Dungeons & Disappointment

Chapter 12: Mugs Music and Mirth

"Now, let me do the talking with my husband, because I'm not too certain as to how he might react to seeing me again." Kaela said, wiping sweat from the hot day from her brow. "Just stand back for a minute."

Both of us nodded as she turned back to the forge, and she knocked on the door. The clanging inside stopped, followed by Tilar cursing and swearing yet again, and I heard him coming to the door, right as Finana's hand came down on my shoulder.

"Listen, just in case you want to negotiate for a bit more money, just know you got this!"

Just like last time, I felt the power of the Bardic Inspiration flow through me, and I began to feel so much more confident in myself, right as Tilar opened the door. The first thing he saw was his wife's midsection, since he was much, much shorter than her, but the moment he looked up, his jaw dropped as he slammed into a hug with her.

"Holy Gond you're home!!!" He cried. "Oh Kaela, how I've missed you!!"

"Me too, Tilar." She said. "The thought of you kept me going in there, until these two kind people here busted me out of there."

"Righty-o!!" He said, giving us both a thumbs up. "All of you, please come in, come in!"

We all got out of the midday heat, ducking under the door, and I noticed that the forge was in much, much better shape than it was before. However, when I entered the forge, I saw an armor stand, and it caught my eyes. It was a regular, albeit finely made set of plate-mail armor, but held in the "hand" of the armor stand was a large steel and silver encrusted Halberd. It glinted brutally in the lights of the fire, and thats when I realized something. The Halberd was enchanted with FlameTongue, and that was a very, very nasty spell that would burn enemies when struck. I was naturally drawn to the equipment, but I was jarred out of the stupor when Tilar set his hammer down with a clang.

"Okay, that was a job well done." He said. "Kaela here told me that all eight of the Goblins, plus the Worg, have been killed. So that alone, you guys earned 21 Gold Pieces. Now, for returning my wife, you can either get any equipment of your choice, or 20 Gold pieces."

Without hesitation, I pointed at the suit of armor, and Finana started nodding.

"The plate-mail armor. And the Halberd."

"Ah, one of the finer sets of armor and equipment that I've made." He said. "Both the armor and the Halberd is magical. The Halberd is enchanted with FlameTongue, which is a very powerful enchantment. It can also be used as a lamp if your careful enough. And the armor is enchanted with the spell Blood Fisted. Not too sure how it works, but it makes your strikes hit a lot harder."

"Right. Do you think its worth 20 Gold Pieces?'

"It's really worth 40."

"I know, but we did bring your wife home. Absolutely unharmed, right back into your arms buddy."

He scratched his beard, then finally nodded.

"Oh alright." He said. "Let's get you suited up and paid. Thank you again for bringing back my lovely wife."

"Not a problem man." I said, trying to contain my excitement for a new suit of armor.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Clank!!!!

I strapped the last piece of armor on, and truth be told, it was really, really comfortable. The armor wasn't too heavy, nor did it feel that it might be pierced easily, and the Halberd was balanced quite nicely, despite having a large blade and spike at the end of the pole. I slung the Halberd over my shoulder and snapped it in, making sure that it was secure, and I watched as Finana collected the Gold Pieces from our job.