TAishe turns away from the door, and nods at Tragon.
"One concurss." he says, and heads toward the desk. The kobold pauses momentarily, and points at the prisoner's Belt.
"Key, Pleasse. Should open door." u
Taishe waits a moment, feels the expected tap on his shoulder from his furry friend, then moves and cautiously but swiftly examines the desk and it's contents.
d20+9
The key is a large solid thing. Taishe can tell that it is a skeleton key meant to open a series of separate locks.
The desk has a drawer. Inside is a few pieces of paper with writing on them. A cautious perusal sees that they are notes. Presumably invoices. Several mention various animals and eggs. One catches Taishe’s eye:
3 rainbow lizards, six birds of celestia, 9 velvet spiders, 4 lemurs, and 1 Rhagadosa to Soller Vark on the Blue Nixie
Taishe nods in satisfaction at the key, then holds up the stack of papers.
"Invoicess. Proof of otherss involvement and smuggling." he says simply.
The kobold tucks the papers away safely in his satchel, and turns to face the now bound man once more. He taps the heavy key thoughtfully on the side of his snout.
"You have been mosst cooperative. One advisess not to stop now. Numbers of thosse pressent, pleasse. Defenssess? Trapss? And shortesst route to Vanthuss and hiss lady? PLeassse?"
Taishe MAY have held the sibilance of the "S" of the last 'please' a LITTLE longer than necessary. For effect.
"And fear not. By night's end, we'll see who meets their end feeding the creatures of the deep." Nahuatl ti says. randomly to the thug, unsettlingly breaking her silence.
The man looks at the kobold
“That’s Rowyn and her man. Vanthus is new, Rowyn is our leader”
He narrows his eyes
“You caught me, and I didn’t put up a fight. But I’m not spilling all that. I’m not a traitor “
Taishe waves a claw dismissively at the mans correction of who is in charge.
"We care not for Rowyn. Our bussinesss iss with Vanthuss."
The kobold nods slowly, once, at the prisoners' declaration of loyalty.
"One commendss your loyalty. But advissess you find new employment. By dawn, One believess the "Lotus Dragonss" will no longer be in bussinesss." He says softly.
Norveg withdraws his searching paws from the man's various pockets and crevices and picks up the rope. "Probly better if ya clobber 'im afore Oi tie him, mate," he remarks, squinting up at Tragon. "Binding'll be better, and truer to 'is story."
Tragon belts the Lotus Dragon, his massive fist smashing the man in his left eye. He lifts the now unconscious man into the chair and Norveg loops the rope around him expertly in a trice.
Taishe nods in appreciation of the well-executed violence, or perhaps Norvig's knots, who knows the mind of a kobold?
The diminutive lizard approaches the door once more, this time with heavy key in hand.
he first listens to the door for a few moments,...
No sounds detected save a shipworm munching the wood
No sounds detected save a shipworm munching the wood
"Mmm. Snack for later." Taishe murmurs, and turns the key in the lock.
The kobold slowly and cautiously pushes the door open, hoping to avoid any tell tale squeals.
The door is well-oiled, like the others. The Lotus Dragons seem to be big on door maintenance. Probably a necessary thing given the persistent damp in this subterranean lair
Taishe pulls open the door and sees another .... door. only five feet from the one he just opened. This looks as if it is set up as some sort of chokepoint. The 5x5 space is empty, basically hallway
Tragon inspects the next door and, if it seems safe, opens it.
This door is unlocked and Tragon swings it open. He discovers a hallway running in in two directions with off branches. The left hand side opens up to a room farther on, while there seems to be doors at the other end
Taishe slips through after Tragon, and holds up a single claw. The kobold looks left and right, then peers almost nearsightedly at what seems to be a room on the left.
"One will look. Wait."
Taishe pads softly forward, snout and tongue testing the air as he moves ahead. He stops when he is able to peek into the room ahead,...
Jakun holds back, awaiting results from the stealthier members of his party to report back before moving forward.
Taishe pads forward silently, sniffing the air. He smells much mildew and damp, as this tunnel is literally dripping with moisture. He comes to what he had originally thought was a room and realizes it is yet another tunnel set perpendicular to the one he travels
From the north he hears an odd sound. The sound of something…snoring? Yes, it definitely sounds like snoring
Taishe pads swiftly back to the others, and reports.
"Another hallway. Hear, ssnoring, come from north end of tunnel."
The kobold shrugs.
"Which way?" He asks, one claw pointing to the nearby door, and the other pointing to the intersection the opposite direction.
"Take out that snorer afore 'e wakes is my vote," Norbert whispers.
Jakun nods in agreement with Norveg's proposed solution.
Taishe slowly turns his head to look at his fellow short person.
"Did you mean 'take out' azz in 'render unconcious', or 'permanently',friend Norveg?" He whispers.
Then Taishe tilts his head to the side,as if thinking.
"To tell truth, ssometimes second way ISS best choice. But One prefers hiss prey to put up a fair fight. Well. A fight anyway." he adds thoughtfully.
The kobold looks around and whispers,
Sso, neutralize ssnorer firsst?"
"Dunno wut it means, but Oi likes the sound of 'neutralize,'" Norveg shrugs, jerking his head in the direction of the noise.
”Hmm. I don’t think I’m particularly noisy, but probably not quiet enough for that particular job. Does one of you feel up to it?” Tragon whispers.
Taishe hefts his walking stick (which he has often used as a club). He carefully applies a small drop on the top of larger end.
"One can manage. With help." Taishe nods to Norveg, points his snout in the direction of the 'snorer', and starts to pad that direction. he pauses, and turns back.
"If One iss wrong, Help iss always welcome." he adds in a head-bob that seems to be the Kobold equivalent of a wry shrug.
Taishe pads down the hallway once more,...
Jakun shakes his head in the negative, "With the right spells I could be, but I have no such spells at the moment".
"Awright, but Oi ain't quiet, mate," Norveg whispers, following Taishe as silently as he can.
Looking at Jakun he nods his head and shrugs.
'Indeed seems my selection of spells is less than optimal for this set of circumstances. I will need to make myself a note for later." He pulls out a notebook and makes scribbles something there.
Taishe and Norveg pad silently down the damp corridor towards the snoring sound. They reach the end of the hallway, and there is another door. This one is propped open with a wedge of wood, and the snoring comes from beyond it
Neither one of them sense a change in the snoring as they approach the door. They quietly peek around its edge.
The room revealed is a long narrow one. It has been set up as a barracks room, with 12 cots jammed into the narrow space. There is a melange of smells coming out of the room - body odor, refuse, mildew, and urine. The two can now discern that there is more than one person snoring
Taishe sticks only the tip of his snout past the door frame, trying to get a good visual of the room. He feels the light touch of Norveg's hand on his shoulder as he does so,...
Although the beds are all piled messily with clothing and blankets, Taishe thinks four of the twelve actually have sleeping persons in them
Taishe looks back to Norveg, places a small clawed hand on the ratling's arm, and taps four times.
The kobold slowly tilts his head to the side, as when asking a question. He shrugs his shoulders.
Norveg nods, then creeps back to where the others stopped. "Four sleepers," he whispers. "We gotta deal wif 'em sometime or 'ope they sleep froo everthin'."
"I suppose we could attempt to deal with them while asleep, closed mouths, hilts to temples, and more rope. I wonder, if these are wanted criminals, when we leave this place, do we alert the authorities to the fact that there will be several rogues to be arrested?"
Jakun searches the room for more rope.
13 Spider whispers
“The authorities might be interested about them, especially if they are involved in the Harbormaster’s murder “
"Don't necessarily need no rope..." Norveg suggests.
.