1 GM: {glancing meaningfully over his copy of GURPS Rogues} You see a mysterious looking stranger talk to the barkeep in hushed tones and hand over a bag of money.
2 Lambert: We ignore him and go visit the town blacksmith to look for cool magical weapons.
3 GM: Sometimes I wish you guys would just follow the adventure plot.
3 Kyros: Follow the plot? What is this, some sort of fantasy game?

2012-03-17 Rerun commentary: It's interesting that Lambert would think the village blacksmith would have "cool magical weapons". Usually the smithies just have mundane equipment.

Well, except for the +4 sword they have stashed under the counter as a memento of their days as an adventurer-for-hire, and which they now use as insurance against any shady characters who visit, looking to poke around for cool magical weapons.

The barkeep in the background of this strip remained a fairly constant figure during the entire run of IWC. Every time I needed a barkeep, I'd grab the same minifigure. He must have relatives over in Footcrag, and on the far side of the Orcrift Mountains.