Shipwrecked in Saltmarsh

((Is this about breaking out the wizard?  My appointment calendar seems to have gotten all bungled up!))

((No, I seriously don't know why we are here!   This guy is going to fix Molo's foot if we can recover the two dead bodies that Oceanus is now looking for.  We can also salvage the silver rod and keep that.  But I'm not really sure why we came here - other than we were looking for Molo...?))

"Errrr, perhaps we should come back at a better time?" Dain offers.  "Considering yer ... predicament and all?"

Kelnan, given an intriguing question, has been thinking rather obsessively about Dain's request.

Arcana: 24

"I have some ideas. I managed to lay a spell into a bust of the dean to blow hot air and warm my drafty office once. I thought it quite appropriate and imagine the principles would be similar. Not an easy task though." He chuckles to himself.

(Kelnan has a pretty good idea of how to enchant a maul. It will require at least a third of a dram of torpid brown ichor, which is not easy to obtain. He'd need a demon's eye, a harpy's tongue, or the lock of vampire's hair. He doubts the local green market would carry such items.)

"Byron isn't in yet," says Brinehanded, glancing at Molo as he scrubs one armpit. "He oughta have yer boot tonight. But them sailors on Sinker, they're still feedin' the jellyfish. The Temple would be much obliged if you were to fetch 'em. Looks like good weather for a bracing swim. Ye' need a boat? We can lend you a skiff." 

He starts in on the other armpit. "Did I ever tell you about the skiff made of granite I once rowed?" 

"A skiff be sounding good," Dain replies.  "Where can we be getting one from?"

"You want a granite skiff? I'm 'fraid I'm all out!" Brinehanded pauses ham-handedly for reaction. "I do have a reg'lar wooden skiff, though. You're welcome t' borrow it, if ye' bring it back in one piece. To fetch the poor folks in the Sinker, of course. My assistant can wheel it down for you, if you're ready."

"Anybody want a bath when I'm through? Bathwater quite fresh! You're too young to remember the Year-Without-a-Summer. Harbor was frozen solid for a full year. I didn't bathe for 22 months then. These days I can bathe twice a month, all winter long!"

Molo tests the bath water with a hand.

It's cool, but relatively clean-looking. Just a slight grey tinge, and with only a few bits of unidentified matter floating about. He has a very small toy wooden ship floating within.

"Byron! Byron! Robe!" he shouts. Then he stands, dripping, looking around for one of his acolytes.

"We are nae ready to take advantage of yer boat just yet," Dain replies, keeping his eyes firmly on the man's face.  "Could we meet yer men down at the waterline after luncheon?  Where should we go?"

Brinehanded shakes himself off like a wet dog. "You hungry? Need food? I can have the boat down at our dock in an hour. How's that? Byron!"

Somebody who is definitely not Byron comes in to hand him a robe. "You can't have the little boat," he tells Molo quietly without a hint of humor, as he scoops up his toy from the tub.

The young acolyte who's not Byron quietly explains to Dain where their dock is - a small wharf they share next to the Carpenter's Guildhall at the bottom of the hill. The boat is a little small, but it should suit them for such a short row - just a few hundred yards. He can ready the boat in ninety minutes, he says.

"Tea! Who wants tea?" booms Brinehanded.

Kelnan

Normally one for tea, Kelnan has long since vacated the room. He ponders where he might dig up the requisite maul ingredients, dearly missing the twin witches in the herbology department that seemed to have a line on any such exotics that weren't already in their extensive library.

Molo eyeballs the toy boat, but let’s it go as he dangles his hands through the bath water. 

“Time for a bath before lunch or are we heading straight there?”

“I think we should go. It’s a long walk and I want to drop into the forge on the way quickly”

Dain bows to the High Priest and heads out.  He’s heading down to the Dwarven Anvil. 

Molo shakes the water off his fingers and follows after Dain, whistling to himself.

Declining the offer for tea and a bath, the party bids Brinehanded goodbye, leaves the shrine, and heads back down the hill toward the other end of town. Upon departing, the acolyte confirms the plan to prepare a boat for you in about ninety minutes. (Let me know if you gave him other plans or requests.)

Molo eyes the fishmonger's outhouse warily as they pass within eyeshot. It seems unoccupied from afar - all is quiet, at least on this side of the fish rendering plant. He can see figures on the other side, along the harbor. Rumbling noises can be heard inside the plant.

They pause at the Dwarven Anvil, where Dain wanted to run an errand. Within, Mafera and Jasker are extremely busy with their long list of orders. As the only commercial blacksmith in town of any note, they do a lot of business here.

"Dain!" cries Mafera, looking up only briefly from her work. "I have a list for you! Come back tonight!"

Outside, a cross-eyed peddler tries to interest Kelnan in some withered-looking fruit in a basket. "Tollines!" he cries. "Good for hair-growth and teeth-cleaning!"

     Fianna is not trusting anyone outside her own party.  She is starting to think the old guy throwing shade from a distance was just a random basic jerk but Molo was attacked so she is still wary.  As such she is staying prepared for anything and keeping an eye one everyone and on every alley and such.  Otherwise she just tags along with the rest of the party, letting them lead the way and set the agenda.

Molo eyes the tollines interestedly, but tries to keep moving.

"Did anyone else notice there always be strange loud noises coming from that there place which is supposed to be a fish warehouse?" asks Dain as they wander through town. "Strikes me as suspicious.  But then again, everything about this city be ... unusual.  Maybe worth looking into at some stage?"  As if we don't have enough on the list already.

When they reach the forge, Dain will take Mafera aside for a very brief chat, insisting that it won't take long and he knows she is busy, if she objects.  Once he has her private attention Dain will ask her, "Do you own this forge, Mafera?  And if not you, who does?  And would you, or the owner, be considering selling it to me, per'aps?"