Roleplay

Terri considered her quietly, thanking her for the tea and scones. "I do odd jobs for people. It's not really important," she dismissed a little suspiciously, "You've only just started being the bartender? This place looks like it's been around for more than a few years. Did you inherit from someone?" She studied Pinn a little more closely. Something was giving her an uneasy feeling, although she couldn't pin down exactly what. She found herself wondering what it was people suggested for fighting off ghosts.

She subconsciously reassured herself of her daggers resting in their hidden sheaths, and relaxed again. What could one woman do? The journey must be making her paranoid. Picking up the tea, she stared into the fire again. "Yes, this is my first time in this area. I was working further south before, but I got a tip to try up here."

The tip had been a friendly one, from an odd gentleman she'd met in a tavern in the city. Apparently they needed more of her kind up here, but so far she hadn't seen too many major settlements. She was headed to the city, knowing she would get more luck there.

The warmth was making her a little drowsy. She shook herself and took a sip of the tea.

(Hello, I died. Sorry!)

Pinn scooted to the edge of her seat. "Oh! It's so good to meet new travelers!" She practically vibrated with excitement. Noting so, Pinn set her mug down on on the table but sunk a bit when asked about her experience.

Her posture became both mournful and frustrated. Head turned to the window that overlooks the bay, knitted brows, hands clasped tight together. It was a battle to quench the rumors and she was tired. Perhaps this stranger truly was a new face, and a fresh start. Pinn looked back at Terri. A look of suspicion was there in Terri's eyes. Perhaps she wasn't the new face. Perhaps she had already heard the rumors. The conversation was best continued carefully.

"Yes. I did inherit it. This tavern belonged to a dear friend." she said it with a power in her voice, as true as she could speak. "I has been, at the very least, a difficult adjustment." She glanced at the door, praying it wouldn't spring open as it had many nights before.

"But! It seems that it is still raining. Did you have any family or friends in the area to stay with? Or would you like a bed here? It's only a few coins if you need it. Might be better to wait out the storm than to try and travel out again." Her tone more chipper, she picked up her tea again. sipping continuously.

"I'll take a room," she said gratefully. "I don't know anyone around here, no. Although, you're a bartender... You must know some rumours? I'm looking for work around here. Do you know anyone who might be looking for someone of my talents?" She watched Pinn curiously, drinking a little more of her tea.

She was equipped if this was anything more than a normal tavern. Two daggers and a lot of training went a long way. But Pinn didn't seem threatening, even though she was making her a little uneasy. She was a pleasant hostess, and Terrian was used to less... amicable types. Perhaps that was why she was so suspicious.

She had no idea if Pinn would know what she was asking, but it was worth a shot. Bartenders kept secrets well, and they tended to find them out pretty easily as well. It would have been a dream job for Terrian if she didn't love to travel so much.

(It's okay, don't worry!)

Pinn gulped down the rest of her tea and quickly rose from her seat delighted that her guest would be staying. Only to have her face fall a bit as she considered what to say next. It depended on whether she could trust this stranger. Could she risk it? A gamble on such a young girl, appearing in the night. She was her only option at this point. It was now or never.

Her face and voice grew very solemn. "There are many rumors in this area. Most of them untrue. You must be careful who you listen to." Pinn collected used plates and tea accessories and brought them to the bar which she leaned against for the moment weighing her options. Pinn spun around making fierce eye-contact with Terri. "I may know of some work for you. But first, I have to ask you, and I take you for an honest person." She walked closer, hands now resting on the back of the chair where she sat before.

Her chest felt like it was going to explode from her heart beating against it. This was the moment everything could change. But she couldn't put all her cards on the table yet. Warily she asked, "How loyal are your daggers?" Yes, Pinn had noticed. Although she seemed frail, Pinn had kept company similar to Terri in the past. She just hoped that Terri was nothing like them.

"My daggers are loyal to friends. Money doesn't need loyalty," she replied softly. She'd tensed up a little at the sudden intensity of Pinn, ready to draw them at a moment's notice, but Pinn didn't seem to be aggressive. Just... strangely intense. "You can take my word." She met her gaze straight on, boldly. How had she known about the daggers? They weren't something she showed to strangers, unless that stranger had money on their head.

This situation was getting strange, but she needed to hear this out. Terrian made a point of keeping her dark deeds to contracts and money: friends, she knew, were hard to come by, and much more precious than a bag of coins. An unusual sentiment, for someone in her line of work, but one she adamantly stood by.

Pinn's eyes welled with tears which she quickly wiped away, their glossiness still betraying her. She shuddered out a relieved breath, "I do hope that I can take it." Gently, she moved around to the front of the chair and sat leaning forward to place a hand on Terri's hand.

"Forgive me. I have been long stuck in a situation that I can't find my way out of and I fear my out is quickly approaching, but it is one I dread." She looked toward the door and then out the window. The rain was still coming, but it was less. Now just a mild storm rather than a flood from the sky. It pattered obediently at the glass panes.

"Before I go on and tell you any more, I must know that you will not let anyone know what I tell you." She spoke low and her voice was steady now even with pleading silver eyes.

"I won't," Terrian said honestly, "I know how to keep a secret." She noticed the tears, both confused and curious. She had come for work, but perhaps there was something to be done here, first. She leaned back in the chair, waiting patiently for Pinn to talk.

This was unlike any other situation she'd gotten herself into before. She'd been in tavern brawls and murderous stand-offs before, and had taken more contracts than she cared to count, but for some reason this strangely intense woman was making her more nervous than any of them.

"Thank you. I am placing my trust in you." She gasped. Pinn collected herself briefly deciding exactly what words she should speak. Where to begin, how much to share. "Just a moment." Pinn swiftly circled the whole tavern, checking every window and peering out the door to check for eavesdroppers. She returned to her seat with another kettle and more tea filled both of their cups and began to speak quietly, eyes darting about the perimeter of the room the whole time.

"I am not from here. I come from... well, across the sea. When I set out to come here I was naive and foolish. I followed adventurers, most untrustworthy, but all interesting. I was fascinated with them. Our adventures are of little importance," she chuckled softly in the nostalgia, "I found a good friend in a sea captain. Captain Comorrin. He was as rough as all, but a good man as rare as they come."

She shifted into a more relaxed position. "He promised me a safe passage across the sea and to protect my most prized possession as we traveled." Pinn's eyes grew misty. "We were to soon approach the harbor when a squall struck us hard" Her hands danced while she talked, keeping pace with the events of her story.

"Waves twice as large as the ship. It was a rare storm. Gusts pushed us toward the point of the bay and we couldn't pull away. We collided with the craggy monoliths that guard the bay. It tore the ship into splinters." She paused with a distant expression. Not as teary as before. She had already relived the night many times.

Terrian put down her tea and leaned forward to listen, fascinated. "And you lost your prized possession...?" She assumed that was the issue, although something the woman was guarding as closely as this must be very important. "How would that be resolved now...?"

Terrian had met her match in odd situations, but this outdid all of them. Why was she so paranoid? What was so secret about coming across the sea? What was this 'prized possession', and how had she survived the wreck? Even so close to the shore, shipwrecks were deadly. Terrian avoided ships as a rule, but she knew that much. Skeletal shipwrecks were unnerving to say the least.

Pinn nodded quietly then continued. "Captain Comorrin saved my life that day. It took all he had to bring me close to shore. I struggled to make it the rest of the way shore as it was as I can't swim. I think I rather would have sunk that day. Esil died as he lived, brave and at sea. Not a single sailor managed to escape the waves that day." She checked the windows again with her eyes and took a sip of tea. "I climbed the shore and up the hill here, to this tavern. The Red Mourning, disappointingly ironic. It was the namesake of the ship, the captain's wife ran the inn."

She sighed her eyes traced the steps of that day through the room as it played back in her mind. "She welcomed me in not knowing that her husband had just died for me. But I told her. I had to. and she was so consumed with grief. I helped to console her in the days following and keep things running here. But eventually, the grief was too much for her and her spirit slipped away in the night." She gazed at her reflection in the tea swirling it mindfully then carefully placing it on the table.

Prinn looked intently into Terrian's eyes. "I cannot leave this place until I get my prize back. But it is becoming more dangerous by the day for me to stay here. I.." She sputtered a bit, "I don't know how to do it, but I have to retrieve it. Please, do you think you can help me?"