[Hoskuld Coal-beard]

Ah, wonderful, so everybody here knew one another except Hoskuld, and a merry crew it was, too. The human named Matthes seemed like a nice enough sort, even if he smelled a bit funny. And then there were the two elves, both female. They probably were only half-elves, but Hoskuld wasn't good with fractions, so he rounded up. The one looked like she was about to explode, and the other, a red-head, would probably go off without much provocation, too.

Heh. Could be useful in a caving expedition, after all. Stick Ethilde in a pile of rocks blocking your way and tell her we shoulda packed more jerky... BOOM! Tunnel cleared. Exploding elves...exploselves!

Of course, if it were just him and Matthes he'd be saying all this aloud -Carmelya's glowing etcetera, he wasn't actually saying any of this aloud was he? He reached up pretending to scratch his beard thoughtfully, but he was really making sure his mouth wasn't moving. No, he wasn't musing aloud, just looking at the blonde elf imagining her many potential uses in mining operations.

With a jolt, he suddenly realized that she was looking at him, too, and that she had just asked him a question. "Oh! What have I brought with me?" he repeated unhelpfully, then he unslung his satchel from his back and started rummaging through it.

The first thing he produced was a folded up piece of parchment bearing the Primus Gaudeo aedile's seal. With a frown, he realized it was his visa. "Well, I got some documents, but I don't know how handy they'll be on our trip," he muttered, avoiding Ethilde's eyes as continued to rummage through his things, partly out of embarrassment, and partly to avoid getting distracted with images of her blasting open new mine passages.


"Here's some money, a dagger -cheap thing, too-, a skin of water, enough food to last five brightenings- including some jerky, though not much....hmmm change of clothes, a warm cloak..."

That was about it. He had gone through pretty much all of his gear, but he paused and wrinkled his brow as he recalled one last item. He had no idea what it was, but his parents had given it to him for some reason, and he had tried to sell it back in Primus Gaudeo and hadn't been able to get anything for it.

And so it was that Hoskuld Coal-beard came to Acumin carrying what looked like a roughly finger-shaped and -sized grey stone tied to the end of a piece of string. His mother had said it would help him on his journeys somehow, but had never explained how. Seeing that the Rangers were looking at it curiously, and wishing to avoid having to admit that he had no idea what the feth it was, the dwarf quickly started to put the object away. "It's a personal item," he said cryptically.