Bryony nods, agreeing with Quinn's plan. "We have your back," she says.

Jurgen finishes his rounds and joins in. "A shop, that should be fun."

Carefully Kimberley follows along...

"Alright. Let's move. I'll lead the way."

Quinn heads for the shop, walking slowly and stealthily. He walks with his long bow at the ready, keeping his eyes scanning from the thickets, to the shop and northward up the street.

Stealth check: 24

Perception check: 16

Quinn carefully darts ahead, using the tall grass for cover. Kimberley (? and Jurgen?) follow. Bryony and the others watch carefully from the doorway of the old smithy.

The street seems quiet. Quinn spots no signs of life. Peeking into the shop, he likewise sees nothing alarming – just a years-old ruin. Rusting storage shelves within are filled with crushed boxes, broken pottery, rotting casks, shattered bottles, and moldering books.

Quinn points to his eyes and then points to the surrounding area, indicating he wants the others to keep an eye on the surroundings.

He slowly steps into the structure, looking for a storage area that fits the description that Mirna gave them. He remembers he saying that the necklace was hidden in a case undernead a storage shelves.

Investigation check: 6

-OR-

Perception check 18 

syzygy follows the weathered ranger’s instruction but gets a bug in his eye. 

Perception:  1 + 3= 4 

It takes Quinn an extra minute to get his bearings, but Mirna's words come back to him clearly. He eventually finds a small wooden case hidden in a compartment beneath the storage shelves, where Mirna said it would be. The case itself is probably worthless, but it contains a gold necklace with a fine emerald pendant that looks quite valuable.

All remains quiet.

Jurgen compliments Quinn "Great work finding that."

Quinn secures the necklace in his pouch and slowly backs out of the building to meet up with the crew that escorted him to the shop.

"Thanks, Jurgen. Let's regroup back at the smithy and plan our next move."

Quinn, Kimberley, and Jurgen successfully retreat to the smithy without incident. All is quiet.

Quinn shows off the necklace to the group.

"Well, I found Mirna's necklace. I wonder if it just sentimental or if it has some magical properties of some sort.

So, what next? Shall we rest or push on?"

He looks at the room and eyes it up and down.

"If we rest, we could barricade ourselves in here. Or perhaps we can see if Reidoth will put us up for the night.

What do y'all think?"

" Where to next? Toward the tower or that one down past the fallen ruin?", Kimberley queried.

" Does anyone need a rest?"

(Arriving in the northwest part of the map, you have passed through U1 (the Westernmost Cottage), U2 (the Blighted Cottages), U4 (Reidoth's Watch Post), U5 (the Blighted Farmhouse), U6 (the Ruined Store), U8 (the Old Smithy), and U9 (the Herbalist's Shop). You've been eyeing U7 (the Old Tower) from a distance. Reidoth also warned you that “people in black masks and cloaks” have been hanging out in the "eastern side of town", but you've seen no evidence of them. You are now all back in U8. The Old Smithy is in better shape than most of the buildings you have explored – it still has doors and intact walls,  but its roof is partially collapsed. All remains quiet. Do you want to take a Short Rest here? Retreat to Reidoth's? Move on to somewhere new? Or do something else?)

"I..I could use a rest sooner rather than later. But I'll be fine a bit longer, so long as I don't have any more run ins with the spiders. How are you feeling, Kimberly? That spider got you good.

If we move on, I dunno about heading right for the dragon's tower. Perhaps keep moving towards the east and stay on the outskirts of the town and loop around north to gain a better vantage of the dragon's tower."

" Yeah.....ok.....maybe we stop for a bit. Can't hurt.", Kimberley said vaguely before sitting on the ground.

“Then we take a moment to collect ourselves.” After brushing away some debris Syzygy sits cross legged between a dragon and a dark place. ”the Druid asks a lot, deal with a dragon for a morsel of information.” 

You pause in the old smithy, catching your breath, tending your wounds. There are a few simple, dusty chairs some of you find to sit on. The two dead zombies in the room lend a bitter smell to the air, although they thankfully do not stir.

A quiet hour passes. Nothing stirs outside. It remains hot and humid. Everyone may have a Short Rest.

Bryony sits cross-legged on the ground. She asks Quinn to borrow the necklace so she can examine it. It's beautiful, but she doesn't know a whit about magic so she passes it back to him.

"I'm really good at sneaking around," she says after an hour has passed. "Let me go scout out the eastern side of town and report back what I find."

The little halfling doesn't wait for permission but rather darts out the smithy door toward the east side of town. She heads straight east from the smithy (toward U13), her small feet making hardly any noise at all, and sticking to cover and shadows whenever possible. She's curious to see if these black-robed figures are in one of the buildings they haven't checked yet.

Stealth - 27

He hands over the necklace for Bryony's appraisal.

"Aye, it's quite nice. If you're into that sorta thing."

Quinn limps over to a door and lays down with his back up against it, guarding against any unwanted intrusions. He pulls his hood over his face and takes a nap. After an hour or so, he slowly stirs, awaked by the sound of a closing door. He slowly gets up, dusts off the soot, takes inventory of his companions and notices we're short one.

"Where's Bryony?"