[Argh]

Drearily shaking themselves out of bed, the elven lord and Bargehead slowly tramped down the stairs.

Bargehead was already laden down with gear, and sat heavily at the bar, trading "how to skin a Troll" jokes with Ilfred. The elven lord, wrapped only in a silken smoking-robe, lounged at a table with an enormous glass of orange juice in front of him.

Seeing that the others were preparing themselves for a journey to the Far North, the Elf smiled lazily and said, "Er. . . there's no need for that. . . we'll just take a. . . um. . . yah. . . er. . . oh! A Cloudgate!"

Several members of the gathering band looked at the elven lord with thinly disguised annoyance. Drago was heard muttering, "But what about the cost? Isn't that really expensive?"

The elven lord, doing his best to look cool and collected, simply said "Well, it's all paid for- don't worry about the cost." Bargehead looked incredulous, but the elven lord said, with a sly grin, "Well, we Elves do have some advantages- having lived over 774 years, for example, it's surprising how much interest compounds, if you invest it in Dwarven banks and don't spend much. . ."

[This message has been edited by Argh (edited 01 June 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Argh (edited 01 June 2001).]