"Hmm," Atal says, watching the stalls set up shop for the market.  "I'll meet you guys at the Maiden.  There's something I want to take care of here…"  He trails off, and begins wandering towards the bustling market.

First, he looks for a market stall selling alcoholic beverages - mead, none-too-expensive wines, and the like.  On finding one, Atal would offer 2 of the bottles of wine that he'd purloined from the barracks for sale.  The third, he wanted to keep.  He wasn't much of a drinker, but the rest of the team who'd survived Hell Night would probably appreciate a complimentary bottle shared between them.  The other two, however, were at this point nothing but bad memories, and potentially coin in his pocket.

Next, he looks for a trinket stall.  There, he offers for sale the silver ring he took off of the Cathaan guard.

A clothing merchant is next - Atal has four sets of fine clothing that have seemed to serve no purpose to date, and frankly, the more he learns about nobility, the less he wants to do with them.  He also has two sets of ordinary clothing that don't seem to be doing much besides weigh him down, so he adds those to his offer.

Pocketing whatever coin he might have made from selling those two items, Atal next looks for a fletcher's stall, to purchase a few arrows and replenish his rapidly dwindling stock.  He'd also keep an eye out for an armorer, hoping to have eyes on a rapier, but not really expecting to be able to afford one at this point in time (unless those bottles of wine were worth a lot more than he'd expected).   He also takes note of the price of a studded leather armor, particularly how much it would be worth in trade for his current leather armor.  After taking note of those things, he'd lastly look for a merchant selling flasks of oil, to replenish his used stock - coin permitting.

As Atal wandered through the streets, making his trades, he'd keep an ear to the ground for any sign of a thieves' guild in the city.  If the guards were going to be sticks-in-the-mud about any attacks on the city, maybe the street folk would have a little more useful information for him.

While Atal failed to find open air stalls and stands for anything really other than foodstuffs and raw materials, a number of liquid filled bottles in a window caught his eye.  A sign above the store was dirty, and on of the letters was worn beyond exact recognition, though it could have been intentional, as it read: 'The Drunken Min-r'.  It was a tavern, upon first entering the shop, but that turned out purely to be only the 15 feet or so near the entrance. Beyond were several rows of shelves with various bottles of ales, wines, spirits, and then an entire section of bottles that were questionable as to whether they were actually for consumption.  The purveyor, a thin, rosy-cheeked balding human, with a pony tail, offered Atal a sampling of their newest Summer-time Mead; directing Atal to a tray of thimble size metal cups, with a sip of liquid each. The man offered Atal 3sp and 5cp for the 2 bottles of wine together.

There were no trinket stalls either, though there was a shady looking individual, in an alley way, wearing a trenchcoat, which clanged and jingled as he moved, but that would have required Atal to go further, the opposite way of the Maiden's Bossom. At the same time, however, there was a general goods store, called 'Wild William's Widget Warehouse' that had a large display of what could easily be described as trinkets. Wild William was a one-eyed gnome, or at the very least a two-eyed gnome who made the fashion choice of wearing an eye patch.  He had scraggly white hair, and a beer-belly that made up half-his mass. He willingly offered 2sp for the ring and 7gp for the 2 sets of fine clothing together.

Nearly to the tavern, to meet up with the rest of the party, Atal came upon an armaments shop. While seemingly the first place to be able to supply Atal with his arrows, as the sign above the store read 'The Hunter's Habit' and had two crossed arrows carved behind the oiled words, once inside, Atal found the perfect shop to fit ALL of his remaining needs. The shop was dark, the only light coming from the open windows, and even though a breeze went through the shop, the air within was dense and smelled of oiled hide. Tables and counters held stacks of pelts and hides, various bows and blades, vials and bottles that held liquids and unknown solids that seemed organic in nature. At first it seemed that the shop was empty altogether, until a voiced chimed in.  "What can I get you?" Sitting perfectly still, in a large chair, almost a throne of various pelts, an unshaven human male slumped there, a hood and cloak covering a majority of his face and body.  He offered the flasks of oil for 1sp each, and although he sold the arrows in groups of 20, was willing to give you 30 for the same price, 1gp.  He offered the rapiers for 15gp each, though they seemed to not be of the highest quality and were stored, bunched together, point down in an umbrella stand. The studded leather for 40gp, however were just the opposite, and seemed extremely well made and displayed proudly on the wall aside other leather and hide coverings. He was willing to take Atal's own leather armor for 7gp, or 11 in trade.

 Of all the shops, stalls, and stands however, none had any desire to purchase Atal's common clothes.

Atal readily sells the wine, only too happy to get rid of more memories of the Northern Barracks fiasco.  

The trenchcoat-wearing individual, Atal tries to barter with.  While the fine clothes sell at a price he's pleased with, Atal is suspicious at the lowballing the man tries to offer on the silver ring.  His suspicion grows as the man keeps offering more and more coin for the ring.  I think I'll hang on to this one, he decides, pocketing the ring.  To soothe the merchant, he instead flashes the northern barracks guard tunic he pilfered, raising an eyebrow in offering.

When the transaction is done, Atal visits the armaments shop, and purchases his oil, arrows, and even one of the rapiers.  He's nearly completely out of money after the trip, but that's nothing new to someone who'd always lived his life on the streets.

The shopkeeps at both the Drunken Min-r and Wild Williams Widget Warehouse happily take the goods and money.

((Remove wine x2 and fine clothing X4, from inventory. Add 7gp, 3sp, and 5cp.))

The shady half-elf with the trench coat and slicked back hair is willing to make a deal with you and offers 9sp for the guardsman tunic, or trade if you have interest in his wares. Opening his coat, he shows various necklaces of gems or stones on string; slips of parchment that read ‘Maiden’s Bossom Member Pass’; a few vials of unknown liquids, and a few rolled up scrolls that he claims are treasure maps.

((Remove North Midgar Guard tunic, from inventory. Add Maiden’s Bossom Member Pass))

At the Hunter’s Habit the hooded man just instructs you to put the coin in the little wooden chest, near the door, on the way out, and inquires if there’s anything else you’d need.

((Remove 16gp, 3sp. Add arrow x30, flask of oil x3, and ‘Oxidized Rapier’ to your inventory)) 

"Here.  Take the tunic, and gimmie one of those Passes to the Maiden," she tells the man, making the trade.

Vincent makes no moves to stop the group from reentering the Maiden’s Bossom. The door is unlocked, and upon entering the party finds it just as lively and cheerful as ever. It would almost seem as though the night had never been interrupted by the forces of evil, had the window coverings not been open, allowing the morning light to spill into it. Otherwise it was exactly the same.

A minstrel or bard of some skill was on stage plucking away at a soft but uplifting rhythm, and upon entering, the party is greeted with a cheerful, “Welcome back, to the Maiden’s Bossom. Her warm embrace always brings patrons back wanting more.” Valentina is standing behind the bar, the same exact place as she was when you first entered the previous day. It’s enough to make someone wonder if she’s capable of leaving that station. She beams a welcome and warm smile, and puts five glasses on the counter, in which she begins pouring water from a pitcher.

Upon entering the Maiden’s Bossom, Anearis is confused at first by the cheering and rejoicing. In fact, all the while they were marching back to the inn, Anearis was surprised by how quickly life went back to normal. He wondered how long he might have actually been out. This feeling quickly passed as he was both too sore and tired to wonder about it, and simply glad to see them all in a good mood.

He walks over to the bar. "Good to see you again, Miss Valentina. I’m glad to see the inn is still in good shape."

Kel shook his head in some disbelief, it was as if they all had chosen to ignore or forget about the events hours ago. Sometimes he forgot that rather than face the horrors before them, there were those that chose to shut their eyes and wish it all away. He didn't cast any aspersions upon the patrons or the patronage of the Maiden, he somehow found himself thinking how nice it would be to have that luxury of ignorance. Well, it was not as if melancholy paid the bills in the establishment, he couldn't blame them for trying to pluck coin in exchange for consolation.

After all, it was very close to what he did.

Kel nodded his head to Valentina and sipped the glass of water. "My thanks." he said with throat clearer than it had been. "Good lady, could you inform Vincent that should a diminutive figure named Blemish come looking for this group to notify us." He finished the glass. "I have a need to make use of some services...again." Kel pinched between his eyes then turned toward the others. "I'm for a bath and then bed. I suggest at least some sleep for the rest of you. See to your friend Ser Ander. When you are all rested we can reconvene. If you need me before then, ask one of the individuals which room I'm in. I'm not shy." He left it at that, feeling himself heavier of the sudden.

 Uthal looks down at her. "Is there a place I can put him down? He's not exactly light in all this metal." 

Without giving Kel time to make his way to his intended destination, Valentina replies to both him and Uthal. “I can do you both one better, dears.” She motions towards the entrance, only a few feet behind them. 

At the door stood two figures, one with whom the party was familiar, the other a complete stranger. The stranger has an elf in leather armor and beads of sweat ran down his red face. He was doubled-over, hands on his knees, as he attempted to catch his breath. A half-shouldered cape, draped on his left shoulder was white with a red crescent moon shape, and a leather satchel was strapped across his chest and hanging at his side. He attempted to speak in between gulps of air, though his voice came out more rushed wheezing than anything else. “He’s a freak.” Gasp. “He’s the fastest halfling alive.” Gasp. “He’s the bastard son of Zoran himself.” The elf’s black hair was matter against his head and sweat dropped from his brow, though was now subsiding.

”That’s a South Midgar Guard medic.”

During this entire ordeal, the figure that the party knew, Blemish, was standing stoically, clear faced, and seemingly unaware. He waved politely to the party, as he saw them.

"Well, at least someone seems to care." Uthal makes his way over to the medic. "Could you at least get the human upright? He's been lying down on the job far to long."

The medic continued talking between breaths, “That’s...why...I had...him bring me.” Taking in a large breath, the medic pushed off, forcing himself to stand upright. Finally, finding his grounding, the elf spoke consistently but still at a slow pace. “At the North Barracks, they called for me to assist your wounded, but you all just walked right past us, taking your injured with you.” He pointed towards the still unconscious Ander.

”Please, sit him down.” The medic walked to the closest available table pulling out two chairs, and practically collapsing into one of them.

Uthal looks down at him. "Your friends made it quite clear that after all our help last night we could kindly screw off. So we did." 

The medic began examining Ander, opening his eyes, checking his neck and face. “I don’t recall anyone being so blunt.” The medic removed Ander’s gauntlets, checking his pulse and arms. “I may not have been close enough to hear the conversation mind you, but I did so you all standing around talking to yourselves, when you were simply asked to vacate the area being cordoned off.”

The medic began digging through his satchel, while still talking with Ura. “You all left the area towards the cart where I was seeing the Northern Guard, I expected you all to be coming my way.” Removing a vial of a reddish liquid, he pulled a cork out of it with teeth, still talking with it in between them. “When I revived that sergeant, you had all just decided to ‘kindly screw off’, as you so elegantly put it.”

Titling Ander’s head back, he poured the vial’s contents, down his throat. “Do me a favor and help me get his armor off, I need to check for infection....He’s wearing clothes under it all, right?”

Atal returns to the Bossom, new purchases in tow, and finds Vincent at the door.  Exhausted and feeling a little blunt, he asks „Do you recognize me or do I have to ask one of my friends to claim me?“  He also pulls out his member pass and flashes it.  „And is this legit or was I just had?“

Once done, he will trudge into the room and rejoin the others.

Vincent was waving goodbye to a woman he had just helped mount a horse as Atal arrived. A look of familiarity fails to meet Vincent’s face, though a change in expression was a rare thing for this tiefling. He looked over the piece of parchment. “Sorry, lad, but you’ve been swindled.” He hands the paper back to Atal. ((Relabel the Maiden’s Bossom Member Pass as “Fake Maiden’s Bossom Member Pass))

”Can’t say I recognize you either. A party I know returned just this morning, minus one little elf that looked sort of like you. The elf was a girl though...Welcome to the Maiden’s Bossom. For visitors it is 1gp a night.”

((Also, for the Oxidized Rapier, it has the same stats as a normal rapier, but note that there is a negative effect, when crit failing an attack roll with it)) 

Kel rubbed his forehead, but bent to the task at hand, helping to remove Anders armor. While it was true they could all use a look from a proper healer it was, to him at least, little better than what his plans were for himself. Still, he had cast his lot in with these folk for the excursion and would at least try to finish this ordeal the Great Flame had tasked him with to its conclusion. "Can't say." Kel replied curtly to the medic. "I've only ever seen him in armor."

Uthal stoops to help as well. "Unless he found a way to take them off without taking the armour off he should have clothes on." 

“Fair enough. Just checking before we give everyone here a free show, if we should be charging them for it.” With the assistance of Kel and Uthal, Ander’s armor and gear is removed from his person. Without being to intrusive, the medic examines his body, mostly just the surface skin, looking for sign of injury or something potentially worse. 

“The name’s Leo by the way, but most people call me ‘Bones’,” the medic commented sticking his right hand out towards Uthal and Kel. He didn’t actually take any notice as to whether either of them were to shake it, as he seemed more interested in locating something in his bag, which he used his other hand to search with.

Pulling a very small vial, shorter than his little finger, from the bag, he held it under Ander’s nose. And within seconds, Ander was awakened. (And healed for 7 hp, due to the potion, the medic poured in Ander’s mouth earlier)

Since starting the conversation, the medic looked at Kel and Uthal for the first time, “Good as new. Doesn’t show any signs of anything serious. Anyone else from your troupe need a once over?”

"Well, I don't have a gold, so I guess entering's right out," Atal says crossly.  "Since I was swindled out of my last dime for this fake pass, could you do me a favor?" he asks Vincent.  "If any of that other party comes looking for that missing elf, can you tell them "Atal couldn't get past the door guard" for me?  And one other thing..."  Taking out his Fool's Errand, Atal flips it between his knuckles, then holds it up, closed-eye side facing Vincent.  "Know anyplace in this city where this coin might be recognized as legal tender?"