29th of Summer’s End
Having defeated the band of goblins and bugbears to the south, the adventurers have started back towards Remnas. Along the way, Glod identifies the scroll they found as a Fly spell, and Epona identifies the potion as a Shield of Faith.
“You know, I could use an extra healing potion,” Kerwyn says. “Always best to be prepared. I remember a potion shop in Remnas, I’m going to check it out when we get back.”
Gante nods. “Well, let’s check back with Erelos, first.”
The party arrives in Remnas, finding their way to the inn near the center of town. Murc is kicked back in a chair near the door. He is snoring loudly facing the ceiling. There is no sign of Erelos nor Dima.
Gante walks up to Murc. “Well, as much as I hate to wake a sleeping half-drunk half-orc… Epona, you do it.”
“Me? No way, you do it!”
“How about if Mathus does it?” Glod says with a smile.
Mathus sighs, shaking his head, and walks over to Murc. He knocks on the half-orc’s skull. “Hey, big guy! Rise and shiiine! “
Murc swats at Mathus’s hand, snorting through a half-cough, half-snore as he wakes. “Wha-huh? Oh, mornin’ fellas.”
“Hey Murc, you have any clue where Erelos got off to?”
Murc looks around the otherwise deserted dining room. “Uh, nope.”
“Well, I’m pretty sure if Erelos wants to talk to us, he’ll find us, Kerwyn says. “And it’s evening, by the way.”
“So it is, so it is…”
“How about Dima?” Gante asks.
“Hasn’t been back yet.”
“Back from where?”
“I dunno. He didn’t say. He left just a bit after you, said not to wait up,” Murc says, yawning.
“So about that potion shop,” Kerwyn says, making for the door.
“Ooh, I’m coming,” Glod says.
Gante and Epona tag along as well, and Mathus, too.
***
They walk in to the slightly familiar old building. The musty air is a combination of old library and caustic fumes. The shelves appear mostly emptied, save a few overturned vials. They hear a voice from a back room, hidden by a curtain.
“I’m coming, I’m coming. Have patience!”
A wrinkled face emerges from the curtain, not yet revealing anything below its neck. In quick succession, he eyes each of them.
“Three elves, a thief, and a gnome… Whaddyawant?”
“Well, we came by to see if you had anything for sell,” Kerwyn says. “We wern’t sure, you know, with the goblin attack and everything.”
“So you are… customers!”
He bursts through the curtains, places his hands flat on the counter, and smiles broadly. His glasses hang on the tip of his nose. “And what are you interested in this fine evening?”
“Well, mainly I guess any healing potions you might have. But it looks like your stock may be a little slim.”
“Ha! You would think that, wouldn’t you? Take anything that’s not nailed down! Ha! Ha! Haha ha! I know better than to leave stock in the open! I just happen to keep it all nailed down in the back! If you want healing potions I can get you healing potions.”
“Ha ha ha, I guess you wouldn’t stay in business long if you didn’t.”
“With your kind out? Never! Ha! Ha! HahaHA!”
“Hmm… right. Well, how much do your potions cost?”
“If you’re wanting the healing potions, they’re one hundred pieces of gold. Fix you right up, they will.”
“Well, if you could just hook me up with one, that would be great.”
He walks (backwards) through the curtain. After some rummaging noises, he emerges with a small vial of clear liquid. Kerwyn counts out is gold and takes the potion.
“Hey,” Glod says, “do you have any alchemy equipment? I did some back in my university days, and I’d like to be able to whip some potions up on the go.”
“Ah, fine idea. Some amateur potion brewing always helps get some return customers if things don’t go quite right… Come on into the back and we’ll fix you up.”
Kerwyn heads for the door. “Well, this looks like it could take some time, and I don’t think you guys are going to need me, so I’m going to go walk around town, see how its doing. Meet you guys back at the tavern?” Kerwyn heads outside.
Gante also makes for the door. “I think I will keep an eye on Kerwyn, see you guys later.”
Wandering the town, Gante strikes up a conversation. “So Kerwyn, Got quite a bit of money to spend on those potions, you been keeping a secret stash?”
“What? Psh… no. Just used my other one, and decided it was worth the investment. You know, just in case.”
“Well, we’ve been together through some tough stuff, so I guess you wouldn’t hold out on us.”
“Of course not. I’ve got no reason to, right?”
“I don’t suppose so, but after that whole painting thing you apparently pulled off behind my back, I just had to ask. Although it is quite funny that you could get away with something that big without me noticing.”
“That little thing… that was just something I picked up along the way. I didn’t pin you as a big art fan, though.”
“Don’t think I didn’t notice that was Dwarven art. You underestimate my appraisal abilities.”
“My, my. I wish you had told me you were a Dwarven art fan. I’ll keep a look out for any good bargains I run across.”
“Just an old hobby of mine. Surely you noticed my friendliness with our Dwarven friends.”
“Oh yeah, I think every tavern we’ve walked into has noticed…”
Back at the shop, the old man continues to pull things off of shelves for Glod.
“You want be able to start without the beakers and flasks, not to mention proper mixing tools. You won’t need any specialized stoppers for amateur work, so that’ll save you some cash for now at least.”
“It might be better start with just the basics, perhaps some vials and common ingredients. Mortar and pestle, that sort of thing.”
“Oh, and you’ll need to have a proper heat source, naturally. Arcane ones just don’t work as well as the real thing. Let’s see, a bit of sulfur, some charcoal, cedar chips, iron shavings… Alright, this should be enough to start you off. Not the whole package mind you, but it’s a start. Total comes to one hundred fifty gold pieces.”
“Sold!”
The old man wraps up the supplies in a combination of canvas and burlap. And make sure all your friends know where you got such a good deal!
“Before we leave…” Epona pulls the ring they found from her pouch. “Sir, do you happen to know who in the city could identify this ring I found?”
“Ah, so you have need of magical identification. There is… a diviner. But he doesn’t work for free! You pay the right price, though, and you’ll get what you need.”
“Where can we find him?”
The old man gives the party directions to an area just one block over. “Just head out, go left, take a left on the main road, another left, and it’s on the left.” The thank the old man and head out into the city, finding the diviner’s place soon enough.
The walls of this old building are covered in long, flowing pieces of cloth. A small table in the center holds a crystal ball. They hear a voice from a back room, hidden by a curtain.
“I’m coming, I’m coming. Have patience!”
A wrinkled face emerges from the curtain, not yet revealing anything below its neck. In quick succession, he eyes each of them.
“Two elves and a gnome… Whaddyawant?”
Jon: Wait, is this the same guy?
GM: Well, I mean there are some similarities… I guess… but no, definitely not. I mean, the other guy had glasses.
“Yes, I was told that you could help me identify this magical ring I found.”
“So you are… customers!”
He bursts through the curtains, places his hands flat on the small table, and smiles broadly. His glasses hang on the tip of his nose.
“You don’t happen to be related to the man who owns the potion shop do you?”
“Ah, so there is a potion shop in town? Intriguing… So you need a magical ring identified! I can perform this service. Or rather, I could if I had the required components.”
“What would that be?” Epona asks.
“I require a pearl of great value.”
“How great, exactly?”
“Very great.”
Glod speaks from the other end of the room. “You wouldn’t happen to know of a pearl shop around here?”
“Ah, but no. I don’t leave the shop much. However, I know of a place to the west…”
“Yes?”
“It is a dangerous area, filled with monsters… traps… perhaps even worse.”
“Sounds exciting.”
“Aw, come on,” Glod says. “Just wear the ring for a while. What’s the worst that could happen?”
Mathus laughs. “The worst? Well, you could just explode, but that might actually be an improvement.”
“Yes, to the west lies the Temple of the Ocean Goddess. They say among the treasures within is a pearl as large as your feathered friend there…”
Quoth lights up at the sound of such a treasure. Glod, however… “Hold up, wait, wait. I’m not having any part with any water temples.”
“Oh, come on Glod,” Epona says. “Where’s your sense of adventure? Sir, can you give us some directions?”
“Head due west from Remnas. Once you reach the coast, travel south. Keep your eyes open and you’ll spot it.”
“Thank you sir. Glod, Mathus, let’s head back to the tavern to meet up with the others.”
***
“…And that’s why I don’t eat calzones anymore,” Gante says, wrapping up a tale.
Murc stares at the paladin with a look of disbelief. “You’re kiddin’ me.”
Kerwyn laughs as the rest of the group arrives. “Oh, welcome back. What did you guys find out?”
“Well, we found a diviner that could identify the ring, but he would need a valuable pearl. He told us about this Temple of the Ocean Goddess filled with monsters traps and a pearl the size of Quoth.”
Kerwyn smiles. “A big pearl, you say…”
“I figure a little more adventuring can’t hurt before we head back to Marlak. Murc, do you want to join?”
Murc takes a heavy swig of his ale. “I found out that I kinda promised the townsfolk I’d stay here as protection until the wall was built back. Guess I got carried away last night with the whole “bein’ a hero” thing… and the ale.”
“Well, I guess we’d better get some sleep. No doubt this temple is pretty far off.”
30th of Summer’s End
The adventurers descend to the ground floor, smelling fried meat, and possibly eggs.
“Ah, good morning!” A familiar voice greets them.
Gante, a bit surprised, returns the greeting. “Marlak! How are you?”
Also in the dining area is Dima, and one dozen former sailors.
“So I guess that’s where you went off to yesterday, Dima.”
“Yes, with most of the uprising crushed, there was no need for everyone to stay at the Wizard’s Tower. Besides, these men have a come quite a way in their skills with the blade.”
Mathus steps through. “Who’s the geezer?”
Epona responds: “Well, in a very far-removed way, he’s the reason your not dragon food by now.”
“Let’s not get too specific on the details… I don’t want to owe another favor here.”
“Ah, Glod, I nearly forgot.” Marlak reaches into a bag, searching for something. “While at Milo’s tower, I browsed through his library and found a book that could help with the Soul Stone research…”
Marlak hands Glod an old tome. The cover is a deep blue.
“This is the journal of Jens Coron. The information you discovered at the Academy indicated he knew something about the stones, in addition to the notes you found below the tower. The problem, though, is that the notes appear to be… encoded Coron did have a penchant for puzzles, and seems to have made his journal fit his personality.”
“What sort of encoding?” Glod asks.
“I assumed at first a sort of cryptogram, though that seems impossible for more than a few words. My guess is a sort of cipher. I’m sure you can put those sleepless nights to good use on it.”
“Is it magical at all?”
“We found signs of a faint enchantment, though we were unable to determine the effect or even the school of magic.”
“Well,” Kerwyn says, “I guess you guys could spend all day studying it, or we could head out to the temple.”
“Heading out to a temple, eh?”
Glod crosses his arms. “They seem to want to…”
“Yes, we heard about this Temple of the Ocean Goddess from a diviner. We thought we’d do a little celebratory treasure hunting.”
“Best of luck then, and do try to return safely.”
“I have my doubts, but I suppose this lot is pretty good at dealing with trouble.”
“Dima, would you and Murc mind keeping Marlak safe until we return? Your pal Murc has a promise to keep to the townsfolk anyways, so I feel like you will be here a while.”
Dima laughs a bit. “Certainly.”
