"Of course, thank you for taking such good care of me, Pete." Edwyn gives you a gentlemanly smile, but it radiates an aura of loathing. "Ed, it is..."

The dwarf leads you over to an empty table as an orc waiter comes and takes drink orders. Edwyn grins as the dwarf takes on the price of drinks for himself, though he tells you your drink allowance is about 1 silver piece each. 

"Name's Gundren Rockseeker, a name ye don't know, but it's bound to be on the tips of tongues everywhere!" Apparently Gundren endeavors to barely be a household name. "My brothers and I have found something big out there in Phandalin, something thought forgotten, but we'll get to the bottom of it, I tell ya. Listen, I am actually leaving today, but my caravan itself is leaving within the tenday. Gives ye plenty o' time to get ready n' pack n' wotnot. Caravan is a couple of carts driven by the finest asses you ever did see. Oh, n' a lass at the helm, o'course." He laughs at a joke he made. "With you two, I think it'd be about, say, four total guards and a couple o' civvies. What'd'ya think?"

(Sorry that I was gone yesterday, was out pretty late, too tired to write anything :P)

"I'll have to talk it over a little more with my partner here, but I think it sounds quite good. We'll make our preparations very soon. Is there anything else you need to tell us about the job, or is that all?"

(hehe no worries, I have bronchitis LOL)

"Hmmm. I can tell you that I'll make it big, and I'll recall this kindness you extended to me. There will be more work once we get to Phandalin. I'll meet up with you at Barthen's once you reach town. Oh, and here's where you kin meet the rest of the caravan, be ready..." Gundren gives you directions to a spot just outside the city that is still within general city limits. You recognize it no problems. "Now that's that. If you'll excuse me, I got to meet up with Sildar Hallwinter 'fore he leaves me behind!"

(As a matter of DM handwaving, you have at least 3 days to prepare if you want to get up to anything silly in Neverwinter, otherwise, we can proceed to the caravan whenever!)

(I don't think P.T. has anything silly he needs to get up to. He's equipped with a bunch of items, has a pal, and doesn't really need to go home for a change of clothes, considering... well. I think we're good to skip to the departure posthaste.)

A couple days later...

P.T. heads off to the caravan meeting site, and he knows he found the right place. He finds two carts pulled by two donkeys each. The carts are very simple and have crates and barrels inside them, the shipment Gundren wanted you to escort into Phandalin. You look at some of the individuals who are by the carts, and you can immediately sort out the 2 guards from the 2 'civvies' as the dwarf put it.

One of these guards, you recognize on a personal level. It's Alice, whose grim expression betrays her grim profession. (Her information is on the front page!)

The guard you don't recognize looks annoyingly like they might be a paladin. They are a blue dragonborn packing a broadsword. The reason you peg them for a paladin, is because you have seen dragonborn travel through Neverwinter time to time... and the religious ones all wore the same symbol -- it was the outline of a proud dragon's head. You saw the same emblazoned on his tunic, which has white and blue motifs. This just screams "holy warrior". (image of him)

"Well met, traveler! I take it you are here for the excursion out into Phandalin? You look like a rascally sort, a real adventurer, perhaps?" The dragonborn swoops towards you the minute you get close enough to the caravan situation. "My name is Rhogar of the Thunderfang Clan. What might your name be?"

"..." Alice just stares blankly. It seems she's been having this overly jolly guy jabber at her for however long they've been standing here.

The two non-combat-ready looking folk are sitting on the back of a cart together. One is a young dwarf whose beard is embarrassingly short, and the other is a halfling girl. They seem to be conversing about something amongst themselves.

So far, Edwyn has not arrived yet, but he will arrive soon. He just wants to be fashionable late, of course!

P.T. looks up at the dragonborn, and his eyes slide over to lock with Alice's. Their expression says 'I feel your pain'. They look back at the dragonborn, who towers over the relatively short P.T., and extend a hand. "Pete. I've been hired, same as you. Strange, I didn't expect to see many other guards. Are you the desperate type, or are you just doing this out of the goodness of your heart?" P.T. feels as if he already knows Alice's answer, but he's curious about this dragonborn.

"Indeed, it is the goodness of my heart! Pete, you must be an excellent judge of character!" Rhogar shakes P.T.'s hand vigorously. This dragonborn is quite strong and accidentally almost crushes P.T.'s hand. "A good friend asked me to accompany this sorry caravan to Phandalin, and that is what I mean to do. Besides, rumor has it a white dragon has been spotted in the Neverwinter Woods heading south. Could be fun!" Ah, apparently this dragonborn intends to contend with the dragon.

"Clever..." Alice smirks slightly, but doesn't elaborate. 

"My understanding is another will be joining us. I'm curious to see what sort of person they might be." Rhogar continues to conversate. "It will be good fun getting to know strangers on the road. I enjoy meeting new people, you see."

P.T. slides his ruined hand from the dragonborn's grasp, trailing blood. He stares in mute horror at the limp sack of flesh hanging at the end of his wrist, its bones reduced to powder. At least, that's what's going on in P.T.'s mind. "Good," they gasp, "to meet you too, Rhogar."

Retreating and massaging their hand, P.T. moves to Alice. "So," he mutters, "what's your story? From what I know, you're not really the type to stoop to such a job."

"Bored." Alice states simply. She has always been a person of few words. However, you get the feeling she is lying. No one else seems to notice it, mostly because the dragonborn is preening. "Need new scenery. Neverwinter sucks."

"That's quite the strong word, young lady. This noble city is on the mend!" Rhogar butts into this conversation. "Neverwinter will see better days soon. I can assure you of that! Once the region has been secured, we shall see a glorious era of peace!"

"Yeah. Better days. Sound great." P.T. looks up at Alice knowingly. Her work tends more towards the 'technically legal in the right situation' area than his, but a better Neverwinter probably means harder work for both of them. "Right, then. I guess we just wait for ol' Eddy to arrive, and then... set off? Anything more we're expected to take care of?"

(What does P.T. actually know about Alice, besides the little blurb you gave?)

P.T. knows Alice basically as the attitude of a teenager despite being roughly their same age. Alice is not aligned specifically with any gang and works for the highest bidder - usually. In the past year or so, however, Alice has not been active. Either she wasn't taking any bids or she was dead. Seeing her before you, you assume its the former. Other than these facts, you know Alice was the daughter of a merchant killed by bandits on the High Road between Waterdeep and Neverwinter. She survived on her own on the road until she reached Neverwinter. She has never opened up to you about this further than that.

"I believe we are ready to depart as soon as this Eddy you speak of arrives. I'm so excited!"

Speak of the devil. Edwyn appears before you all wearing a heavy cloak with a satchel at his side. It would seem he packed light. "Good morning." He appears to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed. You notice he seems tired and irritable. "Shall we?"

P.T. gives Edwin a raised eyebrow that says 'talk to me later.' He looks over their motley crew, shrugs, and nods. "Yep, looks like we're just about ready to go. Let's hope for safe travels." P.T. takes his place in the caravan, where he can get the best view of the surroundings but can also duck into a wagon if needed. 

/--Afternoon, Fourth of Kythorn, 1491 DR, High Road, Southbound--/

The caravan begins its journey outside the gates of Neverwinter and head south on the High Road. From what Alice has told you, it will take about 6 days to reach Phandalin. While you are still within a day or two reach of Neverwinter and Helm's Hold (a stop on the way to Phandalin), the road should stay relatively safe. Once you are outside of that range, that's when things will get a bit hairy.

"But I wouldn't worry. Rhogar will just smite all our foes, won't you?" Alice deadpans.

"Certainly! Any foe of a friend is a foe of mine!" Rhogar declares.

"..." Edwyn doesn't seem to respond. Instead, he sits on the back of one of the carts keeping to himself.

The two carts are driven separately by those two civvies from earlier, the dwarven man and the halfling woman. Quick introductions let you know that the dwarven man's name is Andar Rockseeker, apparently a cousin of Gundren. The halfling woman goes by Momo, but you have a feeling that is a nickname of sorts. They along with Rhogar are all chattering about the weather and the like. 

"I'm quite curious to see what your cousin has discovered, Andar. My good friend tells me it might just put Phandalin on the map! Hah, get it! Because it is hardly on any maps!"

"Too true. It was really annoying having to shop around to find a map including the place... I really hope its not too much of a boonie..." Andar replies.

"Relax," Momo adds and looks back to Andar, winking. "We kin't get lost. I got that elven sense of direction. My grandpappy was n' elf. I couldn't git lost if I tried, no sir."

After a few hours, once its the afternoon, Edwyn nods to you and pats a spot nearby him. He's beckoning you to join him.

P.T. stays silent as the others talk, even when Rhogar makes his little joke, completely missing the very literal meaning and origin of the phrase. Eventually, he join Edwyn.

”Hello, Edmund,” he teases. “You look put out. Find a pea under your mattress?”

"Har har." Edwyn grimaces at the name 'Edmund,' as if you just insulted his intellect. "I've had the most terrible past few days. I'm glad to be rid of Neverwinter... for now, at least." The elf straightens his spine and gives a small smile. He definitely looks like someone or something knocked him down a few pegs, but you've seen him like this before. It only takes one thing going his way to bring him back up to speed. "Say, would you fancy a game of chess?"

"Chess? Right now?" P.T. looks around at their situation, with a smirk. "Well, don't complain when we hit a rock and the pieces go flying. White or black?"

"Hmm, our statures may have shifted," Edwyn smirks. Clearly he is talking about how P.T. is likely royalty, while Edwyn is a lowly noble, well as low as a noble can be anyway. "But I don't think I will concede the advantage to you." The elf pulls from his pack a small chess box which unfolds into a chess board. He holds up the white king. "Let's see how you fare. Before a bump in the road or some random robber appears, anyway."

(For fun, let's see how this goes. Edwyn's DC for chess is 12, calculated by his wisdom and charisma. With his play style, you know he is quick to notice set-ups and enjoys playing a bit deceitfully. For your roll, I'll allow you to pick any skill that you think relevant and use it to try to outmaneuver him! Also, don't feel like you need to understand chess, because I am horrible at it personally lmao)

Once all the pieces are setup, Edwyn makes his move of pawn to e4. This is pretty much how he always opens up when he plays as white.

Chess is a tricky game. As in, it's very tricky to cheat at it. You can't hide a queen up your sleeve, can't weight a rook. Of course, that's not saying it's impossible. The board is a distraction, the real playing field is your opponent's head. Throw them off their game. Edwin is a superior player to P.T., having the evenings to waste on honing his art, but he's also a pompous peacock. And pompous peacocks love to preen. So, P.T. begins talking up Edwin's game. Commenting on his moves, asking the name of this gambit, or the etymology of "en passant." Stalling... stalling... until... bump. The rock P.T.'s been waiting for. The pieces fly tumble over, roll about. They are quickly replaced, but perhaps they aren't exactly where they were before. E, D, what's the difference? 4 and 5 are so close to each other, they're practically the same number. Yes, I'm sure that bishop was always there.

Sleight of Hand: 17

Edwyn laughs as the board gets set up again, albeit somewhat altered. "Remind me to get my chess board magicked sometime, Pete. I fear we won't be able to have much fun on the road if we have to set up too often..." Edwyn completely misses the cheat. At first, he still thinks he has the upper hand, after all, his memory told him so. However, his head tilts as he begins to concentrate heavily. As you both make moves, Edwyn's eye twitches ever so slightly as you finally maneuver your ill-gotten advantage into a checkmate. "Hah... my, how did I miss that? I must be getting rusty."

"Halt, please." A foreign voice calls out with authority. The carts slow to a stop.

"Ah, a fellow knight. What can we do for you?" Rhogar jovially greets whoever this is.

P.T. and Edwyn peek and find a squadron mixed of knights and soldiers, all mounted on horses. The most impressive warhorse has a man that seems to be the leader of this troop. "In Helm's name, we must search your goods. There have been an increase of bandit attacks on the road, and we must search your belongings. It will only take but a moment..."

P.T. is fairly certain Gundren is operating a legitimate business and it seems his cousin, Andar, isn't sweating this search. Edwyn, however looks incredibly nervous. "Oh shit."

P.T. gives Edwin a look that says “What is it now, Edwin, you pompous peacock? Don’t tell me you’ve stolen some sort of contraband away in our caravan. Oh, you did, didn’t you. Bloody hell, man, can’t we just have a nice, normal journey without something going terribly wrong? Well, then, what is it, and how might we go about disposing of or hiding it?”