The mayor was standing on the front steps of the town hall, directing groups of people. He noticed the group of fighters and motioned them towards him.

“We don’t see many elves around here, especially now,” he said.

“These people killed at least forty kobolds, all on their own,” the old man told him.

“Impressive. Tell me more,” the mayor said, turning to the group.

They glanced at each other.

“Um, we were just here for the night, and we heard the bell. I was in a room at the inn, so I’m not sure about these guys, but Thomas and I fought off maybe five, six kobolds in the inn-”

“I think it was closer to ten,” Thomas shuddered, mindlessly scratching Garyn’s ear.

“Anyways, we caught one and had a man tie it up. It’s in the inn. Then we went after our friends, and found them cornered, so the two of us started picking kobolds off,” Frank tapped his crossbow for an explanation. “Then we went hunting, led them back to the alley so we wouldn’t be surrounded, and fought them off two at a time.”

“Where was Gavin?”

“The innkeeper?” Frank said uncomfortably. “He didn’t survive.”

The mayor sighed.

“Damn. That brought a lot of money to the town.”

“I think I know something about running inns,” Margaret said. “I’ll run it for you if you want. That way we both earn some gold.”

The mayor looked at the half-orc in mild amusement.

“You are a strange woman,” he said. “Your kind are usually mindless brutes.”

“That we can both agree on,” Margaret said. “I, however, am not mindless.”

“I can see that. But you’re also an orc-”

“Half-orc,” Margaret corrected.

“People will be less likely to enter your business.”

“I’ll be the brains. My friends can be the face.”

“In case you hadn’t noticed, elves aren’t much liked around these parts.”

“I was wondering about that,” Frank said. “The innkeeper- Gavin?- charged us way too much for our rooms, and a man was staring at us with rather a lot of anger when we entered the town.”

“You don’t know about the border skirmishes?” the mayor said, raising an eyebrow.

“We’ve been in the wilds for a long time,” Frank said.

“About a month ago, the elves sent a patrol across the border of our confederation,” the mayor said, having decided to trust Frank. “King Tharel sent some troops to push them out peacefully, but it turned into a fight. They eventually went back to their own land, but their king- your king- refuses to pay reparation for damages done.”

“Yeah, that would piss me off,” Frank nodded. “But, back to business. We could keep our ears covered.”

“That might work,” the mayor said. “Before we reach any conclusion though, I have a task for the five of you. I am creating a group to track down the kobolds that got away, and I would like you to join the group.”

“We’ll have to think about it, but we’ll let you know tomorrow,” Frank said.

“Well, now, that isn’t going to work. The group is leaving tonight.”

“Okay, well we’ll get back to you in a few minutes then.”

Frank led the group out of earshot.

“This sounds like a great idea. We can get some money here and it will let us start a community we can return to,” Marc said. “If the townspeople like us, they’ll be more likely to help us.

“I don’t think there is that much magic around here. It might be hard for us to find spells here,” Logan said.

Frank added, “I’m a little worried about a lack of magic, but we can overcome it. You have a crossbow, and Marc has a mace. I have a crossbow and a sword, and Thomas is focusing on his archery. I think we’re good.”

“So, are we all agreed on going?” Marc asked.

“What about Garyn? I don’t want him to get hurt,” Thomas said.

“He’ll be okay,” Margaret reassured him.

“Okay. I’m in then.”

“I’m up for it,” Margaret said.

“I’m running low on my spells,” Logan said.

“We can try to get some directions from the kobold at the inn,” Marc suggested. “Logan, you can sleep, and then study before we leave.”

“Fine,” Logan grumbled.

They rejoined the mayor, and Marc said, “We’ll do it, but only if you let us have the inn. We will give you five percent of the income.”

The mayor thought about it.

“You have yourself a deal,” he finally said.