Huldith
It's Gilday, Vhast 25 10:31:49 1019. The full moon isn't up. The tide is high and rising. Snow flurries drift silently down from the pale grey sky. The air is damp and cold, and there is little wind.
A05: Warehouse District
Alexandria's warehouse district is still awake and running a the snow falls lightly this gray, damp morning. Workers are busy loading and unloading wagons, etc. Standing under a certain mana lamp post is Ga'Elian. His griffon can be seen in the sky above flying toward the southern bridge over the Tormawr. He is silently observing the traffic go by, and seemingly quite unfazed by the temperature.
Munch is fairly unfazed himself, striding naked though the snow. Then again, the metal man is pretty much always naked, so not a big deal. Spying Ga'Elian, he raises his axe in greeting, and hurries close. "Oy! was gonna ask around, see if some of the guys I know were familiar with where we're going, but I forgot the name."
Ga'Elian smiles and returns the wave with a nod. "Good, good. Yeah, the name I remember, but I wasn't positive which warehouse it was. Do you still have that paper?"
Munch blinks, and fishes around a second. "Oh! Yeah, I do. Good. Though I'd given it to you. Geeze, why I work as the brawn in this sorta stuff." he offers the paper over, lest it be forgotten and lost.
Ga'Elian accepts the paper and reads it. "Um, it says 'Cooper and Sons'. I think I saw that name... yeah, right over yonder. See it? The one with the barrel in front of the window next to the mana lamp?" He points.
Munch nods. "Yeah, think I've seen that before. Can't say I know 'em. Likely best you do the talking. I'll just loom a little. Or maybe a lot, if they get snippy."
Ga'Elian chuckles. "Yes. You're much more adept in the art of looming that I will ever be." He starts toward the warehouse, tucking the vellum sheet into his cloak. Upon reaching the front door of the establishment, he grabs the handle and is about to pull it open, when it suddenly opens into him. Luckily for him, Ga'Elian is inhumanly dextrous and sidesteps just in time to avoid being smacked in the face by the door, and the irate Lucht Siuil that comes storming out of it, yelling "I'll be back, Cooper, and you'd better have it... or else!" Then he looks up at Ga'Elian and mutters "'Scuse me." and turns to stride off.
Munch steps aside, having no particular reason to get in the little Lucht's way. Watching him depart, the golem perks a little and raises a hand in greeting. "Yo! Frankie!" Glancing to Ga'Elian a second, the golem strides over to a large dockworker, the pair bumping fists in a way that should result in broken fingerbones. "See you at the Arena later, yeah? Anyway, quick question. You know anything about this Cooper and Son's place?"
The large human shrugs, peering a moment. "Nah. Jimmie said something 'bout they pay okay, but work ya like a dog. But then you know Jimmie, would do a full day to save his soul. Why? You got a problem with 'em?"
"Nah, nothing like that. Delivery went sideways, trying to make it right. Anyway, see ya 'round." The pair bump fists again, the Munch hurries back towards the warehouse with a shrug. "Figured could ask."
Ga'Elian watches Munch's exchange then says, "Absolutely." Then heads inside.
There's a counter with a couple of desks behind it, and a separate office on the right. Hanging on the wall is a large painting of how Dragonier used to look before Heth ruined the place. Behind the counter the lefr and right sides are both open to the warehouse's storage areas. It is very drafty in this office, but there are mana-crystal-powered space heaters at close intervals along the walls, keeping the place from being as cold as the outdoors. There is a low swinging door in the middle of the counter.
Ga'Elian walks in to find a dwarf woman shuffling a stack of papers, shaking her head, and griping to a gnome seated at one of the desks something about "That uppity little jerk. Who does he think he is?" etc.
"....I give up. Who?" Munch is not the best at retorical questions. "Are you Cooper?" He knows better than to ask if she's one of the sons. That's a mistake you only make once with a dwarf.
The dwarf's tirade dwindles off as she notices the utterly intimidated look quickly overtaking the gnome's face, then turns to see Munch looming with an elf at his flank. She stutters her reply, "C-c-cooper? No (swallow), sir. Thats the boss. You want I should fetch 'im for you, good sirs?" She catches her breath and assumes a more professional demeanor, then continues, "Pardon my outburst, if you please."
To this, Ga'Elian merely smiles, then says, "Yes, that would be fine. And... perhaps you could tell him we're looking for a certain Huldith." At this, the dwarf's face becomes angry again, but she controls her temper, and says, "You mean that little, (she searches for an appropriate word), "Lucht that just left?" The gnome rises from his desk and says, "I'll go get Mr. Cooper" and scoots away, disappearing into the the office on the right.
Munch buzzes quietly. "I'm not the betting sort..." he's learned a lot living near Ma Rosie's "...but I'd bet Lucht Huldith is pissed his box ain't come in."
Ga'Elian tells the dwarf, "I'm not readily certain. I have a note here that gives the name of this warehouse and the name 'Huldith'. My friend here retrieved it from the body of a teamster whose body we recovered from a wagon crash in the mountains northeast of town." He takes the note out and shows her.
As she takes the note and looks at it, Mr. Cooper, a gruff-looking human, comes out of the office, the gnome at his heels. He says, "I'm Cooper, gentlemen. What can I do for ye?"
A look of sudden inspiration comes over the dwarf's face. She blurts out, "Excuse me, Mr. Cooper." Then looking straight at Ga'Elian, she adds, "I remember reading about that crash in the latest Tribune. You're the elf that brought the body to the Watch, aren't you?"
Munch nods. "He went back to seek more information, I happened to be in the area. The information lead us here. We're just trying to get this terrible accident resolved." Diplomacy isn't the golem's strong point, but sometimes the right words to say are obvious, even to him.
Cooper looks at the dwarven clerk then back to the PCs. He says, "Well, yeah. He weren't nothin' pleased that that box ain't here. Said his mistress might get real upset." He shrugs, "I told him I can't help it that it never showed up. He goes stormin' outta here all worked up. Say, It's only been a couple minutes, y'all might still be able to catch him up." He smiles pacifyingly and gestures to the door.
Ga'Elian listens and says, "Good idea. It finally seems like some answers are within reach." He turns to the door and says, "Thank you" to the room before walking back out into the snow.
Munch considers a moment, and nods politely before turning towards the door, pausing a moment to inquire quickly. "Would you happen to know where he was heading?"
The gnome, quiet hitherto, says, "I think up north."
GAME: Ga'Elian rolls Perception+Urban: aliased to Perception+2: (20)+23+2: 45
Ga'Elian looks at the footprints in the snow and says, "That'll be his tracks. Come on, this shouldn't take long."
GAME: Ga'Elian rolls Track/wLens+Urban-5: aliased to Survival+4+5+5+2-5: (7)+16+4+5+5+2-5: 34
GAME: Munch rolls perception: (8)+17: 25
Munch nods, taking a moment to eye the tracks. He's no ranger, but fresh tracks in snow he can do... as long as he remembers which set of tracks he's tryign to follow in what may prove to be a busy city.
Ga'Elian follows the tracks at his normal walking speed with no apparent difficulty. They lead north, as the gnome guessed, and just as the Lower Garden District gives way to the Market District, lo and behold, there's the very same Huldith striding along at a respectable speed for his little legs. Ga'Elian says, "And there he is," pointing.
Munch has a rather above average walking speed, but keeps himself slowed to Ga'Elian's pace, trusting the elf's tracking better than his own. Spying the lucht himself, the golem raises a hand in greeting. "Oy! Mister Huldith!" If there's one thing Munch is good at, it's drawing attention.
Not only does the lucht stop and turn around, but so do other passers-by. Huldith approaches, and says, looking up at Munch with mingled curiosity and impatience, "I am Huldith. Do you know me, mister?"
Ga'Elian takes the note from his cloak and holds it out to Huldith. He says, "We found this on the body of a dead wagon driver in the mountains."
He regards the pair thoughtfully for a moment, then responds, "Well, you don't look like teamsters to me. Hmm. You look like adventurers. Did you recover my lady's parcel? Lady Jaquetta will reward you for the recovery, I am sure."
Munch nods. "In our line of work, odd boxes tend to be something to treat with utmost caution." Or smashed to bits and eaten, but no reason to go into that detail.
At these tidings, the halfling looks stressed. He says, "Well, that might present a problem then. Lady Jaquetta won't like to hear that her, uh, parcel is in the hands of the Artificers Hall. If you'll excuse me, I wouldn't want to displease her by delaying this news. She's bound to be upset enough as it is. On second thought, maybe if you come tell her these things, she won't take her anger out on me. Won't you come with me?"
Ga'Elian shakes his head. "With such an invitation as that, I think perhaps we might do well to warn the Artificers Hall instead, and maybe the Watch, too. What do you think, Munch?"
Munch shrugs. "I'm up to visit a lady. I've dealt with the ire of the Lady Sandiel, figure the Lady Jaquetta can't be more dangerous than that." He considers a moment, and glances to Ga'Elian. "Maybe you should go tell the Hall the owner has been found and to prepare for it's delivery to the proper owner? I don't know what dusty storage room they might have it buried in."
Ga'Elian smirks, "Oh, Dean Bumblebottom was very excited to see it when I brought it to him the other day. I don't imagine he'll have let it collect any dust at all, but maybe you're right that we should visit this Lady Jaquetta first, or perhaps you could escort her to the Watch to make her claim. I'm pretty sure the professor will want the authorities to know what it is, especially if this Lady doesn't." He pauses, then. "Okay, how about we split up. I'll get the professor to bring the box and you bring the Lady and we'll meet at the Watch office and get it all sorted. Sound good?"
Upon hearing this exchange, Huldith turns white as a ghost and high-tails it toward and into the Fernwood.
Munch says, "....that looked like a 'good idea, come along' to me. Did it look like that to you?"
Ga'Elian nods, "Sure did."