Haar’kiev 4

I’m just guessing on the date. You can’t tell day or night in here and we don’t have a good clock.

We spotted a bag zone today. Once your eyes have adjusted to the dim light, it’s astounding how far you can see. After spotting it, it took an hour to reach it, even at my speed.

Looks like we stayed straightish. The bracers are amazing. As soon as the magic started working again, we could see where we started, where we were, and the ring we were looking for.

This bag zone was empty, unfortunately. But we’ve added it to the map, so it’ll make a good landmark to aim for on the way back.

Luckily, there’s a magnetic north, so ordinary non-magical compasses work just fine. It’s hard to keep perfectly straight lines, but hopefully, we’re close enough.

We really had to minimize the gear we brought. I bought a large chest with a good lock and though it nearly broke my heart to pack it away, I stored my new mithral armor in it, along with the other elven chain, the magical one. And my good swords. And my fancy hood. And my ring. And my longbow. I’m getting silly here, but the point is, I took my elven steel elven chain (It still tickles me to say it that way) and my two good swords and a single healing potion (which can only be used in a bag zone) and some Greek Fire and rope. Oh, and food and water of course. The Halamins took naught but a dagger each and then the younger added a first aid kit to my pack (The elder Halamin doesn’t have our youthful constitution, so it’s a good idea in case he gets hurt). If a fight ensues, it’ll be up to me, to either fight or to run.

Now, I know what you might be thinking. Putting a large chest full of valuables in a room that a dozen thieves could well be going in and out of? Stupid, right? Well, I didn’t tell them I was putting a chest in my room with spare gear, so I certainly didn’t tell them anything valuable was in it, and anyway I trust Torendrock to keep an eye on them. It helps a bit that everything in there is too large for them.

----

Haar’kiev 6

Found another bag zone. Really odd one. It’s an entire small keep by the side of a lake. A lake! The keep appeared to be abandoned, and completely cleaned out. There was no dust anywhere, but it still felt like it had been left a long time ago. There was also a great deal of damage to the keep as if it had been attacked at some point in time.

----

Haar’kiev 9

Found another zone. We’re getting close. Just waiting for the other shoe to drop now.

Oh, nothing interesting in the zone. Some trade goods, non-perishable stuff.

----

Haar’kiev 12

Duromar slowed down to a quick walk. They’d been traveling for only about half-a-day’s worth since waking up and were just now entering the region around the bag zone in which magic still worked. What was more, there seemed to be a few buildings in the center of the zone.

“Halamin?”

“Yeah, I see it. The ring is here, a mile and a bit away.”

“Where the buildings are, I assume.”

“Buildings‽ Oh… oh that’s not good.”

The elder Halamin snorted. “What difference does it make?”

“Well, for one, we’re probably in the wrong place.”

Duromar interjected, “How do you figure?”

“Well, there’s not a lot of ways to track someone magically. Using a ring of tele-presence and bracers of mapsense the way we are is a known trick. So, do you really think we’re the first to travel here using it? We locked onto this ring because it was the only one in range. It still is, by the way, I checked. So, unless you can think of a good reason for Marigold to go traveling…” He trailed off, noticing a sign in front of them.

BROKEN AXLE

Population: 36

“Sounds like a name with a good story behind it.”

They continued into the well-lit region. Up close, it resembled a military encampment more than a village. There were the beginnings of buildings, built with wood that looked like it was reclaimed from wagons. There were also a number of tents in neat lines.

Coming down what would be the main, and only, street, they could see a large cauldron of stew cooking over an open fire. Clustered around were about enough men and women to fill out the population number on the sign. The majority were sitting in small groups, eating. Most wore coats of a single military-style but heavily worn and patched. Their appearance gave quite a stir, and one man stepped forward briskly towards them.

“Well met, strangers! Come, join us in a meal.” With his words, he gestured to the stew pot. “I must ask, did you have any trouble with the trolls?”

Duromar helped both Halamins down from his shoulders. “Trolls? No. Are there some nearby?”

He shuddered. “Too many. Be welcome at our fire. My name is Anslo, high priest of the temple of Draper.” He gestured at one of the two buildings as he spoke.

Halamin the younger perked up. “Draper, the thief gawd? I’ve never seen a public temple dedicated to him before.” He paused, suddenly looking around at the entire population of Broken Axle with suspicion.

They sat and ate, and Anslo joined them. “We don’t get a lot of travelers here, as you might expect. I don’t suppose you’d be willing to share your story?” He was met with three heads shaking. “Ah, well. Perhaps if I shared mine first.”

“A few years back, I was part of an expedition. We were tasked with journeying across these dim lands to assault a keep. It was a two-month journey, but the leaders spent too much time raiding the supply caches along the way. Near the end, the wagons were in poor shape. This place was named Broken Axle because that’s exactly what happened here. An axle broke, and a few soldiers got left behind.” He waved a hand at the other residents.

“The assault went well enough, but then something went wrong in the days after. I was in the keep when it happened. The portal opened, and a flash of light erupted as something was put in. We now know it triggered a shuffling. We waited for a time, but the portal never opened again. Backtracking, we found the soldiers here had dug in, so some of us stayed, and some went on to Bag Haven.” He paused and pointed vaguely to his right. “Four days travel that way.”

He sighed. “And we’ve been here since.”

Halamin the elder spoke up. “Did you know there was another shuffling recently? About two months ago now.”

Anslo shook his head. “I did not. The portal above us remains inactive, and I have not heard from anyone nearby of an active one. Well. My flock needs me. If you change your mind, we would all be glad to listen to your tale. We don’t get new tales very often.”

As Anslo moved away, Duromar nudged Halamin. “Ring location?”

Halamin rolled his eyes. “In the temple, of course. I’ll go check it out.” He casually got up and headed into the temple, leaving the other two behind. No more than two minutes later he returned. “Not sure what’s going on, but the bracers led me to a statue of a jade pig. No Marigold.”

“Well, crap. Now what?”

----

We didn’t learn a lot more. The small keep with the lake was the site of the assault. There was a lot of fighting over it, which was probably the real reason Anslo ended up here. They didn’t even know it was abandoned now.

The lake was curious enough that its origin was known. As part of an earlier assault, someone had tried to drown the keep by putting the bag of holding under the surface of a lake and opening it. Interesting idea.

Bag Haven is the other nearby settlement. It’s a bit larger, and more well known. Seems like a lot of folks get stuck here in Bag Wurld.

Oh, and the trolls. That was also an assault on the keep. Someone captured a troll, or possibly more than one, chopped it into tiny pieces, then tossed the pieces in the bag. Each piece regrew into a troll. This is absolutely contrary to what I knew of trolls. The ones I knew, only the largest piece would regrow into the troll, the other pieces would die. What I knew made trolls annoyingly hard to finish. What I’ve just learned makes them terrifying.

We’ll head back tomorrow morning. Or, really, when we wake up next. This plan failed.

----

Haar’kiev 13

It was frustrating, but they ran home. Or at least, back to the exit they knew about. That was surprisingly easy to do. With so little wind, the tracks they left in the slightly sandy soil lasted a long time. Unfortunately, that meant when the trolls burst out of the ground, they found themselves surrounded.

As planned, he spent no time to put the Halamins down, instead, he grabbed for his blades and attacked the closest one. The trolls, each of whom had a fin-like crest on top of their heads, clawed at him even as he attacked one, hitting [-25] twice [-23] but with no noticeable effect. He ducked more claws and struck again, cutting through [-26] the first and into a second with one blow, and then he nearly [-41] cut down the second as well. The first was already getting back up, though. In a rush to put it back down, [Fumble!] Duromar’s grip slipped, and he threw the weapon instead. Down to one weapon, again, he cut [-36] through the two damaged trolls and into a third. He must have cut into something vital, not that he thought trolls had such a thing, because it sank to the ground in apparent pain. The first two got up again, and he cut them down [-25] yet again, ignoring the third one for a moment and directing the attack to the last. He weathered one final set of attacks, then finished all three in a sweeping blow [-39]. [+8400 E.P., +1 honor]

From there, it was a simple matter of chopping them into pieces faster than they could regenerate while Halamin built a pyre with a flask of greek fire. He did rescue a small pouch from the pile of troll chunks and found a few gems inside.

Halamin the elder sat next to the fire, poking at it carefully to be sure every piece burned. “That was an impressive bit of sword work. I’m curious though, were you showboating by throwing one sword away just to show you only needed one?”

“What?? No. It just slipped.”

The younger halfling chimed in, “That seems to happen to you a lot. Are you gripping the handle too hard?”

Duromar shrugged. “No idea.”

Satisfied the pieces were sufficiently burned, the elder halfling rose to his feet. “That should do it. Quite impressive, taking down four crested trolls without even a scratch.”

Duromar shrugged again. “I have to give at least some credit to my armor.”

“Have you considered locking gauntlets to deal with the problem?”

Pure silence reigned for a few moments.

“I’ve never heard of that. It locks the sword in place so I can’t drop it?”

“I believe so. I’ve never used one myself. But I once worked with a fighter who had lost three fingers. His grip wasn’t what it used to be. Actually, that’s unrelated, he’d used a locking gauntlet to keep him from dropping his weapon since long before he lost the fingers. But it helped with his grip too.”

Duromar glanced at Halamin the younger. “How come you’re not full of good advice like your gramps?”

He chuckled. “Because I didn’t have the benefit of growing up around him. Maybe in a few years when I’ve heard all his stories a few times, I’ll have some wisdom to share too.”

They packed up and started moving again. This time, trying to keep a better watch for disturbances along the trail that might indicate trolls hiding underground.

----

[Damage: +431 E.P.]

----

Haar’kiev 19

We’re back at the small keep, which was the site of the battle(s). Should only be four or five days until we get back now. Had a surprise waiting for us at the keep though…

----

Earlier that day:

Duromar slowed to a walking pace as he got close to the keep. He wasn’t tired, but he was weary. Fed up with the endless wastes, the dim light, the frustration of running so far, and finding a jade pig instead of Marigold.

He looked up where the portal would appear if someone opened the bag on the other side. Nothing. Not that he expected anything. It was much too late to hope that some kind of good luck would occur.

He paused at the entry gate to the small keep. The door had been smashed in a long time ago, but the doorway was never fully cleared and was half-blocked by the remains of the door. He was about to step inside when a leathery green arm swung at him from inside the keep and smashed the remains of the door, just missing him.

He backed off a step and pulled out blades, unable to take the time to do more than yell at the Halamins, “Hold tight!” The troll followed his backstep, with a second coming out behind him and even a third visible in the doorway. He cut at the first [-33] while they clawed at him but the exchange of blows [-25] favored him significantly at first, until [Crit! Severity 1, Thigh, -12 dam, +11 E.P., +1 honor] one got a lucky bite in. Two more trolls pushed out of the doorway, and there was yet another behind those. He ignored the halflings swearing as he ducked and dodged the claws of all four. He put the first one down [-28] and cut into the second, then hit it [-21] again. He dodged claws, but one of them took another bite [-6 dam] on him. One more troll pushed its way out of the door, and the first one got back up again, bringing the number up to five trolls. He put that one back down again [-25] and got the second one with the same blow, then swiped at a third [-24], spreading the damage around. Not one claw of tooth found the mark that time. When the two downed trolls got up again, he realized his mistake. By constantly cutting through, the trolls weren’t damaged enough to stay down for any length of time. Intending to hit them each once with a longer-lasting blow, he [Fumble!] over swung and hit the sandy soil instead. Off-balance, [-5 dam] he [-5 dam] was [-6 dam] struck [-10 dam] from [-11 dam] every [-9 dam] side [-9 dam] by [-6 dam] every [-6 dam] one of the five. [Hackfrenzy! You must inflict 32 damage to others to end it.]

Any plan he might have had to fight smart was forgotten. He chopped through the damaged ones again [-27] and followed-through into the third. He was bitten [-7 dam] three [-9 dam] times [-18 dam] as he recklessly attacked. He struck again, taking down [-26] the same three yet again. With some rationality returned, he ducked the claws of the last two and hit [-33] one of them. That one promptly bit him [-11 dam] in return. When the damaged trolls got up this time, he remembered that he needed to do extra to keep them down longer, and struck [-25] accordingly, leaving [-31] just one upright at the moment. He had to cut some down one more time, but his next blow [-26] dropped the last troll, and from there it was just a matter of slashing them into chunks long enough to burn them. [+10500 E.P., +2 honor]

Duromar left the burning to the halflings, and pulled out a first aid kit for himself, tending each of his fifteen wounds. As he worked, some of his efforts had notifications. [+1 hp] [+1 hp] [+1 hp] [+1 hp] [+1 hp] The end result was still unpleasant to see. [HP: 46/171]

There was a small bag of gems on the leader again, but only one of the gems was worth anything. They checked the rest of the keep but found it empty. It was a few hours later, sitting in a kitchen where they’d cooked a meal that Halamin the elder spoke up.

“Trolls, what a pain. I’m guessing you don’t fight them too often. You’re probably used to swinging to take down as many as possible as quickly as you can.”

Duromar grunted and shrugged.

“Dwarven standard procedure is to hit every troll that drops one extra time, to keep them down longer.”

Duromar simply nodded, not wanting to admit he’d figured that out but his own flaws had prevented him from fighting smartly. Halamin seemed satisfied with that as a response and left it there.

----

Before I raised my Con, I would have had five days of healing ahead of me. Ignoring using any healing skills, of course. With the improved Con, it should be less, but I’m not sure how much less. We’ll see how I feel in four days.

I looked over my armor and decided to stow it away. It’s not at the falling to pieces place yet, but it’s barely worth wearing right now. Still repairable at this point, so that’s another good reason to pack it away.

P.S. [Damage +347 E.P.]

----

Haar’kiev 22

The final bag zone before getting back was now an hour behind them. Many long days of running were behind them, and three weeks of conversation had given way to long comfortable silences. It was into this silence that Halamin suddenly gasped out loud, then spoke loudly, “It’s so good to hear your voice! I’ll meet you in Farzey as soon as I can. I’m with Duromar and my grandfather and we’re traveling back… Oh, I think I got cut off.”

Before either of his companions had a chance to even ask, “That was Marigold, with a sending spell. She’s fine, has a great story to tell us, and is heading our way.”

Duromar chuckled, then started laughing, and finally had to stop running as he laughed so hard the tears were streaming down his face. “She rescued herself, didn’t she?”

“Sounds like, yes. Hard to say a lot in 25 words.”

He pulled himself back up and started running again.

----

Today sucked. I mean, I’m glad she’s alright, but I feel like I wasted the last three weeks on a fetch quest that I misunderstood.

----

Haar’kiev 24

In the dim ever-twilight of Bag Wurld, it had been difficult to maintain a good watch schedule. Duromar would take the first watch, so he could get a solid eight hours of sleep. Halamin the Elder would take the second watch, as he had a hard time sleeping for more than four hours anyway. And Halamin the Younger, which was a much better moniker than fearful and one he was starting to accept readily, would take the third watch. But with no clock, no sunset, no moon rising, no stars, it was very hard to judge how long four hours was.

More than likely, it was Halamin stirring the coals back into a small fire that attracted them. He was an old hand at using the wrappings from the iron rations to get a small fire going, enough to heat a small kettle of water and make a weak tea. On this, what they hoped would be their final day traveling, on what he thought would be the final watch any of them needed to take, after nothing having happened in three weeks, he got sloppy.

For whatever reason, perhaps just bad luck, when Halamin looked up from stirring up the coals he saw three large shapes moving directly at the campsite.

“T-TROLLS!!! TROLLS! WAKE UP, TROLLS!!”

Duromar rolled to his feet and grabbed his swords before even fully awakening. He saw that the trolls were closing fast but there were still a few seconds before they arrived. With that in mind, he glanced at his health. [HP: 154/171] Good enough for now. Then he took a deep breath and yelled out, “HOO DE HOO!” as he ran at the trolls.

Duromar struck the lead troll first, hitting [-31] it so hard [-42] it went down immediately. He deliberately did not try to cut through to hit a second one, though. Each of the next two trolls hit him [-10 dam] with their claws [-6 dam] but missed with the more damaging bites. The downed troll did not get back up. He struck the second troll [-22] twice [-30], but it stayed up. A single claw [-7 dam] and a single bite [-11 dam] got through his defenses. The downed troll again did not get back up. He struck at the damaged troll still up [-31] and put it down. He dodged the claws from the final troll, then swung at it [Crit! Severity 22, Left Shoulder, -70, +1 honor], cleaving it in half. [+6300 E.P., +1 honor]

He quickly chopped at each a few more times, then ran back for his Greek Fire to burn them. Finishing that unpleasant task quickly enough, he followed the back trail of the trolls to make sure no more were following behind. He found a grisly sight just a few minutes away, where the trolls had made a meal of another hapless traveler. On the brighter side, there was a chest of coins and gems to haul back.

The Halamins had packed up camp while he checked the back trail, and had everything ready to go when he got back. They could eat on the run, and it was best to keep moving, just in case.

----

Some hours later, they finally spotted the slightly brighter area indicating a bag zone. Upon getting closer, they found hasty fortifications at the bag zone they were looking for.

There were multiple rings of sharpened wooden spikes dug in all around the rope ladder leading up. Many of the spikes had burned tips. There was also a sizable fire pit outside of the defensive ring, but it was just ashes.

As Duromar came jogging up, a chattering rose up from the halflings inside the central ring, which climaxed into a cheer as he carefully threaded his way between spikes. Inside the rings, he found Torendrock and a dozen cheerful halflings. There were also some interesting piles of loot.

Gesturing at the spikes, he said, “I guess you’ve had some troll troubles too, then.”

“Aye! The b-bastards started up a w-week ago.” He stopped suddenly, looking around. “Wh-where’s Marigold?”

Duromar sighed as he helped the Halamins down. “So she didn’t contact you separately. She’s rescued herself. Halamin got a sending from her.” He paused, then turned to Halamin the younger. “I don’t think you ever said where she actually is.”

“Krandaneer. Something like 600 miles north of Farzey. She said two weeks to get there. Um, that was two days ago, so that would be the sixth or so?”

Torendrock deflated. “It… wasna even her?”

Halamin pulled a small jade pig from his pocket. “Nope. It was this.”

Duromar chuckled. “Honestly, finding out you stole that makes me feel so much better.”

----

Marigold’s message, possibly not verbatim: “I’m out. Safe. In Krandaneer. Heading to Arz. Arriving in two weeks.”

So, our quest continues. But just back to Farzey for now. Some boring stuff. We relocated our halflings friends back outside of the keep. Halamin stayed with them. Both Halamins that is.

My chest was untouched. The little pack of thieves was so busy raiding every nearby bag zone, it seemingly never occurred to them to steal much from the keep. Bit of a relief, really.

Torendrock took them out, actually. He said he needed to finalize the loot division but honestly, I think he was just sad to see the group end so abruptly. I, of course, stayed in my room and slept in my bed. I’ve got a few things to do around the keep, so I’ll meet them in Farzey on Jevar’kiev 5th. I haven’t forgotten about that gold conspiracy nonsense, it was just on a back-burner. Time to see what I can root out.

Dediur estimated three weeks to fix my armor. Hopefully, that’s the last time I’ll ever need it. He had a single locking gauntlet, of the type Halamin was talking about, but it was too small for me. I need two of them, anyhow.

P.S. [Damage: +735 E.P.], [Treasure: +1874 E.P.] and [Converting 8 honor to 2 Honor]

----

Haar’kiev 25

So, here was my stupid plan. I had held onto a few of the counterfeit coins just for this reason. I was going to go around the keep, and just flash the coin at people, asking if they know anything about them. Of course, everyone will say no, but that’s not important. I’m just looking for a guilty reaction that triggers a quest update. You might say that’s cheating. Well, I say it’s cheating too. Still gonna do it. I decided to start with Dediur, just for a practice run. Couldn’t think of any reason why he’d be involved.

----

Duromar walked into the armorer’s shop, spotting Dediur himself examining a pauldron at a side table. He nodded to the apprentices working over the hearths and took a stool at the table.

“Got a minute?”

Dediur looked up. “I won’t be able to rush it this time-”

Duromar waved him off. “No, nothing to do with that. I have a backup set to wear. This is something else.” When he was certain he had Dediur’s full attention, he pulled out one of the counterfeit coins and placed it down.

“A gold coin?”

“A counterfeit gold coin. Know anything about it?” As he spoke, he used his most intimidating stare, the one that said I already know you know and you better tell me now.

Dediur’s expression paled and he faintly said, “How did you know?”

Identify Gold Conspirators: 2 of 6 found

Bandrus Far’Raven (Keep Prefect) Dediur Fraunch (Armorer)

Bonus - Identify Source of Gold

Mercy’s Fortune Mine

Duromar blinked away the surprise before Dediur could see it, and quietly bluffed. “Not everyone knows how to keep silent. You can probably guess who gave me your name.”

Dediur composed himself. “I can. He never even finished his apprenticeship, you know. But they needed a blacksmith, so no one questioned him that closely.” He grimaced. “I guess you figured out he talks too much when he drinks. What now?”

He picked up the coin again. “Now? Now nothing. I wasn’t here, this conversation didn’t happen.” He got up, nodded at Dediur, and walked out, heading for the lower bailey where the blacksmith shop was.

----

The keep blacksmith, Arkky by name, was overseeing his assistants, who were possibly apprentices, that morning. Duromar got a nod of greeting as he came into the smithy. With a word to his assistants, he stepped away to see what Duromar wanted.

“Good day. Have you need of a new blade?”

Duromar shook his head. “Something more unusual, actually. I need locking gauntlets. One for each hand. I’m getting very tired of dropping my swords.”

Arkky glanced at his hands. “I can do that. Just the gauntlets?”

“Yes. I’m happy with my chainmail for now.”

Arkky nodded distractedly as he pulled out a sheet of paper and a tape measure. “Might want to get a great helm if you don’t have one already. Okay, place your hands down here so I can trace around them.” He traced the outline, and then took a fair number of measurements of Duromar’s hands. “It’ll take about two weeks to rough them out, then I’ll need your hands and your weapons to check the fit. Then just a couple more days to finish.”

They haggled for a bit, settling on an even hundred gold for the pair. Duromar pulled out a handful of platinum pieces but then intentionally hesitated for dramatic effect, pulling out the counterfeit gold piece and placing it down, holding a finger on it. “Know anything about these?” He lifted his finger, and then counted out a stack of twenty platinum pieces, giving Arkky some time to look at the gold piece.

“Looks like a gold piece to me,” Arkky answered, a bit louder and more cheerful than someone might normally answer.

“A counterfeit gold piece.”

Arkky wiped his brow. “What makes you say that?”

Duromar gave him a good hard stare. “The crest is reversed.”

“How curious.” There was a hint of fear in Arkky’s eyes now.

He leaned in a little. “Look. I don’t care about the little fish here. My job is to find the big fish, the ones who started this whole mess. You give me that, I’ll forget anyone ever mentioned your name.”

The response was almost a whisper and hard to hear over the hammering. “But it’s over, there’s nothing left.”

“If the problem had stayed contained to the keep, it wouldn’t have mattered. But it’s spreading and important people want answers.”

Arkky flinched and said, “Nargus. Nargus and his sidekick Gnat. The guards. They found the mine, they started everything.”

Identify Gold Conspirators: 3 of 6 found

Bandrus Far’Raven (Keep Prefect) Dediur Fraunch (Armorer) Arkky (Blacksmith)

Bonus - Identify Source of Gold

Mercy’s Fortune Mine

Duromar nodded, smiling. “Mercy’s Fortune Mine, right?”

Arkky looked surprised. “Mercy’s Fortune? Ah. Ah, I see!”

“What do you mean?”

“Why, Mercy is the name of Nargus’s girl. Ha! Of course he’d name it after her.”

“Of course. I’d thank you, but we never had this conversation because I never heard your name.”

Arkky scooped up the pile of platinum. “I understand. Ah, two weeks then.”

----

Trying to accost a pair of guards while actually on duty sounded like a monumentally brain-dead plan. So, I wandered the keep, flashing the coins, and asking if they knew anything about it. Politely, of course.

I was mostly just trying to see if I might get lucky again. The jewel merchant didn’t seem to know anything, the innkeeper in the Burning Dawg didn’t even seem to care, the leather merchant knew the problem existed but wasn’t concerned, and I never bothered to ask the fortune teller. Frowler knew all about it, of course, having a resigned guilty look when I confronted him. With some gentle cajoling, he admitted that the prefect had directed him to dole out the counterfeit gold as if it was full value, but professed to not know anything more. I believe him.

He also pointedly reminded me that I was a bounty hunter and hadn’t turned in any bounties for quite some time. I suggested I could collect the ears of the trolls I’d been fighting and bring those in. He demurred and said it could wait another week. But the next time I went out, I really should bring something back.

The next shop was a combination pawn shop and money changer. I expected he’d certainly know about the problem.

----

Duromar stepped into the pawnshop, which had a fair bit more space than most shops. There was a good selection of fancy items on shelves behind the counter, exactly the type of items Duromar would have expected to find in a pawn shop, had he ever been in one. The rest of the shop was filled with an eclectic mix of mundane things, not all that much different from Zedar’s shop.

There were two guards in the shop in addition to the proprietor, which seemed a bit overkill for a pawn shop. The proprietor, Gwindle Pennythrift according to the sign, had the look of a seasoned fighter about him.

“Good day. What is your business here?” was the frosty greeting.

Duromar simply held up the pair of coins. “Counterfeit coins. Know anything about it?”

He got a hard glare in response. “And if I did, why would I tell you?”

“The problem is spreading. Questions are being asked by important people.”

Gwindle scoffed. “And I’m to believe important folks send your kind to ask them?”

Duromar smiled. “Of course. Who would suspect a half-ogre of understanding the subtle art of finance? But that’s fine. I’ll just put you down as having denied everything.” He tucked the coins away and turned to leave.

He made three steps before a voice called out behind him. “Wait! What do you think you know?”

Identify Gold Conspirators: 4 of 6 found

Bandrus Far’Raven (Keep Prefect) Dediur Fraunch (Armorer) Arkky (Blacksmith) Gwindle Pennythrift (Moneyteller)

Bonus - Identify Source of Gold

Mercy’s Fortune Mine

Duromar turned at the door, and considered his words carefully, with the two guards listening in. “Let’s just say I’m headed to have a chat with someone about Mercy.” He stepped out of the door as Gwindle’s expression went from puzzled to worried.

----

I really shouldn’t have rattled his cage quite so much, but this was a man who made his living by cheating others. Loans, pawning items, money changing with fees, those are all methods of cheating folks out of hard-earned money. It offended me.

I headed directly to the Tilted Keg next. Nargus and Gnat, like many of the guards, are regulars there and it’s the best place to catch them.

I’m pondering a Detritus approach to this one.

----

The Tilted Keg was a relatively quiet place in the afternoon. Only the serious drinkers would be there so early. Duromar settled on a corner table early, deciding to spend a few hours relaxing.

Kryleena, the serving girl, the only elf he could recall seeing in the entire keep, warmed up to his presence just a bit when he tipped her excessively with every round of ale. Interestingly, the more she warmed up to him, the deeper the scowls on the uglier bouncer became. At one point, when he’d managed to get her to laugh at some witticism, he even noticed the less ugly bouncer physically redirect his partner on a different path away from his corner.

----

Eventually, Nargus and Gnat showed. Duromar waited until they’d been served a first ale, then sat down at their table without so much as a ‘How’r’you?’ in greeting.

He stared intently at each of them, then spoke quietly. “You lads have been quite a chore tracking down. This job has taken far more months than I ever expected, and wouldn’t you bloody know it, the very two I’m looking for are the very two I first meet here.”

Nargus looked unworried, as yet, but Gnat just looked confused. “Us?”

Duromar nodded. “Did you really think no one would ever come to find the source of the counterfeit gold? You done it, we know you done it, so be smart lads and take your one chance to confess.”

Interestingly, Nargus looked fairly calm still, but Gnat looked decidedly worried, looking to Nargus for some clue as to what to do. “I have no idea why you think it has anything to do with us-”

Duromar cut him off. “Mercy’s Fortune Mine. Wouldn’t have meant anything to me until I learned that Mercy was a name. You found the mine, you mined the gold, I know who made the die, I know who minted the coins, and I know who spread them around. Heads are going to roll on this one, governments don’t appreciate unstable economies.”

The threat had all the blood draining from Gnat’s face, and even Nargus looked a bit unsettled. “I’m supposed to believe a half-ogre is a government agent?”

“Believe as you will.”

“Nargus-”

Nargus cut him off with a flat and unconvincing denial. “We had nothing to do with it.”

Identify Gold Conspirators: 6 of 6 found

Nargus Finch (Corporal) Gnat Drungus (Guard) Bandrus Far’Raven (Keep Prefect) Dediur Fraunch (Armorer) Arkky (Blacksmith) Gwindle Pennythrift (Moneyteller)

Bonus - Identify Source of Gold

Mercy’s Fortune Mine

[+4200 E.P.]

Duromar grunted and stood up as he said, “I suppose we’re done here.”

----

I’m giving it even odds that Nargus tries to attack me tonight. Actually, thinking about it, if he knows how early I like to leave and how fast I run, he knows he has to attack me tonight in case I planned on leaving tomorrow morning.

Which I do, actually. Need to go wipe out some gnolls, make good on my bounty hunter status. Until tomorrow then.

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