«Very exciting. This is what I have always wanted to do,» says Éogan smiling from ear to ear. «Euh. You look different ...» he adds uncertainly.
The redheaded man smiles. "I'm glad I could provide it to you, then." He looks down at himself "I probably should've been hiding my form from the beginning. But now I definitely have to. I think Hugh will probably never be seen again, certainly not in Ireland. I need to find someone in this town, I need to make contact alone but I will introduce you later. But it seems a small enough town that they may not have seen a bard for months. So I suggest we walk in together and I will meet up with you later?" He whistles, and the squirrel comes down out of a tree and to his shoulder, he says a few words to it and it seems to chuckle, running down his leg and transforming to a hound as it gets to the ground. Then the two head into the village.
As you enter the town there is a blacksmith shop on the one road running through the town.
Hugh stops and looks at Eogan. "I'll catch up with you later, in the inn, or whatever the closest thing is. I apologize for my rudeness, but I must meet this gentleman alone." He heads into the blacksmith shop, looking around, he says only "Finnegan O'Donnell?" as a question, then in Latin, "Does anyone speak Latin, here?"
Is the blacksmith in the middle of the town, or on the outskirts?
The bard looks around. Are the blacksmith's doors and windows open so that they are easily eavesdropped? If so, he approaches a bit, looking ah bit confused, and hears what he can. Otherwise, he strolls about to get the layout of the town. Is there an inn at all?
When you ask for Finnegan O'Donnell someone replies- in Gaelic.
the blacksmith is towards the middle of town, the entirety of the road through town is less than 100 paces. The doors and windows are open, venting heat coming off the forge.
Recognizing the language, though not able to speak it, Hugh asks his familiar to translate.
"Aye, I am Finnegan O'Donnell, who would be asking?"
Hugh looks around. Assuming he's alone with the blacksmith, he says, still in Latin but translated by the dog, "I am Hugh, filii Moira. I'm afraid I made some enemies in Vigil, through my own foolishness, speaking of rebirth. They got the wrong idea. I was hoping, as a friend of my parens, you might be able to give me some help, or at least advice." When he says rebirth, he makes the hand signal for Ignem.
He gives you an odd look "I don't know Moira, I don't know Hugh, I don't know what you are doing with your hand there, but if you want to sell a talking dog I know some people who might be interested."
Hugh shakes his head. "No, I can't sell him, I don't own him, and he's my best friend anyway. I guess I shouldn't have expected you to know Moira, it was she that taught me about the Fires of Rebirth. She said I should come here and look for the blacksmith, Finnegan O'Donnell, but I suppose I heard the name of the village wrong, I'll be on my way." If Finnegan doesn't stop him, he'll go looking for Eogan.
"Now the fires of rebirth I am familiar with, are you sure it was Moira who sent you though?"
"Well, Moira it was who taught me in the ways, someone at Vigil - where I blundered - told me I should come here. Fionna."
"Ah yes, I see, please, come with me." He begins to extinguish the forge and shut the doors and windows, although there is no other apparent way out.
Hugh is alert, ready to fend off an attack if necessary but not really expecting one.
As the doors and windows are shut, Éogan is puzzled. What are they up to? He has never, ever, been able to sneak in on someone to eavesdrop so he won't even try it. Instead he strolls casually around the building and down the street to learn the layout of the town. He marks the location of the inn(s) (if any) and any other businesses. Is there anything of interest off the 100 paces of high street?
If anyone takes an interest in a travelling bard, he stops to swap stories from the road for stories from the town, with a special interest in stories about Finnegan the Smith.
When he knows the layout of the town, he strolls back past the blacksmith's to see if he has opened the windows again.
The town is very small, with no real inn, just a single room that can be rented for a night above the tavern. The people of the town are very talkative about events long ago, or about visitors to the town, but don't seem to talk about each other with outsiders. You do find out that Finnegan is the first son of the smith before him, through a lineage that goes back for centuries.
Inside after the doors and windows are closed the room heats up quickly, even with the fires of the forge extinguished, until Finnegan lays a hand on the stone mantle of the forge and speaks a word in gaelic, at which point the forge cools instantly and seems to become translucent and immaterial, revealing a staircase underneath. Finnegan indicates that you should follow with a twitch of his head and proceeds down the stairs.
Hugh watches in fascination, then follows down the stairs, familiar in tow.
Since it seems that Finnegan and Hugh are going to be busy for a long time, Éogan heads for the tavern. If he can trade some poetic entertainment for an evening meal, it would be swell, and if he does get the chance, he'll put in some enchanted poems to encourage all the townsfolk to be forthcoming with the town lore.
Eogan heads to the tavern and his request is met with curiosity "What has happened to O'Sullivan? This is normally on his circuit."