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Glenn scratched his head and told the three party members, “Keri Lovelace took Marigold to somebody who could tell her about being a fairy, since she didn’t know anything. Someone who knows more than the three of you combined.”
“How do you know that?” Derek interrupted. “We played Monsters, Maces and Magic hundreds of times before that sonofabitch GM stuck us here.” He cocked his head and raised an eyebrow. “Not counting that shitty night, remind me how many times you played?” His words couldn’t have dripped with more sarcasm.
Glenn crossed his arms. “I just know, Kalgore. Trust me on that.”
“I have confidence in your assessment,” Ron said. He rubbed the tips of his fingers together, left hand’s against the right’s. “What about knowledge of the leprechaun’s name?”
Glenn bit his bottom lip. “You know, I heard Keri Lovelace has fae blood in her?”
All three nodded. They’d heard it, too.
“Well, the same person that’s giving Marigold information knew the proper name, after I mentioned the short one he gave us to call him back to the grove.”
“When you state person,” Ron said, “do you equate that with human?”
Glenn uncrossed his arms. He figured Ron suspected something, so he answered with a question. “Are you a person? Is Kirby a person?” He figured that would throw them off, if they considered mixed heritage as the key. It was sort of a lie.
Kirby scrunched his nose in thought. “How did Keri find out what happened to Marigold?”
“She knows a lot of people,” Glenn said, trying to be evasive. “She’s lived here a long time.” He figured it was the wood nymph, Polayney.
“Fae in nature?” Ron asked.
“Why are you interrogating me?” Glenn crossed his arms again. “You want to know, go ask Keri.”
“We’re asking you, gnome,” Derek said, “because you’re here and you’re a party member.”
Ron placed a hand on Derek’s shoulder, then said to Glenn, “We are understandably curious, and gathering pertinent information will better enable us to render assistance to Marigold.”
“Can’t that just wait a while? She’ll be back after it gets dark.” The gnome healer gestured to the small window that was giving the stuffy room some air. “We just need to leave the window open.”
The other three party members watched Glenn in silence, waiting for him to say something more.
Glenn threw his hands up in the air. “I have no clue about fairies and you guys do—”
Derek cut Glenn off. “If you’re so worried about knowing, why didn’t you ask the person who’s spilling their guts about it to Marigold?” He held up his hands and made quote marks in the air with his fingers when saying “person.”
Glenn ignored him and focused on Ron seated diagonally across from him. “...and how we’re going to find the dwarf that stole the leprechaun’s gold coin.”
Derek sneered but didn’t say anything.
Kirby put his arm around Glenn. “Sucks moldy lima beans, dude, when you know something but you can’t tell.”
Glenn sighed but didn’t say anything. Instead he stared down at his boots dangling above the floor.
“Kalgore, Gurk,” Ron said, “I shall list game information I recall about fairies. Correct me if I am in error, or supplement the knowledge I express.”
Derek grunted and Kirby said, “Got it, dude.”
Ron closed his eyes in concentration and began to recite from memory.
“Fairies are immortal, one plus one hit-die creatures.
“They may attack with proportional-sized weapons for one to two points of damage.
“They have sixty percent resistance to magic and are immune to Slumber and Charm Spells.
“They are able to cast a Dazzle Spell, once every turn, or ten rounds. It is an area effect spell, with a range of thirty feet. A successful result will blind victims for one to six rounds. If the victim fails their Saving Throw by more than four, they will additionally be stunned by half the number of rounds they are blinded. During the combat, a creature that has been affected by a Dazzle Spell gains a plus two on subsequent Saving Throws against that spell.
“If the creature makes a Saving Throw versus a fairy’s Dazzle Spell, any additional saves versus that fairy’s Dazzle Spell during that combat are made at plus four, and plus two versus that fairy at any time, moving forward.
“Fairies may conceal themselves similar to a Camouflage Spell. In nature settings a fairy has a ninety-nine percent chance of being unnoticed by each individual. Ninety percent for each individual actively seeking a fairy.
“In an urban setting, the chances are eighty percent and sixty percent respectively.
“In any of the situations, the individual must be within ten yards and have a direct line of sight to the fairy. It requires one round for a fairy to conceal herself, and once concealed she must remain silent and motionless.
“If a fairy is being observed, any observing individual will be able see the fairy, despite any Camouflage efforts. Any individual that looks away may attempt to locate the fairy with twice the normal chance of success, if the fairy has not moved more than ten feet from the original location.
“Elder Fairies may animate small objects that are equal to half their weight as Lesser Animate Spell, twice per day.
“A fairy may summon one type of animal or insect, and favorably influence such animals’ actions, one time per day. Summoned animals must be within a one mile radius to respond to the summons, and will arrive at their best possible speed.”
Ron opened his eyes. “Did I misstate or omit any information?”
Gurk raised his hand, as if he were in school. The half-goblin thief immediately recognized what he was doing, and pulled his hand down before ducking his head, embarrassed.
Ron smiled. “Your response reflected that I employed my ‘graduate assistant’ voice, Gurk.”
Since Glenn had a real interest in what Ron had to say, the monotone voice and steady pace didn’t bother him, much. If he would’ve been a student in one of Ron’s college math classes he would’ve needed plenty of coffee.
Gurk said, “You forgot, fairies walk one-third the speed of humans, and fly at the rate of a trotting horse, with bursts of speed for up to one turn, or ten rounds, once per hour.”
“Excellent,” the warrior druid said to Kirby. “Anything relevant that I omitted, Kalgore?”
“They’re vulnerable to iron and steel.”
Ron pursed his lips before licking his teeth, annoyed he’d been unable to recall something so vital.
“You are correct, Kalgore,” Ron said, recalling the information he’d read multiple times in the Monster Guide. His mind’s keenness had been degraded by his character’s Intelligence Score of fourteen. “Incidental contact causes one point of damage. A steel or iron weapon striking a fairy does an additional three points of damage.”
“All fairies are female,” Kirby said. “Their male counterpart are pixies.”
“Yeah,” Derek said. “Except for no wings, pixies are hard to tell apart from fairies.” He glanced at Kirby out of the corner of his eye. “Like boys that play with Mariposa Barbies are hard to tell from little girls.”
“So they all look like you, dude?”
Derek laughed. “Good one again, thief.”
An immediate concern struck Glenn. “Will Marigold have her hit points as a second rank magic user or a one hit-dice fairy?”
Kirby started to answer, but he stopped, letting Ron respond.
“Fairies are a one plus one hit-die creature,” Ron corrected, then smiled. “Based upon my memory of the Transmorph Spell’s description, Marigold will retain her hit points and her spell casting ability. If she were Transmorphed into a fish, for example, she would not be able to utter the words to complete a spell.”
Glenn nodded that he understood.
“Transmorphed into a fish,” Kirby said. “That’d suck.”
“Especially if it was a lamprey,” Derek said.
Kirby laughed. “Good one, Kalgore.”
Ron frowned in disapproval for a second and looked at the two joking party members, then said, “Through the soul gem, she will also retain Byeol’s additional hit points and access to Byeol’s warrior monk abilities.”
Glenn sighed in relief.
Ron waited a moment to see if anyone had anything else to add. “We shall proceed then to the primary task at hand. Securing the gold coin from the dwarf whom Bataí Fidil na Maidine, identified as Benxcob. Are we in possession of any additional knowledge about the dwarf, other than his purported name?”
Glenn and Kirby glanced at each other, then shook their heads.
“There ain’t many dwarfs in the city,” Kirby said, then stared at the floor. “It’s an awfully big city though.”
“One of us should be at the main gate at all times,” Derek said. “He could be long gone while we’re still wandering around this craphole city, trying to find him.”
“He probably won’t leave right away,” Glenn said.
“And you know this because?” Derek asked.
It felt wrong not to give Keri credit for knowing why Benxcob wouldn’t leave. Nevertheless, Glenn said, “If he saw or heard about the rainbow outside, he’d know about Bata Fidil being in the area. Benxcob must know about leprechauns to get a leprechaun’s gold, so he’d know about them being weaker in an urban setting.”
“Huh,” Derek said. “I should’ve thought of that.”
Ron squinted one eye at Glenn. “None of us recalled that information about leprechauns from the Monster Guide. They are unable to summon their rainbow and their resistance to magic is halved, as is their spell-casting ability, when within any settlement larger than a hamlet.”
“I heard it somewhere,” Glenn said weakly. “Forgot until just now.”
No one challenged the gnome about the source of his knowledge.
Glenn continued before anyone pressed how he knew. “Kalgore’s right. We’ll just be sort of stumbling around looking because it is a big city.”
“Sooo you got an idea?” Kirby asked.
“A few things,” Glenn said. “Gurk, you’re out and around the most. You talk to people, like Patti that works at the Red Brick.”
“Do dwarves go for tea?” Kirby asked.
“I do not recall that as a preference listed in the Player’s Guide,” Ron said.
“Yeah,” Kirby said. “The Guide says they prefer beer and ale, sort of like in the Lord of the Rings movies.”
Not wanting to lose his train of thought, Glenn looked at Derek. “You hang out at the stables a lot. But a dwarf probably doesn’t care much for horse riding.”
Derek asked, “Yeah, so?”
“Just making a couple points,” Glenn said. “Hanging out around the stables is cool, but not going to help us find a dwarf. Lysine talks to the guards around the magistrate’s court. If the dwarf gets into trouble, that’ll help.”
Glenn shrugged. “I pretty much hang out here. I go for walks nearby, but don’t really talk to anybody except that lady, Pam, at the market. She thinks because I’m a gnome, I like potatoes. She’s friendly and we talk.” Glenn smiled to himself and shrugged again. “She doesn’t mind because more people buy her potatoes and onions when I hang out next to her cart.”
“You do like potatoes, dude.”
“Funny, Gurk. But she’s the only...” Glenn scratched his sideburn, trying to remember what his friends called them. “...the only NPC that I really talk to, and a dwarf with a leprechaun’s gold coin isn’t going to hang around a farmers market.”
“I get what you’re saying, gnome,” Derek said, “but you’re not going anywhere that helps. We need ideas. A plan.”
“Sorry, Kalgore, I’m getting to that.” Glenn took a deep breath. “Gurk had that fight with those robbers in the barber shop two weeks ago, and then that big fight started outside the pawnshop while Gurk was trading that goblin shaman’s sort of cursed dagger for your magical sword.” He faced Ron straight across from him. “And you got those magical rings sewn into your armor for magical protection.”
Derek leaned back on the cot. “Rambling again, gnome. Nobody needs a recent history lesson.”
“My point is, Josiah the barber and Higslaff the pawnshop owner. They’re NPCs that have been around a while and know people, who know people, who could help us. They sort of owe us.”
“Maybe the dwarf tried to sell his gold coin to the pawnshop,” Derek said, then thought better of it. “Naww, he wouldn’t steal it just to sell it to some stupid pawnshop.”
“That makes sense,” Glenn said, “but it’s not what I’m getting at.”
“Dude,” Kirby said, “I was thinking about that too. Josiah would be better. He probably thinks he owes me more than the pawnshop owner thinks he owes us. The pawnshop dude’s more about business and cash. I saw the half-ogre guard on the porch. He was dead, so that means like nine or ten thousand gold to the Church of Apollo for a Revive the Dead Spell.”
Kirby grinned, showing his half-pointed teeth. “Bet he had the dwarf guard inside his shop Revived, too. Not many dwarves in town. They might hang out together, from the same clan or something. They got sort of similar names, Bonnar and Benxcob.”
“While the names are not completely dissimilar,” Ron said, “establishing an association based upon their similarity, at this point, rings dubious.”
Kalgore opened his mouth to say something, then began cussing under his breath.
“Bonnar’s got a blond beard, if he’s been Revived.” Glenn, paused, recalling the moment the same spell had been cast upon Kim, and it failed. Or she failed a System Shock Roll.
“So?” Gurk asked, his yellowish eyes focusing on his friend. “You okay?”
Glenn nodded, then went on to explain what he’d learned about dwarves after reading from Keri Lovelace’s book.
His three friends listened intently.
When Glenn finished, Ron said, “The Player’s Guide states that dwarves organize themselves into clans. It is up to the GM to establish what criteria is used to create such clans.”
Derek’s face scrunched in thought. “How come you know all that and we don’t?”
“This isn’t an insult or anything, Kalgore,” Glenn said. “I read it in a book someone lent me for a little while.”
Derek was touchy about the fact that his character was illiterate. In the real world, Derek was a college student. In the Monsters, Maces and Magic world he could neither read, nor write, except at the preschool level. It wasn’t like he could have Glenn or Ron sit down and teach him to read and write. As a PC, when Derek gained enough experience points to go up a rank, or level, as a warrior, he’d also get a slot for a skill. He could select Reading and Writing as a skill and, voilà, he’d be able to read.
Glenn suspected that was why he and Kirby sucked at fishing. Good thing PCs aren’t required to use a skill slot for feeding themselves, or they’d all need to wear a bib at every meal.
Derek looked like he wanted to get mad or be insulted, but just let out a long, hissing breath.
“We’re still not any further along finding this dwarf dude,” Kirby said.
Ron steepled his fingers a moment. “Gentlemen, I propose this plan.”
The other three party members gave the warrior druid their attention.
“Kalgore, I would like for you to speak with Timz Simman, the silversmith. Determine if he can create a scaled down version of Marigold’s rapier, using bronze. Until her situation is resolved, she will require such a weapon. Take Marigold’s rapier with you.”
Derek nodded. “I can do that. Marigold should have enough gold in her trunk to pay for it.”
Glenn put a hand on Gurk’s shoulder, keeping him from getting riled.
Ron said, “Jax, I believe Marigold would be least offended if it were you that retrieved the required gold from her trunk.”
“All I’ll need is a down payment,” Derek said. “Nothing fancy. He sort of owes us too, so it shouldn’t be more than five or six gold, total.”
“That seems like a lot,” Kirby said.
“She’ll want it to fight with, not some fancy ornament,” Derek said. “I’ll ask him if he’s seen any dwarves, or where they might hang out. I’ll make up some BS reason why.”
“Gurk, pay a visit to Josiah the Barber. You obtusely indicated he has a network of informants.”
“I know what ya want,” Kirby said. He looked at Derek out of the corner of his eye. “If bribes are called for, I’ll cover it.”
“She’s got that silver ring with turquoise that’s party treasure,” Derek said. “She won’t be wearing it, so use that.”
Kirby didn’t say anything to Derek. Probably because what the big warrior said was legitimate.
“Jax,” Ron said, “go with Gurk. Gnomes tend to relax individuals and place them in a more favorable mood.”
“That’ll work,” Kirby said. “The barber’s probably our best bet on getting a lead on the dwarf.” He rubbed his pointed nose. “I’ll check with Patti in the morning. She sees a lot of people pass by. She might recall some dwarf she’s never seen before.”
“Sounds reasonable,” Ron said. “I shall speak with the guards at the Church of Apollo and magistrate’s court.”
Glenn forgot about the church. Being a druid, which was sort of a cleric, and a warrior, Ron seemed to get along with those guards pretty well.
“We have but two hours to accomplish our objectives,” Ron said, “before people close their shops or, in my case, begin their night shift duty.”
“What if Marigold comes back while we’re gone?” Kirby asked.
“We’ll leave a note,” Derek said, his voice showing annoyance. “Lysine can write it.”
Probably to change the topic, Ron said, “It may be after nightfall before we return. I shall be travelling without a party member. As such I shall do my utmost to remain wary of my surroundings and those in close proximity.
“Kalgore, do your utmost to remain aware of potentially nefarious individuals as well.”
Derek scoffed. “Sure.”