video ♪ take a walk on the wild side

[merchantprince]

Who: Varric and you!
Broadcast: Yes
Action: Varric's bar on the Iskaulit
When: Now

[video;]

[Like Varric's promotional videos before, the feed does a slow pan of the dive that he owns. And then it centers on the bartop, which has a line of wine bottles on it. The glass is black and so are the labels aside from the gold skull and the words VELENO VENO.

Varric pulls up a seat in front of the camera. He's dressed in his best-- a black and gold embroidered silk shirt, buttoned only halfway because of course. And he's wearing a grin, of course.]

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Varric Tethras, owner and proprietor of the Space Bar, and today... I've got something new and exciting for you. [He grabs a bottle of wine and pops it open with a flourish. Then he pours it into a glass. It's black with just a little dark purple in the light.] In Tevinter, wine made from venomous snakes is considered sacred. Well, as sacred as anything in Tevinter can be. It's long been associated with virility, purity of body, and curing difficult ailments. But don't worry, this is animal-free. Snakes are disgusting. Don't eat snakes. Also, Tevinter sucks.

Instead of drinking reptiles, consider this wine: beautiful and deadly, like that woman sitting at the corner of the bar that you're scared to talk to. The wine has notes of persimmon and apple-- as well as a dash of water from the toxic moon.

[Varric's grin broadens. He lifts the glass to his lips and takes a sip.]

Mmm. We only made a few cases, so get it while you can. 500 credits for a bottle with a thrill.

[And the feed ends.]

Comments

[merchantprince]

I could've sworn we had this conversation. [He gives her a sly wink.] You've got a guilty conscience and an honest face. Makes for a terrible liar.

[He leans back against the bar.]

The danger is why it sells in the first place.

[invigorates]

Likely. [ definitely. she scrunches her nose up as if insulted by his comment, but she knows that it's true, and she has no room to deny it. ]

I see. [ she doesn't. ] Have you any other concoctions brewing, to try and sell to the fleet?

[merchantprince]

[That's right. Varric knows how to read people and that's why he's still alive after nearly forty years of bad decisions.]

Nah, this is it. I don't actually brew anything myself. I learned that lesson a while back. And besides, there's always Eugene's bathtub moonshine if I want to pitch something local.

[invigorates]

Bathtub moonshine? [ clearly pinpointing the most important part of that sentence. good job, lior. ] That sounds dreadful.

[ she glances down to the glass in her hands, then sets it down gently. ] Aside from attempting to empty the pockets of your patrons, what else have you been up to since we spoke last?

[merchantprince]

It's actually not that bad. They built a machine for it and everything. It just needs... organic stuff, and we're a little lacking in that.

[Her straight-up question makes him laugh.]

Not much. Just working on my novel. What about you?

[invigorates]

[ of all the things she wants to research, bathtub moonshine is really low on the list. it sounds terrible.

she perks at the mention of his novel, though, noting that she should ask him more about it later. ]

Working, for the most part. Though I have been doing a bit of research on the moon we have since landed on. [ a shrug. ] Have you ventured to it yet?