The Cauldron of Hope
The cauldron is... Freedom. Joy. Hope. The hag was a fool. Draknar and his group might have left her alone, asking only for some small token to prove the death of the fishermen, and even perhaps paying her for that. Uncharacteristically, she chose to fight. Perhaps she felt overconfident, seeing as the little group is, well, so diminutive - and they were all injured from the fight with the skeleton. Draknar is certain something good can be done with this cauldron. Some kind of commercial enterprise. The cauldron can make good money, day in and day out. It might wreck the economy of at least one of the town, but in exchange, Draknar is sure that a decent, regular income can be extracted, and with that income, healers and fighters can be hired, officials can be corrupted, problems can be solved. He is halfway through imagining the small army which he'll be able to hire (perhaps several healers and at least 3 personal bodyguards - more reliable ones than the Kobold and the Fairy) when...