"Right," the gnome squeaked, then clearing her throat and lowering her voice. "Right. I am here for some... uh..." Zina froze up, obviously panicking a little. She looked back at the bard nervously when an idea struck. Some confidence regained, Zina schooled her features and clapped her hands together. "Kanon, as my servant, I command you do all of this dreadful work for me. Yes, that is what I am going to do."

The man's eyes narrow as he looks Kanon up and down.

"I don't know what game you're playing, but platinum gates spend as well here as anywhere." He turns up his nose slightly. "Assuming they're real..."

(META: "platinum gates" being the nickname for platinum coins minted in Baldur's Gate, so named because they have a tiny map of the city embossed on each...)

Kanon gives the man an impatient look and rolls his eyes, "If we can be done with this display of codpieces, we have more errands to run. We require a genuine Dwarven Ale crafted by the brewmasters from Citadel Adbar. If you don't have it, we'll be happy to tell Lord McDonald that this establishment has failed him once again and we'll barter with Master Orst for what we require... again." He gestures for the man to go and fetch the ale.

A spark flashes in his eyes.

"Ooooh, Citadel Adbar, that is exotic." He speaks in a sing-song voice, almost as if he's toying with you. "The ale would have had to come all the way from the Ice Mountains via the Underdark. So exciting."

He leans in to whisper to Kanon.

"It's going to cost you something extra."

"Name your price, sir. We're in a bit of a hurry." Kanon looks down to Zina, sighs, and looks back to the man. "My lady is impatient to get to McDonald's..." He coughs, "Erm... Lord Mcdonald's side."  

"Eight more of those pretty platinum gates and it's yours. I'll even have it delivered for you, wherever on the Sword Coast you'd like..."

Kanon pulls the man aside. "You've obviously seen through our charade," he whispers, "What more can we do for you to get a cask of this ale? In all we can offer you those two platinum gates and about forty shields. You know the value we put on this, and you know we have at least a loose connection to McDonald."

He nods and winks.

"Sixty coin will do," he says. "Our men will carry it to your wagon."

The gnome breathed a sigh of relief when Kanon took over. Even though things didn't go exactly as planned, they were going to get what they came here for. The bard had even managed to haggle the price down! That was more than a little impressive.

"Thank you," Zina said softly in gnommish to Kanon. "I'm sorry I froze up there. I think I'm just going to leave the talking to you... Last time I tried to negotiate something I got kicked out of a bar and threw a firebolt at a clown."

Portia watches this happen and realizes Zina doesn't have her share of money at all, let alone the split of the fourth roll. She had two of them and Petti had two. She starts fishing around for her coin pouch and finds more than one. She opens the one she doesn't recognize to find a note from Pettilaen. She grins as she quietly says, "The cheeky little bugger." 

She smiles to the man. "So the total price is sixty gold coins for this fine cask of Dwarven Ale? Sounds about right considering what one can pay for just one drink of quality." She holds up a roll of coins. "This is 62 gold counted just this morning by the Flaming Fist money changers. Give the man back his two platinum and take this as payment. The extra 2 gold can be your tip for being a gentleman of proper respect for this establishment."

She holds the roll so he can see it but is waiting to hand it to him after he gives the two platinum back to Kanon. She stands at ease as if whipping out this much gold at a time is nothing and hopes her fairly neat attire with the temple markings on the tabard help a little.

He makes an exaggerated gesture of offering the platinum coins back to Kanon, all the while smirking at Portia.

"Can't trust no one these days," he says in a mock rural accent.

Kanon accepts the platinum and gives a nod in thanks. "We have a pony outside that'll be perfect for transporting the keg. Thank you." 

Before turning to leave Kanon looks at the man one last time and says, "I will be back at some point in the future. In fancy clothing with pockets overflowing with coins. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the kegs." He smiles, turns, and exits the establishment to wait outside for the delivery.

Portia got the response she expected. She watched him be a bit pithy with how he handed back the coins to Kanon. Kanon's response was priceless. Maybe she would come back with him for the fun of it.

Her only other response to the man was a nod before stepping outside to watch them tie the cask to the pony. Maybe having to lug something on its back other than Zina for a bit, she was sure the cask weighed more, it would get the hint it had life easy. It did try to kick one of the guys that got too close to her hindquarters. She looked away to hide a grin.

Kanon breaths a sigh of relief once he's outside. He knew he was walking a thin line, but was glad that it all payed off in the end.

Checking the straps on Zina's Pony and the integrity of the keg, he begins leading the group back to the docks. If anyone knew where Orst would be, it'd be his son.  

Once outside Portia hands Zina her roll of coin. "We can say we used Bullden's share for the present." She chuckles. "I don't think he'll mind."

"Thanks Portia," Zina gave her cleric a quick hug. "Sorry if I messed that up, but at least we have Kanon now. He's actually alright, isn't he?"

You make your way back toward the warehouses hauling a small keg full of dark ale from the Ice Mountains. When you arrive, you see Roe, Orst, and Bullden loading a small cart with personal belongings from the office. Roe smiles and waves.

"Well 'allo," he says. "We're just packing father for the move. Did you find Neiklot okay?"

"Yeah, we found him alright," Zina said flatly, not in her usual high spirits. The combination of fumbling up the incident at the Three Kegs and not getting any real information from Neiklot had left the gnome a little mopey. "His secretary is awful. In any case, we've got a present for your dad. As well as a little proposition from Neiklot."

"Yeah, it's been an entertaining day and things went alright. Maybe not like how we wanted exactly, but not bad either. It seems to be how we wind up rolling." She gave Zina an encouraging wink noting how she had a bit of a mopey tone. "Yup, we do have a nice gift and a proposition from Neiklot. I'll let Zina tell it as I had nothing to do with that other than I was there at the end and agreed to the idea. And, well, the guy we had to deal with for the present was a bit of a stuff shirt even to an acolyte of the temple." She chuckles.

Orst looks up and a small grin plays at the corners of his mouth.

"A gift, eh? Looks like a cask of good ale." He pats his belly. "Good. I been thinking about putting some more meat on my bones!"

He wipes his hands on a rag and comes around the cart to greet the group more formally.

"I'm off to Athkatla," he says. "Arranged a stall in the Promenade. Should be good for turning out coin and maybe sending additional business to my boy. But enough about that, what's this proposition?"