With the directions provided by Mirna, Lingo easily finds a hidden compartment beneath the storage shelves. it is untrapped and opens easily revealing a small wooden case. This too is untrapped and opens to reveal the gold necklace family heirloom set with a fine emerald pendant that Mirna told you about. Lingo guesses it to be worth about 200gp.
What to do? What to do? It's a nice SHINY necklace, very pretty! But the other know it's here. But now was not the time to be greedy. There will be other opportunities. He exits the structure, necklace in hand.
"She was right! Look what I found. It's an emerald necklace and emeralds are expensive. Very nice."
[[ I did ... not sure Bern paid any attention, though <weg> ]]
<Bern>
He scratched his head as he tried to recall ... then Ryssa's comment jogged his memory. "So", he said, looking at Lingo, "I guess you will be her hero when you give it back to her", he said with a grin.
"You are getting forgetful in your old age. It must be a human thing. This is for us to keep. We rescued her from the Redbrands who killed her husband. Remember? She offered this to us as a reward."
(Lingo keeps the necklace or agrees to give it back to Mirna, we'll let Neptune decide when he returns.)
With the necklace recovered, the party stands at a literal crossroads. To the south is the ruins of a smithy (#8) while to the north is the town square. There are buildings around the square, mostly ruined, although one in better shape (#11) is at the extreme NE of the town. Lingo noted one other fairly intact building in the SE of the town (#13) when he was in Mirna's Herbalist shop, but it was obscured by trees and he couldn't get a good look. The Dragon's Tower (#7) is on top of the hill to the NW.
The only other clue you had was a comment by one of the men who passed by last night that the "damned Twig Blights were mostly in the northern end of the village."
"OK ... so now that that is taken care of, do we have a plan for the cultists? We could split up and send one group that way", he said pointing east, "and the others would go that way", he said then pointing west. "That would let us come at them from two directions."
"Lingo, you and I should go is different groups so that each group has someone to 'scout'. Anyone else have a preference?"
(OOC - Just a clarification. You do not know they are cultists. You have never heard of cultists. You do not know what a cultist is or whether they are friend or foe. This was caused by some inadvertent Meta-gaming conversation. All you know is two men passed in the night, how they were dressed, and what they said (see earlier post #858173 in this thread)).
[[ sorry but ... if it walks like a cultist ... dresses like a cultist ... talks like a cultist ... it must be a cultist!!! I mean ... I have never 'seen' a 'bigot', but I am sure I would recognize one if I saw/hear one talking!! <chuckle> ]]
<Bern>
"I don't like the idea either. But it seems the best way for us to put them down. Unless you have a better plan."
"On the other hand, coming in as one group would allow them to attack us from multiple directions."
He was silent for a moment.
"Perhaps our 'scout' can do a bit of scouting to see if we can get some of that information on how many and how they are deployed", he said looking at Lingo. "It's dangerous, but probably less so that stalking a dragon. They apparently have keener senses than we do."
Lingo nods and heads off, quickly disappearing into the trees and bushes. After about 20 minutes you see him appear from the brush nearby, though you never heard him approach. He is whistling a catchy tune under his breath and spinning a rusty set of tongs around one finger.
"Isn't this neat? If I clean the rust off it I can use it to pick up stuff."
"Hmm? Oh, that. Well the Smithy is a crumbling ruin. I picked this up in the weeds outside. Peeked in the window and there's a few of those zombie things lying on the floor. Like the ones we fought before? Remember?"
"Anyway, I went over to the big building across from the smithy. The one that looks in better shape. It was locked up tight as a drum. Door was bolted and every window was shuttered and bolted closed. I'd have to break it open with my bare hands."
He flexes a halfling sized bicep.
"Didn't want to ruin your fun, Lumie, so I left it for you."
"Oh, I did listen for a while. I heard voices and movement from inside, but I couldn't make it out."
Her eyes widened at the information, but she did giggle a little at Lingo's bicep flexing. Putting a hand over her mouth, she looked at Bern and Luminmorn to see what kind of tactical move they'd recommend.
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