Head to the largest building

There was little point in hanging around and worrying over details. The bigger picture should shed light on the smaller issues. Aaralon was a man of action and he knew he needed to act.

The largest building in the little hamlet was just up the grassy road. Aaralon headed off towards it. "The Stumble Inn" a sign read above the door. Ah, though Aaralon, that's one mystery for today solved. An inn and a horribly appropriate pun.

Aaralon pushed open the door and ventured in the inn. It was warm and shadowy inside. Few windows let in the strained day light from the quite outside and a large fire burned in the hearth in the back of the open plan room. Round tables and chairs covered most of the floor and waist-height wall carved off an area for the bar.

One of the first lessons taught in the college had nothing to do with magic. Aaralon knew how to quickly scan the room for interest - and there were points of interest here. For a start, for such a quiet hamlet, there were lots of people in this inn. Some of these people seemed to be interesting. The pair of female warriors by the door looked to be quite capable. The man trying to look menacing in the hood in the very back of the room appeared to be a complete rookie. The older and slightly pump man sitting near to the hooded fool had a small degree of magic talent - a hedge mage, most likely. There was some alien about the younger man by the bar. The rest of the patrons seemed to be mundane.

Aaralon had noticed other points of interest too. The barmaid was cute. The wench wandering back to the bar with a pair of empty tankards in her hands was nearly as cute. The most attractive woman in the inn was sitting with a few other locals at the largest table and was currently deep in conversation with two ruddy cheeked farmers.