Eventually, Suzette had Rolly cornered.

He gave up, and started pulling darts out of the walls where she'd missed, and out of himself where she hadn't.

More beer was brought up from the tavern.

"So, what's bothering you? Suzette just shrugged and said, "Nothing, why?""Because you were thinking way too hard while we were going over possible classes, and then you missed way more than you should have with darts.

I should be leaking from many more places.

And they weren't even poisoned.

So, I know you aren't really mad." Rolly wasn't as good with people as he was with animals, but they'd known each other a long time.

"Well shit, yes, something's bugging me.

I'm not really keeping up with you guys.

I'm holding you back from tier 2.

I've got a hot mess of skills, cantrips, and oddball stuff.

Out of seven cantrips I only have one attack spell.

The others summon bugs, light small fires, make illusionary doors, consecrate rocks, and purify bottles.

I can brew some potions, but not toss explosions - not with enough accuracy to protect the rest of you.

My only weapon is a dart.

And it's not like a barmaid's dress has much protection."She absentmindedly began juggling darts and a dagger.

Squirmie retreated to a perch in the rafters, just in case.

"Meanwhile, Ben is roaming the world summoning goddesses, Ozzy is killing bosses with his bare hands, and you and that bug are an over-powered dynamic duo." Rolly looked at her and sipped his beer for a bit, "You know, Ben came to me a couple of weeks ago, all depressed because he wasn't contributing?""Ben? But Ben is awesome.

He always is.""Nope.

Not always.

You should see the crap jobs we've done in the past.

We lost nearly as much as we won, but the difference was, when we did win, we won with style - and you remember it."

"You saw Ben wearing fancy cloths.

What you didn't see was him creeping along in a donkey cart and barely able to fight fat rabbits with that whip.

He put points into weapons he didn't even have yet.

Hell, before Squirmie and I met up, I was barely able to herd sedgebeasts.

Face it, all of us sucked." Rolly leaned back and Squirmie landed on his head.

"Yeah, but now the three of you are doing great."Rolly pointed at the milk jug full of coins.

"I notice you have a jug of money, own half a bar, and control a dungeon." "Money doesn't help me kill things.

I keep hoping for some decent magic item I can use, but a ton of the loot is weapons and armor." Rolly sighed and shook his head, "Don't look at what you can't do.

Look at all the stuff you bring to the table.

You have a decent attack cantrip and some versatile cantrips that we just have to figure out how to use better.

You've got money to burn on potions - plus poisoned darts.

Eventually you should get some nifty magic from the dungeon droppings you earn.

What we need to do is focus on a few things and get you set up for dungeoning.

Then we can go in some night and practice on trash mobs, pop some bosses, and get you up to tier 2.""Meanwhile, you make money on the dungeon and tavern, keep teaching the other workers how to improve their skills, and drive all the men wild with your crazy ears."Suzette knew Rolly wasn't going to give up on this.

He'd keep badgering her until she felt better.

"Fine, so what do we start with?""We start with what you already have.

For attacking, you have darts and a cantrip.

Darts are better with poison, are you working on that?""Some.

More than some.

A lot actually...but, it's...hard to explain." Telling Rolly that she dreamed about working with some ancient assassin who was instructing her in the lore of toxins would just lead to too many questions and give away secrets she'd promised to keep.

"So, don't explain.

But think about getting an assortment of poisons made that will come in handy.

We can get you some way to carry them easily so they are accessible in fights.

And think about potions as well.

Basic healing potions, that crazy strength one you gave Ozzy, and any other useful ones that would be nice to have.

Most adventurers don't have a staff alchemist on hand.

They have to buy them.

That's a huge contribution."Rolly was right.

Suzette hadn't really thought about how much potions helped in a dungeon.

She and Aliester were always whipping up batches for Timmy's raids and charging him a good deal of gold for them.

Rolly continued, "Next up is gear.

Did you ever test that Ring of the Ram? And what about the staff Ozzy got off that fire wizard?" "I tested the ring.

It can hold three charges of a spell that can knock back an opponent and do 100 points of crushing damage, but needs 500 mana to recharge it.

The staff I'm unsure on; couldn't identify it." She walked over to the corner and tossed the oak staff to Rolly.

He stared at it for a few seconds and then shared the information with her.

"It's an odd piece of wood.

But I think that a certain fire mage is going to be really pissed off."

Enhancing Staff of the Versatile MagicianSometimes a big stick helps to compensate for what you lack in other places.This staff is able to enhance the effects of one Rune, one Aspect, or one spell effect.

The enhancement is versatile, meaning it can be changed to another enhancement with 10 minutes of meditation.

Current enhancement: Aspect of FireIf the enhancements are made permanent, the staff will enhance one selected Rune, increase one Aspect, and increase one spell effect of a chosen spell (Example: always increases radius of a fireball.) These enhancements cannot be changed later.

Choose wisely.