Sword Coast Rambling

Morthen opens his front door warily, surely the redbrands have not returned this early in the morning. Half asleep, he rubs his eyes a man dressed in red for sure, but with three others. As the fogginess of sleep dwindles away the old woodcutter suddenly realises what he is seeing. His family are have returned.

The children run to their grandfather and tackle him to the dusty ground with a thump. Tears of joy fill their faces. Reulctantly accepting the gold from the bard, the woman blushes, "My sincerest thanks to you and your friends sir. Perhaps with this gold we can afford to return to our home in Thundertree when it is safe to do so. Thankyou again. A hundred thankyou's"

Struggling to his feet, Morthen stumbles towards his daughter in law, still half asleep, "I am not sure if this is real or some wicked dream, but I care not. Mirna my dear, welcome home. Mr Serak, I am not sure how you and your friends managed to do this, but you have my sincerest gratitude. If we can ever return the favour, it would be our pleasure to help you in any way we can."

Nars approaches and shakes the bards hand while his sister embraces him with a thankful wordless hug. 

OOC: For handing Glasstaff over to Sildar and safely returning the prisoners to Morthen you will all earn 100xp each.

Brots, seeing the look on the family's face will smile. "We only want to see you all happy, as long as you are all safe and happy, I'll be able to sleep at night." He pauses a moment and looks over at Nilsa, calling her over. "Nilsa, do you still have my little friend?"

After hugging Serak, Nilsa leans over to Brots. The little furry figure of Iris leaps from the girls shoulder onto the gnomes with a short happy squeak, spins around quickly and throws a cheerful wave at the girl. "Thankyou for letting me hold this little one Brots, she is so warm and cuddly. Hopefully someday I'll have a pet like this of my own to keep me safe as she does for you!" Bending down, she kisses the gnomes forehead lightly before turning with her family and heading towards the cabin. Iris lets out a gentle, sad cry as her new friend disappears.

Brots, after seeing what she has said will whisper something to Iris. As he finishes the squirrel will hop off and run back to Nilsa. "We're going to be in town for a while, for now, she's all yours Nilsa. She's smart so she'll keep you safe, just be sure to listen to her."

Overwhelmed with the gnomes generosity, Nilsa is speechless. Iris leaps up, clambers up onto her slender shoulder and nuzzles into her neck. Finally the girl speaks, "I'll look after her. I promise." With a friendly, grateful smile she pets the small creature on her shoulder and turns away. "Thankyou again! You can come see her anytime! And if you ever need her back I promise not to get too upset!"

Brots will smile and nod at Nilsa. "Thank you sweetie." Brots will then back up and wait for the group.

Hugging the child and shaking Morthen's hand, Serak says, "No thanks required, though information is always of use. Did you over hear anything while captive? Anything about a Black Spider? Or a Drow? Or about a magic cave, a Castle Cragmaw or any towns on the Triboar trail? Anything could be useful."

Hating himself for what he is about to do next, the Shadow Thief says, "There is one more thing that you are in a unique position to help me with. Your nextdoor neighbor Halia... I believe she is involved in something dangerous and has become a threat to this town. If she was not directly involved with the Redbrands, then she is in league with some rival of their's.

"I'd like you four to keep a close eye on her for me. If you agree, I'll pay you a gold piece a day for the service, until you have enough to return home and begin your new life. I do not ask you to put yourselves at any risk  Simply take turns noting her comings and goings. What say you?"

Mirna casts her mind back to her time in captivity, fliching slightly as she fights through the horrific images. "Nothing of that sort Sir. We were gagged and bound from the moment we were captured. All we saw were redbrands and those bear type creatures. They did talk of the wizard in charge of them but otherwise they were careful to keep information away from us. I'm sorry we can't help further."

Morthen interrupts his daughter in law, "Halia Thornton is involved in this? She has always been a pleasant neighbour to us. Your offer is a fair one however, and you have proven yourself to be a good man Serak so we will do this for you." The old man thinks for a moment, devising a plan of his own, "The exchange though is the busiest place in town most days,are you looking for anyone in particular or... just Miss Thornton?" He casts a nervous look behind him, half expecting the woman to be behind him. This whole conversation has put him on edge.

Serak: Shaking his head, he answers, "No one in particular, though be on the lookout for strangers or suspicious looking characters. I'm really more interested in her... after business hours activities. She is quite lovely and pleasant, which makes her twice as dangerous if she's involved. Use caution and try not to let her catch on. I thank you for your help in this matter. Farewell friends."

Turning to the group after they leave, Serak says smiling, "And that, my friends, is why we walk the path of adventure! Families reunited and villians facing justice! An excellent second act to our story. Shall we head to the inn and rest? Now that my pockets clink once more, I'd like to awaken before the shops close so I can finally get my kit in order."

"Yes job well done friends," Beetle says to his companions..."Let us head over to the inn, rest and decide on our next plan of action."

The family hold on to each other as they turn towards the woodcutters cabin. Serak watches them quietly as they disappear. A gentle click as the cabin door finally closes and the quiet of the town descends again. A sparrow one the roof beside him chirps a pleasant morning to him as he turns and contentedly heads back into town. Crossing the square, the morning light begins to shine a little stronger, warmth returning to the air. Its turning into another fine day in the Sword Mountains.

While the stores and traders remain closed, the friendly face of Toblen Stonehill sweeps the doorway of his Inn quietly. He spots the party as they arrive, "Morning to you gents, you're up early....My my do you look exhausted! Come in, come in, I'll sort you out." 

The barman leads the party inside and plonks them onto a table near the bar. The Inn is barely opened for the day, its floors still sticky, the scent of stale ale hang in the air. "You're a bit early just now, Elsa isn't even here yet. But I'll get Trilena to sort out your rooms and make you some breakfast myself if you fancy some? Eggs and bacon do ye?"

Then he disappears to get busy to work. His wife, Trilena appears and disappears quickly, waving a short hello at the party as she prepares the rooms. While they discuss their next actions, Toblen returns with plates of eggs and bread, a jug of pine tea and a handful of keys. 

He says sheepishly, "Sorry, no bacon. Plenty of eggs though. You can have your regular rooms again. I'm sure you'll find them. Anything you need we'll be here all day." Hurrying off to continue his daily prep he stops dead and reminds himself, "Oh yeah, here.... always forget this bit. Total bill is about 40 silver, lads. Just settle it with one of us when you can. Right I'm off again!" As he scurries off again behind the bar, the party are once more left alone to finalise any plans they have.

Happy to be back again, and with a cup of tea in his hands, he reaches into pouch and takes out the 40sp.  "Let me.  I have yet to see the wolf, bear or deer that was impressed with gold."

Beetle turns to his companions...

"So what are everyone thoughts on how to procede from here?  I feel we should deal with the ogres and that also may lead us to more information on the Black Spider." He pauses a moment, "I also think we should stop by Sister Garalee in the morning before heading out to where ever and she what her task was, it could just happen to be the same direction we choose to go."

Brots, agreeing with Beetle will nod. "I say we visit Sister first, then deal with these pesky ogres."

Syna thinks back, "We have a riches of troubles to track down.  Mayhap, the Sister will shed some light as it seems all troubles lead back to this Spider.  Let's be about it."

Rest first then head out to the sister in the morning, I know its a full day wasted but we really need the long rest.

OOC: A long rest at this time of day would last until just after lunchtime. You’d still have a few hours to see a few people in town if you needed to, provided they’re in the area

Sounds perfect

OCC:  Sounds good, and we can pick up some additional supplies...  Like an offhand dagger and some throwing knives (darts).

OOC: Assuming Zyltris and Serak will go for a long rest as well then...

The parties eyes grow heavier as their plates slowly empty. Outside the daylight shines brightly as morning fully takes hold. The quiet streets soon bustling with the regular activity of the small mining town. A small group of prospectors arrive for their daily morning ale before heading up into the mountains, engaged in a lighthearted conversation about the price of copper. Slowly the party peels off to their rooms and get some much needed rest for the day ahead. 

When they finally leave their rooms, the lunch time rush in the inn is just ending. Elsa clears a table at the bottom of the stairs piled high with plates. She gestures over to the group as the first of them arrives downstairs. One by one the party emerges, rested but still groggy from an all night stint. As Zyltris arrives, Toblen carefully rushes over.

Taking the elf aside, he quietly whispers into his ear, frantically checking around as he does so.

Zyltris:

The innkeeper bids a  good afternoon to the others and pretends to busy himself with a neighboring table before rushing off again behind the bar.