Fae looks over her shoulder to Xeno before putting her hood back up. They're at the Miner's Exchange. He'd hear Fae's voice respond in his mind, sending him to meet up with the others.

The wolves gnaw, paw and slobber all over the rope, pulling Kaemgen around with them in their excitement.

DM Note

Thanks Fae, you're a lifesaver. He thinks back to Fae before heading off to the Miner's Exchange.

Mr.Dark shrugs, "I'm easy. I don't have the map, so I don't know if any of these things coincide, but I say we go to the gnomes, then just continue on to the next closest thing." 

At the miners exchange, Mr.Dark clears his throat, *ahem*, "Right, well, look here, we got these gems and we was hopin you could help assess their value for us."

Scott stands outside with Kaemgen and gives his jewel to one of his compatriots for appraisal. “I say we go check in on the gnomes.” He says this mainly because he’s no where near ready to fight a dragon yet.

Auric:

"Thou givest me too much honor, fair lady Halia, I am no knight that I may be addressed by such an honorific," begins the dragonborn, although it is clear that this flattery is pleasing to him, as is often the way with dragons.  "Our companion Hansel found the call of the wild most alluring during our latest sojourn, and he took his leave of our fair company.  Still, as the intrepid Mister Dark so straightforwardly says, we have gems of various hue and shine in need of appraisal--yet now I find them dull and lifeless when compared to the lustrous beauty of thine own gaze," replies Auric, no stranger to the flattery game himself.

MrDark looks towards a corner and rolls his eyes as far back as he possible can before taking a deep breath and turning back with a neutral look. 

As Dark clears his throat, Halia would pass her eyes over the man then to his sack of jewels. She’d reach her hand out to accept it in the palm of her hand and gently testing the weight of goods for assessment. Auric would steal her attention back with his way of speech and share of information. “Pity.” A small playful pout would cross her face at the news of Hansel’s leave, but she’d recover just as quickly, a small hum of delight leaving her lips from the Dragonborn’s layer of flattery. She’d give him a few bats of her eyelashes with a smile as vibrant as his scales. His companion’s added point wasn’t missed.

With a few clicks of her boots Halia would place herself directly in front of Mr. Dark. “Are you bored Mr. Dark?” She’d lean in and gesture behind him. “You know where the door is.” A wry smirk would tug at the corner of her lips. After a pause, she’d then step away.

The proprietor would pluck her glasses from the front of her dress and slip them on as she’d make her way behind the counter. Smoothing out a layer of padded silk in the area, Halia would delicately pour out the contents of the pouch to look over them. One by one, her elegant hands handle the treasure with care and expertise. It wouldn’t take long for her to make her assessment. The blonde would look up at the pair over her frames before glancing back down. She’d muse to herself, leaning forward onto the desk, rolling one gem around lazily like toying with pray. “50gp each.” Halia would finally say. Then she’d reach for something and toss it on the counter ahead of her. Familiar clinging of coins could be heard as the pouch would settle “Take it or leave it.” It’d contain a total of 225gp.

“Now if you boys will excuse me, I have real business to attend to.” Halia would stand back upright, freeing her glasses from her face with her smirk unwavering.

Auric:

Smiling and bowing, Auric accepts the coin for the gems and leaves the shop…though he does look around carefully as he does so, willing to halt his retreat if he sees anything that would directly help with their mission that might be for sale.

Perception to notice anything worth buying:  19

Mr.Dark frowns a bit but doesn't leave, waiting for the assessment of 'his jewels'.  Once it's done, he's quick to leave, letting Auric finish up.  He heads outside and looks for the rest of the group.  He flips his coin in the air and lets it land in his hand, slapping it down onto the back of his other hand. He notices the wolves playing with Kaemgan and goes to sit on the ground, his arms around his bend knees, waiting, much like a school child might. He watches quietly, patient enough, just watching at the going ons in the town and lost in his own thoughts.

Scott walks over to Mr Dark and nudges him gently with his boot. Should Mr. Dark look up, he tosses the man a copper coin. “Copper for your thoughts, Mr. dark and brooding?”

Auric spots a Driftglobe amongst a display case. Whether it’d be useful to them or not would be up to him.

Auric:

When Auric sees the perfectly-formed globe, his eyes light up and he moves closer.  When he sees it is a drift globe and not a warlock globe/focus of some kind, he sighs heavily and heads out the door.

Mr dark looks up surprised as he catches the coin deftly. He tucks it into a belt pouch and says, “I was just wondering what sort of life would make me happy. Kaemgan seemed to have found a nice little situation back at healers place. But, instead we are going to toss the dice one more time and hope we come out even further ahead. Makes one wonder what they’re playing for.”

He stands up with a shrug, “Everyone ready to go check out some gnomes. Good news. We got three more assignments when collecting our fee.” 

When Mr. Dark was sitting and looking out over the town, he’d see Xenophon taking his leave from a conversation with someone. The individual wore a cloak and held a very familiar looking raven on their arm. As Xeno walked this way to join the group, the person went their own direction, stopping at Tymora’s shrine for some time. They’d send the raven into the air before retiring into the house next door.

As the group was collecting back together outside of the Miner’s Exchange, the wolves were finally wearing out their attention span on the ropes. They had considered breaking away to bother Mr. Dark who sat on the ground at their level, but Marblebeard had it covered. And they were commanded to stay. The pair would twist and flip, using their strength to pull Kaemgen down before kicking up into giving themselves full dust baths. They’d roll and wiggle in the dirt, spinning and kicking their paws to really get it into their fur, making sure to make a nice big cloud puff as they did.

The twins would stop abruptly when Mr. Dark would stand and they’d hear a version of ‘gnome’ for about the third time. Their tails would start to wag with hefty excitement, smacking against Kaemgen every pass. They’d pop up to start pacing and bouncing, interchangeably bouncing at Mr. Dark’s feet and Kaemgen’s.

     "Our friends here want to go see the gnomes!" Kaemgen calls out loudly, getting back to his feet and vainfully, yet futilely, trying to brush the dirt and dust off his clothes.  

     "Ok," He says to the twin wolves with a smile, setting them free from the stay command.  (He'd actually thought playing with the chew toy would break it but these two were very obedient... So far, anyway.). 

     "I try not to argue with wolves, when I can help it," Kaemgen says as he leads then over to the rest of the group.  "And these two definitely perk up when one talks about the g-n-o-m-e-s's..."  Though truthfully Kaemgen wasn't sure they couldn't spell better than he did.

"Well then, it sounds like we're goin' to see the gnomes."

Auric:

After everyone gets their fair share from the completed mission rewards and the sale of the gems, Auric will happily leave with the others to go see the gnomes.

[(225 +75)/5 is 60 gp each?]

The twin's heads would quirk when Kaemgen would spell. One would sneeze at his Kaemgen while the other pounces on Mr. Darks feet three times. But at Xeno's mention of gnomes, the wolves would ping, exchange a look with each other. Their eyes narrow in playful challenge with another split seconds prior to tearing off and racing each other out in the direction of Gnomengard.

Mr.Dark shrugs, "They seem to know the way."  He slings his bag over his shoulder and starts walking after them. 

Mr. Dark marches forward leading the way south east towards their destination, Gnomengarde. The wolves took off too quickly and with the group lollygagging behind, they wouldn't be able to keep up with them. Of course with the map available to guide the group, Auric easily directs him down the correct path. The only thing was, the distance was twice as long as yesterdays, so it would take double the time to get there compared to Umbridge Hill. Without the threat of getting lost, it was safe to say you would arrive there in a timely manner.

Xenophon falls to the back and diligently keeps an eye out for any threats along the road. Throughout the trek the dragonborn could hear the birds chirping in the trees, hopping from one to the other, and the little critters scampering about the foliage. Some would pause at the groups presence, others followed, but otherwise it could be a peaceful walk.

Once Upon a Gnomengarde

(Just an image for visual effect. Less natural sunlight.)

Eventually, Auric and Dark guide you all to a stream, as found on the map. From this point the stream would lead you to your destination. You follow a stream uphill to the base of the mountain, where waterfall erosion has carved out a natural concavity. The roaring waterfall creates a cloud of mist as it plunges into a shallow pool of water, within which rise two small islands covered with two-foot-tall red, green, and purple mushrooms. Several cave openings overlook the pool from rocky ledges twenty to thirty feet above. The mountain blocks any sunlight from reaching this place.