Bean nods at each of you in turn as you introduce yourselves. When Danyan conjures his mind sword, Bean holds her own hand out. The very air swirls into a tangible but nearly transparent sword. It is obvious that she is a wind witch.
"Nice blade," she says to Danyan. "I've got one as well." With a flick of the wrist the blade vanishes in a wisp of vapor.
"Well," she continues, "it's a pleasure to make your acquaintances. I'm the proprietor of the Liars' Club and was once a bit of an adventurer myself. We cater to adventurers and keep a collection of trophies and memorabilia on this wall over here...to honor those who have died heroically. Hopefully you won't meet such an end, or at least not any time soon."
A barmaid arrives with tankards of ale and hands them around. While decent, it is no better than the standard fare served at the Laughing Lamia down the street.
"Unfortunately, I know little of what Irana Truthspeaker wants of you, aside from it being some sort of recovery mission," Bean says. "Sorry I can't give you more details. You'll have to see her in person and negotiate the specifics and the reward.
"I can, however, give you just a little background on the situation. Truthspeaker is a Magister of some renown. She's had a reputation in this region for digging up obscure bits of lore. A couple months ago, she convinced a military commander that capturing the Ebonring Keep would be in his best interest. The rhodin have held it for over a hundred years without posing a major threat to us, so I suspect that her motivations were more than just of the military/strategic type.
"They captured the Keep only a couple weeks ago. Word just arrived this morning about the request for help. Irana specifically requested teams of adventurers. The messenger only said that the forces at the Keep were spread too thin to both hold the site and conduct the search of the region for this stolen item. I understand that the call for adventurers has already been sent to Gahanis and maybe Ataran as well."
She pauses and looks you over carefully, as if trying to assess your worth. "You know, adventurers historically have better success when working in small companies. Individuals and even pairs rarely survive for long. I don't want to be telling you what to do, but I would suggest that the six of you seriously consider banding up if you're interested in pursuing this opportunity. Truthspeaker likely won't even consider you as candidates otherwise, unless you bring some truly powerful ability or skill to the table."
Bean holds up a mug of ale. "A toast," she says. "Here's hoping that you live a tale worthy of gaining you entrance to the Liars' Club in the future!"
The wind witch drains her mug. "I'll try to answer any last questions you may have. After that, however, further pursuit of this opportunity is in your own hands. Irana has been known to pay well in the past, so take that for what it's worth."
