[18:00 Sunday, Spring 16th, Sunny, 18C]Over the course of the next two hours, as Freya occasionally flitted here and there like a butterfly, tending to her flower children, the guild was beginning to fill now that Freya was there, those who took advantage of the cheap rent who were returning to their rooms, found tables and demanded attention. They weren't accepting any orders however and the other adventurers were mostly eating their own stale bread and rations, and drinking wine from flasks.Ashley asks Cat to go grab Yulya again and once she's present, she explained how the course of the last week or so felt more like nine months: Interject where ever you see fit if you like.-on the way south you discovered a dead halfling and Ashley gave the approximate location
Freya notes it and promises to alert the roadmaster.-she describes how the goblins ambushed you on the Triboar trail and the condition of Gundren and Sildar's horses
Freya applauds your victory and her face falls when she realizes Gundren and Sildar were missing.-Ashley tells of the decision to continue to Phandalin to deliver the goods and lead the horses from danger.
Freya gives an understanding look and remarks she'd probably have done the same.-Ashley talks about Phandalin and the state of the town, she talks about snow and frost and how the plants and trees are dying from the cold temperatures.
Freya knows about the issue but there were as many rumors as facts, she asks more about it and Ashley lays out what you all know, it's a snow dragon. "How odd, dragons don't typically have that ability, a white dragon can breath frost breath, not change whole regions into it's own personal playground," she's perplexed by the ramifications, "if a dragon can do that, it would have to be a high level mage as well, no dragons typically don't bother with that sort of thing, a metallic dragon could easily do it, but a chromatic one, especially a white dragon, from what I know, wouldn't normally dream of such things. It's possible of course but very unusual."
-Ashley tells how you made the delivery
Freya tentatively congratulates you all.-Ashley describes the town and then the next day when you visited the shops, she then talks about Eldermath.

"Oh what an insufferable oaf! If I were there he would been the proud owner of a field charred sticks!"
Fire blazes in her eyes momentarily, "Calm down Freya..."
she says to herself. "Such is the life of an Adventurer, and I think you handled him well. Eldermath is well known in Neverwinter he used to supply us with cider until the Triboar trail became so treacherous. Though I've never met him, he is a well respected wizard of renown and therefore a very dangerous man. I'm not forgiving his behavior, but in case you didn'y know, when someone has that much mana and gets to such levels in the magic classes, ultimately and unavoidably they become eccentric, the mana has a transformative effect on psyche, and it can be mitigated but never fully; it's something all magic users must eventually come to terms with and a choice is made, either you don't attain your full potential or you go insane trying."
-Ashley then talks about how you then rushed off after the Rockseeker brothers.
-Ashley describes the robe, dagger and ID you found but says Summer of Leilon took custody of them.
Freya remarks, "It's Such a shame to hear of so much death, it wasn't like this until recently."
Her ears perk about a strange 10-year-old attendant with a quest but Ashley moves on to the chronological order of the story."I'll get to Summer, we didn't meet her at this point."-Ashley describes of a second ambush of the goblins.
Freya is impressed how you noticed them and turned it around on them.-Ashley gets into the ordeal of Cragmaw cave, how you made it to the goblin den before the Rockseeker brothers, narrowly avoided traps and about the huge standoff at the mouth of the Cragmaw cave.
-Ashley speaks of wave after wave of goblins, hobgoblins, a hobgoblin shaman, elite hobgoblins, the goblin bosses and how you rescued Cragmaw the dragon.
Freya is astonished how you survived the encounter mostly unscathed, she gives her condolences to Alice for being down and then lectures her briefly about booping dragons on the nose. "Even wyrmlings shouldn't be taken lightly!"
-Ashley explains how the Gundren brothers came and negotiated with the goblin boss to free Sildar.
Freya puts her hand over her chest, closes her eyes, and sighs, "Oh what a relief he was safe and well cared for."
-Ashley then explains the second quest and how you were instructed to clear the cave, but found civilians and goblin girls including children and elderly, she didn't leave out the traps, giant snakes, hoards of wolves, Yulya's huge explosion, and nearly being squished by the roof collapse.
Freya's white as a sheet as she hears everything and riveted by the tale. "Remarkable,"
she gasps wide eyed "and sparing the lives of those goblin civilians and children warms my heart. I'm very proud of you all."
-Ashley asks about a giant spider
Freya doesn't have any ideas.-Ashley then describes how there was a mostly intact shipment out of Leilon to Phandalin and how the trader hired an adventurer and he recruited a guard to investigate the goblins after you. She tells how they negotiated with the goblin women to allow them to stay in the cave with assurances that they'd stay away from banditry. Ashley admits that it'll likely end up like it was eventually.
Freya nods solemnly, "Sometimes a clear path to peace, if even temporary, is preferable to the evils of slaughtering an entire tribe with overwhelming force."
-Ashley describes how she negotiated for additional pay from Sildar and received it.
"I told him we didn't leave none alive, I told him what was in that cave." It was Ashley's turn to have a fiery stare. Freya applauds her natural negotiation talents and agrees that what they did was worth more and way above their level and how Sildar was wrong in giving that quest to level 2 adventurers and that she'd have a word with him next time she sees him.-Ashley explains how Sildar and the Rockseeker brothers are off to save Gundren.
Freya is relieved to hear Gundren will be rescued soon.-Ashley then described your dealings with Hobby and Harbin, and the side tasks you accepted.
-Ashley describes how Elmina Barthen wasn't too happy.
"I'm sure she'll get over it when you arrive with supplies for them at the regular rate, even if it's at a loss to you and I encourage you to do that. There's no greater soother of prickled nerves for a trader than a profitable trade."
Reminder: You owe Harbin some items.
Harbin Wants from Neverwinter:
3x vials of arsenic
3x vials of sulfuric acid
3x vials of nitric acid
3x vials of quicksilver
3x vials of hydrogen peroxide
3x vials of Ammonia
3x vials of cyanide
3x vials of hydrochloric acid
3x vials of Ammonium Nitrate
3x vials of Sodium Carbonate
3lbs of Lime
3lbs of activated carbon
Total cost would be 20 gold, he will pay you 24gold for them. Total weight would be 20lbs.
If you choose to do this, what you will buy from the Alchemist shop to make inventory manageable is "Harbin's Supplies, J, 20gp, 20lbs"
What Harbin wants from the mine if you can find it:
3lbs of copper ore
3lbs of silver ore
3lbs of gold ore
3lbs of mithril ore
3lbs each of any interesting other ores or rough gems
He will pay you 2 gold for any of the above items each for his testing. This is well above market price for raw ore.
Reminder: You owe Hobbie some supplies.
Tier 1 100lbs - Wholesale profit at 20% over 10gold
Tier 2 250lbs - Wholesale profit at 20% over 25gold
Tier 3 500lbs - Wholesale profit at 20% over 50goldReiterating: A simple 4 wheeled cart capable of carrying 2x the puller's total carrying capacity including the weight of the cart could be found at Neverwinter or commissioned by a cartwright. There would be a small risk someone could come along and steal it if you don't secure or hide it and it would draw extra attention from bandits. A cart capable of carrying 1000lbs that Cat could conceivably pull would be a remarkably low cost, 15-25gp. Based on her carry capacity, a 150lb cart could manage that and could be used for most travel between locations along roads and over relatively easy terrain, not suitable for overland travel in forests, swamps, mountainous terrain etc. without severely slowing you down unless she carried it. There is no cartwright at Phandalin and the small farmers only have full carts or wheelbarrows and likely not willing to sell. None of you are capable of repairing parts but you could buy spare parts and replace parts, it would be subject to a small risk of breaking on the rough roads, especially the Triboar trail but all of you together could unstick it from any rut. It would be roughly 3x5ft so not suitable to drag through caves or in all but the main shaft of mines. A full wagon like Gundren's without any supplies or spare parts would be between 35-100gp or more depending on extras, they do offer models of carriages with suspension meant for passengers but they have lower carry capacity, his was a converted war cart so it would be considerably more than 100gp, a horse would be between 50-100gp each, other beasts of burden vary in Neverwinter.-Ashley then went into detail about how the snow was piling up and you made it only a short distance before you found innocent travelers to harass- I mean bandits setting up an ambush.
"Oh drat, I was afraid of that, rumors of bandit activity in the area is increasing. Here we thought it was finally safe to travel the Triboar trail, it looks like that information was misguided. I'll let the trade guild know."
-Ashley describes the whistle and broaches on the bandits
"Hmm, they seem to be organized, and the broaches you described certain sound elvish, the whistle is curious as well."
"So now we come to Summer."-Ashley describes the perky, plucky, and intelligent little girl that seems to know a lot and narrowly avoid tragedy at every turn and what she expects them to do.
"She was just here, hey what was that you were talking to Liz about upstairs?"Freya rolls her eyes, "Oh that, well Liz had the crazy notion that this girl Summer was somehow masking her appearance and she saw something that made her think that Summer may actually be a polymorphed dragon in disguise, it's such a far fetched notion that I immediately dismissed it. For one, though I didn't meet her myself, apparently she's a known apprentice and attendant of Leilon royalty, and the first rule of royalty is you do not go accusing their attendants of being dragons in disguise."
Freya giggled to herself. "Second, why would a dragon need level 2 adventurers to take down a strange white dragon, and regarding that, even level 3 adventurers would be unbelievably outmatched by an adult dragon, even a white one! I would never allow such a quest!"
Freya eyes you all seriously. "I'm not discrediting her ability, she's probably carrying enough magic items to buy the guild outright, but magic items aren't everything! If you get the slightest hint that the battle isn't going your way, grab her and run. Be prepared with multiple escape paths, traps, strategies, contingencies, do not take this lightly or go rushing in."
Freya paces back and fourth distraught. "Maybe I can convince Brutus to help, there has to be someone here willing to go with you..."
She sighs as if arguing with herself, "It's so hard to see young adventurers take their first steps, the dangers of the lifestyle is just so disconcerting but I suppose every fledgling must leave the nest eventually and fend for themselves. Do what you must but please be careful. Oh I'll be worried sick."
She grabs Alice, squeezing her to her chest, "Oh you poor things, what shall we ever do if you don't come back safe?"
-Ashley describes how you were hunted by the bandits and how they recovered the whistle and brooches and only because Summer had a good idea about making an illusion that you were able to avoid a fierce battle.
Freya looks concerned yet again, she can barely stand hearing about these constant perils but she's ever eager to hear more.-Ashley describes how Summer has a half-sister Aasimar guard and their conversation.
Freya seems lost in thought, "what crazy coincidences. Why haven't I met this girl?"
-Ashely asks Freya about the dragonslayer title
"Oh of course it's coveted among adventurers and Brutus is the only currently active adventurer who has managed to attain one and that was only a few years ago at the end of the flight of dragons, that helped him achieve the Orichalcum rank. It wouldn't be enough to slay a wyrmling, it has to at least be a young adult or adult. If you did manage it, bringing evidence such as a few scales, a horn, pretty much any dragon parts would suffice, that item would be on display."
She motions to a display case where the full clawed hand of an adult red dragon gleams and glitters in the lamplight. Natural rays coming though upper windows dance off the delicate scales of each finger in a remarkably eerie but beautiful way, "We would then verify with the orb and special plates would be made for you. Why, you'd be famous and respected across the land by anyone who saw that plate. You likely wouldn't have to worry about bandits anymore, presuming they found out. So instead of your normal plate, so eloquently displayed from your ear there, it would have an embossed dragon on it, otherwise it would still be a steel or silver more likely as you'd undoubtedly qualify to level up from the encounter. Such a feat would likely warrant a request from one of the the princesses of Neverwinter for special compensation, it would certainly be a heroic act as well considering the circumstances and level of threat of the local region with all that snow."
Ashley's eyes glazed over when Freya mentioned compensation."Anyone here would be clamoring to join your group after that, not that you'd need them."
"Would it help me get a trade license?"Freya's smile faded, "Oh, well, maybe. If you asked the princess at your ceremony for sponsorship, she would be obliged to set up one of her nobles to help you but that relationship, cold and under pressure from royal decree, would likely be one-sided and not in your favor. Are you interested in a trade license? Of course you are, everyone would naturally want that but we generally discourage it as adventures tend to be taken advantage of."
"Summer offered me an independent trade license if we succeed."Freya raised an eyebrow, "Oh?"
She laughed, "not that she could herself but perhaps her master may, and if he honored that, well it's worth a fortune of course, the trade guild would have to open its doors to a... *ahem* commoner, no offense, and that would indeed take quite a hefty sum to convince them. However, you would absolutely be accepted and whether they had to grin through gritted teeth, they'd have to treat you like a baron at the very least and from there you'd have every opportunity to rightfully make a claim at nobility. Traders often aspire to be barons and many do make it, of course that's tempered by their sponsor and they're usually strung along for decades, but as an independent trader..."
her eyes flashed "well let's just say you'd be treated differently in any circle. I don't even know one adventurer who can claim that, and some adventurers are bonafide nobility, even capable of self-sponsoring, but they'd have to stomach making trades as well and that's part of the bargain. Why it's a perfect match for an adventuring lifestyle."
Freya's attitude had changed, her stance had lowered and she was speaking with less overt flare and more respect toward you all at the very notion of it.-Ashley then described how, perhaps there was a slight accident at the trade guild and one of her summons may have *gotten confused* and stung one of the staff at the guild.
Freya's sense of respect and honor around Ashley faded slightly, "Whatever shall I do with you four! If it comes up, let your best friend Freya smooth it over, otherwise, mention this to no one else."
Required interactions.
Yulya does not need to continue studying she now understands the basics of Toll of the Dead and will have it available upon leveling. Due to her strong peace alignment, she doesn't even have to cast it at this time, her first attempt will count toward her learning the spell.