You see no obvious way to make an appointment on this side of the door. You knock, and wait. After a little while you hear a noise on the other side of the door. Eventually a metal plate slides to one side and you see the face of moneylender Lymas Smeed.
Smeed is a disgusting creature; heavily sweating in the warm sultry air, sporting a patchy beard on a pale and scabby face, and chomping on what looks to be an expensive though unlit Qadiran cigar. His two piggish eyes peer out at you, and you see what must be a painful sty, red and puffy, on his left eyelid.
”What do you want?” he barks through the small opening.
Garridan keeps quiet as his companions discus the door approach. He can't help shake the feeling that there is more going on then meets the eye. What was Saul holding back, he wonders. Garridan goes with Layne as she knocks on the door.
”What do you want?” he barks through the small opening.
Kaylayne shoots the man an unhappy return look.
"Are you Smeed the Moneylender? I may want to borrow some money...how do I make an appointment? Your f~%*ing sign makes no sense at all. How do you lend money if you can't make a piddlespotting appointment; how do you make an appointment?"
The evil looking creature spits back through the small metal window, taking the hostility very much in stride, ”You… you don’t make an appointment. It’s like this, if you have to ask, you can’t afford it. Hey, wait a minute. I know you. You’re Saul’s people. What do you want?!”
Kaylayne moves closer to the slat, looking at Smeed and around behind him.
Perception
"We are looking for what happened to our friend, Larur. Seems he came to see you yesterday...and then he didn't make it into work this morning," Kaylayne says. "Now, I'm not here to cause problems...and I know you want to help us find Larur. He was a good man."
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He moves his cigar from one side of his mouth to the other. You cannot see past him, much, but what you do see seems like a vestibule - a small room with another door just beyond, closed.
"Piss off. If you want to know what's up between me and Saul, go ask Saul. I'll not talk to the likes of you."
He tries to close the metal slat. Do you try to stop him?
Lief listens from behind Kaylayne, trying to catch any interesting sounds coming from the interior of the building.
He smiles politely enough as the Qadiran's eyes roam from Kaylayne, to Garridan, to himself.
"Piss off. I'll not talk to the likes of you."
Kaylayne's eyes narrow on the man, jamming her dagger into the slot before it closes
"Now you're just being rude. Are you sure we can't talk nicely about this?" Kaylayne hints that she'd like to keep it calm for Smeed.
Diplomacy
He bangs twice on the dagger trying to dislodge it.
"Now see here, tell Saul that what he owes me is gonna double if he ever dares send his thugs to my place again!"
He peers at you through the open slit and chews roughly on his cigar trying to will you away from his door.
So Larur never made it here, or so this man claims, either way this doesn't bode well for the Goblin or its partners, Garridan thinks as he watches the man behind the slot.
"So, even after payment, Saul owes you money?" Kaylayne shrugs to Garridan. "If you just answer some questions for us, we can be on our way. Tell you what, why don't we buy the information from you. You'll get something you want and you'll keep your front door intact, and we'll get what we want...which is Larur."
Diplomacy
He looks ready to slam the door again, but the lure of easy money 'causes him to hesitate.
"Fifty gold!" he snaps, and holds his lips as firm as his offer.
Kaylayne looks at Lief and Garridan, one hand on her dagger, the other clutching stones.
Lief steps up to the door, retrieving his coin pouch. He motions to both Kaylayne and Garridan to step back, aways. He turns back to the slit in the door.
"Mr. Smeed, I accept your offer. Please, allow me entrance so I may pay you discreetly. I will gladly enter alone, so we may talk. Is that alright with you?"
Gold dances in the mans eyes and he agrees, "OK. Just you."
He opens the door and lets Lief, and only Lief, in - slamming the door behind the two of them. He leads Lief through another door and into the next room.
Ederin keeps his senses alert in the alley trying to hear or see anything that may alert him to trouble.
Ederin, there are, surprisingly, no windows on the first floor. Now that you really look at the building, it looks like a fortress. Even the windows on the second floor are small, and barred.
Lief unleathers his pouch, and pulls out the 50gp entrance fee. He weighs the gold in his hand for a moment, and extends his hand, letting it fall into Lymas' upturned palm.
"I understand this is a difficult business, master Smeed. I am only under the employ of Saul until I can find better work. I am a gatherer of information. I leave the others to their talents. Mine is simply asking questions and getting answers. In a non-violent way, of course." Lief tucks away his pouch, and looks for a seat.
"I do not mean to take up your time unnecessarily, but I've bought some of it, right? Please, will you help me by answering some questions?" Lief waits for the man to raise an objection, then continues if one is not forthcoming.
...
Question One
"Saul tells us he took out a debt with you for 2000gp, and that Larur was meant to pay off several hundred of it yesterday. Did you meet with Larur to accept partial payment of your loan?"
"Larur was here yesterday, and he paid Saul's bill." he bites at the words as he bites at his cigar.
He seems to be telling the truth, but it's hard to read him.
Lief nods as he studies the man's mannerisms. In his mind, they feel as saliva-coated as the cigar in the man's mouth. The answer is direct, and the young man is pleased at least for that.
"Have you and Saul ever had trouble in your business relations together? I only ask that because I'm trying to ascertain if bad blood between the two of you might have led to trouble for one of Saul's own. I know that money can make for strange bedfellows."
Ederin climbs the wall and peers in a second floor window.
Kaylayne keeps hold of her dagger in the slat even as Lief makes his way in. He wants to keep on eye on him, no matter what.
Perception
Kaylayne doesn't say anything, yet.
Garridan places his hand on his rapier and whispers insistently to Layne, "What do you see?"
Lief looks down at the man's hands, mortified. "Not once did I threaten you, or even put hands on you. Take your hands off me." Lief steps back, and towards the front door, but stands his ground for a moment, making sure the man understands his overstep.
"25 gold for a question, eh? Pretty steep, don't you think? I understand you're vexed. So are we. We've lost a good man, and wouldn't be here, bothering you, without some concern. Please understand that I mean no insult to you in asking you these questions. Good day."
Lief walks to the front door, and waits for the man to allow him to leave.
Dimitrio continues to look around and silently urges Ederin on.
He wants to check if there's anything 'strange' with the man's house from this point of view.
He whispers up to Ederin, "You see anything?"
Shaking his heaf at his companion Ederin climbs down, but finds himself getting impatient. He tries the back door to see if it's unlocked, attempting to be as quiet as possible.
We need to find that damn dwarf!
"What do you see?"
Kaylayne whispers the gist of things to Garridan, but keeps her eyes trained on the room.
Kaylayne's breath catches as she looks about the room, she sees a ghostly herself standing within. Not the usual dead version of her, but a normal, standing version of her. Kaylayne's face pales, but she keeps listening, keeps watching.
What am I doing in there? How?
Herself beckons herself within.
"Oh..."
Lief comes bustling out the front door and the little man slams the door quickly behind him. He tries again to close the small metal window... does Kaylayne let him?
Lief doesn't lay a hand on the man, taking his leave, and spreading his clothes for neatness. He looks at Kaylayne and Garridan.
"I don't think Smeed is our man. I think he's a business man here, and may have his faults, but he's not denied Larur's visit and payment yesterday, and holds no ill will towards Saul. I agree with him, since he needs Saul in good business shape in order to pay off his loans." Lief looks up and down Rat Street.
"We have an aggressor we know, and his name is Zincher. If Larur is missing because he's been supporting Saul, it's only a matter of time before one of us meets a similar fate. I suggest we don't run errands for the Goblin by ourselves." Lief looks ready to leave Rat Street Loans.
Kaylayne releases the dagger, allowing Smeed to close the slat. She stares again at herself inside, and only barely stops breathing when herself waves by.
Shaken, Kaylayne can only stutter.
"I don't make him for it. I didn't see any others inside...and we know there were more than just one. Unless you saw others, Lief?" Kaylayne tries to focus and shake the image from her eyes.
Ederin takes one last look around the alley,
before deciding that it's been long enough. He signals to Dimitrio that he's headed back to the front of the building.
"No, there were no others inside. I heard what sounded like a baboon, however. I wouldn't put it past a man that surly to relate better to baboons than to people."
Lief moves around the building, waving to Dimitrio and Ederin to join them on Rat Street.
When they follow, Lief catches them up, and states plainly that he'd like to depart now.
"So it's another dead end. If his disappearance isn't related to the debt what does that leave us with?" Garridan asks his companions.
"So it's another dead end. If his disappearance isn't related to the debt what does that leave us with?" Garridan asks his companions.
Dimitrio looks back at the house as they walk away, "Well, like I said before. Saul said that losing Larur would be a major blow to the establishment..."
He looks around, "From what we know it sounds like Zincher would be quite happy if that were to occur. Question is, do we go straight to Zincher or perhaps gather some information on the street to help us out?"
The bard is quick to add, "I can make myself 'look different' for some time. I could go in to one of Zincher's place and talk directly without him knowing..."
"What are you thinking of?"
Garridan considers the bards remarks and responds, "I'd hate to stir up anymore bad blood between Zincher and Saul. Maybe you we should see what the word on the street is."
Lief looks on Garridan incredulously. "You're not being serious, are you? Seems Zincher will continue to put Saul to the thumbscrews, but will not seek the quick release of death to the man himself. There is plenty of bad blood between the two. If we manage anything, it will be a drop in the well." Lief adjusts his belt more tightly.
"Saul's asked us to find a needle in a haystack, so we were doomed once tasked with locating the poor dwarf. We can spend some time trying to learn something of Larur's last paths, I suppose."
Lief agrees with Dimitrio, that questions can be raised, and folks can be questioned. Inviting the others to attend to the gathering of information, the young man commits the time to investigate what can be investigated.
Kaylayne agrees with Leif for the most part.
"Nope. Yep. Nope. Nope," Kaylayne mutters, thinking. "Finding someone who knows anything about what happened to Larur is not going to be easy...not in a town this size. But we do have 4 or 5 different individuals who might have information. Maybe we should offer a bounty for good information? People like money."
Kaylayne tries to help Lief scare up a few leads.
Diplomacy
You spend a few hours in the public houses and canvassing the neighborhood near Saul’s home and Smeed’s business. You are able to find a woman who saw Larur last night, near Smeed’s place, but whether it was before or after the drop off you’re not sure. You also find some folks who saw Larur at his home earlier in the day, before work, but none that night. A patron in the pub heard a noise upstairs late last night, but Larur was almost certainly taken prior to that and it could have just been a robber.
If you trust Smeed, and the information gathered, it seems likely Larur was taken in or near his home some time soon after he paid Smeed. Possibly someone followed him, possibly they were in wait. Hard to know. Larur did not make it to the pub last night, but that did happen from time to time, particularly when he had to work late - so that doesn’t necessarily mean anything either.
However, as you are finishing this round of questioning, one of the Gold Goblin staff finds you in the streets. He’s breathing hard, ”I’ve been looking all over for you. Saul’s back, and he has some information for you. He wants you back at the ‘Goblin as soon as you’re done, uh, doing whatever you’re doing.”
He catches his breath and himself starts back to the casino to let Saul know the message has been delivered. It is mid afternoon.
Anxious for news Ederin begins following the messenger Saul sent.
"Hope he's done better than we have. We barely have more 'an' we started with."
I wish we would have had more luck, I don't trust Saul to tell us everything we need to know, Garridan thinks as they make their way back to the Goblin.
Kaylayne is ready to head back. She says little, still trying to riddle what she saw in Smeed's building: herself, but not an unhappy her.
Dimitrio's frowned face betrays his worry. Somehow all this talk had made him start to question Saul.
"Are you suspecting foul play from Saul?! Why would he want to kill Larur when he himself confessed how important he is to the Goblin?"
He stopped the others, "Let's think before we talk to Saul. If indeed he was involved in Larur's disappearance, what would he tell us now?"
"I don't think Saul is telling us everything he knows, I don't think he killed Larur" Garridan answers Dimitrio.
Kaylayne is ready to head back. She says little.
"Are you suspecting foul play from Saul?! Why would he want to kill Larur when he himself confessed how important he is to the Goblin? Let's think before we talk to Saul. If indeed he was involved in Larur's disappearance, what would he tell us now?"
Lief looks at Garridan, then Ederin, before turning to address Dimitrio. "I said nothing about Saul killing his own man. Why would you say that? I am only less trusting of Saul, as his first words were 'See what he's done to Larur'. Not, 'ask Smeed about Larur', or 'see if Smeed knows something useful about his visit with Larur'. Saul's first insinuation was Smeed's guilt, not Zincher's or someone else's. I find that off-putting, given his mannerisms." Lief looks at Kaylayne keeping quiet, then speaks again, using the downtime in their return to speculate further.
"We were sent pretty directly to Smeed's. If we return, and Saul has more information regarding Larur, it'll feel... off-putting, too, for its timing. 'Look there, so you don't look here', kinda thing." Lief falls into introspection for awhile, allowing the time for others to speak.
Garridan listens to Lief and observes, "Your right Saul did focus on Smeed right away." He considers this for a few minutes then offers,"Perhaps Saul wants us to take out Smeed so he doesn't have to pay off the rest of his dept. Larur's disappearance could be purposeful to make us pawns in achieving that goal." He takes a few more steps and continues, "Just something to consider, I know this for sure Saul is being totally straight forward with us."
The Gold Goblin is open for business when you return and Saul meets you at the front door as he finishes greeting a few guests. He looks for Larur among your number and shrugs dejectedly when he’s not there. He quickly takes you into Larur’s office near the cages and closes the door.
”I haven’t had much luck finding Larur, maybe, but I did discover a few things of note. But first, what have you found?”