The Diner at the Edge of the Universe

Having made their way back to Brewhaus, Dewy informed the party that all funeral arrangements and costs for Morprax would be covered. He also upped the reward for completing the mission to help compensate for the loss of Morprax. After a quick toast to the memory of Morprax, the party members retired to a room for the evening to recover from the strenuous battle and get some much needed rest.
 
Upon arising in the morning and prior to heading down for breakfast, the party decided to investigate a strange box they found near the body of the large Fire Newt that almost defeated them. Strangely, the box had a slot on the front with the words "insert coin" inscribed upon it. Thomas, realizing the party had already discovered that this box, the extra-planar fire/lava pit in the mine and the red coins the party had acquired were all of the same type magic, warned against using the device until after they found Cornelius Dorlan, the reported expert in this area. Bob however was much more ambitious and decided to insert his sole red coin into the box. As soon as the coin was inserted, a small disc inside the box began spinning and music began playing. The party, strangely enough, then found themselves seated at a table inside a structure that appeared to be circling around a black hole somewhere in space. There were many other humanoids here as well, all acting as if everything were normal, as if they belonged there. Almost immediately, a human approached the party and greeted them as if he knew them and stated that they normally visited as a group of four rather than three. Highly confused, the party began to inquire as to who this person was, how he knew them, and more importantly, where they were. The human introduced himself as Paul Hawkgaze and assured them that they had all met many times in the past, but also acknowledged, a bit surprised, that this was their first visit to what he called the Diner at the Edge of the Universe. Absolutely none of this making sense to any of the party, Paul explained that this location was outside the realm of space and time as the party understood it, that it was a place where people could gain admittance to purchase goods using the mysterious red coins the party had been finding as currency. He also explained that to Paul, he remembered the party from having already met them in what is the party's future but to this place, there is no past and future, only the present. Seeing the party was having a difficult time grasping this, he presented them with a serving platter with a multitude of items upon it. Paul explained what each and every item was and what it cost.
 
The party having eight red coins as currency were discussing which items would be of most use to them, when a Vedalken dressed in some very heavy armor approached them and greeted them with a hearty "There you guys are, something must have flaked out in transit". Once again, the party was completely confused, but the Vedalken introduced himself as Eebrock, one of their companions, a fellow member of the Adventuring Gofers and the most likely reason they didn't recognize him was that they were brought there from different timelines somehow. Paul appeared to agree with this theory and the party couldn't really find a reason why this would be any crazier than the current situation decided to go along with this. Besides, having lost Morprax, having another companion would probably come in handy, especially one so well armed and armored. The initial three companions had already decided to purchase a Babel Fish for Thomas to understand and speak any language while attuned to this item, a Pen of Spell Changing which allows a spell caster to alter one letter in the name of a spell, changing a word to a different word and thus changing the effect of the spell and a magic long sword with the ability to deal a random type of damage rather than typical slashing damage. Having a few coins left, they offered to purchase an item for Eebrock, their new companion. Eebrock happily accepted their offer and chose a Chef Knife of Fire which deals additional fire damage to any creature wounded by this weapon.
 
Pleased with their selections, the party inquired how to return form whence they came. Paul informed them that as soon as the song emanating from the box finished, they would find themselves back where they activated the box. He also pointed out that their box had transformed and any time they wished to return, all they had to do was press the red button that now took the place of the initial coin slot. He warned them that this would only work when the party was in a relatively safe space and it wouldn't be able to activate to rescue them from danger. As Paul was finishing this explanation, the song in the box was ending and the entire building began to spin and tip towards the black hole. Just before the structure was sucked in, the party found themselves back in their room at Brewhaus. Deciding it was time for some food and to get the much desired information regarding Maxwell Boulder, the four of them made their way downstairs.
 
As usual, Dewy was there to greet them and take their orders. He was a bit taken aback at the Vedalken that he had never seen before accompanying the party from upstairs, but already believing the party to be a bit extraordinary, didn't really press them when they simply explained he was their new companion to compensate for the loss of Morprax. Thomas quickly changed the subject of conversation to Maxwell Boulder, to which Dewy kept to his word and informed the party that Maxwell was part of law enforcement, working undercover to break up an illegal fighting club. The description of Maxwell fit about 90% of all the dwarves in the city and the party being unfamiliar with the city, Thomas had a bit of concern as to how they might locate Maxwell in a reasonable period of time. Dewy informed them that he believed there was going to be a fight held in the basement of the Giddy Gnome a couple of days from now. Relieved that they had a location, they formed a plan where they would try to get Jade and Brukk entered to compete in the fights and from there, they would eventually connect with Maxwell. Having finished their morning meal and having some newly acquired gold to spend, they inquired with Dewy as to a shop where they might be able to acquire some healing potions. Dewy immediately replied that the obvious shop was the alchemy shop called the Dirty Bottle. Before leaving for the shop, the party gathered up Morprax non personal items that none of them required to pawn them off at the Threadbare Maiden before making their way to the alchemy shop. Thomas and Bob decided to go into the shop alone to try and barter for a bulk purchase of potions. The shopkeeper was an elderly, blind, Tiefling who spoke very slowly and somewhat softly. She offered a multitude of healing options including various potions and scrolls. Bob and Thomas decided that a couple of normal healing potions and four stronger healing potions would be a good use of their gold. They were able to haggle the price down a little, but most of their newly gained wealth was spent on these potions. Being fully equipped and well rested, it is now time to find the Giddy Gnome and get our two fighters signed up.