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Cato, Liseth, and Kerr left City Hall and made the short walk over to Nisk Tanner’s Bottled Solutions, arriving just in time to see Nisk locking the front door of his store.  When he saw the trio, he immediately left the keys right in the lock and ran toward them.  “Kerr!  Cato!  Liseth!”  He said, his broad face bursting into a smile.  He grabbed each hero’s hand in turn, shaking it vigorously.  “It is so good to see you back!”  His joy at seeing all three of them was so genuine that they couldn’t help but smile and return.

Despite the alchemist’s excitement, each of the three could not help noticing the deep, dark lines under his eyes, indicating that perhaps he had not yet caught up on the sleep he had lost while concocting the recently-employed burst jars.  The black smudges on his face suggested that he hadn’t washed up since then either.  But there were no complaints from Nisk Tanner as he charged forward into his favorite subject:  the use of his concoctions.

“So, tell me,” he was almost hopping with excitement, anxiously wringing his hands together.  “How did they work?  The Befuddlers and the burst jars?  I’ve been on the edge of my seat waiting for you to get back!”  He did a little jig to demonstrate before realizing what he was doing and flushing in embarrassment.  “Um, anyway, how did it go?”

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"Hello Mr Tanner," Liseth greeted the town alchemist.  She hoped that her worry and fatigue didn't show on her features too obviously.  It was clear that his own fatigue was plain to see.  "It is nice to see you again," the girl cracked a small smile at the merchant's excitement and enthusiasm.

"Um, well..."  She started to answer the question about the burst jars and Befuddlers.  Liseth glanced up towards Kerr and Cato before back towards Mr Tanner.  "The burst jars worked very well.  They collapsed the tunnel so that the goblins won't be able to get in through there anymore.  Cato was the one who placed them."

"But..." Here she became a bit more reluctant.  She had lost all of the Befuddlers that she tried to use, and never had a chance to actually see them work.  "Well...I tried to use the Befuddlers.  There were a lot of mean monsters down there.  But I couldn't throw them right, and it all spilled on the ground and was wasted."  Liseth's hands fidgeted, "I don't know how well they work; I never got a monster with one."

"We were going to have to...we're going to..."  The blonde acolyte looked down as her hands continued to fidget.  "Well, the thing is, we're still going to have to do a lot more fighting soon."  Her shoulders slumped at the admission, "And we were wondering if you had anything else that we could us to help?"

"We have credit from the Mercantile League this time though!  Guaranteed from the Founding Families."  Liseth showed him the chit that she was given by the mayor.  "If there was anything that you still have that we could use?  Because we're going to need a lot of help tomorrow..."

Cato beamed at the excited, obviously tired alchemist. "Nisk, your burst jars were brilliant!  We closed off a tunnel that might have given goblins access to Sandpoint, and created a nasty trap if ay try to use it anyway. Truly, you're a credit to this town and your profession. If anyone ever asks for a recommendation for an alchemist, I'd have no reservations sending them your way."  Cato watched as Liseth finished her speech. "And if we could continue using the items you've already lent us for another few days, that would be great. Cato held up the flask of acid. This in particular helped me down in those tunnels, and I'm hoping to make use of it again. Perhaps you can add those items to the bill tonight?"

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“Ah yes, ah yes,” Nisk nodded with a proud smile as first Liseth, then Cato reported the successful use of the burst jars.  He rubbed his hands together.  “I was especially proud of those!  I wish I could have been there when you employed them.  I imagine experiencing the resulting detonation must have been quite exciting!”

Nisk’s definition of “excitement” clearly included life-threatening situations.  At least when it came to the employment of his products.

But the alchemist’s joy at hearing of the successful use of his burst jars quickly turned to barely-concealed disappointment as he learned that his beloved Befuddlers had not yet even been truly tested on a live opponent.  “Oh,” he said, wringing his hands worriedly as his head bobbed in agitation, his unruly mop of receding hair flying this way and that in response.  “Oh, well,” the alchemist ventured a weak smile; he was clearly trying to put a brave face on things.  “That’s okay.  I suppose every plan has its hiccups.”

Nisk’s face took on a look of awe as he looked at the chit Liseth showed him.  He took it and held it up to the dying sunlight, as if that would somehow confirm its authenticity.  “I’ve never seen one of these before!”  He handed it back to Liseth.  “Certainly, you can have whatever you need.”  He smiled at Cato.  “And of course you can keep those items!  I’ll be glad to bill them the League.”

Nisk turned around, saying “come, come,” and motioning them to follow as he led them back towards his store.  He turned the keys to open the door and reentered the building, which was still lit by a couple of everburning torches contained in wall sconces.  While the alchemist’s shop seemed even more chaotic and messy than the last time Liseth had visited, sixteen brown bags sat neatly on a table near the shopkeeper’s counter.  Nisk gestured to them.

“You see, I was thinking to myself ‘Nisk, how can you help out with the defense of Sandpoint?’ because I’m clearly not going to be much use in a fight.  I mean, look at me.”  He self-deprecatingly gestured to his slight yet somewhat-paunchy frame.  “And I thought ‘Befuddlers!’.  I mean, what if the entire Army of Sandpoint was fitted with at least a couple of my Befuddlers?  Mightn’t that turn the tide against the goblin hordes?  Maybe?”  Nisk was rambling, but in a strangely precise way, running his sentences off in a staccato cadence.  “So I thought that I couldn’t wait to get your report before I started making more because if I did then there was no way I would be able to manufacture enough to make any difference, you know?”

He took a deep breath.  “So I made more than a dozen today after I finished up some work for Lieutenant Barett.  You can have as many as you need, I guess, for your important mission, if you think they would be of use to you this time, as opposed to last time.”  He glanced back and forth between Kerr, Liseth, and Cato.  “How many do you think you could use?”

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Cato grinned at Nisk's obvious delight. "Yes, demolition with the burst jars was...well, fun. I don't think I had imagined destroying a tunnel in quite that way before."  Cato leaned forward and semi-whispered, "though I think Brodert had!"  He smiled again, then turned serious, examining the Befuddlers. "Maybe these could help. Last time, I think some of our quarry might have been immune to sleep. At least, they seemed immune to my sleep spell as well. But this time, I think we're facing more mundane enemies. Goblins and..." Cato paused. "Well, people these might work on.  I think we could use some."  Cato turned to Liseth. "What do you think?"

"Do you have anything else?  Maybe a potion of Spider Climb?  Anything that might help us in a fight?"

*Edit to fix formatting
This message was last edited by the player at 19:12, Tue 15 July 2014.

Liseth kept her eyes downcast as Mr Tanner's joy and excitement changed so drastically.  She knew that he was going to be disappointed.  But at least he perked up again after she showed him the credit chit they were given by the mayor.  The fact that he was going to be compensated must soften the blow of the failed field test.  And all of the items and materials he was out.

Following the alchemist into his shop, Liseth was a bit startled by just how much work he had done today.  Especially after having spent all night fixing up those burst jars for them to use.  She looked with some concern at the excitable alchemist; he must really be pushing himself.  But she well knew that these weren't times when anyone could afford to take it easy.

"I think that we could use plenty."  The short blonde responded to Mr Tanner and Cato.  "We promised to test them, and we haven't really tested them properly yet.  I still think that they can help us a lot if we can get a Befuddler into a group of goblins.  And they aren't too heavy either."  Liseth started to feel self-conscious again, "I probably just need a little more practice throwing them."

"I don't want to take too many though, since Sandpoint might need some too; to help against the goblins.  Maybe...six?"  She counted in her head for a moment as she thought about it.  "Two for Pisca and two for Cato and two for me."  The diminutive teen looked towards Kerr, "Unless you wanted some too Kerr.  I just figure it would be hard to handle those and your bow at the same time.  And Kellan would probably have the same trouble with his spear."

"Did you have magic potions in your store Mr Tanner?  I'd think that some magical potions would come in very handy for us tomorrow too."  The short acolyte nodded at Cato's suggestion, "Maybe magical healing potions?  Or potions that can help protect us from goblin weapons?  I saw someone from the Twilight Academy once make her skin as tough as tree bark."

"Thank you so much Mr Tanner."  Liseth grasped the alchemist's hand with her hands, "I know that you must be very tired from all of the work that you've been doing for Sandpoint."  She knew because of how tired she was herself, "And you had to take extra time to help us out again today.  Just promise that you'll get a good night's sleep tonight, because I think that chances are good that you're going to be busy again tomorrow."  She put smile on her face and looked up at the town's alchemist, "Okay?"

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Nisk smilingly followed along as Cato expounded upon the group's use of the burst jars, then nodded excitedly as the conversation wended its way back to his Befuddlers.  “I think they might!”  The alchemist said with enthusiasm.  “That’s what I designed them to do, at any rate.”  He turned to Liseth.  “It seems like they require a little more testing.  And maybe a modification of the delivery system,” he mused.  “We’ll need some additional experimentation to determine whether we do.  Plus, it sounds like the mission you’re being sent on is important.  And dangerous!  You can have as many as you think you would actually use.”

The affable man’s face fell slightly at the pair’s petition for potions.  “Unfortunately I don’t have any potions that are actually magic.”  He glanced in the direction of the Cathedral.  “Have you checked with Father Zantus?  From what I understand they make such potions up that way.”  He shrugged, looking at the young blonde’s acolyte’s robes.  “But I figure that you’d know more about that than I would.”

Nisk smiled gratefully at Liseth’s concern for his well-being.  “Yes, I am quite exhausted, to tell you the truth.  I was planning on heading to bed right after the funeral ceremony.  In fact, I was just locking up so I could head home and wash up a little prior.”  He gestured at the table of Befuddlers.  “Why don’t you take whatever you need?  Then I’ll lock up.  I’ll see you at the funeral at seventh bell.  If you’re going?”

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"Oh, that's okay Mr Tanner."  Liseth assured him of his lack of magical potions.  She nodded, "I'm sure Father Zantus will have magical potions that we can use.  Or maybe even Mr Voon.  You've already given us plenty of help."  The girl thanked the alchemist as she gathered up the six befuddlers that she had mentioned.  Liseth looked at the tidy pile of befuddlers before placing them one at a time into a bag, courtesy of Bottled Solutions.

"Yes, we'll be at the funeral too."  Liseth sighed, "There's still so much to do today...and so much more to do tomorrow."  She finished gently packing befuddlers into the bag, then looked to Cato, "Was there anything else that you can think of before we go Cato?  So long as we're here already.  I wouldn't want to leave behind something that could help us."  As though to punctuate the remark, the acolyte gingerly picked up the bag of befuddlers in her arms.

"So, um, Mr Tanner..."  Liseth indicated the credit chit by gently leaning towards it, still holding the bag of befuddlers in front of her.  "Do we just leave that with you?  Or are we supposed to keep it?  I've never used something like that before."

Cato smiled at Nisk's apologies.  "No need to apologize!  You've already helped us out immensely.  Between the befuddlers, burst jars, and all the other myriad supplies.  I was just making sure we weren't leaving anything behind that might help us.  And since we don't know exactly what we'll be facing..." Cato shrugged "I guess we're just casting a wide net."

Cato stepped forward and shook Nisk's hand.  "So thank you again for all your help.  We'll see you at the funeral a little later!"

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“Oh, no,” said Nisk, waving an arm at the League’s credit marker as he locked the shops door behind his last three customers.  “You shouldn’t give it to me.  Or anyone else for that matter!  The simple fact that you HAVE it suffices.  I’ll just write up an invoice, give it to Sir Jasper, and the League will compensate me for your purchases.”  He looked at the chit with consternation.  “I personally know of only one other time when the League issued such a thing, and that was back during the Late Unpleasantness.”  The alchemist’s forehead scrunched up at the memory.  “Nasty business, that.”

Nisk clasped Cato’s forearm with a surprisingly-strong grip, given his slight frame.  “I look forward to seeing you later.  And if we don’t get a chance to talk, well . . .,” he looked down at the ground, then back at the three of them, “. . . please take my best wishes with you.  Father Zantus knows I’m not the most pious of men, but I’ll be praying for you.”

The exhausted alchemist nodded to each of them with a seriousness that might have seemed comical, given his unruly hair and stained clothing, were it not filled with such sincerity.  Then, without another word, he turned and left the trio standing on Raven Street in the fading light of the setting sun.

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“Here, let me help you with that, milady,” Kerr volunteered as he relieved Liseth of her bulky Befuddler burden.  “I can carry it up to the cathedral and we can keep it there until the morning.  I figure we’ll distribute them to everyone right before we leave.”  He paused as he shouldered the bag.  “Do you think Shalelu would want a couple?”

The three friends walked up Raven Street, then cut across behind City Hall to Tower Street, which took them right past Savah’s Armory, where they saw Pisca and Kellan just bidding their farewells to the proprietress.  Pisca was carrying a fancy new repeating crossbow.

“That looks interesting,” said Kerr, as always a connoisseur of ranged weapons, but there was not much time to talk other than to exchange hurried greetings.  Early arrivals had already started to gather in Northchurch Square; there was maybe half an hour until the funeral ceremony was scheduled to begin.

The three of them made their way across the square, with Kerr receiving the most attention from those already gathered.

“Nice armor, Kerr!”  Said a matronly woman riding herd on a group of five children.

“Thanks, Mrs. Korvut.  Is everything okay with Kinnet?”  The woman broke into a smile and nodded.  “Yes it is, thanks to you!”

“Hey Kerr, what happened over at the Glassworks?”

Kerr waved at the tow-headed teenager who’d called his name.  “Tell you all about it later, Chav.”

“Look mommy, Kerr Mollin!”  This last from a little boy standing next to a middle-aged woman with long brown hair.  “Is that Mrs. Mollin?”

“Hush, Brevin!”  The woman replied.  Kerr flushed a deep shade of crimson as they arrived at the cathedral steps, quickly making their way up and opening the doors.

To find chaos.

Acolytes ran this way and that, and all three of the cathedral’s sextons were hard at work moving things about the courtyard in preparation for the funeral ceremony.  No one paid any attention to the three new arrivals; everyone was far too involved in whatever they were doing.

Kerr looked over at Liseth and Cato.  “I don’t think we’re going to be able to talk to Father Zantus before the ceremony.”  He said, somewhat unnecessarily.  “Maybe after?”

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Cato chuckled, then realized he was laughing about funeral preparations, and quickly lapsed into an awkward silence.  The mage cleared his throat.  "Um, yes, that makes sense.  Should I leave you two here while I pay a visit to Sage Quink?  I'd like to see if he knows anything useful about Thistletop.  There must be something written about it."

Cato stepped back out into the square, and hurried to Brodert's seemingly-ramshackle house, where he knocked loudly on the door.

"Thank you Kerr," Liseth beamed before her boyish beau brought her befuddler bag burden off her bosom.  "I forgot about Ms Andosana, but we have plenty of befuddlers to go around if she does want one.

A quick wave was spared for Pisca and Kellan when they hurried away from Ms Bevaniky's store.  Liseth noted that they weren't carrying any armor with them, but her eyes were fixed on the crossbow that Pisca now had.  It looked very over sized in the gnome's hands.  "What kind of crossbow was that?"  She asked Cato and Kerr after they left their other two friends to complete their errands.

She couldn't keep herself from smiling at all of the positive attention that Kerr was receiving again; even if she caught herself involuntarily scanning the crowd for mean girls like Cerlynne.  But those fears quickly washed away after her ears picked up the sound of a little boy's voice asking if she was Mrs Mollin.

All at once the diminutive blonde found herself in a fit of blushing, smiling, and giggling.  It was such that she had to cover her mouth with one hand to try and hide her shy smiling, but it did nothing to conceal her girlish giggles.  When Liseth saw how deeply Kerr was flushing she couldn't resist the urge to get up on her tiptoes and plant a peck on his crimson cheeks.

The moment, as much as she might want it to, couldn't last long though.  Not with the funeral so close to being prepared.  And with the sheer chaos rampant within the Cathedral.

"Um..."  The tiny teen nodded first to Kerr, then to Cato.  "You're right, I doubt we'll be able to distract Father Zantus from all of this."  She looked at all of the acolytes so busy that the three of them were hardly even acknowledged.  Which might be good, since Liseth didn't think that she was prepared for another confrontation with Elsbet; or even Daena.

"We'll be okay here Cato, you should talk to Sage Quink.  I'd just slow you down, I think.  And I don't know if I could keep up with what he knows about Thistletop anyway."  She frowned, "Part of me doesn't even want to know about Thistletop.  We'll see you at the funeral!"  Liseth called when the sage's assistant sped off.

"So Kerr..."  Liseth looked at all of the rushing acolytes, "I think we should help, but I don't even know where we could start."  She wrapped her arms around his free arm while he carried the befuddlers, "I suppose we should just go and store those befuddlers away for tomorrow.  Somewhere out of the way."

"And um..."  The girl blushed again, "Um...were you still sore?"  She doubted that his aches would have vanished in the last few hours, but it was still something to ask.  "I think we might have time for a...um...medicinal massage.  So that you can be in top shape for tomorrow."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:34, Fri 18 July 2014.

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“A repeating crossbow, I think,” Kerr responded to Liseth’s question about Pisca’s weapon.  “It’s a lot like a regular light crossbow, only it has a cartridge of bolts that you just fit in and out of it.  You don’t really have to reload it, which makes it a lot quicker to use.”  He stared back the way Pisca had gone with some envy.  “I’m more used to my longbow, but I’d love to take a look at it later.”

Kerr blushed furiously when Liseth kissed his cheek after Brevin asked his mom if she was Mrs. Mollin.  The young acolyte shot a surreptitious glance at his blonde girlfriend.  She seemed to be laughing!  But was that good . . . or bad?  Was she laughing because the thought of her being Mrs. Mollin was laughable?  Because she thought that was a good joke?  Because she thought young Brevin was adorable?  Or because she liked the thought of being Mrs. Mollin?

Kerr nearly slapped himself in the forehead.  Women were so confusing.

He was so caught up in wondering about Liseth’s reaction that he almost missed Cato’s leave-taking; he might have completely overlooked it if Liseth hadn’t said something!  “Sounds good, Cato,” he nodded somewhat belatedly after the scholar had already turned away.  “We’ll look forward to hearing what you find out!”  Kerr never knew quite want to say around the scholar.  Cato was so smart.  He had studied.  Kerr had taken classes from Father Zantus and various itinerant priests and teachers but he knew it wasn’t the same thing.  He wondered what it would be like to be so knowledgeable.  He wondered if Cato thought they were all country bumpkins.

He didn’t think so.  Cato seemed very nice.  But who really knew?

Kerr looked around at the frantic final preparations for the funeral; he put a hand over Liseth’s arms as she held on to him.   “Yes, I’m pretty sure everything that needs to be done has been assigned.  We’d only be in the way.  Too many cooks spoiling the broth, and all that.  Let’s store the befuddlers . . .,” he looked around, thinking, “maybe in one of the cloakrooms off the narthex?”  He started walking in that direction.  “They shouldn’t be used today, since the service is going to be outside in the Square.  Which is strange, given that we just finished the cathedral."  He pondered a second.  "But I guess they didn’t want to use the chapel of any one particular god to honor Sandpoint’s fallen.”

When Liseth suggested a massage, the young bowman nearly fell over right onto the big bag of befuddlers he bore.  “Um,” he said, recovering his footing and looking back at her, “yes, I’m still sore.” He glanced beyond her at the preparations.  “I don’t think we have time for it right this second.  But after the ceremony?”  He blushed and looked down at his feet, then looked up at her with a tentative smile.  “Definitely.”

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Liseth's chest was pounding.  It had taken a lot more than she realized even to mention the massage to Kerr; and based on his staggered reaction, she assumed that he might have forgotten all about asking for one earlier.  She couldn't tell whether she was anxious, frightened, or excited now that it had become a very real thing.  The fact that it would have to wait until after the ceremony meant that there would be quite a bit of time for her to figure out which emotion it was.  "Okay."  The girl said just above a whisper; it was all that she could squeak out after Kerr's smile.

He was right though; they didn't have an incredible amount of time before the funeral began.  Which led to the question of just how long the massage itself would take.  Liseth tried not to think too much about that.

She followed Kerr while he deposited the befuddlers.  "So...um..."  Liseth tried to break the awkward silence that had fallen by changing the subject.  Of course, the other thing pressing on her mind was something that she didn't even want to acknowledge.  Thinking about tomorrow put a sour feeling in the girl's stomach.

"After this is all finally over, with the goblins, do you think that the gods still have more that they need us to do?"  She quickly amended, "Not that I would ever say no to Sarenrae.  But all week has been one catastrophe after another; I mean, this is the second mass funeral that we've attended.  And all of the fighting."  Liseth sighed, "I don't know how much more stress I can handle.  What if we go to Thistletop and we do manage to defeat all of the goblin leaders but the goblins still attack anyway?  How will they even know that we beat them and that they should go home?"  All of the worry and stress and anxiety had her speculating about all sorts of bad things to happen.

"Thank you again..." The small blonde acolyte pulled herself up to Kerr in order to kiss him once more.  "For everything.  Even with all of the terrible things happening, I still don't regret coming to Sandpoint.  Because you're here."

"I suppose we should go out to the square.  Since there isn't much else that we have any time to do right now."  Liseth took hold of Kerr's arm again.  "Maybe we'll be early enough that we can sit in one of the benches."

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Kerr carefully slung the befuddler bag off his back and knelt to place it gently in the cloakroom’s corner.  “These should be safe here; we can pick them up in the morning and hand them out to everyone.”  He looked around.  “I don’t think this room is going to be used for a few days at least.”  The young acolyte straightened up and offered an arm.  “Shall we, milady?”

Kerr grinned down at Liseth’s question about the gods’ will.  “Hmm, let me check my direct line to the gods.”  He put a hand to his ear.  “What’s that?  After we go to Thistletop you want me to spend as much time as possible with Liseth?”  The dark-haired youth nodded resolutely, shooting a sidelong glance at his girl.  “Well, if that’s your divine will, I suppose I’ll have to.”  He placed the back of his hand dramatically to his forehead.  “Serving the gods is tough work!”

He playfully nudged Liseth.  “I don’t know what the gods have in store for us after Thistletop.  And I don’t know if that’s going to stop the goblin threat or if there will be more to do.  But I do know one thing.”  He turned to face the white-robed girl, holding her hands in his, looking down at her with the utmost seriousness. “Whatever they’re going to want us to do, we’re going to do it together.  And as long as we’re together . . .,” he tugged on her hands slightly, bringing her in for a soft kiss.  After a few seconds, he stepped back, “ . . . I know we’ll be able to handle anything the dark gods throw at us.”

He paused as Liseth spoke.  “Thank YOU, Lise.  My life has certainly changed since you arrived here.  And almost entirely for the better.”  He smiled.  “You know, aside from constant danger.”  He hugged her, then took her hand.  “You’re right, let’s head outside and grab a bench.”

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CONTINUED IN CHAPTER #7h:  THE RITE STUFF