Posted March 23, 2021, 9:21 p.m. by Civilian Mirai 'Raptor' Nakuto (Owner / Proprietor, tangqa' Tavern) (Sharon Miller)
It started with a dragon. Or rather, a horde. Small enough to fit into the palm of a hand and the colour of well-aged bloodwine, they appeared out of nowhere to perch on desks and tables from one side of the domes to the other. Carved from a soft and fragrant wood, each one bore the same message, inlaid in a delicate script into its base:
Friday. 20:00 hours. Centurion Square.
To follow the message at the appropriate time and to the appropriate place, would be rewarded with a dazzling sight. Fire. To the approaching crowds it would appear as if Centurion Square was ablaze, orange-red flames leaping from a tall, central bonfire to lick at the domed ceiling overhead. On closer inspection they would be revealed as innocently holographic, but their majestic beauty was not diminished for that fact. So too for the torch-lit path, which led away to a two storey building, until yesterday standing vacant but now alive again beneath a glowing, amber sign:
tangqa’ Tavern
A set of huge, iron-studded doors offered refuge from the bustle of the square. Beyond them, the main room ceiling was masked by a holographic night sky, an artificial breeze stirring imitation palms that grew in clusters from ancient stone walls. More firelight provided illumination, larger torches on the walls complimented by more intimate lanterns on each of the long, oaken tables.
In the center of the room, rising up from an artificial sea, was a bar in the shape of a longship. For those well-versed in Federation rumour, it might recall stories from the USS Viking. But with that ship now disappeared, who could say whether this bar and that were one and the same? Still, it was sturdy and it was well-stocked, with a vast array of beers, wines and liquors from the four corners of the quadrant. Perhaps even beyond.
And holding court over all of this grandeur was a half-Klingon female, currently drinking bloodwine from a large, hollowed horn, and bellowing for one and all to enter and help themselves to a drink…
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