Something Smells Fishy

[Khakhan]

 Wrenn Phah

Wrenn made her way slowly through the tables to the board, chewing at the haunch of meat she had ordered from Sharptooth. She had been out early in the morning, getting her daily exercise in and had worked up an appetite that simple bread and a filet of fish would not adequately cover.

She read the notice on the board over the heads of most of the group already gathered as she chewed. She grunted at the half-elf's comment about rats, pausing to swallow before she spoke. "Rats or wolves. Hardly the most dangerous sport that could be found around the area."

She counts the individuals gathered around. "Pay for four, five heads gathered. I will travel with you, on the chance that this quarry is something more dangerous and sporting than simply rodentia."

[Mick the Rogue]

Davin Creckslant

 

Davin would make a nod to the newcomer. The bard had something resembling a plan. It was about as organised as something outside the Tower could be.

 

”Shall we go speak with our would be benefactor then?”

[ArcaneDesperado]

Assuming there was no argument against the idea, the party would take their leave from the pub and head through the main part of town.  Passing a number of storefronts opening up for the day, the smells of fresh baked goods and other food filled the air.  Moving down further from town the smells slowly morphed into tanned leathers, textiles, and smelting from the blacksmiths stalls. The smell of fresh cut lumber and varnish would be next moving through the city down to the lake shore before the smell of fish took over the air.  Salt was also almost palatable in the air, but it wasnt from the water of the lake, but the salting of the fish from one of the large warehouses. A massive pile of white-pinkish salt could be seen over one of the fences going nearly as high as one of the second story buildings close by. 

Dozens of fishing boats from various sizes decorated the docks.  Several different companies ran along the street by the pier district of the city.  One however had the large sign that read simply "The Fishery".  

Moving onto the property the group could see multiple warehouses over the area.  One towards the back, the smell of smoked fish billowed from the stacks in the roof along with puffy clouds of smoke.  Another sat with piles of salt similar to one of the others they passed with the giant mound.  A small building towards the entrance had a sign visible that read "Office" and seemed like the most likely point of destination to inquire about the job. 

Edited January 25, 2023 by ArcaneDesperado (see edit history)

[Mick the Rogue]

Davin Creckslant

Davin would pause briefly at the leatherworks, something far off in his eyes before mildly jogging to catch up. The SMELL of the sea was something that couldn't quite be replicated... especially next to a fishery.

 

"Well.. let's see what all this is about then..." he said looking to the others. If none moved forward he would go to the office door and knock

[ArcaneDesperado]

Come in...

The door was unlocked.

The office was decently sized inside. A number of various large mounted fish decorated the walls throughout the main entry of the room.  Several other certificates from merchant awards were displayed prominently along with some pictures of other Halflings. Most seemed to be painted and indicated family members that were involved in the business over the last several decades.  Two images displayed were more recent and were physical photographs taken with the new jade technology that was coming out of Ossa.  A miniature model ship also sat on a shelf up on a back wall.  The ship stood out a bit a bit among the other fishing décor, as it was a military frigate ship. 

Behind the main desk sat an attractive, though approaching middle age by Halfling standards, woman.  Her clothing was practical for someone that might have to do physical work, though the quality of it was clearly higher end.  She was writing in a ledger as the group made their way inside. Glancing up for a second hearing the door, she looked back to the bookwork. 

Give me a moment, and I'll be right with you.  

Edited January 25, 2023 by ArcaneDesperado (see edit history)

[Mick the Rogue]

Davin Creckslant

 

Davin had spent many years sitting and writing, and likely had many ahead. He was content to stand and look around at the certificates and photos. A family business, very familiar situation. As well as needing to finish a piece of paperwork before moving on...

 

His eyes wandered to the ship, studying it. First for the craftsmanship and second for the oddity of a military frigate at a fishery. "HMS Lionstar." he said approvingly. "Nice model."

 

 

[ArcaneDesperado]

Tamily finished scribing down the numbers in the book and finally looked up noting Davin first with his mention of the model.  She gave a light closed smile for a brief moment before a more serious tone took back over her face.  

Always pulled to the right. Even against the wind. 

The Halfling owner eyed over the others behind the mage briefly. 

I'd imagine you are here about the posted job?  I offered forty gold for up to four sellswords. If there are five of you that's fine, but the job pay doesn't change. Its your issue with making it divide evenly. 

She closed the ledger in front of her and sat down the pen. 

I'm forced to look for outside help because the town guard is too busy dealing with a wolf problem outside of town.  I've already lost about a weeks worth of stock from something thats burrowed up into my warehouse and decided to treat my catch like a free Ossan Sashimi Buffet.  

Tamily hopped out of her chair and moved around the desk.  She had a slight limp to her movement that indicated an older injury of some sort but she was still mobile. Moving around her full height put her at around three feet to just shy of a meter.  

You have any questions or you just want to get to it? I can escort you to the warehouse and where the beast is making entry. 

 

[Mick the Rogue]

Davin Creckslant

 

Wolf problem, could be normal and a result of lacking food. Could be pushed by a class 2 deviant. Investigation required. Davin shuffles in his clothing and pulls out a small notepad and a bit of graphite. 

 

"Does the creature seem to be down there all the time, or is it active during certain times. Have you found any footprints?"

[ArcaneDesperado]

Tamily paused for a moment, seeming to review all the information in her head before verbalizing it. 

No real solid confirmed physical sighting.  Plenty of indications though its animal of some sort.  Not a tracker so couldn't give you a whole lot of idea on what it actually is. No fur left behind, and what I can make from footprints, it might be reptilian.  Claw marks indicate it might be at least as large as a horse.  Hole that came in from the caves underneath here seem to fit the size. At least as far as my men are willing to go in.  I have fishermen working for me, not skilled swordsmen. I got one or two prior military background like myself, but none of us are trained for spelunking and going after a giant half-ton lizard.  I'm also not a bitch enough of a business owner to put my people into that sort of situation.  A fisherman dies on the job for an accident out with the lines or a net is one thing.  Its bad public relations but its a work related hazard.  Fisherman getting eaten by a cave lizard on dry land in the warehouse? Doesn't really make people want to come work here. 

 

[Spider42Jerusalem]

Seiyako of Wort

The young lady looked on in wonder during the trip to the warehouse. She'd seen some of it before, but the sight of the ship nearly floored her. She listened with rapt attention to the discussion, clearly the man Davin had good instincts because he was already asking good questions. Waiting for a pause in the discussion, Seiyako thought for a bit then interjected, "Giant monitor lizard." At the attention of others she looked a little sheepish, "Probably. It could be a Megalania instead, but I doubt it. Too many people."

What she internalized was more along the lines of "nobody's died yet, and that's a pretty small estimate so it's not a primeval reptile." It was a reasonable deduction given where they were located. She had no specific tie to the animal kingdom, so charming it away was unlikely. Still, it was just an animal. 

One they might be very well paid to handle. 

Seiyako was about to head to the door when something occurred to her, "Do you happen to have a map of the warehouse, or could you show us where the hole is? And perhaps any other place down there where it might hide? Some place warm maybe." Hope was on her face for a useful answer. They could almost certainly handle it if they didn't know, but it was better not to go in blind when possible. Predators didn't like to be cornered. 

Edited January 26, 2023 by Spider42Jerusalem (see edit history)

[Mick the Rogue]

Davin Creckslant
 

“Could be. All manner of things live underground.” He said writing down the names. “Both hides would fetch a good price.” He said from years of leatherwork osmosis

 

“Though perhaps Master Macintosh could come up with a way to make it into furniture.” He said with a small smile.

 

 

[Thot]

Raalk Gremweld

Being from a tribe of fishermen, Raalk could easily relate, even if those people were quite small and squishy indeed. But it was all the more impressive that they could manage to fish, at the end of the day. They were not kin, but they had a closeness of a sort, and he felt obligated to help. Also, the talk of a reptile was somewhat interesting. Having seen a Dragon firsthand, Raalk doubted he would be impressed, and instead thought he would impose dominance now.

"(Common) Greetings Ma'am. I am Raalk. We will see to it, worry not. (/Common)"

He was extremely confident, probably too much for his own good, but that was his nature, after all, and he could already see the job as good as done in his mind's eye.

The trollkin then looked at their ragtag team. Surely one or two could prove useful somehow, right ? He kept silent though, and thankfully his features were different enough that he wasn't so easy to read.

 

 

[ArcaneDesperado]

Johnny side-eyed Davin at the furniture comment again.  The bard however remained quiet and just continued to listen to any information that Tamily was able to provide and any additional insight the others might be able to suggest from their own person experiences. 

Thinking about it, there are probably a number of caverns and other caves passages that run under the town.  The lake itself while pretty calm here has a turn over to the north near the Masero border.  We're too far away from the Merrihurst Mountains or the Belcorra River to get any run off and it rains, but not enough to keep a lake this large at its level.  So there has to be an underwater feed that keeps the thing full. 

He glanced at Seiyako.  

Are any of those lizards you mentioned also potentially amphibious? or good swimmers? Depending on how deep this thing goes, we might be looking to get wet. 

 

[ArcaneDesperado]

Letting the group discuss the rest of their plan of attack on the way, Tamily would escort the group through the dock area and to the warehouse in question.  Inside the remains of several days old fish left the interior with a less than pleasant smell. Other broken crates and scattered items littered the ground.  A massive hole, large enough for a horse could been seen in the back floor area that went down into a underground cavern area.  From there it seemed to tunnel down further and to the left. 

 

 

[Mick the Rogue]

Davin Creckslant

With a motion, Davin pulled out what looked like a wand, and hit it against a nearby wall. The rod lit up, illuminating the storehouse. He would stash it on his belt. 

"If it's not in here, its likely to be in that hole." he says leaning on his staff. "Forgive my ignorance Wren and... Ralk? Are you able to see in the dark?"

((Using sunrod))