{{Whoops, that list on page 135 didn't include all of the money pouches that were looted. I've double-checked the numbers and edited it to make it correct. The party actually has quite a bit of coinage.}}<br/><br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="text-decoration: underline">&lt;&lt;Jolly Barbazu&gt;&gt;</span></span><br/>Alyssa's suspicion is partly correct: if the centaur had been sloppier in his choice of words<span style="font-size: 85%; line-height: 116%;">(e.g. "That pouch should be enough...")</span>, the imp would have gladly seized the chance to grab the pouch and vanish with all of it. Fortunately Rihyan asked a yes-or-no question.<br/><br/>"Yes." answers the imp after rifling through Leska's purse and counting up the coins with super-human speed<span style="font-size: 85%; line-height: 116%;">(think: the autistic guy counting matchsticks in Rainmaker)</span>. "There's 917 gold in here. You pay from this?"<br/>He hears Alyssa's question and ignores it, unswayed by her endearing tone. His only job is to extract the balance, not to serve customers.<br/><br/><br/>"...Bite me..." answers Leska, equally unhelpful. Being forced to watch people she loathes dispense of her property is worsening her already foul mood.<br/><br/><br/><br/>(assuming someone gives an affirmative answer to the imp) The fiend snatches out 630 coins--pausing to scowl at some of the coins and toss them back if they are not satisfactory--then dumps it into his own tiny purse (which is apparently enchanted, as it shows no sign of bulging).<br/>With this accomplished...<span style="color: red"><span style="font-weight: bold">*pop*</span></span>...the clerk vanishes.<br/><br/>A new word scratches itself into being at the bottom of the scroll:<span style="color: #FF0000"><span style="font-style: italic">Teûdtgó</span></span><span style="font-size: 85%; line-height: 116%;">(Infernal: "paid in full")</span><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>{{If you're wondering why Geno has been so foolhardy, it's because he failed his willpower save vs. Nurkisi's<a class="postlink" href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/charmPerson.htm">Charm</a>nutrion when they first met. >x3 }}<br/><br/><br/><span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="text-decoration: underline">&lt;&lt;Nurkisi's tent&gt;&gt;</span></span><br/>When Geno turns his back to her and enters the tent, the green taur cracks into a huge toothy grin, the triumphant face of someone who is about to lay down a straight flush in a winner-take-all card game. Hearing a laugh nearby, she looks to the side and notices Hisal, a friend of hers, standing at the entrance of an adjacent tent.<br/>She flares her eyebrows at him. He laughs again. Being familiar with Nurkisi's ways, he knows that he will never be seeing that unfamiliar black dragonkin again.<br/><br/><br/>Inside the tent, Geno finds a well-furnished room lit by bright ambient light (Geno has seen similar light in Boryg and recognizes it as magical in origin). The floor consists of wooden panels. To the right is a pile of embroidered silk cushions. Next to that are two large mahogony trunks, closed and locked; each bears the same unfamiliar symbol that was emblazoned above the tent's door. Near the back of the room is an iron pot-bellied stove. Next to this stands Wu, presently pouring steaming water into two cups of polished silver. Up close and in better light, Geno now sees that the human is only in his second decade, barely old enough to grow facial hair. He is clad in<a class="postlink" href="http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicArmor.htm#shadow">pitch-black</a>leather armor and has a dozen daggers strapped across his torso and limbs. He looks mutely at Geno for a moment, his expression solemn and guarded, then turns back to the stove. To the left is a wooden table and a single chair; spread out on the table is an open scroll, a pile of sealed scroll cases, and a smattering of other miscellaneous items.<br/><br/><br/><br/>As Geno is taking in these sights his hostess pulls aside the flap and enters behind him. The close quarters of the tent's interior makes the taur seem even larger than she had seemed outside (which was already quite large). Her ears brush against the canvas ceiling and her lower half fills the entire entrance.<br/>"Ah, perrrfect timing." she says at the sight of her servant pouring tea.<br/><br/>Wu hands Geno a cup of steaming liquid, then hands another to Nurkisi. It smells very pungent, like a spice closet.<br/><br/>"The Ouros plant is<span style="font-style: italic">very</span>rare, it<span style="font-style: italic">only</span>grows in one forest in the whole world. Enjoy it, my friend! My treat."<br/>She raises her cup. "Let us toast to your fortune here in Armel, and to happy hunting."