• PM To Join • One Night at the Crest Break

[Han Hetra]

50th Trial of Ashan, 718

All around the Crest Break Tavern, sights and sounds of merriment could be heard. Ne’haer had entered the warmer parts of Ashan and the people were out en masse enjoying it. Men, women, human, biqaj, and who knows what else- all had come to enjoy a respite from work and obligation, to forget the troubles of life for a moment- or to put it plainly, to get drunk off their asses. And in that regard, festivities were well under way. The night was still young and the revelry had not yet begun to peak, but all around, the rumblings stirred as the first few rounds of drink were emptied. It was only a matter of time.

Han- while not the type to indulge in drink often- had a motto that he liked to apply to nights like this one. ’If you’re going to go out of your way to do something, do the hell out of that thing. So as he arrived to the Crest Break that evening, sat down at the bar, and ordered his first shot of rum, he had already committed to seeing this through. If he remembered the night clearly, he’d have failed. Unlikely, though. Han knew one of the surest ways to make a new friend was over drink- you didn’t even have to bring anyone with you. They would come.

Emptying the small glass into his gullet, he savored the sweet, harsh taste of the rum for a moment before swallowing. It wasn’t his preference- truthfully he was more of a gyn drinker- but it was good and more importantly, it was cheap. No point in getting loaded if you were going to pay for it. No, this would do just fine. As the first tendrils of that unmistakable inner warmth that only liquor could give began to worm their way through his body and mind, he cracked a wide smile. This would be a good night.


“Another, please.” He said, raising his glass and nodding at the bartender. All he lacked now was someone to drink with, but that had never proved a problem for long. Someone always came.

[Jonathan Burr]

Jon always loved a good party, and he needed to unwind. He was looking for...entertainment. Drink, and sex, and companionship. The first was flowing everywhere. He was a new mage, he deserved a little bit of a party didn't he? He had perfected the art of quietly stealing drinks as a teenager, and man was it coming in handy here. He wanted to relax for once, in the same way he had relaxed in Etzos. While he doubted he could find any drugs here, he knew he could find drink. Whenever someone turned away to talk a little bit, there went a sip of their drink. A shot glass suddenly disappeared. The fruit out of someone's cocktail went missing down Jon's gullet. What could he say? Rum-soaked fruit was his weakness. He was chewing on a little bit of orange by the time he hit the bar, flopping into the stool next to a bearded gentleman. He grinned, with that old childish trick of putting the rind over his teeth to make his mouth orange. He was in a good mood anyway. He'd just gained a new lover; Alistair. The man was an intensely powerful mage, and to be honest the sex and adventure had put Jonathan in a fantastic mood.

He swallowed the orange and grinned at Han. "Hey." he offered his hand. "I'm Jon, and I'm halfway to getting shitfaced. I bet you....that I am going to drink your big handsome ass under the table in twenty minutes flat. Bartender? Over under on twenty minutes for the big guy?" he clapped Han on the back. It might not had been wise to challenge someone to a drinking competition when he was already a little buzzed.

[Han Hetra]

'Aaaaaaand there it is.' Who knew why people were always just falling into his life in the most predictable ways. Maybe it was the beard? Han couldn't be sure. But it was a sure thing, and as always, it had come through and proved a dependable fact of life, practically a law of the universe. What's more, he seemed to have reeled in a very lively one today. He'd appeared next to him practically out of nowhere, brandishing an orange rind over his teeth like a real class act. Han immediately broke into a wide smile, half from the humor of it and half from the cozy, comforting waves of alcohol induced friendliness running over him like warm water. The face of this stranger combined with the alcohol and the sounds of generalized drunken chaos that were starting to rumble to life all around them made for quite the comedic experience. This culminated in the man- Jon, as he had said- making a bold claim: that he'd drink Han under the table. He couldn't help but burst into laughter. Not even because he felt that he would succeed, but because of just how incredibly fun this night already was. Han loved some good banter, camaraderie, and boasting back and forth- it was part of what made drinking so much fun. He was delighted to find someone so willing to indulge him.

Looking him over briefly, Han was almost concerned for him. The guy was so pale and skinny, giving off an all around unhealthy look. It contrasted in a way with the man's incredibly amicable cheerfulness and obvious desire to have a good time. The two clashed in a way that, under normal circumstances, probably would have set off some red flags. Unhealthy looking man, skinny with scars on his hands, really excited to drink- most might have suspected he was a man of ill repute. But somewhere between the alcohol and the orange rind mouth gag, Han couldn't bring himself to care. To him, in this moment, he was just another friend waiting to be made, and he'd be damned if he was going to do anything but have a roaring good time tonight.

"Alright Jon! I'm Han. Let's see what you're made of." He said with a boisterous laugh bookending each part of the statement, almost filling the gaps in between the words with humor and good cheer. "Bartender, keep them coming!" He shouted, receiving in short order two more shots of rum. Taking one in his hand and handing the other to Jon, he continued. "Loser pays the tab, yeah?" With a slight sneer he clinked glassed with Jon before downing his shot. 'This is going to be a good time.'

[Jonathan Burr]

Jonathan had a bad habit of falling into people's lives that way. He liked to pop in at moments either opportune or inopportune and take people on wild adventures. He was always good for a drug deal, a sexual tryst, a time running around in the woods with a bottle of something strange. He was a wild child with too much energy...as this one would soon learn. He returned Han's laugh. Good! He was just as relaxed and ready to party, not some stern or unhappy drunk that would shove him onto the floor or elbow him in the face. He did see Han look him over, and Jon knew how he looked. He wasn't very impressive physically. He was only impressive when he opened his mouth and started talking...or vomiting questions. Jon was the curious type, as most transmuters were.

"Good to meet you Han! I hope you have a horse because I can't carry you home." he joked. He took the offered shot of rum. Oh good, he wasn't even paying for this adventure. That was good, because otherwise they would have had to make a game out of stealing drinks. Which, while fun, usually ended in either a brawl or the aforementioned elbow to the face. Then came the other foot falling. The loser would have to pay the tab. Oh lord. Well Jon hoped he could get away from this man when they were both plastered before he was forced to pay it. He was certainly sneaky enough. He lifted up the rum in a little bit of a toast and downed the shot. It was good, smooth and sweet, and he could feel the welcome burn of alcohol hitting his stomach. As was customary he turned the glass upside down and set it on the bar. It was easier to keep score with all of the glasses in a line, and it wasn't Jonathan's first rodeo.

He took the second shot, and the third, very well. His line of glasses was straight and he was still sitting upright in his chair even if he was leaning on the bar a little. "So where the hell did you come from, hm?" he smiled at Han. "Han. That's an interesting name. Better than Jon Burr anyway."

[Han Hetra]

"Well, I grew up near Etzos, technically. Wandered most of my life though. And now here I am." He gestured around him to the tavern before knocking back his next shot. "Han's an alright name, I suppose. It's a shortened version of the full thing, you wouldn't believe how ridiculous my real name sounds. Jon Burr is a fuckin' diamond in the rough in comparison." He chuckled, intentionally leaving out any further details. Mystery made a great conversational lubricant. It amused him in a way to do so, it had probably been years since any of these details of his life were spoken of to anyone or even thought of much by himself. The alcohol was already working to loosen his tongue and bring out things even he had nearly forgotten about. Etzos was a lifetime ago now. Maybe several. Han spoke with a rare, relaxed tone, as if to an old friend. Despite his outgoing demeanor, it was relatively rare that someone came to him with such social aptitude that he didn't have to force the whole interaction himself. This was a real treat already. With all the work and hunting and political intrigue of his life lately, having a genuine drinking buddy was a real luxury.

"So, Jon." He began, leaning forward and handing over Jon's next shot with his in his other hand. "What about you? Where the hell did you come from?" He smirked tipsily as he spoke, the refreshments of the evening beginning to take their toll, adding increasing layers of fun as they came. "And what brings you to Ne'haer?" At this point they were at the perfect equilibrium- the liquor was working well and getting them to that nice, warm feeling that everyone loved. Conversation would flow without inhibition and good times would abound with ease while still permitting them the use of their faculties without much impediment. If they continued to press forward, however, things would begin to progress into true drunkenness. Neither was necessarily a bad thing, but which was more desirable would be decided as the conversation went on. Han could already tell he liked this Jon fellow pretty well. Now it was time to see if his good feelings about him were well founded or if he was just some guy that he would get drunk with and never think of again.

[Jonathan Burr]

"I grew up in Etzos too!" Jon exclaimed happily. "The Burrs are some of the better-known jewelers there. I wanted to study magic and they didn't quite approve so here I am." Perhaps the liquor had loosened his tongue a little. He hadn't meant to admit he was a mage, or interested in magic. Ne'haer had quite the reputation as the sort of place that didn't allow magic. Or at the very least, everyone was afraid of it. Jon had the rather lofty goal of changing that in the hearts and minds of the citizens here. He had some idea on how to do it, but nothing concrete. In his mind magic could be used to solve so many societal ills; houses could be constructed within mere hours instead of breaking mens' backs for days and killing people with construction accidents. He could corrode an irrigation ditch in a few hours with consistent breaks. That was better than a team of men or criminals breaking themselves on the earth. But that was a lifetime away. He had so much work to do to get some of the minds changed here.

He smiled and shook his head. "Now I have to ask...what's the full name. Hannibal? Handerson? Hanlick? Something like that? Enh, Hannibal isn't too bad." he took the offered shot and knocked it back. A bit too fast, actually. He grabbed the bar and cleared his throat, securing himself a little better on the stool before he upturned the shot glass and set it with the others. "To be honest, I'm looking to change a lot of minds here." Now his tongue was definitely loose. "...you know how much people's lives could improve here? How much everyone's life could improve?" he dropped his tone to a drunk stage-whisper. "...if they had a little magic?" he snickered and reached for another shot. He could already picture Daeva's voice in his head telling him to shut up. But that didn't matter. She was dead, murdered, and he still hadn't quite gotten over that. He downed another shot. He definitely didn't want to feel what he felt probing that dead connection.

"S'why're you here?" he asked. "Business? Pleasure? Politics?"

[Han Hetra]

“Small world..” Han said slowly, drawing each syllable out as the alcohol took control. “Haven’t seen Etz’s since I was a boy… ‘S it still there?” He was surprised by several things Jon had said. Their shared origins in Etzos were of course, a surprise. It wasn’t all that common to see Etzori in a place like Ne’haer, and a mage no less. Between the distaste for the Immortals that permeated everything Etzos and the disdain for magic that permeated everything in Ne’haer, it seemed that Jonny boy here was a little out of his element. Of course, Han didn’t have such strong feelings against magic. He’d spent enough time outside of the comforts of the religious city to know that magic, rare as it was, did amazing things, and not all of them involved killing people. Of course, there was also a broad spectrum of things mages could do, and Han had to admit, he didn’t know much about it. Maybe this would be a good opportunity to expand horizons. A shame they were getting plastered. “You got some balls talking about magic in this place, buddy. Some a these people act like they never seen anything like it. Best be careful..” He desperately tried to relay sensible advice, but his liquid word filter fixed that.

“Handresy. Maybe I’ll give ya the rest if you win.” As he put down another glass, his speech began to truly slur. They were getting dangerously close to the event horizon of drunkenness and his opponent showed no signs of stopping. But Han, being a relatively inexperienced drunk, was beginning to really feel the effects. He had 2, 3 at the most shots left before he went down for the count. He just hoped it was enough to avoid having to pay this quickly escalating tab. A quick look around the room would show that by now, many other such groupings were very nearly down for the count, and some had even passed out. The night raged on in larger groups and the bar was increasingly packed, as if for every one drunk that went down, two more sprung up in his place. Here and there, the sound of a glass shattering on the ground would echo and loud cheers would raise up from all. The glorious fun had begun. It all almost seemed an amazing juxtaposition to Jon’s talk of changing peoples minds about mages. Such serious conversation in such an unserious setting. Han loved it.

“You know, I bet you’re right.” Han said, blinking rapidly as a sudden bout of fatigue hit him and dissipated like a wave. He was wide awake and nearly asleep all at once. “Magic can be helpful. You know, I really like helping people too. Well, sorta. See, sometimes I just wanna, you know, hurt people. Like bad people though, not you. And see, being nice to people keeps the darkness weak. Maybe we can help people together.” He closed his eyes for more than a moment at the end, nearly falling asleep in his chair. He didn’t mave much left in him. But powered through, finally coming to Jon’s final question.

“Life, brother. It’s a simple place far from painful memories.” He was hit with a magnified pang of sadness as memories of his childhood filtered through the liquor haze.

“So what kind of magic are you?”

[Jonathan Burr]

Jonathan snickered. "Barely." he giggled out the word. For some reason, the joke was the funniest thing in the world to him, and he practically snorted his next shot. He downed it, upturned it, and awkwardly placed it on the bar. Immortals, his fingers weren't working correctly and he couldn't stop giggling. He could feel himself losing the bet and that was a little frightening. He didn't have the nel to pay for any of this. Worry clouded the back of his mind, as did a solution. There was always just running for it. He grinned at Handresy, ignoring what he said about magic. Magic was the world's most interesting thing to Jonathan. He viewed it as a miracle. Even so-called 'evil' magics like Aberration and Necromancy held nothing but the utmost interest. Jon was one of the rare people who tended not to judge on first sight; he'd been confronted by the weirdest monsters Emea had to offer, as well as Revenants and Liches, and he didn't mind any of them. He found he learned more by being less judgemental than panicking and attempting to kill things.

The bar began to get more and more crowded. Jon grew more and more comfortable. Good. With fewer patrons they'd have less of a chance of running off without footing the bill. With the bartender taking longer and longer to get their shots Jonathan was more confident. He grinned at Han and nodded. "Let's help people...like....together...but..." he mumbled. "We need to get outta here. I ain't got enough nel for this." he snickered and nuzzled Han. "C'man. I'll show you what kinda mage I am." He grabbed Han's hand. He stood up, drunkenly holding onto the bar for support. All he had to do was get to the door with his new friend in tow. That was going to be harder than it looked. He eyed the bartender, who was serving a pair of girls obviously flaunting themselves for free drinks. Now was the time.

"Come on!" he made to haul Han out the door and down the street. Honestly he couldn't do much if the man resisted, but Jon was determined and practiced at running away from large bills.

[Han Hetra]

’Wow! He wants to help people too!’ Han was incredibly excited by the prospect, mostly because of his incredibly inebriated state. The liquor had nearly complete control at this point and Han was at his limit. If Jon didn’t go down soon, it would all be over. Thankfully, he could see that Jon was teetering as well. Speech slurring, tilting, he didn’t have much left in him either. Han however could barely keep his mind on the matter as he found the drunken amplified excitement of having someone else around who cared about helping people do things with him. He seemed like he was pretty alright, even for a mage. He couldn’t be that bad after all, he’d been pretty fun to drink with.

“Yeah, let’s d-” Han couldn’t even begin the sentence before being yanked from his chair by Jonathan, intent on pulling him out of the bar to dodge the bill. Drunk as they were, Han couldn’t let that happen. “N-no Jon. Weeeee…. have to pay.” He attempted to grab Jon and halt him but in his drunken state, it didn’t work at all. What did happen was his legs giving out from under him. With a loud, messy crash they both went down hard, laying one over the other in barely conscious pile on the floor. “We…. Aren’t…. Done… Yet….” Han forced out, slowly staggering to his feet and waving a hand at the bartender, who looked more concerned that they might make a mess on his floor than anything else. Leaning down shakily to try and help Jon back into the game, he said. “Come on buddy… You can’t quit on meeee now…” His eyes were half open and his words ran on and on, but he wasn’t about to bail. You have to start what you finish.

[Jonathan Burr]

Jon yelped. It was immovable force meeting unstoppable object, and he went down to the floor with Han in a loud crash. Oh lord, the room was swimming and the drink now had complete control over his balance. He sat up loosely, shaking his head and trying to make sense of what just happened. First he had a goal, then Han had gone down like a sack of wet potatoes and yanked him down with him. He couldn't really stand. He snickered uselessly and leaned his head against Han's shoulder. His laughter was unquestionably silly; a mixture of genuine laughter and drunk snorting. Han was so sweet! He wanted to pay the bill instead of running out like useless sacks of shit. He lifted his hand and patted Han's cheek, then frowned a bit and stroked through his beard. "This is beautiful." he mumbled, playing a little bit with Han's facial hair. Twirling it in his fingers.

Then the man was trying to get him up again and back in the game. Jon flopped over the barstool like a fish with arms, trying to make his legs obey. His brain seemed to be giving sluggish and slow commands. Every time his legs seemed to stop and say 'excuse me, you wanted what?'. "Mmmnotquitn..." Jon mumbled, pulling himself into a half-sit, half stand on the barstool. He waved Han in close and whispered loudly in his ear. "I...have no nel. Poor. Zip. Nothing." he burst out into a fresh peal of laughter. "C'mon do you...have the money to pay for all this?"

He looked at him, weaving gently back and forth like a reed in opposing breezes. He still had such a stupid smile plastered on his face. Han was a handsome fellow. He didn't mind a tumble in the sheets with him if they were so inclined...but right now he felt like doing something like that would require more coordination than he had. "Lessget out of here. Mm. Wanna...listen. We could...change the world. Help people. All these...twits who can't tell a mage from a card-jockey."