Part 4. The Story of the Adventures of Roi; a pleasant yet introverted, middle-aged Dwarf who is not intrepid but who has to overcome his fears to begin an unwanted life as an Adventurer.

Kharmur walked away slowly, deciding to head to the Spotted Dog Inn for a drink and hopefully some information on Roi's whereabouts. He'd only walked a few paces when he heard the patter of footsteps and panting of breath behind him; Kharmur instinctively knew that this was Barri, the would be thief. He was right. "Oi, I need a drink too, heading for the Inn?" came the gruff voice of Barri. Kharmur, turned slowly and replied with a a nod and an "Aye". "I could do with some company and some help if truth be told". They walked together towards the Inn, Kharmur explaining the kidnapping of Roi to Barri with the occasional interjection, question and exclamation. Barri was in, he wanted some Adventure. Kharmur inwardly sighed, adventure at their age, look where it has got Roi.

The Spotted Dog was not as bustling as usual:

Kharmur placed his blunderbuss over his shoulder (it is often deemed quite aggressive to walk in with it shouldered and aimed) and took in the clientele. There seemed to be more bar staff than clients, a couple of Nobles talking loudly and waving their hands around, a mysterious man in blue in the corner and a couple of drunk dwarfs at the bar. Barri was already talking to the one who appreared to be in some sort of military uniform. The other dwarf was leaning on his axe asleep, snoring obviously drunk. Kharmur approached the Dwarfs and Barri introduced him to Lorri and Radi.

Lorri had recently deserted from a neighbouring militia's crossbow unit and had sought sanctuary here with his brother Radi (the sleeping drunken dwarf). Barri retold the tale of Roi's disappearance to the attentive Lorri who stroked his beard intermittently during the monologue. He asked a few questions about Roi's appearance and looked thoughtful. At the end of the tale he said: "Hmm. A fellow by that very description was seem by me earlier today. It looked as if he was being frogmarched in here by some thugs, but when I saw him I couldn't be sure if he was with them or not. I'll ask the bar man."

The barman initially looked non-plussed yet a little unsettled by the questions. He became more and more agitated by the persistence of Lorri's questioning. Eventually he said; "Look, I haven't worked here long and I need this job, but there's been some dodgy activity going on. I think the boss is running some sort of smuggling den, there's a door in the corner there that's always locked and used by a few characters who never drink here. They look shifty. In fact this is the sort of time they can be seen coming and going especially when it's not very busy".

Lorri ordered a round of drinks and they found a table to sit at, trying not to look too hard at the aforementioned door. Radi was propped up on a chair, mumbling in his sleep. They all nursed their beers and shared a few tales of adventuring between them. An hour or so later the mysterious man in the corner made his move towards the door having checked that no-one was watching him. For a split second he fumbled for his key in his pocket and this gave the three dwarfs enough time to make their move. Barri surprisingly was first, followed by Kharmur and Lorri and they pushed aside the man and bundled inside the room. Radi, now awake from his snooze, knocked the man out with one punch to the head and wandered in as they all regained their footing. They were greeted by three men in a small room; a cook, a cultist and a tall robed figure. 

 They all faced each other weighing up their options before "Hello" said Radi who then charged in with his axe aloft. The Cultist squealed, the robed man looked agog and it was only the Cook who looked in any way ready to defend himself. He walked toward the running dwarf with his cleavers shielding his chest. A clash of steel rang around the small room which sparked the others into action. The cultist tried to create as much distance between himself and the dwarfs and as he did so he revealed Roi bound and gagged in the corner. Kharmur ran towards him as a grappling hook and quiver were launched over his shoulder pinning the robed guy to the wall. The duelling pair in the middle of the room danced in a clockwise direction, occasionally striking the other's defence tentatively. But the Cook was looking to escape and had turned his foe around so the he, in his white chefs garb was now closest to the door. He backed through it at the same time as the cultist made a dash for it too. The door was slammed and locked, leaving all the dwarfs with the robed man, who sounded as if he was whimpering. Radi rummaged through some of the chests, filling his pockets with coins. Kharmur untied his bound friend Roi and embraced him. Lorri grabbed the front of the robe of the mumbling man and told him to quit his jibbering. He didn't so Lorri thrust a dagger to the man's neck. "Stop your whining, tell us why you took our brethren and I'll spare your life". The man's whimpering became higher in pitch as the dagger point was pressed firmly closer to his neck. "Tell us now or it's......." And then like that he was gone, just his robe left pinned to the wall by Lorri's quiver (the grappling hook has of course missed by some distance). "Sneaky magic" grumbled Barri.