Session 51

General Summary

• The party received a letter, presumably from Alfalfa, saying that Baxton should be easy to find, and it shouldn't be hard to get evidence of his guilt to the proper authorities... the hard part will be getting past his influence over them.
• The letter also said that Sorda'an Bhorrd and Annu Adabra are very good at their jobs and have good intentions, and that the others that Baxton has been manipulating would be very happy if he were removed from the picture.
• While rummaging through their possessions, the party rediscovered their Swiss Army Wand that's clearly marked as "Property of Sir Edwinton Beansly", a name that definitely doesn't sound like it belongs to the female cultist that it came from.
• The party met their next door neighbor, Barbara Seville. They had some tea, and she told them basically how the post office works. She also has a nephew, Mick Jaguar.
• Dazki mailed the updated copy of the conspiracy web to Annu and opened a post office box while he was there.
• The party then made a trip to The Palace of Pride to get information and, just in case the assassination attempt on Baxton fails, perhaps make some headway on their political play by convincing Tridon Trueforger to lean on Aldrick to vote against Baxton and getting a bead on what the House of Gold is going to need. They do eavesdrop some information:
• Baxton spent all day yesterday and part of this morning at the palace, but he's mostly on his usual routine now: office hours during the day, Red Lady during the evening. He's expected back at the palace this afternoon to finish up a bit of paperwork.
• Baxton is only really focusing on the higher-ups. The rank-and-file bureaucrats see through his BS.
• There's been no official challenge for the House of Crystal yet, but it's expected in the next few days.
• The party then tested their luck by trying to sneak into the House of Stone, but were spotted by guards on their way inside and split up.
• Dazki surrendered, gambling that Aldrick might be able to help him out. He's led to a small room by two guards.
• Kesmet, still invisible, followed Dazki in, ready to teleport both of them out if needed.
• Grogery and Dwardazik, still invisible, tried to sneak further into the House of Stone under cover of Dazki's distraction, but a guard noticed them and attacked with a spear, hitting the dwarf.

 

Full Recap

The session opens with the party long resting in the house.  

New Day, New You. Same House, Though

Someone has gotten past their defenses and has slipped a note under the door.  

In regards to incriminating evidence,   CERTAIN PEOPLE can use many different handwriting styles, making it difficult to use it as evidence. However, possession of some objects is highly incriminating as well. CERTAIN PEOPLE are easy to find and track because they have no reason to hide from people. The problem isn't getting the evidence to the proper authorities or locating the culprit, the problem is getting the authorities to care about it, y'know? It is in their interest to not anger CERTAIN PEOPLE. If the threat of consequence were REMOVED, I'm certain they would be relieved rather than upset. Then, any evidence could be properly accepted.   As intimidating as Bhorrd and Adabra can be, they are very skilled at their job, I promise they only have good intentions (for better or for worse). CERTAIN PEOPLE are good at playing with people, CERTAIN PEOPLE played with you, played with the innocent and naïve, but I can't think of any important person who doesn't eventually know they are being played with. As much as you want to quit the game after only a few rounds, imagine how much the important people also want to walk away from the table.   CERTAIN PEOPLE would not be missed by those who are losing the game.

  The Letter is not signed with a signature, but a small symbol in the corner indicates it is of a thievish nature. The symbol indicates that this evidence should be destroyed.  

Dwardazik: I don't get it. Who are "CERTAIN PEOPLE"? Is this us?   Dazki: Baxton.   Grogery: Baxton. So... we need to find something he has in his possession that incriminates him, and make sure that the people who would be able to act on that don't fear the consequences of opposing him.   Dazki: "If the threat were REMOVED"... that sounds like "kill Baxton". To reword it a bit more, it's saying that the problem isn't getting the evidence, it's getting them to care about it without repercussions from Baxton. He has a lot of influence, too much for the legal system to be able to appropriately move against him, so his influence needs to be removed, preferably permanently.   Dwardazik: Well, how would we go about doing that? Baxton... what was his support structure again?   Dazki: People that he's bribed or intimidated, and his mind-control powers.   Dwardazik: And Annu is the House of Crystal?   Dazki: Yeah. The problem with Baxton is that his support structure is very fluid. It's hard to get a bead on them to get to him.   Dwardazik: Why don't we just turn the houses against Baxton?   Grogery: Again, the hard part is getting the authorities to actually care. I imagine that Annu has angered Bhorrd a little bit, with all his trying to be "the law", so Bhorrd probably wants to see him gone for that reason. I don't know anything about the person who heads The House of Gold, but if they had much of a stake in this game, then we probably would have heard about them trying to do something by now.   Dazki: Direct action against "CERTAIN PEOPLE", they say, is going to be the most effective way. I did buy something while we were at the Undermart that might help with that. Just something to use to weaken him, possibly even knock him out, during combat. A poison.   Dwardazik: *Sigh*. I don't much like the idea of murder, but then, I know exactly what he's done. It just doesn't feel right, but at the same time, it feels like it must be done. I'm conflicted.   Grogery: Well, don't see him as someone who has brought dishonor to you or your clan...   Dwardazik: I think he should be dealt with, don't get me wrong. The idea of scheming to murder him, though... that's what I don't like. But I understand it must be done. I'd rather just take him on in one-on-one combat, but I know he would cheat.   Dazki: What even is "fair combat", anyway?   Dwardazik: With yer fists. And a mug. And, you know what? ... eh. I'll go ahead and dig the pit. We can bury him.   Dazki: If I can get close enough to him, with any luck, I'll need maybe two strikes, with the poisons that I bought.   Dwardazik: I'll give you those two strikes, as long as someone keeps me breathin'! He looks at Grogery.   Grogery: Have I ever let you down?   Dwardazik: Keep it going! Keep it going, Grogery!   Dazki: And of course, we'll need our fire support for that as well. Kesmet nods.   Dwardazik: So how do we do this? Where do we ambush this lad? Where do we take him and bury him?   Dazki: Much as I hate to admit it, the best place would probably be the Red Lady.   Grogery: I thought he was guided inside The Palace of Pride the last time we saw him? He might still be there.   Dazki: That was yesterday, though. We don't know. There's a square near here, where he tends to spend his days giving advice to people.   Dwardazik: Why don't we just ask if someone saw him leave the palace grounds? Surely your underground network would know? These people were able to find us, after all, and give us info on "CERTAIN PEOPLE". Maybe we can use this network to find him?   Dazki: Possibly.   Dwardazik: But of course, the Red Lady is a good place to start. So, are we gonna break in the back or somethin'?   Dazki: Well, he's usually there in evenings.   Dwardazik: Hmm. So we're gonna be preparing, then?   Dazki: Yep. First things first, we need to send this conspiracy web to Annu, and maybe plan on being there tomorrow.   Dwardazik: No. The first thing is, we've got to destroy this letter.   Kesmet burns it, but it's a cooler spectacle than that makes it sound.   Dazki, clapping lightly: I'm impressed.   Dwardazik: Wow, I didn't know you could do it that easily! That's incredible!   Kesmet: Well. It looks like Dennis is not on the mainland. That's a darn shame. I am extremely disappointed.   Dwardazik: Dennis is a concern, and that has to do with The Hounds Guild, but we are running out of time.   Kesmet: I don't think Dennis has any hand in this... there's no way that he wouldn't be here himself to micromanage everything and gloat over the fact that he's basically succeeding. He has nothing to do with anything that's been going on here... he's not even here! How could I have been so wrong?!   Dwardazik: Well... the Hounds Guild is here, so by extension, he is as well.   Kesmet: A mere coincidence. We've only seen what, like, 4 or 5 of them? I mean, sure, they kidnapped Barry, but let's face it, he's extremely kidnappable.   Barry: It's true...   Dwardazik: I believe our course of action is clear: we have to give Annu this information. How should we do this?   Dazki: Either messenger or post. We'll have to find out what would be easiest, and... he pulls out a bottle of wine that he bought... here's a gift for one of our neighbors to get to know them. Ask them a few questions about politics and things like that... a welcome present.   Dwardazik, sobbing: Seeing that bottle, in all its disgustingness, makes me miss my ale all over again. *Sigh* It's a good idea, but what do you hope to gain?   Dazki: The real question is going to be, what is the fastest way to get messages around? Is the post faster than a messenger, to get something to the palace? Get another person's view on the goings-on in the city. If we're going to be staying here, it's also just nice to get to know your neighbors, and it's a polite thing to do. Who knows what information we might be able to glean from someone else who lives in this part of the city? Consider it... political schmoozing.   Dwardazik: I suppose. All right, let's do it.   Dazki, looking at the position of the sun: It's a little early right now, though. We probably have an hour or two... don't want to call on our neighbors too early, after all.   Dwardazik: Only one thing left to do, then...

  Dwardazik gets to work cleaning his armor, freshening up his hair, cleaning his beard, and all that. He takes Barry with him to clean up too.   Dazki asks Grogery for his sword and bow back, leaving them in his room while they go out, and then goes to meditate on The Book of the Mirage.   Kesmet rummages through his inventory. Some goes into the bag of holding, other stuff gets distributed among the other party members. Dwardazik looks at the stolen spellbook, flips through a few pages, but he can't make heads or tails of it. It's like it's not even written in a language, much less one that he would be able to recognize.   A particular wand, stolen from a cultist, stands out:   Kesmet is now interested in figuring out who this "Sir Edwinton Beansly" is. Maybe he would be an unlikely ally... or maybe he's just dead.   After roughly an hour has passed, the party is ready to go out. Dwardazik dons his armor and equips his shield and pickaxe.

Grogery: Wouldn't it be more appropriate to go over there not armored to the teeth?   Dwardazik: Nope! But he does throw on his traveling clothes and cloak on.   Dazki: Fine, then, you're my bodyguard.   Dwardazik: Hmmph. Typical elf, needs a dwarf bodyguard.   Dazki: That's the only explanation that will get them to let you in, with your armor and weapons and all, for a friendly house call.   Dwardazik: Wait, if we talk to them, then does that mean that they'll start visiting us more? I usually like to be left alone... last thing I want is some nosy neighbor banging on the gate, being all like, "Hey, Dwardazik, wanna talk?".   Dazki: It'll be fine. It'll just be the occasional house call... if it doesn't look like we're in, people won't come over. Just lock the gate.   Dwardazik: Well, let's get on with it then.

 

A Beautiful Day For A Neighbor

The house next door is very similar in construction to the party's house, including the walls and the gate. This is probably just a block of houses. There are only neighbors on the west side. The estate is well groomed, with topiary hedges. No guards, but a guard dog on the front porch that "doesn't seem to be doing a lot of guarding", instead choosing to snooze in the morning sun.   Dazki heads to the front door and calls, bottle of wine in hand. Their neighbor answers the door. Editor's note: as I've done in the past, I'm going to use her name from the beginning.

Barbara: Oh, I wasn't expecting visitors so early!   Dazki: Good morning! We just moved in next door, and we wanted to greet our neighbors! He offers the bottle of wine. Might we come in?   Barbara: Um, I'm not ready for visitors yet, but... you know what, what the hey! I didn't know we would have new neighbors so soon!   Dazki: I apologize, we're early risers.   Barbara: I'll put a kettle on. Come on in!   Dazki: Thank you very much!

  They follow in. Unlike the party's house, this is incredibly well-furnished. All furniture seems to be older, more antique. She also seems to be a bit of a collector. There's a lot of stuff... it's not messy, per se, just a tad cluttered, certainly using all the space that's available. There are "a few more dogs" inside, all the same type as the guard dog outside. They're kind of like old sheepdogs, typically used for herding, but are instead just in this house.   Dazki puts the bottle of wine on the table.  

Dwardazik: The name's Dwardazik Stoneturner Boulderhearth. Pleasure to meet you.   Barbara: And a pleasure to meet you too! So, you live in the house with the elf fellow... what is your name?   Dazki: My name is Dazki. It's a pleasure!   Barbara: You know, it's kind of rude to go into someone's house without first introducing yourself... maybe it's just an elven thing...   Dazki: No, no, you are absolutely correct. It was incredibly rude of me, and I apologize.   Grogery: Hello, my name is Grogery! Very nice to meet you!   Barbara: Oh, you guys have a child!   Dazki: Oh, no no, this is Grogery. He's actually a friend of Father Isaiah's. He's a spiritual adviser of mine.   Barbara: Oh, it's always nice to see little lads being so pious and not causing trouble! She "might not have the best vision".   Dazki motions to Kesmet.   Kesmet: Huh? Oh. Yeah. Kesmet. Pleased to meet you.   Dwardazik: We refer to him as "The Baker".   Barbara: Oh, I do enjoy baking! It's quite a passion of mine.   Dwardazik: Kesmet is a renowned cook. He'd be very interested in any recipes you have.   Kesmet: Yeah, uh, whatever.   Dazki: We just wanted to come in and introduce ourselves, and say "hello, we're the new neighbors". Things like that. I actually did have a couple of questions about the city, being new and all that, if you don't mind me asking?   Barbara: Not at all! It is nice to have visitors, even if it is awfully early in the morning.   Dazki brings out the dried tea that he has when she brings out the kettle. Kesmet flavors it with his magic spice box.   Dazki: So if I were looking to get messages around the city, I've heard that there's a gnomish-run post that's pretty quick. Is that any faster than just sending a messenger out?   Barbara: Well, I have difficulties with all the newfangled stuff, myself, I usually have my nephew do a lot of that for me. He says it's easy: you just put the little tokens into the box thingy, and then it just delivers stuff for you! I would much rather trust a good messenger boy, myself.   Dazki: Oh, you have a nephew?   Barbara: Yeah!   Dazki: Does he live here with you?   Barbara: He drops by and checks on me occasionally.   Dazki: That's nice of him. It's always good to have family around. So... part of the reason why I'm in the city is that my family is looking to build libraries. I've met Sir Baxton, I know he's very important in the Scholars Guild, but what would be the way to, say, go talk with the people in the House of Crystal or, who is it, the House of Stone that does all the architecture for this lovely city? Crystal, they have to do with knowledge, of course, and if you're building a library, then you'd need it to be a grand building, so the architects might have invaluable insights as well.   Barbara: Oh gosh, you just said a lot of words. Can you slow down a bit?   Dazki: Yes, yes, I'm sorry. So... what's the best way to get in touch with the House of Crystal? I've heard it's an interesting place, rather... magical? Do they just let anybody in there?   Barbara: Oh, I wouldn't really know much about that. I'm not really a politician.   Dazki: Surely someone as clever and well-connected as I'm sure you are would have at least a bit of influence over things like that, if you wanted?   Barbara: Oh, not anymore. You know, the lads used to swoon over me, but now nobody thinks twice of a little old lady.   Dazki: Their loss of your insight and wit, I'm sure.   Barbara: So, you want to send a message?   Dwardazik: That's right.   Dazki: That was the basic question, but the introduction was the important thing here. Come to know your neighbors, be good well-minded citizens, everything like that, you know. It's always much better of a neighborhood when you know everybody and can get along.   Dwardazik: Look... you seem nice, but don't go knockin' on our door in the middle of the night for no good reason!   Barbara: So... you guys all live together in that house over there?   Dwardazik: Business relations.   Dazki: Yes, we're all in business together, so it's nice to have a "base of operations", so-to-speak, in the city.   Barbara: Well, you know what they say, three's a company!   Dwardazik: But... there's four of us here?   Kesmet: Dwardazik, she's implying that we're swingers.   Dwardazik: Oh.   Dazki: I would like to thank you so much for your time. It's been absolutely delightful meeting you. Oh, by the way, what is your nephew's name, just in case we ever see him around the neighborhood?   Barbara: Oh I'm sure you'll hear of him soon enough. He's kinda getting into the family business.   Dazki: And what business might that be?   Barbara: Oh, and you're so humble too. Why, you're not going to believe this, but back in the day, I was actually quite the popular opera singer!   Kesmet: Oh, yeah! You look kinda familiar... what was your name?   Barbara: None of you remember? Well, I mean, it's before some people's time here... you can call me Barbara. Barbara Seville.   Dwardazik: What a beautiful name!   Barbara: Yeah, too bad it's tied to these old bones now, but I swear, when I was younger, I had those boys just nipping at my heels!   Dwardazik: I'm sure you did. I believe our business here has concluded?   Barbara: I guess? I mean, the tea is kind of done. Shall I put another kettle on?   Dazki: Thank you, but no, we wouldn't want to take any more of your time. You've been so kind already.   Dwardazik: We have business to attend to. Thank you for your hospitality.   Dazki: I'm sorry, but yes, as my friend said, we do have things to do. The bane of ambition, and all.   Barbara: OK, sure.   Dazki: I'm sorry, what was your nephew's name, again?   Barbara: His name is Mick. Mick Jaguar.   Dazki: Well, it's been a pleasure.   Barbara: It's always nice to have visitors!   Dwardazik: Thank you for your hospitality.   Grogery: It was nice meeting you, Barbara!   Barbara, leaning down to respond: Oh, and it's nice to meet you too, little buddy! You keep on studying really hard, and one day you can be a real priest! She pats Grogery on the head.

  They leave. Dazki flags down a carriage to take them to the nearest post office. While there are post office boxes, in order to ship anything from there, you would need the Ashport equivalent of stamps, which are small tokens that you would buy from a post office or a carrier. Slot it into the mailbox, a little thing pops out, you give it its orders, and it flies away. Very fancy, very quick, you need tokens.   There are these big wooden and bronze boxes that look like combination pigeon coops and mailboxes put together, with a coin slot for the token.   Dazki buys 10 tokens and spends one on sending the conspiracy web to Annu. When he inserts the token, it looks like a little bronze falcon, its talons ready to carry a letter, scroll, or a small package. Like the hummingbird. Dazki also buys a PO box while he's here, to have a way for people to contact the party without having to give them their address.   When they have a moment, Kesmet stops Grogery, kneels down, and says:

Kesmet: Grogery. You are important, and you have value.   Grogery: ...thanks? Where is this coming from?   Kesmet: Never let others think less of you just because of your physical stature.   Grogery: Is this about what happened at her house? Look, I didn't want to make her feel bad by correcting her, and it was going to be awkward, so...   Kesmet pats him on the shoulder, saying nothing else, leaving it there.   Grogery: Is he speaking Thieves Cant or something?   Dazki: None that I know of.   Dwardazik: Grogery, sometimes being short can be difficult, but it's OK. You learn to grow tougher because of it. You're closer to the earth, you're stronger for it.   Grogery: I think you guys all have it wrong. I'm not, like, ashamed to be a goblin. I'm not ashamed of my size. I just wish that some people would treat me more normal.   Kesmet: If you wish it, then you need to make it so. They're not going to know to treat you normal unless you put in the extra effort because of your disadvantage.   Dwardazik: Big shoes. We can go to the the dwarven district, and I'm sure someone there can make you some big shoes. That'll add a couple inches!   Grogery: Not gonna fix the green skin, though.   Dazki: Dwardazik, do you remember that dwarven gentleman who was in with the House of Stone? Third-in-command?   Dwardazik: Oh yeah, Tridon Trueforger. I remember him.   Dazki: Do you think you might be able to talk him into trying to push Sir Aldrick against supporting Baxton? You two at least seemed to have a bit of a mutual respect between you.   Dwardazik: Perhaps, but Aldrick seemed particularly savvy for someone who's so aloof. I don't know if Tridon will be able to do anything on that front, but we'll see. It's worth a shot.   Dazki: Maybe not, but with Sol out at sea, he needs someone to rely on, and Tridon seems to be the third-in-command. Someone who could, possibly, give him some guidance.   Dwardazik: It could work, but how would I get an audience with him? We can take a carriage to the palace gate, but would they let us in without inspecting us? We are still wanted criminals.   Dazki: That is the hard part.   Grogery: We're probably going to have to get inside the palace complex anyways for our target.   Dwardazik: I thought we were going to try to ambush him at the Red Lady?   Grogery: Tridon is a good angle for the house of stone, but we should probably try to find an angle for the House of Gold as well.   Dazki: Well if we get in the palace to see Tridon, we can possibly move towards the House of Gold from there. We don't have much knowledge of it at the moment.   Grogery: What I know is, Gilda Lily is the woman who runs the House of Gold. She's definitely a socialite, a proper lady, but don't slight her. She'll take personal offense. Not afraid of fighting dirty, either.   Dazki: So, in other words, she's a legitimate politician. Got it.   Grogery: I think we'd be able to get somewhere with her if we shower her with flattery.   Dazki: Damn, should have saved that bottle of wine. Rare, expensive, illegal wine would have been perfect for such a bribable politician.   Dwardazik: Well, I guess we have to go break into the neighbor's house and steal back the wine.   Grogery: No...   Dazki: All right, Kesmet, you can still do that trick where you disappear someone?   Kesmet: Yeah. I can make up to three people invisible if I pour enough magic into it.   Dazki: Would you be willing to get the three of you in, invisible, while I sneak by the guards? Once we get inside either the House of Gold or the House of Stone, we wouldn't be in too much imminent danger.   Dwardazik: Regardless of which direction we choose, we should stick together.   Kesmet: OK, so what's the plan?   Grogery: Sounds like we use invisibility (and sneaking, for Dazki) to get inside the palace grounds, then try to convince Tridon Trueforger to get Aldrick to vote against Baxton. Then, we go to the House of Gold to see if we can make a case against Baxton there as well.   Dazki: I am basically out of money for bribes, so someone else is going to have to do that.   Grogery: While we're there, we can also try to glean some more information about where Baxton might be right now (maybe he's still there?), when they're taking the vote.   Dazki: We should be able to find some time to do that.   Grogery: Anyway, I do have plenty of gold if we need to bribe, and the bag of holding has about 250g worth of high-quality diamonds.   Dazki: The diamonds might be pretty useful, considering who we have to go talk to.

  Kesmet explains the rules of invisibility to the other two. His idea is to give a length of chain to the party for them all to hold so that they can know if someone has to drop off, and to help communicate.  

Sneaking the Unsneakable

They all head home to prepare, then they take a carriage to near an alleyway near the palace. They tip the carriage driver:

Dwardazik: You just found this. You don't remember who or what you saw.   Driver: OK, but you literally just handed me the coin, though.   Dwardazik: Shh... quiet.   Driver, whispering: You literally just handed me the coin.   Grogery: And we're paying you not to spread any information that you were taking us anywhere in a carriage.   Driver, still whispering: So you don't need change for this coin?   Grogery: We're fine. Spend it on something nice.   Kesmet: We're paying you extra. Above-market-value is what a bribe is supposed to be.   Driver, still whispering: What's the market value on bribery?   Kesmet: Just... just go.

  The party immediately walks to an alleyway to make sure they weren't seen by anyone who cares. They weren't. They also do a bit of scouting: guard activity is high near the palace, and the main roads nearby. Not in the alleyway, of course, but it's going to be quite a challenge to get in undetected, extra challenging to be able to stay undetected once they're in.  

Grogery: Once we're invisible, we should try to get past the palace gate and do some eavesdropping, but we shouldn't get too close to any particular one of the houses. They might have defenses against people who are invisible, particularly the House of Gold since that's where they keep all the treasure.   Kesmet: OK. Grogery, Dwardazik, each of you take an end. You know the plan. If you absolutely need to break off, we'll feel when the chain goes slack on your end. Try not to fall off... I'm going to try to follow Dazki as closely as possible. Stick with me.   Dazki: 2 or 3 paces behind, please.

  Kesmet casts invisibility on the three. They're invisible now.   They make it through the gate OK, but someone might have heard them a little bit.   With some eavesdropping, and hear some information:

• Baxton is not here. He spent the previous day here, though, before returning back to his place.
• Aristocrats think he spends too much time at the Red Lady. It's a nice club and everything, OK, but... go to your house. It's like he doesn't even have a house.
• He did a great job convincing everyone of his merits. He had paperwork, he gave a really cool speech, and the speech was really good, and everybody seemed to dig it... well, the higher-ups did. The lower aristocrats seemed to think it's all bullshit, so those higher-ups must be bribed well.
• Proposals for the House of Crystal changeover are still being written. Baxton has yet to make an official declaration, but is expected to within the next couple of days.
• Baxton is expected to be back at the palace later this afternoon to finish out some paperwork, which is hilarious because it annoys the crap out of Annu and there's nothing that Annu can do about it.
• Right now, though, Baxton is probably giving out advice like he does on most other days. The aristocrats are mumbling that he should charge for this, since, why wouldn't you? It's good advice, how are we supposed to make money giving advice if he's just giving it away for free?
• The lower aristocrats aren't buying his "good guy" shtick. They see it as, he saw an opportunity, and he's taking it.

  An idea floats around that maybe the best move would be to take him out at the Red Lady, since the party now knows his itinerary for at least the rest of the day, but then the party decides to stick with the plan as a backup. The thinking is, in the case that the assassination fails, this is the longer backup plan, which they will need to be making progress on.   On their way to the House of Stone, a guard yells "Intruder!", and thrusts a spear towards the invisible people, which rattles the chain that they're holding. Reinforcements have been called.   Dazki continues in, acting surprised, pretending like he's supposed to be there. Dwardazik starts heading towards the House of Gold. Kesmet drops the chain and heads towards Dazki. Grogery tugs the chain, realizes that Kesmet is gone, and leads both Dwardazik and him down towards a relatively safe spot.   Someone points at Dazki, "That's the guy from the wanted posters!", and the guards come for him. He puts his hands up, "This is some kind of a misunderstanding, I'm just here to see a friend. If you could get Sir Aldrick down here, he can vouch for me. I don't offer any threats or any harm." One of the guards replies, "Is that so? Well, then, perhaps you wouldn't mind waiting around for a little bit." He escorts Dazki to a small room, with Kesmet following behind him to be able to Dimension Door them out of there.   In the room, Kesmet draws a question mark on Dazki's chest to alert him that he's there. Dazki brushes his hand away and waves towards the door. One of the guards laughs at Dazki, "Yeah, you're really important, with how long they're making you wait here." Dazki retorts, "I didn't say I'm important, just that I know him and that he's a friend of mine."   Grogery and Dwardazik are just sorta sitting around outside. Dwardazik whispers to Grogery.

Dwardazik: What do we do?   Grogery: I'm not entirely sure where they went. I think we're going to have to find Trueforger on our own, and then try to see where they went. I kinda want to try to get in... worst-case, we get arrested and sent where Dazki is, right?   Dwardazik: Let's do it.

  They try to sneak through, but they get caught. "There you are, you little scoundrels!", says a guard, and he attacks towards the dwarf with his spear, hitting him.