The Green Dragon Inn
Welcome to the Green Dragon Inn. You step upon a well-polished floor and notice a large overstuffed couch and a number of heavy chairs surrounding a wide stone hearth before a large fireplace, perfect for relaxing with a bowl of pipeweed or just browsing the copy of the paper kept on the table. Dining tables with green cloths and candles allow for (somewhat) private conversations, sipping a spot of tea or enjoying a fine glass of wine with your meal. The far wall depicts a massive and ornately carved dragon, and just beneath, a small stage and piano invite impromptu performances of all kinds. Just above the window is a framed picture of Impatiens, the owner. Johnny is behind the bar, occasionally swiping it with a towel, and looking for spots on the glasses. The clang of pots and dishes can be heard from the nearby kitchen, and the aroma of fresh baked goods and savory meat dishes makes its way out into the taproom.
Table Code is in effect here. Type THELP for commands.
Contents:
Teradoc
Shire Chronicle Paper
Johnny
Obvious exits:
Back Room and Out
RL (Arizona) time is Wed Feb 14 18:44:00 2001 (+time).
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IC time is about 10 PM on Wednesday Afterlithe (July) 22, 1422 S.R.
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IC Weather Conditions
The sky is completely covered by dark clouds, predicting the coming of a summer storm. Thunder can be heard in the distance on this Afterlithe night. The moon is currently hidden below the horizon.
Dolphus Burrows (#29680)
A midsized hobbit, seemingly in his late forties, this fellow is neatly dressed and well-groomed. His hair, neatly brushed, is light brown and curly; his dark green eyes are situated just above a fairly small nose and a rather large mouth.
This hobbit's clothing is simple but functional: a brown wool cloak over a green shirt, and a pair of blue-dyed wool pants. His feet are as bare and furry as any other hobbit.
Teradoc Burrows (#29921)
A young male hobbit, about three feet in height and of medium build. Sandy brown hair, frizzy and long, comes down to his jawline and poofs out several inches like a mushroom. His smooth visage is young but a certain aura of experience and sad wisdom cuts through it. The youth's mouth is thin-lipped and pink, and his nose is hooked. Combined with his sharp, ice-cold blue grey eyes, his face takes on a very bird-like resemblance.
Upon the hobbit's head is a crisp, new brown felt hat. On his body is a fresh white shirt, buttoned up to his neck. On top of that, he wears a bright green waistcoat with a silver chain emerging from its pockets and connecting to one of its bronze buttons. Dark black trousers, held by a chestnut-colored belt, end at the lad's hairy calves. His feet are bare, the tops covered by a curly clump of brown hair.
Picture:
http://www.mindspring.com/~spaced/shire/teradoc_portrait3.jpg
Lilly Took (puppeted by Pippin: #30066)
For a second, it seems that a faerie hobbit has entered your midst. She is dressed in a long, flowing gown of palest yellow and pink, embroidered with hints of gold along the cuffs, collar, and waist. This lady hobbit's dark eyes move with life underneath their deep pools, animating her lovely round face and healthy pink cheeks. Her long curly brown hair is tied up at the back of her head, making her look all the more elegant. Indeed, she does look somewhat familliar! It is not until you notice the silver chain around her neck with the emerald ring--with the Baggins crest--that you realize this is Lilly Took, the gallavanting, tom-fool of a Took lass that's usually covered in mud or ink. She smiles shyly, slightly uncomfortable in her awkward garb, but posessing a sense of strength in her nonetheless.
Frodo Baggins (#29612)
A dapper-looking hobbit in garments of the highest quality, taller than some of his kind and fairer than most. He has a cleft in his chin, and large brown eyes, their gaze bright. His countenance is pleasant and round, apple-cheeked, with a mouth apt to smile, and topped by a headful of curly chestnut brown hair. He wears breeches of dark forest green, which end right below the knee, allowing a clear view of his unshod, hairy (yet well-groomed) feet. A wide brown belt secures a small money pouch to his waist. The buckle, depicting three bags of gold, appears to be family crest or emblem. A crisp white shirt balloons around the fellow's chest and arms, but is barely visible through a splendid emerald green and goldenrod waistcoat, the buttons of which catch the eye with their gilded brilliance. His sleeves are fastened at the wrists by well-polished sapphire cufflinks, an indicator (along with the golden buttons) of this hobbit's wealth and status.
Johnny (NPC barkeep)
~~~
It's a normal night in the Dragon: a number of hobbits sitting around speaking quietly while Johnny serves up an ale or two and polishes an occasional glass. Not many people walk in and out, and the windows are open to let in the cool night air.
A thick-bodied hobbit of middle age sits at a table in a corner near the door, smoking on a short wooden pipe. In front of him is a bare plate, a few scraps of food still lying thereabouts. He looks out now and then through a window into the night, raising an eyebrow expectantly.
"Looks like a storm." The words come out quietly, directed to no one in particular, from a young hobbit sitting near the window. Like the older hobbit at the corner table, he gazes out of the portal into the inky night beyond, ignoring a plate that has already done its job. Instead of a pipe, though, this lad is nursing a mug of Johnny's dark brew. Interrupting his avid study of the outdoors for a moment, he glances around the establishment with tired eyes, catching a glimpse of Dolphus looking out the window. "Wouldn't you say?" Teradoc asks, attempting to start a conversation in the quiet inn.
Dolphus looks up at the younger hobbit sitting nearby, raising his eyebrows and putting down his pipe for a moment. "Hm?" he asks drowsily, looking up at Teradoc and smiling in a friendly manner. "Ah, well yes, my good sir, I'd suppose it does." He looks out the window then back at the other. "Not that I mind. I like a good storm once in a while." He pushes himself forward with a small heave. "I'm Dolphus Burrows," he says with a smile. "May I ask your name?"
Lilly enters the room from the street.
Lilly has arrived.
Teradoc dines alone at a table near the window. Seems like he's started up a casual conversation with the older Burrows in the corner.
Smiling politely and finishing off his drink, Teradoc nods at the elder's comment. "Something about a storm that charges me up... invigorating. But I'm not looking forward to trudging back home in the mess to come." He chuckles and leans back in his chair, offering the fellow his handshake. "I'm Teradoc Burrows, former mapmaker, former merchant, current... well, Hobbit of Leisure. A pleasure to meet you, Dolphus." It's Teradoc's turn to raise an eyebrow: "Are you from the homestead in Frogmorton? Or where do you hail from?"
A figure, hobbit of course, enters the Green Dragon Inn. She is cloaked in red, and her face barely peeks out of her hood. Perhaps it is a trick of the light, but her eyes seem to sparkle dazzingly as she passes a few hobbits and makes her way towards a certain fellow sitting in the corner. It appears she's attempting to sneak there, but... her laughter gives her away. With a merry giggle, Lillianda Took removes her hood, and her cinnamon coloured curls fall down her shoulder. "Teradoc, there you are!" is what she says, slipping behind her fiance and kissing him atop the head. "I've been looking everywhere for you." Lilly seems a little more slender than usual, but there is an underlying light that still shines through her countenance.
"Ah, a pleasure meeting you as well, sir." Dolphus smiles and puts his pipe back to his lips. "I'm a bit of a merchant myself, though I don't often leave the Bridgefields to find buyers; I peddle mostly to visitors and passers-through." He takes a puff on his pipe. "And I'm a native of Whitfurrows, myself. An ancestor of mine vacated the delvings in Frogmorton a few generations back, and we've had a single-family home since."
With one of the Took lass' giggles, Teradoc whirls his head around, sending his long brown hair bouncing about. When his eyes fall upon Lilly, they seem to grow in size, accompanying his wide and excited smile. "Lilly!" He slips a hand up into hers as she plants a kiss on him and says, "What are you doing in Bywater, dear? You're the last person I'd expected to see here! I was just on my way back to Frogmorton from Michel Delving... I was going to stop by the Great Smials, honest...!" He seems a little dumbfounded at seeing his love here and is having some trouble hiding the fact. "Oh, umm, Lilly, this is Dolphus Burrows, a long-lost relative of mine." Grinning, Teradoc indicates the hobbit with his hand.
Dolphus nods to Lilly as she enters and smiles. "Great Smials, eh? Well then, good-day, Miss Took, I take it?" He smiles and takes another puff on his pipe. "Dolphus Burrows, milady, at your service and your family's," he says with a long nod and and a smile.
As decorum would suggest, the upperclass Tookish lass extends her hand to Dolphus, with the intention of having it either kissed or shaken (it matters little which). She smiles brilliantly, her cheeks blushing pink, and says mellifluously, "Well, any relative of Teradoc's will soon be one of mine, no matter how distant! It is a great pleasure to meet you, Mr. Burrows, for certain." Leaning down, and slipping her arms around Teradoc, Lilly says softly in his ear, "I heard something of Sassy's doings in Bywater, and I wanted to check by and make sure she was alright - another death in her family, I hear, very sad. I was on my way back to Great Smials, to my ultimate dismay, when I heard the fortunate news that you were still in town. I know my way with the folk here, for I did spend five years as a citizen of Bywater, and I was able to find my way to you!" She beams, apparently proud of her detective work.
Teradoc, too, beams, but not in pride - well, perhaps a bit - but in happiness to see his love. "Very keen, my dear. I'm sorry to hear about Sassy... have you been by to see her yet? I honestly haven't seen the fair maiden Gamgee in ages." He smiles fondly and looks over at Dolphus, grinning. This time, it looks like the smile is fueled one-hundred percent by pride. "Yes, that's right, sir... Lilly and I are getting married, so it seems like you've met two relatives in one night. It's like a little family reunion, here in the Dragon."
Taking Lilly's hand, Dolphus gives a gentle shake. "A pleasure meeting you, milady." He loosens his grip and turns his attention to Teradoc. "Ah, how lovely. I do love a wedding, if I may say. It's been so long since I've been to one... not since my own, I should say." With a smile, he adds, "And a most lovely in-law you'll be, I'm sure."
"Odd, too, I didn't think Burrowses were as fond of Bywater as they were of their own more - ah - rustic places," says Lilly Took, as she slowly lets go of Teradoc and slips into a chair beside them. She blushes profusely at Dolphus's comment, and averts her eyes a moment, blinking bashfully at Teradoc. "Well, Teradoc and I are something of a storybook romance, I say. I couldn't imagine a moment in my life without him," says Lilly gazing dazedly at her fiancee. "And I should hope he thinks the same!"
"Hmm... if you'll excuse me for one moment," Teradoc says, standing rather quickly with a somewhat strained look on his face. He smiles at Lilly and says, "Well, I'm afraid that you'll have to go -one- moment without me, dear. I'll be thinking of you though! Be RIGHT back!" The young hobbit runs to the loo as quick as his little legs can hold him.
With a chuckle, Dolphus take another puff on his pipe and leans back again in his seat to watch Teradoc leave. "Well, I'm glad to see a couple so happy and content. Reminds me of my marriage, actually, just a bit." He crosses his legs. "Teradoc seems a nice lad, and I'm glad to have him as kin. I'd say you chose your husband well, Miss Took."
Arching an eyebrow curiously, a well-dressed, if slightly dusty, hobbit hurries in, closing the door quietly behind him. "Hullo - don't suppose you can get an ale for me, Johnny - and perhaps something to eat in a moment or two - " He pulls back the hood, revealing the fair features of Frodo Baggins as he takes a seat near the bar, seeming somewhat lost in thought as he picks up a menu.
Leaning on her hand prettily, Lilly watches Teradoc leave with stars in her eyes. She is brought back to reality by the voice of Dolphus, and a subtle flow of crimson floods her cheeks. "Ah," she says softly, giggling a bit, "pardon me... but... I was somewhere else." She regards him a moment, and her eyes narrow, as if perhaps reaching ephiphany, "Are you perchance a Bounder?"
Looking up from his pipe, Dolphus smiles and adresses the ladyhobbit's query with a nod. "Well, yes... I should say I am. If it's not too much, milady, may I ask why you ask, and how you might have known?"
A look of slight concern falls upon Lilly's brow, and she bites her tongue gently with her teeth. She measures her words. "I - there - I," stammers the usually verbally adroit hobbit. Lilly takes a deep breath, brushing a curl behind an ear, "I used to know a Bounder, quite well... before I knew Teradoc, that is. He - they - you just have a certain look about you, or I may have seen you before, or recognized the name. Peculiar, I know, but I could just tell. Pardon me if I am being rude, I just... wondered if I was right."
Frodo nods gratefully as Johnny shoves an ale in his direction. "Ah - the - er - mushroom pie - that's all for the moment - " Taking a sip of ale, he glances toward the pair nearby, smiling slightly. "I do believe it's about to storm out there - certainly sounds like it with all the thunder, at least - "
After a moment, Teradoc reappears in the inn, looking a bit embarrassed about his situation. "Eheh, sorry about that," he says to everyone involved, and retakes his seat next to Lilly. Noticing the slight change in the tone of the conversation, he says nothing, his hands in his laps as he awaits further evidence on what is being discussed.
"Oh no... not at all, milady!" Dolphus shakes his head, smiling reassuringly. "Well, I can't say I've known a Bounder who's known a Miss Took of Great Smials. I don't leave the Bridgefields very often. I'm here in Bywater on my way to the Northfarthing for a short holiday, but the brewing storm," he says, looking out the nearby window with some regret and nodding to the gentlehobbit at the bar, "seems to have conspired to stop me! As it is, I suppose my best bet would be to make my way to Frogmorton and the Floating Log as quickly as possible on the morrow."
As Teradoc returns, Lilly smirks impishly, a look of curiosity in her eye. But she says nothing, at the moment. The humor that would fall forth from such an event would be rather banal and beneath the respectible Miss Lilly Took. At any rate, she slips her hand into Teradoc's and nods to him, uttering, "Welcome back to the world..." Nodding to Dolphus, she says, "Well, would say, the Floating Log is a lovely place. I'm quite familiar with Frogmorton, you see, as my cousin Rotho was held at the Healing Houses for quite some time and I took a bit of care of him for a while - Teradoc, you remember that, don't you? And of course, I stayed with the Burrowses in Frogmorton." Lilly smiles at Teradoc, a private, knowing smile. Then to Dolphus, she says, "But please, if you are ever in the vicinity of Great Smials, do drop by! Uncle Paladin loves guests, and is greatly intruiged by the lives of Bounders and such. Tuckborough is a beautiful place as well!"
Grinning, Teradoc squeezes Lilly's hand and his half of the shared glance is just as 'knowing' as hers. "Sure do," he says in response. Then, to Dolphus: "The same goes for Frogmorton, though I'm sure I don't have to tell you that. Feel free to visit if you're ever around. I'm sure mother would love to see some of the old blood. We can have a drink in the Floating Log. Best ale in the Shire!" His statement is met with a glare from Johnny, who has come by with a mug full of his own dark brew. Teradoc grins sheepishly and adds, "Best... uhh... pale ale. Heh." Johnny shakes his head, sets the glass down, and leaves to tend to his other duties.
"Well, of course," nods Dolphus to Lilly, smiling. He lurches forward slowly and carefully, pulling himself to his feet. "I've been to the Green Hill Country more than once, and I should say it is indeed a very pleasant locale. Indeed, I may just spend my cancelled holiday there when the storm passes." He bows deeply to the two younger folks. "Well, I'd best be off to my room now... and may I say it's been a pleasure speaking both of you. I am both pleased and honoured to have good people like yourselves as kinsfolk." At this he walks past the bar and toward the guest rooms, humming softly to himself.
The bar which Johnny stands behind is made of high-quality grain and it is obvious that the maker did not overlook any detail. The surface is gleaming as if it has just been attended to by Johnny's diligence. A board nailed to the front has a carving which reads '~~THE GREEN DRAGON~~'. Five red leather-topped stools are spaced evenly in front, and a brass pole runs the length of the bar for you to rest your feet upon. Behind the counter you can see a large cabinet with many shelves lined with bottles of various beverages. The counter has several taps offering many different ales. Johnny stands behind the counter in a brand new suit with hair combed back. He is smiling for once and seems happy.
OOC: He invites you to SEE A MENU. You can make Johnny talk by using INSULT