Nirzeg didn't answer immediately, but rather waited until the dwarfess was in full reminiscent mode before even attempting anything. "Pet project to improve, er, 'help' Big Blue with his mount.. the horse below deck." He whispered to Tomac. The moment she's at attention again he taking another sip of tea, but otherwise listens attentively. "That sounds like quite the deal! And considering our current mode of transportation is a bit, uh, only a temporary solution, having such a training could come in quite handy." Nirzeg rubs his chin.

Though anyone who knew the miserly Githyanki well enough could easily guess at his answer. "Pardon my euphimesim, but that would certainly be one way to kill two birds with one stone. And considering we'll be here for a few days, I don't s'pose the rest of you have any qualms?" He asked, looking to any others that came for potential training. "Oh, and by the way, you wouldn't happen to know a Tiberius would you? S'pose to be here in Fireshear. Got asked a way back by some family of his to see if the boy has been keeping his nose clean and what not. You know how it is." Nirzeg said with a grin.

"Tiberius! Yes, I know him. Hired him on earlier this year. He asked me for an advance on his pay, and I refused. Then he goes and disappears on me, and with two bottles of my best brandy and a griffon egg. That was oh, well before summer solstice. Haven't seen hair nor hide of him since. I asked the others, they're all mercenaries for the Zhentarim you know, and they knew nothing. Disappointing, that was. I reported the theft to the triumvirate, of course. Tharkus told me he'd send the information off to Bryn Shander. That's the long and short of it." Dasharra throws her hands up as if to say what can you do? and offers you more tea.

Nirzeg holds up a hand, abstaining the offer, and looking mildly annoyed and pensive at the news. A great big sigh follows as free hand then began massaging the Gith's temple. "Of course he wouldn't make it easy for me. Fan-*******-tastic..." He half-mutters while shaking his head. He then looked to Dasharra trying to find a hint of deception, even if by omission.

Insight: 7.

"Did he mention... ****.. Did he mention a girl perhaps? Boyfriend, even? Debts? Places he liked or hated? Anything like that while he was working with you at least?" He asked plainly, and would take a sip of tea now more so to calm his nerves.

Dasharra seems annoyed at the memories.

"The thing is, I employ the Zhentarim because they do their job efficiently. Part of the arrangement is I don't speak much with them. They take direction well, and get paid for it. All of them tend to spend their free time in at the tavern, since there ain't much for folk to do here besides ice fishing and drinking." 

Intelligence check 9

Tomac just stares at the clouds as they talk.

There is a storm brewing far off the coast to the southwest. The wind is blowing out towards the sea, so the storm clouds should follow suit, westward.

Nirzeg back peddles somewhat, and at least tried to effect an apologetic smile. "Understood. I will just have to go to them, provided you can give their names to for ease. As for our other business, do tell us where we might find them. And if you know anything about their territory that we should also be on the watch for, please, don't hesitate to share. Hard for us to succeed with only half the information. Let alone be of help."

Dasharra tells you that the names of the Zhent mercenaries in her employ are Hashad Stempel, Gen Duvriz, Zuhlud Good Mead, Fa Neing, Midror Vez, and Lerha Snowstone. They can usually either be found guarding her griffons, or betting & drinking at the only tavern in Fireshear.

"As for the business with the griffons, getting there is the most challenging thing. Griffons are smart, you know: they put their nests where it'd be nigh impossible to climb. Not just any cave or mountain peak will do; they choose the most inaccessible places. In late summer, they like to hunt everywhere south of Ten Towns, and they especially like to prey on horses.

"In the winter, they either hibernate or move to warmer climes. So if you were to travel along the Ten Trail, or possibly southeast on the Northern Means, you'll probably catch glimpse of a griffon pride. From there, you'd just need to follow them back to their nest, and there you'll be." 

Dasharra nods. "Of course, there's the matter of how you'd follow them. I suppose you have good old Tomac here, but that's just one griffon. Unless you all have flying carpets?"

Nirzeg's eyes flit about lowly in his skull as he does some quick calculations. Eventually, he sighs and bows his head. "Unfortunately, our main means of doing so is under repairs at the moment. I do have one other option as well. Perhaps even two..." He trailed off tapping his chin, before then finally meeting Dashara's eyes. "But its certainly a challenge I look forward to overcoming. And you have my word that when we've acquired enough, we will be sure to bring the little ones your way. Though with that, I suppose that concludes our business here."

Nirzeg looks next to a certain red-feathered aarakocra if he is yet nearby, wishing him luck in a raised tea cup, before then downing the rest of its contents and passing it back to Dashara. "Until next time, my dear! And may Tymora's sweet ass bless you with better fortune in your endeavors." Nirzeg left on that note chuckling and trusting any party member yet there (besides Tomac for obvious reasons) to follow him for the nearest tavern. Though before getting too far away, remembering the sentinels seen on the way end, the Githyanki calls out one of the merc's name to see if any of the trio respond. And if so, he jauntily makes his way over claiming to have business with them.

"Hey Tomac, could you show me how to ride a Griffon?"

Quote from Sarcasticfury >>

"Hey Tomac, could you show me how to ride a Griffon?"

 Tomac scratches his head "I could try. I'm not a good teacher and to be honest, Gruff and I have known each other so long that I don't really need to direct him. He knows what I need him to do"

Turns out that the Zhentarim merc whose name Nirzeg called out is 2 in the tavern, but the three currently on duty outside the griffon pen salute you and ask what they can do for you.

As the sun starts setting, the wind is getting pretty blustery. So far north, it's well below freezing even in the summer. You're probably going to want to find shelter. Up to you whether you'd like to seek lodging in town, or go back to your tiny bunks in the docked airship.

Apart from confirming those on duty about the whereabouts of the Zhentarim merc's, Nirzeg bids them thanks with some half-assed prayer to Tymora, before then then making for the tavern. Though he hoped as well to find lodging there, he mentally prepared himself to have to endure the chill for longer just to make it to the ship afterwards if it came down to it.

// Pushing ahead! //

The tavern is brightly lit from the inside, and muggy as you enter. The windows are all fogged up from the humidity, which is likely being caused by the sheer number of clientele in the tavern. As it's the only establishment in town, it would seem to be the de facto "favorite" of all the miners, who have shed their thick coats after tracking in a decent amount of snow from the outside. The miners are loud, uncouth, and covered in dust from a day at work. 

As you search for the other Zhentarim mercenaries, you can pick them out fairly easily. They are the ones that stick out like three sore thumbs in a sea of dust-covered miners. They are having a conversation by themselves at a small table, while several miners are staring impatiently at them, standing with drinks in hand, waiting for the Zhents to vacate their seats. The Zhents, to their credit, are pretending not to see the miners.

The bar is crowded, but there's an opening here and there if you were needing to talk to the tankardtender, an old, thin half-elf who has lost most of his hair.

*assuming Tomac knows the barkeep and some of the miners*

Tomac step into the tavern, ducking a little to get through the doorway, he waves and greets people as he makes his way toward the bar. "Hey guys! Hows it going? Everything alright in the mines?" He points and waves his big hand in a circle "Hey my good man, can we get a round of drinks over here?" 

Nirzeg promptly makes his way over to the Zhents with more pep in his step than usual. "There you are all~ I've been lookiing all over for you." He said brightly when close enough, addressing the mercenaries as if they were old friends. It could be that they've even done a job together in the distant past, if not knew him by reputation. He could neither recall or knew for certain. Neither did it mattering show on the toothy smile on his skeezy seeming mug.

"How fortunate this is the only tavern in town, least I would've missed you ****ers." He chuckled. "Name's Nirzeg, and my sincerest apologies for interrupting your little soiree here -- BUT, such are the whims of Tymora. Be that as it may, I do have a request regarding young -- *ahem*... a 'former' associate of yours, if you don't mind. Ran off some time ago, as I understand it. And ran off with nary a word to his worrying relatives." Nirzeg spun while absently trying to guess at which name belonged to which merc in the party. "Don't suppose you fine folk can help a mucker like myself regarding this missing associate, would you?" He asked, layering a bit of lesser known slang (outside zhent circles) in hopes of a favorable response. 

Many of the miners are familiar with Tomac, and a few of them off half-hearted greetings. They're obviously tired from a long day in the mines. The half elf tankardtender recognizes Tomac as well, and pours a round of drinks with expert speed. The ale is a bit watered down, but still has a good head of foam.  

The Zhent mercenaries, all humans of Tethyrian ethnicity, seem to recognize Nirzeg by name. "Ain't you the ones that fought those fire giants in Triboar!" one of them says. 

When it comes to their missing associate, Tiberius, they all offer scant information. From their comments, you glean the following: 

• He was a new recruit. 
• He has a wealthy family connection. 
• He kept to himself, didn't even mingle here at the tavern, and seemed like he had no friends, except for the griffons, who he spent all his free time with.
• He snuck off one night without a word or even a note, leaving behind only an empty bed. 

As far as they know, their employer Dasharra Keldabar reported his disappearance and theft to the tribunal, but they don't know anything about what happened afterwards. They haven't seen Tiberius since then. 

// What are the rest of you doing? //

Lydia follows Tomac into the tavern and gets a drink for herself and Swiper if he wants one.

Swiper very gladly takes the offering of a drink and chugs it down faster than ever seen before, promptly slamming the mug down when he's down. "Another!"

As much as Nirzeg wished to trust his fellow Zhent, the gith did not survive this long without having a healthy degree of suspicion for everyone that crossed his path. His own especially given the company motto made them into a sort of family. And if there's any one agent more capable of screwing one's day as easily as it could make it, it was family.

Thus, he took there words with a grain of salt, and carefully prodded their story, looking for any signs of deceit.

Insight: 9.

There was also a sort of bribe/lowering of the guard with one 'free round' of the best stuff the place had to offer. If in the end they had nothing -- a girlfriend in town, a why the theft of their employer's booze, or perhaps odd comment spoken by tiberius -- truly anything else at all, he intended to spend the rest of the evening then spent more casually enjoying the night.

That, and despite a certain conflicting distaste and taste for humans, try his hand at coaxing any one of the female members into a perhaps "warmer" conclusion for the evening.