Saul's joviality vanishes. "Unhappy with my ...? Was it you that put those suspicions in his head?"
Not wanting any part of this uncomfortable conversation, "I'll go get the suit." Snake takes his leave, heading toward Tendal's room. Once he arrives, he knocks on the door, awaiting a response.
"It's a dwarven head. I no more put the suspicion there than I did the gold in their mines. I did remind where gold is found, and where it might be lost. And as I recall, I said he had to trust you. Where is he, is the question. We'll either of us, need him back, before there's any point to discuss whatever point you failed to discuss, when he took his concern to you. I don't even know what that point is. If you want to blame me, ask around the room, am I some master manipulator, to lead Larur anywhere he wasn't already going?"
"I've spent most my day wondering, worrying, wandering- He's my friend, felt fairer to this fool then family ever fell... I've sobbed at what he's lost, and you want the rest. Damned right, I'll caution him. And if you'd blame me, and he's come to harm, then get in line behind myself. Behind his brother, to whom I'd make confession. Or if you're any friend to him, -to anyone, really-, then say what you know, that we might find him."
"Oh! But Phillip's got too near a throat-cutting, and Kane and I were off to warn innocents who might fit the noose he'd slip. Kane, because he's pledged parole of the innocents to the Guard, and I, well, because I'm just the stripe of sap to care enough do it. So much so, Kane had barred me, from Rag's End. For good will."
"For Good Will. None of you have seen anything from me, but good will. Oh, I'll grant ill sense, and ill reason, in the moment..." Whatever steam Gristav had built, had boiled off. "I want my friend back. And well."
"Have we, common cause?"
With a simple sigh of inevitability and a left hand run through tousled hair, Phillip leans against a wall and waits for Saul's response. If questioning eyes are cast his way by Saul he simply holds his hands out to his sides and clarifies "Personal matter, should be resolved before opening tomorrow."
Saul isn't willing yet to move past Gristav's implicit accusation. "I want the rest? Are you standing under my own roof and asserting that I'm cheating my business partner? Aye, Larur was slow to trust me when I first approached him about the Goblin; I had a job of work to do to convince him I wasn't out to fleece his pockets and take a powder. And here comes his old friend, sidling into town, into free room and board and a handsome salary besides, and whispering lies about loopholes in contracts? Are you a scribe? Or a lawyer? Did you even read the document or just assume because I signed my name to it it must be a con?"
"I'll tell you exactly what happened last night," he goes on viciously. "I was sitting in my office, minding my own business, when Larur comes in, spitting accusations you fed him: how I'd arranged the contract to benefit myself, how I intended to rob both him and his family and leave them with nothing. Of course he wouldn't trust me, or anyone I'd recommend to look the papers over and reassure him; his old friend had already convinced him he could tell I was lying if my mouth was moving. He said he'd find his own expert and wouldn't tell me where he was headed in case I sent a runner ahead with a bribe or a threat to make sure the results were favorable."
"So if, Pharasma forbid, he's met with any grief out on the streets, it's you who put him there!" he concludes with feeling.
Snake takes his leave, heading toward Tendal's room. Once he arrives, he knocks on the door, awaiting a response.
Tendal answers the door, expectantly, and seems nonplussed to see Snake. "Yes?" he asks. "What is it?"
"I was on my way down here and I figured I'd let you know dinner is ready," he tells him, immediately taking his leave and heading toward Thuvalia's room and knocking on her door as well. I swear, I feel like a servant in this place.
"So if, Pharasma forbid, he's met with any grief out on the streets, it's you who put him there!" he concludes with feeling.
"I've said the same thing to myself.", Gristav allows levelly.
"And I spent this day looking for him. I couldn't know, where he was going, I could only guess at why. I hadn't found flaws, for him to correct; I hadn't seen the documents. I didn't assume a con, I allowed as such could still happen, I described how. I said, he had to trust somebody, maybe you. Then, Thuvalia screamed."
"It was the kitten. And then, I fetched the stew."
"I hadn't fed him accusations. If he brought you such, while I brought stew, they were his own. Did you know, he's dying? And looking into a future where his family has nothing for the years he's worked here. Blame me, if you like. But forgive him. The pressure, must be immense. He fears failed duty."
"He wasn't at dinner. Others were, but I don't remember any unusual causes for worry, or for intervention. I suppose, you have a right to keep your business between you. But if I had known... He was in his office, didn't want dinner. By the time I worried and went to his room, a package I was to take to his brother, wasn't there. So, he's revising its contents."
"Where might a dwarf take such a document? If he thought of a runner: likely in Riddleport. If he took no guard, with me sleeping in my room: perhaps close, or safer streets."
"Come on, Saul. You know Riddleport better than I. We helped each other lose him; let's help each other find him."
"Whaddya know, I was right." Braddon tries not to sound too surprised.
"If Larur went to get the documents checked out by someone he trusts, he's probably not in Riddleport anymore."
Braddon spreads his hands, palms facing up, towards Saul and Gristav.
"I figure you two are the only ones he'd trust in Riddleport. How far is Roderic's Cove?"
"If Larur had any worries about the contract, he's had months to worry over them," Saul responds to Gristav. "We went over that contract with a fine-toothed comb, dotting every i and crossing every t. Right up until you start in on him, he never raised an issue with it after it was signed and witnessed, not until last night."
He turns to Braddon. "Sixty miles or so. But who do you think he'd trust in the Cove? Who would he know in the Cove?"
"I was on my way down here and I figured I'd let you know dinner is ready," he tells him.
"Ah. Excellent," Tendal replies but hesitates in the doorway. "I've been expecting Master Hargreaves. Have you seen him?"
Stopping and turning back around, "He's in the kitchen with the others," he responds. But before turning back and continuing on toward Thuvalia's room, "Is there anything else you wanna know?"
He turns to Braddon. "Sixty miles or so. But who do you think he'd trust in the Cove? Who would he know in the Cove?"
"He wouldn't know anyone in Roderic's Cove, but most importantly no one would know him. So maybe he'd trust a scribe there over any here. Just a thought. I have some experience with finding people, but Dwarves think differently."
Braddon shrugs his shoulders."Sixty miles seems a way, especially for a sick dwarf. Have you checked the basement?"
"If Larur had any worries about the contract, he's had months to worry over them," Saul responds to Gristav. "We went over that contract with a fine-toothed comb, dotting every i and crossing every t. Right up until you start in on him, he never raised an issue with it after it was signed and witnessed, not until last night."
He turns to Braddon. "Sixty miles or so. But who do you think he'd trust in the Cove? Who would he know in the Cove?"
"Perhaps a friend who with a dozen words sends him back to propose he marry Shorafa Pamodae. Or Ananda Mescher. Or two friends, and bigamy! Dwarves, such flittering hearts..."
Content to let the verbal fireworks pass by him unhindered, Phillip maintains his lean. At any rate he's at leisure until Marce returns.
Sighing, slumping, settling... then standing, Gristav says, "Saul, I don't want trouble between us. You'd win; you'd have Phillip. But let me make clear: I won't accept all blame, for Larur's lark. I once, in Tien, climbed the four thousand, four hundred, and fourty-four steps, to a temple. And although those boots hadn't bothered me, until then, I found at the top, I had a broad, deep blister. I pierced it with a needle, and let it heal, before descending. If I had to assign blame, for the blister, it would not be on the needle. And the boot, until then, had been blameless."
"I think the past week, or so, has been an unusual climb. Unless you previously had the habit of incarcerating scribes, battling box-borne spiders-", Gristav set a hand on his own chest, punctuating, "watching a friend, suffer, thus, and sheltering thieves (For that is how he perceives Thuvalia) under your same roof, things have changed. I'm told, but I haven't seen it, that you and Larur would walk in the end-of-day, and bargain with cartmen. I submit that the habits that made him your friend, in the situation that he was made friend in, have changed. That's not fault-finding; that's observation."
"I made Larur my friend because we were there, for each, the other. Not constantly; I'm a courier. But when I could, and every time I could. I'd be there for him. I accept, my blame as needle. I'm headed, for the haystack, to search for him. To be there for him."
"Would you be there with me?"
Stopping and turning back around, "He's in the kitchen with the others," he responds. But before turning back and continuing on toward Thuvalia's room, "Is there anything else you wanna know?"
He sighs dramatically. "No, thank you. I'll find him there, I suppose." He closes the door behind him and heads toward the kitchen.
Snake moves on to Thuvalia's room and raps on the door. "Yes?" she responds imperially from the other side.
"He wouldn't know anyone in Roderic's Cove, but most importantly no one would know him. So maybe he'd trust a scribe there over any here. Just a thought. I have some experience with finding people, but Dwarves think differently."
Saul grimaces. "Roderic's Cove isn't known for its scribes and exquisite interpreters of the delicate points of the law. More blundering points of a cutlass." He turns back to Gristav. "If I had to guess, I'd say he went to one of his own, a dwarf. Although his situation made it touchy for anyone from the Gas Forges to be seen with him." He starts to turn back for the staircase, then seems struck with a sudden thought. "There's said to be a dwarf in Rotgut, an alchemist, no more in Tromard Roldheim's good graces than Larur. Don't know what he might know about contracts. But it's possible he went that way."
Tendal enters the kitchen from the casino floor, looking cross. "Master Hargreaves," he greets Phillip, "I've been expecting you. Are you so hungry you forgot our business?"
Smiling somewhat gamely and running a hand through his tousled hair Phillip shakes his head "No, it was still present in my mind... and I'm not here to eat." pausing before reading the anger and seeing a need for at least a partial elaboration "Small matter of a murder... though I've a spare few minutes now. Come, lets see the business ended." making to follow Magnimar.
Snake moves on to Thuvalia's room and raps on the door. "Yes?" she responds imperially from the other side.
Shaking his head and unable to keep a slight grin from forming, "It's me, princess," he says in a somewhat sarcastic, yet, playful tone. "Snake."
"Two reasons to go to Rotgut," Braddon says helpfully.
"It's me, princess," he says in a somewhat sarcastic, yet, playful tone. "Snake."
"...yes?" she repeats without opening the door, still looking for the reason she's being disturbed.
"Come, lets see the business ended." making to follow Magnimar.
Tendal retraces his steps back toward his room, Phillip in tow. "Really, I'll feel better to have the monies disbursed, if the shares aren't to be stowed in the vault," he says with a touch of reproof. "What's all this about a murder?"
Waving off Tendal's concern on the murder Phillip deflects "No one you know... it's being dealt with." turning attention back to the matters of wealth he nods "Aye, though I'd impose to have them each retrieve their share from yourself in turn... keep the commerce above board."
Tendal sighs. "Well, have them come claim their shares before dinner, then. If anything's left after the meal, I'm going to ask Saul to put it in the vault. There's no reason I should have to be responsible for it."
As the pair pass the statue of Desna, they see Snake at Thuvalia's door.
Rolling his eyes yet still unable to contain a slight grin, he catches sight of Tendal and Phillip but pays them no mind. "Dinner's ready," he tells her, taking his leave back to the kitchen.
With a slight smile "That'll be on them... but I'll pass on the condition." as Snake reverses from Thuvalia's door Phillip purses his lips in thought a moment before calling to him "Serpe, may as well join us... disbursements."
...turns back to Gristav. "If I had to guess, I'd say he went to one of his own, a dwarf. Although his situation made it touchy for anyone from the Gas Forges to be seen with him." He starts to turn back for the staircase, then seems struck with a sudden thought. "There's said to be a dwarf in Rotgut, an alchemist, no more in Tromard Roldheim's good graces than Larur. Don't know what he might know about contracts. But it's possible he went that way."
"The wind is blowing, in that direction."
Snake stops, looks to them a moment, nods, "Beats the kitchen," and then follows.
Tendal unlocks his door and lets Phil and Snake in before closing it again behind them. His room is layed out virtually identically to Snake's, save that he has a second, simpler room with a work table and a chest attached. It's to the chest that he goes now, retrieving a pouch. "I trust you've agreed how this is to be shared out?" he asks. "I'll not adjudicate disputes; it's none of my affair."
Saul nods an acknowledgement to Gristav, still offended. "I'd advise you to wait until morning," he recommends. "If Larur came to grief going into Rotgut after dark, there's no call to add to the tally." He turns back to the staircase, and Bojasc wheels to follow him, offering the two half-elves a humorless smirk.
Responding with a nod "Aye, just need to get the final count of what you were able to get for some of the softer items." opening up the pouch and noting it's a tad heavier than he expected. With an appreciative look and tip of imaginary hat to Magnimar he applauds "You did good work... better than I would have managed."
Counting out a mound of coin for himself and Serpe, Phillip summarizes both the take and the manner in which the disbursement was figured "Braddon and Gristav claimed the imbued items... which is good news for us as it means we've each got a lion's share of the remains. A shade shy of seven hundreds for you and eight and a half for me and mine. If you've issue with the division nows the time to speak..." giving a pause to allow for just that...
Saul nods an acknowledgement to Gristav, still offended. "I'd advise you to wait until morning," he recommends. "If Larur came to grief going into Rotgut after dark, there's no call to add to the tally." He turns back to the staircase, and Bojasc wheels to follow him, offering the two half-elves a humorless smirk.
Braddon turns to Gristav.
"That sounds all right. I'll head out with Phil tonight and we can all head back to Rotgut again tomorrow morning."Braddon sounds disturbingly pleased at the idea.
"You did good work... better than I would have managed."
Tendal preens himself mildly. "It's really only a matter of knowing how to speak to people. That, and managing not to look like you're desperate for the coin and will accept any offer."
Counting out a mound of coin for himself and Serpe, Phillip summarizes both the take and the manner in which the disbursement was figured "Braddon and Gristav claimed the imbued items... which is good news for us as it means we've each got a lion's share of the remains. A shade shy of seven hundreds for you and eight and a half for me and mine. If you've issue with the division nows the time to speak..." giving a pause to allow for just that...
Shaking his head, "Nope; no issues here." Snake takes his share of the coin without question.
With a knowing smirk Phillip winks at Magnimar "Aye, I look forward to leaning on your expertise again." before being somewhat relieved at Snake's easy acceptance of the reckoning. With a nodded thanks to Tendal, Phillip moves back out "We'll give Gristav and Braddon the word." before backtracking to the kitchen to do just that.
In his thoughts he ponders Best to see this put aside before I'm for meeting with Croat's men though... tossing over the placement of the dividend within his room and what small words he'd choose to exchange with Ethel during.
"We'll give Gristav and Braddon the word." before backtracking to the kitchen to do just that.
"Yes, if they want their money, tell them to come get it quickly," Tendal insists. "I'm no bursar to sit in my office to await their convenience."
Phillip crosses the casino floor once more and returns to the kitchen. Saul and Bojasc have departed, leaving only Braddon and Gristav.
Snake nods at the well dressed man, "Thanks, bub," and takes his leave, heading next door to his own room to put his coin away. Once done, he shuts the door behind him and locks it as he leaves, making his way back to the kitchen.
As he makes his way back, he walks in noticing Saul and Bojasc have left. "Where's the boss man and the muscle? Upstairs waiting for the food to arrive, I'd guess."
With a raised pouch and jingle Phillip keeps it simple "Tendal's doling out the takings from our trip to Rag's End... and the sale of your gems Braddon. Either take it quick or he'll be putting it in the vault." pausing for any question or comment before following Snake's lead and heading towards his room.
Phillip knocks quietly and softly speaks "It's me, could you loose the lock?"
There is a moment's pause; then he hears Ethel fumbling quietly on the opposite side of the door with the latch. As she opens the door, he notices her hands are trembling.
"Ooh, stuff. Thanks."
Braddon rushes out ignoring everyone else and bangs ignominiously on Tendal's door.
"Hi. You got stuff for me."
Snake nods at the well dressed man, "Thanks, bub," and takes his leave, heading next door to his own room to put his coin away. Once done, he shuts the door behind him and locks it as he leaves, making his way back to the kitchen.
As he makes his way back, he walks in noticing Saul and Bojasc have left. "Where's the boss man and the muscle? Upstairs waiting for the food to arrive, I'd guess."
"Yes. The apparent preferred method is to ignore the household's needs, and wait to be served."
With a raised pouch and jingle Phillip keeps it simple "Tendal's doling out the takings from our trip to Rag's End... and the sale of your gems Braddon. Either take it quick or he'll be putting it in the vault." pausing for any question or comment before following Snake's lead and heading towards his room.
Sighing again, and wiping his hands, then magicking them clean as he walks, Gristav heads for Tendal's door. "Dinners afoot, did you say?", Gristav mutters to no-one, "Yes, that does sound pleasant..."
As Braddon and Gristav depart to collect their share of the proceeds from sale of the Norgorber cult's goods, Snake finds himself left alone in the kitchen with the nascent dinner.
Braddon rushes out ignoring everyone else and bangs ignominiously on Tendal's door.
"Hi. You got stuff for me."
"Hm, yes," Tendal remarks dryly. "The fruits of your extracurricular activities in Rotgut, as I understand it. It does seem to offer a more generous rate of pay than your day job."
"Well, I don't need two short swords. So, give me some cash for this old one. I mean it's masterwork. Worth a fortune. And did Phillip give you some gems? The money from them is mine too. Well, ours. Snake, Gris and I took down those thugs. I'll share it out if you don't want."
Braddon grins and takes his stuff.
"Thank you, Tendal. I understand you've a superior approach to the laying off of unwanted wares, and I thank you for it. But keep a tally, or even a sense, of it all. While nothing would ever stick to your fingers, some still might and ought find a path to your hand, and purse. Would not do to give until one regretted it, eh? Do let me know, if I might be a help to you."