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-----Gimplefwick shakes his head sadly, seemingly appalled at the wanton crimes of the day, "Shiver me timbers, Calron. Tis a sad day indeed when goods aren't even safe in your warehouse. Doubtless some evil villains sneaked in here and pried off those hinges."
-----Gimplefwick ponders for a moment, tugging at his scant facial hair, "Arrr, as a matter of fact, earlier I heard some noises from over here and decided to investigate. By the time I got here, the noises stopped and the scalawags were doubtlessly frightened off by my vigilance and fierce piratical demeanor. Unfortunately, I didn't see any of them, they were too sly fer that, I'm afraid. But when I saw what they had done to yer crate there," Gimplefwick gestures at the pried hinges, "I decided it'd be best to move the contents to another container. For safekeeping of course. In the middle of my labors, I got curious about what I was moving for you and took a look. That's how I know what it is." Gimplefwick waves extravagantly at Calron, "No, no. There's no need to thank me fer saving yer goods. It's the least I could do fer a friend."
-----Seth smiles at the Dread Pirate's quick wit. "Oh Calron, it sounds like you should be thankful to that parrot and his keeper. Two bottles of beer and a pork pie in the very least. "
-----Seth claps his hands once. "Calron, you know when we come back we could discuss security here at the warehouse. Obviously if the Dread Pirate had not disturbed the thieves, then you would be held responsible for this missing 'spice'. I have heard many a song sung of the Dread Pirate’s great heroics in protecting people’s property. Unfortunately- " and now Seth, every ready on his harp, plays a few soulful – in fact teary - bars of music to underscore his next words, " I have also heard songs of the misery and lamentations of the shop keepers who were too stingy to rely on the Dread Pirate’s protection."
-----Kazel, still looking slightly distracted, watches as Seth and Gimplefwick handle the talk with Calron. But with each passing minute she seems to grow increasingly weary with the warehouse keeper. "Those assassins were sure worried about their goods going astray, to threaten you as such. Is your warehouse really safe as you say?" She says as she starts losing her patience. "We just want to help, but by morning we're off to Lut, and I'd prefer a good night of sleep for that."
-----Calron’s jaw hangs open as he listens to Gimplefwick and Seth. He then turns to Kazel and replies, "I hadn’t needed guards ‘round here since the Hands disappeared. Looks like I need to start hirin’ a few again." He says this as he looks down at the slightly mangled box.
-----"You better show me where you moved the goods out of this box to," Calron says nervously to the Dread Pirate, "Those people’ll be expectin’ everything in their shipment."
-----Turning back to Kazel, he asks, "You and your friends still plannin’ on sleepin’ in the wagon here tonight?"
-----He then follows the Dread Pirate into the dark aisles to fetch the misplaced goods.
-----After showing Calron where the goods were stashed, Gimplewick curls up on the wagon for a good night’s rest. He immediately commences to snore and thrash about in his sleep, muttering about 'man-eating octopi and storms at sea'.
-----"Well, it's not one of the Hands cos the rumours are true," Kazel replies, a dark tone in her voice. She seems tired as well, and climbs into the wagon for the night.
-----Seth watches both Kazel and The Dread Pirate snuggle down for the night, he is tired but still hungry. Seth stretches then places his harp back in its case. He takes off his backpack and lays down using the backpack as a pillow.
-----"Kazel, I know I only just met you today, but if you don't mind me asking, you sure know a lot of people in this town. Brad seems to have a fond eye for you, always concerned about you. Like." Seth stops there feeling a bit awkward that he has been talking about something personal.
-----Kazel opens her eyes to look at Seth, then stares at the wagon roof as she lets out a slow, sleepy sigh. She seems to have no problem resting her head on her ponytail, which she keeps in place by a leather cord.
-----"Hearthorn's a small town compared to a city like Goldren... you'll know the people if you've lived here half your life." She closes her eyes again as she continues. "Brad was a good friend of my father's. I guess he feels he owes my father something - him being his best customer, anyhow. But he's more than made up for it, I think..."
-----A small frown appears briefly on her brows, then goes away as she falls silent. Despite talking of her old times, the half-elven girl's youth and naivete shows through as she lies serenely in the dim shadows.
-----The next morning seems to come too early. The trio found it hard to find comfort curling up on the unforgiving wood of the boxes, barrels, and crates in the wagon. Somewhere a chorus of roosters begins to herald in the morning light in their own special way. As the light begins to filter through the double doors, it seems to bring with it a chilly feel to the air inside the warehouse.
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