From outside the inn comes a truly horrific wailing sound, as if someone was hammering a selection of cats to death. As it approaches the inn, some of the noise begins to sounds Elvish ... sort of.
[sblock=Elven]"Come yon me dame, come tell me dame,
My dame come tell me truly,
What length an' girth when well could stand
Will please a woman duly?"
The carlin shook her wanton tail,
Her wanton tail were ready,
"l learn'd a sang in Jennandale,
Nine inch will please a lady."
"But for a country shay like mine,
In sooth we're not so tender;
We'll take twice your steadfast nine,
And nae deny the bender.
Oh, lead me on, my bonny lad,
And shew the stand so free,
With roaring handfuls ever glad
Ye nidge it in the fairest see!"[/sblock]
The door bursts open to reveal what seems to be a short, dirty, sooty, heavily scarred elf ... or possibly a tall, dirty, sooty, heavily scarred goblin. He's waving a brace of freshly killed rats in one hand, and a jug of cooking wine in the other. As he steps inside, the jug falls from his hand and onto the floor with a hollow, empty sound. The barbarian stares at the vessel, swaying drunkenly, apparently trying to figure out how it got there.
After a moment, he gives up and lurches inside. When he sees the white-cloaked captain, he does a visible double-take, before launching into a loud, mocking monologue in Elven.
[sblock=Elven]By the damp wick of the Trickster, it's the great beef willy! What brings ye to this dark and dangerous hole, ye proud hero of a thousand hunts? Did ye hear that some fine warriors had laid low a bonny pail of ale and ye came tae claim it as your own? Or were it a taste for vittles that brings ye so far from your comfort? I find myself short of wolf-meat this eve, but I can spare a rat or three, if your own hunt came thin -- nae judgment upon your skills, o' course.[/sblock]
The elf guffaws at this clever bit of innuendo, and calls to the barkeep. "Drink! More drink! Drink for to match the rat and frog!" he calls, waving the dead rats around wildly and gesturing at a brightly-colored, depressed-looking toad in a cage strapped to his belt.
