The Mud Clod (Walk In/Open) - Printable Version

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The Mud Clod (Walk In/Open) - amzamiviram - 06-27-2015

((Allright screw it. I'm kind-of drunk and I'm listening to Cee Lo's Christmas album on loop in June, so here goes. If this breaks a rule let me know. If it's shitty, politely let me know! I've never done forum RP before, so I'll probably be doing something dumb, but here goes))

In every castle, on every space station, on ever shattered planet on the edge of the universe, there are those whose job is to clean up the mess. Janitors, Caretakers, Custodians, Cleaners... whatever their title, they come in after the heroes and villains have had their plot-shattering conflict and clean up the blood, effluvium, shards of fractal hyper-glass, and whatever else may be left as smears, chunks, or occasionally nth dimensional shapes strewn about the battlefield.

These beings need a place to relax, to swap war stories, and to complain about how SuperHeroMan's sonic scream shattered glass for 40 kilometers or how the Supreme Council of Vagueness's magical lifting of the entire city of Northwatch ripped apart the sewer system and spewed crap every-which way.

As long as anyone has known, The Mud Clod has existed. In its own pocket dimension, it has been a tavern between worlds for everyone who has ever had to clean up something that would make the average Earth human cringe or shudder. It is not a dive bar, The Mud Clod despite its name is always spotlessly clean. Unlike every other tavern in the multiverse, the bartender, Zachary, is never seen scrubbing a tankard with a cloth, because the tankards are always pristine.

So pull up a rough wooden chair or a repulsor field, take a drink of something that tastes like lemon cleaner, try to avoid the gaze of the bouncer, or perhaps take a look at the job board and see whether you can top the tales of the veteran tavern goers.

((Multiverse taverns aren't new or unique, I know, but again, drunk Amzam + weird music + a desire to do my first forum RP = you get this, apparently!  ))

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The Mud Clod (Walk In/Open) - amzamiviram - 06-27-2015

The Bouncer looks around, happy to see that things are fairly quiet tonight. It usually is quiet, he admits to himself, though one can never tell when there's some celebration or holiday going on in one of the multiverse's many worlds that will send people into a tizzy.

The door to the tavern opens silently (no self-respecting bar run by cleaners and maintenance people would have a creak in the door) but the inrush of air lets him know that new patrons have arrived. He looks over at the new entrants and smiles at them.



(( FOR THE RECORD: it was only as I was writing this first post by the Bouncer that I realized what he HAD to look like. I didn't plan this.))

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The Mud Clod (Walk In/Open) - Tindome - 06-28-2015

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The Mud Clod (Walk In/Open) - megs - 06-29-2015

Reed wasn't often the type to bother going home and changing out of muddy boots and bloody shirts before slumming it somewhere for a bourbon. Maybe he just considered his time at The Mud Clod a special occasion. It was kind of difficult to feel like you were slumming it in a place that was cleaner than most hospitals.

Even though he wasn't really a janitor in the traditional sense, that did not mean he didn't spend a lot of time cleaning up other people's messes.

Despite visiting the establishment every other night for some time now, he never quite got over the who's and what's that came through the door. Therefore, he watched what he could only describe as a overly complicated Roomba wheel it's (her? He had no idea) way to the bar with leveled interest over his second Maker's Mark on the rocks.

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RE: The Mud Clod (Walk In/Open) - Tindome - 11-10-2015

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RE: The Mud Clod (Walk In/Open) - ambientmagic - 03-20-2017

Karen accepted two fingers of Lethe from the bartender and retreated to a corner to nurse it in comfort. It was a shame she couldn't get properly drunk, but water from a river of Hades did the trick passably well.

Gods, she was tired. Her last shade today had argued with her for two hours about whether he was dead or not (as if he could possibly know better than she did). Because of him, she'd have to pull a double shift tomorrow to catch up. There would be more hauntings than she'd like tonight, but Karen refused to feel guilty about it. She was doing her best.

She stretched, feeling bones crack all along her spine, and sighed deeply. Drinking alone was fine and good, but she could do that just as well at home, she berated herself. Either she needed to go attempt to socialize, or she should leave. She stood, pulling herself to her full height, and looked around the bar for someone interesting to talk to.

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RE: The Mud Clod (Walk In/Open) - Tindome - 03-20-2017

Booker sidled up to the fetching woman, having been eyeing her from a distance for some time. Not that he was shy, mind, but he wasn't rude. He knew better than to go pestering women that didn't look like they wanted to be pestered. Rude, was what it was, folk who ignored body language that way.

But she'd opened up a bit, it seemed, and so he was here. Leaning by the wall, a martini glass in hand.

"Now what's a pretty lady like you doing all alone in a place like this?" he wondered. He'd never seen charm laid on thick that couldn't stand to be laid on thicker.

It might have been more charming if he were taller than three feet, or a color besides pea-soup.

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RE: The Mud Clod (Walk In/Open) - ambientmagic - 03-20-2017



"Oh! Hello." Karen looked down to see a small green man leaning against the wall. Well, she'd wished for someone interesting, and interesting he certainly was. In her line of work she saw all kinds of folks, but the--goblin? Elf?--was a new species. "I was looking for someone to talk to. My name is Karen. And yours?"

She wondered if it would be more rude to stoop down to speak to the man at his own level, or to stand upright and talk down at him from twice his height. She compromised by bowing a bit and sticking out her hand to shake.

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RE: The Mud Clod (Walk In/Open) - Tindome - 03-20-2017

He grinned, revealing large front teeth with a sizable gap in the middle. "You're in luck, Karen," he informed her, taking her hand. "The name's Booker, and I'm the talking sort." He gave her hand a shake before he let her go, then sipped at his martini. He was used to people struggling to converse through the height difference, but he rarely took offense to their solutions.

"Tough day at work?" he asked, which was just about the safest thing to ask. Everyone here had tough jobs, everyone here'd had bad days – or so it often seemed. Else they'd be home instead of trying to drink away the stress. As small talk went, however, it lead to more interesting conversations than most.

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RE: The Mud Clod (Walk In/Open) - ambientmagic - 03-20-2017



"Nice to meet you, Booker. Would you care to sit down?" Karen gestured back towards her booth. Now that she had a conversational partner, it was better to be back on home turf, as it were.

"I did have a difficult day, yes. I don't have the most rewarding job as it is, but particularly unpleasant individuals make the whole thing worse. Are you familiar with the term psychopomp?" She kept a close eye on his expression. This was usually the point where people got a bit leery; myths come to life were one thing, but myths without life were another altogether.

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RE: The Mud Clod (Walk In/Open) - Tindome - 03-20-2017

"Don't mind if I do," he said, pleased as could be, pushing away from the wall to walk over. He may have been short, but he was perfectly proportional, no nobbly knees or missing ankles or waddling. He had to reach up to set his drink down on the table before pulling himself up into the seat. Rather than sitting, he adopted a sort of comfy squat; it wouldn't be obvious from across the table, but it let him look taller, closer to eye level for someone like Karen.

A fellow learned to make due. It was better than booster seats.

"Ain't that always the way," he agreed, tutting sympathetically. He mulled over the question. "Heard of them," he said finally, "but I don't think I'd say familiar as such. Always happy to learn more, if you don't mind explaining."

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RE: The Mud Clod (Walk In/Open) - ambientmagic - 03-20-2017

Mentally, Karen translated that to "I have no idea". She set her Lethe aside--no more forgetfulness for her tonight.

"A psychopomp is one who ferries the dead to the underworld. Or wherever they go after they die. That part is really not up to me, as I just guide them," she explained. "Today I had to spend the last bit of my shift convincing a man that he was actually dead. He had a sudden heart attack and kept assuring me that 'he'd feel right as rain tomorrow, so move along little lady.'"

She grimaced. "I missed four others because of dealing with that man, so there will be four restless spirits in the world tonight haunting their family. The lucky ones don't realize they are dead and just go about their business. Some of them get angry."

Karen shook her head, causing her long dark hair to ripple. "What do you do?"

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RE: The Mud Clod (Walk In/Open) - Tindome - 03-20-2017

"Aw," Booker said, "that seems like a helluva job." His sympathy was even clearer in his tone of voice. Not just thankless, but the kind of job where clients were likely to want to shoot the messenger. Stuck taking the blame for things beyond her control.

"You get a lot like those? Don't wanna move on types?" He shook his head. "Seems real inconsiderate, messing things up for everyone else like that. Dangerous, even." He scratched his chin. "Dunno how well I'd take it, honestly. Maybe better with a pretty lady there to help me along." He grinned again, admiring the view.

Nothing wrong with looking. She had nice hair, was all.

"Oh, I'm just an odd-jobs fella. Nothing fancy. Running here and there, keeping my ears to the ground." He flicked the tip of one of his prodigious ears, and it bounced back upward like a spring. "Nothing important like you're doing."

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RE: The Mud Clod (Walk In/Open) - ambientmagic - 03-20-2017

"Well." Karen smiled, her eyes going completely dark, whites and all. Her clothes shifted from a black dress into something looser, more flowing. Her skin paled and the lines of her face grew more harsh. "I have been doing this for a long time. One learns a few tricks to getting restless spirits to let go."

Oops. Too much talk of the old days and she forgot who she was, just a bit.

Her eyes cleared and her appearance snapped back to a young woman in a modern dress as she refocused on her companion. "That is the second time you called me pretty. Usually I get comments closer to 'strange,' or 'terrifying.'" She shrugged. "Really, my job is as dull as most jobs are. I don't meet many people ferrying the dead, but one must make a living."

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RE: The Mud Clod (Walk In/Open) - Tindome - 03-21-2017

Well that sure was a hell of a thing. He leaned a little away from the table, trying not to make it obvious that he was getting at a safe distance from her. "Seems like a handy sort of a thing," he said diplomatically, visibly relaxing when she returned to her previous form.

"I calls 'em like I sees 'em," Booker said, picking up his martini again and raising it an informal sort of toast. "Course, I suppose the context's a bit different. I'm looking at a pretty lady in a bar, not dealing with my own recent demise." He winked, and then sipped his drink.

"But that's what this place is for," he said, gesturing around the bar. "Only social life some of us get, quite frankly." He shook his head. "Making a living off the dead's not as fun as it used to be." He paused. "Not that I'd know," he added.

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