It had been nearly a week before Eryn had the courage to talk to the surviving fiancée. She had locked herself in a room in the Drunken Tallon and would only allow Mavis to bring her sustenance. There had been no word or movement from the mines after wherever Eryn had been had materialised in the universe. He had assumed that the people inside might have gotten out but there was no telling if any survived, and if any did, what state they were in. The fact that the missing fiancée had aged around fifty or sixty years was playing on his mind. The fate of anyone in the mines was left un-discussed and to Eryn's relief only Mavis had tried to get information out of Eryn but he kept quiet. He only mentioned that Jarvi had gone on another mission for the Hawk-Eyes and would not be returning soon. As he approached the door of the young woman, Mavis stopped him with a stern look before walking him downstairs.
Mavis left Eryn to his own devices downstairs as she made the most of Jarvan donning the mantle of innkeeper with aplomb. Within a fraction of the time it would have taken Eryn, she was drunk and hunched over the bar. Eryn was distracted by the appearance an old man he had met once when trying to secure the vacant buildings in Darkperch. A reclusive man by the name of Froge, who refused any help and practically any conversation when Eryn had visited him. He was sitting in his wheelchair, nursing a hearty mug of ale while glancing down a letter on the table. Eryn knew something was wrong with Froge as he was the most antisocial of characters that Eryn had ever met.Before he could enquire, he went over to Mavis. In her inebriated state, Eryn found it was easier to discuss the ring he had taken. He left little information with her apart from that the young woman's fiancée was still missing and hoped that in her state should would remember.
Froge had noticed Eryn enter and looked around the room at the other faces. He saw Danton sitting in one of the corners keeping an eye on everyone while Xera was looking over notes and an obscure piece of jewellery. Behind Eryn another man after entered the bar from upstairs. He was dressed in merchant clothes, edging on the possibility of nobility or a lord. The edges around his clothes were frayed and the gold threads had lost their lustre. Froge noticed that the man kept a constant eye on everyone in the room while simultaneously eying up a painting behind the bar. With Mavis nearly asleep and the bar being manned by Jarvan; Froge witnessed the man sneak behind the bar to get a better look at the painting. There was also, at least to Froge, an annoying violinist in the corner of the room with a young woman. She seemed a rough character while the violinist was, at a glance, a fop. Both, at least on appearance, seemed at odds with each other. Eryn too had similarly noticed the new accompaniment to the drinking as well as the merchant. Eryn knew they were strangers but presumed that all three of them had arrived from Qi with builders for Auspar's repairs. As long as they didn't interfere with anything Eryn was doing, they were allowed their anonymity.
Froge had brought the letter up to his eyes and tipped his glasses forward to read. He grabbed at his hair with obviously clammy hands and tried to steady it on the ale mug. Eryn noticed the man's distress and as carefully as he could, broached the subject. With almost distaste for what he was saying, Froge reluctantly asked Eryn for help. He had received a letter from a place in his past, a place where his fellow writer and researcher never returned from. He mentioned the fractured memory he had of the place. He had been researching the folk tale of the Acardaeum. At at the heart of the house, was wood from it, apparently giving the house life. The word echoed through the inn, Danton, and Xera both looked over to Froge, along with the merchant, who had momentarily stopped from assessing the painting.
It was not the word that intrigued the other two newcomers but the letter. She had asked her companion to keep the music playing while she looked over at Froge and the letter. Her face turned pale as the last words about the letter fell on Eryns ears. Without hesitation he went up to her and asked her what her business was with it. She feigned ignorance and any details she did remark on were insignificant. Eryn was frustrated, he knew she knew more but he couldn't wring the truth from her. As he pondered, she tried to snatch the letter from his hand, but his strength and powerful grip stopped her. There was definitely something she was not telling Eryn. With her attempt foiled, she retreated back over to her companion, not wanting to aggravate Eryn.
From across the room the merchant had noticed the room's focus was now away from him and on the letters. With a wave of his hands, almost like a conductor, the attention was drawn from the letters. By the fireplace next to the stairs, there was now a violinist, and two dancers in fanciful dress.Everyone in the room, bar the now sleeping Mavis, were all were drawn to these enigmatic figures as the music and the dancing filled their thoughts. Even the woman's companion who was playing a violin himself, now entered a competition with the new arrival to prove his worth. The merchant, pleased that the letters had been left by the table, went over to investigate what was so interesting about them. He did not however, count on Xera, being unable to see what the others could.
While the merchant was distracted with the letters, Xera looked down at what he had been examining, a tiny biomechanical spider, trapped in a clear stronglass cage, set like a gemstone on the gold ring. From the side of it, the spider was producing a thread, much like the steel spiders he had met previously. He gently teased the wire out, maintaining his cover of being interested in what the others saw. When the merchant turned his back to Xera, Xera leapt on him with now twenty feet of the cord with the aim to tie the merchant up and for him to undo whatever had just done.
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