“Greetings Sister Mishann. We are strangers in these lands. What news do you have for Icewind Dale?” Kazri bows slightly. She then tries to keep as much of the snow/ice off her boots as possible, after the gnome's request.

"Greetings, Krom Firebeard, smith of Moradin at your service." Krom introduces himself with a polite bow. "I am not familiar with this aspect of the Morninglord, I would be very interested in listen more about him."
He gives a puzzled look at the rock gnome.

"The news is as you see it.  Near constant darkness, cloudy and overcast with more snow than anyone cares to see.  The sun has not been seen in nearly two years!  We here at the house of the Morninglord aspires to see the sun regain its rightful place in the sky over Icewind Dale." She says

"Yeah, that's right!" The gnome says.  "My name's Copper and I've got a friend named Macreadus.  He is conducting research at an old cabin in the wilderness. If you find yourselves nearby, I would appreciate it if you looked in on him.  I'm kind of worried about him, I haven't heard from him in some time.  He's trying to build a device that could end the Frostmaiden’s eternal winter and return summer to Icewind Dale."

Gorrah leans out of Rhogar's hood far enough to hiss at the gnome until Rhogar started petting and placating her. Beyond that, he did not heed the gnome's wishes except to stay where he stood to avoid tracking more snow inside.

Following a jest filled greeting, Rhogar's expression turned serious at the mention of a device of some sort. "Your friend must be very brave or very foolish to create such a device to undo the works of a goddess... I think we'll like him." He cracks a wiry, yet fleeting grin. "Can you perhaps narrow down where this cabin would be? It would not, for instance, be somewhere between here and, uh... what were the call... Clan Battlehammer's, uhm, abode, if would -- Oh! And that reminds me as well. It is an odd question to ask perhaps given your faith, but would either of you know more about the.. blessings of Umberlee, uhm.. what was... midsummer.. Midnight... something to do with her blessing one with a certain resilience against the cold? Would that make that make her their champion from then on, or..?"

"We were sent, so to speak, to Icewind Dale in order to try to deal with problems and issues that this part of Faerun may have." says Krom to Sister Mishann, "It seems that the Frostmaiden, or someone linked to her, may be the cause of this eternal winter. We are gathering information and trying to figure out how to deal with this matter." continues the dwarf "We are currently looking into a man that may be killing people that somehow cheated the awful lottery that some cities are doing to appeal to the Frostmaiden."
Krom waits a few moments and then adds "We will be grateful for any further information you may have." 

6

Mishann looks thoughtful for a moment. "No, I know nothing of Umberlee's blessings.  Though a resilience to cold would be a most helpful boon here in in the far north."  She answers Rhogar.

"Those sacrifices are awful!  But people have become so desperate they will try anything to appease the Frostmaiden. I had heard there was a murder but not that it was linked to the sacrifices or the lottery.  Who are you looking for?" She answers Krom

Copper also speaks up.  "The Black Cabin is northwest of the Lonelywood.  Follow the Shaegarne River and you'll come across it."

"Our current suspect is Sephek Kaltro a bodyguard for a travelling merchant company named Torg. Do you know them? answers Krom

(@all: Meant frostmaiden, but had Umberlee on the brain it seems. Thank you midnight brain. Always a pleasure hearing your input. -_-)

Rhogar blinks, and then narrowed his eyes in confusion. It took a few seconds and the mental image of Umberlee's name, albeit spelled poorly, being by Gorrah sent before the misspoken error finally seems to take in mind. Once it did Rhogar closed his eyes and pinched at the bridge of the snout. Deciding it best to say no more, the Bronze would spend at least the foreseeable future muttering admonishments in draconic, and leaving everything to others.

"Torg's, yes I know them.  They passed through town a while back.  Where they are now, I'm not so sure.  They seem to run the towns in a counter clockwise manner and are likely somewhere at one of the eastern towns.  But which one?  I wouldn't know."

She eyes Rhogar suspiciously for a moment.  "I have heard that Auril blesses her chosen with the ability to withstand the cold.  But surely you do not wish to be one of hers do you?  Forbid it, we wish to be free of her will and not invite more of her.  I'd rather freeze than take such a boon from her.  We wish to see the sun again.  Life's hard enough here in Icewind Dale, we don't invite more trouble. If you wish to be one of her followers then do not bother returning here."

"Thank you for the information Sister Mishann. At least now we know that they have a pattern." replies Krom. 
After Mishann to speak to Rhogar, the dwarf adds "I am sorry, but you have misunderstood my friend. He was speaking about Sephek Kaltro since he seems to be able to ignore the rigid cold of this land."

Rhogar snorts, and then nods in Krom's direction. "Master Krom speaks truth. Though its understandable you would not know of this so far to the north, the vast majority of my people shun the worship of any deity. As our own had created us to be slaves and worse... At least from where my people originated." He explained. "It'll be an age yet and perhaps thensome before our race as a whole dares to trust in any diety as to wish their boon upon us." Rhogar adds frankly, before letting out a chuckle.

"Though, there are heretics such as myself and Chip, if only due to being born in exile. One of us being quite proud of that fact, if I recall, as things are less strict... Or at least, having not known much of the old ways." He looks Chip with a smirk, before then looking back to the priestess. "Though, I do apologize for the confusion. I had been merely self-admonishing myself for the slip of the tongue. As one whose spent much of his time by the sea, such deities tied to it come more quickly to mind than others. Frighteningly so, at that." He said nonchalantly.

"Well, if this Sephek Kaltro can ignore the cold he likely has been touched by Auril unless he has some magical item that allows him to ignore the cold. I can see him being her tool if he can.  Sounds to me like you have the right person if they are killing those who cheat the lottery.  Good luck catching him."

 "One last question, if I may, Sister Mishann. Would you happen to know for how long does this Torg stays in a town?" Asks kazri.

Rekuberk carefully listens to what they are being told, taking notes on what they learn about the murder and the Torg merchants. "If we can not find them in this town then perhaps we should prepare to leave for one of the Eastern Towns or if not that then possibly meet them on their way back."

Chip would just grin and nod to Rhogar. The bard seems to be obviously less than interested in all of this god talk. 

Krom says to Rekuberk "Before leaving this city for another one we should at least take care of the payload of the Battlehammer clan for those dwarves. We are running out of gold and those gems will serve us well." He will then point to Chip "And our friend has to perform one or two times at the inn." The dwarf looks again at the half-orc and adds "Maybe there are further clues to be discovered in this city, it may be worth to stay a couple of days more."

"I agree with Krom. We should at the very least not leave town until tomorrow. I say we try to accomplish most of what we want to do in town today, and go get the iron first thing in the morning after breakfast." Chip would reply with a nod.

"Agreed, we should be able to catch up to this Torg person eventually." Says Kazri.

Quote from Wolfy911 >>

 "One last question, if I may, Sister Mishann. Would you happen to know for how long does this Torg stays in a town?" Asks kazri.

"It really depends on demand.  Sometimes several days, sometimes only a couple.  They'll stay longer at bigger towns and less at smaller ones."

"We will be at the Northlook for at least a couple of days more" says Krom to Mishann "Since we are all working towards the same goal, ending this eternal winter, let us know if you need some help." 
The dwarf turns around towards the rest of the group and says "Before going back to the inn, as we should have a couple of hours left of daylight, I would like to check the Town Hall or the Council Hall for a quest board. We may find some quests that may be linked to our current objective."