The half-orc eyes Lumen and returns the greeting with a slight nod. Sitting alone, he's removed from the increasingly heated conversation that's taking place at the other table. Throughout all of it, he remains silent while sipping on his ale from the double-sized mug. 

"Uhyea. Live here. Farwalker, I'm called" he replies in a sleepy voice.

(Lumen, roll a persuasion check.)

Persuasion: 10

Taking another long swallow of ale, he motions for Lumen to join him and sit down at his table. He's wearing simple, utilitarian garb and what appears to be a fox fur hat. The combination leads you to believe that he's probably some kind of outdoorsman- maybe a hunter, trapper or a guide of some sort.

Setting his mug down, he rubs his eyes with stubby fingers, leans forward and then continues in a low voice.

"I don't get myself involved in local arguments. Folks all got opinions and I'm not gonna change them, so I stay out of it. 'Tween you and me, I don't care much for the constable, and I don't care much for goblins. If you come to deal with 'em, then I don't see that as no bad thing."

"No doubt them greenies been causing trouble out on the road. Mostly robbin' caravans and travelers, but I heard they even took some well-to-do'er a few weeks back. And even if they ain't bothered us, having a tribe that close ain't a good thing for anybody. Some folks never walk outside the gate, but I know what's out there. I seen tracks, and there's more things than goblins that venture a little too close to our little hamlet."

He takes another long draw from his mug. "So where you from, Vork?"

Lumen looks guiltily at the two bowls of soup in his hands, and sits down at the table, promising himself to keep things brief.

"Thanks for the welcome," Vork says, slipping in and out of orcish involuntarily. "I'm from a tiny crag up deep in the Spine, raised raidin' with me ma and the rest of the clan. Well, what's left of them. Survived a decade or so, and hundreds of fights, not enough food, until I had a disagreement with some people. Irreconcilable. Had to leave. Been making my own way in the world, with no home to call my own. Ran into some people who seem to treat me right. We're on a job to stop this goblin problem, maybe make some coin for our troubles." He grunts. "Funny. I just met you and spilled more of my guts than I have with this group I'm with. Not sure what to make of that."

He takes a deep breath, looking at the two soup bowls, readying himself to stand up. "Anyhow, seeing as making the greenies go away helps you, Farwalker, I'd count myself lucky to hear about what's out there, those tracks you mentioned, what we should watch out for, and where you think the gobbies might be holed up. Could make them go away faster."

He's ready to stand up and bring the bowls back to the room once Farwalker's finished talking and they have said goodbye, but not before.

Krackle would pull out his dagger and work on trimming up his claws a bit while sitting on the end of the bed.. as well as trying to clean off some of the mud covering his nice new (to him) robe.

The hal-orc Farwalker listens to Lumen, while keeping both hands on his oversized mug, which you notice has been carved out of a single piece of wood. Then, he takes another drink and answers, also slipping into orc speech every few words, and occasionally slurring a few of them.

"Sometimes it seems like the world forgot to make a place for our kind. It's not always easy to find a home. I go where nature takes me. Good that you found people who stand by you. Rare thing in this world, life is hard enough when you got no one watching' your back."

"I don't know where them goblins is holed up, but the gnome Ellywick does. I overheard your friends talking to the blacksmith about 'im. I haven't followed their tracks that far, but I know they stray closeby here sometimes, and I know they got worgs with them. If you do find the hideout, you watch out, 'cause those things'll knock you right down, and the last thing you want is to find yourself underneath one of them creatures."

"So watch your back, Vork, and may the gods give you strength in your hunt."

Lumen nods a deep thanks. He's stunned to have found someone who understands him. "This is... very helpful. We will seek out Ellywick, and watch out for worgs. Brutal things."

He makes his excuses and exits the common room with the soups, hopefully still hot, and gets back to the room with Krackle. He hands over a bowl to Krackle and says, "The rest of the group's in a deep conversation with the rest of the town about whether we should take on the goblins. I thought they could handle themselves, so I found someone else, Farwalker, who seems supportive, and he's a half-orc, like me. Lives here, and knows the area. I wanted to get you your soup while it's hot because we've had a hard day and you deserve it, my friend. I hope you don't mind my going back out to the room again -- I might try to ask him more about what we'll find out there. Please rest, enjoy your soup, and know I'll be back soon." 

He ducks back out to the room again, and looks to see if Farwalker's still there, and if the rest of the party is having any more luck with the townsfolk.

As Lumen returns to the common room, Farwalker is indeed still there, sitting alone at his table, nursing his now, refilled full mug of ale. 

Chrys, Vesper and Kess are still sitting at their own table, away from the heated conversation that had ensued regarding the idea of searching out and trying to fend off the alleged goblin band. By now, the arguments have quelled, Constable Frida has apparently left the inn and the other patrons have returned to their regular, much more subdued chat.

Lumen comes by the table with Chyrs, Vesper, and Kess and joins them. "I thought you were taking your soup in your room, Ms. Vos'Rorn? I left one in there, and here is the other. Things are... fine in there. Calm." He hands her the bowl, and then turns to Vesper.

"You know that six silver I gave to you? I may need it back if we're going to be eating and staying here. But I will pay you back, whenever we can get paid for this job. Or maybe I can start playing here and earn some coin." He turns back to the rest of the group.

"Speaking of the job, I spoke with that half-orc fellow a bit. Farwalker. Really nice chap. He lives here, and spends time outside town. Thinks it's a good thing for us to take the goblins off the board. Said Ellywick knows more about where they're hiding, but he said he's seen tracks of worgs, and warned us about them. He didn't need to warn -- I know they're plenty dangerous. Maybe you do too. But it might be helpful to prepare. How'd the big debate go?"

He'll converse with the group a bit more and then move over to Farwalker's table to swap stories about where he came from, the oafish orcs he had to deal with and train with. He's trying to entertain him, and perhaps earn his trust a bit more so that he might share other things about the surrounding woods, rocky areas, paths, game trails, anything else. 

And he's also looking for a chance to try to perform to earn some coin for a hot bowl of soup and a bed. If he can meander over to the innkeep to charm him into letting him try, he will do so. It's in his nature. (Feel free to resolve this narratively with the inevitable total failure it will elicit.)

(ooc did Krackle ever get his soup delivered?)

Look at #612!

(OOC: I missed that one in the back and forth between you and the DM :D)

"Thanks Lumen!" The kobold would add with a smile, quickly moving to the half orc and taking the soup. "I'm fine. I used to eat alone a lot. I don't wanna make trouble" he would add inbetween sticking the end of his snout into the bowl as bits of soup drip from his toothy mouth. "You have fun and then we can have our slumber party!" The kobold would say as he finishes quickly slurping the last of his bowl and sits it on the crude nightstand. 

Chrys excuses herself from the table and retires to the room, bringing her soup with her -- mostly because she's worried that Krackle will be bored by himself in the room alone.

"'ey," she grumbles as she enters.  "Sorry it took so long.  I was knockin' heads with that Crabapple woman.  She's a blitherin' fool, she is, leavin' the outpost to rot like this."  Shaking away the last vestiges of her annoyance, she smiles at Krackle.  "How're ya doin' so far?  Ya want more soup?" she asks, holding up her bowl.

Lumen watches Chrys get up, take her soup, and leave with barely a word. He doesn’t say anything either, eyes on the paladin until she disappears. He purses his lips,  and his eyes bounce to Vesper, to Kess, to the Galway, and back to the table before him. He grunts in a thoughtful “humph” sound, confused at what just transpired. He decides listening is a good policy so he takes out his lite and begins inspecting and cleaning it, tuning it lightly.

As Chrys walks through the doorway, Krackle would leap up from the bed. "Thats OK! I'll take all your leftovers" He would say excitedly as he takes the bowl and licks it clean. "Crabapple doesn't seem very nice." He would add as he puts the second empty bowl on top of the first. "When people are scared.. they get mean." He would add with a bit of a frown... looking at the floor. After a moment, he would shake his head and look to the dwarf once again. "I've been having lots of fun in here. My belly is full and this bed is pretty nice" He would say as he jumps up and down.

Vesper shrugs. "I guess she's tired from watching all of that arguing. I kinda am too and it's not like we're going to get anything else done tonight. Come on Kess, let's go to sleep. Night Lumen." And then she heads to the room that she rented for herself and Kess.

After Chrys, Vesper and Kess retire to their mildew-smelling rooms, Lumen stays up for awhile in the common room, but it ends up being a fruitless rest of the evening for him. Farwarlker departs soon, and in time, most of the other patrons filter out and exit the inn, leaving only a couple of other very drunk people, who you assume to be locals, and the gruff innkeeper, who never seems to give you an eye that he's interested in hearing any music, even when you tune and pick softly on your lute. 

Eventually, we'll say that Lumen also decides to call it a night, and he retires to his own room.

Given that it's been a long day, and you made a tiring final push in the rain to Melton, sleep comes fairly quickly for all of you. A couple of times, you wake in the night, hearing the sound of raindrops pattering on the window, but eventually, the drops lessen, and by the time you wake in the early morning, it has stopped. The skies are still cloudy, and everything is still pretty damp, but the air is still and quiet, as if its waiting for you to make the first move during this brand new day.

Krackle would sleep at the foot of the bed with his hood up and his body curled up into a tight ball. Only the tip of his snout and the end of his tail would be visible under the small pile or green and brown robes. Wonce it was time to wake up, Krackle would rise up and stretch out a bit as the sound of his bones cracking fill the room. "Alright! Let's go!" The small kobold would shout as he pulls the stale rust of bread from the wizards lunch from inside his robe and takes a big bite. Without thinking, the small kobold would open the door and head out of the main room... preparing to head out and continue looking for those pesky goblins.

Vesper wakes up and takes a moment to stretch before casting Prestidigitation on herself to get rid of the mildew scent. She heads out of her room to see what's for breakfast in time to catch Krackle exiting his room. She grabs the Kobold and returns him to his and Lumen's room before he can get too far, shutting the door behind him. "I'm sorry, but you can't leave your room without being in the bag. The villagers don't know you're here and they'd probably go into a panic if they saw you here."

Lumen would have left the table if Vesper and Kess went to bed without talking at all about what they found, confused by his new friends. He'd have gone over to Farwalker and talked for a bit longer, swapping stories and asking for more detail about the surrounding area, and about Farwalker's occupation.

Then after getting no interest in his performance, and pockets empty of coin, he heads back to his room and pulls out one of his remaining road rations to eat for dinner, making a mental note of the 2 silver he owes Vesper for the room. As he falls asleep, he hums a ditty to himself that he hopes the goblins will either like enough that they'll pay him for a performance, or they'll be confused by so he can rob them of whatever coin they might have. Being armor rich and copper poor is not as fun as it seemed to be.

In the morning, he comes out, mood chilly, ready to go see the gnome who knows where the goblins are so he can get a move on.