As a note regarding the last chapter, Doran's real name is actually Cole Damhnar, but he uses his alias most of the time. When he introduced himself to Barty, he momentarily forgot about that.
This dialogue-heavy chapter comes straight from the mouth of Barty T. Bard, intrepid adventurer.
"So what do you think, Kahlan?" There wasn't much to Oakhurst, but I guess it was as good a place as any. Not many places left in the world I haven't seen, actually, though it would've been fine to miss this one. At least it was something different after putting up with the rest of them. That cleric is a little too sour for my tastes—Palanob has done a good job keeping him company, though—and Swanky's nuts. And if I hear one more song…but Kahlan's been the easiest to get along with so far. It probably helps that we share a similar heritage and have been wanderers in this world. That's why I tried talking to her to keep my sanity.
"Quaint," the Half-elf replied. Okay, so her answers were always pretty short, but she was halfway intelligent. "Where are we going when we get there?"
"Probably the tavern, as long as we can avoid another sermon by St. Cuthbert back there." I was glad we were a ways ahead of the others. Also, that the wind was blowing toward the town instead of carrying my words back to them. Thank Agnos for small miracles. Actually, not at all since he doesn't work them. "It'll be a good place to get information and buy any supplies we need," I continued absent-mindedly. "Are you as ready for some fresh faces as I am?"
She smiled a little, but I couldn't really tell what she was thinking. Maybe ready to be free of my company, too. She has a very thievish look about her, and I try not to trust a thief farther than I can throw one. Too bad she wasn't a gnome.
Not to be annoyed, I decided to examine the town and its surroundings. Oakhurst wasn't very large, so I got a good look at a lot of the area around. A thick forest stretched out to the east and resumed far to the west. I thought I saw a faint trail running northwest through the second stretch of trees, but I wasn't too sure. Scattered farms filled the space up to the forest and probably on the far side of Oakhurst as well. Most of the buildings were pretty plain. I noticed a gated house standing prominently above the others, and what appeared to be a sun temple to Pelor, but that was everything interesting.
By the time we reached town, we'd agreed to find the tavern first and see what was there. Thankfully, Kahlan offered to pay, which brought everyone, even Doran, on board. He, Palanob, and Kahlan went straight to the barkeep for food and drinks, Gallant started singing again, and Swanky wandered around to talk to people at the bar. I hung back until my comrades finished buying everything, then went to talk to the bartender myself.
"Barty T. Bard, my good man," I introduced myself. He finished cleaning out a mug before reaching across the counter and gripping my hand in a massive handshake.
"Name's Garon," he grunted; then he went back to cleaning.
"Well met. A nice little place you run here." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a very large drunk wobbling menacingly toward Gallant. He was obliviously chatting with a woman that may have been the burly stranger's girlfriend. Not that I hoped anything bad would happen to him, of course, but Garon waited, regardless of what happened to my clueless companion. "Do you happen to know where I could find some sort of adventure around here?"
"Do you really want to know about all of that? There's a lot of talk about the band of goblins living in the ravine down the old road a ways. They come into town every so often to trade, but lately things have been getting out of hand. We think there's war between the goblins and kobolds, but it's hard to be sure. Only a few brave souls have tried to figure out what's going on down there, and none of them have yet come back. Also, some of our livestock have been turning up dead lately in the mornings. We're not sure who or what's to blame, although it could just be the goblins themselves. Still, it's become quite a problem."
"I see." His tale intrigued me, but a band of goblins at war in a canyon? A little more adventure than I hoped for at the moment. "What more can you tell me about the animal killings?" I asked, pursuing the other goal.
"Not a whole lot, really. They mostly turn up torn to pieces, and we haven't seen a lot at night. Some kind of creature, though. If you like, you can try talking to the Mayor. He's sitting over there at that end." Garon motioned to a sad, well-dressed man farther down the bar. I thanked him and went to talk to the unhappy magistrate.
"Oh, hello," he sighed when I introduced myself and sat down. It wasn't hard to see they had a problem, and I asked him about the creature attacks.
"The bartender mentioned Oakhurst has a problem with someone killing animals lately. Is there anything you could add to that?" I wondered.
"Oh, I don't know…we think there's some kind of goblins or something…yes, probably goblins." The Mayor suddenly began sobbing into his drink. "What am I supposed to do? I'm the mayor of this town and can't even keep things under control. Every day, it's just goblins, goblins, goblins, and how am I supposed to fix it?"
I'll admit he surprised me a little, but this was the perfect chance to make some gold. "Well, Mr. Mayor, as it just so happens, I'm the leader of a group that's just arrived in Oakhurst, and I think we could try to solve this little livestock problem for you. How much could you pay us?"
"How many of you are there?" he asked.
"Me and five of my friends. Of course, I'm not sure they'd all be willing to help, but I think I could persuade them to give it a shot." I offered my warmest smile while the Mayor did some figuring.
"Hmm…well, I think if you can find out what's been causing these attacks and stop them for us, I could pay you as much as 100 gold per person who helps. Does that seem fair to you?"
"It sounds fine to me, but I'll have to talk to the others to see what they think. Will you be here all night?"
"Oh, no, no. In fact, I was just about to go home for the evening. Come see me there if you decide you want to accept the hunt. It's the big house at the end of the road; you can't miss it." With that, the official, looking remarkably livelier, left the tavern and headed home.
I hated to waste any time, so I tried to gather the others for a quick conference. I dragged Palanob and Doran to a small table and pulled Gallant away from another lady before he got us all into trouble. The other two were nowhere in sight, however. "Where are Swanky and Kahlan?" I asked, wondering just how big a headache this party would become.
"I saw Swanky go out a little while ago," Palanob answered, "and I'm pretty sure Kahlan went to find him. I shudder to think what he could be getting himself into…"
"Don't we all," Doran muttered darkly to himself, but I paid him no mind.
"Regardless of where they are, we need to discuss some things. I don't know what y'all have been doing, but I was talking to the Mayor, and he said they're having a real problem with some kind of creature killing their animals at night. He said he could pay 50 gold to each of us who wanted to help." Maybe it seemed a little dishonest, but who would've been harmed if I'd lined my pockets a little more? I'm sure they would've been glad to help Oakhurst out even for that price. Right? "So if everyone's interested, I could go to him later and take him up on the offer. He seemed kind of touchy, though, so it'd probably be better if I went by myself. I don't think he'd like for all of us to show up unannounced at once."
"I've been talking to a man named Bruno who's been having this same problem. He asked me to spend the night at his farm to try to stop whatever's been killing his chickens, and he offered me a gold piece for the trouble," Palanob explained. "I already agreed to go with him, but if you want to talk to the Mayor and then meet me there, that's fine with me."
"Well, I'd like to go see the Mayor myself," Gallant offered. "I mean, I don't want you to go there and him only think there's one person helping with this. I'd like to make sure I get my share, you know?"
"Really, I already told him there were six of us, and I think that'd be okay—" I tried to say, but no one was listening to me anymore.
"I've agreed to go with Bruno to help him, so I'm doing that. He said he'd leave as soon as I was ready. I'm getting to stay in his barn, but he probably wouldn't mind if someone else wanted to come, too," Palanob repeated.
"And I definitely want to get my share of the payment if we're going to figure out what's been killing all of these animals," Gallant insisted. "We can go to the Mayor and arrange for everything. We can try to come find you later."
"It's not necessary. I'm sure he wouldn't want—" I tried to say uselessly, but they still weren't listening. What was wrong with those people? It was almost as though I'd ceased to exist. Still, I figured that my con was pretty much up, so I'd just have to bluff my way through the upcoming meeting. Hey, any traveler could get a price confused, right? I was about to ask Doran what his opinions were and see where he'd want to go, but then our comrades Swanky and Kahlan walked through the door, looking strangely frustrated over something.