"Are you kidding, this place is talked about all over, it is meant to be one of the best Inns around. A beautiful haven in the madness of modern life. They say the food here is amazing, you have hot tubs and beds you can sleep for mouths in. You think we are just going to pass buy on our travels. 'NO WAY' I said. This is it, this is here place we have to go, Layla was sold on the hot tubs when I told her, Randu [bigger]Loves[/digger] Good food a drink, Bit to much if you ask me, But me I just wanted to come to see the place. So I would say out business is entertainment. We are hear to relax before we head out again. Will you let us in if we say that??"
She dose not drop the child-like enfuseasem.
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Layla smiles at the guard. "She's very excitable."
One guard simply nods along with furrowed brows as Miya gushes about visiting the inn, while the other guard looks around, confused, looking for confirmation that this girl is for real.
However, they are satisfied by Miya's thorough, enthusiastic explanation, and they usher the party inside the inn.
While the exterior of the building is quite imposing, being well fortified upon ancient dwarven foundations, the interior is very cozy and warm. The common room and adjoining taproom have the charm of an aristocratic mountain lodge: a massive bear's head is mounted over the wide fireplace mantle, a framed map of the region hangs upon the wall, and the furniture is made from lacquered wood cut from Darkmoon Vale.
In contrast to the stoic, even dour expression of the door guards, the middle-aged man at the counter heartily greets you.
"Welcome, welcome! I hope Lars and Churl didn't treat you too coldly. They're trust trying to keep us safe here. Dangerous folks on the road, these days. Anyhow, name's Mierson Berekland. I'm your humble proprietor of the Gold Falls Inn, so let's see what we can do to help you get a little less foot sore."
She runs around the Inn overjoyed and exploring as much as she can, finding everything fascinating.
"Thanks for the hospitality." Layla says with a smile. "What do you have available in the way of rooms?"
"This is sooooo cute, look little mugs for Gnomes"
And she is off looking
"Is that a stage? Stand up, Bards!! cool, love the funny ones, not so much the Elf opera, But halfling slapstick!! yes!, I hope there is one tonight, this is going to be sooo much fun"
And again, off, on the mention of beds,
"Yes a big long fluffy bed, no more sleeping in tents, no more rocks in my back, or bugs in my ears. Real running hot water and bed linen, joy!!"
Randu follows in casually, "Nice."
"Well, now," Berekland muses with a smile as he watches Miya run around the inn, "she has quite the spirit. I'm glad my inn can prompt such delight.
"Anyhow, we're the largest inn for many leagues around, so we have plenty of rooms and amenities. The border's been effectively closed, so we haven't seen many travelers in the past few weeks. While that might be bad news for business, it's good news for you because it means all of those rooms are vacant.
"We have singles and doubles available. How many will you be needing, and how long would you like them?"
"What do you think Miya? Care to double up or would you want a room to yourself?" Layla asks the other woman.
She jumps down off a seat and comes over taking Layla's arm
"Girls together, I like it big sis"
She has a big grin on her face to the nice man.
Randu has been looking about a bit...
But he finally speaks up, "if you've a room for me and Rruh, two beds, it'd be appreciated." He says "Two nights. Maybe more?"
Randu scans the common room and the adjoining tap room. Apart from the party, the only other occupants of the ground floor are Mr. Berekland and another pair of house guards. Previously quite bored, these guards have not kept their eyes off the party since you entered the building.
Mr. Berekland pulls a long, flat box out from beneath the front counter. He fiddles with some manner of lock on the front and, once it's open, he retrieves a pair of keys before closing and replacing the box.
"Come on, right this way!" he calls with a wave of his calloused hand. "I'll show you to your rooms."
He leads you around the corner and up a flight of hardwood stairs. As you march along, you notice a number of strange curios on display in frames, cases, nooks, and niches on the ground floor and the upper floor hallway. They include broken weapon hilts, shards of pottery, rusted hinges, and other oddities.
"Here we go," Berekland announces, unlocking and opening a pair of doors on opposite sides of the hallway. He then presents the brass room keys to you.
"Quite the interesting...art collection you've got!" Layla comments as they make their way toward the room.
Miya giggles and enters the room, and as soon as she is out of sight she drops the act. Becoming cold and professional, she systematically searches and checks the room.
She looks for peep hold, spy hold, mains to pup position or gas into the room, She checks the windows for means of exit, The beds the floorboards, every knock and cranny. Bed sheets Pillows, and other items in the room.
She cast Detect Magic over the whole room, and Elemental Sample to get water to wash the bits she is not happy with. using Conjurers Toolbelt she affixes a bolt to the door on the inside. She takes out some wax and blocks any holes she finds. Then She takes out a number of weapons and hides them around the room for easy access. Then Hooks a rope loop in the rafters, above the door.
Finally, she strips down and jumps on the bed, to relaxe.
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The fox tattoo she has moved to her front and curled up on her belly. They both watched Layla as she unpacked and sorted her things.
"Layla"
She said laying there with just underwear on, stroking her fox tattoo, who seemed to enjoy it.
"Can I tell you something about myself, I think if I did, you would understand me better, and I would like that, you see I like you have an amazing body, and you're so cool and attractive. I just wanted you to know, for us to get along better, which I would like very much"
She splutters out.
"When I say this to other women, well things can get odd, and I don't want that."
She blushes a bit.
"Much obliged" He takes the key. He's curious about the curios but figures he might pry later
Layla watches in surprise, and honestly a little impressed at Miya's thorough inspection of every last detail of the room. Intrigued, she studies her detailed assessment of everything as she sets her own gear down, arching an eyebrow as the stunning warrior strips down to her underwear, though the slight smile curling the corner of her mouth indicates her appreciation for the view.
"Well...that's a mouthful." she replies with a chuckle, catching the slight blush coloring her companion's cheeks. "Definitely don't have to worry about things getting odd with me. I mean have you looked in a mirror lately? Havin' somebody who looks like you tell me I'm attractive...well that pretty much makes my day!" she says with a warm smile.
Taking a moment, she removes her chain shirt, laying it at the foot of the vacant bed, before deciding to embrace the openness of the moment, and removing the rest of her outer clothing sitting cross-legged across from Miya in her underwater as well.
"I think I'd very much like to get along with you as well, Miya. I'd like that a lot." she says with a grin.
Miya grins and relaxes at Layla's words.
"Good, great I was really worried there, Ok well let's do this."
She says and stands and as stands her form changes. Her legs get longer, her face elongates, her ears move up and become pointy, and from behind her a bushy white tail, her skin now is covered in fine white and gold Fur.
"This is the real me, I'm a fox kin, sorry I kept it from you and it has to be our secret. My kind are... well.. it's hard for my kind to find people who accept you."
She gives a slight grin and did a spin. It's clear now why she was in underwear, they were the only things she had on that fitted her true form.
"It feels so good to be back to my true self"
She says and giggles.
"Wow! And I thought you were stunning before!!" she says, smiling at the obvious relief Miya was feeling at being in her true form. "I totally understand why you kept your secret, some people can be superstitions, especially about shapeshifter's but...wow.. that's amazing Miya!"
It is quite clear that Layla is a little in awe, watching the swaying of Miya's bushy tail, and the way her expressions look on her new face. "I'm completely honored that you trust me with this!"
Layla and Miya's locked room:
She can see Layla really wants to touch her fur.
"O go on then"
She says walking up to Layla, and jumps on the bed next to her, laying back, her head on a pillow
"I can tell you want to know how it feels. I don't mind, like said, I trust you Layla. But be careful around the ears, they are very sensitive."
She closes her eyes and waits.
"Ooohhh. Even softer than I imagined." she says quietly. Laying beside Miya, propped up on one elbow, she gazes at her companion, giving in to impulse and very gently running a fingertip along the edge of one of her ears, studying her face to see her reaction.
As soon as Layla touches Miya ear, Miya's eyes fly open and she positively flys off the bed. She stands there rubbing ear, as if what had been done was incredibly ticklish.
"Laylarrrr! what did I say, I'm incredibly sensitive there."
She goggles.
"I'm all hot a sweaty from the road, lets go find the hot tub"
And she walks over to her bed and gets a silk robe, and some sandals. Form her haversack.
"I want to see just how HOT this tub is"
Randu sets up in his own room, making sure his catfolk friend gets his choice of bed.
Getting off the bed she stretches, rolling her shoulders back. "Ooohh yes! A hot bath sounds wonderful! Especially after a day in the saddle."
Miya changed back into human form. And put on her silk robe crabbing a towel. She slipped out the door and went to knock on Randu's
"Randu we are going to the hot tub if you want to come, get your stuff and dead down"
She lipped back into the room with Layla
"Just told Randu where we are going, when your ready lets head down"
Pulling on a simple robe and taking a towel for herself, Layla joins Miya in heading to the hot tub.
When you are first escorted up to your rooms, Berekland perks up when his collection is complimented.
"Thank you, thank you. Although they're hardly art. I was a Pathfinder back in the day, and these are some mementos from old expeditions. None of it is worth any coin. All the rare, valuable objects were turned into the lodge to be studied and shared with the world. I just picked up some odds and ends to remember the strange, far-off places I've been. Be careful asking about them, or you'll never get me to shut up," he laughs.
When you get to your rooms, you find them warmly appointed and cozy, with not a trace of danger or intrigue to be found. In fact, Miya finds that the walls, roof, hinges, locks, and other aspects of the rooms have been meticulously maintained in order to safeguard their occupants' safety and privacy.
...
Miya and Layla find the hot tub and adjoining sauna built into the side of the inn that overlooks the river and the falls. The wall looking out upon the water is made entirely of large, thick panes of glass, affording a spectacular view. Just out of the corner of this panorama, you can spot some of Berekland's men working the sluice at the top of the falls, apparently hunting for gold.
If Berekland's side business is gold prospecting, then it would explain the quality of the inn's amenities. The bathhouse is paneled with rich, lacquered wood. The drawers and towel rungs are wrought from brass. There are two large hot tubs, each big enough to comfortable hold four people. You also suspect that the water is kept heated through magically enhanced piping.
Taking in the beauty of the place, Layla lets out a low whistle at the amazing view.
”This place feels like a vacation!” she says with a grin setting down her towel and slipping off her robe. ”Looks to be magically heated too…fancy! I have to say, there are far worse places to set up base on an investigation.”
Looking around she gives Mia a shrug, before stripping out of her undergarments, setting them aside in one of the vacant drawers, and stepping into the closer of the two tubs, letting out a deeply contented sigh as she settles into the steaming water.
Mia dose does not go in hot tut, but stips and sits on one of a number of small stools. In front of which are soup and flannels. She takes one of each and then methodology cleans her body from head to toe. Her body is lean and muscular, like a gymnast's. Her body hair is white and golden. As she cleans her movements are graceful, like a dancer. Even with her back to the others. Her fox tattoo moves as she does, always watching the others in the room. While somehow avoiding the soup. Her back to them she says.
"He can see you, you know. He is my little lookout."
And she robs her shoulder where her fox tattoo head is, and its eyes blink in pleasure.
Then, once Scrubbed clean, she stands and with a giggle slips into the water. Drifting over and turning she sits close, almost touching next to Layla. The water hides all but her Fox tattoo, which moves once again around her body until its head is on her neck and shoulder as it seems to enjoy the worth as well.
"The view is nice, but the water, that's so much nicer"
Sitting back in the soothing hot water, Layla watches with admiration as Miya goes through her cleansing ritual, smiling at the fox tattoo's antics. "Nice to have a little friend to watch your back!" she says with a warm chuckle.
"Yeah, the water is wonderful after the long ride here, definitely a good idea." she replies with a smile.
Miya leans over and whispers in Layla ear.
"I don't think anyone here knows the words of the woods. So our talking ng should be safe. Later I will get excited and start to explore the place. Feel up for some exploring?"
Smiling and leaning in as Miya leans close to whisper in her ear, Layla stretches.
"I have set the tone that I am an excitable type that is into everything, if I should explore and find myself where I should not be, you can come in and chalk it down to me being that way. Plans within planes, Layla, Plans within planes"
And she pecks Layla on the cheek with a giggle, before leaning back and relaxing some more.
Randu finds the place utterly amazing, and tries to get a feel for the folks who work here assisting Mr. Berkeland. He supposes there must be maids or the like...
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Miya and Layla step out from the hot tub and sauna room to scout the rest of the ground floor of the inn. In addition to the common room and taproom the party witnessed earlier, they also count a kitchen, larder, and cloakroom as part of the floor plan. They manage to spot access points to the basement in the kitchen and cloakroom without drawing too much attention to themselves.
Looking out the windows, you spot a stable and bunkhouse as separate outbuildings on the grounds overlooking the falls.
Upstairs, Randu finds that the party's rented rooms are two of the ten rooms - four doubles, six singles - that take up most of the second floor. There is also a portion of this floor partitioned from the rest, likely hosting servants' quarters or chambers for the owner. At the end of the hallway, he also finds a narrow staircase leading up to an attic or loft, but the door at the end of the stairs appears locked.
You also manage to take a headcount of the staff at the inn. In addition to Berekland, his husband, their adopted son, and the guards you've spotted, there are another two maids working at the inn to help with various tasks around the establishment. There also be some additional workers tending the gold sluice atop the falls, but you can't get an accurate count of how many from inside the inn.
Grinning as they relax a bit longer in the hot tub before slipping out to scout the ground floor, Layla memorizes the layout, noting the details of the floor.
"Want to try checking out the basement now or wait until nightfall?" she whispers to Miya.
"Lets go"
Of the two entrances to the basement, the hatch in the cloakroom would probably be easier to access than the door in the kitchen since it sees less foot traffic and offers more convenient blind spots to passing staff.
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Randu wonders where the others of his party have gotten too Well, how much trouble can the two ladies get into of their own, really?
He had spent the majority of his time in quiet contemplation of where he was heading. Such long thoughts were... foreign to him. As they prepared for their journey and he bid his farewells to Nualla he realized he didnt want to leave her side. he felt... alive with her. Falcon's hollow however still needed help.
Still would she be amenidible to not returning home to just staying with him on one big journey? worded properly she may. He found himself silent following Randu like a shadow to their rooms at the inn the hood of his cloak mostly hiding his features. the robes he wore hiding his tail. He disliked going incognito like this .. it fel unnatural.
"tell me Randu.... you think this treasure exists?if we find it... does it go to us or the hollow? I know what i will do if i get a part of the treasure.... give it to the folk of the hollow... after buying a regard token."
He began in their room when he noticed Randu getting restless. That was understandible. He himself wanting to pace. he stuck to letting his tail lash. The cover of darkness and night would be ht ebest time for him to prowl about...
He had spent the majority of his time in quiet contemplation of where he was heading. Such long thoughts were... foreign to him. As they prepared for their journey and he bid his farewells to Nualla he realized he didnt want to leave her side. he felt... alive with her. Falcon's hollow however still needed help.
Still would she be amenidible to not returning home to just staying with him on one big journey? worded properly she may. He found himself silent following Randu like a shadow to their rooms at the inn the hood of his cloak mostly hiding his features. the robes he wore hiding his tail. He disliked going incognito like this .. it fel unnatural.
"tell me Randu.... you think this treasure exists?if we find it... does it go to us or the hollow? I know what i will do if i get a part of the treasure.... give it to the folk of the hollow... after buying a regard token."
He began in their room when he noticed Randu getting restless. That was understandible. He himself wanting to pace. he stuck to letting his tail lash. The cover of darkness and night would be ht ebest time for him to prowl about...
"You're a good fellow, Rrruh," The Halfling's expression indicated that very question was also on his mind, "I turn it over in my head. What's best? Me, I find myself wanting a bit of security for myself, then I realize, how many folks in the Hallow are REALLY secure? Aye, sharing the wealth is good, but how would it split. Do we give more to those what have least, or even all about? Some folks I wouldn't throw a copper at who have done dirty deeds on their fellows. Others break my heart. Can't let perfect be the enemy of good though. We'll try something... just not sure what, to help them out." And he stops, "Wait, regard token? Is that what I think it sounds like? Oh my. How serious are you and Nuala, my friend? Mark me, she's a kind lady. Were she a halfling you'd have competition." A smile, gentle, to show the last was meant in friendly humor.
He nodded to the halfling it was almost indeed what he thought.
"When my people come of age... we take a trip to see the world... most make sure to swing through other tribes villages... They say its so we can learn of the world to understand how good we have it at home...It also serves to find potential mates from outside the village.
Nualla is beautiful... but her heart is a large as her beauty and thats what sings to me. If he wont have me as her mate... then i dont beleive i will take one.
He paused blinking as if he was surprised by his own words for a moment.
"are you hungry? perhaps we could get a meal and question the folk in the common room surreptitiously?
Randu is surprised as well, "Quite the declaration. Sure settles things on your part." then he ponders, "Let's get that meal and see if it's more than bread crumbs that fall." He nods.
And he follows his catfolk friend to do so.
The sounds of footsteps coming down the stairs rankle the fine hairs on the backs of Miya and Layla's necks as they begin the infiltration portion of their investigation. However, they feel a great wave of relief when they see that it is only Rrruh and Randu.
Their two companions take a table in the common room and order a meal. This provides an inadvertent distraction to the staff, and the stealthy duo are able to slip into the cloakroom and quietly lift the hatch without drawing any attention to themselves.
Layla and Miya descend the well-tended wooden ladder, which offers not a single creak or groan to betray them. Rather than some earthen walls buttressed by wooden beams, they find that the inn's cellar is composed of old dwarven masonry that has stood the test of time. Even the frescoes upon the walls have endured. Cleaned and tended by the retired Pathfinder-turned-innkeeper and his family, these works of art depict scenes from the old dwarven kingdoms.
The room beneath the cloakroom is a small storage space. Old stone niches and newer wooden shelves hold flasks of lamp oil, boxes of tinder, barrels of nails, an assortment of tools, and many other odds and ends useful for making a living on the frontier.
A short passage connects this storage room to a pantry that sits beneath the kitchen. An iron door of old dwarven craftsmanship dominates the far wall in the pantry; however, the lock upon the door is of much more recent, human craftsmanship.
There is also another doorway in the storage room where Miya and Layla currently stand. However, this doorway has been bricked up.
"Oh thank you so much for your prompt service... forgive my memory, but what's on the menu when it comes to meat?"
Noting the solid dwarven masonry, Layla catalogs the basic supplies they find, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Reaching into the pocket of her robe where she'd slipped the fingerless gloves she usually wore, she puts them back on, placing her hands against the bricked up doorway, closing her eyes and focusing, as the magic takes hold.
"O I know those gloves, very clever"
She whispers conspiratorially.