Halfling or Halfwit?

Springwane 20-22   The party finally extricated poor Grahm from the grasp of the skeletal hands and the dwarf spent the rest of the night sulking atop a wet, mossy boulder. With the morning sun, the sleepy group of adventurers turned back to their crumbling keep for much needed rest.   After spending time crafting and honing their skills, the party trekked to Mithril Docks with the intent of relieving themselves of the brass statuette Grahm looted from the Bodman Cairn. It had been decided that the feminine statuette carried some manner of curse that marked Grahm for attacks by devilish forces.   After an unsuccessful attempt to sell the figurine to the camp's trader for a fair price, a traveling halfling peddler named Barlow approached Rake with a proposition. Rake, still unsure if he wanted to sell the statuette or return it to the cairn to put the haunted ghost to rest, resisted the peddler's first few negotiating attempts. Then, after some clever intervention by Humperdink (with whom the trader clearly did not appreciate any hint of familial relation) and Grahm, the trader made an offer Rake could not refuse. Barlow smugly strutted off to his northern adventures, thoroughly convinced he hornswoggled a group of newbs, and the group split up the five gold.   Before dinner call, Grahm spent some of his newfound coin on repairs. The blacksmith, made loose tongued by his love of the 'smoke', let on that Skiff the foreman had a late night meeting with a couple of Rust Brothers two nights ago. Or maybe it was a week. The man was a little hazy on the details. He was sure, however, that after some time in the foreman's office, Skiff and the Brothers horsed up and rode like banshees north out of town. No one has seen Skiff since.   Rake, feeling inspired by his dealing with the halfling trader, regaled the evening crowd at the bar with a satirical tale of the negotiations. Caught up in the tale, the townsmen turned their drunken ire toward the halfling Humperdink and only some soothing words from Rake kept the situation from escalating into ugliness.   The next morning, the group united in the mess hall to decide on their next move. Rake decided to stay behind to work on his craft. With Morvil already at the keep to begin arrangements to improve the structure, the group was shorthanded. Luckily, a gimpy scout named Walker (he used to be Runner but took an arrow to the knee) stepped up and offered his services.   With their ranks back to four members, the group began to discuss their next step.