Urgh! My apologies! Badger is a little caught of guard, but wants to pursue this further and does his best to be polite, making a brief but awkward bow. Urgh! I couldn't help but overhear... quite accidental, to be sure, but perhaps fortuitous... Urgh! You see... we might be able to help each other. Am I to understand you are in need of a scout? I might be able to recommend someone. Several someones in fact. Some colleagues of mine. Well, they're more like my servants, really. You see that goliath in the corner? A natural to this climate. And that most talented musician? An even more talented ranger, she is. Badger realises he is getting a bit carried away with the embellishments, so he stops and simply adds: Urgh! I may be willing to offer you their services. What was it you were looking to do?

Kurik sat quietly and listened to Kathy the tall play her music.  He made a play at seeming to focus on the music while he scanned the room for any side way glances their direction.  He even drummed his fingers a bit.  Though, when Badger gave him the helm, he wasn't sure what to do with it.  It was so small.  He balled up his fist and set it upon that and just stared at it fore a few moments before setting it back on the table.  

The half elf's frown seemed to fizzle, with the mercurial mood swing that only youth can provide. She immediately steps forward, "Well, I've no money...but...I do have an item of no small value that you would be able to keep after...if you truly would help."  She gestures for Badger to sit at the bar table and begins spilling information, "You see, there are these spirit creatures, I'm sure you haven't heard of them, spirits of the land, some call them Chwinga's. To see one is supposed to be very lucky. I've never met anyone that has actually seen one, but...they can alter the very environment around them.  I believe that they are the key to changing the weather. They can convince the spirit of the land itself to fight off this winter.  I even have a lamp that can help you locate them. Would you and your brave friends do this thing? If you solve the never ending winter, you'd be hero's!"

Oh, chwingas! Why yes, I've seen them - two in fact - while we were in Chul.... I mean... Urgh! Badger quickly remembers they are supposed to be travelling incognito... ...in a faraway land. <Ahem> One of them gave me a small bracelet. I wonder if I still have it. They didn't seem that powerful to me though. And somewhat capricious. I doubt you could convince them to do anything. Then seeing that his lack of enthusiasm isn't helping the relationship, he says: But you never know, right? And imagine becoming a hero! Saving the world! Gosh! So sure, we can find you a chwinga. Hey, you wouldn't happen to know someone named... and he lowers his voice to almost a whisper... Macreadus?

"You've....SEEN Chwinga before?!  In Chul!  Never heard of that place but wow...that's...amazing. This must be fate! They have a direct tie to the soul of the land!  They may not seem powerful, but I just know they are the key."  She digs around in her bag for a moment, then pulls out a lantern. "Say, what did you say your name was again? And your friends? Though a goliath, a half-orc, and a gnome....should be easy enough to track the three of you down."  She grins.  "You're practically the hero's of the death curse. You hoping to recreate their magic and do some world saving yourself? Like a copy-cat situation?"  She shrugs, "Oh, Macreadus. Yeah. He thinks he can make a magic item to solve the winter. I don't think he can. He'd have to enable the capture of godly power, but he thinks it's more about balance. Anyway, I just know of his work, but haven't seen him around. He left town, felt he needed....distance...to do his experimenting...didn't think he should be working on it in town. I'm not sure where he went, but he is friends with Copper....he's a gnome staying at the shrine of Amauntor. Renting a room from Mishan who runs the church. Copper probably knows where he went.  Anyway, ya, so, this lantern." She motions to the lantern she's pulled from her bag and put on the table. "This is a lantern of tracking attuned to elementals...of which Chwings are a sub-categorization. They're not made of fire or..well...I guess you've seen ...two?!?  That's remarkable. They GAVE you a gift?  They only gift those who they really respect. How can I NOT trust you in this?  So, yes, you can keep this lantern....but it will help you track them down. Then if you can ...you know......snap one up and bring it back to me, I'm sure I can negotiate with the spirit of land through it....and convince it to end the winter."

Urgh! My name? It's... er... Velvet. But yeah, those death-curse guys. Wow. What heroes they were, eh? But their half-orc was a male, and Kari over there is clearly not. And Kurik doesn't look anything like his - er - like the one from the stories. And the gnome who was the leader of that group could shoot lightning from his eyes, and actually saved the world single-handedly with just a little help from the others. But yes, we want to be just like them.

Then when Dannika mentions how to find Macreadus, Badger listens intently, and makes a mental note, hardly listening to the rest of her spiel. Copper. Shrine of Amaunator. Got it. Thanks for your help. He gets up and moves back toward Kurik, but only takes a few steps before returning to Dannika. Ha! Silly me. We'll need this lantern, now won't we? Gonna find those chwingas...

Returning to Kurik with the lantern in hand this time, Badger whispers: I think we have a lead on Macreadus. I had to agree to a small side-mission to gain her trust, but we have the information now.

Mal suddenly wakes from a terrible nightmare that quickly vanishes from her mind. She looks around sensing something is wrong but can't see any danger in sight. Checking the doors and windows to make sure they are shut she then reluctantly climbs back into bed to try and get back to sleep, her back to the wall, her eyes staring at the door.

After several long moments she finally falls back asleep though she tosses and turns all night long.

While taking a small break between songs to sip some warm beer, Kari notices Badger talking with the half elf and feels satisfied that her plan is working. And happy to be entertaining again, even for just one night. Her companions don't really seem to relax, maybe it's the search for that man, and the ring Mal wears, that prevents it. Oh well, this next song should cheer up everyone in the common room.

With the information secured and a night of wonderful music complete, the group retires to bed for the evening. Kari slips into Mal's room, the two girls sharing a bedroom. As Kari, tired, but in a good mood glances at Mal, she sees her stirring uncomfortably in her sleep. An aura of cold seems to radiate from her bed, and when she breaths, cold frosty plumes emerge. Ice seems to have formed on the bed post nearest to her upturned, still gloved hand...and as Kari watches, little tiny ice spiders seem to form and walk along the edge of the bedpost, skittering around. 

More than a little unnerved, Kari heads to sleep in the bed a few feet away, eyeing the glassy ice spiders. 

The next morning Mal awakes early. She feels poorly rested and rather uncomfortable.  Kari lays, one leg hanging over the end of the bed, her arm flopped down onto the floor...snoring lightly and clearly still very much asleep.  Mal notes a build up of ice and frost on her own bed that she shakes off before heading out to get some breakfast. The dark dreams that haunt her like a dark threat in the back of her mind. 

Eventually though everyone wakes up and meets in the common room where Badger shows up with a strange lantern.  Warm muffins and left over stew and some tea make a lovely breakfast for everyone, served by one of Scramsax's morning staff, a half-elf man named Darruk.

When no employees or townsfolk are around Mal will ask Badger, sighing, "What is up with the lantern and what have you gotten us into?"

Urgh! Oh, that... Badger glances at the lantern like he is ready to toss it into the gutter as soon as they exit the building, but explains anyway. Funny story actually... Do you remember those tiny jungle spirits we saw in Omu? Chwingas they were called. Sickle had one on his shoulder for a while just before we fought that frog-monster. Anyway, some local I met last night thinks there might be some around these parts, and that they have the power to reverse the long winter, and asked me to capture one for them, and even gave me this magic lantern that is supposed to help locate them. Badger smiles at Mal and the others like he is building up to the good part... So I agreed that we would help, which was enough to win her trust, and then she told me of someone who might know where this Macreadus fellow is. Ha! Badger smiles wider and spreads his hands as though he had just delivered the punch line to a funny joke. Hilarious, no? Ah, these country folk are so gullible... Badger sighs, leans back, and takes another bite of a muffin.

"Well I guess that could have gone way worse, nice...job, I guess." Mal says, "When breakfast is done shall we head out to meet this contact?"

Kari focused on her food for the most part, eating as if she'd been a month on the road, or something like that. She looks up sharply when Badger mentions capturing a spirit. Capture, why should we do that? Why not just talk to them, in fact why doesn't this local come with us to talk to them? I mean, they don't sound evil, I don't like the sound of kidnapping one. Her look changes to another kind of disapproval then. You think you tricked them though, are you not going to help like you agreed to?

Mal looks between the two, smiles and leans back, looking forward to enjoying the upcoming conversation. With a smile in her voice, "Badger, she asked you a question."

Kurik is a little slow in the morning.  Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was a warm bed that was too comfortable.  Maybe... it was sleeping in parasitic armor that feeds off his blood.  Yay, probably the armor.  After the morning feeding, he always felt hungry and the muffins were filling.  He was on his sixth one while listening to the group discuss Badger's tricks.  After taking a long drink to wash the dryness six muffins cause from his mouth he said, "Badger, you're a wizard right?  You know words have power and all that cause you cast spells.  Seems to me if you don't mean what you say, then your words will lose their power."

Badger simply nods and shrugs in response to Kari's first two questions, but looks up with a slightly stunned expression after the third one, a muffin half in his mouth. Mal makes her comment, to which Badger replies: Fwee qwefshuns in fack! The gnome continues to look a little incredulous as the others stare at him accusingly, before removing the muffin from his mouth and pointing at Mal, saying: You're not seriously... What happened to 'nice job'? A second ago you were...

Then Kurik interrupts with his two-coppers' worth, to which Badger retorts incredulously: What kind of goblin-brained logic is that? You can't actually... It's just a little... Surely you don't... We have a solid... Oh whatever, if it makes you feel better, then fine! But I'm not planning on freezing my crystal balls tramping around the snowfields for weeks on some child's game. Let's give it a day or two and then get on with the mission we've come here for, okay? A we go find this Copper fellow first!

Kurik smiles at Badger's frustration and leans to Mal.  "Father was right, he does flail about like fish out of water when aggitsted."

"Well, did you agree on a time line?  If not then when ever it comes up, it comes up.  Just as long as you eventually follow through," Kurik says.

I've got those 2 hearts, left, they are probably still good until... maybe next dawn? If you eat one you won't freeze anything off. Right, Copper first, then this other person, 'she' was it? Are we meeting her next?

"Seems simple minds are easy to mess with." Mal says back to Kurik with a smile on her face.

No thank you! replies Badger sternly to Kari's repeat offer of a troll heart. And no, we don't meet her again until we have a chwinga.

After that Badger makes no response to Kurik and Mal's baiting, but continues eating his breakfast, muttering under his breath: fish out of water, eh... that can be arranged... stick you up on the wall beside Ol' Bitey... see if you can sing too...

Portent rolls for today: 1, 6

Also, Badger will change out three spells while they are in and around Bryn Shander
out: Disintegrate, Galder's Tower , Fear
in: Mass Suggestion, Fabricate, Knock