Chapter 1: Nightstone

Qavez nods to Iolgur, then slides another plate over to Xed. "Not late, just in time for more flatcakes."

"Whew, great! Thanks... uh... Hatman? Yeah, I’ll call you Hatman." Xed quickly finishes the plate, accustomed as she is to eating quickly before someone steals it out from her.

The Hatman smiles. "Name's Qavez," he says, "but Hatman will do as well."

The mention of goblins caught Aestan's ear. He wasn't sure what was going on, but it was apparent by the banter that a group had formed amongst the inn goers during his time outside. He couldn't help but wonder what this was all about as this group was preparing to march out against some foe.
"Excuse me," he said, standing as he did. "But what kind of problems are you having around here?"

"Ah, the stablehand," says Qavez with humor. "The waiter mentioned trouble with goblins last night, and while most people were okay it seems they got to one of the locals." He points to Chanler. "He's eager to get a move on and see what can be done."

Chanler simply nods, having the words taken right out of his mouth by Qavez.

Aestan smirked at the comment of the man at the bar. He had seen all types in his time spent marching and this ought to be fun. Looking back and forth between the two while the colorful Halfling wolfed down her plate, his mirth began to fade.
"It's a shame I turned in so early..." Slowly shifting his weight to one leg he flexed his jaw in obvious distaste, eyes searching the floor as if sorting out his thoughts.
"If the keep could spare a horn of water and perhaps some cured meats I would extend my services to your village," his eyes returning level with Chanler's, "I can't let such evil go without action."

"Barkeep's giving us free room and food for the work," Qavez beams. "Speaking of which, best get your belly's worth now if you're in on this."

"Innkeeper," Morak rumbles, "And as he said, I don't have much to offer, but I can give you free room and board."

He gestures to Chanler, "Come upstairs a minute with me, lad, if you're done you're breakfast."

Aestan nodded in acknowledgement of the offering and helped himself to the available layout. He was quite famished from the morning workout.
"Please, lets be quick - had I known, I would've attempted to track this force down myself."

"Hi! Nice to see you again! We’re gonna have so much fun today. I’m so excited!" Xed looks around the table and will pocket any additional food she sees sitting out. No point letting it go to waste. ‘Wasted food is a wasted opportunity.’ I’m pretty sure that’s a saying? Plus the bacon fat smells delicious on her hands.

"Bold words, friend," Qavez says to Aestan, mouth full of flatcake. "There's a reason we waited until now, though." He absently reaches for more food, engaging in a tug-of-war with Xed over a strip of bacon.

Chanler quickly follows Morak upstairs. "What do you need?"

Morak leads the way up more stairs to the attic. " 'Tis not what I need, but what you need, my lad. Those little daggers of yours are fine for eating with, but you need a real blade if you're going hunting prey on two legs."

His eyes grow soft as he continues, "Nilomli always did give me a hard time for keeping this, but I knew it would be needed again someday." He flexes hands grown gnarled with arthritis, "Only I can't use it anymore, so you'll have to carry it for me."

He turns and brings out a well-oiled box, several feet long, from under a dusty cloth. Opening it, Chanler finds a simple longsword, with a worn leather hilt. Lifting it up, he can see that its keen edge reflects no light - a sign that it is very sharp indeed. Morak smiles again, with more ferocity, "I sharpened it last night after we came back. Take it now, and make those little albrachtos pay for stealing our children. And for Nestor."

"I thought it was ‘cuz of the free food and room to sleep in? And anyway, it’s always better to travel in a group. And it’s safer too. I can protect you." Xed rolls up her sleeves and flexes her arms for him. They are surprisingly bulky for a halfling.

"Bold maybe, but never brash," he replies, helping himself to another plate, "drill master Salo wouldn't have anyone under his supervision who was just looking to get gored." Turning to the flexing Halfling he noticed she was well muscled - definitely more than he expected. Halflings didn't tend to workout very much as they always seemed interested in the path of least resistance. Most of the men he knew considered that lazy, but Aestan saw it as ingenious. The ability to simplify a situation through smarts or skill was much more valuable than not. This particular Halfling has some interesting things in store, he was sure.
"I don't think we've been properly introduced," he straightened up abruptly, "my name is Aestan, Aestan Aldrer. A former sword of a court kept far away. I hope we can work together to help these troubled peoples."

Xalvador moves over to where the others are as Aestan finishes introducing himself. "I am Xalvador" he says simply "Hopefully we can deal with these goblins in short order"

She gives Aestan a sideways look, squinting a bit. He doesn’t look like he used to be a sword. Must be there was magic involved. "I’m Xed. Your names are very long. Where’d the other one go?"

Chanler slides the sword into his belt, careful not to slice it in half in the process. "Thank you. I'll bring Nestor home." Chanler makes his way back down to main room, hand still resting on the hilt of Morak's sword. "Well, are we all ready now?"

Xalvador looks up as Chandler comes back into the room "I am" he says simply