Zark's eyes flash in anger. "The secrets of Draigdurroth - and the location of his tower - are mine, and mine alone. Your job is just to find a relic to help."

Berna turns to Allena "What was that about some elf boy?" She may be a thief, but the halfling still has a heart.

In a whisper to Berna, "An elf at Moonfire's gathering is trying to get 10,000 gp together to free his nephew held by Zark."

Not liking the idea of kidnapping, Berna asks Zark "What's the story with the elf kid? I'm all for snatching precious stones or expensive works of art, but kids?"

Oboro awaits Zark's reply and wonders how to pry more information from Zark.

"We are involved in all manner of lucrative business." Zark deliberately skirts the topic. "Now, will you retrieve the staff for me?"

Berna decides not to press the issue of the kinapped boy, but she's not going to forget about it. Perhaps they can look into it later. "Fine, what's the deal with the staff? And what is the pay?"

Geron narrows his eyes in a sudden flare of anger at Zark's attempt at manipulating him to kill the others out of greed. It doesn't even occur to him that he wasn't the intended recipient of this slight on his honor. Releasing his anger slowly he turns around and leaves, merely saying. "The air down here is too filthy to continue breathing it."

Oboro accepts Zark's proposition by silently nodding.

Marcus considers for a minute whether he could kill the entire party himself but thinks better of it, figuring that it would be more fun to work with the party to kill people he doesn't know. "This staff, is it guarded?" he asks.

Geron waits for the others outside, once more wondering how he let Ered Sarn convince him to meet in this backwater town.

OOC: To clarify, my post was an in-character way of saying I have no further questions and am good to go, but everyone else please feel free to take your time.

Ered waits for Zark's answer about the guardians of the staff, then is ready to go. It sounded like the best way to help the elf boy is to get in Zark's good graces.

Zark sneers at the barbarian. "How should I know if it's guarded? That is YOUR business. If it is, kill whatever is guarding it and bring me the staff."

With a shrug, Allena turns and hastens after the dwarf, trying to catch him alone. Once outside the hearing range of Zark's minions, she tells him, "I think we should either go after Draigdurroth's Tower and its prophecies, or find this relic and use it as an excuse to get close enough to Zark to kill him."

Geron unfolds his arms and cocks his head at Allena, as if unsure of what he just heard. Then he grins suddenly and pats her hard on the back. "Now THAT is a piece of brimstone I can swallow."

Marcus glares at the dwarf who thinks he can order him around. "You better believe I will," he says. "If I wanted to not kill people right now, I'd still be at that party getting drunk. I'll get you your staff." Marcus walks out of the room after Allena and Geron. Once out of earshot, he mutters to himself "and when I do, I'll cut you a few new orifices and shove it up one of them. I bet you won't sneer at that."

OOC: Is it OK if I start putting Marcus' speech in bold? I think the way it stands out makes the posts look a little better.

Berna will go along with the group to find the staff but is still troubled about the situation with the elf boy. When they have left Zark's base she asks the others "Can we get the staff and find out what the situation with the kid? I really don't like the idea working for someone who'd mess with kids for proft. I mean, I like profit and all, but you got to draw the line somewhere." An idea occurs to her "Maybe we can talk to Lady Moonfire in private to get more information, or a least not when she's hosting a party. I liked her."

"Hmmphff! Lady Moonfire. Lady of Shadows. What if they're the same person. Let's go get this staff and then worry about boys." comments Geron suspiciously.

Her teeth rattled by the dwarf's hard pat, Allena chews her lower lip while waiting for the others to arrive. Just what was she getting herself into? Debating with a thug, and now contemplating subterfuge to murder him.

"That would be a concern. Moonfire didn't strike me as that brand of evil, but one never knows for certain. Perhaps I could make a social call with someone at the party, and see what had everyone so on edge."

OOC: I'd like to float the idea of screwing Zark by trying to locate Draigdurroth's Tower before he does.

Oboro realizes that the missing boy ought to be the priority. As to hide their discussion from Zark, she whispers "I agree with Berna, let's find the missing boy and retrieve the staff, but we'll probably get caught..."