2 Flamerule, 1368: Fleckstone

5pm.
The party arrives at Fleckstone, the mining town where Stago's mom, Finwocket Wimsicalamity, lives.

Stago brings everyone to the homestead. Routunious finally ends his quest to deliver the gold to Stago's mother. Finwocket gives Stago 1/2 of her new treasure (500 gp) as a grubstake. Stago tips Routunious 150 gp from his own share as a tip.

Routunious asks if there any Gondsmen around, or a Temple of Gond. Finwocket bristles, because she heard that her late husband stayed at a Gond temple or shrine after he left the family. She says she doesn't know the whereabouts.

Stago interjects and encourages Finwocket to help and assess the black opal Selina took from the hill ogre. Finwocket values it at 1000 gp and makes an offer to buy it. Selina declines the offer, saying they'll sell it in Bug Tussle.

Seeing Merle's wounds, Stago's mother gives her a healing potion to administer to the girl. Routunious asks if there's any more, but this was the last of all the household's available healing potions.

Though she hasn't partaken of the adventurer's life herself, she has some valuable advice. Finwocket suggests that instead of setting off and allowing fate to decide their course and fortunes, they ought instead to consider adventuring a vocation.

"She wants me to get a job." Stago said.

"And a steady paycheck with resonable benefits sounds so horrible to you? The people who do this sort of thing the smart way seek out a patron who will equip them and pay for their training in return for a portion of the treasure. Would it hurt to have someone with power and money as invested in your success as you are? No, I don't think so." His mother returned while putting on a vat of mushroom stew.

She continued, "And if it should be that you find such a person in the area...well, then maybe a mother won't lose a son the way she lost a husband. You could kill your monsters and find your treasure during the week and then still come visit your poor gray haired mother on the weekends....who knows how many weekends a gray haired mother has left to share with a son?"
Routunious smelled the stew with consumate interest, and said, "I'm returning to Lantan as soon as I can, but I have to admit your advice sounds as good as your cooking smells."

"How would we get a patron? Especially a local one? You can't just go door to door asking if someone wants to pay you to risk your life." Stago grumbled.

"I've been to Bug Tussle once for every 100 times you have and even I know there's a message board in the Market Square where people advertise for this sort of thing. You could look there for starters. And, speakign of starters, let's have a nice salad, blackbread, yak butter, and Vilhon Blanc cheese."

After dinner, over drinks and pipe weed before the fire, Stago’s mother tells Routunious that there is a shrine to Gond located in the foot hills of the Desertsmouth Mountains, not far from the edge of Spiderhaunt Wood. She doesn’t know if it still exists, but that is where Stago’s father began his adventuring days.

Finwocket convinces the party to spend the night. She tells Stago that if he's set on a life of adventure, he should use his gold to buy lots of healing potions and a stoneskin potion.
Selina offers Finwocket the gold ewer, saying "It's always nice to have a friend in the mining business."

"Our family motto," replies Finwocket.