To say that Sylvester’s family was surprised to see him lugging a chest full of money into the house was an understatement. He didn’t even manage to get all the way to his room before every member of his family, his father included, had come to see what he was dragging in. Of course, everything was civil, and Sylvester was able to join the family dinner for the first time in a while.

Sylvester hadn’t often seen his father in such a good mood, even going as far as to bring out some of his fine alcohol. Partially, this was a toast to the fortunes of his son and how that will affect the future of the barony, but there was also pure pride in what one’s child had accomplished there in equal measure.

Even William and Esmerelda were celebrating, though perhaps with a bit less cheer. The sight of their favorite punching bag achieving such enormous success left a bad taste in their mouths, even as it meant they had one less person to squabble with for the inheritance.

And of course, everyone was interested in hearing the stories about how Sylvester and his tiny party had managed to get such fabulous loot from the ruins they had discovered. Few things signified success as much as a chestful of money and an exotic monster tamed.

“So, Sylvester,” Alexander began, while toasting him, “what are you going to do with that basilisk you have tamed?”

“Well, I was planning on keeping it,” Sylvester explained, with rosy cheeks from the alcohol. “And taking it with me when I head out again.”

“Are you sure you aren’t going to sell it to the army? They would pay handsomely for such a beast!” Bartholomew boasted, his own position in the army granting him some insight.

“No, I have decided to keep it. It does seem really fond of me and I worry about how it would be treated if it got sent to war.” Sylvester shook his head.

“Well, if you have a pet, it deserves a name!” Esmerelda announced, causing other family members to chuckle.

“Well, I have been calling it Bask…” Sylvester muttered, causing everyone to laugh at his bad naming sense.

In the end, the dinner went fine, and Sylvester got a very restful night of sleep. The next day, around noon, he finally woke up. One of the first things he did was talk to his father and Alexander. He informed them that, while he had looted the dungeon, he had discovered that the goblins had some sort of spawning pit that would endlessly produce them. He recommended finding their exit, which he gave an approximate location of, and collapsing it to trap them inside.

Luckily, they took his words seriously and agreed that getting mercenaries or even the army to take care of that would be better than expecting the trio to go collapse the tunnel.

With that out of the way, Sylvester grabbed several sacks of coins out of his chest before heading out to town. On the way, Val walked up to him.

“You are still here?” He asked her.

“Oh, you aren’t going to get rid of me that easily. After rescuing me from that horrible dungeon I think I’m falling for you.” She held her cheeks while blushing, but quickly dropped her act on seeing Sylvester’s lack of reaction.

“You are no fun, you know that? But I am serious, I am going to be following you until you show some of those secrets to me. I can be very accommodating if you want to trade.” She suggested, leaning into him.

“Thank you, but I am fine as I am.” Sylvester rolled his eyes and stepped away.

“Well, what are you going to do now? Blow your treasure on women? Party and live the high life for once?”

“Nope. I don’t plan on doing any of that.”

“Oh?”

“First, I am going to be picking up some gifts for my family. Expensive ones.”

“Ah, managing human greed. A good call, having money like that just sitting around does ask for trouble.” Val nodded sagely.

“I need to pick up some more food for Bask, and something to replace those ancient blinders. I was thinking cloth instead of metal.”

“Taking care of your pets is important, especially the ones who can kill entire towns.”

“There are a few other things I want to prepare, but for the majority of my money I plan to give it away as charity.”

“Of course, you would. Why would a priest do anything else?” Val rolled her eyes at hearing Sylvester’s plans.

They made their way into town and soon came across the party that Karrank was throwing. A throng of people drunk on free (but cheap) alcohol, dancing and singing spilled into the streets from his favorite bar.

Sylvester tried to make his way past them, but the crowd was quite rowdy and unfortunately one of them was sober enough to recognize him.

“Hey! Its Sylvester!” The man shouted, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Hey it is!”

“So that’s what he looks like!”

“I wonder if he has a girl…”

“Of course, he does you dolt! She is right there!”

The mob quickly devolved back into revelry, though it took time for Sylvester to extricate himself from the group. He even managed to do it without having a drink forced into his hands, though his displeasure with the situation clearly amused Val.

“Not a huge fan of crowds?” She prodded him, a mischievous smile on her face.

“No, no I am not,” was all Sylvester had to say on the topic before he moved on. Unfortunately, Val wouldn’t let it go.

“Oh, avoiding the topic I see,” She grinned predatorily, “Something you don’t want to share?”

“How about we both forget this and move on?” He asked, even as he knew the futility of it.

“But I was hoping you would provide some of your divine knowledge to me.” Val smirked in response.

“Wait!” A voice called out to them. They turned to see a small child, a toddler making his way over to them.

“Ok, tell me too now!” He said proudly once he made his way over. This attracted the attention of others, particularly when his mother rushed over to quiet him down.

“Samuel! You can’t just ask people things like that!” She scolded him.

“But he was gonna say knowledge! I wanna hear it!” The boy began to scream, causing the mother to glance apologetically at Sylvester and Val while trying to shush him.

“You are willing to share divine insight?” A random person walking by asked.

“Ah, well…” Sylvester began.

“What are you saying man! Why would he share insights like that? He was able to predict the location and danger of every trap in the ruins! There were so many that one would go off with every other step!” His friend quickly scolded him.

“Really!” Another stranger walked over on hearing the story.

“There weren’t quite that many traps.” Sylvester tried to bring the story back into the realm of reality.

“You big guys be quiet! He isn’t saying the knowledge!” The toddler shouted at the two, bringing more people over at the idea of hearing divine knowledge.

Seeing a crowd forming, all intent on hearing divine insights, Sylvester began trying to explain that it was a misunderstanding. Unfortunately, there were many people desperate for knowledge, no matter how he felt about it. Throughout the entire process, Val was standing to the side, snickering about Sylvester’s plight. Eventually, enough was enough, and Sylvester raised his voice to address the crowd.

“Everyone!” He called out, the crowd instantly quieting to look at him expectantly. “I understand that you want to hear about the divine knowledge I possess, but I am not ready to share it yet!”

There was a large amount of discontented muttering from the crowd which still refused to disperse, causing Sylvester to curse in his mind.

“I need time to prepare my knowledge so that I can share it!” He shouted, causing many people to stop complaining. “Very soon I will be able to share this knowledge with everyone, but for now I cannot do so!”

This time the crowd got the hint and began to disperse. The toddler who was one of the primary causes of this mess pouted, nearly crying, as his mother led him away. The other primary instigator of this, Val, didn’t even try to keep the smile off her face as she followed Sylvester.

“Happy now?” He asked her, the irritation clear in his voice.

“Oh very! It was quite refreshing to see you struggle with the crowd like that.” Val gloated. Sylvester just rolled his eyes and continued walking through town. He spent the day placing orders for various things. He ordered some donkeys for Bask, as well as someone to work on cloth eye coverings for it as well. He ordered some scroll making materials from the wizard tower, and he ordered a wagon and horses for future ventures.

Once that was done, Sylvester did as he promised and began giving away food and money to the poor and destitute in town. It ended up only being about a silver per person, but for them it was plenty, and they were very thankful.

Over the month, Sylvester, Kurt, and Karrank all spent their money like it was water. They became local celebrities and the tales of their adventure were soon well known. Of course, many details got mixed up and exaggerated. Depending on who you asked, Sylvester either tamed the basilisk with holy magic or he wrestled it into submission with his bare hands. Some stories claimed that monsters and traps were around every corner while others claimed that Val had been a ritual sacrifice rescued by the trio. All the stories agreed, however, on the fact that Sylvester had some divine knowledge. This of course was something that everyone wanted him to share.

Sylvester managed to avoid the problem for a little while when he was focused on creating a Scroll of Create Water in case of an emergency. He also used the time to put together a religious manuscript containing his “divine knowledge.” It was mostly random philosophical musings meant to be as harmless as possible, while other parts were actually based on his enlightenment.

One entire section of the manuscript was dedicated to a very explicit allegory about a number of fairies who lived in a music box and believed that it was the real world, even though it was just a human construct.

Overall, it was passable, but it was also still a work in progress. It did manage to give Sylvester freedom from being begged to preach to the crowds, however.

By the end of the month, he had managed to spend most of his money.

~~~~

Sylvester’s Monthly Expense Report:

2 donkeys for Bask – 50 s 1 wagon – 150 s 2 horses for wagon – 100 s Supplies for Scroll – 1,000 s New eye covers for Bask – 50 s Gifts to family – 250 s Gifts to the poor – 300 s

Remaining funds: ~100 silver pieces

~~~~

In addition to spending his money, Sylvester had also managed to confirm that the necklaces (the most valuable part of the loot) weren’t cursed. Karrank ended up giving up his claim to them in return for keeping his new enchanted dagger.

Sylvester did something similar, but he didn’t give up everything. He offered Kurt 2/3 of the necklaces value (instead of 1/2) if he could keep the magic rings they had collected. Kurt found that to be reasonable as he wasn’t particularly interested in them anyway.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t anywhere in town that could afford to buy the necklaces, which were each worth several thousand silver. So, once everyone had spent most of their money and were ready to go, they hopped in Sylvester’s new wagon and began making their way to the city of Ebonshire.

The trip was uneventful, though watching other travelers divert around the wagon and its basilisk was somewhat entertaining. Halfway there, in a smaller village, Karrank hopped off to take care of something else.

At the city itself, the group stopped far away from the walls. As entertaining as it would be to bring Bask into the city, it was just asking for trouble. Instead, Kurt would stay back with it and the wagon while Sylvester and Val went in to sell the necklaces. The guards didn’t hassle them, and they were soon in the city’s entry plaza. It was filled with people and horses going every which way.

“Let’s get going.” Sylvester said, surprisingly calm.

“Crowd not bothering you today?” Val teased while following him through the plaza.

“We’ve got a job to do,” was all Sylvester had to offer in explanation.

Soon they made it into the noble quarter of the city, and from there they found a jewelry store. It was lush and mostly empty, though the shopkeep did have a guard waiting by the door.

“What can I do for you two?” the shopkeep asked while sizing them up. “We have a variety of jewelry in any price range!”

He was an older gentleman, well kempt and with a slender figure. Despite concluding that Sylvester and Val were not the richest of clientele, he maintained his manners and served them well.

“Are you the jeweler here?” Sylvester asked while being seated.

“I am indeed!” The jeweler nodded his head with pride.

“Perfect. We have a necklace we would like to sell,” Sylvester explained. “It is quite valuable, so we would like a fair price.”

“But of course! I would need to take a moment to appraise it in order to give an accurate valuation, however.” The jeweler maintained his smile and began pulling out some of his equipment.

Sylvester quickly pulled one of the necklaces out of his jacket pocket and provided it to the man. He took it, with a look of surprise on his face.

“My word! This is far beyond what I had expected!” He exclaimed, before taking a few moments to properly look at the necklace. “The materials alone would be worth over one hundred gold!”

A thousand silver pieces in materials was no joking matter, but the craftsmanship of the necklaces was exquisite as well so selling it for that little would be a massive loss.

“How much would you be willing to buy it for?” Sylvester asked, catching the man’s attention again.

“Hm? Yes! Yes.” He quickly regained his composure. “How does 500 gold pieces sound for this wonderful necklace?”

Sylvester was shocked to hear that valuation, but he also didn’t expect it to be the full value. So, he decided to go for something extreme.

“Is that so,” he mused. “I was hoping for something closer to 700.”

To his credit, the jeweler didn’t even twitch at the incredible offer, but it also proved that 500 was under the value of the necklace.

“Well, that is certainly a bit much,” he tactfully replied. “But I can also offer 550 gold pieces.”

“I see. Could you afford 650 pieces for us?” Val stepped in, her voice sickeningly sweet.

“I am afraid that 575 gold pieces is the limit for what I could offer for this necklace.” The jeweler smiled as he ended the negotiations.

“I see. Could you do 600 pieces if I were to provide this,” Sylvester pulled out the other necklace. “second necklace for the same price?”

The jeweler’s breath caught at the sight of the matching necklace.

“Oh- oh my. 600 gold pieces for each of them? I believe that would be suitable.” He hurriedly accepted.

“Thank you.” Sylvester replied while making his way to the counter.

“Now, would payment in bars be suitable for you?” The jeweler quickly marshalled his thoughts and went back into customer service mode.

“Certainly.”

Quickly, the jeweler produced a small coffer, unadorned but still elegant, and neatly laid in 24 gold bars. Despite their name, gold bars were more like tablets. They were about 2 inches by 1 ½ inches and each one was worth 50 gold pieces or 500 silver pieces.

Sylvester carefully counted them to ensure the number was correct before leaving the store carrying the coffer. He and Val quickly made their way back to the wagon outside of the city, managing to avoid any incidents within it.

“Hey guys!” Kurt called out to them. “How did it go?”

“We got 600 gold pieces for each necklace!” Sylvester nearly shouted, the giddiness of being so rich finally setting in.

“You’re kidding right?!” Kurt was just as excited.

Sylvester showed off the coffer and opened it to reveal their prize.

“24 bars total, so 8 of them are mine and the rest are yours.” He explained while counting out his own bars.

They quickly made their way back to town, picking up Karrank along the way. When he found out how expensive his magic dagger had been, he nearly cried.

“Curse me and my big mouth! I need that dagger to back my stories up, but that is so much gold…” He wept, shooting glances at Sylvester and Kurt.

“Don’t worry. We will be sure to take good care of it for you.” Kurt chuckled.

“Don’t worry. We are going to be spending quite a while spending this money and you can expect us to treat the hero of the tomb and slayer of undead to a few drinks!” Sylvester soothed his friend who groaned on hearing his own made-up titles coming back to him.

Soon enough, however, they were all back in town and they continued to live the high life. Sylvester, however, began to dedicate himself to training.

~~~~

Sylvester’s Monthly Expense Report:

2 donkeys for Bask – 50 s New weapon – 100 s Training materials – 400 s Gifts to the poor – 2,000 s Supplies for a scroll – 1,000 s

Remaining funds: 550 silver pieces

~~~~

Sylvester spent a significant amount of money on his training materials, including training with a new weapon. It was obscure, but money came through and he found someone who knew how to use it. The new weapon he decided to work with was a kusarigama, a weight connected to a small scythe with a chain.

Sylvester replaced the scythe with a more familiar short sword, but otherwise was happy with the weapon. Being able to swing the weight around wouldn’t be helpful in many of the tight corridors of a dungeon, but many dungeons also had large open rooms and anything to keep enemies away was good.

He practiced hard and destroyed many materials to get it right, but luckily managed to quickly pick up the new weapon. Even his jaded teacher was a bit surprised that he accomplished so much in only a couple weeks of training.

Of course, throughout this time he was also working on training his internal energy. The training in that was also rewarded and he soon found he could handle more of it and use it to perform 2nd level miracles.

This made him one of the strongest priests in the entire barony, though that was a pretty low bar. The Bayes Barony wasn’t exactly a center of the kingdom and most of the stronger priests were located at the holier temples closer to the capitol.

In addition to gifting away inordinate sums of money and training like a maniac, Sylvester also worked on a scroll. He wasn’t able to do it while he was learning to use his new weapon, but he did get to work right after. He was scribing a scroll of Detect Magic, a handy spell but one that he rarely felt was worth preparing.

When Sylvester went to pick up the materials, however, he got a surprise.

“Hey, um. Sylvester?” Neil, the gnome apprentice handing him the materials asked.

“Yes?”

“You know a lot about clearing ruins, right?”

“I do.”

“I think I have found a burial tomb that could have some very nice things. It is said to be the tomb of an old druid.” Neil whispered, trying to prevent any of the other apprentices from hearing.

“When you say a tomb of a druid…”

“Ah, technically I believe it is called a barrow, but that’s beside the point. I have heard you have the gift of foresight. Do you think we could grab the burial goods?” Neil offered.

“Hmm,” Sylvester thought carefully, trying to see if he could place this dungeon. Barrows were less common than tombs, and dungeons based around druids usually weren’t about their tombs. “It should be doable, but I will need more information about the barrow and its surroundings to be sure.”

“Well, if I give that up, I do want to be part of the group going and I want a full share of the rewards.” Neil made his demands.

“Fair enough. I will need to ask Kurt and Karrank if they will join, but I doubt they would turn this down.” Sylvester agreed.

With that, Neil handed Sylvester the information he had in addition to the scroll materials and sent him on his way.

Sylvester looked over them while preparing his scroll and finally managed to place the dungeon; it was the Barrow of the Moon Druid.