Mary can't help but see Zurka's still not in tiptop condition.
"Zurka, if you would hold still a moment, i can fix some of your injuries."
Her hand glows the now familiar eerie purple color, and she holds her hand on his back.
Meurasod gave a simple shrug and proceeded to fall in line to enter the Fort.
"Come on. I'm hungry and could use a drink." Muttering the words out loud reminded the dwarf about the corpse he was carrying and the promise he had made to the fallen tiefling.
Drink on my tab... The words echoed over and over again in his head. He grumbled to himself as he stood in line. The longer he stood there, the angrier he got at himself. He should have done more. He couldn't help but glance back in Walter's direction. He quietly swore to himself to protect this one better.
The Hellknight guards don't say what they seek, but you notice a priest checking on everyone in the queue, and selecting several individuals for further enquiries.
After nearly an hour waiting, you finally reach the inside of the Fort.
Aralu orders her minions to burry themselves in shallow graves at the wayside "no one will notice two more shallow gravesend at the wayside or at least pay them no attention."
Once they are finished she orders them to wait motionless till they receive a new order.
After Zurka, Mary's eye catches Kartara too.
"I can't ignore your wounds either, come here."
Katara looked at Mary quietly as she felt the healing sink in.
"Thanks." She said her voice rough and yet quizzical. She was use to working without a healer in the rare groups she ever touched to take down a target.
"You're welcome."
For all you know, the best places to find healing magic would be the local Temple of Pharasma or the Temple of Abadar.
You are pretty sure the servants of the Master of the First Vault would know where to find healing kits in town, or can sell some themselves.
"Alright, so we got a lot to do. We need rooms for a night or two, we need to pick up a few supplies, and we need to bury Baldrek. I can take care of the burial but anyone that wants to is welcome to come. Aralu, Zurka, and Katara, you three wanna pick us up a healing wand and a healer's kit...and anything else anyone can think of? While you're doing that, the rest of us will find some rooms for rent. Any objections?"
Zurks nods in agreement. "That sounds like a good plan to me. We will meet back here once the sun reaches its zenith."
"I will accompany you to Baldrek's burial."
The Temple of Silence is the local Church of Pharasma.The head priest, an Ustalavian called Father Falindor greets you as soon as a lay brother warns him about the planned burial
It's nice to see people who won't left a corpse without a decent burial. I've heard that you found someone who accepted Pharasma's embrace? Did you knew him? Did he prayed to a particular god, or asked for particular rituals to be lead after his passing, to the best of your knowledge?
The Juliver Inn is the biggest inn of the Fort, and its managed by the Juliver halfling family, hence the name.
There is not much rooms still free, but you bargain until you get two rooms with three beds for the next two days. Meals are easier to get, and the cooking smells good.
The Temple of Abadar listens to you. You can easily buy an healing kit for 50 GP.Superior healing kit can be bought at 150 GP, and you'll have to wait for tomorrow to get it.
When the subject of buying a magical wand of healing is reached, you are asked to wait a few minutes.
Soon a priest comes to you, and invites you in a small, separate room to do business.
So you want to invest in a wand of magical healing? Good, good..for you. How much can you pay?
Mary spoke on a calm tone.
"He didn't mention that. He was a brave, if somewhat reckless, companion.
However, he bore a weapon that carried the emblem of Abadar."
"I'm afraid I can't tell you much. I don't know what gods he may have prayed to, but I know that he was a good man. I didn't know him for very long, a few days at most, but he earned my respect. I can pay 40 gold. Is that enough to bury him proper?"
It would be more than enough. Ten gold pieces for a simple coffin and a deep hole in the ground would be enough, in fact, unless you want something more grandiose.
"Something more grandiose. I don't know if he was celebrated in life, but he will be celebrated in death. How long will the arrangements take? Is there a ceremony of some sorts? When would that be?"
Meurasod pulled out his money pouch and counted out 40 gold pieces. After concluding business with the priest, he turned to leave. He glanced over his shoulder at Mary. "You coming? I'm starving."
Mary nods as thanks to the priest.
AFter that, she smiles, as she turns to Meurasod.
"Coming."
After arranging for their accommodations, Walter talks to the innkeeper about providing a special meal and drinks for his new associates. When everything is arranged, Walter looks for a table with his mug of ale and waits for the rest of the group. Might be nice to show some appreciation... after all they saved my bacon back there.
Zurka eyes the priest coldly. "Let us leave that question for later. Answer me this. How much do you typically charge for such a valuable item?"
We can bury him tomorrow morning, after a traditional night of mourning and prayer. Anyone who wants to join us is welcome.
Soon, Mary and Meurasold join Walter at the Juliver Inn. The tiefling is eyed suspiciously by some of the customers, but nothing much happens, and people keep to themselves.
We charge 750 gold for a fully charged "basic" wand. We have a few, higher priced, more powerful wands. Thats why I asked.
Zurka nods in reply, "I see. And do you accept any magical items in trade in lieu of coin?"
I'm always open to bargaining. What are you willing to trade?
The priest seems to wait for an answer
Zurka takes out the scrolls he had found earlier when exploring the Spire. "These scrolls, which I believe to be divine in nature, should be worth some coin to you. As for what other items we wish to trade I will need to confer with my companions before I can answer your question."
Zurka looks over the scrolls for a moment, wondering what happened to the divine scrolls he thought were inside the case. Is someone playing a trick on me?
He shrugs apologetically. "Forgive me, it seems I was mistaken. These scrolls would not interest you. Still my companions and I do have some coin we can use to purchase the wand."
Good to know.
While Zurka finishes to collect the money needed to pay for the wand, the priest calls an acolyte, who brings the magical item with reverence- a small, golden bought.
The wand activate with the Celestial word "Nayelvun", which can be translated to "Provider of Life". It is of course fully charged, so you can use it fifty times.
Do you need something else?
Zurka takes out the potion he found earlier .
"Can you identify this for me?"
At a 10 gold piece cost, yes. If you're interested.
Zurka grudgingly hands over the coins. "Here you go."
The priest grabs his symbol, prays to Abadar, and looks at the potion
After a quick examination, it's a curative potion, more powerful than the magic in the wand, which might be quite handy.
Katara watches the exchange carefully studying the cleric. While most holy men tried to look up to the ideals of their god, in the end it was usually at a price.
Her wounds pulled slightly and she gritted her teeth refusing to flinch.
After a bit she finally asked. "How much do you charge for healing?"
The priest looks at Katara
Depends how bad you are wounded. It can cost so little as 10 gold pieces to 150 gold pieces
The surly dwarf walked through the streets with a scowl on his face. He made no direct effort to wait for Mary, she was quicker and lighter on her feet than he was anyway. He kept his eyes on her though. He was not about to let a similar fate befall her, especially with the recent events so fresh in his mind. He quietly hoped the others had faired well in their endeavors. He wanted nothing more than a good night of drinking, eating, and sleeping after the couple of days they had had. He was already tired of merchants and he hadn't even really dealt with any. He secretly wondered how Gorok was doing and if she had made the right choice in setting off alone.
It wasn't long before he caught sight of the Juliver Inn. He walked up to the front door and held it open, ushering Mary in. The smells of food and ale filled his nostrils and for the first time in days, he smiled. His shoulders relaxed a little as they entered the establishment.
With all of the hustle and bustle of the biggest inn in Fort Inevitable, it took his eyes a moment to spot Walter. He had only known the Tiefling for less than half a day and part of that was the darkest of night so he wasn't entirely sure of his features until he waved.
Mary kept a reserved face during Baldrek's funeral.
At the moment of final words, she made sure the cleric couldn't hear it;
"Muscle headed flatterer. Sorry to say, but i intend to get as close to immortality as i can get, so you if things go well, you won't see me for quite a while. Try to behave with the girls beyond, Big Red."
She turns to Meurasod, "All done, let's leave."
She might have held her step to avoid stepping into something filthy, but caught up with Meurasod quickly.
"Thank you," as he held the door to the inn open for her.
Following his gaze, she noticed Walter.
Zurka hands over the needed coin for the purchase of the healing wand, then carefully stows it away. Once the priests are finished healing up Katara he motions the man over. "I also need a healing kit as well." Once that transaction is completed, he heads towards the door shading his eyes against the harsh glare of the sun. "Let us hurry. I am hungry and our companions are waiting for us now."
Waving at Meurasod, Walter tries to control himself not to ask too many questions... He could see that both the dwarf and the woman were somehow distressed by the death of their companion so it would be better to keep quite for a moment.
After awaiting for them to have eaten a bit and drank two or more mugs, the tiefling measures his words. "So... about the that Emerald Spire... What have you figured out so far? As I said before, I'm more a scholar than a combatant so information is my most important weapon in my sleeve."
Mary looked briefly to Meurasod, then back at Walter.
The bird whispers into Mary's ear.
"Chirrp....i don't know about this....he might be a wolf in sheep's clothing...chirrp"
"Duely noted, little one, we will be careful."
...."We were hired to find what became of two missing people, who ventured in and never got out.
We've been fighting our way through thus far, and now with the untimely departure of a comrade. That's about it."
"Scholar huh?" The dwarf turned and looked at Mary before addressing her.
"Show him the rock and the note. Maybe he can figure out what it means." He turned his focus back to Walter.
"I assume you'll be joining us then? If ye can't be trusted, we'll just have to kill ya. But I won't be payin' for your funeral if that's the case." A second later the dwarf gave a loud chuckle and took another long drink of his ale. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve before continuing.
"The first level we came through was infested with goblins. They seemed to be working for a hobgoblin I think. Honestly they all look alike to me, the big ones anyway." He shrugged. "The next level was mostly spiders, traps, and a few undead. There was this smart, talking skeleton, he's the one that did our friend in. We finished him off permanently, but called it a day at that point. Once we're rested, we'll be heading back in. Another day or two, tops. Finish resupplying today, day of mourning tomorrow, then back to the grindstone. That's the plan anyway."
Mary nods softly, and shows Walter the items.
As Mary shows the items to Walter, the rest of the group comes back from the Temple of Abadar.
Patrols of Hellknights seem to be even more frequent than before in the Fort's streets. They must be on edge
Zurka nods in greeting to the others. Pointing a finger at the outside of the inn he asks, Do you know why these 'Hellknights' are patrolling more frequently than usual?"
Meurasod shook his head in response to Zurka. "Uh, something about freedom fighters of Cayden or some other and something about slavey. I don't know, overheard one of them as we were passing through the gate."
"So, any luck with the supplies?"
"ug, slavery is so inefficient. Let's hope they do their fighting while we are elsewhere.
"I agree. If there's fighting to be done, do it where it's not going to bother other people.
Well...not -us-, right now."