Faint nodded as the rest continued to discuss their plan of action, with the diminutive kobold joining the conversation to say he would be joining them in searching the wilderness.

Before she had a chance to wonder if the small creature had a way to defend himself out in the wilds, a waiter approached with his meal. Faint started from her seat when Lak Lok pulled out a rifle much too large for his body and held the man at gunpoint. She glanced around to see if anyone would make a move on the furious kobold, but was surprised by the lack of concern from the other patrons. [i]Though,[/i] she noted, [i]there is also the choking minotaur and that runaway eel to gawk at…[/i] Bewildered as she was by the nonchalance in display, she only noticed that Lak Lok had freed the waiter to focus on his meal when the poor half-elf fleeted past her on the way to the kitchen.

[i]I-is this a common occurrence in this side of the world?[/i] she wondered, noting with some embarrassment that she was the only one that had jumped from her seat at the sight of Lak Lok’s iron. At least she had not reflexively reached for a weapon.

Taking her seat again, she noted the conversation had begun to take a specific direction. The group as a whole did not seem to dispute the initial options she had presented, barring Graves’s suggestion to consult the dead victims directly, but neither Flick or Cinder – if she had not misheard the moon elf when she had first appeared – agreed with the notion of a smaller group venturing the wilderness, preferring instead safety in numbers.

In different circumstances, Faint may have argued against bringing everyone out to such a supposedly perilous place, but after Lak Lok’s demonstration, something told her that was likely a needless concern.

Faint shrugged, conceding the point. She had not been in these parts long enough to gauge the safety of the wilds surrounding the town. “I can only defer to the two of you if you think the wilderness around these parts is dangerous enough to warrant staying together. That said, it does mean we have to decide on what we should focus on first. It’s early in the morning, so we should be able to spend a good amount of time looking for that trail if we head out once we’re done here. Mr. Garrick did mention something about hiring a guide, did he not?” She eyed each of the genasi at that, wondering if it would not be one of them, given their apparent knowledge of the area.

“Truth be told, my one concern about heading out so soon is that I’m afraid we may miss something we would have picked up on had we taken the time to learn some more in town.” She sighed, reaching into her vest to produce the previous day’s newspaper. She let it fall flat on the counter. “Beyond what Mr. Garrick told us, I only know as much about the situation as I’ve read in this week’s papers.”