She shakes her head. "I don't know about the orcs but I know where you might get more information. And the orcs are not an immediate threat, are they? Look who's hiring you to hunt orcs; a snivellimg rot grub! And how far away are they?"
She comes out from behind the counter and for the first time you see her fully. She is thin and fit. Her arms are muscled and toned. She gets close to both the monk and tiefling and whispers. "The Redbrands are a real and immediate problem. I'm sure you've heard about the suspected murder of Thel Dendrar, the woodcarver, and the disapearance of his family. Cut the head of a snake and the snake dies, right? The outlaws call their leader Glasstaff. Take out their leader, bring me any correspondances you find in the leader's quarters and I'll pay you 100 gold pieces."
Now moving to the door she points down the street "It's easy to find the Redbrands. Those loudmouths loiter at the Sleeping Giant tap house. Go back to the Stonehill Inn and make a right up the street. The Sleeping Giant will be on your left several buildings down. There isn't anything that sleeps around there except maybe a redbrand that might be lying face down drunk in the street. There's always trouble there and the locals know to stay away. I've also heard that they have a base under Tesendar Manor which is further down that street on the edge of town. I doubt you can walk up to the front door, though."
"About your orc problem now. There's a goblin that seems to be a minion of the Redbrands. That might be how you find out about some of those other questions, like about orcs and things."
She walks back to her place behind the counter. As she passes Kallista, her hand brushes the tiefling's back softly and she glances back at Kallista with an aluring smile.
"Do come back with those papers. I look forward to seeing you again."
OOC: At this point all 3 groups are pretty much done with with their little side investigations. I'll give you a brief chance to follow up but I'll move things along by tomorrow.
The pairs return to the Stonehill Inn within a short while of each other. It is late morning now, nearly time for lunch.
Kriv and Karok were the first back having met with Sister Garaele at the Shrine of Luck. There they were asked to take on a mission to convince a banshee named Agatha to impart information about a spellbook. They were offered healing potions, and given one in advance, to undertake this assignment.
Chandan and Kallista visited the Miner's Exchange where they talked to Halia Thornton. She tried to convince the monk and the warlock to address the Redbrand problem before they do anything else. In her opinion, they were an imminent threat and she offered 100 gold pieces to take out their leader, Glastaff. She also indicated that there's a goblin minion in their employ that might be convinced to impart information that could ultimately lead to finding Grundren and his brothers.
Jaliera and Davroar are the last to return to the inn. They had met with the halfling Qelline Aderleaf and her young son Carp. Carp had discovered a tunnel in the woods that might be a secret way into the lair of the Redbrands. She also tells the group about a druid that has traveled to the ruins of the town of Thundertree. If they are looking for specific places in this area, he would likely know where they are.
As the six adventurers gather in the inn, there's a buzz around town. It seems that Harbin Wester, has been replaced as town master by Sildar Hallwinter, Gundren's companion that the team had rescued from the goblins a few days ago. Toblin Stonehill, the owner of the inn, approaches the group once they are all gathered. "That friend of yours left word for you to make your way over to the Townmaster Hall after you've had your lunch. I gathered that you've heard the news that he's trying to bring order back to Phandelin. We're all behind him."
Glances around the bar indicate that indeed, he had support of the patrons of this inn.
He has been pondering Halia's words and this news raises one of his wiry black eyebrows.
"Hmm. Very interesting. For this town, the orcs are not the immediate threat, it is the Redbrands. But the Redbrands are still armed men, and it may be that for all their villainy, it is they who keep the orcs at bay."
Chandan thinks on this further, and smiles.
"A happy thought! If we eradicate the Redbrands then maybe the orcs will come to us! Less walking!
"Good for Sildar! I must admit that I was worried that if we solve any of these problems, that things would just go back to their usual state as soon as others moved in."
She looks around the others.
"Seems we have a number of choices and a number of possibilities to get involved in or not. I too would vote for dealing with the Redbrands as they could do a lot of damage whilst we trek off to find the orcs.. and if they get to hear about us and have time to prepare, we might have a harder job dealing with them later."
He seemed quite pleased by the news as they sat down to lunch, particularly about the coup.
"Quite the impressive power play from Sildar there, I approve of the outcome. Hopefully he will treat the previous regime with the "respect" it deserves. I agree, Sildar as the first port of call. Not only is it possible his new position carries with it better information, but we may be able to claim his authority to act under, giving us a greater deal of impunity in our actions."
The bubbly barmaid is back on duty and she makes here way over to the table where the group is deciding their next step. In her hand is a basket of fresh baked buns and roll and a small tray of preserves, butters and other spreads.
"Hi there! Lunch is on the stove and will be ready in about a half hour. Would you want something to drink until then?"
Both shake their heads, beginning to look like twins at least in behaviour. Truth is that they had just had cookies and washed them down with water on the way back to the inn.
It seems they are more or less in agreement. Jaliera hopes they find the woodcutters family alive.
After a quick lunch the party heads over to the town master hall. Waiting for them there is Sildar who is in the process of trying to get the place organized. He has a clear look of frustration about him. He looks up from a stack of papers when you come in and says, "I was not made to pour over paperwork like this! Alas, you cannot save me this time."
He smiles at his own joke before turning serious, "I'm glad you stopped by. As is plain to see, I've <ahem> assumed a new role."
"It was by mutual agreement. At first he wasn't so sure about our arrangement, but I was quite convincing. It is evident that this job had become too dangerous for him. He'll be doing the important administrative work," Sildar says as he slides the large mound of scrolls and ledgers off to the side with his forearm.
"It seems he was more than eager to hand over the reigns, as long as he could keep his title and pay. We've agreed that he can tell everyone that he's hired me. At this moment, he's back in his house; several doors down."
Sildar is clearly satisfied with this new arrangement.
"As I was saying, I am glad you came by. You know that I've been looking for an acquaintance of mine. After questioning some of the locals here I've learned that Iarno Albrek was here, in town. He disappeared while exploring the area around Tresendar Manor about two months ago. It was just a few days after he arrived here. I suspect foul play is at foot here in Phandelin."
"That manor is rumoured to be a Redbrand HQ and we have just learned of a hidden tunnel these use to go in and out of the place. The woodcutter here was killed by them and subsequently his wife and child have disappeared too. It sounds like we may find answers there."
Davroar chips in.
"And over lunch we agreed that the Redbrands should be a priority over the orcs, sounds like we have even more reasons to try to sort out this problem first."
When he hears about the secret tunnel he says, "That's very interesting and it makes sense. So, I agree with your plan."
He paces for a moment and looks back at the group. "I'm stuck here for now. Can you investigate the manor and bring back Iarno - or what's left of him, if something killed him? You'll recognize him as a short, dark bearded human man in his mid-30's. If you do that, and take care of the Redbrand problem, I...the town can offer you a modest reward of 200 GP. The bounty for the orcs still stands."
"I always enjoy removing orc heads from the necks, but I agree they may come here before we finish, but yes they'll still be there. Sounds like the sooner we get back, the sooner we can get to them."
There was a gleam in his eyes as he spoke about killing orcs.
"Whilst I have reasons for prioritising the Orcs, a detour to this manor to extirpate the bandits for a reasonable fee is certainly acceptable. So be it: Our course is thus charted."
You leave the Townmaster Hall behind you, following the simple directions provided by Sildar, and trek down the street towards Tresander Manor, keeping his parting words in mind. "When you appproach the sleeping Giant, you won't be in a friendly neighborhood any more, so be cautious."
It did not come as a surprise when you find your way there blocked by three armed ruffians waiting for you. All of them are humans wearing grimy red cloaks, their hands on their weapons as they watch you approach.
One of the thugs spits on the ground, "Time for you to move on, strangers. Drop all of your stuff, and be on your way."
You leave the Townmaster Hall behind you, following the simple directions provided by Sildar, and trek down the street towards Tresander Manor, keeping his parting words in mind. "When you appproach the sleeping Giant, you won't be in a friendly neighborhood any more, so be cautious."
It did not come as a surprise when you find your way there blocked by three armed ruffians waiting for you. All of them are humans wearing grimy red cloaks, their hands on their weapons as they watch you approach.
One of the thugs spits on the ground, "Time for you to move on, strangers. Drop all of your stuff, and be on your way."
Bullies weren't quite in the same level as orcs, but they were way up on Karok's list of people who annoy the dwarf.
He stepped up to the lead man with shield in one hand warhammer in the other. There was nothing cheerful in his tone.
"Ye don't really believe that's going to happen do ye? I'll feel bad if I have to crack yer skull. I'll get over it quickly, but I will feel bad for a bit. Now move along before ye annoy me."
There was no smile on the dwarf's face and it was quite obvious he fully meant to do what he said.
The spokesman for the thugs says. Karok, having moved forward, now notices two men hiding behind a cart to his left. He doesn't see any others but that doesn't mean there aren't any here. Up about fifty feet ahead is the Sleeping Giant Inn, a reputed Redbrand hangout.
1) The building that the Redbrands are hiding behind is NOT the Sleeping Giant tavern. That's the next building seen on the north side of the road on the east end of this previous map:
2) If someone says "I am attacking, we stop and roll initiative. Why don't we just do that now. Just in case it comes to blows
†Restricted forums can only be accessed by DreamLyrics members of the age of 18 years or older. Access which is granted by the Behind Closed Doors Procedure. ™DreamLyrics Play-by-Post. DreamLyrics Play-by-Post does not own copyright on DreamLyrics texts or graphics, except trademarked DreamLyrics logos and logotypes. The works contained in DreamLyrics are copyrighted (automatically, under the Berne Convention) by the original authors and may be available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence. (See Copyrights for details.) Privacy Policy
