The paintings on the wall here all well-suited to the atmosphere of an adventurer’s tavern. They depict the many wonderful and varied quests of Auberon Greatstag throughout his younger days, serving as a testament to the fullness of a life well-lived. Nearby, a memorial shrine for fallen adventurers has been erected, complete with a donation box for those feeling charitable.
The half-orc barbarian, Thogg, is staring hard at one of the paintings.
The shrine maintained here presents a somber atmosphere quite different from the tense air of the tavern. This space is suffused with a sort of gentle sadness, the kind shot through with warmth and love. There’s a simple wooden altar, flowers in various stages of fadedness, and several softly glowing candles. At the center of the altar is a small donation box with the words, “For the Fallen” etched on the front. It’s locked with a peculiar looking mechanism, and shaking it reveals the clinks and clanks of several coins within. You set it back down without further thought. Not even you would consider forcing the charity box open. Around the box are a scattering of trinkets and mementos, remembrances of fallen loved ones. Especially at a time like this, it’s a reassuring reminder that there are always those who will remember you after you’re gone.
You approach the large half-orc, making extra sure to pronounce your steps so as not to catch him off guard and risk the ire of his reflexes. Thogg is focused on the “Feywild” painting, which depicts Auberon and some others trudging down a creek in the colorful plane of the faerie-folk. He takes note of you with a heavy sigh.
“Thogg no like picture. Picture boring, color all look same. Auberon good at fighting, maybe taste for pictures not so good. Why Auberon so stupid? Fall to dagger like weak human. Thogg mad at Auberon now!”
Thogg looks at you with bloodshot eyes and you can feel the anger emanating off of his imposing muscles.
“You sneak thief? Use tricky sneak thief brain! Have to find who kill Auberon! Have to hurt them too! Thogg will bend their bones! Thogg will pull off their arms! Who kill Auberon? Thogg think shiny tooth man very suspicious. Always lie. Always smile. Say he go on adventure, not go on adventure. Say he save town from dragon, no dragon. Say he right hand man of Auberon, Thogg know he use left hand for many things, same as Thogg. Very suspicious. Maybe team with stupid singing elf. Singing elf also suspicious. Thogg hear elf say strange words, use strange speak Thogg never hear before. Why he need secret words? Thogg want to snap singing elf’s dumb music stick over singing elf’s dumb music head!”
