Cyber Vorlopdan, the landlord! What can I do for you?
What’ll it be then?
What’s new?
Holberkians, there’s Holberkians everywhere you look these days! That scum is still walking about all over, and there’s more of them every day. Only the rats breed faster! They’re a blemish on the whole town. I don’t understand why the city corporation doesn’t do anything about them!
Any news about the orcs?
The orcs will pocket Riva any day now. Just look around you - the Holberkians are everywhere, seeing everything, spying on everything! - Why should the blackpelts attack, when they can have us in their grasp anytime they want to?!
What do you think about the Holberkians?
Filthy scum! They had to settle here! My inn used to be one of the finest houses in town. But since the Holberkians came, hardly anyone stays here. All the other inns have passed me by. I’m forced to take in anybody who wants a bed. - You wouldn’t believe the sort of scum that calls here nowadays!
You give the man the benefit of the doubt and assume he isn’t talking about you. - Otherwise, you’d be tempted to alter his anatomy!
What do you know about the rat-catcher?
I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him. I’ve never once seen the man in daylight!
Have you heard anything about the monsters in the sewers?
The only monster down there is that rat-catcher. - You just have to take one look at the guy! Not even the Holberkians enter the sewers, even though that filth should feel right at home there!
Could you tell us something about the pirates?
Let me tell you, just a few years ago such a band of thieves and cut-throats could never have established itself this close to town. The council is a total waste. It all went downhill when the new mayor was appointed…
Can you tell us anything about the guild or the tradesmaster?
There were times when it would have unthinkable that criminals like those could do whatever they liked in this town, and for years at a stretch! But since the new mayor came in, not even the judge can get on top of them!
Do you know Tarik?
Now here’s a strange thing about that fellow: Everybody knows he’s spying on people for the judge, but his contacts with his former companions seem to have survived quite intact.
Oh? What did Tarik do, then, before he started spying for the judge?
A well-known thief and con-man - that’s what he was! The judge sentenced him for it, but only to a 500 Ducat fine. Everybody thought the judge had lost his mind, but that was a shrewd move of his: Bosper Jarnug couldn’t wish for a better informer. Tarik really knows his way around Riva’s underworld.
So what do you know about the judge?
Well, his sentencing is tough, but fair. I wouldn’t like to know what Riva’d be like without him! The town council is useless, especially since the appointment of the new mayor!
The landlord nods:
I better check on the rooms now.