The Gilded Goat was sitting in one of the special rooms that are set aside for the Under Folk that drank at the Lamb and Flag. He was nursing a glass of white wine that had long since turned warm and undrinkable. Nearby, two dwarves were arguing in hushed tones over a large gemstone that pulsed with a green light on the table in front of them. Each time either of their voices rose above a whisper the stone burned orange and yellow and they both calmed down instantly. From where he was sitting the Gilded Goat could see that the dwarves didn’t own the priceless gem, it owned and controlled them. There were many cursed trinkets doing the rounds. The Gilded Goat had recently been offered a dark ruby. It was the size of a cricket ball, and it could create doors in walls of stone and steel, maki
