“Hi! I’m Soar, your friendly neighborhood doom guide. We started in Greenest, and have been on the road for a few days. We’re looking first to see if our friend, a monk named Leosin, has been here, and second, if we could get some food and a couple rooms for the night. It is our first time here, yes. Also where are the antlers?”

Soar asks this without really looking around so there could be antlers all over. She’s being a bit cheeky and aiming for charming.

Soar, there are indeed antlers dotted here and there, as a recurring motif in the decoration of this room.  The server smiles.  Greenest, you say?  Word is there's trouble to the south - and a dragon was sighted today, no less.  Strange goings on. 

The original antlers are in Sir Ontharr's private chambers, of course.  I believe that he and Master Erlanthar are meeting at the moment, but I expect they'll be finished soon. 

For dinner tonight, we have pork and mutton stew, roasted pork, vegetable hotpot and some breads and cheese to choose from; what takes your fancy?

"Wow, Leosin is staying here?" Soar turns to Jalt. "See, I knew we could find him! Wow, hotpot, bread, and cheese sound amazing to me. I think we'll take two rooms, as well. And yes, we saw the dragon flying north of here earlier today. Second we've seen in a tenday, though the first one was a much closer encounter."

Soar happily tears into the food when it's served and waits for rooms to be readied (assuming she's rooming with Elspeth per usual) and then keeping her eye out for Leosin. She'll also listen in on conversation at the longer tables, trying to get a sense of what kinds of things the locals talk about, if the news of the dragon is top of mind, if anything about the cult gets mentioned.

OOC: I know Jalt didn't doubt we'd find Leosin, but I love the dynamic where Soar assumes the best and looks at Jalt and mistakenly thinks he's pessimistic because he's more level-headed than she is, so hope the gag landed right, evlintentions.

Roasted pork with some bread and cheese for me Jalt says. Jalt's never been much of a drinker but in this moment he remembers his friend Breena who has gone onto her own adventure yet he orders a pitcher of wine for himself. (Have deducted 1 gp... that'll cover a modest meal/room)

Soar, you find that there is much talk of the dragon, and comment on the evil nature of chromatic dragons in general.  You can make a Perception check if you wish to listen for more.

The server accepts your payment and brings your food shortly (as well as food for Nate and Elspeth if they order).

After about forty minutes more, you have finished your meals and are enjoying the pleasant, warm and friendly environment of the inn common room, when you see the server speaking in a low voice to a man turned away from you.  The man nods, and approaches your table; you can see that this is the monk Leosin Erlanthar.  Friends, and heroes of Greenest, I am glad that you have reached us before my departure.  May I sit and join you for a while?

You are always welcome to join us Brother. Jalt replies to the monk as he points to an empty chair at their table. We are very fortunate to find you so quickly upon entering the city.

Perhaps so.  Leosin seems to be in a good mood.  Though he set off from Greenest before his wounds had fully healed, he now seems in fine health, well rested and well fed.

I have asked friends to keep an eye out for you, though I'm sure we would have found each other in time, but let us take advantage of this good fortune.  I am glad you decided to follow me here.  And, are the horses well?  I know there are many dangers on the road, but my order would be happy to have them back, I know.  I assume that you took the road, rather than risking the ride across country?

The monk sits down and orders tea for himself, and tea or ale for any of you who want it.

Indeed. We managed to make a couple of stops along the way and are very thankful that the horses provided were more than sufficient for the trip. Jalt points to his pitcher of wine and kindly declines any thing else to drink. What news have you for us?

 I'm delighted to hear it, and pleased you made good time.  News.  Yes, news indeed.  Well, I am intent upon continuing to investigate the dragon cultists, so... tell me, have you any news for me?  What did you learn in the raiders' camp?  Did you learn more of their leaders?  What of the tales of dragon eggs?

"Wow Soar... talk about luck! Maybe it was those new magic gloves! Or maybe you just had a sense he was here..." Nate smiles at Soar as they enter the Inn and eat. Nate would've ordered the pork and vegetables as well as his usual single room (all subtracted). "Thank you so much, all of this is wonderful!" When Nate saw Jalt order the wine, he would also have indulged in a large tankard of ale. (subtracted). "Cheers everyone... thanks for allowing me to join you on this crazy adventure and here's to sweet revenge on the cult!" Nate likely would've said this too loud in front of everyone in the Inn.

Then when Leosin joins the table:

"Leosin! It is great to see you again. The horses have been wonderful. Such beautiful animals. News you ask? Oh... we have news for you indeed... there were dragon eggs in the camp. EVERYWHERE. Big ones. We almost died... again. All of us. And Soar... well, she cut the Cyanwrath's head off. And also someone else's head.... the cult is dangerous and they all need to be destroyed. You know what they are like. We were there... together."

Nate then turtles back and lets the more intellectual ones do the talking, realizing he's just blurting nonsense, likely because he's catching a buzz from the beer. 

Elspeth will order the pork and mutton stew and the vegetable hotpot as well as a pitcher of wine, sitting down next to Soar to enjoy her food. She turns when Leosin appears, pleasantly surprised that the monk had found them so soon.

"Leosin! Good to see you, and it's good that you're looking much better." She greets, pushing her bowl away as she is finished with her meal. "News, well, yes. We made it into the camp again - the raiders seems to have left, it was fairly empty save for three eggs and a few cultists in the cave. We claimed the eggs and brought them to the governor, and I believe they're waiting to be collected by some of Jalt's friends."

Soar absolutely hugs him, and offers him some bread. "I knew we would find you. Just knew it! It is so great to see you!" She happily accepts the offer of ale with a warm thanks. 

When Nate mentions the gloves, she waves him off with a smile. "These? They are just going to make me into the best bard in Faerun, if you remember the good master Melrathkior!"

To Leosin, she leans in, her demeanor getting a bit more serious. "Yes, three eggs, black, deep in the cave. We got them away from their preferred nesting place and brought them back to town, after nearly destroying them. Jalt believes they can be raised into the light, eventually, with his friends' help. The governor almost didn't agree. I'd love your thoughts on that decision. And yes, I cut off his head, and Mondath's too, but only after nearly dying during both fights, and only because these three warriors fought so bravely and healed me from damage I might have avoided had I been less foolish. The cult, as Nate said, has cleared out. They're headed north, according to papers we found. Naerytar. Rezmir is still calling the shots. What do you know? Is this kingdom aware of the cult on the march? Have others been alerted?"

Three black dragons eggs, whispers Leosin.  And you did not destroy them.  He gives a strange look at Jalt.  I see.  I hope that your friends, whoever they are, are well-chosen and prepared for this task you have laid upon them.

I am heartened to hear that Mondath has fallen, and her right hand too.  Though I am not sure how high they stand in the cult as a whole, they were held in high esteem, I think.  Their loss will harm the cult, and their morale.  Yes, good news indeed.

Naerytar.  Naerytar.  That may be the most important news you have brought me.  Naerytar.  Yes, I know of it, and have not heard it linked to the cult yet.  I will send messages tonight - others must investigate this.  And we cannot be sure - they are expert liars.  

The High Observer of Elturgard is aware, yes.  As the cult have not entered this kingdom, he has done little except give approval to Sir Ontharr to act as he sees fit.  It is a wise decision - Ontharr Frume is wise in the ways of these things.  He and I... well, we have been friends for a long time, and faced many dangers together.  Rest assured that the Kingdoms of the North and the Lords' Alliance have been alerted, or are being alerted.  Alas, Kings and Lords have many things to deal with, and I doubt they will treat this threat with the consideration it deserve.

Yet we dare not act too quickly.  Destroying one band of cultists tells us nothing about the cult's true purpose or, more importantly, how they plan to achieve it.  We must be patient and vigilant.  He sits quietly for a time, drinking his tea and answering any questions you have.  At one point another monk of his order comes into the common room and whispers something in Leosin's ear - he nods, and the monk heads out into the city again.

My friends, I am putting together an alliance of sort - good folk from this region who have its best interests at heart.  I hope to include you in that, but it is Sir Ontharr's blessing that is most important.  I would like for you to meet him this night - he is in his chambers upstairs, drinking and relaxing.  Spend a little time with him, tonight and tomorrow.  Show him that you are the right kind of people - he has a... rather old fashioned view of what makes a hero, and he values those who are honest and direct, who are bold and enjoy a fight, those who love hunting and other sport, and... well, you get the idea, I'm sure.  Sir Ontharr's favour is a valuable thing to have, and he will be a leader of whatever movement eventually forms to oppose the cultists.

This may seem unimportant to you, but I can only ask that you trust me on this. 

Leosin stands, and motions for you to follow him to Sir Ontharr's rooms - will you go?

Nate senses that Leosin was surprised and perhaps even disappointed that we didn't destroy the eggs, and then doesn't feel so bad for wanting to destroy them himself.

He looks at Jalt, and then back to Leosin, and decides to keep quiet about it because of the respect he's gained for Jalt and his feelings towards destroying them. 

"Mondath! Yes that was her name. She was a high ranking officer indeed. Soar beheaded her real good." Nate gives a bit of a dark look to Leosin.

Nate will definitely go with the group to meet Sir Ontharr, but is concerned about what the knight will think of him given he doesn't really possess most of the qualities that this so called alliance is looking for. He'd by no means consider himself a hero... and his values likely wouldn't be the perfect fit for all of this. Nate will follow Leosin as he leads the group to Ontharr's quarters, but will stay back and really only speak when spoken to. He hopes that what he's already done with the party will be enough to convince Sir Ontharr to keep him around and allow him to join this alliance so he can help destroy the cult. He knows that his peers exude the qualities that Leosin and Ontharr are looking for and can only hope that he can ride the coat tales of this and be a part of the next step, whatever that may be. 

Soar does her best to take in what Leosin is saying - there’s a lot of new information and she isn’t really sure what he means. She is receptive, but she also tries to get a sense of what he’s not saying, especially about Ontharr.

Insight: 5

She nods at Leosin, finishes the pint he offered her, and stands up, ready to follow him to Ontharr’s quarters. She is optimistic and game for anything, after all. But something is tickling the back of her mind and her training kicks in, on a deeper level. After she stands and he looks away, her eyes flash with a green light as she engages her divine sense with a look around the room to see if there are any celestial, fey, fiendish, or undead pings on Kelemvor’s radar within 60 feet.

Once they are moving away from the table, assuming they are, she will hang back and cast detect magic and see if there is anything interesting in the inn’s common room, and also on Leosin, and keep it going for their walk to Ontharr’s.

Jalt follows along with the others to Ontharr's, remaining quiet as once again someone questions his decision to not destroy the eggs.

Soar, you get a sense that Leosin believes Ontharr to be a good man, but that not everyone finds him easy company.  You get no sense of fey, fiend, celestial or undead nearby.

Leosin stands and encourage you to follow up the stairs and through a large pair of double doors.  Inside you find a large, comfortable suite, suggesting modest wealth but not opulence or extravagance.  A large desk occupies one side of the room, and a fireplace with many chairs of various sizes gathered around it.  In one of the chairs sits Ontharr Frume, a tall stocky man who rises to greet you.  Welcome, friends of Leosin. 

Soar, you get no sense of magical items from Leosin, and from your friends only those items you already know about, including your own gloves and Elspeth's glasses.  On entering this room, you see a glow of magic around a large ornate greatsword that rests in its scabbard, leaning against one wall.

Ontharr, says Leosin, Jalt, Elspeth and Soar are the ones I spoke about, the Heroes of Greenest. The other, Nathaniel, has more recently joined their group having been rescued from the cultists' camp.  Jalt is the one who...

Who faced the half-dragon Cyanwrath in single combat, and was left almost dead, Ontharr says, his eyes gleaming with approval.  A half-dragon is no easy opponent, as I know well.  I can share the stories if you absolutely insist, he looks over at Leosin who rolls his eyes good-naturedly.  Now sit, sit, and tell me more - what came of your investigations of the raider camp.

Over the next hour you tell Ontharr your story, as servants bring you more to drink.  Is there anything you particularly want to emphasise, or that you want to hide (or at least not dwell upon).

Soar will basically recount the story as it happened, and though she really has been having some mixed feelings about her new decapitation hobby, if she’s reading Ontharr correctly, that is right up his alley, and she will performatively describe the three beheadings in detail. As soon as she finishes doing so, she withdraws a bit, still grappling with her feelings on it, and relying on the others to finish the story. She has dealt with his type before in Kelemvor’s chapterhouses, and knows how to act around them. She knows she’ll have a bit of a hard time sleeping tonight. 

Elspeth will quickly and succinctly summarize the bulk of the information they recovered from the camp when Soar falters, skipping over most of their journey unrelated to the cultist including the would-be bandits. She hangs back once she's done, content to let others fill in the details if they feel necessary.