As you made your way into this strange new town, your first order of business was to procure lodging. With the miniscule coin in your purse your only option, Gil's Boardinghouse. The place smelled of mildew and the rats and roaches were brazenly out in the open. The clientele, definitely the dredge of society, was similarly dirty and disheveled. After securing a room your next step was to find work, that is, after all, why you came to this dingy berg in the first place. For days you lined up each morning outside the loading docks, hoping to be picked, but day after day you were overlooked. your funds were beginning to run short when you got lucky and caught the eye of Flynn, the dock foreman. You were lead to a warehouse where another worker, a dwarf named Terrence, was already working. The job was back-breaking but al least there would be some much needed coin at the end of the day to spur you along.
After work, you and Terrence stopped off for a much deserved ale at the nearby watering hole, a luxury you had been frugally denying yourself for weeks. As you were enjoying your drinks, you eyed Flynn staggering through the door. He was weary and out of breath, with a look of panic and fear upon his visage. He scanned the room and his face lit with recognition as he spied you at a far corner table. He hurriedly approached and before you could say a word, the door burst open again and two burly men brandishing clubs entered. Flynn dropped to his knees and begged you to hide him. You agreed and he scurried under your table, out of sight. The dangerous looking men perused the room and saw no sign of their quarry. As they left, one man turned, his gaze settling on your table. he began to make his way menacingly towards you. Just before he was upon your table, the other man called out to leave as he was convinced Flynn was not there.
After the men left, Flynn, thanking you profusely, slipped you a gold coin for your kind deed and departed. When you returned to your place of lodging, you managed to talk the night inn keeper to give you a room to share, with the exception of Terrence. He obliged after a bit of negotiation. As you slept that night, Glimnoddle overheard in the hall of a potential job opportunity out at the old grain mill in a few days.
The next day, you returned to the loading docks and were surprised to learn that Flynn had not forgotten your kindness the night before. He picked you again to work, not only that day, but for the next week straight. You were beginning to feel comfortable in your new employment, when one day Flynn did not exit his office to pick you. Instead another man was doing the selecting and you weren't among the men chosen. When you inquired about Flynn, you learned that he was killed the previous night and surmised that his past must have caught up to him. It was nice while it lasted.
Since your good fortune had run out, you decided to check the local job listings at the employment board. Glimnoddle and Lanolin decided to take a stab at orange picking at the orchard while the tight-lipped human, who had not yet even told the others his name, took riskier work as a roofer, where he befriended a kindly man named Gerald.
After a few days of work, you decided to check into that potential job opportunity you gleaned from your room several nights earlier. You managed to find the old grain mill a mile or so outside of town. You knew not what time the meeting was to take place, but overheard the name of the man who was hiring, Barnaby. You chose to arrive first thing in the morning and took the opportunity to have a look around. You found a hidden entrance to the boarded up and ramshackle old mill around back. You went in and were accosted by two giant rats. You managed to dispatch them, but the human was bitten. The wound was not bad, but caused him to become sickened. Later, three males and a female approached. The males, one human - Tiberon, one half-elf - Kitner, and one half-ogre- Grol and the female- Kierna, a race you could not identify, were lingering about so you approached. As soon as you neared them, a figure emerged from the hidden mill entrance and out stepped a young-looking dark elf. He introduced himself as Ba'arn'abi. After introductions were made, he told the group of you that there was an item he needed to retrieve being held in a manor a few miles out of town. You were tasked to observe the house and report back on the level of security on the manor grounds. You are to leave in two weeks time.
After the briefing you returned to Axegard with Tiberon for a drink...