Sensing the apprehension in Fina's voice, the old man begins by answering your first question. "Well, now that you are all here..." he starts while glancing down at the halfling. "I have a job for you," he says, then quietly adds, "a job that will make you rich."
He reaches into a pocket of his trousers and pulls out a potion vial, placing it on the front edge of the table. He reaches in again and again, each time pulling out another vial, placing six of them in a neat row. "But if you'll indulge me, there's a bit of an audition first." Turning slightly, as if to indicate the miniature jungle behind him, he continues, "There's a wild ape in my greenhouse. I'd like you to defeat it without killing it. Unconscious is fine, bleeding is fine, magically subdued is fine. Just don't kill it."
Nodding toward the vials on the table edge, he says, "These are healing potions. Use them however you like." Almost as an afterthought he adds, "Oh, and do be careful. The ape is carnivorous...
... and quite hungry."
With that, he moves to stand beside the table, clutching his hands behind his back, and taking on an air of quiet observation.