When she checks her pack, Vesper finds that the mask is still indeed safely tucked away inside there, and it's still broken into the three pieces. 

Then Vesper will communicate to Kess, as well as Chrys and Lumen through Message before they head out that mask is indeed of Shar and needs to be destroyed. She'll tell Chrys about her dream last night with the mask and her and Krackle.

"Hmm," Chrys says to Vesper, when Krackle is out of earshot.  "I'm sorry ya had to go through that.  But it seems breakin' the power of a Goddess ain't gonna be no easy thing, an' it's tellin' us that all o' us are susceptible to its grasp." 

She thinks for a moment, weighing their options.  "Yer right, we gotta get back to Yartar right quick, but... I got an idea that might help us get there a lil' bit more safely.  We're gonna need to see Flint 'fore we go fer some iron filin's, and also try ta find someone here in Melton who's got a bit o' holy water on 'em.  I'm thinkin' this Gareth fellow would be the one ta ask.  T'be honest, I was suspectin' the mask had a strong pull 'cause of Krackle's behavior yesterday, so I spent some time askin' the Duin for the strength to make a holy incantation that can grant one person some Protection from Evil and Good fer 'bout ten minutes.  I can do that twice, long as I can get my hands on a couple o' vials o' holy water.  It might help whoever's at risk to resist the pull o' them mask shards, an' it'd make me feel safer travelin' with that thing on the road."

"Sure, maybe you could use them tonight."

7

Krackle would get up and stretch his tiny limbs with a few loud cracks and pops as his malformed bones resist his movements. "Morning everyone! I had the strangest dream last night! I was a dragon and I had a big pule of treasure! Can you believe it? Me! A dragon!" The kobold would say as he was seemingly oblivious to his companions whispers and body language. "I got to thinking last night when I was trying to sleep... ya know what would make me a better helper? Some lock picks and stuff! I think I have enough coins now I can buy some... Then I'll be able to get into all kinds of places to help us on our adventures! I might even have enough to get some of those tools and to pay back what I owe for my weapons and robes and other stuff!" The kobold would say ad he pulls out his bag of coins and holds it out on front of him. "I dont count very good though.. so I might be wrong." he would add with a frown.

 "What kind of dragon were you? A nice one or a mean one?" Vesper isn't expecting Krackle to know the specifics of which dragons are good which dragons aren't, but she knows that Krackle is usually able to know right from wrong, or at least nice from mean.

Lumen messages back to Vesper that perhaps they should split up the mask pieces so there people are carrying one each, to prevent easy rebuilding.

„Ya know, I think askin‘ bout picks is somethin‘ to do in Yartar,“ Chrys says to Krackle.  „Melton‘s a small town an‘ you‘d be givin‘ folk here the wrong impression.“

Vesper will look Lumen in the eye after he sends his message, believing that it's a good idea, and resolves to do it later when they're out of town. She figures that they can come up with a way to distract Krackle so that he doesn't see the pieces.

"I think I was a nice one! People kept coming in and bringing me gifts! I had really shiny black scales that were almost like mirrors!" he would say excitedly. he would scratch his chin a bit as he looked up to the sky in thought for a moment before continuing. "Yup! I was definitely a nice dragon.... because the people kept thanking me and bowing to me after giving me things before quickly leaving to go home. Obviously I must have done something really nice for them since they were THAT thankful! I guess they were in a hurry though.. they thanked me and said something about not eating with me.. or me eating dinner with them maybe... i don't remember.. but it was really neat!" He would say before turning and looking to Chrys. "Yeah... you are probably right. I don't want to make the people like me less than they do already.." He would say he looks towards the ground and his shoulders droop a bit. 

From what little Krackle is able to recall, Vesper can tell that he was not a good dragon in his dream. "We should get to the blacksmith. There's some things that Chrys wants to get before we leave."

((aaaaaaaaaaaaagh))

The night went by for Kessdarra in a blur; although she enjoyed more of a meal than her svelte frame would suggest and had initially wanted to sleep, Lumen's suggestions had been strangely persuasive to her the night previous and she had found herself performing a restful trance before spending the rest of the time in a cat-nap state until the morning, where she found herself reminiscing with her companions. The experience of the travel to Melton from Yartar, and the battle in the Cave had brought the epymonyous "Pie Pals" together... and silly name aside, Kess was grateful for their company. She was also grateful to her family and to Jax for the lessons she had learned with the blade. Had she not bothered to heed them...

"Mmmm... good morning, everybody." Kess walked into the hallway, bleary eyed as she wiped the sleep from her lids, turning to Vesper as she did so with a look of concern. "You don't think that mask is trying to bewitch any of us even now, do you??? That dream you just described is awfully thorough."

"Regardless..." Kess would stifle a yawn as she stretched. "Oh, excuse me, sorry... I suppose my dreams weren't near as exciting, so to say. After my trance, I was dreaming of my time back in the Dale last night. I wonder how Mother is doing..." A small, nostalgic smile creeps upon Kess' face. "Right now, the entire place is likely in a frenzy to fish for Knucklehead Trout while the summer keeps the ice and snow at bay. Summer is very short in the dale; a little under three months, or just under four months if the heavens favored us that year. Have any of you ever heard of scrimshaw? It's quite a beautiful form of artwork. It's usually made from the ivory of the Knucklehead Trout, at least in the Dale. As a matter of fact..." She leans in close, so that only the others can hear her around the hallway where they were congregating. "Both my hairpin and my necklace are made from knucklehead ivory scrimshaw; just don't mention that too loudly, okay? Scrimshaw is very valuable and these are very precious to me. They're reminders of my homeland, wherever I go. Maybe... maybe one day you all will get to see the Dale? It's a harsh place, yes, but it's also quite peaceful and beautiful in its own way. I'm sure Mother wouldn't mind the company!

"Now then... I don't about you all, but even after last night, I feel fit to eat a horse. Shall we go have breakfast with the locals?" To punctuate the point, a soft growl came from Kess' belly. "Or do you want to get going and perhaps hunt for something on the way south back to Yartar?"

"Yeah, let's have breakfast." 

Krackles stomach would gurgle a bit at the mention of food after the large amount he ate the night before. "I am still kind of full... but I could eat a little!" He would reply with a smile. 

Vesper will eat breakfast with everyone else, although she isn't as hungry as everyone else, so she doesn't order much and eats it quickly. "I'll go get those supplies Chrys asked for and then we can leave." She heads out to purchase the iron filings and the vials of holy water, paying whatever is necessary to get those resources. (Vesper has 72gp, which I'm sure is enough to get some for Chrys to cast the spell twice) Once she has her supplies, she reports back to the others. "Here. I think that unless the mask really tries to corrupt someone while we're awake, you should cast your spell when we go to sleep."

(The curse of the double post!)

"Y'all go on and eat.  I'm gonna visit Flint so as not ta hold up our journey to Yartar," Chrys tells the others, giving them a wave before making her way with Vesper out towards the shops for some supplies:  a flask of holy water (4 castings' worth) as well a small bag of iron or silver shavings.

To Vesper's words, Chrys nods.  "I'm not planning on tappin' my divine powers lest the situation is desparate... an' that mask seems like a desperate enough situation all on its own.  I'm not likin' what it did to Krackle, and I'm likin' even less that it's still tryin' to get him back.  We might need to take that little fellow to a temple too, jus' to make sure they can remove any o' the curse that might remain on him."

After a hearty breakfast of sausage, eggs and crusty bread, no doubt the leftovers form the night before, or even the night before that, Chrys and Vesper head out to try and find the supplies needed. Unfortunately, there's no shop where you can purchase holy water or powdered silver. Also, there's really no Cleric in the village, and Gareth is nothing more than a strong young man with few skills other than being halfway decent with a sword. However, Flint kindly offers to sweep up a pile of iron filings for free, which he scoops into a small leather pouch for you. 

FYI: Cleric or Paladin may create holy water by performing a special ritual. The ritual takes 1 hour to perform, uses 25 gp worth of powdered silver, and requires the caster to expend a 1st-level spell slot.

While Flint doesn't have 25gp worth of silver, you realize that you do have some silver pieces of jewelry that you recovered from the locked chest inside the goblin boss room back the temple. From those items, about 1/2 of them would produce about 50gp worth of silver, and if you wish, Flint would agree to file those down for you.

Vesper will offer up the jewelry to Flint.

(Ahha!  I didn't realize you could do that with the Ceremony spell!  Thank you, I will say Chrys prepared that today for just this occassion.)

"Thank ya, Vesper... I hope the others don't mind it, but protectin' ourselves from bein' posessed by that mask seems a mite more important than some coins.  I hope this'll help keep us outta trouble 'fore we get to Yartar," she mutters uneasily.  "Let's get back quickly… it's gonna take me an hour to bless some water properly, an' I want ta set off for Yartar before the sun gets too high in the sky."

"I think that the other would rather sacrifice some coins than risk Krackle turning into a bear again or being attacked in their dreams." She'll get back to the others, but first she will go behind the smithy with Chrys and use her Mage Hand to put one of the pieces of the mask into Chrys' bag. "Lumen suggested that it would be a good idea to split the mask shards up between us." And then she'll get back to the others so that Chrys can cast her spell and the group can leave.