#1 Looking for Mathilda
Zee revealed her plan quickly and plainly enough, which ain’t entirely out of character for her. There appears to be a level of trust that she has for this pentad, so I reckon I’ll keep watching ‘em from the shadows. Look, I don’t mean no harm against ‘em, but a job is a job is a job, y’know?
Zee’s plan is as has been suspected. She has heard about the Avos Fal industry up north and she does not want it to be brought to completion. (Gonna have to look into who her sources are.) That being said, she also knows that she ain’t got neither the power nor the resources the pull any kind of operation that would pit her against the full might of the Fallists. She reckons, I imagine, that this five would be able to gather the resources needed. A wild idea, but I’ve seen wilder.
Speaking of wilder, after talking to Zee and realizing that the it’s high time they found a place to spend the night, Bill approaches an elder woman whose name I’ve gathered is Glaad. Now Ms. Glaad, a widow from what I hear, is asked kindly by Bill to provide lodging for him and his companions. Originally, Ms. Glaad wants Bill to play at her daughter’s wedding, but when Bill refuses and rather effectively persuades the ol’ widow, Ms. Glaad nevertheless offers the group a room and well the barn, seeing that her house ain’t so large as to accommodate each one of them. Grimiss decides to spend the night in the wilds, having difficulties hunting down dinner and breakfast. Meanwhile, the Judge and Sam spend the night at the barn. Some… questionable things involving a bull being mistaken for a cow take place, but… That ain’t my business.
It also turns out that the Judge painted Ms. Glaad’s chicken coop a while back in ‘47. Fancy how that turned out.
Inside the house, which is grandiose for Pride’s End, but rather run down for anyone who’s seen the Capital, Bill and Lissal have to share a bunkbed. The Prince doesn’t like it, but Bill convinces him to take the bottom bunker.
Next morning, they all wake up to the beautiful smell of breakfast wafting in from Ms. Glaad’s kitchen, who has prepared for them a veritable spread. (Grimiss still ain’t here at this time.) There is waffles, French Dinner tea, and even a plimpkin for Lissal.
Ms. Glaad explains to Lissal that her late husband used to trade with the dragonkin tribes back in the day and would bring these fruits back home. She is trying to please everyone, as far as I can tell.
This all rubs Lissal the wrong way who decides to figure out what the ol’ widow’s true motives might be. Turns out, her daughter, the one who was set to marry in five days, has been kidnapped by the Vanderbilt Gang. She offers to pay the pentad 100 gold if they bring Mathilda, her daughter, back home safe and sound.
The pentad start their search off back at Ol’ Stinky’s, who turns out has heard of these Vanderbilts, but does not think they are anything special or even scary. During the rather friendly conversation between the Judge and Ol’ Stinky, Grimiss gets real riled up about something and tries to scare the saloon owner into submission. (The lizardfolk must’ve been real hungry.) The tension doesn’t rise too much as Ol’ Stinky reveals that he has heard that the Vanderbilts operate out of an abandoned grain factory once owned and operated by the McIntoshes. With that information, the pentad set out for the half-day ride to the factory.
Their travel is mostly uneventful. First, they run into a wallet that someone has dropped. Inside the wallet is 20 gold and an old photograph of a teenaged girl, wearing a wide-rimmed hat, a leather vest, and a plaid shirt. She is also holding a six-shooter towards the camera. Behind the photograph is simply a date, May 14. The photo is 5-6 years old.
Then, they run into an illegal gold panning operation that is heavily armed and guarded. They leave this place be for now, but mark it down to return later.
They reach the factory a few hours after sundown. The factory is consists of three buildings. The main pavilion where the grain used to be processed, the smaller pavilion where it would be packed, and the silo where it would be stored before being processed. Bill sees light coming out of the small pavilion, so, vanguarded by Lissal and Grimiss, the pentad make their way to the main pavilion. There, Bill notices a wire trap set across the door.
Four out of five of the group successfully walks over the wire, but one of them can’t control his goddamn tail now can he? With that an alarm starts to blare.