Please and Thank You
Roars and peals of thunder shook the city of Suldenesselar, shaking the ground in furious magic and power as the inhabitants, both good and evil, ceased their fighting and looked around in wariness and caution, wondering what new devilry had beset the high elven city. Two drow warriors were closing on a heavily wounded elven mage, their blades raised and ready to come down upon the elf's head-
"Let the city be cleansed..."
The sound of those deep throated, powerfully indwelt words brought joy to the eyes of the elf and despair to the drow as the guardians of old swirled forth from the mists and consumed the dark warriors, saving the imperiled elf. The same was happening through all of the city, every drow, demon, and construct of Irenicus' design was unmade, brought low by the guardians, unrelenting in their quest to cleanse Suldenesselar of the evil that had plagued it, all except for one structure: the palace itself.
The doors of the elven temple in the center of Suldenesselar burst open, revealing those inside, almost like the myths of legend themselves as they strode from the temple with purpose and fire, ready to face their opponent one final time. The sound of cheers could be heard echoing through the whole city as Suldenesselar's citizens were saved from the onslaught that had been plaguing them for so long; Aerie smiled as she listened to their shouts of joy. "They're safe... all we have left is Irenicus and we'll be through with this ordeal."
"You saved us!"
A shout from a nearby elf caught their attention; Khan strode over to the elven woman, bowing once. "Don't worry, Irenicus will be gone soon enough as well. Still, you should probably get inside... things might still be a bit dangerous around here."
"No, I can handle myself." she said with a smile and a nod. "Here, I run a store of sorts; I have some powerful magical weapons and some potions for sale if you think they will help you against the Exile and his forces."
The party glanced at each other; their time spent in the city had taken quite a toll on their healing potions and arrow stocks. They spent a few minutes asking her about several types of scrolls their mages could use, some healing potions for each one, a few augmentation potions for the fighters in the thick of battle, and even examining a magical weapon or two that exceeded their own by far in standards of quality and power. After some discussion in the party, Khan turned back to the elf and nodded. "We'll take it; where do you have them stored?"
"Oh, they're on me..." she shrugged."I'll get them as soon as you pay up. That's fifteen thousand, four hundred and seventy five gold pieces."
For a brief second, there was nothing but silence. Khan shook his head as though cleaning something out of his ears, and then turned back to her with a hesitant smile. "Okay... wait one second; I must have misheard you, because I could have sworn you said something about fifteen thousand gold."
"Oh yes, you heard right." she said, stiffening a bit. "You do have the money, right?"
Khan turned to Imoen, currently in charge of their gold stores. "Um... I think we used a lot of it when we prepared to fight Bodhi... we're topping out around six hundred."
"Then I'm afraid you'll have to do without." the elf shrugged, folding her arms.
"I don't think you understand..." Khan said. "We're really going to need some of that equipment. We're pretty short on healing potions and the like, so that's kind of mandatory for this battle."
"I understand just fine; you're a group of freeloaders trying to cheat an honest merchant!" she growled. "No gold, no sale!"
"Look... we just saved your city, okay? You know, the whole guardian release thing? What you were so thankful for a minute ago?" Khan pointed out. "Maybe you can cut us a break here?"
"If I gave every adventurer who saved my life a break on prices I'd be out of business!" she shook her head firmly. "Try again when you've got some gold to show me."
"Okay, here." Khan tried again. "How about we buy some healing potions, and you let us borrow the weapons. We're going to need them for Irenicus, and we'll bring them back to you when we're done. Sound okay?"
"Hah! You must think I'm a fool." she sneered. "I'm an elf, okay? I've been around a while, and you can't take me for a ride that easily. No loans here, I can tell you that much!"
"You do realize that if we don't have more powerful weapons and healing, Irenicus may very well kill us all." Khan noted.
"And that if we die, he'll drain the Tree of Life from all it's power." Imoen continued.
"Thus killing every elf in Suldenesselar, including you." Aerie finished.
"Tell it to someone who cares." she snorted.
Khan threw up his hands, waving to the others in disgust. They turned and headed for the palace, though they had gone less than twenty feet before the sound of a demon being chased through the city echoed behind them; they turned just in time to see the Balor killed by one of the guardians... before his body collapsed on top of the store keep elf, killing her. The group looked at each other, shrugged, then headed back to the elf. Searching her body quickly, Aerie frowned as she stood back up. "I didn't find anything on her..."
"Trust me, you won't." Khan rolled his eyes.
"Why not?"
"I've been asking myself that very same question since I killed that merchant back in Beregost in the first game who was ticking me off- ahem. Er... I don't know."
"What?"
"Nothing... nothing at all."