In the quarters of The Sword of Pelor

[NeomerArcana]

"eehhhh... weeeeeel," replies the Gnome, carefully watching Kull leave. "I'm not selling information as it were... no, I'm selling secrets."

The gnome looks at Fenner sideways, his eyes catch some candlelight and glint briefly.

"Are you interested, young man?" The gnome seems decidedly less drunk than he did before.

[NeomerArcana]

Arlette, the information from the guild is that the King has secretly arrived here in Lavender. His ship and most of his retinue is continueing downstream, though he disembarked up river and made his way to town on foot in disguise. With him are a few of his most elite soldiers. He is here to meet with members of the Merchants Guild, in an attempt to put an end to the disagreement between them and himself; coming to Lavender was an act of faith, to show that he is serious and open to negotiation.

The information is particularly useful as it means that there is a large number of bored soldiers, who know they're not protecting the king, who are in fact protecting the kings own ship. So while they may not be particularly alert, considering they know there's no risk to the king, they are forgetting that there's likely many valuables on board. Perfect for the taking.

The Thieves Guild was not made aware of the King's plans, which from the perspective of the Thieve's Guild, is not unusual, though the leadership thinks that they could have offered some protection in case things go sour with the Merchants Guild. But it would not be like the King to officially acknowledge something like the Thieve's Guild, even though the kingdom understands the roll the guilds play.

Not many people are aware of this information.

Arlette, you ask around the tavern for rumors and information. The owner is Falias Nalduum, a small dwarf that you learn is descended from a mountain home that was lost and disbanded many hundreds of years ago. He doesn't know much of anything about dwarven culture and seems more human than dwarf in his mannerisms.

There is obviously a lot of talk about where the King is going and what he's doing downstream. There's some talk about the troubles from Southport as well. What you've learnt is that there seems to be some kind of blight or disease that's originating from the Furgalan Swamp that's affecting the nearby towns, Southport and Clearwater. No one is sure what to do, the church has apparently sent some clerics and priests to these towns to assist, but aside from healing the sick, they've not been able/capable of investigating the source. Rumor has it, that the church is sending an armed mercenary gang down there, but to the people of Lavender, that seems ridiculous.

[Fenner Bates]

Fenner's eye brows raise higher on his face than they should be capable of the wrinkles of the rest of his face smoothing out slightly. "Young man, No one has called me young in 40 years. I'll bite what is the secret." Fenner hands the gnome 100gp.

[NeomerArcana]

Fenner, you don't have that much money you have lots of money (payment from the Church), but we'll lose you 1gp in lose change.

"My thanks to you sir," replies the Gnome before leaning in conspiratorially. "Nalduum waters down the drinks more and more as the night goes on."

With that, the Gnome makes off.

[NeomerArcana]

Kull and Arlette I have forgotten, but just now suddenly remembered, that you both have a horse from your previous journey. We will assume that you've kept the horse stabled for the last few weeks (24 days total), at a cost of 5sp per day, means 12gp for each of you. This also means that with the two horses pulling the wagon and those additional saddles, all four of you have a horse if needs be.

[NeomerArcana]

Grigori, what are you doing currently?

[Grigori Steelbrow]

Grigori looks for Arlette to inform her that he's going to look around for a blacksmith to work on his crafting capabilities, assist the smith, and possibly improve his own gear.

[Arlette Craven]

"Alright Grigori, when you're finished I'm sure you'll find us here. Come back and we'll either be feasting like kings for the night, or we'll be finding another place for Kull to start some wrestling."

Whilst sitting in the tavern cheering Kull, her awareness is heightened. She watches people as they move about, listens to conversations, the King is secretly in town and she is sure someone here probably knows that too. She is on the look out for anyone who looks out of place, particularly wealthy and perhaps a bit drunk, anyone with some items for easy pickings.

Spot check
1d20+5

Listen check
1d20+6

[NeomerArcana]

Grigori has left The Blue Dog. There's a hour or two of daylight left.

Arlette, your keen theifery senses detect three possible people from which to steal.

• Rich, and Fat Merchant - He sits at a table with a few other merchant-looking folks, none of them seem too happy except the fat one, who has a sizeable purse sitting beside him on the table. It looks as though he may have been loaning money to the fellows at the table and he's just collected their debts.
• Hooded Woman by the fire - is minding her own business and generally trying to stay out of the way and away from prying eyes. She sits with her backpack by her seat, as you passed by earlier you noticed a glint of gold inside it.
• Drunk Guard - There's a man at a table who is very drunk. Judging by his terribly maintained leather armor and chainmail, you suspect he is a local guard, maybe for the city or a merchants warehouse. There's still some coins in his purse.

Aside from these people, you notice two fellows who seem well-dressed, and strikingly well-mannered. Having spent some time recently in the castle, you can't help but notice that these two men are used to being around the royal class and high society. To you, they stick out like sore thumbs. They are trying to look like they are talking to each other, but their lips don't move in the correct cadence for it to be a genuine conversation, and they continously look around the room far too much to be concentrating on each others words.

[NeomerArcana]

Fenner please roll a Knowledge (Arcana) check.