The Black Wyrm of Brandonsford

Following Quinn to the kitchen Rowan shares what he knows. "I don't know exactly who it is, but I'm pretty sure it isn't anyone you suspected. Something invisible used a key to enter the back door, then went into the cellar. I was upstairs watching the door so they wouldn't be able to slip through. Sable and Gann managed to capture them and are holding them captive now."

Wanting to inform Nessa and Rowan above, Wren shouts through the trapdoor, "It's a fey! Says his name is Naggeneen. And, uh, he seems to be a drunk..."

Then, turning to Naggeneen, she says, "What are we to do with you, fey one? We can't have you coming back here, that's for sure..."

Gann yawns widely, trying his best to stay attentive despite his lack of sleep. He is happy to see Wren take the lead, and stands back near the ladder to look mildly menacing with his sword.

"If you can reward us, why didn't you just use that to pay for your drinks here?" Sable mumbles as Wren, with hopefully more fey experience, takes the lead in the questioning.

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The Golden Egg - Upstairs

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"What, what?!" Quinn says when he hears a key was used. Coming into the kitchen excitedly, he goes on. "Impossible! But you say that... what's that? Out of flour? Out of flour?! They are stealing my foodstuffs now too! Mercy!"

There's the sound of muffled voices from below, through the now-closed trap door, and Quinn clenches his fists.

"Oooh! You've caught him! I knew you could! Drag him up here, immediately! Let's give him the what-for!"

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The Golden Egg - Cellar

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Down in the cellar, Naggeneen tries to shrug his slim shoulders at Sable. "Well, come now, come now! I couldn't exactly waltz into a bar filled with ye giants and just order up a drink, now could I?"

To Wren, he turns and adds, "You should let me go, lass, that's what! I won't come back! I'd already been thinkin' of movin' on... this is all a sign I've lingered too long!"

Squirming again, he make a frustrated sound in his little throat.

"Aright! Aright! I'll tell you what! Let me go, I'll tell you where to find me stash of gold!"

Wren smirks at looks at the others and says, "So you tell us where your gold is, and you promise never to return, and then we let you go? Assuming my companions here agree, I think that’s a deal. So, where is your gold, then?"

Nessa shrugs as she steps away from the trap door once again. "Drag him up here all you want, but don't blame me if he slips away." She says with some annoyance in her tone.

"That deal sounds fair to me. Quinn might be upset about it, but his offer of credit wasn’t much to go on anyway."

Hearing the nondescript commotion upstairs, Gann sets down his sword and climbs the ladder part way so he can get a hand on the trap door. He’s been trying to keep it shut since this all kicked off and he’s not about to let carelessness ruin everything now.

"Patience! Keep the door shut! We’re nearly done here." He shouts up at the others through the wood.

Sable bodily lifts up Naggeneen in the makeshift tarp sack, not unkindly, and prepares to let him roam free once they are outside the inn. While he walks with him towards the trap door out, he grabs a loose wine bottle. He'll ask Quinn to put it on the tab that weighs heavily in his favor now. He shakes it enticingly in front of the reformed thief and adds in "It seems an agreement is made. However, instead of gold, I want information. What do you know about the fae princess and her sword?"

Sable looks to Gann for confirmation.

"You may tell them about the gold, but for this drink and my share, yes, I want to know about this blade gifted to Sir Brandon. How may one acquire it and how can one wield it?"

Wren starts to protest, clearly preferring gold to info on the fey. She has many tall tales and songs about them, after all, and they are as likely to be reliable and whatever this little drunk might say. But then Sable clarifies and she relaxes.

Rowan tries to slow Quinn down to give Gann, Sable, and Wren time to deal with whatever they've captured. "I think they're still trying to secure the thief. Let's give them time to make sure the thief won't bolt when they come out of the cellar."

He taps on the door with his boot and yells, "Quinn's here!"

Gann nods encouragingly to his uncle, very much liking this change of tack. He keeps himself stuck to the ladder though, aiming to keep things contained until the deal is final and they have what they are owed.

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The Golden Egg - Upstairs

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Quinn makes impatient noises as Rowan tells him that those downstairs need time, but he busies himself with checking on his flour supply, exclaiming out loud when he opens the bins and discovers that Nessa was right.

"What in?! Oh, oh wait! I was meant to get some from the northern supply wagon! But it still hasn't arrived! Now I can't serve drink or makes pies!"

Coming back out to the kitchen proper, the man is red-faced. "Get that thief up here! He has a lot to answer for!"

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The Golden Egg - Upstairs

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When Naggeneen can tell that Sable's grip isn't loosening, and that the man's faitful companion is still growling softly, he decides to give up the goods.

"Me gold, a whole pot of it, is in the old temple up in the woods, part way to the big mountains!" he says to Wren and Gann. Then, turning to his captor, he continues.

"The sword I don't know much about, except that The Autumn Lord wants it back! He of the Thorns and the Twilight! With you and yours all fleeing the wood, he's sent hunters... and Hogboon is looking too!"

Wren smiles at the info about it the gold, but perks up and becomes interested in the tale of the sword. Once it’s complete, however, she asks, "Wanna introduce our culprit to Quinn, then let him go?"

Sable frowns at the troubles coming their way, but he suspects Naggeneen does not have much more information. He nods at Wren and reminds the thief,

"All right, let's apologize to the proprietor and you will not return. You can have this drink though and I will leave my part of the gold."

He whistles at Kittridge to stand down and he follows the others back up. He does not plan to loosen his grip until they are well away from the inn. He will also be careful to make sure not to bring the thief too close to Quinn.

Gann nods in agreement, then reaches up to push open the trapdoor.

"Coming out!" he calls up to the others and leads the group up the ladder and into the pantry. He positions himself strategically between Sable and Quinn, aiming to keep the proprietor from getting too close to the captured thief.

Nessa has not had a chance to actually see the thief. She stands to the side watching the scene with faux disinterest, unable to properly conceal her curiosity.

Naggeneen hangs limply, a rag doll beneath the tarp's folds as Sable keeps firm hold on him as he climbs out, preceded by Gann and followed by Wren.

"Woo, wheee!" the strange little man says as he's hauled along like a sack of potatoes.

He grins sheepishly once they are up in the kitchen and Quinn comes forward, trying to push past Gann, glowering, fuming, and sputtering.

"A goblin!" the innkeeper cries, absolutely outraged.

"A magical brownie, a tiny troll, robbing me of my wares! You little bastard! I'll pull your ears off for this!"

"Woo, whoa, oh no! No no!" Naggeneen cries, squirming hard in Sable's grasp suddenly. "Not me ears! Me beautiful ears! And I'm no goblin, ya piss-fuckin' arselicker!"

Gann has no trouble keeping Quinn back, and suddenly the little foul-mouthed drunkard ceases his writhing -- the moment he catches sight of the mock disinterest on Nessa's face.

"Princess Starpetal! No one told me ye'd be comin'!" Beneath the sack, the fae vainly tries to straighten his rumpled clothes. "I'd have put on me best! You'll have to forgive me predicament, highness! But perhaps..."

There's more squirming, and he means it now -- he's becoming hard to hold!

"Perhaps you can help a little fella out! I'm Naggeneen! You might not remember, but we met at Summer's End!"