Thomas' office
Even a notorious wanderer like Lord Thomas has need of an office to store all the eclectic items he brought back from his travels. Currently he has converted one of the spare rooms of Hawksmoor for just this purpose. Little of the lovingly carved oak trim and wall panels are visible past the rows and rows of wooden crates of statues, scrolls, books in odd languages, and various other bits of jewelry and trinkets. The one wall that was spared the onslaught of crates was not spared the doom of maps. Immediately identifiable are the maps of the lands of each House adorn the walls, complete with notable points of interest. Surrounding them are more maps of lands outside the current kingdom of Mirari. They are the most recent edition, judging from the young age of the paper they are written on and the vagueness of some of the outlines.

Hannah has certainly seen much of this office as of late as she has gone with Thomas' on many of the expeditions that helped father the newer maps. True to his promise, none of the journeys have ever been dull; they start with a flurry of movement and cataloging, and often end with fleeing some great monster, angry tribe, or the occasional stampede. So, it was no great oddity when Thomas sent a summons to Hannah of House November to meet with him at her earliest convenience.

And perhaps it was a relief as well, due to the tensions back at home, as well as with her possibly former romantic interest, Knight Tristan of House April. It was only a few days ago that she saw him with no, best not to dwell on it, duty comes first, after all. So, here she now stands before Thomas' desk. He sits behind it, writing something down with quill and ink.

"I didn't expect you to arrive this soon, Lady Hannah," Thomas comments without even looking up. "You had left no more than a week ago to spend time at home. Are there any problems I should be aware of before we discuss why I asked you to come? After all, if you are preoccupied with other matters, I can hardly send you into danger."

Hannah quirks an eyebrow at this and manages to give the Lord Explorer a half-smile. "And even if I were preoccupied, when has that ever stopped you from throwing me into danger?" she quips. "You're not exactly known for giving people much time to prepare, you know."

Minstrel Sam, a grizzled, smallish man who's far too old to be running around the wilderness the way he has been, bestirs himself from his nap in a chair as Hannah speaks. "Zzrk - no, Tom, those kobolds probably have a sentimental attachment to that idol, and even if it would be neater if you rearranged the mess on top of it, you shouldn't - huh? Oh, hello, it's Hannah!"

The errant bard tries to rearrange the maps and manuscripts he's covered with in a way that doesn't make them look suspiciously like a crazy quilt blanket.

Hannah nods to the older man. "How are you, Sam? Not too worn out from helping us, I hope?"

"Because this is more danger than you are used to. I've been quite nice to you so far, seeing how you're new to this," Thomas comments to Hannah in a rather matter-of-factly way. "You are the resident expert on trolls, are you not?"

"Ah, nah, nah, me fine lass, it's just such a nice day, the sun must have made me drowsy," Sam says with a smile.

"He's also too crotchety to die, like me. Even if a mountain fell on him he would just shrug it off with no effect," Thomas comments and waves his quill towards the old man. "I do wish I could find something that wouldimprove his songwriting ability, alas. He always gets them wrong about me."

Hannah makes a face at the mention of the terrible creatures. "Oh, I don't know about that! Knight Redmane would be more of the expert, I believe, since she fights them off much better than I do...but, er, why do you ask?"

Minstrel Sam coughs. "A mountain fall on me? No, I'd go squish, thank ye very much! That's why I'm very careful to pack an umbrella for just such occasions!"

"I have gotten word of an uprising of trolls that need to be dealt with quietly. All we can currently spare is one person to go, unfortunately. I thought since the rumor was you enjoyed dealing with trolls you would like to take this yourself," Thomas explains as he reclines his chair a bit back and tucks his quill behind his right ear. "You can decline this, of course."

Hannah tries rather unsuccessfully to hide her smile at Sam's remark. "But wouldn't the umbrella just go squish, as well?" she wonders.

"I thought you considered beer a powerful medicine," Thomas comments with an amused grin.

Minstrel Sam sits back, having arranged the maps to some semblance of order. He looks at Tom archly. "I have faith in the power of beer to substitute for a large quantity of courage! Which is what it takes to get me through some of these scrapes of yours." He glances over to Hannah and then adds, "If you're really sending her after these trolls, mister, I'm going to prescribe that she take along a wagon for the beer."

"I have never put you into severe danger, now have I? Why, I'm hurt you would accuse me of such things!" Thomas sighs, placing his hand over his heart. "You make it sound as is dragons should be feared."

Hannah looks incredulously between the two men while they bicker among themselves, as if trolls were a such a small, harmless matter-of-course in Mirari. "You wish for me to squelch an uprising of trolls all on my own?" she repeats. "I...er...well...You're going to have to tell me more about the situation, for a start!"

Thomas arches his brow and looks back to Hannah. "So, you don't want the mission, then?" he asks rather flatly, apparently not willing to elaborate on it any further.

Minstrel Sam says conversationally, "These are the axe-choppin', head-shrinkin' trolls, right? The giant blue ones, not the singin' an' dancin' little blue ones?" He whispers sotto voce to Hannah, "I'd take along two beer wagons."

The girl's expression suddenly turns serious as she folds her arms across her chest. Looking her commander right in the eyes, she states, "That's not what I said, Thomas. I merely asked for more information about it. Is there any to be had?"

"Not really, because there aren't any trolls uprising," Thomas notes, now grinning widely and green eyes crinkled in amusement. "Glad to see you're still stubborn, nosy, and pushy. That will serve you well for what I really want you to undertake. I was hoping you would argue with me over the trolls; proves you're ready. So ... it's time for you to take on a solo job. I received a letter a few days ago from a growing community in a land fairly far beyond the borders of Mirari. This is a chance to establish connections there. Of course there is a small problem to deal with, but ... but I have to know, are you interested?"

Minstrel Sam downgrades the liquor recommendation to "A bottle of brandy, makes an excellent trade good if you run into any tribes doubtful about your good intentions, miss."

The old man gives Tom a look that practically says, "You enjoy teasing the kids too much."

Now that she knows trolls aren't really involved in this mission (or at least, not yet!), the daughter of November relaxes at last and gives the minstrel a smile. "That sounds a lot easier to deal with than two beer wagons, at any rate!" Then she leans towards Thomas. "You're giving me the chance to explore a land that hasn't been charted by any yet in Mirari and you're asking me if I'm interested? I think you'd better tell me more before I shake it out of you, Tom!" Hannah replies, laughing.

"Hey, attacking the Lord Explorer will earn you a troll mission," Thomas warns and waggles a finger at the woman, "I'll find some. Big ones that are lonely." Now smirking, he leans back and says, "Well, to start you should read the letter we received and tell me your observations." He reaches inside the loose jacket he wears and pulls out a small, rough, scroll and slides it over his desktop to Hannah.

The girl reaches out and takes up the scroll, then unrolls it and begins to read.

We formally request the aid of the Golden Hawks, who have shown themselves to be above political bias and possessed of honesty and good will. Our newly founded land of Greedle has suffered a sudden and tragic blow, as our Royal Groom, Prince Feezle, has been taken away by unknown agents. We are a struggling community and could not afford any ransom that may be demanded of us for his return.

"Which means we're not getting paid for it either," Minstrel Sam points out helpfully. "But that's okay, we're not a for-profit organization."

It doesn't take Hannah long to read the message, but she does stare at it for a quite a while afterwards. Her expression is...curious, as if she doesn't quite know what emotion is wholly appropriate to display. At last, she manages to murmur, "Well, they are certainly far from the borders of Mirari if they recognize their own monarchy. And such odd names for a Prince and Princess, too!"

"See if you can bring home a few knick-knacks, Tom likes our new recruits to bring home souvenirs, it helps make the meeting hall look a little more lived-in," Sam suggests. "Good for morale, too."

"Well, it could be worse. The name Prince Humperdink comes to mind as a far worse name, really," Thomas comments, straight-faced. "Any other observations?"

The old man promptly pipes up, "Yes, self-respecting musicians are going to give the place a wide berth. 'In fair Greedle, sunny Greedle, a tale of bugs and beetles do I now sing'? 'For the gratitude of fair Grizelda did Hannah set forth, to rescue Feezle da prince she'd prove her worth'?" He shakes his head.

"They sound like a farming community or somesuch, if no ransom can be afforded," Hannah muses next. "Either that or a town of small guilds - potters, millers, that sort of thing. I wonder how they came to hear of the Golden Hawks, though?"

"That was better than your usual songs," Thomas admits to Sam. Keeping his main attention on Hannah, he now says, "We are fairly well known in general and the fairly recent defeat of the Destroyer did much to spread our name and efforts. It is likely a trader passed on stories or ... songs. So, are you interested, or not?"

Hannah now quirks her eyebrow in Sam's direction but she says nothing. She simply looks...amused. To Thomas, she replies, "Oh yes, I'm interested. Is there anything else I should know about this mission, or is this all you have?"

"Oh, I know a bit more. But ... I think it would be good for you to discover it on your own. Less chance bias your perceptions from the start," Thomas comments. He draws out the quill he had tucked behind his head and twirls it between two fingers. "So, that leads to transportation. As you know, Fiona was called back to help bear a new line of Knightsteeds. So ... that leaves you without a horse. You can go on foot, or we can go see if Redmane can spare a horse for the trip. I need to speak with her anyway on providing a few for the Hawks normal use anyway ... so if you wish to speak with her, we can make that part of the trip together, at least."

The old man gets to his feet, leaning on a cane. He whispers to Hannah, "Better bring two bottles of brandy with you on the trip, whenever Tom starts getting coy, it's a bad sign."

"Hardly! You were drunk most of the time," Thomas retorts and flicks the feather at Sam.

Hannah laughs as she says, "Actually, I think the extra bottle of brandy is a good idea in case I have to slip any into Redmane's cup so she'll be too unsteady to kill Tom! Any road - yes, I think it would help me to complete this mission a lot faster if I could travel on four feet instead of just two."

The bard catches the feather more deftly than his supposed old age would admit, and sets it tidily back on the desk. "Now now, me boyo, can't go confusing 'won't' with 'can't', you've gotta set a good example for your recruits, eh what?"

"So I know!" Thomas comments as he finally stands and stretches. "And to show you how kind of a person I am ... Sam can go with you and record all this is song. I could use a good laugh in watching him try to rhyme those names..."

"Oh boy," the minstrel says. "Four bottle trip then. Two for you and two for me."

The girl's cheerful expression falters suddenly. She rubs a hand across her forehead and mutters, "And guess who will be the one he first tries out all those rhymes on, too..."

Thomas slaps Hannah heartily on the back. "Welcome to the Golden Hawks. Now you too get to experience the wonder that is Sam," he quips, grinning. "Lets get packed and head out. I think we can reach Redmane's ranch by mid-day tomorrow."

The old man laughs. "Let's see. Feezle, weasel, hmm, might be a bad choice for singing in their court..." he mutters as he follows them.

Hannah salutes both men. "As you wish. I'll be with you as soon as I can!" Then she heads out of Thomas' office and towards her own room, to gather her supplies.