"Both." Helena says with a nod to the innkeep. "Plus information on who we should inform about these two children we were asked to bring here." She nods to the kids. "A knight found them in a destroyed homestead, and reported that stone giants had attacked the place, with these kids the only survivers they could find."

"Are you familiar with Femery and Dartin Meadow? They're the parents of Bosh and Hemily Meadow and both of them are with us. We want to reserve a room for the children and we believe they're going to stay here for the next two days."

Sphyboe describes the general intention of the group to the woman, then she adds:

"Lady Harriana Hawkwinter has offered five gold pieces for the payment of food and accommodation, but we can offer more pieces if necessary."

In fact, she wants to finish the task as soon as possible so that the group can resume the journey. The messages need to be delivered without any further delay since the safety and the future of Nightstone depends on the issue. If it's possible to skip the dinner and the short rest, she will do so gladly without any complaints.

Cartha looks at Helena with surprise as she explains the situation with the children. “Stone giants? I’ve never heard of such a thing! What is the world coming to? I’m sure you’re glad to be within the walls of the castle here.” To Sphyboe, she says, “We can certainly have someone keep an eye on the children and 5 gold will be plenty to pay for their upkeep for a couple of days. For the rest of you, supper is 3 silver per person and rooms are 5 silver each. How many rooms will you be needing?”

(As you all were arriving at the fortification here, the sun was beginning to set. It is another day’s travel from here to get to Waterdeep. You could continue your travel through the night, but you will likely suffer from exhaustion. It’s up to you all.)

"I'll take a room for myself." Helena says with a nod. "We can then get a start early tomorrow, reaching Waterdeep tomorrow night."

Essie has been pretty much stricken silent by the views ahead of her. The fort itself is much larger than anything she's seen before, but it was that slight view of the sea that really caught her attention. The excitement takes her by surprise; she promises herself that she'll go to the seaside and explore more after this mission of theirs is over.

Following the others into the inn, the day's travels are starting to hit her. She's a little weary, but she doesn't show it. She could go for longer, she supposes. 

"The sun is starting to set. We could push forward a little longer and make a camp," she says, almost more to herself than anyone else. She hears the innkeep's offer and lets out a little hum. "Or we could stay here and follow Helena's plan. That sounds nice, actually. And I could share a room with someone, if we wish to save on coin."

Bramble wonders who was carrying the 5gp for the children’s board and the 30gp for the party’s hire.

”I would very much appreciate a supper, bath and bed, if it is the will of the group.”

Sphyboe will pay for the temporary boarding facility of the children by spending the 5gp that she's mentioned earlier. She takes 5 gp for herself, and rest of the gold pieces will be divided into equal shares.

"We can rent a room here and huddle together for the night...pack tactics? Besides, I've seen some caravans parked outside which can offer excellent accommodation. But, I have to find someone who is willing to let us stay inside the wagons without any cost."

The half-elf woman suggests gingerly while watching the interior fortification through the window of the Red Rune Inn.

"Why do we have to spend silver pieces for a room when they have a gigantic fort? I believe that they have the proper arrangement for granting shelter to a group of friendly adventurers. Moreover, the bed-chambers of Lady Harriana and Varla are unoccupied for the night."

Bramble will pocket his 6gp share and offer each of the group a goodberry from his remaining eight to tide them over until tomorrow. A bath and a bed would have been nice, but he has done without before.

Cartha watches the group’s discussion, her eyebrows raising as Sphyboe suggests sleeping in a caravan and such. “You are certainly welcome to see if any of the merchants would let you sleep in their wagons. It sounds uncomfortable to me. You mention a ‘proper arrangement for granting shelter to a group of friendly adventurers’? I’ve heard of that. It’s called renting rooms from the innkeep at a very fair price. Each room has a couple of beds, so you are welcome to share if you like. Dinner tonight is mutton with roasted potatoes and carrots. But I highly recommend our shalass stew, well known to be the finest in the North.”

She accepts the 5 gold for the keeping of the children and calls over one of the other workers. “Mat, we have a couple of children here who need dinner now and will need a room for tonight. I think their names are Hemily and Bosh Meadow…” 

As she calls out across the room, a couple of heads turn your way. Then a man and woman stand up from their table and rush over. “Did you say Hemily and Bosh? What?” The children see them coming and run toward them, calling, “Mama! Papa! You found us!” There is a jumble of conversation as the couple tries to understand why their children are here.
“It was stone giants, Mama! They broke the barn! But a knight came and saved us and the nice people brought us here!”
“Stone giants? Oh, no! Really? Surely not. Are you okay? Let me look at you!” says the father. The mother looks up at you all and asks, “Is this true?”

(By the way, I think each of you gets 5gp from the 30gp that Lady Harriana gave you.)

Daerthe continues to stay silent, doing her best to not draw attention to herself. She keeps her hood pulled low and keeps close to the rest of the group. She frowns at the mention of more travel in the sunlight. "I am going to find somewhere to enter my reverie. I shall be about when cursed sun rises."

"I am staying in a bed, in my own room, for this night." Helena says, pulling out the money and paying for the room. She looks to the others. "Feel free to do as you wish." She then turns to the innkeep. "Can I get a bath sent up to my room as well, what would that cost? I'll take your suggested meal as well, can that be brought to the room with the bath?"

Sphyboe has been finally discouraged to make an illegal attempt to enter the inner fortification and explore the fort. Thus, she will hand over 10 silver pieces for renting a room, and order the recommended dish. She will greet the parents of the children, then she excuses herself and gets outside the Inn to take a look at the compound of the fort.

If there's any kind of plantations outside, she will help Bramble to search for herbs or bushes while staring at the drawing of plants on the other side of the map for guidance.

(Bramble will not be attempting to create potions with his herbalist kit. There was no reasonable way to make it worthwhile. I.e. Too many rolls, too much distraction from the party’s thread. Maybe when Bramble retires he’ll settle down somewhere and grow the ingredients necessary for his little side-hustle.)

”I appreciate your willingness to help me search out herbs and bushes, Sphyboe. But I don’t have a need at present. Can I help you find anything you might be looking for? I am always interested in encountering new flora?”

Cartha says, “Oh, yes, we can provide a hot bath for 1 silver extra. And we can certainly bring your meal up to you. Did you want the mutton or the shalass stew?” (Shalass is a fish native to the Dessarin River and the Red Rune Inn is known for their stew, if you like that sort of thing.) Cartha accepts Helena’s and Sphyboe’s payments and hands them each a room key.

Femery and Dartin Meadow soothe their children who, after holding it together all day, are finally feeling safe enough to let their anxiety out. Femery kisses their foreheads, but then stands again, saying to Dartin, “I would still like a more detailed explanation from any of these strange adventurers who appeared with our children hours from our farm where they were supposed to be.”
“Now, now, dear,” says Dartin with a child in each arm, “I’m sure they have their own business to attend to. No doubt they gave enough time to our family in delivering them safely. Hemily can tell us more about it once she has rested."

Assuming Sphyboe does proceed outside, she doesn’t find much plant growth of interest within the outer walls. There are a couple of scrubby little bushes and some dry grass, but the movement of wagons and such has left much of the large yard empty of plant life. The inner wall is made of a combination of stone and wood. As it is getting dark, a few members of the guard are darting within just as the gates are closing for the night. A couple more stand watch at the gate. You can’t see much of the garrison within, except there is one tower with large openings. A griffon and rider have just landed at this entrance and are moving within. You assume they are part of the defense of the fort and bridge.

While the others go about their own business for the night, Daerthe goes to sit in a chair in the farthest corner away from any windows. After a bit she sighs and pulls outs a silver, deciding a bath would do her some good, knowing she looked terrible with her ragged and somewhat ill fitting clothing. 

She will take the bath and then go about her meditation, reluctantly going out the next morning to see if she can find a store to trade what she had found in Nightstone for gold and new Theives Tools.

"The stew please." Helena says with a smile. "I'll meet you all back down here in the morning." She says then, before heading up to her room.

Sphyboe has never seen a Griffon before, as a result she is surprised at the view of a rider using the creature as a mount. She replies to the Druid companion:

"Yes, we need to examine something new and it is related to your area of expertise."

The half-elf adjusts her scarf and clothes while tucking the stray strands of dirty hair behind her ears. Then she will move forward and greet the guards who are responsible for the duty of keeping the garrison safe from trespassers:

"Evening fellow comrades! I wonder if you have the jurisdiction of granting an amicable messenger of the Harpers' and a 'Wildlife Specialist' access to the garrison. The Griffon has caught the attention of my colleague, Mr. Mossbottom."

Charisma: Persuasion 18 (Rolled with advantage from Bramble's help)

With a little wrinkle of her nose, Essie just goes ahead and pays for a room of her own. Neither of the meals sound terribly appealing to her, but she figures she might as well try the shalass stew. She chooses to eat hers downstairs to try and be around more people. She's trying to get used to it. She does give the two kids a little wave as their parents take them away, that same smile on her face that rarely seems to fade.

Mostly, she sits at a table and keeps to herself, but her white eyes scan the room every once in a while. People watching, for the most part. They're so fascinating sometimes.

The guards look a little startled at Sphyboe’s speech. One, a pale blond youth with a scar  on his forehead says, “Um...you want in the garrison? Who are you again? We’re not really supposed to let civilians in. The captain wouldn’t like it. I mean, you seem like nice folks, but he would have our heads.”

The other, a short sturdy female guard with spiky black hair says, “I dunno, Tam, they seem important, maybe. Kaz might get mad if we don’t let them in. We’ve got to show them some respect.” She turns to you and asks, “What is it you want to see? The griffons? We don’t want any trouble, y’know.”

Meanwhile in the dining room, Essie sees the couple with the children having an argument. Eventually the woman says, “They’re my children and I need to know, Dartin!” She walks over to Essie and says, “Listen, I’m sure you are very important and busy and don’t have time to talk to common folk like us and we do appreciate our children’s safe delivery, but I need to know what happened. You must see it from our point of view. We’re on a short trading trip, leaving our children safe at farm with a loyal farmhand, and suddenly they appear with a bunch of strangers far from home. And we’re left to piece the story together from what an 8- and 6-year-old can tell us. Giants attacked our farm? They knocked down the barn? Really, I think we deserve an explanation from an adult, no matter how high your station.”

Helena settles into the warm bath tub, nibbling on the stew that was brought with it. She lets out a sigh of contentment.