Gwenaël nodded curtly as the others melted away to do their self-appointed duties. As more than half had left, the ranger excused himself to go visit the hunters' lodge to grab a pint before they left to hunt goblins. When he entered, a loud, cheerful voice greeted him, "Oi! Gwenaël! Yer back from that lawyer's office already? You gonna leave us now to live on some manse with yer cushy inheritance?"

Gwenaël found himself a seat at the bar. The large, smokey common room of the lodge was nearly empty, but that would change as the sun fled over horizon. "I'm afraid I'm not so lucky, Urist. T'was Anoriath, the one with the wolf, you know? Sucker got unlucky with a goblin and left me his bow."

"Anoriath?" a portly, one eyed dwarf behind the counter replied. "He was one of me better customers, him. A shame to see him go. Goblins, you said? An ill omen, so close to home."

"Aye. Tell your patrons to be careful when they hunt; I'd hate to see you lose this little shithole. I'll have a pint." the ranger replied. [i]Ill omens indeed,[/i] he thought, [i]what will be next, blood-hunters?[/i] "In fact I'll be leaving the walls tonight. Where there's one goblin, there will be more. I'm to try to find out what they're doing. I'll need my bird."

The dwarf nodded and left the common room. A short while later he returned, a tankard in one hand and a cage draped in cloth in the other. "That'll be a gold, friend." he said, setting both on the counter. "And, since you're apparently Anoriath's next-of-kin, there's the matter of his tab. He hadn't "

"I'll pay his debts, but put this one drink the tab too. He was a good customer right? [url=http://orokos.com/roll/161039]I'll give you a share of whatever I take from those goblin wretches.[/url]" Gwenaël raised the tankard to the dwarf. "Now, a drink for the friends we've lost?"

The dwarf studied the ranger's face for an intense moment before going back to his genial façade. "Aye. A drink for the lost."

"Ye know I can't give free drinks, Gwenaël. But you've been good to me, so I'll give it some time. A drink for the lost." The dwarf replies before heading off to attend to the other patrons. Gwenaël spent a few hours quenching his thirst before moving to the city gates to wait on the others, his eagle close at hand.