"A lead is still information, perhaps not worth a gold piece but still useful. What if we had need of your skills with a weapon, how much would such a service cost, bearing in mind the fact that we just overpaid for what we got from you?"
Zomith grumbles a bit.
"Wasn't the deal. I gave you all the info I had, and even tossed in a couple favors. Not my problem if you lot don't know how to haggle well."
She shoots Dessarin a nasty look.
"Little man doesn't like the real world huh? Run back to your mother's teats. Probably suit you better than ale, hmm?."
With that, Zomith gets up and starts to walk away.
Dessarin lets the insult wash over him. Now that he has regained some of his emotions and composure such pettiness is not enough to spark his fury. "Let us take what she has given us, even if the price was high and put it to use before she comes up with another scheme."
Jamenas mutters.
Dirty cheater....
I'll remember this.
Jamenas says to the rest of the group.
Who should we investigate first?
Abu will get up from his seat, stumble as he acts somewhat drunk, bumps into the woman and continues on his way.
Abu will slip his hand into the woman's pocket as he stumbles and tries to retrieve some money.
"You guys figure out where we are going. I need to use the lue." Abu says after he apologizes to the woman.
You reach in swiftly and pull out her coin purse with ease. Inside you find the groups original 6 gold plus an additional 5 gold, 3 silver, and 8 copper.
"Watch yourself little one. Careful who you bump into..."
Zomith walks out the bar, leaving your group to decide on their next destination.
"Come on, people. It wasn't as if she didn't give us contacts, of which we could use to get more information." Krogar tries to placate the rest.
"I vote we speak to Marlando, and at the same time, check out his shop."
"I welcome the chance to learn more about what is going on in the world right now, I would like to know what is the underlying cause of this taint." Dessarin nods his agreement and places an elbow on the table. He puts his fingers around his chin in a contemplative gesture, further insinuating his point.
"Other than finding a spoiled rich girl, I have no real obligations. I'll give you guys a hand."
Dessarin goes along with his group to find Marlando at his shop.
"Is there anything in particular that you are looking for at the shop?"
"Marlando's it is". Vikral shakes his head at Dessarin, "Nothing there would hold interest for me, I go because you all go. Perhaps we will find information there if not, the rest of you can resupply and we can follow what few leads we do have. Perhaps as we wander we shall find the answers we seek".
"While there is nothing i need, i wouldn't mind looking around." Abu says as he over hears your talk about a shop.
You all head outside, a few drinks in you but there's still a couple hours in the day. The building your at is on a crossroads, but from the direction you receive you head north. On the right you see three buildings of note.
The first is what appears to be a tannery. You can smell a bit of pungent oil as you draw near and see some display pieces chained to the wall: saddles, reins, and yokes galore. There's also a small sing advertising well-made leather jackets, coats, and other apparel inside.
The building to its left is the town bakery as evident from a carved wooden sign with a loaf of bread on it. All the lights inside are off, as they tend to finish their business early, but a fresh loaf of bread with some ale sounds great for breakfast.
The last building of note before reaching Gaelker's shop (the shop Marlando Gaelkur owns) is the bath-house. It looks like a normal house, and it is as the proprietors operate the bath-house and dress-shop inside their abode. It smells of herbs and floral pleasantries as you near and pass the entrance, but it may not be a bad idea to soak in some hot water before taking off on the road again.
Finally, you reach Gaelkur's. While is specialty is haircuts, evident from the old clippings on the floor as you enter, it also sells general goods and alcohol. As you enter a group of five men are huddled around the front counter, Marlando included, listening intently to one man who tells a tale.
"And....it was the owlbear!"
All five men burst into roaring fits of laughter, pounding their fist against the table, trying not to spill their ale.
"Hello sir Marlando! Old Zomith sent us with some good graces, and we were hoping to garner some information from you" In a ragged voice Dessarin coughing his age seems to show more than normal.
Marlando scowls, and gets up from his seat.
"Keep a track of your tabs boys! And no fudging your glasses!"
He walks up to you all, a businessman's smile on his face, his portly weight creaking the floorboards as he walked.
"So Zomith sent you eh?" Well, I do owe her for tossing out those drunks last week. So whatcha after? A haircut? A shave? Some of you look like you could use a good trim."
There's another roar of laughter behind him, and he turns back, clearly eager to get back to the others.
Abu puts his hand up to his hair, "It is getting a bit long... But i think i'll keep it for now."
"No one touches my beard!" as Krogar caresses his beard protectively. "We're looking for information. I'd be willimg to pay 5 silver for anyone who could point me to one human, Bastain Thermandar, and also if anyone knew anything about the delegation from Miramar that vanished in the Sumber hills recently."
"Bastion, you say?"
Marlando ponders for a moment.
"Can't say I've heard of anyone by that name, but maybe the lads have."
He beckons you all to follow him as he makes his way back to his little group.
"You lot heard of a Bastion or something?"
The men at the table give a mixture of shrugs and shakings of the head.
"How about the Sumber Hills?"
At this one man pipes up.
"I have a story about the Sumber Hills! Is it finally my turn again?"
You can tell by the sudden dulling of the mood that this man has told this story before, and by the looks of it, its a dull one.
Still, Larmon Breenboot clears his throat and begins to recount his tale.
That is, he would if one of the men sitting beside him shoves a large backed potato in his mouth and speaks quickly for him.
"Old Larmon says he found some spooky graves in the Sumber Hills. He swears they're fresh and haunted or something. If you ask me, he's been eating the feed that should be going to the sheep he's tending."
Krogar pays the person beside Larmon 5 silver pieces. "Thank you very much for your help." He gestures to Larmon with a large baked potato in his mouth. "That the old Larmon who found the graves in Sumber Hills?" He asks the man he paid 5 silver pieces to.
Abu watches the men talk about the graves, "So, how many times have you been to the Slumber Hills?" he asks and picks up a small potato and tosses it into his mouth.
Vikral chimes in, "How about a Gar Shatterkeel, ever heard that name before?"
I don't want to swamp you with questions, good sirs, but do any of you know about any cults near here?
"Is that the whole story Mr. Potato?" Dessarin asks letting out a breathy, quiet chuckle. However, he does want to put a potato in the mouth of the man that interrupted he was keen to get all the details he could.
Hearing a chuckle in the back of his mind, "Oh, that is a good one." Dessarin's mind is forcefully filled with images of himself, along with his whole party, having potatoes in their mouths.
There's a murmuring between the men, and they come to agreement that they haven't heard of a Gar either. Though some of them have suspicions there may be some cult activity. Where exactly, htey have no idea.
Larmon finishes chewing on the sudden intrusion into his mouth. He takes a swig of ale and beigns to speak.
"I'm a shepherd, so I take my flock to the sumber hills all the time. As for the graves, well, I'm pretty sure they're graves. Whole scene of a scuffle and everything. Didn't want to disrespeact the dead so I haven't dug them up or anything."
"Any of you folk seen or heard anyone talking about a girl named Savra? She's sure to be well-mannered and polite. Her pa is worried about her and sent me to find her."
"Have there been any strange happenubgs around the graves?" Krogar asks, as he slips 5 silver to Larmon.
Thank you for your time.
Jamenas stands up, and looks around the store.
"By the sounds of it, you folk are looking for a lot of people. But no I don't think any of us have heard any by the names you're after."
Larmon looks pleased for the sudden boon of wealth and happily pockets the coin.
"Well, if you call them not being there one day and then appearing a couple days later suspicious, then yeah. Come to think of it, it was probably around when that delegation was in town, right Marlando? You had me keep the flock in town so I could help around the shop. When I took em out a couple days after they left, the graves were suddenly there."
One of the men at the table chuckles.
"Maybe some poor bandit thought he could get a quick coin and attacked them without knowing. I mean, that group had some strength to them, eh?"
There's a murmuring of agreement.
"Do you Gentlemen have any recommendation as to who else we can speak to in town who may know more about, well about travelers in the areas nearby?"
Vikral remained patient even though he felt like he was chasing his tail with these leads that turned out not to be leads.
Maybe the cultists are in the graves?
Jamenas thinks this over, and chuckles, dismissing the thought.
Not likely. Probably some guards from the delegation.
There's a few shrugs.
"They only stopped here to rest and restock. Maybe had a few repairs."
Marlando scratches the back of his head as he ponders.
"Well, you know the traveler's needs yourselves don't you? Food, Weapons, Rest, and Repairs."
The basics of any traveler's checklist when stopping in a town.
"For Food, they could have Mhandyvver's Poultry. Minny could have sold them chicken, eggs, and the like. Or they might have gone to Jalessa Ornra, the Butcher. Salted meats and all that. And by "all that" I mean they double as our peacekeepers in town. They might have heard of something."
For Weapons," one of the men pipes up, "check out Ironhead Arms. My old pal Feng runs the place. He might look a bit scary, but he's a softie at heart. He might cut you a deal too. As for rest, I assume you all are staying atThe Swinging Sword as its the only inn in town."
"And for repairs," Marlando pops in again, "they probably either went to Thelorn's Safe Journey's for any wagon damage since he's the more well known over Waelvur's Wagonworks. For extra clothing, the only place here would be Helvur Tarnlar's Clothier shoppe."
"Of course, there are other shops in town besides mentioned, but those would be my best guess."
"Maybe the bandits killed the delegation and buried the bodies to hide their tracks?" Krogar ponders out loud.
"Thanks for your information guys, if you see me in the inn, pop over, and I'll buy you all a free round. Or we could go to the Swinging sword and I'll buy it for you now?" He asks the entire group.
Confiding in his party, "maybe we should look for more information at the graveyard?" Still blundering about looking for clues to some real answers, Dessarin takes a shot in the dark.
"Nah, we get all the information we can, then we head out." Krogar replies.
Lets head to Mhandyvver's now. He's our best bet, as the delegation must have needed food.
"After you friend," politely tipping his head and gesturing his arm toward the door. His old nobility brushing against the forefront of his mind, bringing a nostalgia and some emotional pain and feelings of guilt.
You all walk outside, the intention being to head to Mhandyvver's. However, the walk over and the length of your conversation seems to have dragged on longer than you anticipated. The sun has almost dipped below the horizon, and it occurs to you that the shop you seek might not be open, and you have no idea where the owner lives.
As you contemplate pursuing the lead or turning in for the night, a familiar face appears on the road. A very angry Zomith appears, flanked by four humans.
"The little one and I have business," she growls. "You lot keep moving and I promise no harm will come to you."
What is this about?
Jamenas peers down at his companion.
Do you know why she is here?
"Do you plan to rob us by force now!" Dessarin begins to raise his voice. The chill of something dark edges into his voice. His gnarled back becoming straighter a shadow seems to grow around him. "What do you want skunk woman!"
"Me rob you!?" Zomith blusters, her grip tightening on the hilt of her sword.
"The little one there helped himself to a refund of our fairly struck deal! On top of that, he even pilfered the rest of my coin purse!"
While Zomith's weapons remain sheathed, her buddies draw theirs seeing how angry she is.
"I'm only going to ask one more time. Leave the halfling with me, and make your way somewhere else. He'll keep his life, but as your friend did, I'll be helping myself to a bit of interest when reclaiming my earnings."
"Abu - is what Zomith saying true? If so, hand over everything you've taken from her. Then we'll need to give you a lashing so you know not to steal from others again," He says to Abu.
"No offence, Zomith, but I must verify the truth of you accusations. Anyone could run up to us and accuse us of stealimg. He will be punished, if he has done wrong. I would even adminster the punishment in front of you. But you will not be helping youself to interest, nor will we be leaving him with you." He says neutrally to Zomith.
Abu looks at the woman, "The deal that we made was for good information and what you gave us was rumors. That being said, when was it that i took your coin purse?" he asks.
"I don't care when you took it. Return everything you took Zormith, NOW." Krogar glares at Abu and bellows in a voice that brook no disagreement, then grabs Abu's wrist (hopefully before he runs away).
"Rumor or no, she still gave us contacts, which was more then what we had to begin with." Krogar continues.
"Jamenas, Darwin, could you help me hold him on the ground while I administer the lashing?" He calls out to the rest.
He turns to Zormith. "I am sorry for misjudging you, and I will make him pay for whatever he took, and administer the punishment in front of you. Will that satisfy you?"
Abu doesn't try to run. "Never said i took anything. I am asking when it was that i took the purse, because i've been with you all the whole time. Did you see me, at any point, steal from anyone?" he asks.
"Listen lady. You and your friend here should back down now. I'll give you a chance, on account of your feminine sensibilities. Otherwise, We'll probably have to break some bones, and no one wants that."
"Coin purses don't go walking off on their own, you whelp. And don't think I didn't notice that little bump you gave me. At first, I thought it was your small size made the alcohol seize you, but my empty pockets prove otherwise. If you're so confident, let me search you. If you don't have my coin purse on you then you're free to go."
Zomith laughs as Darwin gives her an option to leave.
"You know, I've had to deal with patronizing-women b++!%!!~ all my life.."
To Krogar, she calls back...
"No deal. That thief needs a permanent reminder of his wrongdoing. A few missing fingers, a broken leg. Either way, he's coming with me. But don't worry, he'll keep his life."
Vikral raises an eyebrow at the confrontation brewing.
He turns to Krogar, "The halfling was not known to us before this very day. Still, it seems unwise for us to give him to the tender mercies of a woman with no mercy if we expect this crews endeavors moving forward to be successful. A good Captain backs up his crew even if they are wrong".
"Let us not not fight over a few coin. Take my coin to recoup your loss and you may have a few extra. You pulled the wool over our eyes and an animosity and an attempt to regain what we lost is not unsurprising. Our parties wronged each other, let us part ways with animosity but not cross blades." Trying to persuade her from violence . Dessarin knows she does not understand her battle is a losing one.
"There is evil in this world and our true goal is to conquer that, not a small purse!"
Zomith glares at Abu.
"While he took your money back, he also took the rest of my coin. Total, I've lost 48 gold pieces to the little one. If you're willing to take that loss, then pay up. But I still think the runt deserves a lesson."
Dessarin does not say anything but looks at Abu a twinkle in Dessarin's eye. In the glint of a sparkle from his gaze a chuckle can seen being barely contained within.