Petmailer says "Imagining the whole town evacuating to Helviraena, that does not seem reasonable or feasible to me.  We may be able to get aid or learn more information, but I doubt we will be able to evacuate to there.  I like the idea of Iriabor, but let's go see the Governor and bring him up to speed."  Petmailer gathers his things and gets ready to leave.  

"Sending a whole town to a city of thieves doesn't seem like the best idea. Between the other two? I don't think it's really our decision to make. The governor should choose what's best for his people," Harmony agrees. "I'm not opposed to looking into an assassin once everybody is safe, though. How good are they? And how expensive?" She directs these last questions towards Petmailer.

Once he's answered, she walks over to Leyding and crouches down with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, hon, but I'm going to need my cloak back." She gently removes it, rolls it up tightly, and replaces it in her bag. "You'll be safe with Eadyan. Hopefully we'll see you again soon."

Kane walks over to Leyding and giver are a long hug. “Don’t worry, Leyding, we will find your dad. And we will be back. I’m promise.” He rubs her head. “Just don’t forget about “Friend”, okay?”

Sleepy, Leyding doesn't protest when Harmony takes back the coat, she just makes her stop for a moment to recover the dragon drawing Kane gave her.

"I won' forget!" She promises, holding Kane tight. "Please come back. I wait here, for you and Dad. I will wait!"

Eadyan picks her up and turns to Leosin and the others. "I'll stay here to keep watch over her. You go talk to the Governor, we'll talk later." He says. "Goodbye, and thank you..."

He walks to the chambers, the gnoll yawning on his arms.

Leosin watches as the priest leaves before he turns and nods to the group. "Let's go then." He calls as he walks out of the door.

Back at the Inn, you are greeted by the Innkeeper himself waiting for you at the door. "The Governor is waiting for you all. He says it's important..." He states, giving a side glance towards the half.elf monk. Not wanting to waste any time introducing himself, Leosin just nods and enters the door.

Following him to the tavern, you see Nighthill sitting at a table with Escobert the Red and a blonde halfling woman. This woman is wearing green ranger clothing and there's a crossbow at her back, but the weirdest thing about her is that she brought a badger inside the inn with her. She's holding the small beast with a leash just in case, but it looks completely obedient to her, staying put by her side.

Upon seeing you enter, Nighthill stands up to greet you. "Finally, you are here. I was starting to get worried..." He looks at Leosin. "Weird to see you here as well. News from the Temple, perhaps?"

"I do have news, but they are very bad news, I'm afraid..." Leosin answers. He turns to the dwarf and the halfling. "Hello again Castellan, and greetings Lady Scatterheart, I thought you were out of town..."

"Please, call me Mentha. ''Lady'' Scatterheart is so needlessly pretentious." The halfling ranger is quick to correct. Her eyes stare directly at you, silently inspecting you, and hums something to herself.

"It's Escobert the Red to you." The dwarf replies, but there's no real animosity on his tone. He gives a quick look to to the group. "The dragonborn is not here. Why is that?"

Besides them, the tavern is completely empty. Looking at the table, you see that Escobert has been drinking ale while both the Governor and the ranger have been drinking tea.

To Harmony:

Gunra turns a seat sideways and sits down with an unsubtle 'thud.' The 'lady' seemed humble, unpretentious.  The kind of person who wouldn't fall apart after a week in the woods.  He could respect that.  When they inquire about Azrael, the tortle shrugs and sighs.

"Not quite sure.  He just, vanished into light I think.  Current idea is that his demigod pulled him away. . . right?"

He looks towards Petmailer for assistance, still not sure what happened either.

"Something like that..." Harmony sits down across from them, though her stature is far less relaxed than the first time they were in this tavern together. "Hey, Gov. Hey, Red. Nice to finally meet you, Mentha." She pauses for a moment, trying to think of a gentle way to put the next part, then sighs. "I'm afraid there's no beating around the bush here. We encountered several cultists of Tiamat. They're planning an attack on the town. We're going to try to find their camp and fend them off before that can happen, but in case we fail or aren't fast enough, we believe it's in everyone's best interest to evacuate."

Petmailer turns toward Gunra and Escobert and says "I was trying to handle that other cultist and when I turned around, he had just vanished, into the aether.  I don't know what happened to him."  He sits down at the table and looks at everyone assembled.

"We went to Milo's house, but he was not there.  We encountered a cultist that escaped with a book and map, and also a number of kobolds that we killed and some that we captured.  We also met Leyding, Milo's ..... experiment.  We then left the house to look in the mill for this wizard cultist (by the name of Vonskeltuehk) but found 3 more cultists, we killed 2 and captured one.  The captives are being held at the temple right now.  Greenest is in grave danger, just as Harmony says.  Nurm and Leosin may wish to fill in additional details as well.  I however, need a stiff drink right now."  He sits down at the table, looking to see if there is anything interesting on the menu.  Besides us.

Kane, seeing that Petmailer and Harmony explained everything and need no help, stays quiet. He is a little sad for having to leave Leyding. He really bonded with. 

The mood at the table sours immediately at the news. Nighthill and Escobert just had their fears of a cult confirmed and are obviously worried by the news of the upcoming attack, while Mentha's expression darkens at the mention of the words 'kobold' and 'evacuate'.

While everyone's finds the dragonborn's vanishing extremely weird, it's quickly forgotten in favor of the important info that has just been revealed.

"I don't understand..." Nighthill says. "I assume that they have Milo and the mask in their claws, right? They already have what they came looking for, why attack?"

"The kobolds" Mentha answers him before Leosin can. The monk gives her a questioning look, and she continues. "When my greatgrandmother founded this town, the lands weren't uninhabited, not exactly.There were lots of tunnels under the ground, and there was this large tribe of kobolds living there. Dharva slaughtered them all..." She says that last part with pride, but then continues. "Or so she had thought, at least. If any of the kobold cultists are survivors or the descendants of the survivors of that tribe, they could have suggested the attack to the rest of the cult out of vengeance."

"Kobolds are known to keep grudges for generations..." Leosin nods.

An idea seems to cross Escobert's mind, and he downs the rest of his drink and hits the mug down on the table with the strength and loudness of a hammer before speaking. "One of those tunnels still exists. It was kept because it could function as a secret means of collecting water from the stream during a siege, and it can also double as a sally port. It's wide enough to allow warriors to pass through it in single file, we could use it to sneak everyone to safety if the cult attacks before we can evacuate..."

"We are NOT evacuating!" Mentha interrupts, much to Leosin and Tarbaw's immediate chagrin. Escobert, on the other hand, seems amused by her reaction. 

"Mentha, I don't think you..." Nighthill starts, but she cuts him off.

"Dharva Scatterheart didn't built this town just so we could abandon it to be destroyed, like cowards!" She exclaims. "This is my plan: We go to the Temple, execute the monsters these people have captured, and then we do the same to any other monsters that arrives later! We are going to stay here and fight!"

"Greenest can be rebuilt, the lives that would be lost if we stay can not." Leosin replies. "Besides, someone here already has a plan involving one of the kobolds. Let's not make any decision we might regret later..."

"I'm with Erlanthar. The safety of the townfolk is the priority here." Nighhill answers. "I'm the Governor, and my decision is final. We are evacuating out of Greenest tomorrow morning, we'll need to get everyone ready..."

But Mentha remains stubborn. "Go ahead, tell the Swifts how they are going to have to lose their inn, and tell all the farmers how they are going to have to leave their crops behind. Let's see who do they choose to follow then."Her badger companion starts to growl under the table.

"...May I ask what's this plan with the kobold?" Escobert interjects before the discussion gets any more heated. "I think there's some details you all have not fully told us yet. Speak up."

Nurm remains silent and carefully listens as the conversation unfolds. Mentha's unwillingness to leave surprises him. The town is nothing without its inhabitants and the inhabitants would be foolish to try to defend against an enemy they know nothing about.

When he thinks the time is right, he joins the conversation. Trying to show no emotion in his voice, using a calm yet authoritative voice, like when teacher addesses his pupils.

To answer some of your questions. I want to release one of the kobolds. He believes that I am a champion of Tiamat and I want to use this deception to use him as my spy in their camp. If you think that he might be used to deliver some false information, feel free to share them with me. As for the other kobold, he should face your justice, but it would be wise to keep him under watch. As for the captured cultists, unlike the kobolds, they know things and it may be dangerous to release them.

As for the cultists, the lizard made me know that they have a hatchery in the Greenfields. A half dragon named Langdedrosa Cyanwrath is waiting there. The cultist are awaiting the arrival of some eggs and verifying a validity of the map. When this is done, they plan to attack the town in the name of Tiamat.

Their attack won't be merciful. They will not fight to gain the town, but to kill as many people as possible. The more they kill the more successful the attack. Tell me Mentha, how many townsfolk deaths will it take for the defense to be considered success? Ten? Twenty? Fifty?

To Petmailer:

"...Greenest is my family's legacy." Mentha answers. "I'm supposed to just run without even trying to defend it first?"

"In this case, yes." Leosin answers. "The Cult is no joke. People would die, Mentha. Would you be able to live with that?"

She doesn't answers that.

"Funny that you care so much for the town when you are never around, never doing anything useful" Escobert says. She glares at him and is about to answer when the innkeeper's wife arrives to serve something to every person at the table: Large bowls of venison pot roast, containing carrots, potatoes, mushrooms and corn besides the elk meat. She smiles sweetly at Harmony, and turns to Petmailer to ask "Is there anything you want, sir?" before leaving.

"Behold! I hunted that elk myself, so if you don't think that's useful you don't deserve to eat it." She boasts, before she turns to the group. "Consider it a gift. You're all welcome."

"...Anyways." Nighthill resumes. "I think that after that, everyone agrees that evacuating is the safest option, yes?"

Mentha shurgs and starts to eat, trying to pretend that her outburst never happened, while Leosin repeats the information he already gave all of you about the closest places they could evacuate to.

"I understand that Berdusk is your hometown and you trust it, but I like Iriaebor better." Nighthill decides. "If we travel there, we can easily travel from there to Elturiel. Even if the Cult chases after us, there would be no way for them to hurt us there."

"If that's your choice." Leosin agrees. "We'll need to think of the best way to break the news to the town. They might panic."

Petmailer looks down and then speaks, "Mentha, I admire your bravery, but I have to agree with Governor Nighthill.  The people of this town are the most valuable, more than any building or homestead.  "Home" is where they are, otherwise.... you have nothing."  He looks down and finishes his drink as well.  He turns to Escobert "I do like your idea of an escape hatch, in case they attack before we expect it.  Where is this tunnel that you speak of?  Do you know where it leads?"

Petmailer describes the directions to the cultist camp as Ignar had reported.  "Do you know of this location, how far away is it?  Should we do some scouting to find out their plans?  It is nighttime, and I do my best work in the dark."  He gives a little wink at this line and tries to lighten the mood.  😉

Petmailer says “Thank you for the elk Mentha, this looks delicious!  I want you to feel comfortable with this decision, horrible as it is.  There are no good choices here, but there can be some disastrous ones.  From what we heard, we must plan for the worst, we were told in no uncertain terms that we would all be killed by Dragon fire and that this town and all who are in it would be wiped off the map.  We simply don’t have the defenses needed against them, and brave as you are, we cannot stand up to dragon fire.”  He points and dims his voice so that others in the room cannot hear, and stands up quickly and walks with the innkeepers wife and says “ I would love some kings ale if you have some.” and ushers her away from the table, aware of what she is hearing, then sits back down.

Kane finally speaks. “I agree with the Governor and Petmailer. You cannot rebuild lives. As for which town to evacuate to, I am undecided. Both have their pros and cons. However, I will agree to whatever the group chooses.”

"These people are not warriors. It's not fair to ask them to fight. Mentha, or Red, or anyone else who knows what they're doing and can handle themselves are welcome to join us. But the rest shouldn't have to risk their lives." Harmony's tone is sympathetic. She understands where Mentha's coming from - even if she isn't around much, she feels pride and ownership towards the town - but the untrained civilians living here would be mowed down in an instant. "People need to be prepared to leave as soon as possible, so going door-to-door might be the fastest way to get word out. If we do that, we should go in pairs. One person from around here in each group. A friendly face telling you that you need to evacuate might come off a bit better than a stranger."

A quiet smirk graces Gunra's visage.  His allies were showing their wisdom, recommending evacuation instead of suicide by cult.  They had also explained the logic fairly well, too.

"If you agree to evacuate, I will help.  But if you keep these fish in the barrel, you cannot expect us to die with you.  I would like to see this escape route as well, make sure it is secure."

"The tunnel can be entered through the sally port located at the Keep, and there's also a door to it hidden near the stream." Escobert explains. "The tunnel ends a few yards away from Greenest, to where it has an exit with a locked door. I have the keys."

"I should mention that the tunnel has never been used. It had never been necessary, so..." Nighthill notes.

"When looking for Milo, we searched there as well." Escobert corrects him. "There was nothing there but rats, but the tunnel was just fine."

Finishing her meal and setting the now empty bowl aside, Mentha speaks up. "If we are doing this, yes we'll need to tell everyone before morning, but I suggest you leave that to us. Eat well and rest for the night, for tomorrow we will ask for your help again on all of this."

There's a brief moment of silence as Petmailer's order arrives, with Nighthill speaking again after the woman leaves.

"That being said, it would be a good idea if it was you who gave the news to the Swifts, Harmony." Nighthill says to her, referring to the family running the inn. "They seem to trust you a lot. Also..."

He puts 5 small sacks of coin over the table. Each contain 30 gold.

"One for each of you. Just a very small fraction of the gratitute I feel for the work you've been doing, and it won't be the last." He explains with a smile.

Kane sees the gold bag and quickly grabs one. “Your graciousness is unending, Mr. Nighthill.” He takes the bag and asks for a room to spend the night before the evacuation. 

Petmailer grabs his bag of coin and similarly says "Thank you, sir.  Fair pay for a hard day of work.  I fear that we have only seen the beginning of this however.  Governor Nighthill, is there anyone in town who specializes in the crafting of weapons or armor?  I wish to be as prepared as possible."  He turns to Escobert and says "Stay nearby with those keys, I hope we don't have to use your escape tunnel, but we need to have that option available."  He stocks away a couple of ears of corn in his bag, never one to turn away food, and a "prepper" for the worst.