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“Yes!” Kirby shouted. “This day rules.”
Glenn, tucked under Stephi’s bottom bunk—which she didn’t use—stuck his head out and looked up to the top bunk where Kirby slept. It was still dark outside, and the small open window didn’t lend much light. Enough for Glenn’s eyes, but certainly not enough for Derek’s human ones.
“What the hell, thief?” Derek’s annoyed grumble wasn’t really a question.
Ron, in his bottom bunk, propped himself up on an elbow, a curious look on his face. “The walls of this boarding house will not sufficiently muffle excessively loud voices, Gurk. Moderate your volume and explain your predawn proclamation.”
Stephi fluttered in the window from her rooftop perch. Fairies, like elves, didn’t sleep. Not exactly. Maybe meditated or something, but they definitely didn’t sleep.
Glenn opened his everlast candle, bringing the flame to life.
Derek groaned. “Is that necessary, gnome?”
“I had the dream,” Kirby said, his croaking voice excited, but hushed. “I’m a third-rank thief. Rolled a four on my D6 for hits.”
Glenn knew it was more metaphorical rolling, having experienced the dream once himself. The process mimicked exactly what would happen if Kirby had gained enough experience points to advance to third rank while playing the actual Monsters, Maces and Magic Game.
“I believe that brings your hit point total to a respectable fourteen,” Ron said.
“Yup,” Kirby said.
“That’s so cool, my little man.” Stephi flew over and hugged the half-goblin thief, well, his shoulder, and kissed him on the cheek.
Glenn was so happy to hear Stephi call his friend that. She hadn’t in so long. It hadn’t fit. Now, having finished the mission, and with the leprechaun’s gold coin as payment, she’d soon be back to her tall elf self.
Derek punched his pillow and sat up in his top bunk. “Why’d it happen last night?” He stared accusingly. “What’d you do yesterday to earn the experience points to put you over, thief? Steal something? Cash in something that should’ve been party treasure?”
“No, dude,” Kirby said, “I didn’t steal anything—although I had tons of chances. And I didn’t cheat the party.”
“Why do you have to be so mean, Kalgore?” Stephi fluttered over, stopping a foot from the big warrior’s bed. “Are you jealous because Gurk’s higher rank than you?”
“Ha! Warriors are always tougher than thieves. They go up ranks faster in a pathetic attempt to compensate.”
“Each character class has merit,” Ron said. “We are fortunate to be a balanced party.”
Derek ignored Ron and looked past Stephi, to Kirby. “What skill did you take?”
“Stone Masonry.”
“You planning on building a castle, thief?”
“Come on, dude,” Kirby said, hopping down from his bed. “Gives me a five percent bonus to Finding and Removing Traps in stone structures and underground complexes with stone construction.”
A wide grin crossed the half-goblin thief’s face. “Plus, I can build a castle, if I want to.” He put his hands on his hips and puffed his chest out. “I’ll even build you a room on the east side, so the sun won’t wake you up early.”
Stephi flew back next to Kirby and rested a hand on his shoulder. “Maybe then Kalgore wouldn’t be such a Mr. Grumpy Pants.”
“Butterfly Barbie,” Derek said slamming his head down on his pillow and facing the wall, “why don’t you go do something useful, like go suck some flower nectar.”
Higslaff didn’t appear pleased about the entire party’s arrival to retrieve the leprechaun’s gold coin in payment for their service. Ron was insistent, and Higslaff couldn’t come up with a reason to deny the full party’s involvement.
It’d take a lot to dampen the party’s high spirts. Certainly more than a sour, stingy businessman. They were getting the coin to return Stephi to her elf self. Plus, Kirby’d had the special dream.
Once up in Higslaff’s office, Stephi seated on the corner of the pawnshop owner’s desk, and the other four party members seated on stools arranged in front of it, the owner leaned back in his chair.
“So,” he said, “tell me of your success.”
Bonnar sat on a stool off to the right. He combed his fingers through his blond beard and leaned forward with interest. On the table next to him rested his war hammer. It was a less than subtle suggestion that the party members should mind their manners.
Ron reached into his satchel and pulled out a written voucher. “This states what was earned through sale of the goods we delivered to Riven Rock, minus the cost of the coal we returned with. That commodity, along with the wagons and horses, were delivered to the agreed upon stables.”
“So I was informed,” Higslaff said, his words drawn out slightly.
“During the journey toward our destination, one wagon and horse team was lost as a consequence of a manticore attack.”
Higslaff’s eyebrows rose. “A fierce foe. One that’s fortunately rare to come across.”
“Yeah,” Derek said. “We dealt with it. Lost some of your cowardly men-at-arms in the fight. Half of them ran.”
Ron put a hand on Derek’s forearm. “More on that in a moment.”
Derek relaxed and Ron continued his report. “As to the results with respect to our assigned task, four guards and two skilled glassblowers were slain. The elemental fire spirit held within a magical circle was released, doing substantial damage to the shop’s interior and wrecking the majority of items for sale within the shop, prior to its departure.
“Two glass golem guardians were also severely damaged, yet not destroyed. A substantial amount of resources and magical effort will be required to bring them back into service as effective guardians.”
After a half-moment of silence, Higslaff sat up straight in his chair. “In truth, I expected more.”
Kirby hopped to his feet and leaned on the desk. “Dude!”
Ron reached forward and put a hand on the half-goblin’s shoulder. “Gurk.”
Kirby threw up his arms and sat back down. The party had agreed Ron would do the talking. The warrior druid was less likely to get thrown off or distracted by anything the pawnshop owner might say or do.
Ron folded his arms across his chest. “Before you express disappointment, your assignment of Guard Captain Nickson and the man-at-arms, Yonn, to accompany us, handicapped our effort.”
Higslaff cocked his head and squinted an eye. “Handicapped?”
Ron went on to explain the guard captain’s attempted betrayal, and how their need to deal with the situation drew suspicion from the local thieves’ guild, complicating the party’s effort to complete the assigned task.
He then explained how Yonn was part of a group that attacked the wagons prior to the party joining up with them after the completed mission. And that it was likely he informed on them to the local guild. The party did not return to investigate that aspect.
Higslaff waved a hand in dismissal. “Krogman’s failure. He should’ve warned you sooner.”
“We disagree,” Ron said. “Nickson and Yonn were your men, and should have been better vetted before assigning them to accompany us to Riven Rock. That oversight not only endangered the success of the mission, but our lives as well.”
“A matter of opinion,” the pawnshop owner said. “Such ventures are fraught with unknown dangers. I figured you were up to the task. That is why I sent you.”
A moment of silence fell in the room. Glenn wasn’t sure where things were going to go. They’d earned the coin, but thought additional payment was in order, due to the handicap of Nickson and Yonn’s participation.
Ron cleared his throat. “Marigold utilized two of the three spells inscribed upon the scroll you provided. As Marigold will soon be returned to her full stature, we request that you provide her with a scroll containing an identical Fire Blast Spell.”
Glenn remembered looking at the scroll. The scribed magical lettering and symbols were the equivalent size of a four point font.
Ron continued. “In addition, we request compensation for imperiling us with assigned traitorous individuals.”
“Curious requests.” Higlsaff leaned back in his chair. “I am not in the habit of paying extra for a job accomplished to the bare minimum.”
Derek laughed. “But you’re in the habit of sending backstabbers on missions?”
Glenn remembered Ron, Derek and Kirby agreeing that appealing to the pawnshop owner’s honor would be pointless. But, suggesting how it might impair his reputation? That would better garner a favorable response. And Derek, an impulsive hothead, blurting that out brought the incompetency point home. Should it get out, nobody would believe anything was Krogman’s fault.
Glenn put a disapproving frown on his face and glared at the pawnshop owner.
Higslaff rubbed his chin in thought. “I suspect Marigold has become used to a fairy’s ability to blend into the background. Become invisible to an average observer.” He tilted his head, making eye contact with Stephi. “My employee, Coleen Sammae, will instruct you in the casting of Render Unseen.” He leaned back again. “That is, once you’ve gained sufficient knowledge and skill to master spells at a higher tier of complexity.”
“Render Unseen?” Stephi asked.
“Invisibility,” Derek said. “Better in some ways than what you can do as a fairy. But worse in others.”
Higslaff’s eyebrows rose at Derek’s explanation. Most warriors weren’t well-versed in spells magic users cast, especially illiterate warriors.
“No deal,” Kirby said. The half-goblin’s voice was both authoritative, and tinged with anger.
Everyone turned toward the thief.
Kirby made eye contact with Stephi, then locked gazes with the pawnshop owner. “In addition to handing over the leprechaun’s coin, Marigold will retain the tiny scroll with the Fireblast Spell. You’ll provide one with two Mystic Missile Spells equal to the one the small scroll held. And you’ll hand over an additional fifty gold coins to the party.”
Higslaff looked from Kirby to Ron. “With which of you should I be carrying on this conversation? You, Kalgore? Or Gurk?”
Ron nonchalantly shrugged. Glenn thought that was out of character, especially in the current situation.
The warrior druid said, “Did you not, a mere moment ago, address Marigold directly concerning compensation for your dispatching hirelings of dubious loyalty? An act which not only endangered the mission’s success, but put our lives at additional risk.” He spread his hands, gesturing to everyone in the party. “We are of one mind on this issue.”
Ron’s eyebrows pinched together. “We suspect that you have eyes and ears in Riven Rock, beyond those of Krogman and his associates, and have some knowledge of events. You do not strike me as an individual prone to believing an adventuring party’s claim of success. Not without sufficient proof. Yet, those most easily accessible, who might confirm our claim, are no longer directly in your employ, or dead.”
Derek shrugged again. “On the other hand, we have a reputation of successfully completing missions.”
Without thinking, Glenn nodded. They’d recovered the magical necklace for the Church of Apollo, and they’d rescued the elven baronet’s daughter, White Ash, from a tribe of goblins.
Higslaff grinned. It wasn’t a friendly grin, as it didn’t reach his eyes. “Fifty gold coins in trade for what my shop has to offer.”
“Seventy-five gold,” Derek said. “Everything on your shelves is a sucker’s price.”
“Sixty gold coins in trade,” Higslaff countered. “That is in addition to the scroll escribed with the spells Gurk requested.”
Ron looked to everyone in the party to determine if all agreed with the terms.
Glenn, wanting to be a part of the negotiations, figured he wanted to close a potential loophole. “The leprechaun’s coin turned over now. The scroll with spells should be delivered to the party at the Glade House within one week from today.” Glenn scrunched his nose before adding, “And no time limit on when the sixty gold in trade can be used.”
“The timeframe for returning the magical coin was never in question,” Higslaff said.
He pulled a skeleton key from his pocket and unlocked one of the desk’s lower drawers. After some sort of maneuvering, which the party wasn’t able to view, he placed a gold coin on the table.
Ron reached into a pocket for the copper coin the leprechaun had provided. It appeared identical to the one on Higslaff’s desk. “May I place this copper coin close to the gold coin upon your desk?”
“For what purpose, Lysine?”
“To identify the gold coin’s authenticity, Higslaff.”
The shop owner nodded.
Ron placed the copper coin on the desktop and slowly slid it toward the gold coin. When the two were within five inches, the gold coin began sliding toward the copper one.
Ron lifted the copper coin from the desk.
“Interesting,” Higslaff said. “Works like a lodestone would with iron. You didn’t do this before.”
“Circumstances vary,” Ron said, offering no further clarification.
The way the pawnshop owner licked his teeth told Glenn they’d managed to agitate the man.
Ron reached his right hand across the desk. “For completion of the assigned task, we get the leprechaun’s coin immediately, two Mystic Missile Spells as described by Gurk, to be delivered to us at the Glade House within the week, and sixty gold in trade, redeemable by anyone in the party, with no assigned date of expiration.”
“Mighty formal, saying the same thing twice,” Higlsaff said, shaking Ron’s hand while pushing the magical gold coin across the desk with his left. “I am more inclined to reasonable intent of the agreement rather than one needing a magistrate to untangle.”
“Understood,” Ron said. He picked up the gold coin. “With various voices involved in the discussion, I desired for the understanding to be clear and concise.”
“My understanding of leprechauns,” Higslaff said, “clear and concise, with no loopholes is most desirable.”
Once on the street Derek asked Kirby, “What stuck the burr in your undershorts?”
It looked like the day was going to be clear with lots of sunshine. The party hurried back toward to the Glade House for lunch and then to summon the leprechaun.
“Something didn’t seem right about what that dude was offering. I tried to figure out why, which triggered a Diplomacy Roll. I got the notion like, even though he was offering a Render Unseen Spell for Marigold, it felt like he was gonna get something out of it.”
From inside the creel basket, Stephi asked. “What was he trying to get away with?”
Kirby shrugged his shoulders. “No clue. My skill in Diplomacy isn’t high enough to figure that.”
“I gotta admit, thief,” Derek said, “that was pretty smart.” He slapped Kirby on the back, knocking the half-goblin forward a step. The big warrior laughed. “That slimy salesman couldn’t hide your digging under his skin pretty good.”