Jurgen suggests we get a good night's sleep here and regroup in the morning. 

Pud brings out his "scimitar", with Qelline's permission and obvious reservations. It's a homemade sickle, probably fashioned from a farming tool. It looks sharp and dangerous, but not professionally so.

Qelline adds fuel to her hearth, and begins to heat a pot of stew.

"I'll take you to the tunnel. If any Redbrands come out, we'll kill them," offers the boy. "You just have to watch my back. You can burn the bodies behind the wall in back of our field." 

"Pud!" Qelline admonishes from the hearth. "You're not 'killing' anyone. This is really serious business."

" A fine blade, better suited to reaping grain than men."

" There are those chosen of The Silver Lady who bear similar blades, and all weigh carefully whether they draw them in anger."

She thought back to herself and how perhaps following her own advice might have meant less of a target on their back......perhaps they could persuade the other Redbrands to leave?  And if not......not for the first time in her life she sent a silent prayer to Selune for claws....

"...and you shouldn't be traipsing off to confront these ruffians, either, Bry," adds Qelline. "They're very dangerous. Ever since their new leader showed up, they've been horrid – they rob and cheat and bully and take folks down for no good reason. And there are more than a dozen of them, at least. Some of them hole up in town, but they skulk off to the Manor pretty regularly, and won't let folks go near. If you really tangled with them, Bri, you should get out of town before they find you again. They killed the woodcarver, cold, in the street, not long ago. You don't want to be next."

"And you," she turns to Carp. "You need to stay close. No scimitars, no tunnels."

Qelline is prepared to put everyone up for the night in her hayloft, and Bryony in her old bedroom, and to feed the lot of you with soup and biscuits and fresh vegetables.

Carp is clearly annoyed by the restrictions placed on him by his cautious mother. He's prepared to show you the tunnel right now and join the fight with his homemade weapon.

The sun is now setting. Sildar was hoping to join you all for dinner at the Inn tonight, and to pay you for escorting him to town. Your employer, Gundren, remains missing (as is his map allegedly showing the secret location of the long-sought Wave Echo Cave – both reportedly at "Cragmaw Castle", wherever that is.)

What would you like to do next?

Quinn had been outside standing watch. He notes the sun is beginning to dip low so he goes in to check on the group.

He walks up on the tea party and clears his throat.

"Uh, hellow mum. My name is Quinn. You must be Auntie Qelline. Bryony speaks highly of you." He glances at Carp and gives him a subtle wink and a grin. He looks at the group and reminds them of their meetup with Sildar. "It is getting a tad bit late and we need to meet Sildar at the inn. Shall we get going?"

Kimberley seems torn between joining the others for dinner and keeping watch over the farm, though as theres no reason to believe the Redbrands saw them come here it should be safe enough.

She heads to the inn, though she has already used the last of her current coin.

"Hi my name is Jorgen. Byron, and everyone, has been very brave and good friends. Thank you for the offer to eat with you but we should be going to meet our employer. If it's ok with everyone, Yes, I would like to stay here in the barn." 

Unless you have further business at the Alderleaf Farm, the party finishes their tea, and declining Qelline's offer of supper, heads to the Inn in the bright twilight of early evening.

"The hayloft is yours! I'll gather some blankets for you. Don't stay out too late! And watch out for those Redbrands!" calls Qelline.

Jurgen says "Thank you ma'am" and keeps an eye for the Redbrands.

Quinn leads the party towards the inn. As they approach the smell of food and ale makes his belly growl like a rabid beast.

He waits up for Kimberly and makes small talk.

"We're hoping to meet up with a fella named Sildar. He's fixin' to pay us for saving his hide back in the goblin cave. Once we get some coin, how's about we treat you to dinner. You've been very kind to us, so it's the least we can do. Whatdoya think?"

Syzygy trails behind, keeping an eye out to see if anyone had followed them all to the farm. He was a little distracted though, something Kimberley said earlier had stuck. Moontouched…? He had not heard it from other proselytisers he’d met. Syzygy wondered if Kimberly was a little moonstruck. 

Perception: 11

Bryony frowns as she watches her aunt react to the death of Sir Roderick. Perhaps the two had become close friends in the time she had been away. "We met Sir Roderick in Neverwinter," she explains.

"Glowing hands?" Bryony asks her cousin. "That's strange. And a secret Redbrand tunnel? So much has happened since I've been away!"

Bryony looks toward the others. "We are expected at the inn already, Auntie, by a man named Sildar. Maybe it is best if we stay somewhere else...just until the Redbrands are dealt with."

Bryony can't help but smile at Carp's "sickle." He has always wanted to be an adventurer. She is not surprised at all he has already starting making his own weapons. "Auntie's right, Carp. It's too dangerous," she admonishes him, but her lips still twitch upward into a small smile.

Bryony gasps as her aunt informs her of the woodcarver's death. "Even more reason to stop them!" she protests. "And what are they doing at the old manor house? They must be planning something wicked."

As they prepare to head to the inn, Bryony hugs her aunt and her cousin and promises to return soon. Then she follows the others toward the inn.

The group makes their into town and to the inn.

The group makes their way to the inn - a short walk in the cool evening air. Syzygy sees no signs of anyone watching or following them.

Bryony stays behind for a few more minutes.

"Yeah!" says Carp, "they have these weird hands which glow green. And long heads. And dressed in rags, like. It was behind the wall past the east field, this old tunnel under the pricker bushes in the pit back near the apple tree where we found that snake that time. Down low, I'd never crawled around under there. It's a secret tunnel the Redbrands and other creepy things are using. I seen them use it twice now."

"You be really careful, Bry," admonishes Qelline. "I swear those Redbrands sometimes cause trouble just to cause trouble. There doesn't seem to be any reason for a lot of their behavior – I don't get it. Just cruelty"

Meanwhile, the inn is warm, inviting, and full of regulars, many of whom you saw having lunch here earlier. Sildar sits at a back table chatting with Toblen, the innkeeper, and a human man with a deeply-creased face. Sildar holds a deep mug of ale. He waves you over.

Quote from richgonehiking >>

Quinn leads the party towards the inn. As they approach the smell of food and ale makes his belly growl like a rabid beast.

He waits up for Kimberly and makes small talk.

"We're hoping to meet up with a fella named Sildar. He's fixin' to pay us for saving his hide back in the goblin cave. Once we get some coin, how's about we treat you to dinner. You've been very kind to us, so it's the least we can do. Whatdoya think?"

 " Its foolish to turn down hospitality freely offered.", Kimberly smiled.

Quote from YorrickThePoet >>

Syzygy trails behind, keeping an eye out to see if anyone had followed them all to the farm. He was a little distracted though, something Kimberley said earlier had stuck. Moontouched…? He had not heard it from other proselytisers he’d met. Syzygy wondered if Kimberly was a little moonstruck. 

Perception: 11

Kimberley smiled at Syzygy as they entered the inn....

Quinn nods and waves at Sildar. He looks back at the group and points to him and then begins weaving his way through the inn.

"Sildar, good to see you. Pardon our late arrival, we had some...things to tend to in town."

The group (sans Bryony, who will undoubtedly be joining you soon) joins Sildar and his friends. 

"Lanar, here, was just telling me that marauders have been attacking trade caravans on the east end of Triboar Trail," says Sildar, nodding at his grim-faced, standing companion. "The townmaster will probably pay folks to try to run them off. I bet they're working with those goblin bandits, too," he adds. After a round of brief small talk, Lanar and Toblen leave the table, and Sildar gestures for you to sit. "Let's talk," he says.

Sildar wears a fresh set of clothes, and looks much better than the last time you saw him. He pulls out a bag of gold pieces and gives you ten each. "My loan came in. Your pay is here as promised." (Please add 10gp each to your inventories.)

"I have a couple of urgent propositions for you, and so you'll forgive me if I get right to business. Gundren Rockseeker and his map are still missing. So, one: I'd like you to keep up the pressure on the Cragmaw goblins. I can get you a 500 gold piece reward if you can locate that Cragmaw Castle and defeat or drive off the band’s leader. And of course, try to find Gundren and his map. Maybe you can find this castle by searching the lands around the Triboar Trail for more raiding parties. Sounds like Lanar might be on to something."

"Two. Iarno Albrek, a fellow member of the Lords’ Alliance, a group I have membership in, disappeared while exploring the area around Tresendar Manor about two months ago, shortly after arriving in Phandalin, I learned today. So, I'd like to ask you to consider investigating Iarno's disappearance. He was supposed to be my contact here. He came to town several months ago to try to establish order in Phandalin. But after the Lords’ Alliance didn’t hear from him, I decided to investigate. So now, I'd ask your help in investigating the manor and the surrounding area to find and bring back Iarno—or what’s left of him if he's dead. He's a short, dark-bearded human wizard in his thirties. I can scrape up a substantial reward for that job as well, if you succeed."

"I've established an office at the townmaster’s hall. You can find me there, for the time being. As an agent of the Lords’ Alliance, my goal is to see Phandalin thrive and become prosperous. Therefore, I'm prepared to help find the lost mine of Wave Echo Cave and help the Rockseeker brothers put it back into production. But we must face these immediate threats, both inside town, and the ones on the road outside that you and I well know something about."

"In the meantime, let's get some stew and bread - it's quite good!"

(Sorry if I’m forgetting something)

Jurgen speaks up and asks “My name is Jurgen and I thank you for the pay. I, and I believe everyone, is very interested in your propositions. I do have request. I am an Artificer and I have a design for a mechanical support machine that could aid us in this work and possible combat. What I lack is a gem or crystal (about 100gp) to power it. If you can help me I would be in your debt.”

Syzygy accepts the coins and takes a seat. He listens to Sildar and wonders what mess Gundren has found himself in. 

“Phandalin isn’t the sleepy mining town I’d hoped. What’s so special about this Wave Echo Cave that’d have the Lord’s Alliance so invested? What’s to be extracted?” 

Syzygy spots a wait staff, gesturing them over. “Stew sounds good. As you know Sildar, we’ve had a rough couple of days.”