indentation her teeth made in the surface. “It looks good enough. Those two should be enough to stay for tonight along with meals and any laundry needs. It’ll be extra for a bath,” she said wrinkling her nose at the smell emanating from the two visitors. “You’ve been on the trail for a while?”
“What business is it of yours?” said Cleathelm in a snarling tone of voice. “You have your gold, now show us our room.”
The woman nodded her head and pocketed the two large gold coins as she walked around the counter towards the stairwell leading up to the rooms, “I’m sorry about that, it was rather rude of me, please come along this way and I’ll take you to your rooms. Shall I call you when the baths are ready?”
The trio headed up the stairs and arrived at the room shortly thereafter. Cleathelm went in without a look back but the little half-goblin patted his jerkin for a moment, “Shoot, I forgot something. I’ve got to get my pack.”
“Whatever,” said Cleathelm and slumped down on the bed.
As Blaggard walked downstairs with the woman he waited until they were well away from the room, “We don’t even have packs, that idiot,” he said with a laugh and the woman gave him a quizzical look.
“He’s kind of an ass, isn’t he?” she said her hand drifting to her pocket where the two heavy coins rested.
“Kind of?” replied Blaggard.
“Mostly then,” said the woman.
“Completely,” replied Blaggard with a chuckle. “I’ll give him what he deserves one of these days soon.”
The woman smiled while nodding her head. “None of my business but if you dislike him so, why do you travel with him.”
“You saw his purse,” said Blaggard with a little tilt of his head.
“The Feathered Serpent is a reputable inn,” said the woman as she stopped short and looked at Blaggard through narrowed eyes. “I’ll have no murder in my rooms.”
“Nothing will happen to him as long as we stay here; you have my word,” said Blaggard. “But, you mentioned the five volcanoes without any prompting from us. Was there someone asking about them before we got here?”
“Yes, the Five Sisters is what they’re called around here,” said the woman with a shrug. “You’re the third group of strangers to come through today and all of them with dwarves that didn’t look like they were from around here. The first two groups asked about the volcanoes so I figured you must be interested as well.”
“Three groups, really?” said Blaggard. “One of them was a pretty halfling girl with two dwarves but who was the second?”
“A pretty little halfing and a dwarf, yes,” said the woman as they reached the downstairs portion of the inn and walked back to the long counter in front. “The third was something strange and there was an old woman with them.”
“Something strange?” asked Blaggard.
“He had bunches of little red apples in his hair and beard,” said the woman. “It was the strangest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“That’s him,” said Blaggard. “Bunches you say?”
“Oh yes,” replied the woman.
“And colored red, not green?” asked Blaggard.
The woman nodded her head as they reached the bottom of the stairs.
“Interesting,” said Blaggard with a slight frown, “And when did they come through?”
“Just a few minutes before you arrived,” said the woman as she glanced at the front door. “The apple- haired fellow got angry with me when I mentioned his… condition.”
“He got mad at you?” said Blaggard.
“Furious,” said the woman trembling with the memory of it.
“The one with the apples, not the shorter one with no apples?” said Blaggard scrunching up his face and touching his lower lip with his middle finger.
“I’d remember,” said the woman. “The one with apples and the look in his eyes was like fire. I was afraid he’d take a hand to me right then and there.”
“That’s quite interesting,” said Blaggard and tapped on his chin. “Did you notice his weapon?”
“The hammer,” said the woman. “Hard to miss it but I didn’t say anything about it. He was angry enough as it was before they left.”
“I’ve known Dol for years and he was always a calm, placid sort. Even in a scrap he wouldn’t scream or yell, just go about the business of beating you black and blue.”
“The others seemed a little startled by his behavior now that you mention it,” said the woman with a shrug. “I can see how he would get tired of people making fun of those apples. There were so many of them and quite red and ripe were some of them.”
“Red, your absolutely sure?” said Blaggard. “Not green and small?”
“No, not big like cider apples or anything but mostly red with a tint of green,” she replied.
Blaggard stood with his hands on his hips and said nothing for long enough that the woman felt compelled to speak, “Was there anything else?”
“What… no, wait, yes, the other group. Can you describe them, did they stay here?”
“They’re here,” said the woman. “Just upstairs down the hall from your room, but there are only two of them, one a rough looking fellow with a long scar down the right side of his face and a smaller dwarf as well,” said the woman. “Now, is there anything else?”
Blaggard’s eyes widened and he couldn’t help but make a startled intake of breath, “Uldex. Uldex here. He must have followed us somehow.”
“I didn’t get his name,” said the woman.
“Now, as to you and me. I know how much that gold Cleathelm gave you is worth down here,” said Blaggard with a little grin as he turned to face the woman. “I’ll get whatever I want as long as I’m here and we don’t have to let Cleathelm know a thing about it, right?”
The woman nodded, “That’s fair, what is it you’ll be wanting?”
“A bath, and girls, do you have goblins down here? Saucy girls with a bit of attitude?”
“Something can be arranged I’m certain. I’ll send the boy when your bath is drawn,” said the woman with a nod of her head.
Blaggard smiled and nodded his head, “Which room did you give to the dwarf with the scar?”
“Thirteen,” said the woman and began to busy herself behind the desk.
Blaggard quickly mounted the staircase and looked at the first door on the right only to see a strange unrecognizable squiggle on the door, “Well, damn,” he said. “How did she understand us if we don’t speak the language?” He walked down the hallway to the room and stopped in mid-stride trying to remember which one was his own. It was on the right, but how many doors down from where the stairwell came up? “Damn,” he said just as a young boy wearing a light colored jerkin with the picture of a feathered serpent on the breast came running up and down the corridor to a door just ahead of Blaggard. The boy knocked on the door and shouted out something in an unintelligible language.
A couple of seconds later Uldex’s head popped around the corner and Blaggard dodged backwards and towards the stairs with a quick motion. The dwarf glanced in that direction but then turned to the boy, “What was that?”
The boy replied in the same barbarian language and Uldex stared at him and wrinkled his nose. “I suppose it’s the bath. Come along, Carus,” he said with a look over his shoulder. “It’s time for our baths. You’ll want to clean yourself if they manage to find girls.”
Meanwhile, Blaggard listened to the one-sided conversation from around the corner and dashed into a small alcove a few seconds later when Uldex and Carus walked past. After waiting an appropriate length of time to make sure they didn’t double back he went back to where he thought his room was located, and after knocking on one wrong door managed to find a half-naked Cleathelm standing in front of a long mirror and admiring himself in it.
“Did you find whatever it was you lost?” said the dwarf as he turned to the left and right and examined his beard. “My beard is a mess. I’ll need half a dozen maids to get it all straightened out and I can’t imagine where I’ll
