DM
The party returns to town, new prisoners in tow and freed prisoners following closely behind. People peer out of their windows or stop in their daily activities to stare at the strange procession. The family of the woodcarver alternate between smiling at those they see and casting their eyes downwards, perhaps in a bit of embarrassment at the attention.
As the party passes the Woodcarver's house the two women and the boy offer their thanks and rush into their home, eager for the relative safety of a familiar location.
By the time the party reaches the Townmaster's Hall they have quite a bit of a retinue. Small boys and adults follow behind at a respectful, if inquisitive distance and only stop when the party enters the building, heading to Sildar's office.
Entering the office it seems word has traveled quickly, as Sildar seems to know what and who you are bringing to him. His face is grim, but composed. He nods to you as you enter.
"My thanks." He offers to you. "Both for finding Iarno and stopping the Redbrand threat. I am ashamed to find out that a member of the Lord's Alliance, the very same Iarno who was sent here to establish law and order, was the leader of the threat."
He turns to two men to one side of the room and says, "Take the prisoners to the cells in the basement. I will make arrangements to have them transported to Neverwinter for trial."
It seems Sildar has not be idle while you were away and has begun to recruit locals into a constabulary of sorts.
Iarno opens his mouth in protest. "But Sildar! You now me! I had no choice. The Spider forced me into it!"
Sildar's mouth compresses to a thin line. "There is always a choice, Iarno. You took the coward's way out and people suffered because of it. You will stand trial for your crimes. Take him away." He orders the men.
Iarno and the Redbrand prisoners are shuffled off through a door to the cells below.
Turning back to you, Sildar reaches into a desk drawer and removes a sack of coins and hands it over. "200 gp, as promised." He says. "Have you leaned anything that might lead to finding Gundren or this Cragmaw Castle?"
Luminmorn
His toothed maw remains closed as he marched in and listens to Sildar's words. Others were more eloquent than he, and really they hadn't learned much.
<Bern>
He was a bit worried that some of the town's folk might decide on some 'immediate justice', but that didn't seem to materialize. He smiled and waved to the former prisoners split off for their home. As far as he was concerned, =that= was the best part of this whole thing. He just hoped that they would still be able to rescue Gundren soon too.
He was happy to let Sildar deal with their captives. "Nothing obvious yet, but we have not really had a chance to think on and discuss what we learned. Hopefully something will present itself."
Ryssa
An idea suddenly occurred to the cleric and she turned to Balthazar.
"Maybe while we had the mage under our control, you should have looked at his spellbook."
Any input from Balthazar or Lingo on next steps? Here is what you have:
Mission Offers & Rewards
1 - Sister Garaele - Asked you to go to the lair of a Banshee and ask her for information about a Spellbook belonging to a legendary mage named Bowgentle. She said the Banshee was vain and offered a Silver comb as a bribe for the Banshee. She offered 3 Potions of Healing as payment.
2 - Harbin Wester - Townmaster has asked you to take care of Orc Raiders near Wyvern Tor. He offered 100gp as a reward.
3 - Sildar Hallwinter - Asked you to find Cragmaw Castle, where Gundren was reportedly taken, and offered 500gp if you find it and defeat the inhabitants.
4 - Quelline Alderleaf - Told you about a Druid named Reidoth who knows all the wilderness areas nearby and might have clues to places you are looking for to find Gundren. He went to a ruined town called Thundertree. She gave you directions.
5 - Daran Edermath - He has heard someone is digging around in some ruins known as the 'Old Owl Well'. Several prospectors have reported being chased away from the area by undead. He asked you to visit the ruins, find out who is there and what they are up to. He knows the ruins are actually an old watchtower of an ancient magical empire known as 'Netheril' and he is worried there might be dangerous dormant magic there.
6 - Mirna's Heirloom - In return for your freeing she and her children she tells you about an Emerald Necklace in an abandoned alchemy shop in the town of Thundertree. The town was abandoned after it was overrun by undead.
7 - Halia Thornton - The leader of the Miner's Exchange in town asked you to explore the Redbrand lair under Tresendar Manor, eliminate the threat and the leader Glasstaff, and to bring back to her any correspondence you find there. She offered you 100gp if you succeeded.
Luminmorn
He considered where they might do the most good next. He suggested "We could travel to Thundertree investigate, deal with the undead, find the necklace, talk to the druid who might know of Cragmaw Castle. Does that seem interesting?" He was always interested in aiding life, destroying undead would do just that, and druids always helped life, in his experience.
[OOC: Thanks for the reminders, that helped bunches. I had forgotten over half.]
I'll stay out of the decision making process but everyone knows Lingo is in it for the gold and magic treasure.
<Bern>
"Our first priority =should= be to find and rescue Gundren. Since we have no idea where this 'castle' is, I say that the mission that has the best chance of getting us the location of the castle is the next step. While I agree that, if we did not have prior commitments, it might be a 'good deed' to take care of these 'undead'. But I don't see how they would be able to give us any useful information on our mission to find the castle and free Gundren. The Druid or the bansee seem a more likely source of useful information."
Luminmorn
"The druid was last seen heading towards Thundertree as well, which is why I suggested it. I too believe our first priority should be Gundren."
Balthazar
"The druid seems like a logical direction for our next pursuit." he agreed, nodding as he pondered what would come next.
OOC: I assume that if there was a spell book that Balthazar would have it as I did indicate that he had searched the lab and room for anything of interest to him.
Ryssa
She would like to help the priestess, but she agreed that finding and saving Gundren should be their first priority.
"I agree with going after the druid."
<Bern>
"Sounds like a consensus to me", he said with a smile. "Start in the morning", he asked.
Lingo
"Then it is decided! That means that we have the rest of the day to drink! To the tavern!"
<Bern>
He nodded enthusiastically to Lingo's tavern suggestion. "Sounds like a plan. Ready when you are", he said.
Luminmorn
He remembered the last time they went to a tavern and ran into the Redband ruffians. Hopefully this night woukd fair better. He could use a rest.
DMBefore leaving the Town Hall you ask Sildar about the Wizard's effects and he brings a sack containing what was found on him when the guards did a thorough search. Among some personal effects is a small bound tome.
Balthazar takes the book and opening it he sees it is indeed a spellbook and contains the following spells:
Cantips - Light, Mage Hand, Shocking Grasp
1st Level - Charm Person, Magic Missile
2nd Level - Hold Person, Misty Step(Note: It takes 2 hours and costs 50gp per spell per spell level to copy spells into your spellbook. Cantrips are effectively free. Balthazar also needs to attune himself to the staff Iarno carried so he can use it, which would take a short rest.)
The group returns to the Stonehill Inn to relax and have some drinks before deciding when to set out. Balthazar needs some time to take advantage of what was found on Irano.
Sitting down you find that your money is no good today. Drinks are brought by Elsa and she refuses your coin, saying only, "You have our thanks for saving Thel's wife and children."
Once the drinks are in hand, Lingo, who is always keeping track of potential monetary gains mentions that, "Hey, we shouldn't forget that Halia Thornton, that woman who ran the Miner's Exchange, promised us 100gp if we eliminated the Redbrand threat, including Glasstaff, and brought her his papers. We shouldn't leave money 'on the table'."
(OOC - I neglected to add that quest to the main thread. Added now. Also, new map attached, see below:)
<Bern>
He had put some coins for the drinks on the table and despite her protestations to the contrary, planned to leave them there when he left.
"I plan to leave some money on =this= table", he said with a wink. "But I don't mind collecting 'reward' from the Miner's Exchange."
[[ Oh, look ... =there's= Cragmaw! Problem solved <weg> ]]
[ooc: that's why I won't post that .jpg in my game
]
Luminmorn
"Good for keeping us on task." While money is not the reason he does most things, it does make some things easier.
"My only comment is that we do not know who is involved in the scheme. Passing the papers is like passing information to unknown parties. I am fine with it. Just pointing out that we know next to nothing."
(OOC - and it's gone, like a mirage .....
actually nothing wrong with posting the map, it's the DM who screwed up by rushing.)
(OOC - OK, from what I gether you planned to go to Halia Thornton to turn over Iarno's papers and collect the reward she offered. Next go to the town of Thundertree to look into Quests #4 & #6.
So, for now, I mostly need input from Balthazar regarding how long he wants to take to attune himself to his new staff and to copy the spells in Iarno's Spellbook into his own. Time/cost requirements to do all of it are:
13 hours of work @ a cost of 300gp)
Balthazar
After sharing a single drink, he bids himself leave and heads up to look over the staff and decide which spells he is going to transfer into his own book.
OOC: He will plan to copy as many as money and time allow
Lingo
The halfling was taking full advantage of Elsa's offer. It wasn't every day that free drinks were the prize of the day. He meant to get sloshed. Within the hour he was dancing on the tables.
(OOC - Ken - "He will plan to copy as many as money and time allow" - that is the question I need an answer to. Both of those depend on you, not me. Plus you may have some of them already and not need to copy those.)
As for the Staff, after an hour of study it reveals itself to be:
Staff of Defense
<Bern>
While he also plans to enjoy the 'down time', he has not intention of trying to match the little guy. He =does= do his best to encourage Lingo's efforts to entertain the place.
Ryssa
She sat back in her seat, drinking her ale and enjoying Lingo's performance, but her attention was elsewhere as she composed her mind for her evening's devotions.
It felt like a long time since she had slept and she looked forward to communing with her deity and recovering spells for the day to come.
(OOC - Waiting on answers from Ken)
OOC: He will definitely study the two cantrips - Mage Hand and Shocking grasp.
He had 124 gold when he started. Not sure how much he has earned since. He has all of the 1st level spells already. He will copy over Misty Step first so 4 hours and 100 gold. If he has the gold left, he might do Hold Person.
[[ if you come up short, Bern can contribute some coin if needed <g> ]]
(OOC - Someone was keeping track of it all who should know......? Someone? But I think you should have enough.)
DM
OK, I need to know if you want to do anything in town before you leave to take on the two Quests in Thundertree.
We will play out the discussion with Halia Thornton when she pays you the reward on the way out of town, but do you want to do anything else before you leave? Purchase anything (better armour, additional weapons, miscellaneous equipment, etc.)? Do you want to talk to anyone in particular?
Please let me know and then I will move you ahead.
(OOC - Ken - I edited Balthazar to show his AC when he casts Mage Armour. Since it lasts for 8 hours and is only 1 charge from the staff to cast I don't know why he wouldn't cast it every day.)
Lingo
"Whenever youz guys are... (burp)" says the inebriated halfling.
Luminmorn
"I imagine when we are all sober would be a good choice. I want to acquire some food staples, but I am ready other than that."
He had his new weapon, his old one, his javelins, and armor. He could hunt in the wild, what more could he want, other than getting out into the wild.
Ryssa
"I will need to buy an additional supply of arrows," the cleric spoke up, "and traveling rations."
<Bern>
"We can pick all that up on the way out of town", he said. It was pretty clear that he wanted to be away from here.
BTW, I was right originally regarding "Cragmaw" on the map. It said "Cragmaw Hideout". That was the Goblin lair you explored. You are looking for Cragmaw Castle, which was not on the map at all. So nothing improperly revealed