Uthal's face twists slightly in a mix of emotions, at once enjoying the cool air while feeling uncomfortable with the height of the ceiling. He keeps silent and sits by Ura.

Anearis hands a gold coin over to the door man, thanking him in the process. He goes to sit with the rest of the party, waiting for the halfling to come and take their order.

"Nothin' special bout it though." The halfling woman responded, coming around from behind the window and entering through an open doorway beside it.

As she approached the table, she pointed with her thumb toward a wooden sign propped up on the bar. It read:

Drink and Rumor 7cp. 3rd rumor free!

"If you're jus' lookin fer a drink, we got swill. If you're hungry, we got mudder's milk."

"Well, actually, I'm looking most for the rumors," Ura returns with a grin, passing over 1 silver and 4 copper coins.  "I just can't resist a bargain, after all."

"I'll take some food, and a drink." Austin says, thinking it has been a while since she has eaten.

"Sure nough. I'll give ya the first and tell ya the rest when I bring your orders." The halfling leaned her elbow on the table and closed the socially acceptable space between herself and Ura. "Down south, people sayin' there's a dark rider. A knight with smoldering armor that flies across the sky on a winged beast. For the past month he's be leaving a trail of death and destruction in his wake. I heard folk saying he came from Cathaan."

The halfling took the coin from Ura and turned to the rest of the table, nodding at Austin's order, then turning to the rest. "Alright, so far three swills and a mudder's milk. How bout the resta you?"

Anearis wonders what kind of meal could warrant the name mudder’s milk. With slight apprehension, he orders a serving of the meal. 

He’s also curious about this mysterious knight causing mayhem. Could it be another servant of the Berossus?

Uthal shakes his head against both drink and food, seemingly apprehensive about the strangely named items.

"Alright, coming right up." The halfling returned to the kitchen behind the bar window, only to return mere seconds later with five wooden mugs.

She put the cups down on the table, two each in front of Ura and Austin, and one in front of Anearis. "Two milks and three swills." The cup in front of Anearis and one of those in front of Austin contained a substance with the color and consistency of mud. To relate it more closely to something food-wise may be a thick, yet still runny oatmeal. And the cup had a bit of steam rising from the contents. However, the smell was almost like overly toasted, nearly burnt, bread.

The other three glasses had an even less pleasant smell. It wasn't an odor that one could easily place, but just by being within the proximity, it stung the nostrils. It wasn't necessarily a 'bad smell' but an extremely acidic smell of pure alcohol.

"You all hear bout Big Head's guests? Didn't have a procession or anything, so must be hush hush for some reason." The halfling leaned in closer to the table. "Came some few weeks back, priest of some sort. Big Head's locked himself away in the palace since then. And that's when they started hiring more guards round the city. Don't think it's a coincidence. Mind yourself with the guards too. They been hiring anyone who can hold a sword."

The halfling turned to leave, but spun a full 360, and leaned back on the table. "Almost forgot the third rumor. I hear from a friend of a friend who's wife's brother works in the palace. The priest and his party visiting the Emperor. They spend a lot of time behind closed doors, in the dungeon. If you ask me..." She looked around, before leaning in ever more so this time, practically climbing onto the table. "...they're all in there having twisted sexual orgies." She straightened up and solemnly nodded to emphasize the serious nature of her words.

"Well well well.  Sounds like the Berossuses are already here and getting cozy with the Emperor," Ura says, once the halfling is out of earshot.  "This is a pain in our ass, isn't it?"

‘’Indeed. If this rumor is true, our mission here has become a whole lot more complicated. Uthal, could this priest she spoke of be the one you are looking for?’’, Anearis asks the goliath.

Uthal's brow furrows in anger. "Sure sounds like Trevor, that walking turd. I think that we need to get into that castle. It's unlikely Trevor is leading sexual acts. More likely it's more corruption."

For those party members who tried the drinks, the swill stung ones chest, the same as it stung their nostrils. It was nearly void of taste, but there was an inkling that it could also be used to clean bloodstains off armor and blades; or even strip paint. The so-called mudders milk tasted about as well as it looked. A prompt comparison would be if a loaf of bread fell into a puddle of mud and was then dunked into ale. There was an alcoholic tint to it, but it was thick and filled the stomach, though did little for ones morale or energy.

As the party discussed the rumors they heard, and drank the cupped oddities that were served, a dwarf entered. Unfortunately it was not one of the very dwarves that the party had been waiting for. However, she did still look in the group's direction, and so did her companion, a female goliath whose frame was only a slight smaller than Uthal's, but even in only the minor difference in size, did not appear to be uncomfortable in the low ceiling establishment. 

Both wore common clothing that seemed to be self-tailored. They both had black boots and brown pants with sleeveless shirts and brown work gloves, which seemed unusual especially considering the brisk tempatures that were swelling outside, and even more so within the tavern. The goliath's shirt was red with a white collar and she had black hair tied back into a top knot. The dwarf had the only remnants of armor, atop a blue shirt, she wore a simple chest piece and single pauldron over her right shoulder. The armor matched her shirt, and she had firery red hair tied back into a pony tail with a metal ring; the same of which she wore tying her beard into two bunches hanging down either side of her chin.

"Two and two" The dwarf held up two fingers to the halfling behind the bar, as she began walking toward the party. Arriving at the table she asked, "You Nik n Nack's bunch?"

Austin nearly spits out the foul-tasting drink as the third rumor is given in such a serious tone. She shakes her head in bafflement.

"Getting into the castle doesn't sound like an easy feat." Austin points out. "Sounds like they are building up defenses to make that hard if not impossible." She looks up as the dwarf and goliath join them. "Who's asking?" She requests, not in an unkindly way at the mention of the dwarf brothers.

"I am." The dwarf replied to Austin. She then turned to her goliath companion and strained up, as the goliath leaned down. Whispering into the goliath's ear, the dwarf was still loud enough for the party to hear. "You think they really not know I'm the one that spoke?"

They both looked at the party, and the goliath silently shrugged. As the halfling brought out drinks, the dwarf and goliath both pulled up chairs, inviting themselves to join the party at the table. "We been sent to bring you to the Old Man." 

Anearis looks at Austin, rolling his eyes at the dwarf’s answer. ‘’They are with Nik and Nak.’’, he says flatly.

He then looks at the dwarf. ‘’And who might the two of you be?’’, he asks.

"He means your names.  Also, does the Old Man have a name?  We're probably not familiar enough to call him that when we meet him," Ura points out.

The dwarf and the goliath each had both a swill and a mudder's milk in front of them; and the both proceeded to pound them with either extreme conviction of committing to something they unfortunately started or with familiarity and delight almost seemingly enjoying the two.

The dwarf wiped her face with her forearm. "His name's 'the Old Man'. Doesn't go by anything else, but I guess you can call him 'sir' if you want. An' we work for him. Sort of. We're mercenaries. Anyways, Nik and Nack are wit him discussin' matters, and we were sent to get you sose you can meet him." Neither the goliath, nor the dwarf made any notion towards providing their own names.

Uthal nods and stands. "Good, the sooner we do that the sooner we can get to making sure that Trevor gets on his way to the eternal damnation that he so deserves."

Ura also gets up, recognizing a lost cause when she sees one.  "The faster we move, the better.  Let's go."