"Let's just enjoy ourselves Laire. We can worry about a job after we eat."
Swerlo replies to Kusar
"We'll see, if your words are true."
A lovely and upbeat barmaid approaches your table
"Good afternoon, I'll be taking your order."
so then quickly asks with a cheery voice
"Right now, for meals we have; stew, salad, mutton, and chicken soup.
For drinks we have water, and a wide range of spirits including;
Ager's 11,
Dragon Ale,
Blackjack,
Elven Mead,
Bond's Booze,
The MacGuffin,
Dwarven Beer,
Balrog,
and I believe we have some wines"
@Lairë
Rune sees the Barmaid and thinks
"Why is that all the Taverns we've visited have beautiful and or busty barmaids.
Like is it some requirement for the job,
it is some crap ass excuse they do for hiring,
does it meet some stupid trope requirement in general for almost every world."
Rune hears the like of drinks
"sounds like a good selection, shame I can't get drunk to help ease the annoyance I'm feeling."
"I guess I'll be ordering a stew with a serving of mutton.
As for a drink I'll go with a Dragon Ale."
Winry looks at Aurorae and clapse her hands together in excitement
"It's nice to see one of our new customers is another elf, as there are so few here,
As we really only have Ms Willoway, and Raz here.
Not sure how much I count since I'm more like 3/4's elf."
Kusar nods at the waitress. "One salad please. And some water. Yes. Yes of course"
He patiently waits for his food. He turns to Rune who is sitting on his right. "What sort of jobs do you think we'll find? Hopefully we'll get paid this time..."
Rune replies
"I don't know about what types of jobs we'll find, as we are a unique group, with unique individuals.
As for the Pay we were due, I doubt we'll see even a single copper, but if I'm wrong we get something."
Winry replies
"So we so far have one stew and Mutton with Dragon Ale, and one Salad and water order."
Winry looks at Aurorae and clapse her hands together in excitement
"It's nice to see one of our new customers is another elf, as there are so few here,
As we really only have Ms Willoway, and Raz here.
Not sure how much I count since I'm more like 3/4's elf."
With a big smile, Aurorae puts her hand on the arm of the waitress and replies : "You count as you want to, dear. I'm sure if we go far back, there's a little bit of devil or genie blood in every one. If you feel you're an elf, then you should count yourself in, whatever other people say."
She strokes the arm as she goes on, "But that's an interesting thing, I would have thought more elves would live here with the Verduran forest close by. Raz and Ms Willoway, you said. Where could I find them, if I wanted to talk to them ?"
"Oh, and I'll take a sald as well and an Elven Mead, obviously.", she adds with a wink.
Rune replies
"I don't know about what types of jobs we'll find, as we are a unique group, with unique individuals.
As for the Pay we were due, I doubt we'll see even a single copper, but if I'm wrong we get something."
"Don't be so glum, Rune. We'll find something. There's sure going to be something. Maybe messages to carry, or some merchant to escort. Or maybe even better, a big bad wolf that is attacking the villagers that we will have to persuade to leave. You know, like the stories they told around the fire when we were young."
"I'm just stating what I see, and how things have happened before.
And I wouldn't want to wish something bad to happen just to get a job.
And all those fires when we were young generally go started by me."
Winry answers Aurorae's questions with glee
"Even though we are next to a forest most of the elves among there own, but even still we also have a number of half-elves living in Belhaim.
As for Ms Willoway she runs a apple farm just a bit north of here.
As for Raz she wanders around town and helps folks out, though she only arrived here about a few months ago."
Aurorae sticks her tongue out at Rune :"Yeah, you're right. But let me keep my dreams. I'm sure that if I wish it strongly enough, it will happen."
Turning back to Winry, she adds :"I'm sorry, I did not introduce myself, I'm Aurorae Hobbs." She leans forwards and asks quietly: "By the way, would you know if anyone in town would be interested in hiring us. I mean for doing guard or escorting jobs or anything necessitating capable individuals like us? Any direction would be appreciated. We just arrived in town a couple of hours away."
Rune replies half-jokingly
"Dreams and wishes for something better are fine, just watch out that they don't become a nightmare."
Winry replies
"I'm Winry Dfair,
As for jobs, I'd think you'd need to ask around town, or you could check with the Garrison for any jobs."
Are there any blacksmiths in town?
Kusar nods at the waitress. "One salad please. And some water. Yes. Yes of course"
He patiently waits for his food. He turns to Rune who is sitting on his right. "What sort of jobs do you think we'll find? Hopefully we'll get paid this time..."
Lairë gives a sidelong glance to Kusar as he orders. "Well, I guess that means more for me. I'll have a dragon ale. It only seems fitting. And the stew. And the mutton."
"Don't be so glum, Rune. We'll find something. There's sure going to be something. Maybe messages to carry, or some merchant to escort. Or maybe even better, a big bad wolf that is attacking the villagers that we will have to persuade to leave. You know, like the stories they told around the fire when we were young."Rune replies
"I don't know about what types of jobs we'll find, as we are a unique group, with unique individuals.
As for the Pay we were due, I doubt we'll see even a single copper, but if I'm wrong we get something."
Lairë chimes in, "I wouldn't worry about it. After all, somethings bound to show up. Your pretty good with that hammer and well, I guess Kusar can always pass as a farmhand."
Winry replies
"So we have; two Stews, Two Muttons, Two salads, Two Dragon Ales, one Elven Mead and one water.
I'll go and get your order."
She walks to the kitchen to get the order.
Rune replies to Lairë
"Basically we start with jobs we did back home, well it is a start and could help pay for expenses."
"And I will check with the temples if the need supplies for brewing potions. They may even have an apothecary or and herbalist I could work for. But we should also check the garrison and the Inn once we've finished our meal."
"So we have a start for plan on getting a method of pay for expenses."
"I don't particularly want to go back to being a farmer right now. I enjoyed it and all but..." Kusar trails off. "I could always join one of you.". An imagine pops up in his mind - chaos in a forge as Kusar knocks over big buckets of molten lava. He cringes at the thought. "Maybe not. I guess I'll see if any of the farms around here need some muscle."
"Aurorae, with your knowledge of herbs, would you be able to smoke various fish?"
"So we have a start for plan on getting a method of pay for expenses."
"Maybe not a perfect plan, but one to fall back on if needed. But we still have time. Now where did our waitress run off to? I'm starving..."
"I agree Lairë it is a good fall back and we could ask Winry what places there are in town to get an idea of what jobs could be open and how many of that job could be open.
We know of at least; two temples, a garrison, a tavern, a Inn, and a Apple farm in town.
I can agree I'm starving as well, but it is also currently an odd hour to have a meal and food does take a bit of time to make.
As I doubt you'd like your stew and mutton served cold and not completely cooked."
"If there is apothecary and or a herbalist in town, they likely have their own shop, as a temple's money generally comes from tithe."
"Good point. Let's ask the tavern keeper as we wait for our meals ?"
Aurorae gets to the bar a second time. "Sorry Sir, we were discussing with my friends here and were wondering whether you nice town has an apothecary or an herbalist in addition to the temples of Abadar and Shelyn. Or maybe there's a druid from the Wildwood Lodge here, with you being close the the Verduran Forest?"
Swerlo replies
"We do have a apothecary and herbalist in town,
If I remember right, the places are called Xemne's Tonics, and Anagrit's Cottage respectively.
As for Druids, we have a local man named Azmur Keel.
He and his pregnant wife have been missing for over two months now.
Thankfully Raz showed up a week and a bit before he left and then disappeared.
She's been doing some of the tasks that Azmur Keel normal does."
"So she's a druid as well? It's a blessing that she came right on point. Thank you for your help."
Aurorae smiles and swirls back to regain the table where her companions are waiting.
"Well, they seem to have both shops, so I'll have to visit those as well. And they had a druid who left with his pregnant wife. It seems the elven woman Raz arrived at the time he left and is sort of covering for him. I'll keep an eye out for her. She may have a thing or two to teach me."
Swerlo replies before Aurorae turns around
"I didn't say she was a druid, only that she's covering some of Azmur Keel's job while, he's away."
"We'll need to see what the future holds, I'll ask if there are any blacksmiths in town.
And given a town of this size, there should be a number of farms, as it takes about what 1/4 acre to feed a person for a year."
"Hmm." Kusar thinks while eagerly awaiting his food. His stomach has been complaining. "Work is the last thing on my mind right now," he thinks. Then Kusar turns to the barkeep. "Is there a market nearby, where farmers sell their produce? I may wander that way..." he trails off thinking of lunch.
Swerlo replies to Kusar
"Sorry, we don't have a farmer's market, we either buy right from the farmer or from Tymek's general Store since farmers sell some of their produce there."
"So it looks like the town isn't big enough to have a farmer's market, or any market in general, just a few stores.
Which does make it harder for buying or selling stuff."
As for Druids, we have a local man named Azmur Keel.
He and his pregnant wife have been missing for over two months now.
"Well that's not right. A pregnant couple disappeared? Who's leading the investigation?"
Swerlo replies to Lairë
"Unfortunately, I don't know who was leading the investigation, and from rumours, I heard they don't even have any leads at all, as then don't even know where they disappeared or even when."
"The name was Azmur Keel you say? Do they live in town? Is there a separate grove that they maintained?"
Kusar's ears perk up when he hears about the missing druids. "We need to go find them. This sounds perfect for us". He forgets about his food and the farms. But Swerlo suggests they don't even have leads and Kusar frowns. He mutters to himself, "well... if professionals can't find them, how can we expect to do it..."
Kusar listens in to Laire ask about Azmur and nods - agreeing to the questions.
Swerlo replies to Lairë
"Azmur maintained a groove right in town, If I recall right he and his wife left going somewhere and said they'd be back within a month.
I don't know where they were going or why, or who they were going to visit."
Lowering her voice to be heard only by her companions Aurorae whispers :
"Not going to say it too loud yet but don't you find that strange that the druid disappeared just one week after this elven woman Raz came in town and that she is taking some of his duties. She could have driven him out or frightened him."
"I think we should keep a eye on her. And maybe go to the Druid's grove. There may be animals that we could talk to. They may have seen something and I bet no one asked them."
Rune whispers
"That could be the case, but it could also be a coincidence."
"Well, if they're a month over due, maybe we should go take a look around the grove and their home to see where they went. Did Raz show up in coordination with their departure?"
Swerlo replies to Lairë
"I wasn't there, so I couldn't say with absolute proof,
But from what I heard Azmur gave Raz a list of jobs to do right just before he left, and she immediately went to doing those tasks."
"Hmm... that doesn't sound too suspicious then. Still, we might want to talk to her to see if she knows why they're over due."
"I agree, as soon as we get fed, we can go there, then to the various shops to look for possible jobs."
Aurorae keeps looking around, trying to catch the other customers eyes when they look the group's way and smiling at them in return.
Kusar agrees with a nod of his head. He stuffs his face full of salad. "I agree. We need to find work.". Then a thought came to him. "We should talk to this Raz person."
Winry comes back with everyone's order
"Sorry for the wait, had to wait a bit for the stew to finish."
As you all start eating a old woman with a walking stick comes through the door.
And she walks up to the table.