[Lord Brass]

Shady has wearily, but doggedly made his way to Nashekl, and it is hardly what you might call a beauty spot, is it? No sooner had the elven purveyor of quality merchandise crossed the bridge, when he was being accosted by the law. Beginning to panic, Shady imagines that his job on the Smithy in Beregost has spread to this neck of the woods. How could it though, only a tough and resourceful fellow such as himself could have made it through the woods (alright, he runs fast okay).

"Of course officer. I’m here to help. Don’t worry, I’ll have a look at this little mine problem you’ve got. Soon have that sorted out." Thank the gods for that, he bought it!

Feeling a stiff drink was in order, Shady turns to this rough-and-tumble looking gaff, just up ahead. Pushing back the door, our hero strides purposefully in…only to be accosted by some armour-clad harlot with an enormous elf-crushing club.

"Madam, if money’s your game, I’m the main player. Surely we can come to some arrang...Now what’s she up to?" The mysterious figure begins to mutter to herself, waving her hands about in a fashion that would have been described as ridiculous if it wasn’t for the strange, glowing lights that were beginning to form.

"S*d this. I’m off!" With that, Shady legs it out of the door in a manner befitting a hero of the Sword Coast. Standing outside, Shady chats with the locals about the surrounding area. "Evening, officer!" Shady generously hails.

"Wonder if she’s finished?" In Shady goes, only to find the woman standing at the door waiting for him. She spots the elven entrepreneur, and begins the whole hand-waggling process again. Shady retires for a breath of fresh air.

Minutes later, Shady repeats the process. His appearance only seems to exacerbate the nutcase. "Can’t we discuss this like civili..." Out our hero goes. "I’ll have a look about town then. Call me when you’re finished," he cheerfully quips over his shoulder.

Sometime later, Shady returns, enters the inn and there she is, a pained expression on her face which Shady’s long years of careful scrutiny of the human form allowed him to read as: ‘Will you stop b*ggering off like that, and stand still!’

"Listen missus, if you continue with this farcical prestidigitation, people will suspect you’re the light-entertainer for tonight and you’ll get nothing but requests for the rest of the evening. Now how about stopping, eh? Fine. I’ll be back in a bit, and see if you’ve come to your senses."

Much later, Shady goes back in to find the woman standing there, club in hand, with a look of sheer rage on her face. "Do you know how long it’s taken me to train under the priesthood of Cyric? Do you? Do you have any idea how much prejudice a woman has to suffer if you’re starting out on the side of evil? You don’t, do you? So will you stop s*dding about, and let me kill you. Please."

Sighing, Shady levels the look at her, the look that Parda would give him when he discovered something Shady had in his possession that didn’t belong to him. "I can see you’re upset. If you like, I can come back later and we can start afresh?" Surprisingly, Shady’s offer of help only provoked her further. Humans. Go figure.

As soon as the warrior-priest began to move Shady was around the side of the table in a flash. The woman was eventually brought down by his, now infamous, “Running Defence” strategy.

As the crowd began to sit back down, Shady went through the woman’s belongings. "Oh, for *#%k’s sake. I can see in the dark already, dammit!"