The Hunt for Clues...

The loss of the Fire Horn has made life a wee bit more interesting.  My sojourns are being cut short by the need to regenerate my spell points.  I did get a bit of a nest egg going, but that was quickly depleted once I found the Review Board and realized the cost of learning new spells.  I find myself in need of a quick infusion of coin…

I think it was Darla that came up with the idea of posting the fliers:

It wasn’t long before there was a major queue of Hero hopefuls stretching down Main, around Blacksmith and dribbling into Trumpet.  A quick pep-talk in the Guild Hall for the next five hopefuls, a quick “initiation” out back next to the large, red Dumpster and voila!  Another 500 to 900 gold pieces added to the coffers.  Wash, rinse, repeat and by the end of the afternoon I had maxxed out the large, red Dumpster and accumulated just over 50,000 gold, as well as clearing out much of the excess population of Skara Brae.  Not too shabby for a day’s work.  Now, to reap the rewards of my entrepreneurial spirit…

I decided to spend the remainder of the evening hitting every Inn in town, drinking my way through the local gossip.  After about the third Inn I came to a realization that caused the hairs to stand up on the back of my neck… all these inns are exactly the same!  I don’t mean they just looked the same… I mean, other than the sign over the door, each inn I visited has been identical to the previous.  It is the same bald and bearded bartender, wearing the same DG monogrammed tunic, pointing to the same “2 DRINK MINIMUM” sign, under the same green dragon head, advertising the same “DRAGONS GROG”, serving the same Ale, Beer, Mead, Foul Spirits and Ginger Ale, and whispering the same old gossip. 

I am starting to think there is only a single inn in the entire city, all run by the same person, who is obviously a very powerful wizard to have the ability to magically funnel traffic from all around the city to his single establishment.  I am not gonna mess with this dude!  I pretend I haven’t noticed anything odd, and continue on my sojourn to visit every inn in town in hopes of furthering my quest. 

Here is a listing of all that I have gleaned after depleting my once sizable bankroll:

First off, ordering Ginger Ale does not impress the girls in the tavern… but, on a more useful(?) note:

“The guardians can be deadly” (well, duh! Figured that one out my first day.)

“Look for the Review Board on Trumpet Street” (Done, did!)

“A taste of wine might turn to ready adventure” (Surgeon General’s warning)

“The gates cannot be scaled, but an entrance always exists” (only 2 gates I have seen, thus far, the City Gates are frozen in ice, and the gates to Kylearan’s Tower are locked tight. Hmmm…)

“The Spectre Snare can draw in even the mightiest” (ooOOoo… scary!)

Bleary eyed from a night on the town, I headed back to the Adventurer’s Guild for a much needed rest.  Something was obviously clouding my mind, as I wandered past the guild without noticing and staggered into the Guardian Statue in the SE quadrant of the city.  In my surly mood and against all reason I attacked the statuary, only to watch it turn into a Samurai warrior, complete with Samurai armor, Samurai sword and Samurai wolf:

(Okay, there wasn’t a wolf, but it would have been cool if there was!)  Fearing the worst, and not really caring by this point… I charged in screaming something I am sure was threatening.  All probably would have been lost except for a masterful move by Alfalfa.  At the crucial moment, Alfalfa vomited the copious amounts of Ginger Ale he had imbibed throughout the night… in an attempt to avoid the oncoming deluge, the Samurai tripped on his scabbard and impaled himself hari-kari style on his sword.  The field of battle is won!!  How do you like us now, tavern wenches?!?

As the Samurai fell I noticed, not far beyond his guard pedestal, a tavern that had heretofor not had the gracing of my presence.  With trepidation I approached the Scarlet Bard Inn and prepared to be greeted by the same bald and bearded bartender, wearing the same DG monogrammed tunic, pointing to the same “2 DRINK MINIMUM” sign, under the same green dragon head, advertising the same “DRAGONS GROG”, serving the same Ale, Beer, Mead, Foul Spirits and Ginger Ale, and whispering the same old gossip.  But, as I mosied up to the barstool I noticed something had changed… it was the same bald and bearded bartender, wearing the same DG monogrammed tunic, pointing to the same “2 DRINK MINIMUM” sign, under the same green dragon head, advertising the same “DRAGONS GROG”, and whispering the same old gossip, however this time he was serving Ale, Beer, Mead, Foul Spirits, Ginger Ale and Wine… dunh, dunh duuuunnnhhh…