War for the Crown Gameplay Part 1

”Aha, we’re on the right trail, then,” Adelaide answers with a grin. ”We’re looking for two keys to open the door. If you have one and hand it over, we’ll just be on our way.”

"Pay me," Viecar counters. "I hid the key, you can't find it without me. Pay me and I'll give it to you."

Adelaide raises an eyebrow. ”The tribute you mentioned earlier? Meat, or what was it?”

"Price has gone up. I want gold. 100 pieces, and you get the key," Viecar replies. "I also accept equivalent amounts of jewels and valuable stones."

”Oh, how flexible,” Adelaide answers, trying not to visibly roll her eyes. ”What makes you so sure we can’t find it without you, though? We’ve had a fairly good run tonight of finding things, after all.”

"It's too well hidden, you can't find it without me," Viecar stubbornly insists.

”It’s unfortunate for you I know better than to place a bet, otherwise I’d wager double your price that we absolutely could find it on our own,” Adelaide answers, chuckling. ”Though I’m sure my companions would object even if I didn’t.”

"Okay," Viecar grins right back, then tucks back into the hole in the wall he came out of. "Look around all you want. You can't find it."

Corey and Adelaide look around, but Adelaide pauses after a moment. ”Oh, that’s right, how could I forget?” she comments, as Corey turns a seemingly empty altar box upside down. She looks up to the rafters. ”Monaciellos carry special bags with them to hold things, right? And you can’t even take the bags away from them without losing the contents. It’s the perfect place to keep anything for you, right?”

"You got it!" Viecar pokes his head out the hole and grins. "I have the key and you have no way to take it from me. So... payment? I'm open to... negotiate."

”Do we get a discount for a correct deduction?” Adelaide asks, trying to keep her grin in place.

Viecar raises an eyebrow. "No. But if you don't want to pay, I can think of an alternative."

Adelaide raises an eyebrow. ”I’m listening.”

"You help me get out. There's no fun here. You make sure it's safe for me to get out of these archives and to somewhere random guards won't attack me, I give you the key to help make that happen," the gremlin offers.

"Well that don't seem unreasonable," Corey reasons. "Ya'd hardly be the first fella we're gettin' outta here."

Considering, Adelaide adds, ”I should warn you, the whole reason we’re down here is because up there got very dangerous very fast. It might have calmed down by now, but random assailants were trying to kill us, you know?”

"I'm good at hiding," Viecar replies. "As long as there aren't guards deliberately watching, I can sneak through if you get me out."

Adelaide considers again. "Do you mind if we step aside to talk about this?" she says after a moment.

"I can't stop you," Viecar shrugs.

"Be right back, then." Adelaide waves for the others to follow her.

Once they're a little further out of earshot, Adelaide sighs. "So, I don't think he'd cause any major scale harm if we did escort him to the surface. However, based on what I know of monaciellos, he'd cause enough small scale harm that the escort feels irresponsible." She clears her throat, and her tone shifts to something like reciting a memorized passage. "Most often found in urban environments, this gremlin lives among humanity, taunting religious and scholarly organizations with its pranks. Monaciello gremlins are most commonly found in monasteries and cathedrals where they wriggle their way up from the sewers and catacombs to play tricks on the devout. These tricksters pull blankets off sleeping clergy members, harass servants, spoil food, and hide valuables from their owners. Enamored with gold, they often overinflate the value of things with illusions, and even throw handfuls of gold coins (or illusions of gold coins if they are feeling especially stingy) to distract creatures on their trail. They pull these coins from their ever-present magical bags, confident they can always pilfer more."

She shakes her head, and her next words sound more normal. "He's been very straightforward with us since he came down to talk, so I don't really want to resort to mugging him in some way, but... what do you guys think?"

"Ah don't think it's right ta shake him down or anythin' just 'cuz his kin got a bad reputation, even if it's deserved," Corey argues. "Ah mean, that's the same kinda reasonin' that says we shoulda beat up Mimips and taken all his stuff cuz he's a kobold. Ain't nobody born good or bad. Ah say we give him a chance and help him up ta the surface."

"That's not exactly a fair comparison to make," Sarina points out. "The first thing Mimips tried to do was trade with us. The first thing this gremlin tried to do was scam us. Judging by that, it doesn't make sense to give him a chance."

"So what do you suggest," Corey counters. "We can't just kill or hurt him to get what we want, or we'd be no better."

"That's certainly an oversimplification of it," Sarina says with a raised eyebrow. "Is an executioner who kills a murderer no better that the man he slays? Regardless, I could try to put him to sleep. He wouldn't come to physical harm in that case."

”We could also just pay him,” Adelaide answers. ”100 gold or jewels doesn’t really break the treasury for most of us.”