursting out to The Jester, "Well, you aren't going to find out what my answer is until you pick me!"
"I understand," a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head murmurs, though he still remains without expression.
An athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars's brow furrows in a frown as she listens to the conversation. Anyone looking at her might notice that her lips are moving minutely, and her expression is blank, and a little confused.
Isobel Nettesheim glances over a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head, "You gonna guess? Not gonna let me beat you, are ya?"
"Sssssss - that's sand in the hour glass" The Jester says. "So, the question again, 'What happens when you walk into the book store on Millers lane and give out a really, really loud shout?' Lemme hear it." [The Jester]
A towering black-skinned man with a shaved head rises to his feet, then, approaching The Jester to offer her coins. "Miss Milbry comes and greets you, blushing and meek," he guesses.
A towering black-skinned man with a shaved head gives you 400 silver.
"Miss Milbry is one to blush a whole lot" The Jester agrees as she accepts the coin purse from a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head. "A fine guess and a fine pile of silver. Next I think I really want to hear what miss le Starke has to say - she has aroused my interest now." She points to Beth. [The Jester]
"Well, if you're saying it -very- loudly," Beth explains to The Jester with a proud beam on her face, "All the books would fall off their shelves!"
[Beth]
"The power of my personality is insufficient," Orban laments to no one at particular with a deep sigh. [Orban]
The Jester sticks out her tongue to Orban as she points to Lien le Storm, "I shall have your guess a bit sooner than last time, Lady le Storm" she says, "can't have you sneaking up behind the rest of the field like that all the time."
"And I am thinking I have to throw in a few insults to keep going to the back of the queue!" Lien le Storm says, peering at The Jester's nose and then declaring, "Is that a wart that grows?" Finally, she makes an attempt at the question, humming thoughtfully and making a show of deliberating on it. "Well, if someone walked into my book store and shouted, I'd throw the book at them. So. That is my answer." [Lien le Storm]
"No! That was my answer!" Orban complains at Lien le Storm, albeit laughingly. "And I was going to say it -so- dramatically, too..." [Orban]
The Jester says from her bartop: "So, so far we have a blushing miss Milbry, books falling off their shelves from the sound, and books falling onto my warty face" She makes a grimace, rubbing her nose, as if checking. "Due to this insult Master op Orban is demoted due to the blood relationship. So next in queue is Miss Isobel who has been quiet but kindly un-insulting this whole time."
"Dearest brother of mine..." Lien le Storm says, nudging him with her elbow. "Well! At least you have plenty of time to come up with something better." [Lien le Storm]
Isobel Nettesheim grins at that, "Well, I was tryin' to think up some, but I just couldn't think of anything about ya to insult, Marcy." She ponders a moment, "Well, if that same girl is tending the store these days, I actually did surprise her once. So I'd say the shop attendant would scream, fall off a ladder and drop books."
"Life... is unfair," Orban declares, heaving a mighty sigh. [Orban]
"It's a variation on miss Milbry's reaction that our first guesser came up with, but it's different enough that I'll allow it" The Jester allows, "We ll then Master op Orban, let us now hear what yat got on your mind, shall we?" And The Jester turns to Orban, hands on her hips in an attempt at looking disdainful that fails quite spectacularly. [The Jester]
"Well, if -I- were to walk into the book store on Miller's Lane and give a really loud shout..." Orban makes a show of considering it, hmmming deeply and stroking his chin. "...all the ladies present would swoon from the sheer masculine force of my voice, clearly." [Orban]
Beth giggles brightly, protesting to Orban, "You're supposed to flatter Miss op Yay! Not yourself!"
"Well, I don't think ladies would swoon at the sheer masculine force of -her- voice, do you?" Orban points out to Beth, quirking a brow. [Orban]
Isobel Nettesheim pipes up, "They might!"
Lien le Storm calls over a pudgy young boy and whispers a few words in his ear. She makes a show of drawing a circular motion with her finger then directs him outside.
The Jester chuckles. "Good try, miss Isobel, good try indeed. Miss Milbry does live an interesting life, this much is clear. Nevertheless I cannot get out of my mind the time *I* actually did this and books started falling all over the place. I swear miss Milbry was nowhere to be seen at the time. Elizabethany gets the point this time around."
Beth beams brightly to The Jester with a proud hop in place. "I -knew- they would!"
"Alas," a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head murmurs in lament, drifting back to his seat by an athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars.
"Of course you would have actually done that before," Orban remarks to The Jester, fondness lightening the amusement in his voice. "I'm not surprised." [Orban]
Third question, in which hugs are given and messengers sent
"Very well, next question!" The Jester calls out. "And since my towering dark-skinned fellow over there has such a glowering stare, I'll count his bribe from last question for this question, unless someone trumphs him. The question is as follows: 'What is the correct jesterly use of armour?' The word 'jesterly' is a hint here, people. Anyone wants to go first by means of excessive flattery or coin? Or shall our towering friend get free reign again?" [The Jester]
"... Oh, miss Milbury gets a nervous twitch whenever she sees me" The Jester assures Orban out of the corner of her mouth. [The Jester]
A message has arrived for you.
message receive
A pudgy young boy, cheeks blushing and eyes looking everywhere but directly at the young jester, stammers out a few words. "I ..Lady le Storm,
said for me to tell you, that you are the fairest lady on this Urth, and that she mistook the cute little button nose of yours for a wart in the
dim tavern light. She offers her most humblest apologies."
Isobel Nettesheim giggles terribly at this.
Orban snorts aloud at the boy's message, accusing Lien le Storm with a guffaw, "That's -far- too cute to be remotely fair to the rest of us!" Judging by the unclouded mirth in his expression, though, he doesn't really mind. "My dear Jester, in your munificent magnanimity, do you accept IOUs?
"Your... hat is... looking... ah, particularly... fashionable," a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head struggles to find words to compliment The Jester with, though he unsurprisingly keeps a straight face the entire time.
Beth giggles brightly, clapping her hand on her mouth again.
"You just wish you had thought of it first dear," Lien le Storm whispers to Orban, cheeks dimpling with her grin as she watches for The Jester's reaction. [Lien le Storm]
The Jester blinks as the pudgy young boy appears and blurts out his memorized tirade. "Oh ... thanks, kid" The Jester says, patting the boy on his head. He blushes even deeper as he quickly scurries off. The Jester laughs to Lien le Storm, "that's so clever I almost ..." The Jester is interrupted by Orban and a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head almost simultaneously. "I accept AIW, IOU, TTW, PLO, TRA and MOO" The Jester tells Orban with a straight face before turning to a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head, "Why thankyou" she answers, "I am most fond of my cap, glad you like it too!"
"You're going about compliments the wrong way, though," Orban tells Lien le Storm, tsking softly. Flinging a hand out to point at The Jester, he declares, "I say, you're quite the most foolish jester I've ever seen! Not so much as an ounce of sense in your empty head! I would go so far as to say you're as addle-pated as a drunken cow on a night of five full moons!" [Orban]
Isobel Nettesheim goes wide-eyed at that, "Mmnnn. Hmm."
Lifting one hand to conceal a soft clearing of her throat, an athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars rises to stand, creaking in her heavy leathers and patchwork armour. She steps towards the door, and then glances through it. [an athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars]
"If she keeps to form, that will result in -me- getting punished for that, not you..." Lien le Storm complains with a roll of her eyes at Orban's declaration to The Jester. "That's just.. sneaky." [Lien le Storm]
"Yes, you ah... silly... idiot," a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head awkwardly adds on to Orban's tirade.
The Jester makes big eyes, "Now, master op Orban knows me too well! That's a great way to flatter a fool!" she laughs. "Well done indeed! But .. as much as I enjoy being called a fool as well as little pudgy boys coming up to tell me I'm pretty, it's really our towering friend here who put charity money on the table, so I will let him this one time. But you two --" she's flicking her hand between Orban and Lien le Storm, "I'm warming up to you folk, I really am."
"I don't care about going first, I only want your esteem," Orban tells The Jester, winking. "Go on, let him." In the meantime he digs out a velvet-covered blue songbook embroidered in musical notes, flipping to a new page. [Orban]
"So ... towering friend, Let us hear it" The Jester tells a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head. [The Jester]
An athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars begins to move south.
An athletic young Farin woman with multiple scars leaves south on a clipped step.
"To allow said jester to tumble," a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head answers, quietly, after a long pregnant pause, waiting for someone to out bribe The Jester to go before the giant does, sitting at his table.
"So the correct jesterly use of armour is to allow the jester to ... tumble" The Jester nods to towering. "First guess down. I think I will have to let Master op Orban follow up on that, closely followed by Lady le Storm. But Orban first. Go ahead, I know you're dying to. [The Jester]
"I think we should bribe her to work as a team and pool our points-- wait, but you don't have any." Lien le Storm complains to Orban next to her. [Lien le Storm]
"Clearly when a Jester says arm her..." Orban pronounces it with just enough of a break between the two words to hint at the pun, "...she's asking for a hug." He spreads his arms wide. In an aside, he comments to Lien le Storm, "Pfft, I don't care about -winning- this, where's the fun in that?" [Orban]
Beth giggles brightly at Orban's words, grinning over.
Without hesitation, The Jester crouches on the bartop so Orban can get to hug her.. [The Jester]
Isobel Nettesheim giggles a bit, "Oh, I should have thought of that one."
"I call fowl of the chicken sort. My brother is scared of being beaten by his sister is not even trying to win. Cleary he mis-understands the purpose of the game." Lien le Storm complains to The Jester, with a teasing look at Orban next to her. Then, she makes an attempt at a guess. "Well." She begins, her words lowering into a loud whisper. "Clearly being a Jester is a dangerous game. Knowing just what to say and when to say it to get the maximum amount of laughs. But sometimes.. it can go wrong. Lethally so. And someone might throw a tomato or a radish. When such things happen, armour could be all that stands in the way between Jester and death. Really, its for her own protection." [Lien le Storm]
Orban leans in to sweep The Jester into a quite energetic embrace, ending it with a little squeeze before uncurling his arms. "See, whether I get a point or not, I got a hug!"
The Jester dissappears into Orban's arms for a moment. "Mmmf. Well, not bad, not bad. So the arm-our is for hugging according to master op Orban. She stands up and returns back to her point on the bartop. "... and armour is for defence against tomatoes and radishes, according to Lady Le Storm. I think ... Miss Isobel is up next. Elizabethany did after all nail the last one - she deserves more time to think."
Isobel Nettesheim grins a bit, "Been thinking on this one. Baron over there had a good idea, but I guess I'll do. Armor only gets in the way of jesterin', so I figured she'd use it for cookin'. Stew in a helmet. Seems right foolish to me."
Beth beams proudly over at The Jester, squirming in her seat.
"Making stew in a helmet is indeed downright silly" The Jester agrees with Isobel Nettesheim, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth. "Well, Elizabethany, you are the last one to guess?" [The Jester]
"I bet a jester would use a nice suit of armor for a combination mirror and musical instrument!" Beth proclaims proudly. "Thumpety clank and isn't there a lovely -and foolish- jester reflected in there!" [Beth]
"Thumpety clank," Orban muses, tapping his fingers on the bar. "Could write a good little symphony with that. Armor for One." Flashing Lien le Storm a grin, he notes, "Oh I'm terrified, alright. The specter of loss is just too much for me. Forgive your weak brother for not being able to compete with all his heart." [Orban]
A towering black-skinned man with a shaved head glances at his own armour, then, before his eyes lift to The Jester.
"A most pretty jester would be reflected there indeed!" The Jester laughs. She ponders. "And yet the answer is so clear! Armour is clearly best used for hugging and cooking. So I shall give out TWO points this turn - because I can, and because I'm generous like that. So one cooking point to miss Isobel, and one for Master op Orban - who is a great hugger, let me tell ya'all." [The Jester]
"Okay you have a point, you now meet the minimum requirements to join the Storm-Orban quizzing team." Lien le Storm advises Orban with a nudge of her foot against his leg. [Lien le Storm]
"I'm sorry, sister." Orban fixes Lien le Storm with an intensely dramatic stare, his expression resolved - chin high, jaw set, brows a straight and low line. In all seeming solemnity, he declares, "I quiz alone. ...thanks for the point, Trouble!" he adds in a much lighter tone, voice abruptly flippant once more. [Orban]
Fourth question, where things start to get ... cold
"Trudging on we are, onto the next question!" The Jester continues, "And sorry, my towering friend, but I need more convincing to keep ya at the front line this turn. A most lucid judge am I, only living the moment of the last bribe or flattery. So hear ye all, my next question!" The Jester makes a flaring throw with her a blue-green jester's cap with three belled appendages. "It goes like this: 'If you stand out in the snow with your pants down, what happens?'" [The Jester]
"Alas," repeats a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head, then, before he begins to rise to his feet. "I actually need to go," he laments, somberly.
"And I'm obviously very poor at this game, being the one who's yet to earn a point," the giant adds in his hushed rumble, while he bows his head. "I forfeit. Thank you. Please excuse me." [a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head]
"Who will be the one to answer first?" The Jester muses. "Who indeed?" People are starting to come down from the upper floor, talking about the card game that seemingly has ended now. It seems a gentry woman won the big prize and several of the patrons are talking excitedly about the damascus dagger she won. [The Jester]
"Oh, no, don't go!" The Jester calls to a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head, "You are just warming up! There is plenty of quizzing in you, this I can tell!" [The Jester]
"A shame - I reckon you'd win a point had you time for more questions, but if you must go... I'll see you around, no doubt, ah... Templar de Laerne." There's perhaps a slight uncertainty in Orban's voice as he offers the title. [Orban]
"No, I must go," a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head claims quietly, inclining his head. "I should have... just paid coin and left anyways. My apologies." With that, he begins to slip off.
Lien le Storm calls out to a towering black-skinned man with a shaved head as he starts to depart, "A pity, that you must go. Take care Templer de Laerne."
"I think our towering friend deserves a round of applauds" The Jester proclaims. "And I hereby give him a bonus point for being big and intimidating and really bribing me appropriately. Which the rest of you seem pretty damn bad at so far, I might add. That man is a role model I tell you!" [The Jester]
Orban chuckles at The Jester's words, duly providing applause without hesitation. "I'll bribe you more shortly, don't you worry... I just figure it's someone else's turn to wheedle to go first on -this- one."
"But I gave you what I brought!" Beth protests with a whine at The Jester. [Beth]
A towering black-skinned man with a shaved head begins to move south.
A towering black-skinned man with a shaved head leaves south.
Isobel Nettesheim wrinkles her nose, "You got pretty much all I have to give, unless I want to go without food the next month."
"But I've got an aaaanswer," Beth tempts The Jester with a bright grin. [Beth]
"Oh, I was really adressing those with more funds than you and me" The Jester tells Beth and Isobel Nettesheim. "I'm not naming any names, master op Orban... But anyway!" She grins broadly, "I think Isobel just won our hearts with her plea. So lemme hear it, fair Isobel! Can you answer my question? What happens?" [The Jester]
"Hard part about being rich is that everybody knows you're rich," Orban complains, sighing. "Next question! Next question I'll write an IOU to bribe you most prettily, my dear Jester." [Orban]
Isobel Nettesheim grins over at Orban, rising for a curtsy to The Jester, "Thank you, Miss Marcy. I imagine what happens is you get called a fool and given a job as a bard."
Beth flutters her eyelashes over at The Jester, squirming in her seat.
Orban chuckles at that answer, nodding approvingly with a broad and crooked grin.
"Haha, bravo! That is indeed what might happen!" The Jester laughs. "Well, miss Le Marke. Whining gets you everywhere. Lemme hear it." [The Jester]
"Your pants get buried in the snow and stuck under it all, and then they're still there when the snow melts in the Spring and everybody wonders what happened to you even though you just left them behind!" Beth squirms happily. [Beth]
"That they would, that they would" The Jester nods to Beth. "Sooo" she eyes Orban and Lien le Storm. "I have not heard much from lady le Storm this turn, whereas master op Orban only promises future rewards and nothing this turn. So I think we'll delay him until last to make his incentive all the better until next round. Lady Le Storm?" [The Jester]
"I'm the jester's favorite target, a walking jest," Orban gloomily bemoans to the tavern at large, albeit with a twinkle in his eye. [Orban]
Looking somewhat distracted, even perhaps for a second a little sad, Lien le Storm returns her focus to The Jester belatedly. Blinking, she quickly glances around, "Oh.. my turn. Let's see. Snow. Pants down. Really, given the Lithmorran weather, one could do little more than freeze." There's a pause and she says with a blush. "Sorry. I couldn't.. think of anything much else." [Lien le Storm]
"One would certainly freeze, I grant you that" The Jester nods kindly to Lien le Storm. "Well, my 'favourite target' is yet to speak. Come on, Master op Orban!" [The Jester]
"Very well," Orban remarks with mock solemnity. His hand sneaks out to pat Lien le Storm's gently, for just a second, even as he announces to The Jester with a straight face: "Snowballs." [Orban]
Beth protests innocently, "But you don't get any snowballs just from standing there!"
Isobel Nettesheim stares at Orban a few moments, then snorts and breaks out laughing in a very un-ladilike manner.
The Jester looks at Orban for a long moment, then she breaks out into an uncontrolled giggling. "Snow...balls." she breaths. "Yes, master op Orban. You would gain snowballs. I was very close to giving another one to Isobel there but ... snowballs. A point to master op Orban!"
"Um, you'll - you'll get it when you're older," Orban tells Beth, a brow twitching. He breaks into a grin at The Jester's comment, bowing from the waist up in his seat. "Many thanks, sweet Trouble." [Orban]
Beth grumps over at Orban quietly, folding her arms up.
Fifth question, in which the Jester meets the king
"Four questions down, two to go!" The Jester cries. "Now we have a really interesting one coming up. You see, there was this time when this here wee fool met the King. It was completely accidental I assure you, since I was doing something quite special at the time. Not something you usually do when you meet the king. What do think it was I was doing?" She puts her hands behind her back. "I really need some help with picking an order now ..." [The Jester]
Isobel Nettesheim purses her lips a bit, "... well, I got a little bit of coin left.. I think I can skip dinner tonight."
Isobel Nettesheim gives you 25 silver.
Orban dashes off a quick message, but winces as he writes. "Don't skip -dinner- for this," he disagrees, shaking his head. "Here's an IOU, Trouble - I'll drop it in for Miss Nettesheim."
"Thankyou most kindly" The Jester asks Isobel Nettesheim with flourish as she accepts the coins. At Orban's offer, she pauses however. "Well, look at that, miss Nettesheim, it looks like Master op Orban chips in for you!" She lets the coins fall back into Isobel Nettesheim's hands. [The Jester]
give 25 silver to isobel
You give Isobel Nettesheim 25 silver.
Isobel Nettesheim eyes Orban a bit, "I do got my pride, Baron sir. But thanks."
"I've my pride as well, Miss Nettesheim, and it wouldn't allow me to throw in my silver at the cost of someone going without dinner and -still- not getting to go first. Besides," Orban wheedles, "isn't charity more important than pride, anyway?" [Orban]
Lien le Storm directs a hand to Orban, remarking quietly, "My Brother can have my turn this round. I'm a little lacking in imagination at the moment."
read paper
You examine a piece of paper.
Subject: IOU
Date: Sat May 19 17:26:59 2012
Arendas, Aprilis 30
The bearer of this note is entitled to a 500 silver payment from Ariel
le Orban, Baron of Savir.
*marked with an official seal in wax*
The Jester looks to the paper handed to her by Orban. "Well, since master op Orban so generously supported your entry, Miss Isobel, I shall of course offer you the first guess" she tells Isobel Nettesheim. She then nods to Lien le Storm, signifying the woman's words were understood.
Isobel Nettesheim wrinkles her nose at Orban, "Alright." She looks to The Jester thoughtfully, "Mmm. Normally I would say a hand stand! But that's hardly special for a jester. Perhaps reading a book? A fool reading is quite special, and not at all what one would do when meeting the king."
Action set to:
The Jester walks to and fro on the bartop, running the show with waving hands. She causes a distinct jingling with every movement.
"The fool in a corner quietly reading a book" The Jester nods to Isobel Nettesheim, "How about that, certainly not a common thing when meeting the King!" She pauses, gazing at the paper in her hand. "Well I shall let master op Orban have the next one, if nothing else because this was given in the spirit of charity and all. Let's hear your guess?" [The Jester]
"Oh, dear, now I have to have a good guess for what you were doing... I'm going to say you were napping in the throne at the Court Malenta, because there's really nowhere else to sit there," Orban proposes with a light laugh, though his eyes search Lien le Storm's expression carefully.
[Orban]
"So I was either napping or reading a book? A quiet, contemplative sort, aren't I?" The Jester says with raised eyebrows. "Elizabethany, what is your guess?" [The Jester]
"Oh, you're not quiet and contemplative at all!" Beth proclaims. "You wouldn't think things through! I bet you.. had climbed up the side of the palace and were dangling from a chandelier!" [Beth]
"... and there you have it" The Jester says pointing to Beth. "Sleeping and reading a book my arse. No can do - I was dangling merrily from a chandelier when the King stepped up and wondered what the heck I was doing in his throne room. A solid point to Elizabethany this turn!" She stops to count on her fingers. "So ... one question to go, and apart from Lady le Storm, you all have ... two points each. That's right! Last question is the divider. Win or loose!" [The Jester]
Isobel Nettesheim bounces a little in her seat, "So close!"
"Were you actually dangling from the chandelier," Orban wonders curiously, "or was that just the best answer?" He chuckles lightly at The Jester's declaration of a tie, deadpanning, "Oh, time to get -serious-, ladies." [Orban]
Beth grins brightly over to Orban.
Lien le Storm lightly nudges her brow against Orban's shoulder, her eyes focusing back on The Jester in preperation for the final question.
Sixth question, where Mrs Buttons gets to decide
"What, you question the -truth- of these answers?" The Jester asks Orban. "Say it is not so! You are all exceptionally accurate with finding the exact right answer, just the way it happened. Yessiree, the royal candle makers tell their kids about me as a warning example." She pulls herself up. "Well, final question - oh, and lady le Storm, you are with us on this one as well I hope? It's all for fun after all. And lots of beer." Here it comes ..." She hauls up a button eyed jester puppet with its own tiny puppet, and asks the question with the puppet's squeaky voice. "What is my first name?" The Jester points to it. "Yes, what is Mrs Buttons' first name. This better be good people. She won't accept just anything, lemme tell ya!" [The Jester]
Beth narrows her eyes and considers over at The Jester and Mrs. Buttons thoughtfully, giving a slow measured nod of her head.
"... last question. This is the big one. Giving the first suggestion MATTERS!" The Jester says with emphasis to the crowd. [The Jester]
"Oooh... tough one." Orban grimaces, shaking his head just as slowly as Beth nods hers. "I don't know, ladies. I'm going to have to -think- about this one." [Orban]
Isobel Nettesheim frowns a bit, "I got, uh... a towel. Never hurts to be prepared, right? Never leave home without one? Is that a good bribe?"
Lien le Storm nods to The Jester with her words, her lips drawing into a bit of a smile. "Aye, I'll be answering this one I think."
"I saved the toughest one for last" The Jester grins happily to Orban. "A towel is never a bad thing" she tells Isobel Nettesheim. "Hand it over and I'll consider it." [The Jester]
"I have..." Orban roots through his things, silent for a moment. "Hrm... aha! I have..." He pulls out a small bundle of black hair, which he busies himself smoothing down into neat order. "...a -moustache-." [Orban]
Orban gets a formidably full, bristly moustache, of genuine black hair from a spacious black linen backpack, with several large pockets.
Isobel Nettesheim gets a linen towel embroidered with a pink chalice in the corner from a threadbare traveler's bag made of brown burlap and straps.
Isobel Nettesheim gives you a linen towel embroidered with a pink chalice in the corner.
"Well ... surely you must all be bursting at the seams of guessing Mrs Buttons first name?" The Jester calls aloud, "I have miss Isobel offering a towel for the privilege, I ... it's a very nice towel." She looks incredously at Orban. "And ... master op Orban is offering a moustashe it seems. I ... would need a motivation for that one I think." [The Jester]
Lien le Storm gets a crystal tumbler of whiskey from a silver buckled, black leather satchel marked with a crest.
Lien le Storm offers out a crystal tumbler of whiskey to The Jester which she promptly pours a flask full of whiskey into, "Well, I'll pour you a drink of the finest whiskey, stolen from my Brother's very own personal liquor cabinet. The stuff he only gets out for the most prestigous of his
friends."
"You don't think my moustache is amazing?" Orban remarks, eyes widening in what seems like possibly genuine surprise. "Look!" He places it on his upper lip with a few dabs of something from a small tube. "What could be more foolish than a woman with a big hairy moustache?" [Orban]
"You are saying that you are actually a -woman-?" The Jester asks with raised eyebrows to Orban. "That ... IS funny!" She accepts the whiskey from Lien le Storm with near distraction, still staring at Orban and his moustasche. [The Jester]
Isobel Nettesheim giggles softly at that.
Lien le Storm gives you a crystal tumbler of whiskey.
Beth giggles brightly herself, covering over her mouth with her hand.
"You know I'm all man," Orban mock-leers at The Jester, waggling his eyebrows and pursing his lips like a mock-kiss under th bristling moustache. [Orban]
The Jester sips the whiskey. "Oh, nice stuff!" she now says, paying attention again. She counts on her fingers. "Alright. So, we have a bottle of stolen whiskey from Lady le Storm, a towel from Isobel and the admission of femalehood from Master op Orban ... you guys sure know how to pick your bribes." She sips her whiskey, then accidentally spills some of it. Instinctively she reaches out with the towel in her other hand ... "A towel is damn practical" she observes. "I shall let miss Isobel get the first chance. Besides, she already named me once today, can't wait to hear what she comes up with for Mrs Buttons."
"... what she guesses Mrs Buttons name to be" The Jester corrects herself. "She of course has a name already. I however fully expect one of you to nail it exactly - after all it has worked well so far!" [The Jester]
Isobel Nettesheim grins at that, "Damn practical," she confirms. "Well, pretty obvious she's the smart one of the pair, so she needs a smart name. Mrs Isobel Buttons, clearly." She grins wide.
Beth squirms impatiently in her seat, leaning forwards.
Orban wears a formidably full, bristly moustache, of genuine black hair over his face.
Orban seems to have forgotten he's still wearing his moustache, frowning contemplatively with an unfocused gaze.
"Oooh, subtly hinting at my silliness and boasting your own name all in one go!" The Jester says, impressed. "A good start." She sips her whiskey. "Lady le Storm next." [The Jester]
"Oh, yes. My turn." Lien le Storm says, humming thoughtfully and considering the question. Eventually she grins and says, "Well, long ago, before she met Mr Buttons and became a Mrs, she was known as Ing. Miss Ing Buttons from a little place known commonly as Jacket-town." [Lien le Storm]
Beth giggles brightly at Lien le Storm's suggestion, grinning over.
"Oh, good one," Orban admiringly tells Lien le Storm, chuckling under his breath. [Orban]
"Ing, a literal maiden name!" The Jester grins. "Good one indeed! Master op Orban? And hand over that moustasche buster, before you hurt someone with it." [The Jester]
"You didn't let me go first, you don't get my moustache," Orban declares to The Jester sulkily, stroking it. "Well, I for one think it's utterly suspicious that we've never seen this Mr. Buttons, actually. Really, every time I see Mrs. Buttons, she's a little... awfully intimate with the Jester here instead. I think it's a clever trick to throw off our suspicions... and Mrs. Buttons' first name is actually Mrs.!" [Orban]
"Are you suggesting Mrs Buttons is really a man?" The Jester laughs "Have you heard, Mrs Buttons? I always wondered why you would hang around in the bath house!" The Jester grins as she turns to Beth, "Well, we have Isolde, Ing and Mrs for names. What say you, Elizabethany?" [The Jester]
"Well, I do think she -has- officially changed it to Mrs," Beth informs with a quite serious nod. "But originally it was.. um.. Maribundia! [Beth]
Isobel Nettesheim giggles softly.
Beth nods her agreement, repeating for the benefit of the group, "Maribundia Buttons."
"I don't know, maybe she indeed actually is Mr. Mrs. Buttons," Orban points out to The Jester solemnly. "All number of sins could be hidden behind such a clever trick of a first name." [Orban]
Final, dividing round, where coins are guessed and a winner found
"Maribundia!" The Jester laughs. "Well, Mrs Buttons, what say you?" a button eyed jester puppet with its own tiny puppet re-appears on The Jester's hand. "Thanks for your suggestions. It is of course clear that my name is Ing. Miss Ing Buttons is my maiden name, thankyou very much." The Jester grins, "There you have it, the point goes to Lady le Storm, which means that ... oh." She looks a bit sheepish. "It means you all have the same amount of points. Look what you did now, Mrs Buttons!" She ponders.
Beth says OOCly, "Alas, I do need to go. So.. assume Beth says something cute but not terribly clever"
Beth has lost link.
"Now we have to fight to the death, huh?" Orban sighs wistfully, shaking his head. "What a shame; the evening was going -so- well, too." [Orban]
Isobel Nettesheim wrinkles her nose, "I can't fight. I don't got my towel anymore."
"I guess there is really only one way to resolve this" The Jester finally says happily. "And I won't say bribing since that's not really fair to everyone." She waves her hand in the air, clearly making things up on the fly. "Soo ... how about this. "Each of you answer this question: 'how much bribe money have I collected in total from all of you tonight?' Write it on a piece of paper or something. The closest one wins!" [The Jester]
"That would hardly be fair, I would obviously win." Lien le Storm boasts with a grin, poking the side of Orban's leg with the toes of her boots. With the decider announced by The Jester she hums thoughtfully. [Lien le Storm]
"Counting my IOU, I take it?" Orban calls, grinning thoughtfully. [Orban]
"Sure" The Jester nods. [The Jester]
Isobel Nettesheim wrinkles her nose, "Wonder if I still got paper somewhere..."
l paper
You examine a piece of paper.
Subject: Ari's Guess
Date: Sat May 19 18:45:41 2012
Balasdes, Maius 1
2750 silver, my dear Trouble!
"Given I've not the paper to write on, I'll do an open guess of 950 silver." Lien le Storm says, chewing her lip thoughtfully and watching the
others as they write down their guesses and show The Jester. [Lien le Storm]
You examine a torn scrap of paper with 'Isobel' written on the back.
Subject: Isobel's Final Guess
Date: Sat May 19 18:44:48 2012
Balasdes, Maius 1
I guess 15 gold marks, or 1500 silver.
"Oh, I included the entry fees, which I hope was part of the question," Orban realizes, blinking at Lien le Storm's guess. [Orban]
"Oh, I didn't think about those too. Ahh well." Lien le Storm says, a light flush setting upon her cheeks. [Lien le Storm]
Charali arrives from the south.
Charali slows to a halt.
Charali walks into the tavern proper, wearing what is decidedly non-Lithmorran dress. Her arms are bare, save for some bronze bracers, and the feathers sewn into the outer seam of her pants almost float in the air as she moves. Her hair is worn unbound and loose, with a beaded headband with white feathers trailing on the right barely holding it back at all. She weaves through the crowd, attempting to get near the front where The Jester is running the show.
The Jester has been flipping through her coins herself, turned away from the rest. She then checks the notes handed to her. "Right, so we have a winner!" She declares. "Let met first tell your guesses. Lien le Storm - openly - guessed 950 silver in total bribes. Miss Isobel guessed 1500 silver, whereas Master op Orban guessed 2750." She waves to Charali. "Oh, my Charali friend! This is the owner of the tavern everybody, and the arranger of everything. Your timing is perfect. We shall just reveal the winner, and the amount of bribery earned, all in one go. Come over here. Love the dress!"
"Miss Mara'aye," Orban greets with a light inclining of his head, quirking a brow as his gaze sweeaps her from head to toe - he doesn't comment, though, nor does he lose his easy grin. [Orban]
Charali weaves through the crowd, and as most in attendance have he sense to get out of her way, approaches The Jester quickly enough. Charali inclines her head to Orban in passing, generally asking those in the crowd, "You've been having a good time, yes?" Charali accent is, perhaps, a bit more noticeable than usual. "What is the answer then, little sister?" Charali asks of The Jester.
"Our total charity bribery ended up to be ..." The Jester double-checks in the little coin purse she has been depositing coins in -"2550 silver, one red flower, a towel and a bottle of whiskey". That makes Master op Orban, who guessed 2550, the winner of the quiz. Everyone, give a hand to Master op Orban!" The Jester bows. "You all did great though, to think you knew the answers so well, all of you!" [The Jester]
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