[ OPEN ] willkommen, bienvenue, welcome

[feintofhart]

Who: The Adults Of Aldrip
Where: A handy dandy bar!
What: Claude has collaborated with one of the local bar-owners to host a Chosen-only night for the adults of Aldrip to have a nice night away from the prying eyes of locals.
Warnings: Alcohol, drug-use, grown men making embarrassments of themselves, potential hand-holding.



Welcome one and all to a place where the Chosen are able to unbutton that top button, sit back, and relax, free of the badgering eyes of locals, and able to mingle amongst like minds! Your local Apothecarist, Claude von Riegan, came up with this idea with one of the local bar-owners as a good way to drum up business amidst the Chosen for a place for the Chosen and the Chosen alone to be able to shed some of that weight they've been carrying. Claude himself has made no secret of the fact that he's the one who put this shindig together, openly advertising it as something of his own creation, a community building effort for everyone to bond with one another in a context in which they're not forced to do so by threat of death or imprisonment.

For this evening, liquor has been put out for the Chosen to serve themselves, and runs freely enough that everyone will be able to drink their fill, though there's a table at the back of the room laden with all sorts of bar snacks to help fill people's bellies and soak up some of that liquor; flatbreads and fried delights, a generous selection of meats and cheeses, and confections enough to satisfy even the most demanding sweet tooth.

Along the south end of the bar there are a collection of booths, far enough away from the booming sound system to be able to chat quietly amongst themselves, if you're the more retiring sort and would just like to have a nice talk over a pint or two. In this area, you may also find a few hookahs at your disposal, filled with tobacco or hashish, courtesy of Claude himself -- though he hasn't shied away from cheekily including business cards at each table, advertising his place of business should you wish to purchase teas, salves, potions, and yes, all manner of smokable delights.

In the centre of the establishment, chairs and tables have been cleared away to make room for dancing, if you so please, with the sound system at the Chosen's disposal if they want to pump up the beats or put on a slow song to rock to and fro with a honey or two (or three?).

Lastly, there's a brand new karaoke machine that's been installed along the far east corner of the room, in case anyone would like to thoroughly embarrass themselves. What do you mean, you're a good singer? Then get out of here! You should know by now that that's not what the spirit of karaoke is about!

If there's anything else you would like added, dear player -- just write it in, and it's yours! Whatever can feasibly fit into a bar, you can assume it's present for all and sundry to enjoy.

Comments

[feintofhart]

They come out of curiosity, find they like it, and keep on coming back, [ Claude amends, tapping the side of his nose with a cheeky little grin. It's as true for Claude as he knows it is for Silco, especially after his brief stint as a barkeep in that strange other lifetime, watching as the prudes and hypocrites sneered at him in the light of day, but came crawling to his side in the darkness of night, avoiding his eyes as they drank the night away. Alcohol is a spirit crueller than what Claude himself sells, he thinks, but he has no moral compunctions with it. People are free to make their own choices. All Silco is doing is offering one among many venues, nothing more, and nothing less. ]

Appearances be damned. And appearances are exactly what we're lacking from the Council. You know, I went in for a deeper inquiry after everything that happened with Rumpitur, searching for their legislative bodies, extant laws and regulations, their typical form of retribution, their outlook on recidivism -- and lo and behold: nothing. [ He snaps his fingers. ]

Not even a shred of paperwork to go through. Hypocritical of them, considering the whole conceit of this place. [ He glances sidelong at Silco. ] So you've gone for soft power instead, is that it?

[ He can recognize it. Mainly because he's doing the same damn thing, just in a different format, with different techniques. Not ownership, but reliance. Both have their pros and cons. ]

[conflictresolution]

Curiousity may win many over, much to your benefit it would seem. The samplers don't hurt as if gives people an excuse to try without particular risk to themselves. [There would always be a market if one knew where to have it, and this place would not be any different. There were already proving as such with the casino, the bar, and the apothecary. He and Claude had that in common.]

Did you? I expected that you would find nothing. The Council doesn't actually exist; it's a front for whatever else happens to be holding us here. It's a cheap gimmick to focus our attention one aspect of this place.

[All of this place was a sham on some level, but they had little choice but to live it. As Ragna had proved, there were consequences to breaking the system and brute force was such a waste of time. It would be the slow subtle game that was necessary here, whether this place was ever real or not. Even the paperwork he did was contrived and wasted time.]

Soft power? Hardly, I'm just a concerned citizen trying to make this place work so we have something to maintain.

[Silco had held off bringing Shimmer here in large quantities. He didn't think a city full of fake addicts would give him the power he needed to sustain what he had to, but Claude was making a good point with the drugs. Perhaps he'd alter his tactics some in the future.]

What are you gathering power for, hmm?

[feintofhart]

I knew I wouldn't find much, but one must do their due diligence, [ Claude says with a flap of his hand. He's come to the same conclusion. Just as he's coming to the uneasy conclusion that the people around them aren't real -- a simulacrum, as people say. But it's difficult for him to wrap his head around, hard for him to let go of his empathy for the people here, to conceive of the fact that they're not people. When someone comes to his shop for a cure to some ailment, his heart still bleeds for them even as he wonders if they're even real.

A strange place to be in, to be sure, to curry favour with those who are not real, while the invisible hand of the non-existent Council continues to steer their fates. He smiles at Silco. ]

I'm a concerned citizen who just happened to take over the local Apothecary in the aftermath of its owners' tragic demise. Where I'm from, any town needs an Apothecary, and the idea of one this size without one is unthinkable. [ He's not totally lying. That was why he took it over, at first. The ensuing expansion... well, that's just good business, isn't it? ]

But the Apothecary was meant to fuel the humble little town of Aldrip. A city of this size requires something a little more substantial.

[conflictresolution]

Of course. There's no point doing anything if you don't have a clear picture of the situation to the best of your ability. [Silco expected that this may change things for some Chosen and not for others. If the Council, the people, the city itself wasn't real, that only put one conclusion out there for them. And it forced him to consider what it meant for him cultivating a lie as much as he was.

No matter how unreal this place was, he had no choice. This was all he had, and he was lean into the lie to have some fraction of a longer existence.]

Well, it seems that we are both little more than concerned citizens cultivating a city that will benefit from our experience. [It wasn't entirely a lie, but Silco was still out for his own gains at this point. Once he was settled into what he had, then he might lay off but not until then.]

So you're expanding. That's reasonable. [He looked off across the city, tapping ash off of his cigar tip.] If you ever need an investor...

[feintofhart]

I appreciate the offer. An investor isn't really something I'm looking for quite yet.

[ He likes to maintain all control over his business. After his life back home, having to lead by committee, it's refreshing not to collaborate with anyone else and simply do as he personally sees fit. There is some admission there in which he would rather be the sole leader, in possession with all deciding powers, but that's not admission he'll ever utter aloud, no matter how ardently he feels it. Somehow, it doesn't seem like it would go over well.

He rather suspects Silco feels similarly, though Claude feels no ownership over Aldrip itself, at least -- just a desire for enough power to burst through whatever's controlling the damn place and to get him and his out. What becomes of it after that feels increasingly as though it's none of his business. ]

But I'd be happy to do trade with you, at least. Share in some resources, provide some materials for bitters and herbs you may wish to concoct, perhaps come to an agreement every now and then. There's no reason that the enterprising businessmen of this town can't collaborate. In fact, I think that would be wise. There's quite a few of us around here now, from you and I to the altruists in the healers brigade to Cait's Detective Agency.

[ He's dropping that last name casually, but he's vaguely aware that Silco has bad blood with the girls. He's just curious to see if he'll let on. ]

[conflictresolution]

[Silco completely expected the polite decline to his offer, and he had no reason to pull on that thread. It was done as a dig at Claude given their little unspoken rivalry when it came to gathering power in this place. He didn't believe that their business practices were much the same on the back end, though up front they appeared similar.

And he recognized that their motivations were vastly different from one another. Almost everyone here appeared to want to return to wherever they came from, but he wanted to have enough power to keep this place running so that he could persist here. In that way, he and Claude may just have competing interests, which would become problematic if one of them won and the other lost or was at risk of doing so.]

At this time, I don't have a need of your wares, but I may consider it in the future as my business needs change. [If he become one of the largest purchasers of goods from Claude, his orders would increase his power to negotiate prices and amounts theoretically. Aldrip's economy was different from normal.] There is opportunity for a business coalition in our future, yes.

[He wasn't fazed by the enforcer's name drop. He simply took another drag from his cigar. It didn't matter to him; she might think she was keeping track of him, but she had no idea.]