Brushing off the comment with a small slightly insulted huff. Rukao paid little mind about the girl's low tolerance for the drink-- more likely he figured it was a ploy for someone to start getting drowsy halfway through their first drink.

"Point is, some people got there reasons for wanting to get at other people. I doubt there's any more to it than that."

He removed his hand from his tankard and placed his hands down on his papers. He could feel the gazes on him again, it happened every now and again. Especially with Dwarfs around. People could be so very rude. He didn't even bother to look over his shoulder towards those giving him the evil eye. It just wasn't worth it.

"So you are new to this town. What wind swept you in here? I'm guessing its got little to do with elves."

“Dearest Anneth, it is I, your very favorite elf, Rodrigo de Çamora!” says the Belcadiz elf, looking askance at the hobgoblin. “I think you have started without us, hmm?”

Rodrigo's stance is loose, and he is keenly aware of the hobgoblin.

"I'm a bit of a troubleshooter, a bit of a fortune teller... Got tired of telling fortunes in small towns, decided to see if I can't help people out somewhere a little, well, bigger." Anneth is very clearly telling the truth.  Well, at least so far as her reasons for coming to Glantri...whether or not she is being honest about her intentions in Glantri ending at "telling fortunes" is another story...

Then, Anneth hears Rodrigo's voice, and her face lights up.  She remembered that there was...oh, right, a plan!  Well, she might as well brief the elf on things.

"Ya, have a seat, Roddy!  Try some of..." Anneth picks up her wine glass, and snickers.  "More wine, please!  And some for my friend, if he wants some." She points to Rodrigo, adding the last part as an afterthought.  Then, she nods to Rukao.  "This is Rukao.  He and I were talking about a great many things."

Hrm, 13 Con... Ain't gonna be toppling over in her seat anytime soon.  I want to say that part of it's acting, and part of it's "whoops, should have had something more substantial than tapas!".

Looking a bit surprised at the girl's behavior, the elf raises an eyebrow as he sees there are no seats available. He takes a quick look at Gierdon, wondering what the dwarf's reaction will be to all of this. Then he wonders what that Alfheim elf, and those other dwarves, think of a hobgoblin in the tavern. The war wasn't so long ago, after all...

Well, it seems that the girl's elf friend made it into the tavern after all. The hobgoblin turned his head just a little, looking to the black-clad elf with only mild disdain before the disdain seems to fade a little. Apparently something about this elf seems to amuse him.

There were still three seats available at the bar, one next to Anneth and two on the other side of Rukao (as noted in previous post). Everyone else having avoided sitting next to the hobgoblin before the fortune teller decided to sit next to him meant there was plenty of space for Rodrigo to sit down.

Rukao spoke up with an amused grin in a gruff tone, "Seems you made it in here after all. Heard some locals decided to push you around a bit. You got in now, so take a seat." He had simply presumed that this was the elf the girl was talking about earlier. Just how many elves would be buzzing around a young witch after all?

Turning his attention back to Anneth. Considering her story critically his grin disappeared and he gave a slight frown. "Generally its not a bad idea to play one's craft where they are more buyers available... but I'm not sure this was the best city to pick. You know, people out in the countryside... they get tossed around by fate like dolls with little they can do about it and having forewarning to be prepared does them well. But here... well, most people here have the power to bend the rules of the world and make their own fates. You'd have been better off in just about any other city..."

Glancing down at the reports before him, his frown deepened as he tapped his fingers on them, "As would I, no doubt."

Gierdon took his ale and hopped up into the seat next to the hobgoblin. "Name's Gierdon!" he gruffly introduced himself, followed by taking a big drink from the tankard.

Rodrigo, somewhat taken aback at the hobgoblin's educated speech, shakes his head and motions to the waitress to bring him wine. He pulls a chair over on Anneth's other side, deciding to listen and learn.

Durek continues to watch the bar scene, taking in the atmosphere and looking fir any signs of the person he is looking for.

Kareth takes his drink once it has been served and gets up from his table, picking his way through the crowd with an excuse me here and a pleasant joke there.   As he goes he takes a moment to check out the ladies in the establishment - while the others are looking for the stallholder's pal, there is no harm in him having a bit of fun.

Eventually he takes up a vantage point from which he has his back to a pillar, and a good viewpoint to several tasty looking prospects.   Now he has to decide if any of them are up for it....

Anneth can only shrug.  "Well, that's what I get for throwing darts at a map." Making one last grasp at the proverbial ghost, Anneth says, "Where might you suggest going to aid others in their neverending search for prosperity?"

Talis watched as Kareth wandered off and Durek drank.  With a shrug he stood up and said "Alright, well I'll try the direct approach."

The tall Elf made his way through the tavern and up to the bar where he hailed the barkeep "Excuse me, Sir, I'm hoping you could help me find someone that frequents this place?  Manfred the Armorer by name and trade."

Talis studied the man's initial reaction before turning toward the crowd to see if the name piqued anyone's interest.

Rukao was beginning to feel his personal space a bit violated and was clearly uncomfortable by the dwarf suddenly sitting down next to him and introducing himself. He rolled his shoulders with a low sigh, perhaps thinking he was being ambushed and the Dwarfs here were going to stop simply giving dirty looks and actually attack him.

Flexing his legs to get ready to stand, he nonetheless answered Anneth's question as politely as he could in his agitated state. "Darokin. Best place to go is Darokin. A lot of people with a lot of money and uncertain futures. Just gotta head south along the river."

Figuring no good would come from ignoring the Dwarf, he turned to look at him and replied just as briefly, "The name's Rukao." His gaze lingered longer as he tried to figure out just how inebriated the Dwarf was and how soon he was intending to attack.

After Kareth turns his eye to the ladies, it finally sinks in that the 'illusionist' is actually Manfred the Armorer. He has an illusion spell on him which, in fact, did momentarily fail when he walked through the anti-magic field on the porch.

And he is sitting in the back booth with two others.


When Talis asks the bartender about Manfred, the bartender inadvertently glances at the corner booth before answering.

"He does frequent the pub, but he hasn't been in in a few days."

Talis eyed the area that the bartender glanced toward "I see.  Perhaps You could point out one or two of his friends, then?  There's a chance they would know where I could find him."

The brawny Elf smiled and added "I've been told he is a fine smith and he could help me with a kink I keep getting in my armor." to demonstrate Talis flexed his left arm causing his plate armor to shift and creak unpleasantly.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:55, Mon 03 Mar 2014.

Gierdon eyed the Hobgoblin wearily. "Where you from?" he asked suspiciously, taking another drink of his ale.

Rodrigo eyes the hobgoblin as he sips his drink. He gives the armored elf, now at the bar, a quick look, but the fellow appears to have his own interests. Rodrigo settles back on his stool. 'This hobgoblin is rather erudite for a beastman,' the elf thinks to himself. 'I wonder what those papers are about. Almost like...written orders from a superior! Perhaps he's a scout!' The elf tries to unobtrusively catch a glimpse when Rukao turns to address Gierdon.

Well, at least the Dwarf seemed tired-drunk rather than happy-drunk or angry-drunk. There was slightly less to worry about. He answered in a cryptic manner, "I'm much the same as the unstamped coin," he seemed quite hesitant to share much about himself.

The papers in his hand seemed to be public crime reports from around the city, telling about the various murders, robberies and various other crimes that had occurred over the last couple weeks. They were no doubt obtained from the guards, the kind of things they might give out to guards, reporters or city officials.

With a sigh, Rodrigo notes that Anneth has slumped over at the counter, and he deftly moves her goblet to one side. Then, with a frown, he sniffs at the contents, wondering if she'd been drugged. He waves at the barkeep. “What exactly have you given my friend? She's passed out!” he exclaims with indignation.

He does note that with Anneth's head down, he has a clear line of sight to the papers, which appear to be about criminal activities! He pretends not to have noticed, but his heart beats faster as he wonders if he's stumbled upon a plan for a massive crime wave!

Kareth feigns (well, it is not entirely feigned) interest in a dark-haired girl sitting at the next table to Manfred.    Taking his drink along with him he mooches up to a pillar whereby he has a clear line of sight on her, and clear space for his leg to trip Manfred should the man try to make a quick exit.

Then he catches Talis' eyes and makes a subtle nod in the direction of Manfred's booth.

The bartender looks a bit uncomfortable at Talis's questions, though Talis's demonstration seems to mollify him a bit.

"Noooo, his... um, friends haven't been around either," the bartender replies. "But... if you leave your name, I'll pass it on to him if I see him. Where are you staying?"

A moment later, he's distracted by Rodrigo.

"Just wine!" he protested. "It was strong wine... she asked for it! So perhaps she drank it too fast... on an empty stomach! With some people, it goes to their head easily."


One of those crime reports in Rukao's hand was about a burglary and a subsequent murder when the burglary went skew-whiff. It was a second story job, with the trademarks of Vengo Skurl, a minor prestidigitator who climbs up to the second story using nekode (cat's claws). The murder, by broken neck, however, was done by someone else who was bigger and stronger.

Rukao spotted Vengo sitting in the back corner booth. He was hoping Vengo would lead him to his partner in crime.

In reply to Mysterion (msg # 113):

Talis waved a hand as if to dismiss the matter "I just reached the city today so I haven't settled on a place yet." he continued to watch the barkeep for a few moments as he dealt with the accusations of the city-fied Elf.  He was still getting used to the crush of races living shoulder to shoulder.  It was both thrilling and off-putting at the same time.  Hobgoblins, Elves, Humans and Dwarves living together?  He would not be surprised to see a Thoul sharing a drink with a Unicorn next.

The Elf inclined his head slightly to Kareth to acknowledge his summons.  With another head motion he tried to catch Durek's eye as well before wandering over to Kareth and mumbled in a low voice"The barkeep is nervous.  His eyes betrayed yonder table.  What have you learned?"
This message was lightly edited by the player at 19:50, Wed 05 Mar 2014.

Kareth, not keen on having his pulling style cramped by an overdressed Elf, mumbles back without turning his head to look at Talis as he passes. "That's the guy - I'm sure of it.  I'm guessing he makes more money as a fence than as a stallholder.   He knows some kind of magic so be careful.    He might have pals here if he's a regular so let's try a softly-softly approach first - how about you try make a buy?"

Seeing that Kareth was unhappy with Talis' presence the Elf turned his back to Manfred's table and looked back toward Durek doing his best to appear to ignore Kareth's existence while, at the same time, he spoke out of the side of his mouth "Since I have no idea what you're talking about perhaps it's best if you confront the man.  Durek and I will linger nearby if you need assistance."

Rodrigo's eyes widen as he catches the gist of the case on the page. A big, strong murderer who broke the victim's neck?! Rodrigo immediately assumes a studied nonchalance, hoping that the big, strong hobgoblin didn't catch him looking...

He glances at Gierdon, wondering what the dwarf was aiming for by speaking to the beastman. From all he remembered reading, they should be sworn enemies, shouldn't they?

It was a bit difficult to not to notice an elf leaning over the bar reading between his fingers. By the time Rodrigo attempted to look nonchalant, Rukao was staring right at him with mild annoyance.

"You know," he began in a cool voice, "If you want to read them, you can just ask." He saw no reason why he shouldn't share them. They weren't meant to be secret, after all. Besides, he'd got about all the use he could out of them.

He kept his ears open, listening closely to Vengo to try to hear if the man either got up or someone approached his table. It was good to be able to keep track of someone without having to stare at them openly.