Valda asked about their travels and they had time to give her the brief version of their quest to the crypt, and their journey through the ancient forest. Rhunal did not tell her anything about her escape from Greihold or the death of her friends, the servants Gilbert and Avise. As they talked, the three had arranged in order of height. Giant Bron on the left, tall Rhunal in the middle, and the schoolteacher on the right, a head shorter than the she-orc. The people didn’t glare quite as much now, but whispered insistently to each other at the presence of the schoolteacher. 

When they reached the mayor’s house, she was just leaving. "Valda. What are you doing with these two? Hang on, you’re the language teacher that taught this she-orc? What a small world."

"I’m surprised you didn’t guess it before now. It has been a rough day, I suppose," Valda said. 

"Well, she didn’t tell me that she lived close enough to Greihold for you to be her teacher. She was pretty vague about where she lived." Joveta frowned at the orc. “Her kind is usually more straightforward.”

“Can we talk in your house? This might be a long conversation,” asked Valda.

Joveta glanced at all three and finally gave in. "Alright fine. Sit down in the common room again. I’ve got no guards now, but it seems I don’t need them."

Rhunal couldn’t help but take it as a good sign. Joveta apparently trusted the schoolteacher’s judgement enough to go without protection.

"Rhunal grew up in Greihold itself. She may have not told you everything about her life. The truth is probably more unbelievable than she thought you would accept," Valda said.

"That’s against the law. I’m assuming she didn’t have orcish parents who lived there too, did she?" Joveta guessed the truth quickly.

"No. Rhunal was raised by an Archmage. A man named Carinus with a lot of influence in the city. He was intent on making her into something never before seen, an orcish mage."

Rhunal immediately noticed that Valda left out that Carinus outright owned her. She thanked Valda in her heart for that.

"Preposterous. She’s a different race and magic comes from our gods. Who would grant an orc their power?" asked Joveta.

Valda pointed to her. "Rhunal. It’s getting a little cold. Would you mind lighting that fire for me?"

"I don’t know where the lighter in this house is." The she-orc said coyly.

Valda narrowed her eyes. "Don’t play dumb. You need to put all your cards on the table. Now light the fire for an old lady, don’t bother getting up."

Rhunal frowned, sneaking a glance at Bron, who hesitated, then nodded. She extended a hand towards the dry firewood. Flames built around her hand and she flicked a slow, lobbing firebolt into the hearth. The timber burst into flames and a warm glow ignited the four.

Joveta stared dumbly at the flames. “It’s true. So, which of our gods granted you this power? Or do your people have ties to your own gods and you’ve just never told us?”

Rhun bit her lip, deciding not to muddy things by mentioning Tempest. “It was never very clear, but my best guess is that it was Inferno. He seems drawn to certain aspects of my people.”

"Ah, well that makes a bit of sense. He was always an unruly rascal and yours are an unruly people."

"He didn’t offer it easily, but I sensed a hint of his power and prayed to him constantly. He only offers me a portion of that power most times." Rhun explained.

"And the other times?" Joveta asked.

"Carinus eventually stopped my training and set me free. I was not a successful mage. But in my first real fight I learned that Inferno is drawn to the blood rage like a moth to flame. I can access all the powers of an Archmage. But only for a brief period."

"Refuge got a big hole burned in the wall in a matter of moments, seemingly by one of a party of orcs. Do you know if other orcs could have your abilities? Do you have any knowledge of them?” Joveta leaned forward earnestly. “More specifically, I should ask, did your master train any other orc in our magic?”

Rhunal frowned. “None that I saw, but he traveled often. It wouldn’t have been something I would have been told about. We missed seeing the beginning of the assault, so we never saw any of this orc group. Bron and I were on the other side of the cliffs in a camp in the dark forest. When we scaled the cliff and looked down, the attack was already underway. I don’t know these orcs. I’ve never heard of another orcish mage with destructive magic. Hugh himself said he’d never met any. I saw that hole in the wall though. I don’t have that kind of raw power, not even boosted by the blood rage.”

Valda slid over on her bench towards Joveta. "I saw the party of orcs. I would have recognized Rhunal if she was among them. And so would you, Joveta. She’s not exactly the same profile as most of them. All of them were at least seven feet tall."

"Alright, say I trust you. You’ve managed to find the one person to vouch for you who I listen to. I’ve never met a charismatic orc before, of either gender. But I can’t just change the laws of this town on a whim like that. The law is that an orc may not rent or own land inside a human town." Joveta said firmly.

"She can sleep at the orphanage. The law doesn’t say anything about that does it?" Valda leaned close and winked at her.

“You don’t have to do that,” Rhun said.

“But I want to, and I think the mayor understands that it will be a benefit to keep you around.”

Joveta raised a hand. “I have one demand.”

“What is it?” Rhun asked. 

"You two were the last people to see Lovell and Hugh alive. Lovell’s fiance lives in this town. I’ll let you stay until Kyvril returns, if you go to her and tell her what happened." The mayor stared at the fire, clenching her hands into fists. “I’ve talked to enough people today who lost someone. I don’t want to do it anymore.”

Bron seemed immediately stricken. “We don’t know his last moments or words. It was chaos in there, and he died alone.”

"We all do," Joveta said grimly. “Just tell the girl what you do know. I don’t know if the Adventurer’s Guild will survive, even if Kyvril does come back. But it should be someone from his guild, however briefly, who tells her about his last moments.”

Bron lowered his head. “He saved my life. I will do it.”

"I’m glad we have an understanding. Don’t make me regret my decision to let you stay. She pointed to Rhun, “You’re calmer than most of your kind, but I don’t want to see any fighting. And don’t get me wrong, I know it won’t be you who started it."

Rhun smiled as big as she could, which immediately came off as impish. “I’ll be on my best behavior.”

Joveta peered at her for a moment, eventually deciding that she wasn’t being sarcastic. “Alright, now leave me, it’s barely afternoon, and it’s been the longest day of my life. I’m going to sleep.”

The three stepped out the door, and Rhun turned to Valda. “I know I asked for a good word from you, but I still don’t know why you would go so far to help me.”

”You’re willing to fight for this town. And few are these days. Come to me tonight and I’ll tell you where you are sleeping,” Valda said.

Rhunal took her hand in the human way of greeting, or in this case, farewell. “I really am sorry I threw that chair.” 

Valda smirked, “I think it was the first step in you listening to me. Ever since that day you were so apologetic that you became a model student. Are you going to talk to Lovell’s fiance Fara now?”

Rhun shook her head. “I haven’t talked to this many people in my life. I need to do something simple, like fix my clothing up.”

Bron seemed relieved as well. “The blacksmith, Guluss offered us the use of his tools. We can talk to Lovell’s fiance after we look like less of a disaster.”

"Are we just putting off something we’d rather not do?" asked Rhunal.

"Procrastination is the most human thing in the world. You’ll fit into this place yet.” Valda grinned. "It’s probably best you take a break. Fara isn’t some shrinking flower. When you tell her what happened, she’ll come at you."

Rhun’s eyebrow raised. "As in, she’ll try to fight?"

"You wish it were that easy. When you are ready to talk to her, she’ll be at the stone temple building. The tallest building in town."