The bustle of Port Sept at midday was more lively in the market district than one might expect from a town that thrived on its predilection toward divine services. Errrkkkk, Riakon, and Roden moved through the streets smoothly as they moved from street vendor to street vendor.

Riakon still had a propensity for gobbling up street food at every opportunity, even Errrkkkk couldn't pass up a bag of fried and seasoned insects that Roden thought looked like beetles. His curiosity got the better of him and he ended up trying one of the off putting snacks.

In Roden's mind flavor was king and he had to begrudgingly concede the beetles were quite tasty with a nutty flavor and crunchy texture. Roden hadn't quite gotten used to the presence of so many street vendors at every open corner or in some cases at the end of alleys. Port Sept was a city unlike any from his hometown on Earth.

One major difference was the existence of shops like The Enchanting Enchanters Applicable Applicators. Riakon and Errrkkkk polished off their snacks before entering. Once inside they were immediately greeted by Pa'teem.

"Welcome to the Enchanting Enchanters Applicable Applicators, I am Pa'teem what—Oh hey guys!"

Once he recognized them the troll merchant cut off his spiel and greeted them warmly.

"How's it going der guys? The enchantments holding up for you?"

"They are working perfectly Pa'teem, we are actually here for a bit of a different kind of business today." Riakon said, pulling out his dimensional bag.

Pa'teem looked on with the utmost attention as Riakon started laying out the various items they had collected from the dragon's horde. The enchanter's eyes were already wide by the time Riakon withdrew the huge golden book and laid it on the counter.

"Jeez guys, it looks like you found quite the treasure trove there!" the troll said, giving each piece a cursory once over. "What uh did ya want from me? Are you looking for identification services or are ya lookin to sell?"

"Definitely identification, but possibly sell or trade if we have no use for it." Riakon said, the glint of anticipation in his eye.

Pa'teem pushed back the sleeves of his robe and set to examining the book with intense scrutiny. After a few moments a look of awe mixed with astonishment came over his face.

"I take it, the book is as impressive as it looks." Riakon said, already angling for a good price.

"I'd say so, that right der is a rather old and esoteric spellbook with an arcane seal of significant complexity."

"And would that be something you would be interested in?" Riakon said, capitalizing on the enchanter's amazement.

Pa'teem let out a quiet whistle, "It would be something to sell such an artifact in my shop, but something of this nature belongs in an auction." Before Riakon could inquire Pa'teem added, " We could come to an arrangement where I could introduce the book to the auction for a fee."

Riakon tapped a clawed finger to the tip of his long snout in a knowing gesture, "perfect, we can figure out the details after we've squared all accounts here."

The big troll nodded and moved onto the set of silvered beads. Pa'teem cast his auditing charm again and examined the beads with the same attentiveness.

He pulled back and scooped up the beads in one hand, "these are in fact magical prayer beads as you suspected. From what I can tell they hold a spell of divine magic. I would guess the spell would produce a general boost to your reactions and coordination."

"Excellent!" Riakon said, taking it from Pa'teem and slipping it around his neck.

Neither of his two teammates noticed as Errrkkkk was wandering the aisles casually pursuing all of the magical items he didn't need. Roden on the other hand was unsuccessfully avoiding Pa't who had been stocking the small charms display.

"Aye der Roden! How's the enchantment holding up?" Pa't said, excitement rapidly rising in his to Roden's chagrin.

"Oh uhhhh it's good. Yeah it's doing great." Roden replied, trying to eject himself from the situation.

Pa't might be small, but he was an astute observer of people. His eyes narrowed on his half-elven customer, "what's the matter with you? You don't don't like the enchantment?"

Roden sighed and resigned himself to having been caught, "I like it, I really love the idea–"

"But." Pa't interjected.

Roden grimaced, "but, I haven't really gotten to use it." he said with a weak smile.

The Pa'teem's had a way of looking that if someone didn't know them they might think they were mad, but Roden knew better. He knew Pa't wasn't mad, he was just disappointed and just like a small child who'd disappointed their parents, he was sad to have disappointed the troll.

"Well I suppose it's a good thing you haven't needed the healing." Pa't finally said after an awkward silence.

"I'm happy about that too. Listen I'm real sorry, I know you probably want to know your work is going to good use, but I–"

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Pa't raised a hand cutting him off, "don't worry der bud, I had a feeling something of this nature would arise so I took the liberty of crafting something special for ya. I'll be right back." he stood, dusted himself off, and walked into the back of the shop toward what Roden assumed was their work area.

When he returned he held a leather drawstring back. He opened the bag and withdrew a sphere and handed it to Roden.

"That right der is a spherical piezo-dimensional liquid absorptive silica-glass housing filled with bidimensional acclimated liquid."

Roden understood most of those words, but hearing them from the troll in that moment was the last thing he expected. He held it up and saw inside was a solid blue substance that filled the glass sphere he held about half way.

"What do they do?" Roden asked, having given up on trying to decipher Pa't's incredibly technical jargon.

Pa't rolled his eyes, "dis ting right here is exactly what you need to help you incorporate my enhancement into your fighting style. You throw dis at whatever or wherever you plan to fight and these little beauties will break and flood the area with a type of water so concentrated with magic it's a real wonder I was able to make it work."

Roden thought about how he would employ such a tool when he realized what Pa't was doing and narrowed his eyes "you made me water balloons."

Pa't looked offended, "highly magical water balloons. I wouldn't go hitting any children or anyone you care about wid dat der sphere. If dat breaks you'll flood wherever you are with about fifty gallons of arcanely invested heavy water."

Roden was impressed, "well I'll be damned that sounds pretty brilliant, I'll take them."

Pa't beamed, "that's great, there are three of them in that bag, I call them S.P.L.A.S.H B.A.Ls for short so if you need more just tell Pa'teem and he'll take care of it."

"Seriously?" Roden said annoyed

"What?"

"You're going to make me call them splash balls?"

"Yeah the big guy prefers acronyms, he says it makes it easier to write out receipts." Pa't said matter of factly.

By the time Roden returned to the counter, Riakon appeared to be completing his negotiations with Pa'teem. He listened without joining the conversation directly.

They agreed Pa'teem would sell their golden book at auction in exchange for a small percentage of the selling price, which the enchanter assured would be substantial given the item's rarity.

Riakon had also negotiated a second enchantment for his opal steel ring, which was added in the price of the troll's arcane verification services. Roden splash balls were reasonably priced given they should only be needed sparely.

After all of their negotiations, which included a second and third dimensional bag, the men left Pa'teem's shop in high spirits, especially Riakon who exuded an air of satisfaction at his negotiations.

"So what did we all get, cacaw?" Errrkkkk asked as they walked the street of Port Sept on their way back to the Villa.

"Well I managed to get everything cleared for use. The beads are perfect for any of us to use as a personal buff. Each bead contains one use of an enhancement spell similar to Roden's. Pa'teem said he could even recharge the necklace once it was spent. The bracer is intended to be used with a shield. It binds a shield magically to itself until the wearer chooses to release it. It also adds a magical enchantment to whatever shield is attached that improves its durability while reducing its weight for the wielder."

Roden chuckled, "no wonder he's so excited, both of those fit his kit nearly perfectly."

"No kidding, cacaw."

Riakon was unphased by their jabs, "I also got us another bag for our money and a smaller bag for Grok."

"Why does Grok need a bag, cacaw?"

"Because I want him to have access to potions when he is out on missions with us." Riakon said as if it was the most obvious reason for getting the garg a magical satchel.

Roden raised an eyebrow, "so you've decided on bringing the little guys with us on our next adventure then?"

Both men nodded.

"Branch understands more than he lets on. He's even dabbling with some simple nature magic when no one is watching, cacaw." Errrkkkk said, sounding like a proud father.

Riakon was an echo of a similar sentiment, "I'd bet Grok can hold his own against weaker adventurers, so as long as he doesn't get hit too hard by anything too big he should be alright."

"If you guys think they are ready then it's fine with me." Roden said, uneasy despite knowing those two were going to join them eventually.

He felt strange including them knowing they were so young. At his table, they were introduced because running a game like Adventures and Antics for just two people was quite difficult. As a game master he wanted his players' characters to have more help in big fights. Having sidekicks like Grok and Branch made it a lot easier, but now that Roden was going to have to live out that decision with real lives on the lie was going to make things a lot trickier.

Roden's line of thought was interrupted when Errrkkkk inquired about the rest of their purchases.

"Oh yes, I worked out a new enhancement for my ring!" Riakon said excitedly.

"What kind of enchantment, cacaw?"

"Well I'm not really sure how to explain it, but Pa'teem said its an experimental enhancement he's been working on that interacts and assists in maintaining multiple spells at one time. That way I can use the beads and still cast my own magix"

"Did you end up getting anything Roden, cacaw?"

Roden sighed, "yeah I got some expendables to help me get more use out of my healing ring."

"That sounds awesome! How do they work?" Riakon said,

Roden took out one of the spheres from his pouch. They were about the size of a baseball and seemed to be made entirely of glass. He held it out for the others to see.

"Pa't said that when I throw this it will break and dump a shit ton of magic water wherever it breaks. My ring should trigger whenever I touch the water."

Riakon's eyes shot open wide, "how much healing is that going to give you?"

In the suddenness of it all, Roden hadn't really considered exactly how much healing he would get off the item. When he'd originally gotten the ring the healing was supposed to be proportional to the spell he cast, which at the time was his Trainee level Cloud Bank.

Roden shrugged, "I don't really know, but I'd guess at least as much as my Triage."

Errrkkkk clucked, "good, now you'll have more healing available for Riakon, cacaw."

Riakon glared at Errrkkkk, but didn't refute the statement. If his recently regrown toes were any indication, they would need all the healing they could get.

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