It was a fairly typical Friday night and the bar was packed with the usual clientele, unwinding at the end of another work week. The usual collection of bruisers, tough guys, and wannabes crowded into the old place, and the noise began to rise. A few more strangers had walked in tonight than usual, and the evening certainly ended with a bang. Thank goodness that angel had shown up, or it would have ended a whole lot worse… Wait. I suppose I’m getting ahead of myself. To tell the story properly-

The evening started off loud, and ended up louder. The bar seemed mostly divided between the working stiffs, those big security guard and contract types, and the roustabouts and drunkards,  interested more in building up stress than blowing it off. Along one wall, a group of local law enforcerment shot glares toward a corner table where a Markov blademaster and a gaggle of Falkenrath marauders sat, sipping Bloody Maries and laughing quietly amongst themselves. They ignored the antics of two small men who were capering about the middle of the floor, shouting gleefully that “It comes in pints!” and the white-haired woman desperately pleading with a giant to give her another chance. Even Johnny HeartlessHidetsugu, the local don, seemed to be enjoying himself with some hangers-on in a private booth in the back.When the Instigator Gang stepped through the doorway, the tension instantly ratcheted up several notches. My guard dog Fluffy  growled low in his throat as they downed a quick round before surrounding a couple foreigners. They began to hassle them about the lady’s shiny ring, demanding she let them see it, that it must be stolen, that no lily-skin could own a piece so valuable. Jor Kadeen stepped in to allay the situation, but the hot-blooded hooligans, apparently finding such petty restraints beneath them, jumped the bouncer. At first, it looked like Jor would prevail against all four, but one pulled out an obsidian battle-axe, and the bouncer’s arm hit the ground with a bloody thwack, followed shortly by the rest of him.Everything stopped.

The blasphemous act seemed to reverberate through the room; the silence that followed in its wake louder than a thunderclap. An outraged woman snapped to her feet, and with a shattering pulse, the room exploded into violence. Waves of aggression washed through the crowd and the nearest crusaders, warmongers all,  rushed the gang. Weapons of all sorts  were unsheathed, but most kept their seats, intent on watching the brawl, until the unthinkable happened. A wild ricochet happened to strike Godo in the back of the head, slamming his face into his beer. The bandit warlord let out a bellow and the gratuitous violence truly began.

As the fighting engulfed the bar, the initial instigators were quickly abandoned for conflicts forming along more natural fault lines. I stayed behind the bar, hoping against hope that the place wouldn’t return to dust tonight and watching a lightning mauler grab a buddy and zip into the fray. He was back shortly, sans partner, screaming and fleeing a bevy of specters, while manabarbs and more prosaic banter zipped back and forth overhead. The Cathars’ crusade gathered and began shoving towards the door in orderly formation until Urabrask stepped calmly from a shadowed corner  and delivered a savage beating to their mentor, stopping the group in their tracks. Fervor was growing on both sides, and I began to wonder which side would bend or break first- in either case, I’d need a miracle to make it out of this in one piece.

With an almighty CRASH, the front door slammed to the ground, a battering ram quickly skittering back to clear the way for an imposing figure. Nearly seven feet in height, she bore a sword of light and shadows in one hand and shining armor down to her calves. Her red-tipped wings brushing the roof beams, the archangel stepped into the room, her celestial mantle flooding the smoking place with blazing light, flanked by vengeful archons. My prayers had been answered. Divine reckoning had arrived.

Later on, as the wounded were hauled out and benches were righted, I stammered out thanks to the archangel and offered her free choice of my product. “Well,” she said, “I don’t usually… but why not, tonight was the most fun I’ve had in a long while. I’ll halve a double.”

-Fin.