ooc: wow, what now? liches and ghosts? Man eating plants? BLM rioters?

Asking Pious and Agrax to gather the treasures, Kal tried to get warm, dry and dressed. "I was hoping for a gem or magical bauble to reward some very loyal friends, the sort that would stand with me against a troll!

"My book was enhanced, we've defeated a great evil, keep the treasure for yourselves. I can trust you with my lives, it's proper that you have something to show how deeply I appreciate that."

Once dry and somewhat warm, Kal leads them back towards the village and a meeting with the Beldame.

You don't really get warm until you return to Winter's Home. Once there, you make your way to the Men's Cloister, but instead of Olaf, you come across Nikoli, Olaf's second. "What's yer business?" he asks.

"We're staying here, I'm Kalmus the Grey, running an errand for the Beldame."

Nikoli snorts.

"Your actually staying at Whiskey Jacks. This lodging is for members. I don't see a card with you name on it. Might wanna get with Olaf on that when he comes back...if you're interested in joining."

ooc: Wait, why am I here? Thought I was going to talk to the Beldame??

Recall: The Beldame invites you. I'm getting there, though. Nikoli is just another introduction to the place.

But if we're staying elsewhere...??

"What's involved in joining? Why would I want to join? Forgive me, we're still quite new here."

"I see you carry sword. That's a good start. Being a part of the Men's Cloister means you spend one day a week cleaning up the place, in rotations. Of course, you don't have to join, and if I might be so bold to say, you have an air of magic that surrounds you. We get enough of that with the women of the Coven.

"Better, I think, if you stay at Whiskey Jacks until Olaf gets back. Unless you're really keen on joining."

Nikoli offers a blunt smirk at the suggestion.

=====================================================================================

Moving things along: Olaf arrives at Whiskey Jacks about an hour later. With him is the Beldame, an expectant look upon her face.

"Well, were you successful?" she asked.

Kal produced the book with a smirk. "We punctured the troll while we were at it then burned it. It melted, I didn't think it would melt but it sort of fits with an ice troll."

The Beldame is delighted. "Tell me everything, down to the last detail!"

There seems a bit of bloodlust in her eyes. Olaf, on the other hand, has little to say, though his blue eyes shimmer as you tell the tale.

"While I don't have Elora's gifts, I'll try. We moved towards the area in which we thought the monster might lair and found an unfrozen waterfall. Seeing that it was not easy to approach, we sought to lure it out. It smacked me around a bit but we put it down and it fell into the stream below.

"Once the book was secured, I striped down to my skivvies to see if there were other treasures. The thing was healing, reconstituting itself before my eyes! Leaping out of the water, I yelled for my companions and grabbed my blade. They held it off while I landed a fatal blow on the thing, melting it away with fire.

"We found some small treasure below but the book, ah, the book was the prize and now, we've brought it to  you."

He paused, "In the interest of detail, I am going to order a hot bath and get a hot rock and toss it in to thaw my pecker."

The Beldame is delighted by the tale. You note she wears a small haversack at her waist. She pulls a compact spellbook and hands it to Kal.

"I've transcribed a number of spells into this travel tome for you as the final part of our agreement. My thanks again. You all are welcome to stay as long as you like, though you are southlanders and that usually doesn't translate very well."

ooc: recall the statues: you may want to trade them for coin or gems before you leave.

"You have my gratitude as well, Beldame. Thank you for the book.

"Ah, while we're here, we had some loot from the crypt in which that thing tried to hire us to come here and snatch that tome for him. Is there somewhere we can sell or trade these things? We're certain no one will come looking for it, otherwise, they would have just come themselves."

ooc: worth a shot!

The Beldame smells a bargain.

"Let me see these statuettes," she said. "I like good art as much as the next woman."

Elora and Agrax bring forth the statuettes, showing each in turn:

1- a naked nymph pouring water into an urn.

2- a sword set before a shield.

3- a griffon in flight.

4- a young boy looking thoughtfully at his dog.

"I love them," the Beldame cries. "I want all of them! How much would each cost?"

OOC: I cannot find the prices, went through ooc as well. Didn't record them on the CS, do you have it handy?

They are all masterwork, each would fetch about 500g in a big market. This is not a big market, obviously, but you might earn a reputation for fair dealing if you were willing to take the hit on price. The opposite's true as well, you might leave a negative impression on the Beldame.

ooc: let's keep it friendly!

"We think they're worth around 500 gold or so each but you have taken a shine to them and we've been more than fairly compensated for the troll, would you give oh, say 400 each?"

The Beldame is certainly one of a kind. She studies you, then the pieces, and does so multiple times. It's patently obvious that she knows exactly what she's looking at, but doesn't want to spend any more than she has to. Finally she sighs. "Alright, Kalmus. You win. 400g it is!"

1600 and she pays in gems: Bloodstone worth 100g apiece - unless you want to tote around a chest full of gold. :)

"Glad we could come to a fair sum! My thanks, Beldame, those gems will be far lighter headed south than the statues."

The Beldame is already considering where she's going to put each statue. In the background, you hear Olaf suggesting the sword and shield sculpture for the Men's Cloister.

"Yes, I think that fits," The Beldame said. "Hang it on a shelf where visitors can see it clearly."

As Olaf and The Beldame dicker, Kal and company head to Whiskey Jacks for food and a night of sleep.

OOC: Give me some suggestions for your next adventure. I do have something in mind, but this is your adventure, and I don't want to preempt what you want to do. Otherwise we'll go with my thoughts.

ooc: open to suggestion. Part of me wants to go burn that ruin we first entered and pull it  down on that thing but maybe later for that. I like the Elora angle if she can hang around, woman like that doesn't seem like one that would be loved and left nor should she be. Maybe wander the roads a bit, stay in some inns, sing for our supper, drift south and learn about the land? Dunno, I hadn't given it  much thought!

W

Okay, I'm gonna need a day or two to get my shit together, but I have something that will be both challenging and rewarding...if you survive!

In the meantime, you have a decent dinner and a quiet night's sleep until you feel a pat on your shoulder, followed by a naughty laugh.

"Kal?"

When you mumble in reply, she pokes you with a finger with a little more intensity.

"Kal!" she whispers again. "I wanna!"

There's a certain urgency in her tone...

Kal woke enough to embrace Elora. "I will do what I can. Come here, you!" Tired and aching, Kal knew that the hero's duty was not done until the heroine was properly bedded and satisfied!

"Good man," she purred. Then she climbed on top and began nuzzling his ear...among other things.