Tavern Brawls S06WK00

The day’s heat was baking the dust on the street when all of the Brawl participants gathered at The Two Brothers.  Every table was packed with patrons cooling themselves with cold ales and sampling the tavern’s culinary wares.  Seating spilled into the street for lack of room inside the building proper with children taking advantage of the extra room by chasing each other with wooden swords and staffs.  Shouts could be heard across the tavern as old friends saw each other for the first time in months or years and laughter rang over the loud din of conversation.  Wait staff bustled with full hands among the tables, most of them laughing along with the patrons.  Steam poured out of Kevin’s carts as they rolled down a track along the outer wall, drinks sitting in the cart beds to be sent to the farthest tables.

Fletch and his team were impressed by the setup.  Chris and Kevin had actually pulled off a great setting.  Everyone seemed happy and ready to start the event.  But, something was nagging at Fletch.  He couldn’t put a finger on his discomfort, but he was missing something and he knew it.

Just before noon, everyone directed their attention to Chris and Kevin, who had climbed on top of the bar to thunderous applause.  Two men standing on a bar was not usually an applaudable event, but the energy in the tavern was palpable.  Everyone was excited to begin.  Chris gathered himself as the applause began to die down.

“Welcome to the sixth incarnation of Thandar’s official Tavern Brawl!!”

The roar of the crowd was deafening.  Chris smiled at his brother, who shrugged somewhat sheepishly.  After a moment, the cheers abated and the young proprietor began again.

“We’re excited to have you here at The Two Brothers!  If you need anything please find any of our staff and we’ll do whatever we can to make this the best Brawl ever!”

More applause followed this last statement, but less than before.  Everyone was anxious to get through the formalities and start bashing at each other.

“With the Brawlmaster temporarily incapacitated in the accident during the Draft, he has asked us to remind you to have a good clean Brawl, to have fun, and especially to welcome any newcomers to the event.  In particular, we welcome our new non-human friends to the Brawl.  We’re thrilled to have you here!”

This statement elicited a few claps along with a fair amount of murmuring.  Opening up the Brawl had been a largely popular decision, but those that disagreed were generally vocal with their opinion.  Ignoring the change in the room, Chris continued his opening announcement.

“In order to make this event as awesome as possible, we do have a few house rules for you while the event is running:

First of all, be kind to the wait staff.  They’re the ones bringing you drinks and if you harass or shout at them, they WILL throw you out.

Second, while the Brawl can be violent, many of you brought your families.  So, let’s keep it as family friendly as possible and watch the language here in the tav-”

A voice shouted from the back of the tavern, “WHAT!  I can’t swear?! Who the hell do you think you are, you motherf-ahh!!!!”

The man’s sentence was cut off by a crisp ping and thud as Fletch’s arrow whizzed through the air, shattered the mug the man was holding, and stuck in the wall behind him.

“In case you were wondering,” Chris continued, “Security is on hand.  Now where was I?  Ah yes, this is a family event.”

This comment found a few chuckles from the nearby tables as the burly fighter sat slowly down and grabbed a new drink from one of Kevin’s passing carts.

“We know this can get the blood going and ‘connections’ can be made unexpectedly.  But please take those elsewhere and keep your pants on in here.  Yes, I’m talking to you, Kalibok.”

A large man sitting near the entrance stood up angrily and looked ready to throw something at the insolent young man at the bar, but spotted Fletch 10 paces away.  He began muttering to himself about just wanting to watch the event and sat down.

“Finally,” Chris continued, “if anyone finds themselves in a match against the brawler sponsored by CorranRust by the name of Gillyflower, we have free drinks for your entire table if you win.  He knows why.  Call it a directive from us, if you like.”

Chris stepped down from the bar towards a large lever near the wall while his taller brother took his place at the front of the bar.  Kevin took in a lungful of air and shouted, “Let the games begin!”

As Kevin shouted, Chris pulled the lever next to him and the floor opened.

—–

Everyone, including Fletch and his young companions, stared in awe as the floor virtually disappeared into a wide grid of supports overlooking 5 arena rings.  Rather than falling, all of the tables, chairs, and occupants were supported by a transparent material that appeared to be glass, but seemed to be much more resilient to strikes and weight.

As the crowd looked at the sight below them in wonder, flashes of light appeared high along the outer edges of the wall, sparking as though striking a flint.  After a few moments, the sparks grew and died, leaving behind a duller version of the portals used during the Draft.  Fletch noticed that the energy around each portal was significantly diminished from the previous version and out of the reach of most patrons.  Cantrip immediately recognized these portals as well.  “They’re only one-way,” she explained.  “We can see them, but anyone on the other side can’t see us.  Much easier to produce and maintain, especially if the distance is smaller.”

Indeed, the portals seemed to show different fighting arenas, with various officials and technical crews preparing each of the areas.  The practicality was evident in having remote viewing stations for the fights and would help with security, but Fletch was incensed.  That was what he had missed earlier.  The tavern had been ready, but he had never seen the arenas.  How had he not been told any of this?  How had he missed this completely?

With the Brawl participants making their way to the various staircases nearby, the investigators fought their way through the crowd to the bar where Chris and Kevin stood smiling and waving at anyone looking their way.  Fletch walked to the bar and, slamming his fist on the wood, pointed at the floor and portals.

Chris smiled broadly at the ranger.  “Cool, right?” he asked.  “We’ve been working on that for months.  The wizards helped too, so even though it looks huge when you’re physically down there, it’s actually no bigger than the tavern.  We could not have pulled this off without that bit of magic.”

Fletch stared at the young man in exasperation.  Selena stepped up and placed her hand on his before his anger got the better of him.  “I think,” she began, “Fletch wants to know why he, and now we, didn’t know about this beforehand.  This completely changes how we manage security and everyone is already here, making it difficult to adjust easily.”

“We hadn’t thought about that,” answered Chris.  “We just wanted to surprise everyone.  I can see what you’re saying though.  But, Fletch is the best, so I’m sure you’ll make it work.  Now, my brother and I want to see some of the matchups for this first round, especially The Decepticons vs The Atychiphobics.  Excuse us.”

With a final farewell, the proprietors of The Two Brothers made their way to the general seating area to get a better view of the various arenas below through the viewing portals, leaving Fletch, Cantrip, and Selena standing at the bar alone.