Chapter 1: Meeting the Cuckold Moose

Xhava and Skeinkaldr lead the group onwards to Phandalin, fully stocked up on supplies. The Goliath held the two blood stained cloaks in his large hands, the dark red blood barely blended with the scarlet red of the cloaks. The dragonborn's whistling was enjoyable, it gave ambience to the otherwise quiet travels. A day flew by without trouble, it began and ended at te blink of an eye.

As the crisp morning dew sparkles in the warm sun, Gellbran stops the wagon at a crossroad. One path continued on east and the other headed south, labeled with a fairly new sign saying 'Phandalin'. The crossroad was pressed to a large escapement on its north side, trees lined its edges, casting shade onto the path.

The group of mercenaries continue onward to Phandalin, ignoring the crossroads. The wagon clunked over stones until the rutted track emerges from a wooded hillside, and you catch your first glimpse of Phandalin. The town consists of forty or fifty simple log buildings, some built on old fieldstone foundations. More old ruins- crumbling stone walls covered in ivy and briars-surround the newer houses and shops, showing how this must have been a much larger town in centuries past. Most of the newer buildings are set on the sides of the cart track, which widens into a muddy main street of sorts as it climbs toward a ruined manor house on a hillside at the east side of town.

As you approach, you see children playing on the town green and townsfolk tending to chores or running errands at shops. Many people look up and stare at the odd bunch. Their curious glances quickly fade back to their daily business, questionable patrons are common in this frontier town. They know to keep to themselves.

The tattooed Goliath and bronze Dragonborn stop for a moment at the town's center. Skeinkaldr's voice isn't discreet during the conversation, though no one seemed to hear over their own business. Before they could continue on the east path, an old beggar woman approaches the mercenaries from her spot beside the shrine not too far away.

"Excuse me, will your kindness spare a few coin for an old woman like me? I'm awfully hungry." her sentence seemed routine, besides actually looking rather hungry.

The lackluster appraiser, Skeinkaldr, can't place an accurate value on the necklace. However, he does notice the blood red ruby feels peculiar in his hand. The Goliath needs more time with the item to discern it's unknown details.