The Black Wyrm of Brandonsford

Rowan snickers hearing the odd little fellows reaction to Quinn. Bold little one he thinks to himself. Then, he raises his eyebrow when it mentions it knows Nessa and greets her as Princess Starpetal.

Sable does his best to keep Naggeneen still in the tarp, but allowing him to still speak from its top.

"Hey, apologies and you promised to leave and ne'er return. Maybe Princess Starpetal can speak to you on the way?"

He doesn't want to keep the fae from speaking to Nessa, but he also wants to hold onto him until they are outside the inn at least.

Nessa looks at Naggeneen with curiosity and confusion. "No... No I do not remember associating with you ever before, I'm afraid." She says after pondering for a moment. "There is much I don't remember though. If you know who I am, spill it out, maybe something comes back to me then."

She takes a step forward, staring down the (alleged) goblin. "But don't you lie to me about this. If this proves to be some sort of prank, some sort of joke... Your ears will be the least of your concern."

Squinting, Naggeneen peers harder at Nessa, then says, "Oh! Well well! You're a human lass, aren'tcha! An' the spittin' image of Princess Starpetal, girl! You'd fool her own father!"

Almost as an aside, the little weirdo quietly adds, "He's the one got the elflords searching for the sword!"

When Nessa mildly threatens the fae creature, he shrugs and bugs his eyes a bit.

"I've no idea who you are, girlie! I just came here for a drink! And this fine fella here, well he was just about to let me go! You know, for the gold, and the lovely tale I told! It's only fair!"

"What's this?!" Quinn snaps. "What's this about letting him go, and about gold?!"

Looking at the assembled group, he adds, "This little bugger about drank me out of business! He owes me something fierce! And if there's gold to be had, it should go to replenish my poor stash!"

"Sure thing Quinn, the gold is 'in the old temple in the woods, part way to the mountains.' It's yours if you go get it, mine if I do." Gann tries to keep his tone light, but the lack of sleep lets irritation and a hint of mockery creep in.

"As for letting him go, that's exactly what we'll be doing. The deal was 100 gold for finding who it was and putting a stop to it." He looks to the creature in the tarp before continuing. "Fey don't follow our laws, so there's no point aiming for retribution. But deals they follow, and a deal we've struck. He'll not be back." Gann makes his case firmly, while he continues to block Quinn from Sable and Naggeneen.

Wren climbs the ladder, yawning, and looks around. "The fey is still here? Quinn, don't be an ass. The last thing you want is his brethren coming in droves lookin for him, or seeking revenge against you. The deal's been made, and now it's time to discuss our deal with you."

"Never mind. How silly of me to expect anything useful out of you." Nessa scoffs at the goblin. "Send the little bastard on his way already. It's high time I get some sleep around here." With her mood thoroughly soured she turns to leave the kitchen.

On her way out she stops and addresses Quinn once more. "And if there is gold to be had, it will go towards paying the debt you owe us."

It appears other than violence from Quinn, there is no more interest in Naggeneen. Sable wrestles with him towards the only door outside.

"Anything you'd like to ask before we go Rowan? Or any apologies you'd like to give before we go Naggeneen?"

Wren watches Sable take the wriggling fey-filled sack outside and, knocking the dust off her hands, she says, "Good riddance! So, free room and board from now on, Quinn?"

Quinn fusses over letting the little thief go, just as he fusses over the thought of gold out there in the woods that could be used to restock his diminished stores. Of course, Gann's comment hits home -- the woods are dangerous, what with a dragon on the prowl and now word of fae hunters lurking about!

Naggeneen gleefully takes his one last bottle of wine from Sable once the man releases him. The strange little man vanishes the instant he's not a captive, and his lilting laughter, mixed with obvious swigs taken from the wine and at least one burp, vanishes quickly into the night.

---

The Golden Egg - Morning

---

Quinn and his cook have prepared quite the breakfast in the morning, and while there is still some tension over one hundred coins not changing hands... the tally sticks that have been handled out instead (each with 40 notches representing a night's stay or food for the day) are not a bad prize for a night's work.

Gann sits down to a breakfast, still groggy from the buzy night. When a few of others are there as well, he asks. "Any thoughts on where to go next? No matter our choice, I think we should pick up a map from the mercantilist. I think Cedric was his name."

He shovels in a few more mouthfuls of food. "I'd also like to talk to Ingrid before we go. Shes an herbalist, but its said she knows something about this possible witch Vivian. If we go after Brother Dirk we might cross her way, and I'd like to be prepared."

Sable shakes his head as Naggeneen laughs and burps his way into the night. As he collapses into an actual bed, he thinks about his tab with Quinn. He only asked to get rid of the thief, right? Didn't say anything about getting recompense from the thief too. Kittridge cuddles up next to him and he instantly falls asleep.

---

As the first bite of bread enters his mouth, he narrows his eyes as Quinn gives out tally sticks along with a room refund instead of the promised coin payments. He shrugs his shoulders and accepts them.

"I may have taken a bottle of wine from the cellar while I was down there. I also need a whole chicken for Kittridge here. How much should I take off this tally stick for the payment of all this?"

Turning back to Gann's question, he sips some more of the porridge and replies, "Map can't hurt. Fine if you wish to talk to Ingrid too, but maybe we should split and get this done quickly so we can search for Brother Dirk as long as there is light."

Nessa still is in a foul mood after last night and not very talkative while she eats her breakfast. "Again with that brother...." She waits untill Quinn is out of earshot before continuing. "... If anything we ought to grab the goblins gold before the old man gets any stupid ideas."

Once she finishes her meal, she plans to head out in to town and ask around about the location indicated in the letter.

Quinn catches snippets of the breakfast conversation as he goes merrily to and from the table. With his stash of booze now secured, or so he believes, he's in good spirits.

"Vivian!" he remarks on his way back to the kitchen at one point. "You'll want to be careful with that one! She's a witch you know. A witch!"

And then, moments later, when Sable asks about the tally stick and mentions the bottle of wine Naggeneen absconded with, Quinn is surprisingly calm. "Five silvers for the night's stay, and five for your meals today. A bargain! Don't worry overmuch about the wine. I'll just deduct an extra piece of gold."

---

During a moment when Quinn's not lingering about, Nessa unfolds the beautiful letter she carries with her. Cream-colored, the scrollwork-edged paper is linen or some other material the young woman doesn't know... but what she does know is that it's very fancy, written in the most elegant of hands she's ever seen, and that it instructed her to come to Brandonswood, the forest immediately north of the village of Brandonsford. The letter had addressed her as 'grandchilde' and hand been signed in that flowing hand by The Lord of Thorns and Twilight.

Now though, as the girl unfolds the letter... there are different words inside!

---

Wren wanders down for breakfast late, rubbing her head. After she's eaten a large breakfast, she finally starts to perk up. She says, "Oooh, a witch, you say? I'll admit, I'm curious. And we absolutely need a map! I'm feeling a bit of the wanderlust, so the idea of wandering all over a map and sounds like a fine plan. So let's get ourselves a map, talk to the herbalist, and then see about visiting a witch, finding the missing Brother, uncovering Naganeen's gold, learning more about the elf king, and maybe catching a glimpse of a dragon!"