There was humour but Friar Kerwich was in need of help so John stifled his laughter and followed the advice of the wise witch Kadira. He walked to the box and closed the lid.

John closes the chest of coins.  There are several hundred coins inside.

There are handles on the side and it does appear to be able to be carried.

It didn't seem safe to leave a cursed chest of gold where anyone might chance upon it John thought so when the lid was firmly shut he sheathed his sword then grabbed the handles to see if he could lift it alone. He'd then head back upstairs.

Even less interested in cursed coins than in anything else Kadira just takes the one light source she got from the wall mount and heads out, cleaning both it and the golden tiara carefully with her magic before adding wrapping them in a scrap of similarly clean cloth that could have come from anywhere, and putting them inside the copper pot to carry out to the horses.

The offering box is heavy, but it is not unmanageable.  John makes it to the ground level without spilling a single coin.

Kadira makes a clean cloth to wrap the tiara, but it is too large, and doesn't fit inside the teapot.  She too waits on the ground level.

Kerwich accompanies them, shielding his eyes from the glare as best he can. When they reach the ground level, as silly as it sounds, Kerwich will put a sack over his head to block as much of the light as possible, and see what happens.

Once he was back on the ground floor John put down the chest. He felt that the watchtower was now safe from enemies "shall I go fetch Talmout and the horses? All seems safe here now" he offered.

ooc: Forgive the shove...

The party makes it upstairs without any trouble, leaving the place much cleaner and safer that it was.   As they exit and take a look around, they see the cemetery to the west has collapsed in on itself.

If there is anything you wanted, do feel free

Kerwich finds a a loose bag only shows him the inside of the bag, but tight wrapping his head in bandages makes it tolerable, even if he does look like a mummy,

They find ~Talmout waiting with the horses.  He looks at the party a bit strangely, but doesn't comment.  The ride back to Helmsbreach is uneventful,  The guide goes his own way, and the party finds themselves wherever they choose to be.

---

XP Awards

Everyone receives 10x post count in XP

Kadira - 480 XP
Kerwich - 630 XP
John - 1050 XP
Wist - 820 XP

---

Party Treasure:

A nice copper teapot
A closed offering box full of coins
A light up Mace
A gold circlet
4 brass medallions with Continual Light cast on them
A cleric with continual light cast on him

As they approach the gate to Helmsbreach, Wist asks Talmout, "Is there a temple to Larry in the town?" He glances over at Kerwich, "Our comrade is in need of assistance."

"I suggest we take a room, or rooms at the Blue Turnip. We can count our coins in private and then celebrate our first adventure with a meal.

Of course, we should see if we can deal with Kerwich's new enlightenment, before hand!"

Once he had his heavy armour off and they were travelling again John sang as he marched.

"What of the men?
The men were in this fair land:
The bowmen - the yeoman,
The lads of dale and fell.
Here's to you - and to you!
To the hearts that are true
And the land where the true hearts dwell."

The journey with the Companions of Helmsbreach was a joyous one for Hordle John, he was on a road to gain through brave deeds and glory a more heroic name for himself

To Wist he gave a cheer "aye a fine bed, meal, ale and good company. The Blue Turnip be a good choice" John considered his thoughts and added "perhaps to the temple on the way there" he worried about Friar Kerwich's predicament.

ooc; Since Kerwich is AFK and it really involves him. I'm going rearrange things a bit.

Kerwich stops at the temple of Larry, electing to stay there while they decide what happened, and what to do about his glowing countenance. When you show them a medallion, they determine it belongs to a long defunct sun cult that no one really remembers.  Anything else will take a bit of research. (ie until Kerwich is back)

The others manage to secure rooms at the Blue Turnip whilst they decide what to do with their legally procured gains, which are, at the moment, mostly inside an unlocked offering box with a closed lid.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:24, Wed 31 Mar 2021.

"I'm ready for a celebratory dinner...but first let's count up our coins.

Tomorrow, I can cast a spell to determine if any of these items might be magicked!"

Kadira seems more tired from the trip than interested in any kind of celebration, just before she disappears into her room she offers the others a suggestion.
"If you want to continue to mess with the cursed coins be my guest, but until we have a more complete picture of what we have gained it will be unwise to over spend what we can easily access."

"Most wise as always lady Kadira" John agreed with her counsel. John now left with Wist gave a smile to the elf, "let us have ale and worry about the coins another day. I fancy ye shall suffer less for it however much ye drink and worry less about lack of sleep than me" John rubbed his ruddy sun tanned face "but celebrate we must for today we are truly adventurers and heroes!"

"Fair enough, John. Let's hoist a cup of ale and enjoy a good meal to celebrate our victory!"

As they head to the tavern room, Wist adds, "I'm curious why Kadira assumes the coins are cursed. It seems to me that the skeletons attacked at the behest of the other monstrosity.

And the light that blinded Kerwich, I'm sure that was a trap of sorts on the chest. To prevent thieves from taking the coins when that chapel might have been dedicated to the old sun goddess."

"Hmm I know little of curses or of skeletons. Nor do I know of the old sun goddess, if we take her gold we should give her some name" John drank his ale and ate his food "would a forgotten goddess be displeased with a new name? I shall call her Solis" he considered "her medallions will be very useful."

"Indeed, those disks will replace the need for torches."

He raises to his glass in toast, "To Solis, our thanks for providing us with light and with some much needed coin.

And if she was forgotten, we now remember her!"

"We now remember her!" John toasted to the forgotten deity.

Of their coin John hoped to find a horse and some improved armour "aye to the market on the morrow to spend our coin" he grinned "then off to find more glory. Where should we find such adventure?" he asked the elf.

Somewhere in the darkness a forgotten deity awakens...   Ummm.  No.

As the coffer sits upstairs, securely in their room, the heroes ponder how to get the bounty of coins out.

The meal of the day is roasted mutton, surprisingly tender, with savoury roasted potatoes and a tangy beer cheese soup.  A layered cake of honeyed nuts waits for those with room in their stomachs.

Kadira runs her fingers over the circlet.  It seems to be electrum, or some such metal. Likely valuable as metal, if not as jewelery.  The copper kettle seems well made. But not remarkable.

Having returned to the common room for the meal Kadira returns the circlet to the pouch she uses to keep valuables concealed from prying eyes.
"We should check around town for someone who sells jewelry, they are more likely to give us a decent price than a blacksmith, but the copper pot we may just want to trade it to the innkeeper for credit."

The mutton, the ale and the companionship were all excellent and enjoyed by John.

"Only if ye wish to spend the gold Lady Kadira. Otherwise it might be better suited on ye head" booty was often difficult to carry and the headpiece would suit the sorceress well John thought.

John was brawny enough to eat his fill and cake too "perhaps a jeweller would good. We could have our medallions of Solis set in some jewellery to wear as brooches, crowns or necklaces" he suggested as he brushed cake crumbs off his chin.

"I suppose we could report to the mayor what we found in the tower, and we could ask if he has another task for us?"


"A good idea Kadira. But if you did not look for any dwoemer on the circlet, and the pot, I will do so in the morning. Just to ensure we do not under price our goods.

Perhaps, Kerwich will be better, too," he adds with concern in his voice.


"That's a great idea, John. We could cast light ahead of us without occupying our hand!"

"Aye I'm sure the mayor will have work for the Companions of Helmsbreach or know of such quest to test our mettle" John drank more ale and raised another toast "to the Companions of Helmsbreach".

Kadira doesn't seem particularly hopeful about having found that kind of magic just lying around in a rat infested tower but shrugs and slides the circlet over to Wist.
"I have no talent for Divination, so you are welcome to investigate it however you like.

We should make a point of selling anything we want to before we talk to the Mayor, as that might risk him trying to claim items of historical significance to the town for himself.

And we are going to need some amount of gold to either cure the curse, or buy you your horse aren't we?"

"We are lucky to have you with us Kadira! That is a very good thought.

I will cast my Detect Magic spell in the morning, and we can go to the market first, before checking with Kerwich at the temple, and then to Mayor to provide our report.

Our day tomorrow is set, so we can relax tonight."