"Maybe Tac can seduce him," Talashia comments dryly.
Elyra looks the sorceress over, apparently unhappy with her humor. "We're here to talk to the man about some coins," she mutters. "I think we should just knock on the door and ask him"
Tac's brow furrows as he thinks a moment, then shakes his head. "I don't think I'd be very good at seduction, actually," Tac says matter-of-factly, as if he were merely assessing his skills at carpentry. Once inside, at the front counter, he asks the first person he sees, "We're looking for Sir Kovarski? The Mayor sent us to him for an appraisal?"
The clerk nods, "Sir Korvaski's in his office. Just this way, then." The clerk opens a hinged side gate to admit everyone to the area behind the counter but stops short at the sight of Sandstone. "No animals in the Mercantile. The dog'll have to be left outside."
The clerk, who had previously regarded the dog with bored indifference, perks up a notch at Sandstone's feigned pathos and extends a hand out to pet the dog. "Awww, loyal are you, pup? C'mon then. You can wait back here behind the counter with me while they go in."
The collie shies away from the proffered hand, but visibly perks up at the show of kindness; wagging his long tail enthusiastically while panting.
OOC: Assuming the clerk follows through and allows him behind the counter, Sandstone will curl up discreetly near enough to Korvaski's office door to hopefully listen in on his meeting with the group. Never having had the opportunity, the canine is also curious to observe the bureaucratic goings on behind the counter.
Sandstone skirts the outstretched hand of the desk clerk and sits adjacent to the door while everyone enters Sir Jasper Korvaski's office, which consists of little other than a small cubicle of a space--most of which is taken up by an oversized desk and one guest chair. With multiple guests in his office, the office door won't close, so the clerk ushers everyone in then resumes duties at the counter. Sandstone may miss an odd word or two but otherwise has no trouble overhearing the conversation. While listening in, the young dragon has the opportunity to observe the clerk prepare title paperwork. No customers come to the Land and Title counter, but the clerk seems to have plenty of work to do nonetheless--a mountain of ill-ordered paperwork waiting to be stamped and processed threatens to topple to the left off the desk and onto the floorboards.
Inside the office, Sir Korvaski puts down his pen and stands, straightening his tabbard. Caught off guard by the bevy of guests, the former knight of Abadar extends a greeting then cautiously inquires, "What might I do for you this fine morning?"
"Pleasure to meet you Sir," Tac says, waving and bowing slightly (and doing both a tad awkwardly). "I'm Tac Abor. I've been working on the rebuild at the cathedral. And this is my cousin Elyra, and Talashia, and Sivan." He points to each person in turn. "And we were told you might be able to help us identify some currency we found during ... well, during the trouble yesterday."
After the usual pleasantries, Sir Merrick takes the sample coin handed him by Tac and sits down to his desk to examine the coin with the aid of a monocle and a scale. Though completely silent, Sir Korvaski is obviously rapt with interest as he turns the coin over and over while hunting for identifying marks. After some length of time, the League manager hands the coin back to Tac and stows his magnification device. "It's not common currency, I can tell you that--not from Sandpoint, nor from any of the larger cities...nay, not Korvosa nor her like. I put it at fresh minting, obviously it's new and not oft handled, else it'd be dinged up and dirty with prints. Someone's got their hands on a press, which ought to be trouble enough, but they've weighted it improperly. The surface gold's clean enough, alright, but it's heavier than it ought to be, which is indication to my eye that it's not clean gold all the way through. A clever forger will make his product heavier rather than lighter than standard. Folk who don't want much to do with a lightweight coin will often fall to stupor and appreciation when a heavy coin passes through their hands. The insignia on the face is queer, too. Not one I've seen before. Where'd you say you got this?" Sir Korvaski peers at the group assembled in his office with interest.
The insignia on the coins is of a lidded eye with a burst of flame, or sun--it's hard to tell which it might without the aid of coloured ink--rimning the eye.
Sir Korvaski furrows his brows in thought. "Off a goblin body, eh? And with a reference from the mayor. You must be the troupe who's got all the tongues in town wagging this morning. Well done, to hear it told! Sorry, lads...and ladies," Sir Korvaski bows to Talashia and Elyra before continuing, "I've not seen it's like before. The best I should be able to say is that I suspect a private minting, and for ill gain. Since you took it off a goblin body, perhaps someone's used a cunningly weighted slug to buy the services of the intruders? Troubling, that..." Sir Korvaski trails off in thought, obviously perturbed by where his thoughts lead.
OOC: Might Sandstone recognize the burning eye symbol by way of one of his various knowledge skills? He has arcana, dungeoneering, history, local and religion; each at +7.
"I've not seen it's like before. The best I should be able to say is that I suspect a private minting, and for ill gain. Since you took it off a goblin body, perhaps someone's used a cunningly weighted slug to buy the services of the intruders? Troubling, that..." Sir Korvaski trails off in thought, obviously perturbed by where his thoughts lead.
Tac gnaws on his lip a moment, then says, "Well, that at least tells us it's not a common goblin currency," Tac says, "Which backs up what El found at the ... in the tracks." The engineer catches himself before making mention of the graveyard, remembering that he'd actually had the foresight not to announce that to the crowd yesterday.
"So," Talashia says carefully, bottling up the anger rising from deep in her belly, "Not only did someone PAY the goblins to kill people and spread chaos in the town...but they paid the goblins with false coin."
For some reason, the idea that Sandpoint was nearly sacked for the sake of weighted coin made her even angrier. Had it been riches, that at least could be understood if not condoned. But...a few fake gold pieces? Was that all that the blood and terror came down to?
She cleared her throat. "Is there anything you can tell us that might help us find who made these coins?"
Knowledge (religion) 19. The symbol on the coin isn't one Taran has encountered in either life or his readings.
Sir Jasper doesn't flinch in the face of Talashia's budding wrath but does pin her with a focused gaze that seems to suggest an outburst would be better had outside, not in his office. "I don't know who the forger might be, but mintners are in short supply in this region and a press is a heavy bulky object that would be difficult to transport in secrecy. You might hire an inquiry in Magnimar to determine whether a press has recently been stolen. I've not heard of such a theft, but that doesn't mean one hasn't occured. More likely is that a mintner's been blackmailed into service. Unfortunately, the latter circumstance is harder to investigate and nearly impossible to prove. The best I can do is confirm that Sandpoint itself has no mintner; it is therefore a reasonable conclusion that the coins were pressed elsewhere and transported here either by ship or overland means." Sir Jasper frowns and pauses. "I shall alert the Mercantile investors and shall post public billboards about town--it's to be hoped that the coins don't find their way into local circulation. Aye, that would indeed be troubling."
Sir Jasper frowns and pauses. "I shall alert the Mercantile investors and shall post public billboards about town--it's to be hoped that the coins don't find their way into local circulation. Aye, that would indeed be troubling."
Elyra thinks that over. "Where do the goblins spend their coin?" She asks. "Do any of the merchants in Sandpoint do business with them?"
Sir Jasper appears to be grossly taken aback by Elyra's question. "Certainly not!" The ex-knight snaps. "Goblins in Sandpoint, indeed!" Calming down, Sir Jasper continues, "Until the attack, I've never seen such a creature be audacious enough to show its hoary hide in town. Oh, they harry the outlying farms from time to time, but even those incidents are relatively few and far between. No, my dear, goblins have no truck in Sandpoint. As for what the simpering little wretches do with any of their ill-gotten gain, I've no idea."
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