Gold!

The adventurers carefully searched through the room, negotiating their way between the teetering piles of junk. They were on edge, aware that a Toad could be hiding in the tangled heaps, waiting to attack, or that the monsters could have left traps.

So they all jumped when Myria knocked over another of the piles, filling to room with the crash of dozens of tumbling objects.

“Gods!” she cried – but her expression was not one of shock, but wonder. Halfway up the pile was a small chest. When it had hit the stone floor, it had broken open, and spilled its contents – a heap of gold coins.

“We’re rich!” Myria shouted gleefully.

“Myria!” Cecilia chided. “We’re not here for mere material wealth. We’re here to rescue the villagers.”

“Well… yeah,” Myria said after a moment’s pause. “But there’s no reason we can’t get rich doing that. The rewards of virtue.”

“Wait a moment,” Dew said, holding up one of the coins. “Something’s wrong here.”

“Uh, large amounts of high denomination currency, light but valuable and acceptable in any inn, brothel or weapon-shop in the kingdom?” Myria chuckled. “If fail to see what’s wrong. In fact, I have major philosophical problems with the idea that there could be anything wrong with that.”

“These coins are all of the same value,” the mage continued, ignoring her companion. “and neatly packaged for transport. If they’d stolen it, it’d be all sorts of different coins, and the frogs don’t strike me as tidy enough to store it like this. This isn’t plunder… it’s a -payment-…”

“A payment?” Cecilia looked disturbed. “For what? Who would trade with beasts like these.”

“I don’t know,” Dew said. “But I guess we’ll have to find out.”

While they talked Myria, who cared more about the coins’ value than their origen, secured the small chest in her backpack.

[Myria got 500 GOLD.]