Alistair follows the Griento family into the dining car, sitting in the chair and adjusting his jacket, waiting with the palms of his hands on the table, nearly motionless, but still appearing casual, as if such precise, practiced actions were simply a way of life for the scholar.
Alistair sees a man that looks similar to one of his contacts walk with a woman wearing a train security uniform leave the kitchen area and walk towards 2nd class. The train cook comes by and leaves a bottle of wine and cheese and says, "This is the first course compliments of the Danoran Sovereign's nephew. Dr. Jierre."
@Chretien, Angus, Isaac, Iva.. Griento smiles and says, "That is an excellent choice, Mr. Dewir, Madame Burnett and Mr. Bray what would you choose?"
@Falko, you and Malia walk your way into the second class cabin and what you see is the dwarf, Verzubak, talking to the different people in second class while rolling what looks like dice in a cup. You then go into a compartment and close the sliding door and she says, "Ok, let's look for this rune."
Falko Perception/Detect Magic DC 15
She then says,"Ok, that shouldn´t be there. I do not know anything about how magic works or runes for that matter. Do you want me to report this to the conductor?"
Malia looks at you and shakes her head and says, "There are hundred of these gas lamps on the train and are not cheap to replace. I don't know anything about runes. Can you wash them off with steel wool and some soap?"
Falko makes his way back to the dining car to go and pick up some steel wool to clean off the runes and there you notice a bespectacled, nebbishy-looking man in his mid-20s. He has tousled dark hair, long, slender fingers, and a relatively narrow frame, he is wearing the comfortable trousers and shirt of someone not really looking of the 1st class variety but the dining car is for both 1st and 2nd class passengers and he is sitting with the Griento family minus Damata because he is in your compartment.
You also see Jierre using sign language with his wife Ottavia. In another one of the booths you see Elanor crestfallen and alone. Jierre says, "Mmmmyyyy cccommplimments forrr lunnnnch. Thhheeeeyyyy shhhallll beee brrrinnnggging it shhhhoortttlly."
Alistair uncorks the wine, inhaling from the opening in the bottle, his eyes closed, a smile forming on his face. "It smells wonderful. Care for a glass, Madam Griento?" He gestures towards her wine goblet with the bottle, offering a pour as he scans the dining car quickly, looking for his contact. He notices the man and woman heading back toward 2nd Class, sighing inwardly to himself. At least I've left myself a seat back there. I hope that damned Dwarf doesn't give me too much grief for it.
She says, "That sounds lovely. That man who just walked by works for Senor Mulheer, you may want to talk with him."
Malia and Falko go back to second class with the steel wool and she tries to rub off the rune with the steel wool to no avail and says, "It won't come off. Maybe you would like to speak with the conductor and engineer this evening about it."
Alistair feigns surprise, taking the napkin off of his lap and folding it on his plate. "My apologies, then, madam. If I may be excused for a moment? I dare not miss such an opportunity." When Ms. Griento gives her consent, Alistair will follow Gauthier to 2nd Class
Iva nods in agreement with Mr Griento's suggestion. "I do believe that is a good solution. A token payment, and I'm your lawyer for the duration of this issue."
She listens carefully to the description of the tokens. When the piranha token is mentioned she raises her hand. "I believe I will use that one."
Malia turns to answer and then she sees Alistair and says, "It looks as though someone wants to talk to you." she stops and whispers, "I cannot remove the lamps en masse there are hundreds on the train and it gets dark at three pm and we won't arrive until around 6pm. What I can do for you is have them replaced once we get to Nalaam, in Nalaam we can have the runes removed or put them on the train to Beaumont and then keep them in the no magic zone long enough for them to be rendered inert."
She then turns to Alistair as he approaches, "Do you need help finding your seat?"
Alistair shakes his head, holding his hand up and pointing towards Cephas/Cretien. "I've actually come to speak with Senor Mulheer's man here, Madam. Might I have a moment with the gentleman?"
i will rather have one as a token of friendship he replied smiling to Damata grienko
the toucan my probably interest Gauthier and fit him better then myself
Griento responds to Angus, "Please take whichever one assists you most."
He then turns to Falko and says, "Nalaam is the city of the most powerful mages in Lanjyr. They may have a means to experiment with the ancient fuerze espiritual and get the powers or maybe they will just anger the ancestors of these great spirits and cause a catastrophe. The Family probably can make a quick fortune by selling them to the Mages."
Cretien turns to the person in front of him and says, "Hello, yes, youre looking for me? Cephas is the name."
"I am Arlind Danior, sir. At your service." Alistair extends his hand, offering a handshake. "I've been sent to work in your service. Might there be a private location we can work out the details of my employment?"
Grientos says, "That may be a possibility. It depends if the wizards feel they can crack the magic without me being there. I am not a magician but a businessman who is related to a warchief. Luckily, my children aren't old enough to have performed the adultness ritual where they could also access the totems' powers."
Grientos says, "That is a great choice Senor de Nevereth. What would you like Senora Skipwith?"
Damata says, "I will meet you in the hotel lobby at 730 and the meet takes place at 8pm. I will leave the remaining totems and you pick the ones you will use."
And with that he walks out of the compartment.
Alistair and Chretien walk into the compartment now that Griento has left.
"Well, a case could be made for throwing the lamps out perhaps with more abandon. "
Arlind takes his spectacles off, rubbing the lenses on his tunic as he considers the information he's been given. He ignores any form of greeting or salutation when he replies, as he puts his spectacles back on. "Might I have a look at these runes? It's possible I may be able to discern a bit more of their nature. I don't mean to imply that Hilary was lax or incomplete in his analysis, but I'd like to see for myself. Additionally, it might benefit us to examine the oil being used, and perhaps determine what the intended effect is. All of this is preliminary information-gathering, of course, and shouldn't take more than a few minutes. After that, we can devise a course of action."
When the piranha token is mentioned she raises her hand. "I believe I will use that one. It fits with my skills."
"Glad to be here. She nods to everyone in greeting. Someone has been tampering with the locomotive and the lamps? Who or what is Nem? Please help me come up to speed. I want to be ready as possible to assist."
Isaac says, "I think our main concern is not give up our cover. If we start breaking into all of the cabins during the day, we definitely will be discovered. If we are to do anything we should probably wait until this evening. We have tossed our lamp out so this deed cannot happen to us. If they knew who we in actuality are, they would have took action against us already."