“Ah,” Mirik replies to Rowyn. “Food and drink were part of the agreement, didn’t Darien tell you? Besides, that’s nothing compared to the fine food the merchants eat. Not that I’m complaining, mind you.”
“Once, when we were drinking ourselves silly after a battle with the Gorukan armies, Darien said something that I’ll never forget. He said that the Venerable Zenfan, the Council of Five and the High Priests of Shillen are the best rulers anyone’s got a right to ask for, and Shillen is no doubt the best place in the world to call your home, but still, the rich are much too rich and the poor much too poor. It’s the way of the world, he said, the idle rich taxing and collecting tribute from the working poor. Not that he meant the Council of Five, of course. The noble families are different, their bloodlines descend from the gods.”
“Heh, forget I said all that, will you?” Mirik grits his teeth in a strange sort of grin before lighting another cigar.
--
Bert, remembering Devan’s request, pulls the gnomes confidentially aside and asks them if they’ve heard of a thief named Shadow.
“Thieves! Heavens no! We wouldn’t know anything about that! You’d best ask the city guard about that. Or better yet, find a thief! Er, on second thought, maybe finding a thief isn’t such a good idea.”
--
The Shining Griffon is a large, well-lit tavern full of regular folk relaxing after a day’s work. There’s about an equal mix of humans, dwarves, elves, half-elves, gnomes and halflings here. Besides the caravan members, about a third look to be soldiering types, with the rest being small merchants or tradesmen. Some tavern girls and boys quickly clear tables for such a large group, asking many of their patrons to switch tables, which they do good-naturedly. Soon you’re all enjoying good food, drink, and lively company.
As you finish your meals, a new group enters the tavern, carrying news. Soon gossip has spread all through the tavern. As three of the new group pass by, a female human, a male elf and a male dwarf, Darien calls out to them. “Hail friends! Come and join us for a drink, will you? Tell us, what news do you have?” The three sit down. A waiter comes by with fresh drinks and snacks for the newcomers.
“Aye, that sounds like a good offer!” the dwarf says. “Name’s Graem. These here are Sheila and Evendil. We just rode in from Flinock just now! Anyway, the news is that Lady Dharnan, the slain Duke Randal Dharnan’s wife, has withdrawn House Dharnan’s troops from the Knights of Shillen!”
Sheila joins in, “Remember how two decades ago House Dharnan ruled Shillen? When Duke Randal’s father was the Venerable Dharnan, King and Canon of Shillen? And then House Dharnan accused House Zenfan of using secret methods to make their troops inhumanly powerful in battle? Which led to the Council of Five, the Five Noble Houses of Shillen, removing House Dharnan from power and giving the throne to House Zenfan? Well some are saying that House Dharnan wants payback! They want to seize power from the other Houses! There could be a civil war!”
Evendil says, “That’s crazy talk, Sheila! House Dharnan’s forces only made up a third of the Knights of Shillen! They can’t defeat the rest!”
Graem says, “Aye, the other rumor could be true though, the one that says House Dharnan is going broke, and can’t afford to pay its soldiers any more. But then again, they didn’t disband, did they? They rode out of Mintra, to the west, towards the Diamond Mountains!” Graem leans in conspiratorially “I have it on good authority that there’s no diamonds in the Diamond Mountains, you know. That’s just what humans call them on account of their cragginess. Heck, they aren’t even that tall, as far as mountains go.”
