[LPF] The Mightiest Weapon

[jbear]

"Thank you for this enlightning discussion, good Mr Stillwell. You have given us much to think upon, yet thinned the inky cloud that obscures the truth around this matter. Perhaps Lord Feador can tell us exactly what the invention was. We know it involves something that can work with a thin ink. Perhaps some special kind of quill? Quills and feathers certainly seem to enter into Lord Feador's realm of expertise. I think the moment has come to go and ask the man himself. This Lord Feador ... am I right in thinking he is a rich and wealthy man with a good deal of local power, much of which stems from his selling of high quality feathers used to make quills?"

As Relic gets to his feet he listens carefully to the gnome's response with a smile and offers him his hand in farewell.

"Well, again, I thank you Mr Stillwell, and thank you for your warning. Let us hope we can find a happy solution to this matter so that Mr Frickard's soul can rest as it deserves. A good day and may the wind blow your way!"

On the way over to Lord Feador's farm he motions for his companions to come closer and in a hushed tone says:

"I may well be wrong, but I fear we are meddling with nobles again. Pay close attention to Lord Feador's words. If what Stillwell said was true, Frickard's inventions have been outdating common work tools. If he wanted a thinner ink made, perhaps he had invented something that outdated the quill. Which if my hunch is right, would have put the Feador's Quill production in grave economic danger. Stillwell said Frickard had been working closely with Lord Feador ... I wonder if that relationship was altogether an amicable one ..."

 

[Qik]

Quioan listened thoughtfully to the gnome as he outlined Mr. Frickard's unconventional accomplishments. "Hmm..." he said, "it seems as though our pool of potential suspects was much wider than either of our employers anticipated. No surprise that their petty bickering impaired their judgment. In any event, thank you again for your help, Mr. Stillwell; it's nice to be given such a clear appraisal of the situation. Hopefully our paths will cross again soon." Smiling, he adds, "I certainly know who to come to should I ever need some proper ink."

With that, Quioan decides to head to Lord Feador's farm with the others.
* * *
"I agree, old dog; it seems Mr. Frickard's pursuits had inadvertently stepped on any number of toes, and it's best to be suspicious of whomever we come across until they've proven to be trustworthy and without blame in this matter."

 

[Systole]

"You think Feen-dors is be angry because he lose the quill?" Daylily asks. The barbarian looks dubious. "Quills is big feathers from geeses, yes? But many other use for big feather. Is good for hats, at least. I do not think Feen-dor lose much."

He pops the last of the octopus into his mouth. Around a mouthful of tentacle, he says, "Even if Feen-dor lose big feather, there is many other parts of geeses. The short feathers make the silly soft bags for civilized mans to sleeping on. The medium feather is for arrow. The bone make small tool. The meat is for eat."

He shakes his head. "I am no think Frickards take much from Feen-dor." His stomach rumbles loudly. "But we should go to see about the geese-meats anyway, yes?"

 

[InVinoVeritas]

Kazanto just listens in fascination. "Wow! You're doing some octopus squish thing with feathers? That's that inconvenient outer covering on gulls and birds. They just make a soppy mess in the sea."

Then she starts making some odd motion, akin to bouncing. "And you say that this lightning stuff causes fires? Oh, wait, I think I know about that, it's that stuff that rumbles the sky, and the best thing to do when the sky rumbles is to stay deep underwater."

 

[jbear]

Relic can't help but smile. He chucles as he replies:

"Yes, goose-feather hats, very popular I'm told. As is goose meat steak. Not to metion the popular goose bone hammer. But I trust your instinct, my wild friend. I do jump at shadows sometimes. I'll reserve my judgement til we meet the man, all I say is, stay alert for any possible slips the man may make. Let's let him tell us what he knows, not tell him what we know. if the stories match up, then we will look elsewhere. Sound fair?"

Relic moves away from the huddle after the group after the discussion is concluded and walks on towards the Goose farm with a swift stride.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

As the party leaves, Mr. Stillwell does confirm Relic's guess that the Geese Farm manufactures many high-end quills for use in writing. The family does have influence in local politics, and have shown some talent in the magical arts through their history. Finally, the Feador family is one of the largest quill manufacturers in the region and have been so for nearly a century.

It is mid-afternoon before the party makes it across town and gets near the city walls and close to the outskirts that many agricultural estates lay upon. As they near the gates, they pass by a troubling scene at a local theater.

A group of five well-armed gentlemen stand around a woman and two scrawny men in front of the building. The five gentlemen wear high-quality studded leather armor with sabers hanging from their belts. Their red-faced leader holds a velvet-clothed fist under the woman's nose and says, "I'm warning you, Mildred! We heard that Frickard's house was robbed by members of your guild, and some of the boys thought we would check your building for anything that looks stolen. If you have nothing to hide, then you should be fine with us entering."

The woman is middle-aged, and smaller than the two men behind her, but she has a strong personality, a club in hand, and does not back down. You assume the three to be actors. "And I told you that I will not put up with some random search of our property by you and your well-dressed thugs. If you have an issue with us you can take it up with the city guard."

The man pulls an arm back, as if to strike her.

It is getting late, however, the two groups have not noticed you yet, and the city outskirts are just a few dozen meters away.

 

[Qik]

Quioan quietly unslings his bow, intending to let the more diplomatic members of the party intercede first. At the sight of the man raising his hand, however, he cannot restrain himself. Nocking an arrow, although refraining from raising his bow, he calls out to the thug. "Don't," he says simply. To Gadral, he adds, "Do you know these men?"

OOC: Readying an attack, in case the thug strikes the woman or looks to come after me. I'll roll just in case. I won't add the bonus from Point Blank Shot; if we're within 30 ft, do so.

 

[Systole]

Daylily watches the approaching melee with mild disdain. "Is idiots, to threatening bear-mother in her dens. She will much hurt their manhoods," he remarks. When Quioan readies his bow, he simply rolls his eyes, as if to say, Not this again.

 

[jbear]

"Put your hand down, sir!" Relic thunders furious. "What is the meaning of this unwarranted violence?" he continues as he storms up and puts himself between the two groups, face toward the 'gaurds'.

"Names, rank and serial number!" he hisses eyeballing the leader. Hardly waiting for his reply he continues. "We are in charge of this investigation. Those caught thieving in Frickard's house have been handed over to the authorities, so thank you for your zealous but all is in order! Thank you and goodbye!"

Staff in hand energy crackles around the old man treateningly and the wind begins to pick up noticeably.

OOC: Hoping this won't turn ugly... sorry, can't see which colour is which on this computer fOr some reason.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Gadral replies, "Yes. That there is Bayral Taggott and some of his fellow merchant traders. They are in the sea trade business. Ho Bayral! I'm sorry to interrupt your sport, but these men I'm with are charged with keeping the peace between our guild and the Craftsmen's Guild. I'm sure you have your reasons for accosting the lady, but you must admit that the public spectacle you are making doesn't reflect well on us."

"Thugs protected from on high," murmurs Mimfred.

The man lowers his fist after Gadral and the adventurers yell out. His expression of rage is quickly replaced by the flicker of fear as Quioanand and Daylily approach with their own outraged warnings. "No offense meant, Gadral. The men and I were just on patrol and thought we would share some words with Mildred here."

Relic approaches the men angrily, and demands their personal information and tells the men they caught the thieves already. Seeing the tide turning against them, the five well-dressed ruffians decide upon leaving. "We're going, but don't think you've made any friends here today."

As the men leave, the woman named Mildred visibly relaxes and smiles. "I thank you for your assistance. I thought that might get ugly there for a moment. Things have grown a bit heated here in the city and fights have broken out. In the last few hours I've seen members of both guilds walking in their own packs and keeping armed. There will be no end of trouble, I promise you that."