"I do believe that you are being fairly compensated already, Ms. Moonsilver. Though if you all perform well beyond expectations, perhaps some small bonus could be aranged at the end of our dealings. That shall be decided in times to come though, not promised in the here and now."
"Sadly, there was no apprentice to question or use in order to bypass the wards. And paying for a stranger to perform such magic is more cost prohibitive than hiring all of you."
"Ah yes, we can take care of that little legality if it worries you, my dear." Lucias says as he takes back the scrol with the address upon it and begins writing on its back side with a quill which Thaddeus quickly produces... 'I, Lucias Darque, do hereby give permission for the bearers of this scroll to perform for me a paid service which entails entering and clearing of dangers within the property I am inheriting. They shall not be held liable for tresspassing upon those grounds at the address on the reverse side of this parchment.' "There you are, all nice and tidy."
"His familiar? Truthfully I have no inkling. It is not described in the will, but it's name is appearantly 'Vermanir Necrotuz'.As for the guardians within, I cannot venture to guess what he may have procurred for use as such. You may destroy any that you must as they would likely not retain loyalty to myself anyway. It shall be easier and better for me to later hire more normal and cost effective guards once I have taken possession of the manor. From what I saw upon my only visit to the outside of the house, there were no patrols or guardians outside of the house itself. I was able to walk up to the front door itself...but I could not gain entrance..."
[sblock=Eleria]-You sense that there is something more to his story that he has not yet divulged. You are certain that he seemed right on the edge of saying more there at the end.
-Your bluff is well played, and he truly believes that you are showing hesitation due to the possible difficulty of the assignment, but he made his tightwad (a new prestige class, I'm sure) check vs. spending more money and resisted giving you more payment than what he has already promised.
-Your Bardic knowledge reveals little. They are naught but a minor family of minor semi-nobility who appearently enjoy acting haughty and snobbish, except perhaps for the 'black sheep' of the family, Allahastor Darque.[/sblock]
[sblock=Abdul]You recognize that the name 'Vermanir Necrotuz' in Draconic translates to 'Rat-Killer'. Your arcane knowledge does help you recognize the name of Allahastor Darque, though there was little gossip about him-which had led you to deduce that he kept mostly to himself and was retired for the most part. He did not have the reputation of an evil-doer, but you do remember him being referenced in some book dealing with magical locations, though the reference was vague and seemingly of no help in the current situation.[/sblock]