The center of the room has largely been cleared, with all tables, chairs, and couches pushed toward the walls to be at least moderately out of the way of any spontaneous brawling. Otherwise, there's not really anything in the way of decoration that wasn't here before. The bar, always stocked, has been supplemented by several kegs of dubious origin, and quite a few bottles. Not all of the bottles are labeled either, so it's anyone's guess what exactly they contain. There's no bartender; it looks like attendees are expected to serve themselves.

The front door has been propped open with someone's battered and nearly broken belongings chest, allowing light, and certainly the noise, to spill out onto the streets. Inside it's not quite crowded, but certainly rather full of various members of the Few, most of whom being in various stages of deciding to brave the cluster of people near the bar to pour themselves a drink, or to simply claim an entire bottle for their own. The noise level is at something close to a continuous low roar.

Leta walks in through the open front door, a hand resting by her sword. She stops and looks around, then braves the crowd, nodding here and there to familiar faces, sometimes reaching out for a thump on a shoulder or a smack on a back, exchanging quiet words here and there. She's looking rather fancy today, black silk and shiny jewelry, gleaming from her big hat down to her boots. She shoulders her way towards the bar, but leans there a while without serving herself yet, looking thoughtfully about the room.

Silk and jewelry aren't unheard of among this crew, but they're rare enough, and Leta's outfit draws a number of looks. There's not too much staring; those that do are faces Leta wouldn't likely recognize. New, or at least newer recruits. The main draw at the bar is the alcohol, of course, but when she's able to get a little ways through the crowd she can see a middle aged prodigal, all lankiness and tattoos, regailing a number of the other prodigal sellswords with a story that starts at bawdy and only gets worse. The crowd erupts into laughter, and the tattooed prodigal, a man she'd know as Tel, gives her a wide toothy grin.

Shard's not in this group, but she's easy enough to spot. She's picked out a chair and table along one side of the room and is currently sprawled comfortably into it, a whiskey bottle open and set in front of her. No laughter. No grins. She looks thoughtful.

2 Ashford House Guard, Bethany arrive, following Olivia.

The noise from the Valorous Few headquarters can be heard well into the street, as someone has propped open the door with an old, nearly broken chest. There's a lot of rough chatter, and, occasionally, such as just a few moments ago, there's a rise in volume as a number of those inside break into laughter. The interior is quite thick with rough looking men and women milling around, particularly near the bar.

Leta leans against the bar, laughs at the tail end of the story being told, then comes around it to pour herself a goblet of wine. Any wine from the kegs will do. The brawny woman takes a long drink and sighs, then pours some more and pushes away through the crowd, letting her many rings click against the pommel of her dagger as she strolls through the room in a meandering path, covering most corners and nodding to most folk she knows before she ends up in the vicinity of Shard's table, offering the other woman a nod.

Olivia comes in. She looks a little more composed than usual. No head in the clouds today. She does look a bit curious about everything. She has never been here before to be fair.

1 Saik Guard, Gunther, a Rottweiler, Micana, Golden, an Oakhaven bloodhound arrive, following Lucita.

Leta gets nods and greetings in return, though when she reaches Shard's table, it's empty aside from Shard herself and a quiet sort of woman who seems to be remarkable only in how unremarkable she is. The second woman gives Leta a long look over her own glass, and then seems to lose interest. Shard, on the other hand, sits up a little straighter, and raises her eyebrows.

Olivia gets more stares than Leta did, for certain, but the Valorous Few seem to be, overall, in a particularly good mood, with only a few brooding in corners or along the wall. A tall, tattooed man over near the bar lifts a mug toward her, yells, "Drinks!" and then goes back into another particularly lewd story with the men and women gathered around.

Lucita comes into the the building, expression somber. As if in a signal of trust, her guard dogs and guards are left outside. A glance is cast around the area, nods given to those she recognizes. She steps closer to the area Shard sits, remaining silent and observant till she picks up the flow of interactions between those present.

"Captain-General," Leta starts, standing by Shard's table, wine in hand. The other hand's busy smoothing out the silk sash about her waist. "I though there might be more - I don't know, really. Nobility and whatnot. Maybe not here," she concedes thoughtfully with a look around, pausing to look at the entrance, a small frown setting on her brow as she takes in Olivia and Lucita, and bows her head respectfully that way. "Or maybe not."

Lucita also gets a few stares, and once again the tall man with the tattoos yells "Drinks!" at her. That, apparently, seems to be his chosen form of greeting tonight. "Leta," Shard says in return, and then she shrugs. "I don't think most nobles give a shit if he's still around or not." That, however, seems to be when she spots both Olivia and Lucita, and her eyebrows quirk in curiosity. Particularly toward Lucita, given her proximity. "No bartender," she tells her. "Go ahead and help yourself to whatever you want." And, from what can be made through the crush of people near the bar, the selection is considerable, if somewhat light on less potent brews.

Lucita says, "Dame Leta, Lady Olivia, Prima Shard" She she greets gently then hesitates and says. "I hope that is the proper title for you, no offense is intended." She says in a gentle tone of voice. "I came to pay my respects." She edges over toward the bar and manages to find a glass into which a few measures of whiskey are poured then steps out of the way of the others to lift her glass in a toast before making her way back to Shard. "Felt wanted to be here. Valorous Few were ones who helped keep some of us alive during a battle at Setarco, and Baron Audric... er... handled a problem involving Baroness Kima Saik, a close friend of his." She explains as she again takes a sip from her glass."

Not a few sellswords raise their glasses to Lucita in turn, even if most of them don't actually stop their own conversations. Another roar goes up at the bar as the tall, tattooed man finishes his next story, and then a well built woman to his left suddenly launches into one of her own. None of these stories seem to have anything to do with Audric or the Valorous Few, but it's pretty clear the woman is trying to top his from the very beginning.

"I was there," Shard says, with a faint nod toward Lucita. "And it's fine, don't worry about it." She takes a pull from her bottle, and then eyes the quiet, unremarkable woman sitting next to her for just a moment. "It's about time to pay respects though, isn't it?" She stands up from her chair, and then hops up onto the table, which she proceeds to stomp loudly several times. "Hey!" she shouts. "Time for some /respects/."

"M'Lady," Leta greets Lucita with a nod and a small smile, then takes another drink, glancing back at Shard while the noblewoman heads towards the bar and back. "Well, he's got - he had a house, didn't he? That oughta count for something. Still, I suppose what with the Archduchess - er, Princess Eleyna and Talen gone, ah, well, I don't know anything about anything," she concludes with a shrug, looking up as Shard climbs up onto the table. She looks into her goblet. "I swear this wine is half brandy."

Zeriax made his way to the Valorous Few HQ. He was wearing his typical semi-nice garb. Maybe he didn't have much of a wardrobe. Did he come in from the street to see what all the ruckus was? Or did he know what was happening, and chose to arrive to pay respects to a man he's never met? Maybe there was a different reason, but he carried with him in hand a bottle that's been hastily re-corked with a...white cloth. Which looked like it was getting partially soaked in a pinkish colour. With his ears, he might've caught on to what was being said while he was still outside, particularly since he didn't immediately rush loudly to the bar. In fact, the man was rather quiet, and moved to hold up a wall, somewhere out of the way, looking up at Shard as she stomped on the table. A few others caught darting glances, the man dipping his head to Olivia, before he looked back up to Shard.

Shard checked command + leadership at difficulty 15, rolling 14 higher.

Lucita nods to the newcomer and moves toward the side, standing out of the way to listen to what Shard has to say. She refrains from sipping whiskey while she listens.

A messenger arrives, delivering a message to Zeriax before departing.

Shard waits until her volume has seized the attention of...most people in the room. There are a few groups that she gives cold glares to until they shut up, groups that Leta might recognize as largely the newer faces. "Right," she says, then takes another pull from her bottle. "...Right. We're here to pay respects to Captain-General-Baron Audric De Lire, who decided to be an ass and die on us. I'm going to say a few words about him. He did a lot of terrible things. A lot of slightly less terrible things. A whole lot of making-money things. And some good things too, when he was in the mood." There's a rough cheer from some of the sellswords to this, which she glares into silence again. "A lot of you know him as the crazy, smiling, cheerful idiot who got you to sign up, either here in Arx, or Kennex, or other places. Got you a place, got you some coin, got you some scars and experience. I can't replace him and I'm not going to try. So we're here to remember him tonight." She raises the bottle to her lips again. "And we're going to remember him by getting very, very, very drunk and very, very, very loud on all this booze he bought." She lifts the bottle to the air now, and a number of sellswords toast in return, before she suddenly smashes the bottle and the remains of the whiskey by throwing it straight down at the table she's standing on. "Right, get drunk." This gets the loudest cheer, and the sellswords turn back to what they were doing as she hops off the table, boots dripping.

Deliverance, an albino falcon arrives, delivering a message to Zeriax before departing.

Zeriax listened in silence to Shard's speech, eyes drifting away from her and around the room to those gathered while she continued. Messengers continued to deliver little tiny papers to him in the midst of all of it, and he was quick to shoo them out of the door once they were delivered, waiting till Shard's speech was over to read them all. When she smashed her bottle against the table, it was clear that at some point, the lupine-like man learned how to laugh in silence too. He looked like he was giggling, but no sound could be heard coming from him. After quickly speed reading through the messages, he stuffed them in his pockets and lifted up the one bottle he'd brought along with him, moving straight towards Shard. His voice was low, despite the rowdy atmosphere. "I brought a bottle. Seeing how you treat them here though, I think I might well hold onto it. Getting loaded tonight?" Pulling the rag from the bottle, immediately the scent of ''sugar'' filled the air. Maybe it wasn't exactly the right place for that sort of drink.

Leta stands there by Shard's table, in fancy silks and jewelry and weaponry. She listens to the speech right to the end, holds her drink up in the air on cue, then takes a long swig that leaves her goblet empty. As the bottle crashes, she falls back a short step, wiping distractedly at her thighs. "Well, I thought that was nice," she offers her opinion on the speech with a bow of her head in Shard's direction, then heads back into the crowd to fetch more booze from the bar.

Lucita lifts her glass and says before she takes a sip. "To Baron DeLire!" She has her vielle with her, as always, tub is not there to perform, just to pay her respects. "He'd like that, I think, what you have said and set up for him. I remember how bold he was, the time he came into a fealty meeting for Velenosa and dropped a bag of heads before the Archduchess and her husband as a gift. Everyone gasped and eyes widened but the Archduchess and Prince just accepted it with good grace and a bit of dry humor.

Shard wipes a few shards of glass from her chair off onto the floor, then sits, completely ignoring the liquid dripping off the table. Her nose twitches a few times as Zeriax opens that bottle, and she gives him a curious sort of squint. "That's the idea." Even if she's currently down one whiskey bottle. Lucita she regards for a moment, before shrugging. "It's what he said should be done when a sellsword dies." A beat. "He kept those damned heads."

Zeriax moved around to set the bottle he had on the whiskey-covered table. "I grabbed this from the Lyceum Ward when I was down there earlier today. Didn't manage to get the cork when I slipped out though, so I had to make due." He looked up at Lucita, winking to her with a click of his tongue and a snap of his fingers, pointing towards her with both his hands. "Hey there. I'm Zeriax." Before he got too into introducing himself, he pulled a chair up to Shard's table. "I'm on a mission right now. Didn't know your former boss, but if getting drunk is going to honour his memory, care to take a challenge?" Oh boy.

Shard eyes Zeriax carefully for a moment. "What challenge? And what, exactly, is in that?" She points toward the bottle.

Leta returns shortly from the bar with a new bottle in hand, skipping the fortified wine to go straight to the fortifier. She crooks her nose as she takes a sip from the brandy, then sets the bottle down at the edge of the table. "That sounds about right. Don't expect he'd care much for a fancy affair," she remarks as she pours brandy into her goblet this time around, giving Lucita a curious look. "Might've liked to see that. Anyhow..." She drinks again, and gives Zeriax a curious, squinty look of her own.

Lucita gives a nod. "left me three of them. Was pregnant at the time, and they were... well, aromatic, strongly aromatic, and the scent kept drifting up in my window. Had to appeal to him to relocate them so I could manage to get through those weeks, and he did." She speaks matter of factly and takes another sip.

Zeriax laced his fingers together and extended his arms, cracking all of his knuckles. "I wanted to see how well you held your liquor. Never did get the opportunity to drink with you the last time, and I'm here to remedy that. I should warn you though, I have yet to be drank under any tables." The mention of the bottle brought his attention back to her, and he shook his arms out. "Raw poison." Beat. "I don't actually know. There was a Pravus apothecary hanging around the bar there, so I'm just going to assume straight out it's meant to kill someone." He said, laughing a little. "You don't have to drink that. I'll probably test it myself once I'm drunk enough. Think you can take me, shot for shot?" Zeriax looked to Leta when she returned, and gave her much the same greeting he did with Lucita. "How you doin? I'm Zeriax." The lilt in his voice was more than enough of an indicator of his lack of subtlety.

Deliverance, an albino falcon arrives, delivering a message to Zeriax before departing.

Shard narrows one eye at Zeriax, though it's Leta she responds to first. "You can throw one if you want, I don't care. It would annoy him, and that's worth doing." Her attention shifts back to the man. "I don't know. We could find out."

Leta smiles slightly at Lucita from behind her cup. "I've seen them, they usually are. Well, maybe not those three, don't remember if I saw them or not," she draws a deep breath, then snorts faintly as her eyes return to Shard. "I don't know fancy, do I? Hardly know what fork to use, half the time. Maybe a grand fancy feast, light on the booze, all mushroom dishes or something?" She proposes, and drinks some more, raising her goblet as she looks Zeriax over. "Well met, then. Leta Broadbent. Uh. Knight, of the Lyceum."

Lucita says, "Baroness Lucita Saik. Pleasure to meet you." She says amicably. "Will have to pass on the drinking contest. Got things will have to do later, like it or not, and need a relatively clear head to do them. Thanks anyhow though. Just this drink is enough.""

2 Ashford House Guard have been dismissed.

Bethany have been dismissed.

"I like that attitude." Zeriax stood up and called out to the Valorous at the bar. "HEY! Fuckfaces! Toss me a bottle or two! Your Captain-General needs a drink!" He hopped up and around, waving his arms until a few bottles were tossed his way at roughly the same time. He couldn't catch them all, so he just grabbed the one that would have collided with his nose and let the others bounce off him. "Thanks!" He said, giving them a thumbs-up, before sitting back down, sliding whatever bottle he managed to catch over the whiskey-soaked table towards Shard. "Let's find out then." He said, grinning. When Leta acknowledged him, he peered up towards her. "It's very much a pleasure to meet you, Dame Leta Broadbent. Don't worry too much about the poison joke. If I'm right, then I'll be dead, and you won't have anything to worry about." He leaned over to peer at Lucita. "You can watch, it's fine. She's the reason I'm here anyway." He said, pointing a thumb to Shard.

Shard picks up the bottle that's slid her way and holds it up for a moment so the whiskey from the table can drip back down. Then she tugs out the cork. "No booze, all mushrooms," she tells Leta, with a certain amount of approval. There's a glance toward Lucita, and then her attention moves to Zeriax once more. "Stop talking and drink, then."

Leta nods towards the Vielle. "Going somewhere to play?" She asks of Lucita with a friendly smile. Very conversational. But her eyes are drawn back to the table, smirking and shaking her head at Shard. "Figure I'd need a Whisper to set it up," she notes, then wets her lips with brandy again. Zeriax gets a second look and a broad smile. "Wasn't worried," the brawny woman shrugs. "It's your drink and all. Been to enough Lycene parties that I oughta be immune to poison by now. Don't think that's how it works, but maybe." She sounds local to Arx, not Lycene.

Lucita looks toward Leta and says softly. "You know me. Music is my passion. I tend to keep it with me the way a warrior keeps his weapon or someone who is adept with animals keeps a few tidbits in the pocket for them. Don't set out to perform, not fair to bards who earn a living doing that.

At Shard's comment, Zeriax leaned over and picked up the unbroken bottle that struck him in the ribs, opened it up, and started chugging it back like it was water. When he slammed the bottle back down on the table, it made the whole table bounce a little, bits of whiskey sloshing out of the half-full bottle Zeriax nabbed. The other bottle he brought sort of wobbled a little, but remained upright. "WOO!" He yelped, eyes wide, shaking his head. "C'mon Prime Time, let's see what you got!" He said, wild-eyed and grinning like a madman. He turned to peek towards Leta. "That's the spirit! Hey, when she inevitably falls unconscious, you want to be her second tonight?" There was that thumb, pointing towards Shard again. And then? The bottle was back to his lips.

Lucita nods to Zeriax. "Alright, watching, at least for a while seems the thing to do, and just a sip along now and then."

Zeriax checked stamina + survival at difficulty 20, rolling 69 higher.

Shard checked stamina + survival at difficulty 20, rolling 32 higher.

Shard stares hard at Zeriax. "Prime what?" She has far less voume about the whole affair, and far less flair in general, but she proceeds to start chugging as well, neither particularly slowly, or quickly. Steady. Steady is the best word for it.

"Of course, m'Lady. I have the lute with me sometimes, but - well, not as much as the sword, I'll say that," Leta muses in reply to Lucita with a slow nod, goblet hovering by her lips. She carries on the conversation while her eyes track the bottles in Shard and Zeriax's grasp. "Her second? I don't know. I like to taste the booze. Comes with being fancy, I suppose." She takes another sip from her brandy, crooks her nose, and wears a bright smile. Her cheeks are already rather rosy, anyhow.

Lucita says to Leta. If you want to play a song in the Baron's respects, feel free, they are not likely to mind. I'll follow along if you wish." She watches the drinking in progress. "Depends on the booze. I've sampled some would be best to not taste, just get it down to warm the belly and numb the senses.

Zeriax checked stamina + survival at difficulty 30, rolling 23 higher.

"I don't know." Zeriax said as he worked on finishing his bottle, whiskey dribbling down his cheeks. "You were titled Prime something or other, right? It's you're time to shine!" Flair? Oh, yes. Zeriax was being loud. He was being showy. Very contrary to what he'd been expressing when he'd first made his way into the headquarters. He took a pause from having just quickly chugged a bottle to himself, a moment of time to peer over at Lucita. "You make music do you? Care to make this a little more lively?" He rolled up his sleeves and leaned on the table. "How's your voice? Mine's a little scratchy, but I don't mind a song now and then." To Leta his eyes travelled. "Being fancy?" He looked around the room. "You sure you're in the right place?" Said the man wearing a fancy aeterna shirt. Then? He was back at it. Time to finish the bottle!

Deliverance, an albino falcon arrives, delivering a message to Zeriax before departing.

Shard checked stamina + survival at difficulty 30, rolling 36 higher.

Shard downs her bottle with a certain sort of--not zeal, no, but it's related, and the drinking is faster this time. She thuds the empty bottle on the table and glares narrow eyed at Zeriax. "/Prima/." The word is precise. "And I don't /shine/." A few more sellswords have drifted over toward their table now, either because of the contest or because of the prospect of some music to go along with all the alcohol that's being consumed.

Leta blinks and cracks a broad smile, head shaking briskly. "A song in the Baron's... I haven't got my lute or anything, m'Lady. I wouldn't know what to sing, anyhow. Maybe when I'm a bit deeper in this bottle." She takes the bottle, refills her cup, takes a long drink, winces, sighs. Then she wipes a hand at her nose and laughs, looking at Zeriax with a raised brow. "Pretty sure! It's why I became a sellsword, isn't it? To buy fancy, and look fancy. That's about it."

Lucita walks over to the door and calls out to Micana, patiently awaiting her outside. "You got that pack with the lute in it? If so, Dame Leta is going to borrow it for a few minutes." She takes the pack handed her, finds the lute and hands the pack minus the lute to Micana."Here you go, I can do one song, maybe, then need to leave. They mentioned a lively one.

Lucita gets a chestnut wood lute with gilt painted stars from a subtly textured sturdy yet lightweight trail pack.

Zeriax checked stamina + survival at difficulty 40, rolling 2 lower.

Shard checked stamina + survival at difficulty 40, rolling 44 higher.

Once his bottle was finished, Zeriax wiped his mouth with the back of his arm, tossing the bottle over his head. Thankfully, glass bottles were much harder to break when they were empty. Lifting his hands above his head, shaking them around a little, the man bobbed his head side-to-side. "Ooooh. ''Prima''." He said, letting his hands slap back down to the table with a wet smack. Then he grinned. "You know, it actually does sound nice. That word." Eyes narrowing, Zeriax paused. "Or are you not nice either?" He leaned over and picked up the third bottle that was tossed at him, the thing having rolled under his chair. A nice, purple bruise would form on his left thigh the next day. "Oh yeah Dame? Seems like being a sellsword tends to make people a lot of money around these parts. Sellsword Ajax mentioned he'd never seen so much coin come his way before. Even just ''looking'' at Sellsword Amund, the man looked like he swam in lakes of Silver." He turned momentarily to Shard, mirth aplenty in his voice. "You guys hiring?" It took a little more effort to open the second bottle, and once he had the deed done, he cracked his neck back and forth and tipped the bottle back. Would his liver survive such a deadly assault?! He slammed the bottle back down on the table, half finished, and it was clear by the way he was blinking, Zeriax miiiight have bitten off a little more than he might've been able to chew.

Deliverance, an albino falcon arrives, delivering a message to Zeriax before departing.

Shard takes up a new bottle herself, bites at the top, and then spits the cork to the side. "No," she says, with a brief showing of her teeth. "I'm not nice." She tips the bottle back and drinks. And drinks. When she slams her bottle down, there's a certain fire in her eyes, and if anything, she looks decidedly ready to continue. "Well, I'm not hiring /Amund/."

Lucita:nudges Leta. "I know the absolute perfect song to do. And it is one _you_ wrote Dame Leta. Bet they would like it here. Seems the type they would like. You remember 'Get Outa Our City' yes? Lets try that one.

Leta holds up a hand as Lucita heads off, then drops in resignation. "Well, thank you then. Let's see..." the burly woman hooks a foot behind a chair and tugs it out. Then another, offered to Lucita just in case. She sits down, adjusting the sword at her side to make herself comfortable. The lute rests on her knee, and she starts to pluck the strings, listening and getting a feel for it in her hands, launching into a little lively tune. "Baron Audric did make a bit of coin, that's for sure. I do well enough for myself these days, wouldn't recommend it though." Then she looks at Lucita, blinks. "That one? I - well, I suppose. He did fight in that one."

Deliverance, an albino falcon arrives, delivering a message to Zeriax before departing.

Lucita picks up the rhythm Leta sets and plays her vielle along with her then tries to harmonize with Leta in singing.

"So I hear an army's out there,
But they don't sound disciplined,
Or it could well be my tummy,
Or a rumor in the wind,

'Cause I was told that this foe,
Is as silent as a mouse.
But a soldier that don't curse
Is not welcome in my house."

"So... Get the fuck outta our city
Slip away without a sound,
Get the fuck out of our city,
Slip away without a sound,
Or we'll make ya cry for mercy,
And then grab another round!"

"And I hear that they got powers,
But our gods stand here with us,
And to the Bringers' ugly faces,
Every sound I make's a cuss.

For our walls are high and mighty,
And our steel is strong and true,
And we have ale and we have bread,
To last us the whole year through.

So get on outta our city,
Slip away without a sound,
So get on outta our city,
Slip away without a sound,
Or we'll beat you like ye're drums,
And then call for one more round."

"And... in war as in pie eating,
It's the one who's fed that wins,
And our warehouses are packed,
With a thousand tons of beans.

So if it's Silence on their banner,
And they want us to be quiet,
They can cut my tongue or close my mouth,
'Cause the other end's a riot!

So you'll hear me sing out courage,
For I know this too shall pass,
And if Bringers follow Silence,
I shall break it with my ass!"

"So, get the fuck outta our city,"
Slip away without a sound,
So get on outta our city,
Slip away without a sound,
Or we'll beat you like ye're drums,
And then call for one more round."


Shortly into the song, the tall, tattooed man behind the bar starts up a clap that quickly spreads around the room. /Most/ of the sellswords can at least keep with the beat, despite varying stages of drunkenness. About halfway in, however, they pick up on the chorus, and quite a number of the clappers join in, in a raucous and entirely off-key shout that must ring out into the streets. It's a good thing this part of the city consists mostly of guild halls and merchant stands, because they only get louder from there.

Zeriax checked charm + performance at difficulty 40, rolling 24 lower.

Zeriax checked stamina + survival at difficulty 50, rolling 1 lower.

Zeriax's eyes started to cross a little, and when he leaned back, he started to look around. He was drinking too fast! "Wow. Fuck, what kind of nail polish do you people stock around here?" At Shard slamming her bottle down, he jumped a little and his attention shot to her. His brows furrowed, and he looked a lot like a man who was accepting a challenge head on. "I'll take that as a COMPLIMENT then." He said, nostrils flaring as he white-knuckle gripped the bottle of sugary smelling stuff he brought in with one hand. His other hand gripped the half-finished bottle. He stood up, wavering a bit as he stumbled back, but managed to keep his balance. For the time being. He waited though, for the two L-Ladies to start their song. As the pair began to strum and sing, Zeriax closed his eyes, his head bobbing along. He didn't bother trying to sing along, deciding instead to feel the music. As he did, the man moved to the middle of the room and started moving his feet around, as if to dance. "Get the fuck outta our city!" He chanted along when the chorus came, repeating loudly as he could. He started stamping his feet, double-fisting the two bottles he had in hand. Even if he'd lost to Shard, he was going to at least finish what was in his hands.

As it turned out, the man was already too drunk to dance. Instead, he slammed into some of the Valorous Few, knocking one of them over simply due to how drunk he ''actually'' was. Then he crossed his legs and fell face-first onto the floor. It was a large, heavy ''thud'', but he appeared to still be good enough to hoist himself back up. He moved back to the chair, nearly falling through it, and pointed to Lucita and Leta. "You, ladies, are as voice as you are beauty. Your winds charm the place, where, people they...love it. I love you. Both." Then, like the man he was, finished the bottles he somehow managed to hold onto through all of that, aaaaand...toppled over, right into the glass on the floor. Semi-conscious. "Love...."

Before she sings this, Leta needs more alcohol. So she empties her cup, makes a face, and returns her hands to the lute, picking up a jaunty tune. The instrument largely gets drowned out under the clapping and the singing, but the song was definitely made to be sung by drunk people, anyhow. Leta raises her voice so it can be heard over the din. It's rather jolly, even if the subject is battle, and the chorus is - rousing? That's the idea, anyway. A nice, rousing, bellowing chorus. She takes advantage of a pause here and there to make a grab for the bottle and have a sip. Zeriax's antics are just barely distracting, eyes tracking after him, laughing. But then, the song's made for laughing, too, so it doesn't detract too much from the mood.

When the song ends, the sellswords that were clapping before continue to clap, louder and louder, because Zeriax is up and stumbling around with two bottles. The man he knocks to the ground doesn't find it as funny as the rest of the Valorous Few, and he takes a large drunken swing at Zeriax that misses completely, and ends up hitting the well built woman who was telling stories near the bar. She punches back, and suddenly there's a fight, with both combatants slugging each other with very heavy blows. The rest of them, Shard included, ignore this. In fact, Shard remains in her seat, looking satisfied, and takes a few more sips from her bottle just for good measure. Eventually she waves over a few people that look at least a little less drunk. "Get him into one of the beds in the barracks, yeah?"

Lucita keeps an eye on the others as they seem to be enjoying the song. When it is done, she lowers the vielle and looks toward Leta. "I've got to get going, glad it was something they enjoyed here. If you want to keep playing and singing, just return the lute when you get done, know you have one of your own. Prima Shard, thank you for setting up this and letting me pay my respects.

Lucita casts a sympathetic glance to Zeriax. "His head will be throbbing in the morning!"

Leta keeps tugging at the strings as the song comes to its final chorus, and laughs, her face a nice warm shade of pink going on red. She looks to Lucita and bows her head, offering the noblewoman a big smile. "Thank you, m'Lady. I'll - sure, I'll play a bit until things quiet down a bit. I'll make sure no one falls on it or punches or it or anything like it." She gives the lute a careful pat and lays a protective hand on top of it. Then she leans back, watching the fight break out by the bar, head shaking as she peeks at Zeriax on the ground. "Well then."

Zeriax rolled around in the broken glass a little, seemingly oblivious to the fact pieces were sticking out of him and ruining his nice clothes. "Puma Shard! You're so FIERCE. You're Like...A WOlf, or something. Raauwr." He even lifted his hand up, as if to paw, lightly smacking Leta's leg. "You win THIS time! You will make fine BABIES someday, a pack of fierce w..." Falling asleep mid-sentence apparently was a thing. Thank goodness he was being dragged away, who knew what other embarassing things he might've said otherwise.

Lucita chuckles softly and slips out, giving Leta a nod and another to Shard and any who seem to notice her.

Shard checked command + leadership at difficulty 15, rolling 13 higher.

Another bout of laughter breaks out when Zeriax says Shard will make fine babies, but a look--just a look--has that ending rather quickly. Shard jerks her chin toward Lucita as the woman makes an exit, and then slumps a little more comfortably into her chair. After a few minutes the volume levels pick back up, if not quite reaching the heights of the song, as the gathered sellswords return to their various conversations. The fight? The fight goes on, more or less ignored apart from one or two people getting a sneak kick in, until the well-built woman fairly flattens her opponent, and leaves him groaning on the floor. She returns to the bar with a small scattering of backpats and cheering.

1 Saik Guard, Gunther, a Rottweiler, Micana, Golden, an Oakhaven bloodhound leave, following Lucita.