Rumors and a Room

“I would very much like to hear more about these rumors you are chasing,” said Devallia. It had been almost a day since the three had basically met and formed a party, the next town was still a good six or seven hours away, judging by the pace they were making. Helen had made a comment about needing at least a cart so they could carry more stuff shortly after the three were back on the road.

“Where would you like to start,” inquired Keldan.

“How about the dragonkin,” said Helen, “I’m pretty sure rumors regarding them are harder to come by, at least the ones you’re chasing.”

“That is a good point,” said Keldan, “from what I’ve been able to gather, there is a well-endowed dragonkin with gem-like scales, I heard the coloration appears to be similar to amethyst, and has been traveling about looking for ruins to explore and gathering information on where there are ruins to explore; she also stops in towns to tell stories, as well as collect new ones, and do some song and dance to earn coin, and I even heard she outright stated she was a Bard in a few instances.”

“Well,” said Devallia, “she sounds pretty; when you mentioned rumors earlier, did any skip your mind?”

“Yes, actually,” said Keldan, “I don’t know why, but I forgot to mention the rumors of an elf with a generous bosom I heard of a while back. From what I’ve managed to gather, she appears to be a Druid living in the area of the forest that acts as the buffer zone between the human and elven lands, I haven’t heard any speculations worth mentioning as to why she is not living in the elven territories.”

“Well,” said Devallia, “she sounds almost as lonely as I was. What can you tell us about the Enchantress?”

“As I said before,” said Keldan, “she was locked in a tower by the king because she refuses his offers of becoming his queen, I have no idea why she is turning down the offer. What I do know is that she has a well-developed bosom, is supposed to be quite skilled in the arcane arts, and her materials for casting spells are supposedly being kept locked up near a guardhouse on the other side of the town her tower is in. I’ve also heard there is a hobgoblin thief, who also happens to have a sizable bosom, living in or near that same town and has managed to avoid the authorities during her time there, so finding and recruiting her for the rescue might be a little tricky.”

“What can you tell us about the rabbit-kin you heard rumors of,” inquired Helen, as the three continued down the road.

“Not a whole lot,” said Keldan, “she seems to be a sorceress of some kind, and quite voluptuous. From what I’ve heard, her fur makes it almost look like she’s a piece of the moon, and she’s been described as rather finely dressed. My guess is she’s a noble, or associated with nobles, in whatever land she came from. Also, while she has been sighted, it seems she’s mostly avoided contact with most people. So, she’s probably anxious or unfamiliar with her environment.”

“Yeah, that kind of tracks,” said Devallia, “What’s this about a priestess and pirate traveling together?”

“I don’t think she’s a pirate, none of the rumors I’ve gathered on the matter suggest that, but there is a noticeably well-endowed Orc with the look of a sailor, or at least someone who has spent a good deal of time around ships and boats, traveling with a well-developed Lion-kin priestess. The priestess is described as having an off-white fur color, the orc is described as having a sort of viridian green skin.”

“That just leaves the monk, then,” said Helen, “what can you tell us of her rumors?”

“Not much,” said Keldan as he scratched his head while continuing down the road, “from what I’ve managed to gather, she is a well-endowed elephantine monk that can hit like a loaded cart if she wants to. She’s also surprisingly agile and nimble for her size; some of the rumors mentioned she was trained in a monastery near, or on, one of the Southeastern islands.”

“A good friend to have,” said Devallia, “how much longer to the next town? My feet will probably start hurting before I know it.”

“If we keep up the pace,” said Keldan, “maybe another four or five hours. Don’t worry, we’ll stop to take a quick rest in two or three hours, if you really need it.”

“Thanks,” said Devallia.

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Three hours into the trek, the three had pulled over to the side of the road for a few minutes for Devallia to catch her breath, Keldan and Helen did a quick inventory check during that time. After waiting about half an hour, the three resumed their trek. Maybe an hour or two later, the three finally upon the village of Gilmarn. The village wasn’t small, but it wasn’t big either, there was an inn near the gat but it was noticeably small, it had 12 rooms at most.

The inn, the Hanging Duck, was pretty quiet, only four or five patrons were in the commons when the three entered; the innkeeper behind the counter, a human woman with a plump figure with a slightly above-average bust, greeted the three. “What can I do for you dearies,” she said in a cheerfully friendly manner, “a room for 3 people, if possible,” said Keldan in a straightforward but polite tone, “how much will that cost?”

“Nine pieces of silver,” said the woman, “and it’s an additional 3 silver for meals during your stay.” Keldan reached into his coin purse, and seemingly without thinking, tossed fifteen pieces of silver on the counter, then gave her a wink. “Nice to see someone who knows how to treat a lady,” said the innkeeper jokingly, she reached for a key under the counter and brought it, “you’re all in room number Four,” she handed the key to Keldan, he gave her a wink and headed off to the room with the girls and the key.

Upon opening the door to the room, the three saw a bed just barely big enough for all of them to share with some room to spare, a chair in the corner next to the window across from the door, and a dresser on the other side of the room from the bed.

“Cozy,” said Helen, “it’s been some time since I was in a room this nice.”

“Looks like a bit of a simplification from the room I was kept in, my room was structured in such a way as to show off, so at least this looks far more practical.”

The three entered the room and each unloaded their kits in a different corner of the room, Devallia actually putting her things in a corner of the dresser. After they had put everything away in where they were most comfortable for its placement, Devallia said, “How about we have a look around town, I was thinking we should at least know what our shopping options are while we’re here. And maybe we can hear some more about those rumors while we’re out and about.”