Bob The Innkeeper

The cleric jumped up from where she had been talking quietly with one of the adventurers who had lost his sister during the orc battle, and rushed over to the side door into the store.

"He was trying to help put out the fire, but some of the beams fell near him, knocking him down. I was barely able to get him away before he was consumed," said Trudy, lowering him to the floor for the cleric to get to him.

As Dianna leaned over to heal him, Liam came up to Trudy, "Are you alright?"

"I"m fine. I didn"t even singe any hairs," she said, giving him a hug.

"His shop was on fire?" asked Bob, watching as the healing magic revived his father.

"Not just that one, every single one of his shops caught on fire," Trudy said grimly.

Everyone looked up at that, and Zach excused himself quickly, stepping outside.

"Every one of them?" asked Liam, surprised. "Were any other buildings caught on fire?"

"No, but several of the fires were strong enough, other buildings were damaged before the fire was put out. There"s a ton of damage. Your house was set on fire, too. I don"t know that Stewart and Edith made it out…"

"That"s right sloppy of Clark, a.s.suming he"s behind this mess," said Leo with a shake to his head.

Bob"s eyes were glued to his father, who had heard the last bit about their home.

"Cleric, can you raise dead?" asked his father, grabbing her hand as she leaned back in exhaustion.

"I"m sorry, sir, but I don"t have a dedicated church in your town. That powerful of a spell would need me to pray at a temple site."

"But Dianna, don"t you hail from the local church of Saint Joe?" asked Bob in confusion.

"The church was closed down because it had fallen into disrepair. I fought the n.o.ble who was behind it, but he knew the laws better then I," she trailed off.

"Let me guess," hissed his father as he sat up, "It was Lord Richmond who closed your church? What did he put in its place, a stable?"

"Actually, he built a brewery out of it." She lowered her eyes as if saying a prayer after she said the words.

"This has got to stop!" Hector declared, trying to climb to his feet when sounds of fighting broke out outside.

The shouting very quickly drew the adventurers from inside, and Bob rushed outside with Leo hot on his tail, to see what was going on. Zach had caught two men attempting to set the building on fire. Bob could see in the dark, where they had already piled things against the side, to fuel the fire. In the ensuing struggle, as the men fought back against Zach, the torch they had brought to light the flames, went flying, landing against the pile of debris.

Bob watched in what seemed to be slow motion, as the flames of the torch seemed to sputter for a moment, then whooshed up the side of his shop, following the trail of some oil that had been splashed against the wall.

A shout rang out among the adventurers who had arrived, and the two men were quickly apprehended. Two mages rushed forward to put out the flames with a water spell, and an ice spell.

As guards rushed over to see what was going on, Bob"s eyes traveled over the scorched wall. Ice clung to the blackened wood, in crazy swirls, making the damage beautiful in the dim moon light. He couldn"t seem to catch a breath as the realization of what had almost happened dawned on him.

"Get him inside, out of the cold," said Zach, seeing the look on his face.

Leo grabbed him by the shoulders and steered him into the shop interior where Trudy handed him a mug of warmed ale. The words of what everyone was saying, were only a buzz in his ears as Leo stepped back to watch his brother outside talking to the guards.

"We have to do something, Liam. He almost lost his shop. What are we going to do if something happens to him?" whispered Trudy off to the side.

Liam glanced over at Bob, but Bob was oblivious. The mug of warm ale sat forgotten in his hands as he struggled with the shock.

"We could give him some of our divinity? That should keep him safe," whispered Liam back.

"He"s not Wizar. We don"t know what it would do to him. What would Grandfather say?"

"Grandfather might not agree, but he can"t take it back without killing him, after we do it."

"You don"t think he would kill him? Do you?"

"Probably not. He doesn"t pose a threat to Wizardia…"

Bob looked down at his mug, and sighed. His father was alright, the fire had been put out without too much damage, and those scorched boards could be replaced in the morning. Sam would be there, anyways. There was no way Lord Richmond would be able to get out of this one. He would have to send Trudy to make sure Clark really was the one behind everything, but he couldn"t wrap his mind around it any other way.

"Feeling better?" asked Trudy with a small smile.

"Yes, thank you for the drink. Is it spiced with…cinnamon?" he asked, the thought occurring to him as he spoke it.

"Yes, actually," she said, surprise obvious on her face.

"You shouldn"t waste coin buying it from that merchant, Rick. Carlos sells it much cheaper, and needs the coin much more," said Bob taking another sip of the warmed ale.

"Alright," she said, glancing at Liam who shrugged.

"Robert?" called his father, rushing into the room. "Oh, good! I"m glad to see you"re all right. I…" his father faltered and took a breath, leaning against the door jam.

Bob jumped up, handing Trudy the mug, as he wrapped the blanket from around his shoulders around his father. "You"re still weak from the fire. Dianna healed the damage, but it"s going to be several days before you fully recover. You should rest in my bed until you feel better."

His father looked at him, but the lack of breath had startled him. Liam guided the old man up the stairs as Bob stepped outside, with Leo beside him.

"Lewis, this is going to make your wife hate your guts even more. You know that she"s been seeing your brother Ted for a week now, why would you risk losing her like this?" Bob"s words caused one of the men in cuffs to suck in his breath in shock, and tears began to stream down his face.

"Who are you?" growled the other man, fighting against the guard who was holding him.

"I am Bob, and I own the store you just tried to burn down. I hope you know that your son Ian is going to leave after this. He hates the fact that you"ve been Lord Richmond"s lackey every since he closed down the temple of Saint Joe."

The man"s fight seemed to drain out of him, as the guard hauled him off to the jail.

"How do you know all that?" asked Leo, giving Bob a confused look.

"I hear things," he said, making it seem like he overheard conversations. Honestly, he was wondering the same thing, as he turned to the head guard to make his report.

"I need to know what was going on, so I know how to charge these men," said the guard, holding up his lantern.

"Why don"t we step inside? You can have a bowl of my soup while we talk? I imagine you don"t get many opportunities to eat on the long night shifts," said Bob, motioning towards the inn.

The guard nodded and followed eagerly.

"I"ve smelled your soup every day I have to work the West gate, but I"ve never had a chance to try any of it. They don"t pay us guards enough to be able to splurge like that."

"What?" asked Bob, his eyes going wide. "But my soup is only a copper a bowl?"

"Really? That"s all? Well in that case, I will be stopping by more often!"
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As the guard was given a bowl of hurriedly heated soup, Bob escorted him into the store away from the curious eyes of the adventurers.

"You see, it"s really quite complicated," explained Bob, as the guard finished the last of his soup.

"I had no idea that was all going on. I"ll need you to write up a formal list of all of the accusations in the morning, so I have them all correct. I would hate for something to get messed up and the n.o.ble getting away with everything on a technicality. You should really see the City Lord, too. I bet he would love to hear this all."

Bob smiled and bid the guard good night, a.s.suring him he would do just that. Once the door was shut, he turned to Trudy and Liam who were waiting to speak with him on the stairs.

"Leo, Zach, I need to speak with Liam and Trudy for a moment in private, please. I a.s.sure you; no a.s.sa.s.sin is going to step out of the shadows in the next 30 minutes to harm me."

They both nodded, unhappily, and left the room, leaving him alone with the incredibly nervous couple.

"You"ve got 29 minutes," growled Leo as he shut the door.