Hunderel looked back as more people entered the tavern. He was almost done with his food now and thought it was a good time to leave. He turned around and spotted the two companions of the big man bustling about getting ready to leave.

Whate are they in such a rush for? Its a nice night at the Feral Dog and everyone seems to be having a good time.
He kept an eye on the three newcomers, watching for something out of the ordinary to happen. Besides the big mans clothing.

He pushed himself off the post, nodding as if having come to a serious decision. He would watch those who exited the establishment to see if he could speak with the story-teller and learn more of local lore. He seemed a friendly sort, if not a bit too forceful. The prestige of his Temple adding such an artifact to their coffers and history would be immense ...

But Brahm knew that he was simply not capable of such an undertaking alone. Would the story-teller allow him to accompany them? He could but ask. And if not, Brahm was sure the tale that had just been told would have interested others, likely for various reasons, some not so altruistic as his own. The Warmth of Pelor flowed through his body, a sudden calmness, as if being lowered into a warm bath after a strenuous workout. Yes, he would be ready for opportunity, if it presented itself. Valor and value sometimes come to one who actively seeks neither ...

"You are planning to use this town as a base to launch an atempt to investigate an old mine on the belife that a part of 'The Rod Of Law' is concelled in its depts. On the orthority of the gard of Diamond Lake I demand to see all your maps of the area that have the mine marked on them and for your date of departure. Do you understand?" Lar'd Ner says carmly whiping spittle of his face and showing any identification he might have of being a member of the gard.

Auric's fist was already leaving his side before the guard even knew what was happening (A readied Attack) His fist swung squarely at the guards face landing a near perfect blow.

Auric's Attack 14 + 12 = AC 26 (Hit) (5 From str, BAB 5, 2 From Belt)
Dmg = 3 + 7 = 10 Subdual Dmg (3 from Fist, 5 from str, 2 from belt)
Will Save Required From Attack

Auric's Initiative = 12 + 11 = 23
(4 from belt, 4 from improved initiative, 3 from dex)

The wizard and the rogue have gathered their things and head over to behind Auric. The wizard holds his hand out to Auric's leg as he weaves a spell in the air. The rogue calls out to Auric to calm him Not the time or place my friend .. lets go

Aldaris raised his gaze as Auric struck Lar'd Ner in the face, quelling his babbling... at least temperarily. "Peculiar response to one of authority. Humans are a fascinating lot are they not?" Aldaris had asked his cloaked companion the question, to which he replied with but a slow nod of his head.

(Spellcraft check on wizard's spell: 15[d20]+12[skill]=27)

Raising his hand in a wave, and letting out a brief shrill whistle to garner the trio's attention he spoke once more.
"While we who dwell in Diamond Lake oft lead simple lives, let not the actions of one man sway you to believe we are all of simple mind. Please, join me for a drink or meal, while you rest yon road-worn feetand share with me a humble advocate of knowledge the intrigues of your exploits past."

As peace was mentioned .. and the town guard shocked by the display of barbarism, the wizard waves his arms to complete the spell. In a flash, the three heroes vanish out of site as a magical energy envelops first the wizard and then his companions.

The spellcraft confirms that this is a trans location spell commonly known as Dimension Door.

The entire pub grows silent. Many look around for the heroes who are obviously not there anymore. The bartender shrugs At least they payed their tab

Lar'd Ner straightened up and made his way over to the barman, looking a bit worse for the wears but still conscious, and asked for a cloth on which he could wipe his bloodied face on. Upon closer observation he noticed that the blow had broken bis nose and given him a bad bruise.
After giving back the cloth, if he got one, he wandered out of the inn and purposefully walked up to his lodgings in the Garrison so that he could relax without the company off the miners. As he walked he thought to himself It was a bad idea coming down to the inn, mixing with drunks. Honestly Lard, you need to get something to do.

    Over the noise inside, somewhat subdued from where he was standing outside, he could hear a shrill whistle.  It was unusual, he believed, for someone to attract attention that way in such a rowdy crowd.  He patted his mount's nose again and headed through the door.
    As he entered, he immediately saw in front of him the story-teller and two others -- companions, maybe? -- enveloped in a faint aura.  Even as he watched, they suddenly disappeared.  Brahm blinked, paused a second or three, then continued in, glancing around. He noted the elf who had spoken to the story-teller was nursing an injury to his face, after wiping off some blood with a towel, the elf headed out the door, passing Brahm as he went.
    It was then that Brahm noticed the air of officiousness on the elf, and the frustration on his face.
    He thought, (okay, I know who to look for, but where?  I'll figure that out later ...)     To Brahm, the tavern was now uncharacteristically silent, even with his own social inexperience.  Some patrons seemed to be looking in the direction of a pair of dark, cloaked figures in one area of the room, and others were looking at the door.  There were a few that were focused on the area of the floor where the vanished three once stood.  After a brief inward struggle, Brahm approached the dark figures with a quizzical, questioning, almost confused look on his face. He intended to ask a few questions and as he crossed the room, he fervently prayed they would answer at least one ...

    Grakk sat up straight again, just as he was settling back to watch a good argument.  The big man with the mouth swung at the elf for something the elf said -- maybe.  Clocked the elf good, he did.  But the interesting part was that, during a lull in the noise, Grakk heard the elf say something about being a member of the (a?) guard.   The city guard?  Now, he might be one to have information worthwhile asking for.  Then things got really interesting.  One of the big man's buddies started waving his hands and mumbling, someone else whistled, a woman was trying to talk to the big-mouth-man, then a lit-up place appeared and the three stepped througn it and disappeared.
    Grakk had already decided to delay any further travel to check out this rumor, or tale, or story, or history, or whatever ...  He only hoped he could justify it good enough for the masters.  He hated trying to talk his way out of trouble.  He just plain wasn't good at it.  What he was good at was watching, seeing things that some people missed. Even he couldn't miss the obvious entry of one ugly dwarf.  To Grakk, no dwarf was pretty, but this one was uglier than most.  And he had no hair!  Even Grakk knew that hair wouldn't grow on scars.  He knew that pthers of his kind used them as decoration, so they can be seen through their own coarse body hair.  But a dwarf without a beard?  Wierd!
    He watched the dwarf pause and take in the disappearance of the three that weren't there anymore, after which he began to cross the room, moving directly toward some folks in dark cloaks on the other side.  Wait.  It's not likely that he knows them   A little while ago he came in, then went back out after the big man finished his story.  Grakk got up and quietly strode like a Stalking Cat, falling in behind the dwarf, following him ...  No sense trying to be invisible.  With his looks it was impossible.  Just settle for being quiet.

(Move Silently +7, roll: 7+7=14)

Aldaris shrugged non-chalantly as the wizard transported the trio away with a classic 'Dimension Door' spell, one he had seen used countless times before.. Well alright, 187 times before; he was a whiz at remembering things. "One hundred and eighty-eight," he said to no-one in particular. He raised his shadowed features to an approaching dwarf and his larger shadow of orcish bloodline.
(Listen Check: 15+2=17)
"Glory to the forge, good dwarf, may its bellows always blow hot," Aldaris said in fluent Dwarven, followed quickly by "May 'One-Eye' watch over you, while the other watches behind you stranger,"in perfect Orcish as the pair approached.

-In Common- "Come, take a seat where ye may. it would seem ye have need for our company. What can we assist you with this evening?"

As he approached, he saw one of the dark figures raise his head and speak to him in Dwarven, well-spoken for a human (just a slight accent). He was offered the Standard Forge Greeting, which made Brahm stop and drop his head, putting his chin on his chest. Then he heard the man speak a language he was unfamiliar with, and looked at him again. The man was no longer looking at Brahm but at someone or something behind him. Brahm turned quickly and was face-to-belly with a large being that, when he looked up, turned out to be one of orcish blood -- or at least partly so. Dressed strangely, even for an orc, in black clothing with purple -- somethings -- on the fabric. And the skin! A grey orc? With blue eyes? Brahm blinked and shook his head. He himself was just as strange-looking, according to some, so why judge this one?

In common: "Please do not do that to me again. I don't deserve it and it isn't necessary. If you want to follow, do so, but not with stealth." Grimacing to take any sting out of the words, he turns back to the dark man and approaches the table. Now the extreme scarring of his face, head and neck are completely and clearly visible, making clear the reason he does not have the typical dwarven beard or even eyebrows. Seating himself, he pauses to bow his massively-scarred head again and take a deep breath, then raises his head and said, also in Dwarven, "May the fire die in any forge I gaze upon, for I am Dwarven-Unhomed for my very appearance. The why is unimportant at the moment, and I may or may not tell you of it later."

"As I came near, you or your comanion invited me to sit, indicating that I feel a need for your company. This is not quite true. What I have need of is information that I hope you may deign to give me for the simple asking. And providing information, if not answers, is how you may assist me."

First, do you have knowledge of this area?

As Grakk saw the darkly-cloaked figure raise is head to look in their direction, he winced inwardly. It had just dawned on him, seconds earlier that, if detected, the dwarf might think he was sneaking up on him for nef --, nefari--, other than good intentions. He spoke in a language unfamiliar to Grakk, then raised his eyes to Himself and spoke in Orc. Okay, he was obviously unconcerned about, or oblvious to, Grakk's intent, but then he couldn't have know, now, could he? Then Dark Man invited them both to have a seat at his table. Okay, mark one up for the guy. He didn't just assume there was "somethin' a-foot" just because strangers approached him in a tavern. But maybe he was used to that ...


But whatever he first said made the dwarf pause and turn to look at his "stalker". Grakk stepped back, put his ankles together and dropped both hands to his sides, as a Listening Tree, and said nothing. Other than the step back, he reacted not at all to what the dwarf said, including the mention of his "stealth". Grakk half-smiled, but quietly accepted the words without apologizing. He did not intend disrespect, and had broke no law (that he knew of). The dwarf had told him that he didn't like it. Fair enough, now Grakk knew not to "sneak" behind the dwarf. As the dwarf turned to continue his journey to the table, Grakk paused only briefly, then follwed suit, but moved slightly to one side of being directly behind the dwarf.


When he sat at the table, turning his chair so that he did not have his back to the room, he listened to the dwarf's words and was a little surprised. Ostr--, ostras--, ostersi--, kicked out for how he looked? Too similar to Grakk's own experience. He could like the dwarf for this alone -- the understanding of being different. But the dwarf continued with a request for information. Grakk grunted assent, grinned slightly and barely nodded. Good. Him, too. Grakk would wait until the information ran out before he asked his own questions. Meanwhile, he glanced at the Dark Folk, squinting in an attempt to discern some facial detail under the hoods, because his darkvision would not work well in the light of the tavern.

Aldaris listened intently to the dwarf as he came closer, his physical appearance becomming more distingished as his low-light vision need not strain so much any longer. Letting both he and the apparent stranger of a half-orc take a seat, Aldaris eyed both carefully a moment before raising his hood and letting it fall back in ripples resting upon his shoulders. There before them, and now for all to see was a man of elvish descent, but unlike any other elf anyone here had likely ever seen. His face was a stark white, lacking pigmentation of any kind, save for a large, black, perfect diamond pattern sitting between his black eyebrows between his brow and the ridge of his angular nose.

"Tis a shame to be unhomed in any case no matter the reason I would imagine." Aldaris said, this time in common.

"As I came near, you or your comanion invited me to sit, indicating that I feel a need for your company. This is not quite true. What I have need of is information that I hope you may deign to give me for the simple asking. And providing information, if not answers, is how you may assist me."

"First, do you have knowledge of this area? "

Aldaris looked at the dwarf with a mused look on his face. "Knowledge is power they say, but so too are things of simple courtesy useful in strengthening would be bonds. I am Aldaris du Foret, and I am familiar with some of the region, its people and the day to day affairs of this community, but I am only recently settled some half dozen fortnights prior, so sage of the area I am not. Is there something in particular you are interested in?"

Aldaris moved his head slowly side to side, alternating between directly facing the dwarf and the half-orc.

Aldaris' companion however did not stir, did not move, though those capable of glancing under his hood would find only bandages tightly bound around its head, with only a hole for a lipless mouth present. Where the being's eyes should have been instead were two small semiprecious stones of onyx hue protruding through the bandages.

"Don't mind Jeeves. He's a quiet fellow content to drown his pain in drink and silence, not that he could tell the likes of you much of anything anymore." Aldaris placed a gloved hand on Jeeve's shoulder, to which Jeeve's responded with another swig of his glass, now emptied.

Hunderel watched as the three travelers warped out of the tavern. His eye brow twitched at the arrogance of the three. Well atleast the one big man. Comes in here, disrespects authority, wriles things up, then leaves abruptly.

I hope I never see those guys again, those arrogant bastards
He turned back around and finished off his mug of ale and stood up, stretching. His armour, making some metallic noises as the spiked breastplate rubbed against itself.

Well I guess its time to step out of here and head home for now.
Hunderel started for the door, slowly walking out of the Feral Dog, well fed and tankard up.

When he stepped outside, he leaned up against a beam outside, letting the fresh, smoke free air rest his lungs.

As he was settling into his chair, another patron was leaving the Feral Dog. (I like that name!) He smiles, then notices a slight freshwater-damp-air-and-tar smell as the man passes him on his way out. (Hmmm ...dock worker?) Docks are full of infomation. And he needs information, now that he's started this -- whatever it's gonna be. If he's gonna delay his mission, it had better be worth the trouble of facing the Head of the Dragon... He sighs and turns his attention back to the gathering at the table.

When the Dark Man threw back his hood, Grakk was only a little surprised. But he could feel his eyebrows raise on their own, giving away, to some extent, the degree of surprise. This seemed to be his night for meeting not only strangers, but strange ones. When the now-light-man, Aldaris, he said was his name, mentioned the "side-by-side-ness" of knowledge and power, it was followed by the words "simple courtesy". This made Grakk raise his chin slightly. He also noticed that although speaking, apparently, to the dwarf, the words could just as well apply to Grakk himself. And, also, the man -- er -- elf was shifting his gaze 'tween him and the dwarf. Grakk raised his hand to his shoulder, leaving his elbow on the table:

(Okay. let's see if I can un-divide his attention ...) "Grakk." Drops his hand to point it at the dwarf, palm-up. "But he was here first. I'll wait."

He then drops his hand back to the table, palm-down and fingers curled to put his finger-ends on the table. When Aldaris-elf mentioned his companion and "excused" him, then placed a friendly hand on that shoulder, Jeeves became one to pay attention to only if he spoke. So Grakk watched the elf and dwarf.