After finishing their talk with Sildar and before the party leaves Valefor will pull him aside and sign his name to the Official-looking book saying "I will do everything in my power to find this Gundren and stop the corruption that has plagued this town."  

Salty signs the book without really listening or reading the details. Upon closer inspection his signature reads Happy Birthday!

Rand signs the book. Being a part of "The Lords' Alliance" sounds somewhat prestigious and it is for a good cause. 

"It is only mid morning. Shall we go back and retrieve the body and the letter from the Black Spider as proof now or wait until after we've had some rest?"

Lets grab it now, rest up, and move on to our next adventure.

(Upon closer inspection of Rand's signature, it says, "Salty Joe."
-Just Kidding, but would have been funny :) )

"OK, Salty! Let's do it."

The Redbrand prisoners are locked up in the Townmaster Hall's cells to await trial for their crimes. It's a quick trip back to the hideout to retrieve Iarno's body and the papers you found. Sildar thanks you for your diligence, hands over 5 pouches with 40 gold pieces in each, and as you are about to leave for some well-deserved rest, he asks one last set of questions. "Did you find anything else of interest down there? Anything the town would consider historical or of value to Phandalin? Is there anything we should be aware of, any dangers? I'm sure some of the townsfolk will want to go explore the place and I wish to prevent anybody from falling into a trap or being attacked by anything..."

As word spreads of what you have done, the people of Phandalin come out to thank you, or shake your hands, or give you gifts of food or small trinkets. This day you are heroes, and your drinks and meals are paid for by the many citizens who are glad to have the Redbrand menace removed once and for all!

Rand removes the decorated scabbard with Talon sheathed safely within and presents it to Sildar. "Oh, I almost forgot. We found this sword. It is the only thing of historical value that I think we found. It still works well. There are traps to be aware of for any that venture in. However, we  were talking about that. If the town does not have an immediate use, we thought that we might petition for it to be our base of operations. Our guild hall as it were. We will need a place to store our equipment and supplies as well as serve as a place of respite." 

(So, party members, what do you think, should we apply the 1/2 gold to the guild and 1/2 divided among ourselves idea, or do something different? Different ratio? If we do, that would mean we would put rewards like this in the kitty and divide it at a down time, like now :) ).

(OOC: sound like a plan to me)

(Works for me too) 

(That all sounds good to me.)

Penumbra declines membership in the Lord's Alliance. "I'd rather remain a free agent for now."

When the group returns to retrieve Iarno's body Penumbra digs through the wizard's books and quietly pockets a book on simple illusion spells.

(Rhanloi, do we get full value for trading in gems and jewelry?)

While in town Salty would like to buy a hand crossbow

(OOC: If we have a little down time Valefor will attune to the staff of defense and also head into town with salty buying 10g worth of incense & herbs and getting 25 gold ground into gold dust.)

(Yes, you get full value for gems and jewelry and the alchemical items. Basic weapons and armor that you sell gets 1/2 price.)

Sildar looks at the longsword, appraising it quickly and professionally. "A fine weapon - and since there are no heirs to the name, you may keep it and use it to rid these lands of threats. I will speak with the townmaster about your purchase of the Manor and its surrounding property. Normally, the deed to a manor of that size and in a location like this costs about 1,000 gold pieces to cover the fees, paperwork, back taxes, etc. However, because of the great service you have provided to the entire town - and because leaving it empty only invites more vermin to inhabit it - I am confident we can cut that by at least 30%. And since I just paid you 200 gold, you only have to secure another 500! Come back tomorrow and I'll have an answer for you. I have a good feeling about this!" 

You realize that although the manor itself would require repairs and rebuilding before you could inhabit it, the hideout only needs a good cleaning (and perhaps something to cover the musky stench of sweaty men and bugbears.) You could set up shop immediately without any further expenses!

Penumbra takes the coins and gives her portion of the gems to the guild fund, she then heads out to the Lionshield Coster to do some shopping.

(Sorry, been a little behind on posting due to a crazy few days at work and home!)

Bankur listens carefully to Sildar's description of the Lord's Alliance. "While I agree with your stated goals friend Sildar, my heart belongs to only one alliance, and that is to Ilmater. I will gladly fight beside you for the same goals your alliance seeks, but I'll not be an official member."

"Friend Rand, your idea to obtain the manor is an excellent one!"  

Once he gets a chance of privacy with the group, Salty asks for a moment. "If we gonna be shacking up together I guess we should lay our cards on the table. No secrets between friends and all that." He takes off his glasses and clears his throat and the next time you hear him speak he has a completely different accent. "I'm currently hiding my identity to avoid being taken to the underdark. Its been a while but I'm still being hunted by my Mother's house. If they come for me they will also come for you. On top of that I have a really bad feeling about this Black Spider. I just wanted to let everyone know what I was bringing to the table other than my Dashing Charm and Ineffable Boundless Talent. With regards to turning the Manor into our guild hall I've written a song." 

Salty Joe pulls out his harmonica. 

"I agree honesty is the best police but all i have is a in progress tome i am writing on abjuration magic....i am an open book if you don't mind the pun!"

After listening to Salty Joe, Rand says, "'Ha! If you're a drow, then I'm a member of the Gnomish Nobility. No, really... I'll explain." Rand then goes on to explain how his parents were killed when he was young and how a gnomish family took him in and raised him as their own. He goes on to say, that technically he is not ennobled, but as the heir to his adoptive parents' estate, he would inherit rank and title should they pass, which is highly unlikely, seeing as gnomes live several hundred years. "I do hope that someday I can go back and ask my adoptive parents for more details about my biological parents' death so that I could hunt down their killers and exact vengeance. But I try not to let that darken my mood."

Rand goes with the others for some shopping and enjoys the celebration and the free beer. (some inventory tweaks forthcoming).  

"I've got nothing to hide, at least nothing I know about anyway. I mean there's more than a couple people back in Neverwinter that would love to see me in the stocks, but nothing any of you need to worry about. You guys have proven trustworthy and we are starting a sort of guild together so you can count on me to stand by your side if trouble comes, or more likely in the shadows behind you but you get the idea."

After a moment of thought Penumbra starts to speak again. "Come to think of it I should take this chance to let you all know that I've decided to start practicing my old magical abilities. I always had some abilities with magic, probably comes from my parents, but growing up on the streets I focused on a different set of skills. Now that I'm adventuring with you guys I'd like to have as many tricks up my sleeves as possible."