(Ooc - you did not miss anything! I just arrived and know nobody here but Gundren, so far)

"Ok so we are getting more than this amount, but we don't know how much or what we are going to be doing?"

Ethan looks back at Gundren who is looking at the envelope given him by Tarja. Ethan is still a little confused, but is distracted again by the gems he can see.

"Gundren, you have a lovely collection of cut gems there, do you have a supplier for gems? Gems make much better focusing and conversion components, much cleaner once cut and infused."

Ethan indicates a few cut stones of various colours and textures, all cut and polished, but common stones, that adorn his gauntlet at various locations.

"Common stones can work, but they introduce noise to the flow of magic, and finding the right colours for various conversions can be hard."

"If I had an affordable supply of gems and crystals, my designs would be so much easier to get working."

Ethan starts to lose track of what everyone is here for.

"I have had some interesting results with wood recently though. It turns out, even though wood is somewhat resistant to magic in some ways, it has exceptional directional control if the systems are designed to follow the grain of the wood. It certainly explains why most wizard's wands are mostly made of wood. I'm going to see if I can redesign my fire shooter..."

Ethan pulls out a device from a leather holder at his belt. it looks like a short pipe with cut stones in the ends and a small wooden handle coming off it, much like a hand-crossbow.

"... I used a metal pipe for the base, hoping the long and thin nature would help make the magic flow from the fire converter stone here at the back, to the focusing stone here on the front. the problem is the metal sometimes get stray magical flows that build up and then spark out as excess heat and light. I think that if I was to make the main body out of wood, I could possibly go without the focusing stone at all, and just tapper the wood to a point. No wast magic and the fire that exits is already moving in the right direction..."

Ethan continues rambling about his work.

Deep in the shadows of his hood, Zeke smiles ever so slightly at Ethan's rambling, enjoying his patter and the reminders of a lost time in his life.  A time before the doom, before it was clear just how dangerous and fragile this world truly was 

Tarja firmly shakes Maxie’s offered hand. 

Good to meet ya! I’m Tarja Bloodcrash.

She  addresses  the  rest  of  the  group as well, having decided that, with the possible exception of the one shadowy hooded figure in the corner, they do not seem threatening.

Just Tarja is fine, though. Or just Tar if you ain’t got the vocal cords to pronounce stuff, I ain’t picky.

 Ethan stops mid sentence, noticing Targa for the first time.

"Oh, hi Targa, my names Ethan, are you joining us for this job?"

Helping out a bit. Phandalin ain't doing too well these days, and the forests ain't much better. Orcs 'n Goblins don't tend to live in harmony with forests, y'see, and I've felt strange things afoot. I heard from Nundro that Gundren was gathering up some folks to help out in some way, and that he could use my help.

'Orcs and Goblins don't live in harmony with anyone. I've had visions of what they've done here, or will do here if we don't stand against them - it's a fate that I would work to stave off. It's unlikely we'll succeed, but it's a fight that's worth fighting and why I made my way here.'

Zeke's voice is calm and flat, even as he proclaims the likely death and failure of those sitting at the table.  

As Ethan rambles on Gundren seems flattered and chuckles a bit.  "Ha, you lost me at gem supplier, my boy!  Just don't go pointing that wizarding stick at ol' Gundren, ok?  Of course I know some excellent suppliers.  All of the finest craftsmen on the Sword Coast know Gundren Rockseeker!  Tell you what, our supplies won't be ready until mid day tomorrow so in the morning let's you and I go see my guy in town here.  I'll get you the best deal around!"

 At this point Sildar looks fully annoyed with Gundren for having his meeting in public and not being able to keep questions of pay, their timeline, mention of his brothers and Phandalin, etc. quiet.  He is not being subtle about his effort to watch and see which patrons might be listening to the party.

When Tarja enters and hands Gundren the note he exclaims "ha, yes, excellent, you're early even."  "Everything must be in order then!  Care for a drink?"  He stuffs the letter inside his pocket without a second thought.  "You'll be joining us on the road then?  Excellent!  Although, I did only ask Rosene for eight rooms.  Bah, no matter, you can have Sildar's if there is no more space!"

Sildar just turns a little and raises an eyebrow at this.

"I can always return to my previous lodgings in the House of Knowledge if there is a room issue," Elra finally looks up from her book. "I'd hate for there to be any conflict over something like this." She slips the letter into her journal after quickly reading it over.

She turns to Ethan, excited to finally be able to share something, "It also depends on the wood type. You see, both druids and wizards use wood for wands and staffs, but druids tend to favor yew, whereas most wizards will use any wood that has the ability to focus and direct spells. Of course, you still need to have the ability to cast those spells to use them properly. It tends to depend on where you get your power from." Elra holds out her amulet for everyone to see, "I draw my power from Oghma, so by using his symbol I can channel the magic fairly easily with his help." The owl hops from the table to the top of Elra's head, seeming to want attention. "Oh, this is Vincent by the way, he likes to be the center of attention," she laughs, "no matter the cost."

"Ah, see that is where I differ from normal magic casters. I fit right in with the artificers on Lantan, none of us have much skill or talent for in-air, on the spot, casting."

"We do have talent for infusing magical sigils and circuits into items though. So I can release my magical power into an item I have pre-prepared, and the magic follows the circuits and is transformed and directed by the sigils until the effect I want is produced."

"So see here, this orange stone I found, I have cut it with one large top facet for the fire conversion sigil and an even number of perimeter facets for the balance. Fire energy is chaotic enough without adding odd numbered instability to the mix."

"I have 4 sigils infused into the perimeter facets to bind the magic into a ball, and the other 4 have sigils to help propel the magic forward down the pipe."

"I have some inlaid metal in the handle here to absorb the magic and start directing it to the orange stone for conversion. Then it flows down the main pipe to the focusing stone."

"See I used a stone with as little imperfections as I could, and I have all the facets coming to a point to help release the magic in the desired direction."

"It works mostly, but like I said, I think I will try to rebuild it with pointed wooden shaft and skip the focusing stone at the end."

"Do you have much knowledge on woods with regards magic? Is yew better for nature oriented magic? Do you know any woods that favour fire magic?"

Ethan smiles as Vincent continues to try and get Elra's attention.

"Your owl is very beautiful."

Ethan remembers that Gundren was just talking to him about supplies,

"Oh, ah sorry Gundren, um, well, see I don't have a lot of money, but if I could get a red colour gem or crystal, when I rebuild my fire shooter, the magic would be even more pure and clean."

"Do you think your suppliers would have something small and cheep? I know I couldn't afford a ruby of the right size, but maybe they have other gems or crystals with a good colour and a clear transparency?"

"Other wise I will just have to reuse this orange stone until I can afford or find something better."

"Yew has always been considered a powerful type of wood for magic casting. Druids use it especially because of its strong ties to nature. The difference comes in the way they're made really," she continues. "Oh, and thank you."

Vincent looks to Ethan and flies to him, landing on his head and hooting. "He must like you," Elra laughs, "he does enjoy flattery."

Tarja joins in admiring the owl.

A fine beastie indeed!  Keener eyes than any of us, I'd bet! If you ever want to know what's going on at night when nobody's watching, ask an owl. They watch, and they see.

She also seems at home in the magic discussion.

Yew is associated with nature magic, but it's the health of the wood that matters, not just the taxonomy. The power of nature flows freely through wood that lived and thrived, that grew strong and green, that belonged to the land and that the land belonged to. Then it can channel the cold of winter, the lightning of a storm, and everything else it lived through.

On the topic of rooms, I ain't picky. Lived in all sorts of places.

**Steal my limelight, will you?**

"Well, you 'ave to be careful wiz owels and flattery you know?"

Maxie looks around to see if anyone picks up on the punchline to the setup he's just given.

"No? Because it'll will turn zere 'eads!"

 In the midst of the laughter at his joke, Maxie winces momentarily and put his hand to his temple.

"No, no. It is nozing. Just a momentairy 'eadache. By zee way, did you know zat zee old wives of Champris told me tales about how Apple wood was revered by my ancient elven ancestors?"

He taps his walking stick twice on the floor.'

"But pardon. Call of nature."

He exits the room and returns a few minutes later.

Elra doesn't seem to understand that it's a joke, "It is really true when you think about it. Of course, some people don't react to flattery well."

Ethan considers Tarja's words,

"Hmm, so maybe a tree that has survived a forest fire would have better affinity with fire magic..."

At Maxies joke, Ethan looks confused,

"Why would I have to be careful about an owl turning its head? Is there something I'm not aware of about owls? A turning head doesn't seem that dangerous to me."

"You say some odd things sometimes Maxie, but I still like you."

Ethan gives Maxie a smile, as he puts his fire shooter away and gets up,

"I'm going to get some food, if our host is paying."

Ethan heads off and orders a simple meal, nothing to expensive, and returns to the table.

Addressing Gundren again,

"So we are heading out tomorrow then? Will it take long to get, wherever we are travelling?"

"Oh and thanks for covering our costs here tonight, much appreciated."

"No, no. Zee 'ead, you see? An owel can turn its 'ead..."

He gives up, realizing that "if you have to explain the joke...".

Well, majestic owls do turn heads when they fly by!

Tarja munches on a goodberry and has a drink.

Fae would have quietly reached into her bag to pull out her own journal and quill while Ethan was chatting. She still hid in the shadows of her hood, seemingly much like Zeke in the corner. She wasn’t ready to show her face in such a crowded establishment. She did enjoy the company though, Ethan’s chatter really helped fill the otherwise dead air. With everyone else chiming in, there was good exchange of information and knowledge on woods and creation of wands for magic that Fae wanted to jot down all of these notes. She also appreciated Ethan’s explanation of how an artificer infuses magic into their items.

Occasionally she’d look up from her notes, checking out Elra’s owl who’s enjoying flattery and making friends with the others. He really is a beautiful owl.

During a moment of silence she’d clear her throat and turn to face Tarja, “My apologies I didn’t introduce myself right away, but now that there’s a moment, I’m Fae.” She’d smile a friendly smile, though Tarja probably couldn’t see it.