(Oh yes, a set of double doors, that's what they're called haha. I forgot the word for it.)

Vimak nods at Tahnis's words. He holds the torch higher and tries to perceive (or help anyone more perceptive than he is) any thing dangerous about the doors.

Vimak Perception: 2

Lia heads to the look into the entrance directly west of you all. Unlike the one you stand before, there are no doors to this room. The insides of the room are strewn with the remnants of old campfires. Four side caves serve as sleeping areas, with five small wooden cots crammed into each one. Lia can see eight rock gnome sleep soundly here.

Heading down south and much closer to the waterfall, Lia looks into the entrance but all she can see is a set of stairs leading upwards. It's the same for the entrance to the east. The two are connected to each other by a sturdy wooden bridge.

The last entrance is also just a set of stairs heading upwards but at the top is another set of wooden doors.

On her way around, glancing at the mushroom islands, she notices there are approximately 2ft tall mushrooms that come in three distinct colours - red, green and purple.

Vimak doesn't notice anything about the door because a spray of water from the river somehow managed to reach him from this distance and go dirrctly onto his eye...

Lia flutters back to Robwin and he makes a big fuss of her before letting her settle down in the hood of his cloak again. He then recounts everything he saw to the team as best he can.

Seeing that Vimak has a torch lit, Robwin snuffs (and cools) his own with prestidigitation, before stowing it safely away.

And after gathering his thoughts, he says “Now we know where some of the gnomes are, maybe we should approach them, rather than going any further... I hate waking anyone from a peaceful rest but we do have important warnings to pass on...”.

Prosper approaches the doors with very little caution, and was about to rap on the door before Lia reports back with the locations of the gnomes. "Nice job, Lia, Robwin. I don't know about approaching them while they're still asleep but it's good to have the option open. Is there any way of getting up there?" 

“Does anyone have a grappling hook? Or pitons? Ooh, ooh... Lia could fly up and attach a grappling hook!!... Hmmm, if not, she could take my rope. I might be able to help her tie it to something, if there’s anything to tie it to! Hmmm.... or any other ideas?”...Robwin makes a mental note to buy a grappling hook for himself when he’s back in town!

(OOC: Do we make our way West, towards the gnomes? If we approach the stream does it look easy to cross?).

(The stream isn't too strong and is only about 3ft deep in this area. You could cross it pretty easily.)

"Just to be clear, we are suggesting to climb up to an area the gnomes are sleeping? I personally would rather knock on these doors just in case. The water here is loud enough that they may not hear our calls but they could be ready to hear a knock," Adas suggests, looking uneasily at the rougher way up to the sleeping gnomes.

Robwin stops descending the slope and turns to Adas, “Yes, that’s a good point! It’s always good to discuss options. They are sleeping after all, and we might as well knock here, while we’re here. I could use mage hand to knock if we’d rather keep a safe distance?”.

"No reason we should be alarmed friend," Adas says as he moves to the doors and pounds on them as heavily as he can muster so as to go over the roar of the waterfall.

Vimak is rubbing at his eye, blinking, trying to clear his vision. He steps back slightly while Adas pounds on the doors, leans back against the stone. These are nothing like The Spine of the World, but he smiles to be back among mountains. He watches the door, muscles in his empty hands twitching.

Robwin’s hands are twitching as he waits too... unconsciously practicing and rehearsing the somatic components for various protective spells... just in case...

Tahnis nods as he takes notes of the entrance and the water before moving toward the door.

Adas pounds on the door and you all await for a response. A few moments pass by before the door creaks open, revealing two gnomes - a male and female. They look up at you all, wide eyes examining the group with caution. The female shouts out in gnomish whilst the male shouts in common, their voices overlapping each other. "Who goes there!? Shapeshifter!? Are you shapeshifters!? Prove you're not shapeshifters or face our wrath!!!" The two bring out wands, readying themselves to attack.

Prosper immediately raises her hands to show she's harmless while backing away from the sudden cacophony. "We're friends, I promise!" She raises her voice without shouting, trying to make herself heard over the voices of the gnomes. "We came from Phandalin, the town boss sent us, we're here to warn you about the dragon!"

The call for them to prove they're not shapeshifters stumps her for a bit. "Uhh, I don't know how to switch shapes. Otherwise, would I look like this?" She jokes, trying to lighten the mood.

Tahnis shakes his head. "Yes, we are friends indeed. You know about the dragon, don't you?"

Prosper Persuasion: 13

The two gnomes squint at Prosper, scanning her up and down. The male gnome replies. "She's right. Why would they shapeshift as giant people? Wouldn't make sense, they stand out too much." The female gnome nods, agreeing. "I suppose you're right. Shapeshifters are sneaky. These people aren't sneaky." The two put away their wands and their expression grows brighter, almost entirely opposite to the way they were before.

The male gnome steps towards the group and opens his arms wide. "HELLO NEIGHBOURS! Welcome to Gnomengard. My name's Pog, this here is Ulla. A pleasure to meet you all! So, you say you're here to warn us about the dragon, huh? Well, we already know about it but thanks for the warning! Such kind neighbours!" The female gnome, Ulla, pokes Pog in the side with her finger. "Hey, Pog, if they're such kind neighbours, why don't we get them to help find the shapeshifter?" Pog lets out a surprised shout and rubs his side. "Oh... yeah. Yeah! You're right, Ulla! Hey, Kind Neighbours, can you help us with our shapeshifter problem?!"

Robwin relaxes, as the gnomes go from confrontational to welcoming. But then grows concerned as they mention a shapeshifter problem.

“What’s this about a shapeshifter problem?! What seems to be the matter?” he asks Pog and Ulla. 

(OOC: would Robwin have learned anything about shapeshifters from his studies??)

Vimak relaxes as well. "How do you know you have a shapeshifter problem?" he says. "Also," he turns slightly, "if they already know about the dragon, and if we promised Phandalin to warn them, shouldn't we move on to the next people we promised to warn? The dwarves?"

Vimak does not look like he is trying to be difficult, but he does look like he loves to keep his promises.

Tahnis grimaces. "Shapeshifters? I don't like this. What are these shapeshifters you speak of?"