Journal entry 8, 47’th Marapril. I’ve been trying to put together a small party of adventurers to help me with eradicating the goblins. I would much prefer to do it by myself but Darnell convinced me to go get some help, he is probably right to be fair. I haven’t seen a horde that size for almost fifty years, and I would like to keep what happened to my home from happening to others. The lord of Hoagen sent almost half of the city guards to the satellite villages so I'm confident they will fare better now, however, the guards won’t stay forever and best someone like me go and get rid of the vermin before they can get their numbers back up again. I still need an alchemist and a caster for the party before we head off, and I was planning to stop by the dungeon to see if I can barter any information it may have on the goblins' whereabouts, If it uses ants as its main guardian creature then it should have a decent idea of what's going on in the forest. And I think I know just the alchemist to ask who would love to meet it, especially if the dungeon wants knowledge, That is the only reason I could think of it wanting me to come back.

I stow my journal and writing utensil and begin heading off to Erb’s Herbs, it’s getting closer to evening now which means the taverns and bars will be chock full of adventurers and laborers, the perfect time to recruit a caster. I enter the alchemist's storefront and wait by the door for Erb to finish up with his last-minute customers. it takes a fair bit of time since he makes his potions on request so they don’t lose potency sitting on a shelf which is a common business practice for his line of work. After the final one leaves Erb turns to me with a wiry smile.

“What can I do ya for Rennie?” He sounds tired and a little annoyed. The last customer, a rather snobby elf, was less than pleasant from the sounds of their conversation, and the tall prick didn’t leave a tip either.

“Two silver and a nice dinner” I say, giving a wide grin and Erb just shakes his head. “In all seriousness, I’m looking for an alchemist to join my group, we will be dealing with a large pack of goblins in the Greywood.” The alchemist just chews on the inside of his lip for a moment while organizing bottles and flasks before answering.

“Im old Rennie, my joints don't work like they used to and I have a shop to run, It’s not like the old days where I could hike halfway across the empire with you without breaking a sweat, or a hip for that matter.” he sounds almost sad but the little pickup of sarcasm at the end makes his gray attitude almost seem contemplative. “I can show you a few other alchemists in town that are half my age and looking for work if that would help?”

Do you know why I asked you to join me, Erb?” I ask, keeping my face flat with no emotion.

“Nostalgia maybe? Reliving the golden years one last time before we are all too old to walk.” He says back with a small chuckle.

“Because I am going to go see the dungeon for information about the goings on in the forest before we go too deep, and I figured you would want to pick its brain over some things.” Erbs face drops and he doesn't say anything for a moment.

“I’ll go get the ‘away on business’ sign, meet you at Darnell's place for a drink later?” he shuffles off into the lab and I can hear him rummaging through boxes and shelves.

“I knew I could count on you Erb, I'll see you when you get there.” I call over the counter then head out of the shop. One down one to go, now I just need a caster. Before I head over to Darnell's tavern I stop by a few others to ask around and check the corkboards for people looking for work. The Copper Spoon is first on the way, its interior is embellished with copper accents basically everywhere, and the large chandelier in the center of the room reflects copper light in all directions. I don't know who had the Idea to use copper as interior décor in this volume, but it must have cost a pretty coin or eight. In the long run, though it has a pretty distinct appeal to it, a very warm feeling. There were no requests for a party or takers for my request, at least not from a caster anyway, so I moved on.

Next was the Dewy Leaf bar, not quite my taste of establishment, I would much rather get drunk with a meal and a warm hearth like in a tavern than just sit around drinking and playing thorns or arm wrestling, but it has its appeal to some I suppose. I enter through the side door since it's hobbit sized and walk up to the bar climbing the rungs of a tall stool like a ladder to be at human height at the bar. The bar maiden comes around to me and I ask for an ale while sliding her a pair of coppers before asking if any casters looking for work.

“Marv, you still looking for work?” she calls out over the bar and a dwarf turns around from throwing thorns at his target.

“Aye, I am Missy. Someone looking for a mage?”

“Right here Marv.” She says pointing a thumb in my direction while filling me a mug.

The dwarf makes his way through the crowd of drunks and stops in front of my stool so I hop down to shake his hand.

“Pleasure to meet ya laddie, I’m Marvik, adept stone an' fire caster at yer service.”

“Nice to meet you as well, I’m Rennie, sword and shield specialist. I’m putting together a party to clear out a decent horde of goblins in the Greywood. And make a couple small stops along the path there and back.” after the greeting I get back up onto the stool and he joins me on the empty one next to mine, I take a drink from my mug as he starts to speak again.

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“Before we talk details, I just need ta know if I can get a part of my payment upfront, I need ta clear my tabs at the bar and buy a few travel supplies.”

“That's fine with me, I am paying all party members half upfront and half after we return." I say with another drink of my ale before putting down the mug and taking off my pack. I reach inside and grab eight gold and seven silver then pass the small stack of coins to the dwarf and his eyes seem to bulge out of his head a little at the sight. He leans closer to me and whispers in a slightly worried tone.

“How big is this pack of goblins laddy? I may be good but I’m no miracle worker.”

“If I had to guess maybe forty or fifty strong after the attack, there were more but the village guards took a fair swath of them to hell before they retreated.” I say trying to get a good image of the numbers in my head before finishing my mug.

“Then is this the whole payment then? I only needed a small portion up front.” he says, still whispering but confused.

“No, that's half. I have a personal attachment to this job and I would rather spend the extra coin to get everyone properly prepared beforehand and well taken care of afterward.” The dwarf just leans back to a normal sitting posture and feels the weight of the coins in his hands before pocketing all of them but one gold and gets the barkeep’s attention.

“Missy, I think I'm ready ta pay my tab.'' As he says this she comes over and plucks the coin from his hand, pocketing it in her apron as she opens a ledger that was on a shelf behind the bar and crosses something out before turning back to us.

“How do you want your change, its 26 silver.” she says.

“Take ten for yerself as all the tips I haven’ been able to pay ya, an go ahead and credit the last sixteen towards my next tab.”

She eyes him for a second before pulling some silvers out of her apron and putting them in the pocket of the slacks she is wearing then turns a few pages to a much emptier section labeled “credit” and adds his name with the amount.

“Can I get you another drink on that credit now or later.” she asks the dwarf who is looking through the selection of kegs on the wall behind her.

“No, I don’t suppose I should, I need ta do a wee bit of shopping so I think I will call it an early night before I get too tipsy.” The barmaid just shrugs at him and heads off to other patrons who need refills.

“Once you get your gear in order, come meet the rest of us at the Tipsy Boar.” I say as I hop off the table and begin heading to the western district.

Back at the tavern I've been sitting with Darnell, Erb and our ranger, who is a wood elf by the name of Evaren. Her features are quite soft on the eyes like most elvish women and her leather armor has seen better days, but I've seen her work before so I know it was coin well spent. Darnell invited himself into the party and was apparently going to come along as well, at least with the old rouge’s sarcasm it wouldn’t be a boring trip.

“Who is going to run the tavern while you’re away?" Asks Evaren, confused as to how her favorite resting spot was going to function without its patron.

“Sven can do it, It’s about time I have him manage it for more than a couple hours. I've already discussed it with him and he seems confident.” The orc was currently running the bar since Darnell was sitting with us.

“Where is this caster you went and hired? Its been an hour or so since you got back.” This time it was Erb who spoke and as his sentence finished the dwarf entered the tavern, finding our table he pulled a few silvers from his pocket and handed them to Darnell who grinned back.

“My my, someone's being responsible, paying your tab already? Here I thought it might get as high as Missy's bar." His silver tooth was gleaming in the light from the hearth.

“Aye me too, but it would be wrong to leave on a job without paying off my debts.”

“Are you by chance our mage then?” asks Darnell.

“Mister Rennie here caught me in the Dewy Leaf before I got sloshed for the evening an' we struck an accord, I already went tuh’ the tax office and registered myself in contract with him. Are you coming along too barkeep?”

“That I am, I couldn't let my dear brother here go off on an adventure without me, the fool would get himself caught in a trap or blow himself up, again.” Erb just scoffed at his words and kept reading through his book.

“Now that we’re all here, would you mind taking us to a private room to talk business, Darnell?”

“Not a problem, right this way.” He says with a slight bow and we all follow him up the stairs to a room with a table and chairs much like what we were sitting at, and close the door behind us. After situating ourselves I began explaining the job, killing goblins, the size of the horde and such, and the two closest villages to get supplies as needed. And then, I began elaborating on the dungeon we were to stop at for information. As expected the two who hadn’t seen the consultation didn’t believe me, even when I had shown them the medallion. However, I could feel a bit of hesitation and maybe some anger from Darnell as I set it on the table.

“I didn’t believe him either when he told me.” Said Darnell. “But I was present for the consultation done on it and you know you can’t fake those.” As if on queue Erb pulled a dish similar to the one he used in his lab, only smaller and two tightly woven hemp pouches from his satchel. Getting the gist of what he was doing I slide the medallion over the table to him. He performed another consultation on the medallion, and all the aspects formed in the same order as last time, albeit smaller. Once it came time for the end of the consultation he did the same as I had told him last time, vertical first, then horizontal. Evaren just tilted her head to the side and squinted at the little figure whereas Marvik actually stood up on his chair planting both hands on the table and leaning in to get a better look at it.

“Well now. Put two antlers on me head and call me a brundel, you were telling the truth.”

“I did warn you that you were going to think I was insane or lying before I told you.” I said idly picking at my wedding band as I watched the statue disintegrate.

“It has gained another level in its Ignis and Mors aspects since last time, that was just yesterday morning.” This time it was Erb who spoke and I hadn’t even noticed if they had two lines instead of one.

“Well, now that I have you both convinced, check your gear and get some sleep, we leave tomorrow as dawn breaks. We’ll meet at the main gate under the portcullis.” The group said its goodbyes and good nights as Erb, Marvik, and Evaren left the building, while I helped Darnell close up the tavern early so he could talk with Sven some more about running the place. I then also left, heading back to the tavern I had been staying at. I have the clerk set my stay to expire after I leave in the morning tomorrow, and head up to my room to try and get one more night's rest.