Finding the Spark (Pathfinder 1E Quest)

The Season of Still Stone

"The orcs need know only that we dealt with the moldfolk and the mold, not what else was there, especially since they or their chiefs might have something to do with the trouble," you offer and no one objects, though Mina does explain that they are only 'half-orcs', whatever that means, in a town where a fellow with a crab claw in place of his right hand can haggle over the price of stone-fruit flower with a three eyed matron. The distinction is apparently important to those who dwell above, if not to Mina herself, so you endeavor to look for any signs of the other half. What is it that makes a human, most common by far of all the people of the Burnlands, according to your companions?

One thing is for sure, it's not diligence or organization. You find the pair in what might be the worst tavern in town, having somehow contrived to smoke so much flayleaf that the prickly-sour smell of it had managed to overwhelm the usual miasma of the caverns. The bleary-eyed look of the younger brother does nothing to improve your flagging hopes of getting paid.

Yet when Gorok recounts simply 'the danger is gone, all dead' and hefts the pot full of fermenting green mush as proof something remarkable happens, the pair practically explode into good cheer. So much so that Urz tried to slap the saurian warrior on the back, almost earning himself some brand new scars for the trouble.

"Coin?" The question sounds like a threat, which you suppose it is. A more solid one at that than when you had shaken them with the sight of your shadow.

"Yeah, yeah, sure." He pulls a heavy iron bound chest out from under the bed, the kind that takes either the key or an axe to deal with. There is a lot more than nine hundred gold in there, though how much more you cannot say for certain, not wanting to be caught staring. Counting out the coins is a bit of a chore, though not as much as you had feared thanks to Cob of all people, stacking coins in tens and hundreds with all the wide-eyed good cheer of a child who had found a new game, marking a tally as he goes along.

Gained 900 gp

"That is not the only gold in this whole affair, though it is by far the most pleasing to the eye," Mina tries to soften them up with flattery before revealing the golden medallion with the symbol of an ornate key upon it. "Recognize this?"

"Ah... yeah. Really sad what happened to Jo...rock. Boss sent him down there and he got turned into mold mush," the elder of the pair says.

Mayhap you do not know much about the proper names of Burnlanders, but you recognize that pause in the middle as someone inventing a name whole-cloth.

"That was her name was it? Sounds like a man's name to me," you lie without shame. They had shown none doing it to you, and payment in full or no you want to know what they are hiding.

"Ah, right, that must have been Ilys..."

"Fuck's sake, just drop the act already," the other orc says, rolling up some more flyleaf. "Boss ain't paying us for telling tall tales so we might as well cut them down to size. They were enemies that busted in one day looking to close us down on account of they not liking enterprising business folk musclin' in on what they think is their turf. If you want some advice, get rid of their stuff 'fore someone tracks it. They seemed like the sort of outfit that might be able to afford a wizard to tell 'em who killed their mates, and if you are holding onto the loot them they might put two and two together and come up with five."


"That not make sense," Cob says, looking up from his counting.

"It's a figure of speech, a turn of the tongue," you add what you think is the right goblin translation.

"Tongue all swollen up then, not good for talking," the little fellow chuckles, leaving your former employers looking bemused, though at what you could not hazard a guess. Cob has that effect.

Still, you think as the four of you get out into, relatively, clearer air of the main cavern. You consider the advice you had gotten, and wonder just how much of what you had gotten in the mine do you sell. Gorok certainly seems fond of his new axe, but he could buy a new one or some other weapon in its place. Quite apart from that are scrolls and potions, those might save someone's life. Maybe just get rid of the recognizable stuff. No doubt the pair and their mysterious boss would love it if all the marks of their misdeeds should never see the Burnlands again, but you are not so flush with funds as to to oblige them without a thought.

What do you sell over the next few Long Sleeps?
List of all your worldly possessions here. All items are sold for half price before haggling. As Akorian has bluff but not diplomacy he can attempt to mislead merchants about the value of the item obtaining up to 30% of its resale value (15% of its full value). If you are caught misrepresenting your goods some of the merchants in town may decide not to trade with you at all

[] Haggle
-[] Write in what to sell

[] Do not Haggle
-[] Write in what to sell

OOC: I decided to break up buying and selling so as not to overwhelm you guys with details.