Session 14 (12/10/2021)

## Day Nine, Afternoon

**The** party begins to divvy up the recently looted healing potions as they discuss their plans for the day. Pele is fixated on the blazing statues and seems interested in further exploration but concedes that they should rest and recharge before pressing their luck down in the caverns beneath the city. Hadwin cinches his new Brightwood Warden’s Cloak and begins using Prestidigitation to clean up the scene, attempting to remove evidence of the party’s presence.

“Shopping spree?!” Dove suggests cheerfully.

“I would love to go shopping,” says Swage, “but I need to get to church today. If you happen to see them, could you please buy me two empty sketchbooks and a waterskin?”

Dove and Pele nod and begin leading the group up the stairs to street level. Once again in the town square, Dove, Pele, and Kaz start to wander in search of a bookstore. Swage makes a beeline for the forge, with Holly tagging along closely behind. Esha starts looking for a magic shop.

Swage spots a few familiar faces from the crowd who gathered to watch him craft Molotok, the portable ram, and approaches them to ask about the forge in town. Their eyes light up with recognition.

“You’re the guy who made that huge creation!”

Swage smiles and points a thumb over his shoulder at the red dragon-headed battering ram chained to his backpack. The townsfolk marvel and begin to give him directions to the Artisans of the Anvil in the southwest part of town. The Firbolg gives them a salute and hurries off in that direction, with Holly jogging along to keep up.

When they reach their destination, Swage looks up at the sign, lights a cigar, and sighs deeply. Finally. The pair step inside and are greeted by a stout, older red Dragonborn. His muscles are thick and corded, showing signs of a long life of forging.

“Well… look at this. I haven’t seen one of my brothers in so long. I hope Gond has been good to you, my brother.”

Swage has to nearly pick his jaw up off the ground. A red Dragonborn! “Well met… brother? Have we met before?”

“We are of the same faith… we are all brothers. What can I do for you? I’ve heard stories about what you created outside today.”

“Word travels fast,” says Swage, pulling the battering ram around for the Dragonborn to see. “That was Molotok, here.”

“Quite impressive! I am Flametongue.”

Swage introduces himself and asks about using the forge over the next few days. He shows Flametongue the sketch of Pele’s chakram and tells him that he has brought his materials. The Dragonborn smiles and walks over to the forge, dusting off the stone and revealing the holy symbol of Gond. He expresses pleasure at having fellow Gondsman crafting at his forge, only asking ten gold for the use of the facilities for three days. Swage happily agrees and pulls out Zertis’ body, determined to start smelting and get to work right away.

Seeing this, Flametongue says, “I haven’t seen one of those since I was but a hatchling, just after the war.”

“This was Zertis, he was a real asshole,” remarks Swage. “Holly, could you please find Pele and have her stop in here at some point?”

“I’ll tell her to come right away!” Holly says as he turns to leave. Before he makes it out of the door, he stops and asks Flametongue to make him a set of studded leather armor. The Dragonborn names his price and Holly gives him a little extra gold for his troubles before heading out to find Pele and the others.

Meanwhile, wandering for a bookstore, Dove spots a pair of people playing dragon chess in the shadows of a dark alley. She waves Pele and Kaz over and walks up quietly, peeking over one of the player’s shoulders. She recommends a less-than strategic move to one of the players, directly into his ear. He jumps, knocking over the game piece that he’s holding, and turns to look at Dove. He sees the huge, dark figure of Kaz looming behind the tabaxi. “I-I’m good, thank you…” Pele steps up and casually asks the other player where they might find a bookstore in town. He proceeds to tell her about Famous Last Words and gladly provides directions. The trio turns and leaves the dark alley, following the suggested route to the bookstore.

They spot the hanging wooden sign out front and walk in, finding a young human man sitting behind the counter, quietly reading a book, and smoking a pipe. Pele greets him and asks about books on history, particularly on the Spellscar. He closes his book and walks over to check the registry, rattling off the titles of a few books. He eventually finds an entry for ‘Mythic Legends of the Spellscar’ and then disappears into a back room. A few moments later, they hear grunting and see him dragging out a huge stonewood book. Pele goes over to look and can just barely pick up the heavy tome. It must weigh over 100 pounds. She starts to thumb through the pages.

“Can I pet your cat?” Dove asks.

“Ah, yes. That is Luxton the third. Don’t ask about the other two.”

“A very distinguished bookshop cat,” Dove says as she gives Luxton scritches. She asks politely for two blank sketchbooks, saying that they are a gift for a friend who likes to draw. The shopkeeper perks up and admits that he likes to write, mostly about things that he sees and people who come into his shop. Dove tells him that she would love to read some of his work and asks if he would like to trade for some of her interesting items from a distant land. She pulls out an old torn map that she got from a human sailor back in Chult. His eyes light up and he runs into the back room, coming back with an armful of scrolls.

“I wrote this one just the other day when a rather pompous individual stopped in, and I think it would serve you well.”

Dove makes the trade and tells him that she is a bit of a writer herself, in that she has a pen pal, and she needs some more stationery. He nods and pulls out a beautifully adorned notebook from behind the counter. It is bound in felt and has gold-lined pages. He also grabs a nice set of quills and pushes them across the counter to her. Dove offers him an unfinished poem written by a Kenku bard in trade.

Kaz seems uninterested when the shopkeeper asks if there are any books that he is looking for. “Not unless you have any books about fighting… or maybe about the caverns under the city.”

“Well, I do have a book… ‘The Lore of Pinechill’.”

“Ooh! We want that one!” Pele says over her shoulder as she’s reading the ‘Mythic Legends of the Spell Scar’. She scans over a particularly interesting passage and asks, “Do you have any books specifically about the Astral God?”

“No, I don’t think I do.” He thumbs through his registry again for a few minutes and confirms that to be true.

“How about anything with lore about the town of Seidan?” Pele asks.

He pulls out a few books that might have pertinent information: ‘Ghost Stories Written by Ghosts’, ‘Mysterious Structures that Glow’, and ‘Climate Change During the Dark Wizard Times’. Pele says that they’ll take all three.

Dove finds ‘The Physics Behind Inter-Dimensional Portals, Bags, and Holes’ and adds it to add it to their growing stack.

The bookseller tallies up their total at 506 gold and 12 silver. Dove and Pele flinch, but Kaz hands over 507 gold from his stash. “Alright Kaz, drinks are on me!” Pele says gratefully as the trio leaves the bookstore. They continue walking through town until they come across an alchemy shop. A large sign outside bears the name “The Dancing Shapeshifter”.

Seeing the myriad of glass bottles and other fragile-looking items, Kaz stays outside, hefting his large maul and the weight of the huge stonewood book. As Pele and Dove walk in, they see a bearded female dwarf behind the counter. “Well, hello dearie! How may I help you?”

Pele smiles and leans back to Dove. “Why are we here again? I don’t remember…”

Dove’s eyes are wide as she stares around the shop. “Shinies…”

The dwarf introduces herself as Maderva and suggests that the pair might be interested in some potions or concoctions. Pele admits that it’s their first time in an alchemy shop and asks to see what’s on sale. Maderva starts to rattle off the various offerings, mentioning that if there’s something specific that she doesn’t have, she can always attempt to make it. She gestures to a painting on the wall next to a large cauldron, “Hey, you need to stir that!” A gentleman’s hand emerges from the painting and begins to stir the pot.

Pele asks for one vial of masterwork alchemy fire and a set of four smoke bombs. Dove breaks out of her captivation and asks for some perfumes. First, she would like to smell like morning summer dew on a grass meadow with a hint of citrus. The second, she requests to smell like a dragon’s fiery breath. Pele hears this and asks for some vials of stinky perfume that might hinder their enemies if they are being chased or followed. She glances sidelong at Dove and adds that maybe they could smell like cat urine. Dove looks offended, but Pele says, “have you smelled your pee?” Maderva jots down some notes and says that she could try to have them ready by tomorrow.

“Do you have any rocks?” Dove asks. Maderva brings out a strange, squishy rock and places it on the counter. Dove skeptically looks it over and carefully pokes at it with her paw. “Would you trade for it?”. The dwarf tries to give it to her free of charge, admitting that she has plenty of it growing in the shop. Dove offers her a scallop shell from her home in Chult, and Maderva takes it, saying that she could make a lovely necklace with it.

Pele sniffs at her clothing and asks after some soap. Maderva lists off the many scents available, and Pele chooses a bar of sage soap. Dove and Pele pay for their items and schedule a time to return for the custom wares. As they leave the shop, Pele balances the bag of purchased goods on top of the book that Kaz is carrying. The goliath sighs and heads back towards the Vergas to offload the items into the carriage and check on Jorge. Holly follows Kaz back to the tavern.

Holly catches up to them at this point, out of breath. “Pele… Swage is in the forge and he needs your help, right now! Something about not being able to go to church until the forge is lit.” He gives her vague directions and only a partially correct name of the forge, and Pele hurries off to find Swage.

She points her finger and tries to message the firbolg. “Swage, it’s Pele. Holly told me that you’re in dire straits and he didn’t give me great directions. I’m in your head, you can respond to this.”

Swage nearly chokes on his cigar as he hears this in his head, never having experienced this form of communication before. He looks around the forge warily as he answers, “I’m in the Artisans of the Anvil. I found a red dragon and he’s gonna let me use the forge for three days. Ten gold! Steal, right?”

Pele sighs and shakes her head. She still didn’t have directions to the place. She stops a well-dressed man and asks him how to get to the Artisans of the Anvil. He looks down his nose at her and points to the south. Pele places a single gold piece in his hand and hurries off in that direction, leaving the gentleman scoffing as he pockets it.

Pele’s shoulders slump as she runs into the Artisans of the Anvil, seeing the forge already lit. She walks up to Swage, who’s already at work smelting Zertis down into ingots. “So, you don’t need any support lighting the forge… that’s what Holly said.”

Swage turns to her and wipes a large forearm across his brow. “Oh… not the forge, but… your weapon. We need to imbue it with our magic once a day for three days.” He prepares a Bless spell as Pele begins the incantations for a powerful fire spell. The two nod at each other and release their magics simultaneously, the Firbolg’s divine spell merging with the Fire Genasi’s Burning Hands spell as they hit the pile of ingots together.

As the metal begins to cool, Swage’s face starts to burn hot. “Pele… if you don’t mind, I need to get a couple of dimensions…” He turns bashfully to his friend and looks to his feet, pushing some coal around with the toes of his shoes. “I need to measure your hand, and your thigh, and… here… you can just do it.”

He goes to hand her the measuring tape as Flametounge steps up and grabs it. “What is wrong with you?” Without hesitation, the Dragonborn pulls all of the necessary dimensions and rattles them off to Swage, who jots them down in his sketchbook. Pele is used to getting fitted for costumes and takes it all in stride. The firbolg avoids eye contact with her as he gets back to work on the ingots.

Back outside the Vergas, Kaz knocks on the door of Estafador’s carriage. After a few long moments, he hears a click as the door unlocks and swings open. “Oh, Kaz! What brings you by?”

“Just came to drop off this book and these potions.” He hefts the large book up to the demon, who easily grabs it with two fingers and lifts it into the carriage. The bag of potions gets stowed away in the carriage as well.

“Will there be anything else? No? Have a great day.” Estafador closes the door quickly.

Kaz says through the closed door, “Have fun!” He walks off in search of a shady area of town, in hopes to learn more about Al Igor and anyone else that might have been involved in stealing his maul. He stalks up to a young woman, unintentionally frightening her with his intensity, and asks her where to find the seedy elements of town, and if she has heard of a person named Boglor. She points him towards the Ghostpass and gives him a bit of information before running off into the fading light of day.

Kaz almost runs off alone in that direction but thinks better of it and heads back to the Vergas to relay the information to Holly. He finds the dwarf sitting alone at the bar, speaking quietly to the innkeeper. Holly turns to watch Kaz enter the tavern, already aware of the Goliath’s heavy-handed interrogation practices in the town. “You know there are easier ways to find people, right?”

“This is what works for me,” Kaz answers with a shrug.

“I’d venture to guess he’s gonna be underground with the pit fights. If you want to meet him, I can probably find some way to meet up with him.” Holly says.

“I think we should probably have the whole group before we go meet him directly. I was looking for information about whether or not he was still in town in the first place.” Kaz’s hands flex around the handle of his vicious maul.

“Oh, he is,” Holly states smugly. “That much I already know.”

“That’s good enough for me,” Kaz says as he files away from the information for later use.

Holly stands up from the bar, reaching a hand into his pocket for some coin to pay his tab when he feels an unexpected, folded piece of paper. He places some silver on the bar and heads to the bathroom.

Kaz sits down and orders the same dwarven dragon stout from the night before and begins to formulate a plan.

Esha decides to head to the magic shop in town.

Back at the forge, Swage is awestruck at being able to meet and work near a red dragon. He attempts to hide the drawings of red dragons he had done in the margins of his notebook.

Esha finds the magic shop and walks inside. She is greeted by a very slender Firbolg that is standing behind the shop's counter.

“Hello, what can I do for you?” the shopkeeper asks.

“I’m looking for some items, I’m trying to cast find familiar, and I need to…” Esha answers.

“Oh! Find Familiar that’s a very good spell!” the shopkeeper says, her interest piqued. “I have some incense and herbs. Do you need some chalk to draw any sigils?”

“I just need some charcoal and a brass brazier,” Esha says.

“Charcoal and a brass brazier? One second!” the Firbolg says as she heads to the next room. She returns from the back and places the items on the counter. “Was there anything else I could get for you?” she asks.

“What else do you have in stock?” Esha says.

“Well, I carry a large assortment of magical items. As well as a selection of items that can help you further your knowledge of the arcane arts. I also have some magic ink and magic paper, for transcribing spells. I also have some potions and a few magical items that I’d be willing to sell.” She says.

“Do you have anything to continue education for druids?” Esha asks.

“Oh! You want some spell scrolls. Anything specific to Circle of Spores?” She says.

“Let me see,” she says as she pulls out a chest from behind the counter full of scrolls and begins to look through them. “Any particular level you’re looking for?”

“Well, I can currently use level two spells, so if I purchase on too high, I won’t be able to use it right away,” Esha says.

“That’s incorrect, you CAN cast spells from any level if you’re using a scroll.” She says

“I do have a Summon Fey, and for druids, I have insect plague. Unfortunately, that’s all I have above level two.”

“Okay, I’ll take the fey scroll and the ingredients I need for Find Familiar,” Esha says.

She hands the Firbolg the money for the items and leaves the shop. She makes her way out of town to prepare and cast her Find Familiar spell.

Dove and Pele meet and begin to look for Cappers' general store.

As they walk Pele tells Dove about her idea to make some money in town by performing.

“I could play my lyre harp,” Dove says excitedly.

“That would be fantastic!” Pele says encouragingly

“I’m really good!” Dove says

“Are you?” Pele says. “Maybe you could just be my hype girl and collect the money.”

“Well, if you need the lyre harp, I’m your girl,” Dove says.

The two finally make it to the Calliope general store, behind the counter is a very elderly-looking human woman.

“Hi!” Dove says.

“Hello.” The woman behind the counter whispers.

“Is Cappers here?” Dove asks.

“Cappers? Uh, yes. Hold on one second. Cappers!” She says turning toward the door to the backroom

“Cappers you have guests.” She continues

“Can I help you?” Cappers asks upon seeing the two women.

From beneath her cloak Dove pulls out a small object wrapped in a blue velvet cloth. She hands the item to Cappers.

“Happy birthday!” Dove exclaims

Cappers opens the gift and inside he finds a small taxidermy mouse wearing a sweater.

“Awww! Thank you! I appreciate this; it will go in my collection of other small taxidermy animals wearing clothes.”

“Also, that piece of fabric? Stolen!” Dove says

“You don’t say,” Cappers says interested

“Well, I stole it from the cloak of a High Elf Noble while they were eating at the Rambutan restaurant in the city of Elion on Evermeet isle. She didn’t even know I did it.”

“Quite dastardly of you,” Cappers says

“Well, we just wanted to check out your shop and tell you happy birthday,” Dove says

“Are you sure you don’t want to buy anything odds and baubles and…” Capper says

“I do have a small list!” Dove interrupts

“Oh! What can we get for you?” Cappers says

“I would like a waterskin, please. Also, a small porcelain saucer or a bowl.”

“I have this stone mortar, it’s kind of like a bowl. Anything else?” Cappers says

“That’ll work,” Dove says

“Hmmmmmm. I see you have a skull. Do you also have bones?” Dove says

“Doesn’t everyone in the store have bones?” Cappers replies

“I was hoping for something small, like from a bird,” Dove says

Cappers thinks for a minute the goes to the back of the store, returning with a display case full of bones. He opens the case and hands a bird bone to Dove.

“This will do,” Dove says

“I’m also looking for some sealing wax.” She says

“Why would you want to put wax on the ceiling?” Cappers asks

“It’s all the trend now, down in Sillea it’s what everyone is doing,” Dove says

“Well, I guess if they’re doing it, they must be idiots,” Cappers says with a laugh

“Hold on one second, let me see what I have.” He continues

He goes back into the back room and returns after a few minutes.

“All I have is this plaster. It’s the only thing I have that has to do with ceilings.”

“I think you and I are talking about different kinds of sealing,” Dove says. “The kind of sealing I’m looking for is how you would seal an envelope closed.”

“Oh, you want some wax! I can do that.” Cappers says

Cappers leaves and returns in a few minutes with three different colored sticks of wax.

“I’ll take the blue one please.” Says Dove

Pele asks, “Do you have any ball bearings here?”

“I do, I have a big bag of balls,” Cappers says

“I need very small balls in a big bag.” Says Pele

Cappers returns with a very large bag full of small metal balls.

“How much?” asks Pele

“These will be five gold,” says Cappers

“I’ll take them,” Pele says handing Cappers the gold.

“Have you celebrated your birthday?” Pele asks

“Well, it's tonight. I think I’ll be hitting the bars. I plan to make a crawl out of it.” Cappers says

“You’ve got people going with you?” Pele asks

“No, it will probably just be me,” Cappers says

“Do you mind if we come with you? When are you going?” Pele asks

“I get off in probably ten minutes,” Cappers says

“By the way,” he says, “Did you hear the news about the giant-looking individual running around and interrogating everyone?”

“What’d he look like?” Pele asks

“Tall, gray-skinned looking individual.” Cappers says, “Haven’t seen anyone like that come into the store.”

“Maybe he found the information he was looking for,” Pele says

“Also, do you have some color pastels? Like art supplies?” Dove asks

“I have some colored chalk, will that do?” Cappers says

“That will be fine,” Dove says

“Well, if that will be all, I’m going to close up shop and begin celebrating. If you two wait outside for me it’ll only be a minute.” Cappers says

## Day Nine, Late Afternoon

Back at the tavern, Holly opens the note that had been placed in his pocket and reads it.

“Good Sir Holly,

Your presence is requested in the underground arena. I trust you remember how to get there. Some rather unscrupulous individuals are requesting your presence immediately.”

The note is signed by The Drunken Bards.

Holly recalls a group called The Drunken Bards which is a very prominent thieves’ group that is active in the area.

Holly heads back to the bar to speak with Tervanas about the location of the underground arena. Careful to avoid eavesdroppers they hold their conversation in Thieves' cant.

“So, I need to get back to the arena,” Holly says

“Oh! You’re going to go back! Are you sure? The last time we spoke…” Tervanas says

“I’ve been requested.” Holly interrupts

“Oh…you’ve pissed some people off then,” Tervanas says

She gives Holly directions to the underground arena, and he heads that way. Kaz watches Holly leave and then turns towards Tervanas.

“Where’s he headed?” Kaz asks

“Oh, your friend? It’s not my place to say, he just asked for directions to a place, and I gave them.” Tervanas says

“Okay,” Kaz says with a shrug. He’s heard Holly use Thieves' cant enough to know it when he hears it and decides to not push it any further. Hopefully, he doesn’t end up in any trouble that he can’t get out of.

As Dove and Pele walk to the first bar with Cappers, who is regaling them with wild stories about all sorts of topics, Dove sees Holly walking fast through an alley.

Pele says, “Wow Cappers, that’s an amazing story.”

Laughing Cappers says, “What can I say, I’ve lived a very full life.”

“Everyone has to know you here.” Says Pele

“Everyone does,” Cappers replies

Pele and Dove begin to grab passers-by asking them if they know Cappers. They amass a small group, but it grows quickly. Some people even join thinking it is some sort of mob and have torches and pitchforks.

Back at the forge Swage wipes the sweat from his brow and continues to forge Pele’s weapon.

Holly approaches the entrance to the arena and the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

A figure steps out of the shadows and says, “Password.”

Holly pulls out the note and holds it up, “I’ve been requested.”

The man takes it and reads it, “Follow me.”

The man knocks a specific pattern on the door and a series of locks and traps can be heard being disarmed. He is led downstairs into a small waiting room before being led into a larger side room. Sitting behind a desk in the room is a rather “plump” Bugbear.

“Holly, my bubby!” the Boglor says, “What are you doing back in my town?”

“To be fair I’m not the same me as when I left,” Holly replies

“I don’t even know what that means,” Boglor says

“I died.”

“We all die, a little each time we do a job.”

“Yeah, well I came back.”

“Okay…” says Boglor raising an eyebrow

“I didn’t stay dead. I was dead dead.” Holly explains, “I’m also suffering from quite a bit of memory loss.”

“Who wouldn’t right? How convenient.” Boglor says incredulously

“Bits and pieces have been coming back. I know I did something you didn’t like.”

“It’s not that I didn’t like it.”

“Somebody didn’t like it.”

“And why is it that your people are killing my people.”

“They stole from him; I wasn’t even a part of that.”

“I told them it wasn’t a good idea; you know how the Green Gator Gang is.”

“Well, everyone knows you’re here, and your friend is even going around town asking about me.”

“Look I don’t care that you’re in town, but I need that money back.”

“As I said, that was the old me dead me. I’m a new person.”

“Look I’m going to level with you. That money didn’t belong to me, it belonged to someone else, and that someone else had marked the money. And now he’s come to collect, and he’s made Pinechill his new home.”

“How much do I owe here?”

“How much? It was like twenty thousand gold pieces.”

“Here’s what I keep coming back to though, I don’t have it. I don’t know where it is. All I know is that I was sneaked out of here and then died.”

“Who do you think helped sneak you out? I thought this whole thing would blow over, I figured he’d be happy with the money he has now.”

“Why would you have snuck me out if I stole your money?”

“It’s not MY money. I just tried to make some more money off it by betting on the fights.”

“So basically, you gambled and lost it and you’re trying to make it my problem.”

“It is your problem. You rigged the fight.”

“I didn’t rig the fight, prove it.”

“Oh, I could, do I need to bring up the hologram. Slipping some stuff into the competitors' drinks.”

“Anyways, this guy Azrael…and he’s not the holy smite type if that’s what you’re thinking. I’ll keep saying you are not here, but if your big friend keeps running his mouth he might come after you himself. I’ve never met someone with such a hard-on for gold.”

Holly opens Swage’s flashlight and asks Skippy if he recognizes the name Azrael. He only knows of one Azrael who was around ten thousand years ago, but it's unlikely to be the same person but doesn’t have any other info.

“You don’t know much then do you?”

“I know a lot more than you think I do. I know Dove has a real issue with certain types of magic. I know Swage prays ALL the time. Pele, I don’t know if it's daddy or god that she has issues with. And Kaz, did you know that he has nightmares. You didn’t know any of that because you don’t pay attention to people.”

“Guess what? Now I know all of that.”

“Shit.”

Holly turns his attention back to Boglor.

“What If I had a meeting with the owner of the money? Or would that be a bad idea?”

“I don’t know, but if you do you should take your big friend with you maybe that would scare this guy.”

“Where is Azrael staying at?”

“He’s set up shop underground by the river.”

“Well, I guess I’m going to go meet with him.”

“What colors do you want at your funeral?”

“Before I leave, what’s the password again?”

“The password? It’s pumpernickel.”

At some point during the meeting, Kaz left the bar and began to look for Holly.

Swage begins to pack up his things and prepares to leave the forge.

“That pipe your smoking smells wonderful. Is it local?”

“Yes actually,” Flametongue says leading Swage out back and showing him the tobacco plants, he’s been growing. “It’s a specific brand from my homeland, called Dragon Tobacco.”

“Could I have some?”

“Certainly, just make sure to dry in then grind or shred in and you can smoke it in a pipe or roll it.”

“Glory to the inspiration divine.” Swage says as he leaves.

He wonders the town a bit not knowing exactly which way to go to get back to the tavern.

Back at the bar crawl Dove stopped after one drink and stuck to water after that. Pele had drunk enough to get a good buzz going. Cappers is starting to slur his words a bit but appears to still be going strong.

Pele begins to play her hand drum with her Mage Hand and dance while using some of her fire magic. Dove pulls a hat out from beneath her cloak and begins to pass it around the tavern. Pele then activates the magic in the Glove to the Grim Fandango and a spectral mariachi band joins her performance.

Swage hears the familiar sound of Pele’s drum and begins to move in that direction and finds the tavern.

## Day Nine, Evening

Kaz walking aimlessly around town looking for Holly. He’s able to find him after about thirty minutes of looking he was able to find him.

“I got worried,” Kaz says walking up to his friend

“It seems we are in a little more trouble than anticipated. That maul was payment for the person whose money we or I chiefly “took”.” Holly says

“There’s a debt that’s owed…”

“We can give him the maul if that’s what they want. They won’t like how they get it though.” Kaz says his grip tightening on his maul

“I don’t think that would go over well.” Holly says “Also stop asking about people, your form of tact is pretty easily detectable. These are people who don’t like being acknowledged. They will kill you.”

“They can try,” Kaz says, a smile growing on his face

“You died once; you now have a soul to protect. You don’t even know whose soul that is. Don’t throw it away aimlessly.” Holly implores

“Well, I’m going back to the tavern to take a bath,” Holly says

They two begin to walk back in silence and after about ten minutes Kaz hears Cappers' party and starts to head in that direction instead.

Seeing that Kaz isn’t following him any longer Holly starts to head for the underground area where the group fought Al Igor, where Azrael is now.

Back at the party, Swage takes a gold piece and tries to fashion a gold cap for Cappers' snaggle tooth. Dove approaches Swage and gives him the items he requested she bought for him. He opens the waterskin and begins to drink…and drink…and drink…and drink taking a while to realize that the waterskin is endless.

Holly enters the tunnel and it's eerily quiet, all he can hear is the water running far below. His heart begins to beat harder and harder the closer he gets to the bottom of the stairs. He makes his way across the previous battlefield and into the next cavern. Careful to keep an eye out for anyone trying to sneak upon him.

As he continues going deeper into the cavern he is surrounded by a dense fog, the only sound now is the splashing of his feet in the water on the floor. As he gets to a fork in the path, he pauses having trouble seeing in the dark, his dark vision only helping so much. He tries to look for any markings that might say which way is the correct way but sees nothing.

“PUMPERKNICKLE!” Holly shouts

As soon as he says that a huge gust of wind almost blows him over and the fog clears.

“WHO. DARES. ENTER.” A voice says softly

Even though the voice is almost a whisper it seems to shake the entire cavern knocking some rocks loose.

“I. SMELL. A. LITTLE. DWARF.” It continues

“That would be correct.”

“AS THE SPIDER ONCE SAID, STEP INTO MY WEB”

The being laughs, “Conversations are good.”

“I’ve come to try and figure everything out.”

“WELL, I WON’T KILL YOU ON THE SPOT, HOW'S THAT?”

“A testament of good faith out of the gate.”

Holly beings to make his way down the left path towards where he thinks the voice is. The floor begins to dry out and he comes to a point where he can begin to see some gleaming light.

“YES, COME.”

As he rounds the bend, he comes face to face with a large blue dragon laying on a mound of treasure. The room is filled with every kind of treasure you could imagine, not just gold and jewels.

“THIS IS QUITE INTERESTING.”

“Didn’t expect me to come to see you did you?”

“NO, BUT YOU MORTALS ALWAYS DO INTERESTING THINGS.”

“We try to keep you on your toes.”

“NOW, YOU’RE THE ONE THEY CALL HOLLY.”

“Yes, seems like some people are blaming me for some things.”

“YOU HAVE THE SMELL OF MY COINS ON YOU.”

“Well, I acquired them from someone not from YOU.”

“YES, SOMEONE DID STEAL THEM FIRST.” The dragon shifts one large claw showing the charred remains of some unfortunate creature. “NOW WHATEVER SHOULD WE DO WITH YOU?”

“I’m not 100% sure. How would you like to hear a story?”

Holly begins to tell Azrael about the green fog and how the party died and came back, and about his memory loss.

“ARE YOU SAYING YOU’RE ONE OF A KIND?”

“Several of a kind. It’s brought some attention on me from something called The Collective.”

Hearing the final words, the dragon stands up to its full height.

“HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT NAME!”

“All I’m saying is that started following me.”

“TO GET TO ME?”

“They think you’re dead. I’m assuming you’re the Azrael they were talking about.”

“I’m interested in making whatever transgression between us, go away and we go about our own business.”

“I DO LIKE MY GOLD AND SHINY THINGS. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO OFFER?”

“I do have one thing,” Holly says as he pulls out the small magic chest. “I haven’t had time to open it and have no idea what is in it.”

The dragon leans down towards the box and blows on the box. A small click is heard, and it begins to open, after a few seconds it also begins to stretch wider and wider. Once the lid is open all the way Holly can see a scepter resting inside. It has a very beautiful crown and a beautiful pommel.

“THIS IS QUITE AN INTERESTING ITEM. DEFINITELY WORTH MORE THAN THE MAUL THAT WAS OFFERED.” The dragon thinks for a bit, “I WILL ACCEPT IT.”

The dragon pulls the box towards itself with its tail and pulls it into the hoard.

“VERY WELL. I SHALL NOT PESTER YOU. JUST REMEMBER IF YOU STEAL FROM ME AGAIN, I WILL FIND YOU. NOW LEAVE, I’M SLEEPY.”

Holly begins to back out of the cavern as the dragon begins to fall asleep. The mound of gold seems to form around the dragon and pull it into itself.

Once out of the cavern Holly opens the flashlight.

“Did you get all that? Azrael isn’t dead. I bet your people would like to know that.”

He seals the flashlight back up and makes his way back to the surface.