Gerald waved his new patron towards the Greenmaiden Tavern and Inn.
"This might take a while. We should sit down for this," he lied. He actually didn't have much to tell, but he did want dinner and a drink in case the coin proved fake. If that was the case, he could at least blame it on this small woman and slip out in the confusion.
The woman seemed agreeable to his plan and simply nodded and followed. It was a short walk to the inn, but Inga's sister Sanngror crossed her arms and blocked his path as he tried to enter the premise. Before she could raise a fuss, probably over his unpaid tab or something trivial like that, Gerald simply spun his gold coin on his finger. He balanced the spinning for a few seconds before flipping it the squat woman.
"I'll want change for that," he said as he graciously pull out a chair for his guest. "There you go , miss..umm…"
"You may call me Mina," said the woman as she placed her heavy cloak on the back of the chair and sat demurely down.
Besides being short and having a round youthful face, Mina wore a dark red embroidered surcoat, something a minor noble or a rich merchant might wear. He also noticed a dagger at her belt, while he could only see its scabbard, he noted it was not a fancy courtesan's knife, but a fairly worn and heavy knight's dagger with the head of a dog or perhaps a wolf on its pommel.
"Nice knife you have there," commented Gerald as he ordered an ale and a bread bowl of stew.
"It belonged to my mother," replied Mina. "She was a knight of the Hound."
Gerald didn't know much about the Order of the Hound. He did know they weren't one of the big orders, Crab, Boar, Mammoth, Griffin, Snow Lion, Narwhal, and Mammoth, and they also had a keep down south in the Western Freeholds. They might have been involved when Magda the dragon was slain a century ago, but Gerald wasn't going to get ahead of himself. If such was a case Mina would probably let him know.
"So what do you want to know about this dragon," asked Gerald as he sipped on his ale, a brackish tasting brew, but about the best you could get in the borderlands this time of year.
"I'm not interested in the myths and legends of this creature," replied Mina coolly. "I'm more interested in hard facts. Like when and where was it first spotted. What or whom has it attacked? Has it made any demands or requests for tribute? Any physical descriptions."
Gerald nodded and smiled. "You could have asked Sanngror for that, but I'm you came to me. I'm pretty much the most reliable source of information around these parts."
Mina smirked at that comment but waved him to continue.
"The dragon was first spotted at a logging camp three weeks ago. The lumberjacks said it flew about twice overhead before it rained fire onto the camp. As you can imagine, after its first fiery assault the hapless woodsmen fled for their lives. Shortly afterwards the dragon attacked again, but this time at a small mining operation twenty miles from town. Apparently it destroyed the foreman's cabin before chasing the miners away. It was seen snaking its way into its mines and it's common belief that the dragon resides inside it. "
"There were survivors I assume?"
"Aye. Though a few woodsmen and miners died, a fair number of them made it back to town to tell us their tale. Since then the dragon has been sort of holed up in the mines, but that's to be expected. Dragons are very slothful and lazy beasts, they are similar to sabretooth tigers in the way that that they mostly sleep except when they awaken to gorge themselves."
Mina frowned. "I do not need you commentary. I just need your facts. Please describe the dragon itself. What colour was it? Did it have wings? or point me in the direction of a survivor."
Gerald smiled, there was no way he'll let someone else finish his story. While he was already paid, he knew that rich patrons often tipped. Generously, though not fairly. Often the last person serving them would get the golden gratuity and not the person that deserved it, namely himself.
"The monster was a good twenty five, perhaps thirty feet long from snout to tail. It certainly did have wings. It wasn't a drake or a linnorm, but a real dragon. four great clawed feet, with bat like wings sprouting from its shoulder. It was golden red in colouration, with a tuff of black hair on its chin."
Actually, Gerald wasn't sure about the hair, but added it for good measure to impress Mina.
"You said golden red. Which was it? Gold or red?"
"Err… Predominantly red. I suppose the sun glinting off its scales could have given it a more shiny look."
"It attacked during the day?"
"Yes." Again Gerald had no clue, but Mina didn't have to know.
Mina considered his description, and then closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. An odd hissing and crackling noise emanated from her satchel, like the sound of burning pine cones, but she ignored it. Gerald wasn't sure what it was, but didn't want to seem concerned so he ignored it as well.
"What type of mine was it? Precious metals, gems?" asked Mina after considering Gerald's previous statements.
"No, just coal. The town of Daggerhall doesn't export much, but we do a brisk business in the coal trade."
"And the trees? Were they rare woods or anything valuable like that?"
Gerald shook his head, not understanding the line of questions. "No, mainly softwoods. Pines."
Again the hissing came from Mina's satchel, but instead of ignoring it she oddly whispered back to it in a tongue that Gerald didn't recognize. Gerald wasn't sure what was happening but took the opportunity to order a slice of pie from old lady Sanngror and of course another ale. He also ordered an ale for Mina. He wasn't sure if she wanted it or not, but it would make for a convenient excuse to stick her for the entire bill later on if the opportunity arisen.
After several minutes of discussion with her satchel, Mina returned her attention to Gerald. She didn't seemed faze by the ale and took a big quaff of it before resuming her questioning.
"Did the dragon attack your neighbors to the north? What has the locals done about this dragon, besides summoning the Prince? Have there been any sightings of….adventurers?"
Gerald shrugged. "We don't really deal with Arl Dool. The house of the Turkey Vulture pretty much leaves us alone, and we do the same. Which is fine by me. Rumor has it that he's pretty much keeps his barony to himself. He doesn't even trade with the Grommers. Just lives like a hermit with his serfs and does who knows what."
"Arl Dool? As in Alak Dool? The wizard lord?"
"Wizard Lord? I'm not sure about that, but like I said he's pretty far north of here. At least a hundred miles. That's ten days on foot, if you're lucky. There's no roads leading there. Speaking of wizards, our first reaction was to hire a wizard, but the king kinda burned the bridges to the local finger waggler, so we weren't going to get help from that front. And as for what measures we've taken, we've mainly scattered the militia. So they're in several strong points in the village. In case the dragon decides on a pre-emptive strike he won't incinerate everyone at once. Also we've sent word to the Holy Church of Koryis. It's said they have a dragon sword or something of the like, and we've asked for its use. Luckily for us, the Prince has arrived and we prolly don't need any of that rubbish. Prince Aaron has made quite a reputation for himself vanquishing monsters. He bested a bear with the head of an owl last year, and even slew a flying deer creature that casted no shadows earlier this spring. A dragon should be no problem for him."
"Interesting," mused Mina who drowned the rest of her mug. Gerald was concerned that such a small woman was drinking a bit too fast. While the local brew wasn't exactly of craft quality , it was pretty strong. Oddly it had little effect on the woman with the strange satchel. "When the dragon attacked, did anyone report …a strange feeling taken over them? Like they were consumed by fear?"
"Dragon aura," said Gerald with a smug proud look. It was a term he heard once, but instantly recognized it from Mina's line of questioning. Again he wasn't sure if they were possessed by a magical fear. If a giant thirty foot scaled fire breathing monster attacked him, he would have run regardless if he was enchanted or not. Still, he wanted to seem to know what he was talking about and nodded his head knowingly like some wizened sage.
Mina shrank into her chair and ordered another ale from Sanngror, but this time nursed her drink as she fell deep in thought.
Gerald finished his pie and studied the small woman. Why all the questions? Was she a sage of some sort? That would make sense. She heard of a dragon, and came to Daggerhall to perhaps study it. She would have little chance though, since the beast would probably be slain soon by Prince Aaron. A day or two at best. She would have to resign herself to study the corpse, which was what he would have to do if he didn't hurry up to catch them. Gerald didn't like to travel a night, but with a full belly and a couple of ales in him, it didn't seem like a bad idea.
"If you have no more questions my dear," declared Gerald as he rose and did his best impression of a courtly bow. "I am off to catch up with the Prince and watch him slay the monster."
Mina's eyes grew wide. "You're going to pursue the Prince? He didn't seem to require your service earlier."
Gerald shrugged. "I will not fault him for his ignorance. Besides, I am a bard and this is my calling. How can I sing of great deeds if I don't bear witness to them? Unless he orders my directly, I'll just stay out of his highness' way, though I suspect that he would need my services before the day is done." Actually Gerald hoped he didn't see him at all, and more importantly leave some of the dragon's horde behind him so he can get some loot.
"Do you know this area well?"
"Of course, I grew up in this area. I know it like the back of my hand."
"Pfft, Gerald's sticks to the farms and town," snorted Inga who had made her way back to her sister's inn and had now rudely butted into his conversation. "He's a townie through and through with delusions of grandeur. All he does is tell his stories about the two headed wolf and the pixie headed ogre."
"That's Pixie riding wolf, and two headed ogre," corrected Gerald as he made a threatening fist to the old woman. Inga slapped her cheeks together in mock fear and laughed as she made her way to the bar. "Ignore her Lady Mina. Inga is just jealous that she awaits the world's events and tries to put down those that want to do something about it."
Mina nodded and looked Gerald up and down. "Say, you wouldn't happen to know your way to the mines do you? I would like to examine them to get further information about the dragon plaguing your town."
Gerald gulped uneasily. Following the Prince safely from a distance in the woods was one thing, but going to the dragon's lair with a young suicidal girl?
"Err…my schedule is kind of….well….not…."
"I won't ask you to fight, and there's a hundred gold in it for you?" To make her point Mina reached into her satchel and drew out a small sack that clinked heavily on the table. She opened its draw strings and showed Gerald the gold.
Gerald was a simple bard in a simple town. In Daggerhall for a copper you could get a meal. For a silver, a new change of clothes, and for a gold one could live for a month quite comfortably. For fifteen gold one could even get a horse, though Gerald admitted his equestrian skills were subpar at best. For fifty gold one could buy a nice house along the river and even have a nice plot of land adjoining.
Where fear trumped common sense, greed easily trumped fear.
"Whenever you wish to proceed to the mines, I am at your service," said Gerald with a wide grin on his face.
