"Oh yeah! We have all sorts of magical items. We have some in the treasury and I'm sure the kings would be willing to give you something for your help. I'm not really sure what kinds of stuff we have, though."

Ulla looks at Vimak with a confused face. "Why would you eat the crabs? That's just weird." She shakes her head but shrugs as she stands up as well. "Well, if everyone is ready, I can take you all to see the kings now?"

Prosper is good to go whenever, but she still idles around for the full hour. If no one stops her she continually refills her flask with wine which she sips on as she listens to Robwin describe Neverwinter. "Well, we'll be grateful for whatever help you can spare us. Dragons are a serious matter, after all."

"Uh." Prosper starts after Ulla expresses her confusion at the idea of eating crabs. "I suppose not everyone eats seafood. I suppose the crabs are pets, then? No matter." She sets down her cup and stands up, then looks at the corpse. "Let's go report to the king."

Robwin stands up and dusts himself down. He tucks Ulla’s wand into his waist-band, under his shirt and cloak, alongside Pog’s.

(OOC: Rolling to see if he liked the bread and cheese: 15 ... omg Robwin is now literally obsessed with this bread).

”Thank you for the food, Ulla, it was delicious! Maybe we could get some loaves to take back with us? when we come back past? on our way out? ...Ok, let’s see the Kings”.

”Adas, Prosper, don’t forget to grab your traps on the way through too”.

Tahnis quickly devours his food and makes notes about the meal before rising from his spot. "That was good indeed. Yes, let's meet this king."

Vimak follows as everyone moves toward the kings. He nudges Prosper. "The crabs are pets? But, butter! They are a lot of work, though, you know, cracking the shells to get the meat out. How do you feel about snails?"

Ulla leads the players out of the wine room and to the kings bedroom. She nods at Robwin. "We can get some bread after we talk to the kings. We have plenty to spare. Maybe I can even show you the crab room when we go to get some." As Vimak mention snails, she scrunches her face up. "Ew. Yuck. You eat snails? That's even weirder than wanting to eat the crabs."

Arriving at the king's bedroom, Ulla knocks on the door. "Your majesties! It's us again." Clattering and thudding is heard through the door, before a hushed voice comes through. "What!? Who is us?! Be specific! Don't think you can trick me into opening this door!!" Ulla looks to the party sympathetically before stepping aside to allow you to talk to the king.

Robin says, “Uh, King Korboz?... and King Gnerkil?... that was your fellow gnome, Ulla, speaking...  Umm, I’m Robwin Windrobe, an apprentice wizard, from the Arcane Academy in Neverwinter... School of Abjuration...”. He shrugs at the party, not quite sure how specific to be. Lia nudges him to go on, from her perch on his shoulder.

He shuffles his feet, and looks up at the ceiling and down at the floor (not really knowing where to look when speaking through a door). “Ulla was very brave... She lead the search to find the shapeshifter... We found it, and we defeated it!! It’s dead now, nothing but a pile of goo... you’re safe now”. He shrugs again, and looks around the team for any ideas...

Tahnis cocks an eyebrow. "I've heard of monarchs being paranoid." He motions at the door. "Sir, we're not here to harm you. We came here to warn you."

Persuasion - 8

"There is, Your Kingships, a dragon in the area," Vimak says. "Now that the Shapeshifter is destroyed, Phandalin calls for you help." Persuasion: 10

On the way back to the throne room, Prosper would have hung back to dismantle her rope trap and retrieve her rope before progressing to the kings' chamber. "Maybe we should have brought some evidence. Oh well." She muses, before joining her companions at the door. "No need to worry, your Maj. It's just us, remember, we spoke to you a few hours ago? Here to report that the job has been done! You can examine the corpse personally if you want. We'd still like to request an audience with you."

Persuasion: 20

(Wow, that's a lot of persuasion checks haha.)

There's a moment of silence after everyone addresses the king followed by a click and the door creaking open. You see small hands holding the door as the king's narrowed eyes looks at everyone cautiously. "Really? You... you killed it?" As he examines everyone's faces, his eyes widen with excitement as he throws open the door, revealing the king. He looks like an average gnome aside from a crown made of jagged metal on his head. "OH THANK THE GODS ABOVE! Thank you so much!" He goes to each one of you and shakes your hands enthusiastically. "Oh, I wasn't sure how long I could last in the room but you did it! You actually did it! How can I repay you all for your work?" 

Through the open doors of the room, you see another gnome sitting on a chair, head leaned all the way back as he snores loudly. The way he's sitting is odd though, with his hands gripping the sea. The seat is also covered by an unknown substance.

“Your majesty... we can talk about payment in a moment... ...First of all though, we should make completely sure that you and your husband are safe. Might you allow us to check over the room?”

”Also, how long has your husband been sat like that, asleep? Is he alright?”

Then privately back to the team: ”... psst! Adas? anyone?... seen anything like this before?”

If he’s allowed, and if no one objects, Robwin moves in to the centre of the room carefully, looking around for danger: perception - 6

And then tries to look more closely at the sleeping king and the chair to see what seems odd: investigation - 20

If any investigation requires touch, he’ll use his mage hand, rather than actually touch anything.

He also calls to Ulla, “Ulla, if you do happen to have a pearl, it might help me ‘see’ what’s going on here...”.

"All part of the job, no need to thank us." Prosper cheerfully tells the king, performing an extravagant bow. "Uh, we sure could use some help defending the town from dragons, though. I think the townmaster said something about magical items? Whatever you can spare would be fine." She twitches to the right, trying to sidle around the king so she can get a closer look at his sleeping husband. She'll dab at the liquid with a finger if she can, to try and figure out what it is. [Prosper's own investigation check: 15]

As Robwin mentions King Gnerkil, King Korboz jumps with wide eyes and turns back to his husband. "Oh! Oh I completely forgot!" Before Robwin and Prosper can even enter the room, the King takes out a vial and pours it over the legs and hands of his husband. There is a slight sizzling before the substance completely dissolves away. As he is pouring the vial, King Gnerkil awakens. "Hm? What is going on- oh. You've finally come to senses, huh?" He looks up to see the group. "Oh, and you must be the ones who brought him to his senses. Thank you for that." He slowly pulls himself away from the chair and begins to stretch. "I've been stuck on that chair for gods know how long." King Korboz looks sympathetically to King Gnerkil. "Sorry... I just wanted to keep you safe!" King Gnerkil rolls his eyes and pats King Korboz on the head. "Of course, of course. I know."

King Gnerkil approaches the party with a smile. "From what I've heard from my husband, you require magical items to aid you with a dragon? Well, we've plenty to spare." King Gnerkil heads to the bed and pulls out a chest from underneath. Unlocking it, he takes out a hat and wand and returns to the group, offering the items forward. "This is a Hat of Wizardry and Wand of Pyrotechnics. I'm sure these will come in handy."

Seeing just how much the two Kings obviously love and care for one another, Robwin visibly relaxes, and a small smile creeps across his face.

However, when King Gnerkil pulls out the hat and the wand, his mouth falls open, and he stares at it, speechless. (OOC: Has Robwin seen, or read about, hats like this before? History or Arcana check? (both +6): 15 ).

Eventually he finds his voice: "That hat... is it a....? Does it...? Can it...?....". He then goes back to being speechless. His mouth opening and closing but nothing coming out... 

Tahnis continues to watch King Gnerkil for a moment and takes notes on the magic items. "This is interesting."

Vimak is glad to see the couple reunited. Neither the hat nor the wand look like magic items he would be interested in. He'll wait, watching for the others to finish their conversation. Once they're done, he'll ask, "Is there anything else you can think of, kings, that might help against the dragon?"

(Robwin would recognise these items and know what they do.)

King Gnerkil chuckles at Robwin's amazement of the items and gives them to him. To Vimak, he shakes his head. "There isn't much we can offer aside from these items. Most of the, uh, contraptions made for defence are specific to these caves. We will offer what we can though."

Prosper's eyes widen and she lets out an appreciative whistle when the magical items are brought out. "Fantastic! I'm sure the town will appreciate whatever help we can get, really, thank you, your Majesties. We'll deliver these to the Townmaster no problem." Not that she has any particular interest in the items themselves, but hey, mission success. 

She tugs at her ponytail while considering something else, before piping up again. "Well, hate to inconvenience you further, your Majesties, but is there any chance we can invite some of the gnomes back to Phandalin with us to beef up the town's defenses? You've done a fantastic job here, and I'm sure the town guards would appreciate anything you could contribute to their defenses.

As King Gnerkil passes the hat and wand to Robwin, he has to brace himself a little against a strange sense of vertigo: the shapes of half-a-dozen spells flash bright in his mind (mending, friends, shape water, mould earth, light...).

He closes his eyes tight and has to hold the king’s wrist for a second to steady himself. A dozen more spells start to cycle through his thoughts, almost like whispers, or memories... then a dozen more!.. these, creeping, like shadows... He shakes his head...

Taking a couple of deep breaths he manages to calm his mind a little against the sensation... ”It may take a while... to get used to, but... uh... I think I can use this hat...“ he says, looking around his friends, “I think it would be of great use to us in our quest!”...

He steadies himself and looks down at the king, who’s looking back chuckling at his reaction. “Thank you!... Thank you...”.

For now, he stows both items in his pack.