Keeper's Quest

Same here

“Tesha, do you think you could chase down our runner?”

She shook her head. “Not unless I wanted to start a gang war. We’re in Guild Territory. It’s one thing to get your stupid ass killed fucking with someone outside your weight class while they’re here under a flag of truce to do business with a member. It’s a whole other story to run one of their soldiers down in the street and shank him.”

“Uggghaaaa,” squealed the figure on the ground in agony as he twisted in place, latching hold of Seth’s leg in his pain driven confusion.

“Could one of you finish this idiot off,” Seth spoke with a wince, glancing down at the whimpering figure on the ground.

Riith grinned darkly and stabbed her sword down, catching him between the legs, setting off a new battery of howls.

“I said finish him off!” Seth growled.

“Missed?” she grinned.

Seth shot her a dark look.

“I stabbed an artery...”

Tesha simply rolled her eyes and ran a dagger across his throat, silencing his screams for all times. “Your aim sucks.”

The Half-Elven Ganger turned slavegirl snorted in amusement and then looked down at the body, her eyes locking on the molten remains of what was once a face.“Seriously girl, what did you hit him with?”

“Bile Demon Bile,” she replied, earning a wince from the ganger.

“Dark Gods Below Girl,” she cursed, “You carry that shit around with you? You crazy?”

“Enchanted pouch,” she replied, “And my leathers are treated.”

Riith nodded in approval, “Damn. Remind me not to fuck with you.”

Tesha shrugged and glanced at Seth. “Now what boss?”

“Now I want you to loot the bodies and after that...” he paused for a moment, “How about I get you three girls a treat?”

“Yeah!” Tesha cried, “Presents!”

Riith scowled at her. “You can’t be fucking serious...”

Tesha pouted. “What’s wrong with presents?” she glanced at Kalli. “Presents are good, right?”

“Y-yes mi-mistress... pre-presents are g-good,”

Tesha frowned, “You don’t have to agree with me, you know...”

“I-I-I like p-presents...”

“See?” She asked, it’s all good...”

“Hey, ‘master’,” Riith asked, “So what do you want us to do with the live one?”

She indicated the third ganger who’d survived the fireball, and now was trying to creep out of the alley as quickly and quietly as his injuries would allow

Seeing that he was noticed, the man turned about in terror and looked up at Seth the way a wounded deer would a particularly hungry lion. “P-p-please man, d-don’t kill me... Don’t kill me! I’ll do anything!”

Seth thought for a moment and...

[ ] Killed him.
[ ] Showed mercy.
[ ] Bound him as a Minion
- [ ] and made sure he had a non-detection ring so he didn't get found out.

[x] walk over to him and ask what's in it for us to do so. also say that if his argument is good we might heal him as well as spare him.

let's get info on this guy first.

[x] Bound him as a Minion
- [x] and made sure he had a non-detection ring so he didn't get found out.

We get a spy in the group we just pissed off to (hopefully) keep the problem they represent to an absolute minimum, and we can always release him from the minion-bond at a later date (asked Psycko about this). Plus I *really* want to get done here and move on to dropping off the slavegirls, then returning to the dungeon. From there, see if there's any AoIs "ready" we can perform, or visit the nearby Overworld-town.

[ ] Bound him as a Minion
- [ ] and made sure he had a non-detection ring so he didn't get found out.

This sounds good, though I wouldn't mind just killing him either.

Tell him to make it worth our while to live.

Kelenas wrote:[x] Bound him as a Minion
- [x] and made sure he had a non-detection ring so he didn't get found out.

We get a spy in the group we just pissed off to (hopefully) keep the problem they represent to an absolute minimum, and we can always release him from the minion-bond at a later date (asked Psycko about this). Plus I *really* want to get done here and move on to dropping off the slavegirls, then returning to the dungeon. From there, see if there's any AoIs "ready" we can perform, or visit the nearby Overworld-town.

Not a bad idea, but does Seth actually have any spare non-detection rings at the moment? I thought that was one of the things we need to find a source for.

If we've got one I'll go along with the spy idea. If not, finish him off and move on.

We don't have any spares at the moment, but Kath had at least one in his inventory. Might be able to fast-talk him into giving it to us for free, since we got him 2 slaves instead of 1. But otherwise, I can agree. If it's practical, make him into a spy/agent, if not, get rid of him.

Tesha still has her old ring if I'm not mistaken.

That could work, yeah.

“So,” Seth began giving his hand a bit of a mid air twist, “You want me... someone who was just going on about his business until you tried to bushwhack him in the an alley way, to just up and let you live. Am I... hearing this right?”

“Y-y-yeah...” the man stammered.

“I see,” He rubbed his chin, and through to himself that he really did need to grow a proper goatee for this role. His lack of facial hair was holding back his ability to properly get in character, “Then we come to the crux of the issue. Why should I? Why shouldn’t I crucify you against the wall and then flay you alive that your painful death and agonized squealing will be a warning to my enemies of what happens to the pitiful fools who cross me...?”

The man up and soiled himself in terror quivering at the magically mighty man before him unable to form a coherent sentence.

“Come on man,” Seth spoke with a flip of his wrist, choosing to prompt the man slightly, “There has to be something you know, something you can do to save yourself from the slow death of being skinned alive that now awaits you...” he sighed, “Oh well... maybe you’ll think of something before you’re lost all your skin... sadly I always start with the genetals, but that simply can’t be helped....“

“WAIT!” he cried out, “Wait! Wait! I ain’t real good at much beside crackin heads, but I know stuff, boss! I hear things! People say stuff ‘round me cause they think I’m too stupid to listen, but I ain’t. Lemme live and I’ll tell you what I hear!”

Seth paused for a moment and nodded, “Alright then. I want you to close your eyes and if I feel any resistance at all... I’m cooking your brain in your skull.”

“Um. Sure thing boss.”

“Good. Now close your eyes and...” Seth held his hands to the man’s head and quickly bonded him. He put up absolutely no resistance.

For a second the Thug swam in place for a moment and then his eyes locked on Seth, wide with terror. “Dark Gods Below, you’re a...”

“Gonna kill you if you ever finish that sentence or even breath of word of it. Understand?”

He nodded. “Yeah boss...”

“Good, Tesha, give him your old non-detection ring,”

The elf nodded and tossed the man a simple bronze ring with some small runes inscribed on it before going back to her looting.

He caught it and looked at it dumbly. “Um. I ain’t no sneakin’ type, boss.”

“Just put it on and NEVER take it off.”

He nodded and did as he was told. “So what now?”

“Now,” Seth replied, “I bat you into yonder pile of garbage and you act like you were thrown into it by the explosion and we didn’t notice you. Okay?”

He nodded. “Righto boss!”

Seth prepared to Keeper smack him, but paused, “Oh, and what’s your name”

“Um. Slash, sir.”

“Slash,” Seth thought to himself. Not very original. He shrugged. Oh well...

And smacked him a clear 15 feet into the rubbish. He felt that the man was still alive, though currently dazed. Good.

“You three done?”

“Yeah boss,” Tesha replied. “This chick is pretty good at stripping a body clean.”

Riith nodded, rich boy’s cloak thrown over her shoulder serving as a bag for the loot. “It’s a life skill.

“So what do we...”

Seth paused as he saw three men appear at the mouth of the alley. All of them were of an obviously higher quality than the ones he’d just killed. One was obviously higher ranked as made apparent by his more impressive hat and actual armor.

“What the hell is going on in... hey! That’s Fred!” he pulled his sword. “What the hell happened here?”

Seth smiled and held up his hand. “I was just passing through and Aron here,” he kicked the rich aristocrat’s corpse, “Decided to be cute and liberate me from my property. I defended myself and... well... the results speak for themselves.”

He held out his sword. “How do I know you ain’t bullshittin’ me?”

Hey moron...

Uggh... wait! What’s that?

Your new Dungeon Keeper speaking. Now would be a convenient time for you to pull yourself from the garbage and explain to your comrades what happened...

Um... sure thing boss...

With a groan Slash pulled himself out of the garbage pile and looked about. “Oh man, what I miss?”

“Slash?” the leader of the guards said in shock, “What the hell happened here?”

Slash blinked. “Um, hi Clive... um... well all I remember was the fireball. Norm showed up kinda all sweaty and nervous. Said some mage guy’d given him crap. Aron heard about it and...”

“Ah fuck...” Clive exclaimed, “Aron? What the fuck happened to Aron?”

Tesha pointed at the corpse with the molten face.

“Ah fuck, that’s Aron? Oh shit. His old man’s gonna flip the fuck out. What the hell happened here?”

“I was gettin’ to that!” Slash exclaimed, “Norm showed up all jumpy like and Aron questioned him on it. Norm said the guy demanded to know where the Auction house was and...”

He faceplamed again. “Oh this keeps getting better and better... go on...”

“Yeah.” Slash said, “He said he was buyin’ slaves and Aron decided to wrangle up a couple guys, made sure Fred was leadin’ ‘em and told Norm to watch the gates. He didn’t really wanna, but Aron said ‘ed have Fred thump him if he didn‘t. Well, we waited for ‘em to leave then Aron saw ‘em leave with these Half-Elves. Aron got all jumpy goin’ on about how he always wanted a half-elf and how we had to make a go. We saw the guy here slip into an ally to cast some kinda spell on his slave girls...”

“Located spell,” Seth replied smoothly, abit annoyed he mentioned that bit. Still, better he line up with this Norm guy when they question him. “Interacts with their brands so I can always find them. Very handy and makes it futile to run for it...”

Clive nodded. “And Aron walked in, talked shit, and got everyone killed by some kind of bad ass mage?”

Slash nodded. “Yeah, this guy even tried to get ‘em to back down so he didn’t have ta kill ‘em. Right merciful of ‘em. Aron didn’t get the message though.”

“So where’s Norm?”

“Don’t know,” he replied, “Was too buy gettin’ blown up.”

“Pulled a Runner,” Tesha added in. “Second my boss here lifted his staff he ran like a Horned Reaper was out to get him.”

“Ah. I’ll have some people put a look out for ‘em,” he looked at Seth, “So who are you?”

“Seth Kruger,” he replied, “Warlock, and friend of the Auction House. Did them a kindness and they recirpocated.”

“Fuck me twice,” Clive muttered, “So Darkroot’s dumbass son decided to start shit with a buffy of the slavers and went and got himself killed. Great...” he sighed, “Listen, if I give you any shit, the Slavers are gonna be pissed, Darkroot’s going to go nuts either way and probably demand revenge.” he sighed, “I hate to do this, as it ain’t your fault and you could probably kill me with your brain, so please don’t take offense but...”

Seth lifted his hand. “I’m fine. What do you need?”

“Think you could stay out of the area for a couple days,” he asked, “I mean so stuff can cool down a bit? Janus Darkroot’s gonna throw up a bounty and I’d really appreciate it if no more of my guys got killed tryin’ to claim it... plus the other ‘members’ tend to get annoyed when people start throwin’ fireballs between their shops...”

Seth nodded. “I’ll consider it.”

“Thanks,” Clive replied, “Man this is gonna be a bitch...” he sighed. “Okay... Joe, get some guys to get the bodies. Rack, block of the other end... Slash... get back to the guard station and drink a fuckin’ healing potion. You look like shit.”

Seth started to walk past.

“Wait, is that thier stuff your slaves are carrying?”

“Yes,” Seth replied, “There a problem with that?”

He paused for a moment measuring Seth up again and sighed. “Ah fuck. Just go...”

Seth smirked and the four left.

Once they’d cleared the exit he thought for a moment on what to do next...

[ ] So, what's the loot?
[ ] Off to the bar. Time to handle this mess...
[ ] Get them a treat.
[ ] More shopping.
[ ] Write in.

Well, we already promised them a treat, and it'd be rather pointless for Seth to now break his word for no reason, so we can look for something on our way back to the bar. Once there, we can also check our loot out safely, so:

[x] Get them a treat.
[x] Off to the bar. Time to handle this mess...
[x] So, what's the loot?

In that order.

(X) Get a treat
(X) Off to the bar to get this over with.
(X) So, what's the loot?

[ ] So, what's the loot?
[ ] Off to the bar. Time to handle this mess...

Let's not get them a treat. For one thing, it'll eat into our timeline. For another, chances of getting jumped rise. Finally, we can afford to be a bit of a soft touch in our Dungeon. Sometimes. Here it'll probably just make people think they can walk all over us.

We're not looking soft, we're rewarding good behavior. Tesha looked out for our interests in the slavehouse and prevented us from blowing our cover. We've already theatened Riith once or twice with the stick, now it's time to give her a taste of the carrot as well.
We probably wouldn't need to get Kalli something, admittedly, but I don't really see any reason to leave her out, and some positive treatment should hopefully prove beneficial in the long run.

On a somewhat related note, I want to keep an eye on that Clive-guy. He came of surprisingly calm, sensible, and down-to-earth while dealing with the situation, and I'd like to see if we can recruit him (he seems like he'd make a decent sergeant for further down the road).

(X) Get a treat
(X) Off to the bar to get this over with.
(X) So, what's the loot?

[x] Get the girls a treat, tough try to be fast about it, that guard did ask nicely.
[x] Off to the bar. Time to handle this mess...
[x] So, what's the loot?

It was about 20 minutes later that Seth and the girls reentered Gellor bar. Everyone, even Seth was carrying a rather tasty sweet purple nut covered confection on a stick. There’d been a small stand selling them, and after being informed that they wore a common treat. According to Tesha, they were basically a base of pulped sweet fungus loaded with boiled syrup to serve as a binder/sweetener, and then rolled in crushed Rock Nuts.

They were extremely sweet with a slight musty/nutty flavor, and the item itself had about the consistency of fudge. Pretty good actually, and everyone seemed to be enjoying it.

After some prompting he’d bought each of the girls two. Riith and Kalli had been literally months on bland ‘slave fare’ and while they didn’t show it, Riith from her bad attitude and Kalli from her almost pandemic shyness, he could see the way they were eying them. As for Tesha, well, she just loved the damned things and wasn’t above begging.

He’d also bought himself one to try.

As the four walked inside, his snack was almost gone, while the girls were well into their second.

Inside, Gellor was of course tending bar, but sitting at the table was a pair of Half Elves, Kath and what had to be Gorin. He was weedy looking young man. Short, thin, and a bit knobbly kneed. Obviously didn’t get the better half of the Half-Elf genetic cocktail.

In all honestly, he kinda reminded Seth of himself, but with pointy ears and lacking his manly charm.

“Ah!” Keth exclaimed. “It seems that you have the merchandise!”

Gellor glanced over and scowled. “Now, before this shit gets started, I’d like to be clear with what this is all about. Please tell me you’re not tratrading halfy slaves in my bar?”

Seth sighed, “Would like to but I can’t. Cut a deal with Kath here. His son gets a woman, I get a lifetime discount.”

The old Half-Orc sighed. “Can’t fault you on that one. Just tell me none of ‘em were caught local at least?”

“One was taken by orcs...” Gellor winced, “And the other was captured and abandoned by her gang.”

“I was not fucking abandoned!”

Gellor looked at her closely, his eyes lingering over her strong, attractive body. “What’s the name of your gang, girl?”

“Who the fuck wants to know?”

Gellor just looked her dead in the eyes, glaring at her. After a moment she looked away.

“Yeah, thought so. What’s the name of your gang?”

“The Knives.”

“Where from?”

“Dis. What of it?”

Gellor frowned for a moment. “Never heard of you. Street gang?”

“Yeah. We own the south side tunnels.”

“Halfy gang?”

“No,” she replied, “Mostly human. What the fuck is this all about?”

Gellor smirked. “Just humor me.”

She sneered.

He smirked. “Let me guess. Gang had some money problems maybe? You got jumped by one of the big boys gangs? Maybe on the way from from a job and found yourself being sold out of town before your head stopped ringing?”

She blinked in confusion. “How the hell did you...”

“Bitch you weren’t abandoned,” Gellor replied, “You were sold the fuck out!”

“I was not sold the fuck out you dumb motherfucker they’d never do that to me, they...”

“Were a bunch of street toughs short on money who only had to sacrifice one soldier for a four figure payout,” he replied, “All you need is one sleezy motherfucker and all that loyalty shit goes out the window.”

She glared at him. “Fuck you,” then she turned to Seth. “What the hell is going on here anyways.”.

“I bought you two because Keth here wanted a girl for his son...”

“There is no way I’m playing wifey to some snot nosed punk...”

“Wi-wife...” Kalli stammered, her face aglow from her blush.

Gorin for his part stood up and walked over to the two girls. “Wow. Not a bad take... I kinda like the big one. She looks like she’s wild in...”

“You even think about touching me and I’ll castrate you with a cooking spoon,” Riith replied sharply.

“Nevermind then,” he smiled at Kalli who blushed and sank back. “Hello there pretty lady...”

She bit her lip and shrank back a bit looking quite afraid.

“She was captured by orcs,” Seth sighed, “Do try and show some tact... she’s got all the house keeping skills you’d need but she’s a bit... shy. So all I can say is ixnay on the exnay, for the omentmay, comprende?”

He blinked. ”What fucking language was that?”

Seth sighed. Of course they wouldn’t know pig latin... “You’ll have to earn her trust before you can fuck her...”

He sighed. “Great. Having someone who knows how to cook’ll be useful, but I was looking forward to having some fun...” he slowly looked at Riith and smirked. “And the choice hasn’t been made yet...”

Riith glared at him. “I’ll render you useless to a woman!”

“Bah. Big talk... sell magical items for a living. We have a couple slave collars in the back...” he grinned, “You know, the kind that’ll fog a girl’s mind so much she’ll barely remember what she had for dinner the night before, but’ll do whatever the hell she’s told?”

Riith paled.

“Yeah. Tough talk but not much delivery.”

Kath frowned and stepped forward. “If you can’t decide, then I will. After all, I am the one with whom the deal is being made...”

Gorin frowned. “Damn it old man, can’t I even chose my own damned slave girls?”

Kath glared at him. “You know where the auction square is. You know when they hold open auction... buy your own.”

“Now with what you’re paying me...” he muttered.

“Then be silent and thankful or I will keep the girl for myself!”

Gorin grumbled while his father looked at the two.

“I’m going to ask questions. You will answer. Understood?”

“So, what are your names?”

“Ka-kalli, sir...”

“Riith.”

“And are you good at tending house?”

“Y-yes sir...” Kalli replied, “I-I took care of my fathers home before...” she shrank back slightly.

“Not really,” Riith replied, “I ain’t the domestic type.”

“Any children?”

“N-no sir.”

Rith just looked offended. “Do I look like I got any brats?”

“Ever want to have any?”

She flushed. “M-maybe sir.”

“Hell no!”

He nodded. “Very well then. My son will take Kalli.”

“Ah fuck...” he smiled hopefully at Seth. “Hold up, you brought two. Any way I can get ‘em both?”

“Gorrin!”

“Had to ask, had to ask...”

( ) Sure. Why not?"
- ( ) But I'll need a bigger discount.
( ) Nice try. No.
( ) Ask Gellor if he could use another hand. She'd make a useful go-between.
( ) Write in

(x) Ask Gellor if he could use another hand. She'd make a useful go-between. she's been bonded so we can send the message to her mind and then she can relay it to Gellor. i't should also assure the Mongerals that we don't mistreat Half bloods since she will be under there watchful eye.
(x) "i'm mean no offense but I'm wanting to establish a precedent: Gellion, you will treat Kali with some respect and you will earn her trust before bedding her, if you don't..." produce a ball of lighting in our palm for a brief moment.

(x) Ask Gellor if he could use another hand. She'd make a useful go-between.

Seems the best solution. The Mongrels get another hand for work and the like, Riith most likely gets some more street-smarts hammered into her by by Gellor and Nati, and we get a direct and discreet line of communication to them for coordination.

( ) Write in - The Godfather:
To Gorin: "Now, having a pet is a big responsibility, young man. I trust you'll see to her care and feeding. And see to it that she doesn't come to misadventure, because I might think you're disrespecting my gift. And if you disrespect my gift, you disrespect me. You don't want to make me think you're disrespecting me, do you?"
( ) Ask Gellor if he could use another hand. She'd make a useful go-between.

+1 Rieverre

On one hand, I kinda like the write-in. On the other, calling Kalli a "pet" and for Gorrin to take responsibility for her "care and feeding", probably would piss off... pretty much everyone in the room something fierce. Remember that the Mongrels are all half-breeds and banded together to prevent becoming slaves themselves.
Re-phrase that particular bit to something more neutral, though, and it's golden.

Seth sighed. No. He had different plans for Riith than giving the snot nosed ass a two-fer.

"Now, having a pet is a big responsibility, ma boy,” he said in the tone of stereotypical southern ‘gentleman’. A bit of grim irony really, considering they were dealing with slavery. “I trust you'll see to her care and feeding. And see to it that she doesn't come to misadventure..." He paused and narrowed his eyes, switching a more natural, but at the same time lower and more gravely voice “Though seriously, all jokes aside, I want to establish a precedent here and now. You will treat Kalli with some respect and you will earn her trust before bedding her. Understand?”

“Oh come on...”

“No. Don’t even play that,” Seth said in a low, dangerous tone, “If she’s not happy, I’m not happy. I’m not happy, you’re going to be very not happy. So, lets make sure she doesn’t get unhappy.”

“Oh give me a break,“ Gorrin frowned, “You got some cash to throw around. Doesn’t mean you’re hot shit...”

Seth looked up to Gellor who had the kind of look on his face that most people only get when watching a train wreck. In slow motion.

“Is this kid for real?”

“Please don’t kill our enchanter...”

“He in the know?”

Gellor shrugged. “I’ll have to tell him and his old man eventually, so might as well...”

Point. Plus he’d need to get non-detection rings for them, and he bet the moment that they looked at her brand they’d probably be able to tell it was connected to a keeper bond.

Gorrin blinked. “What the fuck is going on?”

Fighting the urge to simply lightning bolt him into behavior, Seth instead nodded to the old half-orc.

“He’s a Dungeon Keeper you stupid little shit,” Gellor replied without pause, “Now shut your hole before I have to clean you off my walls.”

“Ack!” the young half elf slowly looked to Seth, who simply nodded, a very cruel and smug look on his face.

“I’ll make this clear one more time. If you mistreat her, I might think you're disrespecting my gift. And if you disrespect my gift, you disrespect me. You don't want to make me think you're disrespecting me, do you?”

“No sir!” he all but squeaked.

“Good,” he looked over to Kalli. “I’m placing you into his care, but your brand is still bound to me. It allows me to speak to you or retrieve you at any time. You’re one of mine, that means I value your life and your well being. If you’re ever in danger, let me know and I can pull you to safety.”

She flushed slightly “Th-thank you, ma-master.”

“I’m not your master anymore, Gorrin is. But he better be a good Master, because if he’s not, then you’re going to let me know and then I’m going to have words with him.”

“Y-yes sir.”

Seth nodded. “Alright then... Gorrin, how about you and Kalli go sit at one of the booths and I’ll pay for a meal for you two. Take the opportunity to talk, get to know each other... consider it a date.”

He nodded. “Sure thing! Yeah!”

He anxiously moved to grab her hand but looked back to Seth and pulled away. “Um. How about we sit over there!”

He anxiously escorted the girl to the table and the two sat down. Gellor for his part simply chuckled in amusement and jerked his head. Moments later a full figured half orc woman walked over to take their order.

“Now that business is over,” He looked over to a scowling Keth, “Is there a problem.”

“Besides the fact that you’re a Keeper and my son’s slave is bound to you?”

“Consider it a security system,” Seth replied, “And my way of making sure you hold up your end of the bargain.”

“Huh. Fair enough. So, you need anything?”

“I need as many blank enchantment charms as you can scrounge up and some nondetection rings. Once again... I’ll take as many as you have free... besides the one for Kalli so she doesn’t magically detect as a keeper bound servant.”

Keth nodded. “Fair enough. With your discount... I think I can spare fifteen charms and five rings. Lets call it... say... seventeen hundred fifty.?”

Seth looked at him. “I’m not in the mood to negotiate. I know you probably like to start high, but how about we just agree to what you think would be reasonable including my discount.”

“Fine,” Keth rolled his eyes, “Take away all my fun why don’t you... fourteen hundred.”

After making sure they were not being watched, with a wave of his hand, Seth deposited a small chest in front of the man.

Keth blinked and muttered something under his breath about showoffs before speaking up, “You sure this is the right amount?”

Seth nodded. “Keeper magic. Fourteen Hundred exact.”

“Good, but I can’t exactly walk a chest full of gold over to my shop...”

“I’ll throw it in a small keg,” Gellor replied, “Have one of the boys run it over.”

“Alright,” Keth replied, “So, can I drop your order off here?”

Seth paused for a moment. “About that... Gellor, I need someone to be an intermediary.”

Gellor scowled. “Isn’t that Tesha’s job?”

Seth shook his head. “No. Tesha’s too useful to me. I can’t leave her here long term,” He paused, “Would you be willing to...” he glanced at Riith.

Gellor sighed, “You can’t be serious...”

Riith blinked in confusion. “What?”

“Come on, she’s got the ears for it and I’m sure you could beat the stupid out of her...”

“Hey!”

Gellor sighed, “Fine...”

“What the fuck!” Riith exclaimed, “Stop talkin’ about me behind my back to my face!”

“You’re running with us now,” Gellor said with a frown. “Seth needs someone to be a go between and you’ll blend.”

She scowled. “Fuck that, I’m a Knife!”

“Not anymore,” he replied, “Listen sweet cheeks, from where I’m standing it looks like you got two options. First, he gets sick of your shit and pawns your pert little bottom off to Madam Dahan’s Love Nest...”

Riith sneered with range and disgust. “Fuck that! I’ll slit my own wrists before I’m sent to a fucking brothel.”

“Or you could take option two,” he said, ignoring her outburst, “You do what you’re told like a good soldier, don’t mouth off, and you get to run with a gang who won’t sell you out to slavers for quick coin.” He shrugged, “You can be a Mongrel or a Whore. Your choice. Either way, not my problem.”

She sighed, “Fine. I’ll join your shitty little gang...”

“Good... Kara! Take her down stairs and have her suited up.”

The half orc waitress nodded and lead her off into the back.

Keth, having watched the display looked back to Seth, “So, you need anything else?”

“Yeah,” he replied, “I have some loot I need you to...”

Seth glanced over his shoulder and saw that Tesha was gone. Instead she’d made her way over to the corner and at present was already looking through the loot with Nati.

“Look at something...” he said with a grumble.

The man chuckled in amusement and followed them over.

On the cloak across the table was a selection of items. A silvery chainmail shirt, several rings, a pile of coins, numerous swords, daggers, and some pistols.

“So, what do we have?” he asked Keth.

“Hm. Normally I’d charge to identify but you find me in a good mood,“ The man cast a quick spell then craned over the loot. “Huh. Lets see... ah yes. The shirt detects magical, but I don’t need a spell to help me know Durium when I see it. Two of the rings are enchanted, protection spells if I’m not mistaken, one stronger than the other... the rapier has spells for sharpness, speed, and durability... as does one of the daggers. One of the long swords also has a mild enchantment. All of the pistols are of course enchanted to differing degrees, though the one is is much more powerful...”

Seth could easily tell which one. Nati was giving love eyes to the shirt, but she was almost molesting that handgun.

Tesha on the other hand seemed to be coveting a short dirk, probably the late aristocrat's main-gauche.

Both of them were all but drooling over the rapier.

So. five swords, two enchanted, four daggers, one enchanted, two protection rings, and chain shirt made out of a magical metal... so what to do with it?

What Do?

[] Let them take their pick of it. Consider it ... giving back to the community, as it were.
[] Possibly except for the handgun. If the Mongrels have something that can pass for a range, test it out there. It's possibly the one weapon that Seth can carry around and use that won't raise eyebrows and that he can become somewhat proficient with in a short amount of time. Relatively speaking. All that point-and-click gaming and those arcade shooters have to be good for something, right?

I agree with Rieverre

+1 to Rieverre's idea. The pistol does seem like a good idea.

We're dealing with what's essentially blackpowder guns. I seriously doubt Seth has any experience using them, whereas Nati already demonstrated that she's extremely skilled in their use. Throw in that Seth already has a lot of other things on his mind, like learning magic, and I don't really see the point of picking up a gun until we can make enchanted revolvers or the like.

I'd say:
Seth - enchanted sword
Nati - most powerful enchanted gun, chain shirt, lesser protection ring
Tesha - enchanted dagger, enchanted rapier, greater protection ring
Mongrels - remaining guns and weapons
Any melee-weapons the Mongrels don't need we can later give to our goblins.

We could also consider giving the enchanted sword to Riith since she seems familiar with the kind of weapon, but I believe that would be a bit too much.
The enchanted sword Seth can see about making use of as part of his Overworld-disguise somehow when we go after the Wolf Queen, or one of our DElves might be able to put it to good use.

I'd considered keeping the melee-weapons for our goblins, but frankly the Mongrels are the ones most likely to get under fire when we kick off the fight between the other Keepers, so I'd like to see them well-equipped. If they can't use the stuff, we can still take it afterwards.

The man speaks sense.

Um. Kel?

She pulled back the hammer and pointed it at a plank of wood hanging on the far wall. Taking a moment to steady herself she closed one eye and fired, scoring a perfect bullseye. “Just like that. You want to give it a go?”

“Don’t you have to reload?” he asked.

“No,” She replied, “Not manually. It’s enchanted to create its own powder and ball. As long as the enchantment holds, you just have to wait for the spell to work.”

He nodded. “How long does it take for it to work?”

She paused, “This one? Second, maybe two. Some of the better pistols can pretty much be fired as fast as you can cock the hammer, but I don’t have the gold for that.”

“So what do you do when the enchantment gives out?” he asked.

“Well, you can either wait for the charge to build back up from the ambient magic in the air, which takes a damned long time, or you just pour some powdered manastone down the muzzle.”

And this is a 'crappy quality' one, as Nati admitted. Given that the one we've looted is supposed to be much better - look at Nati's reaction as well as the identification - _why_ exactly would we need to wait for an enchanted revolver?