Adelbert

'Thank you Hieronymus,' Adelbert replied, his eyebrows raising at the cascade of dust. Despite their very different natures he found himself thinking unavoidably of Krucke. Hopefully the old fossil was well enough.

'I would appreciate a place to stay. Quarters in the temple will do; I don't have the income to pay rent as it is. As for the expedition by Verena am I glad to be back! A damp, underground ruin once inhabited by warlocks and now home to a hideous fish-bird mutant. We barely escaped with our lives. I did at least manage to uncover these.'

He opened his pack and carefully removed the recovered glassblowing texts. 'Neither alchemy nor glassblowing are amongst my skills but they did strike me as interesting.'

Adelbert settled rather heavily into a chair, feeling the weariness of travel hit him. 'Believe me I am relieved not to be gadding off anywhere! How fares the city? Is the plague in retreat?'