Sunset: 1755
- No Greyhawk Events today
A new town; a new job
The trip from High Ery to Ery Crossing passes uneventfully and by day’s end Altan and Talesian pull into town. Sure enough, waiting for them at the gate is a regal looking man with long flowing blonde hair and a quick smile. He hails them and welcomes them to Ery Crossing. Their destination for the night, he explains, is the Twisted Heron Tavern. At this he produces a a two inch green card bordered in yellow with the picture of a heron on one side. He tells them that while in town, they can use that marker for any pertinent expenses including rooms and food at the Heron. Master Feron has the best bitters for miles around and it is only served in the Heron. As in the last town, the Giant has a mission for them, though this one is considerably simpler. A local man by the name of Luciano has worked on and off as a member of road clearing squads. He’s presently out of work and got into an altercation with a local merchant Arney the Smith at a local bar. Arney is an angry, uncooperative man. He claimed that Luciano refused to pay him for a sword he commissioned. The blonde man maintains that Luciano is innocent of the charge, but Arney is a local and Luciano is not. It is a “He-said, he-said” issue which Luciano will lose. Once he does he will become the slave of Arney unless he pays for the sword immediately. Luciano cannot do that, of course. The Giant would like Luciano to join the Team, but he, of course, needs to be out of the gaol before that happens. Their assignment is to convince Arney to drop the charges. Altan’s initial impression is that we it doesn’t matter whether Luciano got the sword or not. If the Giant wants the man on the team, we use the Giant’s money to pay the blacksmith and leave with Luciano. He’ll be indebted to the Giant at that point, and may feel obligated to join.
Talesien:
I doubt it’ll be that simple, although I think we should still try it. If our boss wanted that to happen he woudln’t need to send us to do it. It seems as though he’s done a lot of research on this issue. Perhaps he knows more than they are telling us.
Altan:
I think he does fuck all for research. He has us fer that, don’t he? He may know who this Luciano joker is, an’ know he’s got somethin’ we need, but I doubt he knows much more than that.
Talesien:
Perhaps. I think also you should let me attempt this one. I was hired as a Harper. Either we’ll pay for the sword or we’ll pay for him to be drunk and agreeable.
Altan:
Y’know what, mate? I pulled th’ fuckin’ weight on that last trip. Ye’re welcome to this one. I’ll be in th’ pub if ye need me.
Talesien:
Not quite what I meant by that…
Altan:
I reckon if he needs to be… lubricated, this way I’ll be on hand t’ help out.
Talesien:
Not like I can stop you eh? Alright it’s a plan. With any luck I won’t see you until the jobs done
Altan:
Aye. With any luck, I’ll see no one except that babe behind th’ bar for th’ next hour or so.
Talesien:
That kinda luck takes a skill that you haven’t used yet. Holding out on me?
Altan:
Mate, I don’t need luck. I got th’ full package here.
Talesien:
hehe…sure. I’ll see you later Talesien’s first move is to find Luciano and hear the story from him. Altan’s first move is to order an ale from the barmaid. Talesien will do this by going to the bar and asking the bar tender about Lucaino and Arney. Talesien will go to the Master Feron The pair head to the Twisted Heron, finding it near the entrance, just off the main way. A good traveller’s tavern with a few rooms upstairs. The kind of place that you coem to to get lost in the traffic in and out of. On the way in, Altan mentions to Talesien that they may as well spend the night, so he’ll get them a couple of rooms, pointing out that it makes no sense to travel on the cheap as long as someone else is footing the bill.
Talesien:
Alright, let me see the card. I’ll get us rooms. I need to speak to the bartender anyway.
Altan:
Fine, you do it. [He flips the card to Talesien]. Geez. Offer to do a bloke a favor, this is th’ thanks you get. (Talesien can tell from Altan’s tone that he’s not really mad.)
Talesien:
Oh come now, I’ll make sure you get the room with the cleanest bugs possible.
Altan:
Bugs, no bugs, all th’ same. Probably won’t be sleepin’ in it anyway. Talesien then walks up to the bar tender and asks for the nicest double room and to start a tab all on the card he presents The barkeep looks at the card and talks to an older man, who looks at the pair. Altan smiles broadly. He walks over and calls to someone on the other side of the floor. A boy about 12 comes running over and the large man tells the boy to show these men their room. The boy turns and looks at the pair and says, “This way, soirs.”
Altan:
A bloke can get used to this life, ‘e can. We follow Altan follows him. The room that he’s led into is a fairly typical travelling room; two rooms. However, the room is the closest one to the back door on the second floor. The window gives a view of both the alley and the secondary street that the main entrance to the bar is located.
Talesien:
Close to the back door eh? Does he think we’ll need a fast getaway? two rooms=two beds
Altan:
Nice room. Oy, half-pint! You sure this is th’ best ye can fuckin’ do? Boy:
Dunno, but it’s th’ on’ th’ ye was gifin.
Altan:
Nice view. We’ll take it.
Talesien:
I’m off to work. I’ll be seeing ya around. Don’t get in trouble that I have to talk our way about of that as well. (he kids)
With that he heads down to the bar and finds Master Feron again. He starts off by saying that he has heard that the Heron has the best Bitter and would like to try it out.
Master Feron:
Aye. It is. (He pours a pint and gives it to Talesian) He accompanies Talesien to the bar and orders his own bitter (when in Rome). Regardless of Talesien’s reaction to the bitter he’ll tell Master Feron that it’s the best he’s ever tried. He’ll aslo mention that he’s heard of some local issues between Luciano and Arney. Talesian would like to know if Master Feron knows where he can find either one of them
Master Feron:
Hmm? Luciano and Arney? Names don’t ring a bell, they don’t. Who are they?
Talesien:
Arney the smith? Master Feron:
Arney the Smith? No, can’t says as I know ‘m.
Talesien:
Eh, no matter. What’s your best food? I’d love to have some.
With that he drops any discussion and spends the next 45 minutes eating and talking with those around him. He finds out the the next closest place is the Roasted Acorn, it’s only three blocks down and near the perimeter road. There he finds that the barkeep does know Arney—or at least he knows of him and tells Talesian that his place is on 10th street. Talesian need only loof for the horseshoe hanging out front. The course of discussion that Talesian persues is whether the barkeep’s ever heard or seen a man names Luciano, but he finds out little there. He has heard heard of the man and thinks that he is some kind of guard. However, the barkeep doesn’t know where he lives. He’s seen the man from time to time, but doesn’t know more than that. When he’s come in it’s been with other guardsmen. But he’s not a regular. Talesian thanks the man and heads to 10th street.
Sure, enough on 10th street, he find the place and finds the doors closed; the time being around 7 bells and night well underway. He looks over the place and finds that it is on the corner of 10th and an unamed alleyway. In reality there are two buildings; both two stories high. One sets on the street and has the horseshoe hanging over it. The other, smaller building, is contained within a stone fenced yard. To the right of the closer building, closed for the night, is a large wooden door that seems large enough for a team of horses to ride through. On the other side of the gate, a courtyard lies empty. Next to the smiths, a small one story house abuts the street. Talesian thinks about going up to the door of the smithy and decides better of it. He decides to see what he can find out about Luciano; and what better way than to go to the taverns of Ery Crossings?
Over the next 4 hours he vists the other five taverns in the town. Two of the places have heard of him, but only the barmaid in the Roasted Apple knows that he is in gaol as a debtor with no ability to pay. The barmaid seems to be aware of the situation and definitely favors Luciano with a look that Talisian writes off as a young woman’s desire to have the bad boy. In any case, he figures he’s gotten what he can and heads back to the Heron. Time to hit the rack. When he gets to the Heron, Talesian tells Altan that he will call it a night and go to bed. Whereupon, Altan smiles, shakes his head, and bids farewell to the beautiful babes clustered around him. The beautiful babes, or in reality, the two average looking women who have been mostly trying to ignore him, don’t seem to notice. Altan whispers to Talisian: “That one in the red. She really likes me. I can tell!” Talisian looks backs and responds dryly: “Yes, I can tell.”