[h2][b][color=fff200]Sir Aurelian Asellius[/color][/b][/h2]

[color=fff200]"I am Sir Aurelian Asellius, paladin and servant of Sol,"[/color] Aurelian replied to the boisterous aasimar, removing his helmet.  [color=fff200]"We appreciate your generosity, Oriel."[/color]  Her deed of buying everyone a around was definitely in line with her patron god Qhalus, Aurelian thought.  While Aurelian followed a path that was very different and in most cases quite mutually exclusive with the ways of the god of hedonism, it did not mean that he had to reject their generosity when offered.  If anything, it'd be a discourteous insult unfitting of a knight to refuse it.

The next envoy to show up was the envoy of Reemis, taking the form of a human woman wearing fine red clothing.  She appeared to be a mage or a scholar, carrying a sword and book with her.  She certainly didn't appear as Aurelian would've imagined the god of vengeance, even if the striking red colors of her clothes and eyes seemed fitting for Reemis.  Other than what he observed, Aurelian know nothing about her, and she had not yet revealed her name.

The sixth envoy was the final one- Aurelian could feel no others pulling at him beyond these five.  It was a human man in leather armor with a rapier and magiarm pistol.  Was he perhaps from Nuniel like Aurelian?  Or was he someone from the Twin Kingdoms who managed to obtain a magiarm pistol through trade or on the battlefield?  The fact that the man was the envoy of the war goddess Astarte strongly suggested that he was a veteran of the war.  Aurelian couldn't help but be curious as to what the young man's story was, what he did in that slow, brutal meat grinder of a conflict to be chosen as Astarte's envoy.

It was around this time that the tavern keeper, having taken note of the many curious guests in his establishment, had approached them with the suggestion to do some hired work.  What particularly caught his attention was the dwarf's plea that the small folk needed some hired help, suggesting that the jobs were noble, worthwhile causes.  When the knight took a closer look at the board, it was clear what sort of help the people needed- guard duty, investigating disappearance, and so on.  If he had all the time in the world, there were a few that Aurelian would gladly do.  However, there was one that stood out the most.  It was not a job from a lowly farmer, it was a decree from the  Marshal of Coris himself, seeking help to find a patrol that had gone missing along the Trifork River.  Aurelian wasn't too surprised that the Marshal had posted such a simple request- even when the knight served Nuniel, he had heard of how Lord Dunham was a good and honorable man.  Assuming the other envoys were on board, this could be both easy money and a good way to endear themselves to Coris, which could greatly help their mission in the long run.

Once the innkeeper was gone, the dragonborn spoke up, voicing his belief that it was no coincidence that they were brought here, that the gods had perhaps guided them to this exact job posting.  Aurelian felt the same way, but there was another matter that had caught his attention.

[color=fff200][i]That chipped horn...that armor....I've seen him before.[/i][/color]

Now that he had a good look at the envoy of Anhur's face and armor, Aurelian recognized him as a foe whom he had fought to a standstill during the war.  During one battle, he had found himself in combat with a formidable dragonborn cleric of Anhur, a scarred dragon-man with a distinctive broken horn, serving with a mercenary company.  Aside from the battle where he had actually gotten killed, it had probably been the toughest fight of the knight's life.  The dragonborn, enhanced by his magic and clearly very experienced in the art of swordplay, proved to be a far more formidable melee combatant than the paladin had anticipated of a cleric.  In hindsight, it was fortunate that neither managed to kill the other in the battle, because it'd have made this reunion far more awkward.

[color=fff200]"I'm afraid I was given no further information on our...directives than any of you,"[/color] Aurelian replied, surmising that based on the dragonborn's words singling him out, the other envoys had been given the same vague instructions to find Sol.  [color=fff200]"But I agree with him, there has to be a reason why we were called to this specific location, and this may very well be the reason why.  And whatever that reason may be, I do know that having the gratitude and favor of the Marshal would be very valuable."[/color]

[color=fff200]"What do the rest of you think of this proposed course of action?"[/color] he asked, turning to each of the other four envoys.