The towering walls of Kaina loom in the distance, and Harken backs off somewhat. "Here is where I leave you."
Anna frowns but nods. "I understand. Maybe we'll meet again one day?"
"Perhaps we shall. On that day, you may count Bardok, Lord of Wolves, among your friends. But until then, good luck to you." He barks and turns, dashing west toward the plains before turning southwest toward the distant forest they went through on their way to the city.
Anna sighs and stretches. "Well, guess we go report in about our findings, yeah?"
"Yep. Then maybe get someone with a bit more clout to look at these tubes and stuff and-" Tyrion's face goes pale. "Ah crap. We forgot to find out where they were keeping the stolen goods."
Amadeo nods. "It's alright. I don't think I'd want to send people to a place where you can get controlled by something we can barely explain, regardless of how much loot is in their hideout. Sounds like a recipe for disaster."
"You've got me there, lad. Perhaps it's better, then, to keep this information to ourselves? Maybe we should look at setting up shop and getting a place in the city so we don't get the guild involved." Tyrion sits back, closing his eyes to think.
Anna gasps and grins. "You mean like setting up a secret base?" Amadeo laughs and shrugs. "That could be fun. But I don't have the skill to make something like that yet. Before we decide anything too permanent, I need a couple of days off."
Hope nods vigorously. "Oh gods, yes. I need a chance to relax for a bit. Maybe look around the city and find some nice places to hang out in our downtime."
Tyrion pops his head out between the two of them. "I'm happy either way, but you're right. I'd like to check out the sights, establish some contacts."
"Please tell me that's not a euphemism for hanging out with pretty girls." Hope sticks her tongue out and Anna giggles. "Puttin out some feelers."
At this, the rest of the gang looks back at their elven companion, shock and awe on their faces. "Do you have any idea what that means?" Tyrion asks, apprehensive about the answer.
Anna shakes her head and grins wide. "Nope! Just heard it once."
Hope lays her head in her hands to cradle the incoming headache. "I swear, we're more like a comedy routine than an adventuring party."
"Think they'll write a play about us?" Amadeo asks with a chuckle. Tyrion snorts. "Right, the tales of a bunch of goofs. Who'd want to read that shlock?"
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The cart pulls beyond the city gates, several onlookers whispering at the state of its cover and others coming to the cart to check on the occupants. They're each waved off as the cart continues on, settling down outside the front doors of the Wild Hunt. Amadeo collects the bundle of tubes in their cloth covering and stuffs it into his robes. "Let's get this to a room. I don't want anyone seeing it till we're ready to present our findings." The party moves inside, quickly brushing past the other guild members before finding an empty room and filing in.
Once inside, Hope closes the door and locks it, and Amadeo sets the cloth covered tubing on a long table. Popping a glow worm from his pocket, the wizard ignites four globes of light for better visibility. "Tyrion, go to the market and get a set of tinkers tools. Anna, bring some food up. Hope, I need you to get our stuff from the cart, along with the bones. Try to be discreet, obviously." So swift and precise is his decision making that Hope is almost taken aback before she nods, heading downstairs to collect their gear. Anna follows after and goes to get trays of whatever's for dinner this evening, while Tyrion rushes off to first figure out where the market is, then to find out who sells 'tinkers tools', whatever those are.
Two hours later, Tyrion returns, huffing and puffing but carrying a large box and setting it on the table. Anna sets a plate down for him from the tray she brought up; roasted chicken and a bed of mashed potatoes, brown gravy drizzled across both items, with a side of rolls and brussel sprouts. Not alot, but it might as well be a feast for him. "Are you ok? You look like you ran the whole time you were gone." Anna pours a glass of water for him, and he nods. "Oh, I was just losing my mind trying to do what was asked of me. Turns out, not knowing the ins and outs of a city can be exhausting when you need to find something in that city."
"My apologies. It was just the first thing that came to mind. Did you get a chance to establish some contacts, at least?" Amadeo rifles through the box and removes a magnifying lense that he straps around his right eye.
"A few. There's alot of people here who speak my language." "Halflings?" Anna asks curiously, and Tyrion shakes his head. "Some, aye, but not the language I was talking about. See, folks like me learn a few things. Words and phrases, gestures and pictures and such. They're things that mean alot to us, but very little if nothing to the common person. For example, if I told you 'the hawks aren't guarding their nest, get the eggs while you can', it just sounds like we're stealing bird eggs. What I'm really saying is 'there's no one around, so if you're gonna take something, now's the time'. See?"
"Handy. But what happens when the 'hawks' are listening in and know what you're really saying?" Hope smirks, and Tyrion waves her off. "You switch to signs and signals, or just don't say anything at all. But sometimes ya just have to trust that they have no idea what you're talkin about."
Anna pouts. "So you have a super secret language? That's so cool! I just have Elvish, Common, and Subterran."
"Eh, it's nothing special. Pretty easy to learn, actually. I can show you sometime." Tyrion says through a mouthful of roll.
"Yeah! That sounds great!" Anna looks to Amadeo and leans over his shoulder. "So what do you think?...Amadeo?" She tilts her head at the lack of a response, and Hope shrugs. "Give him a minute. He hasn't been looking at it for long."
The wizard lays out his tools, muttering to himself the only question in his head; where to begin?