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Snow FitzSilver (05) - An Week's Pay for an Honest Day's Work

Snow made sure nobody was watching before he launched himself into space from the roof of the inn in Surwich; the first time he had done this he had made the mistake of doing it in front of Donna Berrymore, the raven-haired pretty innkeeper. She had served him very plain fare for dinner that  night and breakfast the next morning, telling him "Why should I waste good food on someone with a death wish?" It was not until he swore that he'd never do that again in front of her that she relented.

So he had been very careful to not do it when he had any sort of an audience. It would have been a shame to miss his final chance to have a bowl of her Ragnaros Chowder, so named because it was made with Pandaren Cindergut Peppers. It was a rare treat, and the occasion was that Snow had finished replacing or repairing the tar paper, wooden shingles, and misaligned widows on the inn building. 

He used a wrist-mounted grappling hook and spidersilk rope to catch himself before he plowed face-first into the stone fence, and went to the well to wash the last day of honest sweat from his body. His employer,  in despair of finding someone to deliver the supplies and do the work, had paid him what in Stormwind was five times the going rate, as several other trips had ended in failure. 

He went to the inn, and settled in the Common Room, waiting for dinner to arrive. Madam Berrymore brought him a pint of Thunder Ale (imported from Kharanos), the favored libation of his youth spent (or misspent) on and around Ironforge. 

"A letter from Stormwind arrived earlier for you," she said. "Dinner will be in a half-hour."

Snow examined the envelope, which was addressed by hand he recognized. The envelope was sealed with a wax sigil of the Silverlaine house. Excusing himself, he retreated to his room; the seal was from the noble family that had once ruled the Silverpine forest, and anything sealed with it was written in what the intelligence services called a Book Code, known only to the FitzSilver family.  A Book Code worked like this; each letter represented by a three-digit code. The first number  corresponds to the page number. The second number is the line of the letter counted from top-down.  The third number is the position of the letter counted from left to right.

 Using his copy  of <A Steamy Novel: Of Elvin Bondage> Snow laboriously decoded the message.

"Jon asks to borrow you for a task. Meet him at the Usual Place in Boralus".

It was unsigned. 

While he pondered whether or not he should respond, he ate two helpings of Ragnaros Chowder; he knew that it would be some time before returning to Surwich.