Barlok returns!

[Muirgheal(#32535)] Carrying the cold in on their clothing, two women enter the common room: one with dark hair, one light. The golden haired Muirgheal hurries over to the bar, coins clutched in icy fingers. Moments later, Muir weaves through the late afternoon crowd, carrying a mug of hot cider in each hand. Dark eyes are scanning faces she\'s looking for Cordelia at a table.

Cordelia has managed to secure what has become her favorite--and regular table, hard by the fire. Either she has stoked the blaze herself or she has convinced one of the staff to do so, for there is a fire roaring here. Her feet are stretched out on a second chair, boots off, sock-clad toes wriggling in the warmth. She puts a hand up to wave to Muirgheal and signal her over.

[Muirgheal(#32535)] \"You know,\" Muirgheal says lightly as she comes over, following Cordelia\'s waving hand, and sets down the two steaming mugs, \"I ran afoul of a ranger once. Before I met Rhifaroth, that is.\" She settles down into a chair, and, after raising a brow at Cordelia\'s very relaxed position, she follows suit. Boots are kicked off, and her feet planted near the warm hearth. Muir presses cold fingers against her hot mug. \"It was out near Weathertop, if you know it.\"

\"I\'ve seen it. From the road,\" Cordelia grimaces, wrapping her fingers around the hot mug. \"But...\" she frowns, looking more closely at the blonde woman, \"why would the rangers be after you?\"

[Muirgheal(#32535)] \"Well, that\'s just the thing!\" Muirgheal says, sticking a still-numb finger into the hot liquid. Much too hot to taste yet, she decides. Dark eyes look over at Cordelia. \"I wasn\'t doing anything much, looking for a place to stop and eat...and he came out of the bushes, waving his sword at me and asking questions!\" She grins. \"So you see...I used to loathe rangers, kind of like you. I\'m not sure if even my husband has changed my opinion of them all.\" Muirgheal closes her eyes for a moment, blissful: the heat from the flames feels good near her toes.

\"Not many people like rangers, at least not here in Bree. AS far as I\'ve seen.\" Cordelia blows on the hot cider, but doesn\'t venture a sip yet either. \"I got to know quite a few of them when they came after me and Rhifaroth. Who was it that chased you? Apparently they live in the wilds. Hunt bandits or the like. I don\'t know...I don\'t trust them, and most folk here don\'t either.\"

[Nob(#16122)] Even before the door opens, an advance foray of chill air slurries underneath it and across the floor. There is a muffled bang from the outer door, then a gush of colder air as a man comes in. He stops in the entrance, looking around, then finally, lazily, pulls the door shut behind him - just as the hobbit who sits shivering nearest the door opens his mouth to say something cutting.

[Muirgheal(#32535)] Muirgheal, who cannot resist the scent of the cider, dares to taste it. She grimaces, coming away with a burnt tongue. \"I don\'t know who it was that chased me. He didn\'t say his name. But..I wouldn\'t trust most of them. I don\'t trust many men. Still, they can\'t all be bad. It\'s Rhifaroth that taught me what it means to be good.\" Smiling, she puts a hand on her stomach. Another mouth to feed, in the future...but that\'s not something to worry about now. Muirgheal looks for a moment at the man who enters, and only wonders mildly, \"Who\'s the stranger?\"

Again Cordelia blows on her own cider, then she frowns, looking into the fire. \"Yes, I\'ve thought about that, too. Often, since...hmmm...\" She looks to Muirgheal, then looks up to the man that has just entered. Her face pales. \"I know him....\"

[Nob(#16122)] Barlok takes his time unfastening his cloak and putting down the hood, his dark eyes glittering lazily as he scans the room. They land on Cordelia, take in her whitening face, and he smiles. A shark\'s smile, indifferent and full of teeth.

[Muirgheal(#32535)] Muirgheal looks from Cordelia to the man. \"...and yet you don\'t look as though you wish to invite him over for cider,\" she observes. Her grin slowly fades as she sees the stranger\'s smile that\'s meant for Cordelia. \"Is he part of your family?\" she asks quickly, a hand already on the hilt of one of the two daggers strapped on her arms. She won\'t draw it though, not in a crowded room.

\"No, no, he is not. But... he may know the bandits that we seek. We could..invite him over..\" Cordelia frowns, but keeps looking to Barlok. \"I don\'t believe he will do anything harmful unless someone is actually paying him.\"

[Nob(#16122)] Barlok doesn\'t bother waiting to be invited. He winds his way among the scattered table, smile growing larger at signs of nervousness in the two women, until he is standing over Cordelia. What he says is conventional and harmless, \"Nice evening.\" The drawl he says it in is calculated to inspire still more nervousness.

[Muirgheal(#32535)] Muirgheal, for her part, just tightens her hand on the hilt of her dagger, and turns hard black eyes up at the man. \"It -was- a nice evening, until you showed up uninvited. It\'s polite to ask before crashing someone\'s party.\" Her voice is as steely as her gaze, and her lips are drawn in a tight line.

But Cordelia nods to the man. \"Nice evening.\" A glance is given to Muirgheal--and that woman\'s dagger--before Cordelia smiles. \"What brings you back to Bree, Barlok? There are thieves already working these grounds lately.\"

[Nob(#16122)] The man shows no hint of embarrassment but merely turns his grin to Muirgheal. \"Is it?\" he asks, mildly. \"And I\'m such a cultured sort fellow, too.\" And he sounds nothing more than politely interested as he turns back to Cordelia. \"Are there now? A pity the guardsmen here haven\'t nabbed them.\" A sorrowful shake of the head. \"I don\'t know what things are coming to.\"

[Muirgheal(#32535)] \"Oh, yes, I\'m sure all the ladies line up to dance with you whenever you come to town.\" Is Muirgheal\'s smart remark. She takes another sip of her cider- she won\'t let this thug ruin her favorite hot drink. Then the mug is placed on the table, and she says, forcing politeness with each breath, \"We were actually hoping you might know about a few. Bandits. Their names, where they might be.\"

\"Mmm, yes, since they seem to be usurping all your business here in Bree,\" Cordelia says, picking up her own cider to sip it now, \"one would think you might take an interest in learning who they were and what they are about. For a fee, perhaps?\"

[Nob(#16122)] Barlok looks around, hooks a long arm over a chair and drags it towards him, sitting down a-straddle of the back. \"Oh, they do,\" he tells Muirgheal, grinning more widely still. \"I\'m quite a good ... dancer.\" He flicks a glance at Cordelia, running his eyes down her figure (what he can see of it) and shrugs. \"Don\'t know any bandits.\"

[Muirgheal(#32535)] Muirgheal stares hard at the man as he gets a chair. So this will be an extended visit, after all. She gives her most sarcastic smile, and then agrees, \"Oh, I\'m sure. My sword and I would love dance with you sometime.\" Gritting her teeth, she asks, \"How much money would it take for you to know some bandits?\"

Cordelia> Cordelia\'s cloak is lying over the back of a nearby chair, drying, and at Barlok\'s look, she crosses her arms defensively over her chest, her right hand resting by her left wrist. \"Get to know them,\" she grimaces at the man. \"How much?\"

[Nob(#16122)] Barlok doesn\'t reply right away, leaning one elbow comfortably on his chair-back and looking around for a waitress. The girl comes towards him. \"Ale.\"

\"Yessir.\" She hurries away.

\"Now why,\" Barlok wonders curiously, \"Would you wish me to become acquainted with these \'bandits\' of yours?\"

[Muirgheal(#32535)] \"You don\'t have to know why, as long as you\'re paid. I know these things.\" Muirgheal has fixed the man with her hard look again. \"And don\'t you look at Cordelia like that, if you like being able to see.\" Muir growls. No, she hadn\'t missed it. \"Name your price, -please-.\"

Slowly, Cordelia picks up her cider mug with both hands, blowing on it and then sipping the hot liquid delicately. She watches Barlok over the top of the mug, eyes amused. \"Oh, he\'ll name an outrageous price, Muirgheal. You can count on it.\"

[Nob(#16122)] Barlok is entirely unworried by Muirgheal\'s threats. In fact, the more she threatens, the more the half-wild glint dances in his eyes. The serving girl hurries up with a mug of ale, slapping it down on the tabletop so that a little of the amber liquid slops over the side, and Barlok picks it up, taking a deep swallow. \"Ten gold,\" he says, as he looks into the depths of the mug.

[Muirgheal(#32535)] Muirgheal slams her fist on the table and screams, \"WHAT?!\" The lovely blonde attracts many patrons\' eyes for a moment, with that. Voice low and rough, she shakes her head, looking at Cordelia. \"I cannot afford even a little of that. We have no further business with this man.\" She stays poised and tense, though, while he remains seated with them.

\"Ten gold?\" Cordelia starts laughing. She reaches out a hand to pat Muirgheal on the arm. \"I\'m afraid I can afford but one penny. Or I\'ll buy you one ale tonight. That\'s all. Take it or leave it. It\'s business, it\'s legitimate. You don\'t have to...try to murder anyone.\" She grimaces. \"But, if you\'re not interested in earning a few copper, then it\'s no loss to me. In any case, you think about it and get back to us, all right? Now Muir...\" she turns to the woman, \"does Bells want her wedding party to wear blue flowers in their hair? yellow? what kind of cake does she want? Do you know?\"

[Nob(#16122)] \"Oh, I think you\'ve more than one penny,\" Barlok says, his voice suddenly hard. He stands, pushing the chair away, and takes his ale up, draining the remainder in one long draught. And his smile is mocking now as he looks at the two. \"Five gold. It was you sought me out, not I you.\" The empty mug is set down, with a strangely delicate care, and the man turns away.

[Muirgheal(#32535)] \"Actually, you came over and sat down here quite uninvited,\" Muirgheal snaps at the man. Pregnancy may make her cheeks glow, but it also...can feed her volatile temper. But Cordelia has asked a question that distracts her, and she smiles faintly. \"Oh, yellow flowers in their hair, certainly...she\'s a happy girl, and she likes yellow. But as to the cake? We\'ll have to ask her. I know she\'s got something sort of grand all constructed in her head...something with flowers on it, and layers..\"

\"Half of one!\" Cordelia calls out after the departing Barlok. She shrugs, apologetic at Muirgheal. \"Let him do the dirty work,\" she whispers. \"Though I don\'t trust the results.\" She sighs. \"Forget it.\"

[Nob(#16122)] But Barlok, for all notice he gives, has not even heard their words. He ambles across the room, puts a hand on the door, flips his cloakhood over his head and then, standing once more in the open doorway, turns to say, \"Three.\" And the door whispers shut behind him.

[Muirgheal(#32535)] \"No use,\" Muirgheal says, \"I can\'t manage three. Not even half of that. I have a family to feed that seems to grow all the time, and need new clothes, and new playthings..\" She shakes her head. \"I\'m used to dirty work. We can do it ourselves. I won\'t have bandits making this place unsafe for my family.\" She watches as Barlok leaves.