Sorry for the delay, between the holiday and illness I've been a little occupied. Well enough of my excuses here is the next part! Enjoy!
The mage looked at the dwarf and realized that he would not be able to win this argument. He resigned himself to going along with the dwarf. “Fine. We’ll go to SI:7 first and after that’s over with, I’ll be going about my business,” the mage told the dwarf. “I’m sure that they are more experienced in matters involving finding assassins.”
“Aye, they should be,” Oslis responded.
“Since we can’t very well barge into SI:7 and demand someone talk to us about what happened, we’ll have to visit someone who can get us an audience with the right people,” the mage informed the dwarf. “Can your wolf behave itself inside the city? If not you’ll probably have to find somewhere to stash it while we deal with this situation.”
“He can handle himsel’ just fine around people as long as they don’t get too close,” Oslis responded. “If anything happens, there are some o’ ma people in the Dwarven district of town that can take care o’ him until we’re done here.”
The pair rode their mounts into the city as it was starting to wake up. Vendors were starting to open their shops preparing to display their wares for all to see. The two moved quickly. The mage stopped them in front of what appeared to be a cheese shop.
“This is where we’re going?” the dwarf asked. “A cheese shop? We need tae find out why Plazlo died, not waste time on breakfast!”
“Calm yourself dwarf!” The mage replied. “Dismount and follow me inside. Or you can stay out here and watch our mounts, it doesn’t matter to me. The faster I can deal with this problem, the sooner I can go back to my business.”
“Fine fine I’ll go into the cheese shop with ye but if ye’re wasting oor time, I’m going to be very angry,” the dwarf said as he turned to this wolf. “Bad Wolf, Ah’ve tied up our horses here, ye watch out for thum and make sure that no one tries to steal thum. If there’s any trouble, ye come get me.”
The wolf looked at the dwarf, growled, and promptly laid down by the mounts. The dwarf and mage proceeded to walk into the shop.
“Whatever happens, do not say anything. Let me handle this.” The mage told the dwarf.
“As long as ye don’t waste any more time,” the dwarf responded. “I’ll trust ye for now anyway.”
“Hello and welcome to Trias’ Cheese. You’re our first customer of the day. How can we help you?” a young man standing behind the counter asked.
“We’re here to see Elling,” the mage informed the young man.
“He isn’t available at the moment, is there anything I can help you with?” the youth answered.
The mage looked at the youth and said loudly “Find Elling and tell him Jedem is here! You better do it NOW!”
From a room in the back a voice yelled out “Now then what’s all this commotion about? Are we going to have to call the guards?”
An older man walked into the shop and looked at the dwarf and mage. “Well, well if it isn’t Jedem. And here I thought you’d have perished by now with all the adventures you’ve been off having,” the man said.
“I might just perish in your store if you keep me waiting any longer, Elling,” Jedem responded.
“Well we wouldn’t want to waste any of your precious time now would we? What do you want?” Elling asked. “And hurry up with your explanation. I have a shop to maintain and products to sell.”
“This is sensitive business that shouldn’t be discussed in such a public place. Let’s go somewhere more private,” Jedem said.
“Is it now?” Elling asked. “Let’s go upstairs to my office and if you’re wasting my time, you will regret it. Ben, watch the store until Elaine comes back from her errands. If you need anything you shout for me.”
“Yes sir,” Ben said as he watched the three walk up the stairs into the office.
Once all three were through the doorway into the office, Elling closed the door, turned to Jedem, and smiled. “It’s been so long since we’ve heard from you. We really did think you were dead,” Elling said.
“I’ve unfortunately been so busy with everything going on that I never had a moment to send word,” Jedem said with a smile on his face as well he hugged Elling.
“Whit’s going on?” Oslis asked the other two. “One minute ye two are about to throw down and fight and the next ye’re best of friends.”
“Ha ha ha. I like your friend here, Jedem,” Elling said.
“Traveling companion would be a better description. I just met him last night,” Jedem said. “Elling Trias, allow me to introduce Oslis of Ironforge.”
“Hello good dwarf. I am sorry for the deception but it was necessary to keep up the appearance Jedem is not on, well let's say, friendly terms with most citizens of Stormwind,” Elling explained. “As you can see, that is far from the truth.”
“I think I understand but I have no idea why,” the dwarf answered confused.
“Trust me when I say that it’s for the best this way,” Elling said. “Now then what can I help you with?”
Jedem explained the bizarre circumstances that brought the two to see Elling. When he finished he said, “And now you can see why we need to talk to someone in SI:7 about this dagger.”
“I see,” Elling responded as he processed all the information given to him. “I should be able to arrange someone to meet with you about it. Can I see the dagger?”
“Sure you can,” Jedem said. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the dagger wrapped in cloth. “Just be careful with it, its sharper then it looks. For all we know it could be lined with poison.”
“I know how to handle a knife without slicing myself open,” Elling said as he looked at Jedem. He took the dagger and looked it over carefully. “You’re definitely right about it not being just an ordinary dagger. The hilt on it looks weathered and old but the blade itself appears to have been forged recently. There are no nicks or dings on the edge of the blade and you can’t even see any scratches either. Whoever made this probably expected it to last a long time. You say the dagger was left behind when the attackers fled?
“It was left behind in the poor gnome’s chest. I guess whoever killed him didn’t expect our dwarf friend here to put up quite a fight. When I led the guard back inside they probable expected us to rush them and made their exit quickly,” Jedem answered.
Elling handed the dagger back to Jedem “Something isn’t adding up here. You two definitely need to see someone who can investigate this mystery further. I’ll send word to SI:7 that you’re heading there but I don’t know that they’ll be able to have someone see you quickly. If I were you, I would pass by the inn and have something to eat and before heading over to their headquarters.”
“I have other business to attend to while I’m here. I don’t have hours to wait for someone to see me,” Jedem protested.
“It’s either wait a few hours or try and see if they’ll talk to you on your own. Once they get word from me, they’ll know that you aren’t going to waste their time. I have some clout there but even that can’t get you in to see anyone that fast. It’s your choice,” Elling said.
As much as I'd like to see Plaz's killer brought to justice quickly, I think I'm going to vote for waiting.
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