OOC: Chaching 

Solomon will ritual cast Identify the ornate longsword and put the 13 gems into his bag of holding, “Found some gems, I’ll keep them in here if anyone needs some.”

Rex takes 200 platinum from the pile.

Elon takes 800 gp 

Evelyn lets out a long whistle.

"Beast had himself quite the stash, huh?"

Evelyn takes 200 platinum as well.

Bründir approaches the party as they go over the cache, "Well well, seems Szazzul's been collecting tolls fer a good while. Commander Talvus an' I, we go back a ways, an' let's say we weren't always the soldierin' types," The dwarf hooks his thumbs into his belt, grinning widely through a braided beard, "We know the life an'ave lived it well. Ye'll be gettin' yer pay from Alvernia, but the Commander sees this as a commission too. Alvernia pays ye fer troubles, ye find a hoard, an' ye give a bit where bits be due." Realization falls heavy on the dwarf and he quickly backpedals, "Now now, don' give that look. This is no extortion ring or trick. See the wee chest there?" He points to a small chest, holding no more than 1500 gold coins and a sparkling gemstone, "I take that, give the pretty piece to the Commander, a cut goes to me troopers, and the rest I keep fer overhead an' me own cut. In exchange, we get the grinder goin' round camp of how Dalenor's been strikin' deals with savages an' dragons against us. Sound agreeable?"

“That sounds perfectly fine to me. Your men were of great assistance at the end of the battle.” Solomon extends a hand to shake, “Thank you, Bründir.”

Btw did my identify of the sword reveal anything?

(Sorry! Missed the bit about Identify, then just got done with one of the worst days of work I've seen in a long time.)

Your mind is assailed by a near-unbearable flash of abjurative magic. Before you rests a shining longsword, immaculate in craftsmanship. Hovering in front of it, you see an ethereal shield and an alien script which somehow seems completely legible to you: Defender

Elon approaches Brundir “where to next my good sir” acting proper in a joking fashion.

Quote from Barlow >>

(Sorry! Missed the bit about Identify, then just got done with one of the worst days of work I've seen in a long time.)

Your mind is assailed by a near-unbearable flash of abjurative magic. Before you rests a shining longsword, immaculate in craftsmanship. Hovering in front of it, you see an ethereal shield and an alien script which somehow seems completely legible to you: Defender

 Rex takes the sword in hand and looks it over, getting a feel for its balance.  Looking around to the rest of the group, "I don't want to seem greedy, would any of you be interested in keeping this sword?"

Evelyn pats her bow.

"Nah, not much for blades, less I'm using it to skin a beast. Its all yours, big guy."

(You are always more than welcome to have an alternative to sword-and-shield now, since Defender gives up to +3AC, you can effectively dual-wield a +1 and your standard with the same protection as a shield)

Bründir steps forward to Rex and draws his own sword, "Ne'er did I think to find another," leveling the blade, Bründir's weapon shines with a similar light and a shield forms against the dwarf's sword arm, "Half I give to ye, an'alf ye return to me." The dwarf commander's battlecry is uttered more akin to a prayer, "Twas in a blasted canyon, surrounded by all manner of evil. My lads were broken, bloody, beaten, but I refused to yield. I was but a sergeant of a dozen then, nary more than a whip-cracker. I grabbed my lads an' dragged them to line, then shouted those words. Just us, we turned the first wave. Then hearts lifted, an' more came to fight. By the end, we held that damn hole for five days. My own sergeants now are survivors of that battle, an' they tell the story when I don' hear, sayin' it's how I earned the name 'Halfshield'."

"Aye, I've heard the tale. A glorious day indeed, and an honored name well earned!"

"And I agree with Solomon. Take the chest as your portion, and anything else of value that we leave behind. Try to find the families of these prisoners who were slaughtered today and compensate them as well."

"Shall we rest here tonight?"

“Oh sweet Aman, yes! But first, let’s be thorough.” Solomon will ritual cast Detect Magic and scan the room for magic objects.

The cave has some minor wards of warning, likely an alarm arranged for those looking to attack Szazzul without fighting an army first. Bründir calls his troops in and arranges watches for the night. They keep revelry to a minimum and their footprint small to avoid suspicion. One of his clerics performs a ritual at the entrance and reports that the army will march immediately.

The night passes in relative peace, aside from a lingering gloom over the area and the inhospitable pool outside that makes your water supply less than attractive. At first light, you set off with Bründir's escort due north. After a day of marching and another night within the security of a heavy escort, you reach the trade road between Dalenor and Alvernia. A guard post nearby provides you further security until another day passes and the army marches into view.

(Feel free to converse or question as much as you like here. I'll have further progression soon.)

“Oh yeah, this is much better. We should’ve been traveling in an escort since the beginning! I’m still surprised that we took down an entire strike force plus s dragon... shame about the people though.”

//did everyone who wanted to take part in the plunder? Shall we claim those gems as party treasure?//

OOC: I assume we got pretty much everything, right? What was the total amount again?

16,000gp, 1800pp, 13 gems of absolutely flawless cut and purity (500gp each), and Defender