Aye, from what I heard earlier there are three bars in this place, so it depends how much coin we can afford to spend I suspect. I would think they might have headed to the lower end bar initially. Therefore, with us spending all the time that we have here, they might have moved on already. It's your call my friend.
"In my experience, dives are best avoided unless ya want sock someone in the nose. Your right about the time, too. Hmmmm...let's just wait for them near the swanky joint. Those rich types love a good gladitorial tale, hahaha. We may get off without paying a copper."
Archaouss looks at his colleague and raises an eyebrow letting her questions run their course.
He turns to look at the man she indicated.
"Perhaps he is merely a townguard miss. But he is the most likely out of all these people, perhaps you wish me to follow him then?"
To the Judges Ruin it is then my friend. Tell you what, the first round is upon me.
Elon will happily take the lead, his mind working over the possibilities of what is in these ripped out pages. Unsure of whether giving the blood and hair was the right thing, he puts it out of his mind for the moment. Moving quickly but unobtrusively to the tavern, he tries to remain aware of his surroundings.
With slap on the back, Marcus says"Lead the way in that case,hahaha!"
"Perhaps he is merely a townguard miss. But he is the most likely out of all these people, perhaps you wish me to follow him then?"
Perhaps. She said with less enthusiasm in her voice compared to last time. Yet something is not right... I also think we should NOT let this man go away from under our noses. She gets off the chair and tries to fallow that man to the best of her abilities. Agira takes one last look at Elondor and his new friends to make sure everything was alright before going through the door. I suspect this won't be a problem for you? she asks Archaouss once again.
"What would be the price of this information?" Archaouss says sipping his wine slowly.
And also, why would you be helping us? Agira said after checking if her wine had nothing put in it. She did not know if she could trust the barkeep or not. He certainly figured out they were not from this town and that they were looking for the thief real fast.
After Paul leaves, Well I hear there's a reward for those that return these orbs. You gentlemen know where I can find this Toby? I sure wouldn't mind some coin. Also, what does he look like?
From the outside it is a white building with Dark brown wooden slating as decoration. the front door is dark wood and larger than you expect for a tavern/inn. you cant hear any noise from the outside, it must be sufficiently sound proofed you think. the windows are leaded and clean.
As you enter, it is quiet small on the inside, at least at the bar. On the left as you enter are a set of stairs leading upwards. the bar is behind the stairs and is very well lit. there are a few white tables dotted around and many stools at the bar and around the walls. There are lots of tall windows that let in plenty of light. The bar man looks over at you and nods as you enter.
There are a few people in, well dressed but sitting alone. no one but the bar man looks up as you enter.
"I can do this but not just for a location, I want to know about Mr. Graves, for these two bits of information I will retrieve this book." Archaouss narrows his canted elven eyes brooking no argument quite willing to leave the innkeeper with his information.
Whispering to Elon,Marcus says,"I think we might be a little under dressed for a place like this, hehehehe."
The cleric couldn't help but smile when he heard Archaouss raising the tax for the mission. The name sounded familiar... she remembered that was the loud woman Argius spoke of and wasn't too thrilled about stealing her precious book, maybe they can extract more than a book out of that woman. We will bring you the book.
Well can you direct me either to somewhere I can find him or to someone who might know? Elondor begins flipping a gold through his knuckles.
Only slightly my friend, although with your strong back and that head upon your shoulders I am sure we will do well. Let us sit quietly and wait for our companions. It might be an idea to peruse these pages a little, and certainly good liquor is conducive to those efforts. Find a decent table and I will order for us both. Have you a preference?
"I think it wise to stick to an ale. I have a bit of fury in me with stronger drink, hahaha. Been known to take things out of context if ya will." Marcus gives his friend a wink and finds a table in the corner. Elon hears Marcus greeting other customers in a booming voice as he moves across the tavern.
"Too true, my friend, too true. Tell me if you find anything that might allude to why we had to give up that bit of us. I'd also like ya to be sliding a little closer to the wall. Can't be too cautious when issues like these abound."
If you wish me to sit with my back to the wall then that suits me well, although in that case make sure to not get a seat near a window. That might be slightly counterproductive Elon smiles and continues reading through the pages that they have been given
At least he seams, half honest. Agira said to Archaouss while leaving the tavern. So what now? Are we going to extract some extra information from her first or should we just get what that man wanted? We could always try the easy way. Her temple had nothing against what she was about to do, yet they didn't encourage it either, only on some occasions when those actions were tied to the fate of that person. The cleric doubted that was the case here. As she didn't knew what to make it of the free advice given by Paul, she let the information rest until it's time would came.
Archaouss turns and looks at the woman for a moment before giving her a smile. "Think your up for a bit a show then?" Think you could provide a distraction, pretty maiden like you sure you can pull some something together. I can slip in and get this book. No one the wiser."
"A distraction yes, a show, well... I could... but I doubt that Sir Graves would be happy to hear about it. And something tells me that lady would not fall head over heals for a 'pretty maiden'. " She had a couple of ideas of what she could try but she didn't had much hope in stealing the book, at least not by herself.
The ale is good, certainly one of the better I have tasted in my time. I can assure you that we mean no trouble, although if some is started then we will protect ourselves. Thank you for your concern.
Elon is attempting to be friendly and the like, but his mind is on the pages in front of him and attempting to learn whatever lessons that they might have within them.
I'll see what I can do. Stay close Agira told the elf while moving closer to the big woman's stand.
Pick-me-up? Agira inquired. She was honestly curious about what the other woman was selling. She presumed that the woman standing in front of her was Sybil but she had to be sure, she would definitely not want to steal from the wrong person.
Archaouss nods trying to remain unimposing and out of notice following closely at the girls heels.
Perception, trying to see the book
The woman on the stall leans forward towards Agira. From the sweet smell of elven wine on your lovely breathe you would be better served with this. She passes Agira a small bottle, red in colour, the liquid inside appears darker than the red colour of the bottle. This should help you later on when the wine leaves your system. She leans in a little closer almost knocking the bottles over at the back of the stall as she leans over it and whispers between you and me gorgeous,Leggies isn't the best of places to go on a first trip to town. It is not always safe there. especially when Paul is on bar. Try the Judges ruin instead, much friend..lier there. She winks at Agira and returns to position behind the stall awaiting her reply.
“Billy and the misses have been arguing for a while. She wants to move, he does not. The lat I heard them arguing so much was just before the Toby incident.”
“The first orb has been moved as requested. Rumors have it that someone is out to get them. As usual the merchants and leaders pay no head. Silly men and there invincible attitudes.”
“the second Orb is now missing. The town is getting worried. Something strange is happening, more and more of Drink 592 are going missing. Well to be more accurate the ingredients are.”
“Only two people know where the Leader Orb is kept, and one of them hasn’t been her for along time. I believe it is an inside job. The city down the river has a lot to gain from this, though my instincts tell me that this is so some one will lose. Not so someone will win.”
“Mr graves can’t tell who did it. We are in trouble this time. He says he is sending for help but I’m not sure they will get here in time.”
“Billy and the misses are up to something. General rumors say so anyway. No smoke without fire and there is a hell of a lot of smoke in their direction.”[i]
[i]“ ’midnight didn’t come….’ I found that written on the back of my hand, in my hand writing this morning. I have no idea how it got there. But I know I wrote it. I just know I did.
“Paul isn’t what he seems. I saw him and those idiot dribble brothers walking down the river. They sat by the water for a while. Not unusual in itself but now I cant recall the rest of my night. The next I remember I am sat on the other bank, still hidden but they are gone and it is nearly dawn.”
“Paul keeps asking me about combinations of liquids. There is something in his eye. He isn’t the same man who entered the village all that time ago to start his tavern. I am sure of it now. At first I thought he was been arrogant after our encounter the other night but no. That is not the man I spent time with.”
“A lot of my customers are looking tired and withdrawn. I have sold more pick-me-ups than I expect to for this time of year. Also I have sold more treen drinks. The only ingredient they have in common is kale routes. And the butcher is selling more red meats. I wish I knew what was going on.”
“went to see Mr. Graves for the sixth time and yet again I was turned away by that idiot. Though I found a weird receipt in my records not long after that said ‘keep looking’ I can only presume some one else is concerned.”
“Paul smiled at me the other day and I saw it. Something off about it. To wide or to toothy. My memory is begging to fuzz again. I need to write before I forget. Maybe it was moving in a way it shouldn’t. but something was off. Paul cant be trusted don’t forget Sybil.”
Elon reads the pages that he has in front of him aloud quietly, his voice just about audible to Marcus, but not carrying much further than that.
There are a number of things to look into. Firstly, what is meant of by this Toby incident. There is talk here of some of the orbs being moved, if we can find where they were moved too then there is a good chance we have a new lead into this whole investigation.
Kale roots and red meat is often used to strengthen the blood. Is there a chance that someone is harvesting the town for the blood? If so then this needs investigation, regardless of whether it helps us find the orbs or not.
Sybil for some reason suspects this Paul man. It might be an idea to look into why it is that his form allegedly changed during one of her encounters with the man.
More as a general point said to himself What on earth is this Drink 592?
Opening the vile she pours a drop on her hand and tasted it. She doubted that the woman would sell her something very dangerous. It felt somewhat familiar. "You sure seem to know a lot about potions, and about the town. " Agira said, neither approving, disapproving or even mentioning anything related to the leggies. She thought of how easily she was discovered, not once but twice in a couple of hours and how difficult it will be for Archaouss to blend in. She wondered what to do till she saw a pretty potion at the corner of the stand:"And this one?"
"Well, I'm not sure that the this little bit of info has done more than give us even more work to look into. Toby....? Phew, who knows. It could be a son, maybe. Perhaps something has happened to the lad or maybe he's done something." Taking another swig from his mug , Marcus sits back in his seat and calls out to the bar keep, "Tell yer brewer that this is one of the finest I've had." Wiping the foam from his lips, the warrior cast a long eye on the proprietor for a moment feeling that he has seen this man before. "Barkeep. Could ya come and chat a while?"
Actually I do feel a bit stressed.Agira said. She actually was stressed stealing the book,yet what she said next was a lie. However I am a bit reluctant to try the potions. As you know I am new in the town and I have no knowledge of your merchandise or their owner. How do I know if it works? Or if it doesn't have some adverse effects? She looks long at the potion in the far end... then tries to snap out of it.
"Excuse me, I didn't want to sound rude, but if you could try one of them, that could clear me of my doubts. The stress remover potion does sound useful."
She had two plans in mind. One at using Sybil's body against her while getting that potion. She doubted that would work though. That woman seamed smart enough not to stretch too much over the potions. The other one would be a little more direct.
"I gave you a freebie hun, try that one. as for side effects, never had a complaint yet. There is recourse for the placebo effect in some of my drinks, though it still works in that case. She winks and smiles slightly.What you have there is not one of my cheap ones, but anythign for the people who are going to save the town. you other friends where very nice before.
I'll be sure to talk to Paul then, thanks for the company! Elondor walks over to Paul, So i hear you may know where I might find Toby. I thought i'd see about returning those orbs to get some money, and he seems like a good place to start. Elondor very obviously flips a coin into the air.