Fae would smile and nod in a return morning greeting to Ethan as he'd come down for breakfast, happy to have him join them for a meal this time. She'd listen contently as he'd fill in the gaps to the rest of his findings last night, her head tilting in curiosity as he did.

Elra's vibrant good morning would pull her eyes away to return the greeting. "Good morning Elra!" She'd offer her a wave as well.

Fae's eyes would snap to Zeke upon his response to Arvel before darting to look elsewhere, then to their charlatan to watch his sniffling performance. She'd remain silent in her seat all the while.

As the boys made their exit, Fae would blink a couple times wondering what all the sudden haste could be about. Thinking about her overreaction last night, she'd decide to shrug it off as excitement to begin the day. Besides, those three should be able to handle themselves. Right? The scholar would rise from her seat at the sound of her stomach protesting that she eat. She'd begin collecting the dishes from the table they left behind, piling them together to hand in to the counter.

Once she was satisfied with her tidy up, Fae would look to Elra, Tarja and the others at the table. She trusted with that group Gundren's morning update and further care were in great hands. "Thank you for your company this morning. I also have a meeting close by that I should get too." Unless there was a matter that they'd prefer her to stick around for, Fae would excuse herself. With a nod of her head she'd take her leave, heading out to meet up with Sister Garaele.

"Oh, bye!" Elra waves goodbye to Fae. "I'm going to go check on Gundren," Elra declares to no one in particular. She gets up and goes to check on him.

Ethan comes into the alley in time to see Arvel involuntarily expel a couple of bolts of force magic.

"What's going on Arvel, are you alright?"

Arvel slumps to his knees for a moment.

"Oh, ho. I'm just fine, Etan. Except for the fact that there's two of them now!"

The charlatan rises and begins exiting the alleyway, clearly in a state of extreme agitation.

"And apparently I'm a carnival magician now?!" (a colorful bouquet of flowers appears in his hand and then disappears in a flash of light and music)

Walking past Ethan, he raises a single finger.

"Once. Just once! Just once I wish it could be a note. Or a vision in a mirror. You know, like the storybooks? But, nnnnnnoooooooo. Some people get educations. Some people get visions. Some people get portentous dreams or divine callings. But me? What do I get? A 'get out of jail free' card that lasted all of an hour and the realms' deadliest case of the sniffles."

The last is shouted at the sky. After a beat, Arvel closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

"Alright. No property damage done this time, at least. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and get back to the dance."

Turning on a dime, he begins striding out into the street and towards the Exchange. Maxie fades back into view.

"Allons-y!" 

Seeing Maxie return to normal, Zeke exhales sharply and sheathes his blade.  Shaking his head in wonder and disbelief, the barbarian falls in step behind the Charlatan.

Ethan is left scratching his head.

"Aahhhh?"

Ethan shrugs and follows his friends, heading off to the Miners Exchange.

(Thanks for your patience everyone.  We can have a fuzzy timeline here yet again if people want to have talked to Sildar, Daran, etc. for a few minutes and also have set out on their morning visits.)

Daran, Sildar and the Stonehills greet the various members of the party as they come down for breakfast.  The two semi-retired men invite everyone to sit with them.  They inquire about what the group will do now regarding any remaining Redbrand presence, or any time in Phandalin beyond dealing with the band of ruffians and this 'glassstaff'.  Sildar reports that Gundren was still asleep when he last checked on him.

Sildar does raise another topic with the group as well.  "My friends, I have to share something with you.  In talking to the townfolk over the last couple of days I have come to believe that a fellow member of the Lord's Alliance (a well known organization Sildar is a member of, feel free to google) was here in town briefly and was last seen around when the Redbrands seem to have become a significant issue.  He is a human wizard by the name of Iarno Albrek.  Before we set out with Gundren I had been informed that another member of the Alliance was in this region investigating rumors of trouble.  It seems he was here poking around and the timing might suggest that he either ran into trouble at the hands of this gang and perhaps this Glasstaff, or, well, that he himself is the cause of the Redbrand hold on this town.  I have never met the man, personally, so I cannot guess as to which is more likely.  If you go looking for this Glasstaff, do know that he may be Iarno himself, not that the knowledge does you much good, or that he may have prisoners including Iarno or another family I have heard went missing a month or so back.

As Tarja joins the others on the main floor of the inn she quickly spots Horton.  He is out near the town center having a breakfast of dried grass courtesy of one of the thatched roofs near Sister Garaele's home.

When Elra heads back upstairs she enters Gundren's room to find the dwarf staring at her, eyes wide as they had been the day before on the group's journey back from the Neverwinter Wood.  As she takes a step into the room the still scared looking Gundren asks in a trembling voice "Tharden?"  "Nundro?"  The poor dwarf still seems to be lost in his own head, unlikely full aware of where he is.

As the trio approaches the Miner's Exchange they find Halia Thornton near the front door sweeping out a cloud of dust from her establishment.  Tall and thin as always, she is glad in a fine deep green dress.  "Ah, good morning.  Glad you could pay me a visit...Maxie..was it?  And more guests as well, even better."  She seems to eye Zeke's intimidating form for an extra second before gesturing for everyone to come inside.

Fae receives a warm welcome as always from Sister Garaele who opens the door with a smile and the waft of freshly baked, buttery biscuits and tea with honey.

"I'm sorry Gundren," Elra says, "I don't know where your brothers are right now... It's me Elra though! Remember?" she looks around the room, "um..." she closes her eyes and whispers a prayer to Oghma, just to see if she could calm Gundren's emotional state for a moment.

Gundren immediately relaxes, his wide eyes become tired looking once again.  He sleepily says "thank you, Tharden" and looks like he's ready to doze off at any moment.

"I'm not Thardan Gundren," Elra says, "it's me, Elra."

"Wh-where are Tharden and Nundro?"  Gundren now just looks more confused than scared or sleepy, Elra's magic having helped calm the former.

Quote from Hexblade37 >>

As the trio approaches the Miner's Exchange they find Halia Thornton near the front door sweeping out a cloud of dust from her establishment.  Tall and thin as always, she is glad in a fine deep green dress.  "Ah, good morning.  Glad you could pay me a visit...Maxie..was it?  And more guests as well, even better."  She seems to eye Zeke's intimidating form for an extra second before gesturing for everyone to come inside.

 

 "Bonjour, Mademoiselle Thornton! Mes Excuses, but my companions could not resist a shopping trip. Per'aps we could converse while zey peruse your wares?"

Fae could feel her mouth salivate as she'd be hit with the smell of the fresh baking and tea. Her stomach would greet Garaele before the wizard could herself. "Good morning." She'd say with pink cheeks and a warm smile. "How are you?" and pause for her response before continuing. "Can I assist with anything?"

"Where are they supposed to be?" Elra asks, "we havent seen any more dwarfs Gundren."

Tarja tries to redirect Horton away from eating the town roofs.

No, that's not food! We need those! Come on, let's get you back to the meadow. Much more delicious stuff there. We'll be on our way soon!

(If needed, cast Speak with Animals as a ritual to talk to him.)

Returning to the inn, she talks to Sildar.

We'll keep an eye out for Iarno and the missing family, hopefully they're still alive and somewhere in the Redbrand hideout. We'll also try to look for Nundro and Tharden. There's so many missing people... do you know where those two might be? I met them back here before leaving Phandalin and meeting you for the first time. I don't know where they've gone since then, though.

Horton follows Tarja's lead back to the meadow once again.  He wraps his trunk around her to give her a bit of a hug once there.  (Horton will last until sunset of the current day.)

Upon returning for breakfast with Sildar, he tells Tarja "I believe the Rockseeker brothers headed for the mine."  "I only hope that is better than falling victim to this Glasstaff here in town.  Unfortunately, I'm not sure how to find them.  They had a copy of the map, and I'm told Gundren has now lost his to our former captors."

Meanwhile Gundren just mumbles "Tharden....Nundro..." a few more times.  At one point he does mumble "maybe they found the mine..." and otherwise seems lost in thought and confusion.

Pleasant as always, Sister Garaele replies "I am well, thank you."  "Yourself?  Yes, would you grab the butter from the larder please?"  She then offers Fae tea, biscuits and some fruit preserves.  "So, you wanted to learn more about medicine?"

Halia Thorton replies "yes, of course, please."  "We have minerals and gems, mining equipment and, of course, I have some claims for sale.  A few are very choice ones, I might add."  She looks at Ethan and Zeke.  "You have proven to be some very capable folks.  Might be able to make a pretty penny up there in those hills!"

Halia nods at 'Maxie' and pulls him aside.  "I'll get right to it.  You seem like a man who understands the value of information.  I deal in information, such as where to mine in these hills but also much more, just as much as I deal in these minerals here.  I wonder what information might prove useful to you, such that we might form a relationship.  One thing that is no secret is that all of this Redbrand trouble has been very bad for business.  A number of potential miners have fled town on account of their harassment.  I thus wonder, are you and your friends going to take care of them for good?"

Fae would nod, "I feel refreshed." She'd admit. And with a nod the wizard would head over and grab the butter from the larder as requested. She'd return to Sister Garaele. Her stomach would protest once again at the sight of the homemade meal offered to her from the cleric. With even redder cheeks that seem to be a staple on her face these days, Fae would take a seat. "Yes, I'm interested in learning non magical methods..." She would offer a smile.

“Absolument!”

Halia smiles, "that's very good to hear."  "It may server you well to know then that I believe this 'Glasstaff' to be a wizard who was here several months ago.  I believe the name was Albrek.  It was not long after his arrival and subsequent disappearance that things got a lot worse around here.  The last I heard of him was that he had headed up the hill to the manor to investigate the place, and also that he was a powerful summoner.  After what we all witnessed, and you all most skillfully dealt with I might add, here in town last night, I think this rumor holds true.  My advice would be not to let him speak the words of his magic if you intend to tangle with him."

"In addition to that, there is certainly other news afoot.  For some time now there has been word of orcs to the East along the trail, past Conyberry and before you reach Triboar itself." (She means the town at the east end of the Triboar Trail).  "I'm sure our dear Townmaster would tell you the same, as would Ms. Greywind.  Just as you have apparently dealt with to our West, this alleged band of orcs prevents trade and new visitors, and thus business of course, from the East.  If you saw fit to do something useful with this information, I may even be able to make a contribution to your cause."  She pauses for a breath and looks at Arvel, then Ethan and Zeke and back again.  "What, might I ask, IS your cause, actually?  You've made quite a debut here in the past few days, but I'm not sure I understand your goals here in our fair town."

-------------------

Meanwhile Sister Garaele goes over the tools of the trade with Fae.  She has various bandages, salves, oral medicines, and even tools used for serious intervention, such as removing an arrowhead or draining a wound.  She explains to Fae how each is used and asks her to practice cleaning and wrapping an imaginary wound.  She also begins to explain to Fae how to assess various states of swelling, infection, etc.  While Fae is working, she does as the wizard "will you all be seeking out this Glasstaff soon?"

"We'll find your brothers," Elra says, "I promise Gundren... and we'll find the mine too... if that's where they are."