//------------------------------// // (17) Where We Left Off // Story: Canterlot High's D&D Club // by 4428Gamer //------------------------------// Story's POV Sweet Apple Acres Saturday 5:57 PM Big Mac and I got to work pulling out everything I had stored up in my trunk, from vinyl maps to small boxes of miniatures all split up and organized. Since the club was at school, I had to get there early and Ms. Cheerilee had to let me into her class to stow it all in her room. Because of that I couldn't really bring everything except for the essentials. But this time? Nah, screw essentials! Without worrying about smuggling stuff onto schoolgrounds, I was free to bring as much extra stuff as I wanted. I mean, I am a drama nut after all. Bringing small props for a performance seems pretty par for the course. Besides, from how Ms. Cheerilee described it, both the girls and Gilda and Big Mac cleared out this room for D&D nights. I don't know who among them came up with that idea but if Gilda of all people was coming in to help then that meant I couldn't be the only one slacking off here. "So Mac," I started. "Your family's really okay with us using the barn like this?" "Eeyup." He had my bag and a few maps slung over his shoulder. "Awesome." I grinned. "One of these days I really need to meet Granny Smith. She seems so nice!" "Eeyup!" We strolled through the main doors and Mac took a moment to close one of them while I took in the space. The barn air felt stale and the heat had already hit me but I didn't mind for now. I figured the girls had something in mind to keep the heat from bothering us. Aside from that, the place looked good. There was junk and farm stuff piled along the sides of the barn and some dusty floodlights lighting up the place but the center path looked neatly cleared out. But it was the back of the barn that looked the most cleaned up. One side had some car hidden under a tarp with a few workbenches full of tools and supplies but the other was entirely organized. Not a single shred of trash as a single doorway stood proudly with a heavy cloth acting as the door. "Wait a second, all of you made up some stupid voice?" "What you call stupid, Gilda, I would call investing! Besides, it was all in good fun at the time." "Fer most of us we don' really have some over the top voice. That's mostly Rare an' Pinkie." "Ah dink ya mean Ricven an' Glemerr!" I heard Pinkie's now familiar war cry followed by a few chuckles from the rest of the group. They really were interested in playing another game, huh? I sorta wished they gave me a bigger warning than this but I suppose it wasn't too bad. Homework was slow this weekend anyway. While lost in my headspace and glancing around the room, Big Mac continued past me and towards the curtain as I fell in line. Before I could even offer, he used his elbow to push aside the curtain and peered in to get the girls' attention. "'Bout time," I heard Gilda say. "Drama nerd behind you?" "Eeyup," Big Mac told her. "Hey!" I gripped. Not that I cared, she was right. And as I got close enough to peek in I saw a few of the girls holding their laughter. They better not start doing that too. Then I started glancing around this room. There wasn't much to look at along the walls. Only a single window opposite of the entrance with closed blinds and then on the right wall, an aged AC unit with a few rust spots and thin pale blue streamers flapping around the vents. Despite the age though, it hummed quietly and the room felt all the better for it. The hexagonal table in the center showed just as much age. It was massive, giving enough room for all eight of us to play and then some with a dusty poker felt laid along the top of it. Rarity was absent-mindedly picking at the dust and trying to sweep it away from her side but no one else seemed to mind. In fact, the center of the table was laid out with fresh pizza and two pitchers of lemonade and apple juice. This place was definitely set up for a game night. The girls and I all traded hellos as Big Mac helped me bring in my mountain of stuff into a side of the table everyone had left alone so I could set up. There was also a dining chair for me to use but it was a little short compared to the table. Oh well, I thought. If that's the price of using this room, consider it paid! "This room is amazing," I gushed, gently setting my bag on the ground. The rhythmic clinking of a few glass props reminded me exactly why I was careful. "And Big Mac mentioned the place was a storage shed?" "We got the splinters ta prove it," Applejack told me. "Still, it weren't nothin'. 'Sides, Granny was flyin' higher than an uncooked turkey in December when she heard we were sprucin' up the place. She'll be usin' it whenever it's empty." "Eeyup!" "Sorry that we only asked today," Fluttershy apologized. "We originally just wanted to ask if you wanted it for tomorrow." "Gilda asked me about that. She said her, Big Mac, and Gabby were already interested." Not that I was against it. Honestly, it seemed like a fun time to me. Not to mention Gabby was probably going to corral the others into saying yes. "This won't eat into your time for class assignments, will it?" Twilight blinked. "Nah," I wrote off. "It's a couple of workbook pages. I can knock those out whenever." "What about the paper?" Twilight narrowed her eyes. "You mean for Ms. Cheerilee's class?" Rainbow Dash blinked. "She's taking the week off to rest. She's not gonna be grading papers." "Actually, that's about all she can do," I told her. "She told me they're due on Thursday now though." Rainbow groaned. "Fine. That's two extra days at least." "And typed," I added. "Since her arm's out of commission, she's not grading them by hand. Which means she wants everyone turning in a flash drive." "Really?" Rarity rose an eyebrow. "She's always asked for hand written papers in the past." "No idea why," Sunset muttered. "My hand writing's still pretty bad." "Even better." Rainbow shrugged. "Typing is way better than writing." Pinkie laugh gave room for a few snorts. "You only say that because of the spell checker!" "Guilty," Dash admitted. "Either way, easiest paper I'll ever write for that class." The girls all shared a laugh while Twilight decided to roll her eyes with a smirk. That is, before her eyes settled on the pile of stuff Big Mac helped me bring in. "Hey Story? That seems like a lot more than usual." "That's because it is." As if to show it, I started taking a few things out. First was the basics; my DM screen, books, and notes. But as I started bringing out a small cloth bag that jingled with coins, an old tiny key I hung on the corner of my screen, and a couple of small glass vials with leather wrapped around the body, the girls got interest interested. "I figured if you went through all the effort setting up this space, I should try harder too. Usually I only bust out some of these props for one-shots or something. Glad I have a reason to use them again!" "How am I friends with you?" Gilda asked with a facepalm and a ghost of a smile. I saw a hand from the corner of my eye reach out and take one of the vials. "Huh...I wonder..." "Something wrong?" I took my attention off my stuff and glanced up to see Sunset giving a careful look at the vial in her hands while some of the other girls watched intently. "Oh. No, not really," she dismissed, bringing the tiny glass up to her eye to look closer. Not sure why, it was dry and empty anyways. As long as I've had it, I've never taken that old, rotting stopper out either. "I'm just trying to figure out how this fits in as a prop." I thought for a moment and gave a mocking shrug and a vague smile. "Some of them are important. Others are for show." Sunset weighed my words for a moment and then noticed the looks the other girls were giving her. Seeing them, she wore a confident grin at them. "Guess there's only one way to find out." From there, we spent a little bit talking about nothing while I kept setting stuff up. We talked about Ms. Cheerilee, about Sweet Apple Acres, to Pinkie suddenly driving the conversation into cheese somehow, before eventually the group bore witness to something no one had ever seen before. Fluttershy, and Gilda, heatedly debating pineapple on pizza. V⎅reé⍾'S POV K⍜⎅⎍g's ⋉ar ⎍⍀⍀m "I just don't see why anyone could like it," Fluttershy's voice insisted. "You just said you've never tried it!" A loud angry voice, which we eventually discovered was named Gilda, accused. "And, I'm sorry, but I never want to. It sounds...well, it sounds a little unpleasant." "Unpleasant?!" Gilda shouted. "It's pineapple's ON pizza! What's there to hate?! Hey, I saw that eyeroll, don't give me that crap!" "Gilda, Fluttershy, can we just drop it?" Sunset asked exhaustedly. "Yes! Please!" Stostine shouted towards the ceiling. The voices echoed out in every direction but I guess the mage had to pick somewhere to direct her pleading. "Some of us would like to begin so that they can deal with the hole in their stomach!" A few of the others winced at that. When we heard all of their voices fading in like the last two times before, we readied ourselves for everything to start back up as before. Each time, the group met up two days after the last. Only, we realized, they had met up today a few hours later than they normally did. Their voices caught us off guard. But for "some of us," their patience was wearing thin. Especially since their wounds weren't going to start closing until the Players started their game. "They. Can't. Hear us," Platick reminded her. "I know," Stostine breathed before lying back down to Ravathyra's relief. "But I want to stop being in pain. Can you blame me for that?" "No." Thorn Wielder shook her head. Last time this happened, her leg was cut open for two days thanks to that ambush. "Okay. Look," Gilda said, leveling her voice. "Fluttershy? You've had pineapple before, yeah?" "Yes." "And was it good?" "Of course. I loved it." "Alright. And you've had pizza before?" "Everyone's had pizza before. We're having it right now. Where are you going with this?" Story asked in confusion. "Whuzza pizza?" Glemerr asked the rest of us. "Food, I've gathered," Ricven informed her. "Although I'm more curious what this pineapple thang they keep referrin' to is. The apple part I get but what makes it pine flavored?" "Maybe they grow on pine trees," Ravathyra thought. "No." Thorn Wielder shook her head. "We pine trees. No pine fruit." "She's right," Platick admitted. "Why would the Master give us pine trees and leave off the fruit?" "Oh sweet gods. Who. Cares?" Stostine asked. "...Ya know, maybe they should play this out," Platick said after a moment. "I can still throw fire at you," Stostine threatened, holding up her hand as it light up for emphasis. "So if you like pineapples, and you eat pizza, what's wrong with combining them?" "Would you combine pudding and corn?" "Ugh! That's an affront to all pudding! Wait," Pinkie paused. "Do you mean putting shucked corn in the pudding? Or dunking cobbed corn in a pudding cup?" "Does that matter?!" "Those both sound terrible," Rarity gagged. "Exactly." I could almost hear Fluttershy nod as she spoke. "Fluttershy, you came up with that metaphor incredibly fast," Twilight, my Player, noted. And what a confusing metaphor it was, I thought. "How can anyone be that close-minded?!" There was a brief pause. "Dash. Talk some sense into her! Tell her pineapple pizza's good!" "...Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy's voice got dangerously close to Thorn Wielder's for a second. "What do you think?" "Uh, woah, wait, I-I'm stayin' out of this!" Rainbow shied out. "This is between you two." "Cop out," Gilda scoffed. "Fine then. Big Mac? Pineapple pizza? Yep or nope?" "Uh. U-Um..." A deeper voice, one we've never heard before stumbled for a moment. "U-Uh..." After a few seconds we heard the sound of heavy stomping get further away. "Wow, you two are a force ta be reckoned with," Applejack complimented. "Who even was that?" Platick asked. "No one important, apparently." I shrugged. "Dash," Gilda tried again. "You're the only one that can break this! What's it gonna be?" "Rainbow?" Fluttershy gave another near-Thorn tone. A silence cast over everyone. Well, mostly silent except for the frustrated groan Stostine had. She was at her limit. "...C-Can't we just agree that mushrooms are disgusting?!" Another silence followed before, one by one, we heard several voices hum along. "Yeah." "That's fair." "Who would even attempt such a thing?" "Now hold on a second," Sunset started, clearly angered. We all turned to watch Stostine slowly hide her face behind her hands before shaking her head back and forth. "...I'm gonna have to kill her," she decided. "There's. There's just no other choice. I have to kill her now." "'Cause of an argumen'?" Rava frowned. "Come on lass, that hardly seems fair." "No, not that." Stostine moved her hands to calmly fold them over her torso. "She likes mushrooms. For that she must die." "She's ya Player," Ricven pointed out. "Don' you like mushrooms?" "No. I don't like mushrooms. This is a fact I decided yesterday," Stostine told us. "What did Rava call it again? Executive decision? I made one; no mushrooms." "You like mushrooms?!" "Sunset! I don't even know who you are anymore," Pinkie cried. "SO, last time on Gobblin' da Gobbos," Story began as the sound of a table getting slammed echoed out. And at the same time, the world quaked for a moment, startling all of us. "After surviving an ambush of goblins on the road, you all looked across the wreckage of the carts they had used as a blockade and discovered the cart and its horses had once belonged to Gundren Rockseeker and Sildar, the very employers that hired you. You then found a trail and, after some debate, Glemerr led the charge down the road, plowing through every trap and patrol in her way while the others followed behind." "Hey, he's talkin' 'bout me!" Glemerr grinned. "You guys shoulda been there!" "We saw the aftermath," I told her, crossing my arms. This is so weird. "After arriving at the cave, you guys went for the stealthy approach, taking down the lookouts and freeing the wolves captured by the goblins before they could be trained. But as you got deeper, you killed a goblin on the bridge as another handful of goblins nearby noticed, leading into an assault." "I think we all remember." Ricven sighed as the guilty among us looked away. "Powering through, you split into two groups; Ricven and Vareén to the west and the others to the east. Ricven and Vareén happened upon the remaining goblins; all four of them. Through their...combined efforts," Story said awkwardly. "They dispatched the goblins and found Sildar, battered and wounded, but alive." "Urrrggh," Sildar wheezed, slowly coming to life and catching us all off guard. "Simultaneously, the rest of you were left against the mighty Klarg, leader of the goblins, and his mangy wolf. The five of you put the wolf to rest and took out Klarg's goblin guard before Glemerr brought the last punch. Knocking him out," Story made it a point to remind them. "Rather than killing him. You all gathered up to lick your wounds and take your time to relax as you set up around a campfire with a keg of expensive ale...And a large amount of merchant's goods the goblins had since accrued. "And with that..." Like the last two times before, a colorless haze spilled into our vision. It had no origin. In fact, we knew it didn't come from anywhere because the haze was within our own eyes. With it, our sight and our minds began clouding up for the third time now. "Let's start a story." "Awrite everyone," I heard Ravathyra say. "See ya on the other side!" "Agreed," Stostine responded. "Time for us to watch for now." Her voice ceased to be heard as did everything from all my senses. From that moment on, each of us felt our consciousness not fade out but instead become unimportant to whatever our bodies did. We had once again become a backseat to whatever our Players would decide while we watched. Vareén's POV Klarg's War Room After the Battle Ravathyra and Glemerr made it back to Klarg's room just as we took care to set Stostine and Sildar down on the floor. Ricven was kind enough to pull out a bed roll for her to lie down on while I brought Sildar over to what I assumed was Klarg's 'throne.' The bugbear didn't need it anymore since we planned on tying him down somewhere else until we had a permanent plan. "We got de ale!" Glemerr announced as she and Ravathyra marched into the room with a decent-sized keg and a number of tankards carried by the two of them. About time, I thought, folding my arms impatiently as they took care to set the keg down. "Sildar, you called this RockVine? What is that?" "It's a well-known vineyard underneath the Drakehead," he told me. "Compared to other vineyards, they're not that old. Maybe about twenty years or so. Still, they've become a quick favorite among the upper class. Especially for dwarves." "Explains why Gundren was so keen on takin' a sip," Ricven thought aloud. "How'd he afford something like this?" Platick asked. "It's for nobles, yeah? Hard to believe a Dwarf like Gundren could afford it." "It was for the right occasion, he said." Sildar eased into the back of his chair with a groan. "He thought he'd sneak a flask's worth on the trip to Phandalin before it reached all three brothers." "That doesn't answer my question." Platick frowned. When we were tending to Sildar and Stostine, he and Ricven had been gathering the stolen goods into a single pile to search through later. "How'd he afford it? For that matter, how did he afford any of this? He promised two-hundred gold to each of us. Not counting you, that's 1400 gold plus whatever that ale costs. Where's the money coming from?" Sildar's jaw tightened and his eyes closed tight in thought. Said too much, I thought at him. "...Should I tell them?" I asked in a language I believed none of them knew. Draconic: Language of Dragons. "I won't stop you," he responded in kind. "But Gundren made me promise. I can't tell them." "What are you two saying?" Platick narrowed his eyes. I sighed. Guess I'm telling it then. "...Sildar's a member of an adventuring guild. The Whiteblades. He knew Gundren personally so he took the story about the mine and brought it before his guildmaster. Gundren and his brothers were given a loan to do the work." "Adventurin' Guild?" Glemerr scratched her head before taking a quick glug of ale. "Whuzzat exactly? Aside from de adventurin' part. Ah think Ah know dat part." "They're basically merc groups," Platick answered with some disdain. "Because this kingdom revolves around money, people with money are obsessed with turning a profit. When the war ended, adventurers became a dime a dozen and the rich tried taxing that dime. Adventuring guilds are how they do it." "It's ta be expected that only 'registered adventurers' can be trusted by the common folk," Ricven went on further. "If you don't have a guild backing ya, them commoners are expected to look elsewhere. Otherwise, what's ta stop a buncha freeloada's from takin' yer coin an' shovin' off?" "That's what the rich would have you believe," Platick continued. "And since nobles and merchants are all on the same side, gossip spreads quick." "...The Whiteblades," Stostine said distantly as she stayed laid down. "If I recall, they are a guild particularly allied with merchant caravans. They take jobs that businesses post. Gundren's would-be mine would fit into that category." "You're right," Sildar admitted. "The Whiteblades typically take escort jobs. Whatever they see as small risk, they outsource them to freelance adventurers." "Basically, we get shafted for crumbs and the guild pockets the rest," Platick interpreted. "But Vareén? How's come you know all of this?" "I'm a freelancer," I huffed. "When Sildar needs help, he hires me. And I don't need to be tied down to the Whiteblades. Regardless, I got hired just like all of you did." There was more to it then that but that was need-to-know. "Well, nothin' much ta do 'bout it right now," Ravathyra told us with a soft but heavy accent. "So 'ow's about we take the good we've done today as a vict'ry, aye? Them goblins er quelled an' they won't be causin' anymore heartache fer the honest folk passin' by 'ere anymore." Rainbow put on a great smile and held her imaginary tankard high. "Ah say we drink ta that! Any otha takers?!" Every eye inside the Sweet Apple barn was set on Rainbow Dash with shock and awe plastered across their face. Rainbow tried her best to ignore it as she realized exactly how different she was taking the game compared to last time but her trembling hand holding a tankard made it obvious. "...Uh...gals?" Rainbow said as she felt more and more uncomfortable with the looks she was getting. "W-Why ya lookin' at me like tha'? Som...Somethin' wrong 'ere?" "ah...I..." Rarity's voice was dead on arrival but it made Rainbow stare down at here with desperation in her eyes and she was shaking the fist she was using to 'hold the tankard.' "It's...That was...That was very good darling!" "Yeah, that was scary," Gilda tacked on. "How'd you even do that?! I know we saw... said, we said your Dwarf," Gilda corrected in front of Story. "Was Scottish but. I didn't know you actually could do that!" "I. It's nothin' special," Rainbow dismissed, still deep into her accent. "It's jus' somethin' Ah an' me Mum got." "You're still doin' it, sugarcube," Applejack pointed out. Rainbow's eyes went as wide as everyone else for a moment as her cheeks blushed so bad they almost resembled blueberries. Furiously, she cleared her voice and kept looking down. "I, erm. I-It was an accent— accident! It was an accident. That last part!" "Well, we can tell that," Sunset said in a chuckle. "But it sounds so real. It doesn't even sound forced." Rainbow Dash nodded weakly. "Me mum's sida a' da fam....My mom's side of the fam-i-ly," she articulated carefully. "Is Scottish. Mum's accent sinks through and she 'ates it. So she hides it. And whenever my Aunt Brilliant Borealis comes to visit, she teases her by laying it on thick with the accent. Which trips up Mom. I grew up around the teasing, so now I get sucked into it too whenever Ah 'ear it...Hear it," she corrected, not rolling her 'R' the second time. She buried her face deep into her palms and groaned. "This is so uncool." "Are you for real?!" Gilda beamed. "What's wrong with Scottish accents?!" "Absolutely nothin', far as I'm concerned," Applejack stated. "Rainbow, take it from me. Ya got no reason ta be upset 'bout an accent. 'Specially if it's comin' from yer kin. It's just who ya are." "Yeah, I know. I-It's just. A thing." She took a heavy breath. "A thing Ah don' like anybody else knowing about. Alright?" "I think it sounded nice," Fluttershy assured her. "Same here." Twilight smiled as some of the other girls and Story nodded along to. "If it helps ya dere," Pinkie started in her gruff, English accent. "Ah'll talk like me gurl Glemerr all night! Dat way ya ain't on yer own! We'll boff be frum Jolly old England!" Rainbow's shoulders jumped as if she laughed. "Don't let my aunt hear you say that." "Oh please!" Rarity said, slipping into the Louisiana voice she had for Ricven. "Yer aunt ain't even here, Lady Dash! An' if it makes ya feel more comf'table, I'll match you an' Miss Pie all night as well, if I gotta." Rainbow smirked after a second. "You'd do that?" "Sure thang! Consider it a dare," Rarity told her in a mock bow and extended her hand out to shake. "You in?" "..." Rainbow took a moment before letting the tension wash away from her. Then she sighed with a smile. "...Awrite. Yer on, lass." She took Rarity's grip in her own and the two girls shook. "But if any of you," she took her own voice back for a moment. "And I mean any of you. Speak a word about this?" "They'll answer to me." Gilda said as she cracked her knuckles. "Agreed?" "Agreed," half the room answered as the others nodded. It was all smiles for a moment before the game went right back in. Stostine's POV Klarg's War Room After the suggestion from Ravathyra, the group lightened up on the questions and got to work clearing out the caves for the day. Since it was only about two in the afternoon, people were only exhausted, not tired. So we split the work. Well, the others split the work. I and Sildar stayed to rest. Thorn Wielder went to the wolf den to make sure that the canines were gone before checking up on the oxen. They were left alone, detached from the cart so we thought that they would have run away but surprisingly no. They were out of sight of the cave's entrance but Thorn Wielder convinced them to follow her back towards the cart. After a few 'words,' they seemed content to stay nearby until tomorrow. At the same time, Glemerr and Ravathyra cleared out the bodies. In case there were any other patrols that intended on coming back, they'd see the pile of corpses and hopefully take it as a warning. At the same time, Vareén and Platick dragged the bugbear away and found a space in the stream to tie him down. His lower body was going to be nothing but a hairy prune but that was all the better. That left only Ricven, Sildar and myself in the war room for now. Sildar, after being bandaged by Glemerr and Ravathyra, let himself drift off to sleep. With whatever hell the goblins put him through over the last two days, he must've been exhausted. "Miss Stostine?" Ricven called. He couldn't let me rest with the only cup of alcohol Ravathyra would let me have. "Ya mind if I ask ya a personal question? Nothin' untoward, I can assure ya." I felt my brow bend inwards before I could could keep my expression blank. "Sure. Although I reserve the right not to answer." "Of course." He shrugged. "Platick tried sneakin' me a few tidbits about ya. 'Bout your magic. Said ya had some healin' properties." Of course he would, I thought. Someone was bound to tell him anyways. I tried to shrug but that just made my javelin wound ache all over again. "He was right. I used it on Ravathyra before the bugbear arrived." "A smart move." He gave me that. "But not one arcane folk typically got. 'Specially novices." "Is that so?" I angled my head so I could see him. He was lazily looking through some of the supplies. He didn't want to take any of the work like the others. "As I seem to recall, you mentioned having a spell that could heal the injured yourself. You used Thunderwave instead but you said it was necessary." "Fer fixin' a certain archer's mistake, yea. But that's the difference between me an' you. I'm what one would call well-walked." "I think you mean well traveled," I corrected. "Travellin' can mean all sorts a' methods. I myself mostly walked." Not what I meant but okay? "But amongst all that walkin' I picked up plenty a' tricks from plenty a' folks. Some of 'em healers. And from how Platick and Ravathyra described your healin'? Plus that Bless spell ya mentioned before we came in here? That ain't the moves of an arcane user. Then again, you got no holy symbol. Not one visible at least." I sighed. "I am not of a cult." "Didn't say ya were." He hopped off the crate he was digging through and walked until I could see him without tilting my head. "But that leaves the question. What are ya?" "..." I looked up at the ceiling. Unresponsive. "Can I roll anythang ta see if Ricven would know?" Rarity asked, keeping her accent like she promised Dash. Story gave Sunset a short look before returning Rarity a small nod. "Either arcana or religion. They both give you different answers." After a moment Rarity nodded to herself. "Arcana it is." She rolled her die and like before, the magic came to life around it. The die itself flashed brightly as a powder blue aura formed the words 'Arcana +3' as well as 'Jack of All Trades +1' to the side of it. In that moment all the girls saw it. Even Gilda. The only ones who couldn't were Story and Big Mac. "Twenty-one total." Sunset looked over to Story who was already walking over to whisper Rarity the result. "...So that's it," Ricven said absently. That was all it took to make me look back at him. "It ain't a religion thang at all, is it?" "..." I stared right back at him without moving my head. He wouldn't get anything from me. "But why hide it?" He asked. More to himself when he saw I was done talking. "Sure you would stand out but...Not fer the wrong reasons." "..." "How deep is it, I wonder." I felt his eyes staring into me and felt as though everything I had was being untangled by him. It didn't help that I could feel my eyes starting to shift around nervously. That carefree gnome's demeanor wearing a look of wisdom. "...Oh well!" In a blink the attitude snapped back to normal and he turned on his heel, whistling as he strolled back to the crates. "Say, you got any more magic left in ya fer today?" "...why?" My voice low. "Well, all sortsa merchants had to have been caught by bad luck. And these crates have a pretty wide variety to 'em. Now, I could pick through every square inch of this junk. Or, you could lend me an eye." "Hand," I corrected again. "The saying is hand." "Not this time, it ain't," he told me, spinning around in a flourish. "One a them spells ya had. Ya said it was Detect Magic, yeah? Do ya mind?" Oh. That's what he wants, I mulled it over before rolling my eyes. "Sure. I wouldn't hold my breath. The only civilization down this road is a frontier village. They would have no reason for any real magic." Regardless, I held up my hands, breathing deeply to fight through the aching before I focused on the arcane words. Each syllable carefully spoken before I flicked my hand across sight, completing the spell. In that moment, my eyes were layered with ghost-like blue flames that allowed me to see whatever magic was nearby. I turned my head and focused on the pile beyond Ricven. And, to my surprise, a few things began glowing. They were all fuzzy and I could only see silhouettes but they were there. Three piles in all. Two of them were liquid, both glowing with evocation magic, and the other was a solid; transmutation magic. Detect Magic let the user tell what kind of magic they saw, and each school of magic had its own style to it. "A few things," I told him, earning a welcome grin. I pointed each of them out. "Underneath that large burlap sack, inside and towards the top of the small crate, and then that satchel laying on the ground." Ricven got to work on each target and after about a minute, he produced a total of four items. Three glass vials of liquid and the satchel. The vials were easy to tell instantly. The liquid was a light red color that had a weak, constant flow of bubbles rising to the surface as though they were caffeinated. Healing potions. Ricven recognized them right away. "Perfect timin'. Here, take one of 'em no—" "No," I shot him down. "Give it to Sildar." "What?" Ricven gave me a look. "These are Regular Healin' Potions! He's got a broken leg. It ain't helpin' him." "Maybe but, believe it or not," I said, forcing myself to sit up no matter how much my abdomen punished me. "His other wounds are worse than mine. Plus, he's been tortured. I'll be fine in the morning." "Pfffft, hahahahaha~!" Ricven nearly doubled over. "You got skewered by a javelin not one hour ago! You say yer gonna be right as snow in the mornin'?" "..." I gave him the same look as when he figured me out. And then he figured it out all over again. "Yer serious?" He stared at me. "Consider me surprised." He turned and walked over to Sildar. "Very well then. Yo Sildar? Open yer eyes, we got a present for ya." Sildar took a moment to stir as Ricven uncorked the potion with a satisfying phoomp! and held it under Sildar's nose. They say the smell of that potion was potent enough to wake a person from death's door. "Is. Is that a..." Sildar looked up at Ricven. Then to me with guilt. I gave him a 'go ahead' motion and after some reluctance, he took it in his good hand and slowly let himself drink it. We watched as a few of the weaker cuts and bruises on his body sealed and repaired themselves with each swallow. Then, to my relief, I saw the smaller of his two bad injuries recover; his wrist. It was heavily swollen and a sickening purple as if he rolled it or tried blocking the swing of a club. But once the vial was empty, the wrist simply looked bruised. With a satisfying gasp of air, Sildar took the potion in his now slightly better hand and chucked the potion towards the floor, shattering it into glass shards and making Ricven stare in utter shock. "Wh-What the...Why?!" He demanded. "That was a perfectly good vial! What're ya thinkin' smashin' it all over the floor like a fool?!" "What?" He stared back at Ricven like he was the crazy one. "Haven't you heard? It's good luck to smash a potion vial after drinking it." "We could have used that," I told him with irk in my voice. "Like, for instance, putting another potion in it." "Oh. I-I'm sorry," he told us. "I thought, since you were adventurers, you knew these kinds of omens." "Knew 'em or not, Lady Stostine's correct. That was a perfectly good vial! Remind me ta never give you one eva again." Story, looked towards the center of the table where he had placed three small vials and proceeded to take one back behind his screen. "Regardless, you're down to two potions now," he told the group as he pushed the two remaining vials towards Rarity. All while Big Mac and Gilda were chuckling to themselves in the background. "And Ricven's in possession of them." As Rarity reached for them, the girls watched as the once empty vials magically fill up with a light red liquid. Carbonated, just as Story had described. Not only that but she could smell a somewhat potent smell leaking out from the corks. More magic illusions, Twilight concluded, writing the results in her notes. Makes sense seeing as Story brought props into this. Still, they seem harmless. Not only that but these potions are supposed to represent healing. "I give those out as tokens," Story told the group. "That way we know who has potions and how many. I used to use red stones but then this cool antique shop opened up." Pinkie took a deep sniff before falling back into her chair. "Mmm! They smell like cinnamon!" Story chuckled. "Yeah, that's the potent smell that...How'd you know that?" The girls all froze for a second before Story seemed to realize something. "Right! It's Pinkie Pie, don't question it." The girls all took a collective breath. Too close, some of them thought. Soon, Sunset decided. After the game we tell him. "Well, into the satchel they go," Ricven decided before putting them in the same satchel that Stostine pointed out. Then as he did, he did a double take inside the bag. "Wait. Is. Is this the other thang you were talkin' about?" Ricven reached deeper into the satchel and fished around for a little bit as he went elbow deep into the bag. No way! My eyes lit up. Is it. Is it the bag itself?! Did we really happen across a— But my hopes were quickly destroyed as Ricven plucked out a small set of keys all attached to a single brass ring. Right away the transmutation magic my spell found left the bag and floated around the key ring. "Oh," I hummed boredly. "Oh what?" Ricven looked at me. "Oh nothing," I dismissed. Of course it wouldn't be the bag. Get ahold of yourself Stostine! I got serious and tried staring at the keys, trying to figure out what they were as Ricven did the same. But with them in his grip, I had no clear view of them. So instead, I watched as Ricven's eyes lit up in recognition. "Ohhh! These're Mystery Keys!" "Mystery Keys," I repeated with no confidence in my voice at all. "What are those exactly?" "Oh, poor, poor Miss Stostine," Ricven chastised as if I were a toddler. Something I did not approve of. Then he held them out for me. With him being fifteen feet away, I frowned and whisked my Mage Hand to life, letting it sail over and scoop the keys so that I could bring them in my own hands. Like Ricven said; keys. Three to be precise. Each one looked to be cast iron and were formed in the shape of question marks. But as I ran my finger along the bits that would go into the lock, they squished inward like wet clay before reshaping into a different combination. "Mystery Keys are a poor man's skeleton key," Ricven explained. "Simply tap 'em against whateva lock you find yourself in front of and there's a slim chance that the lock magically opens! But the more keys bound to a ring like that, the higher the chance you got a' the lock playin' nice." "So then if there is only small chance with one key..." I started to form. "Then there's double the chance with two. Or triple with three," Ricven said. "If I recall, one key made up...Oh, let's call it a one-in-twenty chance? So those three keys combined—" "Makes a fifteen percent chance on any lock." "Correct," he congratulated me. "Here's the kicker though. When that chance finally pays off, one a them keys falls off and breaks. Then the Keys become ten percent. Then five. Then nothin'." "Good to know." I told him. I placed the keys back on my Mage Hand and ferried it back to him. "In that case, do you want them? I am not. Well, much of a..." "Low life?" A voice called out from the entrance of the cavern. Platick. Great. "I was going to say sleuth," I admitted. "Uh-huh. Sure." He frowned, looking between both of us as Vareén walked past him and to the keg of ale. "Well speaking of sleuthing and low-lives, none of that stuff belongs to either of you. Unless the wizard here has some pedigree that proves it." "For the last time," I droned. "I am not a noble. My father's title is more a formality than anything else anyways." "Point still stands. It's not yours." "So?" Vareén gave him a look. "This stuff was taken by the goblins. And other than Sildar, do you see any hostages?" Platick gave her a look before he walked over to the pile and swept a moldy blanket aside to reveal a large symbol stamped onto the side of one of the crates facing us. A large bird talon clutching a covered wagon. "You see this? This is the brand of the Griffonbound Vendors. A general store chain across Leodaav. It belongs to them." "The keys don't," Ricven reasoned with a grin. "Neither does anythang else I mighta pulled outta there. Far as I see it, Griffonbound's only got claim ta what's in their own crates. Everythin' else is free game." "He has a point." Sildar frowned. "Just because it's in the same pile doesn't mean it's theirs. In fact, there's no laws against keeping what was once stolen goods. If their crates have armor that any of you could use, you're fully entitled to it. Not that it would. It's probably tools and building materials seeing as how it was headed to Phandalin." "Cool. I ain't a handyman anyhow." Ricven shrugged. As he did, we could hear the others start to walk back up the tunnel towards are room. "Ah, perfect timin'! Now that we're all back, I think it's best we get ta splittin' the goods." Ravathyra, Glemerr, and Thorn Wielder all walked into the room in time to watch a small gnome try his hardest to push a low filthy chest along the rocky floor. After about three heaves, he huffed and stared up at his audience. "Well?!" He demanded. "Someone' gonna help or are all of ya watchin' fer ya sick kicks?!" Ravathyra took that as her queue and hurried over, picking the chest up by both handles and bringing it to the center of the room where we all, myself included, had a good view of it. "I believe this is all you," Sildar told us. "But, if someone would be kind enough to pass me another tankard?" I smirked and let my Mage Hand get to work again, gathering a tankard and setting it under the tap of the keg before using its thumb to turn the valve enough to get the ale pouring. When it was all done, I shut the tap and floated it over to him. "Carry on. I see nothing," he told us before taking a gleeful sip. "Righ' then." Ravathyra returned the smile. Then, with her armored foot, she kicked the lid open and scanned the fair pile of some sort of coins. As well as a cute little statuette of a frog on top. It was made of jade and had gold orbs for eyes. "So? How we dividin' it?" She asked before swatting Ricven's hand away like a scornful mother. "Ow! Oh please, I ain't a baby! I was addin' to it." Ricven reached out again and dropped the keys and a small pouch of silver coins. "That money's from one a' the goblins. I think he was some sorta big short 'fore he bit it ta my Thunderwave." "When'd you get that?" Vareén frowned. "While you were feedin' them berries ta Sildar," Ricven admitted. "Two people can't feed a man at once. So I spent my time elsewhere." "Frog." Thorn Wielder pointed to it. "Me frog." "Do you even know how money works?" Platick asked. "No money. Frog." "Traveler help me," Vareén muttered. "Hm. Looks like...420 copper pieces," Glemerr told us. "And 120 silver pieces! Not bad!" "There is no. Possible way. You counted that in the span of three seconds!" Platick glared. Sildar lowered his tankard and glanced over. One second later: "No, your friend was close. 422 copper pieces and 120 silver." "Shut up," Platick demanded. "How did you two even do that?!" "Frog," Thorn Wielder repeated. "You're not getting the frog!" "Fighting solves nothing," I declared sternly. "Everyone, please, remain calm about this. Remember that we are still getting paid two-hundred gold for our current job. We can be charitable." I watched from the corner of my eye as Sildar instantly looked guilty. "...Sildar," Vareén spoke out in a tone that made him close his eyes. "Something you want to share?" Everyone spun around to face him as he dreaded what was probably about to happen. "That. Money..." He took a moment to swallow a mouthful of ale to give himself some courage. "...Was on Gundren as we got captured." "..." "..." "...What?" A voice, I'm not sure who's, asked. If words could kill, that would have been a stab to the gut. "He dropped some of the money as a down payment at Phandalin," Sildar tried to cover himself. "When you bring the cart there, you'll still get paid. Just...not as much." As I stared at him, suddenly aware that I let myself get stabbed for something less than two-hundred gold pieces, I could see Platick slowly pull a dagger from the corner of my eye. "How." Platick spoke even and slow. "Much?" "..." Sildar downed another gulp of ale. He was probably almost out now. "...There's two-hundred exactly. If you split it evenly, it's about twenty-eight gold—" A mace went flying, embedded itself partway into the seat's back only a few inches from Sildar's smashable head. "Twenty-eight gold?" Ricven asked, his arms still held out from when he threw his weapon. "Twenty-eight? That's what this was all worth? Nearly gettin' ourselves killed by the pit stains of forests?! Fer twenty-eight gold?!" Vareén drew a handaxe, her only melee option, from a belt loop and leveled it towards Ricven. "Back off." "Oh put the toy down ya hooded joke." Ricven dropped all pretense of manners. "Allow me ta remind you somethin'. You. Dragged me inta a room a' four goblins and decided ta go commando on 'em! And then hid BEHIND THE GNOME for protection when you sucked eggs at it!" From under the hood Vareén got heated. "And you think you deserve any of it? The entire time we were guarding the cart, you lazed on top of it! You never helped set camp. Up until then you were useless." "Well at least useless is better than hindrance!" Ricven returned fire. "The only reason yer alive is 'cause a' mah Thunderwave! A spell that nearly got all a' them killed in the process!" "Yeah, Ah'll admit. Dat coulda gone much betta if we got da drop on 'em," Glemerr told them. "Like you're one to talk," Platick sneered. "You ran off without us at the very start! If you stayed with us, we could've reached the cave without you stumbling around half-dead." "Err maybe you shoulda jus' come along wit' Glemerr in da first place!" She challenged. "Besides, ya nearly stumbled in da water an' gave us away before we even got inside." "Why does that matter?!" He tightened the grip on his dagger. "I didn't. I caught myself and did my job. Like we planned." "An den ya got washed out by da water when we was inside too!" Glemerr jabbed a big meaty finger into Platick's chest before the two were staring down one another. "Did you even help fight off da gobbo's?!" "Did you?!" Platick used the dagger to batter away Glemerr's finger, making her snarl in his face. Still he didn't back down. "If I remember, you ran ahead again and started bleeding out on the floor! Thorn Wielder had to run in and save your sorry hide!" Thorn Wielder, seeing Vareén and Ricven and then Platick and Glemerr distracted, took her chance. Stepping forward towards the chest, she bent down and picked up the jade frog, clutching it close to her chest like a little girl with a doll. "Frog." I huffed. "Thorn Wielder, put that down. you do not even know how valuable that is." Ravathyra sighed, slowly removing her left gauntlet. "I's come ta this..." She shook her head and held it tighter. "Frog." This time, I used Elven. "Thorn Wielder, I know you understand me. Put the statue down. You are not keeping it." She gave me a curt look and shook her head again. "I take it, so it is mine. Frog is mine. Not yours," she explained in Elven. "It's not anyone's until we have a resolution! I am not asking again, put it down or one of them might think you're stealing it. Someone will end up hurting you." Then Thorn did the one thing I didn't think she knew how to do. She scoffed with a condescending look in her eye. "Like you? You hurt. Also sick. I not scared of you." I felt a part of me snap. "You don't want to do this. Final warning. Put. It. Down! NOW!" Thorn Wielder watched me for a moment before suddenly the focus of her face vanished and she gave me this thousand yard stare as she leaned her head to the side. Like a little girl not getting her way. "Froooog~" she said dumbly. "That's it!" I held out my arms to force myself to stand, one of them lighting on fire. I'll teach her to play dumb wit— CLANG! Vareén fell to one knee, holding her bleeding nose as Ravathyra passed by. CLANG! Ricven was laid flat on his back. CLANG! Platick took one to the jaw. CLANG! Glemerr clutched her ear and temple. CLANG! The frog statue was knocked out of Thorn's arms and into the fire. Then I watched as Ravathyra spun and threw her gauntlet at me like a boulder. I screeched and made the sigil for Shie— CLANG! I fell back onto the bed roll, the gauntlet slamming into my forehead. ...I had used the last of my magic for Detect Magic. Each one of us stood there in a daze as Ravathyra dusted her hands off. One with a gauntlet and now one without. Then she clutched her holy symbol and said a quick prayer of forgiveness under her breath. "Honestly," Ravathyra said calmly. "Ah've 'elped mothers give birth ta lovin' bundles a' life. And both their cryin'. COMBINED! Don't stand a testament ta all the bellyachin' Ah'm 'earin from grown men an' women! Now if ya don' stop cryin' right this instant, Ah'ma give ya all a proper round two! Now haud yer wheesht!" "What's that last part even mean?" Story asked as each of the girls started writing on their papers. Rainbow's crusade dealt one damage to each of them, with Sunset and Twilight now both at only one hit point. "Basically? Shut up," Rainbow defined as she sat back, grinning as she watched everyone finish writing their new hit points. "Learned tha' from me Mum as well. Ah deserved it back then too, honest." "F-Frog." Thorn looked destitute as her jade frog sat engulfed by the flames. Ravathyra removed her second gauntlet, scaring Thorn into backing away. But rather than go after her, Ravathyra used it to roll the frog out of the fire and onto the floor where she put a boot on it. "Al. Alright..." Ricven groaned as he tried peeling himself off the ground. As did I. "Per. Perhaps Lady Ravathyra's got a point. We can't start rippin' each other ta shreds. After all, it ain't our fault the money's gone." The others started to recover to with Vareén realigned her nose with a crack as Platick spat out a small glob of blood. Sildar was untouched but resettled in his chair on the side that didn't have a mace wedged into it. "...Okay." Glemerr nodded after testing to see if her ear still worked. "Ya got me. Ah needed dat." "I didn't," Vareén countered but the looks she got made her stand down. Ravathyra contemplated it for a moment before nodding. "If it helps, Ah didn't take pleasure in tha'. We jus' needed ev'ryone ta be silent." "...Yeah," Ricven groaned as he teetered on his own balance for a second. "I believe the Lady's right. We're too loud." "Whatever,"Platick grumbled as he spat another small glob of blood. "For now, let's rest. We're exhausted, we're all injured," I pointed out as Ricven and Platick were previously untouched until now. "And regardless of what we do, we're out two-hundred gold. Let's split the money we do have, cool off for the night, and pick up tomorrow." "Yeah," Platick concurred. "You're right. Split it fair and move on. Anyone got any suggestions?" "Frog." "Other than that," Platick specified tiredly. Thorn Wielder frowned. "Ah got one. Platick?" Ravathyra used the tip of her boot to kick the frog statue as if she were a star soccer player and kicked it into his hands. "Be a dear an' pluck out them gold eyes, woulda?" Confused, Thorn looked between the two while Platick rolled his eyes and obliged. Without trouble, he wedged the tip of his dagger into the jade sockets and popped them out like corked bottles. "Now let 'er 'ave it," Ravathyra told him. "She don' want money, right? Jus' the frog?" "Good point," I said. "We split the money amongst ourselves and she gets the frog. It gives everyone a larger amount as well." "Seventy copper, twenty silver, and thirty-three gold pieces each with a remainder of two copper and two gold for Thorn to be exact," Vareén said matter of factly. Everyone gave Twilight either a bored or humored look as she proudly knitted her fingers together. Mental math had its uses no matter the scenario. "All that leaves are the two gold eyes from the frog," I pointed out as I saw them sitting on the ground. Ricven tapped his chin for a moment. "I suppose they'd go to whoever did the best work. Although, given the spat we just had, I'm not sure we're fit to handle that." Sildar thought about it for a moment, eying his now empty tankard. I'm not refilling that, I thought. Although it did remind me I had my own tankard I hadn't touched right beside me. "How's about this." Sildar got our attention. "Who took down the bugbear?" "Oh. Dat was me," Glemerr said with a raised hand. No one challenged her; she obviously did the work there. "In my opinion, there's eye number one," Sildar told us. And without further debate, Ravathyra picked up both eyes and tossed the first one to Glemerr who took it in stride. "Then how's 'bout de second goes ta whoever took down da most gobbos?" Glemerr offered. "Ah'll stay out since Ah got dis eye." "In that case, I stand with at least four," Ricven told us. "One on the road plus three more with Thunderwave." "That beats me," I admitted. "If I brought any down it was only one. Everything else I only injured." "I got three," Platick announced. "Although if you count the one we let run, I coulda killed him too. That would be four." "You let one get away?" Ricven frowned. "If anythang, that's a negative point." "Also four," Vareén spoke up. "One at the ambush, one lookout, one running for reinforcements and one of the reinforcements." She walked up to Ravathyra to claim the orb. "That means we're tied," Ricven stressed. "Ya don' automatically win a tie." "I know." Vareén snatched the orb from Ravathyra's hand and tossed it to Ricven. "But I also know that we tied for the highest count. And I surrender. You win." Ricven held the orb in his hand and looked back to Vareén. "Really now?" "You covered me. I got cocky. Take it." It was stiff but this was probably Vareén's way of apologizing. Ricven grinned. "With deepest pleasure, Miss Vareén." "...What happened to Lady?" "You'll get that title back when ya make up for the blunder. I only use Lady for those that prove themselves. Like Lady Ravathyra." He winked. "Call me Rava fer short," she said with a tired smile. "Ah'd rather everyone did as a matter a' fact. Much simpler than Ravathyra Dagarkin, the gob full." "Rava. Fine by me!" Glemerr grinned. "Say, what say ya ta a drinkin' match Rava? Ah' gotta practice fer when we get Gundren back!" "Challengin' a Dwarf?" Rava grinned back. "Yer in fer a rude one missy! But yer on!" "Con Saves, right?" Pinkie asked, still remembering from the last time she did this. "Yep. Rava has advantage, cause Dwarf," Story told Rainbow, making her scoop up a second die from her pile. Unbeknownst to her, it was the magic die she had swiped from Fluttershy earlier. The sound of three dice, despite one of them being made of thunder clouds, clattered across the table. Then a fourth. "Sunset?" Story asked. "I'm assuming that javelin wound still hurts bad, right? I think Stostine deserves this," she reasoned. Not to mention, if Rainbow was onto something with seeing our characters, 'Stostine' might want to dull that pain as much as she can. "Fourteen," Pinkie called out. "Sh-Shhh. Shheventeen," Rainbow replied with a hiccup, trying to keep it together as a handful of drunken nights suddenly danced across her mind. An experience for her given she had never drank before. "...Four," Sunset said after a moment. Although this might not have been the best way. Story took a moment before glancing at the three of them. "The contest goes...About the way you'd expect. The Dwarf winning and the thin mage...not."