"Nice book."  said Sael.

"We should get going... perhaps your Majesties can make room here for those more desperate and in danger, hmm?"

"What a wonderful idea," King Gnerkli says. "I will have our trusted inventors, Dabbledob and Fibblestib to work out a plan and we'll see what we can do."

With that, the hospitable gnomes usher the part out to the entrance. With a smile and a wave, they see you all out. 

At this point, everyone can level up to level 2! Woo!

The next decision for the part is going to be where to go next. The other two jobs that the party took were Dwarven Excavation and Umbrage Hill. So, the party can either go right on to the next job or you can go back to town. It's up to you.

Next job sounds fine to Rush 

Which job of the two would Rush prefer, though? (If any.)

Umbrage Hill is geographically adjacent, right?

I wouldn't say adjacent, but it would be closer than the Dwarven Excavation. It would be about 10 miles, give or take, from Gnomengarde to Umbrage Hill and approximately 15 miles from Gnomengarde to Dwarven Excavation.

((Why go back to town when we need to head to the Dragon's location? We can warn people as we go.))

I should also mention that, by this time, the magical effects on both Kwiz and Rush that gave you butterfly wings and a flying speed has now gone away.

Taking the book Kwisatz' eyes light up, and he immediately starts flipping through it while the group is being escorted out. While walking you can hear Kwisatz talking to himself, saying "Duncan! Look at this! Their way of casting this spell is far more efficient than the way I learned it in the Library! And this one! I haven't seen myself yet. It really is amazing how different researchers can find such different ways to reach the same conclusions... It really is fascinating!" He then looks up and says "Thank you highness... oh?! When did we get outside? Where are the kings?"

He then sees the group discussing where to go, and adds "It's a bit disappointing that they didn't seem to have much on dragons here... Though it seems our task has just begun. Thank you all for helping with these people. I'll accompany you on the other tasks. Then once we get back to town I must try to find some paper to copy these spells!"

Since the party is walking, I'm assuming at normal speed, it would take you about 4 hours to walk the 10-ish miles. Right now, after the long day you've had at Gnomengarde, it's getting to be late afternoon/early evening - about 5pm. 

“Perhaps we should see about settling in here for the night and heading out in the morning?”

"Ooo camping!" Kwisatz says, continuing "This is chapter 14!" He then drops his (rather large compared to his small gnomish frame) backpack, and starts pulling things he. First he drops an old tattered book with arcane symbols on it, on top of it he drops the spellbook from Gnomengarde, as well as his Adventuring and You! paperback. He then digs deeper into the pack and tosses out a brand new sleeping pad, his mess kit, as well as a pouch containing his daily meal ((ration)). He then says, flipping between both spell books "I saw a line that should help me complete this spell I've been working on!" ((just for RP, since I 'learn' 2 new spells at a new level. Not copying from the book yet)) "Duncan! Go fly around and see what you can around here!" at which the white raven on his shoulders flies up to look around ((perception 11)).

He then spends the next 10 minutes flipping between his book, ritually casting unseen servant. As he finishes the spell a small gust of wind can be seen in front of him, to which he says "Set up camp please" and the gust moves towards the belongings he's so unceremoniously tossed on the ground and over the next 10-15 minutes opens his sleeping pad, tidies his mess kit, and starts collecting wood for a fire.

(Are we not still in Gnomengarde?)

((I think we're just outside of it, having been escorted out.  We may have walked a little ways as well, so it's possible we're building camp on a hill or cliff or something...))

Sael has been watching Kwisatz with mild interest, and soon follows suit setting up her belongings and camping equipment, starting a fire before the night sets in, and settling down with some food while mending her bite and lashes.

((Right - like Dipstick mentioned, the party was escorted/ushered out. So now, you guys are something like 20-30 minutes outside of Gnomengarde.))

With Kwiz's Perception roll, what kind of thing(s) was Duncan looking for?

With a 21 roll, Duncan determines that it's relatively safe - no people or dangerous creatures about. There's no dragon within visual range anywhere.

As far as resources, he sees typical things one might find in the foothills of a mountain range. Keeping in mind that you all are situated at the base of the north side of the Sword Mountains. There are pockets of wooded areas, more so behind you than ahead of you. None of them could be called a forest, though.

Rush will help to make camp, and sigh heavily as he sits down. “That was close to being pretty bad. I should try to be reserved with my spells. And everyone needs to be careful to not get hurt. I will do my best to protect, but that isn’t always enough.”

((Once everyone has their camp set up, this will count as a long rest. Feel free to recharge spell slots and regain health as appropriate. Also, if you haven't already, don't forget to level your character up to 2.))

It has definitely been a Long Rest at this point and it is the next morning, about 7:00 a.m.

 The sky is mostly clear with only some scattered thin white clouds in the sky. Birds are chirping as they get their morning meal. There is a slight breeze and the smell of fresh flowers in the air. Everyone feels refreshed. 

Kwiz cast his unseen servant to pack up his belongings, Sael meticulously repacks her own things, and Rush as well. Oban is a little slow getting up and around, but he finishes packing, more or less, around the same time as everyone else. Once everyone is packed and the group is oriented towards Umbrage Hill, the party gets on their way.

((I'm going to keep describing what happens as you get underway, but feel free to chime in and let me know if there are things you wanted to do or say before you leave camp, or while you're walking towards the next spot.))

About 3 hours into the 4-hour walk, the party sees two individuals approaching in the distance, coming from the direction of Phandelin. At first, they're just silhouettes - one very tall and one much shorter and more stout. As they get nearer, you can make them out as the Tortle that you recognize from town as the town Cleric (he looks like an alligator snapping turtle-type Tortle with dark green skin and yellow splotches) and another adventurer that you've seen around over the last week or so. You don't know her name, but you do recognize her. She's well over 6' tall. She has caramel colored skin and ashen white hair that is pulled back into a high pony tail. She is a heavily scarred  human with a mostly jovial disposition (for a barbarian) that appears to be approaching middle age. 

She is wearing a medium breastplate, and she has various weapons strapped to her back and hips. 

As the pair approaches, the Tortle, who the party knows as Darrin, waves and smiles as much as his turtle beak face will allow. He speaks up in a deep and gravelly voice, "Hello! I pray that I find you healthy and well. I was sent here by Townmaster Harbin. He asked me to deliver this message to you." He speaks slightly slower than most people, but not unintelligently. The kind Tortle hands over a hand written note on a small scroll that reads:

"Dear Adventurers,

"I received word from Gnomengarde via sending stone that you all had not only delivered the message about the dragon, but that you had also done above and beyond by clearing out a mimic that was terrorizing their caves. King Gnerkli mentioned that you lost one of your party and had some difficulty with the mimic, so I decided to hire another party member to replace Willem, gods rest his soul, and assist you in spreading word about the dragon in case you run into any more trouble. Please accept Andrømeda into your party. Also, please split this 50 gold between the four of you as payment for assisting Gnomengarde.

"I will consider the Gnomengarde job complete and look forward to hearing back about Umbrage Hill and the Dwarven Excavation site.

"Respectfully,

"Townmaster Harbin"

When you finish reading the letter, Darrin hands over a small pouch with the sound of jingling metal inside of it. Then, Darrin asks, "Now, before I go, is there anything any of you would like me to pray about?" And he pulls out a small book and a writing utensil from one of the many pouches he has, seemingly in lieu of a backpack since his shell wouldn't really allow for a backpack.

Kwiz will need to re-roll his Portent die, as well.