"Oh," Tender blinks, looking at the young man, "you might be a bit late, if you're looking to catch the caravan." 

Fletcher looks curiously at Tender. she seems to be more intuitive than she looks.

"Oh damn." He says. He drops the box to the ground. "I was supposed to give this to them." He sits down on it, disappointed. "Well now what do I do?"

Fletcher looks around." I will take it. give me a name, and I will deliver it to them. however, I would love some companions. travelling alone can be dangerous."

"There's no way we could catch them on foot, even if we knew their destination." The 'we' surprises Kallista. She definitely hadn't planned on taking a detour to deliver some errand boy's package, but the words just slipped out. Well, she can't exactly back out now.

Evi felt a familiar nudge press at the back of her mind, the nudge of her patron telling her to act.  Not wanting to be "summoned" again for another scolding, she moved towards the man and asked him.

"What's the item?"  

"You would really help me?" He asks. "I was to give them some of our recent fishing bounty, and in return they would give us some of their supplies."

(Can I do an insight check on NPC package dude?)

(Yeah, go ahead)

(Insight check: 10)

(Edit: wow that was pretty bad)

"They didn't seem too keen on sticking around," Tender notes, turning to look after the caravan. "Though I wouldn't be averse to helping out, either." She offers the young man a winsome, sharp-toothed smile. 

"Yeah, for someone expecting a package, they left awfully quickly," Kallista adds. The merchants had seemed almost eager to depart.

"it is rather suspicious..."

"If it's fish ya got in that there crate, we may no be able ta deliver 'fore they go rotten, young fella. What supplies were ya hopin' ta acquire? 'Haps we..." Orimdal gestures to the group that seems to have banded together for this boy, "...could get the supplies ya needed if we canno' catch the caravan?" Orimdal walks over to the boy with the crate, offering his hands to take it, but not taking it outright. "What can ya tell us o' this dinky little town o' Splintfork, young master?"

He chuckles softly. "No ones ever offered to help me like this." He says. "I'm the son of this town's leader. I don't know where you are all from, but Eastern Rauruth is still suffering the consequences of the Great Conflict. We never recovered like the rest of the world did. We have to rely on the supplies we can trade to the Vinanathi tribes. They come weekly with clothes, tools, food, and the like." He says. He then turns to Ormidal. "Splintfork is like any other town in Eastern Rauruth, master dwarf. We're a little impoverished, but we're hopeful. We do our best considering the circumstances. You'll probably notice that 'Splintfork' isn't like the rest of the towns in Eastern Rauruth, at least in name. There's a funny story about that actually, at least I hope it's a story..." He trails off.

"The town leader's son, ya say? Ha, what luck! 'Haps you'd introduce us?" Orimdal slaps the kid on the back with a calloused hand of a blacksmith. Then, a little quieter, "Now in the meantime, about that story then, huh?"

"I assume it isn't a pleasant one from the way you speak," Kallista says, finally looking away from the cloud of dust left in the merchants' wake. Something doesn't sit right with her about this whole situation, but then again, she'll be on the road again soon and it will no longer be her concern. There likely isn't much gold to be made in such a desolate town anyways.

"Yes please tell us" Evi chimes in quietly; her curiosity peeked. 

"Right, well, um, if I'm to tell you, let's go somewhere more private." He says. "Oh, by the way, my name is Orden."

"Alrigh' Orden, son of... town leader who's name is...?" Orimdal coaxes the boy to also tell them his father's name.