Spix soon joins, looking refreshed and well-rested.  She takes a seat at the same table as Sohk.   “Good morning.   Excited to see what this day brings!”  She says. 

Zin comes walking downstairs slowly, not hung over but obviously not a morning person.  He stops by a window and looks outside, still clutching a blanket from his room around him.  “Sleet!  What the hell.. This weather just keeps getting better and better.”  He sits down at the table with Spix and Sohk, smiles and says good morning.  “What’s for brekky?  Did you sleep well?”  He starts to bring them up to speed with current events.

Magwynn sleeps in a little later than she normally does, a combination of being up late and in a new place. But fortunately the others seem to still be at breakfast as she joins them. "I'd suggest anyone who doesn't have some already acquire some crampons, if this weather is going to continue for long," she says brightly. "Snowshoes couldn't hurt, either."

As everybody makes it to the table the serving wench comes and places biscuits, gravy, butter, and honey combs at the center of the table for everybody. She also places a large container of milk down. Fruit on one side and bacon on the other. A stack of plates and cups follow as she simply nods and goes back to the back. 

While your eye's look over breakfast you hear footsteps coming down the stairs then two older voices chatting to one another.

male voice "I will not eat any god darn fruit woman."

female voice "You know the sister Beckany said you need to take off some weight. So she suggested you eat more fruits and less meat."

Male voice "Woman fruits are for the birds. And I ain't no bird. Only meat for me."

female voice "Oh no you will not! You will listen to what the sister said and.."

As the voices come into view you put the faces to the voices as you remember from the day before they were the ones arguing about leaving during the summer. A older couple comes down the stairs on one of the two man tables near the front.

Older male "Woman don't make me put down my foot. Otherwise.."

Older woman "You will do WHAT?"

the older man just turns and looks at her as she notices the glare in her eye

As you scan the room you notice Melody standing behind the bar with her arms crossed just shaking her head watching from a distance

"

After you have a chance to enjoy breakfast you see Mrs. Goodwinn come from the back to stand before you.

"I hope breakfast was sufficient for you. Out here in the North a few normal items your use to may not be readily available to us. However we do the best we can." 

she says as she smiles warmly. The serving wench comes around and pulls empty plates out of way and refills what drinks she can with out trying to get into the way. Melody follows up holding a map in her hands. After a space is made available she places down the town map then unfolds it following the words of Mrs. Goodwinn.

"You are currently here at Moor's Hold." As melody points to the center

"To the north is the Town Master's hall.  When something major comes up most people in and around Kleine go there to talk about it."

"To the South is the General store.  It's called the Black Outfitter's. The store owner Jessika runs it."

"To the east is the Shrine known as the House of the Gods. Its open to everyone and of every faith. Usually it can be reserved for special services for one particular faith. Sister Beckany the local Healer and magic user runs the place."

"To the west is the Out Post known as Frozen Far's Expeditions. Rik and tick are halfling brothers who co-own and run the place."

"And that is the majority of places here. Most places here double up to compensate for buildings normally exclusive for a particular trade. That way we pretty much got what any major city would have with a few minor things. And any thing special we can order in. Any questions so far?" 

"Not so far." Davis says, giving the serving person a smile as they clear his empty plate and mug.

Sohk is still eating some leftovers that people didn't finish and smiling as he listens, "I'll wait for you to finish, but I'm happy to help where it's most needed!" He chimes in before looking to find some more scraps to eat.

Spix says “thanks for the orientation!  Do you think we need snowshoes or crampons up here?  I’ve never been this far north.  Anything else we should stock up on? “

Magwynn studies the map. "Doubling up is good until something breaks under the added stress. Are the folk doubled up as well? What would happen if something happened to Sister Beckany, for instance?"

Mrs. Goodwinn smiles as she looks around the table.

"Now then Mr. Blackheart as you probably all ready know has left me in charge of you in his stead. So when I spoke to him last He basically told me do as I see fit. So for the first mission I would like you to prove your self to the people of Kleine. I was thinking something along the lines of a big feast. What gets people more prone to accept you then coming around a gathering of people with great amounts of food, wine and entertainment. Of course I will make all the necessary preparations to get the wine and entertainment. But I would like you all to go forth and hunt the vast amount of food it will take in order to achieve the main course of the meal."

she says as she stops for a moment to take a drink out of a mug that was brought and set down by the serving wench.

"Now I bet your asking yourself why I'm saying this. Well up to this point there were no rumors floating around of any threat that might or might not happen here in Kleine until last night. Until one of your members came through the door mentioning you were attacked on the rode by Gnolls. This as far as I understand sent many rumors that have now spread like wild fire through out the town. Since this town isn't very big it doesn't take long at all for most ears to have heard it. Now I do not deny there are Gnolls patrolling the area around her but since their numbers are relatively low. This area don't necessary have a wide population to sustain their numbers. We don't consider them any major threat. Now A straggler here and there does causes them to get bold and attack. But since this town is resourceful we call or send messengers to other towns to take up arms to repel these small skirmishes. Normally these skirmishes are lead by a captain named Ramos. At that point I just let him take over to deal with problem."

as she takes a drink out of her mug

"Now by no means does that mean we are safe. It just means we find a way to deal with things. And not every skirmish we have here gets reported to Mr. Blackheart. But knowing him as I do he does have his way of finding out things. Now to your question. We are in the process of training new and up coming people to serve various roles but training can be a bit slow due to where were at and what circumstances out in the North we face."

“Sounds like we will want to visit all of these places.  I would want to hear what you recommend as well.  I think we should stay here today, sort out everything that we need to do, stay here tonight, and then head out tomorrow.  Maybe the weather will be better.  It’s sleeting out there.”  An imperceptible shiver escapes Zin.  “This evening I can sing again if you wish.  I brought the house down last night with “A Wizard’s Staff has a Knob on the End.”  Let me know if there any other favorites you want me to perform.”

Spix says”well I’m not much of a hunter, but I’m a great shot with a bow, and I’m quiet.   Get me within 50 paces of a deer or something and I can probably hit it.  I’m up for doing it- tomorrow if it can wait, today if we need to start sooner.” She finishes her meal and picks up her Longbow and looks it over. 

Mrs. Goodwinn listens to the group as they decide what would be best.

"Well Today is Tuesday morning in the Month of the Claw of Sunsets so you have until Friday night to hunt as much game as possible. So I will leave it up to you to decide what you think will be best to serve your time until then. In the mean time I will make preparations to get the feast under way."

with that she nods then turns and heads back to her office as Melody returns back to the bar assuming her normal duties

"If we put out traps now they'd be likely to ice over and be useless," Magwynn agrees. "About how many people will we need to feed?"

Melody hears your question and comes back towards the table.

"Well Mrs. Goodwinn did say the people of Kleine so basically the whole town. I do assume that means their family and kin. As far a number I really couldn't tell you. That is why she said bring back as much game as possible."

“Hmm, if we are going to go hunting I need a bow as well.  Maybe I’ll head to Black Outfitters and then over to Frozen Far Expeditions.  You don’t happen to have a short bow and some arrows that you could lend me, could you?”  Zin is starting to wake up and is more energetic now that he’s on his second cup of coffee.  “I guess all of us need to look for some equipment.”

"Yeah I could use some snowshoes and cramps too." Sohk has finally stopped trying to scrounge more food up and is now sitting with his hand on his stomach. 

"I can do alright sneaking about and I've got these darts so I could try to get some game with them, but otherwise I've got no experience hunting or doing much out there." He looks around sheepishly, "So maybe, we could get a couple groups going. If we all go together we might scare any game around off anyway."

Magwynn looks Melody over, wondering how, in a town this small, someone could lack even a rough estimate of how many people lived there. (Insight check, to see if she can why Melody can't give her even a rough estimate: 7) "Well, meat can be smoked and eaten throughout the winter, so if we bring back too much it won't go to waste."

To Sohk she says "If your aim is good enough and you can be still, shooting deer or small game isn't too dissimilar from shooting bandits. But we will need food besides just meat, so I can give you some tips for foraging as well, for what might be available in winter."

"I suggest we go out in pairs at the very least." Davis speaks up as he glances to the others. "If someone runs into those hyena things again, it would be better to do so with some sort of backup close by." He considers though. "I am not very stealthy myself, so we could set up a few of us in one place, then have others, like me, walk to see about pushing game towards those positions."

Sleep was not something to come easy for Velan. Not normally, at least. That night he was feeling so tired and still wounded that he simply fainted in the bed. He woke up restored, and out of habit asked Ninlil if something had happened during his rest. The familiar assured him everything was fine and he studied his spellbook. This time he managed to advance his studies, completing the formulae on an illusion and a charm, memorizing more magecraft than he normally did. A good start, the though to himself as he temporarily dismissed the owl and went for breakfast.

“Good morning.” He answered the others, starting to eat with nothing of the reluctance of the day before. They had already accepted food the night before so whatever the price it was too late to feel bothered. “I have no complaints and I’ll need to acquire both.”

He answered to Zin and Magwynn, just before the breakfast discussion of a man and a woman started. In it a single name caught Velan’s attention - sister Beckany. Melody had mentioned her the night before, the woman who runs the town’s temple. The wizard would have liked to know which deity she serves, but before he could ask Barbara Goodwinn reached their table.

The woman brought the idea of a feast and explained the situation with the gnolls. Velan could not help but to find strange that after skirmishes neither the city nor its allies decided to take more decisive action against the monsters. Stranger yet was the fact that Kleine knew about the change in worship from their part.

“You said that there were no rumors of threat flying around.” He says to Goodwinn as his companions discuss the hunt. “That’s strange. When we arrived, we were told that there is a cannibal on the outskirts of Kleine hunting people and the town’s animals. And that the gnolls have become more cunning and dangerous since they found a new deity called Face in the Ice.