Consider It A Learning Experience (XP Part 1)

The sheer size of the expanse they stood in was impressive enough; no need to add the fact that the bridge they stood on had no end behind them, and the enormous castle before them was bigger than the whole of Waukeen's Promenade. Which, of course, was where they were supposed to be. And inside a circus tent. Yoshimo chuckled at the irony as they made their way forward, hoping to find some answers to this magical twisting of reality.

Less than halfway over the bridge, a puff of smoke curled up before them, the party immediately preparing for battle; instead of a hostile creature leaping out to rend them limb from limb, a grinning djinni floated there, looking quite pleased. Khan lowered his blade for a moment, sizing up the creature. He actually looked a little different from most genies, with a black top knot and completely blue skin, a gold wrist cuff on each hand. Khan shook off the odd image and stepped forward, toe to toe with the magical being. "Djinni... what goes on here?"

"You are in the realm of Kalah, mortal! Or as I like to call him, Al." The djinni clapped his hands together. "Answer a riddle and I will allow you to pass by."

Khan listened to the djinni speak as the entirety of the party muddled over the riddle he had posed. Princes and princesses, halves and doubles, amounts of years passed by which leads to... "Huh?"

The djinni sighed, but luckily for Khan, Yoshimo stepped forward and said, "I believe at the time specified, the prince will be 30 and the princess 40. Is this correct?"

With a nod, the djinni clapped his hands. "Yes indeed! Well done; Kalah respects those with a quick and agile mind. Feel free to pass... as soon as we finish here."

"Finish here?" Jaheira frowned. "I thought we had to answer one riddle and our passage was granted."

"Well, yes." the djinni shrugged. "But I haven't awarded you your experience points yet. Let's see... the correct answer for the riddle... that looks like... ah! Twenty-five thousand experience! My goodness, they're dishing it out, aren't they?"

"Minsc doesn't understand." the ranger frowned, scratching his head. "Experience?"

The djinni looked confused for a moment, before Khan caught his eye, just gesturing for him to go ahead. The djinni pointed, and the party suddenly found themselves in a large room, surrounded by several different objects and what looked like work stations. "Where are we?" Khan asked.

"Look, 25000 experience is a lot, right?" the djinni said, making sure they followed. "And I rather doubt solving one measly riddle is worth all that. So, I've decided to ensure you get your points' worth. Yoshimo, come with me."

The thief followed the djinni over to a station that was comprised of a table covered in planks and boards, as well as a bucket of what looked like... carpentry tools.

Khan frowned as he glanced through the rest of the room, noting what else there was: a pool of water, complete with a few diving boards at differing heights.

A set of small pieces of paper, some of them twisted into little forms of animals and statues and a little book titled, 'Origami'.

A set of ropes and a set of separate rope that had been tied into several different knots, each one with a little card to describe how to make the various ties.

There were several flowers in different pots along with a larger tray of dirt, set beside a spade and some water pots; a few piles of seeds were laid out as well, each one labeled as to what vegetable they were.

Khan snickered as he watched Yoshimo pick up the carpentry tools with a confused eye, trying to figure out just how to manage whatever directions the djinni had given him. He tentatively placed one board over another, lined it up with a nail and raised a hammer... Khan winced as the djinni floated back, hearing the curses from Yoshimo as he held his thumb in pain.

Minsc was led off to a table where there sat a dozen or so sets of bowls and cooking ware, along with a fire and some pots and cooking ingredients. Minsc picked up the celery stalks and raw carrots, frowning as he hesitantly dropped them into the large stewing pot.

Jaheira reluctantly went to her own table, glancing helplessly down at a lute and some music books there as well. The high screech was enough for everyone to plug their ears as Jaheira plucked the first note, glaring venomously at the retreating djinni, already heading over to Khan. It grinned at the paladin, "Well, let's get you some experience, hmm? How does knitting sound?"

X X X X X X X

The party breathed a sigh of relief as they appeared back on the bridge leading to Kalah's palace, the djinni doing a mental count as he came with them. "Let's see... yes, I think that all adds up to about 25000 points worth of experience. Now you can definitely consider yourselves more experienced! Enjoy everything you've experienced!"

The djinni poofed out, leaving the four party members alone and bewildered. "Boo is afraid to kick evil butts now. Minsc does not want to learn how to cook again... though making tiny hamsters out of paper was good fun."

"Consider yourself lucky; lockpicking will be nearly impossible with the splinters I received learning carpentry." Yoshimo grumbled. "Don't get me started on learning how to farm..."

Yoshimo turned to Jaheira and was about to say something, but the druid snapped at him, cutting him off. "If anybody asks me to play the lute or lets it be known that I can, I will personally kill you. Never mention it. Ever. Or even think of asking me to manicure your nails."

Their paladin leader sighed as he thought about the dozens of knots he'd learned to tie, along with the monotonous 'knit one, pearl two' that was running through his head. Damn genie, and his insistence on hovering there and making sure he learned the proper form. He shuddered at the thought of all the 'experience' points they'd get when they killed their first dragon.

Author's Post-Script: In case anyone picked up on it... yes, the description of the djinni is a little homage to Aladdin.