"Not at all." Neya sets the journal on the Captain's desk. "Sounds like you have an idea what to do with this information"

"From what I can tell, only a simple translation is needed. But, I wouldn't put it past him to put in sensitive information in other ways in case something happened to him."

She then follows Yan and the rest of CRAP to the cells.

AT THE CAPTAIN'S OFFICE

"Thank you, for the information and the journal. It will help when talking to those who might know more." she says to Neya. Turning to Utar next, she adds: "You should probably meet Moneus on your own, Utar. A Welcomer meeting a Black Fist will set sparks on both sides."

AT THE CELLS

Villonah listens to both Graxx and Doozey and partly puts one and two together: "Listen here, Doozey. If you let that mastiff die, I'll stab you myself!" Whether she is joking or not is lost in her quickly changing tone of voice. She grabs the halfling's hand for a brief moment, showing a degree of vulnerability you all know she is uncomfortable with. "I'll be better once I am out of this cell. The captain and I had some long conversations within her zone of truth. She volunteered to join in the spell's effects if I were to do the same. It was helpful. She told me about his confession in detail, and I now understand why he did it." She drops Doozey's hand and cuts off her line of thinking: "We can talk more about it another time."

Once the conversation moves on, Villonah takes mental notes on Ixas' description, as well as those of the creatures of the woods. She is also interested in the crones' actions and rituals. She then states: "It is a pity you couldn't bring with you proof of any of these individuals' involvements or nature, but the contract alone should be proof of infernal meddling. Please keep it safe until I am out of here, if ever. I can then bring it to my superior as proof. That should suffice." She thinks about it for a second and adds: "I am willing to buy the contract from you once the time comes. An adventurer needs to make a living too, I understand." 

He spirits renewed, Villonah says her goodbyes for now sends you off with a "Come and visit again!"

LEAVING THE TOWER

Yan then leads the group back outside, at which point Graxx lets him know of his desire to visit the Black Fist blacksmiths. Their work area consists of three individual forges, and a wealth of equipment and supplies for the production of weapons, armor, and other metalwork. It is incredibly hot here, and those of you wearing armor quickly begin to sweat and feel uncomfortable. An old male dwarf works one of the forges while a young human, a skinny boy, pounds away a horseshoe. The blacksmith that approaches the group is, however, a burly female dwarf. She is much younger and stronger then the other dwarf working on the background, and quite more comely underneath all the soot too. The captain's note produced, she says: "Hmm... Fine. I'm Brunhilde and that back there is Siegfied. I'm the weaponsmith and he is the armorer. The boy is our helper, and goes by Horseshoe. What strikes yar fancy, warrior?

Assuming Graxx makes his preference for two-handed/versatile weapons known, she then offers him a choice among the following: battleaxe (10gp), glaive (20gp), halberd (20gp), pike (5gp), spear (1gp), warhammer (15gp). She says anything else is either too specialized or expensive for the purposes of arming Black Fist guards, and as such, are not kept in stock. She then adds with a friendly wink at Graxx: "Since ya's paying though, If ya're willin' to wait, I can work on something else for ya under a commission. I'm the best blacksmith in town, I assure you."

Graxx drools a bit and wipes his mouth.

"That Halberd of yours looks pretty good.  By any chance do you do any silverin' of weapons?  And if so what will it run me?  I need something that can put a proper hurting on anything no matter what it is."

Graxx puts his hand to his chin and thinks.

"What's your specialty?  I'd venture to say one of us from this group could benefit from a powerful weapon or armor.  We've got some business to tend to around here so times not a worry.  Do you have any work around here that needs an adventurer's skillset that might help cut down the cost?"

Joking or not, Doozey still nodded solemnly as if accepting the reprisal as more then fair. But he refrained from amending his words, knowing or believing to lessen the impact to be as much betrayal of the truth as an outright lie. The rest he found himself either listening to respectfully, blissfully unaware of the one moment of squeezing her hands briefly and gently in sympathy. "It'll be safe. I promise. And-..." He stops and looks briefly back to the others with a pensive expression. "We'll... worry about any rewards later. And though this may sound a bit silly, stay safe. We'll figure out a way to get out. This I swear as well."

With as much said and far more of a pep to his steps, he took his leave following reply of "I most certainly will!" on the way out.

Leaving the Tower

 "Something with that kind of reach is definitely a good idea!" Doozey nods enthusiastically, and almost even smiles in the heat of the moment. "You wouldn't happen to have shields my size as well, would you?" He asked. "Also... no.. you wouldn't have studded leathers. That's sorta different field, if'n I recall correctly."  

User hangs back during the exchange with Villonah, letting the others take the lead. During the talks with Brunhilde and Siegfried, he is similarly subdued, although will raise the cost of splint mail with the armourer if the opportunity arises.

Neya is content on listening to this exchange.

AT VILLONAH'S CELL

The gnome warrior smiles and nods back at Doozey, reiterating her request for the whole party, including Biscuit, to come and visit her again.

AT BRUNHILDE'S & SIEGFIED'S FORGE

Brunhilde's continues to attend to Graxx's request and calls Siegfied forward to help servicing the others.

Brunhilde to Graxx: "Silverin' a weapon? I haven't had such a request in quite some time. It's delicate work, and costly too, but I can do anythin' with a hammer on my hand and coal in my forge! The halberd will cost ya 20gp, silverin' it another 100gp. If I start right away, it'll be ready by the morrow." She waits for a response then answers the other questions: "My specialty? Oy, axes of course, but I enjoy makin' a good blade too. I don't get to work on many of those though, unless a high-rankin' officer commissions one. As for work for yas, no not really. If I ever run into trouble the Black Fist is quick to solve it. They wouldn't want to lose their master smithy now, would they?" She laughs loudly. "Though they are takin' their sweet time with this wave of home robberies. Moradin forbids my home is next..." Before Graxx leaves, she then asks: "Oy, big fella, who's yar muse? Is it her?" she points at Neya.

Siegfied to Doozey:  "Aye, we have a buckler or two that might suit ya well. How about that one over there in banded iron? It'll cost ya 10gp. As for studded leather, we don't have any here in the forge, but we provide some leatherworkers in town the iron studs they use. Horseshoe over there can find an armor set for ya if yar willin' to pick it up tomorrow. How about 45gp for that?"

Siegfied to Utar: "That we do have, though it'll cost ya a whole purse at 200gp."

Graxx nods and reaches into his backpack.  As he does, he sees his 50 gp.  Graxx frowns for a moment then grins confident in his prior decision to help Biscuit.  

"I'll take the halberd by itself right now.  I'll have to return another time for the silver." says Graxx.

Graxx puts the 20gp on the table.

Graxx then looks to Neya and his grin widens.  Graxx then looks back to Burnhilde with an eyebrow raised.

"You know... I never really thought about it but yes Neya is.  My mind... Especially lately... Often goes in many different directions that aren't always the best road.  Neya helps bring that home and guide me a long the way.

Graxx then slaps the table hard enough to make the 20gp bounce up and spill a little on the table.

"And by Tempus you should see her in battle!  Doesn't even need weapons!  Can just run around taking people out with her hands!" says Graxx.

Graxx wipes a bit of spittle from his mouth as he got excited.

"She's a sight to see I'll tell you that... She definitely inspires me to be a better warrior and person... What about you Brunhilde?  What keeps you hammering away all these years?" asks Graxx.

Utar recalls an earlier moment a few days ago, the four of them preparing to row out to large pirate ship and him mentioning how much he'd like to be able to give them all something. Neya wore her insignia well, the claws that sprouted from her wrists had cleaved a path through both pirate ships. Sensing this might be the opportunity for Doozey and Graxx, Utar steps forward towards Brunhilde and Siegfried.

"So, one set of splint mail to fit a half-orc, studded leather and a buckler fit for a halfling and a silvered halberd for my friend here. By my reckoning that's 355 gold pieces, 375 if I pay for the halberd, which I will if I am allowed?"

Utar glances at Graxx for confirmation before handing over his pouch of gems as well as his remaining gold pieces, making up the difference in silver, "All spends the same, if it's all the same to you? When should my friends return to collect their items?"

Doozey rubs his chin. "So, it'd be either the shield or the leather then for me. A bit short on gold after-...." He trails off and bows his head in a somberly way. But after a few moments or so, he perks up and looks to Utar. "What? He blinks owlishly up at Utar. "Well... I already owe you a great as is for the... you know. But, if you're willing, I'll take you up on your offer this time around" He says, still sounding somewhat divided on the subject, but offering little in the way of resistance.

Graxx looks over at Utar in shock for just a moment.

"I'll pay for the Halberd friend but I'll gladly accept you paying for the silver.   I really appreciate it."

Graxx laughs.

"I guess it's true what they say.  Crap always sticks together."

"Not the answer I was hopin' for." Brunhilde says to Graxx as she collects a total of 375gp from the group. A bit disappointed, she does not answer the barbarian's follow up question.

Siegfied tells Utar: "I'll fit the splint armor for yar exact size, Horseshoe will fetch the leathers for the halflin', and Brunhilde here will work on the silverin'. Come back by the end of the day tomorrow and ya can have it all, including the buckler."

Satisfied with the negotiations and noticing the sun is already setting, the group decides to call it a day. Yan asks you to follow him and leads the group to the Laughing Goblin. This inn is not necessarily Phlan's fanciest, but was definitely its busiest. Some of you have had the pleasure of staying here before. Yan clarifies that Captain Burral is covering CRAP's expenses for the night, including supper, rooms, and breakfast in the morrow. He deals directly with Imizael, the familiar innkeeper, and similarly explains the arrangement to her. After that, the soldier leaves.

The party enjoys a decent but unsalted vegetable stew accompanied by a mug of perry, tonight's special. It is brought to the table by another familiar face, Fat Mar. The performance on stage tonight is a curious act. It is not everyday that you see a kenku playing the flute, and it is a bit of a mystery how he manages to do so without lips. In the morning, the group is served a medley of boiled carrots and dried watercress, which you gather are the remains of last night's stew. 

(OOC#1: The next few days are yours to do whatever you fancy. At this point, you are waiting for the captain to reach out with updates on the Cult of the Dragon. The length of this Epilogue depends on what you choose to do. What would you like to do? Oh, and feel free to RP your way through the evening and into the morning. I wanted to move things onward a bit but there is always room for RPing).

(OOC#2: Please go ahead and remove the appropriate coins and gems from your inventory).

Graxx looks around and smiles... As much as he loves the wilderness it's nice to sleep without the fear of being ambushed by goblins or some other creature.  He takes a big sip of vegetable soup and flags over Fat Mar.

"This is some good stuff!  Can I get another bowl when you get a minute? Also, do you sell any food togo(rations)?  I'd like to buy about 10 days worth if you can spare it." says Graxx

Graxx then gets a look as he recalls the gem.

"Say... You wouldn't fancy buying any gems would ya?  We picked up a few along the way and I'm looking to turn them into coin.  Appreciate everything.

Graxx turns back to the group.

"I have to say... I'm going to miss you all one day.  One day I'm going to have to return to my tribe to fight to the death for the right of being Chief.  I'm not sure if I am skilled enough to win the fight yet but I know I haven't performed a worthy deed to challenge the throne...  I traveled so far away from the Spine of the World to get to here.  I thought I'd have time to prepare and them face when I was ready.  I never dreamed I'd run into them so far from home.... I hate to see how far they have fallen from Tempus's path... But from what they were shouting at me they believe I am the one who has strayed!  They must have their minds all twisted up!  And the fact that they were killing horses!  Our old teachings would have been to kill the warriors and take the mounts to be proper Ponies!  I don't know what kind of tribe I'll be returning to or even if one is left...  But... We can enjoy our time together for now." says Graxx.

Utar nods along to Graxx's words, then raising his mug of perry, sips deeply, the taste of pear and honey chasing down the stew.

"Are you required to travel alone back to your tribe? Otherwise it may be that we continue to wall the same road for a while yet. Phlan is changing, maybe for the better, maybe for the worse, but dark days seem to lie ahead. Might be I'm looking for a change of scenery once we come out the otherwise o this."

He takes another sip, pondering his next words carefully.

"Since leaving the sight of Old One Eye and finding Torm, I've been lucky enough to make a few friends. From the sound of things, most of them met with an end before their time, and that don't sit right with me. Right now, I know two things about it. I ain't grieved for them yet and whoever, whatever is doing it, is coming here next."

Utar pauses his speech realising his words are becoming a bit grim, then raises his mug.

"Anyway, what I mean to say is, friends are hard to come by. Here's to friends, the fallen, the new, the ones come back from the cold. I'm glad to know you all and Torm keep us."

As conversation drifts, Utar cats an eye around the other patrons of The Laughing Goblin. In particular looking for anyone without a left ear or with a left ear covered by hat or hair.

Perception 1d20 = 5 plus 6.

Graxx nods to Utar...

"Oh no. There is no requirement to travel alone but when going to face my tribe it will have to be only me."

Graxx takes a sip.

"Even though I will face the chieftain when I am most confident in my own ability there is still a chance I may fall.  If I do the Chieftain would most certainly have anyone I am with that is an outsider taken for the Drow... Well taken for this Dragon cult."

Graxx waves his hand around motioning to all of CRAP.

"While I certainly believe in everyone's fighting ability agaisnt an entire tribe with the backing of the Drow you would eventually be overwhelmed.  I cannot fight with that fear in my mind..."

Graxx raises an eyebrow.

"Do not think I have forgotten your predicament Utar.  With your former Warband being taken out it seems I am not the only one who's past is making itself known.  If they come, we will be ready for them.  We may have to play some of our good old questioning tricks to get the truth behind the matter."

Graxx sees Utar scanning the place.

"Yes, good to keep an eye out.  We can't let our guard down or let you wander off alone."

"Fair enough. But before we get there, we need to decide what we do next?"

Draining his mug, Utar attributes to catch the eye of Fat Mar, ordering another round.

"More importantly, did you notice Brunhilde attempting to put the moves on you earlier? We've an appointment back at her workshop tomorrow."

"Well I need to get rid of these gems.  Hopefully, Fat Mar has an eye for them.  Ya'll can offload yours to if needed so that'll be on thing off the list.  We can head back to the graveyard tomorrow and see Ol' Yip.  Maybe we can calm him a bit by letting him know the threat has been dealt with... For now."

Graxx nearly spits out his drink.

"What?  She took a fancy to me huh?  I missed that completely.  It's been a long time since I'd even thought about another in that way."

Doozey was largely content to just enjoy the meal, and every second in which he needed not speak. The faint but very much smile of contentment he wore only begun to fade as Graxx spoke of a future course. Utar's assurances only leaves him more keen on staring into the surface of his remaining soup. But he raised his mug after, if only in brief solidarity, before return to his brooding.

"If'n the road takes us in the same direction, then you can count on me as well to walk with ya. But, something tells me that after our business with the Cult is over, we'll be walking very different roads again." He confesses to the table, and then downs at least half his mug. With a satisfied "Ahh" afterwards, he lightly slams the Mug down. "Knowing what I now of my own kin, it is not something I can bring myself to walk away from now that I am so close. Especially not after losing me Brother, even for a short time...   But, it's not to be business for a time yet, so there's that bit of good news."

He gives a weak smile to the others. "Though before then, in fact, tonight even, Mr. Graxx. I'd wish you to have the armor I wear. Consider it an early going away present, if'n you would." At any dubious looks for the offer, the Redfoot chuckle. "Don't worry. It resizes. A fairly powerful fey saw to that." He explains. "And on a less solemn note, would either of you know of anyone in town who happens to a trader of magical trinkets and the like?" He asks, pretending to be oblivious to Utar's scanning of the area.

Fat Mar slowly brings the additional stew and perry servings as requested. Taking a moment by the side of the table, the large man explains: “Those are not really the kinds of business we are in, but who am I to refuse coin? We have plenty of supplies in storage and I know a jeweler that could use the gems. Let me handle this.”

He steps outside for a moment and calls a young boy over. After telling him something, the boy runs towards the other side of town with purpose. Meanwhile, Fat Mar goes to the back of the inn. After about twenty or so minutes, he comes back with many travel-ready foodstuffs, wrapped in simple linens. “Here you go, all the rations you may want. I’ll take that coin now.”

About an hour into you dinner, an old and curved human lady comes into the inn accompanied by the boy who talked to Fat Mar earlier. She speaks little, but introduces herself as Merv. She offers to buy all of the party’s remaining gems at face value, and even offers Fat Mar and the boy an handful each of copper pieces as commissions or tips.

(OOC#1: Go ahead and buy however many rations you’d like from Fat Mar. Each one costs 5sp or an equivalent amount. If you had gems to sell, go ahead and transform them into gold pieces in your wallets).

(OOC#2: I plan to post more later today).

Graxx gladly hands over the jewels and takes the coin.  Graxx then buys 10 rations at 5 silver pieces each (5 Gold).

"There good and restocked.  I hated getting low out there in the wilderness."

Graxx turns to Doozey.

"I'm sorry for that pain you felt.  Even though we got Biscuit back you still felt the very real pain of loss.  I'm glad you're walking by us.  Something tells me we have a very long road ahead of us before we are done with this Cult mess.  Still so many unanswered questions!"

Graxx looks over the armor.

"Well Doozey I'd be honored to wear your armor.  I've never really worn any before so it'll take some getting used to."

Graxx rubs his chest.

"How do you keep it from rubbing you raw walking all day in it?"