Session 12 (11/19/2021)

## **Day Eight, Evening**

**The** sullen adventurers sit in their bunks as Estafador snaps the reins, and the carriage continues towards Pinechill. Pele checks on the distraught Dove, hoping to cheer her up. Swage and Kaz sit in silence, their brows furrowed in anger.

Gary announces to the group that he has been called by Myrkul and must leave immediately. As he bids goodbye to his friends, he bequeaths his possessions to them, one by one, To Dove, he gives his Ring of Finger Guns, his set of thieves’ tools, two burlap sacks, his sewing kit, and a small rodent skull. Swage receives his shield and leather armor. Gary gives Pele the skeleton key they found in Shasta’s manor. To Kaz, he offers his Ring of Necrotic Resistance. Holly accepts Gary’s disguise kit, and Esha takes his carrots, mushrooms, and sugar cubes. Gary offers the mason jars containing the red wine that once held the shaman’s decapitated head, and much to his surprise, there are no takers. He keeps the current jar containing the shaman’s head tucked inside his robe. He was not parting with that. Gary gives his final farewell, steps out of the carriage, and closes the door behind.

Dove sits in her bunk and watches the small, hunched form shuffle towards the tree line. She quickly loses sight of him as he blends in with the forest’s evening shadows. Dove sighs heavily. She’s going to miss that strange guy.

Her gaze lingers out the window for a few moments before she snaps back to reality. Dove sits up and opens the Demonomicon, easily flipping to a page featuring the photo of the monster that had crawled out of the portal. She sniffles, clears her throat, and reads the information aloud.

The creature was a Bone Devil, a kind of lesser devil that’s driven by cruelty, lust, envy, and hatred. They relish in seeing their “friends” demoralize, debase, and vilify each other, and are dangerously smart. Although they carry bitter envy of their superiors, they are also disgusted by groveling attempts to curry favor with those superiors. Bone devils stink of decay and rot. Their bodies are composed of bones and stretched dried skin. They use their claws and polearm hooks to subdue enemies, and their bony tail barbs are venomous. These devils were resistant to any bludgeoning, slashing, piercing, or cold damage that wasn’t delivered by magical or silvered attacks and are completely immune to fire and poison attacks.

“Thanks. I’m going to be seeing those things in my nightmares,” Pele replies.

Dove mimics the clattering noise of the bone devil and wiggles her clawed fingers at Pele.

Pele covers her ears and closes her eyes, and laughs out for Dove to stop.

Dove smiles and returns to the Demonomicon as Pele addresses the group. She wants to hear Morthos’ side of the story before the group acts against him. She also wants to do occasional scans with the spyglass to look for other skulls who may be following them or anything else that has been magically hidden. She looks over at Holly and sees the tiny skull peek out from behind Holly’s shoulder.

“Hello,” Pele says.

“Oh!” says Skeletor, startled. “Just pretend I’m not here!”

“We wish you weren’t,” Dove, Swage, and Kaz reply nearly in unison.

Skeletor cringes a bit, and Pele asks him if he would be able to identify Morthos or know if he was near. He replies that he’s not capable of that, as he was not the one who put a mark on Morthos.

The group suddenly remembers the small chest they had removed from the troll’s fetid bag of “snacks.” The chest still has a sheen of residue on its smooth surface. There is a seam where the chest opens, but no locks or clasps are visible. Holly attempts to pry the chest open, but his fingers can’t find a hold and slip right off the chest. He hands the chest and a crowbar to Kaz, but the Goliath also fails to open the stubborn chest. Pele looks intently at the chest in Kaz’s hands and can sense that there is either a magical force or a powerful object holding this chest closed. Swage takes the chest from Kaz and holds it in his hands. He uses his Firbolg magic to determine that the chest is bewitched with aberration magic. Dove offers to bite it open and hears a chorus of “NO” in return.

Pele asks if Estafador might be able to open the chest for them. He replies that a Dispel Magic spell might do it, but they would need to ask a cleric or someone similar since he didn’t know how to perform that spell. Skeletor boldly proclaims that he could use his Fireball on the chest until Swage calls him out on his boast and reminds him that the group knows he can’t do that spell.

The carriage has nearly arrived at the town’s gates, so the adventurers decide to leave the chest in the carriage until they can think of another way to access it. Estafador begins to slow the horses as two guards step out from their posts. One guard is a massive, ape-like creature with dark fur. The other guard is more on the scrawny side and looks like a wild cat from an arid, desert climate. Both are dressed in chainmail and clean, nice-looking tunics. They each hold a spear and a shield.

The scrawny dog steps forward. “Halt!”

Estafador brings Neigh One and Neigh Two to a stop and looks down at the guards. He can see a gleaming white tooth jutting out of one side of the guard’s mouth.

The guard calls up to him. “We need to inspect this carriage! Everyone steps out! Jon Jon–get the town log and write down everyone’s name.”

The large, furry guard pulls out a tattered journal and walks over to the carriage.

Pele opens the door and is the first to step out of the carriage. “I’m Pele Malietoa,” she proudly declares. Jon Jon writes down her name, but the smaller guard remarks that her fiery hair makes her stand out. Dove is the next out of the carriage, and the guard seems awed by her dark red cloak. He remarks that she looks like royalty and that he feels like he knows her from somewhere. Esha follows Dove and gives her name as Esha’Arat. Joe and the dog-like guard pause and look at each other. The talkative guard says he has no idea how to spell that, and Jon Jon just shrugs. Esha moves to the side as Holly steps down from the carriage.

“My name is Lurholin Keystone, but everyone calls me Holly,” he announces.

The guard thinks Lurholin is a cooler-sounding name and nods to Jon Jon as he writes it down in the book.

Inside the carriage, Swage whispers to Skeletor that he needs to get back inside the flashlight. As Swage re-attaches the flashlight to his armor and moves to join his companions, he hits his head on the doorframe of the carriage. He staggers a bit, then stands up straight. The small guard asks him why he has so much metal, and Swage replies by complementing the guard’s snaggletooth.

“Looks like you keep it pretty clean!”

The guard looks at him, unsure of what to say.

“I bet it makes it hard to eat corn,” Swage continues.

“What is corn?” the guard asks.

“Oh! So you don’t know what it is either!” Swage laughs.

The guard brushes it off and asks Swage his name.

“I’m Swage,” the Firbolg replies.

“Okay, what’s your last name?” asks the guard.

“Last name?” Swage asks. “Wish I knew!”

Jon Jon writes “Swage Wishiknew” on the town log.

The carriage groans as Kaz steps out. The small guard looks up wide-eyed as the Goliath towers over him.

“Gods!” the guard exclaims. “We don’t even need to know your name! You are HUGE!”

As Jn Jon finishes up with the logbook, Swage asks the guard what his name is.

The guard tries to annunciate, but between his snaggletooth and the adventurer’s fatigue and distraction, it takes a while to communicate clearly. “It’s CAPPERS,” he finally manages to tell the group.

Kaz tries not to laugh, and Pele asks Cappers about Pinechill and what’s the latest happenings around town.

Cappers advises the group to stay away from the west side of town. Many houses have been abandoned, and rumors are spreading around town about ghosts.

Pele presses and asks if the homes were left abandoned after a green cloud affected the area. Cappers says there was no green cloud, but he knows another town that was affected that way and deduces that the group must have traveled from Seidan. Pele uses the opportunity to garner sympathy from the guards. She looks up to Cappers with wide, watery eyes and describes the group’s harrowing flight from the deadly green cloud. She sniffles a bit and looks down at the ground.

Cappers immediately takes a softer tone. He reassures Pele that the group will be safe within the Pinechill walls and offers her his cloth handkerchief. Pele accepts it gratefully. Addressing the adventurers, Capper tells them that no one in town knows why the homes were abandoned. He had heard his supervisors discussing the murder of the town’s magistrate. She was found murdered inside a locked room. She had been stabbed in the heart, but no murder weapon was recovered and there was no other evidence inside the room. Only after her death did the rumors of ghosts start to spread around town.

Swage asks what the magistrate’s role in town is. Cappers explains that the magistrate oversaw the town’s guards, the judicial system, and the town’s jail. Without the magistrate, the city’s guard captain has been temporarily placed in charge of these departments, and anyone accused of a crime is taken directly to jail without a trial. The guard captain now spends most of their days in meetings with the town’s lord and is rarely seen by the other guards. The lord lives in the castle, but Cappers can’t remember their name. This lord is new, as the capital sends a new lord to Pinechill every ten years.

Kaz asks Cappers if a Tiefling named Morthos happened to pass through these gates. Joe flips through the pages of the log. He leans close to Cappers’ ear, and although Kaz can see Jon Jon’s mouth move, there is no sound. Pele takes advantage of Cappers’ distraction and stuffs the handkerchief in her pocket.

Cappers replies that no Morthos has been in Pinechill, but he will be more than happy to let Morthos know that he has people expecting him if he does turn up. In a panic, the group tells Cappers that Morthos can \*not\* know anyone is looking for him…. because… it’s a surprise! The group missed his birthday this year and wants to throw him a surprise party. Cappers smiles happily and tells them that it happens to be his birthday in a few days. Dove gasps quietly to herself. She loves birthdays.

Holly asks about a guild called the Ham Hocks, but Cappers had never heard of any such organization. He does warn the group about a place called the Adventurers’ Guild that’s usually full of rowdy individuals. He’s only been near it, as town guards are not allowed inside.

As Cappers speaks to Holly, Pele focuses on the town gates. She \*knows\* she has seen them before, but when. She closes her eyes and thinks back. A vague memory starts to form. She, Swage, Dove, and Holly passed through these gates as they left town… but Holly didn’t walk through the gates. He was hidden inside a cart. Where were they going? Why were they leaving? And why was Holly hiding?

Pele sways a bit before she opens her eyes and looks at Cappers.

“We’re very tired. Where can we find a good place to spend the night?” she asks him.

Cappers still feels a soft spot for these “refugees,” and suggests a tavern called Vargas. It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but it’s run by a kind gnome named Tervanas who provides good food, strong drink, and comfortable quarters. He advises them to let her know that Cappers says hello, and she’ll take good care of them.

Before he lets the carriage pass through the gates, Cappers reads the rules of the town. No caustic materials are allowed in the town, and neither are acids unless they are used for tools. No monsters are permitted inside the walls, and if anyone sees a person with a pure black obsidian dagger, the guards must be notified right away. Holly, Dove, and Pele show their daggers but wonder about this very specific rule. Otherwise, Capper says, they should enjoy their time in Pinechill and should feel free to come to him with any questions or concerns they have. He guards the gate at night, but during the day, he works at the general store.

The adventures load back into the carriage. Cappers shuts the carriage door behind them and waves them through the gate.

Back inside the carriage, Pele tells the group that she can remember being in this town before with Swage, Dove, and Holly. Kaz suddenly remembers that he has been here too, but had a different experience. He was part of a fight club operating underneath the town, and he remembers Holly.

The mention of a fight club jogs Holly’s memories. He can recall gambling on the fights and putting Kaz in a fight to secure a bit more coin for the party. He had won three bets in a row, and in the fourth bet, he won against someone who did not take the loss graciously. He can’t remember if he had bet on Kaz to win or to lose, and all he can recall of the angry bettor is their hands and feet.

Kaz feels reinvigorated at the memory of the fight club and can’t wait to get back down below the city and into some fights. Swage is distracted by how desperate he is for a bath and a clean set of clothes.

Estafador follows the instructions from Cappers, and soon the carriage pulls up in front of a modest building made of thatched masonry. A balcony juts out from the second floor, and music and light spill out of the windows. The adventurers file out of the carriage. They can hear lively music and spirited conversations inside, and the whole street smells like delicious roasting meat. Swage hands the flashlight containing Skeletor to Holly and leads the group in through the doors.

As the party approached the doors of the Vergas tavern, they are greeted by a hooded figure.

He holds up a hand and says, “I’m sorry, can I help you all?”

Caught off guard from not being allowed to enter, Pele says, “Yes, we were hoping to get some rooms.”

“Oh, in that case, you’ll want to talk to the barkeep. I am Tevantes, a bouncer of sort for the tavern. There are a few rules that we request you to follow here. Rule one, no fighting. Rule two, no gambling, since that often leads to fighting. Rule three, drink responsibly because again there is no fighting allowed.”

The party agrees and Swage replies, “No more fighting today. We’ve had our fill of that. Let us know if you need any help though, let us know.”

Pele thinks for a second and says, “Tevantes–Tervanas, are you guys twins?”

Tevantes says, “No, Tervanas is my betrothed. She owns the tavern. I’m not allowed to own property in the city, you see.” He pulls his hood back, showing the dark skin and violet eyes of a Drow.

Seeing this, Holly’s face drops, and he walks towards the bar. Kaz follows behind him, and soon everyone else does as well except for Swage. Swage makes his way to the stage, where a band is playing some music. He drops three gold into the tip jar, seeing this one of the musicians jumps from the stage and immediately begins to dance around him. “Thank you, kind sir!” he continues to dance and Swage just looks confused. He starts making his way back to his friends.

As she’s about to walk through the door, Esha’s sword begins to react to the elf’s presence. She grasps her sword and feels fiery heat course through her arms. “Kill! Death! They all must die!”, Erinaceus’ words echo in her mind. She forces herself away from the door and reprimands the sword, saying that she must lie low and can’t kill EVERY elf they encounter.

Remembering the burning sensation in her arm, she asks, “What else can you do?”

“I can do many things,” Erinaceus replies, “I can wreath myself in flames to deal extra damage to our enemies. I’m also able to convince others to fight for us.”

“That’s very good to know,” Esha says as she makes her way back to the tavern. She hurries in, keeping a tight grip on Erinaceus and hurrying past Tevantes.

Back in the tavern, Pele asks Tervanas about rooms.

“I have three different types of rooms available. The first comes with bunk beds and is a shared room. It's fifteen copper. The second is our most common room. It's basic, but you’ll have it to yourself. It's two silver. Lastly, I have our nicest rooms that go for one gold each.” She looks at the party expectantly as they discuss the choices amongst themselves.

“Do any of your rooms have beds big enough for me?” Swage asks.

“Well, I could give a room with two beds and you could push them together,” Tervanas replies.

The group chooses their rooms. Kaz takes the cheapest. Swage and Holly both get into one of the mid-quality rooms. Pele, Dove, and Esha choose to share one of the highest quality rooms.

“Anything else I could help you with?” Tervanas asks.

“I’ll take the strongest drink you have in the biggest tankard,” Kaz replies. The ale he took from Shasta’s house had only gone so far.

“Actually,” Holly cuts in, “I’ll be buying a round of Dwarven Stout for the party. I owe them one.”

“Would that be regular stout or dragon stout?” Tervanas asks.

“Well, it’s a special occasion, so let’s go with the dragon,” Holly says.

In an instant, Tervanas pulls a large mug from underneath the bar. It almost appears to be a small keg with the top removed and a handle bolted on. She reaches underneath and pulls out a hose and immediately begins to fill up the barrel. She’s able to push it towards Kaz, who pulls it the rest of the way to himself. She pulls out five more mugs and fills those as well.

Before they begin to drink, everyone but Kaz decides to take their things to their respective rooms. Kaz stays behind and begins to work his way through his giant-sized mug.

Once in their rooms, Pele asks Esha about what happened when they first entered the bar.

“My scimitar knows certain things and doesn’t like elves any more than I do. This is why…”

Although hesitant at first, Esha begins to tell Pele her backstory.

“I was created by elves, on the island of Elna Dorei, as a tool for war. Once they were done with me, they locked me up and spent the rest of the time torturing me. One day, a wizard appeared and killed the general in charge and quite a few of his soldiers.” At this, her anger begins to show, “Not only did the wizard steal my revenge, but he left as quickly as he had appeared. He left me to take the blame for the deaths, so now I’m on the run and in hiding.”

“You know we’re going to be in a lot of towns, and I’m sure we’ll run into more elves. Does the sword need to stay in timeout while we’re in the towns?” Pele asks.

“Time out?” Esha asks, confused.

“Yes, like a punishment. So it feels shame and behaves.” Pele replies.

“I don’t think it feels shame, actually, but I get your point,” Esha says.

With that, Pele starts to head out the door and back downstairs. Over her shoulder, she says, “Remember, you’re the boss of that sword.”

Back at the bar, the party finds that Kaz is already halfway through his giant drink. Everyone else takes a seat at the bar and begins to drink themselves. Dove begins to lap her drink up like a cat, to the amusement of the group and other tavern patrons. Thinking the gesture she had seen Kaz use earlier towards the flameskulls is friendly, she begins to flip off everyone in the tavern.

Pele pushes her hand down and quickly whispers, “Dove! That’s an obscene gesture, you don’t want to do that here.”

Hearing Pele explain what it means and seeing Dove’s face, Kaz bursts out laughing and finishes his drink.

Swage makes his way to the bath area behind the tavern. He strips off his armor, which still smells of the troll vomit, and lays it out to be cleaned. He stares at the tub for a bit, never having taken a bath before as far as he remembers, and then slips into the water. He scrubs himself clean, then lights a cigar and lays back in the tub.

Not long after, he walks back into the tavern clothes only in a bathrobe and slippers and finishes his drink as well.

Kaz and Dove are the first to finish, but their drinks do little more than give them a buzz. Pele fairs slightly worse and is rather intoxicated. Swage and Holly finish theirs and, having eaten nothing all day, immediately pass out.

Dove hops off her stool and begins to look for Estafador. She finds him already sitting at a table in the tavern and holds out her hand, asking him for a dance. He obliges and the two head towards the dance floor.

Pele, slurring her words a bit, takes one look at her town friends and says, “What a bunch of losers.”

Kaz gets up to go and take his bath, and as he’s walking past Holly, whose mug is still raised in the air, he sees it has some drink left. He attempts to pry it from Holly’s hand, but the dwarf's grip is too tight. About to walk away, Kaz has an idea. He picks up Holly’s entire body and tips it over, pouring the rest of the drink directly into his mouth. He gently sets the dwarf back down and continues to the bath.

Once in the bathing area, Kaz removes what little clothing he normally wears. He was able to miss most of the troll vomit, but enough got on him that he can still smell it. He grabs Jorge in one hand and his clothes in the other and gives them both a quick wash in the tub. He hangs his clothes up and sets Jorge down, who immediately shakes himself off, turning into a puffball.

Kaz then gets into the tub himself, and after cleaning, dozes off for a bit.

Pele, wanting to find someone to talk to, but not remembering who it was she was looking for, makes her way out the back of the tavern. She passes by the bathing area and into the alley behind. She sees two men, one of them talking in hushed tones and the other nodding their heads. Unable to make out what they are saying, she tries to move closer but is spotted. One of them sees her and takes off running back into the main street.

“Can I help you?” the man says.

“I don’t know, can you help me?” Pele replies.

“Well, there are lots of things I could do. But you miss, look like you’ve had maybe a little too much to drink.”

“I’ve only had one drink, I am okay.”

“Only one?”

“Yup, just the one drink. I came out here to talk to someone, but now I’ve forgotten who it was I wanted to talk to. Who were you talking to? Wait, who are you?”

“Who I am isn’t important, but you should probably get back inside.”

Pele leans back and crosses her arms, trying to imitate Kaz’s intimidating look. “You can’t tell me what to do.”

“Do you need medical attention?”

“Do YOU need medical attention?” Pele tries to lean against the wall and stumbles a bit. She then summons her Mage Hand and attempts to high-five herself, but misses that as well.

“How about I just escort you back inside? I don’t want you to injure yourself… or someone else.”

Hearing the kind offer, Pele’s mood softens. She extends a hand towards the man and says, “My name is Pele.”

“Well, I do appreciate your candor, Pele. I am Thomas. Please allow me.” He says as he slips his arm under Pele’s and walks her back to the bar. After entering the carefully step over Swage, and Holly who’s now laying on the floor mug still raised in the air.

“What would you like to drink Thomas,” Pele says.

“A honey mead please.”

“Make that two,” Pele says to Tervanas

“Are you sure you should have more? Have you ever had mead before?” Thomas says.

“How long have you lived in Pinechill?” Pele asks.

“Oh, not too long. Only about ten years or so.”

“You don’t look old.”

“W-well thank you,” He continues, “You look quite… fiery. I’ve never met someone with flaming hair, and very interesting skin I must say.”

“I’ve had it my whole life.”

“I hope so. That would be very awkward if you just recently got that.”

“I know right! Can you imagine someone wearing someone else’s skin?”

“Nope, I can’t. That would be kind of creepy and gross.” Thomas says.

“Very creepy!” Pele says.

Their conversation continues for a bit longer. With Thomas revealing that he owns a meadery in town, although the mead they were drinking isn’t own made by him. He just happens to like the flavor of this one.

Underneath their feet, Swage begins to stir. “Le-lest-Lester restoration,” he slurs and rolls over. Nothing seems to happen at first, a minute later though Holly beings to sit up and rub his eyes. Wondering where the rest of his drink had gone.

“Would your friend outside like a drink? He looked really scared of me. Is it because of my hair?” Pele asks.

“No. I have no idea why he’d run off like that. It's not like things happen in the city at night.” Thomas replies.

“Looked like you guys were taking a piss together,” Pele says with a small laugh.

“No, no. Nothing so indecent, he’s an employee of mine and was just asking some questions.”

Pele looks around and sees Dove still dancing with Estafador.

“Hey Dove!” she shouts across the tavern, “I can juggle…”

“Do it!” Dove says, cutting her off.

“Fireballs!” Pele finishes

Dove thanks Estafador for the dance, and Pele pays Thomas for the drink. And they both rush out the back.

“Your friends are quite the characters if I do say so, my dwarven friend,” Thomas says as he watches them leave.

“Never a dull moment,” Holly replies.

“I can see that. What is the story with him?” Thomas says, nodding towards Swage.

“He had what I was having,” Holly replies.

Holly hops off his stool and begins to smack Swage around a bit to wake him up. He comes to and asks for some food to put in his belly.

“I do have some stew, but you may want to cover up sweetie,” Tervanas says. “I’m not saying I don’t enjoy the show, but the other patrons might not.”

“I think the band likes it.” Swage says.

“W-what?” Tervanas stammers.

“The band, they like it.” Swage repeats.

“The band?” Tervanas says with a look of confusion on her face.

“THE BAND! Where’s that little guy that was dancing around?” Swage says, slightly irritated.

Realizing what Swage has been saying, Tervanas replies, “Are you talking about the performers?”

“Yup!”

“She’s trying to tell you that your robe is on backward Swage,” Holly says.

“I’ll just go get that food now,” Tervanas says as she hops off the stepstool she uses to see over the counter. She returns with a bowl full of stew, an entire loaf of bread, and a potato with many toppings on it. Swage immediately digs into the stew and bread but is hesitant to try the potato, having never eaten one before.

Holly pulls out five gold pieces and slides them across the bar to Tervanas, “Here, this should cover the drinks and food and robe and anything else we need for the rest of the night.”

“Thank you!” she says as she quickly picks them up from the counter.

“You look like that kind of person that knows how to increase one’s pockets,” Tervanas says to Holly while looking around to make sure no one is listening.

“So… we were told no gambling. There’s a fellow over there that stressed that.” Holly replies.

“Oh yes! My husband, don’t mind him. I was wondering if you’d be interested in going to an underground area?”

“Full disclosure. I think I’ve been there, and I don’t think it ended well.”

“Oh really!” She says and then continues the conversation in Thieves Cant.

“I don’t know, but the last time we were here I had to be smuggled out of town.”

“What did you do?”

“There was some gambling, there was some fighting. The big guy? I got him into some fights. There was some guy that didn’t take kindly to us winning so much money. It was dark, though, and I don’t even remember who he was. Maybe you know what happened?”

“The gentleman you were describing, was he dressed nice? Did he have big hands?”

“He sat in a booth.”

“Did he have people around him?

“Probably, he sat in a booth.”

“The gentlemen you dealt with is of a different faction. So, taking his pocket made him lose favor with certain individuals. Either he is running for his life or looking for your head. Depending on how much you took from him, and since you had to be smuggled out, I’m guessing it was a large sum.”

“Yeah, still doesn’t ring any bells. Any chance you could find out if anyone knows anything about something a dwarf did.”

“I’ve been avoiding the fights myself. I owe some money you see, so that’s why I mentioned it to you early. I thought maybe we could help each other out. I do know that the gentleman you mentioned, if it’s the same person, goes by the name Boglor. Now I haven’t met him, but I’ve been told he’s a Bugbear. Not the smartest, but the brawnier of the goblinoid race.”

Tervanas sees Swage eyeballing the potato and brushing off some green stuff, “It’s just garnish dear, you can eat it it's fine.”

Holly replies, “It’s just onions, but they’re green onions. They’re fine to eat,”

Holly turns back to Tervanas and says, “I do have one other question. What’s with the whole obsidian dagger thing?”

“That I don’t know. From what I understand, someone had an obsidian dagger stolen in town, and it was immensely powerful. So, it’s not so much you can’t have one, just that they are looking for someone who does have one.”

“So, odds are it still in the town somewhere.” Holly muses.

“Most likely yes.” Tervanas agrees.

“I wouldn’t mind having a dagger with immense power,” Holly says.

“You know what they say about immense power?” Tervanas says. “It only begets more power.” She finishes with a smirk.

“Well, let me know if you change your mind about the fights. Maybe we can sneak you in the back.” Tervanas continue quickly.

“I don’t think you get many dwarves here; I’d probably stick out,” Holly replies.

Tervanas says, “Oh, you’d be surprised. We do get a lot of Duergar. We could disguise you as one of them.”

“That sounds awful,” Holly says.

Tervanas retorts, “I mean, have you looked at yourself lately?”

Holly looks down at himself and says, “Good point, I probably should take a bath.”

“It was great! You should take one.” Swage says. “Are my clothes clean yet?”

“They’ve been clean for a while now dear,” Tervanas says, glancing at the Firbolg.

“I’m going to go get them dirty again.” Swage says as he heads upstairs to bed.

Out back, Pele has begun her impromptu show. She begins by making three fireballs appear in her hands one at a time. She begins to juggle and does fine for a bit, only dropping a few balls and playing it off like it's part of the show. Dove, Estafador, and Kaz, who joined on his way back in from his bath, are sitting in the grass enjoying the show. Pele finishes the show and receives a round of applause from her friends.

Afterward, Pele looks up at the sky, trying to see the moon. She’s not able to find it in the sky at all.

“Kaz! I can’t see the moon.” Pele says, sounding upset.

“I think it’s more likely that you just can’t see it from where we are standing,” Kaz says, trying to reassure his friend.

Pele starts to get upset and pulls out Capper’s handkerchief and blows her nose. She notices that is covered with Capper’s fur and pulls a piece out of his nose. She heads inside to go to bed and stops at the bar to say goodnight to Thomas, but he left not long after Holly and Tervanas started to speak in Thieves Cant.

“Want another drink, Pele?” Holly asks.

“No, I think I’m going to head to bed. I feel a fire in my belly already.” Pele replies.

Holly says, “You’re always on fire though.”

“You’re right!” Pele says, laughing, and heads upstairs.

Pele makes her way into her room and falls into her bed. She lands on top of a cold metal object and fishes it out from underneath her. The object was Esha’s scimitar, Erinaceus.

“This is the thing that talks,” Pele says as she walks it to the dresser. She holds it up to her ear and doesn’t hear anything.

“Be good,” she says in Primordial as she climbs into bed.

Back in Swage’s room, he has pushed both beds together to make one large bed. The room is fairly basic, but there are some books on the nightstand and a washbasin with a pitcher of water. Swage grabs the pitcher of water and drinks it all in one gulp. He climbs into bed and falls asleep.

Kaz walks into his room and sees two bunk beds in the room. One set is already taken by two people, but the other is empty. Kaz looks at the free beds and shrugs and lays his sleeping mat out on the floor. He places his maul right next to it and takes a pillow and blanket from one of the free beds for Jorge to sleep on.

Dove and Holly both take baths before heading to bed. They both also have their clothes laundered. Dove walks back into the tavern “naked”, only wearing clothes in the first place because it's socially acceptable, not because of any actual need to cover anything up.

When she gets to the room, she tucks Pele in and leaves a glass of water near the bed. She then crawls into bed, curls up, and falls asleep as well.

## **Day Nine, Morning**

The party awakens to the smell of breakfast, some of them worse for wear. The smell of food makes Swage start to feel nauseous and says a quick prayer to Gond and casts Lesser Restoration on himself. Careful to pronounce it correctly this time. He almost immediately starts to feel better and begins to get ready for what will hopefully be the party's first day off in a while.

Kaz wakes up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and petting Jorge. He stretches a bit and reaches over to where he had lain the maul the night before. His fingers grasp nothing but air, however. Almost immediately, he feels his rage start to build and lets out a roar as he bursts from his room.

“WHO TOOK MY HAMMER!”

His yell echoes throughout the tavern and a small crowd begins to form around the angry barbarian.

Pele hears the shout, and her eyes grow wide. “Oh my god! That’s Kaz!”

Dove, who was already heading out the door, says, “I’ll go find him!”

She meets Swage and Holly in the hallway and they all head downstairs. Pele heads down as well, but to the baths instead, still feeling the effects of her drinking from the night before.

Dove, Holly, and Swage find Kaz surrounded by a small group of tavern goers. They can see him growing angrier by the second and they begin to try to calm him down. Holly enters the room to begin investigating, and Swage asks Kaz, “Where’s the last place you remember having it?”

“It never leaves my side, ever.”

“Do… do you sleep with it?” Dove asks.

“Well, I sleep next to it,” Kaz says, calming down.

From the bath Pele messages Dove, “Ask him who was in the room with him.”

Dove's ears perk up and she gets very excited. She’s never had someone talk to her like this before.

Dove looks up at Kaz and says, “Pele wants to know who you shared a room with last night?”

As soon as she finishes talking, the Goliath whirls around and faces the two people he shared a room with last night. One being a Harengon and the other a Tortle. The Harengon, who is cleaning his long ears, says “What are you looking at me for? I didn’t steal your hammer. I was sleeping all night just like everyone else.”

“Did you hear anything?” Swage asks.

“Oh, yeah, let's ask the guy with the big ears ‘did you hear something’” The Harengon says angrily.

The Tortle shrinks into his shell and bit and says, “I… didn’t… see… anything.”

Kaz, thinking the Tortle is acting suspicious, backs him up against the wall and picks him up by the lip on the back of his shell. Picking him up so they are face to face.

“Can… I… help… you?” the Tortle says, shrinking back into his shell.

“Are you SURE you didn’t see anything?” Kaz says threateningly.

“I’m… sure.” The sound echoes inside the Tortle’s shell.

Kaz sets him back on the ground, satisfied that he wasn’t the culprit.

Back inside Kaz’s room, Holly finds a sticky substance on the ground where the hammer had been. Holly picks it up and tastes a bit of it, it tastes very bitter. Dove sniffs the substance so she can follow the smell and to her, it smells very medicinal. She follows the smell out to the main street and then it begins to fade away. Kaz stops at Estafador’s carriage and picks up his old maul.

“What does it smell like, Dove? Can you tell what kind of plant it comes from?” Kaz asks.

“I know it’s used for medical purposes to prevent infections, but I don’t know what plant it is,” Dove replies.

Swage stands with his friends and closes his eyes and begins to think about Kaz’s maul. He thinks about the way it looked, the way his friend used it in battle, and how much damage it dealt to the ice worms and troll. With all this information in his mind, he casts the Locate Object and immediately sees the maul in the water in front of the castle. The party makes their way over there, and Pele uses her Mage Hand to try to retrieve the hammer. She is unsuccessful so Kaz dives into the water to get it himself. He can’t find the hammer, but he does see a doorway of some kind.

He returns to the surface to take another deep breath of air and dives back down and attempts to open the door. Even with all his strength, he is unable to make the door move.

He climbs back out of the pond and rejoins his friends. While he was underwater, Holly had begun to search for another way to get below ground. He spots a statue with drag marks on the ground near it and gives it a push. It begins to slide out of the way and reveal a set of stairs. He tells the party about his discovery and the group begins their descent.