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"Gunter, what are we to do with you?" Brax asks, one hidden hand snakes out and touches the mans hand for a brief moment. "Is it not strange we are here? I wonder what we will encounter?"

Kim had followed the others into the inn, poured a generous measure of cider and drank thirstily.

The barmaid looks at her guests and tells them: "We have slices of roast ox and a vegetable stew as dinner special today, and bread of course. Is that fine with all of you?" she asks them.

As soon as also Amon and Echo were able to join them, the food arrives on large platters, as well as earthenware plates for them, and they are encouraged to help themselves.

Once the meal is coming to its end, a tall man in a cuirass not unlike the one Vee got from Geraldine (the tree of life is a little more ornate and seems to have been partly gilded) approaches the table, with Roland by his side.

"Greetings. ladies and gentlemen" he says in a voice that is higher than expected for a man his size, but that carries well. "My name is Barnabas of Dunhill, and I have been elected leader of the town guard. I am very happy you have answered our call for help" he gives them a slight bow.
"Now, what is our problem?" he begins to elaborate.
"South of here, the coast is very rough and sparsely inhabited. However, some of the bays are good fishing grounds. So there are daring people who try to make their fortune there, and time and again, they do not come back. We are used to this, and so at first, when the toll turned out to be unusually high in the past months, we only mourned them at first, like we always do. But then two caravans that came from the South reported that their guards had gone missing one night, able-bodied young people they were, and so we realised something must be wrong in the cliffs south of Dunreese. The problem is that the town guard is not numerous enough to spare any more people, so we could not solve the problem by ourselves."

"Could we speak to anyone who has returned from the Cliffs? A guide perhaps?" Brax asks, nibbling on her food before taking another sip of the Cider.

"We can help, can't we?" She nudges Amon with her foot lightly.

"We're more than happy to help," Amon says. "And it seems that our best place to start is these cliffs you speak of. And Gunter can possibly find a trail we can track, to find out what happened to these missing people," he adds, nodding to the ranger.

Looking back to Barnabas, he asks, "Are there any clues that might help in determining what is behind this? Do any of the missing people have any shared traits or features? And how long ago did the last person go missing?"

"A good question Amon." Brax smiles.

Barnabas thinks for a moment. "Well, most of the people gone missing were young and unmarried. But that's not surprising, because those who have a family tend to stay closer to home and in safer waters. Otherwise, I see no connection between them. Those missing from the caravans were very young guards. They were not from Dunreese, so I don't know more about them.

The caravans have long since left, there is no one in town who was with them, so we can't show you the exact spot from where they vanished. But it will be near the next campsite to the South, a five-hour walk or two-hour ride from here. You should find it easily, no ranger skills needed there.

And the last person who went missing is Roland's cousin Henry Rearpole, he left on his own yesterday morning to search for clues and hasn't returned yet. Of course, that does not need to mean anything besides telling us we're nervous. The last caravan that reported missing guards came in two weeks ago, the last loss from the sea was a month ago approximately."

Barnabas looks around to see if there are any more questions.

Amon looks around to the others. "Unless someone has anything else to add then, I recommend we depart first thing in the morning."

"The young are affected?" Brax comments, looking at Vee for a moment, "Hmmm."

"Also, you mentioned it was a 2 hour ride, would you happen to have some horses we might borrow for the journey, we would of course return them when we are done." She gives Barnabas deep smile, most of her skin still hidden under her cloak.

Barnabas looks the group over and seems to count them mentally, then shakes his head. "I'm sorry, but we do not have seven horses to spare right now. But we can offer you pack animals so you don't have to carry everything and can move more quickly, plus two four-people tents to make you comfortable. Like this, you should be able to make the trip in four hours.

Is everything settled, then? I think you can get breakfast here at six o'clock, and by seven, two pack animals with the tents and some provisions will be ready for you at the stables."

"That is a most generous offer, thank you." Brax replies, "The tents would be most useful, although I do like to look at the stars, the sky and clouds.." She smiles, "So we set off in the morning?" Brax looks around, she is not deferring to Amon, but seems to be in agreement with him.

Gunter looks around the table and nods.

"Aye, that sounds like a plan. The more travelling we can do while the sun is still low, the better. We should probably visit those cliffs that Amon mentioned if they are along the way. It would be even better if we could pick up the trail of Roland's cousin and see where he went off to..."

"He wanted to look at the campsite and find out where the guards my have gone, from what his family told me" Barnabas says to the group. "So he did exactly what you are planning to do. If the Gods are with us, you will find him there."

"Then hopefully we will find him there." Brax says in a soothing tone, her hand hidden back in her clothes.

"That's more than generous, thank you," Amon says. "A little walking won't hurt, Sister Brax." Turning to the others, he adds, "I suggest we all turn in early and get some rest, so we'll be ready to leave first thing tomorrow."

Searos grunts at the idea of having to walk several hours but otherwise seems content to feast on the ox and vegetables. "Have you guys tried the food yet? Its pretty good. Also why would anyone kidnap a bunch of young men with no families?". He digs a piece of gristle out from in between his teeth. "Well other than slaving of course."