Dracon Row
Arriving at Dracon Row, the Follies noticed that quite a few things were different about this ramshackle little district. Passing under the iron entry sign that bore the district's name, the road beneath their feet went from cobbles to sand. Before them stretched a maze of haphazard streets, all covered in sand -- piled into deep drifts in some places -- and flanked by stone and brick buildings. There were no torch brackets to be seen on any of the buildings, and there was at least one shovel by every doorway, as well as a prevalence of what looked to be water barrels.
Walking a short distance down the substantially quieter street, Cupric entered the first shop he came to -- a small sandstone building with a brass plaque over its door that read "Garyid's." While Cupric was finding out if the shopkeeper had heard of Thissiken, the rest of the party noticed that all of the businesses in Dracon Row used lettered signs and plaques, rather than the colorful flags so common elsewhere in the city. After coaxing a squeaky halfling, Garyid, out of the pint-sized door in the rear of his shop, Cupric was able to get precise directions to Thissiken's -- which turned out to be not too far down the street.
The other thing that turned out to be not too far down the street was a large pile of rubble strewn between two buildings, accompanied by a pall of dust and smoke that had lingered and spread down the road. Small groups of onlookers could be seen around the rubble, and as the party approached it was clear that this was the wreckage of a shop -- quite probably the one they had heard explode during the night.
Scampering about among the smashed stone, broken timbers, roofing tiles and other detritus was a frantic, sooty gnome. His wild white hair waving about, he was attempting to shore up the building on the far side of the blast site -- lifting scorched planks and beams and wedging them in against the wall.
The Follies picked their way through the rubble and offered their assistance, which the gnome gladly accepted. Still propping things against the wall, he started ordering the Follies around. Seeing that the building he was trying to shore up looked fine -- remarkably unharmed by the blast, actually -- and that his efforts were fairly pointless, they mostly tried to look busy. While trying to convince the gnome that he could stop propping things against the wall, one of the Follies asked if he knew Thissiken.
"I'm Thissiken!" said the gnome. "Why do you want to know? Who are you? What do you want?" He delivered all of this almost without punctuation, "Whydoyou wanttoknow? Whoareyou? What doyouwant?" Trying to calm him down, the Follies assured him that they were friends, and that they had been sent by Agrafion. At this, Thissiken insisted that they go into his shop.
The shop, which was adjacent to the blast site, somehow contrived to feel cramped despite the fact that it was actually a sizable building. The interior was dark and cool, lit only by some kind of magical globe off in one corner. There were two gnome-sized doors on the back wall, and a hodgepodge of shelves and seating in the main area. Also noticeable was a large bell hung from the ceiling, adjacent to which was a round trapdoor of some sort.
A series of rapid-fire introductions and explanations ensued. Thissiken flitted about, trying to explain things too quickly or not at all, and eventually disappeared into the back to prepare some tea. When he returned, he insisted that everyone partake -- "Havesometea!" -- and settled down somewhat once a few Follies had done so.
Tal and De'lea did much of the talking, patiently explaining to Thissiken why they were there, and trying to find out exactly what it was that he needed. What emerged was this: the shop next door belonged to a fellow drakesmith, Algaer, and Thissiken knew that it hadn't blown up by accident.
Sometimes little accidents happened in the dracotechnics trade, but this wasn't one of them. Last night, he was up late and noticed flickering flames -- "Strictlyforbidden!" -- outside his shop. He rang his shop's blast bell and jumped into his blockhole -- here he gestured at the circular trapdoor, and explained that every dracotechnics shop had a bell and a blockhole. The blockhole was a thick-walled stone tube, much like the top of a well (only set into the ground) intended to protect the drakesmith from an explosion.
Before he made it into his blockhole, he caught a glimpse of several figures in red cloaks (one of whom was extremely tall) running down the street carrying torches. They were heading away from Algaer's shop. He related that he had seen this same group twice in the last two tendays, and that he had sent the message to Agrafion after the second time. While explaining all of this, he kept telling the Follies that he feared for his life -- while appearing to mix up his facts at the same time. De'lea concluded that he was hiding something, while Tal and some of the other Follies thought he was telling the truth.
Wondering why the fact that strangers blew up someone else's shop made Thissiken think he was next, the party kept pressing him for details. In due course, he explained that it seemed like the cloaked group had been casing Algaer's shop -- "WhywouldI wanttocall theguards? Noguards comedownhere." -- and that at one point they came into his shop and started asking him all sorts of questions about paintings. Further probing into this topic revealed that Algaer had quite a few paintings, and that he had even shown them to Thissiken on occasion. Thissiken also recalled that Algaer had returned from a long trip just yesterday, and that he had been carrying something large and flat wrapped in cloth -- perhaps a painting?
Realizing that Algaer might still be in his shop -- possibly even trapped in his blockhole -- the party asked Thissiken if he'd looked for Algaer. He seemed surprised that they would ask this, and said that no one had looked for him.
