The Black Raven Tavern

[Lazey Winde]

The two men made their way through the rougher part of the village to the Black Raven Tavern.

"Damn my nose hurts." One man complained as they plopped down at the bar. The tavern was nearly empty at this hour, only one woman was cleaning up behind the bar. Despite having a broken nose the man crudely reached after her.

"You look like hell." The man in red agreed.

"We ought to take his wife in front of him." Broken nose was now practically leaning over the bar
 where the woman had backed up to the shelf and was trying hard to pretend he was not there.

"I have gotten you a third." A cold woman's voice came from the stairs.

Broken nose slumped back onto his stool. He and the man in red looked up the stairs with interest. The woman behind the bar retreated  through a door beside the shelving to the rat-infested kitchen.

Galina descended the stairs with a middle aged man in tow.

[Muffin Puffin]

The cloaked figure knelt beside the window. Anger boiled through their veins at the threat against Aislyn but they remained calm. Anger was a useless emotion. The figure murmured a few words, their body winking out of sight as they continued to watch. A curse word escaped when they saw Galina although they were not surprised to find her at the center of all of this.

[Lazey Winde]

Leaving the three men to become better acquainted, Galina went up the stairs to her own private room.

Galina used a key in the lock, then a muttered chant to open the door, then closed and locked the door immediately upon entering. The room was not very large, indeed there was not enough space over the Black Raven for there to be any large rooms, only several small ones. But the room was more spacious than what the other girls got at the Black Raven, and more decorated featuring tapestries portraying violent acts. It was very dark in the room, the only window had been shuttered, and a short stub of a candle was all but burnt out, smoking with a faint orange glow on the tip of the blackened wick.

Galina frowned and went to the candle, snuffing it out between her thumb and forefinger with not so much as a wince. Now the room was only lit by the faint light filtering in the shutters over the window. Below the candle lay a small rag, stained and stiff with old dried blood and dirt, yet glittering oily with strange magic. Galina picked up the rag. She groped around for a moment, as if seeking another candle and tinderbox, but changed her mind and threw open the shutter over the window. The dark room was flooded with sunlight, and Galina smirked as she held the rag in the light.

[Muffin Puffin]

The figure noticed Galina go back up the stairs and they backed up in the alley. For awhile, they saw nothing, but then the shutter was opened. And in the evil one's hand was a rag of some point. The figure narrowed their eyes, trying to see what was on it. The hair on the back of their neck stood up. They had the awful feeling that something was being summoned.

Without a sound, the figure turned and headed out of the village, heading to the Lowell manor.

[Lazey Winde]

Galina reluctantly brought the stained rag back into the window and set it on the table. She grinned evilly thinking about the effect she was having but did not want to wear out the magic. She pinned the rag to the table with the candlestick, lit a fresh candle and closed the shutter. For now candle light would have to do, Galina just hoped that the candle would not burn out prematurely. She left the room and locked it up, both with a key and enchantments.