As soon as Kahlil received Debbie's message he knew this was a big opportunity.  They could start recruiting allies who would play a vital part in the struggle to come.  They could also help Mr. White and the British government, which would give them powerful friends in high places.

Kahlil made the call to alert Mr. White that something was up, and he was at the farm within 30 minutes, again with his "shadow".  After the briefest of greetings, Kahlil got to the point.

"Debbie has rings in her shop. Six gold each, no restriction on how many she can purchase."

"Excellent news, is she here?" Mr. White asked.

"She went to do a mission, then she plans to meet Stevo in Drebun.  She said she would meet me at the gym tonight."

"I have an item for Stevo, perhaps we could go to Drebun and kill two birds with one stone?"

Kahlil nodded.

"I'll stay with the car, boss.". Said the shadow.

Moments later they were outside the inn in Drebun.  Kahlil was interested to see that Mr. White was wearing some sort of religious robes.  Grey, fairly loose, made of a thick woolen cloth.  He had a belt, made of metal interlocking rings, from which hung several small pouches.

Mr White saw Kahlil taking in his appearance.

"While we are here, call me Adaam.  I'm a mage by the way, level 8 as of yesterday."

Kahlil smiled, and they stepped into the inn, where they found Stevo pulling large splinters from the thigh of a very unhappy farmer.  The farmer was creative with his use of swear words, and every splinter Stevo removed was accompanied by a barrage of them.

"Fuck me with a spicy sausage!  That one hurt!"

"That was the last one.  Now there is nothing in the wounds, let's get you fixed up." Stevo said before uttering his healing spell silently.

The bleeding from the half-dozen cuts stopped almost immediately.

"Thank you Stevo, that feels a fuck-ton better already!" Said the farmer, adding,

"It was my own stupid fault, trying to vault the fence like a youngster, instead of using the gate.  Now I have to fix the bloody thing!"

The Farmer passed Stevo a couple of coins, nodded again his thanks and left.

Kahlil and Mr. White took his place at Stevo's table.

"Hi Stevo, let me introduce you to Adaam." Kahlil said pointedly, nodding in Mr. White's direction.

Stevo got the attention of a serving girl, and a moment later a mug of ale was placed before each of them.

Adaam started the ball rolling. "Impressive to see you patch that guy up, perhaps this will help you going forward."

He passed an amulet to Stevo, who took it with interest.  A simple wooden ankh, on a  necklace of braded rawhide, it didn't look particularly valuable. 

"Healing amulet of the Mother.  Adds ten percent to the wearer's mana pool.  Healing spells cast by the wearer use 20% less mana."

"Very nice, and a fair exchange for the ring I gave you. Thanks Adaam!"

Stevo was grinning widely, thrilled with the item.  It would allow him to be more effective as part of a team, which was his goal, he would be able to cast more heals, keeping his friends in the fight for longer. He passed the amulet to Kahlil so the he could examine it.

"The rings are why we are here.  Deb should be coming here to meet you soon, the plan is to give her what money we can to buy as many as possible." Kahlil added. 

"I'm pretty poor right now, but I did a couple of heals on villagers before you arrived.  I have four gold, and seven silver.  I could kick in the four gold towards a ring." 

"So Stevo's four gold, six from me makes ten.  How much do you have Adaam?" Asked Kahlil. 

"I have fifteen gold coins.  I had a feeling your call would be about the rings, so I raided the piggyback." 

"That makes twenty five gold, enough for four rings, more if Debbie has money." Calculated Stevo. 

"Let's ask her, she just walked in!" Stated Kahlil with a smile. 

"Debbie, over here!  Come and meet our friend Adaam!"  Stevo waved her over. 

Debbie greeted everyone, and seemed impressed by Mr. White, Adaam's outfit. 

"We have twenty-five gold Debbie, plus anything you have to add?" Adaam asked Debbie. 

"No sorry, I am broke.  But I did already buy a ring." 

"OK, I propose this, we buy four rings for 24 gold, I will take three, you take one. Give Stevo one of his gold coins back.  I will contact HQ, and get enough gold for two more rings.  I will give one of them to you." Adaam glanced around the table as he finished speaking.  Everyone was in agreement.  Debbie took the coins and quickly bought the rings, handing three to Adam. 

"If you will excuse me, I will take these to HQ and return with more money. Please wait for me, I won't be long." 

With that, Adaam left the inn. 

"So, we have two rings right now, and we are about to get a third.  What's the plan for them?" Asked Kahlil. 

"Two for Deb, one for you Kahlil, and when we get the next one, that's mine?" Suggested Stevo. 

They agreed, and then ordered lunch, which was some sort of chunky vegetable stew, whilst waiting for Adam to return. 

It was nearly two hours later when Adaam finally walked back into the inn.  Lunch had been long finished, and Stevo had paid for the meal with coins earned by healing a young girl of something like measles. Her parents were delighted by her rapid recovery, and had only just left, after thanking Stevo a dozen times. 

"Sorry to keep you waiting so long, there was a bit of a flap at HQ.  Turns out the Americans have two teams up in Alaska, and they have been bogged down fighting waves of skeletons and bear-like creatures almost constantly.  When they heard about our rings, they demanded some.  It turns out none of their folks have found any yet.  The rings I went back with are now on a flight to the USA, where three Navy Seals are about to become 'enlightened' and be shipped up to Alaska.

The good news is that rather than having gold for two rings, the Americans gave us twenty gold for the three they have, and I got approval to drain our coffers further.  I now have sixty gold, enough for ten rings.  I need eight, but you can have the other two."

Adaam placed several coin pouches on the table, and Deb rapidly made them dissappear, shortly a pile of rings took their place. 

"If you don't mind me asking, Adaam, what are your associates going to do with the rings?" Enquired Stevo. 

"There is a bit of a debate about that, one faction wants the Senior Royals, such as the King, and Prince of Wales to be given rings.  A second, more pragmatic faction, wants them for a special forces team.  I think the SAS will get this lot, but it wouldn't surprise me if the Royals, and maybe even the PM and cabinet get rings at some point.  Perhaps not the politicians, but the Royals, almost certainly.  Interestingly, Prince Harry is already enlightened, a cause of much consternation."

"I'm giving one to my sister. I've decided.  Probably tonight."  Debbie spoke up, almost daring someone to talk her out of it. 

"That is your right, Debbie, you'll get no arguments from me." Adaam said with a conciliatory tone. 

"I'm a little sorry I have nobody to give one.". He added wistfully. 

"I'm giving one to Gregoor.  I want to talk to him first though.  I am sure the people here know we are different somehow, I want to get an idea of what they think."

"Good idea Stevo, I would be interested in hearing what he has to say." Adam added, still looking a little like he was thinking of something else. 

"You are welcome to stay, he should be here soon, he always pops in in the evenings" 

"Thanks Stevo, but unfortunately I need to get back.  The powers that be will be clawing each other's eyes out for these rings, I need to help referee the struggle." 

"I'm going too, see you tomorrow Stevo, Kahlil.  See you soon Adaam." said Deb. 

Soon it was just Kahlil and Stevo at the inn.  Stevo was drinking a mug of some sort of herbal tea.  Kahlil a beverage called 'caf', which bore a passable resembelence to coffee. 

"You know, before I go giving my ring to Gregoor you can take it if you want.  Then you would have enough for your Brother and his family.  We can get another one later for Gregoor."

"Thanks Stevo, but I still haven't made a decision.  I am not sure we could get him over to visit.  I am wondering why you don't want a ring for your Mum?"

"This probably sounds strange, but she's a sweet old soul, very set in her ways.  Even if she could cope with the shock of becoming one of us, she'd never adapt to what comes next.  It would destroy her.  When the time comes, we'll get her to the farm and she can earn her keep helping out around the place, relatively safe from danger."

"Whatever you say Stevo.  Oh, here's Gregor!"