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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Whizbang Dustyboots" data-source="post: 3446822" data-attributes="member: 11760">Bufer blinks as he gets his first good look at the kobold bard."Damn," he says plainly, ignoring the look Hazel gives him for cursing in front of her little brother. "He would choose to show up right this second, wouldn't he?"Having restrained himself from touching the mounted heads of rams and deer on the walls of The Cat & The Fiddle, Katadid leans over the table, trying to get closer to the Wizard of Green Mountain."Do you know," Kat tries to whisper to Khenemet-Apep over the din, his voice getting lost in the din. "Where one ... could find in Kem a way to ... unlock ... the mirrors of the Shadow Mages?"Bufer glances around the table from Khenemet-Apep, Katadid and Renraw, to Emmerson, Tucker and Constable Bridger as they approach the table, and then back to Fiddler at the bar. He's obviously torn between duties, again. Finally settling on a course of action, Bufer reaches into his other pocket and nudges Reed with his foot."Hey there, boy, how'd you like to make a chunk o' change for doing near squat-all?" he asks, as he produces the shiny silver coin that Khenemet-Apep threw at him earlier. "I'm like to get a might distracted in the new few minutes, so keep an eye on the kobold for me. If anyone -- gnome, dwarf, man, whoever -- approaches him in a less-than-friendly manner, I want you to get my attention right quick, you hear?"Already reaching for the coin and bobbing his head enthusiastically, Reed pauses at his sister's quiet cough."Stay within sight of me, Reed," Hazel says warningly. "And no going upstairs again: If Fiddler looks likely to leave the main room, you tell us, you don't follow."Reed obnoxiously adjusts his chair this way and that until he can clearly see the kobold musician, and shoots Hazel a look that plainly says "Satisfied?"Bufer spares a last glance for Hazel as she glares down at him disapprovingly."I don't care what done transpired lately," Bufer says to her quietly, nodding towards Fiddler, even as he absently strokes his own throat. "Kobold or no, he's got a right to perform. Ain't gonna be no reprisals tonight, come hell or high water, not if I have anything to say 'bout it. So keep your axe handy, yeah?""Sure hope it doesn't come to that," Emmerson puts in. "My score is to be settled with Pick and her two lieutenants. Unless Fiddler starts to swing an axe around, I think folks will let her be."While Kat momentarily has Khenemet-Apep's attention, Renraw turns to Bufer, gripping his arm."I think you'll find I've done nothing you yourself wouldn't do. Why else would I be so forthcoming with the truth? Hmmm?" With that, Renraw folds his arms and turns away as though he's through. But it's only a moment's pause until he angrily uncrosses his arms to shake a finger at the gnome. "I know what you're thinking, gnome: You're thinking that this is some kind of stalling tactic, or that I've something else up my sleeve! Let me assure you, man, if we had a zone of truth right here and now, I'd step in it. What you saw with your own eyes and heard with your ears is precisely what happened. This man Apep is a paid mercenary."Renraw stops, and his eyes grow large for a second."In fact," he says loudly, attempting to be heard over the sounds of the busy tavern. "Constable Bridger, this man, Khenemet-Apep -- the Green Mountain Wizard as he is called -- has laid a terrible curse on me. He's forced me, with something called a geas spell, to try to murder your deputy at a certain future date. I demand this curse be lifted at once, and I demand this man be made to pay for the crime of attempted murder. Ebuferpaly Potentloins and I here are willing to provide all the testimony you need ... under the effects of a zone of truth. In fact, as I understand some here may not be able to take my word, I insist I must testify inside a zone of truth, right alongside the criminal Khenemet-Apep.""Really!" Kat whips his head around, interested. "Fascinating! Which kind of geas?" he asks, looking both to Renraw and Khenemet-Apep. "Exactly which methodology did you use? Ooo! Also, what were the physical effect you felt DURING the casting?""It was a standard geas enchantment, Leach," Renraw sighs. "Very standard. But as Bufer here will attest, I was bound against my will and unable to resist. And if the people of this community do not band together in order to find a way to lift the enchantment, the day will come where I will be forced into either killing Gallaway or dying myself. This must not be allowed to come to pass. Apep must be made to pay for what he did."The constable's eyes blaze with rage. He snarls something incoherent that Tucker recognizes as "shackles," and points to both Renraw and Khenemet-Apep."You'll want a pair for the simpleton wizard as well, constable," Khenemet-Apep says, smiling ingratiatingly. "May I suggest all three of us be trussed up against the possibility of spell-casting and taken before the bishop and the baron forthwith? There is, as I'm sure you can guess, quite a bit that the bookkeeper has left out, including his willing collusion in a plot against the baron -- both of these young wizards, in point of fact. It would be a shame if either were able to cast a spell and escape the punishment coming to them under Imperial law."Constable Bridger makes a croaking sound, crimson with fury. Getting control of himself, he leans forward, gripping the edge of the table."Khenemet, Kem, Leach. You will get up. You will follow me outside. You will wear the shackles. We will ride to Middleborough. If any of you so much says a single word in a language other than Imperial Common or moves your fingers even to scratch your nose, Tucker will run you through. There will be no tricks as we get to the bottom of this."He looks at Kem."I should have known that birds of a feather flock together, but I guess you'll be beating the bard to his appointment with the hangman. Up, now, and out."As chairs scrape and everyone gets to their feet, Renraw catches sight of Khenemet-Apep's mangy cat. Something about the way the cat is looking at him, he can't help but feel the animal is snickering."Emmerson, guard them until Tucker has them in chains and we've loaded them into a cart," the constable continues. "While I'm gone, I want you and the trustworthy handful of your friends to keep an eye on things here."</blockquote>

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