It was an obvious thing that no good man or woman would ever step foot upon the soil that Vilpamolan stood upon without good reason. And even then, for some people it didn't justify the risks they would take in attracting the attention of the pirates, thieves and other degenerates. Others, like Sonja, that walked in between that blurry line, didn't truly care what obstacles was in their way. She didn't fear those who may have sinister motives deep in the recesses of their minds as she made her way through the ports.

For the few people that weren't busy tending to their cargo or stirring up fist fights, they would look upon the woman and feel something eerie about her. Something…wrong. Every eye that latched themselves onto her, glancing upon her deep green eyes couldn't help but to look away or try and ignore her presence all together. It was something that they couldn't explain and as she past by them, they figured that it might have just been their imagination or they would blame the moon being out for messing with their minds or something. For Sonja, she was in this slum for reasons particularly known to her, and it would stay that way as far as she was concern for the time being. There was a book, a very important one that she required for her research. It had once been housed in one of Wyllmochva's most prominent libraries for nearly half a millennium until the damn thing was allowed to get stole during one a raid that took place.

Somehow she had learned that the group that had took it in the midst of the chaos were apprehended by a pirate ship out at sea. Under the threat of death, they chose to relinquish the book to the crew instead of facing a gruesome death. Keeping their word, the pirates did indeed elect to spare them such a fate; instead they simply cast them over the ship and sailed away, ignoring the fools’ cries for help once the sharks closed in on them. They knew not what they truly carried- to them it was an ancient book that may fetch them some pretty coins, but to those wise into the arts that she obsessed over, the truth was that they carried a very dangerous tool in their hands.

The aged book had within its pages some of the most vital information on necromancy and other of the dark arts that would be an absolute gold mine. Sonja wanted that book for her own interest and was hellbent on getting it through any means. She knew through the grapevine that the culprits were in town for a few days and as she came upon the One-Eyed Owl Tavern that it was the very place they were staying at to drink to their conquests and sleep the day away when not drinking and harassing the waitresses. The building itself wasn’t hard to find, given that it was at the edge of the coastline, making it an ideal place for them to rest without having to be too far from their ships.

The raven haired woman entered the building in nothing but simple robes. Jade orbs shifted the clusters of men, stinking of alcohol and loudly recalling tales and roaring with laughter. Her thirst for the book strengthened, but she kept control of herself as she made her way to the bar. “A bottle of Melomel, please”, she requested to the barkeep before presenting him with a bag filled with coin. Nodding, he took the payment and quickly fulfilled her wish with a bottle and glass set down in front of her. Sonja turned slightly in her seat as she heard a group of men not too far behind her gloating about the luck they had a few days ago. Some trinkets here and there, some coins they swindled and gems they robbed from some of the people they killed.

The conversation was starting to bore her and she was about to turn away when the mentioning of an old book came to her ear.Immediately her interest was renewed and a faint smile came to her before fading away just as quick and she shifted back to take her drink in hand. The more she listened to them speak about it, the more she was convinced that she found the right men. All that was needed now was to learn just where the book resided, whether onboard their ship still or in one of their rooms. And with that, she took a few couple of sips of the mead as they spun their tales.

It wouldn’t take very long, alcohol was known to loosen even the most tightest of lips.

Vilpamon had always been an interesting town, and a dangerous one. Though it was relatively safe for Jake as most pirates enjoyed music, drinking songs and sea shanties mostly. Pirates were also surprising good tippers, despite their trade which is why if Jake ever really needed to get away from things he came here. This is also where he came to hide for a few months after a local lord had threatened to take Jake's head for insulting him. While looking back on fond memories was all well and good it was time to find somewhere to play. Jake walked around town for a while visiting some of his favorite dives and chatted up some of the bartenders. What they told him was that there were some pirates who had recently returned and had a big haul. Apparently they were staying at the One-Eyed Owl the young bard headed there quickly. Recent success tends to make peoples wallets looser, if they hadn't already spent all their money on booze. Zig zagging down the streets he nearly toppled over a stall selling some items of dubious legality. Before the merchant could bite his head off about it Jake was already moving again.

Jake made it to the tavern in good time and entered, there were the pirates and a strange woman drinking with them. Well that made no difference to the bard. He walked up to the barkeep chatted with him for a minute before buying some honey mead. Which according to many bards is the ideal drink to have while singing as it's not likely to get you drunk quickly and can sooth your voice if it gets sore. After finding a spot out of the way but still very much in view Jake emptied his mug of mead placed it in front of him and began to play. Beginning with an old sea shanty called The Galley Mans Song; sea shanties made great music tavern songs because it was call and response the bard sings one verse and the people he sings to will hopefully call out the second verse. The Galley Mans Song had been a favorite among pirates for a long time so the response was good most people joined in, except the table the woman was sitting at.


After the song was over several people came up and and dropped a coin or two in his empty mug one man offered to refill the mug. Which Jake denied graciously, if he drank every drink offered to him he would never be sober. Even though it seemed like the rather odd girl and the people she was talking with hadn't even noticed him. One of the men called him over to the table and asked him to play a rather old drinking song. Which Jake happily obliged to, after the man handed him a few silver pieces. So Jake moved himself close enough to the table that they would be able to hear the song the best; but not so close to intrude on their conversation. Not that Jake wouldn't try and listen in on their conversation, he definitely intended to if just out of habit.

She studied them from afar, observing them and listen to their banter. They kept gloating about their latest conquests and how easy it had been to plunder the last few towns and swindled some people out of their worldly possessions. She kept on sipping on her drink, silently plotting on how to deal with this delicate manner once she learned what she wanted. There were quite a few of them there, and as she caught a few side glimpses of them, it was easy to see that they were also armed. A direct confrontation was not an option whatsoever; plus if Sonja could learn just where they had the book, it would make it more easier for her to simple focus on the single person or place that had it. Her attention was so enamoured with the idea of getting her slender hands around that book of darkness that she ignored much of what else was going on in the tavern, including the melody that was sung by a talented young man. The pirates and the other patrons, on the other hand, were extreme entertained and even joined in. Looking towards his direction for a moment, and gave him a genuine smile before her eyes swung over towards two pirates that settled down from the excitement and started to talk about a certain item in their possession.

“"Well that book we got from those folks a few nights ago, looks really old. Say, how much you think we will get for it?"

"Why you askin' me? I don't know, but we should get some good doubloons for it? ", the other replied. "You think Jasper will know? After all, he's t' one guardin' it up in t' room. Poor bastard had t' go and open his mouth t' t' captain and can't have an ounce o' this good stuff until his shift be over. " With that, both men roared with laugher and clang their mugs together. The moment she was satisfied with the information, Sonja took the bottle and glass and started to walk away from the room before she mouthed a “thank you” to the bard and took her leave for the second floor. It wasn’t difficult to locate which room this Jasper was in; she could clearly hear the man groaning from some doors down about having to play guard. It was as if he was standing right next to her, that’s how loud his complaints were. A light chuckled rolled out from her as she knocked upon the door.
"Avast!, no one's here!"
Rolling her eyes, she knocked again and this time the door swung wide open and a man with came out, anger was in his eyes one moment and was ready to tell her off when he actually got a good look at the woman and then his mood shifted. “Ah, a pretty little beauty and some grog t' boot! Must be me lucky day" Jasper must have figured that his captain had a change of heart and was rewarding him now; whatever the case was, she gladly would take advantage of it as he offered to let her inside. Once the door closed, she sauntered over towards him and handed him the glass, while keeping the bottle behind her. Being that he was a tall man, she stood on her tiptoes and whispered into his ear.

“It is indeed a lucky day.” The moment those words slipped out, she swiftly took the bottle and smashed it over his head and watched his body drop hard onto the floor. “But it is my day, dearest. Sleep tight” Sonja dropped the remains of the glass and started to ransack the room to find the book. The bed was torn apart from sheets to sheets, all the shelves of the dressers were taken out, clothes were scatter all over the place. Everything was torn upside down and yet she still couldn’t find the blasted thing. “Where, oh where has that book gone now?”, she muttered as she continued to search around.

By this point the tavern was in full swing with mugs and fists hitting against the tables in tune with the music. Liquor is being bought as fast as it is being drunk. Once he had finished the song Jake sat back for a moment and wondered. Why had that girl mouthed thank you at me? She didn't seem to pay an attention to any of his music, in fact she'd left as his second song began.  Oh well that wasn't his concern currently, the men who'd payed him to play a song invited him over to sit. Decidedly unwilling to anger drunk pirates Jake took a seat and began conversing with the men. Jake started absently pluck his lutes strings as he listened to the two men talk about treasure and whores and everything you'd expect from pirates. It was strange that they'd invited him to talk and seemed perfectly fine just carrying on the conversation without him.

That was until one of them randomly asked the bard a question. "we found some old fawkin book during a raid. Whatcha think we could get for it". Jake pulled himself up from the position of balancing his chair on two legs. 
"Well most books retain some value simply due to the effort gone into making them."
"Though not all books are created equal if it was a rare book in good quality, you could probably sell it to some noble with money to burn for a hefty sum."
"Though if you just dredged some water logged pieces of paper with a spine attached out of the sea the best thing it could be used for is kindling"
At this point Jake had lost the pirates interest as he had been unable to give them the answer they were looking for.

By this point listening to drunk pirates had become rather boring. As such Jake left his company and went to the bar; he used the money he'd made to buy a bottle of fire wine. Which is notable mostly due to its ability to make a person feel like they were drinking fire. While it would be considered a truly awful experience by most for those who enjoyed it there was very little that could top it. Drinking it was usually a special for Jake treat as it's quite expensive. Though whether by accident or whether someone really liked his performance someone had dropped him a platinum dragon, an extremely rare and valuable coin. Seeing that the tavern was on the precipice of a brawl Jake took his bottle and headed upstairs to drink in peace.

Even though he had planned on just drinking at the top of the stairs so he could still catch a view of the bar fight. Instead Jake spotted an unconscious man surrounded by broken glass and decided to investigate. When he got closer he discovered two things, one the man was out cold, and two someone was going rifling through all the stuff in the room he was near. After looking through the door the bard realized it was the young woman who he had saw thank him. After taking another sip of his wine Jake said "Whatever you're looking for must be quite important if you're willing to go toe to toe with pirates."