Part 6: Another Return to Hommlet

Had the wizard not arrived, Gilly might have acted more sheepish than she did now.

"The quiet one. Where is he? Unless he wants me to keep his coin…"

She meets the gaze of the man defiantly, holding it as long as needs be before he must turn his attention to the mage. The mage was one to demand attention, so Gilly felt she could wait it out.

A wizard does not make a comedic entrance, he makes a grand entrance. Just as everything he does in life is with power, so too is his entrance. Eltrezar swings the door wide open and strides into the establishment, unaware of what he is interrupting.

The Halfling not being immediately visible (they rarely are), he starts looking at supplies. Oil is on his list, as well as more daggers. Finally, axes meant for chopping rather than hacking. It is only by happenstance that he stumbled upon Gilly, almost literally. The Halfling was standing there in the way, discussing matters of money with a man who must be the proprietor. Knowing Gilly to be more than capable, he leaves her to continue the discussion. He keeps his ears open, however.

Gilly shrugs, and tosses the coin purse to the creep. It frees up her hand, just in case…

"Does he always rush back here without collecting his pay? I should charge a delivery fee."

Eltrezar puffs out his chest and tugs his beard. Hrmph! "Yes, actually, there is something else would could use. We could stand to have some words with the man we hired, for both discussing what we had seen as well as arranging future employment. Now, if you don't mind, I'll be just a moment as I speak with him." The wizard begins walking towards the back room, hoping to nudge his way past the man he had not yet learned the name of.

Gilly had planned to usher the wizard out the door and spy on the store from afar. She winces when the magic user tackled the thing with his usual assuredness.

A few words with the silent man…

Gilly didn’t move from where she stood upon tossing the coins over. She waited to see how the shopkeeper would react to the wizard’s ‘request.’

Eltrezar harrumphs at being stopped as well as the man's attitude, but relents. He looks to the Halfling, who had been speaking prior to the mage's interruption, hoping she might have a few words.

Gilly shrugs when the wizard looks at her.

"If the longlegs doesn’t want to want, then he doesn’t want to talk."

She turns to leave, giving Eltrezar eyes that say come-on-talk-in-private.

Eltrezar turns on his heels, and strides back out the door. He gives yet another Harumph! on his way out. Once outside, he looks down at his little companion. Hrmph! "Not the most cordial gentleman. I suspect something is afoot with him."

"Aye, I heard them speaking before you arrived. About the troll… I don’t know that our hired help is all that quiet when it suits him. Unless there was a third man behind the curtain. Should we get the others and barge in there? Or sneak about and watch?"

Eltrezar looks a little confused. Ahem! "For what reason would we barge in? Sleazy merchants and talkative employees are not uncommon. Of course he would tell the boss about dangers he experienced. That may influence the going rate in the future. I fear your curiosity is getting the better of you, little one."

Gilly put a stop to the side eye she was going to give the wizard before it even began to form on her face.

"Ha! Yeah, you must be right. We aren’t in the dungeon now! We can relax, Lean Meat!" she laughs, good natured at the wizard!

"Let’s get some rest then!"

Eltrezar, unaware of what Gilly has planned, heads back to the inn. After all, his work for the day is over.