On the Road to the Brotherhood

* Chatting over breakfast, the group could still not decided which way to go. I was for the Library, Mal was undecided, Struth wanted to find the headquarters, Petros wanted to hire a diviner and Gabe didn't say a thing.
 
* Spotting Albert at the bar wearing a hat with a father that was drooping, I decided to get some advice from him. It also gave me a chance to chat with him and admire his handsome face. Running over, I wrapped my arms around him with an 'Albert!" He looked up and said "Dahlia" as I sat down in the seat next to him. "Hello, my dear, how are you? How are things?" He removed his hat and looked at the feather. "Damn hat, can you fix this?"
 
* I took the hat and straightened the feather out as I told him that we had saved the slaves as he had asked. Passing the hat back, he smiled and ordered me a beer (and called me his mistress!) as he put the hat on. "Yes, I had heard something through the grapevine. So, what can I do for you?" I asked him for advice as to what the group should now do as we were at a crossroads. "Ah yes, do you travel the well-known road or travel the unknown road? If you travel the unknown, you may learn some things that could help you in your quest but time is of the essence." He then made small talk about how he heard that Petros had performed quite a show and asked me how he compared. I confessed that I had not heard Albert sing yet which caused him to look around for his lute. "Damn, I have lost another lute. I will have to buy another. I will not be able to perform for you."
 
* Nodding in agreement, I handed his hat back as I sipped the beer. Albert was quite happy that the feather was now standing. "Is there anything else my dear?" I shook my head and thanked him as I stood with the beer and made my way back to the table.
 
* Sitting with my companions, I told them what Albert had said. Mal then piped up asking which way to go. With a sigh, as I realised I forgot to ask, I yelled out to Albert. "Would you like to sit with us Albert?"
 
* Albert came over, the feather on his hat was drooping again, put his beer down, turned the chair and sat down. He took the hat off and asked me if I could fix it again. I nodded, taking the hat as he thanked us for allowing him to sit with us. Mal and Albert immediately starting talking about which direction we needed to go and there was some chatter with Petros as well about his performance. Albert mentioned that he needed to get another lute, which Struth decided to write down the name of a shop that he could buy musical instruments from. Albert thanked him and finished his beer. Taking the hat back, he thanked us all and said that he must go. On his way out, the feather hit the top of the door frame and immediately drooped again.
 
* We got together what we needed and headed out of town on horses that we rented from Barley. On our way, we could see that some houses had a white circle painted on them. There was some talk about the marks being related to the plague or that they people had been marked for something. Arriving at the gate, this time there was no issues, and we were let straight through. I saw the wanted posters on my companions and was glad to see that my face was not added to them.
 
* We travelled until midday, when we came upon a small town. There were some houses marked with the white circle. Deciding to stop for lunch, we found the local tavern and ordered the special. We asked about the markings and the barmaiden advised that she did not know what they were. She did mention that one of the houses that were marked, the resident Tom, was here in the tavern, and pointed to a handsome portly man sitting with 2 others.
 
* Mal looked at me with a "Can you go over?" and I obliged but not until after I ate my meal. Walking over, I sat down at the table and greeted the men. They all stopped chatting, and the man I wanted to talk with looked over at me. I offered to buy a round but they declined. I advised that I had heard that he was favoured among the women, which he nodded his agreement and he leaned on the table. We got talking about his farm and his orchard. There was no real way to ask without being direct, so I tried to be sweet as I asked if he knew about the white markings. He immediately tensed up and wasn't sure what to say. He did advise that he had one on his door but he didn't know if it were for protection or if it was an omen. I could sense that he was lying and knew more but didn't want to divulge this.
 
* He immediately finished his drink, and said goodbye and left with the two men. Getting up, I went back to my table and told my companions about what had just transpired.
 
* We left, and followed the men, who were heading in the direction we needed. They then turned down a driveway and into a house.
 
* Struth and I went to the house, while the rest waited. On the balcony, I moved out of sight of the doorway so whoever stood there couldn't see me as Struth knocked. Tom came to the door and a transaction was made to get some apples. Struth entered the house and I waited. There wasn't much to do and after some time decided to scout around the perimeter of the house.
 
* At this time, Tom had come out the back and entered a barn. After some moments, he came back out with a crate and walked back into the house. I entered the barn and saw some horses, a dog and produce. Taking some pears, I scratched the dog behind the ears and then left the barn. By this time, Struth had already made his way back to the party so I followed shortly after.