Previously: Chapter 09: Rumble at Cragmaw
Fighting the Dragon
Taking flight, Venomfang approaches the party, hoping to take them out with its venomous breath. Flying over and striking a couple of the party members, he does manage to hurt them quite a bit, but not enough to take anyone down. They have grown too strong to be mere pushovers for him. The party on the other hand does everything they can to keep the dragon at bay and not get too close, and luckily for the party, the will of the dragon is weaker than they feared, causing the dragon to be forced away by their repelling spells.
Feeling overconfident, the party spreads out in order to have more control of the battlefield, but Penny makes a fatal mistake, trying to hide near some of the trees on the outskirts of the battlefield. Venomfang gets a window of opportunity where he manages to resist the spells of the party, and sees the lone tiefling trying to hide from him. Leaping down from the skies, the dragon strikes Penny with his claws and bites her, causing her to go unconscious. Bleeding, hurt and outnumbered, Venomfang sees an opportunity to hurt the party, grabs her and tries to fly off.
Suddenly realizing the gravity of the situation, the party starts panicking. Desperate to save their friend who is being carried away by the dragon, they try to attack it, hoping to bring it down before he manages to escape, but the arrows of Granny and Demetrius, and the spells of Kal and Theren don’t take hold. Seeing as the dragon is hurt and carrying Penny, it cannot easily fly as high as it normally can, so it barely flies above the treetops. Thinking quickly, Willowbark tries to make the trees tangle the dragon, to stop its escape. The branches swoop up, trying to grab hold of Venomfang, and it looks bleak at first, before a single vine grabs its foot, which allows the rest of the vines to take hold of the body. Theren finishes it off with a well placed eldritch blast, causing the dragon to drop Penny as it sharply exhales what little breath it had left in its lungs, who falls to the ground, close to death. Kal runs over to heal her, with Granny cradling her in her arms, happy to have her friend survive.
Harvesting the Corpse
As the dragon lies dead on the ground among the trees, Willowbark tries to make yet another small offering to honor the dragon. Gathering some twigs and branches, she crafts a small effigy of a dragon. At least it looks like a dragon. If you twist your head to the side and squint. But it is good enough for the purpose. She places it next to the corpse, and then goes to check on Penny to see how she is doing.
The group has defeated their enemy with no casualties, so the party sits down on the ground to take a breather, calming themselves, before turning their attention towards the dragon's corpse lying peacefully in the grass. Realizing that the body could contain valuable treasures that may come in handy for the journey to come, they decide to harvest the corpse of the dragon, taking the easiest bits first, before moving on to the more dangerous parts. Granny looks over the corpse and determines that they should go for the teeth, scales and perhaps the breath pouch. Taking out the fangs is the easiest, and removing the scales is not difficult, just time-consuming. Theren grabs a tooth for himself. As they turn towards the breath pouch deep within the throat of the dragon, most of the party backs off, with Willowbark attempting the extraction itself, guided by her god, and inspired by Penny playing on her violin from a distance. After spending a few excruciating minutes, and almost cutting open the pouch, she manages to pull out a green dripping sack from the mouth of the dragon. They have successfully harvested the dragon. Kal decides to also take some large steaks from the dragon, having heard rumors that dragon meat is especially good.
Gundren eventually emerges from within the castle, now seeing that the coast is clear, and joins the party. He looks over at the dead dragon, remarking how impressive it looks, even though it has been skinned and de-toothed. He joins the rest of the party as Kal cooks up some food for them, allowing them to rest. While they sit eating they discuss what to do now, with Gundren asking about Sildar. The party tells him that he waits in Phandalin, so Gundren suggests they go there, to which they agree. Finishing up their food, they gather their belongings and head south into the forest to join up with their horses.
The Genie
Over the next few days, the party heads through the forest to return to Phandalin. During the journey, Theren at one point excuses himself from the party to spend some time alone. Demetrius notices this, and stealthily follows him from a distance. Among the trees, he can see that Theren stops, checks around to see if anyone is watching, and when he doesn’t spot Demetrius, he looks down at his ring and closes his eyes. Demetrius can suddenly see that Theren disappears, and his ring hovers in the air for a split second, before dropping to the ground.
Theren finds himself in a spacious luxurious golden room, filled with large fluffy pillows. Hovering in the air as if lying on an invisible bed is a large red skinned elemental. The noble Genie known as Ranesh is waiting for him.
“You finally enter. Welcome. Did you bring what I asked?”
Theren goes through his pockets and produces the tooth that he took from Venomfang, and tosses it to his patron. Ranesh catches it, before sitting up, examining the tooth. “I’ve always wanted one of these, but I think you might get more use from it”. He holds the tooth in his hand, before making it float. It spins, as fire from Ranesh himself flows into it, transforming it into a tooth-shaped amulet, which he carefully floats over to Theren, who accepts the offering. Ranesh says that Theren has proven his worth, and so this might help him in the journey to come.
Pocketing the amulet, Theren turns to his patron, asking if he has had time to examine his traveling companions, and what his thoughts are about them. The patron ponders the question for a moment, before revealing what he thinks. His responses are cryptic, but hints that he knows more about them that he lets on, but Theren is not ready to know everything yet.
The tiefling has more to her than he realizes, and the flute might be more important than she claims. The half-elf shares a lot, yet nothing at all. The tortle seems to be the most genuine in the group, but Ranesh senses a sadness coming from her. The firbolg is peculiar, not wanting to fight, but has the potential to be the most ferocious of them all. To the cleric he says that she is not who she says she is. But Theren is not ready to know yet.
Theren thanks his patron for the guidance, with Ranesh reminding him that this is a mutual relationship. As long as Theren keeps up his part of the bargain, he will continue to provide for Theren, sharing his gifts with him. He snaps his fingers, and suddenly Theren finds himself back in the material plane once more. Demetrius watches this too, and sneaks back to the group before Theren notices that he wasn’t alone.
Return to Phandalin
After a couple days of travel, the party and Gundren finally reach Phandalin, much to the joy of all. Gundren quickly dismounts the horse and runs towards the tavern, with Penny almost following, but Theren tells her that she should leave him be. He probably needs some time to get back to normal, considering what he has been through. They instead head to the stables which are on the way to Phandalin. There they once again meet Tim, with Kal trying to sneakily question him about who he really is, but he just acts very confused about the whole situation, not knowing exactly why Kal is interrogating him. Willowbark casts detect magic, but finds no magic on him. She instead turns to the owner of the stables, who tells Kal that he came to town a couple of months ago and lives in the stables. Realizing she isn’t going to get anything more out of this Tim, she drops the matter, and joins her fellow party members walking into town after paying for boarding the horses.
When the party enters the Stonehill Inn, they see Gundren has already found himself a table and something to drink, so the party joins up with him after getting some rooms and leaving their belongings in them. They talk a bit about everything that has happened, trying to reflect on why the Black Spider is so adamant at getting to Wave Echo Cave and wondering what the Key is supposed to lead to.
Willowbark is very curious about wine after she and Demetrius talked about it when they were on the road, and the fact that he referred to it as the “milk of the gods”. She is very fond of milk, so thinks she should at least try it. Demetrius asks for the finest wine they have, and with Toblen, still being happy that the party defeating the Redbrands, brings out an expensive looking bottle, with his wife Trilena looking at him disapprovingly. Demetrius fills up two glasses, one for him and one for Willowbark, with her managing to down the whole glass in one swig. Despite Willowbark’s height and constitution, she still isn’t used to drinking alcohol, so one glass of strong wine is enough to get her heavily intoxicated.
In her stupor, Willowbark decides she wants to hold a flute performance, and takes the stage, clumsily brings out her flute, and starts playing. Or at least they think she starts playing. It doesn’t sound very good, but it is entertaining, so nobody is complaining, and she gets a few laughs. Penny kindly walks on stage, thanking Willowbark for her performance, leading her back to the table, with Gundren almost choking from laughing so much. Penny takes out her own flute and violin, and starts entertaining the crowd, drawing the rest of the town to the inn, much to the pleasure of the innkeeper.
Demetrius walks over to Trilena, and points out the crowd that has gathered, and the fact that they are the “heroes” of Phanaldin, and successfully convinces her to comp the drinks for the party, despite her husband bringing out a bottle of wine they were saving for their anniversary. In the meantime, Willowbark in her drunken state peppers Granny with compliments, saying she is so happy that she got to know her, as she is such a nice person. To Kal she gives mixed signals, complimenting her beauty, but telling her that she frightens her sometimes because she can be very “scary” and stern when she wants. To Theren she says he is distant and aloof, but quite useful, so a welcome addition all in all.
Sildar, having heard the commotion in the tavern correctly deduces that the party has returned, and when Gundren sees him he jumps from his chair and runs over to greet his friend, bringing him back to the table. He carries with him a chest and a pouch, and hands it to the party. A reward for bringing back Gundren which he has managed to gather together of 500 gp, as well as a reward from the mayor of 200 gp for clearing out the Redbrands. The party gladly takes the reward. Theren suddenly goes upstairs to the rooms, and returns shortly after, carrying they sword they found in Cragmaw Castle. Sildar accepts the sword with shaking hands, and with a trembling voice says a quiet “thank you”. After staring at the sword for a few seconds, he explains that the sword was inherited from his father, and he thought he wouldn’t see it again. He offers to buy the party a round, but as the drinks are already comped, he laughs, and cheerfully tells the party to enjoy their evening, before retiring for the night.
Suddenly there seems to be a green-tinted cow shambling in the middle of the tavern, as Willowbark thinks it is a good idea to wild shape whilst intoxicated. Getting a laugh from the patrons and nervous looks from the owners, she suddenly remembers how she loves sheep and their “floofyness” so she turns herself into a sheep instead. Granny has to intervene, putting on her best impression of a disappointed mom, causing Willowbark to drop the shape.
After the performance, Penny has gotten some longing looks from a few villagers, so she grabs the first guy she finds, taking him upstairs. He emerges embarrassed a few minutes later, with Penny looking rather disappointed, so she grabs a pretty girl instead, and takes her with her, not returning for the rest of the night. Seeing the festivities dying down and the townsfolk returning to their homes, Kal decides to bring Willowbark outside since that’s where she likes to sleep, and casts protection for poison so that she doesn’t have a hangover, before going to bed herself.
Walk of Shame
The next morning, Willowbark remembers everything she did and said the night before, and is uncharacteristically quiet during breakfast, before blurting out that she apologizes for ruining the night, but the rest of the party assures her that it is fine, since it was quite entertaining. Willowbark is happy to hear that, but cannot shake the awkward feeling, but still eats her food. Kal tells Toblen about their encounter with Venomfang, and offers him to buy a cut of the dragon meat, something he gladly does, having always wanted to taste dragon meat. He takes it to the back with Kal, and she cooks up a couple of steaks, one for him to buy, and one for the party to taste. When she comes out, they all have a bite, and they all agree that it is some of the best steaks they have ever tasted, and understands the high price it fetches.
When the party is done eating, they decide to tie up loose ends in town before moving on to further business, and so Kal and Theren go to see Sister Garaelele to relay the information they learned from Agatha about the spellbook. She is happy to have a lead to go on, and so rewards the party with three potions of healing as a thanks for taking the time to seek out the banshee. As they are about to leave however, Garaele asks Kal to speak privately, and reveals that she is a member of a group called The Veiled Protectors. Kal hasn’t heard of them, but she tells Kal that their motto is “Out of darkness, we bring light.” She offers Kal to join the order, as she sees potential in her, but Kal declines, not wanting to be dragged further away from eventually getting to go home. But Garaele manages to at least convince her to think about it, and if she changes her mind, she can go to The Generous Queen Inn in Elvenroth and ask for “Enhana”, then she might get an introduction. Kal thanks Garaele for the offer, and goes to find Theren, but he is nowhere to be seen.
Demetrius is wandering through the sidestreets looking at some cows in the pasture a ways away, before Theren suddenly appears in front of him, walking out of an alley. He tells Demetrius that he suspects that he has seen some things weird about Theren, to which Demetrius confirms, referring to the moment in the woods when Demetrius saw Theren vanish into the ring. Theren explains what is happening, that he has the ability to go into the ring for a while if needed, and is asking Demetrius if he can be trusted with looking after the ring when Theren enters it, considering it is left behind when he does. Demetrius says that it shouldn’t be a problem, and gives a whole spiel about how he can be trusted with this momentous task. Ranesh tells Theren inside his mind that he likes the half-elf.
Willowbark and Penny go to visit Mirna, the widow they rescued from the Redbrands along with her children, as Willowbark wants to return the necklace to her. Penny was hoping to keep it, but Willowbark is adamant. When they reach the farm she is happy to see them again, and asks if they found the necklace she left behind. Willowbark opens her satchel and takes it out, and hands it to Mirna, who is a bit taken aback that they actually delivered it back to her instead of selling it as a reward, but thanks the duo profusely. Penny looks a bit disappointed, but seems to get over it when Mirna thanks her for her help. She tells them that the heirloom reminds her of her late husband as they met in Thundertree, so she will cherish it always. She asks Willowbark if she actually can speak to animals as she has seen her speak to them a couple of times, and Willowbark confirms that she can. Mirna would like to know if her cows are happy, so Willowbark goes to ask them. They tell her that they indeed are very happy, and glad that their owner have returned, as they missed her. Mirna is pleased to hear this, and gives both Willowbark and Penny a hug.
On the way back, the pair have a long discussion about shiny things, like gold, silver and gemstones. Willowbark is having a hard time grasping the concept of money, something Penny can empathize with, but as opposed to Willowbark, Penny is kind of obsessed with shiny things, and takes whatever she can get her hands on, so it hurt to see her return the necklace.
Revealing the Plan
Back at the tavern, as the rest of the party makes their way there, Granny is trying to teach Penny something with some paper and a quill. Looking at it it appears to be numbers and letters. As soon as the rest return they scuttle it away, as the others sit down to wait for Gundren to emerge, which he does shortly after. After a several week delay, he if finally able to tell the party what he hired them for.
Gundren tells the party that he and his brothers came across a map in a dusty library in Khuzunzan, and when they studied it and its origins, they began to theorize that it may be a map of the legendary Wave Echo Cave. Following the description that was written on the margins, they ventured into the wild near the foot of The Iron Hills, and eventually found the general area described on the map, and after searching for a while discovered a ravine that led into the cave itself. Noticing a lot of noises coming from within they theorized that it is infested by the undead, and so Gundren was sent out to look for someone to help clear it out, while his brothers waited near the cave for his return.
The party shares a look, and finds the task to be daunting, but as soon as Gundren proclaims that he will pay the party members a cut of the profits from the cave, they are quickly on board. Gundren asks when they are ready to leave, to which the party responds that they have some unfinished business to first, but it shouldn’t be more than a couple of weeks at most. They want to check out Maplemere to see if anyone there can provide some useful magic items, with Willowbark for some reason wanting to go to the forest near the town. They also have a reward waiting for them in Thundertree. Gundren understands, and tells the party he will be waiting for them in Phandalin for their return, feeling confident by being surrounded by friendly faces, and most of all Sildar.
Heading South
The party wastes no time, and sets out shortly after meeting with Gundren, gathering their horses from the stables and saying hello to Tim, and then heading out on the road. The journey shouldn’t take more than a couple of days on horseback, so they have plenty of time. The main road is much safer than the scenic route, so there shouldn’t be a problem with orcs or hobgoblins looking for them, as guards patrol the path.
After a couple of days, they can see the beginning of the vast forest called the Spiral Woods, that reaches almost all the way to the foot of the iron hills, and nearly all the way south to the Black Strait that separates Rexendell from Krawdoth. Seeing the forest, Willowbark begins to act lethargic, and looks at the forest with a tinge of sadness in her eyes. Theren asks if she is okay, to which she responds that she is fine, she just gets sorrowful seeing her forest again, knowing the troubles reside inside. She tells the party that her people call their home “Faunus' Forest”, and her tribe lives within it. She used to be a part of the tribe, but a great corruption has emerged, and causes her people to grow sick. She set out on the journey to discover what is causing the sickness, and how to stop it.
Theren asks what happened to her god, considering his forest is corrupted. Willowbark doesn’t have an answer, and just looks sorrowful at her home. She tells them that the leader of the tribe, Clementine, died, and they buried her, but she doesn’t think that any of the dead have become undead. The new leader of the tribe, Galen, has a strong connection to the gods, and exiled Willowbark believing that it could help keep the tribe safe. When asked why she didn’t tell the party about this she responds that she didn’t intend to keep it a secret, but nobody asked until now.
As the party is sharing secrets and backstories, Kal looks at Penny for a long time, squinting her eyes. Penny turns to her, asking if she has something on her face, but Kal just looks at her, and asks “Are you Penny from Bows ‘n Roses?”. Demetrius exclaims “I FUCKING KNEW IT!” the moment the words leave her mouth, as he also saw the resemblance. Penny confirms that she indeed is the same Penny. Kal asks where Morgan is, and she tells them that last time she saw Morgan they had just played a gig, and went to sleep, and when she woke up, Morgan was gone, along with her favorite flute. She tried to track him but only got as far as Tempervale before she lost the trail.
The party asks if she saw anyone suspicious that night, and Penny goes on to tell that she did indeed see Morgan speak to a tan, extremely pretty woman, with orange, almost golden eyes, with long golden dreaded hair. Kal recognizes the description as that of some types of aasimar. Penny tells them that Morgan is an aasimar, and he told her that they are all children of the gods, born into mortal bodies. Kal looks unimpressed by this claim.
During the silence that follows, Demetrius reveals that he is from Cantalos, where he did a lot of “acquisitions” of art. Describing himself as a middleman, connecting buyer to seller, and moving “product”. Some of the party members immediately recognize the lack of legality in his line of work, but speak nothing of it.
Making camp for the evening, the party is lucky to have a beautiful starry sky shining down on them. Kal takes out a large tent from her bag, and begins setting it up. Willowbark is confused by this, as they don’t really need cover to sleep, it’s nice to sleep under the stars, but Kal wants a hint of cover at times, and tells Willowbark not to worry, she’s not going to force her to sleep in the tent. The rest of the party lies down in the grassy field, watching the starry skies as they go to sleep, seeing a few shooting stars from time to time.
During the night, taking watch for danger, one of them can see a magnificent looking carriage galloping northwards, followed by four riders in armor. It looks as if they are hurrying to make an appointment, as one usually doesn't travel during the night. During the last shift, Kal sits down with her sword and looks towards the gathering clouds over the forest. She asks out loud if she can go home now, but her god gives a resounding no with a lightning bolt impacting from clear skies to the south.
In the morning, during breakfast, Kal can be seen to have a lot on her mind. Penny asks her what’s wrong, so she asks Penny which gods the aasimar supposedly comes from. Penny replies that she has only been told about Mova, the Goddess of Death, whom Morgan referred to as “mother”. Mova is the one who greets all creatures who pass away, guiding them into the afterlife and helps them pass to their respective domain based on their beliefs. Willowbark is confused by this, and explains that her gods are Mara and Deidamia, who are the spirits of the forest. Deidamia is the spirit of destruction and disaster, rebirth, hope and beginnings, while Mara is the spirit of decay. Faunus governs them all, and he is the forest itself, making the other gods and inhabitants his subjects. They have a lengthy theological discussion about who has the right idea of the gods, but they cannot come to an agreement.
While Kal and Willowbark are having the discussion, Penny goes over to Granny who helps her work more on her letters and numbers, having acquired a blackboard and chalk. It seems to be going… okay, Penny is picking up a few things, but the rest of the party can tell that she is having a hard time. Apparently Penny can’t read or write too well.
As the party continues south and closer to Maplemere, Willowbark can feel the corruption growing closer and closer, and feel more and more uncomfortable by the sensation. She tells the party that she wandered around for a while after being exiled, not really knowing where to go, before realizing that she had to venture out of the woods to find answers. Granny cannot sense the corruption that her friend is speaking of, but she believes her nonetheless.
Maplemere
Reaching their destination, it seems to be a quaint little town, much larger than Phandalin, but not nearly as big as some of the cities the party has seen before. Apart from Willowbark, of course. Seeing a blacksmith on the side of the road heading into town, they decide to stop there to see if they’re willing to buy any of the supplies of the party, and maybe make them some items from the stuff they have gathered. Getting closer they can see that the sign says “Неизвестно”, and the owner of the blacksmith is a bald dwarf who introduces himself as Bamin. He seems to recognize Willowbark, as she has been here before. The party goes over the stuff they have acquired and he is willing to buy a few items, namely the wolf pelts and the ogre hide they have harvested. The party asks if he can make an armor out of the dragon scales they harvested off of Venomfang, but he admits that although he is not a bad blacksmith, working with dragon scales is a little bit beyond his area of expertise, and it would be quite expensive considering the work required. He knows that the right blacksmith would be willing to work with it, or at the very least buy it off the party for a few thousand gold. He mentions that Eberk Strongheart in Khuzunzan could do it, or someone in Elvenroth.
Granny asks him about learning blacksmithing, as she wants to be able to make weapons and armor herself. He tells her that the best and only way to be a decent blacksmith is to go learn from The Forgers of Khuzunzan, the guild from said city who produces elite smiths all around the kingdoms. Most smiths in Rexendell have either been through there, or been mentored by someone who has. She takes a note of it, and thanks for the help.
Demetrius suddenly brings out the fangs of the dragon, and asks if these might be something that he can work with, maybe making them into a dagger. He takes a look at the fangs, and says that he indeed could be able to craft some fine weapons from these, as the magic is already contained in the teeth, he only has to bring them out properly and fine tune the blade. The price he gives for the job is much more than the party is able to afford, but Penny remembers that they picked up a barrel of fine dwarven brandy, and offers him a taste. His eyes almost go into the back of his head as the fine liquid make contact with his taste buds, and he offers to do the job for the brandy, as well as 400 gp for both daggers, with 200gp up front. Demetrius scrounges together 200 gp and gives it to the dwarf. He tells them he should be able to be done within four weeks, but if they’re not back within two months he will be forced to put them up for sale. The party promises to be back.
Next, the party takes out the dragon’s horn, asking if he can do anything with that. Looking it over, he could make a crude pike or spear out of it, but considering the latent magic in the horn, it would be much more suited to make a wand with, and recommends the party at least talk to the woman running The Feylocker just around the corner. Willowbark shudders, describing her as the rudest woman she has ever met, with Bamin agreeing. If the party needs to find a place to rest, he recommends the Stray Lamb Inn as the finer of the two establishments in the town. The party thanks the dwarf for his help, and continues further into town.
The Feylocker
The party reaches the center of the town, with the road turning right, heading west into the mountains far in the distance, or continuing south towards Elvenbridge. They turn the corner, following Willowbark as she has been here before, knowing where the Feylocker is. The building stands out compared to the other facades, being a large display of various items and goods, some magic, some not. Entering the shop, they are greeted by a tall elven woman with gray hair named Aerolla. She seems to recognize Willowbark, and gives her a forced smile. She looks perfect, not meaning she's extremely pretty, but sort of “planned”.
She asks what she can do for the party today, and they bring out some of the items they have procured, specifically the dragon horn, dragon blood and the breath pouch. The dragon blood, after tasting it, could be made into a potion that regains health, and also poison resistance for about an hour, however, this is beyond her level. She recommends Mortar and Spider in Khuzunzan, run by Mardred Torunn if they want to craft it. For the breath pouch, she can think of none better than The Sky’s Eye in Elvenroth, run by artisan Vrendol. She refers to him as a very nice man, looking longingly into nothingness when saying his name. She tells them they simply MUST tell him that she sent them there, as it might very well give them a discount.
Willowbark asks if she can do anything at all with the items they have, with a sort of condescending undertone, but she luckily doesn’t pick up on it. She explains that she has some ability to craft magical items, but she mostly procures items from people wishing to sell, as well as traveling to bigger cities to fill up the stock. The things they have brought her today is far beyond her area of expertise, so she has to disappoint them.
The party decides to look around to see if there is anything of interest. While they do, Granny tells Aerolla that she is looking for an alchemy kit, as she wants to be able to craft potions on the road. She tells her that she indeed has a set available, willing to sell it for 50 gp. Both Granny and Penny try to haggle her down, but she won’t budge.
As Granny is paying, Penny looks around the shop to see if anything tickles her fancy, coming across an ornate looking coffee pot. She picks it up to take a closer look, and can suddenly hear a voice inside her head.
“Yeees, buuuy meeee. Let mee ooooown youuuu…”
Penny lets it go, and looks at Aerolla, concerned, but she simply tells her that it is a sentient coffee pot. The pot is convinced that it owns your soul, but it doesn’t really, but it might as well, because it arguably makes the plane’s best coffee when one boils water in it, and it doesn’t even need coffee beans. The coffee is so delicious, that it can invigorate and rest the party in half the time a normal short rest can. Penny asks if it is cursed, but Aerolla is actually unsure of it. Penny decides she has to have it, and asks Granny to help her count out the coins for it.
Theren, wandering around the store comes across a storage crate filled with spell scrolls of various rarities. He finds one of the alarm spell, and is told that it would be 75 gp. He thinks that is too expensive, so let it pass. Walking by the glass display near the counter however, he can see a dusty old deck of cards. Aerolla, noticing him examining it, asks if he is interested. He asks her what it is, and she responds that it is the fabulous, infamous, fantastical Deck of Many Things. It looks old and decrepit, but considering it has the small cost of 100 gp, he decides to buy it. Looking at the sign behind Aerolla saying “Absolutely NO refunds, ever!” and “All prices are final!”, he begins to suspect he is being scammed. When he walks out of the store to join the rest who are done shopping, he brushes away the dust, and finds it is a Deck of Certain Things instead.
The Stray Lamb Inn
The party figures they have to stay for the night, so they decide to board their horses in the local stables. Happy to not find another Tim, they pay the halfling owner and head over to The Stray Lamb Inn. They can hear lots of commotion from the outside, and as soon as they enter they can see that it is packed full of patrons from near and far, drinking and feasting. One of the barmaidens comes over and tells the party they will have to wait if they want to stay as there are no more seats available. Kal yells over the crowd that she has some exclusive meat for sale, which the proprietor would most likely be interested in.
The barmaiden scuttles over to an elderly bearded man and tells her something, pointing at Kal. He waves her over, and leads her to the kitchen. She tells the party she will be right back, and joins him in the back. The kitchen is quite busy, with orders coming in and going out fast. The owner introduces himself as Percival, and asks what this exclusive meat she is offering is. She takes out some wrapped dragon steaks from her bag, and he looks over it, and goes wide eyed. He makes an offer, but Kal thinks it is far too low. Eventually they agree to a price of 10 gp per pound of dragon meat, so she sells it all to him, promising that he will make his money back and then some. When the deal is done, he tells her to leave, at first seeming quite rude, but Kal realizes it’s a busy night, he probably has a lot to do.
As Kal walks out she can see that the rest of the party has already joined the rest of the villagers in the festivities, with Willowbark and Penny dancing, Granny clapping along from the side, while Theren and Demetrius have joined a couple of locals in drinking. Kal smiles and goes to join the others, thinking it might not be the worst to be away from home, although she still misses it.