February 16th: Ritholme, Mining & Lumber

Zeiss runs after the elf and tries to push him on the ground and immobilize him, while making sure his rapier doesn't stab him and that the crossbow doesn't shoot at him by accident.

Spoiler:

Snarg:
The Dwarf glares at you. "I'm not killin' unless I needs ta! And I got backup, too, so--
At about this point you hear a commotion outside the door and someone rushes up to it shouting, almost panicked, "They're with the Flock! They're murderers!"
The Dwarf's eyes go wide. "Muther, I didn't... Don't kill meh!" He rushes for the door, desperate to flee.

Zeiss:
You mis-judge your aim horribly and slam into the wall, then collapsing on the floor unceremoniously. The Elf keeps running, rushes up to the door and shouts, "They're with the Flock! They're murderers!" then he keeps running towards the stairs, to leave the Inn.

By about this point every other party member has awoken, groggily, to all the noise in the corridors.

"Everyone wake up! Murderers from the Flock are after us! Catch them!"

Zeiss gets up and run after the elf. If anyone sees him, he will say :

"Stop this elf! He is a murderer from the Flock!"

He will try to push him on the ground, again, and immobilize him.

Spoiler:

Snarg sighs and blocks the door, clearly losing his patience. "So now it's the Flock? Are you people just making up stuff now? Don't be acting stupid, I'd have killed you when I had you before if I'd wanted to." He holds up a hand to push the Dwarf back from the door. "Sit. Down."

Zeiss:
You chase after the Elf but he is maintaining his distance from you, and also making it difficult by knocking over chairs and tables in your path. You navigate past most of them with ease, but hit one badly on a shin which brings you to the ground.

Snarg:
The Dwarf runs for the window in a blind panic and bursts through it out onto the street below, landing badly but still getting up and running.

"You rock kisser! I just wanted to sleep!" Snarg leaps out the window after him.

Spoiler:

Zeiss gets up as quickly as possible.

"We came here to do business, you lousy murderer!"

Zeiss takes one of his dagger and tries to throw it at the elf to immobilize him, while immediately resuming his pursue.

Snarg:
You manage to pin him... again... but at this point his friend the Elf has exited, who brandishes a weapon to help his fallen Dwarf comrade. You also hear steps coming from further in the inn, though you can't tell who is coming yet of course.

Zeiss:
Your Elf friend gains a significant lead on you, and by the time you make it outside you see him approaching Snarg with a weapon drawn, Snarg himself having a Dwarf pinned to the ground.

At the sight of Snarg being attacked by the elf, an expression of anger appears on Zeiss's face. His rapier ready, he approaches the elf to stab him in the back and kill him.

Spoiler:

"STOP," Snarg bellows and bares his teeth at the approaching Elf, "you stick me with that and it won't end well for you! I'm not trying to kill you - just trying to find out why a couple of folks think murdering some innocents is going to help them out."

"You can't sweet talk me, enforcer! Your Elf buddy's already ratted you out! Yer Flock!" He whistles sharply in a distinct pattern. "We ain't gettin killed so you can grab some damn coin!"

"What the hell is your problem?!?" Snarg hisses at the Dwarf, "are you just trying to pick a fight? If you aren't going to make sense at all, just get out of here. I want to go back to sleep." With that, he hoists the Dwarf up by his britches and pushes him towards the Elf.

The Dwarf, shocked, fumbles into the Elf charging towards him, who looks even more shocked. The two take a moment to disentangle, by which time Zeiss has drawn closer and what looks like 8 more Elves and Dwarves have exited the Inn, looking wary and weapons at their sides.

Zeiss hurries to Snarg's side and points his rapier towards the elf and the dwarf, noticing this time the others who just appeared.

"What the frell do you think you are doing? Who is this Boss that sent you to murder us!?"

The 8 individuals look at each other for a moment, then holster their weapons. "Tell your Flock friends if they want Ritholme to talk to the Warlord, not try and send assassins in next time." Without waiting for a replay they all turn and run off, heading towards an alley way.

Snarg throws up his hands in the air and stomps back towards the inn. "Thought I could go one day without something happening! Guess that's too much to be hoping for! I'm going back to sleep."

Spoiler:

"Hey! You guys come back here!"

He runs after them.

"We are not from the Flock, but from the Exchange! We never wanted to hurt anyone! Oh!"

Rainbow is running after Zeiss, like if it was some sort of race.

"We want to talk to your Warlord!"

Spoiler:

The group turns and looks at you in literal, utter befuddlement. "You're from the... Exchange? Never heard of it."

One of the other pipes up, "Prolly another Warlord group."

A nod. "Ah yeh, that'd make sense. So why the lies then? Why come all sneaky like into our territory?"

Zeiss stops in front of them. Rainbow arrives and jumps on his shoulder, looking at the elves and dwarves with concern. She wraps her tail around his neck, like if she was trying to protect him. Zeiss stands there, surprised that his outburst of emotions had an effect on them.

"Stealthily? I assume you do not know what happened to Janwall. The city was attacked by people calling themselves Vyoetians. They tried to murder everyone and destroy the remnants of the Undermarket. This is why we were so cautious."

He stops there, unsure of what he should say, and in which order.

"Me and my friends stopped them. We are from the Exchange, an organization trying to reestablish the illegal market. Listen..."

He tries to find his words.

"We simply want to do business. Killing does not help anyone. And if you and your Warlord had simply invited us to talk, there wouldn't have been any need for this to happen. So what do you say? Can we set a meeting point for me and my friends and discuss about this? Without the swords..."

The look at each other and mutter under their breaths for a minute before one of them looks back up at you. "Well, uh, no vayitarians or whatever here so no worries there, still don't explain why you made yerself up to be a member o' the Flock. But we... might be willing to discuss business. See, yer Exchange ain't the only Warlord group that rose up from the ashes of the Undermarket." He gestures to his fellows. "The Slates run Ritholme now, have for a few days, been keeping things good so far. So if you wanna business wit us, you can talk to da boss. Otherwise, we're gonna hafta fight for our territory, tis how it goes."

"It would be nice to be able to arrive to an arrangement without having to fight. For once."

Rainbow calms down and starts to be more relaxed.

"How do we do this then? I suppose your boss will choose when and where this meeting will occur. If he is willing to talk to us. Which I encourage since the Exchange control the illegal market in Holtburg..."

One of the Elves waves a hand vaguely. "Last I heard, Holtburg ain't doin so good! But we'll see, ain't my call." They turn and leave. "She'll meetcha tomorrow."

"Well..."

Zeiss turns to Rainbow and looks at her.

"I think that went well. We almost killed each other but we will meet their boss tomorrow..."

He scratches his head.

"I did not think they would listen to me... did you?"

She licks his cheek in response. Zeiss goes back to the inn, tell the others what happened and return to his room. Making sure this time to block his door.