How Are We Getting to Poly A--NOW WE GET THE BLUE BEAR TOTEM!

Dav Lee was right, whoever controlled the Blue Bear Totem was dangerous. Bamur was right too-none of them were completely ready for that fight. Each of them had something they wanted to buy, whether it was a pack full of items, or several nights of endlessly flowing beer. None of them had more than a few gold pieces. If everyone could sell their treasure, they might end up with enough gold for each of them to get all of what they needed, and most of what they wanted.

The entire party emptied their packs onto the floor of Zelumbra’s tower. Each of them identified something they wouldn’t sell.

Bamur found value in his axe, in the magic hammer Maltdrub, which Mudd had recovered from a grotesque mound of goblin skeletons, and the very large chunk of gold ore he had removed from the cave network.

Keiko held dear his Rapier of Temporary Lightning, as well as his dragon egg, but chose to sell the large number of valuable items he had discovered and not already given away to his companions.

Liliput had absolutely no interest in the coins she had liberated from the small iron box. Most of the gems were also uninspiring. However, the diamond in the hoard captured her attention and would not let go. She kept it, as well as her dragon egg.

Mudd had, for the most part, already given away anything of monetary value that he’d found. He held nothing back other than those things that had a specific purpose and helped him in some way.
Cara was a collector. She wanted to keep some of the BV coins both because she liked them, but also because she thought they might be needed later. She kept some dragon bones and the strange white mushrooms. She wasn’t sure how dangerous they might be, and didn’t want to risk having them end up in the wrong hands.

Cara sought seperate counsel from Motine and Zelumbra on the best places to sell certain items. Motine let slip a dark secret of Zelumbra, and it made her uneasy.

She asked Dav Lee to handle the gem sales, believing the shrewd little gnome would get the better of nearly any shopkeeper in a negotiation. As long as it didn’t require much charm. In exchange for one of her precious dragon teeth, and 50 GP, Zelumbra obtained three spell scrolls to remove the curse from Keiko, Lili, and Mudd. Since she had been the one to trigger the spell in the first place, she wanted to set it right. After nearly a week had gone by, the party reconvened in Zelumbra’s tower.

Dav Lee explained to everyone that he sometimes had difficulty with money……That he was currently short on funds……but had found a spell scroll he absolutely needed to buy! He approached Keiko, and asked if he might be able to spare 100 GP. In a *slightly* convincing way, Keiko apologized that he wasn’t able to loan that amount of gold. The gnome turned to Bamur with the same story, and heard: “No”, almost before he finished talking. Liliput refused because she thought buying a piece of paper was stupid when you could buy a heavy weapon instead. Cara wanted to thank the gnome for helping to save her life, and wanted to pay him for his help in selling the treasure. She gave him 45 GP outright, and loaned him the other 55. Dav Lee raced out to buy his scroll. When he returned, he asked Keiko again for 100 GP. He didn’t bother asking Bamur. He turned to Mudd, who willingly handed over his entire bag of coins, which contained at least 450 GP. Liliput stepped in and intercepted the bag. She showed Mudd how many of the coins Dav Lee asked for, while explaining to Mudd that he might need the coins for himself, or to help someone else in the future. Moments later, Dav Lee raced out again, evidently having obtained some gold from Mudd.

Everyone agreed it was time to return to Mandrake’s estate, and to figure out how they were going to recover the Blue Bear Totem. They waited until night, when everyone in the house would surely be asleep. Following Motine, they passed back through the archway. A lengthy debate began over how they would get to the dwarven memorial. One group knew with certainty they could reach the destination after 5 days of riding horses. The other group wanted to use the archway system to arrive instantly. Dav Lee opined that there was a nearly 93% chance of success using the archways. Eventually, Bamur was the only holdout who insisted on riding a horse. Liliput talked with him alone, which went unnoticed by everyone else. They had reached an agreement that would allow the journey to begin but dissent had broken out again in the others. Liliput, whom luck seemed to favor more than others, suggested nobody was likely to change their opinion, so they should rely instead on chance.

Was there any way they could all agree on a course of action, or would they remain standing in Mandrake’s basement while time continued to slip away, and whoever had stolen the Blue Bear Totem kept reanimating the dead and becoming increasingly dangerous?