The Timeless Inn

[Redly]

The Timeless Inn exists in no place and in no time. Hence, the Inn can change to whatever suits you – within reason, of course. Let’s not get silly.

As this is a totally flexible RP, there are no formal rules, no formal character-building sheets or races, or weapons or times or settings. As such, it’s great if you want to test out a new character you’ve built for another game, or if you’re new to RPing and want to give it a shot, try this out before leaping into a formal game. There is no plotline, no formal gameplay. You can dip in and dip out as you please. All are welcome.

Note on rules: be polite, be respectful and standard RP rules apply, mainly that you can’t control other characters.

The Inn itself is the main structure. A large common area, a large bar, kitchens, pantries, etc. There are rooms upstairs, fit for any traveller and need. There are stables at the back, fit for any beast or steed, and grazing/eating areas for such creatures.

Surrounding the Inn, there is whatever you need. Sea, land, woods, mountains, rivers, anything. As the Inn exists in no place, it can be any place, and any time. As such, it is not advisable to go wandering away from the Inn - unless, of course, you seek the Unknown. 

[Redly]

Imagine stumbling through a fog so thick, you’re not sure which way is up and which is down. The concept of direction left you a few miles back there, and the theory of time fled, well, forever ago. You’re sure you should be hungry or thirsty. You’re sure you will need to sleep soon. Lost, slightly confused and wondering where that road vanished to, you keep putting one foot in front of the other, until…

Out of the fog, as quickly as the shroud enveloped you, comes a burning orange glimmer. So faint, at first, you think you’re imagining it. Then it becomes stronger and you quicken your pace, afraid and intrigued in equal measure. It must be a light, a lamp, a fire, some sign of civilisation. Each step brings you closer, until you’re standing underneath a single, glowing lamp. Black and old-fashioned, you gaze at it in wonderment. It stands atop a wooden pole and hanging from the pole is a wrought-iron frame. In the frame, a wooden sign. In beautiful script, in your own language, you realise, the words: The Timeless Inn.

Relief floods through you. An Inn! In this forsaken place. Thoughts of crackling fires, hot pies and cold drinks fill your mind. Soft beds, warm blankets, and you wouldn’t even mind some bugs with that. You plough ahead, and more lamps appear and, suddenly, so does the Inn.

Larger than you had expected, it rises like a ship from the land. You stare at it, surprised you found such a large Inn in the middle of apparently Nowhere. As you stare, you think you see parts of it changing, but surely not. A moment ago, that window was small covered in smoky glass, but now it is large and crystal clear. The wooden beams that criss-crossed that section to the right now seem to have bricks amongst them. And that piece over there, is that a metal support? No, now it looks like another wooden beam. The strange, changing nature of the Inn doesn’t deter you. The front door doesn’t change – it remains solid oak, wrought-iron rivets holding ornate hinges in place. A door knocker, a beast of uncertain origin and nature, stands proud in the centre. Unsure whether you should knock, such is the grandiose nature of the knocker, you pause before it, hand raised.

Then the door quietly unlatches and nudges open. Warmth and light and promises flood out into the fog, not dispersing it, but enhancing the thickness of it. Suddenly, the fingers of cold fog are too much and you step inside, pushing the door gently.

The room inside is expansive and yet cosy, exactly what you were looking for. Two giant fires burn steadily on either side, surrounded by comfortable winged arm chairs, wooden benches and tables and stools. It smells of wood varnish, apples, old leather and firewood. You take it all in, soaking in the gentle warmth and relaxation of the Inn. Then, you notice who you assume to be the Innkeeper, standing behind a large bar that runs the width of the room, almost.

The Innkeeper is looking directly at you, hands set wide on the bar, a wide and welcoming grin on her face.

"Welcome to the Timeless Inn. My name is Thorn. Please, do come in. Make yourself at home..." 

[Rapture]

"Thank you." The young man nods his head politrly as he steps through the door. A hand brushing his short messy hair out of his eyes. As he steps into the light his details become apparent. He is dressed in a 3 piece suit of fine make, black with a dark violet waistcoat underneath and a crimson shirt beneath that. His skin was as dark as the void between stars, though occasionally light flowed just below the skin. A ready smile lit his handsome face and reaches his violet eyes, eyes who's pupils constantly changed shape as he looked around. 

Approaching the bar he turns his smile to the bartender. "How much for a drink and a hot meal?"

[Redly]

Thorn levelled the newcomer, the latest Lost soul, with a steady gaze and a warm smile. Her expressive eyes took in the rather nifty suit and the utterly fascinating skin. But she said nothing. Thorn had seen many strange things pass through her Inn. Each of them she found as interesting as the rest. Each had a different story. 

When he sat, she shifted her weight, and leaned one elbow on the bar. Her hair, a deep fiery orange streaked with darker red and mahogany, fell from one shoulder. She carelessly pushed it back over a slender shoulder, out of her way. 

She smiled at his question. "That depends. For some of the Lost, it's an object they brought with them. For others, it's a job or a task. For others still, it's a story." Her eyes flicked down and back to his. It was hard not anticipate the shapes his pupils would make next. The pause she left was not uncomfortable, and then, "For you, I think the price is a story. You see, when you're the Innkeeper in a place like this, you don't get to go many places." Thorn paused and thought. "No, that's not true. I go all places, but am never truly there. This Inn, as I'm sure you've noticed, is not a regular Inn." 

Thorn straightened. "So, tell me your story. How did you come to be Lost?" She reached under the bar and took a spotlessly clean glass from underneath, setting it on the bar. "And while you tell me, what can I get you to drink?" 

[Rapture]

"There isn't much to tell, daily life was boring. So I left. Ended up here. It's amazing where one ends up when one wanders without a destination in mind." He smirked as he took a seat before the bar. "As for the drink. Surprise me."

[Kethlia]

The fog, the time, the sudden light, nothing seemed right.  Yet, the pull had felt all too familiar to be just a coincidence.  Now, there was a door so thick looking that it had to be a hideaway of sorts for something or another.  The door seemed strangely familiar as well, yet the figure before it was too modern in looks to match the era from which this door came from.

The figure steps closer to the door and it opens of it's own accord.  The light spills out over the threshold enveloping the figure and showing it to be a female in her mid years wearing loose fitting jeans and purple t-shirt that depicted a loading screen with the words "Caffeine loading...please wait." Above and below the screen depiction.  The woman's hand had reached out to catch the door handle but was left hanging in the air as the woman looked past the doorway and into the building.  

This building had the look of a tavern made into an inn.  The woman checked her surroundings and once again felt out of place.  The woman looks behind her and sees the fog has thickened even more as though it is trying to swallow this place whole.  She mentally shakes herself of the fear of being lost in that fog again and closes the door firmly behind her.  

She toward the figures she briefly saw in her early glance and sees the usual complexion of one next another with an equally unique hair color or rather blend of colors.  The woman raises a hand in a fist to mouth and coughs dryly.  She speaks softly towards the figures as she stuffs her hands in her back pockets.  "Sorry to intrude on place and present company, I was caught by a sudden fog and followed the lamp lights here.  May I stay until the fog let's up?" She raises her hand to cough into it again as she tries to calm her nerves. Stilling the slight shake in her hand by stuffing it back into her back pocket.

[Redly]

Thorn quirked an eyebrow at his response, smiled a little wider, flashing tiny little fangs and regarded this stranger. 

“Alright, fair enough. Many people end up here for the same reason. Only the Lost can come here. You can be Found again but usually only when you’re ready to be. Then you’ll leave and never return.” 

She moved down the bar, towards a large barrel at the end, pulled the tap mounted on the face of it and let a deep amber liquid pour into the glass. The sound of the liquid was loud in the empty room. While it poured, Thorn felt a shift that signalled a new Lost souls had arrived in her world. She couldn’t describe how she knew or what she felt, just that she knew when souls arrived. 

Returning to the colourful gentleman, she set the glass on the bar and slid it towards him with one finger. 

“At least do me the honour of telling me your name.”

The front door swung open then, silently, but Thorn noticed. Her eyebrow quirked again at the unusual clothes of the newest Lost soul, but a warm smile was on her face again. 

“Welcome! Welcome to the Timeless Inn. Please, come in.” Thorn gestured to another stool next to her first customer. “Of course you can stay, but please know this - the fog won’t lift. This isn’t a normal Inn. You are Lost.” 

[Rapture]

As he is about to use one of many smart alecked responses he paused. The laws of his kind reminding him she had asked politely and manners where manners. While there was little punishment to breaking so minor a law it would allow his siblings the hold they needed to summon him home and back to work. 

"It can't really be pronounced. But most of the mortal races, and some of the immortal ones as well. Call me Rapture. Rapture Nocturnas." As he speaks his name a black star travels under his skin. From behind his eye and down to his collar before vanishing. Invisible to the man himself but visible to Thorn and may be to their new friend.

[Redly]

Thorn was somewhat surprised to see the gentleman's face show a flicker of conflict when she asked for his name, but she supposed there were customs she wasn't aware of yet. She'd seen many different kinds of people, but certainly not all. 

"Rapture. That's an interesting name." Her keen eyes caught a point of black deeper than his skin travel from his eyes and down, and her curiosity was heightened. Still, time would tell his story, she was sure. It always did here. 

"Well, welcome Rapture. Rest assured, you are safe within these walls. How's the cider?" She nodded down towards the glass between them. 

[Rapture]

He sets the glass down having sampled some while she was speaking.

"Delicious thank you."

[Kethlia]

Unsure of what's going on but knowing that the confidence of the woman's words were absolute. She pulls her hands out of her pocket and walks up to the bar to sit where indicated.  "Um, thank you, Miss."  The woman looks closely at the bar.  "I am Yui." She blushes suddenly and looks away only to be startled by her bar companion's moving complexion. She blinks and looks away again, still blushing. "Just Yui is fine." She wasn't going to say her last name it was embarrassing.

[Kenai]

"What the hell!"

The inn door slammed open and a woman in full armor strode through, her sword firmly gripped in her right hand.  From the state of both the armor and the sword, it was evident she was in battle recently.  She sighed wearily as she looked around. 

"Of course its magical." 

Turning on her heel, she leaves the inn, letting the door slam behind her.  If one was close enough to the door, they would hear her swearing as she cleaned her blade and the worst of the gore from her armor. 

 

When she reentered, her sword was sheathed, but her demeanor was not any friendlier. 

"Who is responsible for bringing me here?  Send me back."  

Edited September 29, 2017 by Kenai

[Kethlia]

The woman named Yui yelps and falls off her barstool and onto the floor of the Inn.  Wildly she stands and looks with fear at the door. 

Right at that moment the person leaves and after some swearing reenters to show a woman armed for battle and very livid.

Yui slowly backs up to the bar and looks at her companions briefly before returning her fearful gaze back on the warrior woman.

"Mistress Alanna, we all seem to have been pulled here by being Lost." Yui names the person before her with the only thing that may convey respect and acknowledgement of the woman's prowess to temper her temper.

[Rapture]

He claps softly. "My that was an entrance." He smirks before returning to his drink

[Kethlia]

Yui jumps when her bar companion claps and relaxes a little bit with his words.  Hopefully, between the two of them the new companion will settle down.  If not she was ready for flight.

[Redly]

Thorn nods to Rapture. "You're welcome." Then she glances at the newest girl, sitting cautiously at the bar. "Hi Yui. I must say -" 

The door slammed open and Thorn cocked her head to one side at the sight of a newer Lost soul, apparently quite vexed at arriving in a magical Inn. She had just opened her mouth to say hi, when the newcomer strode back out. Thorn looked at the other two, then back to the door when she re-enters.  She registered a bit of surprise when Yui spoke a name, but brushed it off. Rapture's apt response made her smile, and she turned a kind smile to their newest companion. 

"Sorry, I can't answer that question - I don't know how people get here, just that they do when they are lost. Then they wander into this realm, become one of the Lost, and stay here until they become Found." She shrugged. "It's what happened to me. One minute, I was strolling down a street, minding my own business, not doing anything illegal whatsoever, and the next the thickest fog I've ever seen fell around me, and I found myself here." She gestured around. 

"I was quite glad, and stayed for a bit, then the Innkeeper, a gruff man called Tom, left and became Found. The Inn chose me as the next Keeper. I've been here ever since." 

Thorn straightened. "Can I get you ladies a drink?" 

[Kenai]

She removes her helmet, frowning slightly at the oddly scared woman.

"I am not your mistress.  Nor do I condone slavery." 

She removed the rest of her armor, running her fingers alongside the apparently worthless anti-magic runes that bordered every single piece.  She remained only in her tunic, leggings and chainmail.  Her sword she did not put up, but belted it around her waist.  Removing her armor seemed to her the most logical choice. It conveyed to the locals that she was willing to be friendly as well as if it came to a fight inside a tavern, the armor would only hamper her.

"Alanna seems a pretty name, although I have no idea what it means.  You may address me by it if you like.  And as for the entrance, I do suppose it was rather dramatic.  It was a rather...abrupt departure from the battlefield."

She remained standing but made sure to have her stance appear friendly.  She did however to make sure the door, the strange man with the moving shadows, and the innkeeper were all in her view.

"I will pass on the drink, or any offers of food until I must eat.  You seem friendly enough, but for all I know, this is the realm of the Fae."

Edited September 30, 2017 by Kenai

[Redly]

Thorn raised an eyebrow at the woman's abrupt tone, but kept the gentle smile on her face. A knowing smile. She watched the woman remove her armour, in a way that honoured it, and couldn't fail to notice the runes. 

She nodded when the now-Alanna passed on it all, spreading her hands wide and bowing her head slightly. "Of course, I take no offence. This place, though, is not of the realm of the Fae. It is of no realm. It just exists." She leaned her elbows on the bar and looked at them all, but addressed Alanna. "Here's my theory: there are cracks in the worlds, and sometimes we fall through them. Well, this is the place that exists between the cracks. You can fall between worlds, through cracks into others, but sometimes, you fall into this place." 

Thorn shrugged, more a raising of her shoulders. "However, I also think the Inn calls certain people here. People don't just fall into this realm at random. You have to be Lost in some way to fall through to here." 

"So, rest assured, this place is not of the Fae. All the food and drink I have is safe and not enchanted or poisoned in any way. You can see the tree I get the apples from. I farm it all myself. I have no interest in harming any of the travellers in my Inn."

[Kenai]

"Lost in some way.."  Alanna repeated the innkeepers words to herself.  "That would be an accurate description. I've been a title for so long, I think I've forgotten how to be myself." 

 

She looked a bit surprised that the admission came so easily.  A flicker of annoyance crossed her face, but what was done is done.  This after all, wasn't the Imperial Court.  They weren't going to go running with whispers of her weakness the very minute she turned her back.  Who would they tell? The apple tree? 

"I require a place to bath both myself and my armor.  However, first I find myself in the position of owing an apology." 

Alanna gave a brief dip of her head to the scared girl.  "I apologize as it seems my manner has startled you.  It was not my intention.  I mean you no harm.  May I inquire as to what you are called?"

[Redly]

Thorn bowed her head slightly in acknowledgement. "Most times, it is because people have lost who they are that they become Lost here. However, this place is very good at letting you find yourself."

She turned around while Alanna spoke to Yui, walking out from behind the bar to where a doorway led to the back of the Inn. Hanging in the darkened hallway was a very unassuming cabinet and inside a host of keys. Thinking to herself which would suit Alanna, Thorn selected one, a heavy brass key with a paper tag reading '7' on it. 

Back behind the bar, she set the key on the bar. 

[Rapture]

"Well that was amusing." He said placing his empty glass on the bar. "Anything to eat?"

[Kethlia]

Yui relaxed more upon feeling the ambience of the place seem less threatening.  She blushed quite  bit when the woman before dressed down from her battle regalia of her time accepted her name and after talking with the Innkeeper asked for her name as well. 

"I am Yui." She replies and can't help a smirk when their male companion speaks his mind.  "I don't know if I have lost something of myself but I do know that I was directionally lost with my map or GPS handy."

Yui recalls that the Innkeeper had said quite a few things to her during "Alanna's" entrance and remembers only the most recent rather clearly. She turns away from the man and Alanna politely to face the Innkeeper as she replies. "Hot cocoa for me please."

She turns her attention back to her Lost companions.  "May I know your names or the names that you actually prefer?"

[Rapture]

"I like Bob. Does Bob work?" He smiles looking between the three women for a response.

[Kenai]

"It works about the same as Alanna does." 

Alanna picks up the key with a nod to the innkeeper and begins the arduous job of moving her armor to her assigned door.  She opened the door and released the breath she didn't realize she was holding.

The room was perfect. 

It was sparsely furnished, with a dresser and a simple cot.  In the back there was a small alcove with a curtain.  Pulling the curtain back revealed a washing tub.  Alanna sat on the cot and for the first time since arriving, she smiled.  The room reminded her of a fancier version of when she was first assigned into the barracks as a child. 

Ignoring her stomach growling, she resolutely got up and proceeded to start cleaning her armor and sword.

 

[Redly]

Thorn's peculiar eyes glanced between Yui and Rapture - now Bob - and finally to Alanna. She jerked her chin in Bob's direction and grinned. "That depends on what you like to eat. I've got mutton, lamb, venison and chicken. I also have various different vegetables, fresh from the plot outside, and fruits. I'm afraid I have no bananas - the Inn hasn't been placed anywhere tropical or convenient for a while." She looked to Yui and back to Bob. "I have a shoulder of lamb fresh out of the oven, slow-cooked and ridiculously tender, if you'd like that and some bread? It sure beats stew." 

"Yui, I must say, that's the first time I've heard of someone becoming lost because they left their sat nav at home! What were you looking for?" Whilst waiting, Thorn busied herself grabbing a big mug from under the bar. She quickly nipped through the door that led to the hallway and the stairs to the rooms. A smaller, cooler room behind a heavy wooden door was the pantry and Thorn grabbed a generous helping of powdered cocoa, a few pieces of milk chocolate she had traded with another of the Lost travellers from a while back, and a small ceramic container. Coming out the pantry, she swung left and into the kitchen as Alanna was heading upstairs. A large cauldron hung over a pile of glimmering embers, bubbling gently. Grabbing a ladle from the nearest utensil stand, she spooned boiling water into the mug in her hand, inhaling the scent of cocoa powder and melting chocolate. Before leaving the kitchen, with a spare finger, she grabbed up a teaspoon and headed back to the bar. 

Setting the now-steaming mug on the bar in front of Yui, she smiled and pushed the container towards her. "Hot cocoa, with real chocolate and, if you wish, cinnamon on top. Enjoy!"