Castle Whiterock 13 March 2023: Scorpions taste like beef jerky

The murderhoboes

Garreth, half-orc swordsman
    Bleu, droning elf wizard
Zaber, suave and debonaire man
    Logan, wolverine
Polly, cute and deadly elf archer

(Stonemaul, dwarven cleric of Danethar)

What they did

Well, Garreth and I sit down and relax. We lie back and have some whiskey, some hard cider, some beer. We're just about to go have some hard stuff and we look around for Logan. "Hey, where did the little guy go? I was about to give him his whiskey!"

Garreth looks, then jerks his head and points to the Bag of Tricks we found. "See the moving up and down there? I think he smelled something inside."

I grit my teeth and watch. "This is weird, he doesn't normally like bags." I see the of the bag. "Either the little guy is getting a meal or getting a girl wolverine!"

Maybe a minute later, Logan comes out of the Bag of Tricks. Now his eyes are golden, and he has a golden glow to him as well. He wags his tail at us, yipping and panting. 

Garreth leans down and pours Logan a small bowl of whiskey. Logan laps up the whiskey, then pats his belly. He swipes at the air with his paw, then climbs up Garreth's leg and waves his paw in the air. "Did he beat a spider, Garreth?"

Polly says, "Oh look, Logan must be being Natureful."

He jumps down, then makes a menacing look and holds up both forepaws. Then he jumps in front of himself, and holds up both forepaws in the same way before taking a swipe at the air.

Fluffy asks, "Is the mustelid going to make a mess? I do not think Master Pelltiar wants mustelids to make messes."

Logan ignores Fluffy, takes his forepaws and moves them up and down onto each other, like a jaw, then gives a swipe with his paw again. Then he moves his forepaws like the jaw, but on the side, then he turns his tail and tries to jab it forward, before turning back around and giving another triumphant swipe with his forepaw.

Garreth scrunches his eyebrows. "A wolverine, an alligator, and … a scorpion?"

Logan puts his forepaws at the sides of his heads and sticks out the talons like horns, then grunts. He growls and tries to look really tough and impressive.

Garreth blinks, and I shake my head. Neither one of us have any idea what this is. Garreth suggests we go to the shrine of Justicia and wash the armor in the fountain to clean the curse. "It's been some time since we visited that shrine. I wonder if it will react to our newly-glowing friend."

We make it to the shrine, and the doors open for the Logan. He finds Celestial Communion Crackers and Celestial Grape Juice.

Garreth puts the armor in the fountain. He gets the idea that putting silver equal in weight to the armor into the fountain will wash away the sin. He shakes his head, and puts in platinum equal in worth to 96 pounds of silver. The coins boil and bubble, fizzing effervescently, bubble bubble, swish swish, swirl, agitate, and lo, the armor is now shiny with Goodness! He puts the armor on Logan, and it fits, though Logan doesn't have wings.

Logan's tale

Zaber and Garreth no know everything in bag. I smell food! I go in and see big rhinoceros with three horns and bony frill on neck.

Big rhino call himself SchildEsche the Triceratops. He say, "So Logan, you've attracted our attention. We want to help you ascend to your true potential." He talk funny, say big words. "Once you defeat these creatures, you'll be able to consume the magic that bound them and in turn become stronger." More big words, but I know "consume!"

SchildEsche click tongue. "You smash, you stronger, smarter. Me help you." He sighs and mutters, "Hopefully smarter, anyway."

Oh, I understand now! Beat monsters, get stronger!

SchildEsche say, "Logan, I'm on your side, we'll take them on together."

We look at monsters. We see other wolverine, alligator, giant ape, and boar. Bad wolverine say, "We shall consume you with rips and tears and FIRE!"

SchildEsche sigh at the diabolical wolverine. "You aren't qualified and that's not even a good threat." He roll eyes. "Oh, yes, embrace your darkness, that'll help."

Bad wolverine say, "Let's get these Celestial Dogs and show them a lesson!"

Alligator rush at SchildEsche and bite and swing tail, but miss. I swat at hind leg but skin is tough. SchildEsche say he save boar for later, then blasts big magic bubble at it. Bad wolverine rush at me and swing with claws and miss. Ape rush at me and swing with paws and miss, too!

Then alligator think it can hit me, and it miss again. I poke at alligator eye, but it step back. Then I rip out throat of other wolverine. It fall down dead! "Good … bad … I'm the wolverine with the talons." SchildEsche slam all three horns into alligator, and blood spurt as he pull his head back. Scorpion stabby tail at SchildEsche, and SchildEsche fall. 

Bad wolverine start to heal and get back up. Big ape try to grab me and miss. Alligator try to hit SchildEsche but he put frill on teeth and tail miss. I rip lungs out of bad wolverine, then shove middle talon in big ape, other in big ape eye. Big ape fall. SchildEsche get up. Scorpion come and try to stab me, but miss. Bad wolverine heal again.

Alligator try to bite and slap tail on SchildEsche but SchildEsche swat mouth and tail miss. I poke eye of big ape and it fall dead. I poke eye on bad wolverine and it fall down dead dead. I step and swing at scorpion tail but it have shell. SchildEsche stab alligator in belly and it fall down dead. Scorpion try to stab me but it miss, so I rip away eyes.

I crack open scorpion like Zaber crack open lobster and eat. Scorpion taste good! Alligator also taste good. Boar wake up, but SchildEsche charge, and I run to eat pork, too!

SchildEsche say, "As you consume your foes, consider the joy to be found in destroying evil. You've been doing it for some time, but you can do it with purpose!" I walk out of bag, and he say, "I hope to see you in the hills of Celestia!"

Zaber and Garreth look at me, and Garreth pour whiskey in bowl for me. I lap at whiskey to help swallow boar.

Game log 19 March 2023: Along came a spider

Personae dramatis

Mateo de Leon Garcia, stylish red wizard

Grignok, orc druid often in panther shape
Felcanis, elf cleric
Honsou, larcenous bowman

Quid occurrit

That morning, it's raining heavily. Grignok finds a trail to track the spiders. "Aye, they are coming from the east, but a bit south as well."

After a couple of hours, the rain starts to let up. The gang sees a tree that seems to be giving off a green glow coming from inside; it looks like a hollow tree about a yard wide. Mateo checks out the tree, and when his face is less than a foot from the tree, a rattlesnake springs out and tries to bite him! It misses his face and gets its fangs stuck on the armor on his shoulder, letting him back away. The snake hisses and rattles its tail, and the heroes back away and realize that the spiders are way too big to go inside this tree, so they keep going deeper into the woods.

A couple more hours later, a big branch falls from a tree onto them. Nobody gets away, but the branch doesn't hurt them too much and they can get it off. They keep following the spider tracks into the thickening woods.

After some more walking, they see a hill with a grove atop it. Honsou slowly makes his way up the hill, and sees that four trees look a little darker, its branches look twisted with few leaves, and each has a big scar on its trunk. In the middle of the trees is a hole that would be a tight fit for a man.

Honsou gets back and tells the others of what he saw. Grignok says that the trees look fine to him, and so he casts Plant Speech and walks up the hill. After walking a few feet, he tells the others that the trees say they're welcome to come up the hill and go into the hole, and that they haven't seen any spiders, but there are badgers down there. Mateo tells Grignok that they'll move on and to thank the trees.

When evening hits, Felcanis sets up camp in the thick woods. She heals everyone, and casts Watchdog, while Grignok casts Mystic Mist. In the middle of the night, Mateo hears rustling, and Felcanis wakes up. Mateo sees a spider bigger than a man poking around at the edge of the mist. The spider doesn't seem to know where it's going so it slowly moves around, giving them all time to wake up and get ready.

Honsou aims with his bow, while Mateo shoots it with his crossbow. The spider tries to move away, but the mist bewilders it. Grignok casts Beast Speech, and Felcanis casts Armor DR 2 on Mateo. All of this is moot when Honsou shoots it in the face, knocking it out.

Felcanis casts Minor Healing to heal it a little, and Grignok casts Beast Speech again. He asks the spider where it lairs, and it says that it lives nearby in then thick woods, towards the rising sun. With that, Mateo fires again, ending its life.

Game log 27 November 2022 and 22 January 2023: Ain't we lucky we got 'em?

Personae dramatis

Mateo de Leon Garcia, stylish red wizard

Grignok, orc druid often in panther shape
Felcanis, elf cleric
Honsou, larcenous bowman

Mēnévē, broken-nosed fighter (NPC)

Quid occurrit

Mateo de Leon Garcia is a red wizard from the city of Pumšássun in the Duchy of Suslópnis who is coming to the town of Mīstássun in the County of Mīsarkēnê to make a fortune in the boondocks. He was with a caravan, but bandits hit it as it passed by the Outpost of Swords, and he got off the road in the fight. He wound up in the woods, where he runs into some redneck murderhoboes.

Honsou, Felcanis, Grignok, and Mēnévē see a well-dressed man step out of the woods. After some pleasantries, Mateo agrees to link up with these redneck murderhoboes, and Honsou shows Mateo the sword. It shocks him, and Felcanis heals him. As it happens, Felcanis is the only one who can touch the sword without it it hurting her.

They go west towards Mīstássun. There are storm clouds on the horizon. Around midday, they wander into woods with some trees chopped down, and hear a craggy voice. "Hey, haven't you bothered me enough?"

They turn, and see a dwarf with no earlobes. Honsou asks what they have done to bother him, and the dwarf says that they took his treasure and wrecked his home. Honsou asks for more details. "I've done like five of those this week."

The dwarf sighs. "You and your nasty elf friend wrecked my home! Your orc was the most well-behaved of you!"

Honsou says, "Oh, yeah. Good times."

That night, not long after bed, the dwarf shows up at the mist around the camp while Honsou is on watch. "Hey! You all in there! I wanna talk to you!" After some banter, the dwarf, whose name is Zurâg, says he wants to get back to town to sell some lumber. "I wanna get back to town! I have some lumber I wanna sell. You all owe me! Can I come with you all?" Honsou tells him he needs to talk to the others, and the next morning, Zurâg shows up, dragging some logs in a makeshift truck. They agree to let him come along.

That night, they make it to the village of Káddrakos. Zurâg splits from the group. "Thank you, for once! Sorry about your friend. She must have opened her mouth one too many times!" He trades with the gnomes for supplies, and the group spends the night in the Winking Friar inn. Honsou picks some pockets and gets eight copper.

In mid-afternoon the next day, they are walking along the road, and should make it to Mīstássun that night. Honsou sees some movement in the trees. He looks, and sees some men, who somehow think they are hidden. A buck-toothed man steps out. "Hey, we've been robbed!"

Honsou asks, "Why are you staying in the bush?"

Bucky says, "We thought they were coming back for more! We were gonna get 'em on the rebound!"

Honsou eyes them, knowing fellow bullshitters. "Why would they come back for more if they already robbed you?"

Bucky says, "We still have our weapons!"

Mateo asks which way they went. Bucky thinks for a moment, then points to the west. "They went that-a-way!"

Honsou nods. "Let's go that direction. I'm the only one around here allowed to steal from people." So, they keep walking west as before, towards town, which they reach that evening.

In town, Mēnévē splits from them group. Honsou tries to sell a painting, and has trouble finding a buyer. Mateo finds someone in the market who is looking for a big but bland painting and buys it for 400 copper, of which Mateo takes a fifth. 

Next up is selling the longsword of hurts-everyone-but-Felcanis. They look around for someone who can identify it, and they find a older, stocky, out-of-shape man named Praidīvós. "I'll cut you a deal. I identify it and help you sell it, and you give me a thousand farthings out of the sale. You in?" Mateo says nothing upfront, and wheedles him down to 900 farthings, but with a cut of a tenth of the sale. They haggle more, and Honsou takes the first offer: a thousand farthings, payable upon sale.

Praidīvós takes the sword to a back room while his apprentice, a young woman with short hair and slightly crossed eyes named Kôštē, makes tea for Mateo. "Enjoy your fucking tea."

Praidīvós sticks his head out of the room. "Watch your language, Kôštē!"

An hour passes, and Praidīvós comes out, eyes wide. "I—I need to check my books. Kôštē, stay with them for a bit. Don't touch the sword. It will damage anyone who isn't pure of heart. Which describes none of us." He goes back into the other room, then comes out again after several minutes. "Well, I should use my connections on selling this. Give me another thousand out of it; trust me, it's worth it. And definitely don't touch the sword. I'm almost certain the sword is Seft, and I should be able to get a few hundred gold pieces for it. It won't like you. I won't like any of us. It likes people who give alms to the poor, and it makes sure you do so."

Honsou agrees, and Praidīvós says to give him a week. After a week, Praidīvós hands over 750 gold pieces. "Believe me, this was a pleasure doing business with you." Mateo takes 120 gold, while Honsou hands over 200 gold to each of Felcanis and Grignok.

The town gets the gold right back. Honsou buys a fine, balanced composite longbow, and Light, Impenetrable Fine Light Leather Armor of Warding. He swaps his old armor and bow for 96 arrows. Felcanis gets Light Elven Light Mail of Invulnerability (and Redundancy) and a Light Fine Medium Shield of Warding, selling her old armor and shield while doing so.

Over that week, they look for work. The talk of the Scarlet Harlot this week is that someone brought back some truffles from the woods in the southeast, and said the boars there gored his buddy to death. The guy who tells them this raves about the truffles. 

Mateo gets drunk with a guy from the village of Bóllā in the east, on the edge of the woods. Big spiders have been known to come to this village and have even taken away a couple of villagers now. The size of the spiders varies each time he tells it. He's pretty wasted.

Honsou is picking pockets, and overhears a guy complaining about losing all his loot while in the hills to the north. Some bandits hit him pretty good, and he barely managed to get away with his life. Since the guy looks beat up, Honsou chooses to pick a different pocket.

After some chatter, they choose to go to Bóllā. It sits on the edge of the Eldalîvā Woods, and they has passed through there many times on the way to Dībités Rock. They can make it to the market village of Ōndrûnks on the road, then walk to Bóllā from there, a trip of about thirty miles. The next day, the first of the month of Párūs, they set forth for Bóllā in nice May weather.

On the road to the Ōndrûnks area, a one-armed elf male waves at them. With his good hand, of course. "Greetings! What brings you fellows and lady this way?" Honsou asks to trade with him. "Well, good sir, I deal in masonry! You humans are always building homes out of mud and cow shit, but I have bricks!" He points to the wheelbarrow he is dragging behind him, a rope to it around his waist.

Honsou asks for a brick. "I want one brick, if I have to send a death threat through a window."

The elf chuckles. "I like the way you think, son! I'll let you have a brick for a farthing. Be sure to let everyone know where you got it unless you're dealing with one of those death threats! Then I didn't know you." And so he sells Honsou a brick for a farthing.

That night, they make it to Bóllā, and widow Dáklā puts them up for the night for twenty farthings. She squints and fidgets often. "Eh, don't get too close to the children. What brings you here this time?" Honsou says the giant spiders do, and she shuts up fast. "I don't know what's up with the spiders. Because there are no spiders."

Honsou scoffs. "I've been arrested plenty of times so I know you're lying straight to my face."

Dáklā says, "Well, did you get hit—what? Arrested? For what?"

Honsou says, "Let me see … It was robbing, more robbing, throwing a brick into someone's house, and defiling a church. But that one wasn't my fault."

Dáklā glares at Mateo. "You seem like a nice young man. Control your friend. And don't go looking for spiders. They carry off cattle. We don't want them coming back. Now, go to bed." She tells Mateo to go to Lady Savendótē the next morning if he wants a reward for killing the spiders.

Dáklā's oldest son, in his early teens, watches them all night. Especially Honsou. The next morning, Dáklā throws them out at first light. 

The manor house is pretty easy to find. Honsou knocks on the door. An attractive woman in traveling clothes opens the door. "Yes?" This is Lady Savendótē. Mateo brings up the spiders, and she gazes at him for a second before telling him, "They can get over the wall, and they come from the east, in the woods."

They walk out of the village, through the east gate. The watchman cackles as they pass. "They'll get you! They always get you!" Then he falls asleep.

Castle Whiterock 6 March 2023: Attic thoughts

The murderhoboes

Garreth, half-orc swordsman
    Bleu, droning elf wizard
Zaber, suave and debonaire man
    Logan, wolverine
Polly, cute and deadly elf archer

Stonemaul, dwarven cleric of Danethar

What they did

We go upwards into a loft that's about 20 feet athwart, and we have to crouch to keep from hitting the ceiling. Light comes from magic lights above the plants below us. A hallway leads out. Among the junk here is a suit of plate armor, a coat rack, and a brass cage. A magic voice says, "Time to clean out the attic, don't you think?"

Fluffy tells us, "I tried to clean out the attic once and Master Pelltiar threatened to feed me to a Sphere of Annihilation."

I ask, "Oh, where is the Sphere of Annihilation?"

Fluffy says, "I do not need to clean the Sphere of Annihilation. Master Pelltiar never fed me to the Sphere of Annihilation." Good thing she cleared that up!

Garreth bids Bleu to pick out the magic items, and she says the armor, black bag, gaudy gold bottle, and gauntlets are magic, among the stuff in plain sight. We take them, and start cleaning. I sit down to keep from doing the work, and pick up a box with the label, "Powdered Toadfish Eyes." I open it, and inside is a lone boot with arcane stitching. I hold this up. "Is this like a Michael Jackson boot?"

Garreth digs in his Bag of Holding, and finds a matching boot from the derro loot. He claps. "I knew it would come in handy one day!" Bleu says the boots are Boots of Teleportation, letting the wearer teleport thrice a day. 

The armor looks like it would fit a female aasimar, with fancy mithril trimming and a sigil of Justicia. "I bet I know who used to own this." Then, Garreth asks Bleu to tell him about the armor.

"Ah, it is cursed. It appears that a halfling blew up the wizard while he was working on it, causing him to create this Wizard's Redoubt. If it could be uncursed it would protect might paladins and speed them up." Bleu thinks the curse can be removed at a holy font of Justicia.

Bleu says that the bag is supposed to be a Celestial Bag of Tricks but the magic of the demonhold corrupted it. "Instead whoever draws forth an animal will receive a diabolical animal, that will immediately attack them." Garreth asks someone can fix it, and Bleu says, "It is possible, were Logan to defeat the animal and eat the bag he would gain part of its power, or it might be possible to uncurse it."

We all look at Logan, who gnaws on some old furniture. "Logan needs to fight the animal first. He can't just eat the bag."

Bleu tells us that the gloves are enchanted to look like Gauntlets of Ogre Power, but someone cursed them to be Gauntlets of Pixie Power. If someone were to get rid of the curse by wearing them and beating a worthy foe, the wearer would gain pixie-related benefits instead. The bottle, she says, is an Efreeti Bottle, but houses an insane Efreeti.

Having checked out the loot, we go down the hallway to another spherical room about 15 feet athwart. In the middle there is a big stone bench with dusty glassware. Along the far wall is a chalkboard with a mahogany frame on a stone stand. There are three notches carved into the lower rail of the frame. Along the left wall is a lead cabinet with shut doors. The magic voice says,  "Remember, safety never takes a time out. Please don protective gear."

Fluffy lets us know that Pelltiar was upset when she tried to clean the chalkboard, and instead cleaned a lot of broken glass and ashes here. "I think Master Pelltiar enjoyed broken glass. Master Pelltiar was not happy when I helped him by breaking glassware for him ahead of time."

Garreth tries to open the cabinet, and finds it to be locked. After donning the Gloves of Dexterity and drinking an Agility Potion, I fumble with the lock. It's tricky, and I can't get it open right away, but I do find a charged Fireball Gem with Construct Bane while checking the lock for traps.

After telling Fluffy that her primary purpose is no longer dusting, which she is trying to do, I get the cabinet open. Inside are many rare magical ingredients, like dragon tongues, powdered stone giant bone, harpy lung extract, and otyugh eyes. There is also a small silver box with five doses each of Sovereign Glue, Universal Solvent, and Salve of Slipperiness.

Garreth takes the blue sapphire from me and puts it in the leftmost notch of the chalkboard. Words in Draconic start to show up on the chalkboard, with the tell-tale scratching of chalk.

Castle Whiterock 27 February 2023: Fluffy

The murderhoboes

Garreth, half-orc swordsman
    Bleu, droning elf wizard
Zaber, suave and debonaire man
    Logan, wolverine
Polly, cute and deadly elf archer

Stonemaul, dwarven cleric of Danethar

What they did

Garreth looks at the trees, and sees someone has watered them. He checks out the base of each tree for signs of whoever has watered them. He sees there are light footprints nearby, and not much dust. I look at the Decanter of Endless Water, and start watering the trees.

Garreth tells Bleu to cast See Invisible on all of us. Suddenly, we see a ghostly maid glaring at me. "You're watering the trees too much. I already watered them. Master Pelltiar will be unhappy."

Garreth asks, "When's the last time the master was home?"

The servant says, "Master Pelltiar is in his study. You should not disturb him." Garreth asks if Pelltiar is alive and I ask if he likes to party, and the servant says, "I do not go into his study and disturb him. Hmmm. What is alive? He does not like the halflings' idea of party. Or the clerics'. Or the knights'. Or the squires'. Or anyone's. He does not wish to have guests. That is why he has his Wizard's Respite inaccessible to the outside world." Garreth asks when she last saw him move, and the servant says that she has watered the trees hundreds of times since she last saw him move, and that he is in his study and is not to be bothered. "Is he angered about when I cleaned the easels?"

I yawn. "Bleu, she seems to be right up your alley." Bleu tells us about all about the Unseen Servants that cleaned the dorms at Wizard School.

Garreth asks the servant what her name is. The servant says that Pelltiar usually called her "Servant" or "Bothersome construct" or "What Are You Doing Don't Do That."

I ask Bothersome which way the study is. She points down, and says that I must not bother Pelltiar. I ignore her, and we go down to the study. The study is about as big as the room above it, with stone book cases on one side, almost in a maze, and all full of books. On the other side is a comfy chair with a man in gray robes lying on it, with an open book on his lap. The table next to him is full of dust and books, and a staff is propped up on the chair. We hear a woman's voice whisper, "Don’t forget to return the book on Ghetrian geography. Nim still has your favorite cookbook: Stirge: Not Just for Breakfast Anymore; 101 Additional Recipes."

Bothersome pulls out two swords. "Please leave the study so I may stop you."

I roll my eyes. "Stay out. And we have way worse than that." Bothersome hovers, looking bothered.

Garreth checks out Pelltiar. "The master can't be disturbed now. He's dead and beyond bothering."

He asks Bleu if there is a way to get Bothersome out of her compulsion. She thinks, and says, "She will only listen to orders from 'Master Pelltiar,' if you could have him give orders, or convince her that orders were from him somehow."

I wave to Bleu to cast Magic Mouth, but she shrugs and shakes her head: she doesn't know it. Garreth whispers to me to pretend I'm a cleric, and so I pull out a joint and light it up. "Incense." 

Bothersome says, "He doesn't like fires in his study."

Ignoring Bothersome, I set my joint off to the side, then put my hands on Pelltiar's hands. "Oh, great wizard from beyond, hear you me my sacred cry. Ohm." I open my whiskeyskin and brings it up to Pelltiar's mouth. "Oh, Pelltiar, drink you now our sacred wine. Ohm!"

This bothers Bothersome. "You are disturbing the Master. I must not let you disturb the Master. I must not enter the study. I must not let you disturb the Master. I must not enter the …" I raise Pelltiar's hands as subtly as I can, trying to to make it look like Pelltiar is raising his hands on his own.

This amazes Bothersome. "You are moving, Master!"

I pour more whiskey in Pelltiar's mouth. "For now our congregant wishes to engage in the bacchanalia and drink the wine. Ohm!" I hold his hands, then throw my head back.

Bothersome asks Pelltiar, "May I enter the study to dispose of the intruders disturbing you, Master?"

I hold the hands of the corpse. "For Pelltiar speaks through me, servant of the god Bacchus." I throw back my head and make silly possession movements with my tongue and eyes. In a weak and creaky voice, I call out, "No!"

Bothersome stops hinting at trying to come inside. "Yes, Master Pelltiar. I will not enter the study."

I make even more tongue and eye movements. "Leave!"

Bothersome nods. "Yes, Master. Where shall I go?"

"Home!"

Bothersome says, "This is my home, Master."

Oh, yeah, that's a little problem. So, in a creaky voice, I say, "Elf gives home now." She looks at Polly, and I say, "Cookies!"

Polly asks Bothersome if she can make cookies, and Bothersome says, "Yes, Mistress."

Polly asks, "Can we keep her?"

I set down Pelltiar's hands. "She's no less boring than Bleu, so I don't see why not."

Polly says. "I think she needs a petter name than 'Bothersome Construct.' Hmm. 'Fluffy'?" I nod, and Polly turns to Bothersome. "OK, Bothersome, your new name is 'Fluffy.'"

Fluffy nods. "Yes, Mistress."

I grip Pelltiar's hands again. "I leave this world!" I make more silly tongue and eye movements before letting go, as Fluffy is now ignoring Pelltiar, and puts her swords back up. I wipe off the tip of my whiskeyskin, and offer some to Logan to get the taste of death off it. Once he has his fill, I take a swig and close Pelltiar's eyes.

Stonemaul walks in the room. "That was remarkably kind of everyone." With that, he gives Pelltiar the last rites. Garreth bids Bleu to look the room, and she finds a Robe of the Archmagi, an Amulet of Natural Armor 6, a Clay Golem manual, a Ring of Wizardry, a Ring of Sustenance, a Staff of Conjuration with 17 charges, a Tome of Understanding, the Book of Melosiran that teaches about the elven wizard Melosira and her rings, and the chair, which is a Chair of Comfort and Understanding.

Back on the tree level, I find a magical sapphire that Bleu says activates some magic item. I also find five Marvelous Pigments, and four amateur paintings: one of Castle Whiterock at sunset before it became a lake, one of a bunch of geometric shapes, an unfinished one of a beautiful elf woman in a flowing gown, and one blank. Fluffy nods at the blank canvas. "I cleaned that one after Master Pelltiar spilled paint on it. Master Pelltiar was not pleased with me. He got the easel dirty. Why should I not clean it?" I draw a smiley face on the shapes.

With that, we take the trees and put them in the Bag of Holding. They'd look great in Logan's Run, and Fluffy can water them.