In a tavern in a town, excavating for a tale...

[Dalan]

Where: A Tavern within a City/Town in Thardferr (I'll let Carrus decide).
When: The 8th month of the year 734.

A garish looking human dressed in bright and colorful looking clothes enters the tavern.  A couple of the patrons snicker as he goes over to the Barkeep to ask him a few questions.  After a few moments, he appears satisfied with the short conversation, and walks over to the table occupied by the current bard-in-residence known as Carrus.

He smiles brightly at the man, and offers a hand.  "Greetings fellow tale weaver and harp strummer.  I am Gregarios the bard, as you have surely surmised by now.  I have heard a bit of your exploits, and I've decided to offer you an almost equal business opportunity.  How does that sound to you?"

[Saphire]

Carrus

 Dressed all in blue, including a hat sitting upon his head, slightly tilted to one side, Carrus sits thoughtfully sipping at a tankard of wine. He hadn't been to Coops in quite sometime, in truth he avoided returning to his place of birth, but this time his return was one he needed to settle the disquiet he had always felt here.

  He scratches at his beard unconsciously as he watches the lively dressed man enter and winces slightly as he heads right for him. Most people are surprised to find the roguish bard to be rather quiet,solitary figure, when not performing.

 He smiles a bit wearily and accepts the offered hand, shaking it firmly.

 " Carrus at your service. Take a seat and tell me what business you offer, you've got my full attention."

[Dalan]

Gregarios smiles warmly at Carrus' response.  "Great, great.  You have heard heard of my first book, "Heroes of the Trouble Years, a look at the Heroes of the Twisted Spectrum, right?"

He goes on before you can give a response.  "It wasn't widely published unfortunately, but it did get rave reviews..."

He shakes his head and quickly continues.  "It and I was unfortunately blacklisted, no doubt by some remnants of the Poisoned Black Rose who still work among the publishing houses around Thardferr, and while it is a great work, I assure you, It didn't get widely circulated."

He continues with barely a breath, "But I have a remedy to that, with I can assure you is a flawless plan, as you are obviously a Defender of the Confederation, and have such a powerful name they wouldn't dare to try to squash any of your works, even if they are co-authored by myself... and since I have such great contacts within the IMG, as well as many of your fellow Defenders, I figured it would be a great idea for us to co author a book on the 4th Mage war together.  With your account of the final battle within the Empress' Citadel, and our interviews and accounts of the various battles, we will be able to write an epic that will last thousands of years and will let future Generations know how much we and especially you folks sacrificed to win the war against the Sythians.

He finally takes a deep breath.  "So what do you think?"

[Saphire]

Carrus

 He sips at his drink as he listens to Gregarios go on and on and on, hoping for the life of him the man would take a breath soon. At one point he coughs slightly, nearly choking at the other bard's words.

o.O (Laying it on a bit thick aren't we, by the gods I hope I don't ever sound like that.)O.o

 He runs a hand through his hair,

 " Well, I have recounted what occurred to several scribes for historical keep, do you think there is room for another? As far as my name striking fear, I rather doubt that, maybe a tremor or tremble..perhaps even a tickle or two. Other Defenders, which ones do you know, it might be good to hear their account."

 o.O( Somedays just don't pay to get out of bed.)O.o

[Dalan]

Gregarios laughs.  "Room for more boring Drivel?  There's enough boring dirvel in the world.  No, I want to write for the masses!  Or rather, the literate ones.  I don't want our tome to rest on a dusty bookshelf at the Zetetic Society, unopened for hundreds of years, I want get the public acclaim both of us deserve!

"You see, I am friendly with many of the former Heroes of the Twisted Spectrum who later became Defenders, such as Grumash, Turgeiis, Robillard, and others.  I've also become aquaintances with many of the higher ups in the IMG, and I may be able to get us some priviledged information, if you know what I mean.  So when do we start?  I have the plans already down.  We'll investigate each battle, getting firsthand accounts from people that witnessed them  We'll also do a summary of each battle so people reading can get an overview.  Unfortunately there wasn't one person who was at each battle, so we won't have a solid hero throughout our literary works, but I'm hoping we can get accounts of many of your fellow Defenders to supplant that, sort of going back and forth finding out what led them to that ultimate confrontation.  So, when do we start?"

[Saphire]

Carrus

  The man looks tired to say the least, but his eyes light up and he begins to rub his chin with interest as he looks at Gregarios side long.

 " Privileged information eh. Maybe someone was there watching but went unnoticed," he gives the other man a wink.

 "We'll worry about that later. How do you plan to fund this project, my resources have been rather slim lately, but we should get on this right away. Who's the closest source?"

  He smiles a sly smile and rubs his hands enthusiasticly.

[Karaneth]

Finding himself at a loss for clues and stranded in Coopersville Forge, Karaneth makes the best of a bad situation.  Continuing his prayers and converting people to worship Aerie are among the majority of his time fillers.  Though he stops at an tavern every now and then for a mug of ginger ale and a bite to eat.  This day he choose a rather unlikely choice, as though steered by Aerie herself he makes his way into the tavern.  

A slight breeze lifts his spirits as it caresses his uncovered face and he enters with confidance.  His entrance is not a memorable one, but nor is it embarassing, as he walks into the waitress on his blind side.  With a quick step and a lucky catch he snatches the waitress out of the air and sets her back on her feet.

"I am truely sorry miss."  He says with an embarrased tone to his deep voice.  "Let me help you clean this mess up."

The noise of eight empty mugs hitting the hardwood floor attract the brief attention span of the drunkards in the room and perhaps more from the people not so drunk.  The first thing that anyone would notice besides his weathered leather armor would be a scar on his face going from the top right side to the center of his chin blinding him in his right eye.  His facial features are slender and pointed like an elfs which throws you mind for a loop because he has a full deep brown beard.  As he kneels to help the waitress pick up the mugs, even to her protests of him doing so, his cloak flutters a bit from a gust outside causing his iron mace and light crossbow to be revealed.  

"There we go." he says after putting the last mug back on the tray and handing it back to the waitress.  "Now then, could I perhaps get a mug of ginger ale miss?"  he continues without letting the girl speak as he tosses her a silver piece.  "And please keep them comming."  he says as he heads to an empty table by a window.