"Phoney? I thought it was real? Sure feels real." Yes, that time he was deliberately misunderstanding, and he smirked as if he couldn't help it. "Thanks, I'd appreciate the help," he said smoothing his expression into a more genuine smile.

He grinned internally at the eager reply and set down his drink. He kept his face solemn as he spoke, so as to not give away the ending. "The lawyer claimed that the white mage was responsible for failing to save the buildings and for the deaths of the few people who died before he was able to mount a defense. He claimed that young Gregory had to repay all the damages or go to debtors prison. And somehow he also claimed that he was going to claim the land Barthis had been on and build a memorial stadium to one of the bigots that the white mage had driven from the town previously that had been killed by a powerful seer elsewhere not long after."

He still was not sure if he was privileged to know the details of that particular death or not, but he knew and nothing could change that now. One of the curses of a vivid imagination, however, was that with the details he had, he may as well have witnessed it as his son had.

Again he took a sip to gauge interest in his continuing.