Search options

That thing on the table is actually invisible (and immaterial) to them, and to everyone else there; no one in their right mind would want to be near that abomination if they were aware of it. Furthermore, don’t you think a three-eyed, tentacled child-like figure with a luminous halo would attract too much unwanted attention in a crowded tavern?

The three women are minding their own business. Alice and the Flame Princess, who have been drinking a bit too much (look at their eyes), are debating what to do with the few silver pieces on the table; Alice wants to donate all of them to her temple, while the Princess thinks they’re barely enough as a compensation for their last exploit. (By the way, the Flame Princess can obviously hold her liquor way better than Alice.) The Magic-User, who doesn’t understand why they’re arguing so vigorously about that handful of coins, is ordering a drink for herself, as the discussion is boring her to tears.

Anyway, that thing on the table is a rare figurine of a Lar Discordiae. The Lares are minor guardian deities whose figurines were placed on a table during important occasions as witnesses and for protection. A Lar Discordiae, however, is a kind of corrupted Lar who causes quarrels among the table companions.

Those three must have really pissed off the sorcerer who owns the dungeon they recently raided. Now he’s trying to split the group, so he can exert his revenge upon them one at a time. Placing that figurine on their table before they got there (and bribing the innkeeper to ensure they would get that particular table) is a simple and elegant solution. Unfortunately for the sorcerer, only Alice and the Flame Princess failed their saving throws, and the Magic-User is unaffected by the Lar.

The figurine can be magically detected, and restored to its visible and material form by Dispel Magic. It is then probably worth several thousands silver pieces, as there aren’t many Lares Discordiae around. It’s going to be a dangerous thing in the hands of the wrong customer, though. It’s probably better to just keep it, isolated in some magically-protected chest, and strategically use it the way the sorcerer meant to do (e.g., for disrupting alliances between enemies). And no, destroying it is not an easy task.