When Milo heard how much beer his coin could get him as well as the fact that bartender would pay for it out of his own pocket he changed his order. "Five gallons is a bit much, though since you're paying I'm not taking the cheap stuff either. One pint of your best ale, please. His tone of voice was a lot friendlier than it had been before.

Just like how Vlad head earned the dwarf's respect by ordering whiskey the warlock straight up ordering the strongest alcohol the place had impressed Milo. "Well well bird guy, seems like you don't mess around either when it comes to drinking."

Now that business seemed to be concluded and all danger had been dealt with, for now, Lillith gathered a handful of guardsmen and set them about clearing the square of bodies. It was messy, menial labour that was below her paygrade, but those that had died deserved proper treatment and the guards wouldn't do it without being told. Once they got to work, she returned to the Reave's manor and began setting about her business, which involved gathering the money for the reward, drafting a speech for Reave Bosko in response to the attack, and a handful of other administrative tasks which were delegated to her. She would be busy in her office for several hours.

Anastasia Lorenz

Anastasia was busy working during the execution and the subsequent zombie attack; however, she did hear that a krusczek and a warforged arrived, and might be staying at the Laughing Knave. Not having met one of either before, she decided to go and acquaint herself in hopes of learning something new. Maybe she could learn how to make her own warforged, or perhaps she'd learn how krusczek are made. Maybe she wouldn't, but it couldn't hurt. Besides, she was done with all her harder work for the day, and had just planned to study her notes on various studies.

After a short walk from her workshop on the edge of Sveto, Anastasia entered the Knave. The smell of alcohol drifted into her nostrils and, for a moment, she seemed almost disgusted. Anastasia had only drank twice before in her life, and neither time ended necessarily well for her. Nonetheless, she was determined to learn about krusczek and/or the warforged. Regaining her composure, Anastasia looked about the room and saw a small group at the bar. She went over to introduce herself, "Hello, are any of you a krusczek," she asked as she pulled out a small piece of parchment and a pen to take notes. Then, she looked up quizically, "Oh, silly me. I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Anastasia Lorenz, a local scholar. You can call me Anne if you'd like."

Joseph walked in behind the gnome. "I doubt the Krusczek is here yet. Last I saw him he was still talking to the Reave's mage."

He continued past her to the bar to purchase some wine. K
He then found a table off to the side and began to drink for the moment.

Verdan gave a gesture of approval without looking up and half-muttered "Mmm, yes vodka should do. But please do try to put it in something that would be suitable for storage during travel. Yes, dried meat is fine but the bird will eat grain if need be." as he began to turn off to the outside world again he heard somebody in the tavern mention a 'bird guy' he looked up assuming it was aimed at him to see the rather well armed dwarf from the earlier fighting before responded in a rather matter-of-factly voice "Alcohol has far more uses than merely drinking, for a practitioner of medicine it is always good to have on hand." before turning back to his book.

The gas they had encountered earlier had piqued his curiosity, was it an affliction that was magical in nature? Some kind of perverted form of a natural ailment? Was it even a disease at all? As the doctor leafed through his book to find the few magical diseases mentioned in such a humble tome his mind raced with all the different possibilities, what could it be and how could he control and eradicate it?

"This should work, right?"

Morgan stood a short ways away from one of the manor windows, the only one which looked into the Wizard's office. She was currently working on some documents, her back to the window. It had taken her quite a while to find the room, but since most of the guards were busy cleaning the square, she didn't have to make up an excuse for snooping around the manor perimeter. At least she hoped so, seeing as no guards had come up asking why she was there.

She had run around the town for a bit to pick up some less conspicuous clothes, but judging by the surroundings, her white hair was going to stand out no matter how good her disguise was. She hadn't let that stop her plan though, and with a quiet whisper, she released a {Charm Person} spell. Praying inwardly that it worked, she followed up with a {Message}.

[Hey, Lillith? It's Morgan, I just heard about what happened earlier.]

"Hello, are any of you a krusczek," An odd question, and Milo didn't know the others well enough to be able to tell if there was a krusczek among them. Most of the time he would have ignored her, but the prospect of free beer had put him in a good mood and a scholar could be a good source of info if they needed it so having a good relationship with her couldn't hurt. I don't know. I did almost become one, but I was taken in by the monastery."

---

"I very much appreciate the offer but I insist on payin' for my drink. Wouldn't feel right." Vlad said sliding a gold coin across the table "Though I would appreciate change." he said with a small grin. Vlad had been on the other end of this transaction more than a few times and knew that as grateful as he ever was, getting paid was always a pretty nice bonus for a split second decision of charity.

Vlad prepared to down his second drink when a small child walked into the Tavern looking for a krusczek. It was only after a second glance that he realized the kid was in fact a gnome. "Can't be sure" Vlad said as he turned around to face the gnome "but that human fellow with the crossbow seemed to be one if I had to venture a guess. Those bolts had somethin' goofy about 'em. Also, I'm Vlad, pleasure to meet ya Anne." The Half-Orc said as he stretched his arm down to offer the gnome a handshake.

"Ah,"Anne sighed disappointedly. She was really wanting to meet the krusczek or the warforged, but it was obvious there wasn't a warforged in here. After pondering this newfound information for a moment or two, Anne's eyes slowly came to meet the half-orc's hand. It'd been quite a while since Anne had been to any sort of social gathering. "Was it months, or years?" she thought to herself. Eventually, she took the social cue and awkwardly took his hand. "Vlad, was it? Pleased to make your acquaintance," Anne said. Then, she realized she'd been shaking his hand for a lot longer than normal. Her hand retreated back to her, "oh... uh... I... um...I'm sorry," she almost squeaked. Then, she began to put her notes and pen away, and defeatedly took a seat at the bar. "Sir," she looked towards the barkeep, "Can I have a water?" she asked as she pulled out a small pouch of coins.

Though Lillith had no way of knowing beforehand or detecting that a spell had been cast to attempt to influence her emotions, her will was strong, and even in idleness it was difficult to manipulate her. However, as the spell had failed, she had no way of knowing that one had been cast on her in the first place, unlike what would have happened had the spell worked, but completed its duration. Thus, though she certainly wasn't happy when receiving Morgan's message, she was not antagonistic or aggressive, either.

Morgan heard Lillith's voice in her head, saying "I don't know who you are, Morgan, but I have to work to do. State your business, quickly."

---

Meanwhile, in the tavern, Verdan was struggling to find anything useful in his book. It simply wasn't written with anything like this in mind, whether what had killed and raised the villagers was a disease or something else. At least the vodka and food he'd asked for arrived in short time, the vodka contained in a small, sealed flask.

Milo's ale arrived very quickly, and only a moment later Vlad was passed his change - 8 silver pieces, and 8 copper - while Barric matched his grin, and said "Well then, if the noble sir wants change, he shall have it.

"And likewise," he continued, as Anne asked for her drink at the bar "if the young miss wants water, she too, shall have it." And with that, he rapidly filled a mug and supplied it with a smile.

When his ale arrived Milo didn't waste time and drank it quickly. When he was done he face the barkeep. "How much for a decent meal? And I will be paying for it." Honestly he would prefer to get that for free too but he also knew he would feel guilty about it since Barric would make a loss that way. Suddenly he got an idea and faced Anne. "Can you tell us anything about this so called Whiteheath Witch?"

Anastasia Lorenz

"How much for the drink," Anne asked as she sorted the coins in her hand. Then, she turned to the dwarf and stared blankly at him for a second, seemingly studying him lackadaisically. Then, she realized she'd been staring at him and lowered her head as she answered the question, "I... I couldn't tell you much. I probably know about as much as anyone else would." Anne lifted her head again and regained the composure she had when she came into the Laughing Knave, "Out of curiousity, why are you interested in the Witch anyway." Anne placed a gold coin in front of the halfling.

Barric was happy that the people he was serving were as generous as he was; it was saving him money, and besides, friendly people tended to provide more pleasant conversation. "Prices on meals vary, sir, averagin' at around a silver piece. As for the water, miss, it's a short walk to the well. Two copper pieces is all."

Anastasia Lorenz

Anne picks her gold coin back up and looks for the appropriate change in her pouch for a brief moment. Then, she pulls out two copper pieces and hands them over to the jovial halfling.