The maid nods hopelessly and leads the way back to the scullery, through the kitchen where one of the workers is lying on a table bleeding. The snake hisses angrily as Njord approaches, then darts forward and tries to bite him!
... but his fangs find only leather.
Njord's eye go wide at the sight and the big ulfen pulls his sword and hacks at it.
Randall, sure that there are plenty of people going after the snake, works to calm the customers. He climbs up onto a Doubles table and shouts, "Ladies and gentlemen! Please! If I may have your attention! You are of course welcome to leave if your business takes you elsewhere, but we have the matter well in hand and there is no need to rush out. If you wish to continue your games, feel free to do so. For obvious reasons, we ask that you do not go near the kitchen door until we have the matter completely resolved."
He will ask any croupiers working gambling tables near the kitchen to take their chips to the cage as they would at the end of their shift and to assist in crowd control until the crisis has passed.
Jametor thinks this might be a diversion and the others have rushed to the kitchen, so he keeps an eye out for anything amiss in the gaming room.
Fíriel joins Randall in trying to talk down the crowd. "Everyone just calm down!" she calls out. "There's no danger to any of you! Just take it easy, and I'm sure gaming will resume quickly!"
Randall manages to calm the crowd somewhat, and the dealers promptly obey him, though they're hindered a bit by the chaos among the patrons. Swiftwing sees a few people trying to take advantage of the situation to benefit themselves.
Antal begins speaking in a darker tone of Halfling at the snake, his eyes darkening momentarily.
The snake hisses in anger as it's struck, swaying back and forth threateningly before darting forward to strike again at the bigger of its foes.
Njord grunts in pain as the snake's fangs dig into his flesh.
With a roar, he smashes down into it again.
Antal reaches out to strike at the beast, his hand wreathed in the dark cold of the beyond.
The snake goes down with a crushed skull, and the scullery workers cheer heartily. Things begin to calm down in the main area when the patrons see that there are no dragons on rampage. The workers crowd around their wounded peer, and one of them shudders. "It was so horrible... oh, I hope there's not another one in there. This has never happened before!"
Njord wipes the blood off of his sword and stows it.
It’s been a long time since I’ve had to use that thing.
”Yeah, I have a feeling I know who is responsible”, the big ulfen says with an unhappy growl.
Quickly resuming his goofy grin, Njord pats the injured worker on the back.
”Everything’s okay now. How’s that bite?”
The injured worker does not respond, seeing as she's lying on a table unconscious.
Producing a vial filled with a green fluid, Njord clears the other workers away and examines the wound.
”This should help”, he explains as he undoes the stopper and applies the ointment to the injury.
Jametor climbs down out of catwalks and heads for the kitchen. Upon arrival and seeing the snake casts Detec Magic spell. Holding it on a cone around the snake, Jametor concentrates for the full length of the spell.
After he finishes with the spell he asks, "Did anyone see any strangers in here prior to the snake showing up? Or outside the kitchen area?
Jametor doesn't detect any magic. Njord's brew stops the bleeding, and the woman's breathing becomes easier, but she remains unconscious. The other workers all shake their heads at the wizard. "No, I'd've seen 'em." "No one in here but us, and we'd not do such a terrible thing." "We were just washing up from dinner when she turned over that barrel and screamed..."
Njord shakes his head.
”She’ll be okay but there’s nothing we can do now but wait out the poison. Can someone get her home and keep an eye on her?”
The halfling begins looking over the barrel the woman is talking about, for any identifying marks, tampering, etc.
Another of the workers nods and picks up the woman, leaving by the back door to avoid panicking the crowds. Antal thinks that it's just a regular barrel that's been sawed in half to function as storage... though it's a bit odd that one half was upside-down?
A young man who up til now has remained silent sighs. "Well... I guess we all get back to work now?"
After receiving the all-clear, Randall reassures the crowd.
"All is well, ladies and gentlemen. You were never in any danger thanks to the quick work of our staff. If you don't mind, I will head in to congratulate them on their work. Please, return to your games."
He heads into the kitchen to get the scoop and help look for clues.
Tucked under the tub just out of sight of Antal's search, Randall finds a scrap of paper. The scrap simply shows a crude drawing of Saul, now with both hands missing instead of just the one. A brief threat is scribbled below the drawing.
Looking to go two for two, Saul? Pack up, get out of town, and you'll be fine!
"Who was in the kitchen when the snake appeared? We need to talk to each of them."
The young man who'd suggested getting back to work shrugs. "I was here, and Sue, and probably Wig and Kay. Sue's the one who... found it."
"Well we can't stop this from happening if we don't know who to go after. Someone saw something, the barrel didn't just appear. Someone needs to come forward or more bad things might happen."
Njord studies the assorted workers closely.
My wolf-nose would be able to sniff out the culprit easy as pie but… no… it’s too dangerous.
”Who here knows about the special guest out on the floor tonight?”
The halfling seems to relax a bit, even though his bones still creak. Antal speaks a few soft words, intoning low before he addresses what staff there are.
"I'm sure someone must have additional information on this delicate situation. We truly want to make sure everyone, especially the staff in this area, is safe, but we can only really achieve that when we know exactly what's happening. Who here would like to start?"
"The tubs've been there a long time, and never had nuthin' but dishes under 'em before now," says one worker. Another worker nods agreement. At Njord's question, the young man (whose name turns out to be Bray) speaks up. "I heard Clegg was here, but didn't see him." His eyes grow wide. "You think he had somethin' to do with this?"
"We know that the snake did not enter the kitchen on its own, that it was placed here as a threat to Saul. If no one unusual was in the kitchen, it stands to reason that one of the usual folks did it."
He taps his forefinger on his lips. "The thing is, we don't know if Clegg had anything to do with it. We don't know how long the snake was under the tub - it could have been placed yesterday and only uncovered today..." He focuses on Bray, who has been so forthright thus far. "Anyone other than kitchen staff, then, in the last day? Delivery people? Employees from other parts of the Goblin that aren't usually in the kitchen? If we want to keep our jobs, we need to work together to keep the Gold Goblin open. These threats and attacks have to end."
"That tub was emptied last night; I did it myself." says 'Wig', a middle-aged man with flowing shoulder-length hair.
Bray shakes his head at the halfling. "Honest, there's been nobody in here but us, and none of us would do that to poor Sue... or anyone else here, either."
"Thanks, Wig, that helps. Then we need to consider that someone came in without being seen. If you were going to sneak something under the tub while people were working in here, how would you do it? Not saying you did it, but because you know the routine in here, you are as qualified as any sneak observing the comings and goings in here."
"I don't believe that anyone planned on Sue being bitten. I think the plan was nothing more than a good scare - and a disregard for whoever might be affected. Wait - who would normally be moving the tub? Is that normally Sue's job? Or does it vary?"
Njord remains silent as Randall questions the workers.
One of them's gotta know something...
Jametor is also silent, watching along with Swiftwing.
"Just depends on who gets to it first. See, if the dishes pile up too much, we keep 'em under the tub so we don't get rats and other things in here."
Wig frowns and bites his lip thoughtfully. "If I were gonna do it, I'd come in here through the back door while us workers were havin' dinner. We're usually in the other room, and maybe this one would be empty. But we don't even eat dinner at the same time every night, so I don't see how you could know. Mind, I'm not saying any of us did it, 'cause I don't believe that any more than Bray here. But you asked what I'd do."
"Can anyone come in through the back door or is there a guard?" the halfling asks, after a moment of thinking.
"And that's exactly what I was looking for, you're doing great."
"So - when you had lunch, Wig, who did you eat with?"
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Bray shakes his head at Antal, and glances as Njord as if to say: what is this, the halfling mafia? "The back door stays locked and barred, but there's no guard. The bar drops if you close it... I think we've all gotten locked out there a few times, heh."
At Randall's question, Wig scratches his face thoughtfully. "We usually all eat together... Sue and Kay ate first, then Bray and I had lunch after them. Lunch is pretty simple, just whatever's left around. Dinner... Sue had to run out for a bit to pick up a present for her ma, I think, but the rest of us were here."
"What if Sue was tricked into bringing in something that turned into the snake?" looking at the others, "Is that possible?"
Fíriel shrugs. "Don't ask me... I don't know anything about magic."
"Yes, I suppose it could be possible. I don't have that capability, but I do know how to summon an viper, if I chose to. But, I didn't detect any magic on that snake."
"What if it was originally a snake and the magic made it look like something else? When the magic wore off and the snake became a snake again, would you see the expired magic still?"
"Did anyone see the gift she got for her mother? Where did she put it?"
Wig shakes his head. "Don't think she brought it here... just ordered it or something. She said..." He scratches his head as if trying to remember. "She said she'd heard of a new merchant from one of the ones who came in here last week trying to find a job and didn't get hired. Said they claimed he had real good prices, and that he could order just about anything and get it here quick, so I'm guessing she just went to order her ma's gift."
"I think we need to talk to Sue. Where is she?"
"She got taken home... the man... Njord, was it? sorry... Njord said we'd have to wait out the poison."
Njord nods in confirmation of the claim.