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The Black Water tavern was bustling with the usuals and new comers. Most of those who were new to the town were stopping at the tavern to get rations for their journey to the Spine. Yet, they knew that the tavern would be closing in a few minutes. It was arranged with the owner so that the tavern would be cleared by nine o'clock at night. As soon as the church bells rung nine times, the owner called out "Closing time, pay your bills and get out. If you have a room, go to it now." The myriad of muttered curses and cries of diappointment were all that answered the owner's request. It took a few minutes for the crowd to clear out except for one man. Rather, if anybody had looked closely at him, dwarf. It was obvious that the dwarf was old though no person in the building would have been capable of guessing his age.

The lines on the dwarf's face told of unlimited smiles and frowns that it had seen. His hands told a story of their own. The roughness of the hands told the wandering eye that they had been used in many arduous tasks. The tan of his skin was surprising for a dwarf who had the look of a miner. A closer look at the dwarf revealed a silver chain hiding just under the collar of his jacket. The chain led to a small pendant which held a brillant blue sapphire surronded by a lightly collored emerald. The owner of the tavern looked over at the dwarf. A pitcher of beer was placed at the dwarf's table a few minutes after the owner had finished cleaning a glass. "Your crew better get here quickly master dwarf. I don't think we want anybody listening in on this. If we do, then you are likely to expect a rude meeting with them." the owner told the dwarf. All the dwarf did was smile back, he knew what it would mean if people listened in. But, he was indeed hoping that people would show up tonight.