The child struggles to meet Dahme'dre's eyes. "Um... I'dunno..." The corners of her eyes water as she looks at the floor. "I don't like it here..."

(OOC I'm confused about the darkness. Was there magical darkness? Did it go away with the light spell? From description it seems the light spell just normally illuminates. Can you clarify? )

(Just to be clear: Are you referring to the corner the child was in? It was not described as dark, just suspicious. Mostly suspicious cause you could hear a noise coming from it, but that it was out of view. The corner is not SUPER dark, and actually was not described as dark at all.

Please let me know if I am somehow losing my mind lol)

(Dag I was hoping she'd be slightly more informative. You're not losing it, Ru, it's your players.)

Dahme'dre lifts the child into her hip and carries her down the stairs.

"Do any of you know her family" Dahme'dre asks the new companions.

(Oh thank gosh, I thought I had typed something out that I couldn't find anymore lmao)

Linan and her family are all together again. She and her husband seemed to be exchanging whispers a moment before Dahme'dre appeared with the unknown child. She perks up.

"Louise! Thank goodness, you are safe," Linan offers a big smile. "I am sure your mother is worried sick! Were you with Lottie?"

After a brief moment, the child began to weep.

"Oh, Louise..." Linan walked up to Dahme'dre and Louise, and pat the girl's hair. "You see this is the Scholl's mill... I guess Lottie is..." Linan trails off, not daring say what was on her mind.

(OOC: I was confused by this sentence: "though there seems to be a corner of the room completely obscure from him...". Thought you were describing a corner of the room that Slade couldn't see into, thus my interpretation of magical darkness or something.)

(Oh no, its because the wall from the stairs goes up and obscures it literally. Like there is a wall where you see that gray 'railing' on the map.)

Aurelia turns to Ashelee. "I do not need to rest, but if others do I understand. I agree we should open the chest. Slade?"

Aurelia casts guidance on Slade, and uses the help action for his next action, whether it be searching or opening the chest.

(OOC: If it's trapped, he's got the best chance of avoiding it. Aurelia doesn't need a short rest but I'm fine to rest here if the party needs it.)

Slade kneels before the chest and gives it a quick inspection (Perception: 17, Adding in Guidance: 4) While looking over the chest, "I'm glad we could help reunite your family, Linan, but we are not out of the woods yet. We need to find someplace secure for the children. Did someone mention a keep?"

(OOC: If Slade does not find anything of note he will attempt to open the chest. Another reroll for help action: 16. I'm not sure if you can add in advantage post-hoc)

(OOC: Lee, since Aurelia used the help action, you should roll again. In the dice roller you can select yes to "do you have advantage" and it will do it automatically)

(Or type [roll ]1d20ad[/roll ])

"I'm afraid... It appears she didn't make it." Thinking of the slain woman upstairs. "No time to rest. Pick up anything of use we can carry and we'll head for the keep."

Still carrying the girl Dahme'dre exits the building and mounts her horse.

The chest is not locked. If you look inside, it is filled with clothing, including clothing for men, women, and children. The clothes are neatly folded.

(OOC: I searched the bags with my perception roll).

"We should get moving. At some point I'll need a long rest as the healing power granted to me by the Silver Flame has waned, but the situation demands that we move on. We have a few options. We can leave the women and children here with one of us staying behind to guard. We could also leave them here without a guard, and lock them in with bags and perhaps some makeshift planks to cover the windows. Of course, we can bring them with us. Whatever we choose, we should head toward the keep and investigate." Ashehee glances toward Lucian, "We can keep the coward with us and I'll keep an eye on him. He claims he knows the way."

Among the bags of flour, Ashehee finds leather armor, a shirt, a pair of pants, and shoes.

Linan looks from her family to Ashehee, "We won't be staying behind. Those damn cultists are swarming the place. We will follow." She seems headstrong and unwilling to back down.

Lucien keeps his eyes to the ground. "Y-yes, the way is through an old tunnel... House Kundarak had left it unfortified but covered... for occasions such as this."

"Ah yes, the orc raids from the Reaches." Linan eyed Zomith who stayed silent. To anyone with a passive perception of 12 and over, it seemed she was quite accustomed to people accosting her about her heritage. "Lead the way, Lucien."

Lucien leads the group of heroes along the river. 

(You may freely roleplay as you travel the river. I will be monitoring for checks or NPC interactions. I will pipe in when something happens. Here is the map less obscured for you. A message will be sent in our private OOC about traveling pace.)

Dahme'dre speaks to Ashehee.

"You might want to reconsider your priorities. Keep your eye on the sky, and on the alleys, rather than the shifter. If your first target is a man you believe is a coward, your reason is surely unrelated to his behavior. On the other hand, If you'd condemn someone for the actions of his ancestors... Consider our own faults first."

Then she addresses the group.

"We'll travel quickly but cautiously keep your eyes peeled. Let the wounded and children ride to keep the pace. Slade, would you scout ahead with Lucien? Aurelia and Eleth bring up the rear, make sure nothing malicious is following us."

Slade nods to Lucien, "You up for this? I need to know you won't go to pieces on me up there."

With that begins to pick his way up the stream towards the city center, eyes wary for any sign of danger. Lucien proves a competent addition, actually pointing out a safer path than Slade initially chooses. 

"Not bad. You ever consider work in tradecraft?", he whispers.

(Slade is moving at a slow pace which is still fairly quick due to city secrets. Stealth: 8, reroll: 25)

(Rerolled and edited text) 

Lucien is able to keep up with Slade. As he moves, his bestial features turn more pronounced, almost as if he were going to turn into a full on werewolf. He sees Slade attempting stealth and skulks to maintain their hidden advantage. (Stealth: 17)

"I am... I just don't do well when outnumbered by crazy cultists... they never attacked the other villages like this..."

As they move, they can hear distant fights and cries. They can see cultists setting something ablaze in the distance. Perhaps buildings?

(Go ahead and reroll stealth, Lee. You have advantage due to Lucien stealthing with you and how great he did on his roll either inspires you to pull it together more or you feel competitive. Up to you. :) )

Edit: Added Lucien dialogue above, oops.)

Ashehee thought about responding to Dahme'dre, informing him that shifters suffer from a disease of the mind and soul. She thought better of it, as children were around and she privately knew that the coward would likely expose himself; and once that happens, she'll dispense with him, harshly. Ashehee is shocked that her companions can be so flippant about an able bodied "man" (if one could call him that) cowering in a corner with women and children in danger. In the eyes of Ashehee, cowardice was a great sin. Fear can never be en excuse for not protecting the weak from the wicked. True courage was giving one's life for those who deserve protecting.

Ashehee walked alongside the group, occasionally polishing her warhammer with a rough cloth. She thought of naming her warhammer, like the heroes of yesteryear who would name their weapons. But she doesn't serve material things or false idols, and naming a tangible item seemed sinful to her.  The Silver Flame was her only god. Her salvation. Her mother. Her father. The Warhammer didn't need a name when striking down non-believers and those who threaten the way the the Silver Flame.

(Okay, Slade and Lucien are basically perfectly stealthed. Since you rolled a 20, I will allow you to extend that stealth until you reach safety if you'd like as long as you don't do obvious things that break stealth, like yelling or attacking someone upfront.)

As the two travel ahead of the small herd of townspeople and allies, nothing usual happens other than the view of the blue dragon soaring above. Those with a passive perception of 12 or higher notice it seems to be flying slowly or absentmindedly. Everyone can definitely tell this is the real deal - a large, blue dragon. It has ceased its attack a few minutes ago, your ears welcoming the lack of BOOMs and crackles that were previously thundering seemingly all around you before.

After about 240~ feet, you are looking at the side of a large, two story building. 

Lucian holds a hand out to stop Slade from moving. He whispers, almost a growl, "We are about a quarter of the way there... but... I smell something foul..."

(The pacing of this part of the campaign, I am noticing, is really awkward for PBP. I am going to do my best to make it more fun and less weird?)