The Golden Perch Inn

[Newsman]

Horse and rider entered into the courtyard of The Golden Perch Inn after a hard day's ride. The rider's face was obscured by the hood of his dark travelling cloak, yet he deftly swung from the back of his horse, and handed the reins off to the boy who came from the stables, along with a silver coin for the trouble. He took a quick glance around before entering into the Inn.

Vehil slipped silently to a table without drawing to much attention to himself. The less attention he got at the moment the better. He was a tall, fair-skinned elf with the dark-brown hair characteristic of his family. He hailed from Lothlorien, the golden wood. He ordered a drink from a passing Hobbit, who squeaked out a reply. Vehil began to nervously thumb the long knife that hung from his side. A drink was what he needed to calm his nerves, and let him think clearly.

Where am I gonna begin? he thought. He glanced around for a sign, anything that would show him where to begin. The hobbit put the ale in front of him, and Vehil stared into its contents. Better just wait here and see what happens."

[mormegil]

Kuric carefully inspected himself in the polished metal mounted to the wall, only then did he realize how long it had been since he had taken a proper bath. After carefully weighing all option Kuric decided it best to give his face a good cleaning, at least that way it would be some time before he would need a bath. Dipping both hands in the basin of water he began to forcefully rub his wet hands all over his face in an attempt to clean himself. Having taken no real thought on the matter of properly cleaning himself, Kuric merely smeared the built up dirt and grime about his face, due, in no small part, to the fact that his hands were filthier than his face, though it did help to calm down the infuriated dwarf to a small degree.

Realizing how infuriated he was, Kuric decided it best to properly calm down before heading off for his much needed nap. He placed his wet hands on the counter and leaned into it, helping take some of the weight of his body and gear off his feet. Taking some deep breaths while closing his eyes, though one could hardly tell that his eyes were closed at all as they were seldom seen covered by shadow and a thick brow, brought some much needed calm to him and he finally felt ready to go back to his room.

With a slower and less determined stride than when he made his way down the hall, Kuric made his way back the other way to his room. Despite not being as angry, Kuric’s weight combined with his heavy boots caused the floor boards to creak and groan whenever he walked. Stealth had never been a part of any tactics Kuric employed and would never be able to be part of it, particularly as Kuric had an uncouth habit, owing to his much time spent alone, muttering to himself while he walked. Nothing really important was ever said, mainly gibberish, curses, and maledictions on his current plight, no matter what situation he found himself.

Entering his room, Kuric immediately went and sat himself down on his bed and slowly began to remove his heavy boots. It had been more than a fortnight since their last removal and a rather pungent odor accompanied upon completion of this task. Sniffing the air Kuric mumbled while chuckling to himself, ‘perhaps I should have washed them up too’. Setting the boots aside, Kuric stood and began arranging the bed coverings to his liking. When Kuric began removing his spiked glove to place on the desk where he had placed his ring and necklace that is when he noticed it. Few things could upset Kuric as rapidly and as much as theft. His ring had gone missing, not only his ring but his prized ring at that, though he spoke of such treasures to few, this was a special gift to him from his Uncle Dain, while it wasn’t technically true that King Dain was Kuric’s uncle, Kuric saw little harm in embeleshing the truth just a bit in his favor. Such treasures that are bestowed by a king, such as this ring, were worth more than a small fortune. The wealth of the ring didn’t matter to Kuric as much as the simple fact that it was stolen from him and also owing to the fact of the honor it was to receive such a gift. He had received it for distinguished service to King Dain. Stories abound of dragons’ greed and there hate of theft of their goods, and while these accounts are mainly true, Kuric’s abhorrence of theft from his property rivaled that of the most odious dragon.

He, in an instant, felt his body get hot and lost all rational thought. Quickly grabbing his mace, he sprinted down the hallway heading towards the commons area. In his rush, his mace was flailing wildly, hitting the wall in the hallway, causing many scratches and dents. When he arrived at the entrance to the commons area he let out a terrible yell and smacked the corner of the wall with his mace forcefully splintering the wood and causing a sizeable piece of the corner to break off. With narrowed eyes and a furious scowl, Kuric yelled again, only this time words came out.

“TOLLERS! TOLLERS! Ya said that ye were up fer adventure, grab a weapon lad, we 'ave some thieves and ruffians to hunt!”

With that he sprinted down the stairs directly towards Dick the inn keeper. Few men in Middle-earth could stop Kuric mad and in a dead sprint and even fewer would try. Upon reaching Dick, Kuric yelled again this time with more vehemence and anger. Spittle flying from his mouth and coating his beard he blared.

“What kind of ----- establishment are ya running here? They took me ring, they did and I’m finding ‘em, or it’ll be yer head I take next!”

[Newsman]

A yell drove Vehil to his feet hands braced, ready to draw his knives at a split second. A dwarf came running from the hallway, and grabbed the innkeeper. Vehil sprang upward and attempted to get in the way of the angry dwarf, yet the flailing mace drove him back.

"Hey I dont know whats going on, but im sure killing the innkeeper isnt going to help." Vehil slowly advanced toward the angry dwarf. "Just take it easy. I can help you find whoever took this ring of yours."

[MaskedNicci]

"Well, if you insist." She replied, watching the flummoxed innkeeper scuttle away once more. When he returned with a mug, which he offered her, then his mind switched as fast as a bumblebee on the first day when the flowers begin blooming again, and he was gone. In spite of herself, she had to give the slightest of smiles. It was a small flicker of amusement, then it vanished as quickly as it had come, and her previous look of seriousness and suspicion returned dutifully.

Alassë turned to the one who had offered her his handkerchief, and realized it was probably polite to start some conversation, as he looked a little concerned about what to do. Society rules... Her mind reeled with the possibility of herself creating smalltalk as though she trusted him. But then again, how could she convince him she was being caught in this web of deceit, without him realizing she was on to the collaboration possibly betwixt him and the bustling innkeeper?

In an attempt to appear friendly, she opened her mouth to offer some starting question to the topic of the weather, when a loud clatter interrupted her. The furious dwarf started causing a great commotion, howling about some stolen object of his. Another flicker of amusement shone in her piercing eyes. Then, she turned to good sir handkerchief-on-hand, and muttered in an almost good-natured fashion, "I can't really blame him. Looks like he's having a rough day."

Watching him curiously for a moment, she realized the alleged next step in conversation would be introduction, given the circumstances. Alassë gave a firm nod in his direction, and said, "My name is Alassë, good sir. My memory does not often fail me, but I don't believe we had the chance to be properly introduced."

[Folwren]

Dick did not possibly think that his bad day could get any worse. But he had not even returned with the man’s ale yet when a new disturbance showed up. It seemed all hell broke loose in an instant when that unreasonable, probably insane, dwarf came back into the common room, shouting at the top of his lungs as though he had lost his mind. Dick gave him an unforgiving glare, thinking to himself that he probably didn’t have any mind to loose - it was gone already. The shout had so surprised him that he had very nearly spilled this second mug of ale.

But now the dwarf came steaming towards him at full run, and the words that he bellowed right in his face did so upset poor Dick that he sloshed half of the contents of the ale onto himself. He gaped in horror at the dwarf’s furious and filthy face. The words sounded gibberish. No one ever stole anything in the Shire (except mushrooms) and it seemed even more ridiculous that he should blame it on him and his establishment.

A newly arrived elf thought so, too, apparently and stepped in with a quiet word, “I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m sure killing the innkeeper won’t help. Just take it easy. I can help you find whoever took this ring of yours.”

Dick looked from the elf to the dwarf and back again. And then he felt the wet on his shirt and looking down, he saw the partially emptied mug in his hand, and the remaining ale swaying back and forth wildly in the mug. His patience snapped and his good temper was thrown to the wind.

“Why you great, blundering, big footed, filthy faced ox!” Dick shouted back at Kuric, trying to bellow like the dwarf, but probably squeaking more like a rabbit. “Look what you’ve done!” He lifted the ale, succeeding to spill more. “It’s you that’s thieving from me, making me spill all my finest ale! Don’t come threatening to take my head - I’ll throw you out! I’ll have you arrested and locked up!”

The brief flash of rare fire faded and went out nearly as quickly as it had come. Dick realized that for the dwarf to have lost a ring was indeed a very bad thing to have happen. The ale was probably a small loss compared to such a thing, but it was a pity for him to have spoiled one of his nicest vests.

“You lost a ring, hey?” he said in a more controlled tone. “Well, don’t come yelling my head off, it wasn’t me who took it. It’s probably some prank. It’ll be returned. Just calm down and don’t kill anyone.”

[Newsman]

The hobbit's squeak caught Vehil's attention. So much emotion in one so small, few men would be fool enough to berate a maddened dwarf. Yet, here he is. Vehil did think the halfling looked comical, dripping with spilled ale, yet trying to hold his own. What ever this Dwarf lost doesn't matter at the moment. If he keeps on like this, he might really hurt somebody.

Vehil stood his ground however. This sort of thing was the last thing he needed at the moment, and the fact he was itching for a fight didn't help either. If he tried to take the dwarf down, who knew what friends he had lurking nearby? Also fighting might hurt his chances of finding any trace of who he was searching for.

"You lost a ring, hey? Well, don’t come yelling my head off, it wasn’t me who took it. It’s probably some prank. It’ll be returned. Just calm down and don’t kill anyone.” Little hobbit was obviously scared back to his senses as he addressed the dwarf. So it's a ring eh? Vehil thought. He quickly weighed his options, and realized that he had come too far to go back now. Resting one hand on a long-knife at his side, he braced himself. "Take a deep breath, and calm down. If someone took it, we'll find them. You have my aid." Vehil paused and waited for a reply.

[Firefoot]

Cela was startled by the sound of shouting coming from the Common Room, enough so that she nearly dropped the knife she was using to cut another slice of pie at Dick's request. Normally she would not have become involved in such arguments; Dick, she supposed, was quite capable of handling unruly patrons himself. But when the second shouting voice she heard belonged to Dick, she knew that there was trouble and dashed out into the Common Room.

"Now none of this!" she began to declare, but realized that Dick's flare of temper, at least, had faded, although his vest was dripping with ale. The Dwarf in front of him, however, was still red-faced and heaving, and it was he that Cela addressed as she came out and stood by Dick, lightly resting her hand on his shoulder as if to further calm him. "Now don't you go talking that way about Master Dick! His is a perfectly respectable inn, and I'm sure there's some misunderstanding. What's this about? A ring, I heard? A small item, then, and one easily misplaced. I'm sure this is all simply a misunderstanding."

For all her small stature, Cela was an imposing figure when she wanted to be, and as she made her closing point, she realized that she had never set down the knife she had been using to cut the pie and had been shaking it about in the air just as she had earlier used her spoon to scold Tollers. "Now, there'll be no more raised voices in here - I'm assuming you are all quite capable of behaving like gentlemen?"