Citron takes the mug and nods his appreciation.  "Aye, we encountered some skellies just outside of town ourselves before we arrived.  Northeastern end you say?  Might there be anything particular about that part of town to which the undead might be drawn?" and he takes a swig of whatever she gave him.

"Aye, those skeletons were an easy mess to clean up. Are there stronger creatures out there? And who have they attacked?" Serandis will ask the tavern mistress.

Virian shakes her head at Serandis, face serious. "Those skeletons may have been easy for you, but most people here only have basic training with a sword. Half a dozen skeletons is enough to kill a few people before they're stopped, especially when they just keep showing up. The guard can't be everywhere at once, and the skeletons have been very good at finding gaps in their patrols. They've attacked all sorts, mainly whoever was directly on the other side of the wall where they came over. Shopkeeps, officials, priests, soldiers." She shrugs. "There's nothing particularly in town to the northeast, but there may be a point of origin outside of it." The halfling drums her fingers lightly on the surface of the bar. "About sixty years ago, a military outpost was established to the northeast of the town. It was decommissioned a few years ago, and nobody's been near it since." She shrugs. "It's defensible and out of the way--if you're looking for a necromancer, that might be where they're camped out."

"Thank you for the information." Adaliza joined the conversation as well. "But... When you said "good at finding gaps in patrols" - you did not imply that someone is sharing information about patrols with that necromancer, do you? And... Do you know who can sell ingredients for necromantic rituals around here? They might have notice something too, some unusual buyer, may be."

Quote from BlueBayou >>

"Thank you for the information." Adaliza joined the conversation as well. "But... When you said "good at finding gaps in patrols" - you did not imply that someone is sharing information about patrols with that necromancer, do you? And... Do you know who can sell ingredients for necromantic rituals around here? They might have notice something too, some unusual buyer, may be."

 ((OOC Would I know of anyone that sells those supplies, by chance? Because of my dealing with covadish?))

"That's why I am in town, to sell covadish." Serandis will say to Ada after she asks her question of the halfling. 

"But... did not you bring it for Warlord? Perhaps we need to ask him how the covadish is distributed once purchased. Sometimes people know more than they think, just never tried to put two and two together." They would need to return to Warlord anyway, if only for Serandis to seal the deal.

Virian shrugs. "I don't know if they're getting information on where the gaps are or just good at staying stealthy until there's an opening, but they tend to show up when there aren't guards, either way. As for who sells ritual components..." She looks thoughtful. "The Seekers are the main people who practice necromancy in town, and they get most of their supplies directly from Atur, as far as I know--though I'm not too familiar with the inner workings of their supply and demand. But we have plenty of mages throughout town, and most of them get their supplies either from the Cannith enclave two doors down or Arcane Knight, a few blocks to the east. You could try either of those places."

Adaliza had to suppress an internal struggle between an understandable wish an hour rest by the fire with a mug of hot spiced wine and the necessity to rid the town as fast as possible  of the horrors people lived with, and without even sighing suggested: "We can split up, check both places in the same time and then meet up here?"

"We could cover more ground, but we also risk thinning ourselves out too much," Serandis will say to the group, "Why don't we stay together and go to each location. I'd feel much safer that way, Citron and I are strangers here in this land and might not be as convincing as you are, Adaliza." 

They could cover more ground, but would her and her little fey friend have been able to take out those skeletons outside of town without Petra and Adaliza there? They would have been outnumbered and surely overpowered. She strokes her chin with one hand while tapping her finger on the other hand on the bar. This whole situation was troubling indeed. 

"Regardless of what we decide we should move with haste. The bird does not wait for the worm in the morning to consume."

"I know some worms who might change your mind Serandis...." Citron finishes his drink from Virian and turns to the group "Let's check out this Arcane Knight...."

"I would like to meet these worms," Serandis says dryly with a smile. "I do have this order of covadish, maybe we could use that as our way of opening dialogue?"

Adaliza frowned at her own clumsiness - berating someone for misbehavior only to attempt to send complete foreigners dealing with locals. "You are right, I'm sorry. Better to stick together and, yes, the sooner we deal with the problem, the better. Let's see what we can learn in Arcane Knight." She thanked the halfling for help and was ready to go. 

Virian gives you all a friendly wave goodbye as you head out of the Gold Dragon Inn, garnering a few friendly waves on the way.

You follow the Ghallanda's directions to the Arcane Knight, which proves to be a shop built of black stone with silver accents. The sign outside declares it to indeed be the Arcane Knight, with a shimmering red sword carved below the shop name.

Opening the door, you find the interior to be neatly organized and lit by glowing Khyber shards. Components for all manner of magical spells and rituals are visible around the shop, each shelf neatly labeled. You see everything from residuum for magewright rituals to Mabaran nightwater for bypassing magical wards.

From a curtained doorway near the back comes a dwarf with curly brown hair under a blue scarf. Around her waist hangs a golden eye token with a green iris, and the staff in her hand has a snake head with emerald eyes. She gives you all a bright, welcoming smile. "Well hello there. I am Mistress Nyka, proprietor of this shop. What can I help you all with?"

Adaliza curiously stepped in. Hard to tell about the "knight" but the "arcane" part was definitely covered well. She had to force herself to stop gawking around and pay attention to the owner. Adaliza smiled trying to look both friendly and professional at the same time. "Greetings, Mistress Nyka," she introduced herself and the rest of the company and then continued. "We are here on behalf of Warlord, regarding the blight problem. The group he hired to deal with it." With that explained she moved to the actual reason why the group was here. "There is a suspicion of a rogue necromant operating right outside of the city. We have a general idea of where to search for the culprit but wanted to collect all possible information first. Have you noticed, by any chance, some unusual buyer here? Someone purchasing a lot of materials related to the necromantic rituals? Specifically raising dead?"

Nyka frowns as Adaliza explains why they are here. "Necromancy materials? I'm afraid I really haven't sold many of those since the king's edict around the Blood of Vol several years ago. Mostly just the Seekers and the occasional corpse collector who comes through town." She shrugs. "And nobody buying an unusual quantity of supplies lately either--or someone unfamiliar coming in. I'm afraid I won't be much help to you, sorry."

Adaliza's smile became even friendlier. (Insight: 7)

"It's a relief to hear, to be honest. If it would be so simple, it would mean someone is operating right from the city. But had to ask".

Blue:

Nyka gives Adaliza a faint smile. "Well then, I suppose I'm glad to have been of help, even if it's also made it more complicated. Do you all need any spell components before you go?"

Citron will browse her wares and look for anything interesting

"What about someone who is... how do you say, on time? Someone who is on time with supplies?" Serandis asks, not remembering the word in common she was looking for. "Back home, we have many on-time shoppers. They come at the same time every month to pick up supplies."

She looks around the shop, looking for things that would be familiar to her. "I am a covadish farmer, an Aereni as you can probably tell. I am in town to sell the last of my covadish harvest to the Warlord; if we can get this business taken care of."

Investigation: 10

"Oh, a scheduled shopper?" Nyka shakes her head. "I'm afraid the only one of those I have are the royal mages who come twice a year to renew the spells reducing the effect of the manifest zone. They get a special shipment I keep in the back for them. But it's been two months since they came, and they aren't due back for another four."

Looking around, Serandis and Citron see that the shop has all manner of spell components (any component under 100 gp is present, including component pouches). One corner holds the knight aspect of the shop, a variety of minor magical weapons. Any common magic weapon is present here.

Unfortunately, the least expensive weapons are the unbreakable arrows, at 20 gp/bundle. This shop is a little out of your price point right now...but maybe after you've solved the blight and are paid, you can return.