Dropping Valic at the Docks
With Valic draped over his shoulder like a sack of unconscious potatoes, Tal exited Farry's Port and started heading for the docks. Disguised as a nondescript human -- average height, brown eyes, brown hair, etc. -- Jaehn followed him at a respectable distance. Up above, Drake scouted ahead of them, keeping an eye out for guards along their path to the docks. At one point, a vendor Tal had just passed shouted, "Oi! What's in the sack?" -- to which Tal replied, "Your mother!" and kept walking. Apart from that, Drake's empathic guidance allowed them to reach the docks without incident.
Finding that the closer they got to the North end of the docks, the more Wheels they had to avoid, Jaehn and Tal decided not to take Valic all the way back to his barge. Instead, they found a likely alcove in a relatively empty street and dumped him there.
Tal reached into the sack and cut his bonds, and in the process jostled Valic just enough to wake him up. As the orc started shouting incoherently from inside the sack, Tal and Jaehn headed back to the nearest busy street -- not too quickly, not too slowly -- and disappeared into the crowd. Before long, they were safely on their way back to Farry's Port.
Mazendria's
Just as Tuggle was receiving Thissiken's feather token, Artemis and Cupric were arriving at Mazendria's.
The shop was easily the nicest building they'd seen since they arrived in Selgaunt, bar none. Four stories high and done in an exquisite greenish stone, its two massive teak doors were flanked by a pair of impassive footmen. Mirror-smooth glass was in all of the building's windows, and the stairs leading up to the entrance were of milky marble shot through with streaks of red and gold. The whole area around the shop was quiet and nearly devoid of passersby.
Ascending the stairs with Artemis, Cupric found out that the rumors were true: it really did cost twenty gold pieces just to enter the shop. Artemis scoffed at this and walked back down the stairs, while Cupric counted out the money and presented it to one of the footmen. Bowing with a flourish, the man admitted him to the inner sanctum: a long hallway, richly carpeted and dimly lit.
The only illumination came from tiny magical light sources, all arranged to spotlight small shelves that ran down the length of the hall. Set at various heights, each shelf held a single perfect instrument. Doors of various sizes were arrayed between the shelves, and a stairway could be seen at the end of the hall. After locating the shelf that held a lute -- or, more aptly, The Lute -- Cupric approached it gingerly.
The moment he came close enough to the lute to make out the details of its fine workmanship, there was a pattering of feet on the stairs. The smallest gnome the dreamborne had ever seen emerged -- barely two-and-a-half feet tall, with a subdued style to his garments and grooming that projected an image of wealth. He greeted Cupric, asking if perhaps sir would like to see the lute room. When Cupric gave his assent, the little gnome told him, "It costs ten gold pieces to see the lute room." Inwardly fuming, Cupric coughed up another ten Princes.
The gnome escorted him up two flights of stairs to the third floor, where he ushered him into another hallway -- much like the first, save for the absence of instruments -- and then stopped in front of a smallish door. Unlocking this, he bowed and indicated that Cupric should enter the lute room. Once again, capital letters might be called for: this chamber earned the right to be called The Lute Room.
Masterwork lutes of all shapes and sizes covered all four walls of the room from floor to ceiling, each held by brackets in such a way that it was easily accessible yet took up as little real estate as possible. Needless to say, it didn't take Cupric long to find The Perfect Lute.
By its appearance, this lute was the sort of thing that, when the final touches had been put on it by its elven master craftsman, made that craftsman set down his tools for good. As before, the moment Cupric seemed certain to buy the lute, the tiny gnome opened the door and politely inquired if sir would like to buy this instrument.
When Cupric indicated that yes, sir would like to buy this instrument, the gnome inquired as to the identity of Cupric's patron. Cupric informed him that he was buying the instrument for himself, and had no patron -- and the gnome's reaction was somewhere between shocked and appalled. Recovering, he asked, "May I know what you're going to use the lute for?" -- as if Cupric's first action as its owner might be to chop it up for kindling, perhaps. When he was satisfied that this was not the case, he asked whether Cupric would consent to give him an impromptu performance.
Not without some trepidation, Cupric agreed to do so. The gnome escorted him to the shop's finely appointed solarium, clambered up onto a padded bench (in an uncharacteristically undignified manner), and awaited the music. Finding that the lute was already perfectly in tune, Cupric went into a high-class ballad, accompanying the delectably mellow tones of the lute with his voice. He delivered a marvelous performance, clearly satisfying the gnome's high standards, and earned the right to purchase his instrument.
He was escorted back downstairs, through two locked doors (which were re-locked behind them), and into a bare stone room containing a desk, two chairs and a small door. Going through the other door, the gnome produced a pillowed basket and set it on the desk. After carefully placing the lute into the basket, he informed Cupric that there was a small commission attached to paying in cash. After he made a few notes on a piece of vellum, the final price was delivered: two hundred and twenty-five gold pieces. After making sure this included a case, Cupric forked over most of his Princes, glad that the ordeal was nearly over.
Not long after that, he had selected an excellent hard case from the case room (which, surprisingly, did not cost money to enter) and left the building. Blissfully unaware of what sort of trouble the rest of the Follies had gotten themselves into, Cupric and Artemis made their way back to Farry's Port in a leisurely fashion.
