Wulf Larenson, yer health! Ye’re new in town, aren’t ye?
Is it that obvious?
Aye, fairly! I’ve been living here a long time and I know almost ev’rybody in town. So new faces always attract my attention, yer health!
It’s ye again, yer health! Are ye planning on a longer stay then?
Is there any news?
Aye, there’s a haunting again at the old watchtower right around the corner here, they say, yer health! And the door’s been bricked shut for years against it. - ‘Course it’s all just hot air! I’ve been living here fer years now, and the only disturbance I’ve noticed is the wailing of those claiming to ‘ve seen the spooks, yer health!
Any news from the orcish front then?
The orc tribes around here are peaceful enough, now! Ye won’t find a trace of the war in Riva, except fer those idiots that see death and destruction everywhere, yer health!
What do you think about the Holberkians yourself?
Take a gander, there’s always Holberkians in here. I don’t understand why people are upset wi’ them. They’re nice blokes, good workers, and they hurt not a one.
Anyone says anything against the Holberkians in my tavern is out on his ear - yer health!
What’s your opinion on the rat-catcher and his monsters?
The man keeps the sewers clean, yer health. An’ just because he’s down below the ground all the time, there’s all those wild rumors going around about him.
Sure ye can get away with the wildest lies about him! Just blare them about, and some dafthead’ll believe them and tell them on as the honest truth, yer health!
Listen, could you tell us something about those pirates?
Aye, the pirates, they’re based on Sorrek, but they must have some bridgehead in town, too! They’ve crossed the path o’ the guild lately, and now the two are at loggerheads, fighting to the blood, yer health!
Don’t the city guards do anything about the pirates?
Oh, there’s commando troops that have been trained for action against them, but they’re being held back. The council is hoping the guild and the pirates will wear each other down to where the guards’ll just have to clean up!
Do you know something about the guild or the tradesmaster?
Lothur was too successful is all. He was starting to scare the competition, yer health! Then suddely they say he’s in cahoots with them pirates, but let me tell ye, that’s fabricated: Not a blemish to his reputation for years, and suddenly he’s made out to be a fair demon from the Nether Hells!
Maybe you could tell us something about a guy named Tarik?
Tarik? Aye sure, he lives next door! Comes in here often enough, yer health!
The tavernkeeper looks around and points him out to you: Ye can hardly miss Tarik’s table, he’s sitting by himself as usual.
The tavernkeeper looks around and shrugs: If he were here, ye’d see all the other places at his table free.
What do you know about the judge, Jarnug?
He used to be famed fer his sense of justice, but things have changed the last two, three years: it’s said he pursues his own purposes and sentences people according to his own whims, yer health! Lothur Ui Chearghail, the tradesmaster, he was his best-known victim!
Another customer waves his tankard, and the tavernkeeper retreats behind the bar fill the order.
I need do some work, yer health!