Old Man Henry owned a tavern on the outskirts of the village. When looking at Old Man Henry, you wouldn't understand why everyone called him that. Henry was in fact, quite young. Barely in his thirties, married with two young kids, Henry had recently inherited the tavern from his father, the original Old Man Henry. Henry Senior was determined to continue serving his customers until the day he died. In the recent months, it had become harder for him to move around the tavern, so Henry Junior convinced his father to allow him to manage the tavern. Henry Senior agreed on the condition that nobody try to stop him when he wanted to come help the customers. As it is, Henry Junior took over. His father rarely comes by anymore, and the villagers have long since passed on his nickname to his son.

Despite the tavern being on the outskirts, many villagers make the effort to go there. They claim that Henry has the best coffee in the whole fief. Many have tried to find out his secret, but Henry keeps his secrets well. In truth, he owes his success to the rangers. They were the ones who introduced his to the merchant from Arrida, the islands where coffee (called kafay there) originated. The merchant originally taught Henry how to make the rich coffee that the Arridi commonly make. He also regularly restocks Henry's supply of beans whenever he comes to port.

On his most recent trip to port, Henry brought his two kids, a boy (age 8) and a girl (age 6), to give his wife a break from the shenanigans that the children were always up too. They watched several ships pull into the harbor, including the Arridi ship, yet they failed to notice the black ship that had arrived. Consumed in his transaction with the Arridi merchant, they did not notice the stranger in dark clothes watching them from behind a market stall. As he tried to keep track of both kids on their journey home, he did not realize that the stranger had begun to follow them, trailing behind just far enough that they would not immediately recognize that they were being followed. In fact, it was not until later that night, when Henry was cleaning up after the tavern had closed, that he met the stranger.

While in the backroom, Henry heard the front door open. Curious as to who might be coming after closing, Henry walked to the front where he found himself facing the stranger. The stranger wore a long black coat, that looked to be made of leather. He appeared to be older than Henry, maybe in his early forties. He had enough of a scruff to indicate that he hadn't shaved in a week or two. But what really stood out to Henry was the way this stranger kept his hand on the sword at his waist. This was a master swordsman, who was prepared for a fight.

"Sorry sir, the tavern is closed for tonight. Come back in the morning," Henry told the stranger.

"I'm not here for a drink" the stranger responded, with a deep voice.

"Well then I am still going to have to ask you to leave."

"I'm not going anywhere until you do what I say."

Indignantly, Henry replied, "Now hold on a second, you can't come in here and try to tell me what to do. This is my tavern and nobody will be telling me what to…," Henry stopped as the stranger had moved quickly up to him, with his sword drawn and held up to Henry's throat.

"You are going to do what I say. Otherwise, the wife and kids you have sleeping in the cottage out back are going to pay. Do you understand?" Henry's eyes were wide open and he trembled slightly at the thought of his family being hurt because of him. He nodded ever so slightly, aware of the sword edge resting on his skin. "Good, now listen closely. You will not share a word of this with anyone. Not until after the deed is long since done." The stranger proceeded to instruct Henry on what he needed to do. He handed a small bag to Henry.

"The next time they enter this tavern, you better take care of this, otherwise your son will pay for it first. If you fail again, your daughter. And then your wife. Don't try to trick me. I will know everything that goes on here. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir," came the whispered response. With those words, the stranger sheathed his sword and strode out the front door. Henry collapsed in the nearest chair, overcome with fright. "What am I going to do. I need to somehow warn those men to not come here again, but the stranger will know if I try such a thing…I will have to hope that they do not come by for a while…"

Little did he know; those men would be coming in the afternoon.