Willie gets ready for a scrap, hefting his warhammer, though he'd rather talk if the creature is willing to answer Dougal's question. He waits to see if it will.
Wiglaff suggests the rest of the party fall back slightly, to the north and south ends of the aquarium. If Franklin comes racing out of there with something on his tail, they can pelt it with missiles over his head.
"Happy to be of service!" Wiglaff directs his hirelings to pick up the remaining pouches. "We'll be back in touch if we need to trade magic! Good luck in your endeavours." To the party, after we've left the mages and closed the door: "Let's head back and try the double-doors...
Wiglaff pulls out the wand of cold . He doesn't point it at the Research Collective wizard, but holds it up so that it can be seen, and so that he can point it at the wizard quickly if the guy makes any funny moves. "They tried to use this on us! We took it and we took their lives! We left the...
"Alright, everybody stick together in marching order! And keep quiet as possible. Something biggish and probably dangerous has been through here. Let's go take a look at the supply chest." Willie wants to see how the chest was opened, what was taken, and whether it looks like intelligent ...
Yes, I think we may be done with Fred & Bob. We've got their wands and spellbooks, though they didn't seem to have any real treasure (unless we've missed it somewhere). Let's head back to Research Collective, collect the reward, and then anybody care to dare the double doors east of the aquarium...
Willie's in agreement with Dame S' suggestion. Before they march out he'll give the newer members of the party any tips he can think of on climbing down the steep wall between areas 8 & 17.
Let's check that door (listen, then open). Aside from the double doors in the aquarium it's probably the last room that could belong to Fred & Bob. If it seems to lead off into some other area we can go back and make a deal with the Research Collective.
Willie is worried about the group getting spread out in this big area, so once he's verified to his satisfaction that the mushrooms have been bitten, he attempts to hustle everybody over to the chasm to join Dougal and Douglas . Maybe he catches the tail end of Douglas ' question, but he doesn't sa...