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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lars Frehse" data-source="post: 451324" data-attributes="member: 1674">Shadows of Mithril, part 1The sky was clear and the sun was shining, as the heroes rose to another busy day. For the first time, a hint of spring was in the air, and the snow in the streets and on the roofs started to melt.Ben talked to the carrier pigeons they had brought with them, and one of them told him about her home in the city of Mithril. She lived in a tower with other pigeons, and every now and then, a halfling who was as nice as the incarnate came to visit her and the other ones.“If I let you free, could you fly slowly back, so that we can follow you?”, Ben asked.The pigeon answered:” Yes, you are a nice man, and I would be glad if you would visit. Just let me go, and I will slowly fly over the roofs back home”.Except for Torn, who expected to be faster on foot, the friends mounted their steeds, and Ben freed the pigeon. It flew up and eastwards, but even though it was flying slowly, they had to dash through the streets to keep up with it. It turned out that it’s idea of “slow movement” was still pretty fast, and since it was able to fly in a straight line, while the friends had to crisscross through the sidestreets and the alleyways, they had to spur their horses to keep up.By now, the streets of Mithril were rather busy, and on more then one occasion, they had to jump over the cart of a horrified merchant, or shout at pedestrians to keep out of their way. However, they never lost the pigeon.Eventually, they arrived at the Caravansery. It was placed close to the West Gate, which was the major departure point for Caravans bound for Mullis town, and it was a sprawling complex full of stables, small stands for food and drink, dormitories, storing spaces and much more. From what they had seen, the pigeon had headed for a wooden tower in it’s middle.There was a lot of activity there. A big caravan was preparing to leave, and there were teamsters directing their animals through the mud, and shouting at each others, while merchants checked the wagons one last time and mercenaries were trying to get one last drink before leaving.Ben sat down at one of the stools at one of the small roofed stands where mulled wine was sold, and he turned to the mercanaries sitting to his left. To his surprise, it was Old Toby from Mullis Town, and next to him was Kalle, Toby’s friend who had directed the heroes to him when they had first investigated the plague.Ben was surprised:”Hey, what a surprise!”The halforc recognized Ben right away, and his leathery face was beaming:” Ah, it’s you! I am glad to meet you! I always felt I never thanked you enough for what you did for me!”“Never mind that. What brings you here.”Old Toby took a deep gulp from his tankard:” You see, when you had me cured, I still faced the problem of my kids being ill. You may remember that you had given Kalle some money when you had asked where to find one of the first plague-victims, well, me, ya know.”Now the halforc looked around, and after seeing that they were alone at the moment, he continued with a lowered voice:” Kalle needed the money, since he was already infected. So, he got himself an axe and a leather armor and went out to get the money, no matter what, if ya know what I mean.”Old Toby waited for a moment, and seeing that Ben nodded understandingly, and that he wouldn’t judge him, he continued:” When I was cured, I armed myself, and together we got the money to cure my family. By then, neither one of us had the taste to get back to the mines, even though the plague was gone by then. So, we decided to switch sides- after all, I have a family to feed and I can’t risk my life on a daily basis, trying to rob people. So, I signed up as a mercenary in Mullis Town about three months ago, and that is what he have been doing ever since.”“Good for you”, Ben said:” Are you already familiar with this place?”“Sure.”“Can you tell me something about that building with the tower?”“Oh, the pigeon place. From what I know, you can put your carrier pigeons there, and you can even rent them. Actually, we are going to have some on our caravan as well. It seems to work this way: you can rent a pigeonry and buy pigeons there. When the pigeons get back, you get part of your money back. This way, if something happens to our caravan, we can inform the headquarter of the trading house we are working for.”“Can only trading houses rent pigeons and pigeonries there?”“Ah, I wouldn’t that. Even though I had been thinking about buying one or two young ones, and raise them at home in Mullis Town, so I could send messages home to my family…”.By now, the commotion at the caravan had calmed now, and they were ready to leave. Toby and Kalle got up and said goodbye, since they had to join it now.Ben walked back to his friends, and together they went to the wooden tower. On the way, their boots were heavied by the mud and they had to be double careful to avoid the droppings of the horses that had just left. Over the entrance there was a sign saying “Torkinus’ Carrier Pigeons” and inside, there was a balding man behind a counter, and some employees were going up and down the stairs that lead up.Seeing Jan, who’s armor and emblem of Corean showed that he had the power of a guard and judge, the  man behind the counter greeted them with the utmost respect:” Greetings, dear gentlemen! My name is Tak Torkinus and I am the owner of this humble enterprise. How can I be of service to you?”Jan stepped ahead:” We are currently leading an investigation, and your pigeons are a lead that could get us ahead. Do you have a list of your customers?”“Sorry, sir, but we don’t. You see, a lot of our customers value their privacy. There are those with romantic affairs, that have to remain secret, or trading houses who want to act without other houses knowing what they are doing and many others. Of course, all this is legitimated, and I have a license that was signed by the high council. If you would wish, Sir, I would be more than happy to show it to you.”Jan shook his head:” This won’t be necessary. How do you make sure that only the right people get to their pigeons then?”“Ah, when a customers rents a pigeonry, he pays it’s rent in advance. He also pays for the pigeons he purchases of course. Then, the customer can get as many metal plates with the number of his pigeonry as he wants. You see, those plates are almost impossible to forge, except for magical means, maybe. Anyway, then showing the plate suffices to get to the pigeons, or get money back for returned pigeons, or paying further rent.”.Since Jan was busy contemplating what the man had told him, Niklas stepped in:” And is there a chance you could tell us something about the owner of one of the pigeonries, if we told you which one it is?”“Sure, if it is a regular customer, I would probably remember him. After all, I would like to help the government in every way I can”.Ben nodded, and after walking up to the roundway with several pigeons, he recognized the one he had talked to earlier that morning. He showed it to the owner, and Torkinus’ face lightened up:” Ah! There is a halfling who comes to this specific one twice a day. In fact, you have missed him by merely half an hour! But he will most likely be here again before sunset”.The friends talked to each other. They would use the day to investigate the DeBronis estate, where the culprit must have found out about the transport of the artifacts. Then, in the evening, Torn and Niklas, who were the stealthiest, would try to follow the halfling after he had been to the pigeonry. Once they had decided about their next steps, they told Torkinus to keep silent about their investigation and went up to Temple City</blockquote>

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