1. Can Dead Rats Die?

"So John, maybe you should go talk to Amethyst and get a location, and then share it with your new friends, eh?"

"Of course you understand we'll need some... guarantees."

"That wasn't exactly what I had in mind... let me confer with my colleagues."

Kif listens to the exchange, hoping to detect any hint of dishonesty from the Rat lea-- er, John. From John. When there is a lull in the conversation, he turns back to Bertrum. "That's a hefty tuition. May I ask how far along you are with payments?"

"John, lies of omission are still lies. Stop it."

Kif doesn't even look at John when he calls the man out, still chatting with Bertrum. "Mmm... ok, so four and a half platinum per month, with a total of 500 platinum will be... let me see... with the conversion... a little over one hundred and eleven months. And you mentioned being sick... have you spoken to a Cleric? Surely someone must be able to help you."

Gworgi's eyes lit up at Kif's words to John. "Ooh, this one not-lying lying? Can Gworgi eat?" He opened his maw right next to the man's neck, waiting for the confirmation.

"No. Not yet. Let us give him a chance to think about his answers and decide if he'd like to be more... complete... with his honesty," Kif says coldly.

Inside he's laughing to death, but he can't lose his bearing at a time like this.

Henson looks up from his ritual, eyeing the kobold.

"You can't be serious. I'm starting to wonder which of us are the criminals now. Get your damn maw away from the man."

He grumbles something about the insanity of hiring wannabe dragons as he goes back into the slow chanting phrases.

"Don't pay any attention to him, Lizard. A micro-dragon has to eat too. Don't let other people limit your culinary choices."

"No Henson's right, if you're going to eat him, you should start with the limbs, that way you can keep him alive and fresh longer. Then again you might not prefer fresh meat, I'm not actually all that familiar with your kind's dietary preferences." Mazdu ponders

Gworgi let his maw open a little longer, thick drool slobbering off his lips onto the man's shoulder, but at Kif's word, he sighed and took his mouth away.

The bully yelled something, but Gworgi didn't hear what he said. Gworgi hardly ever hears what he says. Instead, he looked at the captive, made a V with his fingers and pointed it at his own eyes, then at the man, and licked his lips.

"Don't pay any attention to him, Lizard. A micro-dragon has to eat too. Don't let other people limit your culinary choices." Authority chimed in.

Gworgi grinned at Authority and gave him a clawed thumb's up.

"Paige, what's the report?"

The notepad flips to a cartoonish drawing of Mazdu zapping a rat with mind rays.

"Snake Eyes is casting Enchantment!"

Henson shakes his head at the needless doodles.

"We know that already. Anything else?"

A sketch of a rat-person flexing a 'heart mom' tattoo is flipped forward.

"Um, Rat Man has Abjuration coming off what looks like a tattoo!"

Henson grins and glances at the cuffed leader.

"Insurance policy John? Don't blame you there. What else Paige?"

The page is turned and reveals a sketch of three bottles with miniature explosions inside.

"He has Evocation in those vials!"

He raises a brow and looks to the Rat-Man's belt, sure enough, there were three vials.

"He does. Let me guess, the alchemist's fire you were after? That it Paige?"

Paige flips to a concerned expression, jotting in a few beads of sweat.

"There's uh.. Boss, I sense Necromancy from that wide eared person."

Henson looks over at Bertrum, gripping his staff tight.

"Necromancy? Your fancy daughter got something to do with that Bert? Or has your condition been afflicted upon you? You don't look like a corpse yet.."

"Not yet."