Tamyir backs up Peir with his presence and if that presence is perhaps enhanced slightly by a touch of his Lady's blessing, all to the good of their quest. Looking around at those staring, he smiles and nods politely.

Penny had intentionally stayed towards the back of the group, letting everyone else take the attention of the inn's patrons. She did check the room, hoping to spot anyone who seemed to have something to hide or an open blade destined for the orc's arteries. She also took special note of potential escape routes, just in case before leaning against the counter and asking for an ale.

ooc: 16:22, Today: Penny rolled 11 using 1d20+8.  Spot check.

The older dwarven woman smiles at the name, then her eyes begin to look troubled. "Aye, I daren say that everyone here knows Dorn Crownshield." She spoke, though at the mention of Dorn, no few dwarves raise their mugs, cheering and giving respect to the name. Many say "Dorn!", "Crownshield!", "Orcbane!" as they do.

The older woman sighs before speaking again. "I fear that Dorn has been gone from the city narey a week now. He was boasting about taking out his younglins on a real Tharran adventure, showing them orcs not to mess around with this area." She said, nodding to the bartender to serve ale to the young woman.

"Kack! That isn't good. Hmmm, Penny, Rhaga, anybody? Ideas now?"

Penny sighed in disappointment, it seemed the dwarf had taken the missing scions to fight against the orcs that came closer to the city. Probably getting them captured or killed, or captured, tortured and killed - or they would have returned to the city victorious already. Which meant they were out of the city and out of her field of expertise. But she wouldn't have been a cunning tiefling if she let it go at this point.

Slamming her hand on the counter twice she grabbed the attention of the patrons "A Tharran adventure! - Ha, that sounds so much like Dorn." she sort of went with the flow. "Free drinks so we can toast to Crownshield!" she called out, figuring that dwarves liked to drink and most of them did not like to part with their gold, hence free drinks seemed a good guess to win them over.

Once everyone had their drinks and they had once more raised their mugs in appreciation of the 'orcbane', Penny addressed the dwarves again. "Does anyone know where exactly he wanted to go, or at least which gate he left through?" she asked "I'd really like to be able to boast with the fact I fought alongside THE Dorn Crownshield." It did occur to her, that they were traveling with an orc and that Rhaga might feel conflicted - perhaps even offended - but at this point it was a sacrifice necessary for the mission to succeed. At least she told herself that.

"I need the princeling's scent. See if you can get us into the Dwarf's room..." Rhaga rumbled under her breath to her companions.

She was clearly on edge in this room of drunken Stunties. The fact that the big Orc layed a hand on the back of her snow leopard's neck to calm her as well showed that the big cat shared her friend's sentiment.

"How can we access his rooms Penny? Rhaga needs the scent." he says in her ear.

While Penny turned her attention to working the room Peir kept his attention on the woman who had approached them, lowering his voice slightly even as his heart sank at the description of what had caused the dwarf's absence, "I see. That's rather helpful to know, there are some other questions we would like to ask but would we cause less disturbance if we seated at a table to talk out of the way?"

She appears to be briefly annoyed as Penny interrupts the flow of business, even though it would be a boon to her, it was greeted loudly by the patrons of the bar. Sighing, she rushes to fullfill the orders, and takes one for herself as Penny toasts Dorn and his accomplishments. Penny hears various comments that he went through each of the gates last, but no one is sure. As Peir asks about further questions, she shakes her head no. "Sorry lad, I fear you won't get much from this lot. Dorn was a private dwarf, prefered his solitude. The gate guards may be yer best bet to figure out which direction Dorn went out." She spoke, seeming like she was sorry, but the business was starting to pick up.

"Hmmm, I guess it's time to feel out the different gates, find out the last time he went through, my guess is we won't have much luck my dears. How many guards are there, who was on when he left, what time did they leave and where were they heading. Rhaga needs his scent, she is the best at tracking!"

Tamyir nods, "Dorn is obviosuly well known enough, and certainly him with a tag-along pack of younglings would be remarkable. Let's ask around the guard posts and find out which way he went and follow." To Rhaga, he speaks a lot lower and says "Would it be helpful for your speed to be enhanced, so you can get the scent you need to aid us on this?"

Unsurprised by the dwarven woman's eagerness to see them move on, both for the desire to get them out of the way as business grew and not to talk overmuch about the doings of one as well-regarded as Dorn, Peir nevertheless was optimistic there might be one more bit of information yet to leave with. As the others confirmed their readiness to move on to the gate guard he nodded agreement then asked her, "Just one last question, if I may. I don't suppose you know the identities of these younglings of Dorn's? Or if not if say they'd all happen to be human youths of a similar age?" The last at least gave her a degree of ignorance still to plead if she did know but did not want to admit outright that the missing nobles were with Dorn, something that could go ill for the dwarf in question down the line.

Penny was somewhat disappointed, her efforts did not seem to yield results that were aiding in their efforts to find Crownshield. Speaking with a few patrons she tried at least to secure information on where the dwarf lived when in town...

ooc: Sorry, pressed for time. Trying to gather the info where Dorn has his accomodations.

22:59, Today: Penny rolled 15 using 1d20+6.  Gather Info.

The matron shook her head no to Peir's question, looking not apprehensive at answering his questions, but the busyness of the tavern. "I'm sorry lad, Dorn never mentioned if his younglings were of the wealthy noble class, though that would make sense. He trained Lord Nanthers' child a few years back, I remember that. Perhaps you can inquire with each of the missing scions houses? Lord Nanther's home isn't that far away. They might have a better idea what happened to their younglings."

Penny's questioning to find where Dorn Crownshield called home doesn't gain much in return. He was a well-known dwarf of the wilderness, so if he did stay in town, he probably rented rooms for a time before leaving, possibly not staying in one inn overly long.
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 01:47, Fri 23 Sept 2022.

"I think we have nothing else to gain here. Perhaps we can call it a day and just have a drink at the inn, discuss what else we can do to find Dorn." she told her companions, thinking the innkeepers of the Crow's Nest might know more...

Relieved that at least it did not seem to be an immediate confirmation of what was looking like an awfully inevitable conclusion Peir nodded appreciatively, "Thank you for the suggestions. And your time of course." Letting her get back to work he looked to Penny at her remark as she re-joined the group, considering it for a moment.

"Perhaps. Or given we have a rough timeframe for the disappearances we could instead try the current batch of guards and if none of them were on maybe find out who was on then and where they like to drink?"

Talking to Peir, "That's probably a good path to follow. The longer this takes to find which way to go, the further away they get. Should we ask at the gates, now?"

"Well, the day is not young anymore and I believe it makes more sense to follow after Crownshield first light tomorrow, rather than leaving the city now." Penny answered. "So, yes let's go and ask the guards if they saw the dwarf leave with a number of scions in tow. But don't come back complaining nobody saw." the tiefling added with emphasis. "I'm positive the search of the missing scions would have brought forth any guard who might have seen them on the day they were seen last." Penny finished with the confident note that she was right.

"Of course, you can go ahead and ask around, I think I'll have a drink at the Crow's Nest before I turn in."

ooc: My take is: Since Dorn seems to have left with the scions to go on an adventure, the guards would have at least recognized one of the youths. And as nobody seemed to have seen them leave through the gate, asking the guards is most likely a waste of time. Penny is going to ask around the (decent/better) inns if Crownshield rented a room there, beginning with the Crow's Nest.
11:26, Today: Penny rolled 8 using 1d20+6.  Gather Info.

Looking slightly confused by Penny's suggestion Peir answered, "I suspect one of the guards would already have said if the scions had been obvious. My thoughts were it's possible the guards might remember Dorn leaving."

Shrugging he added, "As for complaining if I don't find any information that's unlikely. It's a possibility to run down but if it's unsuccessful then so be it. I'm certain we'll have more."

"Okay," Tamyir agrees, "First light we'll pick our path. Let's get home and rest up for a long trek tomorrow." Still obviously bothered by not having a clear direction to go yet, none the less he sees no better option, either.

"Great! - Let's go then." the tiefling agreed.

Birahu woke in the morning with feathers from a wing tickling his face, it made him sneeze and he woke. After rising he prepared for the day ahead, packing for the trip and getting ready to go to breakfast, he playfully slapped Penny on the bottom and told her it was time to rise, wisely done before he was ready to leave so as not to anger her.

Only when his hand did not connect with the targeted bottom, but passed through it effortlessly, did the magus realize that he had been fooled by one more of his fiendish friend's manipulations of the mind. He should have known that when he felt feathers instead of the leathery membranes that Penny actually possessed. A chuckle originated from the open window and the beguiler came out of hiding, seating herself on the window sill. "Still believing I was that easy a catch, I see." she mocked him with a smirk.

In reply to Penny (msg # 149):

Tamyir rises the next morning, alert and refreshed. After spending an hour in fervent prayer, he gathers his gear and goes to meet the rest of the troupe. "Alright! Where do we head to, now?"