Several days later, the party had met back in the tavern to
plan their next move. Although they had defeated the initial goblin attack and
had received their just rewards, they had acquired little useful treasure, so
they did not know whether they would be able to handle the situation ahead.
Thus, they decided to take advantage of the lull in the action, exploring the
town and gathering knowledge, allies, and equipment for the battle ahead. Yet
they did not have much time – the forces of evil would soon march on them. At
this point, Lem was thinking that maybe when he was singing about his bravery
in defeating the goblin dog, he should have omitted the part about how he threw
his ally under the bus in the first encounter…
Harsk felt a tug on his pouch, and quickly turned back
around to see who it was. It was a pickpocket, who was just about to make off
with some of his gold! He wrestled the pickpocket to the ground to stop him, and
had gotten angry and was ready to kill him, when Lem began to sing:
You’ve got the prize,
you’ve got the prize! He can help us too!
‘Cause the dungeons
got plenty of traps – he can keep us out of deep doo-doo!
So they agreed that they wouldn’t press charges if the
burglar agreed to join their band. Startled, Harsk looked around the tavern, to
see if any other danger was afoot. He didn’t see any, but did find a friendly
cleric in the corner of the tavern who was selling healing scrolls. He took a
few coins and purchased one. He also looked around and saw a weapons merchant
who was selling some longbows. Yeah, merchants of adventuring supplies were
coming out of the woodwork now that the town was shifting from a precarious
peace footing to more of a war-against-the-monsters footing. Harsk called
Valeros over, and they checked out the equipment. Harsk tried the longbow, and
he just wasn’t strong enough to get the most use out of it – he preferred to
stick to the crossbow. Valeros was stronger, and could pull the bow back all
the way, but he would rather stick with his melee training.
“I’m heading off to the general store to see what’s there,”
Valeros told the rest of his party.
When he got there, the shopkeeper told him about the store’s
latest promotion. “To celebrate the defeat of the goblins, we’re offering
random prizes! Spin the Wheel of Luck and watch where it lands. Whichever item
it lands on, you will have the opportunity to compete in a challenge to win
that prize!”
“Can’t I just, you know, buy stuff?” Valeros asked.
“What do you think we are, just a simple store? No, of
course not! Try your hand at the Wheel of Luck!” Valeros spun the Wheel of Luck
and it landed on a healing potion. The shopkeep brought out several vials of
weird colored liquid.
“Alchemy challenge! If you can figure out which of these
vials to mix to make a healing potion, you get to keep the healing potion!”
Valeros had only taken one introductory class in alchemy
back at adventuring school before deciding that fighting was more his style.
But at least healing potions are one of the first things you learn about, and
he remembered just enough to make the healing potion, although it was really
more luck than anything else.
“Do you want to try your luck again?” asked the shopkeeper.
“Just give me a blessing for another try! Or you may have an ally you don’t
really need…”
Valeros tried his luck again, giving up a blessing. The
Wheel of Luck went round and round and stopped on … a fancy elven breastplate!
“Test of endurance! Do fifty push-ups in under a minute
while wearing this breastplate, and you get to keep it!”
Valeros was able to do it, although he was pretty tired
afterwards. He drank the healing potion he had just won (he didn’t think he
would really need the potion, since after all, the party had Lem and his
healing spells) and continued looking around the shop.
Meanwhile, Lem and Ezren went over to the Sandpoint Academy,
to study up on their spells. Lem saw a student sitting on a bench studying from
a scroll.
“I can’t believe Professor Balthazar makes us study yet
another one of these stupid spells,” he said to his friend sitting next to him.
“Lightning Touch is just a Force Missile that you have to get up close to the
guy to use. Acid Arrow is just a Force Missile that sprays green stuff so it
looks cool. When are we going to learn something that’s actually useful?”
Lem approached them. “I can teach you a trick!” he said. “I
can show you how to magically transform one spell into another spell! If you
give me that scroll, I’ll show you!”
He gave him the scroll, and Lem pretended to cast a spell on
it by singing a song, but really it was just a distraction as he swapped the
scroll for a copy of his notes on a cure spell. He gave the notes back and
walked away. “Did he just swindle us?” he heard the student say. “Oh, well I
never cared about the stupid spell anyway.” Lem idly sat down on a bench and
released his pet crow, who came back clutching a scroll of Arcane Armor – where
it found it, he didn’t know.
Lem and Ezren then decided they might as well sit in on a
class, to try to see what they could learn. The lecturer introduced himself as
Professor Alkareth and announced that today’s lesson would be in the use of
magic to help one avoid traps. He asked from a volunteer from the audience, but
nobody else seemed to want to do it. “Hey, you there! I haven’t seen you
before. You can come on up,” he told Lem.
Lem came up to the front of the class, but as he was
stepping up, he got his foot caught in something stick. His sling, which was
dangling from his pack, also got caught, and he was able to pull it out, but
the sling got ripped in the process.
“See, that’s what happens if you don’t remember to cast your
Find Traps spell first,” said Professor Alkareth. “Now, if you cast the spell,
watch!” Alkareth cast a spell, and a large yellow arrow appeared floating in
the room and pointed straight to where the trap was. “See, now you know where
the trap is!” Alkareth also demonstrated the use of the spell in other forms,
to help open locked doors and chests and avoid ambushes. By the end of the
lecture, Lem was exhausted, although Ezren had taken detailed notes so they
could know how to cast the spell later.
Lem and Ezren joined some of the more dedicated students
later that night, where they studied some other spells, such as a Sleep spell.
They were also trying out a new spell that one of the other students had come
up with, that he said would detect evil. It didn’t seem to be working right,
though – there were no apparent sources of evil in sight, yet the spell was returning
evil-detection readings that were off the charts. But pretty soon, they heard
noises outside, and peeked out the window to see what was going on. It turned
out that the spell was right after all. Skeleton attack!
>>>
Lem used his acid arrow spell to kill a few skeletons, while
Ezren stepped in and fried a few more with his bolts of lightning. But the
Academy wasn’t the only place that the skeletons were attacking – they were
attacking all over town. Fortunately that wasn’t much of a problem for our other
brave heroes – Valeros slashed one to death (that is, death again) with a
dogslicer, while Harsk got rid of another one with an arrow straight to the eye
socket. With the skeleton threat defeated, they decided it was probably time to
cut their study session short and go to sleep. Unfortunately for them, a
standard bearer that they were traveling with decided he was bored letting the
spellcasters have all the fun, and wandered out on his own. Fortunately, all he
did was bring back a stone. Even more fortunately, Ezren recognized it as a
blast stone, probably left over from one of the introductory alchemy classes.
He didn’t really need it right now, so he let the standard bearer carry it.
The next morning, Harsk traveled into the words, looking for
allies there. After all, woods-dwellers often know things that city-dwellers
don’t. But the first thing he realized that he didn’t know before was that the
skeletons that had just attacked weren’t done attacking. A skeleton had snuck
up behind Harsk and stabbed him in the back – he was able to run away, but not
without sustaining some injuries. Lem, unfortunately, had no weapons, but Ezren
buffed him up with a strength spell, so he did enough damage punching the
skeleton for a bolt from Harsk to finish him off. (Somehow, Harsk had, after
running away from the other skeleton, realized Lem was in trouble, and had
rushed back to help. Either that or he somehow fired a bolt all the way from
the woods back to the academy.) Ezren easily blasted another skeleton with a scorching
ray, with Lem cheering him on all the way. Harsk sat down in a clearing to use
the cure scroll he bought from the cleric earlier.
Valeros was almost ready to try his hand at the Wheel of
Luck again, when in walks the one and only elven ranger, Shalelu Andosana!
Valeros serenaded her with a charming performance from a troubadour that was
accompanying him as well as a dashing display of swordplay. After just a few
minutes, Shalelu was convinced that Valeros would be an excellent companion.
Shalelu gave Valeros a mace as a gift. Valeros politely accepted, even though
he didn’t really need the mace. They weren’t sure now whether to shop around
some more, or go out looking for others.
>>>
Lem felt quite strange this evening. He had stayed up almost
all of last night helping Ezren with his studies, fighting the skeletons, and
singing songs of cheerfulness. It was as though he had depleted all his
stamina, and were he to face a challenge requiring additional effort, he would
be unable to put it forth. He had not the strength to use a weapon or cast a
spell. Yet at the same time, he felt invincible – that no matter what he faced,
nothing could harm him. As though all of the mental and physical energies
available to be taken by the enemy had already been taken by his own effort. So
he went on his merry way into the woods, being unafraid of any monsters. He
passed right by a strange stick in the ground, which was too bad because the
stick was actually a magical shielding wand. Ezren, meanwhile, stayed at the
Academy to finish looking around. He had learned much, but still would prefer
to find an ally - an actual person, who possessed the Academy’s knowledge. He
heard a voice in the distance – a song. Perhaps this was someone calling for an
ally. But as he approached, he felt uneasy. He called upon the gods for help.
He had no blessings himself, so he called for energy from the rest of his
party. Soon his mind cleared and he saw the song for what it was – a deadly
siren song. He wisely turned away before he could be seduced further.
Harsk had continued in the woods and had found what he was
looking for – an ally! This ally was eager to join, and said he was a ranger
who knew much of the woods. But while they were resting, the ally turned out to
be a traitor – he tried to stab Harsk in the back with a dagger and take his
stuff. Fortunately, Harsk’s leather armor bore the brunt of the blow – he
turned around, locked in a struggle with the traitor, as the traitor’s blade
lashed at his armor. Harsk was able to soon chase off the traitor, although his
armor was so slashed up it was now useless. He took it off, to at least lighten
his load.
Valeros had heard the commotion in the woods, and went to
the woods to investigate. On the way, he found a short sword sticking out of a
dead body – probably a murder from some tie past. The body looked decayed, so
it wasn’t recent – no point worrying about it now, just take the sword and go.
As he further investigated, he joined up with the rest of the group, and found
that Cyrdak Drokkus, the owner of the local Sandpoint Theater, was in the woods
hoping to get the adventurers’ stories to show as his newest theatrical
production! All of the adventurers were excited to regale him with all their
stories. Valeros did a demonstration of his fighting prowess, Harsk showed him
how he could put a bolt through an animal’s eye at a hundred paces (it took
some assistance from the gods, but it was worth it), and Lem sang his usual
songs about their heroic deeds. They explored the woods together for a few
hours, then agreed they were done there.
Lem went back to the general store and started his singing
routine again, hoping to lure the locals who could give him some advice. While
he was on the way there a yeth hound jumped out of the sewers and scared him,
causing him to drop some of his belongings, but he was able to run away and
make it into the general store, gasping for breath. He met an acolyte who told
him what was going on at the shop and gave him coupons for future deals –
including one for a free potion of healing!
Things seemed to move smoothly on from there. Ezren finished
his exploration of the academy, getting some friendly advice from a guard and a
troubadour on the way out. Harsk made his way to the waterfront, wary of
monsters, but met a friendly guide who told him everything he needed to know.
During the conversation, a bandit tried to sneak up behind the guide, but Harsk
fired a bolt over the guide’s shoulder and killed the bandit. Valeros and Lem
went back to the tavern and finished picking up the rumors there. Ezren went to
the general store and scored a couple of nice Wands of Force Missile. Then they
all went over to the Sandpoint Cathedral, and though there were a few tough
scrapes – a goblin warchanter snuck up on Harsk and confused him long enough to
beat him up a bit – but overall everything went well, except that because they
went home a little earlier than they needed to (nine blessings left on the
clock) they left a valuable Holy Candle sitting on the shelf in the general
store.
They returned to the center of town to sell off their excess
equipment and reassess their plans. It seemed that they had gotten kind of
ally-happy here: they had accumulated an entourage of way too many allies – at
least three sages, three troubadours, three standard-bearers, and an assortment
of guardsmen and burglars (why would a guardsman be traveling with a burglar
anyway?) This was way too many people to go on an adventure – the enemy would
see them coming miles away. So they had to slim down their party a bit to a
more manageable number. They returned to the tavern to discuss who they wanted
to keep in their party, and who could be left behind.
But soon there was a surprise. In walked Mayor Kendra
Deverin herself, accompanied by Father Zantus and the noble Aldern Foxglove! “I
have heard much of your exploits,” the mayor said. “I have received word that
the goblins may be planning another attack. From what I have heard, you are our
best hope of stopping the attack. I will be willing to provide whatever aid you
need. I have already talked to some of the nobles and clerics in the city, and
Aldern Foxglove and Father Zantus have offered to help.”
It’s always good to
have friends in high places, Valeros thought. “Mayor, one way you can help
is you can do something about the whole random equipment trend going around in
the shops.”
“Random equipment?”
“Yeah, all these shops, they’ve stopped actually selling
anything, and now they’ve become like festival attractions. A couple days ago I
just went into the general store to buy a couple magic weapons, but rather than
just sell them to me, they made me spin this Wheel of Chance or something. They
didn’t even let me choose which items I wanted.”
“Oh, that?” Mayor Deverin said. “That was actually my idea
in the first place. After all, a lot of the town’s adventurers were getting
bored with the whole grind of kill the monster, get the gold, go back in town,
buy better stuff, repeat. I thought it would be a good idea to mix things up a
bit. Also, sometimes the adventurers would go kill monsters that weren’t a
threat, just so they could get the gold. I mean, if there’s an orc camp outside
of town that just wants to live in peace, and we go in and slaughter them and
take their stuff, is it any wonder that the monsters fight back? Everyone talks
about how it would be great if people didn’t have to fight all the time and
could sometimes negotiate instead, but if all the monetary incentives point
toward fighting, it’s hard to keep that up.”
“So what does the random equipment thing have to do with
it?”
“It’s a brilliant idea. We tax all the gold income coming in
from the adventurers, and use it to subsidize the shops to give out the random
prizes. It helps tourism a lot, because everyone loves to come here in the
hopes of winning some free stuff. And if you’ve noticed, the challenges always
have to do with what the item is about – fighting skill for a sword, endurance
for a piece of armor – so people have a better chance of getting the items they
need, and can’t just abuse the system to accumulate items they can’t use. And
since people don’t need to accumulate gold from the monsters, they only have an
incentive to kill the monsters they actually need to kill. It works really
well. Even the Cathedral is in on the act.”
Valeros wasn’t sure he liked this system over the old system
of paying for items with gold, but at least now that he understood what the
point was. And they had gotten a reasonable haul from these last few days – Lem
in particular was really looking forward to trying out his new pair of Wands of
Force Missile, and they had gotten a couple of healing potions which might be
useful – that maybe it wasn’t too bad. Maybe it was even nice, that the random
equipment trend helped them break out of their narrow sub-specialties. Harsk’s
experience with the Scorching Ray spell had already gotten him interested in
dabbling a bit in magic.
Now was the time to put their newfound knowledge to the
test, for the evil sorcerer Elyrium was planning another attack…
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