Family Fortunes, Gainful Gambling and Auction Action

Return to the city:

* The devil baby was bundled up and sneakily brought inside the city walls by an invisible Elyan
* They all made their way directly to the council chambers, with Kunai grinning maniacally after succumbing to a wand of smiles

Family Reunited:

* Upon seeing their baby, the parents thanked the group through sobs of happiness
* Elyan passed on some gold to the incredibly grateful family, and proposed that they return to Ilbidor for a fresh start somewhere safer
* After expressing his own thanks, Talos got down to business
* It was agreed that the city would provide a carriage and horses in the morning, for transport to the shady auction at the waypoint
* Elyan proposed utilising the bag of manifolding to plant fake versions of the items and thereby disrupt the auction

Delights of the City:

* The group spent a relaxed evening at the Seagull’s Rest, a pleasant city tavern (distinctly nicer than the laughing candle) adorned with bunting and filled with music
* A couple of bouts of gambling saw Bayul and Elyan come out with some juicy profits
* Naturally, Elyan took to the stage and put on a show while Galdor added some flair to the performance with some fabulous tentacle-based moves, vaguely akin to dancing
* A distinctly beveraged Jelly was also found by Blagden at the bar -- after a little more investigation about her draconic parents yielded little, they made sure she eventually made it to bed

The Way to the Waypoint:

* After a solid breakfast — Bayul drove the carriage while Elyan, Kunai and Ash began disguising themselves, Galdor and Grace rode alongside, and Blagden sat atop the roof to keep lookout
* Norris the Dread was born as Elyan transformed Kunai into a majestic black dragonborn -- the others formed his retinue

Business Time:

* Upon arrival to the large, clearly Iysgarthian-esque Inn at the waypoint, the group split
* Galdor, Grace and Bayul remained outside to scope out the surroundings and search for secret exits
* Kunai, Ash, Blagden and Elyan ventured inside; there they noted many travellers of unremarkable dress using the waypoint as it was intended to be, suggesting that it was not being closed off for the auction
* After a slight faux-pas on introducing themselves a little too blatantly, they were discreetly taken aside and given luxurious quarters by a bemused host
* Having settled in, the group were escorted to the auction room itself to browse the available items under the careful watch of several guards
* The room featured around a dozen stands, each adorned with magic items of different varieties, including clothing, armour pieces, weapons, jewellery, musical instruments, chalices and a mirror, among which were several of the guild’s items
* Blagden, in his guise as the Madam, went completely undetected as he deftly switched out a gem, amulet (both guild items) and ring for fake versions from the bag
* Norris the Dread announced loudly how beautiful he found a particularly expensive magical sword (known to be a guild item) and his intentions toward purchasing it
* Meanwhile, team outdoors were taking their task a little less seriously — in exploring the surroundings and coming across a dense woodland, Galdor suggested a spot of hunting
* After stalking through the woods for about half an hour unsuccessfully, they came across a mighty boar sipping from a stream
* Bayul distracted it and took the brunt of its charge on his shield while Galdor and Grace made short work of it, puncturing the muscular neck with precisely aimed arrows
* They hauled this prize back to the tavern and were greeted extremely warmly as they donated it to the kitchen, being given a room free of charge for their trouble
* They stayed in their simple room while the others, further upstairs and in greater luxury, investigated the magical items they’d retrieved — Blagden found that having place the ring on his finger it could not be removed, while the amulet was found to be a Medallion of Thoughts and the stone a Gem of Seeing