The Meeting at Deepnight

The Harper grins; despite his lowered hood, you can see that.
"You are in a unique position to take on and complete the mission I have for you. We have captured a merchant that was going to illegally purchase a red dragon egg." his voice now barely audible.

I need you to pose as the merchant and her hirelings, go to the buy site, make the transaction, and place a magical device on one of the sellers so that Harpers can track them back to their place of residence.
He points at Merana;
"Fortunately for us, you my lady resemble said merchant enough. The buyer hasn't seen our merchant, which should help you with your cover. We wouldn't send you by yourself, naturally; those two adventurers can pose as your assistant and bodyguard." he chimes, somewhat amused.

"These" he says, gesturing towards the big pouch on the table "are basically worthless. Good enough to pass a cursory inspection, but fake nonetheless."

He looks outside the window;
"Time is of essence, so here's the plan: you go to the meeting place and make the transaction; during the meeting, you need to place this tracking pin on the seller, so we can find their hideout. Killing the seller or incapacitating them is ill-advised, as our main goal is to get to their hideout. I'll make this worth your time; the Harpers are willing to generously compensate you for your effort - three hundred gold pieces divided amongst you - for those of you who choose to take up this mission, of course"

". . ."

The Harper , dumbfounded looks at Merana and points at Kashi ; "Is he always like that ?"
The Harper rubs his temple through his hood;
"Ok, you must be new around here. The Tea Kettle is all about being safe and discreet. Yes, I'm part of an organization, but that doesn't mean we travel all together like a band of minstrels nor do we like to draw any unnecessary attention. You must be a rookie. Take a moment to see where we're sitting in the hall and how we are seated; I can spare a moment. The Seller is not known to us, but we assume they're of the smuggling lot; they're not the supplier. The only thing we know about them is their race and sex. If the Seller is expecting a female elf, I don't expect them to sit around and make the exchange with a male Dragonborn "merchant". Our captive was known to us of having shady connections. When I verified it and the opportunity presented itself, I made my move and then came here."

He crosses his arms; "Any further questions? It's not like we're in a hurry and the meeting point is a roughly 20-minute walk from here or anything."

"I greatly appreciate your help. And so will the Harper's; we can be a powerful ally - or a dire enemy. By any means, don't take this as a threat - my patience has almost ran out trying to track these scum. Here, take these."

He hands you the pouch of "diamonds", the barely noticeable magical tracking pin and a small piece of parchment.

"Read that and throw it in the fireplace on your way out. I wish you the best of luck and may we see each other soon."

You can only assume that the Harper is raising an eyebrow underneath his hood;
"Anyplace would do, just make sure you don't get found out; the last thing we need is to end up tailing some stag deep in the forest instead."

As instructed, you take off for the northern outskirts of Phlan. You keep a brisk, yet non-alarming pace and soon enough, after twenty or so minutes, you spot the appointed meeting place - an old abandoned barn.

The barn itself is a simple, open structure, 30 feet wide and 80 feet long. A ladder at the end of the barn opposite the open doorway leads to a hay loft 10 feet above the barn floor. The loft is 40 feet long and the entire width of the barn, directly above the end of the barn opposite the door. There are some rusted farm implements leaning against the barn walls and a few burlap sacks in a heap by the wall near the ladder, opposite the main entrance.

Entering the barn, you see a fugly looking guy that matches the description the Harper gave you of the seller, accompanied by two goons, that you assume to be his bodyguards. He turns and smiles at his two goons;

"I told you they would come. A dragon egg is much too valuable to pass up."
The fuggler* turns back to you.
"Now, let’s do this quickly. Here is what you asked for."
He holds a very large hide backpack toward you.
"You throw the payment over to me, and we will leave the egg here. We will exit the barn, and then you can leave after five minutes have passed. No fuss, no muss."
He pauses and looks at you more closely. "Hold on. Something is not right here."

*Fuggler: a fugly smuggler.

"I'm quite positive that the elf I'm supposed to be meeting tonight is somewhat taller..."

The Seller and his goons appear to be more tense now. One of the goons taps the Seller on the shoulder and whispers something to him

"Right, right; they supposed to have a Dalelandian accent as well. Go ahead, speak up; I need to check something."

The Seller scoffs at you. "It's just a matter of standing up straight I tell ya. I'm above average I tell ya! Come 'ere! I'll prove it to ya." He takes a couple steps forward and turns around and straightens up as much as he can;
"Come on, let's get this out of the way. Then we do business." he says flustered, as if the matter of his posture and height seems to be irritating him.