The town elder Darvis comes limping up and thanks you all for what you have done. "The town fought well after you all went into the castle for us. The orcs came with some wooden towers and if naught for that fire brew you made for us M'Lady the town would have been lost. That fire burned down them towers but good. Then the orc came at the front gate with a battering ram and eventually we ran out of arrows to stop them so they got through. It was carnage at the front as we tried to stop them. Lucky for us the elves came out of the woods and then the dwarves came down the hill to help stem the flow of orcs and goblinses into the town. I have one son left, the others died in the fighting." he sees you wearing the Noble sons blade and seems happy. "Hopefully you put the older sons sword to good use? We seem to be leaderless at the moment and you did say you were a noble from that Furyondy land up north. We need a Lord..." he offers to Thrand. "You could even take a bride." he says looking at the elf wizard.
Tanariel will move to speak with the commander of the elven forces, since they are from the same area. She will do this away from human and other ears.
Queen Yolande, Perfect Flower of Celene, Lady Rhalta of All Elvenkind, has decreed that the elves stay out of the current and coming wars and has closed the borders. The elven army is only defending elven lands and won't come out to fight against the Pomarj hordes. A few elven lords and ladies, like us and Prince Brightflame, defied her orders to fight for the side of good but at the cost of banishment and being forsaken. Inside Celene the elven noble house support the Queen and if you are from Celene then I am afraid you may not return to your family for quite some time, if ever.
Sir Thrand puts a comforting, though steel-clad hand on the blacksmith's shoulder. "Darvis, you have my sincerest condolences. I am so sorry for your loss. My prayers are with you."
"I did put the sword to good use. We slew quite a few walking corpses, several demons, and the old lord's wicked son. That line has ended. I will admit that the lordship you offer me is something that I have wanted for as long as I can remember. I am sorely tempted. There is so much to do, both here and abroad. Let me think it over and discuss it with my lady."
Anchard stays behind, unsolicited by the dwarves or elves, and unburdened by a sense of duty or political affiliation, although still driven by his own motivations. He turns to the chests and sets to counting and appraising the worth of the late lord's worth. Once the task is complete, Anchard runs the numbers and splits the sum. Easily enough to hire fifty men for a year and feed them to boot, he says out of hand. If this money was gained through just means, and no one claims that it will right a wrong, I say we divide it between us and mark the mission a success. We can all head back and rally to our employer in a day or two and tuck another adventure away under our belts.
This treasure belongs to the residents here. I thought we where gathering it for safe keeping. If the new leadership deems us worthy of a reward however, I would not turn my hand away.
Anchard regards Arendyl as he rerolls his sleeves on his singed arms, I disagree, the treasure was in the possession of the ruling lord through his right to collect from the people using his lands. Now we hold his wealth, and even his lands if we so choose it. Do what you will with your share, I am not here to help strangers for anything more or less than I was hired to do and the war against evil needs to be funded just like any other standing army. I will collect my share so that I may better arm myself against growing threat.
The elves and the dwarves make encampment for the night just outside of the city walls and the townsfolk clear out their dead for one large funeral ceremony. Anchard is invited to do the blessing in the new cemetery built outside of town on a small knoll. Lucky enough the hostel you were staying in at the beginning of your time in this town survived any major damage and your rooms are still available.
The next day comes and the elves and dwarves depart. The townsfolk make one more plea for some of you to stay and Shortnose takes the towns offer to help defend the town as the new sheriff.
We cannot leave these people destitute. The money in the coffers belongs to them, though a small fee would not be unheard of in these matters.
Ollok nods at his dwarven kin.
In quieter tones he sees the others trying to decide what to do about the gold. "The town needs it funds to rebuild but there is a finder's fee that we are owed. Take our tenth of what we found and give the rest back to the town. Then let's get out of here. If you planning on helping the town rebuild then good on you but I have some travelling to do. We can stay together or go our seperate ways."
Anchard ponders the math a moment longer with everyone's input. I suppose I will be satisfied with a tenth, though I do not feel comfortable leaving this money to a leaderless town. The wealth might just be stolen by brigands and theives with no one keeping things in order. Are Thrand, are your obligations making this situations clear in your view?
I must return to the City of Greyhawk now that we have accomplished our goal here. she says.
"Crystal. My obligations are to uphold the code of chivalry, to live a life of honor, valor, and fairness, to fight evil wherever I may find it through my thoughts, words, and actions. That's it. I have made up my mind. I will stay here to rebuild the walls, train the militia, and look after the poor, unfortunate widows and orphans of this town. Darvis, I accept your offer. I will be Lord of Berwyn. My Lady Tanariel, there may come a day when Berwyn is secure enough that I might travel. If that day should come, I will seek you out that we might renew our friendship. Until then, stay safe." The knight, now lord, approaches the elvish lady and gives her a warm embrace and a parting kiss on the cheek. "Farewell, my lady."
A great comes out from the masses gathered watching the group depart as they learn Sir Thrand of Furyondy will now be Sir Thrand Lord of Berwyn. Even Shortnose claps as technically he accepted the vacant position of sheriff and is in effect your new chief of law and order.
The group spends one more night in the town and departs the next morning. Tanariel, Arendyl, Ollok, Anchard and Tzardusk are each given a small pouch with 200 gp in it as a payment for saving the town. Thrand says goodbye to them and then begins his duties as the new lord of the area.
The journey back to Greyhawk is uneventful although you do encounter large amounts of refugees fleeing either the humanoid horde from the Pomarj or from rumors of Kettite horsemen from the west. Other rumors include the return of the Black Demi God Iuz, how a rain of fire destroy Perrenland, Baba Yagi killing in Furyondy, the Rhenee folk in league with Turrosh Mok, the mad Overking killing his court, demons infiltrating all governments, Vatuns return to Oerth and the Circle of eight all dead. Some of the rumors are outlandish in nature although some can turn to to be truths... hard to determine which at the moment.
On the way to Greyhawk, after foregoing any treasure but the pouch gifted to him, not wanting to take from the town or its people, Tzardusk says his farewells to the group. "I must return to my people.. With these uprisings going on, I feel they may need guidance to not fall into old ways again. I hope to see you again sometime and continue our good work."
The grey elf wishes the half orc her best and bids him farewell.
Almost in passing Ollok says to Tzardusk as he announces his leaving "You did well greenblood. Safe travels to you and might your kind learn from you." Then turning to Tanariel and Anchard "This is going to make for stories the three of us traveling to Greyhawk. But let them talk! Now when are we off for the fabled Free City?"
Yes, an elf, a dwarf and a human walk into a bar she softly quips.
The elf's comment causes Ollok to smile ever so slightly. "Has a good sound to it. Well hopefully the city has some work for us. Far place to travel and not find any work. But what is so important that you need to travel there?"