“So... “ Shaynen looked at Cleatus shiftily. “That.. uh captain and hat of disguise…”

“Not a chance.” Cleatus deadpanned. Shaynen nodded and looked at Odelia.

“Odelia,” He smiled. “Where you from?”

“Not here.” She said. Shaynen nodded as his face fell. He sighed heavily.

“Ah, here.” Cleatus held out his hand to Shaynen. He excitedly held out his hands and Cleatus dropped a pair of gold coins into Shaynen’s palms.

“Oh.” Shaynen said disappointedly.

“You’re welcome.” Cleatus cleared his throat and looked toward the bag left by the dwarves. A sharp spear tip stabbed out of the cave. Shaynen jumped up and out of the way as Cleatus strung back an arrow and Odelia jumped forward. A black dust covered figure slipped out.

“Uh… Haagut?” Odelia asked.

“Yeah?” The coal dusted figure looked up. He shook his head and the dust flew off. “Look what I found!” He held up the spear

“Cool.” Odelia rolled her eyes. “Let’s get out here.” She and Haagut led the way out, Shaynen skipped up behind them but noticed Cleatus wasn’t with them. He turned and saw the Tabaxi leaning for the bag half buried in the dirt. He cleared his throat loudly. Cleatus looked up in surprise. He quickly stood up and scratched behind his ear nonchalantly. Cleatus quickly passed Shaynen, who glared at him the whole way out of the cave.

Later that night, while the party camped; Haagut pulled out a small gemstone. It’s glimmer caught the eye of Odelia.

“What is that?” She came and sat next to him.

“I found it in the cave,” He said. “It’s kinda pretty.”

“What? You collect rocks or something?” Odelia asked. Haagut smiled slowly. He quickly dug into his bag. Tossing a golden bag to the side carelessly. He pulled out a little burlap sack and opened it up to a bag full of strange and interesting looking rocks.

“Oh lookit that. You do.” She said quietly. “But, what’s that?” She pointed to the golden bag.

“Uh, just some fancy sticks.” Haagut grabbed the bag and opened it up to reveal a very nice set of lockpicks and thieves tools.

“Sticks.” Odelia said.

“Yeah. Stole them off a very nice caravan. Some really well off guy.” Haagut said, Shaynen looked up to the conversation. “Kept these in a locked chest. It was the only thing in there.” Shaynen thought for a second then turned away from the conversation again.

“Weird.” Odelia shook her head. “But if the chest was locked that means you know how to use these… sticks?”

“Sure, they are a bit more… fancy. Than anything I’ve ever used… But in essence. Yes.” Haagut said.

“That’s… pretty cool.” Odelia nodded, a tiny touch of a smile tried to grace her face. But didn’t quite make it. Haagut shrugged and stuffed the golden bag back into his pack. He pulled up the burlap sack again.

“You wanna see my rocks?” He asked with a little crazy in his eyes.

“Nope.” Odelia got up and quickly left.

The party arrived in Loudwater soon after. Haagut ducked into the bushes to put the hat of disguise on. He carefully crafted a new face for himself. Taking up the appearance of a short haired halfling.

Cleatus strode into town, greeting everyone in the town by name. He led the party to the Loudwater Inn.

“Ya’ll can stay here while I go… uh.. Take care of some business.” Cleatus said. He waved toward the barkeeper, a stout little dwarven lass who bounced over.

“Hey Honey, these guys are with me.” He said.

“Oh well I’ll set aside a few rooms on the house then.” The dwarven girl giggled.

“You’re not the kind of creep that calls the waitresses ‘honey’ and ‘sugar’ and is generally cringey as hell are you?” Odelia winced.

“What? No. Honey’s her name.” Cleatus said. The barmaid laughed loudly.

“I’ll just get those rooms set aside.” She chuckled and disappeared behind the bar.

“Uh, one more thing.” Cleatus said as he turned to leave. “Don’t get into any trouble or you’re on your own.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Odelia said. Cleatus left the tavern and the party to their own devices.

“So! What should-” Shaynen turned but Odelia and Haagut were already leaving the tavern. “Guess we could meet up again later… that’s… cool.”

“Where we heading?” Odelia asked.

“There-” Haagut started but was startled by the different sound his voice made. He cleared his throat and started again. “There’s a magic shop up here, I think.”

“Cool.” Odelia nodded. Haagut opened the door to the small unassuming building with no name on it’s sign. The air was heavy with dust and the floor was crowded with shelves. Odelia began wandering about the store shelves. Poking and inspecting the items. Haagut went straight to the counter. He knocked twice on the wood and from out the side door popped an old man.

“Oh yes! Travellers! What can I do for you?” He asked cheerily.

“I.. uh. I just need this identified.” Haagut placed the spear onto the counter. The shopkeeper combed through his beard as he poked and prodded at the spear. Hmm’ing and haw’ing for a full minute.

“Yes.. This seems to have soaked up quite a bit of energy. It’s not properly enchanted by any means. But it has a sort of natural enchantment. Like it was next to something very powerful for a very long time.” The shopkeeper said. Haagut pulled the shiny gem from his pocket.

“Like this?” He asked. The shopkeeper went to take it but paused. Quickly grabbing a rag and using it to take the gem without touching it.

“Fascinating.” He murmured. “Yes, this is exactly the kind of thing. Amazing, something like this should petrify anyone who touches it.”

“The one I found it one was petrified.” Haagut said.

“Oh, well. There you go.” The shopkeeper shrugged. He inspected the gemstone closely. “Yes. This stone is a dormant elemental. It could be used to enchant but it also could… ah… hatch like an egg. If you will. Birthing an elemental. Now, this is a process that could take hours or it could take years. The incubation time greatly impacts the strength of the elemental.”

“Any way to tell what kind of elemental it’ll be? Or how long it’ll take?” Haagut asked.

“Well yes…” The shopkeeper said, tugging his beard a little. “There is a ritual that can be performed. But it’s very expensive. I’d have to part with some very rare materials to do it.”

“How much?” Odelia walked up to the counter.

“Around, I’d say. 500 gold.” The Shopkeeper said. Haagut paled. Odelia shrugged.

“Sorry, man.” She said to Haagut.

“Well I could always perform the ritual and then accept the gem as payment,” The shopkeeper offered.

“Ah, no. Thank you though,” Haagut said as he took the gem back barehanded. “If I manage to come across so much I will return.”

“Very well, I’ll be waiting; my little goblin friend!” The shopkeeper grinned. Haagut nearly dropped the gem.

“What?” He asked.

“Oh, you are, are you not?” The shopkeeper asked.

“Ah… I mean yes.” Haagut recomposed himself. “But, it would probably be very bad if anyone else found out.”

“Oh yes, that is very true.” The shopkeeper agreed. “But don’t you worry. I won’t say anything.” The shopkeeper gave a little wink. Haagut smiled weakly. The shopkeeper turned to Odelia.

“Anything I can do for you?” He asked, chipper. “Those enchanted gloves look nice!”

“Can it!” Odelia commanded. Her whole demeanor flipped like a switch. She turned abruptly and stormed out of the shop.

“I’m sorry,” Haagut winced. He grabbed his spear and ran out the door after Odelia.