Welcome to Gaia! ::

So yer kin to the bard pair that came through what was it four... naw... five years past, heh. Ugly business that.Don't know much more about what I can add to all you've been told..." says the barkeep quietly pouring himself a mug and joining them at the table. "It was a horrible thing that happened... just horrible.... sad, too. We had the young male here for some time afterward.... I thought he'd never smile again... though in truth, he probably will... when the time is right. Brother was he? A twin? Ah, no wonder then... twins are close, especially among the feline kin." He sighs and takes a draw on his mug and shakes his head.

"Had they come a week earlier or even a week later, they'd probably would have been fine... but we had a troop of mercs ride through while they were here... paid killers, iffin ye ask me... and we think they were done in by a part of it. The judicar caught up with the main unit several days afterward, but it had already shed more than half it's numbers... no work... too little pay... and they were ridding themselves of trouble... something tells me that the ones who did your granddaughter in was part of that trouble..."

Lyssan tries to get the information from the man, but he doesn't know. "All I know is that we've had a hand of years now with no great wars and only a few border troubles down south. The captain in charge of the company was talking of disbanding it. He was thinking of retiring, doing a bit of trading and the like. He wasn't a bad man, mind ye.... a bit rough about the edges and all, but he, himself, wasn't a bad seed... wish I could say the same for some of the men he let go. Some of them turned bandits and had to be hunted down and rooted out. I think we got the last of them come high summer last year... Two got into a fight and killed each other over.... believe it or not... a pie, mind you... must have been a damn good pie in my book... A few more were run out of the country for spying.... I think what happened was he got saddled with them during some mix up at the merc guild. Don't blame him for wanting out. I'd have wanted out too."

Lyssan tries to pay for their food, but the barkeep refuses to accept his coinage.

"Nay, sirra... feeding you is the least I can do. Will you be heading out again or staying the night..."

Lyssan look down at Kero and sighs. "Moving on, I fear. I have a long journey ahead of me. My home is far away. I... I thank you for your hospitality. I have one question still... my grandson... what became of him?"

The barkeep shrugs. "The Sunlord's priest stayed here until the lad was well enough to journey, then he rented a wagon and took him to his temple... or at least took him away to find him a proper healer. He was not healing properly. His leg was broken and healing wrong and his heart was shattered... we keep fearing he'd go off hobbling into the woods, never to be seen again.... and in the shape he was in... I dare not believe he would have lived overly long. If you wish to seek him further, head to the capital... for that is where the priest was from. He came here as a personal favor to christen the child of an old friend..."

Lyssan smiles mentally at Kerobian and replies kindly. "Now is not the time to reveal such things.... besides I've already repaid the man. For as long as he or his kin own it, this tavern will never know fire or disease and no matter how low it's larder will get, it will never truly run out... I dare not do any more... but that is a generous blessing if you think about it... "

Lyssan thanks the barkeep once again and gathers up her things, leading Kero to the door, as she exits she touches the jam with her hand and when she removes it, a print of a paw can be see clearly burnt into the wood. "Blessings on this house..." she whispers quietly and then walks out the door.

Lyssan shifts to her fox form and flashes him a vulpine grin. "We are connected in many ways... but more recently... it is best to say you and I are close dear friends... is that not a good enough answer for now? And now, Kero, I must insist you go home. I will track these men for you and see if they still live. I suspect they may have been part of that bandit band that was plaguing the countryside. If so, they are gone. If you can share with me their faces, I will be able to look for them on my own. But you need to return. If I know my son, he is worried sick about you. Did you even tell him what you were up to?"

The fox glares at him. "Kerobian vules Noctuslain, are you a child, so stubborn and prideful, that you'd seek to right an ancient wrong which may have already been dealt with, all the while performing a wrong of your own that will trouble people anew? Have you told anyone of what you do? Anyone at all? You are yet a child, given unto another to raise... and if I know my son, he's not only raised you, he has come to love you well, even as I have done... How do you think he feels right now... you have been gone for hours. Don't you realize he will by now know you are gone? Will you return home on your own? Or must I summon one I know will take you there? Shall I summon your brother?"

Lyssan cocks her head. "I hate to break this to ye, Kero. But Hopian is a friend of mine, too. And as I've had charge of ye in the past, I've also had to call to him for help before. He's never failed to answer me. So I ask ye once again... are ye going home or do I call him?" She seems to be growing in size as she speaks, now she's equal to him in size and getting larger by the second.