“I kill the little fucker before he can wake up and do something else!” said Dave, as the rest of the players cheered and high-fived.

“Wait! Don’t you think we should interrogate him first?” asked Margaret, flush with victory.

“This guy is trouble. I don’t want him killing any of us again. Let’s execute him, go through his stuff, and we can always go back and interrogate him later if we want to. I stab the son of the bitch!” declared Dave.

“You see his small, helpless form bleed out as you murder the defensely, incapacitated hobbit.” narrated Gary.

“Who just killed all of us! We’re not going to feel guilty” replied Anne.

“Actually, you went back in time such that he never killed any of you. All he did was enter your room and you killed him for it.” Gary answered.

“But he WOULD have killed us if we’d let him!” said Anne.

“Just like Bush’s justification for invading Iraq?” answered Gary, baiting Anne.

“Ok, let’s go through his stuff” suggested Frank.

“You find a halfling size suit of leather armor, Yenser is the only character it would fit. You find a short sword and dagger, a ring on each hand and an amulet around his neck. You also find 9 gems and a variety of potions” Gary said, listing the treasure.

“What do the potions look like?” asked Frank.

“There are 3 red potions, 8 green potions, 2 light grey potions and 2 dark grey potions.” Gary listed them off.

“How do we know what they do?” asked Margaret.

“We could always drink one, see what happens, then go back in time.” suggested Yenser.

“That’s a good idea, but I don’t think we should use the time travel just to identify potions. We should remember that we have them and drink one to identify it before we go back in time in the future.” suggested Dave.

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“What are the gems?” asked Frank

“He had 4 diamonds, which as a thief you appraise for being worth around 500 gp each, 2 rubies which you appraise around 250 gp each and 5 sapphires which you appraise as being worth around 300 gp each.”

The players began chatting to one another as they realized their characters had just become rich.

“How do we identify the magic items?” asked Frank.

“There are detect magic spells, so that would tell you whether something was magical or not. If you use it, over time you might get a feel for if it’s magical. If you wore magical armor or used a sword, you’d eventually get a rough idea of its enchantment. Otherwise you can hire a sage and get them to identify items for you. There isn’t anyone who could do this in the Fort, it’s too small of a community, but there’d be multiple sages back in Hope.”

“So Nalda or I have to learn ‘Detect Magic’ at some point I guess?” asked Dave.

“Can I cast ‘Detect Magic’?” asked Anne.

“Look at your spell list!” instructed Gary.

“Yeah, I have it! I’ll cast it, what happens?” Anne replied.

“You have to pray for it first, but if you want to pray and rest you’ll be able to gain it then cast it.”

“Uh guys” said Margaret, “We have a dead body in our room. Are we going to get in trouble with the guards?”

“Knowing what you do about society, him creeping into your room at night armed to the teeth would likely be justification for killing him” Gary decided. “You might not want to tell them that you had him incapacitated then executed him, but other than that you probably wouldn’t get in any trouble.”

“Ok, I go down to the main room and tell them we were attacked and ask them to summon the captain of the guards then,” Margaret decided.

“The captain arrives 20 minutes or so later and investigates the room along with the innkeeper. The captain asks you if you knew the halfling.”

“No, good sir captain, this is the first time we’ve ever seen him,” says Margaret.

“Well the captain explains that the halfling had been seen around the Fort earlier in the day but no one knew who he was. He was asking about the party and the people downstairs told him all about you and which rooms you were in right before he came up and attacked you.”

“Thanks for nothing, guys!” said Dave, shaking his head in disgust.

“The captain has the body removed and the innkeeper asks if you’re comfortable staying in these rooms if she sends someone up to clean up the mess,” Gary narrated.

“Yes, we’re ok here if they clean it up,” decided Laura, shrugging at the other players.

“In the morning, Anne has memorized ‘Detect Magic’ and she can cast it if she wants. Other spells casters should also decide what they’ve prepared,” Gary said.

“I cast it, how does it work?” asked Anne.

“Read the spell description,” suggested Gary.

After reading, Anne explained, “Basically anything magical that I see glows. Do I cast it once for each item I examine? It says it lasts 2 turns.”

“So, no, 2 turns is 20 minutes, so for 20 minutes you see anything magical. You can cast it once then look at everything you want to examine,” Gary explained.

“Can I move while it’s active?” asked Anne.

“Yep!” confirmed Gary.

“Everyone, put all your stuff in a big pile in front of me and I’ll find out whatever is magic.” instructed Anne. After everyone had agreed, Gary iterated all the items that glowed with magic.

“So the leather armor, the short sword and the dagger that the halfling had. All the potions, the rings and the amulet all glow. The dirty shield that Frank took off of the elf skeleton in the forest glows. And that’s it, I don’t think any of you started with magic items or had anything else.”

“What about the gems?” asked Frank, “Maybe they’re cursed.”

“Nope, they’re non-magical gems,” answered Gary.

“Well, Yenser is the only person who can use the armor, so she should get that,” suggested Dave, “Who wants what from the rest of the stuff?”