Seth of Valeria looked up, an old man had arrived and was looking straight at him like he should know better. Seth tried to keep an interest in the man but his attention seemed to slip and more than once he found himself looking at the floor, table, other people or ornaments on the walls. It was such a pretty house, you couldn’t blame him for looking. The walls were covered in tools of various kinds, he wondered whether they were really for decoration or if they were being used as well. Perhaps the table was made using those tools. He ran his hand across the smooth surface of the table and almost knocked over his drink, but someone caught it and put it back a bit further away from him. Somehow that was just like life for Seth of Valeria, the things he wanted was just outside of his reach, and he was thirsty. It was a bit odd, he’d drank at least three cups of water already, and still wanted more. He was hungry as well, his plate had disappeared from right under his nose. He looked around the room, several people were there, one of them must’ve taken it. One older man was looking right at him, but that didn’t bother him right now. Or maybe that old fart had stolen his food. Damnit! He’d paid for that… Had he paid for the food? He couldn’t remember… Something below him caught his eye. If was a coin, a golden coin. He had paid! He knew it… Well then, with that taken care of it was time to go, lovely meal, some of it was stuck in his teeth, but he’d take care of that later, food for the road as they called it. Why said that? Really? He’d picked it up somewhere and just kept it alive. It was pretty disgusting after all, nothing that was fitting for nobility like himself. 

“How does the head of the House of Valeria find himself in a town such as Astoria?”

Good question, not a regular sight, nobility like him in such a place. Had he ever been there before? Couldn’t remember, not that there was anything worth remembering, they used tools for decoration for crying out loud. Anyone ever heard of a tapestry? Poor people… 
There was an old man looking at him, strange, had he ever seen the man before? there was something vaguely familiar about him. He looked funny, like he expected something of him. Something below caught his eye, a coin! Of course, he had to pay for his meal. A whole gold coin?! For what? Had he eaten? Did they expect him to pay up front? Barbarism, pure barbarism.
He tried to grasp the coin, but as it was flat and against a flat surface he had some trouble. Beautiful table, wonderful craftsmanship, he should ask the man who’d made it to come to Veiron and work for him. Maybe it was his tools up on the walls, brilliant idea, the tools of a master, just like him having the blade of Valeria on the wall back home… Great minds and all that. Finally he grasped the coin and held it out to the man, but the old fart just took it and put it back on the table. can’t make change, eh? Well then don’t ask for gold coins, dumbass. 
The old man spoke as Seth tried to get a smaller coin out from his pouch without spilling all of his wealth out on the floor, a silver coin came up and Seth’s vision only caught the man’s mouth moving, his ears on the other hand was on vacation.

“Pardon?” Seth of Valeria said.
“How does the head of the House of Valeria find himself in a town such as Astoria?” Replied the man. Suddenly it dawned on him what all the ruckus was about, an admirer, of course. We’ll, he’d sure impress the man with his latest tale, the one about a seaserpent, he’d been working on it all morning, it seemed quite real. 
“Well, my good boat, a man sailed the snake and hurried home to the sea when an oar struck the house in the sword on my hand.”

Hold on, that was it, the boat. He’d spoken with the seamen before, they’d show him a snake… He had to hurry. 

With a mind as clear as a London morning Seth of Valeria stood up, spun around perfectly and somehow managed to miss both walls that framed the door and was on his way back toward the small harbour.