It is a busy morning at the Broken Dragon, as you three arrive you see one table that has not been occupied yet. The smell of bread fills she air and the conversations litter your ears. Behind the bar you see a man who fits the description of Inn keeper perfectly, he has a rag and is cleaning what glasses were left from the night before.
As you sit the bar maid comes up to your table. "What'll it be?" Her voice matches her appearance, Harsh and Gritty.
Lisbeth did as she always did when she entered the Broken Dragon. She gave the place a brief glance around the place from the safety of her hood to see what type of people were there, to determine if she should be excessively wary, or be content in her normal wary state.
The barmaid approached the table, and out of habit, Lisbeth slunk lower in her chair, wrapping her darkened and stained travel cloak tighter around herself.
Without looking at the woman, she muttered her order in a more-raspy-than-intended breath.
"Pint of bitter..."
Rough night I take it, start'n the drink early? And the rest o' ya?
The barmaid stands looking impatient eying the other tables, as the inn gets more crowded.
Already quite annoyed at the barmaid, Lisbeth says nothing. In the late morning hours, the number of patrons in the inn started to swell, and Lisbeth felt herself grow more and more uncomfortable.
Yearning for the comfort of a wall at her back, Lisbeth continued to sit in her rickety chair, making eye contact with no one and stew grudgingly.
Barlow points to a cask of ale on the bar and grunts.
Well, aren't you three just happy to be awake this morning. I will be back with your drinks
The Barmaid walks away and goes out of sight into the back room. She quickly returns with drinks in hand and hands them out.
She puts a drink in front of Acidios Here this will help your attitude this morning, maybe even make you a bit more scary should ye be trying to scare off any others. Let me know if you folk need anything else.
She leaves and begins tending to other tables. Her voice lost in the conversations bouncing around the inn.
In one gulp Barlow downs the entire drink and sets the mug bag on the table roughly. He makes contented noises afterward and slumps lower in his chair.
Lisbeth slides her mug of ale close to her and clutches it against her chest. Casting a small glare at Barlow for making a rather disgusting noise, she looks down at the concoction and takes a trial sip, tasting the ale on her tongue, looking for any ingredients that shouldn't be there.
Alchemy:
A woman approaches your table and looks at the three of you and sits down. She has blond curly hair, and is perfectly put together. She does not look like she belongs at the same table.
She looks towards the Bar maid.
Lurel would you please get these folk another of what they had
Lurel: Yes Lady Hucrele
Shocked at the woman that suddenly sits at the table, Lisbeth clutches her ale closer and leans away from the woman, eyeing her suspiciously.
Sense Motive:
Barlow looks at the woman and narrows his eyes, seemingly looking her over. He sniffs at the air while leaning closer toward her.
Mmmmm.
Lurel bring another round for all of you and nods at Lady Hucrele.
These the ones lady?
Lady Hucrele: I sure hope so Lurel, I sure hope so.
Lady Hucrele turns to all of you. Please drink, it is on me. Drink and then we can talk. I have a very important matter to discuss
Barlow quickly downs his drink again, spilling some down the front of his hide shirt in the process.
I drank. Talk now.
He starts smacking his lips and licking his teeth as he waits for her to respond.
Lisbeth stubbornly keeps absolutely still. If she was going to hear what this woman wanted to say, she would do it with her wits about her. Glaring at her expectantly, Lisbeth lifted her mug of ale to take the smallest sip possible.
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Acidios pulls out a dagger, stabs the point of the blade into the table and begins polishing the hilt with a small cloth from his pocket.
I don't drink. It's gonna cost you something a little bit more shiny if it's important business you want to talk about. Stanger fee. You understand.
He grins, still focused on polishing the hilt.
Diplomacy:
You would be best to watch that running mouth of yours and not let Lurel see you ruining her tables. I can promise you it will be well worth your time. I have heard of the three of you, the tales of your help with the orc raids to the south travel fast. If you are interested in a job here in Oakhurst then come see me, I can promise you it will be worth your time. And perhaps you should learn to have proper conversation with someone.
Lady Hucrele gets up from the table and grabs the two drinks in front of Acidios and passes them to Barlow. She then nods and heads for the door leading outside.
Barlow starts to snicker in the direction of Acidios. He makes more of a mess with these two new drinks and leans back in his chair after belching loudly.
I like that woman.
He proudly displays a large smile on his cloak-hidden face.
Are you going to finish that Lissie?
He says, gesturing towards Lisbeth's mug; still snickering to himself.
"Well, that was interesting..."
Lisbeth absentmindedly pushes her full mugs of ale toward Barlow and leans back in her chair.
"I suppose we'll have to go find where she is if we want this job," she murmurs and passes an irritated look at Acidios.
After chugging Lisbeth's mugs, Barlow stands up and stretches, cracking his back in the process.
Better get to trackin' then.
At this, he reaches up and pulls his neck each way until it cracks. He then looks expectantly at Acidios and Lisbeth and starts making his way after Lady Hucrele.
"Mm..." Lisbeth agrees quietly.
Standing from her chair, not bothering to tuck it back under the rickety table, Lisbeth casts one last glance in the direction of the pub to see if they were being followed by eyes or otherwise on their way out the door.
Once in the street, Lisbeth takes several quick steps to catch up to the stride of Barlow, flipping her hood back on her head as she goes.
Lady Hurcele moves through the crowd with ease you can see her heading for a large two story building it stands out as being one of the larger buildings in the small town. A sign posted out side reads,
"Merchant House: Hurcele"
Before going inside she picks a flower and rests it on the window seal, gently putting the back of her hand to her lips.
Lady Hurcele is easy enough to follow through the streets, thankfully, as Lisbeth's mind switches to panic-mode. Feeling eyes on her back, Lisbeth tries to turn discretely to see if they are still being followed.
Barlow weaves through the people walking on the street, making his way to the front door of the Hurcele Mercahnt House.
Lisbeth follows Barlow, disappointed but somewhat relieved that she might have just being paranoid. She witnesses Lady Hurcele place a flower in the sill, placing the back of her hand to her lips.
I think you'll be just fine where you are my little friend. There is a bush over there you can hide behind if things get rough.
Barlow makes a gesture towards some foliage nearby and then winks at Acidios while chuckling to himself. He steps up to the door, pulls at his hood to make sure it is casting a shadow over the majority of his face, and begins knocking loudly.
Barlow laughs loudly and claps Acidios on the back.
That is assuming you could make it atop my shoulders on your own while also running and hiding from the scary woman.
After regaining the small amount of composure he has, Barlow turns his attention back to the door and knocks again, calling out loudly this time.
Lady, are you in there...? I brought the mean boy here to say sorry for his rudeness.
Lisbeth leans against the frame of the door as though bored and observes the throngs of people in the streets, idly watching the faces of people passing.
The crowd moves with ease people coming and going. You do not notice anything unusual or anything out of place.
The door in front of you opens, revealing Lady Hercule; she steps aside to let you in, holding the door for you.
You were faster than I expected, please make your way down the hall and to your left we will discuss business in the dinning room. Can I have my servants get you anything during your visit?
I pride myself on my tracking abilities, miss. Acidios... don't you have something to say to the scary woman?
Barlow laughs and makes his way into the building, ducking slightly and turning sideways to fit easier through the door due to his height and shoulder width.
I am dying for some breakfast.
He takes his cloak off and lays it on a nearby piece of furniture, then turns to look at Lady Hercule with what he thinks is an inquisitive look.
Lisbeth steps in quickly, eager to get off the street. Looking about the house as she moves down the hall and into the dining room, she tries to decide how rich this Lady Hercule might be, and if she should trust that this woman even has money to give.
Not feeling particularly thirsty or hungry, Lisbeth says nothing in response to the offer. In the dining room, Lisbeth meanders about the space, looking at the room and noting any exits in case she needs to make a quick getaway.
Lady Hurcele enters the room and sits at the head of the table.
Please have a seat. I need you to help me with a matter. I need you to track someone down for me. Two members of my family have gone missing and I would like you to find them. Talgen and Sharwyn, They ventured down into the Sunless Citadel with a group of adventures. If you go find them you can have claim to any treasures you find so long as you bring them back to me. Or if fate has befallen them then bring back their signet rings. I will also pay you 250 Gold if you bring back them or the rings. I can supply you with the basic needs for the trip. Also Here is a map showing the location of the citadel.
Lady Hurcele sets a map out on the table. Just as she does this 2 servants come in with plates of food. They set one in front of Acidios and one in front of Barlow. The one in front of Acidios is noticeably a larger portion.
Please, eat and think on your answer. I would be grateful for your help.
Barlow quickly reaches out and turns the map towards himself, so he can read it better. He is very quiet during his process of inspecting the map; completely ignoring the plate of food in front of him.
Barlow looks up at the scene Acidios is making.
Those are awful table manners you have, little one.
With that, he grabs the plates in front of Acidios and himself and switches their places.
The servant ducks and the fork hits the wall, He looks at Acidios in shock and just stands there.
My apologies sir, it was a mistake it won't happen again. Please forgive me.
He then quickly turns to leave the room.
Barlow looks up at Lady Hurcele with a frustrated look on his face.
This map is in some ridiculous script. But this right here
He points to a spot on the map.
is where we need to go.
At this, he lets out an aggravated puff of breath and pulls his plate towards him. He eats with his hands, shoving food into his mouth with no regard for the cleanliness of himself or the things around him.
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Acidios scoffs at the servant, wraps his food in some cloth, sticks it in his satchel and pats Barlow as high on the back as he can reach.
C'mon Barlow! Grow some tusks, let the servant deal with it next time. Lady Hurcele, I believe I will take my breakfast on the road. Thank you for your kindness. It almost makes up for the lack of shiny compensation for my valuable time. Let's go comrades! With any luck I'll still have time to stab something today.
Acidios impatiently makes his way to the door.
Barlow feels a small hand pat his lower back and looks over at Acidios as he makes his way to the door.
I'm not done eating yet. You can go on without me. Don't get lost, I don't want another scary woman to find you and eat you up for breakfast.
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Acidios lets out an irritated sigh as he slides his back down a wall and seats himself on the floor.
Fine! I suppose I'll just polish my daggers some more. Lisbeth grab a shovel and help him eat faster will you? I want to get on with this already. And for your information Barlow I would melt off the scary womans face before she got so much as a taste!
Barlow chuckles loudly and continues eating, but much slower and deliberate than before.