(Nothing special for Darrik.)

Ghee will give Darrik a nudge to see if he can wake the sleeping dwarf and encourage him up to a bed before heading up stairs himself.

Ang goes to bed, not before taking a good bath. During the night , she will try to stay alert, listening to the sound of the inn and looking through the window for anything unusual.

Perception: 10

Saros goes through his nightly safety routine and then orders Omen to go snooping. The bird flies high and searches for Gnator from above. There aren't many people out and about at this hour, making it easier to spot the gnome. He is making his way up a hill, following a cobblestone road to what it looks like a manor. This seems to be in line with what he revealed earlier, that is, that he makes a leaving as a groundskeeper. Once making sure no one is trailing Gnator, Omen returns and Saros goes to sleep.

Ghee nudges Darrik before going upstairs but receives only a grunt in response. The green dwarf looks as comfortable hunched over a table as he would on a bed. Characteristically, Tonk Hammertoes looks unbothered by it. Once in his room, Ghee finds a sparkling clean Khan already asleep. (@MB: I'll leave it up to you whether Ghee also bathes or does anything with the repurposed laundry tub.)

Similarly, Ang goes upstairs to find an already asleep Bleep. She stays up for as long as she can muster after her bath, paying attention to the tavern sounds. Though the patrons' noises become quieter as time passes, the instrumentalists continue to play for some time. Ang falls asleep before they finish for the night.

(OOC: Nothing worth noting happens overnight. Go ahead and hit that "Long Rest" button in your character sheets and let me know what your characters do once they wake up.)

Khan's mornings began as they always did when not in the every pressing dangers of the wilds. Though not all her Grung compatriots quite understood the lengths she would go to limber up for the morning, few dared question her methods. At one point she even tried to extend some of Ghee's training stretches to Ang, and by extension the Green Triplets with mixed results. Morning stretches are soon followed by warm-up exercises ranging from simple push ups to meticulously cleaning her room. For while she still had some lingering doubts that simple errands and chores actually had any martial applications as Ghee once implied, old habits died hard.

Only after all that did she submerge herself as much as possible beneath the waters of the bathing tub again, clean or not, unless emptied the previous night. In which case, she went to check on her fellow Grung starting with Ang, reminding her then they yet needed to speak on anything learned the previous night. That, and make sure their baths were set, or if she'd need to go down making arrangements with Tonk for fresh water. All of that considered it was unlikely Khan would get to Ghee and the Watchers before they woke up on their own..

Darrik jerks awake in the morning, and falls off his stool rather abruptly.  Those upstairs hear an extremely colorful stream of dwarvish curses.

Waking to a steam of cursing in his native tongue Ghee feels a fleeting sense of nostalgia about hangovers past. Surveying an empty room, he quickly splashes some water on to his face before carefully running through a series of stretches and warm up exercises.

Satisfied, he moves a few of the carefully arranged and tidied things back around the room once more before heading downstairs to get the others.

Bleep goes to the main room for breakfast, waiting for Ang to have her bath first and do so after she comes out.

Ang gets up at the first light, takes her bath in cold water and goes down to breakfast.

During the meal she compares notes with the group. “The innkeeper might have seen a Kenku and grungs, four days ago, but his memory is not great I think, something definitely wrong about him. We should go to the gnome’s shop and ask a few more questions I guess”

Each party member awakes at their own time and follows their own morning routine, which may or may not include some hygiene. A simple breakfast is included in the the price of the room, though there isn't a lot of variety to be offered. Everyone gets a modest serving of porridge and a single hard-boiled egg. Tonk Hammertoes, who looks exactly how he did during the previous night, clarifies: "If you'd like to wash down your breakfast with some light morning ale, that'd be 5 copper pieces per mug." Looking the bartender over, you are not sure whether he ever left the tavern last night, or if he even slept.

Not before long, Gnator Gnimmcap arrives at the tavern just as he had promised. Despite being debt-free, the almost completely bald gnome looks just as nervous as he did in the previous night. At least he is wearing a fresh set of clothes. He joins the group at their table of choice but does not order anything from Tonk. He is happy to join in the conversation about what the group might have learned so far or temporarily give the party the space they need to talk among themselves. Either way, Gnator comments at one point: "You know, if you want to try something heartier tomorrow morning I recommend buying your own serving of meat at Nard's Meat Shop and asking Tonk to prepare it along with your breakfast. He does it free of charge if you bring the meat in yourself." Later in the conversation, he suggests: "Just let me know when you are ready and we can go visit Balick's store." As he stands up to lead you out of the tavern, he stops, turns, and returns a spoon he had been fidgeting with to the table.

(OOC: We can assume that the party shares the information they learned over breakfast, but please don't let this assumption preclude you from RPing.)

Balick's store is not very far at all from the tavern. In fact, the entire commercial district is nothing more than a stretch of beaten dirty path with some commerce to either side of it. Gnator stays true to his offer to be your guide: "Most of the smaller stores here will have little to offer travelers like yourselves, unless you want to buy vegetables for your soup or new soles for your boots. Balick's shop is the one to visit for more useful sundries and goods."

A tiny bell rings as you enter the general goods store. There are a lot of items for sale, all being displayed in shelves, crates, barrels, on tables. There are more items than places to put them, so the store looks a bit disorganized, though no more than what you'd expect. The smell of sawdust permeates the building and you get the feeling this place could benefit from a few more opened windows. There is no one in the store as far as you can initially tell, be them customers or staff. Gnator has moved to a corner, finding some small item to keep his fingers busy. He calls for Balick but no one responds.

Ang doesn't know much about gnome's behaviour and shops but her instincts tell her something might be wrong. She stays alert and look around for anything out of the ordinary.

Perception: 9

Saros too smells a rat and quickly pulls out a thin copper wire from his pouch and surreptitiously points toward Gnator while moving to cover himself and sending Omen off to scout back outside and around the back of the shop, and then casts Message at Gnator....

Gnator will hear a voice in his head

And Saros will look for signs of deception from Gnator in either his actions or reply

Insight 18

Once that is done (and I might be stacking actions) and Saros has found some form of cover, he will push his senses out to Omen wanting to see through his eyes.....

Having breakfasted quite pleasantly and quenched his thirst with a mug of light morning ale, Ghee falls in line with the others to be shown the sights.

On entering the shop, Ghee peruses the merchandise looking for interesting items or local oddities. Looking towards their Gnomish guide he questions why no shop owner has emerged.

"This Balick a shy one, then? Or is there a reason my nae bugger is mindin' tha place?"

Darrik looks around, still rubbing his eyes blearily.

"Well, where is tha bastard?"

A lost in thought Khan only barely realizes after the others a certain missing gnome. And though for a moment tempted to hop behind whatever beyond the whatever bar or barrier that served to divide  separated shop keep from customers, the compulsion gets resisted. During the interim she asked instead, "You. Gnator. You feed at shop Nard's Shop. Know what meat typically sold there? Specifically? Any... mystery meats?"

"Door open... But nobody home...?" Bleep asks with a hint of wariness

Ang looks around but is hard-pressed to find anything out of the ordinary. Her doubts are fueled by both Bleep's and Darrik's questions, but all she finds are common merchandise that is packet a bit too tightly around the store. She notices a lot of it seems to be connected with the town's main trade: mining. Pick axes, ropes, candles, and lanterns are plentiful in the store, and there are even a few bird cages with canaries in them. However, there are plenty of other mundane items here too, and Ghee is already perusing some of them: pots, pans, spoons, ladles, saddles, animal feed, soap, some grain, animal skins, and a world's worth of variety. The group gets the impression that Balick may be able to offer them almost anything they ask for. Just imagine what he might have tucked away in the many nooks and crannies in this place.

As the party looks around a bit more, a half uninterested Khan asks Gnator about the meat shop he had mentioned earlier. Just as Omen, the familiar, flies by, the guide replies while examining some parchment for sale, which is rolled up and sticking out of an opened barrel: "Well, sure. Nard employs a small team of hunters and they sometimes come back with some jungle beast. I sporadically buy some exotic meat for the manor, but it is usually nothing more than a jungle cat or some small ape. Most of Nard's business is done in chicken and pork meat, I'd guess. The animals are raised right here in Weirding. I buy those even more often."

Once the absence of a store clerk starts becoming a bit too uncomfortable, Saros interrupts Gnator's conversation with the orange grung. The balding gnome jumps is place as words that are not his own formulate in his head. Recognizing the deep gnome's voice, Gnator replies out loud: "Oh, Balick... don't worry, he'll come out when he is ready. Have you found anything that interests you yet?" Saros doesn't even have the time to examine Gnator's words. Right on cue, a barrel's lid pops off in one of the corners of the store. Short little legs push out amid grunts of effort. Eventually, a short haired, still young-looking gnome in spectacles falls out of the barrel, landing on his behind. He stands up, dusts himself off, and greets: "Oh hello there, customers. Pardon me, I was counting my inventory. Can I help you find anything in particular?"

Gnator wastes no time and explains that he owes a debt to your group, and to Khan more specifically. He is hoping to repay the debt, at least partially, by negotiating a discount for them at Balick's store. Balick is unconvinced at first, saying that Gnator's debt is not his own, but the two gnomes continue to deliberate for the next several minutes. Eventually, Gnator emerges victorious and Balick delivers the result: "Gnator was once my travel companion and I thank you for helping him, froglings, dwarves, and... ooh a fellow gnome! Where was why? Ah yes, let me know what I can help you find and I'll make sure to offer you a discount at the end of our transaction."

(OOC: Balick's shop has any mundane item, trade goods, or supplies you can find in the PHB and other supplements, except healing potions, other common magical items, and a few more specialized tools. If in doubt, feel free to ask.)

A little embarrassed by his own paranoia Saros attempts to recover as Balick greets him "Greetings Balick....thank you for seeing us and the generous offer, but on top of anything that we might need, we are sorely in need of information, do you trade in such things as well as goods in here?"

More than a little intrigued as to what exactly is in that barrel that Balick emerged from, Ghee sidles up propping his elbow on the lip of the barrel and trying to catch a glance inside.

"So uh, I've three lines o' enquiry fer ya Mr Balick. One, do ye carry anything specifically to, ah, dissuade any wee flying biters? Two, would ya like ta let me in on what's in that barrel there? Three, an' this is the important one. Are ye wearing pants? Ye dinnae have tae answer that last yin, but if ye dinnae get oot o' that barrel, I'll take that as yer answer."

"Bleep is wondering... Does shop have any chalk in stock? Not easy to get back home." Bleep asks as he looks around the shelves, not quite seeing what he's looking for.