The BFOAGWGH

"I can do that," says Twiglet, looking at the others, "but a skilled burglar will always get past. There's really no trap that is perfect."

"Ho ho, what a fight that was!" Tallanvor exclaims. "Those light forsaken shadowspawn are gettin' stronger" He spits on the burning remains of the nearest corpse.

With a look at Twiglet and Ro he says "But so are we". 

"Twiglet, ye showed a lot o' courage through this cave. We asked for yer help and ye fought along side bravely. Tis no an easy thing to leave yer life behind to help others and face the dangers out there that commoners have no the strength to face. And don't ye' worry about alertin' the cursed shadowspawn. They have eyes and ears sharper than ye would beleive. And I'd o been lumberin' through there louder than a pricked boar in a china cabinet." He gives a hearty laugh.

"And Ro, I can teach ye t' channel and control yer rage. Tis how I can touch the divine source and bend it to me will. When we make camp, I'll show ye the flame and how to seek the void if ye wish. Tis a trick o pushing all emotions into a the flame o a candle in yer mind. Emotions and pain still be there, but ye set yer mind apart." He gives Ro a serious look "Tis the void ye must seek t' become a Swordmaster." He puts emphasis on that word as if it were a very honorable title "I must warn ye, it will take a long time to master, but ye'll be in control o yerself."

Tallanvor's confidence is infectious. Ro's eyes go wide and and she nods enthusiastically, scrambling to her feet to show that she's ready to go.

Humblodt reaches into the folds of his garb and pulls out a small, unremarkable looking stone. Seriously, he explains "the rocks can be our guards too". Uttering a few words in a gutteral tongue, he passes the stone with a subtle flourish to Ro.

"Do you feel it?"

At first, she feels nothing. Then after a few seconds, she notices that the rock has got decidedly warmer. 

Twiglet is genuinely taken aback by how generous the others are to his obvious mistake. Back in the crooked finger gang, such a mistake would have earned a belting from Garrett, or worse. And yet, here were these seasoned monster hunters, going out of their way to praise Twiglet and make light of the blunder, even though they carried wounds from the outcome. He vowed to stay true to these excellent companions, an odd family, but a much more welcoming and heroic one than his old gang. 

...and now, if that weren’t enough for the star struck halfling, the dwarf was teaching the others how to greet a rock! Even if this was an elaborate dwarven joke, it was entertaining to watch as they loaded the wagon for the return journey

Ro stares at the rock, frowning a little as she considers it. Then she looks back up at Humblodt and asks [Did the D-a-h-g-d-a teach you how to be making friends with rocks? I is having a friend once who is friends with trees but slavers is taking her before she is teaching me]

"Trees, rocks, streams - they are all home to spirits. You just need to...connect with them".

[Rocks is connecting with goblins maybe?]

And without waiting for an answer -
[Rocks is finding other goblins maybe?]

Humblodt gently takes the stone back and replaces it in his pocket. "Rock connects with other rocks", he cocks his head slightly to one side, "but sometimes I listen in".

Ro considers his answer for a moment, and then crouches down to grab a rock of her own off the cave floor. She holds it up to her ear, shrugs, and then deposits the rock in a pocket.

As her hand sinks into the pocket there is a soft clinking noise. Her eyes suddenly light up and she jumps a little before the hand comes shooting back out of the pocket, clutching two rings and a little bit of river mud. She slips the rings onto one hand and waggles her fingers experimentally. They look absolutely massive on her tiny hand as they glisten in the firelight.

[I almost is forgetting that I is finding these in the tunnel with the water!]

She removes the rings and excitedly passes them around. She reaches into her pocket again, this time withdrawing a simple necklace of clay and bone beads with a heavily tarnished silver medallion in the middle. She holds the necklace up proudly, like a fisherman with an unusually large fish.

[I is also finding this!]

She moves to try on the necklace but pauses as it drops past her chin, her smile abruptly exchanged for a mild confused frown. She looks around the cavern, removes the necklace, looks around some more,  examines the pendant, and then tries it on a second time - this time lowering it all the way down onto her bony shoulders. Again she starts looking around the cavern before briefly turning her attention to each of her new friends, a quizzical expression pasted across her face. She looks around the cave one last time and then removes the necklace, examining it again before returning it to her pocket.

[I think I is ready to leave this cave maybe. It...weird in here.]

Ro picks up her stuff and looks expectantly at the rest of the group, ready to head out.

You help Gundren and Nundro load their brother onto the wagon. The dark elf is thrown in as well, still bound in her sack. The journey back is for the most part uneventful, however around half way to Phandelin, a large dark shadow is cast across the road. Looking up you see a large winged creature has flown overhead. It does not pay you any notice and continues North towards the forest.

When you arrive in Phandalin, night is falling. The Rockseekers head to the shrine to seek Sister Garaele's help in preserving Tharden's body. They plan to retire for the night then travel to their homeland in the morning to bury him. Gundren assures you he will return in a few days, eager to not let Tharden's scarifice be in vain.

Ro settles into a corner of the wagon to take a short rest.

Sleight of hand: 5

She tries to discretely slip the necklace out put it on without anyone noticing, but she's still buzzing with adrenaline a little bit and her shaking fingers fumble awkwardly with the cord as she ties it on. The beads rattle loud enough for anyone who isn't asleep to hear them.

Humblodt also rests up. ((2HD 18, resets wild shape and regains spell slots via arcane recovery))

After the others have had their rest, Tallanvor Ro and Twiglet  come up with a plan to see if they can get some information out of the elf.

He removes the elf from the sack and places her in as comfortable of a position as can be managed with the bonds still in place. He gently wakes her as best he can. Trying to catch the sunlight on his golden eyes to look as friendly as possible he says, "I do so apologize for the rough manner in which we were aquatinted. I do trust that ye won't make any fuss, spells and the like ye know, if I were to remove this bond of yers to offer some nice cool water? I wouldn't want any harm to come to anyone." He glances at Ro's daggers with a thoughtful expression and then looks back to the elf for an expression of cooperation.

"That's a good lass" he says. He removes the gag and offers her some of his waterskin. As the water hits her lips he heals her casting Cure Wounds: 11

"Ye see, me friends and meself are simply looking t' see what it is ye were doin' in a cave full o' nasty ol shadowspawn. How'd ye come t' be there, and why by the light would ye have the ol' dwarf locked up? In short, what is it yer lookin' for down there?"

Persuasion: 23

The dark elf winces in pain as the sunlight reaches her eyes. She says something in a tongue you do not recognise, but based on her expression, it is not very nice.

Twiglet and Ro stand on the other side of the elf from Tallanvor. With them standing their heads are more or less level with the seated elf. Ro places a hand on the elf's shoulder, digging her claws in a little as she leans in - bringing her face in close until they're almost butting foreheads. With her free hand she rests the tip of a dagger against the elf's adam's apple.

After an uncomfortably long pause Twiglet gently pulls Ro back and says "If you're more comfortable talking to a goblin that's also an option. Ro is a fantastic conversationalist."

At this Ro smiles broadly - baring as many of her pointy teeth as possible.

Intimidation: 13

She looks in fear at Roars then back towards Tallanvor, keeping her eyes away from the sunlight.

"I walked in the entrance, found some angry dwarfs who attacked me. I was looking to explore the caves and find any treasures. I thought the dwarf could help us find them all as he seemed familiar with the caverns., but he refused to aid us, so I locked him safely away from the undead."

 Ro squints a little bit, and then signs behind her back. It takes some time because she has to spell everything with one hand.
[She is no lying, but I think she is no telling the whole truth maybe]

She starts to spell another comment but then she runs out of patience and turns briefly to Tallanvor.
[Ask her why she is going into this cave. She more afraid than she is showing and I is thinking that maybe her fear is no for us]

With her comment relayed, Ro turns back to the elf and returns the dagger to the elf's neck.

She looks torn between her fear of Roars and something else.

"I was looking for a magical item. One that was supposed to be lost centuries ago. There were rumours that the lost mine of Phandelver had been found by a set of dwarves."