Jean suggests that we cut the tattoo of the woman’s head a bit so the location of the gem is obscured. We do this with an arrow. The plan is for Brokk, Tobruk and Geeves to deliver the woman’s head on the platter while Jean, Vedasi and Maruviel sneak into the basement.

Later that night we range the area to check out the topography. Jean writes notes about where things lie. We also realize that we will need to hire more staff to take care of the manor if we intend to keep it.

We wait until morning and head back to the inn. Vedasi checks the outside of the building but finds no way in, and the windows are barred. The dwarves head upstairs to see Count Von Drachensburg and present the head to him. He asks to inspect it. He gives us the money and lets us keep the platter, and we exit posthaste.

The elves head downstairs and look for Kellerman. The bartender, Klaus, shows them the way. But the man is sitting at his desk and he has been stabbed. They quickly close the doors and see if anyone else is coming after them. They take the bartender down to the cellar and explain that it’s the safest place for him to be. He agrees and reminds them that Kellerman’s associate was Bruno, the former chief torturer. In the cellar they find the diamond in a bag hidden by a dusty bottle of wine. Vedasi takes it and the bartender doesn’t notice. He places a rock in the bag so nothing looks off.

The elves and Jean say that this is a dead end and they have to go back upstairs. They give the bartender two gold crowns and tell him to go back up and keep working. He agrees. They scrub their tracks and head back upstairs. They go out of the window in Kellerman’s office. They leave his body where it is.

The dwarves come down the stairs and the others and their horses are gone. They saddle up and meet the elves a ways away from the inn and exchange information. The dwarves show everyone the money and the silver platter, and Vedasi shows the diamond. We determine that the diamond is worth more like 2400 crowns rather than the 1200 we were going to get for it.

We decide to head back to the inn and confront the Count and his men, if he is indeed a count. The dwarves go inside and Tobruk orders a cask of spirits and pays 10 silver for it. He smashes it to start a fire and chops at one of the guards with his axe. He and Brokk kill all three of the guards quickly and then walk out of the burning building as if nothing is happening. Tobruk casually tells the elves that it is “their turn.”

Patrons come pouring out of the inn, coughing, and the elves see a window opening on the second floor. A rope comes out and a man tries to descend. The elves shoot him full of arrows, and they get back into the window but that man falls down. The dwarves go back inside but the guards aren’t coming out this way. Maruviel goes around the building and sees another window. The man there is trying to get out without a rope and the elf shoots him in the leg and he falls to the ground and dies.

We hear calls from the inn, and they are saying that they give up. Brokk tells them to come out and that we won’t hurt them. Vedasi says not to kill the man-at-arms. Tobruk holds back as the guards come out, but as soon as the count steps foot out, the elf shoots him with an arrow in the shoulder. Brokk and Tobruk attack and nearly kill the man. He starts begging for mercy and the dwarves stop fighting. They ask him to confirm that he was about to murder us and after some coercion he agrees. He says that he doesn’t know where Bruno is, though. After that confirmation, Tobruk kills him by chopping his head off.

As Vedasi is turning out the count’s pockets, he addresses the stunned man-at-arms and asks him if he’d like a job. He looks stunned but agrees. Vedasi announces that he has ‘acquired’ the deed to the place.

We help put out the fire and start cleaning up, including taking the armor from the dead guards. Tobruk explains that the tavern is under ‘new management.’ He tells the staff to start working again now that Kellerman is dead and Von Drachensburg killed him. They seem to agree and Klaus agrees to manage.

The man-at-arms is working with Geeves to clean things up and lets him know that Von Drachensburg is not from around here, he has a minor keep in the Empire. No one will miss him.

We do a full search of the place and we find money in his desk. Also there is a compartment inside Kellerman’s false foot with a key in it. There is a strongbox and the key opens it. There is 1600 gold crowns in here, so we split 2100 total gold six ways.

We plan on spending some time here, potentially a few weeks, learning about the local area and allowing Jean to keep working on his maps.