As Telantha begins spouting her stream of consciousness, Yam takes his key, rolls his eyes, and proceeds to his room. Once there, he checks the locks on the door and window(s), looks under the rug (if there is one), under the bed and any other furniture that might be there, behind any picture frames and mirrors on the walls, lamps...making sure there are no hidden doors, latches, eye holes, or anything that could provide access to the room other than the door itself. Once satisfied, he locks the door and heads back down to the sitting room. Moving a chair to put its back against a wall, oriented so that he'll see his companions when they come back, ready to leave for the Lorrimor house, he sits and waits.

The woman behind the counter looks you up and down with a frown, finding nothing of interest in what she sees.  "Yes, we have some basic work clothes that would probably do for you."  

She walks you over to one room of the store that has several sets of common and traveler's clothes.  She pointedly ignores the nicer clothing in the area, making the assumption from your appearance that the lesser clothes are all that you can afford.  She picks up a pair of loose pants and an oversized tunic, as well as a length of rope about 3 - 4 feet long to act as a belt.

"This would probably do for you.  One set would be...call it 5 silver.  If you need more than one I could see selling you 3 sets for a gold and a silver, to satisfy your needs going forward...as a convenience so you don't have to keep coming back."

After starting this post I realized I needed a persuasion check from you...instead of waiting for one to post this I went to the dice rolling thread and rolled one for you myself.  You got a 24...good job.

Sarianna blinks at your rapid fire questions.  "Wow, that's...um..."  She takes a moment to sort out her thoughts and try to prioritize what you asked.

"...The Doctor?  ...Put to rest...  Oh!  You must mean the professor!  Lorrimor?  What a kind man, terrible thing to have happened to him.  I didn't know you were here for the funeral.  Poor Kendra.  Someone attacked you?  Oh my.  I know there are rumors of Professor Lorrimor having an interest in some kind of dark arts, but I never imagined someone would be so cruel as to intrude on Kendra's mourning.  Just terrible.

As for the prison, I try not to think on it too much.  The place is just awful.  I wish the whole thing had just burnt to the ground.  See, our little town was founded years ago to provide a place for the guards of the prison to live and to produce food and other supplies used by that terrible place.  The fire that killed all of the prisoners and most of the guards destroyed a large portion of the prison’s underground eastern wing, but left most of the stone structure above relatively intact. The prison’s warden perished in the fire, along with his wife, although no one knows why she was in the prison when the fire occurred. A statue commemorating the warden and the guards who lost their lives was built in the months after the tragedy—that statue still stands on the riverbank just outside of town.

Most of the hardened criminals sent to Harrowstone spent only a few months imprisoned, for it was here that most of Ustalav’s executions during that era were carried out. The fire that caused the tragedy was, in fact, a blessing in disguise, for the prisoners had rioted and gained control of the prison’s dungeons immediately prior to the conflagration. It was only through the self- sacrifice of Warden Hawkran and 23 of his guards that the prisoners were prevented from escaping—the guards gave their lives to save the town of Ravengro.

Now that the prison is gone a lot of townsfolk say the grounds are haunted by the prisoners and guards that died that night.  That some malevolent purpose drives a hatred towards our community.  For my part, I think the stories that Harrowstone is haunted are just that - stories.  The ruins are dangerous, but what folks think are ghosts are just nasty vermin and scavengers that live there, surviving off of the macabre remains of the decay."

She shudders to herself, as if trying to get the idea of Harrowstone out of her head.

"...what else...?  The washrooms.  Why one on each floor?  Well, I found that when the inn was really crowded one was just not enough, but rather than cut a second hole in the building for the drainage to go into the slushway I figured just put a second room on top of the first...they both use the same hole that way.  Already had a closet on the second floor at the end of the hall.  It was easy enough to convert."

*Please excuse any typos or strange word choices in the bulk of her conversation.  A lot of it is copied and pasted from the adventure path guide based on the results of your persuasion roll.  A very good persuasion roll.*

Quote from shadow1784 >>

As Telantha begins spouting her stream of consciousness, Yam takes his key, rolls his eyes, and proceeds to his room. Once there, he checks the locks on the door and window(s), looks under the rug (if there is one), under the bed and any other furniture that might be there, behind any picture frames and mirrors on the walls, lamps...making sure there are no hidden doors, latches, eye holes, or anything that could provide access to the room other than the door itself. Once satisfied, he locks the door and heads back down to the sitting room. Moving a chair to put its back against a wall, oriented so that he'll see his companions when they come back, ready to leave for the Lorrimor house, he sits and waits.

Rolled an investigation check for you Yam...didn't go so well.  Ended up with a 7.

After your thorough search of the room you are confident that no one will be sneaking in, listening in, or in any other way surprising you while you stay at the Outward Inn.

Dragutin bristles at the price. Imagined or not, he felt like he was being ripped off. But he had no other pressing usage for the coin, and was in need of new clothes - no matter how cheap the clothes seemed to be. He forces a thin smile.

"Well, function over form and all of that. I'll take the set. For convenience's sake." 

He had hoped to get his regular outfit washed and mended but he doubted he would find such a service here. Not for him.

Telantha would retire to her room, with a few things to think on now. She will do whatever is necessary to get to the home in time for the reading.

Bowser is going to retire to his room as well.

Yam sits silently and waits in the parlor, confident that his lodging will be sufficiently secure for the night so he won't have to spend time finding a defensible location as he usually does. He sit and thinks about The Professor and the experiences they shared. He lets his imagination wander through what he knows of this haunted prison and he wonders if any of the rumors might, in fact, be true. But he sits. And waits. Until the rest of the group gets back.

Moving us along.

Transaction completed, Dragutin returns to the inn where he finds his room ready for him and is able to fill a bath in the first floor washroom in short order.  You feel a little more at ease as some of the tension seems to run away in the warm water.  And while baggy, after you dry off you find the new clothes are soft and comfortable...fine workmanship for such simple clothing.

Later, around 6 you all gather in the foyer of the inn to make your way to the Lorrimor home.  The sun has managed to peak below the layer of clouds for just a moment before diving under the horizon, bathing the town in a macabre reddish light while you walk.  The rain has stopped for the time being though.  But the clouds do not appear to be shifting, possibly presaging additional rain in the coming days.

You arrive at the Lorrimor home to find three people standing at the doorway, waiting to be admitted.  The one in the front you already know to be Councilman Hearthmount.  He turns to greet you.

"Ah, excellent!  We have all arrived virtually at the same time...how fortuitous.  Allow me to introduce my companions, this is Councilwoman Mirta Straelock..."

A silver-haired human woman with a kind grandmotherly demeanor nods to you in greeting.

"...and this is Councilwoman Shonda Faravan."  A younger mousey woman with short cropped blonde hair and a purple scarf gives a quick curtsey.  

"How do you do?" Councilor Hearthmount continues, "You met Councilman Muricar at the service earlier, so now you have met the complete council of our small community.  As the only thing that is like unto a solicitor in the local area, it is customary for any available council members to be at the execution of a legal document, in the event there is any kind of legal dispute.  It is unlikely in this case, but both of the Councilwomen wanted to be here as they could not be at the funeral proper...and I was the one that prepared Professor Lorrimor's most recent will a little under three months ago, it seemed prudent that I be in attendance as well."

Just then the door opens to reveal Kendra Lorrimor, having changed out of her dress from earlier into a different mourning gown.  "Sorry to keep you all waiting on the doorstep.  I barely had time to put tea on after cleaning up from that ugly mess in the Restlands."

As the woman identified as Mirta sweeps in, she commiserates with Kendra.  "Yes!  Hearthmount told us about the farmers that tried to prevent your father's internment, how awful to think neighbors could treat neighbors that way.  But I heard this group here gave them a sound trouncing for their trouble.  I'm sure that will dissuade them from any additional tom foolery.  Crowds like that rarely have any steel in their spine."

"Well," Kendra responds, "I had hoped we could discuss further action beyond just an embarrassment in the moment...but maybe after the reading would be best?"

"Oh certainly dear, we can talk about whatever you need after the business at hand is settled."

Kendra sees you all into a sitting room, which with 10 people in it is a little crowded.  There are seats available for 7, three of which the council members take without hesitation or question.  They wait for a moment while the rest of the room settles in, commenting to Kendra how fine the tea is.

"Right, let's see to it then." Hearthmount announces without further ceremony.  He removes an ivory envelope from his breast pocket and breaks the seal.  Extracting the parchment from inside, he begins to read the thin script of Professor Lorrimor's final wishes.

“I, Petros Lorrimor, being of sound mind, do hereby commit to this parchment my last will and testament. Let it be known that, with the exception of the specific details below, I leave my home and personal belongings entire to my daughter Kendra. Use them or sell them as you see fit, my child. 

“Yet beyond the bequeathing of my personal effects, this document must serve other needs. I have arranged for the reading of this document to be delayed until all principals can be in attendance, for I have more than mere inheritance to apportion. I have two final favors to ask. 

“To my old friends, I hate to impose upon you all, but there are few others who are capable of appreciating the true significance of what it is I have to ask. As some of you know, I have devoted many of my studies to all manner of evil, that I might know the enemy  and inform those better positioned to stand against it. For knowledge of one’s enemy is the surest path to victory over its plans. 

“And so, over the course of my lifetime, I have seen fit to acquire a significant collection of valuable but dangerous tomes, any one of which in the wrong circumstances could have led to an awkward legal situation. While the majority of these tomes remain safe under lock and key at the Lepidstadt University, I fear that a few I have borrowed remain in a trunk in my Ravengro home. While invaluable for my work in life, in death, I would prefer not to burden my daughter with the darker side of my profession, or worse still, the danger of possessing these tomes herself. As such, I am entrusting my chest of tomes to you, posthumously. I ask that you please deliver the collection to my colleagues at the University of Lepidstadt, who will put them to good use for the betterment of the cause.

“Yet before you leave for Lepidstadt, there is the matter of another favor—please delay your journey one month and spend that period of time here in Ravengro to ensure that my daughter is safe and sound. She has no one to count on now that I am gone, and if you would aid her in setting things in order for whatever she desires over the course of this month, you would have my eternal gratitude. From my savings, I have also willed to each of you a sum of one hundred platinum coins. For safekeeping, I have left these funds with Embreth Daramid, one of my most trusted friends in Lepidstadt—she has been instructed to issue this payment upon the safe delivery of the borrowed tomes no sooner than one month after the date of the reading of this will. 

“I, Petros Lorrimor, hereby sign this will in Ravengro on this first day of Arodus, in the year 4716.”

Having completed the reading, Councillor Hearthmount passes the letter to the person at his left, allowing it to circulate around the room for confirmation of the words by all present as is customary in the community.  There is a silence in the room as the parchment passes from hand to hand.

How would all of you like to respond to this revelation.

Dragutin takes a surprisingly long time in the bath, soaking off weeks of mud and filth. His scars tingle slightly in the hot water, but when he emerges he at least stinks a little less. Now gone was the stench of feces, sweat, and stagnant earth, leaving a faint smell of smoke - like an exotic tea the Professor had once shared.  Dragutin had intended to be the first one at the estate, but between the shopping trip and his lingering bath he actually trailed a little behind the others.  The Councilwoman Mirta strikes him as insincere but Shonda is a little more acceptable. Quiet.

The matter of the will and favor unnerves the abomination. He had been expecting to leave the next day, but now he was expected to stay for a month in this worthless hamlet?

. . . still, he was concerned for Kendra, and it was a hefty reward. Enough to set up a quiet homestead by himself somewhere.  Besides, that research might well be of use to him, too.  The Professor had taken notes of his condition, after all.

As he confirms the letter for himself, he arches an eyebrow at Hearthmount, breaking the silence.

“So we are to protect his books and his daughter – Miss Kendra – for a month? I am not opposed, but we’re going to have issues. This town already doesn’t like us, and I haven’t the coin for a month at the Outward Inn.”

Eks

His thoughts were fixated on the tomes that had been mentioned in the will. Is my story held within their pages. The hours of my correspondence with the Professor were soon to be common knowledge to his peers? Eks was unsure how he felt about it. The conversations he thought were in private would soon be public.

He was so caught up in his own thoughts that he barely realized what he was about to agree to. "Yes, yes. At least a month. If that's what's needed. Yes." His voice trailed off into a whisper.

Never feeling particularly comfortable in enclosed spaces, Applebough stands in the corner trying his best not to be obtrusive as group fills in. By the time the room is filled, he assumes most of those congregated think he is likely a decorative item.

He listens intently to the request, thinking deeply before responding. The new councilpeople jump slightly as the low, smooth voice emanates from the tree in the corner.

"It seems that we have already taken up the mantle for Ms. Kendra's protectors. It was natural for us to come to the aid of the Professor's daughter, and I have no reason why I could not fulfill this request. This, of course, assumes Ms. Kendra herself is comfortable with this arrangement?"

He looks to Kendra for confirmation, smiling gently at his friend's daughter. Noticing his discomfort with the situation that has been put for, Applebough turns to Dragutin.

"Friend, I have little need of the coin I carry. I will happily help you pay for a room at the inn for the duration of our stay, if that would make you feel comfortable. Alternatively, you are more than welcome to stay on the outskirts with me. The bedding may not be as soft, but I find the night sky and fresh air more than make up for it."

Bowser ponders for a while as he glances at his axe. He hoped this trip would have been short, but also realizes there is nothing much for him back home. "A month isn't too bad I suppose, especially if it means helping Lady Kendra. A lot can happen in a month. Who knows, maybe the town will like us in a month's time."

"Seems like a small enough thing."  Telantha says with a shrug.  She glances to the others in the room and gives a nod then.  "Yes, I don't see why I shouldn't help out with the last wishes of the one who did so much for me."  A million questions go through her head, but she decides this is not the time for asking of them.

Councilman Hearthmount listens to the concerns raised and offers his opinions on the matter.  "Well, for coin I see two solutions to your problems.  There is often work available at the Posting Poles.  Small jobs mind, day labor, sometimes something heavier.  Wouldn't pay well, but enough to keep you afloat for a month I imagine.  Your other choice would be to head to The Silk Purse.  The town's moneylenders are normally investing in farm implements and plantings and such, but with a promissory note like this as collateral I am sure they would be able to forward you an amount suitable to your needs."  

"As for the town not liking you, you haven't met most of the town yet.  I'll admit you may get a few stares here and there.  We are mostly straight human stock with the odd halfling, dwarf, or elf thrown in as our brand of variety.  But more exotic beings like yourselves, well there just isn't much to call those walks of life here.  If you are concerned about the excitement at the burial, that was definitely not a run of the mill experience. I doubt you will see too much trouble from any of those gentlemen going forward...especially with how easily you dispatched them today."

Kendra walks over and places a hand kindly on Dragutin's shoulder.  "If the cost of the inn is too much of a burden there are a couple of rooms here that some of you could stay in.  As I said before, it is not a great estate...but I could probably accomodate 2 of your number, more if you were willing to share a room or sleep on the couch.  I had not imagined my father would impose on your kind natures like this, or I would not have recommended the Outward Inn.  Paying for a night's stay is one thing, but setting up a residence out of an inn for a month is much different.  Not to say Sarianna's hospitality would grow thin, she is a fine keeper.  Just, that is a significant expense to lay out.

She turns to Applebough in the corner next, "You mentioned staying outside in the outskirts of town.  I do not begrudge you the thought of sleeping under the stars if that is your comfort, but please feel free to find a place in the back of the house.  It is not a enormous plot of land, but there is room enough for one more tree.  Is it okay to call you a tree?  I wouldn't want to be insensitive."

"If you have the room, I would not mind staying with you as well."  Telantha says as she looks around the house.

Applebough laughs heartily, "No offence taken, my lady. I am not blind to the appearance of my kind. Though some of my kin may take umbridge, they are few and far between. I appreciate the kind offer and will happily take up residence in your yard, if it is not too much of a burden. Having an eye or two outside might be useful if your father expected some type of trouble anyways."

There's the brief sound of water rushing followed by the slapping of webbed feet on the stairs.

"Oh poo, we've already started..." Yam says as he approaches the group, a scrap of paper trailing from one of his heels. He reaches for the document as it makes the rounds, scans it, and passes it along. "Apologies for my potty mouth, but is this guy taking the piss? We're supposed to float around here circling the drain for a month and just flush our own plans? Ugh..." Yam closes his eyes, pauses, and takes a deep breath. "Well, if The Professor wanted me to grit my teeth and push through, for his sake, I'll try to relax and not blow an O-ring. At the very least this will give me a chance to poke around that Harrowstone crap hole and wipe away some of the rumors." He thinks for a moment and looks to Kendra. "I'm sure I'll find sufficient odd jobs to afford the stay at the Outside Inn, but thank you for your offer of hospitality. I'm confident the room there is secure so I might as well make use of it."

He pulls up a 3-legged chair and takes a seat but it wobbles a bit under his weight. "Kendra, dear, your stool is a bit loose. Might want to get it checked."

"I can find my own lodging," Bowser says. "The platinum should cover a month's rent for a room at the inn."

"Bowser, my friend. The platinum comes at the end of this month-long adventure. Unless you want to borrow from the moneylenders...but I assume there's fees and interest to account for. No, I suspect we'll be seeking other means of income for your room, board, and pies."

"That works for me," Dragutin assents.  Kendra and Hearthmount had allayed most of his concerns.  Though he was amused at watching the refined gentlelady squirm to avoid offending Applebough, she was a good person.  "I'll take one of those rooms, Miss Kendra.  As you said, my - well, our - presence should be plenty of deterrent.  You won't need me watching you every hour of the day.  I'll check the Posting Poles for work to keep me busy.  Maybe earn some goodwill, too.  As I guess we're. . . colleagues now, you all can let me know if you find anything requiring . . . heavy lifting.  I can help with Harrowstone if you like, Yam."