Tavern Brawls S07WK03

The night had grown cool with the promise of winter.  A few patrons still occupied the tavern proper when the door swung open.  A harsh wind blew in and caught the flame of a nearby candle.  Rather than extinguishing the light, it pushed the dancing fire onto a nearby napkin, where it hungrily devoured the new fuel and reached higher from the top of the table.  Cursing, the guest at the table dumped his glass of spirits on the flame, which only added to the quickly growing hazard.  Iris ran over and threw her towel over the small fireball.

“Whatcha doin’, you dummy?” she exclaimed.  “Alcohol feeds fire.  Next time just sit on it if you can’t find anything else to use.”

Growling at the sheepish customer, she began to pick up the charred food and wipe up the table.  With her hands on automatic, she finally glanced at the door to see what had started the commotion.

Frozen in the doorway, Mike Murchadha was dressed to look ready to take the force of a battering ram.  Pillows were tied to his torso, legs and arms.  A helmet that was much too large sat on his head, with rags out from its sides in an obvious attempt to ‘make it fit’.  Zeb and Maggie were on either side of him, trying to force their friend’s legs into moving forward.

“This is a bad idea.  I haven’t even entered the building and it almost caught on fire!” he stated firmly.

Zeb grunted as he moved Mike’s right foot forward.  “That?  That was nothing.  That awesome waitress was all over it.  See?  The worst is behind us now.”

He winked at Iris, who shot daggers from her eyes back at him.  He turned his attention back to his well-cushioned friend.  “Now, let’s get you inside and get a drink.

The three newcomers maneuvered their way through the door and sat down at a table.

Maggie looked around.  “Now what?” she asked.

“That’s a good question,” came the voice of Selena from behind them.  “How do we turn on this curse thing of yours?”

“I’ve never tried to ‘turn it on’,” admitted Mike.  “I’m usually just trying to avoid the consequences.  That could be a challenge here.  I mean, the cutlery is already dangerous enough.  You also have the candles, as we’ve seen.  Plus, we haven’t even talked about the arenas below us.  And all that’s between them and me is this weird thick glass underneath us.”  He stomped his foot on the transparent floor to emphasize his point.

“But, this is the perfect time, isn’t it?” asked Selena.  “Look around.  The 3rd round of the Brawl is over.  A lot of the teams are already well into Round 4, but many are still waiting for assignments.  My point is that things are slow, so there is the least amount of chance to hurt a lot of people.”

Zeb grabbed a pint of ale from a passing delivery train car.  He downed it in one pass and slammed the mug down on the table, ready for some food to go with it.

5 seconds later, they heard a loud crack from directly below them.  As if in slow motion, a stalactite which had hung from the ceiling of the room below them fell towards the arena.  As it hit the ground, it shattered into countless shards of ice.  The druid Ivanna Wood and her opponent, a fighter named Bluestreak, were closest to the debris and were hit with many pieces, some as big as plates.

More worryingly, some of the pieces hit Ivanna Wood as she was in her less controllable bear form.  She roared in surprise and anger, lashing out in all directions.  She charged at Bluestreak, trampling the stunned fighter.  Bellowing loudly, she turned her attention to her closest teammate, Garth Thunderod, and ran directly towards him.  As the fighter braced for impact, he tried to talk to her and calm her down, locking eyes with his companion.

The mind of Ivanna won out over the rage of her bear form.  She slowed as she reached Garth, then lay down at his feet.  The observers watched as Bluestreak got up, spat a bloody tooth from his mouth, and started yelling first at his opponent, then at anyone who would listen.

Mike turned back to his friends.  “You see, I’m not the only one who pays the price in situations like this.  I wasn’t even down there and it still -”

“CHRIS!!  KEVIN!!”  Cantrip came running up the stairs from the arenas.  “Why did you leave the snow portal open?!?!  There’s an avalanche coming!”