"Trust can be earned. Being Fey doesn't matter. Why would I care if you eat meat or not?" Duncan replies, scratching his chin where a beard is starting to grow in, clearly unaware of what Fey means, and obviously not bothered by this small thing's horns and legs. "Though a name goes a long way to start." he adds, shouldering his gear clearly ready to put his new training to the test against these thugs.

“Fey descent doesn’t matter to me,” Halia says bluntly. “As long as you don’t do anything too stupid, I’m sure we will get along fine.”

She the turns to the rest of the party. “Alright, as I said earlier, I’m willing to pay you all... Let’s say 20 gold a piece to get rid of this problem.” She pauses, looking for confirmation before continuing. “Now, I’ve done some snooping around. These thugs like to loiter round the Sleeping Giant, as I’m sure you already know, but they’ve got a secret— larger— base under Tresendar Manor up the hill past the Tap House. It might be best to start with the Sleeping Giant, but the manor will have all the heavy hitters and where their leader— Glasstaff— is.” 

Halia shifts before once again staring at each of you seriously. “I need you folks to keep this whole... operation on the down low. I don’t think the tow master will take lightly to someone undermining his authority— and I don’t need any more trouble.Y’know I’ve even heard the Redbrands employ some goblins. Might be worthwhile to see what they might know about Cragmaw Castle or whatever.” Halia gives a smile. “You folks look capable, I’m sure this will be a walk in the park.”

"Vulmar," the half-elf nearly whispers when they ask for names.  There was some conflict in the group, but he could withstand it.  For the greater good.  Coin was first a bonus.

"20 gold works for me."

Duncan nods, and doesn’t reply about the gold. He was willing to do it just to help out, and for his duty to find Gundren, but knew that it would be rude to refuse payment. “It would be good to go to the Tap House and get a meal. I am tired from the road. And then we will be able to see some of these thugs with our own eyes to gauge their strength. We shall return to you when the task is done.” He says, straightening up, just shy of a salute, and starts moving towards the door, ready to go, but waiting for the rest of his new group.

"No it means that you are native to the Prime Material plane and I'm from the Feywild." Kayassa says before she tilts her head towards Duncan. "I'm Kayassa."

"I will also accept, Halia," Orro says. "Seems we have a lunch date at the Sleeping Giant, then. Duncan, your help would be welcome."

“I accept.” Daphina replies. She follows Duncan out the door ready to fight.

Halia gives a nod. “Then I wish you luck.” 

The party then turns to leave and as you open the door, Halia calls out. “Ah one more thing. If you find anything interesting of the Redbrands, bring it to me. One could say I am... interested.” she says. 

After that, you exit the Phandalin Miner’s Exchange, and come back into the main street of Phandalin. Some of the people who seemed to be waiting around make their way towards the door and enter into the Exchange.

What would you like to do? 

Duncan looks to the others and asks “Should we start at the Sleeping Giant? Or just go straight to their base?” Clutching his weapon you can tell he might almost prefer to go straight for the action, but also knows that sometimes it’s best to do some reconnaissance first.

“We might as well start with the smaller area.” Daphina points out “We have to fight both at some point anyway.”

Duncan nods in agreement “I could use a bite to eat and a pint after my walk here anyway. Lead the way.” He gestures for Daphina to take the lead, as he is still getting his bearings in town.

Daphina leads the group towards the inn. She holds out a hand to stop anyone from going closer once they can see the Sleeping Giant. “Don’t go any closer, we don’t want them to see us yet.” She whispers pointing out the spot where they are.

Kayassa nods as she looks to the rest of the group. "If you want me to I can try to charm one of them with magic. It worked well in our last fight." 

"That could work to charm them, if you can get one alone. We could also have some of us go inside and order a meal to get a better look, and listen." Orro says.

“Is it likely that they are alone? A public place like an Inn is probably a bad place to start a fight.” Duncan says, looking around the corner. Then responding to Orro says “I’ll head in first. I’m hungry anyway.”

And so the party makes their way to the Sleeping Giant Tap House. This ramshackle tap room on the east side of town is a short walk from the Miner’s Exchange and soon you arrive.

As you saw the previous night investigating the area, the Sleeping Giant is an obvious step down from Stonehill Inn, where you stayed, and less savory people often frequent it.

At this time however, the small building with a porch littered with barrels of ale and half eaten meals is empty. Nobody is around at this hour and it looks safe to enter.

What would you like to do?

Not unfamiliar with less savory elements, Duncan isn’t phased to much about the mess around the Tap House. He also has no reference to compare it with the other parts of this town, having just arrived.

He heads up to the door, stepping over any trash left on the porch, looks inside and calls out “Hallo! Can a traveler get a hot meal?”

"Not necessarily, I have a new power that might work but they have to be rather close to me for it to actually work. Otherwise I would just do a little thing and try to get them to like me and it may not work. Oh and if we want to mess with them I could make them scared of me!" Kayassa says with a bright smile at the last part.

Daphina walks into the building following Duncan. She's obviously rolling her eyes that nobody is listening to her about being silent and sneaky.

Orro walks in, looking for a barkeep, or anyone, inside.