The ancient one gathers his robe in the chill Detroit night and makes his entrance into the bAAR. Saturday night after 11 local time, this should be a prime hour for drinkers, discussion and the bAAR. But the cozy hangout is deserted. Highlights of the major basketball games of the day are flashing on the screens and no one is watching. (The ancient one called them the modern hoop games. He recalled the old style hoop ball games he watched many times in his youth in his home city. These games were quite different, and not played by warriors.) Only the staff member who knows
@Macavity116 can be seen. The ancient one rubs his bald head, thinking for a moment, then he waves at her beckoning her over to his usual spot in the corner of the main barroom. She looks up from her phone where she is alternating between texting a friend and playing a video game and she notices him.
"If I can trouble you for my usual please, but please make it the good mezcal this time. Neat, please," he requests as he settles on the bar-stool and adjusts his robes around him.
She sighs at the ancient one, not saying anything but serves him as he pushes some cash and a generous tip across the counter top. She takes the cash and goes back to where she was standing before, in the employee entryway to the barroom. She begins playing on her phone again (or as the ancient one referred to them: the magical tablets).
It was apparent from the other magic screens (or video monitors) that the ancient one consulted that no one had been here for more than two weeks. He knew the reason. But he didn't want to think about that now.
There was this.... this was news to him... but he was still the newest person who had dared to venture into this space.
He cleaned off a few spills to the counter with the fabled Dirty Rag (TM) and smiled to the patrons, "It's great to see the room filled. But I'm not a bAARtender anymore. I'll get you a drink, but it has always been first come, first serve."
That was certainly news. On many previous occasions,
@coz1 had appeared behind the bar and poured him his mezcal. He very much appreciated that. More so now that he realized
@coz1 was just being friendly.
"How does the place function?" he thinks.
"If there's no bartender is it any wonder the staff is so listless?" He didn't care if others or the staff could read his thoughts. He had his opinions about why the bAAR had become a hit or miss proposition. The lack of life, especially on a big Saturday night, was notable.
"Maybe they've all gone off to watch the eclipse," he says aloud to the televisions flashing scores and highlights. But his comment is only met with silence. He thinks about that: the amazing technology of the age. He knew that if people in his home city had seen such an event, if would have created panic. The priests and astronomers would be arguing. People would have thought it was the end of days. (Well, maybe not the astronomers.) He was surprised the American entrepreneurs hadn't figured out a way to sell tickets to such an event. But this was all a digression.
He ponders the situation. He has to admit it. He loves
the new AAR that
@Macavity116 was telling. However,
@Macavity116 had literally taken all the energy and interest out of the bAAR when his new story started. The
evidence was staring the ancient one in the face on the magic console.
He shakes his head. He could not blame
@Macavity116 . But anyone reading the comments between chapters of that AAR (and a few others too) realized the true spirit of the bAAR existed there for the moment. The ancient one starts thinking about solutions to this, but he has no answers. It was good that the spirit of the bAAR at least existed somewhere in AARland. "No doubt, this is akin to the 'psionic energy' that
@Macavity116 often writes about," he mutters.
More news to pass along, he thinks. Then in his mind he begins telling the story for folks to read later on the magic screens.
"Folks probably don't know but
@Lord Durham and I reached out to
@Qorten about ways to enliven the bar.
@Qorten suggested to us that we post items here that may be of general interest, so that's what I'm going to do."
The ancient one takes a sip of the mezcal and he lets it burn slowly down his throat. Then he gets up off his stool and takes a piece of paper out of his robe. The paper has various brush marks that he had carefully made in his best calligraphy. He marches up to the bulletin board on one side of the bar. He pulls down the old notices. Then he pins his new notice there. He shuffles back to his spot to sip his mezcal and think a bit more.
The new notice reads:
"To those who are unaware, here are some items happening in AARland that may be of interest to you:
1) Voting for the quarterly ACAs, hosted by
@Nikolai , has begun. Please promise to vote or just vote now. You can post your ballot
in this thread.
2) Paradox has launched Millennia and that new game already has
a short AAR by
@Olden Weiss . Worth checking out.
3) In his
last posting in Avon Las Observes,
@Midnite Duke mentioned various new AARs, some by new writAARs. (Very thankful of the supportive community who greeted me with my first AAR when I arrived here so I like to return the favor when possible.)
4) There aren't many video AARs that have connected with me, and it appears not many folks have checked out
this CK3 video AAR by
@Lelling . However, folks are missing a good one as there are various amusing parts.
5) Speaking of amusing,
@Peter Ebbesen has brought back his professor to teach
a course in how to play Stellaris. Tough course but quite a bit of fun. Be mindful of the professor's rules though and you may need to ask to audit if you don't play Stellaris.
6) Feel free to post other notices in the bAAR if you notice happenings in AARland that are worthy of attention and discussion.
No requirement, but it's suggested that you have some fun and interact with others in AARland."
After contemplating what he had done, the ancient one gets up and goes over to the new jukebox. He snaps his fingers and the fire lights in the cozy sitting room next door to the main bar. (The ancient one said he always felt the place was damp when it was empty. Also, he liked manipulating the magic in this place too.) Then he inserts the proper amount of coins in the jukebox and he selects the song that meets his mood. Perhaps this one hits the right note for an empty writers bAAR on a Saturday night, hours away from close. He thinks about nursing that mezcal as he listens to the song and wonders: "How long will it take? And if not long, can we get the bAAR humming and chattering again?"