<Galstaff> I think we could disperse the spoils through a system of accounts, wherein each individual is allotted an equal share of the total value of items and monies that we acquire. When we have an exquisite yet indivisible artefact such as this armor, which appears to be worth more than all the gold we have recovered so far, the individual who obtains it can run a negative balance for a time. This would very naturally reflect how that individual should not normally obtain the very next artefact that we find.

<Galstaff> Such a system would also permit us to easily make group purchases when we need to prepare for an excursion.

<Galstaff> If the individual who is allotted the armor is upset at not receiving a share of gold, perhaps they could inquire with the local blacksmith or butcher about a line of credit secured via the potential forfeiture of said armor, given that such a loan would likely grant them several hundred gold pieces of currency to work with, which is far more than anyone else will receive. For such an opportunity, I myself might lay claim to the armor and sell it outright for such an unequal share of the spoils.

<Galstaff> As to deciding specifically who gets the item, I think it should be decided by lot if the interested parties cannot agree. Most of our party appears to be quite proficient with heavier armor, yet few have made claim to it. We could also find a disinterested party in town to arbitrate.

<Galstaff> I have a further thought. It would probably be imprudent to weigh the value of the artefact as though we were to purchase it new from any merchant. Though the artefact would probably cost some 500 gold to acquire from a talented blacksmith, that same blacksmith is unlikely to purchase such a working at the same price. So, the armor does not truly have such a great value when dividing the spoils. That is, if I myself were to acquire this armor, I would merely sell it, and I would hardly expect to receive 100 gold, and would resent my 100 gold being valued so high.

<Galstaff> So, I think the armor should be valued by what we can trade it for, rather than what we can trade for it. In such a division, with the accounting I propose, I think the party that obtains the armor might still receive some gold after all the spoils are accounted for.

<Galstaff> Fizzwig sold a relic? (to Fizzwig) Did you sell it at this General Store in town?

<OOC> I'd like to appraise the necklace of Shar. I'd also like to manage to get to the Blacksmith to appraise the rest of our goods, including the Kobold swords, shields, scale armor, and the big battleaxe we recovered from Irontooth. Also, I'm missing all my inventory changes (mostly gold) from my roll20 character sheet, so I'm a little lost about how much gold we've recovered so far.

Galstaff, still in the small room, opens a small mole skin notebook and takes note of the 120 gp and the ring. He systematically flips through the obvious content of the books and looks for concealed pages. He looks studious but doesn't notice anything.

Galstaff likes boxes and wants to keep the little chest. He looks over it for details.

---

OOC
Without objection, I think Galstaff should gather up the kobold loot and go take care of the party's accounts. Did anyone want the big axe (nonmagical) that we looted from Irontooth? Did the party sort out who's getting the chainmail?

<Galstaff> So, I talked to the blacksmith and he seems to think the Dwarven Armor is genuinely worth 400-500 gp, as we feared. If I take the lower end, that leaves Pale Noon some 258 gp in the hole. It seems a little impractical that he should not have some spending coin from our finds, but I'm at a small loss of how to resolve fairness and practicality in such a situation. Personally, I doubt he'll be in debt for long if our finds continue at such a pace, but, in the mean time, "you can't drink your armor."

<Galstaff> I've sold the kobolds' gear and the greataxe nobody cared for. We have some 725 gp at present, but I've been able to value our total finds at 1132 gp. Some of the things we've recovered, such as the necklace we recovered when the caravan was ambushed, are literally priceless—as in nobody can or will pay for them, despite their dubious utility in deflecting javelins (and only javelins).

<Galstaff> I see two resolutions. One, we can just keep the party's gold together until we part ways or we are able to distribute it more fairly. As long as everyone does not do so at once, each of you could be permitted to spend up to your personal share of what we've appraised, presently 141 gold and 5 silver apiece. To me this seems elegant; it would make it easy to pay the innkeeper and other group expenses and gives us each more latitude in our spending needs. Two, we can just distribute the gold, ignore the items, and hope Tymora will bless that, if we find more useful items in the near future, we will find each of them to lend themselves uniquely to our talents so there is no more strife. I'm a wizard, not a priest, so I have no knowledge of Tymora's will in this. Each person's share would be 90 gold, 6 silver, and 3 copper.

<Galstaff> Oh no no no no! I was not suggesting we steal present money from the person who received excess value due to the illiquidity of the items they received! I meant that it would be a deficit against future earnings. At our present rate of expected earnings, a deficit of 258 gp would be paid off in another one to one and a half excursion, which is probably about the time that recipient of the 400-500 gp item would expect to be eligible for another item.

<Galstaff> However, I appreciate that this is a very sophisticated approach that might not be totally approachable to everyone. I know it deals with imaginary negative money that nobody can see. In fact, I consider it to be, well, a bit mercenary, if not even merchantile (a graver slander), if I do say so myself. I would not be adverse to depreciating the appraised value of items so that a single item does not place one into a usery-ous state. This is, after all, only meant to help fairness, not to enforce it by the king's justice.

---

OOC

We've had three verifications of the value of the chainmail: Galstaff, Fizzwig, and the blacksmith. The blacksmith doesn't have that much gold to spend, but that's what they said it should be sold for. We were hoping it was 20% of that to make it easy, but apparently in 4E magic has a fixed price (or our appraisals are all for the trade-in value). Galstaff explained about the blacksmith above:


I also want to point out that Galstaff does not know how to turn off the sophisticated cray-cray. He's holding back as much as he can. I have advised him not to start talking about everything he learned from some Amnian merchants about balancing portfolios through commodities derivatives trading, but it's still a very near thing.

Galstaff can depreciate the value of the armor so that it's exactly one share of the party income for our first excursion. That leaves everyone in the black. This is approximately what binary described but from a net worth perspective. I doubt this will even be an issue after a few levels.

I say excursion because big loot generally comes after a sequence of encounters. We had three encounters to earn the armor, for example.

I like the party fund. Without objection I'll make it 30% for now and I can divvy it out evenly whenever it gets silly. Galstaff will tell anyone the balances at any time.

OOC
Coffee.

On the way back to town
<Galstaff> Fizzwig, do you remember any more about the artifact you sold to the tavern patrons? I think we should try to find out what became of it. We should find out about this "Kalarel" and perhaps the artifact you borrowed from the cultists could help lead us to this person.

<Fizzwigg> Let me put my newly recovered mental faculties to the test!

The gnome sits, chin in hand and thinks a while, the effort of mental exercise etching lines of concentration on his face. Finally, with sweat pouring down his brow he brightly declares:

<Fizzwig> Yes! I remember it! It was a smooth black stone with some kind of rune etched into it's face and inlaid with silver. It was so shiny. Kept glittering in the torchlight of all those cultists... the uh... the night at the tavern is a bit of a blur... I mean... I think I was persuaded to spend all of my hard pick pocketed money on ale and wenches... but I vaguely recall stumbling out of the tavern to the nearest shop to pawn it off... Does that help?

<Galstaff> I think so. Unless I'm mistaken, the nearest store to the tavern in Winterhaven should be Bairwin's General Store. In that case, it's been in Bairwin's handling, so it's either in the store, he has it, his assistant had it, or they know where it is.

Galstaff gets a quizzical and distant look on his face as he tries to remember something.

<Galstaff> Fizzwig…

<Fizzwig> Oh yeah. It's in the store. I remember it was beside the little version of me on the shelf. I was just distracted by how HANDSOME the statue was... in a disturbingly eldritch and screamy kind of way. Maybe it's still there.

---

OOC
I tallied up the XP for everyone so far. This may be incomplete since it only includes group sessions (added Vauenea's session in):

Galstaff's Accounting Notebook

Galstaff's accounting notebook is a very small leather-bound notebook with about 128 pages of very thin waterproof vellum.

Galstaff tries to be very helpful and will show anyone the accounts he's keeping at any time. These are the bottom lines, which is all anyone ever looks at anyway, despite Galstaff's remarkable handwriting and detailed calculations.

"The rest of the book is quite nice, you know…"

Character	Player	Unclaimed	Claimed†
Baelfius	orb	99.12	100.00
Daelius	prettypenguin	0.00	199.12
Fizzwig	Riot	96.12	114.00
Galstaff	John	99.12	99.00
Pale Noon	Blessing	8.12	500.00
Rolen	Kree	99.12	100.00
Ruhsbaar	binary	99.12	100.00
Vaunea	Bandit	99.12	100.00
Party Fund‡	—	91.04	—
Undecided§	—	700.00	—

† The claimed column includes the full appraised value of items and starting gold/equipment. Except for starting gold, it obviously only includes what I, Galstaff, am personally aware of.
‡ “Undecided” is always recently acquired loot that hasn't been assigned to anyone in particular yet, such as an amulet or armor. It's communal property until we decided what to do with it.
§ After working through the math a bit, I decided the party fund (meant for communal expenses such as inns and group travel) should be one equal share of found gold. Rounding and minor accounting adjustments come out of the party fund. If anyone leaves the party, they may depart with their equal share of the party fund.

Galstaff's Spellbook

A large but very plain-covered book of bound parchment. It is usually wrapped in watertight leather when Galstaff is not actively studying it. It has 128 sheets of parchment, but most of them are empty. Though totally unadorned and mostly empty, the few used pages are entirely filled with a beautiful flowing calligraphy, diagrams, runes, and intricate technical illustrations. Each stroke appears to be deliberate and clear, with none of the splatter and scraping one would find in a personal letter. Every page contains no less than three colors of ink. Sometimes its hard to tell where one color of ink begins and another ends, seeming to blend in ways that mundane penmanship should not allow.

Cantrips

Page 1 — It seems to comprise four blocks. You recognize them as the common cantrips, which almost everyone in Faerun has some practice or experience with. Almost nobody ever bothers to write them out, but here they seem to be spelled out with the kind of attention you might expect from somebody that feared the day when knowledge of them might be lost. Clearly spelled out in each block are the names of the spells: "Mage Hand", "Ghost Sound", "Light", and "Prestidigitation."

At-Will Powers

Without arcane training, you wouldn't recognize these spells. However, they have a fundamental look to them, similar to the cantrips but more intricate. It seems unlikely that a wizard would need to study these with any frequency, yet here they are, recorded in detail.
Page 2 — Magic Missile (At-Will 1) [Wizard, p.8]
Page 3 — Scorching Burst (At-Will 1) [Wizard, p.8]
Page 4 — Storm Pillar (At-Will 1) [AP, p.101]

Encounter Powers

Page 5 — Force Orb (Encounter 1) [Wizard, p.9]

Daily Powers

Page 9 — Sleep (Daily 1) [Wizard, p.11]
Page 10 — Flaming Sphere (Daily 1) [Wizard, p.10]

Utility Powers

Page 21 — Expeditious Retreat (Utility 2) [Wizard, p.11]
Page 22 — Phantasmal Terrain (Utility 2) [AP, p.103]

Rituals

Page 35 — Amanuensis (Ritual 1) [FRPG, p.142]
Page 36 — Animal Messenger (Ritual 1) [PHB, p.300]
Page 37 — Unseen Servant (Ritual 1) [AP, p.158]

Galstaff's Tome of Readiness [AP, p.98]

A thin white vellum notebook whose cover is layered with arcane runes. It is never far from Galstaff and is often seen in his hand during battles. As you touch it, you feel a slight breeze and catch the distant scent winter. [Icy Terrain, tome from Arcane Power]

<Galstaff> By the way, if anyone wants to see the accounting books at any time, just ask. I'll show them to you whenever you want.

Not expected to pay it back; you're in the black. The "unclaimed" column is the gold everyone is still due to receive; there will be no debts. The last column is estimated net worth before unclaimed gold. I'm just tracking net worth to help us spot if anyone has been missing out on loot, for the future.

I think it makes more sense to divide either by mission or extended rest rather than by individual encounters, since we may have a series of encounters and then sweep a dungeon for treasure: which encounter does the noncombatant loot belong to? Galstaff divided the loot by mission, rather than between individual encounters. So, for example, the reward from Lord Paidrig is part of the loot where the armor was divided.

If this bugs anyone, let me know and I can rebalance. I think this makes sense; we bag everything we find and divide it over dinner.

Galstaff watched the pearly mote as it prowled over the dragon skeleton. The mote slowed and, despite having little form to indicate the gesture, seemed to crouch behind what would have been the dragon's ankle. At least, it would have been the dragon's ankle, if the dragon still had ankles, instead of ankle bones. The mote seemed to peer at him.

"Hello," said the wizard.

The mote flared briefly.

Galstaff had the distinct impression that the gesture was like a sort of slight head bow. "You're free now; you don't have to stay here," he replied. (Somehow, Galstaff could make semicolons audible.)

The mote sneezed a bluish light and whizzed around the ankle of dragon, then flew, ground level, halfway towards Galstaff before backing up again, seeming to crouch again.

Galstaff took a step forward and knelt, trying to get a better look at it. He started to reach his hand out to extend his wizard sense, but the moment he felt the first brush of contact the mote lit up like a wisp and flew up his robe's sleeve and then out the other sleeve. He was dazed for a moment, then said, confusion and amusement touching his voice, "I think she likes me."

Galstaff looked around and found the mote, pearly and pale, crouching behind the dragon again. "If you're determined to stick around, you might as well have some place safe to stay." Galstaff pulled a tiny ivory box out of his backpack, a vial of fine silvery dust, and a small brush. He placed a pinch of the dust in the vial's cap and made a gesture. The cap filled with ink and swirled, mixing with the silvery dust. He then set to work covering the tiny box with fine tracery and runes. The mote crept over and inspected as he worked, then set about inspecting the contents of his backpack. In a few minutes Galstaff was finished. He gestured and the ink vanished, leaving the vial cap empty and the silvery dust hardened onto the surface of the box.

Galstaff put the vial and brush away, then placed the small box on the ground, open. "This can keep you safe until I can arrange something a little more permanent for you." The mote crept up and inspected the box, peering into it from every side. Tentatively, it hopped into and out of the box. Then it ran around Galstaff three times before jumping into the box and doing a few circles inside before settling in. "Are you okay if I close this?" He reached out and touched the lid. The mote gave one sleepy little twinkle. Then, he gently closed the box.

Galstaff returned to the party to tell them what he found.

"A small spirit, seemingly content to be in the world. I'm not yet sure what her nature is. She seems to like me. She seems too small to be able to take a form by herself, but I think I can give her some ability to act in the world with a little work. I'll spend some time working on it when we get back to town. For now, she seems content in her little box. The box is temporary, but it'll protect her from sunlight, deep shadows, summoners, or anything else that might harm her. It'll last long enough for me to put something more permanent together for her. I wonder how she would up in that spirit catcher."

Well received here. I need to find a voice for Galstaff so it's clearer that he's usually in character. I personally enjoy Fizzwig's persistent and unsophisticated kleptomania. Keeps me on my toes, and Galstaff has been plotting ways to use magic to keep a reign on Fizzwig and his own possessions. (Eg: bell, bat, paying him off, distracting him with shinies)

I've enjoyed the alignment play for Galstaff. He's actually developing as a character while trying to figure things out, which I didn't entirely expect. There is a lot of natural tension between our characters, which I find fun. However, I'm not sure how that will play out for the players.

Level 2 changes:

- took arcane familiar feat;
- learned utility spells phantasmal terrain (memorized) and expeditious retreat; and
- retrained level 1 at-will power thunder wave to storm pillar.

That's a good way. I've just been deciding and remembering. It's been a short list. I'll start marking the not memorized ones as "used" to keep a record.

It appears that in 4E you only need your spell book to change spells during an extended rest, not to regain spells. Am I mistaken?

Galstaff may need to take Extended Spellbook from PHB feat list. I didn't realize that was a thing. Is it retroactive?

The Kree household approves.

My estimate for XP to date:

Character	Player	XP
Baelfius	orb	1288
Daelius	prettypenguin	1348
Fizzwig	Riot	1428
Galstaff	John	1428
Pale Noon	Blessing	1348
Rolen	Rachel	1428
Ruhsbaar	binary	1288
Vaunea	Bandit	1263

I've annotated my spell book with the pages from each book for each power. The "Wizard" book refers to the Wizard Errata. PDFs for each class are available here: http://dnd4.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Errata_%26_rules_updates_references

<Galstaff> I wonder if I can change the representation on this amulet of Shar to Mystra. The thing gives me the willies as it is.

For the final disposition of gold/loot, I need to know the following:

• Did anyone want to claim the five red gems from Episode 9? I need to appraise their value.
• Did anyone claim the potion of healing from Episode 9?
• We found two elven cloaks (+2 will/fort/ref, +2 stealth); who claims them?
• Any final objections to disenchanting Kalarel's Warlock rod and splitting the gold from selling the magical components?
• Please confirm if Fizzwig claimed the magic dagger from Kalarel.
• Daelius refuses his share of Ruhsbaar's loot.
• Please confirm if Baelfius received the large dragon shield. I need an appraisal for it.
• I need an appraisal from the silver dragon figurine.
• Remind me who took the hide armor from episode 6.
• Doesn't Daelius need to return the Sword of Aecris?