Turn 122
The party retires to Wulfgars home and rests. You sleep and recall no dreams
awakening very refreshed and alert. Reggie makes breakfast with some food he
aquired from the store yesterday and you all eat your fill. Wulfgar gets up,
and retrieves the shovels he confiscated from the temple and prepares to head
out. The rest of you follow suit and you go to the temple for the burial and
afterwards to dig. Randos is laid to rest on consecrated ground as is
Bernadino. Randos recieves much fanfare as a chosen of Callus and Bernadino,
is laid to rest quietly with little notice.
Wulfgar leads you around the outside of the temple wall, past the statue and
further down a rarely trodden path to a spot a few hundred yards to the west
of the temple. There, you find growing a small rosebush in full bloom despite
the frost of the previous several evenings. When Wulfgar bends down to dig,
one shovelfull of earth removed prompts water to suddenly flow from the earth
and form a small clear, sweet smelling puddle.
Feeling that you've accomplished what was asked, Anselm presses a reward upon
you. He won't take no for an answer and hands Wulfgar a bag.
Gareth continues work on the well, completely ignoring Anselm, but
only after shooting a disapproving look and headshake at the reward/bribe.
"Wulfgar, perhaps your holy hands should be first to pass along the healing
benefits of the water. I will offer to have the water tested for safety
upon my person, but, if it works, let us make no little haste in attempting
to aid our little companion. Would you also like to inform the townsfolk of
the water and its property,... or do you trust the brothers remaining?"
"I trust them alright! For they face the terrible wrath of Callus should they fail to
spread the word." Wulfgar helps Gareth finish the well then slips a
wineskin into the water and fills the skin he turns and offers the water to
Gareth to drink.
The paladin takes the proffered waterskin of the new water, raising it to
his lips and trickling its contents down his throat. Assuming he still
stands and is not in terrible agony, Gareth announces the water appears safe
to drink.
When no one makes a move to claim the bag, Anselm dumps it upon the ground at
your feet.
4 vials of liquid
9 scrolls
money pouch with lots of clinking coins
Keldar slips over to the puddle and fills his wineskin. Without taking a
drink, he stuffs it back into his backpack and and stares out at nothing.
Wulfgar looks at the bag at it lands on the ground and the items roll out on
the muddy surface. He resumes his job of finishing the well. Placing some
large stones around the outside to stop peoples feet from muddying up the
edges. He looks to see if Gareth has drunk any of the water he gave him and
if he has to see if his nose looks any better. He fills up another
waterskin and places it to his lips. "Drink my friends and may the strength
of Callus run through your veins!" With that he drinks deeply. Wulfgar
then walks to stand beside Gareth, "My friend I must apologise for my
earlier actions but you as a fellow man of God should know that I have been
under extreme pressure of late, what with the death of my mentor Randos."
He lowers his head for a second before continuing. "The loss of contact
with my Goddess has also put a burden on my shoulders, alongside that the
disrespect shown to the faith by some of the brothers at the temple is not a
good thing for others to see and they have lowered Callus in the eyes of the
group. This I fear will take a long time to restore, I know you understand
what I mean and would not insult me by saying that Callus has not dropped in
the eyes of the group. For I know it is so by the reactions of our
companions up at the Temple." He sighs heavily and places a hand on the
knights shoulder "I also know that if you want not to forgive me then I
understand fully, however I know you well I think and I hope we can remain
brothers." Standing tall Wulfgar looks at the knight waiting to see if he
wishes to speak.
Gareth looks strongly into Wulfgar's eyes, weighing the simple apology
against the myriad of of slights he has received from his companion's
order's members, especially of late; it is no contest. The knight's arm
rises and he places his hand on Wulfgar's shoulder. "It is not within my
nature to lie, Wulfgar, and I would not do so to a trusted companion. The
members of your order have indeed brought shame to Callus and some
reflecting disdain within the group, but faith can be restored if one
believes and works strongly enough. You have found it difficult to bear the
burden of your god's absence, and none better than I know such difficulty,"
the paladin unconsciously rubs the centre of his chest. "Yet, it is the
carrying of those very burdens that increases the strength of faith." A
pointed squeeze of Wulfgar's mighty arms explains the knight's anology.
"Mistakes - such are the trappings of mortality - are tests of dedication.
Agnes, the wife of the miller near our monastary, often gave me insights
from her life. One that stuck with me was that, 'No trumpets sound when the
important decisions of our life are made. Destiny is made known silently.'
Nevertheless, friend, I count you among the staunchest silent instruments
present in the concert of my life, and hope to remain the same to you. I
will not pretend that I trust or wish to be near Anselm, but you are Wulfgar
of Callus, a worthy friend following a worthy god, and I count myself
fortunate to have you as companion." Gareth claspses Wulfgar's arm and
carries the waterskin across to Keldar, allowing him to drink in hope that
it aids the small companion.
Noticing that many of the companions are awaiting his choice of items from
the collection of the reward, Gareth leaves Vincas to finish the tending of
the gnome. "Choose what you wish from the items. I wish nothing from it;
the 'reward' is too... for me to feel comfortable in accepting it." Gareth
sends a warning look at Anselm and takes Cao aside to speak with him
privately for a moment.
Jahl waits until the crowd around the new well has thinned and then
takes a quick drink from the well (to ease his sore muscles.) Then Jahl
fills his waterskin with the cool, refreshing liquid. Moving out of the
way, Jahl attempts to ignore the gleaming, beauiful pile of vials, scolls
and the money pouch until Gareth has taken his turn.
"Keldar, I think that you should take a drink from the well. If those
friends of yours are meant to stay with you for some reason, I don't think
this will help you." Barbaxle turns to Anselm and says "What may I ask do
each of those vials and scrolls contain. It would be wise to know, so that
when the time comes when we need them we all know what they will do."
Barbaxle walks over to Gareth "I think that we should take these gifts this
time, I have a strange feeling that we will need everything that we can get.
I know you don't want to take the money, but I think it would be good for
our journey. We could use that to pay for everyone's stay at the next inn
that we go too, or even the next meal we need to buy." He says, before drinking from the well
himself.
Referring to the blue vials Anselm reports they are potions of healing.
the red vial is strength, and the orange vial is heroism.
4 clerical scrolls each holding 1 spell
cure disease
neutralize poison
purify food and water
cure serious wound
5 wizard scrolls each holding 1 spell
magic missile
shield
levitate
strength
flame arrow
the pouch contains 100 gp
Once the well is finished, Kay fills her water-skins and ignores the sack
'o' goodies. "So, what's next, heroes?"
Keldar turns to Barbaxel. He just stares with uncomprehending eyes.
Jahl moves forward at Gareth's refusal. Bending down to the pile of
goodies, Jahl stuffs his hand into the bag of coins and loudly counts out
ten letting each one clink noisily into his own pocket. Satisfied, Jahl
stands and grins as he moves off. You happen to notice that one of the blue
vials is also missing.
Keldar does not grab for the waterskin, but allows Gareth to feed him the
water...
Vincas will make sure Keldar has a drink of the water. He then takes a quick drink and
wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.
After Keldar has swallowed the water, Vincas will kneel down and look him in
the eyes "How do you feel old friend?"
Wulfgar looks at Jahl "Come my friend choose a gift!" He looks back at
Gareth "Thank you my friend, I feel a lot better now that Randos has been
buried in a proper place although I agree and also wish to leave this place.
Although it will always be my home I fear that I no longer wish to live
here. I had hoped to see my Father or even my Sister upon return but alas
that was not to be, perhaps some day we shall see each other again!" He
looks to the sky and seems to drift off in thought for a minute, a smile
crosses his face the first in many days.
"Do not worry Wulfgar. Truthfully, I have taken all that I have ever
needed." Jahl smiles warmly and continues, "Go ahead, take what you need
friend. If there is anything leftover I will be certain it does not go to
waste."
Arilyn looks over at the scrolls. She thinks about each one carefully
and decides that the flame arrow is a perfect choice. She picks it up
and slides it into her pack. Her eyes light up as she sees the
coins...and does a quick calculation. MMmmmmm...eleven people and Kay
shows no interest at all in the 'goodies'. That means 10gp each...and
she picks up 10 coins and drops them in her purse. Knowing that Wulfgar
will waste them in a charity basket, or some such thing, she takes an
additional 10gp and drops them in her purse. She glances back at the
scrolls and she thinks that since Kay did not take one, she can take
another. The Shield scroll and Strength scroll hold her interest for a
moment but she decides the Levitate scroll may prove useful.
After the drink, Keldar looks around and blushes. "Vincas... please tell
me I was under a sepll or somthin'. I wasn't walkin' 'bout actin' like...
them... was I ?"
The gnome kinda hangs his head in embarassment, but then notices the pile
of goodies lying on the ground. He bolts over, almost knocking Arilyn
over, who is standing by the scrolls.
"What'avewegot,what'vewegot!Fivemagescrolls'ey.How'llwesplit'embetweenus?
Whohereworksinthearcanearts....MyMagicmissleandshieldarenogoodtame.Can't-
cast'em,bein'anillusionist'ndall..."
After a second, the gnomish habit of speaking at lightspeed passes. "Of
the four remainin', I can only cast levitate or strength if I studies
them. Arilyn, whatsay we let one'uv us write Levitate in a spell book,
then let the other copy it? I got quite a few spells from my and ...er...
a few other spellbooks I've picked up on the way. Same with strength and
flame arrow. We can 'ttempt ta write 'em out instead'a castin' 'em from
the scroll and waistin' the chance ta _learn_ sum new enchantments!"
The gnome's mannerisms remind you of a kind in a candy store...
Arilyn looks at Keldar...her poor ears still buzzing from his lightspeed
speaking. "You know, I actually made out a few words that you said. I
think you said that I could have the levitate scroll." She bends down
and kisses his cheek. "That is so very kind of you." She gives him a
genuine smile.
"Uhmmm, I guess I could share the scroll with you. I mean you could copy
down the words but somehow I don't think that will work. But, nothing
ventured...nothing gained."
Keldar glows VERY BRIGHTLY with embarasment.
"Umm... er .... right. You keep the Levitate scroll then, and I'll
er.. take this strength spell. Later on, in sum cosy inn or somethin' I'll
try and copy'er down. Um...until then... right." Keldar looks away to hide
his bright read, blushing face.
Cole ignores the treasure yet approaches Anselm and
asks for the bag if he is refused he will offer to buy
it from him.
Anselm looks at Cole strangely before handing him the bag.
Vincas look at the scrolls with a disinterested glance. His jaw drops a bit
and he does a quick double-take.
"Amazing..." he gasps, and picks up the magic missle scroll. With a quick
laugh he tucks it into his pack. He then digs out 10 gold and pockets them
as well.
"Hey Keldar....you're never going to believe this!" he says, pulling out his
newfound scroll and waving it about.
"Handy spell that one. Used ta see mages practicin' it. Never misses it's
mark if ya kin see yer target. Never had talent fer that invokin' stuff.
Messin' with peoples noggin's is more my bag!"
Keldar seems REALLY REALLY happy about the inheritance of these magical
items...
"What I don't get is I've never cast a single spell...yet I can make some
sense out of this. I guess watching you fiddle with those spell books and
such has started to rub off on me. I can't wait to start playing with
these." he says, clutching his scroll and grinning
Kay quietly retrieves 10 gold, and the orang vial.
Cao accepts the blue vial and some gold.
if no one object's Cole looks over the shield scroll
and put's it in his pack, He then picks up the
remaining things and hands them to Barbaxle, "Take
these my friend, if no one objects the rest is yours
what you don't want......." he wnders off in mid
sentence to see what kind of scroll's Keldar got.
As Cole hands the rest of the scrolls to Barbaxle, he turns to the group and
says "Oh Ok, Gareth are you sure you don't want one of these. Well with the
way that you are I should keep these so that I can use them on you." While
saying that Barbaxle nudges Gareth with his elbow. "I will take the extra
gold and make it into a group fund.
Turn 123