276

‘Why do you ask?’ she replies suspiciously, blinking the tears from her eyes. ‘What business do you have with Old Tipasa?’

‘He is a friend,’ replies Banedon, placing a Gold Crown on the tavern counter. The old woman covers the coin with her hand, her expression shrewd and calculating.

‘Soushilla is old, her memory has faded with the passing years,’ she says, waiting expectantly and glancing at Banedon’s money pouch. He opens the flap to remove another Crown, but the pouch has been emptied by a nimble pickpocket. Sheepishly he avoids your stare, his face growing redder by the second.

‘Five Gold Crowns may refresh my memory,’ she says, her gaze now resting on you.

If you wish to pay the old woman 5 Gold Crowns, erase them from your Action Chart and turn to 326.

If you do not have 5 Gold Crowns or do not wish to give her the money, leave the tavern and turn to 202.