Ye Olde bAAR: Closed

All the patrons of the bAAR heard a long banging noise. Norgesvenn muttered something under his breath about Barkdreg and his anctics and then came out from behind the bAAR. He led the patrons, which included Rictus and Storey towards the frond door. Outside the front door they saw Stroph taking down the sign "bAAR". They jumped him and beat him senseless for daring to vandalize the bAAR.

Hours later, a groggy Stroph tried to explain: "I most certainly was not vandalizing the bAAR, you big Lunkhead."

"Well then, you silly Southerner, why in the name of the seven heavens are you taking down my sign?"

"I heard that one of our most beloved partons might leave us. To show him what we felt about his work and his efforts, I wanted to rename the bAAR."

"Not entirely a stupid idea" growled the irrascible Norgesvenn. "What in tarnation would you name it?"

"Well, after a movie form a few years ago, I propose that be name it "The Bull"

OOC: bull comes from Bull Durham.

Shawng1 sat in his corner with his pint of Guiness. "Can you believe that cocky Lord Joseph? Not even back a week and already has his own Papacy AAR going!"

"Isn't there another one going too?" the bAArtender asked.

"Well yes and no, it just ended, pretty convenient timing you know. It can go striaght from "Showcase" to "AAR of the Week. I need to promote myself like that sometime."

"Did drgsnrd plan it that way?"

"Well, not that I can tell. Still, pretty crafty of him. Good AAR too."

"So how's your hunt for CM going?"

"You know, if I wasn't buying these pints of Guiness, I might be able to afford the game and order it." I growled.

Kurtbrian entered the bAAR, looking around.

nodding to the Bouncer with the globe he walked up to the bAARkeep.

'Sooourrrhmm Norgesvenn, whats up?? Why is everybody appearing to be depressed??'

'A Rumor is running around, that Lord Durham is departing...'

'What! This cannot be!!!'

In an effort to get people get people cheered up he rang the bell hanging next to the bAAR. This meant that the next drink would be on his tab.

Kurtbrian ordered a Carlsberg Export for himself and went over to Shawng1's table to discuss what could be done to get LD back...

Stroph is sitting at the bAAR, a grape Nehi in front of him, compliments of the generousity of kurtbrian. He speach is slurred (how it got slurred when all he drank was grape nehis is another story), and he is rambling on about LD.

"When I feeersht started ta read this heeere web shiite, the firsht thing I read was the old Peper, er, Papar, er, Papacy Thread. I was weaned on an LD shtory. How can I go on wifout them?

"BarKeep, ring the Bell for me!"

"Well, since Stroph1 and Kurtbrian are paying...I'll have a quadruple vodka, scotch and baileys. Oh, and mix in some passionfruit Reef and a bottle of Ginger Red Square. If LDs leaving, I don't want to remember!"

Passeportout clambered up onto the stage.

"Everyone. I think LD is leaving for just a while. See this:

It was time for a break...

Click to expand...

A fellow in the corner yelled "Shut up Passeportout, you fool," and pulled out a gun and shot Passeportout. "Ouch," he said, as he fell from the stage.

Bismarck puts on his reverend's collar.

"Faith my sons.... errrr and daughters" he quickly adds after he looks at Midnight Rose a second too long.

"Even God himself took a day off after all his efforts, and he is the creator of us all, no being of flesh and blood which needs rest."

"Lord Durham is not a god..."

but before he could finish his statement, someone turned on the TV, which unfortunately was tuned to Young Guns II and it seemed to retort back at him in Emilio Estevez's voice...

"why don't you pull the trigger and find out..."

M

Secret Master ! It was supposed to be a secret ! Was it not ?

"By the way, my fellow drinkers, I want to announced that the vote for the OscAAR of the Best Rookie AAR, July 2002 is now open.

May the best amongst us win !

And I like to make a toast to the organisers:

To Sharur and Lord Durham, toast !"

Slices of bread spring up in the air all over the place in the bAAR, while the crowd cheers: "Toasts !"

Cat

"Talking about missing people,
has anyone see MrT recently,
I have not seen him roaming the forum for two days, myself.
We were currently talking about tripod image hosting problem and that sort of stuff, and I send him a post in his 'Waiting for Todog' brilliant AAR, and he did not answer.

That's not in his habits..."

Cat

Not to speak out of turn, but while a few days absence may not be typical of Senor T. (no, wait, wrong side of the border) of Mr. T., it shouldn't be a cause of alarm.

Remember, immortal though he may seem, he's just another regular Joe who's probably up to his neck in work or maybe just taking some time off for other real life matters.

I mean, the beer here in the bAAR is okay, but a real beer is better.

I wouldn't worry, I'm sure he and LD are off enjoying beer and darts somewhere. They may even have a bet going to see how many days away they can spend without starting a panic.

My hope is that the absence is for leisure time, and nothing more serious.

But seeing how no one's drinking that Smithwick... <claims frosty beer>.

And, Sweet Mother of God, we've got a bunch of new AARs out there! We may need to think about enlarging this place!

Actually I saw a post from him yesterday or the day before. He's sick as a dog right now.

Hey! What are you guys doing practicing when I've been shot? You said you wouldn't do that when you took me on.

A hooded figure approached the seedy looking front door of The bAAR, his every move scrutinized by the Global Doorman. Bass heavy strains of music thumped from within. The man nodded quickly, and entered.

Inside, the large room was crowded with people clustered in groups or sitting alone. He noticed quite a few fresh faces. Many fresh faces, in fact. Some engaged in animated conversation, while others watched the corner stage as a squirming redhead tried to make a few extra bucks.

There was an audible hush, and the man felt all eyes turn toward him. He strode to the bar and threw back the hood. "Beer me!"

The bAARkeep didn't miss a beat, pouring a perfect glass. Wiping the counter with a dirty cloth, Norgesvenn asked, "Everyone thought you were gone... some thought for good."

LD drank and ran the back of a thin hand across thin lips. "Touch and go, Norg. Touch and go. Didn't mean to cause a stir, though."

Norg shrugged. "So, what's up?"

"Tired. Just tired. I've been at this day in and day out for well over a year, you know. I've never taken a break. Even on my holidays."

"Uh-huh? Beer?"

"Yeah. You know, I've averaged at least one quality post a day, and that's in addition to reading and responding to as many AARs as possible. I have a real life..."

"I know."

"Crap. I'm not looking for any bullshit sympathy. I'm just telling it like it is. I'm a serious writer, and I'm moderating a forum that has perhaps a handful of historical writers who think like me, and take their craft just as seriously as I do."

"So, what's the problem? Cigarette?"

"Don't smoke, though if I see CrinkledSkull I'll grab one of his cigars. Anyway, do you know how many websites cater to the potential historical author?"

Norgesvenn stabbed his smoke into an ashtray and lit another. "A dozen?"

"One. All I could find was one, and I had to search a while to find it. You know what that means? It means we offer a rather unique opportunity, especially for those who want to pursue it."

"So that's why you left?"

"Naw. Tired, a little disappointed, a little disillusioned. I had to do some thinking. I had some real life issues to contend with."

"So you're back, then?"

"I suppose, though judging by the response to my latest post in Portugal or Bust, only a few have noticed."

"You don't sound enthused."

"Well, I have a couple of initiatives in mind, and I may take another crack at an RPG."

"I think you're a glutton for punishment."

"I think you're right. That's why I probably don't sound enthused." LD faced the interior of the bAAR. His gaze passed over Bismarck, Lord Joseph, Rictus, Sharur, Sytass, Storey, Stroph, Rath Jones, shawng, Craig Ashley, kurtbrian, Warspite, heagarty, Backpack, Deaghaidh, Prufrock451, Lt. Tyler, Morlac, Cat Lord, Mad King James, J. Passeportout, pds, Eochaid, wathombe, Duuk, Wyvern, Sorcerer, Nikolai II, Meiji-Tenno, Apebe, KrisKannon, Eddie Teach, Kasperus, Paranoid Tsar, alaexis, Tem_Probe, Faeelin, Fredrick II, Drgnsrd, and other faces too far back to make out. Peter E was outside the door, and MrT was home ill with syphilis. Finally, he spotted Secret Master. "Ah, here's a man who smokes cigars..."

Stroph's ears perk up when the hooded figure enters the room. After listening to him speak, Stroph rings the bell.