Darby and Wu

Log Info

• Title: Darby and Wu
• Emitter: Cryosanthia
• Characters: Wu, Rupi
• Place: A03 The Tarrace
• Time: Tuesday, October 19, 2021, 10:25 AM; Tariday, Rhaltaas 19 10:25:05 1023
• Summary: The Tarrace has been busy since the Temple District closed, doing double duty as a temple for three gods, and an eatery, as well as a bathhouse and stage. Rupi, Sabina's blood-pacted succubus, is both worried and bored that Sabina hasn't returned from visiting the temple of Tarien - several days ago. She acts on this by questioning the mostly blind Wu, about his past, his wishes and his goals. He suggests to her that he would have sold everything when his wife died, and now is happy to live out his life, knowing she's waiting for him. Rupi, who has changed into a young man calling himself 'Darby', to go along with Wu's mistake, listens and ponders both options: Cashing out the Tarrace to save Sabina, or waiting.

-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-<* The TarRaCe *>--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-

Inside, this two-story structure has been almost completely opened up. Generous windows on both stories allow daytime sunlight and cooling night breezes to flow in as needed, while the brick walls have been whitewashed - contrasting with the dark-stained beams and supports, and the rich polish on the wooden floor. A broad strip of stone runs from the entrance to a framed doorway set into the opposite wall, with a sign above the lintel declaring that the baths are to be found that way.

The ground floor is sprinkled with tables and chairs of assorted sizes, offering welcome to guests both large and small. One whole corner of the building - into which guests are not permitted entry - has been given over to the kitchen, which serves as the domain of the famed monster chef Ligum Serforus. Mundane meals are available, but the chef delights in offering up obscure dishes made from the freshest of monster ingredients.

Opposite the kitchen a small bar runs in front of an array of shelves, displaying a broad selection of beverages (most of them alcoholic). The bar-top has been fashioned from what looks to have been old pieces of armor, fused and welded together before being polished to provide a near-smooth finish. Set above it, three human-sized statues have been built into an alcove in the wall: Tarien, Rada and Ceinara jointly keep benevolent watch over the room and its occupants.

To the right of the entrance, a small stage offers a platform for a handful of performers at a time. To the left of the door, a spiral staircase of wrought iron winds its way up to a balcony dining area, that is chiefly reserved for special events and parties.

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-=-=-=-=-=-=  Appearing, in Order  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Wu           5'6"     155 Lb     Human             Male      Elderly Xian male with a drifting eye and cataracts
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=  NPCs of Note  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Darby                            Human             Male      Rupi, as a dark haired, handsome young man.
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The Tarrace has been consistently busy since the temple district closed. Divided into a worship space and still acting as a restaurant has made the Tarrace crowded.

It also doesn't help that the bar is directly behind the relocated statues. Drinks have to come off one end of it, and lounging space for lonely drinkers or an unattended succubus is limited.

Rupi has been on her feet for several days. She wanted a taste of running things and is drinking from the firehose now. Irshya's occasional presence is helpful, and Ygraine's absentee management is not. As 'partner' of the most active co-owner, it's fallen to her to keep things running.

That doesn't mean she can't have a little fun. Standing tall by the stage wall, she sips from the large wine-glass that is becoming a permanent accessory and looks over the crowd.

Wu comes in through the line at the door and follows said line, slowly, as each person before him makes a prayer and sometimes an offering. Once he gets to the front of the line he blinks at the statues and makes a few odd head movements with rolling eyes looking everywhere but the statues. He humphs loudly and then sighs, offering a quick prayer to the trio of gods before shuffling off the line and to the bar. "Though it were a line fer something really good. Dang it. At least there's a bar at the end of this line.. " He does that odd set of movements again. "Yup. A bar. I'll take a beer, good sir!" He says to the empty air in front of him..the woman behind the bar being much farther down.

Rupi's head turns, almost like a caryatid's, slowly rotating on her neck as a v-shaped grin takes over her mouth. As a respite from boredom and work, he will do nicely. She makes a quick pan of the establishment.

None of the obvious inquisitors are present, the ones with the black beltcapes and false noses. The Sheepdog and the gnome are absent, and if any others are, they're skilled enough they aren't setting off her instincts.

A decision is made. She will be 'good', but that doesn't mean she can't have a little fun. Leaving her post she strides over to the bar, heels clicking on the floor. She fills a glass and slides it in front of him, "Here you go!"

Wu tilts his head and finds a mug in front of him. A smile appears and he fishes a coin out of a pocket and places it on the bar top. "Thank ye, young sir." He says to Rupi, mistaking her higher pitched voice for a young man's.

He takes a sip an nods his head in a satisfied way. "Hits the spot. Well.. all the spots all the way down, I guess. And if it doesn't hit them all I'll just have another sip." Which he takes. More gulp then sip.

There's a quick glance and a subtle shift. Slacks get slacker, a shirt gets tighter across chest and shoulders. Mistake? There's no mistake! Rupi is a young sir, with a handsome angular face and foppish hair. A masculine perfume wafts Wu's way, confirming his insight.

"Of course," Rupi... Rupp? Rupen, Rupert? Arrr. Arrr for now says, "it'll clear out yer bilge water it will."

Another sage-like nod from Wu. "Yup. Clean it out or add more to it. Dependin'. Hard ta say these days. Old age being hard on the body. What was normal last year ain't this year. And lookin back a decade ago the body always seems healthier and stronger. Farther back ya look the worse it makes ya feel now."He cackles and takes another sip. "Name's Wu. What's yours?"

Name! "Arrr.....um. Arb!" Rupi says, unconvincingly, then adds cheerfully, "looks like I have a lot to look forward to. Getting old and creaky. Hanging out with the other old folks, talking about which organ is failing."

"So? Which organs are failing." He asks, unsympathetically, "youth is wasted on the young, right?"

Wu nods! "Surely it is! Don't get me wrong. Was fun being young. Have a lot of memories. Most of them good, too. But one tends ta gain in wisdom or experience as ya get older. Makes the thought of being young again both more appealing and less." He takes another sip and sighs. "Life just seems ta take the older ya get. But! I've been fighting back. Joined in the adventurers guild. Taste of the young life again! Nice to meet ya, Arb. Hmm.. That short for Harby? Darby? Willarby?"

"Darby!" Rupi says enthusiastically, chuckling, "Do I sound like a Wallaby? Oh, the adventurer's guild, that is a good way to have a short bit of excitement."

He leans in, "So what were some of those experiences that gave you wisdom? Any heartbreak? Here, let me fill that up for you."

Wu's mug is topped off.

Wu finds his drink full again and grins. "Thank ya kindly." ,he says. "Well. Some of my first were in the army way back in the day. The first major bit of wisdom I learned was 'duck!'. That being what one should do when an ogre swings a club at your head. The second bit is to duck faster. Got smacked up side the head by said club. Knocked me out for seven days. Best sleep I ever got though."

Darby ducks! Just practicing, just in case. When he stands he has a beard now, the kind young men struggle to grow that only makes their chins look messy. "Oh! Ha, ha, you got me with that one. You described it so realistically I felt a club coming my way.

Wu blinks at the younger man. "what? I did? Hmm... didn't think I was bard material. Maybe.."He scrunches up his face in thought and then shakes his head. "Nah.. more of a 'in the thick of things' type person. Well.. from bow range in the thick of things." Another sip is taken. "Now, young Darby, what of yourself? Eh? What plans have ya got for yourself?Young man like you must have plenty of dreams to chase."

"Oh yes, plenty of dreams on shapely legs. Why, I have an inkling to make a name for myself, Darby the dashing, that's a good idea, don't you think?" Darby asks, sounding star struck, "after apprenticing to an old, wise master, learning how to be in the thick of things from very far away."

"I imagine my own ship, a city, fair maidens calling my name." He gestures wildly into the air, his shirt unbuttoning one more button, revealing well formed pectorals. "That's what you wanted for yourself, wasn't it sir? Pleasure as far as the eye could see?"

Wu's smile brightens and then softens as his blind-sih eyes loose their focus and he takes in the memories of the past. "Oh.. I did when I was your age, surely. Chased after a few pretty sets of legs. Got into trouble too. But No. What I wanted and didn't realize it back then was what I ended up with. A wife and love. Wanted kids too but we never could produce one together." He chuckles, "Not for lack of tryin'. She was..she was a lovey thing. Petite and kind but filled with fire too. Artist of some talent. Love of my life for almost forty years." He takes up his mug and takes a more thoughtful sip this time. "Alas."

"Ah, I hope to have many attempts at making children too." Darby laughs happily before the mood catches up. He suddenly sounds sombre, "I'll consider that then, the wife and goats. And love."

He nods, topping Wu's drink up again, "sounds harder than ducking and Ogre's club, I tell you what. I'm sorry for your loss. Forty years sounds like a good long run. You must have loved her a lot."

Then, casually slipped in as if a natural part of the conversation, a question, "What would you give to have her back? Would you want your young bride, or the woman you grew old with?"

Wu chuckles almost humorlessly. "Can't have her back. Went to the temple with her body the night she died. Asked for her back. Asked if she could be brought back, ya know? Told them I'd sell the house and all her artworks and everything to have her back. They did an ..whats it called.. argue, auger..argurery? Whatever it was. The answer was no she wasn't coming back. Just was going ta wait for me." He's misty eyed as he speaks but then grins. "So I gotta do good while I'm here, right? I might be a tad more reckless though now she's gone, though."

Another sip, almost choking on the surprise fill-up. "Gah!"

He coughs and then grumbles. "Can't breathe it, darn it all!" A few more coughs and then he settles down. "Were I ta have a wish granted then I'd ask for her somewhere in-between young and old. Would want her to live after me, like what should have happened. An..well..she always had a nice figure until the last year." He cackles and then shakes his head.

"Auguery. Ooop, sorry about that, should have warned ya." Darby says, listening then quietly thinking over what the old man has said, "Good answer." He judges finally.

"Sickness then? Wasted away, skin and bones?" The young man asks unsympathetically, nodding, seemingly distracted and then suddenly saying, "So you'd sell everything to get her back from the Temples?"

His eyes roam the Tarrace, estimating.

Wu nods, not affected by Darby's tone of voice. "Yup. Was one of them illnesses that bunch of folk got. At least I got to take care of her til the end. Was nice. Was painful." He shrugs. "I would have back when it happened, yup. Would have sold it all. But I got word from the heavens, right? She's waiting for me. So..all I got ta do is bide my time between now and then." An courting it sooner rather then later with work from the guild?

"That's sad. Illnesses seem very popular." Darby observes, "Well, you could always go help the sick, hope you get one that way. Someone might cough on you. That's not deliberately trying to die." Nothing like signing up for ill-advised, unexplained guild missions while half-blind or perhaps three-quarter blind. "So, just waiting, that's the better strategy. Hmm.

Slowly, so gradually it can't be seen, but swift enough that someone who glanced their way every ten minutes would notice, Darby takes on Wu's appearance. A much younger version of the man, who might not even recognize himself, the difference in age is so great. "Do you have more advice?"