"Hmmm... not as good as the bards back home..." Grugga grumbles to himself as he follows the other Orc to his other soon-to-be compatriots.

"I guess people don´t come here for the entertainment. I hope to take you all to the Old Mill Taphouse celebrating sometime. There you´ll have first class entertainment." Aubrey comments on the performance.

"They are still young. Elves and dwarves have a long enough time to grow more skilled." Guilim comments as he continues to sip at his wine, not giving to much attention to the performance as he listens to what he is told. "So does that mean we already have work assigned from them?"

Slowly, almost hesitantly, the doors into the tavern open, and a Halfling just barely reaching a height of three feet walks in. He's of the plumper variety of Halfling, with a round face and a big nose. He has a brown hair, tied into a small bun on the back, and with sideburns. His skin is well tanned, and his green eyes are looking around clearly awed through his pince-nez glasses. He wears greenish-brown hide armor, with some reddish-orange fur. From his backpack hangs a round, wooden shield.

While walking towards the bar, he scans the poster held in his hand. Reaching the counter, he tries to ask the elf working behind it: "Excuse me, mister. Is Rohuzar still here? I'm not late, am I? I only just got into town."

To Eskil:

“Happy to oblige,” says the elf, leaning over the bar to get a better look at you.  He points through the growing crowd and you can just make out a table where several figures are gathered in conversation, a pair of orcs, a halfling dressed like a warrior, a… odd looking little dwarf(?) and a finely dressed human.  “The green orc is the man you’re looking for.  Let the waitress know if you’ll be needing a drink.  The names Jonny Nevers, lad, and let me be the first to welcome you to Bardstown.  May she treat you well.”

"Oh, goody! Thank you very much!" Eskil responds. He moves to the waitress and asks: "Could... could I get a pint of stout, please?" He hands her the 9 copper coins it costs, and points to her the table he will be at. Finally, he goes to the table he was guided towards, and asks the green Orc there: "Excuse me, mister Rohuzar, sir? Are you still hiring for this job?" He shows off the poster he is still holding.

Rohuzar looks back to find Eskil and counts the crew again. He shrugs and nods, gesturing to the table at the back, before sitting down and getting a clean form out. 

“Tell me about you and vhy I should hire.”

Eskil scampers after Rohuzar, and answers: "I'm Eskil Shoreside. Your poster mentioned a need for mages, and while I wouldn't exactly call myself that, I have a solid foundation in Druidic magics. Things like predicting tomorrows weather, talking to animals, tying ones enemies in vines, or using fairy lights to make them easier to aim at. Oh, and healing, of course." While talking, he carefully folds the poster, before sliding it into one of the side pockets of his backpack.

Rohuzar nods, giving a hmph of being impressed. 

“Can you show? Anything is fine.”

Eskil nods back a couple times with a thoughtful look on his face, and replies: "Sure... I don't think it would be a good idea to use most of those here, tough, and the rest would be hard to prove to do what I say they do. So how about this?" He continues with a few muttered words in an unknown language, accompanied with a very specific twist of his wrist. Suddenly a shower of leaves appears above the table for a few seconds, just long enough to notice your hand can pass through them if you try. "It's technically the same spell that predicts weather, but I won't go into specifics. Lets just say it can do other small things too, like cause a flower to bloom, or light and put out small fires", he says, before getting a look of realization.

"And speaking of fire, I do have one spell prepared that's suitable for attacking. I usually use it just as a source of light", he states, before uttering another weird word, that with a snap of his fingers causes flames to flicker into existence hovering next to the back of his hand. They look like a small patch of burning grass. Then he continues: "but I can also throw it at an enemy. Should be handy for those of us who can't see in the dark too." With a quick wave of his hand, the flames disappear.

4

 While Eskil is performing his demonstration, the bar's attention is drawn to a pair of legionnaires who push open the double doors and enter the room.  One is dressed in the dark steel chain of the legion while the other is in uniform.

For Rohuzar and Aubrey:

 The armored legionnaire stands at the doorway while the Legatus approaches Jonny Nevers at the bar.  She leans in and shares words with the barkeep, who cautiously points out a table, where two dwarves had just sat down a few minutes before.  The Legatus approaches the table and asks several questions of the dwarves, who produce identification.  After a minute of questioning, she looks back to the soldier at the door, shakes her head, and both of them depart back into the alley.  The whole scene is over in less than two minutes.

13

In the aftermath of the legionnaire intrusion, an argument breaks out near the bar.  Wendel (Grugga's admirer from earlier) and an elven woman at the bar have been drinking hard since before any of you arrived.  Now he raises his voice, his words slurring just a bit.

"But that's what I'm saying, woman!  The whole town is on edge thanks to those damned High Elves and their sorcery ship.    You just know they've got something to do with this!  Just what the hell are they doing up there?"  He leans into her a bit, poking his finger.

She pushes his hand away.  "Don't point that thing at me, Wendel.  And if I had to guess, they are sitting up there in that boat looking down their noses at us 'low people' which is pretty much all they can do since we stuffed their invasion back up their arses in Lavenor," the elven woman fires back.

Wendel continues, undeterred.  "At least they consider you wood elves people -hic- people!  I think they count us humans somewhere between mules and kobolds... doubt they have much place for us in the world they want to carve out of this land.  Why, if it were the old Vigor up there in that castle instead of that boy -"

Wendel is cut off by a hard slap to his ear from Jonny Nevers.  As Wendel recoils, rubbing the side of his head, Jonny takes his mug away and pours it behind the bar.  "You've had enough this afternoon, Wendel," says the barkeep.  "Go home and take a nap."  He says a few more words to his customer but they are in quieter tones and inaudible over the din of the evening.  As Wendel gets up to leave, Jonny waves a hand at the two minstrels who had been gawking at the exchange.  At his direction, they rushed into another performance and eventually the bar turns back to their drinks and their own private conversations.

Rohuzar nods and starts filling out his form, beginning to hum a little, even. “Eskil. Impressive. You haff good skill. Get paint and put red stripe on yourself somevere visible, is guild symbol. Before that, come. Meet team.” Rohuzar gets up, shakes Eskil’s hand and moves to join the others. He examines the job listings.

While the newest field team of the Red Band continue to meet and greet one another, several of you have taken an interest in the job postings on the notice board near the main doors of the Robust Hound Inn and Tavern.  There are dozens of items, most of them of no interest to you but there are a handful that catch your eyes.

Postings in Common:

 Postings in Elvish:

 Postings in Dwarvish:

 Postings in Old Imperial:

Grugga's eyes are first drawn to the poster with the moving pictures on it. "Incredible..." he murmurs under his breath when he first sees it. He looks behind the poster for any clues to the magic and after a moment jots down a few notes for himself later. He peruses all the posters before saying, "I can't speak Old Imperial, but the one in Elvish and the one in Dwarvish say..." and he translates them verbatim for anyone who doesn't speak those languages.

"I'm interested in the one in Elvish, but I really think we should help those people whose daughter was kidnapped, don't you?" He scans his new companions' faces for agreement.

Eskil hops up with a smile, and simply says "Great", while shaking Rohuzar's hand. He follows him to the others, and sits where his stout has already (hopefully) been served. He gives everyone a wave, and greets them: "Ello! I'm Eskil, Eskil Shoreside. I'm training as a Druid." He then looks at his pint in awe, and slowly reaches for it and takes a sip.

When others go look at the job postings, he looks between them and his stout, and takes one more large sip before leaving it at the table, hoping it will still be there when he comes back, as he moves to follow them. Reading the postings, he hears what Grugga comments, and answers: "Those two do sound the most urgent. But about the kidnapping... do you think she could have gone willingly? It doesn't mention an age, so she could just as well be an adult already. I know my parents call me their little boy still. The only thing that really seems to point against it is how they attacked the parents, but that could be because of how they approached the situation, or a complete lie."

“Da. It appears the legion vanted to stay out, too. May mean it’s political. Ve are not going to be political.” His tone is not as firm as his words, perhaps conflicted. 

”Goblin bounties. Discoveries. Expeditions. These are good bet. Still… I not hire you to think for you.” 

Rohuzar looks over each of them. “Each of you tell me your impressions. A job you like, a job you don’t.”

Earlier, when the legionnaires have left the Robust Hound Inn and Tavern, Aubrey walks over to the bar for another glass of Riesling. "I´m new to this establishment but I appreciate your handling of your customers. I´m certain me and my team will become regulars here." He says to the elf tending the bar while waiting for him to pour him a new glass. "Now what was the business with those legionnaires just now?" He asks casually. Persuasion if needed:17

When everyone gathers by the notice board Aubrey gives the others a quick scrutinizing look and seems pleased about what he sees. "Citizen Aubrey Goldentide at your service." He says to Leelan, Grugga and Eskil with a slight bow and goes on to explain the missions in Old Imperial to the others.

"About the jobs, my general opinion is to start with something local while getting to know each other in the field. Perhaps either the Heroes and Inquisitive minds job or the Champion needed job. The Hydra blood job can wait I think." He finishes with a smirk.

(OOC: Would Aubrey as a part time member of the forum know anything more about the political implications of the elven airship visting Bardstown. History check if needed:19 )

To Aubrey:

 Shortly after Aubrey returns, the Halfling serving girl arrives at the table with an uncorked bottle of Holy Dwarf Riesling and two more stemless glasses.  There is enough left in the bottle for two more servings.  "Compliments of the house," she says and bows politely.  Almost as an afterthought as the starts to step away, "My name's Mirlande.  Just give a shout if I can be bringing you anything else."

"Hmmmm... I see your point. I don't want to cause any problems by accepting an extrajudicial assignment, but surely it would be worth talking to the parents and asking the legionaries why they didn't help. The parents live right up the road, after all, don't they?"

Grugga shakes his head as if to wake himself up a bit. "Oh, by the way, I'm Grugga. A pleasure to meet you all." He extends his hands toward his new companions.

"I have experience with goblins. Since I was close to their size I was sent in to bring them out if they tried to get into places to small for human or dwarves to follow. So that would be easy money for us unless they have organized. But if our goal is to make a name for ourselves quick, finding that elf would be the best choice. Still it would not hurt to inquire more about out the one in dwarven in either. That way if we know more the decision could be easier to make." Guilim says, nod to the others that have joined them and the halfling barmaid.