Before talking to Sildar

Ethan nods agreement with Zeke about having a watch rotation, but stops when Zeke asks Ethan to preform the first watch.

"Oh um, well I was kind of in the middle of something, um, could I take the last watch instead, maybe?"

Ethan looks around at the various towns folk that are involved.

"Maybe we should get the towns people to help with the watch as well?"

"Oh, didn't expect to see this again.  Thank you, Ethan."

To Arvel, Sildar replies "do me a favor and speak plainly son."  "I left the politics of Waterdeep a long time ago, and never really had the stomach for it in the first place.  So tell me, who's this third party?"

"As far as Gundren goes, unfortunately he seems to be in a bad state.  Beyond that, just between you and me, Mr. Rockseeker is a bit too... 'optimistic'... shall we say.  He's never met a risky investment that he didn't jump into with both feet.  Luckily you may find his brothers to be a bit more practical, and in the meantime, I'm paid in part to look out for Mr. Rockseekers interests in these areas.  So what's this all about?"

Arvel takes a breath and looks Sildar in the eye.

"I suppose I could keep dancing and explain all the particulars, but sufficed to say that there's a dragon in the equation. One driven purely by greed and ego. Satisfy both and it flips to our team. I can do that, but I'd need the leeway to offer shares in the endeavor."

Sildar sighs and looks down at the ground for a brief second.  "I heard talk of a green dragon and this 'Spider' in the tavern earlier, but have been busy talking to the townsfolk about what to do about the Redbrands.  So you're telling me that this other threat is significant enough to warrant an alliance with a green dragon?"  He sighs again.  "With all your new team has accomplished since we left Neverwinter, I'm inclined not to argue with your methods.  If you get Gundren tangled up with a green dragon once he's feel better, however, I'd expect you to stand between the two if this goes poorly.  You may have figured out that our mutual friend was in way over his head even before we knew there was a green dragon involved.  What does this dragon want, anyhow?"

Ethan heads back into his room at the inn and sits down to make a slightly more permanent, temporary patch for the malfunctioning bag of holding.

On a small scrap of leather, Ethan magically scribes out the working sequence of sigils and then stitches the leather below the damaged part of the bag, connecting several threads from the start and end of the damaged sigils and glyphs on the bag, to the sequence on the leather scrap.

Once he is happy that bag should remain stable, until he has time to extract its power source later, Ethan packs down the contraption he was using to keep the bag contained, ready to use the parts for other projects.

That finished, Ethan turns his attention to the small wooden box, Ethan examines the box, looking over its design, taking note of its markings, and giving special attention to the lock/latch, for any signs of traps or locks.

Seeing the Redbrands being directed to the Townmaster's hall, Tarja heads back towards the inn. As before, prior to retiring for the night, she takes some time to prowl the rooftops in cat form, just to be a bit closer to the wind and the stars. She was getting some ideas of how to further deepen her connection to the land around, and was looking forward to a good nights' meditation and rest to see what she would come up with.

Zeke keeps his attention focused on the Redbrands even as he responds to Daran's question 'I am the Sword in the Night, the Shield of my People' the barest hint of a pause and a frown - 'only I have no people left to protect. So I suppose you can say I have adopted a new people.  Now a genuine smile breaks across his face 'and what a worthy new people they have proven to be!'

Responding to Ethan
'Of course Master Artificer, finish your work and take a shift when you can.  As for the townspeople, well they allowed themselves to be ruled by these ruffians - I'm not sure I quite trust them to keep them at bay yet'

Elra waits for Arvel for a moment, and when it's clear that things have finally started to calm down she goes looking for Zeke. "Hi... um, which watch should I take?" she asks

Ethan finds that the wooden box is no wider than his shoulders and no more than a foot tall.  It appears to be very old and has a 'W' engraved in the center of the lid.  He finds that there's nothing particularly special about it, and the clasp opens easily.  Upon opening the lid, Ethan is greeted with a tiny explosion of scraps of paper of various shapes and sizes, the random assortment of curls and folds seemingly the culprit of the springy attack on the artificer.  Picking up the papers one by one, Ethan finds a mess of notes, symbols and tiny sketches, much of which he recognizes as being in gnomish.  After another moment of review, most of them seem to be either incomplete thoughts on the nature of magical items, how physical damage might affect them, and how they might be repaired.  Many of the notes and drawings seem to be for very specific items.  Clearing away the mess of papers, Ethan finds several of those items resting in the bottom of the box neatly wrapped in cloth...

A black wooden wand with a glass globe two inches from the tapered end appears to have been broken in half based on the now repaired crack at its center.

A magnificent red and white wand glows brightly near the handle and seems to have a red mist around it.  The tapered end is white and has a similar glow to it.

A very detailed cylinder or rod, about 18 inches long, less than 2 inches in diameter and hollow down the middle.  The item appears to be made of up numerous broken, curved shards of either fine stonework or thick glass.  They have been pieced together like a puzzle, the jagged edges still quite visible, and appear to possibly have been two separate items that may have been combined together on account of the two color patterns.  Roughly half of the surface area of these curved shards is a deep black like obsidian with red runes carved into the pieces.  The rest of the shards are a metallic gray with green runes of a different style, and the whole item has a strong, thick layer of glass protecting the outside of it.  What Ethan may find most interesting is that the two types of shards are mixed together, not arranged in the pattern of what he would assume would have been two separate sections or completely different items, and that there is a third set of markings, this time on every piece in white.  The artificer recognizes them as a type of rune commonly used in dwarvish and even gnomish works, and theorizes that the pattern may have been added to help bind the shattered pieces back together again to form an entirely new magical artifact.

(sorry, no pic on this one)

 Another magnificent wand of black and gold beset with white and blue gems.  Ethan quickly notices that this wand is cracked in a number of places, including notable cracks on several of the inset gems.  Like the first wand he had unwrapped, he sees that some of the cracks on wand's shafts have been expertly repaired.  Those in the gems, however, still remain.

Daran nods at Zeke and smiles a little with regard to the warrior having adopted a new people to protect.  "Come, let's leave them be.  Any poor choices they make tonight will only seal their fate."  With that Daran gestures that they should exit the townmaster's hall and leave the boys be.  Out in the street again, if Zeke comes along he asks "if you don't mind me prying, who were your people?"  "Where do you come from?  Forgive an old man for asking too many questions and tell me to bugger off if you must."

Zeke follows Daran out of the townmaster's hall and into the street.  'We were a small people nestled in a quiet valley many leagues to the north.  Were.  My people are gone. Erased from this world and the Temple torn to the ground.  I failed them.'

The barbarian took a deep breath and pressed on.

 'I was given over to the Temple as a boy and sworn in as an apprentice to the Guardian there. I studied and learned the ways of the Guardian, the path trod by ancestors from time out of mind, the path of protection and defense of those in need.  All of that has been destroyed.  All of that is gone.  I am all that remains.'

He looks to the older man, seemingly eager to unload some of the guilt he has been carrying around:

'I wasn't there when it happened.  I wasn't there when they needed me.  I....

I was escorting a Caravan of traveling traders. They passed through the village and offered me the work and a discount for the village on our trades.  Simple duty for me.  But duty I relished because it got me out of the village. Out of the Temple.  I was eager.  Eager to leave.  And so I wasn't there when the raiders came through.  I returned twenty-one days later and found the wreckage of my village.'

He reaches down and touches the hilt of his blade.

'I found the Guardian struck down at the entrance to the Temple.  Whatever bested him left is body untouched, unbroken.  A stark contrast to what I found everywhere else, bodies butchered, men slaughtered in their beds, children killed in their parents' arms.'

He looks up at Daran, looking for something, for an understanding which has escaped him until now

'We had nothing.  Nothing at all.  A simple village, nothing of value.  This,'  he thrusts a fistful of gold at the old man 'is more gold than everyone in my village ever had.  I can't imagine what drew the raiders to begin with, or what they wanted in my village.'

'I left that day.  Taking nothing but my blade and my shield - there was nothing more to take and nothing more to protect.'

Daran gives a sympathetic sigh.  "Indeed, I have heard this story before.  It is a battle I have had in my own mind many a time over the years."  Jahren rolls up his left sleeve a bit and turns his arm over.  "Do you know what this symbol is for?"  Amidst some other more elven artwork on the inside of Daran's forearm is a gauntlet gripping a sword.

(I'll leave it up to you DirePilgrim if Zeke has heard of the Order of the Gauntlet or not.  If he is at all worldly or well traveled he would have at least heard of some of the major factions of Faerun, or if he was particularly sheltered for a long time perhaps he has missed this bit of info.)

Resting at her perch overlooking the inn and the town square, Fae continues her watch. Offering a simple smile and a polite nod as those come and go, making note of who. As Ethan returned, the wizard perked up expecting company for watch, but he had strode on by back into the inn. She deflated slightly, but no matter, it was a quiet and peaceful night. Though, the scholar couldn't help but wonder if their master Artificer was continuing his studies and perhaps reviewing the box that he extracted from the bag they stabilized. Her thoughts would wonder in curiosity of what could be in the box. Then she'd chuckle to herself thinking about a certain theory. She'd shake her head at herself.

Fae would lean back slightly to look out over the town. Things have changed. As she pondered to herself, she'd eventually reach into her bag to pull out the journal found while at the shrine. Reading it over once again as she thumbed through the pages, the scholar would be reminded she still had plenty more to learn. What happened? Closing the journal, Fae would exhale and return it to her bag to focus back on her watch. Should Garaele and/or Linene leave the inn, she would wish to speak with them.

Fae does indeed catch Linene Greywind leave the inn before the late evening becomes early morning, the merchant seemingly headed back to her home above her store.

Fae will pop up from her perch and clear her throat, “Linene?” She will take some steps towards the merchant. “I’m sorry to bother you on your way home for the evening. But I’ve stumbled across something that I thought might be of some interest to you.” The wizard would chew her lip, “And perhaps I could learn a bit more as well...” She would reach into her bag once again to pull out the journal. “This belonged to Lyra.” The scholar would pause to give Linene a chance to respond.

Elra rolls back and forth on her heels, watching all the excitement. As it starts to die down, and Zeke starts talking about watches, she offers to help on the second one, before slipping away in all the chaos back to the inn. She retreats to her room, shutting the door behind her and sits down in front of the brazier, meditating. Once she's done, she goes to bed until it's time for her watch.

Ethan carefully places each of the items down side-by-side, before he pulls out a half finished device from his gauntlet.

Ethan spends some time tinkering with the device, opening the back and adding a few more components and sigils, before closing it back up and adding a few more sigils to the outside.

Looking the device over, checking everything and working through the systems in his head, Ethan nods to himself that he has everything ready.

Ethan reaches into his gauntlet again and pulls out his pearl and slots it into a receptacle in the top of the device.

Holding the device over the first of the wands, Ethan releases a flow of magic into the device causing it to activate and start scanning the wand.

After a minute, the device stops scanning and projects a small magical illusion into the air. The illusion contains a glowing, transparent image of the wand surrounded by a technical readout of any details about the wand.

'I'm afraid I am rather unfamiliar with most things outside the small world of my village.  Ever since I left, it seems all I have learned has served to tell me all that I don't know and how much more there is to learn.'

A broad smile now and he draws his newly re-worked blade 'This, this for example.  I always assume a blade was a blade, each the same even if they were shaped in their own manner.  But look at this!' he tilts the blade so what little light out catches the finely honed edge ' Our Master Artificer took my simple tool and made this wonderous item - a blade so sharp it cuts fire, a blade so fine it never needs sharpening.'  

A practiced flourish and the blade slides back into it's scabbard neatly 'What other wonders must there be if this is possible?'

"Lyra?" replies Linene, apparently not recognizing the name.  She takes the book from Fae and looks it over in silence for a solid minute.  Clearly a bit surprised she says softly "Lyra and Elben Greywind..."  "That's so many generations back that I didn't even know their names.  I only knew our family and the Lionshield were involved in Phandalin and supplying the mine many centuries ago.  You found this at the goblin's castle I heard mentioned earlier?"  Pausing for a second to think, she asks Fae "may I, I mean, would you... could we perhaps read this together tomorrow or the next day, if you have time?"

---------------------------

Ethan easily discerns that the first wand has all of the properties making up a Wand of Magic Detection.

---------------------------

Daran chuckles slightly at reference to Ethan.  "He's quite the talents character, that one, isn't he?  I've been around, but I've never seen anything like some of those wacky inventions of his."  Looking back at his arm and the gauntlet and sword mark Daran tells Zeke "this is the symbol of the Order of the Gauntlet."  "I was in the order for a long, long time.  I wanted to do good, to help and protect people, but I often ended up in the place you just described.  In helping one cause, I was often forced to ignore another.  The good we did often did not outweigh the guilt of those we failed by not being able to take action at all, for a while at least.  I had to learn to accept that I could not change everything, and focus on the the task and hand and the value there.  Otherwise I imagine I may have quit all together long ago, if I had dwelled on only that which I could not do."

Daran continues "still, the order has grown stronger.  We, well, they now that I'm retired, can't help everyone, but they have the resources to act where it is most needed.  They don't try to change events before they happen or sneak through the shadows, that's Harper business, or the Zhents I suppose.  The Order strikes out at threats or acts of evil in the light of day to show the dark forces of our world that the people will always unite and fight back.  That's why you reminded me of my former allies.  You might hear a lot about holy warriors in the order wielding divine powers, but really all that matters is that one stands for justice, is vigilant in the constant battle against the evil forces of the world, and has faith.  I couldn't care less about what God you might draw strength from, but faith comes in many forms.  Your friends, your fellow citizens of Faerun at large, or the various forces of good in the world are all worthy of a little faith as part of the fight."

"Anyhow, apologies, I'm rambling.  Forgive an old fool.  I just thought you should know that you are not at all alone in your endless fight."

Fae would smile sheepishly as Linene looked over the pages. Once she finished digesting what she was presenting and asked to review it with the scholar, a flicker of joy would pass over her eyes. “I do hope I am able to make the time. I would enjoy that.” The wizard would nod encouragingly to the merchant, reaching out to accept the book back when she was ready to return it for the time being. “I believe there’s a lot about our history that could be uncovered and brought to light...”