Ask him why he wants to pay so much, and to see his current stock of magical items. Warn him that we likely won't be able to conduct the trade until after the crawl.
You ask CHARLIE why the JOURNAL is worth so much to him.
He replies that this is
friggin' BLACK-HAND JACK'S PERSONAL JOURNAL! Black-Hand Jack, leader of the most feared pirate crew slash complacency of necromancers in the world! Scourge of the entire southwestern coastline!
Any wizard worth their salt that does so much as dabble in the DARK ARTS would gladly gnaw their right arm off to possess such a treasure.
You tell him that you'll think about it, and give him a definitive answer after you've finished up the DUNGEON CRAWL.
You also ask to see his MAGIC ITEMS.
Accept, on the condition that you are invited to take part in the hunt of any treasure that the Journal may lead to, and that you get a share of said treasure. He can have the Necromancy notes. We just want treasure. Damn thing might set off our monster gate anyway.
If he still has the same stock of magical items, take the Coldiron Sword. If he has new stuff, inform Charlie you will ponder which item you want over the course of the Dungeon Crawl.
Meet your allies for the crawl. Get their names and inquire as to what kind of enchantments they would prefer to have placed on them in the heat of battle.
He directs you to the STORAGE ROOM.
You have
already seen the MARBLE OF RAGE and COLD IRON SHORTSWORD.
Other than those, there is:
A BALL OF AETHER. AETHER is the most divine of DIVINE MATERIALS, and is the material that encircles the PHYSICAL WORLD, separating it from the REALMS OF THE GODS. It is weightless, indestructible, and exudes a light but steady stream of DIVINE MANA. While not particularly useful in its current shape, there exist GREAT BLACKSMITHS who may work AETHER into armor or weapons.
A DIAMOND OF FALSE WEALTH. Twice a day, this diamond may enchant an object or handful of small objects, placing an advanced glamour on them. The object(s) will appear to others as being of incredible worth, and they will be enamored and distracted. The glamour fades at midnight.
Another CUBE OF STONEFLESH. Adding this to SQUISHEE will double his size, doubling his combat effectiveness and allowing him to split into two pieces.
You return to the FIGHTER'S GUILD.
The FIGHTER is here, along with a KOBOLD ROGUE. He says now that the party is all together, he thinks some introductions are in order.
He introduces himself as JESSE, and the KOBOLD ROGUE as JAMES. He says that James isn't his real name, which is something with too many consonants all in a row.
CHARLIE introduces himself as CHARLIE.
You travel NORTHEAST to the DUNGEON, a ruined COLISEUM.
As you approach the entrance, JESSE begins explaining the objective.
He says that deep under the COLISEUM lies an ancient SWORD. Retrieving this sword is the primary objective, any other loot takes second priority.
The first obstacle to obtaining the SWORD is entering the underground ruins themselves. According to other FIGHTERS who have attempted to clear the ruins, the entrance is hidden and protected by powerful monsters. Two teams will be formed; the SEARCH TEAM, who will locate the entrance, and the COMBAT TEAM, who will protect the SEARCH TEAM by defeating the guard monsters.
He says that while JAMES needs to be on the SEARCH TEAM, but the rest of us can be on either team.
JESSE thinks that two groups of two would be ideal, but he's willing to field any combination of individuals.
CHARLIE says that while his skills lie in more combat-focused areas, he thinks he can perform just as well on the SEARCH TEAM.
What will you do?