Rissterus walked down the stairs and entered into the tavern room. He looked around the room for signs of the innkeeper, noting the layout of the building. In the far corner of the room was a door. Light spilled out from the open doorway, along with the sounds of the innkeeper.
After walking through the doorway, Rissterus came into a smaller room that was for the most part, empty. There was a door to his left and another door on the front wall, a little to his right. The room was lit by four candlesticks that were bolted onto the wall. Each had three candles on them. He took a step further into the room and heard a noise from the door to his left. He turned and noted the door was open about an inch. He cautiously stepped forwards and pushed the door open with his staff.
Inside was a room a little smaller than the one next to it. There was a small table in the center of the room with four chairs around it. To the right was another door. Sitting at the table was the innkeeper. He was busy eating his dinner. He looked up as the door opened.
"Ah! I was wondering when you would come down!" the innkeeper said, rising. He was sitting at a small table on which there was a platter of food. The innkeeper saw Rissterus was alone and then asked,
"Are you alone, then?""Aye. My companions retired early. We've had a long journey." Rissterus stepped into the room.
"Ah, and you still have ways to go, I imagine. You're heading out to Lebonwaith, if I'm not very much mistaking. Here, have a plate of mutton. It's not exactly hot, but it's something to fill your belly."Rissterus took the proffered plate and set it down on the table.
"How do you know we're going to Lebonwaith?" He asked, sitting down. He rested his staff on one of the two other empty chairs.
"Well, you came up from the southeast road, and that means that you're leaving Adenwar. And unless you're heading up into the Brokenpeak mountains, you're going to Lebonwaith." The innkeeper nodded, pleased with his own logic, then took another bit off his drumstick. He glanced over at Rissterus' staff, then asked,
"You always bring that around?"Rissterus met the innkeeper's gaze. "Yes I do."
The innkeeper stopped chewing, swallowed, and stared at Rissterus.
"Ah." After a pause, he resumed eating, then looked back up.
"You know, I do believe I've not properly introduced myself. My name is Burasyte." He smiled pleasantly, then waited for Rissterus to give his real name.
Rissterus looked up from the plate he was politely eating from. ".... Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Burasyte." He looked back down and continued eating.
A sour look came over the Burasyte's face and he picked up his plate.
"Well I'm done. Just leave your plate out, I'll clean it up." He headed out of the room, then went out into the tavern room. After a moment, Rissterus heard him walking heavily up the stairs.
Abandoning the cold meat on his plate, Rissterus stood up, took his staff, and left the room. He walked back through the tavern room, and then turned down the front hall. He opened the door and was met by an icy wind. It was a cold night. He quickly closed the door and started down the steps. The four dogs were still on short chain, and they were asleep. As Rissterus passed, one of them woke up. Before he could bark, Rissterus spun around and held his staff in its face. The gem that tipped his staff began glowing a menacing blue glow that matched Rissterus' expression and the dog shrank back, whimpering.
Rissterus moved on, heading towards the stables....
The door was locked, but a simple spell brought the door soundlessly open. He was greeted with the smell of hay, horses, and all the other smells that accompanied the building. He walked down, looking down each stall. There were five horses in all, all of which were asleep. Two were large draft horses that were probably used for pulling the innkeeper's wagon. The three others seemed well-bred steeds. Rissterus nodded.
Good...~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Rissterus closed the front door and headed back into the tavern room. He was just in time, for he heard Burasyte coming down from the stairs. As he appeared around the corner, Rissterus turned and walked towards him.
"Good evening, Burasyte. I believe you also carry a small stock of sell-able goods, is that not so?"
Burasyte stopped, half startled by Rissterus' question.
"..Aye.." He stepped passed the Sorcerer and started heading back to the room where they had been eating a short while before. Hearing Rissterus following him, he asked,
"Why? Want to buy something?""Perhaps.. That depends on what you have," Rissterus replied. The innkeeper began gathering the dishes, then exited through the room on the right wall. Rissterus followed him into a kitchen. There was another door at the left end which he assumed connected to the front desk area.
"Well, I'll show you what I have if you want, though it'd help if I knew what you're interested in...""Weapons."
"Ah.. weapons. I should've figured. You're a strange party, you are. What would you be wanting with weapons?""You said yourself Goblins roam the roads more freely, these days."
"That I did... Well, come along. I'll show you what I have."Rissterus followed Burasyte back into the small table room, then into the empty small room. Burasyte went to the other door, got a key from the ring on his belt, unlocked the door, and opened it.
"This is my storage room." He ushered Rissterus in. Rissterus was surrounded by large barrels of different wines, foods, and other odds and ends. At the end of the room was a store of different weapons.
Rissterus looked at the narrow selection. "Not much..."
"This is an inn, not an armoury," Burasyte pointed out. Rissterus nodded, accepting his excuse.
There was a sword rack that could carry up to eight swords, but there were only three, one didn't even have a sheath. There were two bows hanging from nails in the wall, along with matching quivers. Rissterus withdrew an arrow and looked at it with a critical eye. The tip wasn't barbed, but it was sharp enough to puncture armour, he figured. The feathers were lesser quality, but they passed inspection. He replaced the arrow in the quiver, then just out of curiosity looked at the rest of the innkeeper's goods. There was a line of walking sticks, and for a moment, Rissterus thought of Oswin. He briefly considered getting one for the monk, but decided against it.
He can get another one himself.He took one of the bows off its hook tested the string. A moment later he took the quiver.
"I'll take this."
The innkeeper took the items from Rissterus and looked at it.
"Well, now, this is good stuff... That'll be a solid 118 - in gold. And not a coin less." He smiled, obviously pleased that he was about to make such a large profit.
Rissterus eyed the weapon for a minute. He decided it was worth it, then handed over the proper amount. He took the weapon from Burasyte, thanked him, and then began leaving the storage room.
"I believe I will retire now. I bid thee goodnight."
"Same to you," Burasyte said with a grin as he counted the coins in his hand.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Early morning. No later than 4 o'clock, and Rissterus knew they had to be off.
Now. He hadn't expected them to be this close, and yet, he could sense the presence of other magic users. The feeling was feint, but it was there.
They're almost upon us. He cursed himself for being so lax. He muttered a spell and Elyira's door unlocked. He strode over to her bed and laid a hand on her shoulder. She awoke with a start, but Rissterus silenced her.
"Awake, Elyira. We must leave, now. Get you're things together." He ended her questions by saying, "Trust me."
He then left her room and went to Oswin's door. He unlocked the priest's door and went up to him too. He put a hand on his shoulder....