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Thorben	You have murdered my Gritta. I shall never forgive you. Out of my sight, you murderer!
Thorben	Ah! A fresh face. You're not from Khorinis, are you?
Thorben	This is not a good time for travelers. Bandits everywhere, no work, and now the farmers have risen up, too.
Thorben	What winds have blown you here?
Me	I'm looking for work.
Thorben	Do you know anything about carpentry?
Me	The only thing I can make out of wood is a fire.
Thorben	And what about locks?
Me	Weeell ...
Thorben	I'm sorry, but I can't use you if you know nothing about my trade.
Thorben	And I have no money to pay for an apprentice.
Me	What if I want to start an apprenticeship with one of the other masters here?
Thorben	All right, I shall give you my approval.
Thorben	But you had better get yourself the blessing of the gods first.
Thorben	Say, are you a man of faith?
Thorben	Then go to Vatras, the priest of Adanos, and have him give you his blessing.
Thorben	He will tell you where you can find a priest of Innos. You should get his blessing, too.
Thorben	Once you have received the blessing of the gods, I shall vote for you.
Me	Yes. A most humble servant, Master Thorben.
Me	Well, if you mean, do I say my prayers regularly ...
Thorben	I see!
Thorben	A man who does not ply his trade with the blessing of the gods will never receive my approval.
Thorben	Ask the gods for forgiveness for your transgressions.
Me	How about your approval, Master?
Thorben	Has Vatras given you his blessing?
Me	Yes.
Thorben	And did you also get the blessing of a priest of Innos?
Me	Yes, I did.
Thorben	Then you shall have my blessing as well. No matter what path you decide to take - take pride in doing a good job, my boy!
Me	No. Not yet ...
Thorben	You know my terms. You should only ply your trade with the blessing of the gods.
Me	Not yet ...
Thorben	Then I don't know why you're asking me again. You know my terms.
Me	So you know a lot about locks?
Thorben	What good is a fine chest without a fine lock?
Thorben	I make my own locks. That way, I can at least be sure that I haven't built my chests that sturdy for nothing.
Thorben	A poorly made lock is easy to break. And there are plenty of thieves about in Khorinis. Especially lately!
Me	I've got Lehmar's ledger right here ...
Thorben	(suspiciously) Where did you get that?
Me	That shouldn't interest you so much as the fact that your name is in it.
Thorben	Give it to me!
Me	What will you give me, then?
Thorben	I have no money to spare and can give you nothing but my heartfelt gratitude.
Me	Can you teach me how to pick locks?
Thorben	If it weren't for you, I'd be paying Lehmar for the rest of my life.
Thorben	I shall teach you what you want to know.
Thorben	You have brought me the 100 gold pieces. That was very decent of you.
Thorben	I am almost embarrassed, but I must ask even more of you.
Thorben	If I cannot pay back my debt to Lehmar soon, he's going to send his thugs after me.
Thorben	Give me another 100 gold pieces, and I shall instruct you.
Thorben	You have paid Gritta's debt with Matteo. You seem to be a decent fellow. I shall teach you what you want to know.
Thorben	However, I cannot do it for free. I still have a mountain of debts, and I need the money.
Me	How much do you charge?
Thorben	200 gold pieces.
Thorben	Hmm ... I don't know whether you can be trusted or not.
Thorben	For all I know, you might be one of those layabouts who only come to town to empty the chests of honest people.
Thorben	I'm not going to teach you anything before I'm convinced that you are an honest fellow.
Me	Fine. Here are 200 gold pieces.
Thorben	This money will really help me. We can start as soon as you're ready.
Thorben	You're still a few coins short of 200. I need that money.
Me	Fine. Here are 100 gold pieces.
Thorben	In that case, we can start whenever you're ready.
Thorben	Hey, you're still a few coins short of 100.
Me	Maybe later ...
Me	Teach me how to pick a lock!
Thorben	All you need is a lock pick. If you move it carefully left and right in the lock, you can unbolt the mechanism.
Thorben	But if you move it too much or too fast in the wrong direction, it will snap right off.
Thorben	The more adept you become, the fewer lock picks you are going to need. That's all there is to it, really.
Me	Can you sell me some lock picks?
Thorben	If I have any left...
Thorben	Well, all right. But they won't be of any use to you as long as you don't know how they work.
Me	Have you had an apprentice before?
Thorben	Yes, and not too long ago.
Me	And? What happened?
Thorben	His name is Elvrich. He's my nephew.
Thorben	I was quite pleased with him, actually, but one day he simply didn't show up for work.
Me	How long has it been since you saw him?
Thorben	I guess it must be about 2 weeks.
Me	Where is Elvrich now?
Thorben	How would I know? He kept hanging around that filthy brothel by the harbor.
Thorben	I wouldn't be surprised if he's still warming the bed of some whore down there.
Me	Have you reported that to the militia?
Thorben	Of course I have. They were supposed to catch him and see to it that the lazy-bones does his work. But I already regret that.
Thorben	He can do whatever he wants. Sooner or later he'll realize that he'll get nowhere in Khorinis without a decent job.
Me	(cynically) Is that so?
Me	Elvrich will work for you again from now on.
Thorben	I can only hope that he won't disappear again when the next little tart waves her skirts at him.
Thorben	Take this gold as a reward for bringing back my apprentice.
Me	What do you know about the paladins?
Thorben	Not much. They arrived by ship two weeks ago from the mainland.
Thorben	Since then, they have withdrawn to the upper end of town.
Thorben	Nobody here really knows exactly why they have come.
Thorben	Many are afraid of an attack by the orcs.
Thorben	I suppose, however, that they are here to quell the farmers' rebellion.
Me	Do you know anything about the peasants' rebellion?
Thorben	Rumor has it that Onar the landowner has hired mercenaries to keep the King's troops from breathing down his neck.
Thorben	He was probably tired of having to throw his harvest along with his livestock at paladins and militia.
Thorben	All we notice of this in town is that the food prices keep rising.
Thorben	Onar's farm lies far to the east of here. We wouldn't know if there's any fighting going on there.
Thorben	If you want to know more, ask the merchants in the marketplace. They get around the island more than I do.
Me	I've come about Gritta ...
Thorben	My niece? What's your business with her? This isn't about money, is it?
Me	She owes 100 gold pieces to the merchant Matteo.
Thorben	Tell me this isn't true. Ever since that little piece of work moved in with me, I've had nothing but trouble!
Thorben	She's in debt with practically every single merchant in town.
Thorben	I had to borrow 200 gold pieces from Lehmar the moneylender just to settle her debts! And now this!
Thorben	Gritta should be in the house.
Thorben	Go ahead, ask her. But I can tell you this: she doesn't have a SINGLE gold piece.
Me	We shall see ...
Me	Your niece had 100 gold pieces.
Thorben	WHAT? The brazen little serpent - that was MY gold! She took it from my chest.
Thorben	Give it back to me! I have to pay off Lehmar first. Matteo can get his money later!
Thorben	From what I know of this little viper, I'm sure she'll run straight to the city guard and accuse you, too!
Thorben	I shall see to it that the matter is settled.
Me	I've already given Matteo his gold!
Thorben	Damn! Oh well - a debt is a debt. At least you didn't keep the money. I guess I should thank you for that.
Me	No. Matteo will get his money back from me.
Thorben	You're getting me into a right old mess that way. Lehmar is not terribly generous when it comes to debts.
Thorben	But at least you are planning to pay my niece's debts. I guess I ought to thank you for that.
Me	Here's your gold.
Thorben	Thanks! Now I have at least part of the money I owe Lehmar.
Thorben	I can't believe she had the audacity to take my gold!