Zeke speaks up - 'Could you actually provide us 3 days dry rations for 6 people?'

"Ah, good. More boiled shoe leather."

"Oh do they have boiled leather, that could be useful? I'm also looking for other leathers from soft to stiff."

"Also, I heard you may have wood and the like. I'm looking for all different kinds, so I can experiment with the different qualities."

"If you have any Ash, Fir, Walnut, Teak, Oak, Cherry, ...."

Ethan rattles of a list of different woods that he knows about from his time on Lantan. And then starts to inquire about nails, tacks, string/cord, cloth, buckles, hinges and other odds and ends.

Ethan leaves the stones, crystals and gems for the Miner's Exchange.

Zeke would step back from the counter as Ethan launches into his requests, smiling slightly, raising his eyebrows and nodding subtly at the shopkeeper - sharing a moment of mirth with them but also making it clear that he expected to take the artificer's requests seriously.

Once he was certain that in addition to any wood or leather he might find Ethan and the rest of the party would also make sure to get some food and something to sleep on, he'd step outside to stand watch

Tarja has spent plenty of time out in the woods, and does not herself need camping gear, but would appreciate the rations refill.

Though if the going gets rough, I can prepare Goodberry and keep us moving, real food is always better, even dried things.

As Arvel pauses outside the shops, he takes a quick mental recap.

The charlatan realizes that, between the Rockseekers, the Tallfellows, the Lionshields, Tarja's berries, and the distractions of the night before, he hasn't had to dip into his own supplies of food for the entire journey.

With a smile of self satisfaction, he begins dancing on the roadside like Sam Rockwell in every movie Sam Rockwell has ever been in.

As the party enters Barthen's Provisions they see Sildar standing there strapping on a new breastplate over some new leather armor with the help of a balding dwarf with a white beard an a leather apron on over his clothes.  "Good morning and good timing!" says Sildar.  "We were just talking about you.  You must be about ready to head out."  The dwarf smiles and excitedly says "ho ho, they do stand out, don't they Sildar!"  "Welcome!  Welcome to Barthen's Provisions friends!  Elmar Barthen at your service."  He bows slightly.

Barthen's is well stocked with everything from building supplies and other raw materials to mining supplies, traveling supplies such as the requested rations and bedrolls, and even fresh foods such crops from the local farms.  Listening to the various requests of the party Barthen is happy to provide as many rations and bedrolls the party needs.  He does look a bit caught off guard upon meeting Ethan, however, as he listens to the artificer go on and on about a very specific and endless list of items.  "Ho ho, that's quite the list my young friend!  If I didn't know you to be new around here I might suspect that you're not from around here!"  He winks at Silas after his potentially confusing statement and Sildar smiles.  "Ok well over on this wall we have cloth, thread, string, various furs and leather supplies and even the buckles you mentioned.  Then over here we have various wood supplies and even some hinges from the smithy across the way, although I'm not sure about all of those fancy woods you mentioned..."

 Sildar looks amused by Ethan's enthusiasm and thoroughness and moves over to Zeke and the others.  He hands Zeke a heavy leather pouch and says more seriously "20 gold each as promised back in Neverwinter, doubled for, well, you know, saving my life and going after our friend.  I'll see what more we can do in that area if you can bring Gundren back... alive."  (thus 40g to each of you) He adds "I hope you can find him, and I'm sorry not to go along."  "I have a feeling there's more going on around here than it seems, and I mean to see what I can find out while you're gone.  It seems that a fellow brother of the Lord's Alliance, a young wizard named Iarno Albrek, was here investigating something and has gone missing as well."

As Arvel dances around outside most people including the woman in the dress have moved on but the short human man continues to stare, his head tilted showing curiosity and further confusion.

Elra smiles at Sildar. "Don't Worry Sildar, we'll find him. Oh!" Elra turns back to the counter, "Do you have a sledgehammer?"

At Elmar's comment about Ethan not being from around here, Ethan remarks,

"Oh, no, I'm from Lantan, its an island, quite a bit to the south."

Ethan gets stuck in, looking through the various odds and end available for purchase, with excitement.

As Zeke hands Ethan his 40gp share of their pay, Ethan looks back and forth between the money and the supplies.

Ethan grabs a bunch more materials then he already has and takes the lot to the counter to pay.

"Thank you Elmar, this will do wonderfully!"

Ethan purchase 40gp worth of materials for his tinkering and projects.

Ethan catalogs and then packs away everything into his gauntlet, before asking Elmar,

"Do you know where the Miner's Exchange is located Elmar? I have some more materials I am looking to get. Rocks, crystals and gems make for some of the best components to get the most out of a sigils magic."

"Thank you." Fae would nod in thanks accepting the coin handed over by Zeke. Now that they had their rations, she decided to take another gander over the items available in the store. Fae would look over each one of her friends then back over the goods to see if anything comes to mind. A couple things would catch her eye as she thinks over possible 'what if' scenarios. She'd grab a few supplies and place 8g on the counter, accept her goods and head outside to wait alongside Arvel.

Seeing Ethan's enthusiasm in shopping and knowing that the Miners Supply is still to come, Zeke hands the artificer another 20gp.  'Here my friend, take a bit of my share for our next stop.  Maybe at some point you'll learn something to help me make this gear of mine better' he indicates his shoulder rig and his blade combo.  'I am loathe to give them up as they are badges of my position within the temple, but I fear they may not stand up to the challenges ahead of us...'

Tarja looks over the supplies, but does not take anything here. She is already well-prepared for spending time in the woods. She thanks Sildar for the reward and warns him again about the redbrands.

You're very gracious! I can't remember the last time I handled this many gold pieces at once.

It looks like you need to be very careful investigating around here. People have been going missing, and the Redbrands just about run the place. Everyone is scared of them. I think they're meddling with some sort of dark powers. We'll be back as soon as we can to help.

As Zeke hands Ethan the extra money, Ethan look up at him,

"Oh, I would never let you get rid of those items, they are a masterwork of tinker tech. If you ever tried to sell them or throw them away, I would take them from you, how ever I could."

"Looking at them, I have some idea's that may allow the integration of magic, but I'm going to have to spend some time thinking on the problem."

Ethan pats the money,

"I also have a design for an item I've worked up, that should fit with the rest of your equipment in style. I will make good use of this, but you needn't give it to me, we are friends and colleagues, I would do this work for free. But thank you."

Ethan gives Zeke a smile and goes back and gets another 10gp of materials.

Elmar is happy to fetch Elra the sledgehammer she requested.  He tells Ethan to go past the Lionshield Coster and then stay right and he'll find the Miner's Exchange before the road turns into the old miner's trail.

Sildar thanks Tarja for the warning, having heard similar stories of the Redbrands already himself.

Fae can have her 10 darts, but yeah for accuracy we'll say they came from the Lionshield.

Ethan finishes packing away his purchase and looks at his friends.

"Well I'm ready to head to the Miner's Exchange. I'll wait outside in case any of you still have business."

Ethan turns to Elmar and gives him a broad smile.

"Thank you greatly Elmar. I should be able to get quiet a few of my projects under way, with all this."

Ethan pats his gauntlet, indicating the materials.

"I'm off to the Miner's Exchange, and then we will be going to rescue Gundren. Hopefully I will see you when we return."

Ethan heads outside and waits for his friends, before heading to the Miner's Exchange.

Zeke trails a bit behind Ethan, not willing to leave the artificer on his own

Elra takes the sledgehammer with a thanks, pushing the gold across the counter to him before joining the others in waiting outside, going between looking up at the sky in the direction of Neverwinter and looking through her cards and rocking back and forth on her heals.

"Good luck!" calls Elmar.  "Don't let Halia at the Exchange take every last coin ya' got!  She's a shrewd one!  Haha"

Sildar joins the party briefly as they make their way back through the town square and past the Lionshield Coster but veers left at the next road, saying he's going to see the Townmaster and wishing you all luck one last time.

The party takes a right and soon sees a trading post with the sign for the Miner's Exchange.  As they approach three dwarves leave the Exchange, packs heavy with everything from lanterns and wide, shallow pans to pickaxes and shovels.  They head south toward the end of the road and the trail beyond that leads up into the hills in the direction of the Sword Mountains.

As the draw near and enter, the party sees a sturdy wood structure with iron protecting the doors and windows, no doubt because of the valuable gold and gems exchanged and potentially stored inside.  Inside a long counter is adorned with various scales of different sizes and a large book, more large bound books filling shelves behind the counter.  Another door framed with iron seems to lead to a back room of some sort.  A youthful male elf with blonde hair smiles as you enter and says "welcome!"  "New to town and about to find your fortune, I hope!  What business might I be able to assist you with?"

Tarja looks around fearfully, and stays close to the exit and to zeke, saying quietly to him

I feel like a deer in a wolves den. This is the kind of place the dragon would attack.

She makes sure to keep her mistletoe in hand, and takes the opportunity to ask for the potion of invulnerability from Ethan.

Zeke nods his head as Tarja whispers to him.  'Good call.  I'm going to stake a position just outside the door.'

The tiefling steps outside and finds a position near the entrance and keeps his head on a swivel.