"Sherry?" Tragon wrinkles his nose in disgust. "They'll assume you're some ponce from Highwatch." He grins at the others and heads into the shop to see if he spots any of his old contacts.
He gives Tragon a querrried look. "That is a bad thing then?"
Tragon smirks. "I've had some good times with ponces from Highwatch. But no one will mistake you for a regular."
Taishe shrugs noncommittally.
"Tea, iss an acquired tasste. One agreess." The kobold follows the rest to grab a refreshment and await the familiars return.
Tea cup in hand, Taishe relaxes while keeping a keen eye out anything,... unusual, near their target.
"Well let's be honest Tragon the way I am dressed no one is likely to think I am regular plus my stark white hair and pale complextion is likely to stand out more than my choice of drink."
He also takes a look around keeping an eye out for others who might stand out.
Jakun chuckles, "Not to worry Narl, standing next to me, few will notice how odd you believe you appear".
"Well said Jakun, aren't we a pair." he smiles and claps his friend on the shoulder.
"The first round of sherry is on me."
Taishe sips his drink, his draconic snout making a slight hissing sound as he does.
"One thankss you both. Both for being your hard to misss sselvess, and for making it eassier for One to draw nearer unnoticed." The kobold flashes the pair a brief reptilian grin, before resuming his features normally stolid expression.
The Rusty Rooster is doing a brisk business, with an assortment of workers taking an early start to the days Riposa, along with knots of merchants arguing and haggling over whatever they are selling and buying amongst themselves. There is a big table outside the party can utilize and a waitress bustles about to take their orders. The Shambles fortunately seems to have outgrown its first purpose, and there are no functional abattoirs nearby. The party is still unsure where exactly in the district the Taxidermist's Guild is
Jakun tries to recall if he saw it in his wanderings about the city while the others were... occupied.
Knowledge Local -
Jakun recalls seeing the sign for this building on Water Street, one of the main routes through the Shambles leading to the harbor. It caught his eye as it had large glass windows filled with various taxidermied animals
”Maybe we can chat up the locals. See if anyone knows what goes on at that Taxidermists’ Hall before we go traipsing in.”
The kobold nods.
"A good thought. One would be careful not too attract too much undue attention with 'chat'. No need to provide warning of our impending arrival." Taishe advises in an only slightly annoying sage-like attitude.
When Jakun mentions he has passed by the Taxidermist's Guild, the kobold's face flashes a brief, but disturbingly intense, draconic grin before resuming it's normal passive expression.
"One Thankss you Jakun. Now One will not whittle away valuable time wandering around like a tourisst."
Taishe pulls out a scrap of paper from his bag, and scribbles something almost legible on it. He nods at the others and holds it up.
"Excusse for wandering around sstreet sslowly. Tip One learned from old teacher." he explains.
The kobold finishes his tea, and hops down from the annoyingly 'normal size humanoid' chair.
"One will look only, and return." he says as he leaves.
Taishe wanders slowly down the street, pausing every few steps to glance at his paper and then at the surrounding buildings, as if looking for a particular business.
Tragon looks around for any promising patrons to chat up for local information.
Tragon sees a small knot of Sea Wolves at a table. Although they are from his culture, they are dressed more like the Opalline natives in tooled dino leather and silk clothing. From this and other subtle cues he can deduce that they are likely Opalline second generation immigrants, or possibly ship crew that operate in the Eastern Isles.
Taishe wanders the streets, and no one seems to pay him any mind. The street traffic is thinning as the high heat of the day starts to beat down. Fortunately Taishe’s Draconic blood weathers the heat well
Taishe wanders the streets slowly. Being very careful not to slow down or speed up from his per-determined pace as he nears his actual target.
He takes the same slow measured steps, stops every so often looking from his scribbled paper to the nearest building and back to his paper before shaking his head.
But as he is passing the Taxidermist's hall, his lethargic motions cover his keen mind looking for anything useful about their target.
”Ah! The Sea Wolves are looking thirsty! Another round should help that!” Tragon says loudly while gesturing to the bar keep and approaching the table. ”What news of the seas?” he asks good-naturedly.
Taishe walks by the Taxidermist's Guild slowly, using his deception as a lost tourist to his advantage. He notes that there are some actual tourists, sailors off some of the foreign vessels from the look of them, peering in at the display. He joins them, blending into the multiethnic crowd. There is a large glass window that houses a diorama of a jungle scene with a small raptor, various small mammals, a few richly-plumed birds, and even a large bat all set up in a natural manner. Taishe cannot see further through the window as there is a backdrop of fabric painted like a jungle scene obscuring the further room. to the right of the window is a door with the words,TAXIDERMIST'S GUILD - ANIMALS PREPARED AND MOUNTED - LARGE STOCK OF EXOTIC SPECIMENS - ABLE TO ACCOMIDATE COMPLICATED AND OUTSIZE REQUESTS
”Ah! The Sea Wolves are looking thirsty! Another round should help that!” Tragon says loudly while gesturing to the bar keep and approaching the table. ”What news of the seas?” he asks good-naturedly.
[dice=Diplomacy]1d20+9
The men at the table look at him. One looks at another and rolls his eyes. Sir eye-roller replies to Tragon in a snarky tone.
"What news indeed? I fear you have mistaken us for common sailors, sirrah. We have no news in that quarter. Perhaps you should try your luck down by the Driftwood docks?"*
Taishe peers into the display window with unfeigned curiosity.
Unfortunately, the display gives no insight on how to enter the building unobserved.
Although, for a brief moment, the kobold fears he is being unduly influenced by his companion Norveg's bad habits. For the little lizard has a fleeting idea. A BAD idea in retrospect, and one not manageable in broad daylight in the middle of a crowd full of people. But an idea nonetheless.
Taishe returns slowly back to his wandering, peering back at his paper and up again, taking his time to leave as he struggles to find any sign of their quarry. OR a way to enter the large building unobserved.
The taxidermy shop is a solid adobe building with a tiled roof, much like most of Opal. There are two alleyways flanking it, but they are less than two meters across. Looking down them, Taishe only sees a bit of debris and a few of the local vermin skittering along the cobbles
Remaining silent at the table while the others work to gather information and rumor, Nahuatl ti studies the patrons.
Taishe pretends to peer near-sightedly at his scrap of parchment once more before squinting up at the taxidermist's guild, as if he is a 'normal', sun-blinded kobold trying to get a good look at something.
Down the alley on the right side of the guild is a plain door with a chain and lock holding it shut.
”I meant no insult, sirs!” Tragon reassures them. He decides they are not his best contacts to approach and sits with his cup for a few minutes.
The kobold squints around and then at his parchment once more, shakes his head, and begins wandering slowly down the street again. This time back the way he came.
A few minutes later, Taishe returns to the Rusty Rooster and joins his companions at their table.
"One had forgotten. Sscouting iss thirssty work." Taishe orders a drink and savors it. Once his initial thirst is satisfied, he looks to his companions.
"One found the Guild, where Tragon indicated. It iss doing a good bussiness if window dissplay iss to be believed. One did not lay eyes on our 'friend'. He could not ssee interior past window decorationss. But, One did find sside door, chained and locked, if one were to entertain notion of unannounced entrance."
The kobold explains what he saw of the exterior layout of the building, and returns to his drink as his companions go over his report.
”Hmm. Breaking in is risky. It’s sure to turn sour if we’re caught. But trying to talk our way in the front door could go just as badly…”
Taishe shrugs.
"One would not need to go IN, particularly. One would only need wait for our quarry to emerge. Eventually. However, One thinkss that time iss not an ally in our endeavor."
Taishe looks into his cup. he seems, almost sad.
"One would admit,... that One iss unssure of how to besst proceed. But One iss aware that we need to proceed quickly, if we are to prevent Quarry from hatching any further planss."
Narl checks in with Caldratti to see if there has been any information he can report back to his group.
Narl checks in with Caldratti to see if there has been any information he can report back to his group.
The raven flutters down to NArl's shoulder and croaks softly into his ear
"Master, I have watched the building as you commanded. Many come and go from the door. Very busy."
"Ah, we need to decide whether to try in daylight, or night. One would be wisse to decide ssoon." The Kobold barely waves a claw, to indicate that indicate the busy street they are on.
"Night will have fewer random eyes, but more likely to encounter the dangerous people." Nahuatl ti chimes in.
"True, but lesss likely One will have to worry about innocent bystanderss."
Taishe taps one clawed finger on the table, making a clicking noise.
"One would prefer to avoid any unneeded bloodshed or property damage. Adventurers and their Ilk have an, unruly reputation. Don't you think?"
The slight hissing sound escaping the kobold could be anger, or amusement.
Sometimes it is hard to tell.
"One thinkss that we will not avoid fighting. Let uss at leasst avoid bystanders. One votes to enter at night."
”Yes, better to take advantage of cover of darkness. And I do not expect a warm welcome,” Tragon says.
"Works for me."
Jakun considers the dilemma, "Whether for good or ill, I was not with you my friends on the last trouble you found yourselves in. Thus, my face is not known as the face of the enemy. I can go in as a curious customer and at least get a lay of the place and Kossel can scout within whilst I distract the proprietor"
"Bold. But if pulled off, of great value the move would be." Taishe nods.
"But do not feel you musst. Only do if you feel you can pull off ssafely."
Jakun grunts, "Safe is not a Minotaurian value, I will do what must be done".
Jakun and his dinosaur companion make their way to the Taxidermist Guild. It is shading into afternoon now, the tropical sun beating down hard on the palm-lined cobblestone streets. Jakun finds the guild building with no problem. He joins the several pedestrians stopping to take a look at the window display. The sign at the door reads Open, although the entry is shut.
Jakun will give Kossel an empathic prod to begin exploring once the two are inside and the proprietor is distracted.
He reaches up with his hand and attempts to open the door and gain entry, after all, he will need this service someday if his beloved familiar ever passes to the beyond, will he not!?
The door opens easily. A bell chimes as the door opens. Jakun is in a large showroom. He shooes Kossel off to go exploring before anyone else comes in. The showroom has various stuffed and mounted beasts, of many shapes and sizes. A 2-meter-tall raptor with an ebon hide patterned with flecks of red stands in a fierce attack position.
A voice calls out from a doorway at the back of the showroom
“I’ll be right with you!”
Jakun steps in and scans the room for signs of anything interesting.
Perception
Nothing really leaps out. He is the only customer in the place right now. A human male enters from the back and approaches. He is dressed in the garb of a wealthy merchant, with a jaunty stylish tricorne hat on his head. He smiles unctuously at Jakun, and speaks
"Greetings! Can I help you with anything? Do you have a custom project, or are you in the market for a gift? We have a very extensive inventory."
"Greetings. I am contemplating a custom project.
I am curious as to pricing and length of time that I could expect my beloved companion to last under the treatments you conduct".