The door opens to Neiklot's shop and the odor of pipeleaf and old paper washes over you like a wave. Just inside, you see a dark, wood-paneled room containing a large desk, behind which sits a gnome clerk (see below) with eyes the color of pure water and a beard like strands of silver. He arches his eyebrows as you enter.

"How may I help?"

"Hello, Neiklot, I mean sir," Zina began talking at a mile a minute as soon as the elder gnome finished talking. "Hello, sir. Can I just say that I am a big fan of your work? Huge fan, you are a genius. I mean, there is no one better at what you do then, well, you. Oh my Blackstaff, I can't believe I finally get to meet you. I'm a huge fan, oh wait, I already said that. Anyway, we have this scroll that some guy named Malark sent that guy with to give to you to decode. I tried my best to work on it, but I didn't get very far. Of course, I'm not you," the gnome laughed nervously, taking a breath for the first time in the midst of her ramblings. "I figured out that it was some wizard's personal Arcana, and combined with some other archaic texts could unlock something incredibly powerful. Oh, my name is Zina by the way, Zina Strifelaughter."

Strifelaughter, Kanon thought, that explains a lot. 

After Zina has finished, Kanon says, "Pardon us, sir. We're here to see Neiklot. My friend here," he nods to Zina, "has a letter of introduction from a mutual friend of ours, Orst."  

Kanon waits patiently for a response.

Pettilaen walked in with the rest of them into the rustic shop. The smell wasn't pleasant, but it beat the smells from crawling around in a dungeon under some random city or citadel, so he thanked the gods for that.

Seeing the gnome at the front desk confused Pettilaen immensely. This is what Neiklot looks like? Huh. I imagined a bald human with lots of tattoos. Something didn't feel right... This gnome seemed more like a clerk than a famous cryptographer.

By this time, Zina was rushing towards the gnome, eager to introduce herself. "Uhh... Zina..." he tried to intercede. "Zina, I don't think..." She was talking so fast, the blur of words seemed to push his words away. He shrugged, and waited for the inevitable.

He stares for several seconds, pursing his lips and humming to himself.

"Hmmmm," he says, reaching up to scratch behind his ear with the stem of his pipe. "Curious."

He slides from the mahogany-and-black-leather chair on which he was seated and nearly disappears behind the desk, with only the whispy silver trails of his unkempt comb-over visible, bobbing along with his ambling gait. After successfully circumnavigating the desk, he approaches Kanon and extends his hand.

"You look like Kanon to me. I was told to expect your arrival, and here you are, though a good deal later than I expected, I must say."

He pauses for only a fraction of a second before continuing.

"Well, well, you have the documents from Malark, yes?"

"Yes we do. Zina has them." He gestures for Zina to produce the documents. "Malark did not specify that they were to remain sealed, and since we're more the curious types we've tried to do a little investigative work on our own. As Zina said, we've found them to be quite fascinating. As for the hold-up, I found myself in the fortuitous position of escorting Master Orst's wares to the Gate with the rest of this group." 

"Wait, you're not Neiklot?" Zina's brain caught up to the rest of her. She had been so starstruck that she hadn't picked up on the context clues of the situation. "Why should we trust you then? No, I'm not going to just give them to you. We were told to give them to Neiklot, so that is who I'm going to hand them to. You could have just snuck in here and started masquerading as his assistant just so that you could steal them." Her hand holding the documents suddenly withdrew, burying itself in her bag. The gnome arched an eyebrow skeptically. She had decided to guard the scrolls with her life, and she wasn't about to hand them over to someone that wasn't Neiklot.

Portia manages not to chuckle as Zina runs off at the mouth to the gnome sitting at the desk. She takes the place in not totally appalled at the smoke smell, but finding it tickling her nose. She hoped it didn't make her sneeze.

She introduced herself after Kanon had answered. "Good day. I'm Portia Starflower. I've heard a great deal about Mater Neiklot from Malark over the years. You must be the esteemed clerk or what is your title?" She tries to figure it out, but is not sure she was ever told.

Realization starts to dawn on Kanon. If these scrolls were property of the Red Wizards, this could easily be a set-up to get them back.

"Zina is correct. The scrolls are meant for Neiklot's eyes only. I'm sorry... I didn't catch your name." He eyes the gnome suspiciously.

The gnome shrugs.

"Ah, yes, we heard Candlekeep suspects some connection to the infamous Red Wizards. Perhaps that is the root of your hesitancy. Rest assured, if the Red Wizards were so desirous of these documents and knew you had possession, they would have them already."

He nods toward a stack of small stools in a far corner of the room.

"Feel free to sit and wait for the boss, if you want, so long as you're quiet and out of the way. He's poring over some sensitive texts from the Underdark and probably will be for the next several days, but... You know... Have it your way."

He starts to turn away.

"My name is Siwel, and, should you need anything," he extends a thin, bony finger toward the silver and cherry door (as pictured above), "there's a rather large metropolis just there wherein you may get it yourself." 

"Thank you, Siwel. Any way to politely let him know someone is here and then he can set a time to meet us that is convenient? I doubt Malark would have sent his scrolls here as he did if there was not a pressing need. It's rather funny he sent them with a stranger rather than with me, but I think it was a timing thing as I got caught up sorting out something else. And it's interesting that I met up with him anyway."

She smiles and hopes it isn't too much. That remark about the city being on the other side of the door if they needed something had amused her.

"We'll wait here," Zina smiled sweetly, finding a seat. "No matter how long it takes. Pettilaen, what was that wonderful story you were about to tell me about your family again? I'm sure Siwel will also want to hear it."

Kanon joins Zina on one of the stools and nods to Siwel. "Very well," he says.

Setting his pack aside, he unclips his lute from a strap and sets it on his lap. He plucks a string, puts it up to his ear, adjusts it, and plucks it again. Perfectly tuning a lute is a very complicated and time-consuming process. This seems as good a time as any to get it done.

Zina's comment confused Pettilaen. "But, you told me that my monologging was a bad thing, and that it can be extremely annoying to those around..." his eyes shift to Sewil, as Zina's idea dawns on him, "me. Oh. Yes. -That- story."

He clears his throat, eager to begin his epic monologue.

After returning to his chair, a feat which requires a small step ladder, Siwel shoots an irritated look at Pettilaen and Kanon. He attempts to return his attention to the document he was studying, but the monologue and accompanying soundtrack prove too much of a distraction.

Without a word, he reaches into the small pouch at his belt and (seemingly impossibly) removes a long wand, which he waves with a curt flick of the wrist. The room falls into complete silence.

 Zina's eyes widened excitedly at the spell. She waved her hand and cast minor illusion, creating giant letters made out of flames right in front of Siwel's face. I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO LEARN THAT SPELL, CAN YOU TEACH IT TO ME? The words said. She knew it was beyond her at the moment, but if she could copy it into her spell book... The gnome sat quietly in her seat, still grinning from ear to ear. 

Siwel glances up at the letters, sighs deeply, if silently, and drops the wand back into his pouch. Then he returns his attention to the document on the desk.

Zina cast the same spell again, although this time with even larger and brighter letters that simply read PLEASE.

Portia is suddenly glad of the silence spell because she cracks up laughing. She manages to regain her composure despite the PLEASE sign hanging in the air. 

She had not moved to a seat like the others and was still standing there. She can't even hear the clink of her chainmail as she slowly moves about the room taking in all the details. She stops at one point and leans over to see what Siwel is reading wondering if it is in any language she knows. She doubts that Siwel can teach Zina the spell since it is in a wand. Maybe he didn't know a lot of spells, but had the wand so he could study in pure silence.