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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 767963" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter 22, “Inquiries and More Guests”, July 6th, 1019, 10:00 A.M.Heading back to the auction house, the group decides stops at the tavern where Porter and Norbert had been hired.   There are two similarly named taverns on the same street, one called the Merchants Manor and the other called the Merchant’s Secret, and there is some debate as to which one Melito had named.   Timothy consults his notes, stating that it is the Merchant’s Secret.    They decide to park their carriage outside of the other one.  Lannon chooses to watch the back door, with Kharole sending her hawk familiar aloft to also watch the building.  The other four then enter.The building is a large two-story wooden structure.    While the first floor is mostly one large room, it is sectioned off into private cubical areas surrounded by low walls.  Each dining cubical has solid leather-bound wooden furniture.  The tavern is itself is very dark, with dark curtains over the exterior windows allowing in a minimal amount of light, and the only area with any real light being a desk area near the bar.   Each cubical also has an adjustable lantern, but none are currently lit.   The building is presently without customers, with the only two employees visible in the building.  One is a middle-aged human, who appears to be the manager and/or head waiter.   The other is a tough-looking half-orc fighter who is leaning on the far wall behind the bar, who the group concludes is the bouncer. The human approaches the four, and asks if they would like a table.   He shows them to a nearby table, lights the lantern, and hands both Mojo and Timothy a rectangular-sized leather pad with parchment attached, which is a wine list.   They order two bottles of a moderately priced wine, and the waiter exits.   He returns with the wine and glasses, and then hands menus to both men to review.  Serita is a bit miffed at being ignored.  Timothy comments “I think the waiter thinks ill of you two.”  Serita says “Should I take him out now?”  Mojo says “I think he thinks you are working girls.”  “With a cleric of Ukko?” Kharole exclaims.  The waiter returns, and Mojo exercises an extreme amount of tact and diplomacy by ordering salads for everyone, rather than a meat dish which would further irritate Serita. They eat, and decide how to proceed.   A group of four businessmen enter, and are shown to another table.  Kharole suggests that the bouncer would probably have the most information, as they see everything.   Timothy comments “Yes, but would he tell us anything?”  Mojo says “Why don’t I try to find out.”  Kharole suggests “Why don’t you start talking to him, and I’ll cast an ESP spell to find out what he is really thinking when you ask him about these guys.”The follow through on the plan.  Mojo approaches the bar and begins to engage the bouncer in conversation as Kharole discreetly casts her ESP spell and then approaches the bar.   The bouncer is shown the picture of the gnome, with Mojo saying “His name is Wobblewick.  I think that may be a nickname given to him by his wife.”  The bouncer confirms that “He was in here a few days ago.  I don’t know his name, and never saw him before that day.”  Mojo asks about the gnomes companions, who the half-orc is vague about.”  Mojo attempts to put some gold pieces on the table, which the half-orc ignores.  Mojo gets less subtle, loudly dropping more coins, which the half-orc makes no attempt to take.  Mojo tells of the crime that the gnome committed, adding that “He tried to frame the merchant Rollins.”  Kharole finally manages to get Mojo to stop.   The two return to their table.“Pretty stupid guy,” Mojo comments.   “Not really,” says Kharole.  “He wouldn’t take any of my money,” Mojo replies.  “That’s because he thought you were trying to trap him.  Orc types aren’t exactly trusting of elves in military uniforms.”   “What else did you pick up?” Serita asks.   Kharole says “He knew the names Porter and Norbert, but wasn’t going to tell that to Mojo.  He didn’t know the names of Wobblewick’s other two companions, but I now have a rough visual of them from the half-orc’s memory.”    The waiter returns, and the group talk to him directly about what they are after.  The waiter is hesitant to say anything, asking “Does Rollins know that you are here asking questions about his workers?”  Timothy says “He knows we are investigating this matter.”  Serita says “And they don’t work for him anymore.  Rollins fired them.”  “Nor is Kindor likely to let them out of his dungeon anytime soon,” Mojo adds.    The waiter doesn’t provide much more information.   As he walks away Mojo suggests “Why don’t I go beat up both of these guys until they decide to talk?”  The others talk him out of that plan, and they leave.  Lannon and the hawk rejoin the others.Shortly before noon the party gets word that a very large ship is heading towards the city, and requests that a greeting party head down to the docks.   The same group of five from the morning head down there, joining with the naval commander Waller.   The ship is indeed huge, larger and longer than any ship they have ever seen before.  Serita comments that “Something about that vessel looks familiar."   It enters the harbor, and drops anchor in the harbor not far from the merchant docks, as none of the available docking berths are large enough to accommodate the ship.  The party recognizes the two flags that the ship is flying.  One is the flag of the Spindrift Island Chain, and the other is the flag of Lendore Island.   “That’s where we purchased our main ship, the Silver Moon,” Timothy comments.  Mojo adds “Right.  We rescued that ship merchant from slaves last year who was from there.”   Serita adds “Yes, and when I brought him home his company was in the process of constructing a ship like that in its dry dock.”The five party members wander over towards the dock where the longboat is being rowed.   In addition to the eight crewmembers rowing the boat they see eight passengers and a pile of luggage inside.   They recognize two of the eight, the aforementioned merchant Laughlin, and a very arrogant half-elf fighter who they had also rescued from slavers.   The other six consist of three human males, a female elf and two halflings.   As the party approaches Laughlin hops off from the boat and enthusiastically runs up to the group, saying “Serita!  Friends!  It is so good to see you again.”  He gives Serita a hug, and Mojo asks “What brings you to our fair city.”  “Why the auction of course,” he states.   “Any item in particular?” Serita asks.   He replies “Why yes.  There is a jeweled ship model inside of a egg that I am intrigued about.”    The party notice that the half-elf has approached.  He is wearing pressed silk clothing, with a sword on his belt that is ornamental rather than functional.  Laughlin says “You remember Travaris Pace.”   The half-elf gives the party a distasteful look, then ignores the Silver Moon Adventurers, telling Laughlin “I will get us a carriage to take us to the lodgings.”   Serita interjects “And what auction item are you interested in Travaris?”  “That is not information that I wish to share,” he replies, and walks away, supervising the unloading of several chests from the longboat.  “Very rude,” is Kharole’s comment.  Mojo adds “Yeah, same as before.  We should have left him with the slavers.”  “So what item is he after?” Serita asks Laughlin.  “Damned if I know,” the ship merchant replies “His father asked me to keep an eye on the boy.  We’ll be staying at the Merchants Manor.  Come by some time and I’ll treat you to dinner and drinks.”   Two crewmembers follow after Travaris with his and Laughlin’s luggage. The group notices the other six passengers now exiting from the longboat, and asks “Who is that group?”  Laughlin answers “Two groups actually.  They were on a ship coming to the auction that docked at Lendore Island.  They decided to travel the rest of the way with me instead, as my ship was faster, and I offered to match the price the other ship was charging.”   “Especially since you were coming here anyway,” Lannon comments.    An older human and old halfling break away from the other four.  The two are wearing rather average clothing, and do not appear to have any luggage other than a small pack with each.   Laughlin says “The human calls himself Baron Te’Col, the halfling is his valet, and neither are very sociable.  All that I know about them is that they are from a place called Northern Tiaga.”   Timothy attempts to detect the alignment from both as they pass by.  The human’s aura is inconclusive, although Timothy gets the impression that he is not good-aligned.   When Timothy attempts to detect the aura of the halfling he gets a psionic attack in response, causing temporary damage.   Timothy relates this to the others, with Lannon and Kharole deciding to follow this pair at a discreet distance. The remainder of the luggage is offloaded from the boat, and appears to belong to the other quartet of guests.  There are several trunks of various sizes, two chests that appear to be rather heavy requiring multiple men to move each, and three custom-made instrument cases that appear to house a lute, a flute, and a full-sized harp.The other four then exit from the longboat.  They approach Laughlin and the party.  Laughlin makes introductions, referring to Mojo, Serita and Timothy as “Old friends of mine and noble adventurers who did me a great service last year.”  The guests are introduced as coming from the Kingdom of Greenvale.   The younger human male is introduced as Prince Taran, heir to the throne.   The older human male is introduced as Dmitri, a wizard and Baron of Greenlake.  Dmitri explains that Greenlake is one of six baronies that comprise Greenvale.   The halfling is introduced as Ganellon Tucker, the Treasurer of Greenvale.   The elf introduces herself as Deniana Songweaver, a bard of the kingdom.  Serita inquires as to what items are of interest to them.   Deniana says “There are a pair of pendants, each of which ties in with the history of our land.   Please feel free to join us some night for dinner and I will be happy to sing you the tales.”   “And where will you be staying?” Mojo asks.   “I have no idea.  Where would you suggest?” the Prince asks.   “Hopefully somewhere where good music is appreciated,” Deniana comments.   Timothy says “There are a few good inns near the Bards Guild you may want to try.  Either the Wandering Dancer or the Apples and Harp Tavern.”   They thank the Silver Moon for the information, and head off to find some transportation.  The group returns to the auction house, where they wait nearly two hours for Kharole and Lannon to return.  The two get back, with Lannon complaining about too much walking.   It seems that the old human and halfling traveled on foot all the way to the north outer city, to the bakery district, where they found lodgings at the Cracked Biscuit Inn.  Both Lannon and Kharole decided not to enter the building, in case the two they were followed recognized them from the docks.   Mojo says “Yeah, we can send some others from our group to check them out later.”</blockquote>

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