Boddynock regained his chair, paying very little attention to much else until he heard his name. He looked up at Rowena, then realized she was explaining about Vials, whose surname happened to be his given. It was an odd coincidence, especially when it was stated Vials was also a Gnome.
Ah, it makes sense now, her lack of a calm demeanor...
When he was formally introduced, he stood upon the chair - so as to be seen as the same height as everyone else - and bowed low, his bulbous nose resting upon the top of the table as he did so momentarily before he rose back up to his full height. He then sat down, listening intently to what was being said, even though his thoughts kept racing to other subjects. Things like the number of teeth on a certain gear, or what weight hammer he'd need to pound out a pewter figurine, or even if he'd left a fire burning at his last camp before he made it here. He was very scatter-brained, but he knew how to deal with multi-tasking.
When it was his turn, he accepted the scroll and read it, his stubby fingers caressing the parchment as if it were a newborn baby. His mouth moved with every word - which he read at least twice to make sure he got full retention - and his voice actually carried several key phrases out to the ears of everyone else. Triton's Tankard and Port Kir and Harbor Room. He only mouthed the words for "purple sash", but it was very obvious to all that he did indeed mouth them.
After finishing his reading, he passed the parchment to the next person before drumming his fingers on the table, his eyes moving to the ceiling as if he were lost in thought. He kept mouthing those same 4 phrases over and over, as if committing them to his permanent memory.
"I do say that we have our missive," he put out thoughtfully, his eyes coming back down to the others at the table. "We obviously must go to Port Kir and follow the instructions for this V person, yes? Draw out whomever will be waiting for this signal?"
