GM Post: There was no gate or wall about the town buildings, only low fences and periodic pens to keep the livestock in. The traffic in and out of the town was light and steady where a pair of stone brick fire pits flanked the road, just before it became a flanked by the building fronts and alleyways. About each fire pit, a small cluster of about a half dozen human guards could be found monitoring things. The guard addressed turned to regard the dwarf, and recommended the nearby Everburning Hearth, the largest building in the southeast quarter of the town, not including the warehouses. At three stories, the building could be seen from a variety of angles by one standing upon the streets. Two other smaller places were mentioned, such as the Firewater Billet and Skillet and the Waymaker's Wagon Stockade, the latter of which was a cleared space of bare packed earth in the southwest portion of town, upon which was parked a fleet of wagons, of varied sizes, that one could rent for the night, coupled with a security deposit or similar collateral in the event of damage or theft.

"That Everburning Hearth sounds like a good place to rest to me," Runa offered to her friends. "Though there is the question of payment. It sounds like it might be rather expensive." She figured that they could check out the mage tower after they rented a room for the night, but she kept that to herself and waited for her two friends to make a decision, as honest jobs fell more into their area of expertise than her own.

" 'Everburning Hearth' it is! It might be more expensive but we also will gain more from staying there, if we want to earn money, we need to follow the rich folks.." says Sharphorn as he begins to walk towards the southeast part of the town, he waves to his friends and invites them to follow him.
After a while they enter the famous "Everburning Hearth" inn and ask the owner about room prices and local news.

GM Post: The pair of front doors pulled open to reveal the building's foyer. To the right lay an opening to the serving bar and common room, set before a broad hearth at the south end of the building. To the left lay the route to kitchens and laundry in the north half of first floor. The owner was a spry burnette woman named Delsia, who pointed to the chalkboard behind the counter upon which guestbooks lay near the end of the bar, when asked about the rates. The price for a room on the third floor ranged from 1 to 2 gold pieces per night, depending on size, furnishings. Rooms on the second floor ranged from 2 to 5 silver pieces per night, while the common room on the ground floor was free for one night, to any person who bought at least 5 silver pieces worth of food and drink from what they could provide, also written on the chalkboard.

[ Someone feel free to roll 1d12, 1d3 and 1d10 to determine the month, ten day and day of the year, which will determine the weather and the food available. ]

The most forthcoming news the could be overheard from other patrons concerned conditions on the inland sea, as well as a missing ship that was past due to arrive. Meanwhile, it could also be overheard that one of the local mines appeared to have played itself played out, and that one of wizards of the tower had recently spotted new points of light in the Blackenspire Mountains to the north.

More than a few of the halflings from the caravan could be seen enjoying a few beverages in the common room as well , including Weskus and Vandru.

[Here you go:
1d12 = 6
1d3 = 2
1d10 = 3
(I guess that means we're somewhere in June)]

"now this is my kinda place lads of course it could use a bit more stone but I what do yah expect outta these men-folk." Thorgili said to his companions as he stomped his foot on the floor of the tavern listening to it's echo and feeling the floor's hardness . Thorgili pushed through the crowd towards the bar waving for Sharp horn and Runa to follow him. Placing himself on a open stool at the bar Thorgili knocked on the top board and yelling to the barkeep "Oi! Barkeep get me a pint of porter and none of that human stuff I want dwarf brew!" While waiting for his drink Thorgili looks around the room trying to locate any of his kinsmen or other group of patrons who look like they're in need of some muscle and steel.

Current Day: 13th day of 6th month (Harptos Calender)
Current Time: around 2:00 pm
Weather Description: Partly Overcast
Temperature: High 68°F(20°C) / Low 53°F(12°C)
Wind Speed: 7 mph (11 kph) from East to West
Precipitation: None

Though half afraid that the prices at the inn would be beyond exorbitant, Runa followed behind her friends, seeing some wisdom in Sharphorn's reasoning. That didn't mean that she was happy about it, however. The prospect of giving up money, of any value, always made her stomach twist, an unfortunate side-effect of growing up with very little. Throgili's antics upon entering the bar also made her cringe, as they drew the eye of everyone in the room. Of course, as his companions, that attention was spread to Sharphorn and herself as well, which was really what bothered her about the whole thing. Regardless of the attention, she followed behind her friends, staring at her toes to hide the faint blush that had shown up on her cheeks.

Runa regretted her decision to set right next to Throgili almost immediately after sitting down, as he shouted for the barkeep to get him a drink and practically blew her eardrum out. Ear still ringing, she held up a hand to get the barkeeper's attention and asked for a glass of water. Turning to Sharphorn, she asked, "Do you think that any of the things we heard about on the way here would be good jobs?" Several of them had sounded interesting to Runa, but, as usual, she would defer to her friends on the final decision. They had more experience with adventuring, or at least that was the way that it seemed.

"The missing ship may mean that pirates are around, there are always blood and gold involved when you deal with those guys " Sharphorn answered Runa's question,
"..and we should talk to that mage that found those light spots when we visit the mage tower, this little detail may mean big opportunities if we find out what it means.." he added,
"What you think, Thor?" he asked Thorgili for his opinion.

Wiping the beer forth from his mustache Thorgili hunched over to his comrades. "Well if it was up to me I'd never let a 've dry land but your right Sharpton pirates sound pretty promising in the ways of acquiring gold and such other things." Thorgili took another swig and return to the conversation " as fer the image I trust a boat more than a spell. I don't like mages they rely too much on unknown forces rather than simple and true steel and shot."

"I think that seeing what a light is might be the... uhm, easier task," Runa said after taking a drink of her water. "There would probably be more than a few pirates, and it might be a better idea to earn some extra money to... uh, buy better equipment first. Of course, it's up to you guys. That's just my two cents." Though the promise of wealth from the pirates was indeed enticing, it didn't seem to be the safe option at the moment, and she didn't just think that because she didn't like boats. It made more sense to investigate something seemingly harmless than to take on a group of who-knew-how-many pirates.

Sharphorn understood what Runa wanted to say between the lines,
"Don't worry Runa, no pirate will attack my friends and stay alive to tell about it while I'm with them, and besides I only guessed that pirates are involved, we don't know it for sure.." said he to Runa , afterwards he turned towards Thorgili and added:
"And Thor, in this case we don't have to fight the mages, just to talk to them.."
Afterwards Sharphorn shouted to the hostess: "Mam, I would like to invite two of my closest friends to a proper lunch with plenty of meat and drinks and also to reserve a good room with a fine lock inside the door on the 2nd floor for us!" and threw couple gold pieces on the table, as he put his hands on Runa's and Thorgili's shoulders [Andion, I don't know the exact price of their finest meal but I guess couple GP will cover it, please tell me the exact amount and I will reduce it from Sharphorns personal treasure].
"We don't have many options and will have to check out both stories!" Sharphorn said to his friends quietly.

"Agreed Comrade, But now tah sun is setting and it is no longer time fer work but for rest and reguvination, so fer now lads lets just sit back get a few pints ah porter and enjoy a good pipe eh? Thorgili said finishing off his mug with a great belch and producing a long churchwarden pipe filled to the ridge with dwarven cave tobacco. Grabbing up a near by candle stick Thorgili took a few draws to get the pipe going and sat back looking around the bar ordering another Porter and placing a few silver on the counter to pay for his tabs.

((It's about 2:00 PM Thor. The sun wouldn't be setting. :)))

A little comforted by Sharphorn's assertions, Runa tried to let the idea stop bothering her, though that was harder than it sounds. He did have a point anyway. Missing ships could be due to a lot of different things, least among them weather. If that was the case, it would really be more a search and rescue type of operation, though dangers would still inevitably be present. Not to mention cost. As far as she knew, none of them had any knowledge concerning the handling of a ship, which meant that they would have to pay someone in order to rent a ship and a crew in order to pilot it. And that was probably not a cheap thing to do. On the other hand, rescuing the crew might have a greater reward than the cost, which meant that it might be worthwhile.

As she was thinking this over, Sharphorn clapped her and Thorgili on the shoulder, practically breaking hers, as he ordered meal and reserved a good room in the inn. Thorgili seemed to be pretty agreeable to this plan, leaning back and lighting a pipe before ordering some more alcohol to drink, the scent of which made Runa wrinkle her nose. No, she was definitely not a fan of alcohol. It ruined too many of your senses, especially in someone of her size and stature. Following the others example, she set some money on the table to pay for her glass of water, making certain that she had given out just the right amount. Then, she tried to relax a little like the others, though it wasn't something that came easy to her at all, leaning her back against the counter while remaining seated on the stool.

"I think Thor is enjoying his beer to much! He does deserve it!" ,laughed Sharphorn ,
"But we have no time to waste, let's go visit that mage tower!", he continued as he got on his feet, he then asked the hostess for a bottle of the mages favorite wine,
"There is nothing as helpful as a good bribe.." explained the Minotaur to his friends as he started moving towards the exit.

Thorgili solemnly put down his mug and hopped off the stool still puffing at his pipe "bahh a man cant sit and enjoy a good drink and smoke everyonce in awhile?" Thorgili mumbled to himself has he hoisted his bandoleir and fixed his musket's strap. Following his comrades thorgili sighed as they left the bar and went onto the city street." bothers to mages and their bealin magic!" He grumbled as they began their walk to the mage's tower.

Nodding along with Sharphorn's idea to head to the tower, Runa hopped off the bar stool and followed, rolling her eyes as Thorgili began complaining about not being allowed to continue drinking. Anything less than five glasses of some kind of alcohol never seemed to fully satisfy him, which seemed to be a common feature in Dwarves. She did agree with him on the matter of feeling uneasy around mages, though for her it was because they had the same air about them as the aristocrats in the city of her childhood, able to have their way with you with little to no resistance. Still, she figured that most mages weren't that bad, mainly because the few she had met had been more than kind, sparing her money to buy new clothes or food if she offered her services to protecting them from other pickpockets or showing them around.

"I wonder what the forest and mountains are like," Runa said absently as they arrived at the tower. Having grown up in one of the largest cities in the world meant that forests and other wild places held a strangeness about them that she found intriguing, even after having traveled with Sharphorn and Thorgili all this time. She didn't elaborate much on the subject, however, having not intended to speak out loud at all in the first place. Instead, she just waited for Sharphorn or Thorgili to knock on the door or something so that they could talk with one of the mages.

"Stop! You never know with those guys.." said Sharphorn to his friends as they stopped few feet away from the door,
then he started to throw small rocks against the door from a distance instead of knocking, waiting for a response from the other side of the door..

GM Post: Delsia collected the money she was given with a nod and had is placed into an account, marked "minotaur trio" in the account books. "Thank you, I'll keep an accurate record of it for you." she said. The wine ultimately produced was a red wine labeled, Ruminator's Rubyhue. It was of a middling price, but it was said it was relatively well-liked among a wide variety of people and would find its way into more than one glass eventually.

As the base of the mage's tower came into view, once could clearly see frenzied combination of razor wire and glistening brambles that covered its lower walls, buttressed as they were with iron supports about fifteen feet behind a low perimeter fence. The thrown rocks glanced off the pair of ironwood doors for perhaps half a minute before they swung out and pushed aside the wire and brambles that had been covering them. The lightly armored middle-aged man that appeared to greet them, gestured to a couple of the second story windows of the nearby buildings, where archers had taken position. "Good afternoon folks, name's Remek. If you wish to gain an audience with one of the tower, try visiting the those in the guild lodge you just missed behind you first, so you can be properly examined and sign the visitor's ledger. If your business is sensitive, we can deliver any written correspondence in your stead. If you're interested in joining the scouting patrols that are being assembled, the guild lodge is still evaluating and marking would be members, although I'm not sure how much time you'll have before the next one is deployed. In any case, for future reference, just be careful not to trespass on the tower itself unless you have good reason."

"Well I guess we dont got nothing else to do but what the man says" Thorgili whispered into the ears of his companions not wishing to prevoke the gaurds and enact the wraith of a mage or wizard." These people are awfully wary of visitors to their mage in the tower and i wish not to egg them on so I say we get walking and soon."