3. The Sign of the Broken Head

Grim chugs his ale in a manner surely most impressive!
I don’t mind ta share a room, I’m fine wi’dat!
Kronos, meh friends n’ I had a scare, somethin’ awful! De tower, at de base o de cliff. We were horrified by an apparition. Ya know ’bout any o’ dat?!

"If you don’t fancy the bunkroom, then there's a private room upstairs. Three gold a night. Trouble is, it's taken at the moment."
"What? The old tower at the bottom of the waterfall? Most sensible folks avoid that place. The ‘Tower of Madness’ they call it. Anyone who stays there is driven crazy, or so they say. Supposed to be haunted by some noble who lost his one true love. Fairy stories probably, but I’ve never been in there myself. You never know, do you?"

---
7:40 pm, Demmasday 1st Lucreon (April) 2993 AEP
Ellagel, Elven Fighter/Magic User 1/1: 6/6, 90’
Grimidek, Dwarven Cleric 1: 9/9, 60’
Jacky, Halfling Fighter/Thief 1/1: 6/6, 60’
Thrudmarr, Wiskin Fighter 1: 5/5, 90’
Vasco, Thorcin Thief 1: 6/6, 120’
Zacharias, Archontean Fighter 1: 10/10, 60’
—
Billie, Mule, 120’

"Oh dear, I suppose it'll be the bunk beds for us then," Jacky says cheerily. After a good meal, that could hardly dampen his mood. "Is it the traders from Gosterwick up there? Maybe they'll have some work for us in the dungeon."

Ella sipped her wine carefully and slowly, as a humming-bird would sip nectar from plump flower. She listened to all this new information, satisfied to learn that there would be a place to fall back to, in between forays into the Halls.

Money, however, was a problem. She had all of six coppers to her name. She turned to Zacharias: "Would you be able to cover my expenses? I’ll return the amount, doubled, after our first foray into the Halls."

Grim’s big ol’ calloused fingers reach into his belt pouch. He pulls out a gold piece, equal to ten silver, and sets it carefully on the counter in front of ol’ Kronos.
Ya have a weekly rate, do ya? Meh friends n’ I may be holin’ up here a while. Not sure yet!
Can ya tell meh if dere be a Lucrean temple hereabouts? N’ a smithy, as well? Sites n’ sounds fittin’ to an ol’ dwarven cleric!

No fairy tale, Master Kronglass, it's real enough. Would you believe I started this trek a teenager? The ghost of the nobleman ate a good decade of my life force, Zach replies morosely as he sips his ale.

Thrudmarr, having wandered over to the bar after speaking to the Wiskan woman, shivers upon remembering the ghostly visage. "Ghost very angry. Make young Zach become old-man Zach! It say...noo-ma? Something like that."
"Thrudmarr can help!" he slaps 2 gold and 4 silver on the counter, to cover bunks and meals for Ella and him.

"Do think on the bright side, Zach," Jacky says, standing on tiptoes to clap the man's back. "You're in the prime of your human life! Why waste it fretting over what you've lost instead of what you can do now?"

He turns back to grin at Ellagel. "It seems you have no lack of champions offering their purses, miss, so I shan't compete in this regard."

Zacharias turns to Ellagel, who had been nice to him on the ascent and after the apparition, and hands her a platinum piece. This should cover what you need, Lady Elminster. We'll discuss repayment if we survive.

Turning to Jacky, Zach continues Maybe so, Master Jockstrap, but most primes of life come with the teachings of experience. I may be dumb, but now I am both dumb and ignorant. By the time I learn what to do, I will either be dead or an old man. Zach goes back to contemplating the unfairness of life through the lens of good ale.

A quick summary of the financial situation as there’s a lot of coinage flying around.

A drink, meal and a bed for each of you, assuming you go with the basic options, costs 13 silver. Stabling for Billie is 10 silver.

That’s a grand total of 88 silver, or 8 gold and 8 silver.

So far, we have 1 gold from Grimidek, 2 gold and 4 silver from Thrudmarr, and a platinum piece (5 gold) from Zacharias for a total of 8 gold and 4 silver.

So Kronos just needs 4 silver more from someone.

---
7:40 pm, Demmasday 1st Lucreon (April) 2993 AEP
Ellagel, Elven Fighter/Magic User 1/1: 6/6, 90’
Grimidek, Dwarven Cleric 1: 9/9, 60’
Jacky, Halfling Fighter/Thief 1/1: 6/6, 60’
Thrudmarr, Wiskin Fighter 1: 5/5, 90’
Vasco, Thorcin Thief 1: 6/6, 120’
Zacharias, Archontean Fighter 1: 10/10, 60’
—
Billie, Mule, 120’


Is the private room at the Broken Head available? 1d100

After dining, is there anything else you would like to do this evening?

Or would you prefer to fast-forward to the next day?

---
8:10 pm, Demmasday 1st Lucreon (April) 2993 AEP
Ellagel, Elven Fighter/Magic User 1/1: 6/6, 90’
Grimidek, Dwarven Cleric 1: 9/9, 60’
Jacky, Halfling Fighter/Thief 1/1: 6/6, 60’
Thrudmarr, Wiskin Fighter 1: 5/5, 90’
Vasco, Thorcin Thief 1: 6/6, 120’
Zacharias, Archontean Fighter 1: 10/10, 60’
—
Billie, Mule, 120’

Ella is very thankful for the financial assistance afforded her, and content to realize that the party manages these costs in a fraternal manner. She would keep that in mind going forward. Other than dining, she is ready to rest as soon as the others are finished eating. She is a light sleeper, like most elves, and her favorite time for studying her spells is pre-dawn, so she tends to be an early sleeper.

"We discuss strategy in the morning?"

Yes. Let’s rest this eve, I feel like we earned that!

Zacharias finished his dinner and dragged his recently-created weary bones to the bunkroom, dropped his packs in an out-of-the way spot, and promptly went to a much needed sleep. His body and soul literally abused—with whispered prayers to Chibalba and Ellion, he hoped that sleep would help his body come to terms with his new reality.

Kronos points out one of the fancily dressed townsmen, a Thorcin, to Jacky as the current occupant of the private room. "Godric the Wise they call him. He’s one of the statue brokers from Gosterwick. He’ll pay for any statues you’re able to recover from the Halls. As will either of the other two gentlemen that he’s sitting with."

Kronos explains to Grimidek that there are no temples or smithies nearby. "Leastways, none that I’m aware of up here. Who knows what you might find down below. But above ground, there’s naught but this inn."

At that point, a woman dressed in clerical robes walks into the barroom through a door behind the bar. Those of a religious persuasion realise that her garb and holy symbol indicate that she is a follower of Tychias, the god of luck, fate and wealth, otherwise known as the Lady of Thieves’. "Ah, here she is," exclaims Kronos with a smile. "Estelle, come on over and meet our new guests."

---
8:10 pm, Demmasday 1st Lucreon (April) 2993 AEP
Ellagel, Elven Fighter/Magic User 1/1: 6/6, 90’
Grimidek, Dwarven Cleric 1: 9/9, 60’
Jacky, Halfling Fighter/Thief 1/1: 6/6, 60’
Thrudmarr, Wiskin Fighter 1: 5/5, 90’
Vasco, Thorcin Thief 1: 6/6, 120’
Zacharias, Archontean Fighter 1: 10/10, 60’
—
Billie, Mule, 120’