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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 8368581" data-attributes="member: 508">ADVENTURE 11: FARTHINGALE'S FORTUNESPC Roster:Alewyth Putterpye, dwarf priestess of Aerik 3             Thurloe Pulver, human fighter 3             Wakuren, half-orc cleric of Cal 1/paladin 2             Xandro Silverstrings, human bard 3             Zander Quilson, elf sorcerer 3Game Session Date: 7 August 2021 - - -"You folks headin' into the barony?" asked the merchant, walking beside an overburdened mule pulling a cart loaded down with merchandise."We are," Thurloe Pulver replied from astride his horse."First time?" pressed the merchant."Yes," Thurloe admitted."For the rest of them," Alewyth corrected.  Having been born in an Underdark city beneath the mountains to the north and west of their present location, she'd passed this way once before in delivering the keystone carved by her Order to the Pantheonic Temple in Port Duralia, where she first met up with the others in her group of traveling dreamwalkers.  And the only reason they were heading back the way she'd originally come was that the next person trapped in a dream was down there in the Underdark, in the sister city to the one in which she'd been born and raised."Well, word of advice, then," suggested the merchant.  "Once you get into the first town - Maluka - head on over to the Temple of Farthingale and get some of your coins changed over to the local currency.  Baron Franco Kornak, he's got his own currencies in place in his lands.  He'll accept foreign coins, but they'll charge you a good 20% over and above the cost of things.  Over at the temple, they'll convert your coins for a mere 5% charge.  Save you some money - and hassle - in the long run."  He gave the group directions on how to find the Temple of Farthingale once they arrived in Maluka.The group thanked the old merchant and he bid them a good day, leading his mule south while they followed the road north.  Before too long they passed a sign denoting the border to the Barony of Kornak and not soon after that the city of Maluka became visible.  Sure enough, the Temple of Farthingale was right where the merchant had said it would be: a stone, single-story structure, built in a completely circular shape - just like a coin.  The holy symbol of Farthingale hung just above the pair of sturdy-looking iron doors, a pile of loose, golden coins.  "They've got gold coins as part of their building?" marveled Zander Quilson."Not necessarily real gold," pointed out Thurloe."Plus, who'd be dumb enough to try to steal coins from the outside of a holy temple?" Xandro mused.  Thurloe just smirked at the young bard's naivety.  He knew plenty of folks who'd think nothing of scaling the wall with a pry-bar to see if they could get a few gold coins out of the deal, holy temple or no.  He figured either the gold was fake - there were plenty of ways he knew of to give something the appearance of being solid gold, and not all of them relied upon magic - or the temple had ways to protect its holy symbol from theft.  In any case, he didn't give it any further thought, merely dismounted from Horse and tied his reins to one of the many posts outside the temple for that very purpose.Wakuren parked the wagon and tied the reins of the mules to a post, while Xandro and Zander did likewise with their own mounts.  "We're not thinking of converting all of our money, are we?" asked Zander.I figure 100 pieces of gold ought to last me for awhile," Thurloe answered.  Seeing the elf's attempts at processing that information he offered up, "That'll cost me 5 gold."  Zander nodded as if having come to the same conclusion and started counting out 105 pieces of gold.  The others rummaged through their own sacks of money, coming to their own decisions of how much money to convert to the Kornaki currency.  Once they'd all made their decisions, they strode in through the double doors.Immediately inside the temple doors was a short hallway, some 15 feet long and 10 feet wide.  There was another set of double doors at the far side, but before they got there Thurloe couldn't help stopping to stare at the pair of daggers hanging, by no apparent means, to the wall.  "Weird," he declared."Not so weird if you read the signs," Alewyth pointed out, indicating a sign on the opposite wall that directed all weapons were to be left along either of the two side walls.  According to the notice, only those who placed their weapons there would be able to retrieve them.  The notice also helpfully pointed out that no weapons of any kind were to be permitted inside the temple proper.Thurloe, of course, was skeptical of the claim but he removed his bastard sword and placed it up against the wall.  Once he had Wakuren try to remove it and fail, and then only after Thurloe had easily removed his blade from the wall did he trust that this wasn't some type of trick.  "Okay, then, I guess this makes sense - no weapons inside where they keep all of their money."  He removed the rest of his weapons and adhered them to the wall as the others followed suit.  Wakuren just watched, smiling slightly."What about your shield?" Alewyth asked the half-orc."Not a weapon," Wakuren answered her politely.  Alewyth only snorted and pointed out she'd seen him use it as a weapon on many an occasion.  "True," admitted Wakuren, "but then anything can be used as a weapon - your fists, for example.  I don't imagine they want us all to leave our hands here on the walls while we head inside.""Eh," Alewyth shrugged, as close as an agreement as the half-orc was likely to get.  Then, all weapons stowed, the five adventurers stepped through the inner doors.Inside, the Temple of Farthingale was less a temple and more of a bank.  The building's interior was one large, open circle, spanning a good 50 feet across.  There were a few wooden benches along parts of the wall, while off to the left was a spraying fountain, behind and above which rose a statue of Farthingale, Demigod of Wealth, counting his vast fortunes.  Four wooden doors along the curved inner walls led to elsewhere in the building, while straight ahead stood a bank of four teller's windows, two of them manned by young female acolytes earning their way up the ranks of the order."May I help you?" asked another young woman in the robes of the order."We're looking to convert some of our coins to the local currency," Xandro explained, smiling at the young woman.  She directed them straight ahead, where the two tellers were each already helping a customer.  Xandro thanked her and went to stand behind the man in the left line, while Wakuren went over to the line on the right.  Alewyth meandered, following them but doing so slowly, looking around at all of the finely-built construction of the building.  As might have been expected for a temple to the Demigod of Wealth, they had spared no expenses in the building of their temple, for the woods used were exotic, the fountain quite cleverly constructed, and the statue elaborately carved.There was a man standing beside the fountain and Thurloe and Zander wandered over to see what he was up to.  He had tossed in a few copper pieces, watching each of them plunk into the scant few inches of water at the bottom of the fountain, at the bottom of which could be seen several dozen similar coins.  "It's said to bring luck," the man offered, smiling over at Thurloe."Well, I'm always willing to have some good luck head over in my direction," the fighter replied, fishing a few copper pieces from the coin purse on his belt.  He was pretty sure Farthingale wouldn't care that these weren't Kornaki coins he was tossing in as an offering; the Demigod of Wealth, no doubt, had interests spanning the entire globe, not just this one small barony on the small continent of Armaturia.  Zander tossed in a copper penny or two himself.Just then, an unseen voice from the middle of the ceiling called out in an ominous voice, "Weapons detected!"  From his own magical readings, Thurloe surmised it was likely a magic mouth spell or something very similar.  Spinning about to see what had caused the sudden announcement - as was just about everyone inside the temple - Thurloe saw a group of five rough-looking customers enter the temple.  Sure enough, they were all brimming with weapons, from the short sword in the right hand of the leader (his other hand covered in what the fighter assumed was some sort of brass knuckles), to the greatclub perched on the shoulder of the hulking brute, nearly seven feet tall, who simply had to have some ogre blood in his ancestry.  Another man held a pair of leather whips at the ready, a fourth held a pair of sharp-bladed daggers, and the last carried a wooden quarterstaff above which floated a burning flame."Everybody stay where they are!" called out the leader.  "You behind the counters: hands in the air where we can see them!  Everyone else: down on the floor, face down, hands extended!  This is a robbery, but if everybody does as we say there's no need for anybody to get hurt!"As he was giving his commands, a man stepped out of one of the doorways leading into inner offices or whatever.  Apparently on hair-trigger alert, the man with the staff, Heindrich Snyder, flinched and a bolt of energy went blazing from the fire at the tip of his staff straight at the newcomer stepping into the lobby.  He was instantly engulfed in a bright light and then was gone before he'd even had a chance to utter a sound, leaving behind only an ashy stain on the floor where he'd stood."Well, there's a fine example of what happens when you don't do as we say!" roared Zeke Decker, the bandit gang's leader.  "Now, everybody DOWN ON THE GROUND!"  The customers at the heads of the lines before Xandro and Wakuren hurried to comply, as did the young woman who had greeted them as they entered.Thurloe, however, wasn't in much of a compliant mood.  Disgusted that the temple's "defenses" seemed to be a verbal announcement of something that was already all too apparent, he decided he'd have to do what he could to take out these clowns - only without his own weapons at hand, thanks to the temple's ridiculous policy that only disarmed the law-abiding.  Fortunately, he'd taken Wakuren's conversation about what constituted a weapon and what did not to heart.  Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a thunderstone - not technically a weapon, he'd decided, as it wasn't used to inflict physical harm - and hurled it at the middle of the group of robbers.  Alewyth was standing right before them, but he hoped he'd be able to hit the floor with his thunderstone far enough back that she wouldn't be affected.  And if not, too bad, because the main thing was to take out that spellcaster with the staff of disintegration or whatever it was, before it could be used to kill anybody else.Thurloe threw the thunderstone - and overshot his mark by a great deal, sending it far too high, to crash against the back wall by the front doors.  Still, judging from their confused expressions and attempts to unblock their ears after the cacophonous explosion of noise caused by the thunderstone exploding, the leader and the guy with the whips at least had been deafened.  Thurloe sidled sideways, hoping the waters of the fountain would shield him from view.Snyder, still holding his staff in one hand, saw the dwarf woman in front of him hesitating and helped her with her decision.  "On the ground!" he snarled, grabbing her shoulder and giving her a push.  Alewyth complied for now, wishing she had her warhammer Sjondra in hand.  A black form dashed from Snyder's shoulder; it was a raven, his familiar Stygian, who flew across the room and perched at the top of Farthingale's bald head behind the water fountain, keeping watch over the proceedings and ready to warn his sorcerer master from his aerial view of any shenanigans the temple's victims might be plotting.Wakuren, like Thurloe, had decided instant compliance with the robbers' orders was not the right call for the situation.  He likewise came to the conclusion that the sorcerer wielding the dangerous staff was the primary threat and, with a roar, charged at Snyder.  One half-orcish hand covered the sorcerer's mouth in an effort to keep him from spellcasting while the other tried yanking the staff from Snyder's hands.  Together, they struggled to wrest the staff from the other's hands, although the sorcerer realized the weapon's only true power was in the belief it generated to those who saw it that it was deadly; in actuality, the person suddenly stepping out of the doorway to get instantly obliterated was part of the same minor illusion that made it look like a blast of energy had fired from the tip of the gnarled piece of wood in the first place.Seeing his fellow adventurers were giving a go at taking down these bandits, Xandro pulled the lute from his back and started strumming, beginning the words to his magical song that inspired courage in his compatriots.  He too sidled over by the fountain as he did so, the better to remain out of view from the rough-looking would-be robbers with all the weapons.  His song, however, reverberated across the circular lobby, adding strength to his friends' limbs and accuracy to their blows.From her prone position on the floor, Alewyth cast a bane spell, hoping to have the exact opposite effect on the other half of the active combatants: while Xandro's magical tune gave aid to the five heroes, her spell sought to decrease the fighting abilities of the bandits here to rob the temple.  She couldn't see the results right away, but Snyder was affected by the priestess' spell, as was Mando Fozzlewith, the rogue with the long sideburns wielding the twin daggers.  Mando was approaching Wakuren with both daggers out, ready to stab at the armored half-orc grappling with Heindrich Snyder.  But Wakuren saw the approaching rogue from the corner of his eye and spun the sorcerer about, using Snyder's body as a shield instead of the one held in place on his own right arm.  Mando was too far into his swing to make any course corrections and the blade went deep into Snyder's back with a wet thuck!  Wakuren merely grinned a tusked grin at the hapless rogue who had just backstabbed his own partner in crime.Zeke Decker wasn't sure who had thrown the thunderstone that had robbed him of his hearing, but he knew the direction it had come from and there in that direction stood a robed elf - more than likely the culprit.  Not able to even hear his own words as he yelled them, he called out again for the elf to drop to the floor.  Zander calculated his best chances for survival and did just as the furious fighter had directed, laying flat on the floor beside the fountain.Bussard "Lash" Badlander was currently deafened from the thunderstone explosion but he went over to the front desk and shrugged out of the wooden box that he'd carried on his back by means of a pair of ropes.  "Fill it up with coins!" he commanded to the terrified acolyte behind the counter, and if he couldn't hear his own words it was apparent that she could, for she bent over and hurried to comply.And that left only the tallest of the bandits, the half-ogre who went by the name Gronk.  Stepping over to Alewyth, laying prone on the floor, he bent over her and said, "I like your necklace."The priestess of Aerik wasn't sure she'd heard him correctly, or that he was even speaking to her among all the confusion.  Gronk made sure his meaning was clear by kicking the dwarf in the side with his booted foot.  "Hey!  You!  Dwarf.  I like your necklace.  Give it here."Alewyth looked to her side and saw her holy symbol of Aerik was lying on the floor, although still connected to the chain around her neck.  "It's the symbol of my god," she told Gronk.  "I cannot give it to you."That was not the answer Gronk wanted to hear.  Grabbing the dwarf by the shoulder and lifting her off her feet as easily as if she weighed no more than a kitten, he reached out with his other meaty hand and imprisoned the holy symbol within his massive fingers.  One quick tug and the chain snapped.  "Said I wanted it," he explained.Looking up to see the deafened fighter wasn't watching him now that he had seemed to comply, Zander did a few quick rolls off to the side and tossed out his figurine of wondrous power, calling out its command word.  Immediately, the statue disappeared and was replaced with a living, full-size cooshee, the green-and-brown mottled fur identifying it immediately as one of the fabled elven dogs.  "Sic him!" Zander commanded, pointing at Zeke.  With a snarl, the cooshee complied, crushing the fighter's leg between his powerful jaws.  Zeke screamed in pain and swatted at the elven dog with his short sword.One of the doors along the front of the lobby opened, and Foster Shillingsworth popped out his head.  Seeing the melee going on in the lobby as several of his temple's customers fought off a band of thugs, he called out a command word and then signaled for the young acolyte, Chandra Coinbee, to crawl over to the relative safety of the conference room.  She hurried to comply.  "We'll let things sort themselves out," the heavyset cleric promised his employee, the woman who had greeted the adventurers upon their entry into the temple.But Father Shillingsworth hadn't meant he'd let the adventurers handle the robbers, although he was perfectly willing to let them lend what aid they could.  Instead, his command word activated the temple's true protective measure: with a sudden spurt, the fountain hiccupped and then the water cascading down started taking on a humanoid form.  The water elemental gathered up all of the water at the bottom of the fountain, increasing its size, and then stepped out onto the lobby floor with righteous intent.  Zeke Decker was the closest armed person in view, so the water elemental stepped over his way and the deafened fighter had no warning when a watery fist suddenly clubbed him from behind.Thurloe saw Alewyth's predicament and realized without her holy symbol she'd be unable to cast many of her spells; he also recognized in himself a latent chivalry in the realization that the sole woman on their team was in trouble.  Since Zeke seemed to have his hands full fighting off the cooshee and the water elemental that had just erupted from the fountain, Thurloe deemed it safe enough to brush past him to go try to save Alewyth.  That was a mistake on his part, for Zeke was wary enough to stab out at Thurloe with his short sword as he passed, cutting him along the arm.  But Thurloe ignored it, channeling his own inherent magical energy in his hand and slamming his open palm onto Gronk's broad back, hoping to siphon off some of the brute's strength with his touch of fatigue.  But no luck on that front: the half-ogre didn't seem the slightest bit fazed by the fighter's attack, other than to identify Thurloe as a more fitting opponent than a little dwarf woman.With a snarl, Snyder tried breaking free of Wakuren's grasp but the burly half-orc was more than a physical match for the frail sorcerer.  As they each tried pulling the staff from the other's grasp, Wakuren suddenly changed course, smashing the staff forward into the sorcerer's face with the satisfying crunch of bone as it broke Snyder's nose.  Blood rushed down out of his nostrils and over his lips, then a head-butt from Wakuren sent him slipping away into unconsciousness.  Wakuren looked at the staff in his hands and waited to see if it would fill him with a sudden understanding of its powers (as he had heard sometimes happened with powerful magic items), but when it didn't he tossed it aside, well aware that the water elemental - obviously part of the temple's defenses - was targeting those with weapons.  Best he not be wielding a weapon, then, he decided, especially since it seemed the sorcerer he'd just knocked out was the only one of the five bandits likely to be able to use its disintegrate powers.Using one of the powers of his Dardolian Lute, Xandro altered the words to his song of courage and interwove a charm person spell aimed at the ranger with the two whips.  Lash, still deafened, couldn't hear the words to the bard's song but he felt the mental intrusion and the attempt to take over his will, and he knew someone had been trying to capture him in some magical enchantment.  He spun about, made direct eye contact with Xandro, and headed his way, whips whirling about in readiness for some retribution.  Zander saw the whips slash forward with blinding speed and strike the young bard (who, to his credit, took the blows without altering the cadence of his song which he knew was aiding his friends) and responded with a magic missile spell that sent a pair of missiles streaking across the lobby to strike the ranger full in the chest.  Lash snarled and turned to fix the sorcerer with a look that promised vengeance in the very near future.Alewyth was still dangling in Gronk's meaty grip.  In an effort to extricate herself, she kicked out at him, the toe of her boot hitting him in one of his tree-trunk thighs (which was almost where she'd been aiming).  Angered, Gronk threw her to the ground and then brought his greatclub swinging down at her head - but her dwarven training against fighting giants kicked in and she just narrowly avoided getting the side of her head caved in.Mando stabbed at Wakuren again with one of his daggers, catching the half-orc in the side of the hand and drawing blood.  Zeke stabbed his own blade at the cooshee snapping at him, likewise drawing blood that matted the animal's mottled fur.  The fighter then stepped back from the elven dog, practically bumping up against Wakuren as the cleric of Cal fended off Mando's quick attacks.  But the cooshee was single-minded in his attacks, biting at Zeke and clawing at him with his front paws.  Of all the potential results of robbing a temple of Farthingale, getting into a life-or-death battle with an elven dog was not anything that Zeke had even considered as a possibility.The combatants having shifted around during their various fights, Gronk was now the closest armed figure to the water elemental, so he became the aquatic being's next target.  A watery fist hit the half-ogre in the side of the head and even Gronk was surprised at how much a slam from a fist made from water could hurt!  Thurloe, at his side, grabbed up the staff Wakuren had dropped to the floor and wielded it in a two-handed grip, bringing it crashing down upon Gronk's head - only he was careful to keep the half-ogre between himself and the water elemental, realizing that by wielding a weapon he was likely being added to the elemental's mental list of potential foes to be brought down.  Down on the ground where Gronk had thrown her, Alewyth darted forward and brought her arms around the half-ogre's ankles, hugging them to her and hoping to topple the giant to the ground.  But a swat from his greatclub sent Alewyth reeling and her grip subsided.  Gronk stepped free, turning to face the water elemental fully.Wakuren, at this point, was quite tired of the rogue stabbing him with his daggers.  With a roar of rage, he sent his shield crashing into Mando's face, sending the dark-clad sneak-thief staggering off to the side.  Over by the fountain, Xandro continued playing his song and the half-orc realized it was having an effect upon his combat prowess.  Mando kept himself from falling over and slashed at the half-orc with a wide arc of bloodied blade, but Wakuren easily dodged the frantic swing.  Behind him, Zeke was stabbing at the cooshee again, who didn't allow a few stabs here or there to stop him from continuing to bite his opponent.Lash lashed out with his whips, this time aiming at both Xandro and Zander Quilson but only hitting the elf.  Zander accepted the blow and cast another magic missile spell, not at the whip-wielding ranger but rather at the hulking half-ogre who at this point was looking rather winded.  The elf's assessment had been quite accurate, for the pair of zinging missiles was all it took for Gronk to be felled like a tree.With the half-ogre out of the picture, the water elemental found itself more or less equidistant from two potential targets: Thurloe Pulver and Zeke Decker.  For whatever reason it went for Thurloe, who ducked beneath the elemental's blow and then immediately dropped the staff he'd been wielding.  "I surrender my weapon to the temple of Farthingale!" the fighter called out to let there be no misunderstanding and the elemental turned away.  But then Thurloe decided enough was enough and he turned back to the front entrance to the temple - and its only direct exit from the lobby.  Pushing his way through the doors, he grabbed up his bastard sword and it pulled away from the wall without any resistance at his touch.  "Now that's more like it!" the fighter enthused, turning back to face the lobby.Wakuren hit the rogue with his shield again, the blow in tune with Xandro's inspiring music.  Alewyth reached over the unconscious Gronk and pulled her holy symbol from his unfeeling fingers.  She'd have to get the chain repaired, she frowned to herself, but in the meantime she had the divine focus for her spells back!  Just to test the waters, she cast an inflict minor wounds spell on the rogue Wakuren was fighting and was pleased to see it take immediate effect.And now it was Mando's turn to decide enough was enough.  He pushed open the doors to the exit and saw Thurloe standing there with his bastard sword in hand, blocking the way.  Mando pulled back and let fly with one of his daggers, hoping to impale its blade through one of Thurloe's eyes, but the young fighter dodged his head to the side just in time and the weapon flew harmlessly over his shoulder.  Behind Mando, Zeke called to the rest of his team still standing, "Let's go - this isn't worth it!"  Retreating now meant leaving Snyder and Gronk behind to be captured by the authorities, but better that than all five of them getting caught - he honestly hadn't expected there to be this much resistance in this podunk little town.  He gave the elven dog before him a final stab with his sword, then turned to flee.  The cooshee was having none of that, clamping onto his leg again with his teeth and pulling the fighter back.Lash couldn't hear anything Zeke was saying but he saw him turning and heading for the door.  Grabbing up his box from the teller - it wasn't all the way filled but it would have to do - he closed it up and started shrugging it over his shoulders.  However, before he got it fully settled Zander cast another magic missile spell his way and the ranger was immediately knocked out, falling to his face on the floor.The water elemental looked about him, saw Zeke was the closest armed target, and stomped his way.  Still kicking his leg free from the cooshee's mouth, Zeke turned to face the oncoming elemental and Wakuren managed to bash his shield into the fighter's back, propelling him forward, straight into the water elemental's rushing fist.Alewyth channeled her own inherent bit of magic and sent a ray of frost at Mando.  It struck him in the back but had no immediate effect, other than convincing the rogue his only hope was to somehow get past the fighter's bastard sword and out into the open air.  He faked a stab at Thurloe with his remaining dagger, feinted to the left, and then tried rushing past him to the right.  But Thurloe wasn't tricked, and his blade cut the rogue down in a single strike.  There was no doubt about it: Mando Fozzlewith was dead, his life's blood seeping out onto the floor of the entry hall to the temple of Farthingale.That left only Zeke, the leader of the bandit gang only now without any followers to lead.  He backed up, grabbed Lash's box of coins (no sense in not making it out of here without some payment for all the pain he'd endured), and cautiously made his way around the periphery of the lobby, headed for the exit door while trying to keep an eye on each of the adventurers there in the room with him.  The bard was still strumming his lute; no problem there.  The dwarf woman was fumbling with the holy symbol necklace, trying to tie the ends of her chain together; no immediate threat there, either.  The half-orc stood between him and the door, but he didn't look to be armed and would likely be no problem.  Zeke had lost track of the fighter, who had probably made it back outside; okay, a problem to be dealt with once he got back out of the lobby.  And that left only the skinny elf - where had he gotten to?Zander's magic missile spell hit Zeke square in the chest, answering his last mental query as the consciousness left his body and he slumped to the floor.Wakuren took charge of the cleanup.  "Minimal healing," he suggested, casting a cure minor wounds spell on the fallen bandit leader.  "We don't want them to bleed out, but we don't need them waking up, either."  Alewyth dealt with Gronk and Lash while Wakuren tended to Snyder.  Thurloe poked his head back into the lobby, saw the others had been dealt with, and reattached his bastard sword to the wall before joining the others.  "The one out here won't need no healing," he announced.  "He's dead."The attempted robbery having been halted, the water elemental returned to the fountain and discorporated.  Seconds later, the fountain started back up, as if nothing had happened.  Stygian shrieked and flew from his perch, hoping to flee, but Zander put an end to that with one final magic missile spell of the day, killing Snyder's familiar outright.  The raven plummeted to the floor."Well done, well done," enthused Foster Shillingsworth, stepping back out of the conference room.  "I'm prepared to offer you a reward of 100 pieces of gold for each of these bandits, for the service you have provided to this temple!"  He paid out the reward in Kornaki currency, alleviating the need for the group to convert any of their foreign coins which had been their only reason for entering the temple of Farthingale in the first place.  And as it turned out, there was an even bigger reward for bringing in the gang, once they had been bound with ropes from the wagon and the authorities had been summoned, for Zeke Decker's gang had amassed quite a reputation as wanted criminals for similar crimes in other towns and cities in the area, as well as for preying upon travelers along the roads."Not a bad start to our time in Kornak," Xandro observed, putting away his lute. - - -Besides the monetary awards, Wakuren ended up with a pair of boots of striding and springing he stripped off of Mando Fozzlewith and Zander inherited a +1 ring of protection and a wand of magic missiles he took from Heindrich Snyder, whose "staff of disintegration" turned out to be nothing more than an impressive-looking length of wood atop which had been planted an illusory flame.Also, the water elemental hadn't been the temple's only defenses.  As the acolyte had been filling Lash's box with coins, she'd activated a bestow curse effect that would have kicked in once the coins made it outside: for each 20 feet away from the temple, the weight of the coins would have doubled, so the robbers weren't going to have been able to get very far.  (In fact, I had anticipated them getting outside the temple and the PCs fighting them out there, but I failed to recognize the fake "disintegration" of the illusory victim wouldn't cow the players so much as spur their PCs into immediate action.)This was a short adventure, lasting less than two hours of our normal 5-6 hour Saturday session.  I was willing to let that be an end to the session - Dan and Vicki's 24-year-old son Jacob had recently broken his leg and was at their place and I knew Vicki was worrying about him.  But she was game with pressing on with the next planned adventure immediately after this one was finished up (after texting Jacob to make sure he was okay - he was fine), so that's what we did. - - -T-shirt worn:  A Mello Yello T-shirt, one of two that I own.  It's kind of a stretch, but I wore it because of the admittedly tenuous connection between the "yellow gold" of the standard gold piece that played a major role in this adventure and the golden-colored soda, a favorite at the Richards household.  (Not all of my T-shirt match-ups are particularly strong; this was one of those cases.)</blockquote>

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