Allan took in all that went on around him with the entrepreneurial eagerness he had inherited from his father. The keep was busier than usual today, and that had the instincts Allan's mother had trained into him murmuring that something was going on today. Though in all honesty, Allan had not needed those instincts telling him as much to know something was going down. It wasn't every day that Blackhand himself took time out of his duty to the common folk to come visit. And if something out of the ordinary was going on, that implied the possibility of unique opportunities for profit. Opportunities that Allan was all too eager to seize.

Figuring that the best of these opportunities would be in Blackhand's vicinity, Allan resolved to seek the man out. But to do that, Allan would first have to know where the man was. The only rangers the half elf merchant had found in his initial inspection of his surroundings had been the two rangers negotiating with Jarek in front of his shop. Allan's first instinct had been to go ingratiate himself to the rangers. Help them with their haggling, learn the current location of their leader from them, and go from there. Though after a moment, his gaze turned towards the other half elf merchant in town. Olek was chatty enough and well informed enough that Allan felt fairly certain he could get Blackhands's whereabouts out of the guy. But soon enough, Allan noticed Torok leaning against the south wall. Allan was in the habit of sparing the old beggar the occasional silver. On top of his tall tales being fairly entertaining, the talent for being easily ignored that all beggars possessed meant that the madman often had useful information to share during his more lucid days. And so it was that Allan fished a coin out of his coin purse and rolled it over his fingers as he made his way over to the south wall.

[b]"Ho there, Torok."[/b] Allan greeted the elderly man as he closed to speaking distance. [b]"How has your day been so far?"[/b]