Yulya gratefully takes the tea.
Sorry for bothering you like this, Sir Wester!

'Sugar, Ladies?'

No thank you! The tea is excellent the way it is!

While sipping on his tea, Harbin listens to the story with growing concern, occasionally shaking his head and murmuring consoling words. He buries his head in his hands at the news of Ashley's death.
'Oh my, what have I done? I should never have sent you there! I-I had no idea! The dwarfs never spoke of all those perils and Gundren's brothers told me it would be a breeze for you! I imagined there would be a few bandits - but not an army of them with a drow leader, an undead arch mage and ancient monsters! My deepest apology! I know this will not bring Miss Ashley back, I wish I could...'

Yulya quickly tries to console Harbin
Oh no, please do not blame yourself, Sir Wester! This was Ashley's decision. Had she wanted to, she could have returned from the Dead and be here with us today. It does bother me to no end, but I respect her decision. Your potions truly saved us, without them we would not be here today.

'I am as clueless as you about what they were doing there. I have never heard of a drow named Nezzer either. Or a Forge of Spells. And to think they had kidnapped our girls - all of this is very worrisome! There must be a bigger picture to those bandit attacks on our town! Maybe the mine was their real target?'

Yulya nods.
I would assume so, though Nezzer's plan eludes me. I am afraid the girls were supposed to be sacrifices in some dark ritual. Unfortunately, we do not have the means to protect the mine from being taken over by those bandits again. So I worry about the safety of the dwarves that are planning to return.

Harbin cautiously examines the brooches, as if they still could cause harm even without the wearers.
'So this is what they look like! They never let me see them in detail... Intricate work, surely elvish. Did this Nezzer make them?'

I cannot say but it seems plausible. I would like Miss Summer to examine them.

He backs off.
'Indeed, if they really lure more bandits to the owner, it might be a good idea to give those to Edermath! Please do and send him my bets Regards. Of course I will pay you accordingly. No, I will double the price for the brooches and the ore samples. I am in your debt! You have done so much for our town! With the mine cleared and the bandit leader killed, I feel there really is a path to a better future now! If only this cold would end...So what are your plans now, dear Ladies?'

Yulya bows.
This is very generous, Sir Harbin but please do not strain your financial resources because of us! The potions already were a tremendous treasure you spent on us!
As for ourselves, our next mission is to end the cold, apparently caused by an ice dragon. We will try to tackle it with the help of Miss Summer. I fear this will be a far greater ordeal than the mine though...

Yulya pauses for a moment.
Sir Harbin, if you allow me the question, there is still something that greatly bothers me. When we interrogated the bandits, they admitted they had expected us and that the mine was a trap to get rid of us. We were sent to the mine by Sir Gundren's brothers and Sir Sildar Hallwinter. I do not know what to make of this. I m not accusing anyone but I fear there is someone who is working for those bandits.
And can you tell us about those Redbrands and Sir Glasstaff? We heard about them from various townsfolk complaining about the fee for their protection service and right before your store, a young man approached us telling us that 'Father' wishes to speak to us before running off. In order to ai this town we need to understand what is going on here, and frankly I do not right now. I apologize if this is a difficult topic and respect if you do not want to speak about it, Sir Wester. But i twould help us greatly to know what we are dealing with!