Tex holds out a hand to shake. “Thank you for your hospitality. This is a lovely and, might I add, very defensible compound you have here. Have you run into any trouble of late? We’ve heard a bit about the orcs.”

“I’ve seen more orcs in the woods of late. Ugly brutes.” Falcon mentions, “The orcs appear to be in league with the evil half-orcs that dwell southeast of here. These half-orcs are often seen in the company of little stick creatures known to creep about these woods. All in all, a nasty lot. The half-orcs dwell in a ruined stone manse overgrown with vines, roughly ten miles from here. Tales say that the manse was built by a scholar who studied the elven ruins scattered throughout these woods.”

Vi gives Falcon a nod, having seen the man a few times before since she lives in the woods (although he certainly didn't see her). The half-elf scowls. "Lovely. You seem to be handling them well, though. I'm guessing there's nobody near the manse other than the half-orcs, these days?" While the group talks to Falcon, Talav flies around the inside of the lodge, avoiding all sources of open flame.

Lanarial had been silent the entire trip - not unusual for the rogue, but you can tell that his brush with death had been hard on him - he was still rather pale. So when the group safely arrives at the lodge, he moves directly to a chair by the fire and sits down with a heavy sigh. He listens to the conversation with Falcon, but his eyelids start to droop within minutes. "Need some rooms, and food. Can pay..." he speaks into the conversation.

"Of course. Ten gold pieces for a couple of guest rooms. Stay as long as you'd like. It's about time someone stood up to that dragon."

Later that evening, after imbibing much ale, and eating a GIANT’S portion of food, Tex will go out onto the front porch of the inn. He lights up a cigar, sits down in a rocking chair and fishes out his old viol, playing a happy little tune out under the starry night sky.

As night falls, Iri watches out a window as Tex plays his viol. Walking over to Vi, Iri sits down and asks, "Can I ask you for some advice? You always seem so composed and sure of yourself, I figure you might be able to help me." Iri fidgets nervously turning slightly red. "I really like Tex, and I think he might care for me as well. I just. I don't know what to do. Eventually I need to return to my people. I am only supposed to go see the world for a little bit before I rule. I... I do really care for him. One of the last things I remember from before that tail sent me flying was him kissing my cheek. I. I just. I don't know what to do."

Vi glances up from sharpening her sword. "Sure." She listens to Iri's explanation, nodding along. At the end of it, she sets her shortsword aside and gives the genasi a serious look. "Okay, so here's the deal. First of all, this whole 'what you're supposed to do'? It's your choice, at the end of the day. You can't discount your responsibilities, but you also can't let them rule you. You're your own person, separate of what everyone else expects of you." She smiles faintly. "The other thing is that you'll have to talk to Tex about this. Make sure he knows what you two will be getting into, if you both want it. But if you do want this...then go for it. Happiness is hard enough to find as it is, go get it when you do."

Twenty Years Ago

Tex goes back to one of the rooms the party booked and gets to work.

First, he takes Gareth's glaive, adding new runes along the haft, runes of vigilance, of quickness, of watchfulness. These runes will activate when danger approaches, giving Gareth a little jolt to keep him watching for impending attack. GLAIVE OF WARNING.
"Gareth! this should be helpful in the battles to come!"

First, he gets to work weaving a bowstring, working enchantments through the fibers until it hums with energy. He caps the ends of the string with small crystals that vibrate on the frequency of the bowstring, seemingly tensing and relaxing on it's own.
Tex places the bowstring by Lanarial's bed with a note: "Make every shot count."

"Aaaaagh! It speaks like a mountain breeze. Is a saying. Yes, is good. But will it kill dragons?" Gareth laughs with delight, giving the enormous glaive a few experimental swings.

Lanarial never makes it to the rooms he asked about. The drow stays slumped in the chair by the fire for half the night, seemingly oblivious to the room and happenings around him. The group knew that he didn't really sleep - it was some kind of elvish trance. But tonight, he was restless; twitching; with an occasional whimper or half-muttered phrase in deepspeech. If one looked closely they would see his eyes shifting wildly behind his closed lids, like a human in a deep, and terrifying, dream. 

This was not far from the truth. Although his body was recovering from his near-death experience, his mind was having a much more challenging time. For six hours, longer than his normal meditative period, Lanarial was thrown in and out of memories and horrible half-truths. It was formed from the most painful times of his youth that his adult mind had locked away in a small corner of his brain; times of trial and punishment and fear and rage. The beatings he received in the training pits. His time spent as a slave to a lone illithid master, who sucked a little of his being and personality away each day for 4 long years. His abuse at the hands of the over-worlders who were taught to loathe the dark-skinned drow. His mother...but no, he never really knew his mother...

He bolts upright with a start, staring wild-eyed about the common room of the inn. Not seeing the horror from his trance, he stands and moves the chair to provide an open space. With everyone else asleep in their beds, the rogue flows through his training forms, the routine calming his nerves and working loose the cramps from his muscles. For an hour he slowly moves inch by inch, never stopping or stumbling. But at the end of it, he looks more centered - relaxed - confident. His terrors had been conquered again, and he was ready to face the day ahead.

He discovers the enchanted bowstring and goes to find Tex, then stops, grins, and returns to the bar. "Maybe I'll let him find me this morning..." he thinks to himself. He then orders, and devours, an impressive breakfast of runny eggs, warm biscuits, thick bacon, fresh fruits, cold water fresh from the well and hot tea with a nip of whiskey in it. His grin widens into a genuine smile and he exclaims to nobody in particular, "It is a good day to die!"

The next morning, Tex comes down and sits silently next to Lanarial. He eats a simple breakfast of eggs, grits, and toast with strawberry jam and clotted cream, before DOWNING a couple mugs of fantasy Irish coffee.

“Feeling better this morning my sneaky friend? You were looking pretty beat up after that ambush.”

Vi heads down relatively early, seeing Lanarial at the bar and greeting him with a wave. She gets herself a plate of breakfast and starts eating it rapidly, sitting with the other two and listening to their conversation while feeding Talav breadcrumbs.

Tex will ask around the lodge and surrounding complex of buildings for any pertinent information on the woodland manse. Trying to find out if anyone has seen anything that might be helpful in their task. PASSIVE INVESTIGATION: 22

IF no one else has seen or heard anything, he will go to Falcon

"Pardon me, Mr. Falcon. (Tex takes his hat off and bows his head appreciatively) Thank you again for allowing us to stay here in your lodge. (he puts his hat back on and looks Falcon dead into his piercing eyes, matching the gaze) We were hoping you might enlighten us a little bit more about the woodland manse, the orcs and half-orcs holed up there, and possibly the elven ruins you mentioned last night?"

Iri comes down from her room in the morning, looking tired from staying up too late thinking about what she should do. "You're looking much better Lan," Iri comments as she sits next to the drow for some breakfast. Looking over at the Tex and Falcon, Iri's gaze lingers on the goliath. What am I gonna do? She thinks to herself as she begins to eat. 

Lanarial eats in silence, but not because of the company. No, it was more a matter of his hard years, where every morsel of food was vital to his survival. At least he had stopped wolfing it down as fast as possible over the past decade - that tended to make others not want to sit near him during meals...

Once he was done, he engaged in light banter with Tex and Vi, complementing them on their prowess and skills against the dragon and other challenges they had faced. When Iri comes down, he actually stands and addresses her directly, looking her full in the face. "You saved my life yesterday - now I owe you a debt that shall be repaid eight times over, whether in this life or the next. Xal dosst menvis tlu vesss lu'sreen'aur."

"Um... I didn't do anything that crazy, anyone would have done the same. You owe me nothing." Iri replies to Lan and gives him a quick hug. "You have done plenty already to help me." 

After his conversation with falcon, (OOC: I figured whatever info falcon gave Tex can be put in the info dump when we move on from our downtime) Tex returns to the table with Vi, Talav, Gareth, Lanarial and Iri. He sits down to finish whatever breakfast might be left on his plate. “Hey Vi, do you have a moment?”

Presuming she does, Tex meets her outside, taking in the cool, crisp morning air, dewdrops sparkling from the grass. “Vi, I’m worried about our mission to kill Cryovain.” He turns and locks his piercing, steel grey eyes on hers, “I don’t know if we are going to be ready for it if it swoops down on us again. It took 2 of us out and I didn’t even get close enough to it before it flew off again! If it decides to ambush us again when we’re already weak from fending off some other menace, we might NOT make it out.” There is intense worry behind Tex’s eyes as he stares at Vi. “I..I don’t want any of us to get taken out, this is as close to family as I’ve come since coming to these parts, as well as the closest to some kind of.. well, you know” he trails off, looking back towards the lodge where Iri is. “What do you think?”

Vi follows Tex's gaze back to the lodge, guessing at thoughts he doesn't dare voice yet. She listens to his worries, nodding at the end. "I think your worry is well-placed and prudent. That wyrm is dangerous and sneaky. But we can't just let fear dictate what we do either." The half-elf nibbles her lip. "From now on, I'll keep Talav in the sky at all times, keeping an eye out for Cryovain. That way he won't be able to sneak up on us again, and we can take appropriate action should he come near us again." She sets a hand on Tex's shoulder. "We can keep each other safe. If we're careful, and smart, and stick together. Oh, and for Sehanine Moonbow's sake, talk to Iri," the half-elf adds. "The two of you need to have a conversation already instead of tiptoeing around each other."