"That's a good idea, Prosper," Vimak says. "The town could use all the help it can get. Even if you don't have items to send, the gnomes could tinker the town into be shape. I hope that it hasn't already been attacked." He looks towards the door. 

"With or without Gnomes in tow we should begin to blaze our trail back to the town," Adas says in his usual quiet manner. "I think our fair amount of success this far has shown a lot in the way of our teamwork. I believe there were still some tasks left."

King Gnerkil nods. "I suppose we can do that. Since you seem to be well acquainted with her already, I'll allow you to take Ulla, though we'll need to keep Pog. We need to have a least one guard around. Speaking of which," the king looks around the group, "Where is Pog? Ah, well, no matter. If there is anyone else you wish to take, please let me know. I would not suggest Facktore, however. She may cause more damage than help."

Ulla's eyes light up in excitement, though she restrains herself from making any noise. In a small squeak, she smiles brightly at the King. "Thank you, your majesty."

Tahnis nods. "Agreed. We've already completed our task. There's no need to intrude on these people any longer."

Robwin thanks the kings once more, then smiles and nods at Ulla, pleased that they will be heading out together. To Ulla he says "Is there anyone else here, that you'd like to bring with us, to Phandalin? Or do you think you could rally some kind of team, to come and help defend the town?... Either way, grab anything you'll need, now, and let's head out".

(OOC: On the way out, Robwin will find a moment to discretely remind Ulla about the possibility of getting him a pearl. He'll also like to take one or two loaves of that bread with him as they go past. And if they have time to peek in at the crabs, to see what that's all about, that would be cool. Aside from that he's eager to get back to the town and the Inn for some rest).

With the others, Vimak will head toward the doors. He's open to looking at the crabs, but most of all he keeps a perceptive eye pealed for Pog: 15.

If Vimak sees Pog, he'll mention that the kings were looking for him. If not, he will move with the others out toward the town.

 Prosper grins and extends a hand to Ulla in welcome. "Looks like you're stuck with us for a while longer. Don't worry, we'll keep you out of any mishaps." Thank you again, your Majesty, for your hospitality, and we'll take our leave now." She bows again to the kings and departs with her companions. 

DM Screen:

Ulla happily takes Prosper's hand and shakes it enthusiastically. The Kings say farewell and Ulla leads you guys away from their bedroom and towards the Treasury. She smiles at Robwin. "Don't worry, I didn't forget! Stay right here, I'll be back in a second."

She heads to the inventors room before returning wih Fibblestib and Dabbledob in tow, though the latter of the two looks disappointed. "Since these two aren't working on their invention anymore, we can take these guys to help protect the town!" She unlocks the Treasury and heads inside as Dabbledob sighs and Fibblestib laughs. "I never got to finish my Straitjacket." "Yeah, because it was dumb!" "IT WAS NOT DUMB!" They bicker between themselves before Ulla comes out with a pearl and an amulet. "Here you go, Robwin. One pearl as promised. I also found this. It's a Clockwork Amulet and I thought it might come in handy with the dragon."

After that, she begins to lead you to the kitchen but stops by the so-called Crab Room. Parked in alcoves in this otherwise empty room are two gnomish contraptions. Each resembles a crab with a barrel for a shell, six articulated metal legs, a pair of forward facing pincer claws and a hatch on the top. "We use these to move around heavy objects. Not good for detailed work, though." 

In the kitchen, there are a number of gnomes, working hard. For taller humanoids like the party, everything looks incredibly closer to the ground. There are also a number of overly complicated rope and pulley mechanism that makes the harder to reach things readily reachable. You pass through the kitchen and into the pantry where Ulla begins to collect various loaves of bread. "Here you all go! If there's anything else you want, just let me know."

(Sorry for the delay. Got distracted half way through writing the post. I'll update with the map in a bit.)

Robwin stows the amulet away for now, along with the pearl, and two loaves of bread. “When we’re settled back in town”, he says to the group, “we should go through all this stuff properly and decide what to do with everything...”.

He smiles at the three gnomes in tow. He’s ready to head back to town. 

(OOC: potatocrown, I cast mage armor when we got to Umbridge Hill (it lasts 8 hours). With travel and short rests etc, can you let me know whether it will last the journey back, or when it wears off? I assume Robwin ‘feels’ it fade? Thanks)

Tahnis nods and bows to the gnomes. "Thank you very much for your help." He turns to Robwin. "Yes, we should divide this up and decide on our next action."

"Hey, that's pretty." Prosper observes when the clockwork amulet is brought out. "Really, I can't thank you enough for all the help you're giving us." She doesn't really understand the mechanisms behind the crab machines, but nods approvingly anyway, and on their way out, nudges Vimak with an elbow playfully. "You wanna try eating one of those?"

Prosper tears a chunk out of a loaf of bread and starts eating it on the way back, packing the rest away. She's ready to head off back to town.

To Prosper, Vimak says, "Gonna take a lot of butter to get one of those down! I'll stick with snails." He thanks the gnomes in the kitchen and others they pass. "Thank you for your hospitality and bread," he says. He'll turn towards the door and start back toward the town.

"Thoughthis has been quite a strange encounter, thank you all the same for your hospitality. Be safe and may you always have protection and food on your table," Adas adds with a slight bow and follows on the heels of his companions. He moves to the front to begin looking for signs of a path and also for any tracks.

Survival: 18

Perception: 7

With your pockets full of bread, magical items in your bags and three gnomes in tow, you leave Gnomengard and head to back to Phandalin. When you begin your journey, the sun has almost completely settled. Adas takes the lead, following the stream down before heading west and back to Umbrage Hill. At this point, the moon is shining brightly in the sky, providing a good amount of light in the open plains. However, as you begin to travel through the forest, the trees block much of the light, making it near impossible to see for those without darkvision. The gnomes whip out a few torches and light them up for those that need it.

Eventually, after a few more hours walk, you reach Phandalin. It's also at this point that Robwin feels his mage armor fade. The town is mostly dark and quiet, a little bit of light shining through a few windows. There are some people who walk the streets but they're mostly just heading back home. What would you all like to do? 

Prosper covers her mouth as she yawns, stretching out her arms in a completely overexaggerated fashion once they arrive back into town. "Getting late." She murmurs, idly watching the townsfolk hurry home, comforted by the knowledge that they were safely ensconced within the town's walls. "Should we report to the townsmaster today, or wait until a more reasonable hour tomorrow? Good thing we got our rooms organized, but we're going to need to find lodgings for our gnome friends as well." 

Seeing Prosper yawn, makes Robwin yawn. The tiredness is only now really hitting him, now that he’s back in the relative safety of the town.

Robwin nods at Prosper’s suggestions, “Hmm... the Townmaster’s Hall is on our way back, to the Inn. We could see if there’s a light on, or any signs of life. If he’s retired already for the day though, our report can wait til the morning”. He yawns again.

Then he says, “I wonder if Toblen would be okay with us all piling in to the two rooms we’ve already got?! I’ve got a bedroll. I don’t mind sleeping on the floor if the gnomes want to share my bed. It’s not perfect but it’ll just be for tonight until we can sort something better”.

(OOC: do we see any signs of life from the Townmaster’s Hall? Robwin will only glance. He’s quite happy to get some rest first).

Tahnis is breaths a sigh of relief as he steps into town and continues toward its borders. He hears Robwin and Prosper speak of stopping at the Townmaster's Hall. "A quick check couldn't hurt. I also don't mind sleeping on the floor in a bedroll." 

"Yes," Vimak says, "The town hall and then rest." He looks at the others. "I actually prefer the floor as well. The harder the better. With the windows open, if that's not too uncomfortable for others. Closer to the way I slept growing up, on the stony sides of the mountains, under the stars."

You all head to the townhall but see that the lights are off.  To the east of it, however, you can see that there are lights coming out of the Town Master's home. The three gnomes follow along happily, with Ulla particularly excited by her new surrounds. She constantly turns around and runs off to look at something before running back to the group. "This is so exciting!"

PHANDALIN

"Alrighty then!" Prosper declares, last vestiges of sleep forgotten. "Let's go knock on the townsmaster's door then. Hopefully he won't be put off by the late hour, but I'm sure he'll be delighted by our news. I'm fine with sleeping rough, too. I'm sure we'll fit comfortably into the rooms we have. Besides, I don't need to rest for very long." She chuckles a little at the sight of Ulla's enthusiasm. "I guess you usually don't leave Gnomengarde then, Ulla?" She asks the walk along to the townmaster's lodgings.