Krowen nods his head graciously. 

// Anything else to do here? Just LMK where you guys are wanting to go from here :) //

//Can Marav use nature or survival to know if he can narrow down where the encampment might be based on the description?

Nature: 12 

If you let me use survival add a +1 to it

"Thanks for your assistance," Ink begins, then asking, "You've quite the collection of the occult, any odd shops in town where one such as myself may find some random books on the arcane? Perhaps not even a book shop, but just a store of random and haphazard curio? I'm always looking to add to my own knowledge."

Later, to the others,  "I still wouldn't mind finding out if I could silver my blades prior to leaving town in search of Rip's family.  Speaking of, we should consider finding this Harshnag - given his hunting ground as of late, he might know the spot Krowen described... And perhaps provide insight into this giant situation."

“Yes. It would be good to learn more of these giants, as well as save Rip’s family. Perhaps we should also look further into the strange, psychic, necromancer creature. That was a very weird day.” 

Also, Away, may Crownsguard have a cat-sized compartment in his chest? Yay or Nay?

Quote from Hardcopi >>

//Can Marav use nature or survival to know if he can narrow down where the encampment might be based on the description?

Nature: 17  

 Without having seen the trees, it's hard to know, but if you had at least a description of their shape, you might be able to tell if they have any regional characteristics.

Quote from jr_el_leon >>

"Thanks for your assistance," Ink begins, then asking, "You've quite the collection of the occult, any odd shops in town where one such as myself may find some random books on the arcane? Perhaps not even a book shop, but just a store of random and haphazard curio? I'm always looking to add to my own knowledge."

 "While I pride myself on study, I'm afraid I'm rather an eclectic collector. In my youth, I parlayed regularly with a dragon, although my hubris nearly cost me a limb," Krowen says, pulling up a sleeve to reveal an ugly, mottled scar, stretching the length of his arm. "Nowadays I visit the library at Silverymoon if I need to do research, and will also make the occasional trip to Candlekeep, although my apprentices keep me rather busy these days." 

After some consideration, Krowen acknowledges, "I suppose there might be some more plebeian exchanges of curios down in the Bell Market, but I don't frequent the market myself, so I'm not quite sure what they have there. As you can tell by my decor, I'm not really a collector!" 

Quote from JcAndD >>

Also, Away, may Crownsguard have a cat-sized compartment in his chest? Yay or Nay?

 // Cat-sized, I'm gonna say it will take some heavy modifications but is doable. //

//worth looking into haha. I’d rather not have a dead cat anytime soon//

"What color was it? That looks like fire which means either gold, brass or red." Marav narrows his eyes, "Which means either you were parlaying with an evil dragon or you crossed a good one." 

Krowen chuckles good-naturedly at the question. “Perceptive lad. I’ll admit, forming an acquaintance with a cantankerous old red dragon was likely inadvisable, but I was young, impetuous, and convinced that my destiny made me invincible!” 

The old man flashes a rueful smile and goes to put his crystal orb back on the shelf.

"Just how much influence did this red have over you?" Marav narrows his eyes suspiciously. "That you survived tells me that either you were very lucky or you were being punished.  Not many take dragon fire and live to tell the tale. Bahamut be praised that you survived long enough to help us. You don't have any dealing with this dragon anymore do you?"

Ink was ready to leave, but upon hearing "Dragon" one of his favored subjects, he immediately turns around to face Krowen bowling past Marav's questions, shooting in rapid succession, "What was the dragon's name? Where was its lair? How much of the land around the lair was under the dragon's influence? Was it capable of casting spells? Did it have a cult following? Some of them do, you know. Human followers? Kobold followers? How old was this dragon? How big was the dragon? Did it actually sleep on its horde? What caused it to snap at you with its breath?"

Ink curses in Draconic as he spills a little ink as he's trying to pull his quill, ink bottle and book from his various pockets. He then readies himself to take copious and detailed notes. 

Thinking we were about to leave to explore clues to Rip's family, Flint sighs and sits on his pack. 

"Krowe, with your history I don't suppose you know where I could get an insignia of Bahamuts? Would come in handy ."

“Oh my! So many questions.” Krowen ushers you into his parlor and invites you to sit before waving several candles into burning a reddish-orange light. 

“Many are the dragons of the north, and many still are the stories around them. But there is one who is truly terrible, who commands a mighty following, who sees much that goes on in Faerûn. Many call him ‘Old Snarl,’ though not to his face. The lord of the Klauthen Vale is he.” He looks to see your reaction before continuing.

”Well, at any rate, in my youth I knew of some of his followers—all humans, to my understanding—and had heard that dragons were mighty spellcasters. So I decided to see for myself! Heheh, such hubris! I encountered Klauth in a wave of heat and ash, and personally witnessed him eat one of the cultists. Not sure what the offense was, but that sure kept the rest of them in line. I was more interested in the dragon himself—I wanted to study his abilities, mostly, and I was simply in awe at the sheer size and majesty of the creature. 

“It’s a wonder he didn’t eat me like he did the cultist, but he permitted me converse with him on several occasions. These meetings were always far away from his hoard, though the whispers were of legendary wealth; the dragon purportedly sleeps on the fortune of a thousand kings.”

Krowen sits back. “It all went well until I came seeking him near his lair. He saw me coming miles away, confronted me and berated me for my foolish arrogance, and then proceeded to unleash a great gout of fire at me in a huff. He flew away after that...I’m quite sure he simply didn’t care whether i lived or died, since he never once looked back to make  sure I’d been burnt to an crisp.”

Quote from Hardcopi >>

"Krowe, with your history I don't suppose you know where I could get an insignia of Bahamuts? Would come in handy ."

 Krowen looks quizzically at Marav. “I’ve never heard of such a thing, but perhaps a religious scholar might. I do believe Bahamut has picked up in worshipers just in the last decade or so.”

Ink feverishly adds to his notes. And trades with him the encounter they had with the silver dragon, Clarion. This, in turn, reminds Ink of their encounter with Zephyros, the eccentric cloud giant. He shares the theories Zephyros shared with them and mentions the Ordning.

It's about here that Ink notices Flint's bored posture, Rip's itchiness to get moving, and what seems to be an enthralled Crownsguard trying to build a cavity into his chest...

He waits for Krowen's response and when through, politely excuses himself and graciously thanks Krowen for the knowledge shared before turning to his compatriots and suggests they move on. He mentions wanting to visit the market suggested by Krowen. He also apologizes for getting swept up in the lore. 

Marav bows, "Tis' ok, just something I heard about once upon a time. Would be very useful coming up." Marav stands, slings his bow over his shoulder and prepares to leave.

He looks down at Rip, "Now let's go rescue your family."

It’s clear that Krowen doesn’t know any more about the Ordning than you do, but he acknowledges that it explains all the giant activity and heartily wishes you well as you set out to solve the mystery. He also makes allusion to the fact that he’s always willing to talk dragons.

”I will recommend to my superiors that they investigate the matter of the Ordning, though I’m not sure what someone without godhood is supposed to do about that.”

With that, he bids you a good journey and reminds you that the teleportation network is open to you.

"yes you did get swept up a bit there Ink" Rip says as he quietly puts his own journal and writing supplies away (Rip is a bard and a writer remember lol) "dragons are rather exciting though so i understand your enthusiasm" he then turns to Marav, "quite right my friend"