"Hey, yeah, I wonder if the Steam and Steel is still open. We can report our success at bringing security back to Trollskull Alley."

“I don’t see any harm telling folks that we took out the culprit responsible for the attack on the alley. Won’t be any tears shed over that... but I agree that we should leave the Gralhunds out of it, at least for now.”

Rethan nods to Morph.  "Getting materials to re-summon Midnight definitely sounds like a plan.  We can probably sell that rapier and inform the shopkeepers of what happened while we're out."

It is late in the day but the sun is still up and the door to the Steam and Steel still stands open. Avi and Embric are inside, enjoying a drink, clearly done laboring for the day. Embric stands as they all enter. "You have news?"

Avi remains seated but gives a thin smile. "It has been another slow day," he says.

"We found and destroyed the culprit," Laniel says. "It was a rogue construct attacking a passerby in the alley."

Embric visibly relaxes. "Thank the gods," he says.

"We will still need to get the word out," says Avi.

Embric nods. "But Trollskull Alley is safe again."

Avi looks Laniel squarely in the eye, "That took longer than 24 hours."

Laniel rubs his bald head, abashedly. "Well," he says. "We defeated him yesterday. It was...a long night, however. We only just woke up."

"That explains why nobody answered the door this afternoon," Embric says to Avi, who is nodding as he listens. "I say we honor our agreement."

Avi looks pensive. "I agree," he says at last. "It isn't as if we could get the word out until tomorrow morning anyway. Thank you. Sincerely. Will you take coin or would you prefer to peruse our wares for your reward?"

Morph looks at his friends, for confirmation,

"I think we will take it in coin? We are going to have need, of more than just the wares that your fine shop can provide."

"Actually, I was going to see about selling this rapier that we recovered."

(Morph would have used Prestidigitation on the rapier before leaving Trollskull Manor, to get it a little cleaner for sale.)

 "I know things have been hard for the last few days, so I understand if you cant afford it right now."

DM shield: 

 Avi nods and stands, heading to a chest, which he unlocks with a large metal key. He extracts a sack that clatters with the sound of coin and hands it to Morph. "This is from the entire Alley, not just us. Thank you for the peace of mind."

Meanwhile Embric looks over the rapier. "Hmm..." he says, flipping the blade over and feeling the weight of it in his hands. "Yes, I think we can sell this. I will offer 18 gold for it. Yes?"

"Yes, 18 gold if fine, thank you Embric."

Morph accepts the sack of gold and the 18gp, from the respective shop owners.

"I hope your business starts to recover faster, now that the matter has been solved and the perpetrator taken care of."

"We will be back in future for more work, for the manor at least, but our current work load may keep us busy for a bit."

"Thank you so much for your kind employment, and good luck with everything."

As Morph heads outside, he turns to Rethan,

"Rethan, how much to you think you will need, to buy the necessary materials for your spell to get Midnight back?"

"We will have to count this and redistribute it, so we all get a far share."

Morph indicates the sack of gold.

"Hmmm... instead of taking it all in coin, would we consider some sort of trade out agreement? We'll need a lot of coin to fix up the old Manor in order to restore her into the proper tavern that Trollskull Alley deserves. And looking around the company we have gathered among us here today, we have some of the finest laborers, merchants, and artisans in the the whole damned city! Would we be able to [Tooltip Not Found] 18 any of you into helping us renovate the old place? We can even pay you for some of the bigger tasks."

"I need to go buy about 10 gold worth of materials to re-cast the summon," Rethan responds to Morph.  "And like Titus said, most of that coin would probably be best spent on getting the Manor in shape."

As we walk back to the manor, Mal will ask for a loan of 24 gp from the rest of the group to buy a pearl to be able to cast identify in the future.

To Titus Avi says, "No one is going to risk their standing with the guilds for under the table work in this part of town, friend."

Laniel looks at Titus with a raised eyebrow. "Hopefully we will have funding available for above board repairs to the place soon."

As Laniel follows Mal back to the Manor, he hear's Mal's plea. "I'll gladly chip in," he says.

Morph:

The next day, the heroes return to Trollskull Manor after a morning of changing bed sheets at 3 different orphanages. The return feeling positive and energized rather than tired or defeated. The sun is at its highest now in the early afternoon and all five have retreated to the manor, which is shady but stuffy, offering little relief. Their thoughts and conversation ultimately return to Neverember's vault...

"Gods, I think I really love money."

"Yeah, got to agree with you there Mal, money is really nice."

"Possibly having a share of 500,000 gold, makes me think happy thoughts."

"I mean, think of all the things we could do with that kind of money, even after getting this place fully repaired, stocked and running."

Morph seems to be day dreaming about the possibilities.

"Right then, what are we going to do about making those possible futures, a reality?"

Morph holds up his hand and starts counting off things on his fingers.

"First we are going to need the exact location of the wizard tower that will get us to the underground vault."

"Second we are going to need some way to get passed the dragon, without getting eaten, preferably."

"Thirdly, we are going to need 3 items to get into the vault:"

"An invisible creature; perhaps you could help us with that Mal."

"A painting of a dwarf miner."

"And a pair of bugbear ears."

"And lastly, we are going to need some way to get the treasure out of the vault, without being robbed the moment we leave."

"Also we may need some where to store the gold..."

Morph ponders the last part.

"Just throwing out an idea, we won't need to store the gold if we spend it all immediately. And despite my supposed expertise in turning myself invisible, I have not the slightest clue where to start. All kinds of things can and do turn invisible all the time, myself included."

Gathering up the contributions of the others, Mal remains about 4 gp short, which he will make up for through a long, cajoling debate with the owner of fine pearls.

"Okay..." Laniel says slowly. "Where do we start? It will get overwhelming if we try and manage everything at once. Let's start somewhere small. Like the painting. Maybe we look around for one while Mal shops for his pearl."

"Why don't you three," Rethan says, indicating Laniel, Morph and Titus, "and I'll go get the supplies and head back to the manor to do the ritual to re-summon Midnight."

While Mal heads out to barter for a pearl (make a persuasion check for the discount!) Rethan procures supplies to re-summon Midnight. Laniel, Morph, and Titus peruse the art shops, trying to stay out of the heat. After 6 hours, they find a painting that just might work, depicting a dwarf sitting in slumped exhaustion on a rock against the backdrop of the setting sun. A helmet and a pickax sit at his side and a canary in a brass cage next to a lantern sits on his other side. The price is listed under the painting, along with the artist and year it was painted (it is one year old.) The price is listed for 34 gold.

"Well, I've got about 30 gold and some change. Can we three chip in on this one?" Laniel says.