“Good morning, Mr. Worthington!”, exclaimed Louisa, waving to the half-elf from her stall on the bridge. “I have that brew from Q’barra that you were asking about!”

The kaf vendor smiled at the young man’s obvious anticipation as he hurried across the street. She didn’t know where he had heard about the special blend from the jungle region, supposedly made from beans that had been seared by the acidic excretions of the local wildlife before being harvested, but she had been able to locate a supplier. Louisa thought the entire idea was idiotic, but if he was willing to pay extra for exotic brew, she would happily take his money.

The half-elf held the cup with a reverence she would associate with the followers of the Silver Flame, and his eyes lit up at the taste.

“Wonderful! It’s everything I was told. Thank you, Louisa!”

The woman bowed deeply at the praise, and even more deeply at the generous tip he left in her jar. She had tried the brew herself and found it too bitter to be enjoyable, but there was no accounting for taste.

A shout of alarm caused Louisa to turn, just in time to see a black skycoach land roughly on the end of the bridge, just in front of Mr. Worthington. Four cloaked figures jumped from the side of the low vehicle to grab the half-elf and wrestle him inside, as he protested weakly. Before the onlookers could do anything more than gasp in shock, the coach was airborne again, leaving only a very expensive kaf stain on the bridge to mark its passing.

---

Pouring the last of the cold kaf over the edge of the bridge, Louisa began closing up the small stand for the night, eager to get home before dark. Other than the unfortunate excitement of Mr. Worthington’s abduction that morning, it had been a good, busy day.

A meaty thud behind her caused the woman to start, turning to see a human-sized figure lying on the bridge as a black skycoach soared away into the darkening sky. Hurrying over, the figure started to stir and turned over, revealing Mr. Worthington’s slightly bruised countenance and torn clothing. At her cry of surprise, the half-elf looked up at her and smiled lopsidedly.

“Good evening, Louisa. You wouldn’t happen to have a bit more of that lovely Q’barran kaf, would you? I seem to have dropped the last one somewhere.”