Somewhat impatiently Tagret responds "Good - let's go. Sildar..you might as well lead the way since you know where we are going, and see if you can take us in a route that cannot be seen from the manor...if we are to get a solid rest we can't have unexpected visitors come knocking on the door armed to the teeth"

"Well, I have not yet had much time to explore Phandalin yet," Sildar explains. "So I don't really know. Harbin?"

"Try Barthen's or Lionshield Coster. They're our main suppliers."

"Let's get a move on, we don't want to be here all day if we're not welcome." With that Gundren is the first to leave the town master's hall. 

Following Harbin's instructions to Alderleaf Farm, you follow the road to the east. Before you know it you spot the field of the farm behind a small building. A woman can be spotted working away in the field.

She stops, smiles and waves as you approach.

Tagret is more interested in the surrounds than the woman and his attention remains focussed on looking for Red Brands, leaving the others to talk.

Perception: 4 

Tagret looks around not paying attention to the woman for the moment. He makes a note of the surrounding buildings. Not including the farmhouse, there are four other buildings nearby. He also sees the manor at the top of the hill which is some distance away. Though there does not seem to be any movement inside the manor. In fact it looks completely abandoned.

Saravena smiles and waves back at the woman then once they are close enough asks, "Hi there, is this your farm?"

The halfling walks closer to you and stops by the fencing around the farm.

"Yes, this is my farm," the woman smiles. "I am Qelline Alderleaf and this is Alderleaf Farm, and what can I do for you?"

Suddenly you notice movement behind the woman, but it takes a moment to realise that there is another halfling in the field. Smaller than the Qelline, and younger looking, the resemblance to Qelline tells you this is probably her son. He runs up beside Qelline and clutches her clothes his hands.

"You look like adventurers," he says before turning to his mom. "Do you think they would like to hear my story?"

"Well, that depends, little one. What is your story about?"

Saravena smiles at the little halfling child, "I would love to listen to your story little one."

Saravena turns back to Qelline, "Sorry to disturb you we are looking for a place to rest for the night away from the gaze of the Redbrand as we have had some...less than cordial encounters with them. Would you allow us to stay here on your farm?" 

The boy's eyes light up when Saravena mentions the Redbrand, "My story is about those ugly bandits."

"What's that about bandits?" Qelline asks her son

"Well, the other day I was playing in the woods over there," the young halfling points at the trees that grow to south of the hill with Tresendar Manor on top. "When I found a secret tunnel. I didn't get to explore it though, because I heard voices coming from inside. They sounded mean. So I hid behind a tree. Then that's when I saw them come out. The bandits. They looked mean too. I think it leads to a secret hiding place below the big house."

"Below the big house?" Sildar repeats as he looks over at the manor. "That is interesting."

"Agreed could be useful information," Saravena nods she then crouches down to be eye level with the young halfling boy and ruffles his hair. "Curious enough to find hidden paths, but smart enough to know when something is too dangerous, I could see you making a fine adventurer yourself one day.

The boy beams at Saravena's kind words.

"You seem like good people," Qelline says as she watches Saravena with her son. "I don't have much room, but I can let you stay my hayloft if that would suit you. You won't have a proper bed or much space, but it will keep you hidden."

"Thank you that should be plenty," Saravena replies turning back to Qelline then a spark of realization hits her. "Oh, you are being so kind to us yet we have not even introduced ourselves."

Saravena stands and holds out a hand towards Qelline, "I am Saravena, with me are Damian, Bitenose Maerys, Rashana, Tagret, Sildar and finally Gundren. We very much appreciate your kindness."

 "Nice to meet you," Qelline says with a smile. "I already introduced myself, but let me introduce my son, Carp. We're not a fan of these Redbrands, so if you intend to cause them trouble then you're alright in my book.

Anyway, let me show you to the hayloft." With that Qelline leads you to her farmhouse.

Once inside you realise that this house is not spacious at all, and the furniture has been made for someone of Qelline's size. There is a small wooden table with two chairs, which must be where Qellien and Carp sit when they enjoy a family meal together. She leads past this and up the stairs which are rather narrow for someone of Tagret's size.

Carp follows behind watching you all with wonder, in particular, he is fascinated by Tagret.

"You might want to watch your head, mister."

At the top of the stairs, you find a loft with barely any headroom for most of you, but it is full of hay that might just be comfortable to sleep on.

Starting to warm to the farmers, Tagret finally lets out a smile at Carp's comment and makes a show of bending over in an exaggerated manner to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling, with a "Thinks little one - being mountain born has some downside" 

That said - being who he is he looks for any hint of deceit as Qelline talks about the Red Brands (not that he is very good at reading people) Insight: 8

Tagret stays near the entrance to avoid the need to stoop around the room, and takes a seat on the floor after removing is battleax which he lays down next to him, then adds "Do the Red Brands give you any trouble?"

"Not really," Qelline says. "Though they sometimes come by demanding food, which means that there's less for Phandalin and trading with other towns and cities. The sooner they are dealt with the better. If Phandalin has any chance of prospering again, it will only be able to do so once they have gone."

"Hmm, I agree. It seems that all of our goals will only be achieved by first removing these vermin."

"Agreed, they should be dealt with. No one deserves to get away with bullying a whole town into submission," Maerys states, then turns to Qelline and Carp. "Thank you so much for your hospitality, friends."

"Well, I will leave you to get settled, I'm going to go finish my chores for the days. Come along Carp."

With that Qelline leaves you all in the hayloft, with Carp following hot on her heels.

"Okay, so what is your plan? You've rescued Gundren and I, so you seem to be the experts in dealing with trouble."

"Introduce more of the Redbrand to the business end of our weapons?" Saravena jokingly suggests drawing her crossbow. "Joking aside, we need to remove their grip on this village. It would seem their reason for being here has to do with the cave you and your brothers found Gundren, but the Redbrand feel like sellswords at best so someone must have hired them. We find out who hired them, then get them to leave the village alone, and if no-one actually hired the Redbrand then we just chase them out of town and get some adventurers to train up some new guardsmen."

Saravena then shrugs, "All of this will probably be easier said then done, but who knows."

"You reckon they could be sellswords?" Sildar says. "That is an interesting idea. Though they have been extorting Phandalin, if I remember correctly. That would mean that someone hired the Redbrand to extort the money from Phandalin whilst trying to get hold of the map.

Though I believe Iarno also went missing around the manor about two months ago. Now that Carp mentions a secret tunnel, maybe they ambushed him when he was walking by."

"This is only an assumption on my part," Saravena remarks. "The townmaster called them mercenaries when we first meet him, there could be a connection to him and the Redbrand. They could have something on him or maybe they are paying him to allow them to stay. 

It is possible, maybe your friend was on to them so they grabbed him to silence him. The tunnel could be used as a point of attack and would probably be safer than trying the front door."