Week 53
TL;DR - Food, shopping and thievery
The hooded man converses with the party, describing his trials with the undead, and noting the party have a nice bit of sanctuary. He asks if the party would mind if he tagged along with them until they reach Tor Dranil.
A few questions from the party and they learn that the man is a High Elf, just a traveller and is named Tenser. Jaxzon asks him to remove his cloak to see what he may be hiding underneath - the man complies and shows off leather armor and a long sword. One of his ears is damaged, which is explained away as having lived in Nagarythe a long while and a dungeon delver.
Tailee is called out of the tower to weigh in on the hooded man, but she does not offer anything new. She heads back up the tower, with Jaxzon in tow - he continues up to the observation level to see if the ship can be seen. It isn’t visible, but a line of smoke can be seen in the direction of where the party is travelling.
Iliqua finally exits the tower and asks more questions, then calls for breakfast - Tenser is invited which he accepts.
Tenser then asks Iliqua about the undead protection - he doesn’t offer any specifics. Tenser mentions that he’s in the business of magical artifacts and wondered if that was how the protection was created.
Iliqua asks Tenser to step outside so they can figure out what to do with him. It is decided to let him tag along, but keep an eye on him and be ready for badness.
Everyone packs up and start walking along the path to Tor Dranil.
A few hours later, cresting a hill near to the smoke - a bonfire and a ring of wagons is seen to be the source of the smoke. Tenser mentions that the wagons are a travelling restaurant. Shebrum is reluctant to check it out, but goes along with the rest of the party.
Getting nearer, the party hear voices and several of the wagons open up - the restaurant is staffed by gnomes. A menu of sorts is given, including the ever popular mystery meat. They are asked if they know Dibblah and if alcohol is available.
Jaxzon gets his food and drink, Iliqua and Shebrum head off to chat about whether or not to slaughter the gnomes. Zer0 continues to keep an eye on Tenser.
Iliqua ask what kind of meat they have, and orders leviathan soup and some wine. Shebrum settles for a simple meal of chips and meat.
Tenser sells something, Jaxzon looks for healing potions, buying four. Iliqua and Shebrum head to the general store, then Seebow (the gnome that would drink with Dibblah). Iliqua asks him where Dibblah is, but Seebow doesn’t know where. Iliqua offers “advice” about who you’d have a drink with.
Everyone bar Zer0 converges on the magic shop. Shebrum sells his acid dagger, and buys a magical Gnomish hand crossbow (no loading needed). Jaxzon asks for things that don’t require attunement - ones that double jump height, advantage on sneaking and protection against fall damage. He takes the jump height shoes, trading in the ceremony rings. Iliqua asks for a bag of holding and a spell scroll of Lightning Bolt.
Tenser heads out behind the wagons, Zer0 follows but loses sight of him - Zer0 finds his tracks but they end suddenly with no sight of him anywhere. A necklace with a tooth is seen in the mud, which Zer0 collects and heads back to the main area.
Jaxzon has fun with his new shoes, bouncing around like a kid - he tries to backflip but fails horribly, faceplanting. Tailee helps him up and tries to teach him how to do it properly. A second attempt works a lot better.
As Iliqua leaves the magic shop, the ramp under his feet drops away and he stumbles and falls prone. The proprietor comes out and apologises for the ramp breaking.
As Zer0 is walking back, Tenser reappears and notes that the necklace is his - Zer0 hands it back to him and they both continue back to the main area, letter Tenser go first.
Jaxzon, Iliqua and Shebrum head into the alchemy store, Shebrum casting Psychic Whispers asking the others if they should be trusting the gnomes. Iliqua chats to the Svirfneblin owner about where he’s from and why he’s hanging out with normal gnomes, then asks for drugs (sigh).
Eye drops (view other planes), dried purple mushrooms (polymorph), silver scales, bliss and an amber liquid (smelling salts with bonus hallucination).
Shebrum asks for a price to buy them all, with 1200 gold being the stated price. An attempt to haggle down to 1000 fails, so Shebrum agrees to the original price. Jaxzon buys a couple of potions of Hill Giant Strength.
Shebrum asks Zer0 where he is via telepathy, he responds that he’s heading toward them with things to discuss about Tenser. When they meet up, he explains that Tenser disappeared for ten minutes, leaving a necklace behind.
Everyone heads back to the road where Tenser awaits. The party make a move to continue on, but Tenser stays put. A quick inventory check reveals several items are missing and Iliqua rushes over to ask Tenser what is going on, only to find out that he’s an illusion. Footprints are seen heading to the top of a nearby hill, but they again disappear, with no sight of Tenser.
Iliqua heads back to the magic store, knocking on the door until it opens, and demands to buy more spell scrolls, specifically ones to locate objects or creatures. He grabs a scroll of Locate Object and casts it immediately - the ping is at the extreme range. He also grabs a Far Step, and a couple more Locate Object scrolls.
Iliqua tries to cast the Far Step spell three times, all three failing, destroying the scrolls, racking up a big bill and causing a mishap - reverse gravity over a 300 foot range, meaning everyone and everything shoot up to 100 feet. Several caravans start connecting together and blaring sirens…