Strange Bar Fellows (Closed)

It’s difficult to remember how it got there. It’s the 2020s and beyond, yet an old rotary dial landline phone ringing at midnight, in the middle of the apartment. A familiar voice simply spoke the moment the phone was picked up and put to the ear.

“Good evening mister James. It’s Lloyd. I have an acquaintance that is in need of your services. Why not come down for a refreshment?”

Lloyd’s was not a place you find, but a place that found you. It was always right around the corner, away from the busy main roads. Somehow it was always when you wanted a drink, or maybe it made you want a drink. And Lloyd always has the best inventory in town. Nobody could mix and serve like Lloyd.

A bell rang as the revolving doors opened to a classy but rather empty art deco bar. The lightning was nuanced and subtle, pale warm wall lamps like torches, and floor lights highlighting the divide between bar and an empty dance floor. The ceiling seemed to disappear into blackness. But all around was Red. Bright crimson red. The color of the carpets, the color of the wall panels, and the very rich cedar bar. Seats were empty naturally. For a moment there was no one.

And there he stood, in the periphery of vision, an armlength away from the bar. Lloyd. Well dressed in that red 6-piece suit, debonaire with his slick styled hair. Was he always there? Wasn’t the bar empty a second a go?

“Good evening mister James.” He said, with a smile- smirk- before his polite tone and smooth demeanor picked out glasses, or shot glasses, or whiskey glasses. “What’ll it be?”

How could someone as inquisitive as Arthur resist this kind of call? Even if he wanted to there was a strange kind of tug at the mind, something that nudged him to the bar from deep within. How some random Lloyd dude even had his number was weird, any normal person might have ignored the call and went on with their evening. Arthur as a keeper and student was curious about any odd and potentially magical thing. The place was disturbingly easy to find, in a place he thought it didn't belong, it was out of place but wasn't in a way.

Arthur was in nothing too special, a striped pale green dress shirt along with blue jeans and running shoes. The place was kind of nice, a bit upscale for this neighborhood really. This was no doubt the place and this man with a strange aura must be the bartender, Arthur could feel something radiating off him. He sat down and the man greeted him already knowing his name. He wasn't nearly relaxed enough to order a drink, no way. Instead he'd prefer one answer if not a few but the first thing that came to his mind was "Why did you call me here? And what do you mean my services?"

“I didn’t call you here, Mister James.” Floyd said in that slow, relaxed voice of his, as he poured his guest a glass of Rum on the rocks.

“I did.” A woman walked in the bar, wearing a full black biker suit, taking off her helmet to reveal a pale face and dark hair. She replaced the helmet with a pair of dark shades.

Floyd placed Arthur’s rum in front of him, and then served the lady a mixed drink.

“I’m Megaera. I’m a regular here. I hear you get me to a place I can’t easily reach. Isn’t that what you said, Lloyd?” she sat beside Arthur and began sipping at the cocktail through a metal straw.

“I surely did. Miss Tenebrios.” Lloyd placed a small bowl of mixed nuts between them. “On the house.”

As Lloyd went back to the display case, an image began to swirl under the glass bar. Images began to appear, of a desolate landscape, bones littering the ground, wretched souls wandering the landscape. The image halted upon the desiccated remains of a gigantic bidepal beast, a spear protruding out of its one eye socket.

“Do you know where this place is and how to get there?” Meg asked Arthur, her voice more tired than hopeful, having pursued so many leads and found only disappointment over the years.

Arthur wasn't quite sure what to make of this, it wasn't common nor appropriate for an individual to just approach a keeper. Also the knowledge she had was delicate, the knowledge of the dead realms was not really meant for the living or those who seek to gain power. This made Arthur more guarded than the woman would seem to think he'd be.

"Miss I dont know you from the mailman, but you want me to help you get into this... place? What makes you think I know anything about what you're saying? Also what's with the shades? Playing that edge card a little hard." Arthur took a sip of his drink, considering if he should even be having this talk. His master certainly would not approve of this, but some kind of curiosity kept him from going. He kind of hoped she had a good reason for calling him here.

"The shades are for a condition." She replied with a friendly smile. Then she tapped at the image, or rather tapped on the glass, emphasizing the spear in the giant carcass.

"I've been looking for the spear for over seventy years. It's mine, you see. Didn't think it would end up in another dimension. Lloyd here says you were that man. And Lloyd knows things."

Arthur didn't recognise the spear itself but knew the place where it was. It was an area not regularly travelled for some good reasons. Bone drakes reside in that place, some manner of nefarious wild life of the underworld. Typically on the highest ranking keepers were permitted to travel in those wastes. But before Arthur could even consider helping this woman he had his own questions.

"Ok so let's say I am able to help you get into the realm of the dead, why should I exactly? You might be dangerous. And even if I wanted to I dont have such permission, I'd need to ask my... teacher I guess. Mortals are typically not permitted to travel the deadways."

Arthur was suspicious but at the same time kind of a sucker for a girl in need, the only reason he hasn't gotten up and left yet.

"Well. I've done a lot of high profile bodyguard work. I could pay. Or I could owe you a favor. What do *you* want or need?" Meg asked, then took a long sip of her beverage. She kept her gaze in Arthur's direction despite her shades, letting him know she was talking to him directly.

"Favors for favors. Our preferred currency. People are so wary of contracts these days." Lloyd commented meanwhile as he stood there, poring over some ledgers and writing things down. He had that cool and controlled look about him, not a surprise since he put this little shindig together.

Arthur felt very uneasy with all this, but turning down an opportunity like this might be bad. Perhaps it was his slightly naïve side taking hold but he swung for the fences and asked her for something big.

"Alright then Miss Tenebrios, if you want my help then I know something you can get for me. Are you familiar with the city of Thebes? A nice place in Egypt. There is a portal that leads to some tombs, in the deep places of one of these tombs lies a particular book I might like to have." Arthur took another sip before going on. "For certain reasons I am forbidden from going there, but you can be allowed."