Vsaati was happy to relinquish her moment in the spotlight, instead standing watchful and ready but letting the others take the lead with the snakes and bowl of coins.  She waited to see what reaction their attempts would draw.

After several moments, the front gates silently swing open and a figure wearing a siver mask that depicts the laughing face of a child appears in the opening.  A distinctly feminine voice comes from behind the mask as she addresses Roak.

"What, exactly, do you think the snakes would want with gold?"

She holds a staff upright before her, and wears a robe of dark blue, speckled with silver stars.  He body language tells of bemused impatience.

Lanliss gives a wry smile.

"I've known a lot of snakes who wanted gold...but they always had two legs..."

Not really understanding what Lanliss was implying, but eager to share his knowledge of bestial variations, he responded, "So more like a salamander, quite fiery, or perhaps a malformed basilisk or even a drake perhaps? Sometimes it's hard to tell exactly how many legs they have when they're right on top of you... lad, I could tell you some stories!" The expressions of his companions gave the old dwarf some pause, thinking perhaps that he might stretching the truth, but indeed he had faced such challenging foes... or at least others in his clan had.

Bestiary lesson aside, Albricht asked the masked figure, "What exactly are the snakes for?"

Roak bows politely. "It seemed like the thing to do at the time. Why else have both here? I am open to be taught, however," he adds with a wry grin.

To Roak, she speaks, "The kinds of teaching you need are not mine to give at present."

She gives Lanliss a sidelong look, but seems to dismiss the elf just as quickly.

"Why have you come to this place of learning?" she demands.

Voran steps forward. "We have intent to head down to the catacombs below and engage undead to eliminate them. Would this be of service to you? Is there anything you would wish to add to that intent?"

"Or perhaps Usami... uh... *cough* -aras has need of other exploration or recovery services? We offer quite a list of specialties applicable to dangerous undertakings. What can we interest you in today?"

It was an approach he'd seen done from time to time in the surface world, when a traveling nomad might arrive at an oasis and go from tent to tent hawking his wares... and down here, anything might work.

Hearing both Elder Voran and Albricht, her voice softens quite a bit.  "Ah!  Merchants and mercenaries!  Excellent!  Honest profit and commerce!  It's good that you've come."

Gesturing behind her, the doors swing wide, seemingly of their own accord.

"Please, come in.  The High Exchequer will be available to meet with you momentarily."  And so saying, she turns to lead the party inside.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:44, Thu 22 Nov 2018.

Voran's face tenses up a bit at this, as he was not keen to be thought of as a mercenary, but he nevertheless entered with a polite bow.

Roak, by contrast, grinned at the woman. "Well, another time, perhaps. Nice to meet some civilized people down here, finally." He heads in as well.

"Profit?" asks Silverglade. "Let's get started," he says as he enters.

"It IS good that we've come, lead the way, we are at your service!"

Albricht kept his eyes open as they proceeded inside. He hoped for some lucid leader, but was prepared for something... less.

“I can think of a particularly handsome two-legged snake who wants gold, and plenty of it,” Elboc says.  “ME.”

He follows the party, eyes open and palms itching.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:35, Sun 25 Nov 2018.

The thought of being able to openly negotiate pay for services was a refreshing change for Vsaati.  So often it had to be trickery that won the day, but here it seemed open talk would be fine.  With a pleased smile upon her face she joined the others in entering the temple to meet the exchequer, or whatever the priest's proper title was.  She hadn't quite caught that part clearly.

Alas, only the drow seemed to get the subtlety of his remark. No harm done. He follows the others.

<Long weekend here, guys.  I'll be posting tomorrow.>

The masked figure leads the party into a series of alternately twisting narrow hallways and wide galleries.  Some are shadowed, and some seem to have bright, natural light filtering in from somewhere indistinct above.  Statuary hides in nooks and climbing plants wind around columns and up walls.

All of this passes in a rush, gone before any of you can get a good grasp on what you're looking at, you land in a sumptuously-appointed yet somehow spare room, lit by soft lamplight.  A figure with long white hair sits behind a desk that is covered with papers, several bags that seem to be filled with coins, and several abacuses.

"High Exchequer?" your guide asks as the other looks up, silver mask betraying no particular emotion.  "Here are merchants and mercenaries come asking for pay to rid us of the undead problem in the catacombs!"

"Ah!  Profit!" the second masked figure declares.  His voice seems to be both distinctly merry and masculine.  "Increase is joy in life!"  After a moment looking at the group, he continues, "Well, you all seem to be well-equipped to handle violence, that seems evident.  Have you other qualifications?  How many sides of the street are you playing?  Have you approached the other temples?  Attempted to extort protection money?...  I'm looking to see that you're truly prepared to garner coin-well-earned from this venture before we agree to join you, financially, in this."

His expectant look, just visible through the mask's eyeholes, seems to require a response.

Roak grins. "Yep, we've got a bid from the Gormites. A bit weaker commitment from the Madurans, but that was expected. And we get to keep the treasure we find. You got a better offer for us?"

"Hrrrumph!" Albricht exclaimed. "Other qualifications?? I'm a water-finder. Probably the best of my line, after all none of them found an underground lake, oh sure it was long known that water is downward, ever downward, but I discovered that which some claimed was only fable. This in itself should be all the criteria you'd ever need..."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:27, Wed 28 Nov 2018.

"My arrows are sure. My spells are versatile. And my sword is deadly."

Turning to Roak, the masked man continues, "You haven't approached the priests of Zargon?  Well, I can't really blame you, and they'd be pretty unlikely to help, to be frank.  Still, aside from speaking with some of the more lucid citizens, it sounds like you've got the basics covered."

When Lanliss speaks, he turns to the elf, "Spells?  Ah, that would explain the *AHEM* somewhat radical body modifications.  I though that we knew all of those trained in the arcane arts, although I admit that it's possible that we've missed some over the years.  What is your name, and where have you been hiding?"

He furls his brow.

"I am Lanliss. And perhaps your oldest surviving ledgers will tell you where the elves...'hide'."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:03, Thu 29 Nov 2018.

“Have we tried extortion?  Why, no, we haven’t.  What a foolish oversight.  We’ll have to look into that.”  After a brief moment of consideration, he adds, “Perhaps you’d like to join the party?  Sounds like you have some good ideas.”

"Elves?" the man asks, somewhat incredulously, "I had thought you all more lucid than that.  Fanciful stories from a past so shrouded in misinformation as to make any claim as likely as any other aren't what I would have suspected of such a capable-seeming group."