Chapter 4: Teamwork
The Golden Acorn echoed with the sound of people enjoying the end of another ten-day. Fires roared in the tap room, dining room and lounge warming the spirits of the large crowd bustling in the establishment. The savoury smell of fowl roasting on the spit caused many a mouth to water. But at a large, lacquered table in the dining room all of these distractions were pushed aside by the patrons.
Captain Gavin and his party were getting to know each other and beginning to understand the depth of what they'd signed up for. The Knight in Silver looked around to ensure no one eavesdropped, then signalled the time for idle chit chat had ended.
"Very well," he began, "you know what we seek and you know what we're up against. So, any questions?"
Besides the soldier of Silverymoon there had yet to be established a natural order of leadership. The others warily looked at each other, seeing who would exert themselves. None were surprised when the paladin Alariya Hawkstone spoke.
"You've talked around the edges of the map, as it were, Captain. What information do you have that might help us find this elusive prize we seek?"
"Very little I confess," Gavin replied somewhat embarrassed. "We know that Forfar stopped at this inn before he was killed not far from here. Others have searched the area between that spot and here with no success. It's strongly suspected that he hid the orb before he reached this village."
"But he did send correspondence to the Lady Alustriel about this prize, didn't he?" Sarai Swiftdeer asked. "He did seem to want it found?"
"Yes, that is our understanding," the captain answered.
"Then isn't he likely to have left some clue here to its location if he wants it found?" the ranger surmised.
"That makes sense," Captain Gavin responded nodding his head in agreement, chastising himself for not having thought of that. Again the soldier began to wonder if he were in over his head with this adventuring thing. He said a quick prayer of thanks for those who would be helping him in the quest. Humbling himself, the Knight in Silver knew he couldn't merely 'lead' this group. They needed to work together as a team to achieve their objective.
"How do you think we should go about it?" he asked generally.
"Well, we can start by questioning the people who are here to see if they know anything about Forfar," Skylah Clearsong declared.
"Good idea," Alariya agreed. "But we should be careful who we ask. We don't want the wrong people to find anything out about what we're doing."
The others hesitated at the logical suggestion from the Paladin knight, unsure how to proceed.
"Enough talk," the Swiftsword sisters grunted in unison, "let's get out there and find some information."
They stood up quickly, their chairs making a loud screeching sound drawing the looks of several patrons sitting nearby.
"But carefully," Talindra hissed, "lest we announce to every Kraken agent in the inn our intent." The elf rogue shook her head. "Fighters," she spat out under her breath.
The group looked around, assessing the situation. There seemed to be several excellent candidates to query. Who to choose became the next obvious question. The first choice was made for them.
The server for their table in the inn glided over. A tall woman of middle-age, she bubbled with exuberance. She'd be a good place to start.
"Not leaving so soon?" she asked enthusiastically. "Can I get you anything more to drink? Some cider or mead perhaps?"
None were sure how to respond and move the conversation to a more profitable path. Most realized their skills in this area were lacking. Rolling her eyes at the other party members, Talindra stepped forward with a broad grin on her face.
"Leave, my good woman, that's the last thing on our minds. In fact speaking of minds you read ours. Of course we'll have another round, cider for all." Shaking a small velvet bag the sound of jingling coins brought a smile to the attractive woman's face. "I'm Talinma," the elf introduced herself using a false name, "what's yours?"
"Oh, I'm Velola and I'm a singer."
"Really?"
"Oh yes," and she spontaneously broke into a few bars of a popular song.
"Lovely," Talindra lied. "Say, I'm searching for a friend who came through this lovely village more than a ten-day ago. He was a merchant from Waterdeep, his name was…"
"Waterdeep? I long to go to Waterdeep!" Velola gushed. "That's where the greatest singers come from."
"You're right, of course," Skylah Clearsong agreed, since she came from that grand city. "If you wish to be a singer then that's the place to go."
Talindra cleared her throat to get the attention of the now chattering pair of women. "Our friend? Remember? His name is Forfar and he travelled with a merchant caravan."
"Hmm," the server pondered. "Can you describe him?"
Talindra looked over at Captain Gavin, giving him a pointed look to join the conversation. The soldier eventually caught the hint, also catching the derisive smirk the elf had on her face at his obvious lack of skill in this area.
"Yes, I do remember him," the server declared after hearing Gavin's description. "He sat right over there," she pointed to a table in the corner. "He was writing a letter and broke his quill so asked me for another. I remembered him because he was working on a small note and a letter at the same time."
"And you recalled him based on that?" Alariya questioned in disbelief.
"Well no," she admitted but the other day three men were here asking about him."
"Who were they?" Alariya asked with an edge to her voice.
"I don't know but they were dangerous looking," she shuddered, "and they scared me."
"Are they still in the village?" the paladin enquired, hand going to the hilt of her sword.
"No, they stayed only a night then were off. Good riddance I say, we don't need their kind in St. Vincent."
The server had no other useful information so as she returned to the bar for their drinks the adventurers continued on in search of information. Watching her leave they spotted a soldier leaning against the bar who several recalled had been on duty at a check point on the main road recently. He seemed like a good candidate.
"Evening to you folks…Captain Gavin…honoured to have a Knight in Silver in the village. Sergeant Tef Mandalore's me name," the tall, well-built soldier greeted them casually.
"Well met Sergeant," Alariya stepped forward, allowing the soldier to see her armour and sword. "What news in the village?"
The guard seemed impressed. Appearing comfortable among the group he launched into a tirade. "Cursed trolls lurking about the edge of the Evermoor. Waiting, always waiting to slither out and attack unsuspecting travellers. Mind the Evermoor if ye be travelling that way."
"What of any travellers in the past ten-day?"
"Oh there be ones comin' and goin'. Mind, not as regularly now that the snows come in. Sure been cold here lately but tonight's not too bad. Few caravans of late, nothing of distinction though, the serious business of the seasons done."
"What of the caravans?" the paladin pressed. "Any with a merchant from Waterdeep?"
"They're all from Waterdeep and they all have merchants. Who cares what comes from the south," Mandalore shot back. "It's the Evermoors I care about, the trolls. And I with nothing but militia to hold the line."
Realizing there was little profit to continued conversation with the soldier they looked for other likely candidates.
"There," Skylah Clearsong pointed to a brawny man in a leather apron with hammer in the belt nursing some ale at a table, "he's a smith in the village. Surely he'd know about the caravan."
"Leave this to me," Talindra said with a wink. She gracefully went up to the man who watched her approach. "Good sir, may I buy you another ale?" She signalled to the bar for another round.
Captain Gavin wondered how an elf princess knew of such matters.
"I'm seeking information on a friend who travelled in a caravan headed towards Silverymoon better then a ten-day ago," Talindra asked the flabbergasted smith. "Might you remember it?"
The simple, burly man scratched his head in confusion at the sudden attention from the attractive elf. Then shaking his head, as if to regain his senses he thought a bit. "Aye, I remember a caravan. I re-shoed two of their horses before they pulled out. I wonder what happened to them for only an hour or so after they pulled out a group of heavily armed men rode hard through the village. Looked like brigands to me and up to no good. I tell you, we need more protection in this area when groups like that can thunder about as plain as day."
"Do you remember anything about the passengers?" the elf asked.
"No, I spent my time with the drivers of the wagons. Those they carried spent their time here at the Golden Acorn."
What at first had seemed to be an easy task now seemed to be becoming increasingly complex. Other then finding out Forfar had written not one but two notes they had discovered precious little of use beyond what they already knew. This was going to be hard after all.
The adventurers were becoming frustrated by their inability to find any helpful clues about their objective. Worse still, their questioning seemed to be bringing unwanted attention. The glances and whispers of several of the other patrons signalled a need for caution. Should they quit for the night? They weren't sure.
But then a small, round face in the crowd caused them to rethink the plan. A single kender gnome sat in the lounge, beginning to bounce as they noticed him, a sense of anticipation on his face.
"Think he knows anything?" Sarai asked.
"Kender?" Talindra snorted, "They always know something. Whether it's of any use we'll have to see. Just keep an eye on your valuables and don't ask about his pockets and we should be fine."
With the Strongsword sisters starting to watch their back and look for any eavesdroppers the group went over to the practically jumping gnome.
"You're adventurers aren't you? The names Zanome Foomfuzzle and I'm an adventurer too! What brings you to St. Vincent?" He burst out, the words flowing non-stop as one long sentence without breath. "I've been on many adventures. I remember the time I fought a dragon, man that was tough…well it wasn't me, it was someone I met but it sure was like I did it. Another time I fought with the great Captain Deudermont on the Sea of Swords. Now that was something! At least when I read about it."
Overwhelmed by the pace of talk and enthusiasm of Zanome the adventurers stared at him in stunned silence. It took a storyteller to refocus the kender and so Skylah took charge.
Good Master Zanome," Skylah interrupted with a flourish, "my name is Skylah Clearsong, bard of Waterdeep. My friends and I are indeed adventurers and we believe that you may possess some information that could help us on our quest."
"Oh, Waterdeep," Zanome squealed. "I've been there, great city. I found lots of treasures. Would you like to see?" he asked, throwing open his cloak to reveal many pockets."
"Perhaps another time. We're looking for information on a man named Forfar," she asked, gently steering him back to the topic at hand. "He was here we know less then two ten-days ago. Do you remember him?"
"Remember him? Of course I remember him. I spoke to Forfar. He was very interesting though not very talkative. I meet a lot of interesting people you know."
"I can imagine," the bard replied kindly. "Is there anything about him you can tell me?"
"He had a very nice coat on. It was green with brass buttons. Now the caravan he came in was very interesting. It had three wagons, nine people and four guards. The guards kept chasing me away from the wagons for some reason. I don't know why. The lead wagon had a brown horse who I thought had sad eyes so I sang him a song that seemed to cheer him up."
"Kender," Talindra fumed, "full of all the information in the world except the things you want to know. Come on we're wasting our time with this one."
The others turned to walk away with the elf but froze in their tracks when they heard:
"Forfar was writing a letter on this very sofa."
Skylah had stayed and continued to listen so she prodded him a bit. "Do you know what he wrote?"
"No, but it was the strangest thing. When he left the parlour he didn't have the letter with him. I thought that was very unusual. Why write a letter and not take it with you? That's crazy if you ask me!," he declared. "I said that to him you know, 'that's crazy Forfar' but he never did answer me."
"And you're sure he didn't have the letter with him when he left the parlour?" Alariya interjected.
"Oh I'm sure. I know these things," Zanome replied confidently.
The gnome kept talking until the group was finally able to politely end the conversation. Bored, Zanome went into the dining area in search of food.
"We seem to have our first solid clue," Alariya surmised. "If Forfar wrote something and didn't take it with him then I bet he hid it somewhere in this room. And if that's the case, I bet it'll tell us where the orb is. Come on, let's look around."
At first they subtly looked around the room, searching logical hiding places but to no avail. After minutes turned into a half hour frustration began to set in and the search became more obvious even to the casual observer of whom there were many by now.
"There's nothing here," Captain Gavin declared in exasperation. "This is a wild goose chase."
"No, there has to be something here," Skylah countered. "We just haven't looked hard enough."
Fortified by the idea this was their best chance to move forward in the quest the adventurers renewed their efforts. Since they'd gone over the whole area thoroughly before, they looked at things more closely.
Alariya searched a shelf filled with curios and books inch by inch. A time piece in the corner of one of the shelves caught her attention due to the thickness of the box encasing it. She looked more closely and almost moved on until she saw a thin line running along the side. A small, disguised clasp on the side confirmed her suspicion. Without saying anything she deftly flicked the locking device and the time piece's cabinet swung apart. The paladin's heart began to beat as she saw within a hidden chamber holding a folded piece of paper.