345. Vonda’s Quest III

345. Vonda’s Quest III

The group scavenged what they would from the dead adventurers, including a number of weapons which held a slight magical tingle.

“Nice,” Adam whispered, his head bouncing gently.

The rest of the temple was quickly scoured, the group of people finding whatever treasures they could, from paintings, to figurines, to coins.

“It’s a temple,” Nobby said.

“Right. We need to make sure we find everything so we can send back Vonda with more money back to where it should go.” Adam pat Nobby against his back gently. “Good, Nobby, those are the kinds of questions you should be asking if you have a decent heart.”

‘How can you say something like that?’ Vonda asked, still sour that they were taking half the treasure.

“No artefact,” Adam said, with the group having filled their sacks with all the treasures, leaving some copper coins since they would be too cumbersome to carry.

Vonda eventually dropped down before the statue, before she prayed, and cast several healing spells before it. The statue then slid backwards, revealing a staircase heading down, one which hadn’t been there before they righted the statue over it.

“That’s cool,” Adam whispered, nodding to Jurot.

Jurot nodded. There was many great magics in the world, and he was glad to see this, especially since it had something to do with Mahtu.

“Before we go in, we should probably, you know,” Adam said, nodding his head.UppTodated from nô/v/e/lb(i)n.c(o)/m

“What?” Jurot asked, not knowing.

“Leave a few people behind, just in case. We should probably pile the copper coins around the statue so there’s some money left for Mother Soza.”

Vonda gave Adam a look, one he understood, but he smiled back at her innocently.

“Jaygak, you come with, since we’ll need your sight.”

“We will not need it,” Vonda said, before she raised her mace. She called out the command word for her magical mace, which began to glow.

“What a useful mace,” Adam said, nodding his head towards her. It took him a moment to realise he enchanted it. He smiled. “Damn, I’m so smart.”

“I can stay with the others and make sure they don’t get up to trouble,” Jaygak said.

Adam narrowed his eyes at her.

“What?”

“You can come with us,” Adam said. “Kitool, can you look after the rest?”

“Yes.”

“It doesn’t matter to me, I’ll just make trouble with you,” Jaygak said.

“Do you think you’re safe because your father isn’t here?” Adam asked.

“I accepted the terms, but it does not mean that I am happy about it.”

“That is a shame,” Adam said, his eyes scanning the treasure chests. “It won’t do us any good if my good friend, Sir Vonda, is upset with me.”

Vonda couldn’t help but feel he was poking fun at her. He didn’t call her Sir Vonda since they were close, but the way he was emphasising Sir when he called for her, it caused her to narrow her eyes further.

Adam chuckled, before looking at the chests. “Is there a key to them?”

“They must be in the treasure which we had found previously,” Vonda replied.

“Right. Makes sense. Let’s grab ‘em, then. We’ll take the chests rather than the coinage. We can bury the coinage near the temple, or leave them around the statue.”

“Will they be from your half?” Vonda asked.

“They will be from both our halves,” Adam said. “We can’t take them all back, so let’s leave some behind for the good Lady.”

Vonda bowed her head gently. Even if Adam was an adventurer, he was queer enough that he thought about these kinds of matters. Vonda wondered what Adam was thinking at the time, seeing his eyes drift away.

Adam’s mind was occupied on the temple. ‘Is it really a good idea to take all the treasure? It’s only half, and it’s split between Mother Soza and us. Should I reduce our share? No, no, everyone still needs to make some money. Should I give up my share? If I give up my share, then how am I meant to make the business to help others? Will Mother Soza be mad?’

Jurot waited for Adam to finish his inner monologue, before he began to pick up the various chests.

Vonda turned, facing the mace. She trusted Adam and the Iyrmen not to steal anything, and it would have been difficult for even them to hide even the smallest treasure chests. It was made of diamicule, yes, but the way the light hit the mace, it revealed something else. There was a light within the mace, not just the light which refracted in all the different colours, but something deeper within.

Vonda quietly said a prayer to Mother Soza, before she reached for the mace, and her fingers clasped around the handle. It was only then that she remembered what she had been told about picking up the mace.

‘Sister Vonda, make sure you pray to Lord Sozain before you pick up the mace.’

She had assumed she would have remembered because it was such a surprise that she, a Priest of Life, would have to pray to the God of Death before picking up a weapon which was an artefact of the Goddess of Life.

It was partly why she waited so long to travel with the Iyrmen and Adam. It must have been Fate which had brought them together, and with their help, she was certain she would have been able to retrieve the artefact.

The Iyrmen could feel something had gone wrong first, and they quickly leapt away from the chamber.

Dexterity Save

D20 + 1 = 6 (5)

Adam stumbled as the floor began to give way, breaking in pieces, before he tried to dart towards towards the entrance. The Dexterity Save had appeared so suddenly that he had forgotten to use his Omen in that moment. His foot slipped against a stone and he fell backwards.

“Oh, fu-,” Adam gasped, feeling his entire body drop for the second time. Someone grabbed his hand.

Jurot turned to try and grab Adam, but he saw Vonda grab Adam’s hand, with the only source of light in her other hand. The ancient artefact they had come for fell beside them freely.

The mace fell dark, as another ten minutes had passed.

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These DEX saves are going to be the death of him.