With no other suggestions offered the group decides to take the wagon along the main road and see what they can see of the town from closer up.
Riding and walking ahead, you see the first large building you come to with a red slate roof has a sign hanging out front with the name "Barthen's Provisions" on it.
His stride carried him alongside the wagon and while he was not tired his feet did hurt and he would be glad to get off of them for the night. He was more used to hunching over a book than walking miles along a dirt road.
"Perhaps one of those larger buildings in the main square ahead?"
Having decided to take care of the job you were hired for first, before looking around any further, you park the wagon outside the building marked "Barthen's Provisions". Across the road you can see smoke and heat from a very hot fire flowing up from a chimney of an "L" shaped building, that you recognize as being typical of a Smithy.
Hopping down (for those riding), you enter the large building. Immediately you can see it is indeed what it's sign proclaims, a Trading Post. The interior is filled with shelves and rows of tables filled with all sorts of mundane items. Rope, backpacks, bedrolls, trail rations, empty waterskins, and any other type of normal supplies you can imagine other than weapons or armour.
Behind a large counter running along the far wall is a lean, balding human male of middle age. As you enter he is just finishing saying something to two young men who look like clerks and pointing with his thumb towards a door that presumably leads to the back of the shop. The men nod their heads and hurry off thru the door.
As he turns back he notices you for the first time. "Welcome to Barthen's Provisions", he says with a smile. "I don't recall seeing you before. You must be new to town. Can I help you?"
He hops off the wagon and enters the large building and starts to look around. This place had a lot of things he could use - things he couldn't have afforded before, but now, with some gold in his purse, he has options.
When the man in charge greets the group, Lingo smiles at him to acknowledge him but then glances over to the others, indicating that he is not the spokesperson. Then, to be polite, he says "Nice place you got here. I'm just looking around for now. I'll let you know if I personally need any assistance."
While the last chapter was pretty much hack-n-slash, we shift gears here in town to gather information and roleplay. The module, from this point on, is not linear and I hope to live by that. This group may decide to go to one place after Phandalin and Neptune's group could be going elsewhere. That could be perilous if you end up skipping ahead but death has always been a crucial part of D&D.
Just a reminder that since you went up a level, you are entitled to change your PC if there's something you've learned isn't working for you. According to Adventurer League rules, the ONLY thing you must keep is your name. So, as an example, Lumimorn, the Dragonborn Paladin could now become a female elven sorcerer. Let me know if you decide to make any dramatic changes.
You can also decide to split up here but again, be cautious. There are dangers. If I seem to be gently nudging you in a direction it'll be because I think you're getting into a heap of trouble.
It's time to focus a bit on your associations with factions. Read up on them and take advantage of the opportunities to actually join the factions now. When we started the module these were intentions. Now it's time to develop the relationships that actually make that happen. It may pay to refresh your memory about these factions .
One additional 'limit' on character rebuilding. If you change your 'faction', you lose any 'perks' you have with that faction and potentially gain some 'emnity' with them. 'They' were a bit sketchy on that last bit at GenCon.
I would say that for this situation, nobody has really picked a faction yet (as the post said, it was an intention and and renown points were earned after the last encounter, simultaneous with this leveling up. I intend to be linient in the N-game.
Absolutely. You'd need to be recruited, and that really shouldn't happen before 1st level. So people can have leanings, but we can roleplay the recruitment.
Right, that is =not= in the D&D rules. But I wanted to be sure that folks knew about that 'special' caveat in case they ever want to play in the RPGA/GenCon/Adventurers League play in the future.
The man's eyebrow rises at Bern's comment. "Oh? Do I know you, or who is the sender?" He wipes his hands on his apron and comes out from behind the counter to approach.
As Bern was handling the introduction and initial meeting with the proprietor, other than murmuring something along the lines of "Blessings of Lathander to all," Ryssa just looked around the store to see what was available.
"Ah", he smiles. "Let's go take a look then. Are they outside?"
Just about then the two clerks come back in from the back. One moves behind the counter and the other comes over towards you as you look around. "Anything I can help you with?"
The man walks out of the shop with Bern and Balthazar while Lumimorn, Lingo, and Ryssa remain inside.
The man walks around the wagon, examining the crates. His eyebrow rises at the sight of the ones with the Blue Lion symbol on them.
He turns to Bern and Balthazar. "Yes. It looks like what Gundren and I agreed to. I can give you your payment inside. I am Elmar Barthen, by the way. I don't think I caught your names?" He holds out a hand.
He then points at the other crates. "You've got a bit more here though that doesn't belong to me. This other stuff has the sign of the Lionshield Coster on it. If you're looking for Linene's place just go on straight down the street, past the inn. She's across the street from the Townmaster's Hall. You can't miss it", he smiles, "big Blue Lion on the sign out front."
Inside the shop, Lumimorn and Lingo peruse the shelves. One of the clerks stays nearby in case they need any assistance.
The other clerk, near Ryssa, nods at her question. "The Shrine of Luck, yes. Just down the street. Right next to the Town Green. Sister Garaele watches over it."
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