Behold - The Quest NPC

Behold - The Quest NPC
Date of Scene:	05 June 2013
Location:	Northern Manhattan
Synopsis:	Skoll and Zia discover a mysterious old man, who just may have a lead for them on their quest.
Cast of Characters:	Skoll Ulfang, Zia
Tinyplot:	What Has Been Lost...

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Skoll Ulfang has posed:
Welcome to Manhattan. City of Angels, realm of Gargoyles and humans alike... and now being visited by a werewolf. One might wonder if the people here will ever get used to the strange sorts of people that are showing up these days. And with the Heartless and the threat of Shadow Lords, it's likely that some of them are still a bit wary about strange creatures. This doesn't stop Skoll from walking in those streets. He is wearing one of those Japanese boys' uniform caps, and has acquired himself some new clothing - which are oddly basically the same as what he used to wear. One might wonder where he found them.

He's in contact with Zia through a MaBelle, speaking into it casually. "I just have a nose for these kind of things." He tells her, wandering the streets further and taking a small detour into an alley between two buildings. It's likely that Zia might choose to follow the werewolf from above, on the roofs. After all, the humans don't tend to like Gargoyles much; or so the rumor goes. Something about demons and sticking to canon.

Skoll halts at the end of the alley, coming out at another main street, and raises his head a little - looking up to the skies. It is an evening, with a very faint red in the distance; atmospheric lighting rather than the sun actually threatening to come up. In fact, it only set a little while ago. "Just... not as good of a nose as I used to." That's when he halts, and tilts his head to the side. "This way."

He closes his MaBelle, sticking it into an inner pocket of his jacket and presses the button on a street crossing. It takes a moment, but he gets his chance to get to the other side, and soon disappears into a sidestreet and finds a series of lower houses and a rather fancy one at the center of it all. But upon his entry, a bunch of heartless suddenly flow up from the streets. Shadows and a few Soldiers, nothing he and Zia can't handle.

Zia has posed:
Spending the day in Manhattan had been dangerous enough before the fall of worlds, but after... the humans just seemed that much more suspicious of anything otherworldly. After her investigation at the docks the previous evening, Zia had little choice but to seek out a roost somewhere in the city. Luckily, there were a few safe enough places, and she had friends she could depend on. Having called Skoll to serve as 'watchwolf' during the day, Zia had woken ready to follow whatever leads she could find. That, of course, meant following a certain nose which seemed slightly confused on just where to go.

Above, the white gargoyle glides along, keeping an eye out for the dark form of Skoll moving between the streetlights below. The few ruffians who might have tried something are quick to re-think their life choices at the sight of his tail and ears. After the fall of their world, many Manhattanites developed a new respect for the abilities of these creatures from other worlds. "Yer doin yer part te clean up the city. Nae a mugger in blocks willin te harass a wolf." Zia jokes, the wind blowing past the little headset piece at her cheek. Look, she finally learned how to use a phone properly!

She glides along, swooping a bit lower as he crosses the steet into what definitely looks like a richer neighborhood. With the wolf having hung up the phone, she's about to make for a landing when the Heartless begin appearing from the shadows. Rather than coming down for a nice landing, she instead decides to clobber one of the soldiers by landing right on them, squishing flailing black limbs into the ground. "And ye call me a trouble magnet." Zia notes, watching the Heartless beneath her vanish.

Though she usually prefers to stay long distance from her enemies, Zia has gotten some training lately, and against such low level enemies, it's a good enough time to practice a little. She blocks one, then turns around and blasts another, staying close to Skoll just incase. Then, just as she's about to attack again, there is a sudden blast and one of the Heartless wobbles for a moment in mid-air with a nice hole where it's torso had been. Comedically, it flails, and then vanishes.

The other Heartless stop momentarily, and Zia glances over at Skoll, looking confused. "Tha wasnae me..." She eyes him questioningly, and then another shot rings out. Apparently, there's an old man on the porch of the largest building, firing a shotgun towards the Heartless.

"Get off of my lawn you wretched little beasts!" He shouts, then lets out a whoop as another Heartless goes flying. Zia just ducks her head slightly, trying to avoid being a target, or at least mistaken for one.

"Come on lad, let's get outta here before he tries te shoot us." She tugs at Skoll's jacket.

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
"Well, I do enjoy keeping the streets of Manhattan safe." Skoll answers Zia when the female Gargoyle finally lands behind him onto that Soldier, just as he punches a Heartless in half. He doesn't seem to be using his chains like usual. But perhaps he just thinks these enemies are too easy. "After all, us wolves will /Take a Bite out of Crime/ if people are at risk." He even makes a little rolling growly 'r' sound where possible in that sentence. This is followed up by a quick jump to the side and a spinning kick to the chest of a second soldier, causing it to explode into a small sum of green bubbles.

The youth is about to punch a second when there's that loud noise! The sound of a gun! Skoll immediately turns to face Zia. But no, apparently it wasn't her. So, in a comedic moment, both of them end up looking at the bushy-faced old man on the porch. "Eeech..." Skoll ducks his head down and watches as another Heartless bites the dust. He understands Zia's concern. But... instinct...

Instinct says that an important NPC just got introduced!

"Let's stick around." He offers, quickly throwing a punch at a Heartless Shadow that got too close. "Sir! Please do be careful!" He calls out. "I rather not get hit by that thing!" The werewolf then turns on the Heartless once more, until they have all been routed. It's a quick job, followed by Skoll waving at the man. "Your lawn is free of Heartless now, sir."

Zia has posed:
Ever seen that look that a person gives when someone says something incredibly stupid? You know, the one where they seem to be checking if the person just grew an abnormally strange second head or something? That's the look that Zia gives Skoll when he mentions sticking around while there's a gun-toating yahoo running around. "If Ah get shot, Ah am so goin te come back and haunt yer fuzzy butt." She warns him, ducking underneath another shot from the old man. Really, they aren't coming anywhere close to either the wolf or the gargoyle, but after living in the human world, she's bound to be a bit jumpy around guns.

She, apparently, doesn't have the sense for key NPCs that Skoll has, but she trusts him enough to stick around. When the last of the Heartless are dispatched, she quickly tugs her cloak back up, as if she were feeling suddenly aware of the fact that she's in the middle of a city side-street, very clearly advertising that she isn't quite human.

"Good. Those darned things keep coming in and tearing up my hydrangeas." The old man lets out a huff, leaning the gun on his shoulder. "So, just what are you two doing out here in the middle of the night? Makes an old man think you might be up to something." Obviously, the beareded gentlemen isn't any common old man. If the huge size of his 'house' says anything, he's likely quite rich.

As Skoll starts to address him quite so formally, the old man laughs. "Now look at this, at least someone's still got some manners these days." As he motions them forward, Zia actually hazards to approach, "I'm guessing you two aren't really from around here. Then again, I guess neither am I. Name's Preston. Preston Whitmore."

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
Skoll bows his head a little to the old man. It's not common for a man like this to be capable of standing up to Heartless. But then - he does have a gun. Still. Guns usually don't do much against Heartless. Not unless they shoot lasers. It requires a special kind of person...

"Well, guess you will have to wait with your haunting for another day." Skoll puts a hand on Zia's shoulder, grinning at her with that stupid wolfie grin of his, before approaching the man. "You are correct sir. Though I do believe Chivalry isn't entirely dead yet." He holds a hand out backwards, summoning Zia to his side during his approach. "I am not from around here." He makes a little motion towards his big fluffy ears, until he finally stands at the entrance to his garden.

"Might I come in, sir? I would hazard a guess that a man with a name such as yours - from a different world - might have some incredibly interesting stories to tell to a fellow traveler such as I." Zia might know Skoll to be a wanderer, but perhaps not why he so enjoys wandering. Seeing new things, hearing stories, finding out just how different every place is. "That is, if you would have the both of us?"

Zia has posed:
"Aye. Now how aboot we try te keep it tha way, huh?" She asks, looking first at the old man, and then at Skoll. It's at this point where the girl starts to realize that this isn't your usual run of the mill crazy with a gun. In fact, he seems downright cordial for an old man having found monsters in his yard in the middle of the night. While she lacks his instincts for finding quest NPCs, Zia certainly can play along with it to see just where he's going.

"Ah'm actually from this world, though Ah dinnae know if many would know of us yet." Zia explains, stepping forward to join Skoll at the edge of the garden.

"Is that so?" He seems to look at her a bit more closely then. After a quiet moment, Mr. Whitmore seems to realize he's left them hanging and clears his throat. "Oh, don't be shy, come on in. Just be careful of the roses. Last ones left. Grew 'em myself from some seeds I just happened to have after showing up here. Strange place." The old man has a tendency to ramble, or at least his mind seems to be going in a hundred directions at once.

He sets the gun down, and then holds open the door, motioning them inside. There's a cunning look in his eyes though as Zia passes, watching the way she moves with the cloak. "Well, I'm not sure how much there is to tell. One day, those black things were all over the place, and the next I end up here. Funny, because I know New York, and this doesn't look anything like it. But! Here I am, lock stock and mansion."

Once they get inside, it would become clear that this old man is a collector of 'oddities'. There are artifiacts from all sorts of places that line the walls. Some seem to date back hundreds of years. "Let's go to my office." He's leading the way to an elevator.

Zia, though, hesitates as she looks over some of the photographs and trinkets on the wall. "Ah've heard of some of these." She tells Skoll, looking at him over her shoulder. "This is the expedition tha found those scrolls back 'round the turn of the century." She points at another photograph, "'N Ah've seen this on on the display at the museum of natural history."

"Lass knows her stuff." Whitmore chuckles, and the elevator bings. The mysterious old man invites them in with a wave of his hand.

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
Skoll nods his head. "I'm sorry about your world." It has come to be something that Skoll has found himself saying a lot. In fact, far too many times. Skoll is sure to not step on the roses, and follows the man inside. When inside, he neatly closes the door. "They're called Heartless, from what I understand." Skoll answers the man. "They've been around a while now. Though I believe they are fairly new to this place." And far less common now, thanks to the 'repairs' to Manhattan's World Heart.

It's when Zia starts recognizing some of the Artifacts, that Skoll slows his gait and gives the girl some time to look at them. "An expedition?" He asks, before looking back towards the old man. "Guess she does. She surprises even me sometimes." But hey, this isn't this world. For all he knows, this is common knowledge. He just presumes it is not however. He follows the man into the elevator, while glancing out at the trinkets.

"I don't have much in the way of old trinkets. I am afraid I never collected such things. Short of a few old watches and chains - that is." Skoll points out. "What about you Zia?" He asks the girl. "You had quite some stuff in your boxes up at your place." The youth's eyes then open wide, and he quickly appologizes; "My appologies. I've not introduced myself. Skoll Ulfang. Werewolf." He offers a hand for the man to shake.

Zia has posed:
"But... these happened in /this/ world." The gargoyle blinks, lingering behind a moment as she tries to make sense of what she's seeing. With both Skoll and Whitmore already in the elevator, she has to scramble to catch up, her hood ending up tossed back in the process.

"You see the problem then, young lady." Whitmore laughs to himself as he presses one of the buttons. "I'm not really sure how to explain it, but this world seems to be mine, just a few decades beyond what I last remember." He plucks at his mustache, and then offers a shrug. "Can't explain it, but it's hard to explain much of anything these days. Whole blasted world has gone crazy."

Zia looks over at Skoll then, her tail twitching uncertainly. She isn't about to break out the scroll with the charcoal rubbing from her father's sword just yet.

"Well, nice to meetcha Skoll. Can't say I've ever met a werewolf before. Heard lots of legends, though. You don't see much like anything I've heard of, though." Then, he's eyeing Zia again, making the poor gargoyle a wee bit uncomfortable. "And if I were to guess, I'd say you're a gargoyle, young lady?" The moment she looks surprised, Whitmore just about beams, slapping himself on the knee. "Hah, I knew it! You know there's all sorts of old legends about your kind. I remember seeing a bit in old Thaddus' notes about the Gorlois. Can't say I'm surprised to find that legend's true, too."

Surprise seems to be her resident expression, as Zia just stares at the looney old man. "Wha's... a Gorlois?" She cocks her head, and then realizes that she's probably being a bit rude. "Ah'm Zia."

"Pleasure." The old man chimes in, "From Scotland, I'd guess from the accent. Great place. Had family up that way. Those kilts are just wonderful things, I tell you. The way the air blows between m--"

At this point, the elevator dings and that seems to distract him. "Ahh, here we are."

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
"Yeah, I heard that one a few times while here." Skoll points out, amused with the whole werewolf thing. "This here lass must have thought I turn here all furry if I bit her or something." Skoll points at Zia plesantly, smirking at the girl, before looking back to the old man and his mustache plucking ways. "Hrrm, I've seen similar things now and again. The Heartless make things go funky now and again."

And then the old man goes recalling what Zia is. Skoll doesn't share her surprise, simply because those he hung around with knew multiple Gargoyles. "Thaddus?" Skoll asks instead. "She's from Scotland alright - nice guess. Does the accent really mean that much in this world?" In the World of Ruin, most people seemed to speak very similarly, with mild differences here and there. He'd not recognized a few of the worlds Zia had used in the past though - like as if she were from a different world.

Hey, sometimes you catch onto different things - even after a lot of traveling between worlds. Which by the way, has been seriously hampered due to the lack of Dark Portals. "Sounds like great clothing." He adds on the kilts, before pulling on one side of his pants. "These get awfully restrictive and hot sometimes. Especially in the deserts out there." And out the elevator they go.

Zia has posed:
"Well, that's the problem with legends, my werewolf friend. Not all of them end up being real, but the chase to find the truth is part of the fun." Whitmore chuckles to himself as he steps out of the elevator. Something about the way he says 'chase', hrm. Maybe there are legends about 'Skoll' in this world, too? With the wolf pointing out her earlier mistake, Zia flushes a bit, her mouth opening as if she were about to say something until a cast of blue light falls on her.

This room, like those upstairs, is covered in books and artifacts. However, the most stunning thing is a huge aquarium that spans one entire wall. "How in the world...?" She asks, trailing off, momentarily distracted by the sight.

"Oh, I was just talking about old Thaddus Thatch. Best man I ever met. Passed away a few years back. Spent his whole life searching for Atlantis." Whitmore lets out a whistle, "Now there's a legend. I told the old fool that if he ever found that blasted Shepard's Journal of his, that I'd kiss him full on the mouth." He plucks up a photograph and offers it out to Skoll, showing two men obviously disgusted after said dare. "Imagine how I felt when he found the blasted thing."

Luckily, neither Zia nor Whitmore decide to comment further on less restrictive leg-wear. Instead, the old man walks over and begins to make a cup of tea at an elaborate looking station that looks more like a science project than a kitchen. The white gargoyle, though, just walks along the edge of the tank, watching some of the strangest fish she's ever seen swim around a massive coral reef.

It's when she reaches the far end that something catches her eye. "Skoll." She whispers, and then motions him over. Under a bit of glass, on a pedastil, there is a single bit of writing with the same strange symbols that seem to match the sword. Taking out the bit of paper, Zia sets the two next to each other, and then looks at the wolf. "They're the same..." Glance. "Do ye think he might know wha this is?"

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
"Of course. It's all about the chase." Skoll replies, grinning - not really getting why the guy is chuckling. That's when he looks up at the massive... Aquarium. He's actually a tad surprised himself. For a moment, he equates it to the giant video-walls they had in Tokyo. But no, this is different. This is real. He can hear it - the sound of water and fish. It's very dim, but it is certainly there.

When Whitmore whistles is when he gets his attention again, Skoll's both ears perking up and his Tail subconsciously wagging. Bone? Ah no, just Whitmore still talking about Thaddus. He glances down at the photograph, and stiffles a chuckle behind one of his hands. "Imagine how he must have felt." Skoll adds, "Though if the photograph is any tell, I think you already have that answer." His chuckles continues for a few seconds more while he walks further into the room, and finally comes to a halt behind one of the chairs - following Zia's moving around the room with half of his attention, and the other part aimed at the old man.

"Shepards Journal? Sounds important." He suggests, before hearing his name. She's motioning him over, and so Skoll pushes himself away from the chair and wanders over. "What's this?" Skoll asks even before Zia comments about the piece of paper. He tilts his head all confused like, and then looks back to the man. "He might. Let's ask --. Sir Whitmore, could you tell us a bit about this writing?"

Zia has posed:
The room darkens momentarily, lit by a few gas lamps here and there. The huge fish that blocked out the light is gone again in a moment, and in it's wake, a strange looking eel peeks out from the coral. Most of these seem to be creatures that you wouldn't regularly see, not even in the finest of aquariums around the world. Strange place.

"Ah well, old Thaddus and I went way back. I'm sure he could tolerate a smack on the kisser. I funded his fool expeditions for years. Never thought much would come of it." He laughs again, walking over to a small table while carrying a tray fixed up with tea, coffee, biscuits, and cookies. "He was a good man, though." The old man sighs to himself, but then seems to realize that the two of them have their interest elsewhere.

He peeks up suddenly from beside the case, startling Zia and causing her to take a step backwards, probably bumping into Skoll in the process. "Oh, this old thing?" He glances at the scroll in Zia's hands, and then rubs at his mustache again, seeming thoughtful. "Come have some tea, young lady."

By the time Zia has the chance to turn, he's already back at the table, sitting back and folding his hands. "I see you've come to the right place." The gargoyle glances up at Skoll, but then follows.

"Ye mean, he know wha these writins are?" She asks, offering out the paper to Whitmore.

"Oh yes. You see, that page over there is one of the few original pieces that referred to the Shepard's Journal. Thaddus believed it would lead him to Atlantis. Hmph." He pops a cookie into his mouth and chews, looking at the writing. "Unfortunately, I haven't a clue what it says. Only man I knew that could translate this sort of jibberish went missing with a whole expedition of my best men." He nudges a cup of tea towards Zia then, and offers the plate of cookies to Skoll.

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
That - is one huge fish. It has Skoll distracted for but a moment before his attention is drawn by the old American. "It sounds like he had a powerful dream." Skoll suggests. He looks to the fish for a moment, and then... SUDDENLY WHITMORE! Zia isn't the only one startled, and takes a slightly smaller step back, and reaches his hands out to Zia as she starts coming a bit too close. She ends up with his hands on her sides and with her back against his chest.

"Atlantis you say?" Skoll then pipes up finally. He believes he's heard of the place once. A long time ago someone mentioned it. But who? "Would you happen to know where that Expedition happened to try and find the place? You see - we've got something important related to those papers." Skoll is very direct and honest, and takes a cookie from the plate when it is offered. Within moments, there sounds the crunch of a cookie being defeaten by canine teeth! Crunch crunch crunch!

Take that...

Cookie...

Zia has posed:
Slowly, Zia sits down and wraps her tail next to her legs, taking the nudged cup of tea in the process. "So yer sayin tha this is from Atlantis?" She asks, taking a drink before reaching out to take back the scroll. The whole place has a strange feel to it, like it's torn out of another time and place. You get that same feeling sometimes in the World of Ruin, as if things were held together with ducttape behind the scenes. Could this old man really be saying her ancestors came from some fictional city that was destroyed thousands of years ago?

"It's about as good a guess as any. Milo is the only one who really could make much sense of that gobbledegook." Whitmore aims a hand at the writing, leaning back as he munches on another cookie. "Last I heard, the whole crew disappeared not far from where they thought the entrance to Atlantis would be, but that was before all this nastiness with the Heartless. There was supposed to be some sort of guardian. Giant lobster looking thing." He waves his hand in the air.

That's the point when Zia glances over towards Skoll again, "Tha sounds like the creature we fought down in the ocean. When we were searchin out te find the Manhattan shards." Skoll wasn't there for that particular adventure, but likely he'd heard something of it from the gargoyle over time. "The only passage from there was sealed off, though."

"Ahh, yes. that's the problem isn't it?" Whitmore interjects, "Maybe we can help each other out, then." He sets down his own tea, then folds his hands in his lap. "You see, I want to know what happened to my crew. Some of those people worked with me for years, and their families deserve to know their fate. So, you want to get to Atlantis, and I need someone to find a way there and discover if Milo and the others are alive."

"So, ye know how te get there? Ah mean, ye said tha it's blocked off so..." Puzzled, Zia looks across at the old man, somehow feeling like there might be a catch here she doesn't quite know about.

"The way to Atlantis is supposed to be perilous. The Journal was a sort of map to get you there, but since it went down with Milo and my people, it'll be just that much harder for you." He hrms, thoughtfully, as if considering if these two were up to the task. "You see, there's been rumors that a part of the Serpant's Trench opens up into a cave system with strange writing on the walls. It might just be another way in."

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
"Didn't you once..." Yep. Skoll makes the same connection Zia does from sheer hear-say, and turns his head to look at her just as she glances over. Indeed, she once went at it with a giant lobster looking thing. "Yeah." He looks right on back to the man. "I never looked at the place myself, but she's been there." He points at the Gargoyle. To think that she could have been so very close to the place where...

Well... coincidences are rare and few in between these days, now aren't they?

The youth continues to listen patiently as the man explains things regarding Atlantis, and Skoll takes that moment to lean his hands on the back of the seat Zia has taken, leaning forwards just a slight bit and then looking down at the girl. It seems that things are starting to look up for them. "I know where the Serpent's Trench is." He offers to her. "But it's packed with monsters these days. We'll need more than just the two of us if we want to get through there."

Zia has posed:
While the old man might have seemed like a gun-toating maniac at first, it's becomes clear that this is one of those convenient twists of fate that lead you where you need to be. Either that, or Skoll happens to have quest-markers turned on. Whatever the case, Zia leans back and looks up at the wolf, already trying to figure out who she might be able to recruit on such a crazy mission. "Percival will come, at least. Lad needs te get out 'n do somethin." She suggests. If nothing else, it might get his mind off of Maira for a while.

Then, she looks across to Whitmore. "'N ye want us te keep an eye out for yer friend Milo 'n his crew?" The gargoyle tilts her head, tail flicking.

"Exactly. You'll find everything you need in here." He slips a manila folder across the table, which he just so happened to have on him. This really couldn't be coincidence, could it? The old man seems to have everything already taken care of, even if their arrival hadn't been planned at all. "You find the expedition, you let me know."

"Wha if we dinnae find anythin?" Zia pushes herself up from the chair, her hand resting on Skoll's for a brief moment before she turns her gaze to Whitmore.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Besides, I think you'd go anyways. It's the sort of adventure I wouldn't have passed up if I were a younger man." He folds his hands again, and a white cat jumps into his lap. The old man strokes her the cat's fur.

It's only when Zia decides to leave, giving a nod to Skoll, that he speaks up again before she can, "This isn't just about a lost expedition. Those people were my friends, and I couldn't live with myself if I didn't try to find them." That's when the pale girl nods her head. "Aye. Ah know the feelin." She doesn't look at Skoll, but in that moment, the way it had felt when he vanished returns all too clearly. He's right. She'd go anyways... even if it doesn't lead her to the answers she seeks.

Skoll Ulfang has posed:
"We can put out a public call for adventurers." Skoll answers Zia, looking down at the strange looking girl, before glancing back towards Whitemore. "If we see them, you'll be the first to know, Sir." Skoll promises, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a little piece of paper. "If you have a MaBelle, this is my number." He puts it down on the table. "Just in case. I believe groundlines are connected to the network too now-adays, but I'm not sure." This place does look rather 'exceptional'.

Skoll leans over Zia and takes the Manila folder, opening it and pages through it. "Will do sir." Skoll repeats his promise upon the request to let Whitmore know if they found the expedition. "Is there anything out there you'd like us to keep another look out for as well? Old statues or something? It's the least we can do for a man who has been so forthcoming." Skoll offers, before moving around and sitting down on the chair besides Zia, nodding at the girl.

"I'm going to stick around. Share some stories and the like. I'll meet you up at your house in an hour or two?" He offers. After all, he'd come inside to share stories with this man. And he feels bad for grabbing onto this one element and darting off with it. It's ungentleman-like. He does reach a hand out first however, and then taps a finger twice on his lip. A bold move - for this werewolf!

Zia has posed:
"We may wante keep it a smaller group. If there is some archeological find, we dinnae want a bunch'a mercenries comin around te steal things." It would not due well to find the ruins of Atlantis, only to have them plundered. Then again, what good is it going to do her to find the remains of a lost civilization? The dead don't tell tales, and if they took the secrets of the crystal to the grave with them... then it may really be lost forever.

Her mind lingers on that line of thought for only a minute before she shoves it away, touching the pendant at her neck. The crystal had lasted through generations of her family, and she would see this through to the end. Then again, she ends up with a curious expression towards Skoll when he sits down.

"That's about all I need now young man. I'm sure you two can handle it. Capable adventures. I've met the sort before." In fact, there's photographs of a number of the 'adventurers' that had gone missing in that manilla folder. One even appears to be little more than a girl.

The gargoyle hesitates for a moment, watching the little gesture by the wolf. In the end, it's probably not quite what he wanted, but she does lean in and give him a kiss on the cheek. "Ah'll go see who Ah can round up." It's likely to be a few days before various parties can drag themselves away from current events, but it's quite probable that they'd find more than a few willing parties. "Take care of yerself." Her hand lingers on Skoll's shoulder just a second too long, then she turns to Whitmore.

"We'll do wha we can." She inclines her head then.

"That's all I can ask." He replies with a smile, "You know the way out. Try not to go wandering."