[IC] Industrygothica's "The Hive"

[Kobold Stew]

Courage rises from the puddle of blood, content that it offers no clues to the assailant's identity. She checks the bolt on the main door, to see if it indcates any force was used, but (again) expects that Loddie had simply left the door unlocked as he was cleaning up. Still, some confirmation of his situation would be nice. In any case, she locks it now if that is possible.

"Do you mind if I grab something from the kitchen, and clean up a bit?" she asks Loddie and Vardi casually, with a smile, as they head off to sleep.

[Assuming a YES: ]

As the others go to sleep, Courage, sufficiently fortified after her few hours' rest, goes into the kitchen for a glass of water for herself to drink, and a mop. While there, she will see if she can open the pantry or other locations, looking especially for the variety of nuts that might be kept on supply. When she has conducted her investigation, she will clean up the blood and right any overturned tables.

[sblock=OOC Spoiler]
"sufficiently fortified" -- ring of sustenance, which she wears continually.
[/sblock]

She will put the mop back where she found it after rinsing it out. She is looking, of course, for walnuts, fey or ordinary. She will "grab" some and return to her room, but aim to be downstairs following her dawn exercise routine.

 

[industrygothica]

Courage rises from the puddle of blood, content that it offers no clues to the assailant's identity. She checks the bolt on the main door, to see if it indcates any force was used, but (again) expects that Loddie had simply left the door unlocked as he was cleaning up. Still, some confirmation of his situation would be nice. In any case, she locks it now if that is possible.

The door is, in fact, unbarred. As you move to bar it, you notice a bit of garbage strewn abuot the threshold. Kind hearted as you are, you decide to pick it up and toss it in the trash outside. There you can see the remainder of the garbage littering the alleyway, and small drops of blood here and there. As the alley is a dead end, there is really only one way out, and the faint tracks through the blood would indicate that Loddie's attacker did indeed take the easy way out. You bar the door as you come back inside, deciding against going after him this late alone.

You'll notice no blood inside the bar other than what was already there. It appears as if Loddie's recollection is exactly correct - the man snatched him out of the doorway, spilling his trash everywhere, and beat him in the alley. It also appears as if the man did, in fact, literally toss Loddie back inside behind the bar from the alley outside.

"Do you mind if I grab something from the kitchen, and clean up a bit?" she asks Loddie and Vardi casually, with a smile, as they head off to sleep.

Loddie gives you a thankful nod. "By all means, and thank ye for yer help. I couldn't bare to deal with that tonight."


[sblock]taking 20....[/sblock]

Try as you may, the only nuts you find are a couple of crates of barnuts, hardly the delicacy in question. Confident there is nothing else to find, you finally retire to your room.

 

[wmasters]

Scodi heads back to his bed, relieved that the immediate problem is resolved and that he can get back to his sleep and give the drunken haze over his eyes time to clear.

In the morning he heads downstairs, a hint of a hangover making him all the more hungry for breakfast. Talking to the others when they come down he says "Seems an awful lot of trouble for some nuts I must admit. Still, I guess it has to be done. This Duran sounds like a piece of work though."

Scodi sits and thinks about the journey ahead, savouring a glass of water, quite refreshing after an evening of drink. After a while he asks Loddie if he has a map of (and to) the Iron Hills, so that the group can plan their journey, and if there is any suggestion of where the nuts may have gone astray.

ooc: Does Scodi know anything about the Iron Hills, or indeed about these walnuts? Knowledge (History): +6, Knowledge (Local) +2, Knowledge (Nobility) +6, Bardic Knowledge: +8

 

[industrygothica]

Scodi heads back to his bed, relieved that the immediate problem is resolved and that he can get back to his sleep and give the drunken haze over his eyes time to clear.

In the morning he heads downstairs, a hint of a hangover making him all the more hungry for breakfast. Talking to the others when they come down he says "Seems an awful lot of trouble for some nuts I must admit. Still, I guess it has to be done. This Duran sounds like a piece of work though."

Scodi sits and thinks about the journey ahead, savouring a glass of water, quite refreshing after an evening of drink. After a while he asks Loddie if he has a map of (and to) the Iron Hills, so that the group can plan their journey, and if there is any suggestion of where the nuts may have gone astray.

You know that the Iron Hills lie due east of Irongate, barely a day's walk outside the city gates. They are known to be a rich source of valuable ore and precious metals, including silver and gold, and are subsequently fairly well populated with dwarves, who have aligned themselves with Irongate as well.

Though well populated, and fortified, by the dwarven kingdom, there are still plenty of places in the Iron Hills that have grown wild and are home to less hospitable beings. Unfortunately, a not-so-well used trade route runs directly through one of these areas, and Loddie figures that's probably where courier ran into some trouble.

 

[Kobold Stew]

"...Still, I guess it has to be done..."

Courage is not saying much, but has emptied her room, and has her pack with her, so it is clear she plans on pursuing the matter. When Loddie and Vardi are not in the room, she speaks.

"I agree that the walnuts should be returned to their owner. What I do not know," she says, directly, "is if Loddie is that owner."

"We must--" She corrects herself: "I must also determine under what circumstances the walnuts are being taken from the dryad, and return them to her if it is appropriate. Then, we may see what we can do to help our host."

Courage raises her eyebrows, as if asking for agreement. She is not looking for approval on this matter, but is hopeful that others share her appraisal of the situation.

 

[Eva of Sirrion]

I share Miss Bloodstone's concerns on this matter, and will assist you if you'll have me. It shouldn't be too complicated for ones as talented as ourselves. As always, Jonas sounded confident and certain they could handle things. And it truly didn't sound like all that hard a task before them. He's faced worse than a crate of wandering walnuts in his day.

 

[industrygothica]

Loddie gives you some crude instructions to get you started, along with his sincerest thanks. If he's ding something illegal, he surely doesn't know it, unless he's a very good actor.

Loddie's Directions:

A day's walk due east will get you to the edge of the Iron Hills.

Another days' walk southeast along the perimeter of the hills and you'll come to a small dwarven compound. The dwarves are friendly, from what he's heard of other merchant caravans coming through the area, will will do what they can to help.

Talk to the dwarves, and they'll likely feed you and tell you a good story. They'll also point you to Thokkari Hills, which is the way the walnuts were supposed to come.

He also explains that the shipment came this way, through a less traveled route, because of the value of the walnuts. The less people he met, the less likely they were to be stolen or lost.

So much for logic...

 

[Eva of Sirrion]

Jonas sips some tea while he ponders Loddie's instructions.

Cranberry apple or Green tea if Loddie has either available.

If it's a less-travelled route we may have difficulty picking it up, even with a skilled tracker like Miss Bloodstone leading the way. Are there any landmarks we may be able to use to pick it up?

Hmm, it was Vorien wasn't it? Jonas asks the older man. Have you had enough to eat? Looks like it's been days since the last you saw a good meal.

 

[wmasters]

Scodi listens carefully to the directions. "Head to the dwarven mountains and ask them about it then. Sounds fairly straightforward." he says as much to himself as to anyone else.

"This is really very good," he says, helping himself to another portion of the breakfast, his appitite apparently larger than his small form might suggest.

 

[Post Life Entity]

Since the name incident, Vorien blushes profusely whenever around either Loddie or Vardi, and quickly steps around either of them.

"It takes more than a little hunger to keep ol' Vorien down." He replies proudly while thumping his chest and wolfing down some eggs and ham.

"Eh, bein' fae and all the road would be a bit untraveled, wouldn't it?" He chuckles and appears to look forward to getting out of town. "You would't be having a map of the area an' a voucher for them nuts would ya?"