"Yes, jam please." Yurk responds to the waitress, surprised the goblins had anything sweet in the city. He patiently waits for his order while closely observing the interaction between the goblin and his half-orc companion.

The Queen's Watch goblin gets up abruptly and rushes out of the Spigot, into the street outside.

Darksniffer will rush to the door to try and catch the guard. If he is too late, he will at least try to see where the goblin went.

The goblin is already out the door, but you can see him walking down the street easily enough.

(To follow him without being seen would be a DC 13 Stealth check — the streets are mostly empty, and he had just been observing you, but his Perception is not very good.)

(Stealth: 22)

As the streets progressively empty and only the day crowd remains, it gets harder to follow without being noticed, but Darksniffer dodges a few close calls. The Guardsman double-times it over one of the bridges across the Pariah level to the center island of the Gatherer level.

He stops at an empty market rack on the side of a  building. After looking around to try to make sure he's not followed, the Guardsman twists a hidden latch and slides the rack, revealing a tunnel. He disappears inside with a click.

After a moment, Darksniffer follows, opening the passageway and slipping through. The tunnel is long, unlit, and about an inch shorter than Darksniffer's full height. It twists deep into the ziggurat, then abruptly joins a wide spiral staircase going up and down.

Darksniffer follows the wheezing and cursing armored goblin past several exits as they climb. Finally, from the unseen staircase above, there's a sound of a heavy door opening and closing. Darksniffer reaches the door — it's on a small landing at the top of the staircase. It's labeled "Palace Access. Have your credentials ready."

Darksniffer ponders the sign for a moment. Fearing discovery, he hurries back to the street and makes his way to the tavern to report his findings.

Meanwhile in the Salty Spigot, the food had arrived. It's all passable, but it's obvious that frying is their specialty. Everything that can be deep-fried is fried. The waitress brings by a basket of deep-fried mushrooms. "On the house!" she says. "Talk with Bup behind the counter if you need lodging or if you're looking for odd jobs."

"Odd jobs it is I guess. We need the money."  Ash says before moving the counter. 

"Bup? Can we talk?"

"Hey, new guys!" Bup says, leaning on the bar. He's a heavyset goblin wearing a tall chef's hat, despite clearly being a bartender right now. "What you looking for? Bup hears all sorts of things, things adventurers might like to hear. But first, what's with your dog?"

Bup uses his chin to point to Tomp. "What a funny dog."

Having followed Ash "That not dog, that Tomp, he follow us and eat things we like." Rummaging thru his pouch and grabbing a handful of silver and copper (10 silver and 8 copper) "Og want room with bed he no hang off."

Ash looks at the goblin. "A room for me too." 

"Me and my friends are oddventurers." The smile doesn't reach his eyes 

"What jobs? " 

Bup smiles as he collects the coin into a purse on a cord around his waist. "Sure thing, big guy. Bup got bed extenders for big guys."

He beckons you in closer. "Hey, listen. Tomorrow we got a big fight up at the Hunters' Arena. Big guys, Lefty and Ottis. Bup's friend put lots of money on Lefty, but Lefty's gonna get crushed. Lot of money in it for someone who smashes Ottis's right paw, even up the odds. What you think, oddventurers?"

Darksniffer slinks right to the bar, leaning over to Bup, "How much is 'Lot of money'?" It's not clear if Darksniffer if asking as a haggle or genuine question.

"Who is Ottis, Og want to size up big fighter?"

"Where did sneaky man go?" Og asks as Darksniffer comes up to the bar.

"200 gold, total," Bup says. "Ottis's an orc. Big, big guy. Handy with fighting knives and forks and spoons and all what stabs. Has a room above the Book Club Tavern, way across the Gatherer Ring. Probably has some bookie friends watching him before the big fight."

"200.gold is not enough. Some guy is going to be mad when you can't pay. Make an effort and we will too." Ash looks at Bup in the eyes unblinking. "Not sure we should intervene in the natural selection process 

Intimidation: 9