(Thanks, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a bit therapeutic for me. Thus is the reason I play D&D though)

As Velima and Strife went into the room, Niner took his chair and another for Jubilant and placed them next to the rooms door and sits down. Inside he can hear Strife enjoying the place until finally it quiets down.
For a moment he takes off his mask and looks at its front, falling into memories long past...

(( WOW!! What a bunch of excellent posts! I feel like I really know these characters now, and I'm even more excited to get to the big stuff with everyone. Great RP y'all!!! ))

James leaves, and the rest of the night passes with little to-do. The party ruminated on their findings; the wolf, James, who seemed to be a young boy's spirit; the golden rod with the wolf and fetus at its ends; the inebriated and unhelpful barkeep brothers. By morning, the town was slightly abuzz with a more happy atmosphere. About dawn, the first three patrons could be heard entering The Hogg's Respite - chief among which was the village chieftan, Ohtagg Heidelfjord. One could assume he was the village chief from just looking at the hulk of a man, but you could tell through the door to your room on account of Braghm's hearty voice shouting it at the top of his lungs early in the morn'. Outside, muttered voices could be heard. Ohtagg seemed displeased...

You hear the wooden floordboards creaking with heavy footfall when suddenly, there is a knocking at your door. "It is I, Chief Heidelfjord. I would speak with our Vorðr guests."

Getting up and rubbing her eyes Damien puts her armor on opens the door "What is it at this hour?"

Rubbing her eyes, Jubilant quickly cast Mask of Many Faces, restoring herself to the illusory human from the night before. Her eyes were a muddy green this time, just out of curiosity as to whether anyone would notice. "Sounds like trouble," she said, biting back a yawn. Then again, everything sounded like trouble to her ears, so maybe that was a bit of a leap in logic. As Damien answered the door, she quickly stepped in front of the chief looking fellow's line of sight, silently hoping Niner and Strife were already covered up. If not, that could be... problematic. "Good morning kind sir!" she said brightly, leaning on Damien's shoulder without bothering to see if the gesture was wanted or welcome. "What can we do for you?"

Strife, hearing the knocking would slide his brass hands up to his hood and pull it down hard over his head.. and keep pulling until he was in an even tighter ball than before. "I don't wanna get up yyyyeeetttt..." The kobold would say in a long groan not wanting to leave the top of the soft bed. A moment later the kobold would begin kicking his feet, propelling himself in a small circle as he lay on his side with his face still covered in his hood until he picked up enough speed to fall off the bed. Once on the floor, Strife would begrudgingly stand up and dust himself off. Looking over to Velima to see if she was awake, already knowing she probably was, he would adjust his hood and stuff his hands in his robes once more and after making sure Velima given enough privacy to get suited up again. Only after Velima was ready would he answer the knock on the door.

Damien looks at Jubilant before looking back at the chief "Is something the matter Chief?"

Niner heard the knocks on the door, but before he was able to answer, Jubilant was already by the door to welcome the visitor. He stays next to Jubilant, his mask already back on his face to examine who was standing before him. His sword is leaning on the armrest of the chair, ready to be picked up swiftly if necessary.

"It has come to my attention that you lot may have been out and about last night..." The man stopped to stroke his lustrous blonde goatee. "Now, I'm not making any accusations here. However, it would be delightful if you could join me for dinner at my home this evening. There are some things I think we should discuss." Before anyone has a chance to ask him any more questions, he quickly concedes, "Please! Enjoy our town, and try not to venture too deeply into the woods. You will excuse me, I have much more pressing matters to attend to." He walked away, his long, blue silk cape flowing freely behind him in plain view.

Upon his cape, you notice a golden wolf emblem embroidered into the fabric.

"What an odd man, what did you guys do last night anyways?" Damien shuts the door as the chief walks away sitting on the bed

"Is he gone!?!" Strife will yell from behind the door before opening it and looking to his companions. "That was nice of him to invite us to his house" The kobold will say with a smile, looking up at them before remembering to lower his head to keep his face concealed. A moment later, Strife would make his way downstairs and order breakfast for everyone and pick out a nice table for us to discuss our plans for the day. 

"Judging by his tone I doubt he invited us as thanks and more likely as an interrogation."  Picking up her shield and warhammer Damien joins Strife at the table.

"Well, I say we turn the tables and do the interrogating ourselves. Chief or not, that guy is really shady," Jubilant said once the man was out of earshot. This wasn't some cult thing, right? A cult turning little kids into wolves? Ugh, hopefully not. "We still should go though. Free food is free food." Her piece said, she picked up her backpack, stretching. "So we're in agreement we'll go to his little dinner thing then? 'Cause in that case, I'm gonna poke around town for the rest of the day. Anyone wanna come shopping?"

Strife would look up to damien and shoot her a smile as she sat down before covering his face again. "So last night I discovered that James has a human body that is sleeping in a small house here in the village... we also found that magic stick over there hanging on the wall but no one is sure how it works but we are pretty sure they are linked... So basically James is a little boy stuck in a wolfs body.. and the body of the boy is stuck sleeping in a house....  and we think the wolf stick over there is the key...It was kind of a crazy night.." The kobold will say inbetween bites of breakfast. Periodically Damien will notice Strife quickly wave his hand over the meal, and after doing so the kobold will have a different reaction to the bite of food he is eating. Having been around the kobold for a while now, She can tell he is using magic to change the flavor of his food repeatedly. 

A moment later as Jubilant walks up and mentions shopping, Strife will quickly shovel the rest of the meal into his mouth and leap to his feet from the seat he was sitting in. "Iff Wufntf Tof goofff" The kobold will say with a mouth full of food before taking a large gulp. "I want to go!" Strife will repeat clearer.. "lead the way friend!"

"You...okay yeah sure makes sense so James is a boy trapped inside a wolf body and you found this out, did you make sure you weren't being watched?"

Velima

velima heard what the chief had to say, and after making herself ready with armor, sword, shield, and pack she joined the others at the table. She had rest comfortably enough, but it felt like no sleep of late had been truly restful, she remembered her early training into wildshaping, waking up in meadows and groves after successful hunts in wolf form. She yearned to be that carefree again, but in her new position it would probably never come. 

"We should gather supplies" she said calmly to the group, "...and not get wrapped up in this towns charm." While she meant the small town charm any such town might possess it held a different meaning given the findings from the night before. "I am going to find out where we will be dining tonight, have a look around...quietly"

"Alright Strife, that makes you my lieutenant! I think they said the general store is called Belmont's Wares. I'd like to check out the library they mentioned at some point too. If you see anything that catches your eye let me know, " Jubilant said brightly, stepping towards the door. She glanced over to Velima, her smile pausing for a moment, becoming slightly more cautious and practiced. "You should probably take some back up just in case. It's a small town, so I think we'd hear you if you screamed? But better safe than sorry."

"I was pretty sneaky I think... I didn't worry about it too much.. I was following a wolf that they seem to really like  and treat like a member of the village... I didn't break into any buildings... i literally just followed a wolf into a house and up some stairs.. I didn't even need to open a door..." The kobold would say to the Aasimar, slowly twisting his foot on the floor of the inn. The kobold didn't normally wear shoes, instead he had a thin leather wrap that he tied around his feet, leaving the claws on his toes exposed for better grip. His feet however were currently hidden under the tan and gray robe that was keeping the rest of his kobold figure hidden.

As Jubilant calls him her Lieutenant, the kobold would quickly snap to attention, saluting her with his brass scaled hand. "oh wait.whoops!" he would say quickly before stuffing his metalic claw into his robes. I only have ten gold pieces so I am not sure what that is going to get me in.. especially if they don't seem concened with money... but I am very interested to see their wares." the kobold will say excitedly. "I guess I could see about getting some proper ammunition for my sling... or maybe a nicer one?" The kobold would say trailing off thinking about other things he might like to have....

As you walk to your first destination, the town streets begin to burgeon with villagers pushing wheelbarrows full of cánaib, and children playing in the grass. You notice that now in the daylight it is clear: There are absolutely no real roads or paths here. Some of the grass is trampled where the villagers seem to walk often, but none of it is beaten or paved. Towards the base of the hill that hides the small hamlet, you spot a merchant caravan full of goods - craftsmen are stuffing knapsacks full of wares from the cart, and shuffling back to their homes. The cart merely sits there, with no horses drawing it, nor any merchant peddling the wares to speak of.

"Who do you think is supplying the goods to the town?" Strife will say slightly confused to Jubilant