Robin smiled inwardly at the cacophony that arose from his question. Khavren, Jhess, and Savra all began speaking at once, trying to explain what had just occurred. Drev stood silent, studying the group around him.

From what he could pick out of the chaos, Khavren was going on about a treacherous shapeshifter being eaten by some kind of monster, Jhess was busy spinning an elaborate tale about how the wall had just opened by itself, and Savra was doing a spiel about visions from the deities and how this was the right place and the right time.

Savra’s spiel was aimed mostly at Khavren’s subconscious. They needed the idea to come from him, and her words were setting that up.

‘Enough!’ Robin—as Marq—gestured for silence.

Jhess and Savra stopped speaking. Khavren took a moment longer to get the hint before he trailed off.

‘One.’ Robin held up a finger. ‘Have you done any damage to my tavern? Two.’ He held up another. ‘Are you bringing any trouble down on my head here? Three. Never mind. Answer those two and then I’ll decide if I’m mad or not.’

Khavren looked offended but before he could say anything, Savra spoke up.

‘I foresee nothing untoward happening to these premises from our actions here today.’

‘The word of a seeress. Good.’ Robin nodded.

‘No damage,’ Drev said. ‘Though if the door remains open, I can’t speak for what might wander in from the undercity and cause some.

‘Close it, then!’ Robin gestured to them.

Drev went and closed the door. Thankfully Khavren didn’t ask why Drev was able to do it so easily. The thing was suspicious and warded six ways from feast days.

‘Right,’ Robin said, ‘so no damage and no trouble. I think it’s probably best for all involved if I don’t ask any more questions than that. The less I know of whatever shady business you are all involved in, the safer we all shall be, I think!’ He winked to take any bite of disapproval out of his words.

‘I apologise for any disruption we may have caused you,’ Khavren said stiffly.

It rather blew Robin’s mind that Khavren didn’t seem to object to Marq, even though he used illusions in his performances all the time. Maybe it had to do with using them in battle or not? Or maybe the knight simply didn’t register that they were illusions and thought of them as some strange form of bardic magic all their own?

Pondering the inner workings of Khavren’s mind was not a fruitful endeavour at the best of times so Robin set it aside. Time to prompt the script a bit.

‘Do you all have everything you need to set things to rights down here?’ he asked.

‘Yes,’ Khavren said immediately.

‘Not really,’ Jhess said at the same time.

‘We’ve lost our bard, as well as the one with the connection to what maps of the undercity we’ve been able to find,’ Drev explained before Khavren’s gaze could parboil Jhess where she stood.

The knight glowered but didn’t say anything further.

‘I do not foresee our success unless we replace our missing bard,’ Savra said.

It was laying it on a bit thick, in Robin’s opinion, but from Khavren’s lack of response, perhaps not. The knight did seem to be the sort to struggle with admitting he needed anything or anyone. Which meant Robin was going to have to nudge him even further.

‘Knowledge of the undercity isn’t common, but you can find it if you know where to look.’ Robin paused dramatically. ‘Or who to ask. I myself might know where some is to be found.’

‘Right.’ Jhess snorted. ‘Because you’re the one that has it.’

‘Maybe.’ Robin sniffed.

Khavren was just standing there in oafish thought, not saying anything,

You could practically smell the smoke coming out of his ears.

‘Too bad we cannot simply find another bard with the knowledge we seek,’ Savra said.

Khavren didn’t respond. Jhess and Drev shot a glance between them, wide eyed at the knight’s inaction. Neither said anything, however.

Fine. Robin would have to lower his standards and be even more obvious.

‘Yes,’ he said, a trifle loudly. ‘We’re a rare and valuable commodity.’

That finally did it.

‘You!’ Khavren levelled one meaty finger at Robin in his Marq guise. ‘You can be our bard! You have the power and the knowledge we require, and we can grant you a generous share of the treasure we will inevitably claim.’

Finally!

‘What? Me? I couldn’t possibly! I have a tavern to run!’ Robin sputtered.

Better make the knight work for it. He’d value Robin’s presence more that way. Jhess looked a little alarmed at his pretending to refuse, but she’d simply have to deal with it.

‘No, you’re exactly what we need!’ Khavren insisted.

‘I foresee you gaining a great deal if you accompany us,’ Savra put in.

That made it harder to play reluctant. Still, Robin put an indecisive look on his face and gave it his all.

‘I’m not sure…’ Robin fidgeted with the hems of his sleeves. ‘I’d be losing a lot of time building my reputation, not to mention the profits of this place. There’s a lot of money to make if I’m going to restore things to their former glory.’

‘Think of the treasure you could find in the undercity,’ Jhess said quickly. ‘Savra has foreseen that Khavren will lead us to a great treasure. You could have part of it. It’d be faster than saving up copper from your performances.’

‘Coppers? Coppers?’ Robin didn’t even have to try to fake outrage. Only coppers for his performances? The very idea!

‘Yes!’ Khavren boomed. ‘Great riches are sure to be yours! With me leading this expedition we cannot fail.’

Robin bit his tongue. He needed to look like he was being persuaded, not call Khavren on his arrogance.

‘It would be faster,’ he mused, ‘though I would have to insist on first pick of the treasure and a share for my porter here as well.’

‘What?’ Jhess yelped.

That reaction wasn’t faked. Robin hadn’t mentioned his negotiating tactics beforehand. Always start with the outrageous so you have a better chance to get what you actually want, right?

‘That’s ridiculous! He—’ Jhess looked like she was legitimately going to fight him on this one.

‘He can carry more than any two of us, the shining knight there included,’ Robin cut in. ‘More treasure carried out of the undercity means more money for all of us, yes?’

The rest of the party eyed Wulfram, who simply stood, hulking and stoic, behind Robin. There was a silent war going on behind Jhess’s eyes. He could see her trying to work out at which point dividing a treasure as carried by Wulfram was worth more than dividing a treasure carried by only the five of them.

‘How much did Riv say he’d heard the first party found?’ she asked finally.

‘They didn’t manage to bring back much, but I believe word around the guild is that it is more than a dozen people could carry,’ Drev said. ‘Not sure if they included extradimensional spaces in that reckoning, though.’

Even extradimensional spaces had limits. Unfortunately.

When those were hit, Wulfram’s brawn would look very attractive.

‘Shares split five ways, your porter’s fee comes out of your share,’ Jhess countered.

‘It does make sense, if he is not too involved in the fighting,’ Savra offered.

Great. The luxian was playing with him again.

‘Outrageous!’ Robin snapped. ‘Asking us to take the same as each of you when we provide twice as much manpower? That’s highway robbery!’

‘It does seem unjust,’ Khavren said slowly.

Yes! Thank you! Oh. Oh no. Had Robin just agreed with Khavren? Ugh.

‘Thank you, my friend!’ That Robin managed to say those words without choking on them was a testament to his skill as a performer. Honestly. ‘We would deserve at least a share and half. It’s not like Wulfram won’t be facing the same danger as we will, after all! And I assure you he is capable enough at defending himself that you need not worry about having to “carry” him, as it were.’

Jhess gave the man’s brawny arms a frank assessment.

‘Yes, I can see that,’ she said.

Robin could feel Rerebos in the back of his mind. There were enough shadows and crannies in this basement that not even Robin could see where the little fiend was hiding, but he could feel he was near. It was clear the little lizard’s draconian instincts were up with all this talk of treasure and shares. No doubt Robin would have to part with a great many shinies to appease the greedy beast.

The negotiations gathered steam from there. Robin surprised himself by fighting harder than he had planned to ensure a fair share for Wulfram. There was no telling how powerful the man actually was, and he was certainly being compensated more than fairly by the Guildmagister for his time, but something in Robin’s innate sense of fair play insisted the man get as fair a shake as Robin could secure for him.

Ironically the man probably could have done better himself if he chose to speak, but he didn’t. He instead played silent and left the negotiations to Robin. The bard wasn’t sure what was going on, but resolved to try and engage the man in conversation at the earliest opportunity. It wasn’t likely he could sway him away from his allegiance to Zahn, but if he could get on the man’s good side it couldn’t hurt.

Robin had the impression he was going to need access to people on Zahn’s good side before this was all over.

In the end, Robin managed to secure a separate share for Wulfram, but instead of an even split it was limited to only that which the man could physically carry on his person. More importantly, however, he managed to secure first choice of the treasure. That was a vital point if he was going to make sure he got the gemstone Zahn demanded he retrieve for him.

Though he owed Jhess a bit of a nose-tweaking. The rogue had bartered sharp and hard over every clipped copper. A bit stereotypical, that. He’d expected more. Well, maybe she had an ailing great-aunt she needed to support or something equally unlikely. That would restore his faith in the world.

But for now…

‘Very well,’ Robin said, ‘we have a deal! I shall accompany you into the undercity!’

Now they just needed to gather a few supplies and they would be off!