[x] Bribe Generously tip the innkeeper and ask him if there's any news relevant to someone traveling through the area. You can afford it.
-[X] Who's in charge of this city, anyway?
-[x] What news does he have of the region/surrounding territory?
--[x] Specifically, what can one expect to find traveling further west?
The half-giant of an innkeeper seems slightly less subdued than he was the last time you hailed him. All you got back then were simple grunts and nods, to the point where you'd started to suspect he was mute or dumb. Now one could almost think he wasn't serving alcohol to a room half-full of loud peasants.
"Aye?"
It takes an effort of will to keep surprise from your face. It's a rather odd thing to focus on, but you think this might be the first time you've ever heard anyone with an actual accent. You'd started to suspect that the peasantry went through speaking lessons similar to the ones you went through.
Eventually, you realize you'd been staring for entirely too long and shake your head. You raise a pair of small silver coins atop one palm.
"Do you have time to talk?"
The coins are retrieved and hidden inside one fist almost immediately. Despite this, the innkeeper looks somewhat uneasy.
"Name's Vincent, if ye at all care. Despite what th' stories say, the staff o' inns ain't omni..." His forehead wrinkles. "We don't know everything. You'd be better askin' someone willin' to badmouth others."
You quickly wave the idea away.
"I'm not asking you to betray any confidences or secrets, I'm just in a bit of a hurry." You pat Skybreaker's coverings with one hand. "Inspired are unstable even when they're in a good mood. I'd rather not be later than they'd expect if I can at all help it."
The innkeeper raises both eyebrows and sits across from you. His decision to tale a seat seems to earn some outright incomprehensible calls from other workers, but for whatever reason, they just laugh and quiet down when he waves one middle finger at them. Vincent doesn't even look the slightest bit ashamed of using such a rude gesture as he turns back to you.
"First off, ye should know that word is a bit of a touchy subject 'round here. Nine times outta ten, Inspired are selfish little buggers willing to burn down the world just because they can. The stronger they are, the worse it gets. Avoid tellin' anyone else you're working for 'em."
You nod, carefully keeping a polite smile fixed on your face. Why is testing inventions supposed to be such a problem, exactly? So long as one avoids targeting people, anything that is destroyed can be rebuilt better. It's their own fault if they drive off or kill an Inspired before they can reach the rebuilding phase, isn't it?
"How in the world do you avoid invasion if Inspired are hated so much?"
Vincent chuckles and shakes his head.
"Did ye just ride here without knowing a thing?"
The polite smile momentarily drops from your face.
"Yes," you respond flatly. "My job relies on completing tasks within a set period of time and your average person is notoriously unreliable when it comes to knowledge of other areas, especially ones they may have gone to war with at some point. Aristocrats may know, but are they really going to spend time on me?"
If they knew who you were, the answer to that question would be a loud "Yes." You don't intend to tell him that, though. You've had enough of parties and currying favor for one lifetime, thank you very much. It didn't help that your parents seemed hellbent on making sure people knew you were an Inspired too weak to finish anything, nothing to worry about, yes it is a shame, isn't it?
Vincent looks appropriately chagrined and scratches the back of his head with one hand.
"Right. Well, Stehauslen is jus' a wee place, but we're one o' the bigger exporters of new, uh..." Vincent trails off and clicks his teeth with impatience. "There's a word for it, I know. Metal combinations?"
"Alloys," you provide helpfully.
Vincent snaps his fingers and nods.
"Sounds 'bout right. We provide the alloys an' some parts. Others shape it into something useful, includin' weapons. Our lil' League stays free by workin' together while the Inspired are off actin' like a swarm o' snakes. Inspired are still human; a bullet to the brain kills 'em same as anyone else. If they're not complete fools and wear armor, a Kingslayer — Empowered, that is — takes care of 'em soon enough."
You're about to ask for elaboration on certain points when you're interrupted by one of the other customers.
"Vincent, someone stole all my ale! Help?"
The request is echoed by a half-dozen other men and Vincent sighs. Oddly enough, the innkeeper seems to be the only person with anything you'd recognize as an accent. You'd been under the impression people tended to assimilate the speech patterns of those around them after enough time.
"I be back in a minute."
You're guessing it's closer to two, but since Vincent takes the opportunity to refill some half-empty mugs while he's at it, you aren't too worried. What you are worried about is the existence of what would appear to be a state-sponsored group of Empowered, AKA ignorant homicidal maniacs who deliberately chose brute force over knowledge.
Once he's sure everyone is taken care of, he returns to his seat and plants one elbow on the table to support his chin. You reflexively lean away and avoid commenting on the poor manners; frankly, if he chews with his mouth shut, he'll likely know more than half the savages here.
"Right, where were we?"
"How you haven't gotten conquered yet?" you prompt.
Vincent nods, deliberately producing an air of wisdom you doubt he possesses.
"Right, right. Inspired ain't supposed to take on a nation of Empowered and win, now are they? That's why God gave 'em to us in the first place. Now, we may not be a nation of Empowered despite the best tries o' the few good Inspired we got, but a good army an' the Kingslayers be a good replacement. If they're prepared for an army, a few Kingslayers will go over and stab 'em. If they're ready for the Kingslayers, they're crushed by the army. If they try to get ready for both, one of their rivals stabs 'em in the back while they're distracted."
Vincent drums his fingers against the table before shaking his head.
"That's really everythin' important, but you jus' care about delays and dangers to you, right? I be a bit o' a gossip sometimes, I know."
You quickly shake your head and smile. Every bit of information helps just a little bit more, especially when the person you're speaking with might be wrong. The powers of propaganda are well-documented.
"I didn't mind. But yes, knowing of those would be helpful."
Vincent stares blankly for a conspicuously long time, removes his arm from the table, and straightens up. You're not entirely sure why, nor do you know why his accent seems to become somewhat less pronounced. You're starting to suspect it might be deliberate.
"Expect some questions about yer hair if you're headed further into the League. Ignore 'em; crossbreeds are everywhere no matter what the bigots wish. Don't admit yer workin' for an Inspired unless you're sure they work for the League. Don't follow strange men anywhere, especially if they insist it's for a good cause, and don't volunteer as an 'assistant' or 'volunteer' to Inspired no matter how much they offer. Don't trust anyone with a badge unless they let you fail to scratch it with somethin' metal; imitating a state servant is a hangin' offense, but a new idjit is born every day. Uh..."
The innkeeper scratches at the back of his neck and shrugs.
"Careful o' water near the cities. Burnin' coal is carried on the winds and goes further than you'd expect. Don't drink from wells an invading Inspired just passed by, they're fond of leaving poisons behind. Avoid camps o' brown an' yellow tents 'lest ye want to be fingered as a spy. Stick to th' roads, the wilds ain't good for horses. There's no such thing as a 'foreigner tax' an' threaten to report anyone who claims otherwise. If ye could pay a toll usin' silver, they're overchargin' ye. If a Kingslayer tries to recruit ye, take a good, long look at yer life before sayin' yes; it ain't a job for gentler folk an' some even claim ye need to kill an Inspired to fully become one o' them. Few places in the League allow horseback ridin' inside the walls, so be sure to lead yours on foot if ye don't want a fine or worse."
Vincent wrinkles his nose and goes silent. Eventually, he shakes his head.
"Can't really think o' more right now."
You grace him with another smile, something you suspect he appreciates more than he really should. He looks like he's almost a decade your senior and you wouldn't be at all surprised if he's already married.
"That's fine, it's honestly more than I expected. But if you don't mind, who's in charge of this city, and do I need to worry about being arrested by them?"
The grin Vincent gives you is oddly discomforting.
"Now that's a good question, ainnit?" After a small lapse, the grin weakens. "Er, who's in charge, not if ye are likely to get arrested. Doubt that's somethin' worth worryin' about. See, a pair of our Inspired were both supported for being our governors, supposedly so they could help us avoid 'weak metal' an' such. Everyone seemed to think they were good 'uns, but now each hired a ton of foreign killers and are going at it somewhere around here. Better than using us, I'll admit, but they're still violating one o' the King's Decrees: No Inspired is to have an army that answers only to them."
At the mention of a monarch, you can't help but address a certain inconsistency.
"You have a group called the Kingslayers and a king?"
"Only if he behaves," Vincent says with entirely too much cheer. "Good rulers for the most part, our royals, but they have a tendency to go completely mad in their older years. Havin' the Kingslayers around to forcefully dethrone 'em seems to slow that down a bit."
And isn't that a disturbing bit of information? Traditionally, the strongest Inspired will eventually come to rule the land — provided they actually want to do so, of course. The monarch would be able to devote vast amounts of resources toward various projects beneficial to the nation while also dangling the threat of destruction over any Inspired arrogant enough to challenge them. Meanwhile, an Empowered monarch wouldn't be much of a threat; even if they're personally powerful, that wouldn't do them much good when their castle is brought down on top of them.
These Kingslayers seem to have settled on the most disturbing possibility of all. The monarch won't dare to constrain them for fear of death, the Empowered are free to grow in strength by killing nearby Inspired, and foreign rulers can be assured the nation isn't ruled by a homicidal maniac. Honestly, you're surprised nobody ever warned you about this place or even discussed its existence. If there was ever a threat to all Inspired, this League is it. You doubt it will just go away if you leave it alone, so why is everyone ignoring it?
Vincent coughs lightly and drags your attention back to the outside world.
"If yer headed further West, could ye tell someone important 'bout our two would-be governors? They'll talk their way out of trouble soon 'nuff, but the sooner they quit fightin', the less chance we have of them ruining our home in their pissing contest. Someone should've already told the folks over in Thorstead, but if they had, we would've had help arrive days ago."
[] You can make no promises, but you can try.
[] Ask more questions.
-[] Seriously, what's with the fake accent? Nobody else has it, so what's the point?
-[] If the Inspired you're delivering to does want to come to the League, should you warn them off or is there something for them to do here?
-[] Write-in
[] Thank Vincent for his time.
-[] Go to bed.
--[] Leave and continue west the following day.
-[] Go outside and explore the city.
[] Write-in
EDIT: Please provide even a little reasoning (not as part of the [X]'d IC vote itself) for why you vote a specific way, even if it's just a sentence or two. What you're hoping to accomplish by voting that way, why it seems like a good idea, something else along those lines. Your vote will not be counted otherwise, although if there are some initial voters that don't do so, I will remind them since this was something I forgot to include for ten minutes.
