Lazarus finally snaps out of his daze from staring at the magical lights. This whole Wilderness thing is sure going to take a whole lot of getting used to. 

Inspecting the dwarf, Lazarus finds himself a little suspicious of Flinn's intentions. It was getting dark, and there should be plenty of space for him. Why would he just meet a random group of strangers?

Insight: 9

Then, he says, "Yes, what do you mean by witchcraft?" 

He thinks for a moment. 

"Oh, and you say you are a Chief Overseer? That must be an important position. Can you really find no one else to deal with the problem?" 

Flinn sets his mug down at the questions asked. "Ye' folks certainly ask a lot o' questions." At the mention of Lazino's name, his head perks up. "Ye don' say? Who sent ye fer' him? Fellow's been dead a good two decades, bless is' soul," he was a fine magistrate," he says, swayingly raising his mug in a toast. "If ye've got business left unfinished with 'im, migh' be worth askin' his daughter. Name's Juno. She's a worker of metal, or so I heard. Has a shop in' the Imperial quarters - canno' smelt anythin' up in trees, ye see." Responding to Derek, he continues. "Ah, ye' know, old run o' th'mill widow's taele, nothin' to it," he sniffs. "But I coulda' sworn I saw a blue Outcast runnin' through the forest, an' when I followed 'em, a bunch o' slimes was all I foun'! Since then, crops've been rottin' to the god's end in my quart. People say 'tis the wether, but old Flinn here know diffr'n!" 

Lazarus, as far as you can tell, he seems too drunk to be lying. Glancing over the dizzying edge, you see most patrons have either retired, or drawn up a curtain to shield themselves from the light and noise of the Inn. Doors seem to be nonexistent. 

"Two decades gone?" Hush bows his head a moment, "So Juno, you say? Did he leave someone named Miko as well, perhaps? An old friend of his gave us a letter to deliver to him, but it would appear that is a moot point now." Hush sits thinking for a while about the outcast, "Well at least it doesn't sound like Gaz. Wrong skin tone. That's promising that he's not causing trouble for the locals here then."

“Which task would you like to pursue,” Holden whispers as he draws the party closer out of earshot of the dwarf. ”He is quite drunk... perhaps we could earn some gold out of the slimes if we play our cards right.”

Derek nods his acquiescence to Holden's suggestion. The former imperial soldier is still somewhat mesmerized by the mystical tavern. He murders a distracted response of, "Aye." 

(I see you've played the source material before, SpieltJoos! I hope you're enjoying the creative liberties I'm taking to create a serviceable campaign!)

"Aye, Miko? She's a friend o' Juno's. Another blacksmith. I believe she works in th' same forge," He replies, nodding to Hush. He takes out several minted coins and lays them on the table. "This is work o'hers. She makes weapons too, though they're mighty expensive." He takes a look around, and notices the large weaponry on Holden's body. Peering around at the companions, he notices the equipment they carry. "You lot look like you could fight. Tell ya wha'," he says, leaning closer to the center of the table. "Migh' be th'booze speakin' to me, but if I may suggest - unofficial business, of course - if ye were to, let's say, 'stumble on' and 'eliminate' the slimes, you would have my thanks," he whispers, nodding his head to the jingling pouch of coins at his belt. He sits down, wiping his brow. "Migh' spend the coin on whatever Juno's makin' nowadays. I hear they can be quite, ah, magical." 

(OOC - actually, no, I haven't. Just referring back through things we've encountered haha. The letter mentions Miko.)

"Well that makes our search all the easier," Hush nods, "Two birds with one stone, so to speak. And if you're offering coin, then I'd be interested, though I'd love to know everything you can tell us on these slimes before accepting."

(Oh, whoops - looks like I made a pretty bad error, thanks for catching it! I accidentally swapped out the name Miko for Juno. You'll come to meet Juno soon and you'll see pretty soon that they are heavily involved with each other, and it seems that I mixed them up slightly when writing! Juno should've been Miko in post 162. Sorry for the mishap!)

Flinn leans back in his seat. "Nasty slimes, they are. Deep blue n' black in color. Now, I know nothin' of the arcane sorts, but I'd wager an Ochori magician is messing around with our crops agin'. Not the first times they've done it."

(OOC - haha my bad for being so thorough!)

"Why would the Ochori mess with your crops, Chief Overseer?"  Hush sits back and looks around the bar, seeing as Flinn seems to want to lean in and keep things quiet.

"I can imagine individuals of the other tribes are not happy with the... merging with the Imperium. Despite the promise of peace." Luxaene's tone is flat to begind, before she is overwhelmed by a yawn that was too quick to handle appropriately!

Flinn peers at the Halfling. "You're a mighty keen fellow, there, but are ya new to th' Wilderness? The tribes've been fightin' since they existed. Tryin' to gain an upper hand on the others. It's stopped for now as th' Imperial threat is the greatest, but now that the Zavas've been acclimated to th' Imperials, Ochori like meddlin' with our means of sustenance."  In a fit of seeming anger, he slams his fist down. "Damn Ochori."

Flinn gathers his short, stout self up, and wobbles over towards the rope. "I best get goin'. I'll be around th'  buildings in th' South Field if you need me. How 'bout, let's say - 15 gold a person for ridding the woods of the slimes?" he winks. "The wood's unguarded after midnight until sunrise," he says, before crawling down the rope. It's a good thing the vines cling onto him.

Holden will raise his tankard to Flinn as he leaves. “Thank you my good sir! Where can we find you once the deed is done?”

(Really sorry on the delay! Had an extremely busy week, but I should be back to regular posting.)

Flinn peeks his head over the ledge. "Ain't I jus' said it, Hold'n? Couple o' treehouses in th' Southern Farms, near the city wall." He spits. "Spot it by th' Imperials near 'em. Their golden uniforms are visible fro' a mile' away." With that, he drops down the circular tavern, and groggily makes his way out. 

The party is currently in the Central Grove. It is around two hours until midnight. What does the party do next?

"How do you all feel? It's late, but if you're fresh enough, we could go slime hunting? There's no point searching out this smithy as they'll likely be closed being so late. Otherwise, I am happy to find someplace to shut my eyes for a bit," Hush looks to each of the group in turn, searching for an indication as to how tired they each look and what they'd like to do next at such a late hour.

Derek nods his eagerness to set out to investigate the slimes.

“I feel great,” Holden grunts. “At this point the booze is flowing through my system, and I could take on anything! What about everyone else?”

(OOC: Razor is on leave for a couple days, and I’ll be controlling their character for now. Remember that it’s perfectly fine to step away for a few days if you need to! Just communicate with me first!)

Lazarus nods his head silently, seemingly not tired at all. The pale human appears to be comfortable in the night.

If you decide to exit the tree-like tavern, drinks cost you around 1 GP as a group. If any of you would like to pay individually, feel free to say in the thread; if nobody does so, I’ll manually split the cost equally on your character sheets. 

The night is rather cool in the forest city, and while the lamps are still magically lit, very little activity can be seen. The good news is that the area is well-marked with maps, making navigating the spiraling staircases around the trees and branched bridges significantly more easy. Where’s the party headed? If you would like to sleep in the tavern, it’ll cost another 2 GP as a group, but you’ll have a long rest to enjoy.

As they make their way to the street, Hush looks around at the signs and the people in the streets. "So, to the slimes in the fields then, my friends?"

Derek nods in response to Hush's query as he busies himself in securing all of gear about his person. He then replies, "So it seems. So it seems. Let us view the fields and the slimes that threaten them."

Luxaene pays her part for the drinks and suggests the team simply stay in the tavern.

The elf grimaces a little at Derek's words, "You talk as if we are to view a nice sculpture for our pleasure..."