Brickasnurd looks aghast at the mention of the notorious name.
"Bloodeye? That cad?" he exclaims, dropping his raven-feather duster to the floor. "Don't tell me he's involved in this! If he has his grubby fingers on this business, it's instantly soured."
He picks up the duster, only to angrily slap it down on the shop counter.
"He best not be trying to dupe me into smuggling anything into town for him, otherwise he's missing as much of his brain as he is missing of his nose."
A shiver runs through the slim shoulders of Naomi's employer.
"Now I'm all the more thankful for your offer to accompany me. Even the suggestion of Bloodeye's involvement makes these 'hunters' magnitudes more unscrupulous in my ledger. All the same, I cannot deny my curiosity and would still like to see these egg specimens."
”Heh. Sounds like the plot might have a twist and hidden antagonists to boot.”
”Well, I guess we should grab a beer first. Right?!”
Boggel nods. It's always a good idea to gather more information if one can.
At the Sitting Duck, Tock tops off Helgrim's mug to the brim before addressing your questions. He looks about the bar, a nervous habit he's developed of late, before speaking.
"I've no idea what Bloodeye could be bringing in," Tock says, keeping a particular eye on his serving girl, Jalene. "As long as he pays his percentage, he's never had to worry about Kreed taking an interest in his business. Whatever this is, if he's worried about Kreed finding out, it must be something that would pose a threat to his power."
Boggel's head pops up at that statement. If it is bad for Kreed, it is something we need to look into.
"It depends on where its coming from," Tock says on Bloodeye's smuggling. "If it's from Olfden or Oregent, it gets brought along on Ayda Vorshin's caravan. If he's bringing in things from Cheliax, then it comes down the river after being carried by road to the Gold Falls."
Singling out Jalene visibly spooks the bar owner. Tock leans in closer, lowering his voice to a barely audible whisper.
"She still spies for Kreed. While I once kept an ear open for the men's overall chatter at day's end, she would focus on individual men and get close, intimately plying them for information. I fear that she has also been the end of at least one man who displeased the Gavel."
He pauses to shudder after saying this before continuing.
"I fear, even more, that Kreed now has her watching me."
"Um humm."
The dwarf mutters quietly without letting his eyes betray a look he peers into the mug as he gets after the sudsy beverage.
"good to know."
Boggel is stunned as Helgrim leads him outside. "You... hit him? I don't understand. I thought he was friend?" He has a truly puzzled look on his face as he stares at Naomi.
Boggel nods as if he understands. He has never been particularly good with subterfuge. Stealth is one thing, but calculated deception is... far more complicated. "Let me know if he needs any more slapping."
Jak Crimmy welcomes you back with his usual gregariousness. When you ply him for information on the coming business at the docks, he strokes his broad chin thoughtfully.
"I can't say I know much there," he muses. "Bloodeye keeps as far from me as Kreed does, and his boys don't come around much more than that, either. There's a lot that he smuggles in and out of town: pesh, flayleaf, moonshine. Of course, he doesn't keep those very well hidden, so I don't know what he might be trying to keep away from the Gavel's attention."
He takes a swig from his own mug before continuing.
"I've heard rumors about some of the more dangerous items that Bloodeye traffics in," Jak says with more seriousness than he usually affects. "Things like religious baubles smuggled in from Cheliax for the people who still secretly follow their devil-worshiping ways. I can't see him tricking ol' Brickasnurd into getting involved over that, though."
"Bah! Cheliax! We don't need any devil worshipers around here . . . is the moonshine good?"
"He spoke of eggs. I wonder what kind of eggs one would need to keep secret."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The dwarf almost spits out the bar pretzels he is munching on.
"Ha! Ha! Ha! Maybe Deviled Eggs! Har har har! Get it? Deviled eggs. Oh gosh, that's rich."
Jak affixes an icy stare upon Helgrim as the dwarf asks about the moonshine.
"You've proven to be a fine fellow, Master Ironstar, so I will forgive you this time," he says with uncharacteristic severity. "However, I would ask you to never speak of moonshine in my establishment again."
After a tense, nervous moment, Jak's stony expression crumbles and he breaks into laughter.
"Ha! I had you going there, didn't I? Anyhow, their moonshine is about on par with a bottle of Sauerton Red - very cheap, very strong, and very foul. The vintners down from Sauerton at least put a little dedication and heart into their town's namesake swill, which is why it earns a place in my inventory. But that moonshine? No heart at all. I won't have it under my roof."
Helgrim's joke about the eggs earns a genuine laugh from Jak - or at least, he makes it seem genuine to humor his guest.
"As for this business on the docks, if it were me, I'd just bring Sheriff Baleson and a couple of his men. Arresting these smugglers and confiscating whatever they're transporting would probably rankle both Bloodeye and Kreed - might even set the two against each other. Of course, if they've roped Brickasnurd in as a patsy, well then, it would be a shame to have the ol' gnome's reputation tarnished by getting publicly wrapped up in their schemes."
Boggel does not wish the gnome to come to harm, especially since he is a purveyor of syrup. Although he does like the idea of sticking it to Kreed; Bloodeye sounds like a happy addition, like adding syrup. "Hmm, perhaps if we were to inform the sheriff that Briksanurd is 'undercover,' to expose such smuggling, yes?"
Hmm. Perhaps my association with these people IS making me sneakier.
After he gets a lot of the morning chores done he heads into town and begins to get a few things delivered to the farm, like more grain and hay. He then heads to Briksanurds and asks were the others went.
After the gnome, he heads to Jaks to get a bit and a nice glass of warm cider. Entering he taps his boots off with his staff, his new sword on his hip as he looks at the others and raises a hand."How goes it friends"
"Okay, I am tired of waiting for the next shoe to drop. We need the whole team together and we need to pull in that Tim fellow and make a plan."
"Everyone up for that?"
"And if we do bring in the Sheriff on this do we risk exposing him to injury? Do we want to try and do this ourselves and in a way that Bloodeye and Kreed go at it? Maybe we start a turf war and snipe the ones that get close to the edges.'
"I don't know about the man named Tim, but Sheriff he is a good guy. Had a few decent people. Like the beautiful Bernice." he says with a little-upturned smile at the end. He then blinked and took a drink.
"Still he might not play a hand though. He wants to do right by the community but like most of us, we have to walk a tightrope. I mean some of those guys in the employ of Kreed are just doing their job. I hate to admit that the Lumber Consortium does pay well."he says crossing his legs and watching the food and drinks come his way.
The mysterious Tim remains a phantom. You cannot find him yourselves, and no one at Jak's has information on his whereabouts.
Later that night, when even the most raucous patrons of the Sitting Duck have begun wandering home, the party stands with Bricksnurd at the top of a long, narrow jetty running beside the ferry dock. A cool mist has begun to rise from the water, swaddling the River Foam in a gray veil. The docks are wholly abandoned, save for the sawmill upriver - from which the constant, distant drone of the waterwheel and band saw choruses the night.
Brickasnurd shivers and wraps his cloak closer about his small frame.
Boggel finds a good hiding spot along the edge of the water.
Sheriff Baleson proved unusually elusive this evening, and he could not be readily found. As you wait by the docks, at least one of you keeps an alert eye out should he patrol nearby and you decide to flag him down for assistance.
Brickasnurd ambles down the worn, warped planks of the jetty.
He presents a small silhouette against the night mists as he scans upriver for his suppliers' approach.
Hmm, it occurs to me we missed a possibility. This could be a trap for Brikas... Briksa... the gnome.
As the boat slips through mist and draws closer to the dock, your apprehension eases - even if only somewhat - as Boggel and Naomi get a better look at the occupants.
Two of them are grizzled men who look like they could easily step between hunting game in the woods and breaking arms for Bloodeye. Despite their uncouth aspect, they do not have weapons drawn and seem far more focused on safely, quietly steering the boat to the dock.
The other three occupants are young women, huddled together and with roughspun shawls drawn tightly over their shoulders to ward away the night's chill.
”Heh. Nope. Looks like they brought a few girls with them. I guess we see how this plays out, but bloodeye doesn’t need more fresh meat for his kind of grinder.”
The dwarf breathes quietly in response.
Wulf stares looking at the darkness. Hearing that women were the package his knuckles go white as he grits his teeth.
"I wanna smash these men, make them feel pain"
" True no need to lose the eggs for Bricksnard. That would be too careless. However when we strike and free the women what are we gonna do with them?"he asks trying to think ahead.
He looks again to try and look over the ones on the boat for weapons.
”Well, let’s see what’s up before we attack. We can take two men easily enough, maybe the women are just egg warmers? But yeah, I’m not letting young lady’s disappear into his basement if it comes to that.”
The party's eyes are especially sharp tonight, despite the mist rising from the river. The two men have unstrung bows sheathed in their quivers, and you can see that each man has a hatchet and knife slung among their belts. Although they have the look of men always ready for a fight, they do not seem to be expecting one.
Their boat gently nestles against the dock, and one of them tosses a rope around a wooden piling to secure their craft. One of them greets Brickasnurd, although you are too far to hear the whispered voice.
The two men climb out of their boat and onto the dock. One of them speaks to Brickasnurd in hushed towns, while the other stands over the tethered boat. He commands the women in the boat to hand him the eggs, while also ensuring they do not try to leave themselves.
As Brickasnurd eyes the large eggs, you can hear him asking about the women. The lead hunter offers a terse answer that amounts to "none of your business." However, the gnome does not seem willing to accept this explanation and hesitates to present his payment.
You notice Brickasnurd almost look over his shoulder towards you, but he catches himself before the men suspect anything is amiss. It seems the gnome shopkeeper worries that he is in over his head with this deal, and he is calculating whether now is the time to call out to you for backup.
Boggel nods to the others. It seems that the time to intervene has come. Under the cover of darkness and vegetation, he slowly moves to flank the men on the dock.
Wulf shakes his head and strings his bow. He knows now that it might be a shoot out. He was a bit rusty, Hell he couldn't hit the harpy and he hadn't really needed to hunt in a while.He would need to hit the shooting range eventually.
The two hunters are startled as Naomi approaches. One of them slides his hand down to his dagger, but he eases back when he decides that Naomi is not a threat.
"Good evening, ma'am," the one man greets her. "We found some interesting spee-cee-mans out in the forest and offered to sell them to your boss here. We were already passing through while giving passage to these young women."
He gestures to the women sitting uneasily in the rowboat. One of them flinches reflexively when he swings his arm in their direction. Although he seems to have bought Naomi's bluff, his own is very transparent.
Testing his string he then pulls out an arrow and focuses. He goes through the steps, aiming his shot at one of the men, then the other to see which one he has the better angle at. After that he breaths waiting for any move that would warrant him to fire.