September 3, 1372
After 8 days Kadlian is up and moving
around again, while Malvis, Ragnar, Galil, Edelle and Windul are fully
cured thanks to the curative effects of the place. Thanks to Ragnar's
efforts, the rest of you have also been brought up to your normal
complements of hit points as well.
Niko is starting to smell, though.
At last, on September 3, 1372, you emerge from the sanctum.
The room where you originally took refuge is as it was before...though
you soon discover that the invisible door has been removed altogether.
Likewise, so have all of the bodies of the monsters that you
killed...along with their equipment.
Trinity reduces you all down to size, and teleports you to Occa's house
in Sandas.
At the mansion, Al, Logan, Kailar and Jesse are disturbed out of their
reverie by the unexpected arrival of that neurotic party led by Kadlian.
Trinity speaks, "I feel that it is time for me to train, but will need
funds to do so. We might wish to head back and make a quick sweep
of the area we just fought at to see if there is treasure there for
us. I also need to seek out someone to help me recharge my staff,
as I did use a great deal of power in that last combat."
"Trinity, how much money do you need?"
"I am also ready to take the next step in my clerical powers. It
seems that this group needs some more healing power and I feel that I
should take this opportunity to train. Unfortunately, I am still poor
and cannot afford to train. If the group could see it's way to
invest in my training, I shall repay the loan as soon as I am
able. The nearest temple to Thor is in Strabath."
"Ragnar, we will figure out how to provide loans for everyone's training that needs it. That goes for you as well, Galil."
"And we need to see about raising Niko, so that I can beat him about the head and shoulders for his idiotic moves."
"We will."
Galil blinks in surprise but smiles at the others.
"Please excuse our intrusion," she says lamely, unaware that they were going to go visiting.
Once hellos are said, Galil asks if there is somewhere where she can go
to train. She does make a point of bathing and changing into
fresh attire and gloves before leaving for training though.
Jesse, the bard, stands up.
"I will show you where you may have some privacy," says the woman to Galil.
"And what ever happened to Niko? How did he come to lose his head?" the woman asks.
"He got drunk and made a bad bet in a high stakes poker game," Dor laughs.
"Bad timing with some technology. He got himself stunned and then
some monster took off his head. Basically, Dor, Trinity, Niko and
myself found ourselves defending the others against a large assortment
and quantity of humanoids. I lost count after one hundred.
Niko did not survive and the rest of barely did. If it had not
been for Trinity and her staff, we would not have."
"Salaam, would you please let me know the cost to have Niko resurrected, as well as healing me?"
This is surely a day of surprises for Galil. "Thank you Lord
Kadlian for your most generous offer though I find myself at a loss to
accept it. I have done little to earn such generosity."
"Galil, if we get you all better trained, then you will be able to
contribute more to the group. Consider it a wise investment on my
part."
Galil nods.
"If you believe that I will be worth that investment it would be
churlish of me to refuse it. Thank you for your confidence." Galil
replies softly.
"Ten thousand gold for the resurrection, and healing is variable, a
minor heal is 200 gold, a serious heal is 400 gold, a critical heal is
800 and a full heal is 1000," Salaam offers.
"Would you, a cleric who's patron is interested in magic, be willing to
trade 6 scrolls of magic missile spells for the resurrection?" asks
Trinity.
"Also, I have holy water for sale," Salaam says with a smile.
Galil blinks in surprise at the sums being discussed, wondering if the
party has such funds at all but remains silent during the exchange.
Kadlian sighs. "Okay, we will pay for the resurrection, since we have no other good way to get him back."
Kadlian holds up a hand before Trinity speaks. "I know, the
anti-wishing flame. But, we should save that as an option for
when we cannot afford to pay the fee."
"Kadlian, we are allies, and if he wishes to charge fees, that is his
decision. I don't think we have that money available, as we lost
a great deal of it. And with everyone needed to train, it becomes
even more difficult. I'd rather use the anti-wishing
flame," the woman says.
"Trinity, how much money do you need?"
"For the staff recharging, I do not know. I hope to work out a
trade, for training," says the mage, "I still have some gold
stored away, enough I think, to cover my training, but that will leave
me little left," says the woman.
"We fight on the same side, and are working for the same goal," the
woman says, looking at Salaam, before turning back to Kadlian.
Trinity frowns. "I'd rather go to the flame and use it's power than
spend that amount of money. I could pay someone 500 gold to make
the wish and have everyone healed and Niko restored."
Kadlian raises an eyebrow. "That is an interesting idea. Okay, we can try that."
"I have a cache stored away in this household. But, I agree with
your proposal. If you can find someone willing to make the wish
on our behalf, then we should go with that approach."
"Salaam, your offer is generous. But, if we can save our money by
using the anti-wish flame, then we will. Unlike Occa's group, we
have not tapped into large riches. And while I believe that
adding the Temple of Thoth to this city will benefit this city, we are
not in a position to fund the majority of that cost." Kadlian
gives him a small smile.
"Trinity, how much time do you need to memorize teleport spells to go
the anti-wishing flame and to pick up our mounts and the rest of our
crew from the inn?"
"Aren't we going back?" asks Edelle.
"We will, after some of our party train. I figure that means we
will be here for another two to three weeks. It also occurs to me
that we do not really need to keep our mounts there. We can leave
them here where they will get better treatment."
Galil looks confused. "Why is it necessary to hire someone to do this 'anti-wish' as you call it?"
"It is Trinity's idea, but I believe the reason she wishes to hire
someone is to avoid having someone in the group use their chance at a
wish. Of course, I do not know how we find someone that we can
trust to do this..."
"That would be my concern as well. Why shouldn't one of us make the wish?" Galil asks Trinity.
Trinity throws up her hands. "It was a suggestion, as I thought Salaami
was charging too much to help allies. I even offered him scroll
since he is interested in magic. However, if someone wants to
make the wish, that's fine with me, I can teleport us there tomorrow."
"Calm down, Trinity," Kadlian says. "As I said earlier, I like
the idea. I am just uncertain how to see it carried out
successfully. Do you have an idea on how to make it happen?"
"I am calm." replies the mage. "Just annoyed at mister high and
mighty cleric who seems to have forgotten who his friends and allies
are. As for a likely target, I have me an idea. We head over to
Katrina's Cat house, see if we can get one of the girls there to do it
for 200 gold, and I'm sure she'll be pliable. Of course, we can
also use a ring of human influence or charm person spell as necessary
to ensure cooperation."
"Okay, let us try that. We will try this tomorrow. That should give you enough time to relearn the teleport spells.
"Do not let Salaam's prices bother you. After all, he is trying
to build a temple and his prices are more reasonable than we have been
quoted elsewhere. And, just as he is within his rights to quote a
price, we are free to reject them and look elsewhere. I do not
understand why you are reacting thusly."
"Well, let's see. Have you lost your short-term memory?"
the woman asks, "Mr. Salaami has been nothing but hostile towards me
and Rage, on many occasions, as well, I just don't have time for people
of that rank. You should see me when I am mad."
"You and that woman are one and the same, regardless of whatever soul
or body switch you say occurred, and you are an arrogant and petulant
woman who demands respect but refuses to give any," Salaam replies.
"There are many forces greater than you, child, you should be sure to
remember that!"
"I give respect to those who have earned it. Those like Occa,
like Orlon. Those who learn and seek to learn. They have my
upmost respect. It is frauds like you, those who demand respect
simply because, those I scorn," replies the mage.
"Well, he was hostile to you when you had Rage as a partner. I
had been hoping now that Rage has a new body that he might try to
approach you friendly-like. I guess it would be too hopeful
that both of you could try to start over?"
"You seem to think that his actions, directed at Rage, did not affect
us. That is a very shallow view of things, Kadlian," says
Trinity. "And he has not given any indication he'll change his ways,
being a holy clerical type and all. I won't hold my breath."
"No, I figure they did affect you, but I had hoped that the leaving of
Rage would have everyone approaching you fresh. I guess I was too
optimistic."
"That is, shall we say, an understatement. There are those with closed
minds, and those with open ones," Trinity says, looking at
Salaam, "And those who are full of themselves, they can not see reality
when it smacks them in the face."
"There does seem to be a class of folks that just do not like you."
"And I am not sure I want to see you when you are mad."
"Remember the battle? I was happy then," says the mage.
"You were? I was ready to pull out my hair. I was just a little too busy."
"Your fault. You need to take time to smell the sulfur of a fireball," adds the mage. "It's fun."
Kadlian shrugs. "With my frostbrand, I guess I never got a chance to smell the sulfur."
Malvis looks up from his reading as Trinity speaks, and says, "I was
hoping that now Rage was gone, you might find enjoyment in other
activities, Trinity."
"And while you are probably right about Orlon and Occa, that is their choice and this is Salaam's."
"Your point?" she asks.
"He has chosen a road and we should accept that. It may not be
advantageous to us, but we are not asked to like it. Perhaps we
should just agree to disagree and let the matter drop. After all,
we are all guests of Occa's house."
"Fine. Whatever," says Trinity.
"I can accept that."
"What - ever."
"I have not forgotten any such thing, but in order for me to not only
help your group, as well as others, I need a temple to do so, so unless
you can wish me a temple, I need to secure the funds any way I can,"
Salaam replies curtly. "For one who seems to be so worldly, you are
incredibly short sighted,"
Trinty shrugs.
"Guess I just don't worry about gods all that much, they generally are a pain in the ass." she replies curtly.
"Make sure to share that with the next cleric that you ask healing from," he replies with a thin lipped smile.
"Those that are full of holy shit don't deserve no respect," says
the woman, "The others, those that are respectful of different paths,
they get respect."
"You jest, woman, as you respect nothing and no one, when your soul is
sent to the next world, I will be sure to ask you how you feel then,"
Salaam replies. "Kadlian, you will go straight to your reward by
dealing with a miscreant like her."
Kadlian scowls and turns to face Salaam. "Enough! Trinity
has saved my bacon and those of my team more times than I care to
count. She may be volatile and you may not like her, but I stand
by her."
"Now, if you two can stop sniping at each other, I am going to get out of this armor and wash up."
Trinity smiles at Kadlian.
"No more snipping Sir," she says, "Not from me, nope, not a one. I am snip-a-phobic."
"That was sniping, not snipping. If Salaam annoys you that much,
just ignore him. If you do not respond to him, there will be
nothing for you two to argue about."
"You're a grammarian now?" the woman asks, "Can ye teach mes to talk pretty?"
"Probably not."
Kadlian leaves the room.
"Hey. That's a good idea," Dor interjects. "I am going to clean this
wonderful armor that kept the trolls and bugbears at bay. Well sort of
at bay."
After retrieving a vial of Brasso from his host's supply cabinet, Dor heads to his room whistling the Mr. Clean jingle.
Rage continues to rage.
"And what the hell do you know about me?" she asks, "Have you ever
spent one iota of time attempting to learn? No. You, sir,
are an ass."
"As I said, disrespectful and undeserving," Salaam comments.
"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me," Trinity says, chanting at Salaam.
"I know you are a miserable, arrogant, distrustful miscreant who must
cast aspersions against those who even look at you the wrong way. How
could I even try to learn anything about you when you have a serpent's
tongue lashing me when I dare to disagree with your 'infallable' word?"
he asks sarcastically. "Your mind is a locked door that only sees things through a minute keyhole.
"As to me being an ass in your pathetic opinion, to quote you, 'sticks
and stones won't break my bones', but Trinity, Rage, or whomever you
are, your mouth will hurt you and your companions very quickly if you
don't learn to control it," he tells her.
"What's with this joker? Have to pick on women because you can't handle
dealing with men? Is that it? You get your rocks off by
busting on woman, because you can't get it up? That's it! You're
impotent! You can't get it up," Rage says, laughing at
Salaam. "You seek power over women by degrading them, because you
can't handle a real woman. Wimp."
Edelle starts laughing at Rage.
"Typical," Salaam says, "something you fail to grasp and your immediate
reaction is to attack and denigrate. For once shut our mouth and listen
and you might actually learn something, if such a thing is possible!"
"That's funny. Most men like it when a woman's mouth is open."
she says, smiling at Salaam, "And being used to soothe the warrior
inside him."
"The price was high for an ally." says Trinity, "If we were joe
party off the street, that was a great price. But for a group
that has worked with Salaami before, he should have done it for a
greatly reduced price. I know Orlon would have done it for free,
and hell Occa would probably cast wish for free as well. But since he
wants to play that way, we'll let him, and do it ourselves."
"You won't get a better price in town for a resurrection, but no, I
cannot raise Niko, he is a full bloodied elf," Salaam comments. "If you
are all done, I have work to do, but am always available for healing
and for holy water."
"Don't let us hold you up," says Trinity. "Since we're here in the dining room, I'm suspecting your business is elsewhere?"
"I agree that the price quoted was extremely high to my own ears as
well. I will gladly make the wish required to bring Niko back if
you tell me how to phrase it as I have heard that the wording is
critical," Galil offers.
"If you want to make the wish, that's great, you just have to say 'I wish that Niko was not whole, alive and here.'"
Galil nods. "When we go to that place tomorrow as you said, please
remind me of the exact wording as I do not want to make an error."
Galil smiles at everyone, now that the hellos are over with. "If
you'll excuse me now, I'll change out of these clothes if there is
nothing else to discuss. Thank you again for your confidence in
me and I'll see all again shortly."
The cavalier departs.
"I couldn't care less about you but your foul words poison your
companions against those they ally with," Salaam replies. "I will not
cause you harm, Trinity, despite your arrogance, I am just warning you
that the ability to succeed or fail in your mission relies as much on
your mouth as much as your power."
Trinity smiles seductively at Malvis, and begins to walk over towards
the man with a sway in her hips and a come-hither look on her face. As
she approaches, she opens her robes to reveal her lack of clothing
underneath, and her small, pert breasts and nipples.
"Do you like what you see? Would you be interested in more?" she asks, smiling coyly.
Malvis stares slack jawed for a moment, then begins turning a deep crimson the closer Trinity gets to him.
"Well...yes...of course...", he stammers, as sweat begins beading on
his forehead. "Exactly...", the illusionist continues, as the tome
slides from his hands to land clumsily on the floor.
Trinity kneels down in front of Malvis, so he has a better view.
She picks up the tome, and presents it to him, her robe falling open
more.
"Well then, why don't we go someplace more quiet and talk." she says,
as she stands up, leaning over the man to kiss his forehead, while her
breasts sway seductively in front of his eyes.
Standing back up, she turns and begins to walk away, again swaying her
hips for Malvis, "Come wash my back for me?" she asks him, over her
shoulder.
Trinity heads to the bathhouse.
Malvis, stuttering as he rises to his feet, attempts to act worldly and
sophisticated, but is only able to stammer, "Yes...of course...I would
certainly like to...uh...wash your back, yes. Of course.
yes."
He stumbles after Trinity like a puppy on a leash.