Seekers of the Stone Maker

Leaf made his way east and circled the firepit. He passed the main tent, then moved through an opening between two more cabins, catching the first view of Ramona’s. He had questions that needed to be answered, and her cabin had to have something.

As he got closer, he saw Lyla standing on the front porch. She was as still as a statue, only inches away. He walked up to her.

“Lyla?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you want to look inside too?”

“Yeah.”

“Then, let’s look.”

He moved around her, reaching for the doorknob, and opened the door. A lantern hung on the exterior wall, so he grabbed it and lit a small flame inside. As it grew brighter, they stepped in.

“Let’s check for traps first. I don’t trust anything in this room.” He stated.

Leaf could see that the interior room wasn’t much larger than the underground space he had called home in the Archmage’s Tower. It was square instead of circular but contained a bed, a dresser, and a small table with a cloth, which he assumed was used for tarot readings. A desk had been placed against the back wall, with shelves that hung above, which were filled with a large variety of things. Carefully, he checked the door frame and then walked in to check the bed. Lyla moved to the right, checking around the dresser. After a few minutes, making it to the desk, he felt confident that there were no traps.

“It seems safe. Let’s keep our guard up, though,” He stated.

“Mhm…”

Lyla was quietly moving through the room, and Leaf could see she was lost in thought. He imagined she was retracing steps in her memories, but he wasn’t sure. He turned his attention to the desk and the shelves above.

On the right side of the shelf, in a small niche, sat a large diamond on a pillow. Carefully, he reached up and grabbed it. With a closer inspection, he couldn’t see any imperfections and decided it could be useful later. He had read theories of resurrection magic using diamonds, and with the party’s recent challenges, having it could be the literal difference between life and death. He placed it in his pocket.

The pillow slipped forward, and he grabbed it. Looking further, he noticed that the back of the shelf wasn’t flush with the rest of the wall. He placed his hand on the back and could feel a small knob. He pulled, and it opened on a hinge, revealing a hidden compartment. Inside, a pouch sat in the dark. He grabbed it and looked inside.

The pouch wasn’t very heavy, and inside, he could see a variety of gold, silver, and copper coins. Pulling a pearl from his component pouch, he placed it over the bag and looked through, identifying if any arcane enchantments were placed on the pack or coins.

The pearl revealed that the coins were, at one time, enchanted but had faded recently. With a closer look, he realized what he held. These were the same coins that Ramona had used to charm the citizens of Moonbright. He set them down on the desk and then kept looking around. A deck of cards sat empty on the desk, with six cards facing down next to it. He reached down to pick them up.

“Ow!”

Leaf paused and looked over to Lyla, who was sitting on the bed rubbing her temples.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. My head just hurts all of a sudden.”

He moved his pearl over to her and looked for enchantments. As the pearl ran over, he could see the usual magical aura that all people have and something else.

“Lyla. Something’s wrong.”