Dorno does indeed enjoy the sweet taste of the wine and drinks it down like juice.  He's not very familiar with drinking in general, and the potential consequences.  His words and laughter get louder as the evening goes on, but his good natured demeanor does not change.  He requests several desserts.  His relative grace for his size is gone by the time they depart for their rooms, Dorno knocking over his chair, bumping a table, and hitting his head on the exterior door frame on the way out.  Along the way he just keeps repeating "sorry, sorry, sorry" while still smiling and waving at every single elf.

Quote from stormchaser6 >>

The old gnome smiles cannily.

"Oy think oy 'ave just the stuff f'r ye, dearie," she answers with a wink, shuffling off into the back of her shop. She returns shortly, with a clinking leather pouch and a prismic glass bottle full of what looks like a violent orange jelly.

"What about these, love?" She asks. "That the kind of thing ye lookin' f'r?"

 

 A look of slight shock takes over the dwarf before taking the botle, "Sweet stone arse, is tha' what I think it is? Th'say ye can burn water with th' stuff. Everythin' n th' cart fer these two, it's a deal." He also draws a pouch from his rucksack and looks back to the gnome, "Ne'er dreamed o' havin'  life o' danger. Turns out it stings a bit more'n people let on." As he turns to leave, he pauses for a moment at the door, "I think m'friend wanted t'give ye this." He hands over the note from Archie.

(Buying 2 healer's kits and 10 flasks of oil. 20gp total to make 50gp remaining.)

At the tavern, Bründir steps in with apprehension clear on his face. The atmosphere was familiar, but the patrons were different. Among the new scene, though, were familiar faces. Joining the others, he waves for a drink, "Got a nasty surprise fer these bastards in th' woods there." He pulls the top of the bottle out to reveal a bit of the liquid to the others, "Water spreads it, smotherin' feeds it. Heard of whole navies bein' swallowed by a few bottles o' his stuff."

Valaith spends the evening sipping the strange, sweet elven mead and debates whether she enjoys it or if the sweetness is too much for her palate.

It's around 4 am when the grey rays of moonlight that filter through the branches of the pines begin to grow warmer as the first cracks of sunlight emerge from behind the moon. Living high above the ground and far from prying eyes as they do, Elves rarely use curtains, except for in the more densely populated cities, and the dawn light falls right upon the faces of many of the travellers where they lie in their beds, waking them in time to leave before the sun has fully waxed. The wagons that had so far carried the ore west to Eldren will be remaining in Hyarantar. On foot the group will be more flexible and less limited by the terrain, but they will also need to carry their own gear once more. As the sun grows in the sky, the six companions gradually gather in the long grass of the Glade, at the feet of Hyarantar's mighty trees...

Archie is pacing, holding back anticipation to get the day started.  Upon seeing Brunir he briskly walks over trying to keep his demeanor.  “Did you give the letter the that shopkeeper?”. After speaking with the Brunir his shoulders will relax a bit.  He then looks around in the grass.  “I can’t see anything!”  As he slowly turns back into his old self.  Walking over to Dorno “Dorno! Good morning, say would you be a dear and lif, shit that’s not going to work..... Dorno, I can’t see in the tall grass.  Lift me up and carry me on your shoulders so I can see the beautiful nature with you.   I do not want you to be a deer.”

Vark emerges from his room bright and early, stretching his arms and making sure he has all of hi belongings. With one hand he toys with the lodestone bracelet around his wrist, using it to focus in on his powers. Lightning begins to jump around it as he charges his magic before his eyes pop open, glowing blue as electricity surges up and around him, enveloping him in a mantle of energy that slowly fades from visibility. As he begins to descend the curving steps, tiny little static sparks can still be seen occasionally with each movement. Joining his companions, he nods and smiles. "Good morning."

(Vark uses his sorcery points to create a spell slot, then casts Mage Armor with it)

Dorno oversleeps after drinking too much of the honey-wine the night before.  Once someone wakes him eventually, his holds his head as it throbs and tries to find some water to drink.  Eventually he meets up with the group, clumsily still trying to sling his basket backpack on and tie down his other gear.  "I think I ate too many desserts" he remarks.  The druid rummages through his herbalist kit, squinting and rubbing his head from time to time, and eventually pulls out a little ball of something green and slimy and swallows it down.  He makes a disgusted face at the taste and looks a little green himself after the fact.

As Archie speaks to him about, at first, becoming a deer Dorno nods his head up and down as if to say "yes I can do that", but does not speak in favor of holding in the contents of his stomach.  He looks confused at first when Archie then speaks of him specifically NOT becoming a deer.  The firbolg settles himself a bit and then speaks although it takes more effort than normal.  "Yes, I can be a deer but then I cannot pick you up.  Deer do not have arms, tiny man.  This is easier."  Dorno picks Archie up with little trouble, and is surprisingly gentle considering his size.  He plops him down in the top area of the woven basket he uses as a backpack where there is still some space left for him to sit, even.  Archie might notice that he is sitting on a pile of Dorno's gear that includes his herbalism kit, bedroll, lots of rations wrapped in woven natural fibers such as reeds and thinly stripped tree branches, rope, and a large volume of what looks like loose vines Dorno has collected in his travel.  Tucked in the middle of the coils of vine seems to be a half woven shirt or something of the sort made of the same materials, although it is thick and fairly stiff.  The pattern is actually quite tight and consistent, showing fairly good craftsmanship for something made of such materials.

"Come tiny man, we will find a deer for you to see so you know why one cannot pick you up.  Dorno will show you many of the things you miss when you are busy talking.  You will be quiet.  If you are quiet we will see many things together."

OOC  The woven 'shirt' is the start of Dorno's future breastplate (medium armor) that he's making using his proficiency with 'Weaver's Tools'.  Hope I've talked to the DM about that...

Quote from Hexblade37 >>

 

"Come tiny man, we will find a deer for you to see so you know why one cannot pick you up.  Dorno will show you many of the things you miss when you are busy talking.  You will be quiet.  If you are quiet we will see many things together."

 (Burn! Laughed way too much at this.)

After settling in with a few drinks, Bründir started a bit of local chit-chat with some patrons. Eventually, he plays a few barroom games with patrons. Though he wasn't used to trading coinage for fun and giving it back at the end, he appreciated the missing stress of a bad luck streak.

In his socializing, Bründir heard a fascinating tale about the homeland mountains. There was once a kingdom of the Feywild -  place Bründir had heard of once or twice, but just assumed it was far away for now - in which an elf spread a new faith the multiverse. However, the rulership of these people grew concerned that it carried messages of dissent and rebellion. Before long, the believers were exiled to this world and settled on the side of the furthest mountain of the range.

The Followers of Eight, as they called themselves, believed this mountain was given to them by divine providence seen by their leader: Maledith the Awakened. For centuries, The Followers lived in peace and cultivated their settlement across the mountain. One day, however, their former rulers came with fire and steel. Some say that The Followers made a pact with demons and plotted revenge. Others say they discovered new power and the Fey elves feared revenge.  So fierce was the conflict that the world quaked and moaned in agony. Again, many speculate, but some think Maledith commanded the world to rise up and drive back the Feywild army. In the end, The Followers were driven off the mountain, but the attacking army was never seen again.

Bründir was so moved by this story, that he recorded many of the details in a journal and dreamed of exploring the mountains in search of The Followers.

Dorno can’t see Archie facepalming while sitting up on his shoulders.  But he did get his ride, so he’s not complaining.  “Alright big fella, If you spot a deer before I do, I’ll buy you one of those honey meades; if I spot one first you buy me a drink.” 

"Ok tiny man."

Now that it's a contest, Dorno can be seen squinting once the group starts their trip, his tongue hanging out of one corner of his mouth as he 'focuses'.  He notices that the gnome is quite busy just over his shoulder, and sees unnatural shapes in the woods that just seem...off.  He decides to ignore them and look for wild animals in his normal way.  Eventually he spots the head of a doe chewing silently from within a large section of thick bushes.  The deer freezes up as they approach but Dorno is gentle and approaches cautiously.  He reaches over his shoulder and grabs Archie by the head with two fingers like a pair of vice grips clamping down on his skull.  He swings the gnome around, perfectly silent, in his part of it at least, and turns him such that Archie's face is even with the doe's and is only about three feet away.  After a second, Dorno simply opens his fingers and Archie hits the ground with a small thud.  At this the doe is startled and jumps from the bush in a flash, right over Archie and past Dorno into the woods on the opposite side of their path.

HAHAHAHA  See little man!  Four legs, no arms!  You tried hard though, with your tricks, but you didn't fool me!  You're too busy up there to ever see her!  HAHAHAHAHA   I'll take more of that honey-water soon, thank you!

Thurston, walking behind the rest of the group and letting them guide him smiles listening them and enjoys their games. After so many moons traveling alone is good to have company again. 

“That’s it, you beat me fair and square Dorno.  I guess I should have known better than to challenge you at finding critters in the woods.   Archie says while scrambling up onto his shoulders.  “Say, you do know it was the honey water that made you feel sick this morning right?”

Valaith smiles and laughs at the antics of the two, moreso even for the fact of the sheer size differences between them. Valaith feels comfortable around Dorno as she was no longer the only one who towered over all the others. She reasons she could not quite understand, it made her feel uncomfortable to be so different than those around her. With a sigh, she pushes such thoughts aside and focuses on keeping her eyes open for any sign of bandits... when she suddenly gets an idea. "Perhaps we could make another wager? First one to spot the bandits or their hideout gets free drinks for the evening upon our return to the elf city?"

According to the map from Archie's journal, the fastest route up into hills takes the group 24 miles back along the trail they took to Hyarantar, before heading off the beaten track and up towards the swathe of grassy hills that runs between the forest and the mountains here. The moon hangs low and fat on the eastern horizon until late morning, barely visible behind the trees as the group wanders along the forest path, while the sun slowly grows fatter where it sits in the northern sky.

It's 10 am by the time ground begins to rise up into forested foot hills, and an hour or so after noon Archie calls a stop... mostly for lunch, but it's also time they left the track and headed north-east out of the forest.

By the time the moon has crept back up over the eastern horizon, slowly eclipsing the sun, they have reached the treeline, where the forest gives way to open hills under a carpet of thick grassland, stretching out ahead of them in great rolling waves. Far to the east, the Ice Cap Peaks can be seen rearing up into the sky, dark clouds churning above them.

OOC - The sun is setting and the party will need to make camp on the forest's edge.

"Thor is getting upset  " says Thurston looking to the clouds " We should look for shelter before Mylord discharges thee wrath" 

He seems more happier than worried though, and the rest could say that he would be happy to be on the outside while the storm starts.

"Water never makes me sick, no.  Honey either.  I like honey!"  Dorno ponders what it was that actually did make him sick.  "I'm not sick like that man you hurt yesterday, right?  The one with the demon in him?"  Dorno begins to look nervous.  He's now even further off of the right track than before...

Dorno also responds to Val's wager suggestion.  "I am not too used to making wagers, but I think I get it.  I won't take this wager.  No.  It is not fair."

As the night draws in, it becomes apparent that the storm is headed north and it does not bother the group's camp. By midnight the sky over the mountains that line the eastern horizon is clear. Though, as Archie holds his watch he is convinced he sees the silhouette of a dragon beating its powerful wings as it makes its way south over the frozen peaks. Dorno sees only what he would expect of the forest's edge at dusk and neither Vark nor Bründir spots anything that they would describe as 'out of the ordinary'.

When the moon finally falls back down into the east, unmasking the sun and beginning the new day, everyone finds themselves realising, what now?

OOC - It's a new day, you're north in the hills where you were told the bandits have their camp. This region is more than 100 square miles. How do you want to go about finding them?

Valaith spends the morning stretching her muscles and joints to prepare herself for could be a long fight and having stiff joints can only harm oneself just as much as an arrow. "Dorno, you can talk with animals right? Maybe they could help us find these bandits. I doubt a camp full of those blundering fools could keep themselves hidden from all the critters here."

Vark wakes, and once again does his new ritual of focusing his powers and creating a mantle of protective magic on himself. Silent through breakfast, once finished he will search around the edges of camp for any sign of which direction the bandit camp might lie in.

The long grass that covers the hills ripples and flows gently in the mountain breeze that washes across the hills, only to break against the outer limits of Eldren. The woods rear up behind the party where they have camped like a natural awning. From the outside the shadows amongst the trees look dark and imposing. Nothing like the semi-permanent twilight they experienced on the inside.

Vark searches the ever shifting sea of grass for traces of those who have come before them, but in an environment like this nothing lasts long and, as far as he can tell, any signs have long since faded.