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Dropping your head as not to catch anyone's eye, your thoughts rattle and scramble through your increasingly wearied head as you try to grasp upon the strongest, safest play here. Oh, oh ... okay. Well, the <span class="mu-i">safest</span> move invariably is to do and say nothing; to wait for the proprietor to make his way over here, so you may ask for the Patent and Bill for the stage and team. Or rather, so you may ask if you could speak with him privately, so you could ask for the Patent and Bill for the stage and team. Even if you have already told Sulphreme your purpose here as you were cozening - lying, when you were lying to him - you cannot see any sense in speaking of such matters in front of so many other who-bodies. That said, can you plan on coming back to this room after leaving? Should you plan on it?
No, you - no. No, you shouldn't. Keep things simple, keep things moving. That is to be your personal litany for the rest of the night. So then, if you must be 'moving' - that is to say, doing something productive - you should try again to pump the Taker for as much news as you can about the state of the roads. Obviously, you don't want to come off as too interested - so perhaps it may serve to be a bit ... circumspect. Seeing that the man is set upon his cup, and not in conversation with anyone else around the table, least as far as you can tell, you wait until you have caught his eye then you muster up a rejoinder - a rather witty one, all things considered.
"Well, now that the Rex and Regina Sacrorum are away, what were we talking about again?"
The Taker guffaws heartily at that. He isn't alone in his mirth either - which is a real double edged sword. You are glad that others are laughing along at your joke, but concerned that so many are listening in - or at least hearing - what you are saying. After another few chuckles and a deep sip, the Taker answers your pointed question.
"Ah, the roads. Bands of Highwaymen have hit a number of coaches, all of them no more than a stone's throw away. But you have the local Municipalities calling a 'soft' muster, and the houses have either suspended their routes or taken on Takers for additional security. As it stands, there is nothing else that can be done, not until some of the trash is swept up - alive - by a patrol, or taken in an attempt on a coach."
