A beautiful English bulldog with back ramrod straight and sporting an expensive looking suit steps forward. “Hello adventurers. My name is Tinkerton. Tinkle Tinkerton, although my friends call me Tink. Aww, do not allow the obvious regal bearing to confuse you. I am really quite down to earth and do not mind at all mixing it up with the common folk.” I lean slightly on an ornate staff as I amble over to a shelf and remove one of the scroll maps. Unrolling it without really looking at it, I continue to talk.
“I know you have all heard Mistress Silvane’s offer. I do hope you all take it as I will need help in this venture. Mistress Silvane is a friend of my Great Grandmother, you see. Dibelia Tinkerton. The head of my great family, the Tinkerton’s of Nyanzaru. Not as well known as the Squirrel-merchant princes, but no less important to the well being of the city. Sadly, the great Dibelia has passed. Lost to this terrible cursed disease.” The smallest of tears wells at the corner of my eye. With a flash of gold, the tear slides through the delicate scales that line my sad puppy dog eyes. As you look closer, you see spots of golden scales intermingled with the fur where it is not hidden by clothing.
“When Mistress Silvane reached out to my family for help, I knew instantly it was the right thing to do. Though Mistress Silvane and my Great Gam-Gam Dibelia were known to fight like… well, you know… on occasion, she has always been a true friend of the family. Besides, this curse is bigger than that.”
“Ten generations the Tinkerton’s have made Nyanzaru home. Over 20 years and counting. We are not ready to give up that home. We cannot give up on the Nexus. And I refuse to allow any more of my family to die!” Realizing I have crushed the map in my fist, I quickly re-roll it, place it on the shelf and step away embarrassed. Perhaps no one noticed?…