Brynn raises an eyebrow at her easily influenced young companion, and at Vors suddenly spouting dogma.
"An eternal party and a bunch of one-night stands is your idea of a perfect afterlife?" Brynn remarks with a smirk. "Wow. Way to set the bar low. You two enjoy that."
She takes another sip of her drink, and raises a hand to call over Talia. "Can I get something to eat, Talia, dear? I'm famished! And I think my companions here need something else to go along with the liquid dinner."
Turning to look at Grilnik. "Are you up for some shopping tomorrow? I know you love the clink of gold. We've got rewards to collect, and some gear to sell."
"An eternal party and a bunch of one-night stands is your idea of a perfect afterlife?" Brynn remarks with a smirk. "Wow. Way to set the bar low. You two enjoy that."
Vors leans down to Bethany and whispers "Better than sitting on a cloud and playing a harp with a longbow up my arse." Both human and half-orc clink cups together in comradery.
"Sounds like a good reward for protecting a town like this with a smile on our faces. Wait!!!! Maybe that is why I always start laughing so much when I get angry! Vs! Voss.... Vors!! Could that be it? My brother always said I was touch by god! Of course when he said it it sounded pretty mean."
Grilnik shakes his head at Vors and Bethany, before leaning towards Brynn.
"Yes, I'd love to go shopping. I can't wait to trade that evil cleric's armor for some coin. What do you think of the magical treasures we found by the spider, worth keeping?"
As if to punctuate his question, Grilnik takes a gulp of beer.
He quickly adds "Oh, and thanks for remembering to ask for food. Hopefully these two will eat something before they're too drunk."
If you end up telling the bar any of the tales of your adventure through the caves, you are followed with quite a few listeners. It is already rather late, and mid week, so there are not too many people in the bar, but the people who are are listening with open ears, curious as to the adventures they only read about.
Food is served for your. Along with a few drinks. Though the first one was free the total at the end of the night for some basic food and your helping of drink comes to about 2gp 4sp. Not too bad, after what you where able to get from your adventure.
The night goes on, the few of you enjoy your drinks and stories. The bar closes down, but you are able to stick around for a bit before going upstairs to your rooms.
Sleep follows you nicely. You earned it. In the morning you feel rejuvenated and in some cases a few minor changes have come. Small and subtle but it really makes you think that doing this adventuring thing might be a fun experience.
What to do this morning? There is a really nice reward waiting for you at the Baronness' house, for removing the Kobold mess. Then maybe a bit of shopping?
Bethany certinally will start to tell tales after a few drinks get into her. If there is any encouragement she gets into telling of the valiant trials of her friends. She says little about her parts as when raging her memory is fuzzy.
Bethany comes down from the room in pretty good spirits wearing her new, impromptu, holy symbol. Not knowing where it came form does not bother her in the slightest.
"What a night! So what do we do today?"
Brynn leans over to Grilnik and replies, "Do you think the temple of Abadar or Shelyn will be more inclined to purchase that absurdly difficult to cast scroll? It should fetch us around seven hundred and fifty gold, by my count--and that's not even counting the scroll case! But, with an object that valuable I'd like to really get our money's worth for it..."
With a laugh at Grilnik's remarks about food, Brynn looks at Bethany and Vors, then shakes her head. She tells Grilnik. "Poor girl chose such a bad role model. Vors will have her drunk and sleeping her way through town in no time. Do you think they have a good midwife in this town? I-- Oh, dear... How OLD is Bethany? Do you think she even knows what she's doing?"
Suddenly Brynn seems to like this conversation far less...
Leaning across the table, Brynn asks, "Bethany dear? How old are you? Can I assume you know about the... repercussions of a night of... wanton carousing?"
---
Later that evening, after dinner, Brynn tells some stories to the patrons, about their heroic exploits.
She's quite surprised to see that Bethany tries her hand at telling tales tonight, as well. Must be the liquor.
---
Brynn comes downstairs early looking polished and poised. Her clothes and hair are clean, and she's well-groomed. She sits at a table that catches the morning sunlight and pulls out her books, ink and ink pen. She orders a tea and a muffin for breakfast, with slices of apple on the side, then sits down to eat in silence, and study her magical tomes. When she's wrapping up Bethany comes bounding downstairs, and Brynn makes room for her, packing up her spell books into her backpack.
"Good morning, Bethany. You're looking better than I expected you to. That's quite the... necklace you've acquired."
It's huge! And tacky! Did no one teach this girl how to accessorize?
With a smile, Brynn continues, "Well, we need to pay a visit to the Baroness to receive our payment for removing the kobold infestation. Perhaps she may even have more work to offer us. We also need to stop by the Abrassus Ranch. The wolves were harassing their sheep and there was a reward offered for killing the creatures."
She takes a sip of tea and glances out the window. Then she looks back at Bethany. "Once we get our payments, we have quite a bit of goods to sell. Grilnik and I will be handling the sales. Would you like to come with us? Or have you and Vors planned some further drunken celebrations?"
After a moment she tilts her head in thought. "Did we ever find those herbs of Anagrit's?"
Night before "I.. well I am eighteen so I know what there is to know. My brother got some girl in trouble... I think it was my brother... yes it was. I know ALLL about it."
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
I feel like I should be more hung over then I am. Curious, best not to think to hard on it though.
When Brynn brings up her holy symbol.
"It's not a neckles its a holy symbol and I have no idea where it came form. Must be my reward for a night of prayer."
"No celebration today, no. I will come with. I want to save up to get my Big Brother magicked up a bit at some point."
Brynn sighs in relief. "Oh, thank goodness! I thought Grilnik here was going to have to make you pay a visit to the herbalist." Brynn jokes with a wink at Bethany.
---
"That's lovely, dear!"Brynn exclaims at the rather ostentatious holy symbol. "Well, we'll enjoy your company at the shops."
"Oh! Now that I think about it, we already got paid for the wolves. Forget I mentioned it."
"It's easy to forget when we spent the gold right away on this."
Grilnik presents the wand from his pouch and then stores it again with a sigh.
"At least it helped us out when we were in need."
Grilnik looks to Bethany's new tankard-on-a-chain with concern.
That tankard looks awfully fancy... could it be related to that talk of Cayden Cailean?
Grilnik then suddenly becomes excited.
"Oh, and last night Kurgess sent me a vision! He must be pleased with our work here in town. I have few new tricks to try out, but one of them requires a platinum ring for both myself and the one I give Kurgess's blessing...
It's no temple of Torag's, but do you suppose we can forge rings at the Temple of Abadar? Or should we visit Big Bull first?"
"Platinum rings? Is Kurgess telling you to get engaged, Grilnik?" Brynn jokes. "We might as well visit Big Bull first. We have some equipment we can try to sell him."
Vors makes it downstairs in the morning and meets with the others. Upon seeing the empty mug around Bethnay's neck, a brief image of Cayden Cailean becomes superimposed over the barbarian with the Drunken God tipping his mug at Vors through Bethany. Instinctively the half-orc knew: Bethnay was one of Cayden's. Which gave Vors pause.
Two spontaneous conversions in a small out of the way town?! Cayden, what's going on here?!
Vision clearing, Vors walks over to Bethnay and gives her a small hug and a big pat on the back.
"Welcome to 'god-squad', Bethany! Cayden sends his regards."
Bethany is suprised by the hug but certinally not bothered by it. She smiles at Vors.
"Not sure what is going on really but I feel closer to Cayden that is for sure. Oh. Where going shopping!"
"Yes, we're going shopping. Let's see if Big Bull can help us with those rings first. It's just around the corner and on the way to the mansion. We should report in and collect our reward after, shouldn't we?"
Grilnik grins at the thought of obtaining the dozen amethysts from the Baroness.
"Oh, definitely. But, let them eat first, Grilnik. They may need it."
"Ah yes, food." Grilnik turns to the recently ordained members of Cayden Cailean's clergy.
"Did you two get breakfast yet?"
"No", replies the half-orc. "I've only just come down. Perhaps a day of shopping will be a nice change of pace from yesterday's 'activities'."
As you make your way to the Baroness' manor to get your reward, you are met at the door by a man servant. You are taken inside to a small office to meet with the Baron.
She stands tall looking out a window behind her desk. She turns around with a smile on her face.
"Hello! How did the Kobolds go? Have you taken care of them? Does our town have to worry about them anymore?'
Bowing slightly, Vors explained, "It was trap-laden nightmare like all kobold holes. So, apparently two different kobold leaders were vying for control, we helped depose one and the other is moving her tribe away from Belhaim. They want nothing to do with the town and just wish to live in peace. You should not experience any kobold problems for a good long time."
With a bit of a stern eye brow, "Hmm, interesting. Well a solution is a solution. I guess you didn't need to kill them all off then. Well here is your reward. If these Kobolds don't keep their promise the consequences will be on your heads."
She hands you a large back, containing 12 amethysts each worth 100gp each.
"I hope some of this will enter our little town's economy. Trickle down and all. Did you learn anything down there. Why did they change their ways? There have always been Kobolds in this area. What made them get so aggressive lately?"
With a bit of a stern eye brow, "Hmm, interesting. Well a solution is a solution. I guess you didn't need to kill them all off then. Well here is your reward. If these Kobolds don't keep their promise the consequences will be on your heads."
With a bit of bravado Vors shrugs, "I feel my head will stay where it is for the foreseeable future."
She hands you a large back, containing 12 amethysts each worth 100gp each.
"I hope some of this will enter our little town's economy. Trickle down and all. Did you learn anything down there. Why did they change their ways? There have always been Kobolds in this area. What made them get so aggressive lately?"
Taking a moment to look to the others, the half-orc shrugged again.
"Don't know. It all sounds like yips and yaps to me."
"Yeah, no idea what they were saying but they seemed happy to move on when it was done. Maybe the town can find some use for the tuneles? Putting some life in them would keep the next group from moving in."
She fiddles with her new holy symbol for a moment.
"Mayor, are you a religious person? You town seems to be blessed by the drunken god."
Brynn smiles sadly at the Baroness. "I'm afraid none of us are fluent in their tongue, so it was hard to discern. But, the matter was dealt with decisively. They will be of no further trouble."
At Bethany's suggestion to use the tunnels, Brynn seems to contemplate her words. "Hmmm. An interesting suggestion. Surely no one will want to live down there, but perhaps it could be used as an escape route for the town if a secondary exit could be found. Not that there's a need for such a thing here." With a shrug of her shoulders, Brynn smiles brightly. "We leave such thoughts in your capable hands, Baroness. Thank you for your time."
When Bethany mentions religion. "Well I am a follower of Abadar. This town seems to be split between 3 major beliefs. most oar Abadar or Shelyn followers. We do have a few Green Faith followers as well. I try to stay out of that aspect of town life. I know there are some major rivalries between the different groups." She takes a look at the holy Symbol, "Not sure what I think about the Drunken God. Not sure how much work and progress can get done when everyone is drunk. Then again, we can really use Adventurers like you, so maybe there is some strange plan out there."
She looks over the group, and thinks for a second. She then pulls out a small paper on her desk and points to it, "Speaking of, I have word from one of Hunclay's relatives. A cousin in Yanmass. Just this morning I got this letter. Though not very worried about her cousin's death, she has no interest in coming to Belhaim to claim his estate and belongings. She has requested that we auction off all of Hunclay's property and possessions so that the proceeds, minus expenses, can be sent to her."
Dropping the paper back to the table. With a bit of a sigh.
"This leaves me with a bit of work on my hands. We need to catalog the contents of Hunclay's Manor home. Which means entering the place and exploring its interior, which could entail considerable Danger. Hunclay was something of a foul-tempered recluse, and there are rumors abound that the manor is trapped and guarded with monsters. The electrical burst at the front door is a good sign not all of these rumors are wrong."
Looking down at a paper filled with numbers, "If you are interested in another job... Explore Hunclay's manor and identify any unusual or magical items while there. Simultaneously deactivating traps and dealing with any monstrous guardians. This seems like a task you 4 would preform much better than anyone else in my town. While you would not be able to keep any of the items you find I have a 5,000gp fee for your services. Then you are welcome to participate in the auction that follows. There is no major time limit on this, so if you need time to rest, it will be understood."
She looks on, waiting for a response.
Bethany smiles and nods at the talk of other gods but just doesn't see the point.
Maybe I should make some pamphlets to give people. Need someone that can draw for that though.
As the next job is laid out a small frown appears on her face.
"Now.. my dad was a heck of a business man and he did teach me a few things. Five thousand gold, well most people do not see that in their lives I get that, but we could be dead too. Think we could get a percentage of the sale on top as we are doing the heavy work and all?"
Dad always said it never hurt to ask.
"Exploring trap-laden wizard dungeons is a dangerous business. Not to mention our 10% finder's fee would not only be part of the 'expenses', but at least some of it would also go into the town's shops."
Grilnik adds helpfully.
Looking down a little at Bethany. "The rules of this letter", She gestures to the letter on the desk, "State that all valuables must make their way to his cousin. There is allowed to be a small element of expenses connected to the work. So that is where the 5000gp comes in. Which is quite a bit sum. I doubt you would want me to start spouting Abadarian rhetoric." She smiles a bit at that last statment.
Looking over to Grilnik, "As for the expenses, I imagine you will need to prepare a bit, I am willing to give out 1000gp of it up front, with 4000gp on completion". She writes up a small note and hands it over to the dwarf.
"Take this to the Abadar temple, they will provide you with the upfront costs. That is, if you agree."
Brynn smiles at the Baroness. "Of course, Baroness. Thank you for the opportunity. We'll get started tomorrow."
She puts the writ and places it carefully into her pocket.
---
Once we're outside. Brynn looks around. "Well, a trip to the Abadaran temple is in order, obviously. But, let's visit Big Bull first. Grilnik's chomping at the bit to get to that forge."
She tosses the dwarf a smile as she leads the way down the road.
"Thank you for accepting the work. You just need to go through the room and catolog what might be of value, it will require a bit of paperwork, but mostly you are there to make sure the area is clear of any dangers so we can come in and clean it all out to sell. So keep an eye out for any special stuff, but just mark it and leave it for later. Thank you again, and good luck."
She answers any questions you have, writes up a small contract and has you all sign it. Very clear terms.
"All of Hunclay's possessions, both in and out of the manor are to be collected and used in an auction. The group will go in and clear out any dangers associated with the manor. Some damage to the merchandise, because of this danger removal, is to be expected. Though it is to be minimized. Any high value items found in the manor or found to be owned by Hunlcay are to be labeled to the best of the groups ability."
There is also a bit of legal Abadarian wordage. Seems like a solid contract. All members must sign.
Brynn reads the contract carefully. Three times.
Damned contract mongers...
Eventually she smiles brightly and signs the contract. "Your terms are acceptable."
Grilnik hesitates while reading the contract.
There must be some way to say that those chests belonged to the spider instead of the owner of the key... or they're ours now or...
"I have one question before signing. It says here 'Hunclay's possessions, both in and out of the manor', but what are we supposed to do to ensure we gather his things from outside of the manor? Or even identify them as his, now that I think about it. This clause seems to be impossible not to break if he left so much as an unlabeled bunny slipper somewhere where no one would expect him to visit. Is there any way to change the wording there to keep our contract fulfilling reputation intact?"
The four foot tall mass of beard, muscle, and equipment attempts to look somewhat helpless.
Please work please work please work please work...
"Well your job is to clear out the manor. Finding things of value and labeling them. I left that clause in there, because being a wizard sometimes they hide things. Either in secret locations, or if my books are right, in demi planes. If you run across items that belong to the wizard they should be included in the lots for sale. If you are unable to find things, either they don't exist or they are hidden well enough to not worry about."
She laughs a little "I will say you don't need to worry about a lost bunny slipper"
Naturally, like an unkempt beard.
"Alright, as long as no one gets upset about anything that's missing that we can't find..."
I'll just have to convince the others that we need to turn in the things from that cave...
Grilnik finally signs the contract a little too solemnly before going.
Bethany nods as Grinik agrees.
If there are bunny slippers I am totally keeping them.
Where to? I believe you wanted to sell items. In the Capmaign Tab there is a list of items for sale in the town if there is something magical you want.
Brynn leads the way down the road to Baccus' Smithy, as already discussed.
As the group makes their way to the Smithy, being worked by a few half-orcs. "Big Bull" Baccus sees you coming.
"Ah! Look at you, Heros. How can I help you."
Brynn smiles happily at the half-orc. "Well, hello, again. We were planning to have something special made by you, but first, we have some equipment we were hoping you might be interested in purchasing."
"Yes, I can take those off your hands. I am sure I can re purpose most of this. I am sure there is some smaller folk who could use the small gear."
He hands over a small coin back with coins in it.
"Now you have my attention, what am I making for you?"
Grilnik perks up at the question "Well, we need a set of platinum rings, see. If you're in need of platinum I have a few coins we could pay you with."
Grilnik fishes four platinum coins out from his belt pouch and presents them to Mr Baccus. Closing his hand around the coins, Grilnik extends a meaty finger as he asks "Can you forge rings in our sizes?"
Thinking for a second, "Do they need to be fancy at all? I am not quite a jewelcrafter. But if you are looking for 4 simple bands I think I can swing it. I will need to turn up the furnace a bit to get things melted down. I think I am capable of getting to the right temperature. At least to use the coins as templates to warp into shape."
Looking at the coins, "With these coins, and the time. As well as the cost of dedicating the forge for the night. Should cost 50gp per ring. I will attempt to keep them clean and the right sizes. Just need to measure the right fingers and should be good to go. 200gp total for 4 rings, deal?"
WHen they reach the smithy Bethany does not participate in the trading and instead picks up and looks at any weapons that are laying around before putting them back down.
Rather have big brother then any of this stuff. Noting beats a big hammer to the head.
Vors nods to Big Bull and the rest of the half-orcs as he enters the smithy, and joins Bethany with some light window shopping.
"Ah, I don't think it'll be 200gp difficult, and I know I'm asking a blacksmith to do whitesmithing, but if you don't mind showing me your equipment, then I think I can just show you a few tricks for forging jewelry..."
Grilnik says hopefully, trailing off.