A Rogue Walks into a Tavern...

A roleplay transcript by Vaan and Gisele Valentein

Gisele dropped her chin as she made eye contact with the barkeep of The Rat’s Den when she entered the small tavern. “Hey,” she greeted, giving him her back as she turned to the job board and read over the new postings. One caught her eye - she knew it wasn’t there the day before. 

“Here ye are, lass,” Rig greeted as he handed her a large mug of her favorite watered down ale.

“Thanks, Rig. Hey,” she halted him. “Did you happen to see who left this note? Like what’s this person look like?” She inquired as she pulled the note from the board and had a nice gulp of the dark ale. “Gonna take this job,” she shared with the dwarf and tucked it in the waist of her leather pants.

“He be elven, I think. Big ears. Red hair, red eyes. Can’t miss ‘im,” the barkeep said.

Gisele gave a nod, taking a seat at an empty table. “Keep these coming. I’m in a mood tonight,” the brunette said as she brought the tankard to her lips again.

“When are ye not in a mood, lass,” Rig teased.

Gisele Valentein let the door slam shut behind her as she slid her gaze about the small tavern. She waved her fingers at Shinver, something she normally wouldn’t do, but she had had a few too many drinks already. It was quite unusual that she would go out on business after downing so many tankards, but she was feeling adventurous. “Ah, and there he is,” she acknowledged internally and waved off Shinver’s greeting as she strode over to the table where the mussy-haired elf sat. “Vaan?” 

Vaan sat alone in the back corner of the tavern with a single glass of red wine. One hand rested over his exposed abdominals and the other cradled the wine on the table, delicate fingers tracing along its brim. As the beautiful, human woman entered the tavern his eyes settled on her, taking in her attire first then the rest of her appearance. A small grin formed over his lips and when she approached him he did not look too surprised, eyes remained locked with her own. "Aye.. I am he." he replied back to her and leaned forward against the table. "And who do I owe the pleasure of this meeting?"

Gisele Valentein pulled the chair out, spinning it around so she could straddle it. She sat beside him so they could better hear one other. She glanced over to his drink, considering another drink at that late hour. “Red wine would be a nice change,” she thought, and then thought better of it. She reached for the note he had pinned to the job board at The Den and waved it in her hand, “I’m here about this,” then put it back where she had carried it tucked into the waistband of her leather britches. “If you want information, I’m the one to supply it to you. So what type of information are you looking for?”

Vaan grinned wider at the woman while she sat beside him. He gestured in front of her and when she looked to the spot on the table directly in front of her, a fresh glass of wine had appeared. He straightened his head some. " Glad to hear it. But you have me at a disadvantage. It appears you know my name, and I not yours." he grabbed his wine and took a deep drink from it. "As for the note, that is mine, and I am. The information is up to you... I'll buy it all. But the level of coin greatly depends on what is being sold." He placed his wine glass down and to the side, leaning in closer to her, he clasped his hands together and rested his chin on them.

With a trained eye she took in his red eyes, expensive looking cloak and thick chain links adorning the harness he wore beneath it. He also donned interesting ear adornments that looked as if they could be weapons on their own. She would have to inspect them more closely later. She watched his grin widen, her blue eyes twitching only slightly. “And how much would you pay for that bit of information? My name,” she jested, however, it did not sound like a jest and no smile had crossed her lips. She let the topic of her name end there. “Yeah, I know it’s yours,” she said, her lips curling with a grin. She watched him closely as he spoke. “I see,” she replied when he indicated he would pay for basically any type of information. “So he’s not after anything in particular. No agenda, it seems,” she discovered. She glanced to the glass of wine he offered her and then back to Vaan’s face. “Thanks for the wine, but I’ll pass.” Gisele Valentein strummed her fingers on the table in front of her. “How long are you “in town” for?” She questioned him.

"That depends on the information. But I can assure you, I am fair and very worth it. And I am not just limited to coin. I can also offer you and your brethren drugs, a past experience maybe? Pleasures of the flesh?" Vaan smirked. "Though that doesn't mean mine. I am quite capable of offering you an experience you won’t soon forget.... but something tells me you're interested in the coin." He reached into his side pocket and pulled a bag out, tossing it on the counter. "Despite my abilities, I can assure you my coin is real, and good. Take this as a gesture of my good faith, and your good word to others that may come to me." He continued to listen. "And of course your name." he chuckled lightly, his voice was smooth like a good drink. Intoxicating to the senses. His eyes moved to the drink and he waved his hand to the side as it disappeared." Perhaps another time then.... " he continued to grin slyly at her, eyes not once breaking away from her. "I am here for as long as I need to be. No sooner, no later. The tavern is mine now, however. So perhaps longer than most?"

Both brows shot up as he listed his various offerings. Who was this creature? She bit her lip to stifle a chuckle when he offered pleasures of the flesh but was quick to clarify it wouldn’t be his. The sack of coin hit the table with a nice little 'thud' and she quickly swiped it, tying it to the leather strap of her garter. She kept her eyes somewhere on the wispy locks near his crimson orbs. They bothered her immensely - she wasn’t sure why. His voice was soothing, almost drawing her in yet alerting her of possible danger. “Here lies the potential problem. If you are trading in information, you are my competition and I tend to…” she narrowed her eyes playfully, her smirk present on her lips, “eliminate my competition. You understand,” she flatly said. “Now I don’t want to not play nice, and I don’t care about the other shit you dabble in, but selling information… best you send people to me.”

Vaan closed his eyes as he sat up and rested both hands over his abdomen. He nodded his head slowly, in fact most of his movements were fairly slow. Cautious? Perhaps he was high? It seemed uncertain to tell. It was the first time he removed his eyes from her though, but it did not last long as he returned them back to meet with her own and his grin did not disappear, despite her words. "Is that so? Then I see no problem working together... just keep bringing your coins to me when I have the information, and I'll keep sharing my delicious information with you." He flicked his tongue over his teeth and slid it across the fronts. "Let's become good friends... get to know one another... personally?" He stood from his chair and adjusted his oversized coat that he wore like a cape. "I hope you can excuse me, I do have things to attend to. Till later?" He glanced backwards at her for a moment, red eyes taking her in fully before he departed from the table and headed towards a back door where he would disappear into.

Gisele rubbed a finger along her chin thoughtfully. She felt she had sized the elf up by then, until he mentioned selling information to her. He confused her. Was it purposely done? Was he high? Was he just… an odd duck? She had been jesting with him, but of course, her sense of humor was shit. And when she was drunk? It was worse than shit. She was just about to tell him they could do business together, but now she wasn’t so sure. Gisele didn’t pay for information. Part of the thrill was the dangerous way she obtained highly sought after info. She had many resourceful ways of getting what she wanted. She sighed, turning to watch him as he abruptly departed. Then she shifted her gaze to Shinver.  “Shinver!” she called, causing the big man to jump. “Bring me an ale,” she ordered and turned back to the empty table ready to resume her drinking.