Not Another Lost Mine of Phandelver Campaign!

AB would prefer to stay in town, but if the rest of you want to go to the farm, he'll tag along.

"Since Sildar is being taken care of we should deliver the equipment in the cart to the general store." Mav makes his way to Barthen's Provisions. And takes a look around inside. He finds a worker/(Berthen) and asks, "Hi friend. We were tasked with delivering some goods for Gundren to this location."

Berthens Provisions: A tall elderly human male greets you from behind the counter. He has the build of a beanpole, and has white whispy hair with bits of shiny scalp shining through all over, but he has a kindly disposition. He drops a pouch of 50 GP into Mav's hands, and doesn't flinch at all at the sight of the half orc and friends entering the shop and doing business. 2 lean twenty something boys who have a strong resemblance to Berthen take the wagon outback and start unloading it behind the store. Berthen invites Mav and friends to browse the shop if they need anything, and the shop contains a lot of junk, it almost looks like a thrift store of supplies then a general store, and bits and peices of everything, soap, rope, bags, powders, etc. are all over in a rather unorganized mess. 

After exchanging money, Berthen asks Mav: "Do you know how Gundren is doing? Him and his brothers were always blabbering 'bout finding the lost Mines and bringing Phandelver back to it's former glory and all that. I think that was the Ale talking more then Gundren, but he was always a good man, tried running a lot of business through this town even though he mostly stayed in NeverWinter." 

Qelline: She bids you a warm farewell, and once again reminds you that all of you are welcome to spend all the time you need in the barn, if you don't mind a bit of hay and animal smells. She seems somewhat fragile, like something terrible had happened recently, and quickly drags her herself and her son in the direction she mentioned her farm to be, both of them keeping their heads down, and Kor can tell visually flinching around a human male who had a red bandana wrapped around his head someways down the road. 

Sildar: In case you guys diddn't catch it, Sildar has been given temporary lodging in the town Inn. Apparently he and the owner Toblen Stonehill had known each other, and the townspeople felt that he would best be kept there then with a party of odd looking folks that only claim that they knew Sildar, by loose association with their employer. No slight against any of you, but they'd feel more comfortable with housing him with a respectable member of the community with a known connection. 

"Gundren is doing okay, has he arrived in town yet? He said he would meet us here, is this all he left? We hit a few road bumps on the way here, got into some trouble with a Bugbear a while back, and was hoping he could help us mend and take care of some restitution." Mav knows that Gundren is not in town but wants to see if there is anything else he can tell us about the man. 

Berthen: "Oh no, haven't seen Gundren since he left to Neverwinter a whiles back, said he had to finalize business and that they was' on the brink of discovery and all that. His brothers Nundro and Tharden left here abouts' two weeks ago, woulda expected them to come back and resupply, but nobodies heard anything from them since. They probably went to that cave that they've always bragging about, but I dont's got any idea where that could be, I deal's with trade not gossip." 

Valathar has been waiting outside Berthen's Provisions with the cart. After seeing Sildar off to the town's Inn, he met back up with Mav before he went into the little shop. Figuring the wolf wouldn't fit, and not wanting to leave her or their goods unattended, he stayed outside. As the two young men came out of the shop, he handed the cart over, and followed them out back as they began to unload. Highlighting the more exciting parts of their journey, Valathar asks "So, how well do you know Gundren? We'd met only a few days before he contracted me to help escort these goods here, but he seemed kind enough!"

Mav thanks Berthen for the information. Heads out and starts to split the 50 gold amongst the travelers. Even having enough for AB, "This was meant for someone else, but he took off with the wind (haha air genasi) so i guess you can have it." Mav exits the store and notices Val, and will sit and listen for now.

Val: The two sons regard you and the wolf with obvious curisoity, but no perceivable hostility. “Gundren and his brothers have always been a part of the town, but kinda distant, kinda like lovable grandpa’s or something. They say they can save the town by finding something magical in ‘Wave Echo Cave’ but nobody we know in the town knows where that could be, probably some code name or something to make sure others don’t find the thing. Anyways, the way we figure it, the towns gonna be drained dry by the Reds’ before those dwarfs can find anything to save it.” 

"Interesting. We haven't seen Gundren since we set out from Neverwinter. We were hoping to run into him here. Do let him know we're looking for him if he does happen to show up, would you? As for the Reds, one of my companions mentioned them when we came into town. What are they? Some group or organization of some kind?" Valathar sat down on a nearby crate as the brother relayed their information. He pulls his pack off, and opens it. Pulling some rations from inside, he bites off a huge chunk of dried meat, then hands the rest down to Dancer. 

"Can I interest either of you in a bite?" Valathar asks, holding out another strip of meet to the young men.

Berrus sits and listens to the conversation,   does a quick count of the gold handed to him

(ooc....how much per  :) )

he does perk up a little at the mention of the lost mine

(It's 10 per person)

"Any idea at all where this cave might be? I'm sure that's where Gundren is and we need to talk with him." Again, Mav knows that Gundren isn't there and is a captive but wants to see if there is anything they aren't telling us. This town seems to be very close knit with one another and don't like to tell the strangers too much.

At the mention of the Reds, Kor stifled a groan. Why didn't I keep my mouth shut about the Reds? From the sounds of things their running some kind of extortion racket. Knowing this bunch, he looks at Val and Mav, they'll be kicking down the doors of the inn their holed up in demanding restitution for the town folk before the week's over.

I need to get ahead of this, control our contact with the Reds or we'll end up caught up in this town's problems. Probably a good thing no one bit on the idea to stay with that halfing woman, two seconds of whatever teary eyed story she has about that gang and Mav will be seeing red. He chuckles to himself, why are all my best jokes in my head?

With that last thought, Kor heads into the store to purchase some things he would need. This wasn't one of the cities Kor was used to operating in, but he was much more at home here than in a cave. Time to armor up for a different kind of warfare....

Berrus wanders over to the Lionshield Coster: The towns weapon and armor supplier.  to take a look inside (and see if there is a forge)

AB wanders over to the well to wash up a bit. As he splashes water on his face and neck, he looks around.

Perception: 6

Okay sorry for the delay!

AB: You have a nice view of most of the town from where you are standing. Most people go about living their daily lives in a rough 'em tough 'em mining town. Like mentioned before, most of the citizens of town are more bulky then the city folk due to their days of hard work, and there's a nice mixture of less exotic races in town. Humans, halfings, and dwarfs mill around, and you think you spot a Half-Elf poking out in the crowd. Most of the denizens of town are upbeat and cheerful the closer to the town's center they are, where most of the businesses are respectable looking, but the closer to the towns edges they get, the more their heads bow and they try to blend into the background, all except a group of all human males who wear red bandannas. They strut around the businesses at the edges of the town like they own the place, and you spot visual harassment going in with them leering at females, and taunting males, especially those of other races. No one in town tries to provoke their ire, they seem like a everyday part of town life at this point. You see no police or other law enforcement at all.

Kor and Mav: Berthen easily handles your purchases, and guides you to where the things in the store are. It seems to be an organized mess, and he has some sort of mental map of the seemingly random categorizing and placement on the shelves. He responds easily to Mav's question about the caves "Ahh, all miners have their secrets and code names. Whenever I heard snippits he called it Wave Echo Cave, but I never heard nothing about any cave going by that name. You might have better luck at the Miner's Exchange, they usually deal with all those prospecting types, I just sell em' their food and soap ya know."

Val: The two brothers politely refuse your offered meat while they continue to haul large crates and heavy bags. When they arn't groaning with exertion, they try to keep up with your questioning. "Oh yeah, we can's be forwarding anything if we be seeing 'em, but when they arrive at town they tend to be loud so I have no doubt that you will have trouble finding 'em. They're faces turn sour when the Red's are mentioned, and they quickly look around them to make sure they aren't being overheard by anyone else. 

"Officially, they are a mercenary group who have set up base on the manor up that there hill." One of the brothers says, pointing to the hill that the Town's road ends at, with the imposing fortress like manor on top. "Unofficially, they are a gang of no good crooks that's chocking the life out of town. They harasses the businesses, demanding protection money, and "take care of" any who speak up. Nobody wants to talk about it, but they as good as killed Qelline’s husband, the nice halfling lady who owns the farm by town, when he tried going to the mayor about it, and the entire Dendrar family "moved away" when Thel spoke up about some of the members leering at his wife. Nobody in town has seen or heard from them since, even from the relatives from the town they supposedly moved to. The mayor does nothing about it, either too scared or too in the pocket of the Red's, or probably both." They both give hollow laughs at that, and finish up unloading the wagon, which they move to a garage with multiple wagons just like it are held. 

Berrus: The sign for the Lionshield Coster is a blue headed lion, roaring on a backdrop of a shield. You've seen the same symbol stamped all over supplies that they goblins had stolen, but unfortunately those supplies had vanished alongside the goblins. The main store front is a variety of iron farming tools and the like, but you can see a large store room with glittering iron hidden behind a door behind the counter. The business owner is a middle aged women who's biceps are probably larger then your head Berrus. She gives you one stern look, before smiling and chuckling under her breathe. She cheerfully says "I can tell by that look in your eyes you probably would want to see the special stock. No Dwarf in there right mind's would be a goddamn Red, so you're welcome to browse. Most of my stuff's imported from Lionshield Headquarters down-south, if you want to see a smithy, there's one by Berthen's, but to be completely honest he's nothing real special."

AB will "hang out" by the well, getting a drink, topping off his waterskin, appearing to people watch, but actually be watching the group in red bandannas. He wants to assess how skilled these males look — if they appear to be able-bodied, or if they look like a bunch of thugs.

aye i would like a look, an the smithy was more to get some work in, tis been a wee bit since i swung the hammer.

Berrus looks out the windows  then asks

can ye tell me anything about those red bandanna folk  or a whispering something cave?

Ab-While most look like punks, typically teenaged to young adult, taking advantage of numbers rather then prowess, you can tell some are definitely bulkier and more experienced looking older men also mixed in. Those type tend to stick closer to the one scuzzy bar in town, the Sleeping Giant, while the packs of roving teenage thugs roam the town in seemingly random patterns with no real goals in mind 

Valathar listens with open ears, taking in all the brothers have to say. Finihing his food, he stand up from his makeshift seat and helps the brothers with the last few crates from the wagon. After they're done, Valathar thanks the men for their time, and bids them farewell. Making his way back to the store front, Valathar decides to wait for Mav and Kor outside Berthen's shop. He takes a seat on the hard packed ground near the corner of the store, and crosses his legs. 

He sits and waits, reflecting on the events of the past 48 hours, petting Dancer all the while. 

AB crosses to the general store and inquires as to whether they have a dice set for sale.