The six of you decide to take some rest and sleep away the time until night.  The beds in the priests' quarters are a bit musty, but comfortable enough, and with a roof over your heads you don't have to worry about the weather.  I'll count this as "safe lodging", so that's 4d4 HP restored to everyone.  Since Henry regains HP, he can remove the Unconscious condition and awaken.

With noone else offering to take the plunge, Hexus decides, all things considered, it would be better to have a divine patron than to not have one.

At the appointed time, he performs the obligatory obeisances and even gets the pronunciation of the black veiled one's name right.

"Well, aarrr, Oi'm alive!" calls Henry as he sits up. "Shiver me timbers! What happened then? You get 'em all? Anyone seem me Beetroot?" His hand goes to his waist to search for his cutless.

As Henry wakes, he hears a familiar squawking from another room.



Hexus spends a good half-hour prostrated before the statue of Lurebus.  As he's starting to think that perhaps he's wasted his time, the moon shines through a window high on the wall - the only one on the building, as it happens.  The apparently flat glass must be more than it seems, as it directs a beam of moonlight to the base of the statue, revealing a cunningly-concealed knob on what seems to be a drawer.

"Ahaar! Beetroot! me ol' bird!" hollers Henry as he stumps towards another room from which the squarking emanates.

"I was perfectly willing to try... but if you're going to insist..." Quel muttered to Hexus quite unconvincingly.  He waited, yawning and eventually drifting off by the time the moon shone bright. He awoke with a start and a snort.

He rose with a look of awe upon his ruddy face. "I told ya there'd be artifactuals!"

OOC: may I now remove my ‘upset’ condition?

"Quel, I've figured out what your quest is: to return to your museum and resume your work as a volunteer docent."

With that, he opens the drawer as he had been divinely instructed to do.

Inside the drawer are two objects.  The first is a pouch which has the feel and jangle of coin.  Opening it confirms this, and afer counting it all up, you find a princely sum of 60 sp.  The second object is a rolled-up piece of parchment.  When you open that, you find that it is much more: based on the runic script, you're pretty sure it's an arcane scroll!  After examining it for a bit, it seems to be one capable of producing a visual illuion (the Illusion spell).

Anyone can take 10 minutes to identify the spell on a scroll.  (In this case I assumed you wanted to take the time since there's no rush.)  Casting it is another matter.

Tamlan says, "Well, the silver will be useful for all of us, and the spell will be useful to anyone willing to risk casting it, which I admit I am not."

After a night's rest, Sif feels...rested. He yawns and stretches and wanders out of the priests' chambers into the main temple.

"Any luck with Lurebus, Hexus?"

---

When Hexus shows what he found in the base of the statue, Sif shakes his head in wonder. "Who would've thought! The more coin the better for our enterprise. If no one is interested in that scroll I would like to use it."

Sif's cheeks and bald pate redden, "Does anyone else find it hot?" As he fans himself with his hand, he adds, "I've fancied trying my hand at magic. I don't have the strength or deftness for swords and bows, but I like to think I have a logical mind that might be suited for spell casting."

Looking uncomfortable talking about himself, he ends the conversation, for the moment, "If you'll excuse me, I have to take a leak."
This message was last edited by the player at 09:08, Wed 12 July 2023.

Still surprised by the unveiling of a secret, Quel was only half listening, which was normal for him about half the time.

"You want me to volunteer for... what now? That was - that was a ruse I thought up, don't you remember back at the village? Everyone laughed at me? Well I got the ol' flop and drop out of it for sure, but... there's no museum. Sorry to disappoint you." The Questor shook his head. It was so difficult sometimes for these oddball companions of his to grasp certain concepts sometimes...

At the sound of coins, Quel's stomach finally spoke up, loudly, to let everyone know it was high time they took their spoils and found a farmwife with insomnia to fry them up some eggs. "Oooh! That's a nice start. Suppose there's more? I bet if..." He paused when Sif, flushed, began to head outside.

"You alright? Sif? Sif?"

Feeling enriched, if not blessed, Hexus demonstrates uncharacteristic concern for his fellow man and toddles after Quel to look after Sif. Had he been wounded? It's not the sort of thing he would have noticed. If so, corruption could already be settling in.

Tamlan decides to spend some downtime as a Pit Fighter. The results were ambiguous.

OOC: Tamlan rolls 11 on 1d20+1 STR roll. If this were combat, the result would do damage but have a negative side-effect. I suppose the negative side-effect would be up to the GM. My guess would be that he won his fight, but was wounded or suffered another negative result.

OOC: Does Henry locate Beetroot? And his cutlass?

Reunited with Beetroot and regaining his cutlass pleases henry no end! "Aha! So, me hearties, seems we scuppered the bandits good. So, who are you all? A mixed crew, I'd say. i can start that off: I'm Henry, a pirate once and now reformed, paid my dues and sailing a straight course these days. So, your turns!"
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 13:31, Thu 13 July 2023.

"I suppose we'd better take the bandits' bodies back to the village..." Quel said with a distasteful sort of look on his face. Then he perked up as if an idea had struck a gong inside his skull. "Surely someone in the village would lend us a cart. If we put them just inside the chapel, they won't get too ripe before they can be moved."

A huge grin split his face as he began to think of the heroes welcome they'd receive upon their triumphant return!

"I'm Sif. We're novice adventurers. Still trying to learn the ropes, so to speak."


"Don't forget Quel, we have a prisoner in the shed. Maybe we march him back to town and let the villagers come and collect the bodies if they're so inclined?"

Hexus reveals that he was formerly a member of the court whose duty it was to be poisoned instead of the king and queen. He was but it was only his sense of taste that died.

"I wasn't much good then. Not that I was much good before. Should've known there was something fishy about that ratatouille."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:27, Fri 14 July 2023.

“Can you still taste tobacco, at least?” Ospbo asks as he has an extra puff.  “Don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t.”

"I smell you, rest assured" is the mordant reply of Hexus.

In reply to Henry (msg # 209):

Tamlan replies, "I grew up in a family of hunters in forest village; my family died in the Red Plague, leaving me with no-one but my cat Wat, so I set out in search of adventure, hoping to become a Beast Master." (He pauses to scratch Wat between the ears.)

Quel kept one eye on Sif and one eye on the pirate, this being an impossible task for most people, but an easy one for someone with a lazy-eye condition like his. Sif seemed to be acting strangely, which demanded some concern, and the pirate, well those blokes certainly needed to be kept under scrutiny!

It appeared that introductions were being made and so Quel cleared his throat to give the long version as was proper, or so he'd been taught. Sharp glances from his companions seemed to say that perhaps an abridged version might be in order. "Ahem, yes, I'm Quel of House Rubbleholde, Knight-in-training, and Questor of the... uh... the... that is," he seemed to lose momentum for a moment but then found his footing and continued onward, "...seventh in line to the Stewardship of Bangleswade Citadel, after my older brothers and a really tough sister, and Questor of..." he tried again, valiantly, "...of well... well, it's not really important right now."

He struck a pose, hands curled on his wide hips, barrel chest poked out. "I've been sent out to prove myself in order to receive my spurs upon triumphant return!" It took a lot of air to keep his chest puffed, and talking only made it more difficult. He deflated a bit, "Though sometimes I almost feel like they were trying to just get rid of me..."

It was a brief moment, but then the rotund little fellow brightened up again. "We've vanquished this band of brigands have we not? We've rescued a hostage and made a new friend have we not? We've recovered some coin and captured a prisoner have we not? We've earned at least a meal and a mug, have we not?!"

He paused, apparently awaiting a cheer from his companions at this point. "I say we turn this ruin over to a local priest or whatever for cleansing and we celebrate our success!"

It was at that moment the Quest gave him a little nudge... "Erm... I seem to remember... something about this place. Ospbo, did you hear something in the city about this church? It was a...?" He scratched his head, trying to remember. "A gate? Doesn't sound quite right."

Sif fans himself with his hand, as more formal introductions are made for Henry's sake.


"I agree Quel. Let's get back to Evrard and let them deal with the prisoner and we can split up our earnings, and enjoy a cold drink and a hot meal."

With the one living abndit in tow, your group heads back to Evrard.  The people there are grateful for your efforts and promise to dispense justice to the bandit for his crimes, though they have no material reward to give.  With nothing left to do, you return to Desorcy to rest, recuperate, and plan your next move.

End of Adventure