Cautiously, Whisper waits in the shadows and under the protection of his magical invisibility until Zuul opens shop. A few seconds later, he enters the Raven's Claw just as the old stone vulture lights a lantern.

"Bah! You damn wizards and your popping in and out!" He scolds after the mage's sudden appearance startles him. "I figured you would be with your friend in the dungeon where you belong."

"Is that where you think I should be or is that where you expected me to be?" Whisper shook his head and continued without waiting for an answer, "I have something for Durgin, something he is willing to pay for."  Whisper smiled beneath his mask.

"Durgin? He went on a little trip. Should be back in a week or three. No more than a month, to be sure. I'm sure whatever it is can wait until then."

The gargoyle continues lighting lanterns.

"Oh?"  A bit of fear strikes into Whisper's voice.  A brief moment cleanses the fear and it is soon replaced by anger.
"Then what about the job?"  Clenching his teeth now, Whisper's fists open and close causing a knuckle to pop.  "Why would he leave town?"

"Am I Durgin's keeper? How should I know?

"I don't know what 'job' you're talking about, but apparently it wasn't important enough to stick around about. Or, for wasting my time with."

"So then are you going to pay me for the necklace?  Or should I peddle it elsewhere?"

A sneer crack's the old gargoyle's ugly face. "Wellll... So you got the necklace, eh? Heh, heh," Zuul cackles, then starts to light the last lantern. Several tense seconds pass before Zuul finishes lighting the lantern and shuts its glass window. He then turns to face Whisper. "I'm afraid that little trinket's not a whole lot 'o good to anyone right now. Mage-tracker's on it. You're as good as dead holding it. They'll string you up right beside your friend."

Zuul turns and starts to walk away. "But... I suppose I could take a look see at it; tell you what I can offer in these tough times -- not that I really want to touch it. As I'm sure you're aware, seeings how you're a wizard, mage-trackers can trace anyone touching an item they gots their enchantments on. I'll just have you set it down on my workbench back here."

[Private to Whisper: OOC: Zuul will lead the way to the back and take a seat on his stool. ]

"Obviously, you know a way to protect yourself from the tracking spells as well. Otherwise you wouldn't risk yourself."

Whisper followed Zuul into the back room and pulled the necklace from his pocket.

"Now don't try and fool me you stone devil. Don't forget, I'm a wizard as well."  Whisper leaned against the table and crossed his arms.

Zuul cackles again at Whisper's educated assumption, and grins at the wizard's remark back in his workshop.

"You're lucky, oh great and powerful sorcerer! I just so happen to be the most honest dealer of stolen goods in all the empire. Now, let me have a look."

When Whisper lays out the sparkling diamond necklace on the table, Zuul makes a groan of disapproval. His grin changes back to his normal frown and he exchanges his glasses for a pair of spectacles with an eye piece replacing the right lens. With one hand, he hangs his glasses inside the front pocket of his vest. "Hmph," he grunts, leaning close to the jewelry, examining it. "Not a two-carat stone among them. 'Internally flawless' indeed." His sarcasm is thick.

While still examining the necklace, Zuul poses the question; "I'm surprised that mute boy and white-haired girl aren't here bothering me too."

Whisper smirks at the old gargoyle comeback, "Very well honest dealer."  Whisper half bows before Zuul.  Taking up a position near the table, Whisper eyes the necklace as Zuul examines it.

"The others do not know I am here.  Nor do they know the necklace is here."  Whisper straightened and put his hands on the table.  "I had a job to finish and I made sure it got done.  Gurgin seemed awfully interested in this necklace and offered a bit of money for it.  Perhaps it is more the enchantment upon it his after."

"Bah! The enchantment's so trivial I forget it's nature. The only enchantment I'm worried about is the one that'll lead that mage-tracker right to my shop. 'Enchantment.' Pah. Too bad it's not enchanted with something to make these wee little diamonds clear. Then, I might be able to sell it for a profit. Fancy that!"

Zuul yanks his glasses off and tucks them back into his pocket. "What did I give your layabout friends for that Dragon's Tooth? Twenty five pieces? By the gods I'm becoming a soft hearted old buzzard," he boils. "Too bad I couldn't sell it for much more than that in Garinham. I might be able to keep the Claw open for longer than another few months."

The gargoyle pulls out a small, purple felt pouch and flicks it onto the table. It lands with a heavy jingle of coins. "That's all I have left to my name. Twenty pieces. Hopefully, I can get another five out of this gypsy necklace from a far trader. Otherwise, the Claw might soon close down.

"And, mind you, I have a notion that you should be paying me to take it off your bloody hands! Now, take it or leave it, but be gone before the soldiers get here!"

Whisper leans in and plucks up the bag of coins and hefts it in his hands, "Twenty?  I don't imagine a noblewoman would be wearing a 'gypsy' necklace."  Whisper tossed the coins up and down in his hand,

"A good dealer such as yourself has many contacts in many cities, you can sell this necklace far beyond the reach of the tracker.  Given the circumstances, I'll take half of the original offer of one hundred.  Fifty.  You'll make your money back ten-fold when you sell it."

"Fifty! You young scallywag! That's outrageous! After a four-way split with your so-called friends, you'd have only got 25 anyways, if everything would have ran smooth. But, you botched that right fine and made a mess for 'ol Zuul to come bail you out of. Fifty, indeed. Pah!"

Zuul reaches into another pocket in the side of his vest. "I've got a small purse here I owe to a legbreaker. And, it just so happens to have enough to bring your total to what you would have got: five gold." He tosses it on the table. "There! That's more gold than your grubby little fingers have ever held. And, before you go getting any grand ideas about a king's fortune for a beggar's trinket, just think what your friends will do should they find out about this little meeting. Pray they find you before the empire if you walk out of here with that death sentence in your pocket!"

"You drive a hard bargain, honest dealer."  Whisper smiled as he scooped up the gold. "Don't spend all the gold you get in one spot after you sell this thing."

"Bah," Zuul waves his hand dismissively. "I'd tell you not to spend all yours on whores and booze, but it'll do no good. Here. Place it in this box." Zuul lifts a book off a wooden box immediately to his left and slides it over before him. Whisper just catches an arcane symbol on its lid. Scrywall.

Once it's in place, Zuul closes the lid and slides it back over. "Very well. Off with you now. Keep a low profile with that gold or you'll have the black cloaks all over me. My advice to you is get out of town for a while. Let things cool off. Don't show your nose in here for at least a month, or I'll act like I never saw you before. You hear?

"I'll tell your friends the same thing next time I see them. Now, git!"

"Very well."  A quick nod from Whisper and he vanished back out the door.