CH. 7: The Viper's Nest

[Haahque]

Haahqae, despite his great knowledge of all things, completely misses the goblin's point. "Steel to jog your memory? That makes no sense. Steel is used for purchasing something, not eating, and even if you do eat it I doubt you'd get much out of it, maybe a little iron, but iron's for the blood, not for the memory. I'd recommend you try oil, I think oils are often good at helping jog your memory. Unfortunately I don't have any oils here."

[JadedDM]

Haahqae, Gregeddin and Grubnick (Happee Ohgr, Harbor District)
Klub looks blankly at Haahqae, then barks out with laughter. "I had heard gnomes were dumb, but I guess this really proves it. I want you to pay me, idiot! Give me money or I don't tell you anything. Geez, so much for subtlety," he groans.

Kendra and Arulia (Mageware Shop)
Magnus looks between the two curiously. "I wasn't aware Tulbas had any friends other than that loud mouthed gnome and the fop who follows him around everywhere." He bows slightly in introduction. "I am Magnus, owner of this shop and Tulbas' master. And no, he is not here. In fact, he never returned home last night. I sent him on his first field mission and the damned fool has already gotten himself in trouble. If he is even still alive, he will wish he wasn't when I get my hands on him." Magnus shakes his head. "His friends are already out looking for him. Just as well, as I left him in their care and they were the ones to lose him."

[TristenC]

Grubnick chuckles quietly to himself at the exchange. Gnomes indeed... this fellow is kind of funny, though...

[HorizonsDream]

"People do stupid things when they aren't in the right mind set," Kendra says with a small sigh. After all, Tulbas had just lost his uncle. She couldn't even imagine how hard that was on him. Though, she didn't like the idea he was missing either, but the others were looking for him. "What type of mission was he sent on?" she asks curiously.

[Haahque]

"Hey! Us gnomes are plenty inelegant and smart. I could make a wagon out of a giant's cage if you gave me enough time, a pokketdoor out of a scrap of paper with wire and a wrench and I even know some trigonometry. I bet that's better then you!" Haahqae, convinced that he convinced the goblin of his genius, puzzles out the rest of the goblin's sentence.

"Oh, it's a bribe, I gettit. I thought you were supposed to bribe a guard when their superior officers wouldn't like what you want them to do, but for this task your superior officers would be totally fine with you telling me. In fact, given who I got my papers from, they'd probably order you to tell me for free if they found out. But I don't see any of them around right now, so perhaps this should be enough?" Haahqae slides a steel piece over to Klub.

[TristenC]

Dear gods, does he ever stop talking? Grubnick shakes his head slightly, taking a drink. He fishes his new pipe out and holds it in his teeth as he loads it with tobacco. Drawing air through it he savors the rich flavor from the added spice and cavendash mixing with the un-lit leaf.

Ooc: are there lamps/candles lit anywhere, and are there some near the entrance?

[BishGada]

Wth the creature appearance tulbas stays as indiferent as possible. With the woman explanation his says, "Thanks Ward. Nice to meet you." but then he looks at the woman and says "I thought you just want to be left alone. Ward here seems to have no cencern with you. Why did you... transformed him?" Then he looks at the bowl of food. try to figure how to stall "I'll accept your generous offer now." He smiles and Gestures to the food.

[djhyland]

Given that Arulia does not know Tulbas or his ominous-looking master, she remains silent while Kendra and the man talk. Finally, though, she asks, "Can you tell us where you sent your student, Sir? Even if he's not there, it would be the best place to start looking, I think."

[JadedDM]

Haahqae, Gregeddin and Grubnick (Happee Ohgr, Harbor District)
Klub rolls his eyes but quickly snatches the steel coin when offered and puts it away. "Last I saw him he was heading to the old brothel. Too bad for him, they closed it down years ago. So I'm guessing he was disappointed." Klub shrugs. "Never saw him again after that."

(OOC: Haahqae loses a steel piece.)

Kendra and Arulia (Mageware Shop)
"It was a job from the church to seek out some Belzorites that were apparently still in hiding this whole time," Magnus answers. "They are very big on rooting out any and all heretics in the city and will pay quite handsomely anyone who has information to help them in their search. I got Tulbas' friends to agree by promising one of them a free spell. They were more than happy to assist."

To Arulia he adds, "I don't know where they went in their investigation. The gnome said something about Tulbas visiting the graveyard after curfew, but what he was doing there I cannot say. I sincerely doubt that is where the Belzorites are hiding. But if they are, he was still foolish to head out there alone."

Tulbas Erogund (Unknown location)
"We had no choice," the woman replies. "He found our base and we couldn't let him go. He'd tell the Seekers. We have had to make difficult decisions in order to stay hidden." She picks the bowl of oatmeal back up and hands it to the young elf.

[TristenC]

Hearing Klub's information, Grubnick finishes his ale and walks to a candle/light nearer the door and lights his pipe using a clean-ish piece of straw from the floor. He heads outside and stands some small distance from the door.

Taking a slow drag from his pipe he ponders the situation... It might be best to see what these mercenaries are up to... if the Belzorites stll exist, they might be useful against the dragon queen...

He waits outside for the two to leave and will follow at a distance, doing his best to blend in with the goblin crowd. He will extinguish and put away his pipe before following.

[Haahque]

Haahqae muses over the information given to him for a few moments before heading to the door. "Hmm, very interesting. Very interesting indeed. Lotsa people seem to be disappearing around there. Maybe its a ghost or a shadow that gets 'em at night. We better check it out again."

Striding out into the street again he makes his way to the old brothel to see if he can find anything there that he hadn't seen last time. Like perhaps an elf, no wait, he saw that there last time, but this time it would be special to see it there.

[HorizonsDream]

"And they probably didn't tell you where they were going to search for him, did they?" Kendra asks. "Well, with that in mind, perhaps you could help us?" she asks. "Do you know who might be hiring?"

[JadedDM]

Haahqae, Gregeddin and Grubnick (Near the old brothel, Harbor District)
Haahqae and Gregeddin return to the area near the old brothel. Unbeknownst to them, Grubnick tails them.

They begin their search outside, checking the area around the building and the alley in the back. There's a faint smell of burned flesh in the alley, a bit of ash on the wall, and they find a small splatter of dried blood on the ground.

Kendra and Arulia (Mageware Shop)
Magnus chuckles. "Unless you are offering to be my new apprentice should Tulbas be dead, I'm afraid I can't help you. So, you're feeling the pinch, too? I heard a number of masters were letting their workers and even apprentices go because of the new tax hike."

[TristenC]

Grubnick keeps his distance a bit and observes, taking his pipe back out. Could this be it? It's secluded and abandoned, certainly... There must be some substantial magic protecting them from the dragon queen's scrutiny...

[BishGada]

Tulbas takes his time eating, "You know... there is always a choice, but lets speak of it later. I wonder if you heard about the cult of the followers of The Master? Their leader used powerful magic to present himself as a priest of a true god. Eventually he was exposed. He killed people and deceived all his followers. Obviously he healed no one. He used any one of them, even his most loyal followers. Have you heard of it?"