Player A says, "I think Fluffy should carefully examine the statute of Galpi for the key (and for other possible secrets). But first he should ask how long she's been in there and get some other info if possible, especially about the lizards. It may be that he can't get the door open, or that he will be surprised soon by enemies, and it will be good for him to know as much as possible."
Walter says, "Who are you by the way? What did you mean by 'lizards?'"
The door replies, "Did you find my dad and get the key yet?"
"I don't know if you were aware...I mean I don't know how to put this...your dad is currently a statue."
"What a nightmare. Okay, I'm 100% sure. I'm 98% sure we can fix this...eventually. Just let me out!"
Walter hopes the key is in Galpi's room. He gingerly pats down the statue. It feels like solid rock, and Walter is not sure what to do if the key was in a pocket. Galpi's walls are decorated with embroidered samplers. Walter checks behind the one that had not fallen, "A stranger may not become a friend, but he will teach you." The key is not behind it. There is a note from the Mayor on the desk: "Order 234. Your snatcher customer is causing unrest. Yes, he's very entertaining with his pirate stories, but he's also been trespassing. I'm sending Cormack to arrest him. You have to let him in this time. I don't care whether you've barred him from the tavern. Yours, Mayor Bisquit." The key is not in the desk. Walter gets down on all fours and check under the bed. Jackpot! Galpi must have thrown it under there as he was reaching for his gun. Walter snatches at the key and just manages to reach it.
Walter unlocks the door to reveal a young girl ready to throw a bottle with an alarming yellow liquid at him. She lowers her arm, "Walter! It is you!" She runs past you.
"Hey!" says Walter. You find her at the kitchen sink drinking water from the tap.
"Okay," she says. "My dad's a statue. Right. Grab anything you can carry. We need to go to your dad's apothecary shop. I'm his apprentice, by the way, so you're practically my brother."
"Word?!" you say, shocked to barely remember the tiny girl who once tied your shoelaces together.
"Yeah," she says. She starts grabbing bottles from her room. There is a small desk here covered in mysterious stains. Herbs are hung in bundles from the shelf edges, and there is a rather...eldery fish on a cutting board beside a mortar and pestle.
"I've got a potion that turns things gold. Just the color, I mean. It doesn't sound great, but it was really complicated, you have no idea. I've got a back-hair remover. I've got a back-hair adder. That one was sort of an accident. I've got a weight-loss potion, but it only makes you like 90% lighter and doesn't change your shape, so not really what the people want in a weight-loss potion."
"What's the one you were gonna throw at me?"
"Leave that one," she says. "You got anything useful? WHO KNOWS what we may find out there?"
"Wait...what happened here."
"Okay, long story. They thought they were looking for me, so they hid me in here, but it turns out they were looking for your dad and wanted me so they could find him. By 'they,' I mean the lizards. I mean, and also my dad. The 'they' who was attacking was lizards. Your mom ran past calling them 'Rakan' or something. 'The Rakan are attacking.' I've never heard of them. They look like lizards. I heard, 'They've turned the mayor to stone,' so maybe they were meeting with the mayor at first or maybe not, but anyway I figured out the stone thing, so I knew, or alternatively, I could have misheard. Um, I also heard some of the lizards come in to search here, and they were all, 'Where is she?' and someone ran in and said, 'Come on, we've found him. The Master awits! We don't need the apprentice any more.' I think your father is not petrified because I heard someone say, 'Let him go.'"
"Are any of them still around? Do we need to be quiet?"
"I haven't heard anybody since you showed up, and you turned out not to be a lizard. On the other hand, I think we may be the only ones not petrified. Come on, I'll take you to your father's shop."
"I only have some basic supplies and a dagger. And I've been to the shop before."
"Oh no. The old one COMPLETELY blew up. He had to move it. He has been anxious lately. He's been researching something, but he didn't say what. In the lab day and night, no rest."
"He wrote me about a jewel. My brother too, apparently."
The tavern is just outside the walled portion of the town. Word takes you straight to the gate. Throw a small window, he can see Adahn the gatekeeper, still sitting in his chair, turned into stone.
To the West is the village wall. To the East is the well you were shoved into. To the South is Northrop Lake. To the North is a stable, and the tavern is on the lake front.
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