Quentin shrugs and asks, "What's the plan? You're the expert on the shady side of things." Looking at Raven. 

"Not sure what you mean..." Raven says, walking straight up to the shaved ice place and banging on it's door again.  "Is he here?" She asks whomever answers the door.

"Is who here?" The window slides up a little, and you can see Tagec's eyes  peeking out.  "Are you looking for work, Raven?  Or looking for trouble.?"  He sighs and closes the window, and a door on the side of the little shack opens.  "You all may as well come inside and stop drawing attention to the place."

Quentin sighs as he says, "I was trying to avoid drawing attention, thought you preferred to be sneakier than that." As he followed them in. 

The Honorable Ms Blackthorne is a respectable landowner now Del kids on the way to the gross gelateria With Sir Elwin's elevation, it seems I am the last of us whose sordid past is still fresh

To Tagec I think what we really need is information. Which I guess counts as trouble. Maybe we could do work in exchange if our goals align? Finding Huark allowed us to rescue missing kids. There are a lot more to liberate; we think some are being put to work mining wood from the Great Pixie Tree and its equivalents.

The shack, built by gnomes, is pretty cramped with all of you inside it. In one corner stands a magical freeze box with a big spool of ice on it, sending a chilly draft through the room.

"Hmmm," says Tagec, eyeing the lot of you.  "You did good work for me before.  And to tell the truth, I could use some help.  They don't let goblins wander around down in the tunnels, and usually I would hire some local street urchins to scurry around and collect information for me. But they all seem to be working for some delivery service, and won't even stop running long enough for me to offer them a better wage. So I can't even get any background on locals who might be willing to work for me."

"All right, tell you what," Tagec says.  "Do me a favor, and I'll share any information I can with you. But I can't promise it's much. There's a gnome named Snitchel Vavoom Bliggins. I loaned her something...a set of eight silver rings, each shaped like a mouse, with a tail that spirals around the finger. She was supposed to return them along with a...rental fee.  She is overdue.  I need someone to go down in the burrows and get them back. In an ideal world, you would also collect that fee or maybe rough her up a bit. But I doubt she has it...everyone's gone broke in this city since I was here last. I will settle for having my property returned.  She works in a casino called the Boozy Badger.  It's in the tourist area, so you ought to be able to fit. Don't let her escape to the residential area, or you'll have to crawl through.  I'm not sure Muscle Boy wouldn't just get stuck in the narrower passages," he adds, looking at Mindartis.

Look, if the information en't much then the job en't worth doin'. Del offers, his slater accent coming out when talking to the goblin We're tryin' to save kids and stop the Arch Witch. We don't need work, gold, or distraction. We need to know about the hag sisterhood, the splinters, the grey elf, the Trees. You gotta know by now we are trustworthy for doin' the job after we hearin' what you got. What you got?

"If I tell you what I know, you have no motivation to get the job done," Tagec says. "We can compromise. I don't know what trees you are talking about, and never heard of the 'splinters.' But I have heard a bit about the Hag Sisterhood lately.  And if you mean Raninon the Grey Elf, I can tell you about him as well.  One before the job, one after. What do you want to hear first?"

As the others seem to have talking with him under control, Raven leans against a wall, as much as she can anyway and waits to see what comes of the conversation.

Del will Message with the others to see if they think getting info is worth the diversion - if we agree I think learning about Raninon first since we only have his name from the letter we pulled off the 3 hags

"The name seems more crucial at the moment," agrees Elwin back along the magical channel.

"Agreed." Raven replies as well.

((No word from Mindartis, but sounds like it's the majority decision.))

Tagec nods. "Raninon is a mercenary. He's known for his personal code: he will never betray his employer while under contract, unless they break the contract first, or until they die...he will not risk his own life for them, except by his own choice, and that's always clearly stated in his contract. Usually he works as a general right-hand man, military leader, sniper, spy or assassin.  Between jobs he does bounty hunting. He is also known by the name Nevermiss, because of his archery skills. I won't bore you with the tall tales of his marksmanship.  Raninon is called the Grey Elf, because he is: grey skin, grey hair, grey eyes. Wears grey clothing.  Even his weapons are grey.  Rumors say that he's half Drow, half Shadar-kai, and was once a Shadowfell thief. Some planar rangers found him trapped in the Ethereal realm, brought him to the Material Plane, and trained him in their arts. After they died, he hired himself out.  He assassinated King Wilbert of Marridon and Ogre Chief Bloork. He organized the goblin resistance for Chief Fluakka against the Shatterbone Orcs. He spent five years training elite troops in the great desert for the Emirate of Snakes. They say he disguised himself and spent three years undercover in the Sorcerer King's castle, gathering information for the Queen of the Night Court. He helped Pirate Queen Saloosh raise an armada of two hundred ships.  And if I'd known he survived the destruction of the fleet, I'd have hired him myself. Trust me on this: you do not want to mess with this guy. He is a master of stealth and an expert manhunter, can disappear into the ethereal if cornered, and can fire from the shadows and vanish into them without a trace. You guys have faced some pretty nasty stuff, but you don't want the Grey Elf on your tails.  Although, if you DO meet him, you could suggest that I am interested in hiring him the next time he is free."

"Now, go get my rings back"

((Sorry, Mindartis hasnt had much to add to the conversation))

Thank you. Del answers the sock boy And we will share whatever info we find out too. It may be valuable to your business interests. But if the ring story turns out to be....more complicated?...we should probably know ahead. We en't yer basic effin' bruisers y'know? We got ethics and kittens.

Then we head to the Boozy Badger Casino I guess

Tagec snorts. "What's complicated?  I loaned a deadbeat some rings and I want 'em back. If you have scruples, you should have brought them up before taking half your payment in advance. Now scram."

Tagec evicts you from the little shack, and you head to the plaza and down the spiral stairs into the Great Burrow of Yonpinagel. the domed ceiling is held up by beautifully carved wooden pillars, and you might describe the main chamber as soaring and airy, if you were the height of a gnome. It's a bit more lively than the surface.. Here, underground, is where most of the residents of the city actually live, and while the tourist industry is still suffering, there are signs that local industries and businesses are toughing out the hard times.  The ring of smith's hammers comes from one of the smaller side burrows, and market stalls with shelves full of souvenirs now seem to deal mainly in mundane wares such as hides, dried mushrooms, gnome clothing, pottery and tools. Restaurants and the Fringle's Hollow Inn seem to be still doing some business. And, of course, urchins are rushing up to the surface carrying packages, and running back to the small burrows to get more, the only people in the area who seem to have any sense of urgency.

To the south, in another oversized burrow, you can see the famous casino district. Fairy lights and glowing mushrooms still illuminate the place, though it's very quiet, and several of the establishments are boarded up.  You occasionally see the odd non-Gnome wander from one casino to the other. The Boozy Badger is at the end of the row, its smooth pink spotted roof shaped like a mushroom cap, topped by the carved figure of a giant badger lying on its back, pouring a bottle of something into its gaping mouth.

Just on the way as we pass by, Del will crouch down and ask some urchins There en't much business otherwise, what's the rush with all y'all and the packages?

Insight 25

They rush by.  They seem afraid to stop.

“Let’s just head to the casino and talk to her. If she doesn’t want to give them up I’m sure we can just bribe Haley for information.” Quentin says with a shrug 

Well there is another suspicious mystery involving kids at work. For later though Del says as we continue into the casino