Chapter 7: Back in Jalanthar

Nerea sends him a warm smile. "Thank you, Kardalis. That's valuable advice." She nudges him lightly on the arm, seeming somewhat playful. "Though I saw you down the Cave Father, and I heard that you were the one who struck the killing blow on the centipede. That's pretty amazing, if you ask me." Glancing at Avis, she adds, "And your new spell, Avisis; quite flashy."

Avis, who had an insult ready on the tip of her tongue, blinks at Nerea's compliment. Her lips pull into a smirk. "Why, thank you. That's the fun of being a sorcerer; you never know how and when your gifts will manifest." She tilts her head as she gazes at the cleric. "Shame that you continue to fumble so with your bow in battle. Admittedly, however, your powers of healing were nothing short of impressive."

One ear twitching faintly in irritation, Nerea counts to five before responding. "I'm typically an excellent shot," she says, "but today was admittedly a bad day for me. As for my healing, well...I'm only grateful no one was hurt beyond my ability to help them."

Imarra only overhears part of what the others say. "The healing magic really is the most useful. If it weren't for it, it would likely take us a week or more to recover enough before we could set out again." says she, almost absentminded, as she keeps thinking that her magic could have been applied more useful. Using her magic to enhance someone's muscle strength doesn't seem what the group needs, maybe if she could find a way to alter the spell so it will instead enhance the reaction time of the muscles, it will be more effective for the others.

On the other hand, all the fighting and the heat from the fire within the cavern really makes her want to clean up herself. If her memory isn't wrong the river should be fairly close.

The adventurers pass through the door in the northern wall of the entry hall, and enter the third door on their left into a room full of neatly organized items on shelves and in crates and barrels. A halfling is apparently going through some list, standing by one of the shelves, but when the adventurers enter, he walks over to a small counter where a stack of papers and a couple of ledgers are placed, as well as a quill and inkwell, some candles, a rod of red wax and a seal stamp, and addresses the new-comers:



Riskin Chaz:  "Riskin Chaz at your service. What can I do you for?"

Amra Braegen: "Yes. *Ahem*. We were hoping to stock up on some supplies for an on-going expedition we're on in the Moon Pass, involving undead and Zhentarim. We spent a lot of what we had on a small detour into the Urgruem Caverns, helping your associate Myrdin Doedance. Grymgrgand Krymkord let us know that we could buy what we needed here, and at a discount..."

Riskin Chaz:  "And what do you need sugar? I have everything from arrows of undead bane to scrolls of suggestion and a wand of contagion... You name it, I probably have it!"

"Arrows of undead bane? That might be good for you two, Nerea and Rhenwald. Would you happen to have any crossbow bolts with that enchantment, Mr. Chaz?" Avis inquires.

Riskin Chaz:  "That I do. I even have undead bane stones for those who prefer the sling. Excuse me, goodwoman, but where do you happen to hail from? Forgive me my brashness, I am not a man of the courts, but you look intriguingly exotic, and you have an almost otherworldly glow to you... If you care to indulge a fellow adventurer's curiosity that is?"

Eyebrow quirking, Nerea meets Avis's eyes, trying and failing to suppress a smirk.

Avis frowns. She doesn't normally feel the need to disguise herself in smaller towns, but perhaps she ought to start. "It's nothing to do with where I call home, I'm afraid. Let's say I have a condition brought on by my ancestry and leave it at that," she says, crossing her arms. "Now, these enchanted bolts. How much for each of them, and how many do you have?"

Riskin Chaz:  "An exquisite condition if you ask me, goodwoman. Must be one extraordinary ancestry... But when you put it like that, I'll try my best to respectfully curb my inquisitive mind, despite your answer leaving it doubly intrigued, to be perfectly honest with you. Regarding the bolts, with your discount, 150. Gold. Per bolt. And I'm sure I have enough in store to supply you what you can afford... The Dragonspur Trading Company is pretty well-connected after all, both here in the Marches and on the Sword Coast, and thus quite well-supplied when it comes to magical goods. Even when it comes to a little backwater place like Jalanthar. It is after all on an important trade route to Sundabar, and the dwarves there does have some quite amazing metal and metalworkers... Metal which merchants in, say for example Waterdeep appreciate receiving a steady flow of. Thus, everything is connected. Just like Mystra's Weave. As above, so below, isn't that what the wise-heads say?"

There is a beat of silence after Riskin concludes his speech. Eventually, Avis replies, "Oh, I'm sorry, were you finished? I didn't want to interrupt such a thrilling sermon with something as silly as a transaction. Although..." She rubs her chin. "I fear I may have to leave the enchanted bolts be. I'd reconsider if the crossbow was my weapon of choice, but alas. You do have mundane crossbow bolts, yes? How much?"

Riskin Chaz:  "9 silver for ten regular bolts. 54 gold for ten masterwork... Or, perhaps I could interest you in this little thing instead..." Riskin picks up an ornate blaclwood repeating crossbow from one of the shelves and places it on the counter.  "The Staker, I call it. An undead bane repeating crossbow. 7,695 gold and it's yours... Say, you were to clean up a nasty vampire infestation in some desolate, creepy old town somewhere, the Staker would definitely be your weapon of choice. Believe you me. And one never quite knows where one might end up in this adventuring life..."

Nerea's attention shifts immediately towards the crossbow. "Wow," she breathes, admiring its design. "Now that's exquisite. I bet it packs a real punch, too. It's a pity it's so expensive." She tilts her head, looking back at Riskin. "Do you have any fancy arrows, or longbows? Oh, and a few basic daggers or clubs? Come to think of it, some holy water would be quite useful, too. And some oil, to replace what we used during our dashing rescue..."

Riskin Chaz: The halfling smiles boyishly at the dashing wood elf's inquiry.  "Oh, I have lots and lots of oil in store, goodwoman. Enough to last countless exciting encounters, believe you me. Or to provide one with soothing lamplight illumination late into the night, if one has such inclinations... Regarding arrows and longbows, I'm sure I can get you whatever you need. Bows and arrows are in high demand with all the rangers about... Regarding melee weapons, I happen to have a beautiful magical elven dagger which I think might suit you quite well in fact. It is called Rimesting and is enchanted with cold magic. Used to belong to a beautiful elven maiden who devoted herself to Auril the Cold Goddess after her heart was broken by some reckless philanderer. This bond turned the poor thing into a ruthless killer. We had to stop her. A tragic story really... 7,470 gold for that one. I also have simple daggers and clubs in store. You can have a couple of daggers or a club on the house. Masterwork's or enchanted's going to cost you though... And yes, I have holy water as well... I should probably make a list of everything you need. Hold on." The halfling opens one of the ledgers and flips it to a blank page, before dipping his quill in the inkwell and looking at the adventurers expectantly.

Avis concludes her examination of the crossbow—not having laid her hands on it, but having admired the dark wood and fine craftsmanship. "Well, well. Maybe you do know the way to a woman's heart, Chaz. A shame you're not to my tastes." She turns back to Riskin and the group. "Unfortunately, as my companion observed, unless our group decides to pool our resources, it is far out of my price range. I'll keep it in the back of my mind, at least. In the meantime, add ten each of the normal and masterwork bolts to your list, for me."

"I'll also take ten normal and masterwork arrows each, please," Nerea says, smiling. "And if I could trouble you to part with both a normal dagger and club, I'll happily pay the difference." She sighs, her gaze filled with longing as she admires Rimesting. "I'll also purchase several flasks of holy water...any thoughts regarding how many might be useful for our purposes, Amra?"

Amra Braegen: "To be honest, Nerea, I'm not sure how helpful holy water is really going to be... It might prove useful against some of their lesser undead minions, but  against more dangerous foes, such as the Kreels themselves, we'll need more powerful tricks than that. I'd like to browse any magical scrolls, potions and wands you have in store, Saer Chaz. My magic is limited. The orcs in the Ugruem Caverns pressed me to my limits, in regards to both my arcane and divine capabilities, and I suspect Whisperwind Keep and the Kreels will prove an even greater challenge..."

"The assortment of supplies you have is really astonishing. Sadly we don't seem to have the funding right now for the more advanced equipment." Imarra agrees with the others while admiring the things Riskin shows them. The girl consideres what they have been shown already and decides "I would like a bundle of roughly ten regular crossbow bolts, one of those bolts of undead bane. If you have some scrolls that would help us searching for hidden paths (Detect Secret Doors) or ones to aid us in understanding other languages (Comprehend Languages), I would like two of those." raising the spellbook, with seven little stars painted in one corner, circling around a little splotch of red, on her side up for the halfling to see she informs him, still a little overwhelmed with the large selection "One to use and one to study later.". "Oh, and I would be interested in some materials to try creating scrolls myself. Let's say two hundred gold worth to start out.".

"Fuck me," Cyrus mutters as he observes what appears to him the most splendid stock of goods he's ever seen. "Talk about the dragon's hoard, and all that under our very nose. Rich kids seem to have it pretty good after all."

Despite the lucky outcome of the previous fight, the ranger seems to be a little disgruntled by something. Some can clearly see that he's slightly uncomfortable in this establishment, but for what reason is not precisely clear. Taking a casual swig from his flask, he says:

"If you need to pool the money for something, count me in, I don't have much need for it. How much were those undead slayer arrows again, you said? And I need shafts of this thickness," he demonstrates one arrow from his quiver. "Otherwise my bowstring would simply split'em."

Riskin Chaz:  "Yes," the halfling concurs. "150 gold per arrow, saer. Just a moment and I'll find them for you." Riskin then turns back to the young Rashemi witch. "I can get you the scrolls, sure thing, but if you need materials for making them, I'll have to point you to old Ithnar Modrasz. He lives west of here, in the odd, angular house by the path to the Kelemvor shrine. Tell him i sent you, and he should give you a discount. He should also have a wider selection of scrolls than I have here. And don't be alarmed by his strangeness. Ithnar Modrasz is a good man. He's just a bit peculiar is all..."

"Actually, we have quite a bit of treasure and equipment that we can sell, if you'll take it, Riskin. If you'll hold a moment while we sort it out," says Avis.

After several minutes of discussion and organizing, the group settles on what to keep and what to sell. The items are placed before Riskin. Avis almost feels like she's back in Nyth, bartering with buyers and sellers on behalf of her mother.

"There," she says. "How much for all this, then?"

Riskin Chaz:  "That's quite a haul," the halfling remarks before carefully examining the items, taking meticulous notes in one of the ledgers as he does so. When he is finally done, he looks at the adventurers with a smile and says: "23,230 gold. This on-going expedition you're on in the Moon Pass seems to be rather profitable. Looks like you would be able to afford those weapons I suggested to you earlier after all... And then some..."

"Indeed. I hadn't thought to factor in what we'd acquired from our journeys," says Avis. "If it's all right with everyone else, I would quite like to add Staker to our list of purchases. It could come in handy in the Keep."