Kennesho was a small town, little more than a village, that stood atop the tallest hill in a rolling sea of barren land. The last of the harvest that most of its inhabitants made their living on was being plucked as the Autumn months were making their presence known. As the last few farmers settled in for the evening and most houses were settling down, some would pass by the local tavern and take a peak through the windows before hurriedly going along their way. Some strangers had arrived earlier, and despite their current lack of action, almost every resident knew that their presence meant trouble.

Werm didn't particularly like how the day was going. It was raining, he had just gotten over a fever, he was stuck in some dingy little hick town, and now he had to sit in some low down tavern waiting for his friend to come and die. It certainly felt like one of those days where he just couldn't catch a break. He had been sitting in a creaking, poorly made wooden chair for about an hour now, and before that he had been standing around for two. He couldn't count how many times he had looked over to Dirge, the large half orc currently fraternizing with one of the barmaids, nor how many times he tried making eye contact with Freyj, the half elf who looked to be fighting to stay awake at the moment. Werm didn't even bother trying to look at any of the others, least of all Boss Erno, the Bugbear who was sipping from a pint of ale and looked deep in thought. He shook his head at how antsy he was getting. He was surrounded by some of the most dangerous people in his horde, and yet he still found himself anxious. Was he anxious to just hurry up and get this over with? Was he anxious that his friend would spot him before he fell? Or was it possible that he was anxious that something might just happen that could catch the lot of them off guard?

Werm had already studied the surroundings a fifth time just to try to find something to do. The place was lit by a few candles scattered about. The wood of the walls had cracks and holes decorating them in place of paint, and every so often Werm would try and see how many termites were scuttling around at once. So far the biggest total was twelve. There were two windows by the entrance, and two on each adjacent wall. The wall opposite the entrance was where the counter was, and it was where the liquor was held, and it was where two archers sat crouched out of view if anything crazy went down. On either side of the counter were doors leading to a backroom, where three more of Boss Erno's most impressive fighters sat, ready to deliver blows at a moment's notice. They sat back there with a town guard who had seemed to miss the message that Boss Erno was making use of the establishment. Well, the corpse of a town guard was sitting with them, at least.

Werm took a good look at the patrons who had bothered to stay despite the warnings given by Freyj. An old wizened looking human sat in a back corner, nursing a much larger flagon of liquor. A young couple, one a hobgoblin and one a kobold, sat at a table, making small talk and giving rather passive looks to the clearly armed company they were keeping. Finally, there was the barmaid and the bartender, both Aasimar and both looked oddly comfortable. The barmaid had no trouble flirting with a half orc carrying a battle axe in hand, and the bartender looked as though she saw this sort of thing every day, and seemed to be making small talk with the archers now and again, even lowering down some drinks to them discreetly at one point.

"Werm, come here."

Werm's head snapped towards the direction the voice came from, and he raced over to his boss's side immediately. "Yes sir?"

"Go make sure the archers are awake and that the fighters haven't gotten into any drinks in the back." Boss Erno ordered, swishing his drink dismissively. Werm knew Boss Erno was never one to disclose what he was feeling at any given moment, but he noticed that he seemed to be fidgeting more than normal.

Werm nodded and walked over to the counter. He nodded curtly to both Aasimar and to Dirge, who paid him no heed as he seemed fixated on the bosom of the barmaid while telling yet another exaggerated tale of his exploits in battle and an even more exaggerated tale of his exploits in bed. Without glancing around the counter, Werm muttered the name of one of the archers. "Mora." … "Mora?"

No response came. Werm's head twitched towards the counter, his eyes landing on the bartender, who seemed to be smiling a little wider than earlier. Werm chalked that up to Dirge's story, which had the barmaid giggling quite a bit. He spoke up a bit more. "Mora, you awake?" He tried leaning over to check on the two, and just saw two red cloaks covering the two. Werm went to knock on one of their heads when a bottle of ale fell from the counter and onto the floor with a thud! Werm cursed in lesser bazeetu as he started making his way around the counter, giving an apology to the bartender as an afterthought. The bartender shrugged, simply getting the bottle from the floor and clinging it against the counter three times. "No harm done."

Right after she got done saying that, a slight ruckus could be heard from the back room. Almost everyone in the bar, save for the old man and Boss Erno, looked in the general direction of the doors. Werm stood at the ready, drawing his rapier and dagger and inching towards the door. He looked back quickly to see Dirge with an axe in each hand and Freyj with an arrow notched in her bow. Werm nodded to each of them and put both of his weapons in one hand as he used the other to slowly twist the knob of the door.

"Hello everyone, pleasure to see you all again!" A voice came from the other side of the room, and immediately all focus shifted around to where it came from. At the door stood a high elf, his fair skin clashing with his black robes shrouded most of his lithe body. He had his hood down, revealing long, braided raven colored hair and eyes that sparkled like cassiterite. He stood about 6 feet tall, though he slouched now in a relaxed stance, his gloved hands in the pockets of his outer robe. He sauntered up to where Boss Erno was sitting, his leather boots clicking on the floor. As he approached Erno, Freyj had an arrow pointed at the elf's eyes and Dirge started slowly making his way closer. Werm stayed where he was, but sheathed his rapier, ready to throw his dagger at a moment's notice.

"Kegu." Boss Erno greeted, his eyes staring up at the elf with no hint of emotion, his voice the same gravely monotone, and his body still and unmoving. Yet Werm knew what his boss was feeling. The days leading up to this meeting had been nothing but bitter words muttered by the bugbear about Kegu and his insolence and his failures.

"Hey Boss, sorry to keep you waiting." Kegu pulled himself a seat and sat across the table. "I would've never suspected so many bandits on the road these days, but that's just how it happens sometimes."

"How much progress have you made on the jobs I've given you?" Boss Erno asked.

Kegu's mouth twitched. He closed his eyes and tilted his head down, his smile closing as it turned into a stretched straight line before his face relaxed again. "I suppose I am boring you with boring details. Work has been good, I'm happy to say. That little gang you picked out pledged its allegiance, and on top of that, the captain of that militia that's been harassing us has decided to change his tune. I've managed to pick up quite an impressive crew in the last few days."

There was a pause as the two men stared each other down, Kegu occasionally breaking the stare to look around, and once or twice he made eye contact with Werm. When he saw the Tiefling holding the dagger by the door, Kegu gave him a quick wink.

"How did you manage this?" Boss Erno asked, his face still a blank slate but his voice giving away a slight bit of interest.

"Oh, I'll tell you over some fine whiskey. You know I was actually at this bar earlier today?" Kegu's grin widened a bit as he saw Boss Erno's eyes widen slightly. "Great stuff they've got here, imports straight from the mountains. It'll get even your stoutest dwarf drunk with just half a bottle. Hey Yuvonna, a round for everyone, save the Tiefling. I think he's probably had enough to drink." Kegu said casually.

"Werm, go get the men from the back." Boss Erno ordered, his eyes never leaving Kegu.

Before Werm could twist the knob, however, Kegu snapped his head over to the tiefling. "Werm, don't open that door." Werm didn't hesitate to twist the knob, opening the door only for a large body to fall directly on top of him. Werm tripped backwards, pushing the body off of him. He looked down to see his jacket was now smeared with blood. He quickly inspected the body, and recognized it as one of the fighters, and the other two also seemed to be dead, laying by the foot of the door. Werm turned back to see everyone looking over in his direction, Boss Erno's brow furrowed and his mouth twisted in a grimace, Kegu's mouth once again stretched in a slight frown as he shook his head disappointedly.

"I told him not to open it. Horse and Mule do tend to leave a mess." Kegu said, letting out a small sigh. "Werm, next time I tell you not to do something-"

Kegu was cut off as Dirge put himself behind the elf, putting the axe blade to his throat. Freyj now stood directly behind Boss Erno, who had one eyebrow cocked and a smug smile adorning his fuzzy face.

"Is that all you had planned? What were you hoping to accomplish by killing three mooks? I've got my people set up just outside this dung heap of a town just itching to help me tear your eyes out." Boss Erno stood up, dwarfing almost everyone in the room, standing at nearly 8 feet tall. He drew his sword from its scabbard, its hilt encrusted with diamonds and rubies. "I will not have my time wasted with paltry intimidation techniques."

Kegu didn't seem to notice the escalation in tension, or he was ignoring it. He merely kicked his feet up on the table. "Why would I bother intimidating you like that? If I wanted to intimidate you, I'd go for a more direct approach. Yuvonna, those rounds please."

Werm turned his attention to the bartender as she bent down to grab something. He saw her grab a bow and shove one of the archers, who slumped over and fell onto the ground. Werm thought about alerting the others to this, but instead decided to move the body to the back room so he could close the door. He knew the look on his friend's face all too well. A grin barely containing excitement and eyes that tried far too hard to remain casual and calm. He had seen it when they played cards and Kegu had a winning hand. As he dragged the body out, he heard a clicking noise come from the main room.

WHACK

Werm fell to the floor, his head throbbing as the last thing he heard was

"Leave the tiefling alive. He's still good to me."