Gwen smiles at Mother Anachain, a bit patronizingly.  "If you say so ma'am.  I just know the stories my dad would weave and well, this one he sure loved getting my daughter all riled up."  Turning to Togar she frowns, "Please refrain from looking into my daughter's mind.  Do you actually do that?!  How intrusive!  If you dare, you are kicked out as well."

The girl had been gone, quite awhile, longer than one would have expected and Gwen starts getting a bit agitated, having these strangers in her house.  She is torn between leaving the strangers in the house, which after Drip.. she was very reluctant to do, versus going to see what Calleigh was up to.  Finally, she calls out, "Calleigh?  Everything alright?"

Calleigh finally emerges with a journal in one hand and a scribbled up piece of paper in another.  She looks at Gwen for a moment, then states, "I didn't want to give you all my grandpa's journal, so I copied the important parts for the pearl.  I hope that's ok."  Holding onto the book, she shoves the paper to Mother Anachain.

As one of the few remaining members of the party still seated in the house, the firbolg simply smiles amiably at Calleigh and her mother, hands crossed politely in his lap as he sits and waits for Mother Anachain to respond.

Togar looks straight away at the irrational halfling woman and his eye blinks… once… twice… thhhhhreee times.  And his head swivels back around to regard the girl, finally producing something of use.  The only thing he says in a low voice is, “It doesn’t hurt a bit….”

     Anachain opens her mouth to respond to Togar but then decides to just let the issue drop...  As Calleigh reemerges Anachain offers a warm smile to the girl.  "Of course you don't want to give us his entire journal!  No, no... That is most definitely a family treasure.  You have to protect that!"  That said, she does take the papers the girl is thrusting at her and offers her a bigger smile and a thank you as she does.

     Anachain holds the papers delicately and solemnly as if they themselves are a treasure as well.  Carefully straightening and ordering them, Mother Anachain clears her throat and then reads the pages aloud so that all could hear...

"A man in charge.. with what looks like 3 others, unless there are lookouts outside. Please forgive me, I'm hiding.. I can't face all these men alone. One of the others grabs the pearl, man in charge watches.. looking for a booby trap perhaps? Nothing happens of course - should have set one!' "

Caught a few things said, 'That city by the sea is going to be a great place to hide, large enough to get lost in but with so many jobs by the dock.' 'You just want to head south for the mermaids, you know they only want to bite you right? They ain't something to play with.' "

"The man in charge...he's tall, draped in a black cloak to hide himself in the dark, but as the moon hit his skin, he is blue, almost a bluegreen. Might move with a slight limp? Hard to tell in the small confines of the lighthouse."

     
     "This will be ever so helpful!" she says to Calleigh after a moment.  "Thank you...."  There seems to be possible leads in the words but she will have to think upon them a bit before she really deciphers what they could mean.  Perhaps the others could help...  Though she had some doubts about them.

     Looking to the mother, Anachain smiles to her as well and says "Thank you again, and sorry if we were any bother.  You both have been a huge help to us.  If by any chance we need to follow up on anything it'll just be one or two of us who come ask, I fear the whole lot of us is a bit much to take all at once."  She means it both as an apology as well as a way to leave things open for more inquiries if needed... She then looks to Elmer and Togar to see if they have any follow up before they depart...

Elmer sees Anachain looking at him and waves back to her.

If/when she leaves, he'll follow her out.

Togar’s mouth opens and closes a few times, then gathering himself and exerting force of will to be the friendliest and funniest Owlin ever, he smiles at Calleigh and says, “My dear, dear child.  Thank you.  I would ask…” he draws himself up and looks at the mother as well, “both of you.  When your Grandfather wrote these words and told you this story, tell me, did he have any ideas who these people were, or where they were from?  This dock, and “heading south for the mermaids”, did he give you any opinions about where these bad men were headed?  I am wondering what your grandpa thought about it and may have told you, his opinions about it do matter..”  He tilts and cocks his head, regarding the both of them.

Calleigh frowns in deep concentration and Gwen puts her hand on her daughter's shoulder, "Sir, my dad died a couple of years ago... his opinions about the matter?  This story was pretty important to him, the way he tried to get others to believe him, but who would?  It's so far fetched!"  She sighs, "He did also like to talk about the way life was in Eldershore before it was allegedly stolen.  How life flourished and no one wanted to anything as we had everything we needed and trade was abundant and all that... but no one wants to hear how things were sooo much better.  That just makes what we have feel even worse."

Calleigh finally looks up and shrugs, "I also liked the bit about the mermaids."

Gwen smiles at her daughter and to Mother Anachain, "You are definitely welcome back, and yes, fewer of you would be better.  Thank you."

     "Thank you for your time," Mother Anachain says, knowing a goodbye when she hears one.  "Both of you." She adds, giving Calleigh a wink.  "If you think of anything else... Or if we can be of any help to you... Well, I imagine we shall not be hard to find."

     With that, she ushers the others out and then looks around for the others so as to gather them all up together.  Once done she repeats what the page said and allows the others to see Calleigh's re-writing of it for themselves.

     "City by the sea could be a clue," she thinks aloud.  "As well as the importance of jobs by the docks.  And The mermaids?  At first I was thinking a tavern or something but then it talks about biting.  And Calleigh said she liked that bit... Hmmm.  But the one in charge, a species that is bluegreen?  There does seem to be a water motif..."

     Anachain thinks for a moment then looks to Drip.  "Any of this sound familiar to you?"

Togar listens to Mother Anachain as he’s walking out and joins the others, he stares off into the sky and starts whistling a lilting tune, as if a memory struck him, a tale remembered from long ago.  All of a sudden he sings in a cracking, unpracticed voice, “For in Calimport, paradise is nice…. But a mermaid’s bite is worth more than gold….”   His head swings around to regard Anachain and then Drip, saying “How can a bite be worth more than gold?  What are the properties of a mermaid’s bite?”  He starts whistling the tune again..

Drip perks up at Togar’s sudden song, a grin spreading across his face. “You know that one too, dude? Classic.” He hops to his feet, full of energy for the first time all day. “Best way to find out… let’s find some mermaid losers, and let them bite the mask dude over here.” He gestures lazily toward Mother Anachain, his grin turning mischievous. "I mean, we can learn firsthand. Science, dude. Nothing beats experience." He chuckles, already imagining the chaos that would follow.

     Anachain looks sideways at Drip and his suggestion but chooses it best to just ignore him.  "Calimport?" she instead asks of Togar.  "Is it by the sea?  Have docks?  Is it to the south?"

     She inquires in an attempt to connect the place to what is said in the journal.  Of course she doesn't think she could definitely tie it based on the sparse information gleaned from the journal entry but instead perhaps it could be ruled out?

As the others talk, Elmer busies himself by drawing a picture in the dirt with the toe of his boot. The drawing shows the party with linked hands as mermaids swim around them. He nudges Togar and points to his work with a smile. Then, as if to explain, he adds in a whisper, "Mermaids!" with a big grin and an excited thumbs up.

"Taligbar, Calimport, both on sea. Both have sailors who think can be gladiators," Kulloda says then thinks for a bit. "But not so good."

He picks up the weapons and gear he dropped on the ground while he waited for the others and gets ready to go.

"Where thieves like to go? Which tavern in town? We go bang heads. Get more information."

Togar looks at the drawing from Elmer, like reviewing the proud artwork of a second grader.  He tilts his head and with an avian sigh, gives a feathered thumbs up to indicate approval of the crude drawing.  Then he turns quickly away, listening to the adult conversation.  

“Calimport, perhaps we should head that way, track the way that these thieves went.  It is to the south, by the sea.  It seems to be our best lead yet…”. He turns to Drip, trying to get in to the spirit of things, “Maybe there will be some gnarly waves there….”  And then, with a sudden flapping of wings, he takes to the sky, heading higher and looking for the proper road south, headed to Calimport before descending and sharing his aerial scouting.

Drip leans in, squinting at Elmer’s drawing as Togar gives it a thumbs up. “Yeah, dude,” he mutters, though it’s unclear if he’s talking about the drawing or just agreeing with the vibe. When Togar mentions Calimport, Drip perks up. “Gnarly waves? Now you’re speaking my language, dude. Calimport is by the sea… good place to catch some swells.”

As Togar takes to the sky, Drip watches him go, shading his eyes with his hand. But upon hearing talk of the road, he looks crushed, “Nah, dudes. We gotta travel by sea.” He begins swaying side to side in a fluid manner, likely to make a person feel seasick if they watched him for too long.

Togar lands and points his hand along a road that he visualized.  “That is the way to go.  There is a fairly direct path, by land.  Ready everyone?  No further last minute needs?”  He looks around, storing his helm in his pack for travel.

Elmer starts tugging at his belt... "Wait! Mister Togar! Just one last need... But go ahead! I'll catch up!

...and Elmer steps away from the others, hurrying toward the nearest privacy-granting tree.

Kulloda watches the owlin fly up and get their bearings, the moist surfer mention the need to travel by see and then notices the big firbolg urinating behind a tree.

"We go back to town. Take horses," Kulloda says. "Walking too long. Too slow. Too boring. Take horses and go fast."

He nods back in the direction of the tent where they had all met.

"Vespa want pearl. She should give horses."

“Who’s Vespa, dude?” Drip asks with a yawn. “Elmer’s mom?”

Kulloda looks at Elmer, thinks about what he remembers about the elf in the tent then shakes his head.

"He," he says, gesturing at Elmer "is too big for an elf to be the mother."