Part 6: Another Return to Hommlet

Gilly feels a reddening on her face as the man talks of her wizard friend. It’s followed by a strange blossoming of pride when he speaks of worrying about her. What follows is a seething, deep feeling as he remarks on all her companions in turn.

She smirks to herself when he thinks she will ask the group to find help elsewhere. She had the opposite intention, in fact. She would send one of the others to hire the man in the morning, and they would get what information they needed out of him. She thought of the cave they passed on the way. And the trees there.

As she stole away from the store quietly, heading back to the inn to await her companions, she reminded herself to ask Bors if he had some strong rope and a good knot he knew how to tie…

Harumph! "They said what about me? The actually discussed beating an old man senseless with a rake? I ought to march down there and show them just what it means to be an arcanist! I ought to turn the straw in their beds into snakes. I ought to curse their sense of smell to always detect excrement! I..." Hrmph! Deep in his cups, Eltrezar shows outrage at what was said about him, though it takes some time for the old man to realize the context of what was occuring. He licks the suds out of his whiskers and settles down, though it is clear that he is quite irate at not being taken seriously.

Mal listens to Gilly's story with a grim expression. Once Eltrezar has finished expressing his rage, the cleric leans forward on her seat and speaks to the group in low tones.

"He said he has birds to put to wing... So Garmag is likely working with whoever is responsible for what's happening down there. It is him I'd like to interrogate, though he would likely feign innocence and we would be facing down the law. I wish you had tailed him to his aviary Gilly, but you did excellent work just in bringing this back to us. We might get what we want if we rally Elmo to our cause when he returns on the marrow, he could raise a possie and brace the man lawfully. If we take the quiet one into the bush and corner him we will likely have to kill him as he will either fight off our attempt or elsewise tell us what we want where after we would still have to deal with his custody. I don't like this position they've put us in, but it cannot be ignored and at the least we must share the watch tonight."

Bors listens to Gilly fill them in and shakes his head disappointedly. "Not a single mention of my sword. I make the effort to bestow names and glory upon it, and it gets not a word of recognition. Quite impressive with such bad judgment they described the wizard perfectly, though."

"If we are to keep watch together we should room together. I will stay in the dorm as well."

Mal asks the tavern keeper to stay in the group area instead of her room but insists that he keep the original payment as a gesture of good will towards her favorite establishment.

Eltrezar huffs at the thought of sleeping in a common room. After all, he's anything but common. But with his companions sharing the same concern, he relents and finally agrees. He does pay for another three nights as well.

Gilly nudged Bors, as he sits oblivious in the common room.

"Cheer up. People will be talking about your sword tomorrow!" she whispers.

"I think it’s going to earn another title tonight!"

And she throws he head to the two large men sitting together, but says no more!

In a loud whisper, Eltrezar comments, Ahem. "We seem to be attracting quite a bit of attention. Are any of their faces familiar?" He points his chin at the card player and the man with the journal, before turning to stare at the latter quite intensely.

Bors looks at where Gilly indicates. His brow furrows in incomprehension, and then his face clears in understanding. "Oh, you're right, I should tell those adventurer-looking people the many deeds of my sword! That'll get people talking!" Bors stands up and walks over to the two men Gilly points out, pulls up a chair, and sits with them. He begins a long story on the history of his sword and its many titles.

Having already found the bottom of a handful of tankards, Eltrezar adds his own commentary from the other table, especially when it comes to Bors stealing claim from titles he does not deserve. Especially when it comes to the ogre. Harumph!

Gilly decides against drinking anything for the night.