The Forgotten Wish

"Maybe he headed back to the inn?" Breldo suggests to Nuria.

Nuria looks around anxiously as she follows the halfling around the building. No Oren. Perhaps he went shopping? She looks at Breldo when he speaks up. "Ok....But-what do we do if he doesn't come back by tomorrow?"

Rick heads straight there, taking in the town as he goes.

Perception: 17

"We can check for him in any businesses that are open, then back to the inn to see if he's checked in? Feel silly wandering about if he's back having his dinner."

Breldo posits for a moment that maybe in the time they went out looking for him he might have already returned? Possible, technically, if they happened to just barely miss each other, but it would have been rather unlucky timing given how the two of them had not wandered far yet. There are a few shops around the inn, but it does seem that most of them have closed up, or are in the process of closing up.

---

Slick takes a casual stroll over to the guard house, taking in the city as he does, but it seems a bit too late to really enjoy any bustling or hustling that might still be happening on an ordinary day. A few people still walk the street, but it's obvious all of them have places to be rather than actually doing anything, everyone on the market has already picked up shop, the only activity at this hour coming predominantly from various inns and taverns- There are a surprising number of those. The guard house in question does still have various lights burning inside however, denoting clear activity within.

If there are any that are not yet closed, he'll stop and inquire after a dwarf matching Oren's description.

(Investigation check?)

Breldo Investigation: 21

Rick will find the entrance of the guard house and enter, looking around for where he should declare his intentions.

If he finds a desk to do so, he will head there and declare.

"Rick is here to see the captain about the ambushes on the road. Rick was on the road today and saw no ambushers but did see a potential ambush and needs to know how many ambushers there were. Rick also wonders how the guards captured the ambushers and nearly beat Rick here!"

He realizes he has another question,

"Oh, Rick is also looking for a small dwarf Oren. Two very nice guards said they saw small dwarf Owen being lead here. Oren was wearing (description) last Rick saw him."

He smiles and waits patiently for the guard to answer his question before running to get the captain as Rick has requested.

Breldo gives an examination to the nearby stores, figuring out where he could still ask. It doesn't take too long to see that one store across their inn would probably have gotten the best chance to spot them, in addition to his observation that one of the shops appear to have been barred rather than merely closed... Still, he moves over to ask the question, and gets a worrying answer.

"A dwarf? Not sure if it's the one you're talking about, but guards took in the old fool that runs the collection over there, and I saw them take a dwarf with them too. Wonder if he got caught in fraud?" the woman says, at least some apparent disdain clear in her voice.

---

Slick enters the guard house, finding it lacking in an easy reception, or at least nothing that is manned. An entrance hall barely furnished and currently unoccupied, although there are evident sounds coming from down the hall, where he can see several side doors and a staircase leading up.

(Perception check?)

Nuria follows Breldo through this entire investigation. "Wah-What?!" Nuria squeaks and looks from the guard to Breldo, "I-I hope that wasn't Oren! I didn't expect him to ever do something like that....U-unless it was a misunderstanding?!" She stops, realizing that they don't even know for sure if that dwarf was Oren. She certainly hopes not. "Should we check the in then go find the--the prison if he's not back?" She shivers. Guards are the last kind of people she wants to be talking to, but if Oren is in some sort of trouble...

"Fraud? We are merely passing through, I hope he didn't get mixed up in anything. Is the old fellow that runs that place a known fraudster?", Breldo asks the shopkeep.

"Yes, we might as well make sure he hasn't returned before we head off to see if he's been picked up by the guard. Perhaps he was a witness, and they merely wanted his input."

Perception check: 7

"Has to be!" the woman scoffs at Breldo and Nuria. "You think people come here for relics? He's probably buying junk then reselling it to idiots," she says, before adding in, "Maybe your friend just reported him? Would serve him right."

To both Breldo and Nuria, it's obvious that while the woman isn't exactly lying, she's speaking from a place of general disdain, and clearly doesn't actually know whether it is true or not.

A quick dive back into the inn reveals that Oren has not in fact returned. Pallen does give a worried look in their direction to see them come back without the dwarf, however.

---

Slick only quickly glances around, not catching much details. There are some personal effects in the entrance hall, almost as if daring anyone to try and steal from the guard house, and he thinks he hears noises from the floor above? Some glancing about reveals that the first room down the hall leads into an armory of sorts, and he spots some guards that he could ask his question to there.

Breldo will let Pallen know that they were just making sure that Oren didn't walk back in right after they left, but will leave out the possibility of one of his employees possibly being picked up by the local constabulary.

When he and Nuria step outside again, "Guard house is this way, if I recall. Hopefully just a minor misunderstanding."

Rick's fingers twitch as he gives a quick scan for anything fluffy he can find a new home for.

Perception: 4

Once he either sees nothing or rehomes the fluff,  Rick will call to the guards,

"Rick wonders if the guards can help Rick?"

Nuria fidgets with her hair and nods. To the guard house it is then.

Pallen seems obviously worried about Oren by this point, but with the little caveat of not mentioning what they heard, he only wishes the other two take care, and perhaps there is some humor to be seen in the fact he mentions that if something might have happened to Oren they should alert the guards to the matter as well. Regardless, Breldo and Nuria depart in the direction of the guard house soon after.

---

Slick takes a very quick glance along the personal effects for something fluffy he could quickly nab. There's a coat maybe, but that would be very obviously missing. Besides that there isn't really anything... Some boots, some tools, all just things hard and not shiny. After a moment he calls out to one of the guards, who quickly come out to greet him, even if that greeting is only a light grunt at first, before Slick presumably asks the questions he's been meaning to ask: about the whole deal with the ambushers, oh, and probably Oren too. The guard scratches his beard at the first question.

"You'll have to ask the captain. Don't know the fine details. You're probably misremembering. But he's having an important dinner right now, so I'm not sure if he's available."

"For your dwarf friend though- Yeah, he's in here. Sounded like it was a mistake, so he'll probably be let go soon."

Not much earlier that day, Oren had his concentration with the guards, the dwarf a miffed at the shopkeeper for being lied to, to which the shopkeeper once again assures he's speaking truth, nor that he has any idea what the guards want. Which in the end leads to the guards, uncertain on whether or not Oren is involved, kindly requesting him to come with.

Something he obliged to, and soon he was escorted to the guard house. As he's taken into the guard house, Bryon gets escorted past the staircase, to a door near the end of the hall, while the other guard asks Oren to join him upward. There, on the upper floor, he is greeted with merry sounds, the guard asking to give him a moment while he calls for the captain. Never quite leaving the dwarf out of his sight, as he knocks first, then opens the door. The sound of multiple people going quiet can be heard.

"Boss, sorry for interrupting, but we need an opinion. We caught the shopkeep as you asked, but there was another fella with them. We wanted to make sure there couldn't be any other accomplices?"

(Give me a perception check. Just waiting?)

Rick nods in understanding,

"Rick understands the Captain must be busy! Rick can start by talking to Rick's dwarf first while the captain eats."