Captain Dryden and his crew, the Dawnstriders as he affectionately called them, had taken up an entire back corner of the Winking Wyvern tavern, as they were prone to doing after a good stretch of time on the waters together, jammed together with barely a drink to share between them. The tavern was fairly crowded for the time of day, as most creatures considered midday a bit early for heavy drinking, but then again, Captain Dryden thought, it was never too early for drinking. Especially for seafaring types who had to take a good swill when they could. Ship stores were heavy enough without kegs and kegs of ale, so one had to prioritize and ration on the seas. On land, however, all bets were invariably off.

Turning to the much smaller monkey sitting beside him, Dryden said, “Look at ‘em, Bobo. Landlubberes all. You can tell from the way they walk. One shake o’ the earth and they’d be falling on their rear ends. Couldn’t stand up on a swayin’ ship deck for more than a few minutes, I’d bet.” The captain chuckled as he watched some of the tavern patrons arguing over something he neither knew of nor cared about in the least. The captain stroked his great beard, braided with thick strips of leather decorated with coins, beads, and various baubles.

“They fight like landlubbers too. All words, words, words,” he sighed, rolling his eyes in boredom as the animals began to push each other about, hardly staggering the other as they put very little real strength behind their anger. This was not the beginnings of a true tavern brawl. Not yet, anyway. The captain’s smile turned mischievous as he thought this, and he shared a long, conspiratorial look with the powder-monkey sitting beside him. He had only to wait for the right moment, the captain knew, and things would be blown to hell. Might be worth it to stir the pot a little. Would at least make the day a little less mundane.

Vera
OOC: Let the games begin? haha.
Word Count: 343