Halafrin will accompany Dwol to the temple and then buy the scroll of -make whole-, scribe it into his spell book, memorize it, and cast it on the spider statue. Then he will take the necklace to the temple of Shelyn for sale.
A male half-elf wearing a brown robe and of indeterminate age greets you at Cayden’s temple.
“How may I be of assistance to you?”
Greetings brother. My name is Dwol, a fellow servant of the Lucky Drunk. My companion here had the misfortune of acquiring a disease of some sort that we have, as of yet, been unable to cure. I'm hoping someone here might be able to help us?
“That is misfortunate indeed, I’m sure that brother Talmag will be able to help him out. Come with me.”
He leads you through a door, down a hallway and through another door where you see an elderly halfling mixing a drink or potion of some type at a small table. He doesn’t notice the group until your escort clears his throat. At that the halfling looks up and states, “Ahh there you are, which one of you is sick? Drink this.” Holds out the drink he was mixing which has a greenish hue and fizzes.
Halafrin looks at the halfling with extreme skepticism-Apologies Master Talmag, but you haven't even diagnosed me yet. Shouldn't you at least use some diviniation magics, or whatever clerics do, to determine what the treatments should be?
“Well you can drink it or not, that’s completely up to you. But you did come to the house of the drunken hero looking for help did you not?”
The halfling takes a sip of the greenish liquid, “See perfectly safe.”
Halafrin looks dubiously at Dwol, who gives him a big smile and pat on the back-It will be fine, I'm sure. Don't be such a worry wart.. Halafrin then takes the offer cup and quaffs it down.
Surprisingly Hal finds the drink to be quite tasty and he feels warmth spread out from his belly, causing his face to flush and sweat while his fingers and toes begin to tingle. The room seems to be tilting and slowly spinning at the same time.
The halfling carefully observes Hal while furiously mixing up yet another potion of some sort with various powders at his table.
“How do you feel? Are your extremities tingling? Any vertigo?”
Chack bobs and weaves in front of Halafrin
How many of me do you see Halafrin?
“Sit down foolish catfolk!”
Oh, sorry.
Chack sheepishly moves to the back.
I was just worried for him.
Yes and yes. Is that good or -urp- bad? Halafrin leans on Dwol for a moment, resting his hand on the sturdy dwarve's shoulder to steady himself.
Easy there Halafrin; I've got firm hold of you. You'll be fine.
Dwol's large callused hand wraps over Hal's arm securely.
“Good and bad. Good that it confirms my suspicion as to the nature of the sickness. Bad as to type of the sickness. Here now drink this and tell me have you been to the Underdark recently or encountered any drow?”
He places the second potion in Hal’s hand.
Halafrin looks at the potion for just a moment and then gulps it down.
I have never been to the Underdark or encountered any drow.
Cool, but I'm afraid I'm getting a bit of a headache in my temples.
“Hmmm, that is good, it’s a nasty place filled with nasty peoples.”
Hal gulps down the second potion, this one has a definite bitter taste. The effects of the first potion disappear almost immediately then he feels a cooling sensation spread throughout his body. He does however develop a slight headache, a throbbing in his temples.
The halfling continues to study Hal closely. “How do you feel now?”
[ooc]Not sure how Halafrin's post got in front of Darkvision's. SUPER ninjaed!
Hal must be clairvoyant.
Yes, Hal would know about spiders and drow. He also recalls Sister Woodmere said it made her skin crawl and reminded her of a goddess she wouldn’t care to name.
Reluctantly, almost as if some other power is fighting his will, Halafrin confesses-Well I do have this strange spider statue that we stumbled upon during our last adventure. I haven't been quite able to figure it out, but with the latest spell I acquired I'm confident I will solve its secrets shortly.
"Ah, that spider is part of the problem, drow holy symbol, makes your sickness worse. No, don't hand it to me! I don't want to touch it, put it on the table."
Halafrin dutifully places the stone spider on the table. Should like to have studied it a bit more. Never heard of a holy symbol doing something like this. I wonder what other powers it has? Curious...
The half picks the spider up with a pair of metal tongs and drops it into a bowl filled with a blue liquid, the liquid starts to smoke and steam as the spider dissolves. Hal’s headache fades.
“Well that should do it. If there is nothing else I can do for you and if you’ve found our service to be helpful please consider making a donation to the temple.”
Halafrin makes a donation of 350gp.
Well I can't say that this is what I expected, but I'm happy to not be sick. Thank you Dwoldrean for your Lord's help. Who's ready to go to Kalsgard?
The Lucky Drunk tends to reward those with good in their hearts Hal. Even elves. Kalsgard is in our future, but first let's go to the temple of Shelyn and return this necklace.
On to the temple for sale of said necklace and then to find a ship to Kalsgard.
The party makes it to the nearby temple of Shelyn. It is strangely quiet, there is no one at the main doors and the great hall of worship only has a single occupant who turns and rises to greet you at the sound of your footsteps on the tiled floor.
Your greeter is an attractive female elven warrior wearing some obviously high end chain mail with an elven curve blade strapped across her back and a dagger at her hip.
She nods to the entire group but addresses Chack in particular:
"Greetings sister, I am Sesestrian, today is a holiday and as you can see most of the congregation is off celebrating, do you seek the Eternal Rose?"
Hello Sesestrian, I am Chack-Sab-At. We have come across a necklace which we think might be of interest to the church.
Nod to Dwol to show the necklace.
Dwol mind reads Chack's nod and hands the necklace to Sesestrian.
“Well this most certainly is a very fine holy symbol of Shelyn. How did you come to possess it?”
We were investigating a troll warren and in the process of clearing it out, we came across this piece in a small chest.
“Hmm, can you tell me where this troll warren was located? I’m assuming you didn’t learn anything from the trolls concerning its origins? Did you encounter anyone else that might know more about it? I would like investigate and then return it to the owner or their family if possible. What do you want in payment for the necklace?”
It was in a cave complex outside of Biston, we're on our way to Kalsgard. It was led by a big giant Troll with 7 toes, but we did not have the opportunity to interrogate any of them.
We found the necklace in this velvet lined box, under some rocks in one of the rooms.
We were thinking that 1,000gp would be fair for such a fine piece.
“Fair enough.”
She provides 10 gems worth 100gp each.
Dwol waits to see if there is any other interchange between Chack and Sesestrian. If there is none, he thanks her and heads to the docks to look for ship passage to Kalsgard.
Who wants to travel with the bane of pirates?!
The group ships out with a large merchant and obviously very prosperous merchant vessel.
With the exception of one pirate encounter which Hal quickly discourages the group has a rather uneventful voyage to Kalsgard through what they interpret to be some rather rough seas but later learn is the norm from the crew.
The Captain awards the group 1000 gold pieces and like the group’s previous voyage offers Hal a position should he decide to stop adventuring.
Welcome to Kalsgard and level up.
Are we able to buy magic items/etc?
Complains he has no gold, then wants to buy magic items.
Yes, this is a sizable city of 70,000+ inhabitants, any magic items you can afford are available.
Halafrin and Dwol have 'just' enough to each purchase a set of eyes of the eagle (2,500gp ea.). So not "no" gold, just strenuously little gold.
Dwol uses the Headband to see if he can get any sense of the vicinity of the Axe and then will seek out wherever proper dwarves reside to gather information.
You arrive at a dock within the Oak District of Kalsgard. As you disembark you can see this area primary businesses are lumberyards and shipyards.
Basic info you know about Kalsgard:
The first and oldest settlement in the Linnorm Kingdoms, it’s also the largest by far—nearly three times the size of the next largest Linnorm Kingdom in terms of population. The city is a cosmopolitan mix of native Ulfen, Tians, dwarves, gnomes, and traders from the south. Unlike many other parts of the Linnorm Kingdoms, Kalsgard locals are generally open and welcoming to non-Ulfen visitors. A significant Tian population resides in an area called the Jade Quarter along Kalsgard’s waterfront. The city’s shipyards turn out dozens of the finest longships built in the Linnorm Kingdoms each year. The city is divided into several different districts, see the map.
Kalsgard map:
https://wiki-path.lacrypte.fr/index.php?title=Fichier:Pathfinder_-_kalsgard _plan.jpg
Many dwarves live in the Undercroft which lies beneath the Oak District for the most part.
Dwol believes the Axe is somewhere within the city to the NW, maybe within one of the Amber, Horn or Ivory districts.
Dwol looks for reasonably priced rooms in the NW area of the city, preferably the Horn. If it were just me, I'd quarter in the Undercroft, but I don't think the rooms there would be to your liking.
Once settled Dwol will start walking the NW Districts using the Crown to search for the location of the Axe.
The Horn Quarter is chiefly populated by farmers and laborers who cultivate the fields outside of Kalsgard. Most farmers also grow small crops of vegetables near their homes to ensure that their personal stores can last through the long winter, and thick turf layers the roofs of their stone longhouses to provide insulation against the harsh clime. There are a couple taverns that you could stay at within the Horn, either the Lazy Aurochs or the Crooked Plow.
Both names sound ill-omened, but I suppose Aurochs are just being true to their nature unlike a poorly used or crafted plow. Let's check that one first. Dwol takes the party to the Lazy Aurochs and heads to the bar for a quick prayer.
Master of the temple, a glass of your finest please and I'd like to inquire about renting some rooms for a week or two.
+3 for dwarves
“Welcome ser, I’ve a room that can sleep all four if that works for ya? Ten gold for a single week, fifteen for two weeks. Meals are included and all the food is fresh, my family grows most of the food, though we occasionally buy fresh fish or a large game animal like elk.”
The innkeeper serves up large horns of mead which turns out to be excellent though a bit different than the mead from further south.
“Good ain’t it, we’ve different bees up here in Kalsgard and they make the best honey.”
Dwol drinks deeply from the horn silently giving thanks to Cayden for his many blessings. To the innkeeper-Sounds fair and we could use some real food after being cooped up on ship for the last few weeks. The air is clean and fresh, but I get a little grumpy on just fish and food from a barrel. We'll be coming and going with some frequency so let us know if we need to reserve a space for meals.
The Lucky Drunk's blessing upon your bar good sir.
Dwol pays the man for two weeks with a 5 GP bonus tip-Those that work the land know that they have earned it more than anyone else; with my compliments.
Once the group is settled and had a bite, Dwol will lead them out into the city looking for any sign from the Crown.
“Thank you ser, the common room here is pretty much open at all times so you are welcome to eat here or use the small table in your room if you desire privacy. Let me know if there is anything else I can do for you or if you have any questions about Kalsgard. And a word of warning, keep your eyes open and a friend at your side, four dwarves have shown up dead in the last week, one was older so could’ve been natural but heard the other three were in their prime.”
Appreciate the warning, I'll keep my head about me and three friends at my side if I can.
Unless anyone has better ideas head out into the city and vibe for the Axe.
You wander about the northwest sections of the city more or less trying to triangulate the location of the axe. After an hour or so you realize the axe is in the Amber quarter.
The Amber Quarter is the hub of manufacturing and production in Kalsgard. Shops with similar wares tend to congregate together along the streets of the quarter, making it easy for shoppers to compare items. All kinds of goods are available here, but the streets that bear witness to the most guards are those of the jewelers and crafters of precious metals. The people of Kalsgard love wearing jewelry to show off their wealth and rank. Men favor armbands and torcs, women tend to wear circular brooches and chain necklaces to fasten their tunics, and both sexes enjoy wearing rings and cloak pins. Swirling designs depicting monstrous creatures commonly decorate this jewelry. Many other types of objects including armor, buckets, combs, cups, keys, and weapons are also adorned with carvings or inlaid with valuable metals. Other precious materials commonly available in the quarter include mammoth and walrus ivory, jet, and pieces of amber. Artisans also create useful everyday items from inexpensive but unusual substances such as antlers, bone, and soapstone.
Another hour goes by as you narrow the location down to a section of the quarter consisting of 4 blocks made up of shops, homes, and some estates. By this time the sun has just set and most businesses other than a couple taverns have closed up shop.
*during your wandering you find the shop to purchase your eyes of the eagle, one set is immediately available, the other will be available in 2 days
No need to push. We've had a long trip and a good night of food, drink, and sleep will see us fresh for tomorrow. Plus I'd rather not be dwarf number five; just in case.
Dwol brings the party back to the Lazy Aurochs for a night of good food and drink before settling in for the night. He asks about for any information pertaining to the four block area they canvassed that day. Who lives there, what they do, any troubles/scandal, history of the area.
+3 for dwarves
and
-keep watch-
The innkeeper believes several metal workers and jewelers have shops in that area. He doesn’t seem to know a lot about any particular residents of that area other than that many are prosperous merchant families.
The night is uneventful.