is a small hopeful prologue, introducing my character to the Bards' Table.
The morning of the day was unlike no other, if you were favored enough to be slaying trouble along the Skyclaw Ridge Mountains. Indeed you were the brightest of suns on a flawless horizon, breathing in new air and catching the scent of fair maidens, the day was like no other. Unless of course, you were at rest in bed, upstairs in the Dragon Tavern like Rose Axellion where this tale takes us this morn'.
"No wait, there's things to be done. Right. Rigght? Rightt! My noble griffin?! Aww devil imps, she's been sitting out there for all that time and I was sleeping." Axel tied his hair back, donned a white shirt, and wrestled on his leather briefs "the shamee!" he finally stood up "That bird, is going to be so flaired up at me."
Axel left the room, quitely closing the door as not to wake the lady he met last night and walked down the corridor past the many rooms. Atop the stairs, the sounds of music and rowdy behaviour along with the occasional snippet of a tall tale can be heard flowing from inside the legendary Dragon Tavern could be heard. "Still? Its like 12am? Don't they ever stop?" Axel mumoured to himself.
He amorously took some strides down the stairs, rubbing his blonde goate as he reached the last step. Nobody looked around they were too busy in their tales. "Hmmm good" He thought "Now if I can just get out of here without paying".
He bowed his head, and moved as quick as he could towards the door. Next he was out the door running up the hill past the shops, training facilities and merchants and continued up one of the hills, along the plush green meadow, hopped one handed over a wooden picket gate, and continued up the hill as fast as he could without breaking too grande a sweat.
He made it up to where thee crop of sparsely ladden rocky grey rocks stood. Pearched on top of one of the rocks, was a very disgruntled Griffin. But at least Axel was right about one thing for once. The bird was indeed "flaired up". Axel reached into his pocket and trying to reconjure his charm with the animal, slowly pulled out a pouch and the bird started to look a little less agressive. Exactly what Axel could do with-out, was a fight with his own mount. He took a few steps closer. "Looks what I got for you, eh? Remember ?"
The Griffin was of Imperial blood, perhaps not the noblest, but nobler than its "master" was a decent guess. He shook his main, and moved one claw forward. She tilted her head sideways, a very simular expression to a Sparrow that looks at a bit of bread with curiousity. Axel didn't know whether she was looking at the pouch, or HIM! So he opened the pouch, revealed a hand full of gold put it all back in. He thought to himself just for luck eh, brought out another gold piece and showed the bird another gold piece, plonked it into the pouch, tied it and threw it to the birds beak.
The griffin caught the pouch with ease and ruffled its feathers and placed the pouch alongside a strategic broken feather. "You know, If it wasn't for the gold and the ounce of noble blood you have. I would have probably plucked your head of those tiny shoulders." The Griffin spoke in chirpy roars.
"YOU, You spoke?!" Axel gasped and shook his hand in bewilderment!
"Yes indeed, and it's because of my lineage, look this obviously itsn't working for you and me, so if I just take this pouch, wish you fairwell, and tell the King, I'm sure you will have a replacement 'mount' as you so say, in a few days!". With that the Griffin made a sharp manueverable turn outstretched its wings, pushed its paws from the rock and jumped into flight and flew away. Axel stood quizically his mouth wide open, he tilted his head, closed his mouth slightly, took in a breath of air, stood standing eye to the sky for a few minutes, wondering to himself what had just happened and if this was some kind of joke. "Damn" He exclaimed to himself.
A chilly wind blew over the roof of The Dragons Tavern, fractions of sunlight shone rays through grey clouds and rain water ran down the guttering into the grates next to the gritted earthen road outside the tavern. Axel sat inside amongst the rabble and roar of the Dragon Taver abode. It was his abode for the time being at least.
Axel was gripping his Tankard in one hand swooshing the ale around the bottom, deciding if the ale was fit enough to finish. A silver piece for ale really made no difference yet a good ale was easier to finish.
In his other hand he gripped a piece of paper. Perhaps he was commisioned to fight disorder in the land. Waiting calmly to be paid back with something that would aid his adventuring, his fighting and defence and the pursuit of experience, quite possibly wealth or merely promotion. Promotion wasn't on the agenda this week, but Axel had sense enough to realise that somewhere down the line, promotion would provide a significant lesson in life.
He looked again at the details of the papyrus, a simple scroll smothered in ink and laws, terms, condition and finally details he found most important.
Axel was sitting on the stool by the table. He had strong off-black leather boots with laces, some grey leather chaps. These were quite thick with small tufts of grey fur around the waist, and he wore an earthern brown leather top with various design styles. The jacket was cut at the triceps, and his leather vest covered the rest of his arm, the leather also included a hood to keep him dry, and several pouches and loose strings which were inevitably to hold equipment and tie more pouches to. Axel wore several silver plated rings of no particular importance, some had coils of celtic designs, some had common gems encrusted in them, some were plain and had rough hands. His fore-arms were covered by leather bracelets tied together with leather laces. His rough blonde hair, was dirty and had elements of red and ginger, and was tied back in a tail with another loose string coming from his vest. By his boots, was a leather backpack and a small leather satchel. He continued to sit reading the papyrus. He seemed to be waiting for the weather to improve.
Axel swigged the rest of his ale, got up to go to the bar and order another round.
A day later, day five for the skyguard warrior who had entered the Dragons Tavern. He milled aimlessly around the tavern for an hour, drinking, and reading books that seemed to never have been read before. Although of course the book shelf was large enough to accomodate the many older and popular books aswell as several other unopened books. Occasionally an old sky mage would stare at him almost giving the impression that Axel was reading his books, waiting for a critique.
He was approached by a man behind the bar. "So fella, you think you are just going to sit down here, drinking your ale, served to you kindly by one of my bar fellows, and you aren't even going to pay for your room the other night?"
Axel looked up with a bit of despair. " No sir, I had merely forgotten." Of course this wasn't true, but he had completely forgotten about running out the tavern without paying. "So how much do I owe you?"
" Forty gold pieces " the Tavern manager said.
" ...plus the addition two nights, thats Sixty gold pieces in total, and the beer on the tab that would make Sixty two gold pieces, and the tab interest." The Dragons Taverns Owner exclaimed.
"So, how about we call it sixty five gold pieces" Axel said, leaning down to his pouch and retrieving a pouch, he opened the pouch, to his suprise the gold was still there and if it hadn't of been, then he could of only presumed that he would never been allowed back in the Tavern making future adventures quite impossible to return from.
"That will do" Said the Tavern owner, reaching out a hand to be quickly filled with a pouch that Axel had poured and put Sixty Five Gold Coins into.
"Well now that you are happy, I still have matters to address, the other day I lost my steed due to complications resulting from the entertainment of your staff" Axel told the Manager, "and now I must depart the Tavern for sometime to return to the City where I am employed in order to change my mountain goat steed into a much finer, rideable and respectable steed."
The noise of the tavern was quite loud, and with the shouts of several young fellows across the tavern the conversation between Axel and the manager was dimmed out in respect to more patrons entering the tavern. After some time the manager left the side of the skyguard and returned behind the bar to talk to one of his staff.