The Art of Negotiation

The party sailed back to Deep Harbor through the night. They arrived by morning and disembarked, grateful for their safe return to dry land. Upon arrival they set off to find the biggest shipping company there to broker a repair agreement for the eel folk. They found Clayville shipping run by Feng Clayville. He was an older gentleman according to the information they got when questioning the citizens of the town. They also learned that he was expected to retire soon and pass on his share of the business. There were rumors that his second in command, a red haired female Dwarf named Kathill, was the first choice to take over. All talk of the business and it’s owner was positive and loving. It appeared that the employees were treated well and the management spent money and time giving to the less fortunate. Feng could often be found serving food at his food shelter in the city of King’s Crest. 

When they arrived, Kathill let us know that Feng was in King’s Crest right now and that the party needed to speak to him to get approval for the venture with the eel folk. After convincing her to at least cease hostilities for the moment they thanked her and headed out to turn in their quest. They returned the cargo and, more importantly, Raf, to his grateful father, the merchant. After receiving his signature and seal on the quest scroll they headed to the Screaming Siren to meet the leader of the Dock Bucks. We had heard from the merchant that the Dock Bucks were the ruffians that haunted the docks. They extorted gold and bribes for “protection” and smuggling. The leader was known to gamble quite often at the Screaming Siren and was a good player at that. The party wanted to pay off Coppertree’s debts with the Bucks so they didn’t have to worry about attacks. They wanted to negotiate with the leader to save Sheila’s butt. She couldn’t have cared less. The first thing she had done when they arrived was head off to drink and gamble her share of the payment away. 

At the Screaming Siren, Aleera asked the proprietor to perform and was allowed. She put on a grand display with her new whip. She conjured a group of spectral fey tigers to dance with her. She made them do tricks and jump through the audience giving them a thrill. She managed to earn 66 gold for her effort. Not a bad haul. They all ate the gourmet meal offered at the tavern and it was so good they felt exceptionally ready for the next day of adventure (aka: advantage on saving throws for the next day). They also remembered that Asterisk was from Novos. They quickly got out their cards to find if he was in town. The cards directed them to the northern sector of town and they bought a few items. They also introduced Kaladrax, only to find that they already knew of each other as they both lived in the city of King’s Crest. 

Malachi received a magical letter from Milo telling him that he was okay but that he had a job and work to do before he could join the party again. The party was back at the bar after setting up a meeting with Gaspar, the leader of the Dock Bucks, at the Screaming Siren. They were sitting at the booth furthest from the door when Gaspar entered, followed by two other individuals one of which was a half-orc like Malachi. They stared daggers at each other as they sat down.

The party had dragged Sheila out of her drunken stupor and sobered her up enough for the meeting. She was sitting next to them at the table with a sour look on her face. They couldn’t tell if she was sick or mad. Gaspar immediately accused Coppertree of cheating and Aleera asked how he knew. He told her that she had weighted dice and he had taken them when he discovered her cheating. He held the dice out and dropped them. They landed on snake eyes. He threw them again, and again they landed on ones. Aleera shook her head and asked what the debt was that he had hanging over Sheila’s head. He yelled out that she owed five thousand gold with interest included. Aleera calmed him down with her charming manner and offered a 15% cut of Coppertree’s earnings to help pay off the debt. He argued that he would take no less that 40% of her earnings. Aleera rebutted that she would never be able to maintain her ship and crew with that big of a cut and offered 20%. He fumed but agreed and said that he would only go as low as 25% of her earnings and that was final. 

With the terms agreed upon as fair to both parties they shook on it and Coppertree looked both angry and grateful. With the night coming up on the horizon the party asked the owner of the Screaming Siren for the best lodgings in town and were directed to the Shadowpeak Inn. They made their way there post haste, looking forward to a comfortable bed and no constant pitching back and forth. On the way there, Kariss broke off from others and headed toward the Temple of Eversight to pay homage to her deity, Bahamut, the Platinum Dragon god of Justice. 

The Temple of Eversight was a giant mega church where all deities were allowed to be worshiped. Since there was limited space on the island the temple wanted to allow space for worship without excluding any citizen. This meant that all gods must be allowed for equal representation. Any and all gods were present, including evil ones. The more regularly visited a shrine the closer it was placed to the entrance. The more obscure and less worshiped gods were located further back. 

When she arrived, she received a shock. Kariss found the beautiful effigy of Bahamut desecrated and broken. There were no offerings in the area where his shrine was located. It was downstairs in an empty area with no other gods. The lowest of the areas and his was the only shrine. With tears running down her face she touched the broken bust of Bahamut. Her sorrow flowed from her in waves. As she looked on the ruined sculpture a silver light enveloped it and the stone began to repair itself. The dragon effigy was completed as if it had never been broken in the first place and with the last pulse of the light a platinum sheen encased the stone. It was more protected than ever before. Kariss wiped her tears away and smiled at her god. She prayed for a while and then headed back to the Inn. She went back to join her friends in good cheer and company for the night.