After making your way back to town, the “man with no name” went to Gerald’s to recover from the rat bite he suffered while Glimnoddle and Lanolin decided to pop into the Jaded Skull Tavern for a drink to seal their deal with Tiberon. A short while later, your dwarf acquaintance, Terrence, brought over three men to meet you, an elf - Soulan, and two humans - Bryce and Roland. He told you that they were new in town and were looking for work. Tiberon quickly sized them up and offered to let them join your reconnaissance group if you approved. You agreed and got to know your new companions. Tiberon stated that he needed to find a few more men and that when he did, he’d send them over to Gil’s Flophouse to meet you. After a few hours of drinking, Tiberon went his own way as you returned to your respective rooms at the flophouse.
The next day, Soulan, Bryce, and Roland went to the bathhouse to wash off the stench of the road. From there, the three men checked the job postings at the town hall. Bryce decided to try blacksmith apprenticing while Roland and Soulan checked into stage coach work.
Bryce made the acquaintance of Delgrin who owned the smithy. Delgrin assigned Bryce to hold iron rods from the forge for the smiths to hammer. This task proved quite challenging for Bryce, having dropped the heavy material several times, burning his foot severely in the process. Even though did not take to the job well, Delgrin was still impressed with Bryce’s tenacity and flipped him a copper piece for the effort.
Meanwhile, Roland and Soulan accepted the job to courier some items to the nearby town of Waybury. The four hour trip to the town was uneventful and after delivering their goods began the trek home. This leg was not so uneventful, for a few miles out of Waybury, they were beset upon by four kobold highwaymen. Outnumbered, Soulan managed to find a way to get a little extra speed out of the sorry nag that pulled the cart, in the hopes of outrunning the assailants. One of the kobolds managed to jump on the wagon, but was quickly batted off by Roland. They were leaving the attackers in the dust when an errant arrow struck Roland in the neck, dropping him to the deck of the wagon. With as much haste as the old horse could muster, they raced back to Axegard. Soulan brought Roland to the local apothecary, who managed to remove the arrow and staunch the flow of blood.
The next day, Bryce returned to the blacksmith’s shop but had similar misfortune. Soulan took the day off and the recovering Roland decided to take on the significantly less dangerous task of mushroom gathering with good results. Lanolin, meanwhile, chose to try his hand as a roofwright. After failing to make it up the scaffolding twice and obtaining a sizable bump on his head, he thought better of the dangerous profession and took his leave.
It was about at this time that our little gnome friend, Glimnoddle, showed up at the river docks to respond to the ad for mussel divers. He promptly stripped down to his skivvies, grabbed the collection bag and knife, and dove headlong into the frigid, rushing water. Diving down to the riverbed was not as simple as it appeared and the next thing Glimnoddle knew, he was swept several hundred feet from the pier. Not to be discouraged, Glimnoddle marched back and, proving why gnomes have a reputation of resourcefulness, picked up a boulder and jumped back in. Once on the bottom he cut off several strings of mussels and placed them in his bag. At this point, the current grabbed him again, this time not letting go so easily. He finally broke free and after several more attempts, decided that he was no match for the strong current and turned in his haul for several copper pieces.
What further incidents await our intrepid group as they bide their time until Tiberon’s job comes through…