Aspiring Heroes of Faerûn

Chrys stops to give Krackle's head a good rub as he tosses his spoiling food away.  "I'm glad yer back to yerself, lil' one.  Ya got me worried that we'd have to part ways for a while there," she says seriously.  "Try to be careful in the future… you're a precious friend, an' I don't wanna lose ya."

Chrys will also take a moment to hand off the two "lesser" moonstones (15 GP each) to whomever has the last two pieces of mask - keeping one for herself, if she's one of the people carrying it.

As they enter the tavern, Chrys lets Lumen do the talking, wondering if he's going to try to join in with the bardic complement on the stage.  She's relieved to hear that he, much like herself, has no interest in a fancy-pants sit-down dinner, and instead, makes her way over to Ehrland, politely waiting for an opportune moment to greet him.

The tired kobold would wipe a bit of snot from his snout as Chrys gives him a pat on the head. he would look up to her with his tired eyes and give her a big smile. Once inside the fancy inn, he would grab hold of his tail once again to keep it from bumping into anyone and follow closley behind his friends. 

The host smiles and points you towards the direction of the bar, where you're free to congregate and order whatever food and drinks are available. You quickly learn that The Golden Eagle is a full service establishment, with a fine dining restaurant that, as you already know, serves excellent, high quality meals, some of which are sourced from local farms and some of which are brought in from the Sword Coast. 

The tavern room offers a wide selection of beer, ale, wine and other spirits brought in from various locations around the North. A large chalk board on the wall details today's selection:

Food and Drink Menu

 As you all head over to the bar and casually approach Ehrland, he finally catches sight of you and beckons you to come join him at the bar. As you do, you can tell by his speaking and mannerisms that he's probably been here for much of the evening. He's dressed in fine attire, his long gray hair is held back into a neat pony tail, and he's a little less stoic than he was when you saw him before, and seems to be quite in good, if not inebriated spirits. 

"Greetings, good folk. You have returned!! Come... join us and tell me of your travels!"

"Aye, and worse for the wear.  We could all use a good meal and some rest, to be honest," Chrys replies with a smile.  She looks over the menu, stopping when she sees the Mintnut Cheese and salivating a bit.  "Ah!  It's been ages since I've had some good goat cheese!  I'll have one o' those," she says, thinking of Lupin, her pet goat, with some fondness.  Settling herself at a seat, she observes Ehrland and his guests.  "I hope we ain't interruptin' yer fine evenin' with these good sirs," she says, nodding in greeting to the other two men.  "We're the Pie Pals... adventurin' company doin' a favor for the man here.  I'm Chrys, resident dwarf.  Pleasure ta meet ya all."

"Not at all!!" Ehrland says with a smile. "No interruption, we're all here to enjoy fine food and drink and relive some of our own glory days! These two fine folks here are Frederick and Gunter. Longtime friends and adventuring partners, back when we were a bit younger. Can't count how many time the three of us found ourselves in over our heads and barely escaped with our wits intact. 'Course, it was our wits that got us outta trouble more often than not... that and some fancy blade work, and a little bit of magic by Gunter here. He's the brainy one."

The two men greet you with friendly nods. Gunter has shoulder length light blonde hair and a couple of piercings in his left eyebrow. He's dressed in a conservative ensemble with features of red and gold trim on his jacket. Frederick is taller, with bright eyes shoulder length brown hair and wearing dark gray clothes and a wide belt that's fastened with a large silver buckle. 

"She speaks true. I sent them up to take care of the goblin problem on the road near Melton. And they seem to have survived with their own wits still attached, so that's good news!" 

Ehrland laughs as he looks at you and prods you to share more details of your adventure.

Vesper orders a glass of the Goodberry Wine and Gamal's Special

Lumen promises the full story after he eats a hand wrap and a pale ale.

((aaaaagh *scrambles to catch up*))

The visit with Dundragon seemed like a blur to Kess, who certainly seemed quite exhausted and eager to rest. After having been shot and wounded multiple times and trekking through the rain, she seemed quite exhausted and ready to rest as she tried her best to look presentable, sweeping her dress of dirt and trying not to draw attention to the puncture marks on her clothes; the journey had been quite hard on her, as Kess fancied herself as nothing more than a barmaid with a gift with blades. When Krackle tried to offer his gold to her, however, Kess refused it; she couldn't bring herself to render her new friend destitute.

"If you feel indebted to me, my little friend, then the best thing you can do right now is to keep yourself from trouble. I'm just glad to see you breathing." Kess simply knelt down and pulled Krackle into a warm, kind hug. "We were very worried we would have had no recourse but to defend ourselves." 

She seemed visibly relieved, in particular, when the party finally arrived at the Golden Eagle, the heady aroma of food causing her stomach to rumble quite loudly as Ehrland greeted them all. Kess offered the man and his companions a weary smile even as her silver cheeks flushed purple from embarrassment.

"It's good to see you, Ehrland! And is a pleasure to meet you both, gentlemen," Kessdarra replied, offering them all a tired but genuine smile. "I have to say, that was quite an experience. Although we did run into some trouble with some gnolls on the way back. Is there anyone of authority we should speak to regarding that, Ehrland?

When the waiter did eventually come around, Kess would smile at seeing a member of the waitstaff there: "If you would be so kind... could I have a glass of Berry Brandy? On the rocks, if that is possible? And may I order a Barn Bake for myself and for a friend of mine? I believe that would come to... 5 gold pieces, unless you charge more for on the rocks?" She would turn and wink at Krackle, as if to say: "Don't worry, I have you covered".

Once everyone has made an order, Chrys gets to telling the tale of the trip to Melton, and the horrors found in the wilderness nearby.  She recounts the harrowing tale of the cursed mask as well, though she tactfully leaves out just how much influence it had over Krackle, and his behavior while he was possesssed by it.  "I feel bad for Frida, but I feel ev'n worse for Harriet and her people," she says honestly.  "I'm just glad we could help 'em out in the end."

Lumen is too busy eating to realize that Chrys has told the story, though once he does, he realizes she's doing a great job. He flags down the bartender and puts in a bid to perform next, if possible. The food and rest have revived him, and once he's able, he performs the song he's been working on, the ballad of their story and adventure thus far. He ad-libs the ending, with lyrics of redemption and healing relating to a little kobold.

 Ehrland and his two friends listen to Chrys recount the details of your adventures in and around Melton during the past week.

“Goblins are enough of a nuisance, but they’re always much more pesky and persistent when they’re being led by someone with a stronger arm, or at least a more brutal demeanor. To hear that they were being led by Melton’s own constable is a rather disturbing turn of events, even moreso when the source of her power came from an evil instrument of Shar.” 

He speaks that last part in a lower, and obviously more concerned tone. 

“It is therefore a good reason I placed my confidence in you, because I would hate to think what would happen if one of you were tempted by its power and had succumbed to its evil influence. You have earned my respect as an honorable and capable group, and you have demonstrated that your intentions are aligned with the cause of good... you... “Pie Pal People!” 

Ehrland ends that last sentence with serious tone, and then his face slowly breaks into a smike, and he lets out a loud chortle. Both Frederick and Gunter join him in the laughter, which is obviously, in a large part, influenced by their ale-inspired happiness. 

“Someday you’ll have to tell me how you came by that name! At any rate, you have earned your pay, which I will have for you here tomorrow. How much did I promise you?”

He then returns to a more stoic tone.

”And as for this gnoll band, you speak of, Kess, that is also alarming, but not a surprise. We have heard word of a particularly vicious gnoll who’s been leading rampages in the surrounding areas of late, but my scouts have been unable to track him. I do not like to hear that gnolls are venturing that close to Yartar. How are your tracking skills? I may call on you again if the need arises.”

”At any rate, you have also earned some well deserved rest and relaxation.”

“And what better way to enjoy that than by spending some of Ehrland’s coin, and some of the other hard earned spoils of your recent adventure! ...We know how this works!” Frederick says with a smile and a tip of his mug.

”Fredrick was always very good at spending coin... Still is!” Gunter says with a laugh.

Lumen, roll a Performance check. 

Lumen performance: 18

When the trio finishes their set, which brings a rounding applause from the tavern goers, many of who are filled with more than enough drink and good cheer at this point, Lumen gets up on to the stage, introduces himself and plays his song. Despite being tired from the events of a long day, he does a decent job with his performance. It's maybe not the best he could  muster, but given the circumstances, he sings well, plays well and tells a good story with his entertaining, individual style. 

When he's finished, he receives a favorable response from the crowd, including the three musicians who just played before him. The elvish lead singer/lute player approaches the stage to congratulate him on his performance. She has a svelte figure, delicate, youthful features and long blonde hair with streaks of black and a couple of small braids that are tied at the ends with thin red ribbons. 

"That was a wonderful song! You play quite well and I like your style. It's got a rough edge to it, but at the same time, your deep voice and droning melodies add a nice sense of mystery. And your lute playing... it's so percussive! I'm not sure I've seen anyone play quite like that. I’d probably break mine, or my hands, if I tried to play like that!”

"I'm Lalissa. It's Lumen, right? I haven't seen you around here before. Are you new in Yartar, or just passing through?"

Lumen has to look behind him to make sure she’s talking to him when she approaches. “Yes, Lumen,” he says when she finishes talking. “And we just got back in town after a... holiday outside of Melton. I was in Yartar during Shieldmeet and performing a string of shows, maybe you arrived later and missed them - actually had some good crowds for once. Are you three a band that’s been together a while? And as to what we’re doing, well, I’m not sure that’s decided yet.” He looks to the Pie Pals, introducing each of them and Ehrland and it should be fairly obvious they’re the people in the song. He doesn’t bring up the Pie Pals name, though. 

*Krackle would have hugged Kess a bunch and thanked her*

When the waiter arrived, Krackle would have taken a menu and looked it over very closely... holding it close to his snout as he stood on his chair in order to see up over the table. When kess offered to buy is meal a wide toothy smile would spread across his face. "Thanks a bunch Kess!" He would reply as he pulled out is loose coin purse and began rooting around inside. Eventually he would have pulled out five copper pieces and count them a number of times to make sure it was correct before pointing towards the menu. he would point towards where the menu said "5c" next to the Gralen's brew. "I will have that drink please!" he would add with a smile. "That should be enough coin I think! I counted it a few times!" he would finish proudly as he looks around the room. "Maybe now that I can turn into animals... maybe i could turn into animals and help Lumen to make money when he plays his songs! I could turn into a bear and dance around while he plays! Lots of people play songs.. but I have never seen someone playing a song while a bear danced to it!" He would offer excitedly as he listened to Lumen play on the stage. 

"Turn into something else. A bear will scare people."

Lumen leans back into this conversation, telling Krackle and Vesper: "I can never tell when either of you are joking."

"I'm serious. I think he's serious too, so I'm telling him that if he absolutely must transform into something, don't transform into a large animal that will scare people and have every able-bodied hunter in town coming after him."

Lalissa continues her lighthearted conversation with Lumen and greets the other members of your party as she sips her glass of Barov Crush. Gunter indicates that he has seen them perform here on a few occasions.

"Oh, that's too bad, we were not here for Shieldmeet this year, we were playing in Waterdeep. We've played at Shieldmeet in past years, though. It's a very fun celebration! I'm glad that you had a good reception, you deserve it!"

"Yes, we're called The North Winds and we've been playing together for nearly two years. This is Brick on the viola, and Wendel on the penny whistle. We call him Wendle the whistler. We often perform in the northern Sword Coast cities like Luskan, Neverwinter and Waterdeep, and in some of the other towns like Longsaddle, Triboar and Yartar. That's kind of our regular circuit. We've been lucky that people seem to like our music, and we enjoy sharing our songs with them. Although, we don't usually have too many adventures, not like the ones you sung of."

"Where do you hail from, Lumen, and where did you learn to play like that"

"I am really serious!" Krackle would add. "I bet if I was a dancing bearrr...rrr... badger? or dancing... raccoon? Dancing dog? What would be something big and cute that you would like to see dance to music?" The kobold would ask looking to his companions and the three entertainers. "What would you pay the most money to see?" He would add as he tapped his claw to his chin while listing off animals. "Maybe that is how we could get enough money to buy mom and dad a house!" he would add excitedly after listing off at least 10 more animals.