[center][b][h1]Bork[/h1][/b][/center]

Bork nodded as the Captain pointed out the pros and cons of his proposals.  [b]”Yeah, I can see people not wanting to just let us in their houses,”[/b] he agreed.  [b]”I still think we could make the rounds in the evening, checking whether front doors have locks and places for lights.”[/b]  He shrugged.  It was a brainstorm, not a cause.  [b]”As to the stocks inside the constabulary, sure.  Won’t be as much public shaming as if they were outside, but maybe that’s just as well.”[/b]

The engineer and the captain didn’t have much time to discuss matters further because Drom wanted to talk, apparently.  He grumbled a bit, in spite of the free warm soup, since he was coming to prefer the captain’s company and way of thinking to the goblin’s, but the clerk sometimes had shown she could be useful, so listening to what she had to say might not be totally worthless.  The dwarf listened to her proposal with a frown at first while he tried to puzzle out her cryptic references, then with a growing realization and an equally growing grin.  By the time she had finished, he was nodding and almost laughing.

[b]”That’s actually a good idea.  I bet the abbot would love to make that deal, and he’d be good at it.”[/b]  Best of all, they’d win practically every prize:  a bunch of gems for a relatively low-value bowl, a rapproachement with some tough customers who might otherwise make trouble, and his own integrity and reputation would be intact; no one would be able to say they’d bought Bork Valding with those gems when he hadn’t even received them.  And Pigeon Spit -and therefore himself, indirectly- could still benefit from their use.  And apparently the elf actually still retained whatever leverage she needed to keep the cat people in check.    

He was even more pleased with the note the clerk handed him.  It’d be nice to have some farm lads about who weren’t afraid of honest work.  He pocketed the note and thanked the clerk.  He might actually have to rethink his opinion of Drom, he thought grudgingly.

And then it was back to the Captain.  He groaned when the Captain mentioned taking him and the abbot’s taking the clerk with them to the mine tomorrow; not because he didn’t care for the idea, but because he had just finished talking to her not one minute ago.  [b]”I’m fine with that if she is,”[/b] he said.  [b]”Wish you’d told me that ten minutes ago, though.”[/b]

He shook his head disapprovingly at the Captain’s story about the girls.  [b]”This town is too small to have those sorts of problems.  That’s what comes of folk not having enough to do.”[/b]  That might also spell trouble later:  if people were *used* to not having much to do, they might not appreciate the work chances properly when they came; they might see opportunities and encouragement as whip-cracking or something.  People could be fools.  

As to his question about why the clerk took the younger girl?  Maybe she needed an understudy or something.  How was he supposed to know what the goblin had in mind?

Suddenly, he remembered the note Drom had handed him and pulled it out of his pocket to show the Captain.  [b]”Speaking of giving young people something to do, Drom recommended these lads to me.  What can you tell me about them?”[/b]