Avaria is bedazzled by the headmaster's outfit.  She enjoys following them as the rainbow parts of it flashes in the sunlight, taking her mind a way from the situation at hand for a moment.  But then they head off to the sidealley, and they talk in riddles.

"Huh?  What do you mean they know our minds and sense us?  What are these creatures, these doppelgangers?  How can you tell we are in a disguise, are you one as well?"  She pauses, let's others talk, then interjects again, she can't help it.  "The acrobat we are looking for didn't show up today so the clown had to fill in... I think, but how will we find this person, do you have any inclination as to who we are looking for?  any hint where to start?  We appreciate the help from the brigade of course." 

Dave-a looks around to make sure no one is spying on them.

Perception  18

Martin looks on skeptically but answers Dave-a's questions,

"I've heard about doppelgangers before, though mostly in plays. Shape shifters that can see memories. They have a bad reputation, usually ending up as the spies and assassins in the stories. Too many evil twin plays revolve around them."

To answer the disguise question he just looks around at their group,

"We look authentic for sure but we kind of messed that up by acting not like a normal family would. Who would send our group to apprehend an assassin? Or even demand money for repairs from the Lintoll? Speaking of which,"

Martin turns his greasy forehead back to the Headmaster,

"We do need that repair money. Also, any chance you could swing us a few of those multiday VIP passes? We have an appointment in town we need to keep before we begin in earnest here."

((How much time until the pirate handover?))

Autumn Noon gestures for the group to follow them into the turnip tent. There aren't any turnips or anyone at all inside. But it's clean and there are a few chairs.

Noon turns to face the four of you.

"And that reputation is precisely why our group tries to remain as unobtrusive as possible. Those bad apples are all that's needed for the people of most communities to turn on our entire kind." Noon says.

Before your eyes, their features become even more androgynous, almost alien like. The clothes remain flashy but Noon's skin is now has a smooth silvery clay-like quality to it. It looks like you could reach out and make whatever shape you wanted.

"I can not read all your thoughts, but anything you don't work hard to hide or anything bubbling along under the surface is relatively easy to pick up." Noon says. "I generally try not to pry unless someone thinks directly at me, but sometime emergencies come up."

He looks at each of you in turn, resting perhaps a touch longer on Martin-Marrin.

"It would be a service to the Lintoll as well for you to apprehend this assassin. Of course if the assassin has no resources, the Lintoll will make amends to your, no your friend's inn. And forget VIP day passes. This person's actions are truly unacceptable and could destroy everything we have built. Do this and you will be lifetime friends of the Lintoll."

He paces around a little.

"The acrobats took on a new member a week ago. His name is Princip. I suspect he's the one you're looking for."

[You've a couple of hours before needing to be back in town]

Martin's eyes widen in shock at the transformation. He opens and closes his mouth a few times trying to find the words,

"Oookay. I think we can say that our interests align on the assassin, Princip, but you said we need to drink to interfere with the whole...mind reading? How much are we talking?"

She looks at the other three for their reactions.

"We do actually have an appointment with the Lord Mayor in a couple of hours and it wouldn't be great to show up stumbling drunk. Actually, can you give us just a moment."

Marrin waves the other three into a corner and whispers,

"I agree with Dave-a that time is of the essence here, so maybe we could send Bigge back to town to do the prisoner transfer together with Ula and Hammerdasher? All three of them were key parts of our escape. Would the Lord Mayor accept that you think?"

The last question is directed to Mamma Jan.

Karen-Jan wonders, her thoughts directed strongly AT Noon.

<How do we know it's this Princip, and not you or another?>

She gauges his reaction, both to test his mind reading ability, and the truth of his spoken words.

((Insight: 7))

"I think that as long as the Mayor gets his chance to make a speech and take credit for their capture, he'd be happy, at least from what Mard says. However, I'm still not trusting of him, a part of me still wonders if he has connections to our... hosts. Could be that if it's just the three of them, he takes the opportunity to clap five 'pirates' in irons instead of two. Though any sane person would think twice before crossing Ula's folks. I'd rather we're there in force if we are doing it."

"I'd certainly rather be there but I also don't want to lose track of this Princip by going into town now or in a couple of hours. If they tried once there's every chance they will try again."

Shrugging he adds,

"If the Lord Mayor double crosses us we could also go spring them after. I also agree it would be quite the stretch to try and arrest a devote local like Ula and those she is vouching as pirates. Considering her parents, potentially a terminally bad choice for his Lordship."

"True. I think the assassin is the larger threat, the Mayor at least has to act with a public face. Very well. We deal with this now, even it that takes us past out meeting with the Mayor. I can pen a note for Mard for Bigge and Ula to take to him and hopefully smooth things over."

Autumn Noon nods at the question about drinking.

“A drunken mind is too fuzzy to easily read and requires deep concentration on part of one of our kind to delve deeper. And to be honest, we almost never probe the thoughts of drunken people too deeply. They can make us quite dizzy.”

Noon furrows what would normally be a set of eyebrows, remembering some unpleasant experience with such dizziness in the past.

“Obviously you don’t want to be actually drunk or that will impact your abilities to deal with Princip. Three stiff drinks seem to do the trick”.

The headmaster withdraws a few steps to give you more space to talk privately. At the same time they revert to the look they had when you first met.

When Karen-Jan thinks her question, the headmaster smiles.

“There is no answer that I can give to that question that would satisfy you,” Noon says. “But, with all respect, if it had been me who came after you and your friend, we would not be having this conversation.”

Karen-Jan is too distracted by the fluid way the headmaster changes appearance to get a good read on whether they're telling the truth or not.

Jan considers his response and nods, resisting the urge to match his mushable clay face with her own illusion.

Avaria studders uncomprehensively when the headmaster transforms as he does.  She looks to Martin and Karen to see if her reaction is reasonable and seeing their shock at the man's visage, she at least feels a little better.

Listening to the discussion between Martin and Karen, she nods, "Yes, I do believe that Ula and her parents will not allow the mayor to make such a bad decision, but good thing to think about."  Then to Noon, "Where do you recommend a place for three stiff drinks?"

Autumn Noon snaps their fingers and suddenly a shiny, ink black ticket appears in their hand. Genuine conjuration or sleight of hand? They walk back to the group and hand the ticket to Dave-A.

"Tree Sap Lollipop is a small vendor not far down the main lane from here," Noon says. "They make a marvelous mountain pine liqueur. Hand that to the bartender and they'll take care of you. Be careful not to have to much though. It sneaks up on you."

Answering Mamma Jan

"I think it's best we take care of this first, good idea to get Mard aware."

Martin rubs his greasy face with his hands at the confirmation of the need to drink.

"Ughhh. I get such bad hangovers from drinking, especially so early in the day."

"Well, if we get this all sorted, we can keep drinking and avoid the hangover until later."

Jan tries something, thinking as 'loud' as she can, the chorus to an annoyingly catchy song that is popular in taverns, the sort that people can't help but tap their toes to or hum the melody, though she is careful not to do either, watching Noon out of the corner of her eye.

Tracking down a mark... Jan is shaking off the rust from her bout as prisoner, but the bounty hunter instincts are coming back to the front. Figuring out other ways to detect beings of Noon and Princip's sort is a handy skill to have, should it come up in the future.

Noon sees Karen-Jan focusing on them and focuses on Jan in return. For a moment there's no reaction whatsoever, then Autumn-Noon begins laughing.

"If you could keep that up, Princip would ignore you for sure," Autumn Noon says.

Jan can't help but join in his laughter.  

"I wonder if I'll slur the words after a few drams of mountain pine!"

Avaria takes the ticket from Autumn Noon and gives them a little bow, she doesn't know how to carry herself around this person.  She is utterly flabbergasted how this all is real.  Composing herself she looks from Noon to Jan and wonders what is going on, but it makes her smile.  At least the others seem to know what they are doing.

"Three stiff drinks, got it.  Thank you for your help.  If we need to talk to you again, how do we reach you?"

“Find any of the Brigade. They’ll have an idea where to find me,” Autumn Moon says.

((Autumn Moon is a better name than Noon, honestly.))

Martin remains unconvinced by Jan's suggestion they keep drinking.

"You're a terrible role model mom."

He looks over when Noon starts laughing and then between them and Mamma Jan.

"Bawdy limerick?"

He hazards before waving any answer off,

"No, probably don't want to know."

Slouching back into his teenager posture he whines,

"Okay, lets get this done. First to Bigge and then to headache land?"

Karen-Jan shrugs when her 'parenting' style gets called out. "Well, how do you came to be?"

"Slippin' in to Port.", Karen-Jan confirms when Martin-Marrin asks about her mental song.

"Mister Noon, could I trouble you for the use of a pen and some parchment?"

Martin gives Mamma-Jan a shudder and,

"Gross."

She does snort chuckle at the song choice,

"Right into the nightsoil with that one."

Once Jan has the note written and in hand Martin will say to Noon,

"We'll be in contact, though I expect you will keep an eye on us as we move about."

Giving the Headmaster a low bow before leaving Martin will head out with the rest to where they last saw Bigge. He'll help great auntie along.