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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Seravin" data-source="post: 1628133" data-attributes="member: 6783">A Step Back in TimeJust a quick step back in time to relate a scene that will soon become important.----------Some two months ago the arrival of five newcomers to the City of Corlean was remarked upon by a varied number of persons.  It would be untruthful to say that there was nothing special about these newcomers.  One was determined to be a member of the Sundering Sword and another was a new convert to the faith of Sarath.  Still another was a rogue wizard of half-elven descent and another was a bard of some moderate skill, also with elven blood.  The fifth?  Well, not every member of a group has to be special.  The fifth newcomer was a simple courier from places further south, special only in that she traveled with those of some note.The new newcomer’s stay in town was brief and mostly uneventful.  There were rumors of trouble at a ceremony honoring the returning Paladin, but it was nothing mre than a simple pick-pocket being caught by the vigilant priests.  For those with ears though there were other stories about these newcomers; stories of adventuring and heroism.  More interesting though were stories of wealth.  They had discovered the secrets of New Mire and had been well rewarded by the local landlord.  They had found the lair of bandits and had recovered many months of ill-gotten gangs.  Perhaps most interesting, they had found the lair of orcs and had recovered more wealth then even a lesser noble could expect to see in a year.Still and all these were stories, but some stories have a kernel of truth at their center so eyes were sent to watch and ears set to listen.  These eyes saw a suit of full-plate commissioned and enchanted.  They further saw a shirt of mithril chain links purchased and paid for with gems and coin and a rapier enchanted by the smiths of the Church of Sarath.The ears heard their share too and what they heard was that the stories only spoke truth.  Bandits had risen in the county of Haranshire and now lay dead and defeated.  The inn in Thurmaster had been paid for in coin by the paladin of Sarath.  The ears decided that it was quite possible the stories were understated.So it came to pass that towards the last evening of the newcomer’s stay in Corlean, they found themselves wending their way home through the darkened streets to the inn called the Scabbard.”“I think we’re being followed.”  Warned Ashimar quietly.  “Two men behind us.”Kellron’s hand drifted to his sword, still peace-tied but he was certain he could break it if he had to.  “Is that why you’ve been weaving and stumbling?”“Yeah.  You guys go ahead.  I’ll duck into the alley when round the corner and have a talk.”“I thought you were drunk.  You sure?”Ashimar’s grin was hidden in the dark.  “Mostly.”--------Thomas and Brand quickened their pace and rounded the corner, unwilling to let their marks get too far ahead.  One of the marks had obviously enjoyed himself too much at the club they had left and had slowed the other four down; now they were trying to hurry back to their nest.  Thomas had briefly thought of waylaying the group, thinking that drink had probably slowed all the marks down, but he wasn’t willing to risk it.  Besides, that wasn’t the job tonight.  The two men came to a sudden stop, seeing the change almost immediately.  The drunk one was gone.A shadow stepped out of the alcove behind them.“Ahem.”The two men froze momentarily and they let their hands spread out from their sides, showing that they were unarmed.  Well, apparently unarmed.  They still had their knives hidden up their loose sleeves.It was Brand who spoke first.  “Can we help you, Sir?”  He asked politely.  Brand was the soft-spoken, quiet one of the pair and he was the spokesperson when called upon.Ashimar smiled.  “I’d like to know why you were following us.”Brand cocked his head quizzically.  “I’m not sure that I understand, Sir.”“You’ve been following us.  I know it.  You know it.  My four friends who have stopped up ahead and are now coming back this way know this.  I want to know why.”  Ashimar saw the uncertainty in both men’s eyes.  He was willing to bet that they didn’t normally have to talk to their choosen prey.  He tried a different tact.  “It’s all right.  I was in the business myself in Blasingdale.  I know it’s not personal.  Why don’t we have a drink and talk it over?”Brand looked at Thomas who could only shrug.  Brand looked Ashimar squarely in the eye and answered.  “I guess there isn’t much harm in that.  There’s a tavern just up the street.  Not everyone though.”Ashimar held his hand up to signal his friends.  “Not everyone at the table.  They’ll still be in the room.”“Of course.”--------------------The tavern known as The Singing Harpy was quieter then the name implied.  Located near the central square, the tavern catered mostly to off duty soldiers and watchmen.  Neither Brand nor Thomas was entirely comfortable in the setting, but the job wasn’t about their comfort.Ashimar, Brand, and Thomas were sitting down at a table.  Sitting nearby at another table was Kellron, Kestral, Jallarzi, and Panther.  The only person who looked happy was Ashimar.  The barmaid laid the drinks down at Ashimar’s table, and Ashimar put down a gold lion.  “Keep it.”  He told the woman.  She smiled at him reply as she bustled away.“So.  Why were you following us?”  Asked Ashimar again.Brand looked a little sheepish.  “You know how it is.”  He said, looking the room over again before turning his attention back to the former rogue.  “We heard the stories and were interested.”“What sort of stories?”“You know.  The money?”  Brand chuckled, trying to allay the man’s suspicion.  “Rumor says you dropped a thousand gold lions your first night in town and spent another five thousand over the last week.  People say that you folks recovered over fifty thousand lions worth of coin and jewels.”  The man shrugged.  “People talk like that and other people get interested.  You know what I mean?”Ashimar chuckled back.  “You have to be careful of stories.”  He warned.  “They’re not always true.”Both Thomas and Brand managed another set of sheepish looks.“Sure we found some coin, but people exaggerate.”  Continued Ashimar.  “But nothing like that.  We only picked up ten thousand lions at the most and spent five hundred the first night.”The former rouge missed it, but at the next table Kestral choked and then began coughing, almost spilling the rest of her drink across the table.  Kellron graciously assisted her in recovering.Ashimar contined on, oblivious to the minor scene at the next table.  “So you see, there’s no reason to be following us anymore.  We’ve spent a good portion of it and what’s left isn’t worth the trouble.”Brand looked at Ashimar for a long moment, sizing up the man’s statements.  “I see.  Well, that puts it in a different light.  I’m glad you decided to be civilized about all of this.”Ashimar smiled expansively.  “Not a problem.  There’s no reason we can’t be reasonable, after all it’s not personal.”  He drained his cup and signaled the barmaid.  “Let’s have another couple rounds and you can go your way and let people know that the rumors are just rumors, and me and my friends can leave the city in peace and not hurt anyone.  Deal?”Brand saluted Ashimar.  “Deal.”--------Later that night.“So that’s it?”  Asked Thomas to Brand as they made their way southward from the central square.“That's it for tonight.”“Pity they didn’t have any money.”“I doubt it matters, and that’s not what he said anyway.”Thomas looked at Brand quizzically.  “What do you mean?”“He said they spent most of it.  Not all of it.  I bet they still have some coin to go around.”“So?  Probably not enough to be worth it.”“Not if it was coin.  But they spent the coin on something.  A lot of something’s I hear tell.  The boss said that one was going to be wearing a shirt of mithril real soon.  It doesn’t matter if they still have a lot of coin or not, they still have easily sellable stuff.”Thomas’ expression turned feral.  “That’s why I like you Brand, you’re clever.  You think we’re going to get them tomorrow?”“I just listen.  We’ll let the boss know what this Ashimar told us, but I doubt we’ll do anything tomorrow.  They have some ceremonial thing at the church of Sarath tomorrow and I doubt anyone wants to cause trouble tomorrow.  Maybe the day after.  Except that the five newcomers left the day following the ceremony, so neither Brand or Thomas got to confront the newcomers with more favorable odds.  Just as well really, they probably would have died if they had.</blockquote>

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