"I'm afraid I've never moved in such circles, ma'am."

"I understand. Perhaps I'll ask the priest of Erastil, if they're in?"

"She isn't, she goes on circuit. We get her most Moondays."

Middle of nowhere, huh?

She gives a performative shrug. "If there are no troubles that would take a wizard and an alchemist to face, that's a blessing. Do you know how good a wizard the Baron's is? Is there a town in the barony? I imagine we'll want to pass through there back towards the coast."

"Am I missing anything important to probe for?"

"I've heard the baron's wizard's been seen doing a Fireball," says the barmaid.

"Doesn't mean he's actually third circle, could be a scroll or a wand if the baron's richer than he is pleasant to work for," Belmarniss says. "He easily might be third circle, though."

"And the town's called Fourchurches and it's six miles west," the barmaid goes on.

"One presumes that Fourchurches has, within it, four churches, but it might well easily be three or five." She smiles at her own joke.

"Good. We'll head there tomorrow, I think. Wider news, if you have any? From the city or further?"

"..the last time an adventurer party came through they were on the tail of a red dragon? But one lairing very far from here."

"-I hope they got it. Thank you."

"I'm thinking of giving her the whole coin and asking for whatever trail-worthy food or bread it can afford tomorrow morning. I think they'll only cheat us a little, if at all, and I'm not sure of the price of food up here without seeing a market."

"I think you'd be overpaying, but I'm not positive. The men are counting coppers, though."

"I'm pretty sure we would be, that's why I'd ask for bacon or biscuits or cheese or bread or the like for the bag. I could fuss with comparing the weight of the coin, I suppose, it'd be good to know that for the town."

"You could give her the gold coin purely because she's already seen it and might be expecting it, I just don't think you're going to get the full value back in breakfast at normal person prices. Though I might personally have gotten so accustomed to being rich that I would try cheese for a gold coin. It sounds fascinatingly bizarre."

"A bit of cheese won't be a whole gold goin... Probably. I've had cheese once. It's a little like... The difference between meat and mushrooms added to the difference between potatoes and mushrooms?"

"Miss? Do you have any cheese, or perhaps we can get that in the morning along with any bread or biscuits for the road?"

"I might, just a moment." She goes and comes back with a wedge of yellow cheese.

"Thank you! Here." She passes the gold coin over. "For the food, and the room, and for breakfast and more food for the road. More cheese or sausage or, eh, hard bread that will keep, maybe? Whatever it will buy."

She cuts the cheese roughly in half with a pocket knife and gives half to Belmarniss. Tries a little bite to see if it's good cheese.

It's the least interesting cheese of all time. Belmarniss loves it.

Yep. That's cheese. More for Belmarniss, then. Waltana steals some of her stew instead.

"Right to sleep and then up with the dawn and off, I think. It's quiet here- Good for them, bad for us."

"Yeah. Maybe I can trade spells with the baron's guy, I brought spare ink for that."

"There likely won't be any spellsilver in the town but maybe I can ask around there for - places a machine could be sold, or ideas for what to spark out on. Probably not worth trying to navigate selling prestidigitation here or - fixing a cart or something if one needs fixing."

"Possible we could get people to give us laundry to do but it would be very small change, and a cart's too big for Mending."

"As if I need Mending. Keeping the hands busy keeps the spark down too."

"Oh, in that case fix carts to your heart's content."

Well the first step to that is asking the barmaid if she knows anyone with small repairs that need doing, she's handy with tools and might as well fill the last hour of the day fixing something if it's convenient.

"The crank for the well in back squeaks, if that's the kind of thing you mean?"

"Yes. I'll look at it after eating."

"I don't feel good trying to charge. Maybe it'll make her feel generous with breakfast. Or maybe I'm justifying it to myself. Busy hands either way..."

"It's your spare time but if I yell come running."