"The bastards first showed up about three months ago, saying if we didn't hand over all the furs and what trade goods we've gotten, they were going to burn the place down and drag of my wife for their own amusements. They've come back twice more, each time more impatient than the last. The first time there were about a dozen of them, led by a cloaked gunman and a woman carrying a pair of hatchets. The bitch nearly cut my hand in two", he says holding up his hand and showing a very nasty scar that has only barely healed. "Then she took Svetlana's wedding band as payment for not cutting it off at the wrist. She hasn't been back since. The second visit was just the gunman leading only a halfdozen, and the third was just him and another four. They're supposed to be back again tomorrow."

Svetlana clears her throat and smiles at you. "That's quite enough heavy talk for right this moment. Now come on in and eat; I've made up a nice stew with warm bread, and there's even a whole bottle of wine the bandits have neglected to steal."