5 Within Phandalin

Continuing here.

As if he cannot help himself, Alex takes a silver shard from his coin pouch, dances it across his knuckles, spins it into the air a few times, before having it land with with a pleasant ring right in front of Toblen. One of each, mine host. he says with a large smile. Pulling a second silver out of his picket and spinning it on his thumbnail, he turns to Raven and asks, same for you lad, my treat?

Tatiana pays for two midday meals, and requests that one be delivered to Ammos upstairs. She heads to the booth formerly occupied by Gundren to await her lunch.

On the way, Tatiana looks to the scarred spellcaster. "Decklan. Please join me." Turning to Alex and Raven, she adds, "You two, as well. There is something we should discuss."

"Yeah... alright, sure thing." Decklan will fall in with the others and follow Tatiana. Once they get to where she leads them, he glances around then asks, "So, what's on your mind?"

A bit confused and thoughtful Trakomak returns to the Tavern planning to ask Toblen directions to Alderleaf farm (or house with blue doors if he happen to know where the wizard lived).

Raven watched the coin trick with a slight smile. He was getting ready to order himself, when Alex offered. One should never turn down a free meal, so Raven accepted with a quick a nod, "Yes, thank you. How long did it take you to learn to do that coin trick?"

When Tatiana asked them to follow her to the booth, he paused for a second wondering if he should wait for his meal. Deciding a waitress might bring it when it was ready, he followed the noble to the table she indicated.

Once seated, he waited expectantly for Tatiana to speak.

"With delivery of the supplies to Master Barthen complete and having obtained receipt of your compensation, your obligation to Master Rockseeker has been fulfilled," Tatiana says to those gathered at the booth. "I would like to discuss your future plans."

She continues, "Ammos and I will remain in Phandalin for a while longer. Ammos has promised to help Master Rockseeker beyond the initial delivery and I intend to help him keep that commitment. Even if Sister Garaele is able to remedy his affliction, Master Rockseeker obviously requires more assistance. Towards that end, there appear to be complications in town that might prove too much for us to handle on our own."

Tatiana glances to the door. "You've heard that there are hooligans flaunting their power openly in the streets. I believe they will continue to be a menace to Master Rockseeker's business until someone puts them in their place or drives them out of town. However," and here she looks at Decklan, "I doubt an open confrontation at their watering hole will lead to any improvement. Not without more information as to their organization and numbers."

She turns to Alex. "There is also the matter of the goblins along the Triboar Trail. If Master Rockseeker requires more supplies to be delivered, those caravans will be threatened with attack. The goblins must be destroyed and any goods that were taken must be recovered."

Tatiana's eyes find Raven. "Finally, there is the rumored dragon. Whatever caused the carnage on the road is large, capable of flight, and quite predatory. This is another threat, not just to continued trade, but to the town itself should that creature turn its eyes here."

She clasps her hands together upon the table. "If you have business that will take you away from Phandalin, I wish you safe travels. On behalf of Ammos and myself, you have my thanks." Tatiana unclasps her hands in a gesture to encompass those seated around her. "If, however, you would like to stay here and help us secure this town's prosperity, I can promise no regular pay except for any unclaimed bounty discovered during an operation.

"What do you all intend to do?"

"Go murder a bunch of thugs who prey on the common citizen," Decklan replies rather nonchalantly. "After finding out where their home base is, of course, to stomp them out at the source. Probably by joining their group. Why, what were you planning?"

Raven's ash grey eyes looked around the table at the others as Tatiana was speaking.

At Decklan's statement, "I was not planning that..."

The farmer was momentarily distracted as one of the tavern cats snuck up into the chair with him, giving him a meow. Raven scratches the cat's head and responds in a whispered voice to the cat, "Wait a minute, we are talking"

Glancing at Tatiana, "Sorry, I do not know why, but tavern cats are always hungry.

I have no plans and am not in a rush to leave. I would be happy to stay and help how I can. Especially if the healer needs anything to help heal Gundren."

"Then it's a good thing I wasn't speakin' f'r you, kid." Decklan shrugs, and reclines in his seat. As if planning violence was commonplace.

Tatiana nods, processing the answers. She looks at Alex and waits for his response.

Alex smiles at Raven's acceptance. "Master Toblen, one more of the same for my companion here" he called out. This time he pulled out not a silver shard, but ten copper nibs. "Lad, I promised you a show on our walk, didn't I", Alex said with a wide grin. He took five nibs in each hand—three between each of his non-thumb fingers and two clasped between thumb and index in both hands. Rolling his wrists, seemingly innocuously catching the light on the coins and having them glow with a warm luster, Alex started to toss the four clasped between thumb and index between his hands, setting up a simple cascade. "Well, Raven my friend, before I decided to hit the road in search of my fortune, I kept myself in drinking money by performing in various taverns. Many a laborer is willing to part with a copper or two for a smile or a thrill—and many coppers become silver. As Alex explains, he starts adding to the cascade—his intent to set up a veritable circle of warm firelit copper rotating within his hands.
Soon, all ten nibs were whirling in what seemed to be an unbroken circle of liquid copper between Alex's hands.

"As fun and exciting as this is, it pales in comparison to the riches one can make on Tymora's Path. Of course, the risk is greater as well, but isn't that true in all of life?" With a final flourish, Alex arranges that the coins fall neatly into his open palm in a well-behaved stack, which he gently placed in front of Toblen. "This is for my friend Raven's stew and ale, mine host." Turning to Raven, Alex said "I'm off to attend to her highness the dragoness; I'll see you when you receive your fare."

Alex takes his food to the table at which Tatiana and Decklan waited. Placing his food on the table, he takes a pocket handkerchief and wipes his brow. That could have gone very wrong, he thought. I haven't done a tenfold cascade in much too long.

Alex dug into his stew as Tatiana held court. When she had finished, Alex allowed the others to answer as he continued to devour his stew. Being close to death scant hours ago seemed to afford him a hearty appetite. Finally, though, it was his turn.

M'lady Tatiana, there is nothing pressing me to return. Rather, what is pressing is my need to further develop the resources necessary for my quest. Tymora's eyes shone brightly on our joint endeavors until now; I see reason to flee neither the beneficent gaze of Tyche's Fair-Tressed Daughter nor the steely-eyed gaze of the golden-tressed dragoness. A shame your brother does not share your locks; he would be lady-killer with golden curls" At this point, Alex realized that the ale may have been a mite stronger than he suspected, and promptly shut his mouth with the hint of a blush forming on his cheeks.

"I... see," says Tatiana, taking a moment to politely parse the many words. "Well, if you find it meaningful and worthwhile to join me... er, us, in this venture, you have my thanks. I welcome whatever support you can provide. We must still wait for Sister Garaele to determine Master Rockseeker's treatment, but in the meantime, I think the immediate threat is the one here in town."

She turns her attention back to Decklan. "I share your goal regarding those brigands, though I have reservations about the method. I suppose your infiltration of their ranks would supply us with the information we'd need to dismantle their operation, but what should we do if you are tasked with shaking down Master Rockseeker or any of the townsfolk in Phandalin? I should not want to jeopardize your safety, nor would I think of bending the knee to those hooligans."

Tatiana brings out her small book and places it on the table to her side. She thoughtfully taps her pen against her lower lip, then says, "No matter the method, it will be difficult to make any move without knowing more about these Redbrands. How many are there? Who leads them? Where do they sleep?" As she speaks, the questions are noted upon a blank page without her eyes even referring to the book.

"We know they frequent another tavern in town, called the Sleeping Giant. We know they've only recently become better organized, which may imply a change in leadership. The fact that the Townmaster fears retaliation implies previous cases of physical violence against those that have stood up to them. Perhaps the disappearance of the Lords Alliance representative was their doing; I should speak with Master Hallwinter about that." More notes are scratched quickly and loudly upon the pages, and Tatiana's penmanship devolves into barely legible scribbles more appropriate to an arcane script from a lost civilization rather than any courtly calligraphy.

Momentarily lost in her train of thought, Tatiana blinks and looks at her companions. "I apologize," she says, setting down her pen. "I did not think to first ask if any of you, aside from Decklan, were interested in stopping the Redbrands."

At this point is where Trakomak will reenter the tavern and a waitress brings all the orders to the table, except Alex’s who brought his own over with him.

"Enjoy." The food is placed quick and efficiently and she head off.

Raven thanked the waitress for the stew, starting to eat as the cat poked its head up over the table to look. He gave the cat a small piece of meat, meowing something back at the cat as he continued to eat his stew.

"I think village folks have to look out for each other, so I'm glad to help if I can with the red cloth guys. Although, I want to hear how Gundren is. If he needs anything, I think that would be first. Well, unless that dragon from the road shows up, that would change the order."

The farmer goes back to eating, occasionally handing bites to the cat.

Trakomak cry Toblen, one more ale please. approaching the bar And what's wrong with your town's master, did he fall off a tree recently?
He waves at the table with the party and plan to join them as soon as he get his mug and Toblen's opinion on the Harbin's sanity.

Toblen pours a mug and hands it over to Trakomak. "Townmaster Harben has been very good at guiding us in trade, construction planning, and crop rotation…" Toblen says firmly but then he winces, "he’s just not… forceful? He doesn’t want anyone getting hurt… especially himself."


The cat purrs at Ravens feet happy for scraps of meat.

Trakomak pause processing Toblen's message. It takes an effort for half orc mind to make sense, when finally with a an expression "of I got it"on his face he only say singe word "coward...".

Trakomak takes the mug and moves to the table, cheerfully crying a toast (ignoring any conversation that was going on there) To prosperity of Phandalin ! and drinks fair amount of his ale.