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-----"Look," he says, staring down at his hands, "I don’t want to get you young people involved, whether you belong to the guild or not. Yeah, there’s some dangerous people in town and I gotta deal with ‘em. Ya gotta understand what I do is take care of movin’ stuff from one place to another. Stuff comes in, stuff goes out."
-----He looks at Kazel and slightly smiles, "Yore right, I been movin’ a lot of stuff before this guild started up. I may still be movin’ stuff after it’s gone, I don’t know." He chuckles, but it seems half-hearted.
-----The smile fades from his face and he looks back at the doors. "There’s a rumor comin’ in with some of the river men down at the docks. Word is there’s assassins comin’ into town with the intent a’ takin’ over. Don’t know where they comin’ from and don’t even know if it’s true."
-----He then looks back at the trio, "All I know is all the sudden these people show up I’ve never seen before." He looks at each thief intently, "And I don’t care how tough ya think ya are. These people are not the kind to face off against."
-----"Is there anything you can add," Kazel asks. "Like when did they started to show up? And how many of them are there?"
-----Calron shrugs, "They showed up ‘bout a week or two ago. I’ve only seen two of ‘em. Usually people like that have more with ‘em, but ya don’t see ‘em."
-----Calron looks at the Dread Pirate, "I’ve heard it said, and I mean no disrespect, that halflings know how to pull it over on people without it bein’ obvious. I’d be real leery ‘round these folks."
-----A look of shocked realization comes over Calron’s face and he looks at Kazel, "Dofgar? You didn’t do any work for the ‘Hands’, did you?"
-----Kazel starts, and for a moment seems unsure of what to say. She studies Calron carefully on regaining her composure. "I haven't seen them lately," she finally says. "Why, you a friend of theirs?"
-----Calron gives a small smile, "You don’t have to worry from me. People like that don’t have friends. ‘Sides their place burned down and rumor is with all of ‘em in it. You mentioned Dofgar and I knew he had to do some stuff fer ‘em"
-----Gimplefwick sighs at the mention of assassins, "Well, I'd be willing to try something if they weren’t quite so dangerous. Maybe it'd be best if we just told our Guildmaster about this when we get the chance. Let it be his problem. That's what he's there for. I, for one, vote fer simply takin the wagon to Lut and telling the boss when we get back about our territory problems. Unless ye think we should tell him right now."
-----Gimplefwick shrugs and looks at Calron, "Anywise, thank ye fer yer information, shark bait. Do ye have any idea what those malcontents were going to do with a certain load of gold paint?"
-----"Gold paint?" the older man straightens and looks astonishingly at the Dread Pirate. "I hadn’t heard of that comin’ in."
-----Gimplefwick glares at Calron, "Arrr, now be not the time to start holdin back information from yer friends. We've been talkin all sociable and whatnot, let's not spoil that with falsehoods. Ye know full well what I mean when I speak of the gold paint. The items that formerly occupied the crate marked 'spices'. All we want to know is what is intended by those assassins with such stuff. It might be comin down to a simple question of who ye want runnin things in this town. Either those assassins who threaten yer life and wouldn't hesitate to be killin ye in a manner more gruesome than we could envision. Or yer friends in low places that throw business yer way and help out when they can."
-----At Calron's denial of any knowledge about the gold paint, Seth regards him with a serious look on his face. "Well Calron, maybe this is a better way of phrasing the question. Those people have a piece of freight in your warehouse. Simply show it to us now."
-----Seth turns to the Dread Pirate "If Calron shows you the crate that you know and love so well - then Match. If not then there must be two lots of spice crates."
-----Calron stares into the shadows that cover the east wall. "It’s gold paint? They just called it gold," he gasped almost in a whisper. A questioning frown crosses his face and he looks at Seth and the Dread Pirate. "Hey, wait a minute! How did you know their freight was marked ‘spices’?"
-----Seth looks at Calron, "It is our job to know these things."
-----The concerned look on his face continues to dwell there as Calron walks over to the east side of the warehouse room. He reaches for a three feet long box lying atop a crate. A lock fastened onto a latch on the edge of the lid secures it. He stops and slowly shakes his head. "Uh, this looks like it’s been pried around the hinges," Calron says, raising his eyebrows, "you wouldn’t know anything ‘bout that, would ya?"
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