When their new employer arrived, Hobnob divided his attention between listening to the discussion and working on his blueprint. When Lord Pembrook asked the mercs to join him in the living room, Hobnob was glad Kayden talked him into staying where they were. At the pace the mole lord was going, it would have taken weeks to get there.

Soon after Pembrook started speaking, Hobnob found himself paying more and more attention to what the lord was saying. Hobnob liked peculiar things. Probably because he was a little peculiar himself. Then Lis suggested simply going after the proprietor. "There's a chance Mr Peculiar might not be that desperate for the book" Hobnob said in response "If we did what you suggested, we might end up beating some random collector senseless for no real reason". It was then that Allard asked his questions. "I was just about to ask the same thing" the gnome said "In what way [i]was[/i] this proprietor peculiar?".