Weighing the Odds
4th of Neth 4707 A.R. (Absalom Reckoning)
Rather than try to snap bargains from one breath to the next you beg off rushing to face the dragon in favor of getting the lay of the land. It is, after all, a manner true... there is a lot of things you would ask the gnomish prince, only some of which are fit to say aloud. But before all else, the company must gather and seek understanding. At least now you have the shape of the players on the board: There's Gavhaul, who you know too well and not enough, the villagers, who are missing their prize and may or many not be able to pay for it, and the Court of Resplendent Morn, who want to keep the prize out of the hands of the Court of Veils, themselves little liked and seeking the favor of a queen ill-omened. In the midst of all this a dragon, still young and brash perhaps, if reports are to be trusted, who has the prize and is courted by the local fey while the strangers would want him dead.
The others agree that it is better to be a fey-slayer than a dragon-slayer, but either way it seems clear that the locals only want this 'mind-core'
out of the hands of their rivals and not into their own. That opens some mutually beneficial opportunities.
"Getting paid for what Triss and her lot tried to trick us into, you mean?" Mina asks, quick on the uptake. She turns to Sirim and the shade departs, no longer able to facilitate silent communication for having to play messenger, though not for long. The delegation had chosen to linger on the green 'In case the dragon comes back', but more likely because they did not want to be surrounded by sellswords in the town's only inn.
"Five thousand gold pieces in raw gemstones or three thousand in Andoran gold to remove the lord of the Court of Veils from play. If we take the latter we would require mercantile contacts to get better out of the deal," comes the oddly prosaic answer, not that any of you mind a straight answer. And for the first time since that dragon showed up, Gorok's tail isn't snapping to and fro with barely leashed agitation.
"We would, of course, also get to loot the bodies. The lord is a magician of some repute and maintains a guard of brutish Ohancanus, though he is a prideful sort who would accept a duel from any mortal magician who has mastered the Third Circle, which both Mina, Akorian, and I have done."
"And do you fancy dueling this spirit-kin?" you ask, startled. Sirim did not strike you as one to throw himself headlong into a fight with an unknown foe.
"Ah... you have never heard of a Pangolais Duel, have you? It goes something like this: if you win than you won fairly and are owed honorable spoils, and if you're losing than its time for your allies to jump in, adjust the odds, and once the blood is spilled make an account of events. Odd how often dead men are found to have cheated, it must be on account of knowing they would lose."
Cob frowns in Sirim's direction, to which the smoke-shade ripples in silent laughter.
"Everyone has their vices Master Cob, ours is being verbose."
What do you do?
[] Take the fey deal, go 'looking for the dragon' while in fact searching for the master of the Court of Veils
[] Actually look for the dragon
-[] Write in argument to give to the others
[] Write in
OOC: Enjoy. 
