CH. 3: Mages, Mages Everywhere

[HorizonsDream]

"Norris," Kendra says gently. "You've made business trips before to sell items. If you can't sell them here, you could sell them elsewhere," she says. "Plus, that tiara, alone, could feed myself and my family for quite some time."

[BishGada]

Reading the book makes Tulbas excited. 'Immortality and this amazing teleportation power... Creating new spells... I have so much to learn.' Hoping the description and information about Fistandantilus will help him later in his actions Tulbas keep them in the back of his mind. As he sees through his window dusk coming upon the world, he reflects on how only two days ago he climbed out the same window to look over the riot from the rooftops. 'So much have changed in such a short time...' then he recalls the Seeker guard he has Charmed. 'Hmmm... if this woman Kendra can't help me get to Darewind, maybe he can... I should let the new helpers on it, and maybe Nora too...'
Shaking himself back to reality Tulbas knows he must get some sleep. He tries to calm down his mind which was only now awakened to explore the new possibilities of his next moves, and after some meditation goes to sleep.

[mgbevan]

Gregeddin rubs his chin in thought after the exchange between Greylock and Trench.
Greylock was the one with the coin and so the one the party needed, he was in the commanding position. Being cautious not to offend or put of the vendor, Gregeddin waits to see how Kendra's experienced approach turns out before sharing his own bargaining strategy.

[JadedDM]

"You've made business trips before to sell items. If you can't sell them here, you could sell them elsewhere. Plus, that tiara, alone, could feed myself and my family for quite some time."

"That was before ten thousand refugees flooded the city, all claiming that an army of dragons and demons were sweeping through the north," Norris points out. "The roads are too dangerous these days. As for your family...is that what this is about? Kendra, can I speak with you? In private?" he asks, gesturing to the back room.

Once the two are gone, Kynaston turns to look at the others. "This isn't going well, is it?"

[HorizonsDream]

Kendra lets out a small sigh as she follows after Norris. She knew a lecture was coming, and that gave her a little sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that she hated. "What is it?" she asks.

[Haahque]

Haahqae beams back at Trench.

"It's not going well, it's going great! I get a show to watch and hopefully at the end of it a little coin. While I do like the sound of steel in my pocket, I'm not overly attached to getting the most we can right away out of these objects, and a good juggler can find lodgings cheaply wherever he goes, as long as he's witty enough."

"However if we're not going to get a good price for it, I'd sooner keep the magical staff then sell it, even if I have to learn what it does but hitting drunks over the head with it until I see magic."

[BishGada]

Tulbas sleeps, dreaming of becoming a great sorcerer. He dreams of taking the Test where he runs through dark corridors after a bright shiny red blob which resembles a woman's hair, all the while black robes clinging from the ceiling are blocking his progress making his visage very poor. He tries to use magic to remove the robes from his path, but to his amazement he can't remember any spells. Somewhat panicked he runs faster and faster through the robes. Getting a glimpse of the corridor ahead he can see he had closed the distance to the red blob, and it is actually a human figure. He puts his hand on the shoulder of the figure, expecting to see Daxia, but the face turned to him is half the black robed mage he saw in the shop at the morning and half Nora's. Nora's half is twisted in agony as part of her flesh is melting, while the black robe mage half seemed to be terrified and reach to Tulbas in what seems to Tulbas as begging for help.
Tulbas awakened by his horrid dream. It takes a moment to understand where he is then he thinks to himself 'Maybe I shouldn't have read that book before sleep...'

[djhyland]

Once the shopkeeper's eyes are elsewhere, Darga steps back into the center of the room to where his companions wait. "Mebbe these crowns an' baubles're worth more than th' man will give us, but we can't eat them or keep outta th' cold with them. I say we take what he kin give us an' be happy ta have more steel than we had before we went ta that mine."

[JadedDM]

After a couple of moments, Kendra and Norris step back out into the main area.

"Alright, we have a deal," Norris says. "I'll give you 100 for the tiara, 500 for the wine glass, 700 for the snuff box, 300 for the statuette, a thousand for the jade carving, 300 for the ring, 100 for the broach, and 900 for the painting. Do we have an agreement?"

Kynaston blinks in surprise. "Uhh...yeah, that sounds great!"

[mgbevan]

"Just so that we're on the same page, you do mean steel pieces, when you reference the numbers yes?"

[JadedDM]

Norris looks to Kendra, then back to Gregeddin. "Correct. Steel pieces."

[mgbevan]

Gregeddin makes a noise somewhere between surprised and pleased, and nods at Trench to indicate his consent in the deal. Any doubts of suspicion were washed from his mind given such a good deal.

[Haahque]

Haahqae stutters for words. "My goodness Kendra. If I were the magical kind I would ask you to teach me that trick."

[HorizonsDream]

Kendra smiles slightly at the gnome, but it was clearly a forced smile as she loosely crosses her arms over her chest. "I'll let him pay you for all of this stuff," she says as she walks for the door. "I need some fresh air."

[JadedDM]

It takes some time for Norris to count out 3,900 steel pieces to the party. Once done, though, the chest is now nearly filled to the brim with beautiful steel emas coins, each minted right here in Haven by the Seekers.

Amazingly, Kynaston is still able to lift the chest, despite it having nearly 100 pounds of coin in it, although his face reddens from the strain. They rejoin Kendra outside, then start to make their way to the mageware shop.

Once they arrive, they find Raetmal standing behind the counter. "If you are looking for Tulbas, I'm afraid he's retired for the evening," the Silvanesti says.

Kynaston puts the chest down, then stretches to pop his back. "No, we're here about this," he says. He hands him the staff that, according to Haahqae, is magic. "We want to know what it does."

Raetmal takes the staff and looks it over a few times. "It is a staff," he says dryly. "They are used to pummel things."

"I know that!" Kynaston says. "I meant, what kind of magic is in it?"

Raetmal looks the staff over again. "I can tell you that. One thousand steel pieces is my standard fee."

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It is now Twelfth Watch (6:00 PM).