Aoife looks around, impressed by all the gold. "Makes sense I guess," she says. "Cursed by the hag, hag gone, him not cursed anymore."

She shrugs, and wanders over to check out the bracers. (perception 14)

Aoife sees the bracers are finely made and look brand new. 

Aoife tries the bracers on, flexing her muscles and attempting to pose like a circus muscleman, but failing badly as she gracelessly flails her limbs. (performance 1)

Quote from valeskah >>

Aoife tries the bracers on, flexing her muscles and attempting to pose like a circus muscleman, but failing badly as she gracelessly flails her limbs. (performance 1)

Valrieth giggles at the sight. In case she offended Aoife by laughing, Val says, "They look good on you, Aoife.  Maybe while we ride the balloon back to Downfall, you'll have time to study them and get a sense of their magic."

Does anyone take the boots?

If noone else takes the boots, Aoife picks them up and tries them on. If anyone else shows interest though, she does not.

Quote from valeskah >>

If noone else takes the boots, Aoife picks them up and tries them on. If anyone else shows interest though, she does not.

(OOC: Go for it!  Finley is using an artificer infusion on his boots.  Valrieth was barefoot when the party went to the carnival.  While she sometimes wears simple shoes, she has never worn boots.  I imagine that she looks less like a humanoid with some rabbit features and more like a large rabbit that walks on her hind legs and has hands with opposable thumbs.)

ilifir shows little interest in the items, if someone suggests it he will try them on, but hasnt been in physical combat much since the adventure started, has more than enough tricks of his own, and is more than happy to leave the gear for the others

Valrieth looks at the piles of gold and asks the others, "Should we put some of this gold in the portable hole too?  Almost no one in Prismeer seems to use gold coins: they just barter, trading for other objects or favors or something abstract, like 'the color of your eyes.'  We took plenty of goods out of Loomlurch that we can trade when we have to make a bargain.  But I think that the Wondrous Wares store had some prices on their goods the last time we were shopping there."

 "We could identify at least one o' th' items if ye want and ah can go ahead and set up th' hole cause ye never know when we'll need a bit o' gold 'ere or back home." Finley says as he looks for a spot to set down the Portable Hole.

Valrieth is a little worried about her suggestion.  While Finley looks for a spot to open up the Portable Hole, she flips through her book of notes on their adventure.  Val says, "Ilifir, Finley, do you remember anything Nib said about the ghosts that haunted him?  He said that the gold was his 'ill-gotten wealth.'  Do you suppose that the gold is safe to take now that Nib has finished making his amends and departed?  Or do you think that the ghosts will attack us if we try to take 'their' gold?"  

Val explains to Aoife, "The last time we were here, we saw apparitions lurking in the cave.  Nib -- the old man who turned the coins into gold thread and then spun into magic items, like Ilifir's gloves or those boots -- said that he was haunted by ghosts of people whom he had wronged."

If anyone else shares this concern, Val proposes that they wait for her to take a reading with her tarot cards to determine whether it's a safe to take the gold.

Quote from Ben_Evolent >>

If anyone else shares this concern, Val proposes that they wait for her to take a reading with her tarot cards to determine whether it's a safe to take the gold.

Valrieth says, "It's probably fine since Nib left the gold here for us, but....since we're not in a hurry."  She decides to perform a ritual casting.  She finds a clear space and takes out her deck of cards.  She spends several minutes consulting her star maps and aligning tokens "along the meridian" and saying quiet prayers to various ascendant stars at this time of year.

Val takes a reading to determine whether it's a good idea for the party to take Nib's gold before they leave the cave.

(OOC: I lost the old image that I referenced before, but I imagine that Val's cards have abstract images, like these cards but without the words.  I like those since they artwork seems slightly sinster, which seems appropriate for an item she purchased in a fey bargain at a store so close to the lair of the hag Bavlorna Brightstraw in Downfall.) 

Aoife looks over Val's shoulder at the cards. "Huh, pretty."

She wanders around, idly tapping the gold and squints into the back of the cave, looking for ghosts. (perception 17)

Aoife still wears the boots and bracers, and does a few star jumps and stretches as she waits for Val to finish her reading.

"Ah think it'd be alright ta take some o' it at least." Finley says, tugging at his beard a little bit while trying to get a look at Val's cards, "although they might've said something about not takin' anythin', we could always pay 'em back if we see 'em again, aye?"

There are no ghosts

The augury reveals weal and woe

Quote from Weathervision >>

The augury reveals weal and woe

Valrieth says, "Hm..."  Her pink nose twitches as she finally settles down and turns over a few of the cards from her deck.  She checks her star charts again and says, "Well, I'm not sure."

"This card," Val indicates one with an image of a tree growing toward a fantastical and unreal sky, "is the Dreamer.  In this position, it indicates a dream fulfilled, accomplishment, and achievement.  That tells me that we will benefit from taking the gold, and we should take it."  But her unenthusiastic tone undercuts that message, and she continues, "But it's not all positive."  Here, she touches a card that depicts a stormy clouds and lightning.  "In this position, this card indicates something that's hidden.  The card is The Storm.  It can indicate a sudden event, tears, or turbulent times."

Val says, "Taking the gold will bring both good and bad.  Maybe we need the gold to buy Aoife armor?  Or perhaps taking it finally frees Nib from his curse?  But there's some hidden danger here."  She looks toward the back of the cave before saying, "If the ghosts are gone...I don't know...in these hag-twisted lands, you never know where the danger truly lies.  Maybe the gold comes with some other curse, like inflaming avarice?  Or maybe the coins transforms into worthless metal after we pay, which will get us in trouble later."

Val looks to the others to see what they want to do.  "There's no way to know for sure," she says.  "If we want the benefit, we'll just have to accept some risk.  We've handled brigands and hags already.  I guess we could figure out how to handle cursed gold and ghosts."

Val thinks that they should take the gold since she detected weal.  She's not sure how to avoid the woe, but she's willing to risk it if the others are.

Once the party decides whether to take the gold, Val is ready to leave the cave and go looking for Clapperclaw and their balloon.

"one person" ilifir decides "if we're taking the gold, we shouldnt have more than one person touching it. most likely wont help if there's an issue, but that way if its cursed we might have less issues, can anyone else curse-break?" he hates giving up information on his abilities, but he just said he would, and its relevant "i can break simple curses, but not anything major"

Quote from willow_ivyleaf >>

"one person" ilifir decides "if we're taking the gold, we shouldnt have more than one person touching it. most likely wont help if there's an issue, but that way if its cursed we might have less issues, can anyone else curse-break?" he hates giving up information on his abilities, but he just said he would, and its relevant "i can break simple curses, but not anything major"

"Ooh!  That's a good idea, Ilifir!", Valrieth says, nodding.  "Finley, since you have the Portable Hole, do you want to go ahead and scoop the gold into it?"  Val hates asking since Finley is already burdened by his fey bargain, but he's also the toughest member of their group.

Val is impressed by Ilifir's ability to break curses.  In answer to his question, she says, "Nooo....not exactly.  I mean, I know how to unweave a spell now, like I did to defeat the enchanted rug that attacked Aoife back in Loomlurch."  You can tell that she's proud of the progress she's made in learning new magic since arriving in Prismeer nine days ago, "But I doubt that that would help against a 'curse' from these hags or even against the penalty of a fey bargain gone awry.  Those kinds of curses don't seem like proper spells: they're more subtle magic that's tied to the fabric of the Feywild."

"Ah'll do it, dunnae want anyone else tae get hurt just over some gold," Finley nods after a short time and makes sure there's room for the portable hole near the gold and starts to push it inside carefully. He tries to make note how much in total there is while he does so, "only take me ah moment, so make sure we're ready for th' next of th' journey, aye?"