Scubacarrot

So how about we not waste the rest of the day, if we can help it? I don't think it warrants it, as Hervi should come up as scum tomorrow, but what he is saying is that I am the serial killer, because I joked twice about being it, I apparantly threw a fit the same way I did as when I was a townie, and the whole blackmail thing, which he said, might I point out, not actually blackmail. I joked about being the serial killer, absolutely, I'll do it right now: I am the serial killer, guys! What up? I fail to see how this is evidence I am the serial killer. All I can say is that I am in fact not the serial killer. If I threw a fit, as I did when I was a townie, how does that make suspicious? Am I copying my behaviour to make it seem like I am a townie? That gives me too much credit, really now. I've gone over the blackmail accusation, Hervi said himself it was not really blackmail, to bring it up now seems odd. I could link the post where he said it, but that would be giving too much effort to the whole deal. I think the accusation was just made as not to throw suspicion on any of his teammates. I guess we'll see tomorrow. If anyone takes it seriously none the less, I'd be glad to answer any questions. Stemid, I don't agree, timing of votes can still be a factor, for example, I find it interesting Wary voted for Hervi, apparantly to avoid an unvote debacle, while at the start of the day he agreed with a lot of what Hervi said. I could go as far as to say that whole thing looks staged, if you put it in a certain light. I guess we can further analyse that tomorrow. I can encourage everyone to speak up about anything, now is the time we can discuss stuff, any concerns can easily be brought forward now. Silence does nothing but help the scum hide. Speaking about silence, there are a few among us that are obnoxiously silent, I may very well miss someone, but these names spring forward: Wilhalm (is he still occupied with whatever it was he was occupied with), Canute, Sigmund and Beorn. May I kindly ask what you think about the events of the whole ordeal?

I'll be honest, I don't know what any of that even means.

What? It's quite fitting though, isn't it? It was taken from another dragon's lair, so the circle is round and all that.

The dockmaster frowns as Boomingham speaks, and says: "I'll just pretend I did not hear you insinuate something unpleasant. I'll be frank, we don't like trouble in Strivvi, while I see you are here for just that. Nevermind that, I can't keep an eye on every passenger that goes into the city. What you are talking about sounds to me like someone turned your people into slaves. Perhaps you'll find your red and blue folk in the slaver's markets, although I doubt your story is a hundred percent true. I assume someone captured your... employer's slaves, and wants to sell them himself, am I close? It does not matter, all that matters is that I will have to ask you to keep your weapons sheathed. You might cause problems, if you don't." The Orcs pauses, before continuing: "I'm informing the guards to keep an extra eye on your little group. I don't know what, but you are up to something. Now, my remaining ten gold."

Guts did not say anything, was it worth it? Probably not, the Raider had the sneaking suspicion the ring he just gave away was more powerful than he had thought. But perhaps getting rid of that power would make the Gods kinder to him, he would not count on it. Oh well, he could always stage a little burglary and come back here to take it back.

"Hmmm, very well." Let me see here." Once again, the dockmaster opens his books, while the man with the sword eyes the party suspiciously. A short while later, the orc speaks up again: "The ship that arrived today, 'The Armory' is the only ship from Eubric or housed in Eubric that arrived here in the last months. If that is not the ship you are looking for, perhaps your fugitives changed ships or something? But why would anyone flee to Strivvi, anyway?"

"Somehow I get the feeling if I answer that I will not be paid, how about you pay first, and then I will find out everything you need to know?"

Guts crunched his teeth, and answered: "To me gold is unpersonal, just a means to trade for other things. A gift of gold would be like giving a child a pair of socks. Hm, maybe a dragon would not get that... I have this ring here, made of gold, and gems, of some kind. It's not a large amount of gold, but the true value is in both the craftsmanship and the enchantment. I don't know if it works, but an appraiser told me it might be able to turn back time, and redo past mistakes. I don't know if it works, but if it truly could turn back time, perhaps I used it a thousand times, without knowing it? A gift of gold would never come from the heart, perhaps this would." Guts takes off the Eye of the Beholder from his finger, and lays it at his feet. He hoped the dragon would accept this gift, Guts was pretty sure he could pawn it for a lot.

"Yes, that is indeed customary."

"...So you don't want the name and current location of the ship?"

Guts stopped in his tracks when Nerwen spoke. The woman was right, if the dragon had any information, they needed it, and the raider was the one with the most gold, so it would only be fair for him to make the largest contribution. "Sorry Nerwen, you are right." Guts bows his head slightly towards the dragon, and asks: "Right, Dragon. I have no love for your kind, and you not for me, but if you know of this Shaun, we need to know. What do you think is customary for the exchange of the information?"

"Hundreds of ships arrive and leave every week. The shipping records are many, and I have no records of people shipped, just ships themselves... You said you are after a ship departing from Eubric? Not many from there, let me see..." The Orc pulls out a large book, and drops it in front of him on the table. A few minutes of reading later, the dockmaster says: "I have one ship from Eubric, that arrived today, in fact! It is customary a fee is paid for these sorts of inquiries. I can assure you this is not, I hear you thinking, corruption." The orc points at a small plaque against the wall that says: Inquiries: 20 Gold.

Guts leaves the cavern and heads back the way they came, he feared if he stayed longer he would do something rash, be it against the half-elf, or the dragon. The dragon had an unprotected neck, and in the limited space of the cavern, Guts could reach the dragon before it could breathe fire or attack with claw or tail. Still, if this Tiamateus guy was an ally of Heroica, Guts would not dare kill his pet.

There is no limit on flee.

"Errm, is this some sort of joke?"

Wow Callmepie, I need to figure out how to respond to this. Guts can flee.

Vote: Hervi Pudding-Head (Hinckley) You've tried forming a town block infiltrated with scum, you blocked and killed our vigilante, and you tried to convince us you were scum by voting for your teammember, maybe you did not expect it would come to a lynch, there was a very short time remaining when you and your buddies switched your vote to him, or maybe it was just a dumb attempt to clear your name, but I am very convinced of your guilt. If you come up town, you need to review your tactics, not meaning that as a mean thing, but you have done very little to convince otherwise, and if you get lynched as I hope, it is your own fault. Constructive criticism. And you must do that from the afterlife of the afterlife. If that exists.

Guts shakes his head and answers Alexander: "No, Alexander, the others just started attacking before there was talk, the first killed a lot of friends, the second would have done the same if given the chance. Some dragons might be able to talk, but they are still beasts, they will eat you when they're hungry, and to revere them... is madness. We are here to complete a job, this dragon won't help even after we offered it coin, so I suggest we move on. I don't want to sit wasting time here while you cosy up to the talking beast." Guts calmly says to Benji: "When you get through as much as me, you just stop caring what others think about you. Good luck with courting the lizard." "You misunderstood, I just have an inherent problem with elves that seem to think they are better than other races, which happens all too often. I actually know quite a few elves that I can stand." Guts points at Nerwen.

"And you wonder why people dislike elves."

"Nah, I don't have any respect for dragons. They are glorified, kleptomanic lizards, if you ask me. The last two big ones I met tried to kill me as soon as they saw me, either this one is still waiting for it's chance, or will kill me on my way out. I say we leave. Now."

The party heads to the dockmaster's office, the route described to them by Edward the Free. After not too long, they see a building just next to the water, with a sign that appropiately says: "Dockmaster's office." The party goes in, where they see an armed man and an Orc behind a desk. The Orc greets them: "How can I help you? Checking in, checking out? Your ship missing? Prolong your stay?"

Don't bother. If there's something he does not like, he just won't answer, it's what he did yesterday.

"This beast is not going to help, girl. I thought this Tiamateus guy was a friend of Heroica. It seems his dragon is not. No help, no gold. It is that there are children watching, otherwise you'll end up like the dragon that rested in the quarry close to here, wounded, beaten, her hatchlings dead, her hoard gone, and she herself running like a scared cat." Guts picks back up his fifty gold.

"Not a threat, dragon, I'm just warning you, don't make me angry, he is a dragon killing machine. Believe me, bigger dragons than you have tried. Now you are trying my patience. You can sit there and talk the big talk, or you can actually help us so we can leave and you can go back to rolling in your pile of gold, or whatever it is you dragons do. What will it be?"

"Oh come on. What are you going to do with all this gold anyway? It's not like you have weapons to upgrade, potions to buy! You see that guy?" Guts points at Sir Daggerfall. "He's the kind of guy that kills your kind in the stories. A trained dragon-wrangler! We just want to find out where Shaun is, I think my tribute was well enough for you to help us. Or do I have to pay some more for the deluxe package with included dragon-flight. That'd be kinda cool."