194: Pineapples and Foreign Policy

## Summary

The party sneak into Cliffside in Crumplemeyer's Book Bin. Dew finds a mysterious locked book with gnomish symbols, and Will receives a worrying letter from Vera.

## Synopsis

The party are in the tunnels beneath Morrow's Inlet. Krikrik's map shows the tunnel they're in ultimately leads to the paper mill's Plant B, but also comes up in *Crumplemeyer's Book Bin*. Will messages Batthwack and says *"Don't trust Dew with Raphina"* and tells him to make sure that they're not left alone together.

Will disguises himself as Marko and they climb a ladder into *Crumplemeyer's Book Bin*, toppling a bookshelf in the process. They find themselves in a long narrow room, the dust still hanging in the air, full of bookshelves and piles of books. There's a few low burning lamps in the wall. The hatch was under a rug. They reset the hatch and the bookshelf and Raphina puts all the books back.

Batthwack picks up a book about foraging mushrooms in the coastal regions of Tapperdown. Will picks up a book written in Abyssal, featuring grand, epic illustrations of fighting and people in tombs. Raphina finds another book with an engraved lock on it and a grabby triangle leaf sticking out of it.

Dew recognises the 3 symbols on the engraved lock as gnomish. In particular one of them is the symbol of the Yimble family, to which Pickleswith belonged, the gnome who found him as an infant and adopted him. He thinks the lock might be magical. He also tries "speaking" to the grabby triangle leaf, but gets no response.

They go into the next room, which is larger and similarly stuffed with books, and has a staircase heading up at the other end. Raphina picks up a booked titled *The Perfect Perceptions of the Dwarven Lexicon*. She wants to find a book about pineapples, but her searches turn up nothing.

They go up the stairs, which are also home to more piles of books. Will spies one titled *Theories on the Souls of the Tooth: The Lore of Beasts*. He grabs the next book he sees which is *Splendid Soups: The Cuisine of the Sea*.

Up the stairs they arrive in another room full of books. The front of the store is visible at the other end of this room. Will tells everyone to grab a book so they look like they're customers in the shop. He slings Batthwack the soup book and picks another at random for himself, a play script titled *White Prize*. Everyone else grabs a book.

They make their way up to the store front. There's a very old human woman called Bella at a desk at the front. She says that as payment for Dew's book (and in return for not reporting their breaking and entering the shop) she wants them to bring her a box of chocolate turtles from *Celestial Confections* candy store on the Waterside.

The group make their way out of the Book Bin. The party notice that artificial lighting is produced by fluorescent green lamps. Will spots *Crumplemeyer's Post Station* and he goes in. Dew heads to the wall gate. It costs 5 gold per person and Dew isn't sure he can afford to pay for Mo, so he heads back to the post office.

Will (still in the guise of Marko), instructs the postmaster to send his letter to Tivoli, but the post master hasn't heard of it. Will decides to send it to Bufflin where they should be able to forward it on. Will tells him to address it to "Curtis Pompion" and when asked for sender's name Will says *"Marko"*. The postmaster suddenly says *"Wait a second. What was the surname it's going to? Do you know a "Will Pompion"? I just have a letter for him. It came in today. I was told to expect him."* Will is stunned, and desperately wants the letter, but can't now admit he is Will. *"Batthwack, do you know a Will Pompion? Could you accept a letter for Will Pompion?"* he says leadingly. Batthwack replies slowly *"I am Will Pompion."* The postmaster hands over the letter. Will asks who left the letter and the postmaster says it was left before he got here.

Batthwack opens the letter which is on crisp white paper, the envelope sealed with black wax. At the top of the letter it says *"Will,"* and then taking up the bulk of the page, jagged capital letters almost ripping through the paper read *"HELP"* and at the bottom in the similar script to the top, it says *"Vera"*.

## Trivia

* The episode title is a quote from Abby. The party are in Crumplemeyer's Book Bin and Bella is looking for books about pineapples for Raphina. She leads them to a section of the store where she finds books on pineapple recipes and another on the history of pineapple in food and in cooking. Abby: *"I want one that's about pineapples and foreign policy. Do I see one about that?"* Eric/Bella: *"Well, I mean, there were the Pineapple Wars, but I don't think we have any ... No, we* had *one book about that, but..."*