Well, another weekend gone by and more events to share. Friday we played our second kid session in Tom's campaign. We heard about how there was a wizard found within the castle, and how he was locked in the dugeon for the night. He was to be excuted the next day, so we all agreed that we wanted to see a wizard. After all, we had all been told that there were no such things as wizards, dragons, or fairies. (Kitty's fey character is trapped in her human form and is missing many of her powers due to the fact that the character is both a level one version of a seventh-level equivalent race and because the area in which she resides has been drained of all magic. Assumably she'll regain those powers desipte the anti-magic area as the character gains levels.)
The duke's daughter (Lori) tried coersion to get the guard to let her through, but he said he didn't want to end up like the wizard for bringing her into danger. So the scrub (Monte) procured some sedative to lace cookies the duke's daughter grabbed from her room. Meanwhile, the oldest boy (Steve) filched some liquor to serve with the cookies. When the duke's daughter brought them to the guard as an appology, he said that she still couldn't see the wizard. Letting her in wouldn't be the same as say letting the ratter in to see the wizard. The implication being that while he'd be in trouble for the former, no one would care about any possible dangers to the ratter. After all, his job is to put himself in danger anyway.
So, while we all waited around the corner for him to fall asleep, various guards walked by and shared his cookies. He eventually fell asleep, so we went in only to find that the inner door was locked. The keys were on his belt, and they talked the ratter (me) into filching the keys after making him drunk. Not having the pickpocket skill and rolling a three ended up snaping him right up to attention. Everyone but the ratter made their reflex saves to escape, as I ran into the guard table. He asked me if the duke's daughter had talked me into this, and I failed my bluff rolls to deny it. So he grabbed me by the scruff of my collar, walked me past all of the cells of the dungeon to the farthest, deepest cell. He opened the door and held me into the room so I could see the old, gagged, bearded man in rags whose hands we tied behind him. Then he marched me back up and told me to report what I'd seen to her and not come back.
So I reported my findings to everyone, and they decided that what worked once would work again. And now they had someone who knew where to go within the dungeon. Unfortunately, the guard locked himself inside his antechamber to have his second helping of booze and cookies. No chance to filch his keys that way. Luckily, dawn came and we got to see the foreigners come to take the wizard away. (Although he looked rather roughed up after they brought him out. He hadn't been in the state before when I'd seen him.)
So, the duke's daughter was late for breakfast and ran off. The rest of us scrambled to the execution area where we watched the lead foreigner behead the wizard for his crimes of magic and scalp him. The scrub told us that the fur cape the foreigner wore was really made of human scalps, and that this wizard's scalp was likely to join it. After everyone left, we dared each other to touch the dead body. So, while the ratter took a silver ring with a Harp off his finger and a crumpled note from his hands, the eldest kicked the wizard's butt. Then he proclaimed, "I kicked the wizard's @$$! I kicked the wizard's @$$!" That was enough for a guard to shoo us away.
Because the ratter can only read Ander (the local tounge) and Hakkar (the local slave tounge which is dying out since slavery was ended), he turned the note over to the scrub who has at times be forced into scribery. He translated it from the merchants' Common tounge to Ander for us. It was a note from this wizard to another wizard called "Denton" and his associates. It talked of his sneaking into the castle in advance of them, and told them were some war supplies were burried near the Borderlands. It also talked of their mission for the the evil Elminster who had plagued our lands of before the anti-magiking.
They then talked the ratter into wearing the ring to see if it gave him any magic powers, but he failed to fly, walk through walls, punch people any harder, nor turn invisible. After a while, he did notice additional writing on the note which he could read. It told of another secret stash this wizard had made only a day's travel away. The wizard had apparently killed a local dragon and secured his horde nearby for safe keeping.
When none of the others could see it but the duke's daughter's companion (Kitty's fey character), and then she could only see the letters but not read them, they all decided that it was the ring. But when they tried on the ring they couldn't read it either. I could no longer read it either, even when I first put on the ring. Eventually I could though, so its either a timed ring such as the Ring of Sustanence or it requires a command word to be spoken in Ander.
The group was trying to decide whether to go claim the loot for ourselves by leaving the castle for two days or trick these other wizards to cut us half the loot when they came looking for their late friend. Of course, Denton is Jackson's regular character and the associates would be the rest of us. So this should be an interesting story. 
Saturday at work was kind of busy due to our booth at the International Sportsmen's Exposition at the Arizona State Fairgrounds. Several people came in bearing coupons we were giving out at that event. We had an above average day in sales, but that meant I didn't get lunch until 15:00 (instead of 13:30) and no afternoon break. Of course, it didn't help matters that Brett kept finding Debbie talking naps in the breakroom. This despite the fact that she came in late (as usual when she's scheduled for a Saturday). She always gets away with more when George isn't there on Wednesdays (his day off), so I guess we should have been prepared for that when George had to work the show on Saturday. :
Saturday night Jackson, Kitty, Steve, and I went to Soup or Salad at Arcadia Crossing as Mike's treat. That boy better start looking for a job soon if he wants to keep spending money like that. At least he let us leave the tip. Afterwards Mike, Steve, and I played the Car Wars card game and some Shadowfist.
Sunday's readings and homily were preparing us for fasting this week. Lent begins, and so I'll have to deal once again with the grumblings of my non-Catholic friends on Friday nights. Of course, that's a minor thing compared to what we're to ask of ourselves during Lent.
Then, after mass we had an online meeting of TFLAS. We got a lot done, but frustration levels were high all around. There were a lot of needless fingerpointing going on behind the scenes in individual IMs. On the conference people were sometimes ignored when they asked questions. And it was hard to keep everyone on task. Yet they want to try it again next Sunday from 19:00-22:00. Lord grant that we can make it through another one of those sessions.
Well, I hear that the surprise party is bust because BJ has a big mouth. That's too bad. 
I'd think that Jayson would want to see his friends regardless of the circumstances. Hopefully, he'll change his mind. We'll see.
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