Bern
After Ygnas announced that she had used the stone arch as a portal to the elemental plane of fire and burned down the town, we fled. We stuck to the road for about four hours, eventually meeting up with Kiba well outside of town and spending the night there. In the morning we investigated the signs of a battle between mosslings are some sort of winged creature. The details were unclear, but there was a dead mossling with four blue nuts. I took his nuts; they might be valuable.
The nexy day we continued down the road, eventually reaching Prigswort. It was a surprisingly large town, with 7 rival breweries competing for our attention. We managed to avoid choosing one by visiting the bathhouse instead, since we were all quite dirty from the road. They did seem unusually picky at the door; I had to duff the fancy cloak, and Pish was deemed too smart to come in until Kiba insisted. We all took baths, and the innkeep offered companionship. I tok him up on that, but the ginger was brainless as well as soulless, and knew nothing of Mr Klepp. Eventually we moved on to find a place to stay the night, eventually settling on the Clashed Antler, as it seemed rustic.
Pish wiggled her fingers at the innkeeper and became his friend for life or something. The locals didn’t like that much. Her tight skirts, pointy ears, and loose magical habits might become a problem.
I asked around about Klepp and got a lead for pretending to throw Pish out of the Clashed Antler. Klepp is near Brandybile #4, according to the Bounders, a gang of human supremacists who view that inn as their stomping ground. In the morning, I’ll go down there and ask about him. If that doesn’t turn up any leads, then the hag’s den is supposedly nearby to the southwest. We should leave the road near a copse of dead trees. The Bounders could be antagonists or useful allies, depending on the mission, but I’d rather just avoid them completely from here on.
Pish
What an Elf must do for gold in this world. We were able to sneak out of town fairly successfully. I was super sneaky, but then I wasn’t on fire with campfires following me so that helps. While in the woods we found what seemed like tree homes for wasp Smurfs near some signs of battle. Besides the night of roughing it, we only had a few blue balls (left from battle) of interest at the site so we headed towards civilization.
Thank goodness for towns and for my keen awareness of social cues. It is a town known for it’s brews and folks take it seriously- hoppy opinions are currency and a the wrong ones might leave you flat. There was some smoozy nonsense from two places in town trying to offer free drinks to lure you in…but drinks might have been the only comfortable thing about staying in such places. I just wanted a bath so I endured the tawdry place for the sake of a soak. My compatriots almost fell prey to the worst of all modern scams- paying too much for lodging! Fortunately either I was very persuasive or self-awareness dawned on my troop about how we present and where we should look to stay. Also, outskirts of town are not only our look, but a smart plan since somehow a neighboring town burned down and …..yeah these folks don’t do lowkey well. I know my inns- esp. where free(dom) lies.
The old couple that owned the Clashed Antler where we decided to bed down were charming and full of hospitality. I was also super charming and got everyone’s room for half off which hopefully shows them how valuable I am to the party. I have a way with inn keepers across the land, what can I say? There was some hub-bub from some local yahoos itching to start a fight their human lives will never live up to, but we side stepped it by a ruse. It really isn’t worth worrying about the hearts and minds of hooligans- unless they get in the way of my good innkeeper network. Finally some tasty pie and a decent rest before we help our party member with his Kleptomania.
