In Which Lothar and Co. Improve Their Material Situation

by Floyd Fiftynames,
Licensed Bard

The sad truth about world-saving heroes is that they're not saving anything without the occasional equipment upgrade. No great warrior ever charged into battle against a wyrm or a lich wielding a garden-variety, run-of-the-mill sword or axe with the expectation of success. These mundane items suit your goblins and highway bandits, but the encounter with the werewolves was illuminating to the Band of the Red Oak, especially Lothar, who had never been greatly enamored of material possessions not crafted by his own hands. Now, however, he realized he was reaching the limits of what trade could offer in terms of protective gear (he had made the upgrade from wood to steel in weapons some time ago).

The bounty from the corrupted monastery represented a veritable fortune to the boys, who couldn't spend that kind of coin in a lifetime had they remained simple villagers. They were not simple villagers, however, and Lothar, Riordan, Salem, and Ajanni found themselves in a world of amazing weapons and armor, and each one of them came away from the shops significantly upgraded. Not only that, they managed to come away from the experience with a little money left over in their pocket - for Lothar, at least, this was significant, as he had never carried more than a single gold piece at one time, and when he did, he worried about how he would change it out for silver and copper, which would have been significantly more useful to him in his current economic condition.

In a large city such as Ashvale, a gold piece, Lothar learned, represented a decent earning wage for a week of a man's time. Our young hero accompanied his friend Riordan to a local tavern, where he watched as the bard hired a retired warrior named Mick to be the company's standard bearer, then paid him in advance for the year. Mick, for his part, was thrilled. Lothar could only wonder what Emerson, Riordan's torch bearer, thought of the scene, and whether being present for the hiring would inspire loyalty on his part, or simply inspire him to ask for a raise.

That night, as Lothar set up his tent inside the stable of the inn where Riordan and Salem were staying, he looked at his new possessions - the axe, the hide armor, the helm - and he wondered what his father and his grandmother would say if they could see him. Just a couple months prior, he would have gladly traded any of these amazing things to have them back. Now, however, he did not miss them any less, but time was beginning to temper his grief, and if Lothar was ready to accept the inexorable march towards the future, he was comforted that he could do so properly equipped.

FF