Wolf's Head Tavern

The common room of the 'Wolf' is a welcoming place, for a tavern. Walls of grey stone and ancient wooden floors are stained with the passage of time, but clean and well cared for. A long oaken bar takes up most of one wall, the kitchen door behind it. Also behind the bar are several small casks of wine, ale and the infamous apple brandy Sophia sells here. Two thick-paned windows look out onto the yard. At the very back of the room, next to the fireplace, is a staircase leading into the upper story.

The common room of the tavern is just that and, the evening's crowd having cleared out, the tables are pushed against the walls. The floor, especially nearest the hearth, is covered with the bedrolls of those lodgers unable or unwilling to spare the coin for a room. A few of the latest lingerers sit under the stairs or at the bar, conversing in somewhat subdued tones. These few hours before dawn are the only time the Wolf is ever truly quiet.

Through the window, you can see that it's fair and mild, with a few clouds in the sky.

----

Collins runs a towel across the bar and then proceeds to clean several mugs. She looks about for anybody who could use a refill.

Collins stands behind the bar trying to fend off a rather large man who wants a date. "Darlin' iffin I were wantin someone, it wouldna be you." She laughs and goes back to the drinks of others.

Papusza steps into the tavern with a quiet rustle of her skirts. Head ducked slightly to avoid catching the eye of anyone, she starts straight for the bar.

Collins notices new movement out of the corner of her eye. She turns to see the woman come in from outside. She motions her head to the far side of the bar, a little more private corner. "Miss, would ye be wantin th stool I have over 'ere?"

Papusza blinks, taking a moment to register someone speaking to her. She slowly lifts her head, shaking dark curls back from her face. A hesitant smile forms on her lips, and she nods slowly. "Yes, I am thanking you," she replies in a low voice, as she heads towards the offered stool. "There are ... enough people," she comments with a soft, nervous laugh, as she gets settled in.

The door opens, and Jason ambles in. His hand tugging on the belt, keeping his pants aloft. He strides into the tavern, heading in the direction of his favoriate bar stool.

Collins looks back over to the door. "Jason! Tis good ta see ya." She turn back to the quiet woman. "What'll ye be havin, miss?" Her hands wiping on a bar towel.

Papusza casts a quick glance over at the door, peering out from behind curls. Again, it takes her a moment to realize she's being spoken to, and she turns back to Collins with an almost blank expression. "Oh, uh, I will be having of ... ale, if you please," she manages, strange accent heavier than usual.

Jason smiles widly at the greeting, and nods to the other lady as he takes his seat. "So, how is my favoriate barmaid?" He asks Collins when she finally makes it to his seat.

"Ale. It tis, miss." Collins has her usual bright smile and attitude. She turns back to the man with a twinkle in her eye. "She be fine, I s'pose. How's me favorite drunk?" She laughs and turns her back for two ales.

Dark eyes study the newest arrival intently, as Papusza again peers out from a curtain of curls. After a moment of this, she seems to remember herself, and quickly becomes enchanted with the surface of the bar, quietly drumming her fingers against it, listening to the rhythmic noise of her many rings against it.

"Not quite in a place to live up to my reputation." Jason replies to the question with a laugh. "Not bad all in all, could be worse."

Collins turns back, setting a mug in front of Jason. She gives him a slight wink and then ventures to Papusza with her mug. "There ye are lass." She looks at the woman for a moment. "What be there on th bar taht has all ye in'trest?"

Papusza looks up at the question, drawing her hands back into her lap, balled into lose fists. "Oh, there is - there is nothing, no, of course," she says, nodding down at the empty spot. "I was only ... in thinking." She shrugs a shoulder, before bringing her hands back up to take the mug. "I am owing now?"

Jason turns the mug in his hand, smiling and listening before leaning back and downing a large precentange of the liquid in one swig.

Collins shrugs. "Ya can pay when ye leave. I knows ya won't run out on me." She smiles to the woman. A less than full mug lands back on the bar. She turns around to see that it belongs to Jason. "Drinkin a bit faster than usual?"

Papusza smiles softly, nodding her head. "I am thanking you, then," she replies, voice still kept low. Jason's quick drinking gets a slightly raised eyebrow from her, as she takes a small sip herself, almost as if unaccustomed to the brew in the mug. Softly, the drink gets put down on the area of the bar that had held her interest so earlier.

Jason just smiles, shaking his head, "No, not really. Not if you recall I have a lot of ground to catch up on."

Collins laughs. "That ye do. That ye do." She takes a mug from another patron and fills it, dodging the man's hand. "Ye keep tha ta yerself." She shakes her head and leans against the bar.

Papusza smiles softly, as she settles more on her stool, slowly growing a bit more at ease in the surroundings. "You are liking of the drink then?" she inquires to Jason, question merely polite curiosity, no judgement intended in the tone.

Jason turns to the question, smiling widely, "Oh, you could say that me and Ale have a long history together." He glances at her mug, "You, on the other hand, seem to be a little unaccustomed to it."

"A loooong his'try." Collins laughs, "Ye be all right, lass?" She lean against a hand and looks across the bar to Papusza.

Papusza's smile goes somewhat sheepish again, and she looks down to her own mug, slender fingers coming up to tuck curls back behind her ears - much in vain, as the tresses just fight free moments later to fall forward once again. "Oh. I am just not much being used to the ... piav. The - drink." She picks up her mug, taking another small sip. "It is very good, though." Collins gets a small smile and nod in answer to her inquiry.

Jason grins widely, as if he himself has just been complimented. "Wunderful!" He says, "It does take some gettin' used ta.. but you'll get there.'

Collins chuckles. ""Phia's brew is quite th best in th land." She slaps a hand that tries to get a bit too close. She chuckles and looks at Jason, grinning. "He keeps askin me ta go home wid him."

Papusza laughs softly, nodding her head. "I will keep ... with the practice then," she says with a wry grin, as she takes another small sip.

Jason shrugs at Collins, as if this was a given. "'coure he would Collins Lass, I told ya. Everyone wants to bring home a pretty lady." He nods to the other patron at the bar, "Aye, practice makes perfect.'

"Well, he canna have me." Collins says this almost straight to the man who was giving her advances. The man scowls and walks away to one of the other women in the bar. She turns back to the lady. "Ya know. I donna remember yer name, lass."

Papusza watches, almost curiously, at the antics of the man, before turning her attention back to Collins. "Papusza Vlahy Chergari," she replies, almost automatically, before pausing. "Though I am just to be going by Papusza to ... those of friends." A soft smile is partly hidden as she takes another sip of ale.

Jason nods slowly, "Thats good." He says, taking another drink. "See, I dunno how many would be able to say the rest of your name with any frequencey without getting their tounge in knots."

Collins nods. "Papusza, then?" She smiles to Papusza. "And where would ye be from? Iffin ye donna mind me askin." She leans on the bar. "Me, meself, I be from Scotland. As iffin ye couldna tell."

Papusza laughs softly, ducking her head at Jason's comment. "Do not need to be worrying of the rest, then," she assures him. "I am from ... many places." She makes a bit of a sweeping motion with her hand. "We were ... of the traveling, very much. Home was of who was there, not of where I was being."

Jason smirks slightly, noding as well, "I can understand traving quite a bit. Just decided to make this place my home." Refering to the city or to the barstool, your can't seem to tell.

Collins smiles. "Ye be a gypsy? The thins I bet ye have seen!" Collins smiles and places a hand on top of Jason's, just patting it.

Papusza grimaces slightly, gesturing with a hand to not say such things too loudly. "I might be of ... such things, but - I would not be saying for certain. Some are not liking such things, much. And I am not wanting trouble." The disclaimer taken care of, she relaxes faintly, voice still low as she indulges in a small smile. "Many things were to be seen, yes. But that is of the past. I am being here now."

Jason rolls his eyes, "Just a sailor lass. Not anything fancy." He smirks and turns his head. "No one wants trouble, but sometimes it just follows.'

Collins nods. "How did ye find yer way here? We all has our story." A towel in Collins' have is wiped across the bar.

Papusza looks down at the surface of the bar again, biting her lip. "It is not very much interesting. I was ... running - of some things. To be- After much time, I am finding myself here. I was not ... having of much to return to, and thought to just stay." She shrugs faintly, her story halted enough to hint that there may be more to the story than readily revealed.

Collins smiles and pulls a little closer to Papusza's corner of the bar. "C'mon lass. What be yer story. Tell old Collins." She smiles, the smile of someone you can trust.

Papusza smiles softly, eyes lifting to glance quickly sidelong around at the others in the bar, then to study Collins a long moment, before dropping back to the bar again. "There was ... misunderstanding. Those of my ... family - it was thought that I had ... done what I had not; what I would /never/. But - not to be a trial - so ... I was told by my Nano to ... nash! - to go, run. I was obeying, and ... now am here."

"Ya were runnin from sumone? Tha is not a good feelin." Collins actually sounds like she knows the feeling. She gets lost a little in her thoughts. "Tha be kinda how I found meself here."

Papusza lets out a long breath, nodding her head. "From many," she agrees in a somber voice, setting her jaw for a moment. She mulls silently for a moment, before looking back up at Collins. "You are having a story, too, then, yes?"

Collins chuckles. "Aye. lass." She bites her lip for a moment. "We all do. Stories are what we have tha be seperatin us from each other. How we be findin ourselves here. Th fact that we canna leave. Tha be what be bringin us t'gether."

Papusza considers this, then nods slowly. "I am having nothing to leave for. But sometimes, my heart, it is crying to again be free to roam." She gently puts a hand over her chest, as if to quiet a heart beneath. "It is not understanding of such things." She pauses to take a small sip of her ale. "What is being your tale for being here, then?"

"Lass, ye canna leave. Trust me. I been try'n." Collins sighs. "Me story be much like yours. I was bein' chased. Fell inter the swamp and found meself here the next mornin'"

Papusza quirks one corner of her mouth up in a grim, crooked smile at the news, and nods slowly. "I have heard of as much. It is still not helping to make it easier to be happy with the staying." Her hand now moves up to clutch lightly at the ring around her neck. "You are wanting to go home, then?"

Collins shrugs. "Been thinkin this may be th place fer good fer me." Collins smiles. "'phia takes good care a me." She catches light with her eye. "What be the ring fer?"

Papusza's wrist tightens around the ring a moment, before falling back to her lap. "It was belonging of my daj - my mother. It was given by my - father. It is not to fit me, but I am liking to keep it close." She glances about the tavern again. "Are you being happy here, then?"

Collins nods and gets a bit of a sad look. "It be good ta have sumthin of yer parents." Collins lets out a deep sigh and finds that same spot on the bar that Papusza finds. "They were killed when I was young."

Papusza smiles sympathetically, eyes casting down quickly. "I am not ever knowing of my father. My mother was ... joining the spirits - short while ago." She blinks rapidly a few times, suddenly feeling the need to take a much bigger sip of the ale.

Collins smiles. "Mine be murdered in front o me. I hid. In th bushes." She sighs deeply.

"My mother...," Papusza begins, looking up still with sadness, but also a bit of surprise. "I was - to be seeing, too. It was ... of that - the killing - Some thought it was ..." Unable to finish the sentence, she just gestures idly in her own direction.

".... You?" Collins reaches a hand over and lightly pats yours. She looks down at the mug. "Lemme refil tha fer ye." She takes the mug and turns to refil it.

Papusza smiles thinly, looking up at nodding her head at the offer. "I will be thanking you," she murmurs in a quiet, distracted tone. "I am not telling anyone of that, before. These things - they are not being pleasant to think about, are they?"

Collins shakes her head as she sets the mug down. "No. They be not. But iffin ye ever need sumone ta talk ta... I'll be tha one." Collins turns and picks up her own mug and takes a long draw from it.

Papusza smiles, the first sincere one in awhile. "I would be appreciating that," she replies, nodding slightly. She picks up her drink, sipping deeply. "And of you too. If you would be wanting to speak of it."

Collins nods. "Tha be good ta know fer me as well." She looks down in her mug of ale and then back to the woman. "What do ye be doin here?"

Papusza furrows her brow, looking confused a moment, before nodding in understanding. "You mean - as for working? I am selling of some ... goods and services. From my camp. They are not to be spoken of, freely, though." She drops her voice. "I do not think those of the church would be approving." She's oblivious as to what it /sounds/ like, and just nods solemnly.

Collins raises an eyebrow. "Lass, ya canna be talkin bout it like tha. Ye be soundin' like one a tha wenches." Collins chuckles. "Yer services serve a purpose."

Papusza's brow furrows again, though this time realization is accompanied with a faint blush and embarrassed smile instead of a nod. "Oh, no! Yes, I am meaning ... not of things like /that/. Only of things of ... a certain nature that is of use to those needing help that the ... church is not being able to offer them."

Collins nods. "I knows what ye speak of." Collins takes a sip. "And like I be sayin. There be a place fer thins such as tha."

Papusza nods slowly, as she takes another sip of her drink, not minding the taste so much by this point. "It is - of how I was taught. And here - there is more to be done, it is seeming to me. Greater to the power." She glances around, dropping her voice again. "But I do not much speak of such things. That was also of how I was taught."

Collins shakes her head. "ye can tell me. It be intrestin." Collins leans in close. She nods to another woman who takes over the bar.

Papusza smiles gently, casting a few sidelong looks about. "Mostly I was learning of the future. To be forecasting of such things. My mother, she was drabardi - and she was teaching me of it."

Collins says quietly, "Fortune tellin'? Fascinatin. Could ye do iy fer me?" Collins looks wide eyed, very interested.

Papusza studies the other woman a moment, before nodding her head in agreement. "I could be, yes. It would not be here, though. I have not been bringing anything with me, and I am not wanting to draw too much attention. But if you would be coming to my camp, I could be offering something, of course."

Collins smiles. "What about me room? Could ye do it there?" Collins peers across the bar.

Papusza glances about, considering. "Perhaps, yes. I would not be having my things, though. It would not be being a full reading, but perhaps if you were wanting just to be having your ... palm read."

Collins nods furiously. "Roxanne! Can ye be watchin th bar?" Rozanne looks over at Collins and nods. "Papusza, let's go." Collins rips off her apron and tosses it on the back bar. She walks around the bar to Za.

Papusza blinks, a bit surprised by the eagerness, but she nods and takes a last sip of her ale before stepping lightly down from her stool. "You are living right here?" she inquires, glancing over at the staircase.

Collins nods. "Aye. Have been since me first night." She motions up the stairs.

-----

Room 2 - Wolf's Head

This is a rather small, but comfortable guest room. The rushes spread over the wooden plank floor are fairly fresh and have been mixed with sweet-smelling grasses. A wooden bedstead with a mattress and featherbed stands against the interior wall. On top of the closed chest provided for lodgers' belongings sits a candle and a tinderbox. The room is colder than the taproom below and the bed is furnished with heavy quilts. A small window allows for light and air, but there is no grate, only the ambient heat of the chimney on the inside wall. A single wooden chair and table take up the rest of the small space.

----

Collins holds the door open. "Taint much. But it be home."

Papusza smiles, as she steps inside, looking about with fond awe. "It is nice," she says sincerely, moving a few more feet into the room to clear the door, but certainly not the sort to make herself at home without being bidden to do so. Looking faintly awkward, she stands there, idly turning one of her tighter bracelets on her wrist.

Collins smiles. "Come in. Have a seat." Collins closes the door. "Where would ye like ta be doin this?"

Papusza takes another quick look around, as if trying to decide. "Perhaps if we were moving the table in to close to the ... bed, so that we are both being able to sit." She shrugs. "But it is able to be done anywhere, really."

Collins shrugs. She moves the table over to the bed and places the chair to one side. So that one can sit in the chair. Collins moves to sit down on the bed. She looks up at you with wide eyes.

Papusza tucks her curls back behind her ears again, as she quickly makes her way over to the chair and takes a seat. "If you will just be giving me of your ... left hand," she instructs, holding out her right one, palm up.

Collins looks down at your hand and swallows. She is a bit nervous, bit very interested. She holds out her left hand on the table. "This one?" She says...

Papusza smiles softly, nodding her head as she moves to gently scoop the hand in her own to look at it closer. "You are knowing you want to continue?" she asks, now looking up to study Collins' face.

Collins wrinkles her brow. "To continue? Um... I want to know if I will ever find my way out of here and possibly..." She blushes. "If a certain man feels more that I think he does."

Papusza smiles understandingly, nodding her head as she looks again back down to the hand. "Matters of the heart are - most common in my services being called for," she notes. "The reading of palms are not being more ideally suited to such questions, but I will be trying to see what I can. If I was having of my cards or runestones, I could be working much better." With that taken care of, she squares her shoulders and looks closer at the palm. "You will be holding such questions in your mind, to be focusing the reading, if you will."

Collins nods. Her gaze going from Za to her hand and back. Like the woman is going to pull out some powder and blow her up. Just that intense of the situation.

Papusza is rather at ease with the whole deal, but as much is to be expected given that this /is/ the norm for her. "We will begin, then, with your life line," she says, accent still heavy, but English suddenly much improved. "It is representing your length of life and vitality. Most important." She nods soberly, index finger coming out to gently trace along Collins' life line.

Collins smiles. "And what does it say?" Collins looks down at her hand. Eyes wide and intent.

Papusza hrms softly under her breath, as she studies it thoughtfully, though the pause is partly for effect. "It is long, yes. Which is a very much good sign. But there are many breaks, which indicate changes - likely sudden. This one, here-" She pauses, to gesture, "-would show a most sudden and unwelcome change. To the future, though, it would seem there will be both success and failure, though more of the former, thankfully. Your life will likely be long, if there are not to be any sudden surprises, but the end of it will be clouded by illness, if you are not careful of yourself."

"Illness? Hoe do ye be seein tha?" Collins peers into her own hand, trying to see the words inside. "But... But a long life?"

"These small lines that cross it here, near the end," Papusza explains, trying to indicate it with her pinky, but unable to point very precisely. "Yes. Should you choose wisely, you have it in you a great potential of long life. It is not to say for certain, of course. Rather, it is showing what /could/ be, if you are making the right choices along the path."

"Right choices?" Collins looks a little scared. "Like what choices?"

Papusza shrugs a shoulder, never quick to get pinned down to specifics in such matters. "Choices. You will make many during your life. Moral, spiritual, financial, social - they are all leading to the same. You've made several already, some right, some-" She peers closer at the hand, making a quiet, thoughtful noise. "Hrm - some wrong. But yet, there is still the chance to be right, here."

Collins swallows hard. "Wrong choices? What iffin ye didna have a choice.? What then?" Collins breathes faster, excited by all of this.

Papusza gently runs her finger along the line again, brow furrowing slightly. "Choices that cannot be made were never really choices to begin," she muses quietly. "Then you are left to the choices you /do/ have. And you will just be left to make of them what you are being able to. What it is in your heart - that is more important than much else." She looks up at Collins' face again, offering a small, reassuring smile. "And this is being only one line."

"In me heart." Collins sighs. "Enough of all a tha. What about me love life?"

Papusza nods, growing serious once again. "Of course. The most important matter," she replies, looking back to the hand again. "Of course, your hand can only tell of you, and not of another. Still - it may be giving you of some ideas, I would hope." Her index moves to run gently along the heart line now. "Another strong line, yes."

"Strong line. That's good... Right?" Collins giggles, becoming more comfortable with the whole situation.

Papusza smiles softly again, nodding. "It is indicating to me that you are likely well-intentioned and kind. You are meant to love with your whole heart, most faithful to those who will allow you to be." She now moves to run her finger along the head line. "Heart longer than head. Are you likely ruled by your heart, your emotions?"

Collins cocks her head to one side. "Ya see all tha in me hand?" Collins peers down. "Tha be truly amazin."

Papusza nods again, looking from face to hand a few times. "It is being a simple matter, really," she replies with a bit of a shrug. "But - there is fear, too. Of loving and not being loved. Or losing love. It is not entirely clear. Your heart is good and can be trusted. If you can choose as your heart demands, there is great chance for good things. To deny, and things will be harder, but - still, not impossible."

Collins pulls her hand away and looks at it. "That be... Scary." She gives you a sideways glance. Her head cocks to one side, "How do... How be.... I donna understan."

Papusza drops her own hand to rest palm-down on the table, now that it's empty. "What is it that you are not understanding?" she asks, tilting her head to mirror such actions. "I am only to be telling you what I see there. What you are to be doing with it, that is up to you..."

Collins looks deep at her hand. "How can ye see such thins? Is it magic?" Collins looks back to your eyes. "Are you one a them from the woods?

"This?" Papusza says, eyebrows going up slightly. "This is not magic. It is knowing and seeing things that are simply there. Anyone can be seeing of those lines, but those who know how can be seeing more." Her eyes go faintly wider at the last question, and she shakes her head. "No. I am not of the woods. This is just what I am growing up knowing. I am living near, though. And can sense of something there..."

Collins gives an instant look of surprise. "What do ye see? What ha ye seen? Tell me, please." Collins almost hops with excitement.

Papusza looks a bit surprised at the excitement. "I am not seeing much. I am keeping mostly to my own business. But there is much power there. I am not wanting to get involved, but I can't be helping but feel it."

"What do you think be there?" Collins is wide eyed and speaks hushed, like someone could be listening.

Papusza shrugs her shoulders, looking down at the table's surface for a long moment. "It is not something I have been feeling before. They are being powerful, but - dangerous, as is being anything powerful. They are being old, and - there is being something very different about them, but what - I cannot be quite sure."

"Powerful. Hmm." Collins leans against an arm in thought. She looks back after a moment. "Ha ye ever seen em? besides... /that/ night?"

Papusza considers this, shivering slightly at the reminder, then shakes her head. "No. I - am not thinking so. Sometimes, I am thinking I have seen something, but then - nothing is really there. But I am guessing it is just my imagination. It is hard not to ... think as such when there are feeling like that in the air."

Collins looks at her hands. "Tha night. He just disappered. I donna understan wha happened. Do ye?" She sets her hands on the table. Trying to feel the sensation of something solid.

Papusza shakes her head slowly now, her own eyes going a bit wide. "No. I have never been doing /that/ before when I am trying to help someone. I - It was being a magic much, much more and different than mine."

Collins purses her lips in thought. "Have ye ever thought that ye belonged somewhere? Even though ye never been there before?"

Papusza furrows her brow again, looking faintly confused. "I am not understanding quite what you mean?" she says, trying again to tuck her hair back behind her ears.

"Tha ye be belonging somewheres. When ya ha never been there." Collins plays with a finger on the table. "Like here. This place."

Papusza lapses into silence a few moments, considering this. "I am not, really. It is not for me to be feeling like I belong anywhere, really. But - I am thinking you feel as much?"

Collins nods. A smile crosses her face. "Yes. This place is very much me home." She chuckles. "even found it by accident."

Papusza smiles softly, bowing her head in a nod. "It is being very nice here. I am not to be saying I am unhappy. It is being as much like home as any of the lands I have crossed. But for it is missing people." She sighs, but doesn't remain unhappy long. "I am being glad, though, that you are finding it as much."

Collins nods. She gives a bit of a yawn. "I am ta be thankin ya fer all ye said ta me. Given me a bit o thought."

Papusza smiles, getting to her feet. "You are most welcome. If you are wanting to know more, I can be working better at my camp. But I am staying too long, now. I will be bidding you a good night and heading home, thanking you."

Collins stands. "Thank ye. Please, donna be a stranger." She gives a wide grin and walks over to open the door.

Papusza smiles, nodding into a slight bow again, as she heads for the door. "I will be seeing you, then," she says pleasantly, before slipping out into the hall beyond.

Collins looks out after her guest and then down to her hand. "Amazin." She laughs to herself as she closes the door.