Silver Insanity

"Quite certain. Not even a rumor of such a beast has crossed my ears ere now." He seems disappointed, as if lack of knowledge of three legged cats was a serious failing in an umbrella salesman.

He brightens at Aurora's comment, though.
"Ah, then I have just the thing for m'lady." The umbrella he hands to you is an ornate affair, with blackened wood and gold (or perhaps just gold plated) fittings, and a handle made to look like a golden dragon with ruby eyes. There is no cloth on it*, just the framework, and when it's opened, fire spreads out where cloth ought to be.

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* Investigation will reveal that there is, in fact, cloth on it; it's just enchanted to be invisible. The flames are likewise illusory and won't actually burn anything. Still, it certainly looks impressive.

Aurora blinks at the umbrella for a moment, then gives a respectful chuckle. Running her fingers through the illusory flames, somehow causing them to react to the movement of her hand, she raises an eyebrow at the shopkeep. "And how much would this specimen be priced at?"

"Ninety five platinum." He looks slightly apologetic, "The gems aren't quite as high quality as they appear, I'm afraid."

"I doubt the caliber of the gems would be what most people would be thinking of when they see this," Aurora comments with a faint smile. Giving the draconic handle a second glance, she catches Stewart's attention. "Have a look at this would you? I've never seen an umbrella quite like this before, have you?"

Stewart looks it over. "Hm. Excellent craftsmanship on the illusion, and upfront on the quality of the gems." He gives the owner an approving smile. "But the end result is more than the sum of the parts. Unique indeed."

Aurora gives the umbrella one last examination and hands a handful of small platinum coins to the merchant without any haggling over the price. Curiously enough, the coins are stamped with a stylized dragon remarkably similar to the umbrella's handle.

The merchant hefts the coins carefully in one hand, and, apparently satisfied with their weight, tucks them into a pocket.

"A pleasure doing business with you, m'lady."

Stewart will similarly pay without haggling, although his coinage appears to be more standard. He will look to Aurora and comment, "as this town probably lacks a Name or three-legged cat store, I think it's off to the inn to bother the locals for information."

The locals seem to be singularly lacking in information regarding Name-seekers or three legged cats.

On the plus side, the rain has stopped by the next morning. It's still cloudy and windy and cold, but is much less wet.

Attempting further information gathering in the morning is a futile affair; the locals have found a far more interesting topic of conversation than some random adventurer's whims. Namely, the queen is with child; there will finally be a royal heir.
Officially, this is cause for celebration. Unofficially, people are getting their mourning clothes ready, and are setting up betting pools on how long the queen is going to last before she "succumbs" to her "illness" - and how long after that it'll take before King Darien re-marries to someone with a bit more political advantage attached.

Stewart tries to hide his distaste for the local populace by digging into a bowl of oatmeal heavily laden with cream. "One would think that somebody would know something useful."

When breakfast is done he sits and preens his whiskers. The addition of food and lack of rain appears to improve his mood. "One last lead to check before I storm the castle or wander aimlessly through the countryside, then. In 27 years, the 'lady of fire' should either have vanished or gathered a decent sized cult."

He gathers his supplies, pulls his umbrella out of his haversack (looking at the sky distrustfully), and heads out to the nearby temples to find information about "the lady of fire".