Lost Mine of Phandelver

The potion bottle looks empty, but feels as though there is liquid in it. After sampling the concoction, Vanzaren's entire body to include all of his clothing becomes translucent for a brief moment. The wizard appraises the bottle's contents as a potion of invisibility.

Reidoth wipes the zombie gore from his hands as he watches Vanzaren sipping on the potion. "Looks like you have something quite rare there my colorful friend. Perhaps we can help one another out - I can reincarnate your dwarf friend, but the ingredients I need for the spell are very expensive. But I may be able to barter that invisibility potion in kind for the things I need. Are you willing to part with it?"

Garet surprised turns his face to Vanzaren

"I'd be willing. But I'll leave it up to Vanzaren." says Rigel.

"In addition we have some mercury, dragon bile, and powdered night shade to trade."

Rigel shows him the three vials of components found in the red brands manor hideout. 

Ronk reached his hand into the group suddenly, holding the carnelian he'd found at some point. "I have a rock. Looks fancy. Would that help?" 

Van shrugs, "Ya, why not. Here," he holds it out to him

"Alright then," says Reidoth, taking the bottle from Vanzaren. "It will probably take me about five days to retrieve what I need. In the meantime, the dwarf can remain here, his body will be safe. While I am gone, there ere are some tasks that I was planning to take on that you lot could do for me instead while I fetch the items needed to restore your dwarven friend to life. If you are feeling up to it, you could try to chase off that blasted dragon that has moved into the old keep at the north end of town. Also, some folk in black masks and cloaks have taken up residence in the sotuheast part of the village. Not sure what they are up to, but I think they belong to some kind of cult and I have grown tired of their presence here. Finally, there is a necromancer raising an army of undead near the ruins of Old Owl Well. He not only sounds dangerous, but his cultivation of zombies is a pox on this land that the Emerald Enclave cannot abide. I would be most appreciative if you could help me address these issues during my absence, or at least as many as you can, that is. Can I count on your help?"

While digging aroung for the spell components, Rigel comes across the three unidentified vials of liquid he found in the chest in Grohl's room. Still being relatively inexperienced with potions his pragmatic sensibilities balk a bit at outright tasting an unknown substance. However, the idea does occur to him that he should be abe to use the same testing process that one uses in the forest to test for edibility of unfamiliar plants.
The skeptical ranger uncorks a bottle and holds it in front of his face. He sniffs the fumes eminating from the small container. However he doesn't inhale directly from the vial and instead use his free hand to waft the vapors towards his nose.  A fruity effervescent smell tickles his nose a bit. Feeling a bit more confident about the safety of the unknown fluid, he covers the opening with his thumb and swiftly inverts, then rights, the bottle leaving a bit of the potion on his finger tips. Rubbing his thumb and forefinger together reveals a silky texture. After taking a few moments to see if any adverse effects to take place the ranger smears the remaining residue on his lips. Immediately a warm pleasant feeling radiates through Rigels mouth as the healing properties of the potion reveal itself. Rigel smiles and licks his lips quickly moving on to the next vial. Following the same process produces the same result and an additional healing potion is revealed. With only one bottle left Rigel eagerly starts the process again. His success with the first two vials has greatly increased his confidence in his methods. This time however the smell test reveals a slightly musty aroma.  An intrigued look graces Rigels face as he moves onto the contact portion of the investigation. This time he feels an oily composition. With a bit of trepidation, his eagerness stifled a bit from the unexpected, he slowly licks the film from his thumb. As his tongue rolls over the digit his eyes fall on Garret. For a brief moment, barely longer than the blink of an eye, Rigel has the image of a litter of wolf puppies flash in his mind. Unable to explain why but sure he just saw a picture of what Garret was thinking about, Rigel addresses the gentle firbolg by asking, "What were you thinking about just now?"

Garet looks surprised and a litte embarrassed  "h...how..d..did you n..know?"

Trying to change the topic "W..We sh..should aask Marcon w..what is his opinion about what to d..do n.nn.next"

Rigel has identified the contents of the three bottles as two potions of healing and one potion of mind reading. The potion of mind reading appears to be a dense, purple liquid with an ovoid cloud of pink floating in it.

(OOC: anyone who would like to see if they can recall anything further about mind reading potions can make an Intelligence (Arcana) check.)

Outside, Marcon hears the flap of large, leathery wings as the young green dragon swoops low over the ruins of Thundertree and lands top the roofless keep at the north end of the small village. It looks back towards the man briefly and blasts out a short, sharp screech as if to announce its presence before climbing down inside the circular tower.

The whole time the others are going back and forth about one thing or another, Marcon stayed leaning against the hovel, pretending to play look out. Anything was better than being in the room with the others, discussing how they might make up for his screw up. Or so he considered to be true at first, but... with time to reflect alone, the delusion quickly lost ground. Even if one or two might've felt sore over his actions, it wasn't as if any came forward about it.

Or maybe...

Before he can finish the next grim thought the sound of leather wings beating immediately puts him on alert. He watched with a mix contempt, anger, and even a little primal fear as the Dragon made its landing. In that brief moment of meeting eye to eye, the anger nearly wins out. Nearly. In its disappearance into the tower, Marcon lets out a long breathe and slowly settled back into leaning against the wall.

'First Gundren... then you.' He thought as the remaining tension slowly bled out the body. Still, having not forgotten how the dragon snuck up on them last, he more actively keeps an eye out for any disturbances at all.

Inside the druids abode, with the potion situation rectified, Rigel turns to matters at hand.

"I suppose we should deal with the largest threat first. So to that end I say we address the dragon. I fear to not do something now will only make the problem grow, so to speak, and make it harder to handle later. What say the rest of you?"

"L..Lets go outside aand d..decide as group" Says Garet and moves slowly to the exit of the cottage 

"Sure." says Rigel and goes out with the Firbolg.

When Marcon at least hears the door open and some people step out, there's a casual gesture in the direction of the tower from him. "Probably didn't miss it, but dragon's back. Prolly right fed I wager too... Well, either that, or he ain't too concerned about try'na snatch up a meal. 'cause he saw me out here. Looked rrright at me, the smug bastard, before dipping into his hideaway there." He finally looks at them, and whatever momentary anger or annoyance had been fades into concern. "'bout, uh.... he can do it, right? Bring him back?"

Rigel pats the Barbarian on the shoulder as he takes a couple steps past to look in the direction indicated. "It would appear so, but it might take some time while he works out some details." Turning his back on the ruined keep Rigel first offers one of the newly discovered healing potions to Marcon, "Healing. Take it for whatever comes next." he says. Continuing to address those gathered he lays out the choices Reidoth put forth. The ranger reasserts his willingness to tackle the issue of the dragon first before turning the discution over to the rest.

"A..aa..re you feeling g..good m..Marcon? Y..you a...aact somehow d..different"  asks politely Garet while looking at the direction of dragon lair

"If you mean to fight him now," says Reidoth from inside his fortified hovel, "then perhaps I should assist before I go and fetch the materials needed for the resurrection of the dwarf." The druid strokes his long grey beard pensively for a moment. "I reckon he's only a century old, if that but make no mistake, even a young green is formidable opponent." He stuffs the invisibility potion down into his backpack along with some other things for the road and grabs his knotted wooden staff from the corner of the room. "I can call on the power of nature to transform you all into mighty creatures...perhaps then we will have a fighting chance, hmm?"

Though Marcon raised a skeptical brow at the offer, the potion is still taken without a word and set in some side pouch. Following the run down on other objectives, Marcon cracks his knuckles, seeming ready to tackle any and likely all of them without so much as a word of complaint or wariness. There was even a greater spark of interest in expression at the mentioning of tackling the dragon first. But before thought can be put to word, Garet's question leaves him regarding the firbolg with a mildly annoyed look.

"Don't know what'cha mean exactly on either fronts. But, I will say I am fix'n to make a new necklace out of that green bastard's teeth." He replied plainly before Rediroth came out/chimed in with his own two copper. Marcon "hmm'd" and rubbed his chin after the offer, considering it in itself as much as the possible forms. "I ain't gonna lie... that sounds pretty cool. My uh... my Mom's side of the family? She told me stories 'bout her kin once have'n the ability to transform like that. They weren't like druids like yerself, mind ya. But more like... I dunno... they only had one other form and that one was more closely tied to the person spirit or some such. She used to even tell me it was the final stage of mastery of-..." He pauses there frowning inwardly for a moment, and then shook his head.

"In any case, I wouldn't mind that. Might make it a little tricky to communicate, but I think we can manage. Though, if I could make a request...  can you transform me into like a.. a Cave Bear? Or a Giant Turtle? Oh! Or even a Giant Eagle? Sis used to like those kinds of things, and it kind of rubbed of on me, if I were to be honest." He admits, smiling sheepishly. "Oh-oh! And can we each be somethin' different too? That way we can hit from different styles and keep it off balance? And that way, while some of us come from the ground, the others can go through the hole it had up there by the roof!"

"I'll accept whatever assistance you'll provide in whatever manor you wish to provide it" replies Rigel.

"Bear...turtle...eagle...I think I can do those," says Reidoth. "Keep in mind, you will still feel pain during battle while in animal form, however if you sustain a mortal wound while under the effects of the spell you will not die but will simply revert to your natural state mostly unharmed...quite useful for extending one's survivability in combat, especially against mighty foes."

The druid observes Rigel for a moment as if pondering what animal form might best fit the ranger. "Hmm..." he ponders, "...velociraptor? Or maybe saber-toothed tiger? Oooh, what about...rot grubs? A whole swarm of horrible, burrowing rot grubs!!"

From inside the house, the goblins began to chant rhythmically "Rot grubs! Rot grubs! Rot grubs!"