The girl smiles at Leandro and a faint blush rises to her cheeks. "You have a way with words, sir."
She seems reluctant to take her eyes off the strapping (and charming) paladin as Res asks his question. She finally turns to Res to answer, "Do you have an appointment with Monsieur de Monte? That is usually the best way to make arrangements for special orders." She turns back to Leandro, as if awaiting what response he may have for her.
Nathaniel finds his way to the alley that runs behind the row of buildings. The passageway is cramped and choked with rubbish. A few well-fed rats scurry into the shadows as you approach. Making your way down the alley, you arrive at what you expect must be the rear of the shop. An unassuming door leads into the building, as well as a grimy window looking into the alleyway. Nathaniel's sharp eye notices that the window is secured by a rickety shutter that would easily open from the outside.
Volidrian observes the many passersby in the market district. A few have remarked with wonder at the magnificent dolls on display in the window.
Trying to stay mostly out of sight from anyone who might be within the building , Nathaniel tries to peer through the grimy window.
Leandro smiles at the girl.
"We don't have an appointment, no... perhaps you can arrange one for us?"
Through the grimy window, Nathaniel can see what looks like a storeroom. Crates filled with parts, broken toys, and unremarkable excess merchandise are scattered about. The room is unoccupied, but a flight of stairs descends to a cellar. Light streams faintly up from below, along with the faint sounds of hammers and tools. Another staircase leads up, but he can see naught above but shadows.
In the shop, the girl smiles coyly. "I could see if he's available. Let me just call up one of his assistants to mind the shop floor a moment." She curtsies faintly and walks to the interior door. Opening it, she pokes her head inside and calls out, "Felicité! Can you come up?" She looks back at all of you and says apologetically, "Monsieur de Monte does not like to leave the shop untended."
Nathaniel sees a door open in the storeroom as a girl pokes her head through and calls out a name. A drowsy woman with a blank expression slowly lumbers up the stairs, her brow glistening with sweat. Her movements are effortless, but nonetheless even and slow. At a plodding pace, she reaches the showroom door and passes through.
Leandro, Res, and Tybalt see a matronly woman enter with a practiced smile on her face. Her brow is beaded with sweat and her hair tied back tightly in a scarf. The shop girl tells her, "Mind the shop a moment, Felicité. I must speak with Monsier de Monte." With another curtsy, she slips out the door and leaves you with the taciturn workshop assistant.
Nathaniel sees the girl slip back into the storeroom and skip energetically down the cellar stairs.
Res tries to be cordial. He picks up another of the dolls. "Is this some of your handiwork? Such fine detail. What part of the doll do you work on?" he asks.
Nathaniel ducks back down and quietly describes what he sees to Andrzej. “It all looks so normal,” he adds.
"It would. Angalia's good with doors and locks. I'm not but maybe that is where our next move will be." The emotionless magus flicks a look at the back door and looks upwards to see whether there are suitable windows open.
Felicité looks dourly at Res. She responds in a husky voice that is almost comically baritone. "I do the joints. Pinning the parts together so they move life-like. Marcel makes the limbs and bodies. We're not allowed to do the heads. Only Master Gerard does the heads." She displays no joy or pride with any of this.
In the alleyway behind the shop, Andrzej looks up to see a few windows in the levels above the shop, but they are shuttered, evidently to block a view of the grimy alley.
Leandro greets the newcomer with a courteous bow. "Greetings, Lady Felicité. It is an honor and pleasure to meet one of the geniuses who creates these amazing dolls. Tell me, how long does it take to create one? And have you ever watched Monsieur de Monte create one of the doll's heads?"
As Leandro speaks to Felicité, Res discretely turns his back to the dollmaker's assistant and tries to determine if the dolls are magical and what kind magical item it is.
Unfortunately, his efforts to hide his activities hinders his ability to identify the item.
"We do about two each week," Felicité says joylessly. She mops her brow with a rag, appearing to inadvertently smear something on her forehead as she does so.
Andrzej and Nathaniel see the perky shopgirl ascend the stares into the back room, with a stooped older man following behind her. He is wiping his dusty hands on his dirty apron.
"Surely it must be happy work, creating works of art that will bring joy to children, is it not?" Leandro scrutinizes Felicité closely as she answers. Something seems off with this woman, but what?
"I wonder Nathaniel if that dollmaker has any children of his own? Or if there is a hidden curse here. Something is not obvious here. Well hidden." Andrzej rubs his face and scratches his chin again unthinking.
Then the vistani realises what he is doing and adds in a humourless voice, "..if I start asking for cheese then...."
The stout woman looks at Leandro and responds without feeling, "Yes. Of course it is."
The door to the back of the shop opens and the girl returns, followed by an older man with a stooped posture. While he carries himself with wearily, his eyes are sharp, and he gives you all a vaguely childish grin. "Well, you're a bit old to be playing with dolls, but then we're all children at heart, are we not?" He looks to see if his humor was appreciated.
Quietly, Felicité leaves through the door through which the old man entered.
From the alleyway, Nathaniel and Andrzej see the old man leave the store room into the shop itself, after which the lumbering woman returns again, headed for the stairs into the workshop. Her expression is blank, and her mannerisms mechanical.
"Well, perhaps 'normal' is not quite right," Nathaniel mutters quietly. "There's something a bit off about that woman ... I'd really like to see what's in that workshop - I wonder what our chances of sneaking in would be?"
Leandro watches Felicité retreat, perplexed at her demeanor. He smiles politely at the old man.
"You must be Monsieur de Monte, the mastermind behind the wonderful dolls?" he inquires, "We were in town briefly and heard of how wondrous they are. We thought to see for ourselves before we departed. In fact, one of our number found a doll of yours discarded on the road, if you can believe it."
"Yes, I am de Monte. I am... I would not imagine why someone would discard one of my creations." He appears hurt by this revelation from Leandro. Clearly he attaches a great deal of significance to his creations. "I do hope the doll was recovered. If any are in need of repair, I am always happy to see to it."
"In any event, did you just wish to see the toymaker in person, or was there something you needed?"
Andrzej kneels to wipe his dusty boots clean. The black shine is a little dull and scuffed when he notices the crack along one sole. It feels mushy and there is a faint whiff of swamp water.
Perhaps it will be time to buy new boots, but the rat fever might rip the leather apart. So let these have their day. I wonder what is taking so long? Feels like ages.
Sensing that the Toymaker is an artiste, Tybalt starts on a different tack; "Inspiration, it comes from many sources. From the people surrounding us on the streets, the smile in a child's face as they handle one of your dolls, the forest gentle breeze, the first dawns light. What is de Monte's muse, I wonder?" He asks in a circumspect way trying to find more out about the Toymaker.
As Tristan and Leandro engage Monsieur de Monte in conversation, Res studies the old toymaker intently looking for signs of deceit.
Volidrian starts pacing in front of the establishment.
Sure has been a long time, though there haven't been any sounds to indicate combat and they didn't seem the type to go down without a fight.
Nervously he starts unconsciously checking that all his weapons are where they should be.
"Ah! I wish we had known to bring it to you. As it was, one of our party kindly gave it to a child in need of comforting." Leandro watches the man carefully. "The child said the doll talked to her and tried to get her to leave with it."
Monsieur de Monte smiles a bit at Tybalt's question. "I try to make the dolls a reflection of the children that will play with them. Each should have that child-like sense of wonder, grace, and innocence. I am forever refining my design, making it a truer reflection of that state of innocence."
Then, as Leandro relates the child talking to the doll, the toymaker's face grows more serious. "What you are describing is impossible. Dolls do not talk. If you will excuse me, I must attend to my workshop." He turns to leave, heedless of the abruptness of the interaction.
Res tries to step between the toymaker and the door to stop him from leaving. "Monsieur de Monte, my apologies, we have not explained our interest in your dolls properly. Last night, a murder occurred, and one of your dolls may have been involved. As horrible as it may seem, someone may be corrupting your dolls to perform foul deeds. Is there someone who may wish ill to you and be enchanting your dolls with some nefarious magic?"
Nathaniel says to Andrzej, “There’s a lot of coming and going from the front room isn’t there? I’m going to check on the front for a moment.”
He moves carefully back up the ally to the street at the front, to see Volidrian pacing about. “No trouble?” he asks the half orc quietly. “Do they seem to be getting anywhere inside?”
Volidrian looks up at Nathaniel's question and quickly composes himself, "Nothing thus far, ergo I assume they are still conversing," he responds in a similarly hushed tone. "Did you see anything around back which may aid our investigation."
“There’s a window,” Nathaniel murmurs in reply. “I’m not big on breaking and entering, but it looks easy enough to get in through if that was called for. It looks into a store room – I could see stairs leading down into what I assume is the workroom in the cellar, and another flight of stairs leading up, probably to the toymaker’s abode I would guess. We’ve watched people come and go up the stairs from the cellar – the toymaker and some of his assistants I assume. There’s something sort of off-looking about one of the women, but I don’t know … maybe she’s just tired? Perhaps doll-making is harder work than I’d have thought …”
Andrzej is brought back to reality and cuts back to Nathaniel quickly. He shakes his head and eyes sharpen as he stays in place, watching the ranger's back.
"If you need me.....I am no lookout."
Res tries to step between the toymaker and the door to stop him from leaving. "Monsieur de Monte, my apologies, we have not explained our interest in your dolls properly. Last night, a murder occurred, and one of your dolls may have been involved. As horrible as it may seem, someone may be corrupting your dolls to perform foul deeds. Is there someone who may wish ill to you and be enchanting your dolls with some nefarious magic?"
Leandro steps forward to join Res. "Please stay and talk. We are most interested in how one of your dolls might have learned to slit a woman's throat like sticking a pig. And what is wrong with the lady Felicitè?" He watches carefully for a lie.
Monsieur de Monte stops abruptly and looks rather stung by Leandro's account. He begins to shake slightly and his eyes take on a misty look. "Please, I..." he begins, then stops with a glance at the shop girl. He breathes deeply. "Enough of your scary ghost stories. Peddle them elsewhere," he says loudly, gauging the reaction of the shop girl, who looks wide-eyed upon this exchange.
He moves close to Leandro and whispers, "Please. Please not here. Meet me after sunset at Marcel's coffee house, just off the marketplace." He looks to Leandro for signs of comprehension.
Leandro nods sharply at de Monte, turns on his heel, and strides from the store.
Once outside, he saunters to the lookouts and waits for those inside to emerge, then explains softly, "He wishes to meet tonight at a coffee house. Some of us will be unable to go, but perhaps a couple can meet him? I think a large group would create suspicion, and those of us under threat of rattiness should be kept constrained and under guard."
Volidrian ponders for a moment, then replies, "I would rather be a part of the group which shall meet with the toy maker. Having those familiar with the parties which may transform tonight would be of more comfort and aid in a difficult time. Furthermore due to my personal stake in the matter regarding the toy maker I would feel derelict in my duty were I not to be present."
“That’s reasonable,” nods Nathaniel. “Well what of this? Res, Volidrian and Angalia – if there’s no chance she was infected by wererats – go to the meeting. The rest of us … we need to find a safe and secure place for the night; I’m not sure the inn is it. Should we go out into the wilderness? Look for an abandoned but secure building here in town? Hire a stable or a loft or somesuch for the night?”
"Mayhap a menagerie," Leandro suggests glumly, "We should probably be caged for the night."
Nathaniel doesn't know much about the terrain or situation outside the city, but would assume that is a better option unless someone has a better suggestion.
At minimum he suggests the group should purchase ropes to tie up each of the possibly impacted characters - tie hands and legs as well as tying each of them to a tree or some structure.
"I would prefer to be outside maybe in a barn or clearing where none can see the terrible results. If you need to slay Andrzej then that means the act would go unnoticed and with my blessing. I'd rather be dead than a savage killer loose in the city." The magus struggles to remain still without scratching for no good reason.
Nathaniel nods.
Tybalt kept quiet by the thought's of what may happen and distant memories of what happened to his liege, decides to interject. "I may know a place..." He adds solemnly thinking of a barn his familiar owl had spotted a couple of nights ago.
"And even have a set of prisoners manacles..." Though with his usual sardonic tone; "Just don't get them confused with the escape manacles."