[Amanaduial the archer]

Aman stood staring at the fire, her eyes bleak, her hands holding her upper arms to wrap tightly around her chest, pinioning the cloak shut. She had been stopped from going in by the man, Grimm, and still he hovered behind her. 'No use going back in'...what does he mean, 'no use'? she raged inwardly, although she knew the Rohirrim soldier spoke sense. But she was barely aware of many around her, the general misery and the thought that this was her home going up in flames consuming her. And she was being stopped from going back in!

Behind her, Grimm turned to speak to another. And paused in her thoughts and slowly moved her eyes around, away from the flames, towards Grimm. His attention was taken up! Surreptitiously, the Innkeeper sidled away, sneaking sidewards until she was away...and a flash of conversation caught her ears.

"...Hope someone will have the sense to get the wine and barrels out..."

The familiarity of the voice barely struck Aman as her eyes suddenly widened. Of course! The drink; although she had grabbed the till, there was more wealth in the huge range of drinks available, mainly in the cellar - and it was far more dangerous than a metal box of coins. The flames may be dying, but the alcohol would cause it to go up like a shot if it was ignited, and there was a whole cellar of it!

Barely noticing the drops of rain, Aman darted straight past with a muffled cry, diving in through the side door and into the Common Room...before skidding to a halt and making herself turn."I need help! Someone who isn't tending to the wounded or...you, sir!" she pointed at a young, sallow looking man, who immediately whirled around with an expression of guilt which the Innkeeper, at the time, barely registered, then caught the eye of the woman beside him, attired like a ranger, the strangeness of which Aman didn't even have time to contemplate. "And you, please - it may seem foolish, but I must get the drink out. The wine, the ales, ciders, juices...oh, it will go up like a shot if even these small flames reach it!"

The woman nodded immediately. "My name is Roa, at your service."

Aman nodded gratefully before ducking back into the Common Room, which was steadily getting soggier as the bucket chain did it's work. Aman made a mental note to do something about all these helpers afterwards - what she wasn't sure, her thoughts jumbled as they were, but it would certainly be something. The ranger followed her as she darted through the room towards the cellar steps, and neither of them noticed the shifty man's eyes light up wickedly as he followed...