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 Sent: 6/8/99

Crayne mutters under his breath as Biln mentions a cut for his men. He thinks, 'what right do they have to steal our gold? They didn't go into the mountains, defeat a number of undead and kill a huge Umber monster. Nor did they magically release the spell cast upon the chests.' Annoyed at this presumptive stance taken by Biln he interrupts him and turns to the party and speaks up, "Friends I think it wise at this point for us to pool our thoughts about the current situation and maybe come to some sort of decision as to where we are to go from here! I for one am a little surprised by this sudden bought of greediness displayed by these men and I think it wise that we should decide whether they should receive a cut and if so what sort of cut they should receive." he looks over at Biln as he says this with a raised brow.

When it is mentioned that the miners would like a portion of their share, Guilliam begins to nod his head thinking "Share the wealth!". However, he soon finds himself feeling his money pouch with concern in his eyes. It is loose and not very weighty. He shakes his head and looks to his hands saying softly "I'll be needing you for picking and strumming". "I agree with Crayne", he speaks more loudly to his companions. "We risked our lives up there while the miners waited in saftey down here. They are getting paid for what they do, mine. As adventurers, part of our payment is what we find after we accomplish our tasks. More plainly, the loot is ours. Barkeeps get tips, we get loot. That's the way it works." Guilliam looks to his friends with a slightly reddened face. But his flushed appearance isn't one of anger. He actually appears a little embarrassed. "Tell you what guys, you talk it over, decide what is fair. I'll soften the troops."

Guilliam then turns on a dime, grabs his mandolin and makes for the miners. He leaps up to a rock where everyone can see him. Then, in a loud voice, he exclaims "I hear some call for a storyteller. If it's a story ya want, then I be your feller." He bows to everyone and begins plucking his mandolin to draw everyone in. With a wide smile he sings aloud "If we die boys, then we'll all die together..." and continues the rowdy tune to its completion. Then, Guilliam tells the tale of their battles in the mine. He speaks fiercely of the evil undead creatures that awaited them. He horrifically describes every terrible detail of the umber hulk. And even though their battles against these creatures nearly destroyed them, he manages to exaggerate their struggles many fold. Guilliam even goes so far as to suggest that the creatures in the mine would have surely left their layer to come after the miners and kill each and every one of them if it were not for the heroics of Rinder's Six. Beneath his guise as a story teller, he is hoping that after he is through with the miners, they will feel so indebted to Rinder's Six that they will refuse any of the loot for themselves even if offered.

Meanwhile, the debate over the loot continues. Cy voices his opinion, stating that he suggests distributing the loot seven ways, counting the entire miner's party as one. He specifies that the miners will not gain any of the other items.

"I agree with Cy," Canter says calmly while kneeding a sore muscle. "To leave them out completely is asking for trouble. Cy's method may please them a little, and Guilliam's storytelling and singing can only help. Besides, we'll have more money waiting for us at the castle in Parton when we arrive. And carrying large amounts of coins through the countryside--especially this countryside--can be risky, so I don't mind parting with some of it to make us a less attractive target for thieves and highwaymen."

Storm grunts, spitting down at the soft earth beneath them. He is obviously displeased about sharing the loot, but doesn't voice an objection. "I be interested in some o'them goblets..."

Edryd nods, too. Casting the final vote. He takes Crayne and Storm by the arm and the three disappear into the darkness to count out the money in a tent. The others listen to the end of Guilliam's story, finding themselves quite amused by the clever bard's tale. Crayne, Edryd, and Storm then return, distributing 44 gp and 2 sp to each member of the party. Then turning to Biln, Edryd places a small pouch of coins in the miner's hands, saying, "this is for you and your men. Don't be asking for any more, or you could find the strength of my companions which you saw in the mines turned upon your own men." Biln is a mix of emotions, thankful for the money and for saving his life, but not looking forward to presenting the small sum to the rest of his men. Crayne, meanwhile, stands back, grinding his teeth in frustration.

Guilliam then returns from his story, slightly out of breath but emotionally charged from the performance. He sees Edryd hand the pouch to Biln, but his eyes then land on the fuming Crayne. He quickly makes his way to his friend and teacher, saying, "perhaps now we can examine the rest of the loot?" Crayne nods, eager to leave the scene.

Cy then stretches his strong arms above his head, yawning. "My friends, methinks I need a long sleep."

With a friendly smile, Canter responds, "You do that, my friend. I am in good shape and will volunteer to enter the mine with the first party in the morning. The rest of you should stay and recover. We may not get another chance between here and Parton."

Guilliam and Crayne enter one of the tents and sit themselves on two tree-stumps, makeshift stools. Crayne carefully opens the chest in front of them, removing the four golden goblets and placing them aside. "They have little magical value," he explains to his student. He then reaches into the chest and pulls out the vial and flask. "You still have that potion from Mazen's mage, right? Perhaps you should bring that out, now, too." Guilliam nods and retrieves the potion from his backpack.

First, Crayne holds the vial up, peering through it's glass sides. The liquid inside is clear, nearly transparent. Many little bubbles can be seen throughout the liquid. Crayne squints as he looks through it. "Very interesting," he says slowly.

"What does it do? What are those bubbles?" Guilliam asks intently.

"I'm not sure, though I think they have something to do with the potion's purpose. There are two ways I know to learn for sure what this does. The first is to take it to a sage, perhaps at Castle Parton we can ask the Duke's mage to take a look."

"And the other?"

"The other was is to try it."

"Okay, if you isist!" Guilliam reaches for the vial, grabbing it out of Crayne's hands and popping off the cork stopper.

"No! Wait!" Crayne shouts, stopping his friend just in time. "It could be cursed, you don't want that, now do you?"

Guilliam's face reddens with embarrassment. "I didn't know they came cursed. I'm sorry."

"That's allright," Crayne says with a wink, "I just don't want to deal with the mess if you hurt yourself!"

With a chuckle, Guilliam replaces the cork, handing the vial back to Crayne. He then reaches for the flask. This one is made of a darkened glass, though the liquid inside is clearly some shade of red or brown. "Why don't we take some out?" Guilliam suggests.

Crayne nods, reaching for a small clay bowl from the floor of the tent. "Be very careful. Don't remove the whole stopper, just pour a tiny bit out."

Guilliam breathes deeply before beginning. Crayne can see the concentration in his eyes as he slowly twists the stopper, tilting the flask. Soon a miniscule stream of the red liquid descends into the bowl. Perhaps it was as the liquid touched the bowl, or maybe just the air, but soon after leaving the flask, the red liquid burst into a tiny flame!

Surprised, Crayne quickly jumps back, yelling to Guilliam, "Put back the stopper!!" Guilliam, who is also surprised, fumbles, but manages to replace the stopper before more of the liquid could erupt into flame. After it is over, he peers into the bowl to find it dry and empty. The smell of fire wafts through the air.

A sly look comes across Guilliam's face as he raises and eyebrow and peers at Crayne. "Now this could come in handy!"

Clearing his throat, Crayne takes the sealed flask from Guilliam and replaces it in the chest. He then removes the scrolls. He takes the first out of it's case, unrolling the a few inches of the parchment to look over and show to Guilliam. "Observe," Crayne instructs. "To make it easier to identify what spells are on the scoll, some wizards list them at the very beginning. You don't want to accidentally cast the wrong one, of course. And, once you cast a spell from a scoll, or copy it to your own spellbook, it is gone from the parchment and cannot be read again."

Guilliam nods, understanding the lesson and committing it to memory. "How do you read that?" Guilliam asks, pointing at the arcane symbols forming the first paragraph of the scroll.

"You remember your magic-reading spell? This is one of the times that you use it," Crayne instructs. "I'll read this one...Scroll of two spells...created on the seventh day of, blah blah blah...." Guilliam smiles as Crayne skips over some of the words, "for listening where one cannot normally listen...and for the temporary betterment of one's weapon...by the all powerful mage of the Red Dragon School ... " then Crayne's voice trails off.

"What? What does it say?" Guilliam asks excitedly.

"The mage," Crayne swallows hard, "is Dire Luthor."

"You know him?"

"We met him," Crayne explains slowly, "He was Sir Logan's mage, from Fort Dillend. And that messenger told us that Logan was killed, and that they were holding his mage for the murder..."

Guilliam's eyes widen. "No..." Crayne nods. "We must tell the others..." Crayne nods again.

"You read the other," the mage just manages to whipser the words, slowly passing the second scroll to Guilliam.

"A scroll of...one spell..." he pauses, concentrating on the characters on the parchment. He continues reading slowly, "for the temporary im-mo-ble-ment of one's enemies...Created by the all powerful mage of the Red Dragon School, Dire Luthor."

"Guilliam," Crayne says, rubbing his forehead and slowly retaking the scroll. "We'd best get some sleep, we'll tell the others in the morning. I think we've learned all we need to for one night."

In the morning Canter ascends the mountain with most of the miners, leaving the rest of Rinder's Six and two of the miners in the camp down below. Some small conversation is exchanged over the course of the morning, as the party rests and recovers. Edryd and Cy are interested to hear of the previous night's discovery, though Cy points out. "Until we return to Parton, we are the only one's who know..."

This routine continues for five more days as the miners continue digging in the mine. Each day Canter accompanies them up, as he is the most fit of the group. In other evening sessions, Crayne and Guilliam fail to identify the potion from Mazen's mage or the bubbly potion from the mine. Crayne does spend some time, however, with Mazen's mage's spellbook, copying three spells into his own book. Guilliam, too, continues his study of spells, learning from his mentor how to cast two new spells in addition to refining his magic-reading skills. Unfortunately, neither spell-caster succeeds at copying the spells from the scrolls. Crayne explains that the spells are of too much difficulty for either of them, for now.

Meanwhile, Storm also takes some time to head back to the dwarven town to pick up his suit of custom-fitted chain mail. Guilliam accompanies the dwarf, and the two set out early one morning, back through the mountain pass. By midday they've reached the town. Storm, though obviously not from around there, seems to feel right at home. Guilliam, who stands out like a sore thumb, is in awe of the village and takes in all the sights around him. Storm quickly finds the shop and speaks with the smith. After dropping the agreed amount of 95 gp, Storm picks up his suit and the walk back to the camp begins. After a long, but very interesting day (for Guilliam), they return to camp, exhausted but satisfied.

After the days of rest are over, a wagon-full of ore is ready to be shipped to Parton. Biln, who is now walking (albeit with a heavy limp and a pained expression), addresses the party: "Mefriends, we be ready to head t'Parton come the mornin'. Make yerselves ready at first light. Four uh me-men, includin' meself, be comin' wit' ya."

1. Crayne may add "Knock," "Mirror Image," (both spell level 2) and "Tenser's Floating Disc" (spell level 1) to his spellbook, after copying them from Mazen's Mage's spellbook.

2. Guilliam may add "Burning Hands" and "Light" (both spell level 1) to his spellbook after learning them from Crayne.

3. Each character gains 18 hit points for six days spent rested.

4. Each character may add 44 gp and 2 sp to their money.

5. Guilliam and Crayne may add 150 XP each to their CIS for their explorations of the potions.

6. Storm, please remove 95 gp from your money and add one suit of Dwarven Chain Mail.

7. As for the treasure, Guilliam and Crayne agreed that Guilliam will hold onto the potion and flask of fire-oil (for lack of an official name), while Crayne would keep both scrolls.

8. Storm has laid claim to the golden goblets. Does anyone else want them? Please say so in your next post, or all four will go to Storm.

9. Any other actions before heading out for Parton? Any specific preparations for the journey? Unless there is any other business, the next turn will be on the road to Parton and possibly the arrival at Parton.

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