A few notices have been posted around town on the community boards, but word-of-mouth on the street is usually faster and more reliable.

A Dwarven merchant is looking for someone to escort supplies to the nearby town of Phandalin to make sure they actually get there.

The trail isn't that dangerous, really, but there have been several rumors of goblin raids in the area recently, and he probably doesn't want to take any chances.

If interested, meet him at the Black Scarab Pub mid morning.


It isn't hard to find, as there is a giant black scarab carving fastened to the front of the door. It might give some folks pause, but apparently the regular local clientele are inured to it, and breeze in and out without paying it any attention. A few even seem to pat it on the head affectionately.

The building is a typical stick-construction two-story structure similar to most shops where the proprietor lives upstairs. It isn't very big as pubs go, but is suited to a local establishment. It's one of a dozen such shops all butted up against each other to form a 'block'. The pub is in the middle.

Although the street is reasonably busy at this time of day--there's two wagons being loaded across the street at the emporium--the pub itself is nearly empty.

The interior actually has some sort of decor, with ankhs and unrecognizable hieroglyphs carved into the walls and tables. Surprisingly, it's not dark inside and little black has been used, and that's on the padded bar stools.

At a table by the front window, two men are sitting. One is a Dwarf who looks like a merchant, and the other is a Human warrior (looks the part).

"Please, have a seat!" the Dwarf says as you each arrive. "Would you care for a drink or some food?"

"I am Gundren Rockseeker, and this is my associate Sildar Hallwinter. You've probably heard that I am looking for escorts to make sure my supplies reach Phandalin safely. One can never be too careful these days."

"I'm willing to pay each of you 10gp to take the supplies to Phandalin. It's a two-day trip there, and those are my wagons across the street. I don't expect them to be fully loaded until the end of the day, so departing first thing tomorrow is probably your best bet."

"Unfortunately, I have some business there that has to be dealt with as as soon as possible, so I'll be leaving just after lunch today."

"So, how say you? Is this something you would consider undertaking?"

A tall man enters the pub with his black, hooded cloak slung around his lithe body. To those who would pay attention, it would be possible to see his rapier beneath cloak. He scans the room for a minute before going to the dwarf and sits down after his invitation but refuses politely a drink.
"My name is Eldrond and here because I heard that you need someone for a job?" He takes a sip and listens.
"It sounds interesting, but what are the goods we are talking about? Is it anything dangerous or expensive?" He knew that goods like these could be dangerous and attract the wrong kind of attention.

An elf who's rather on the tall side for his kind walks through the door. Though robed you can his alabaster skin tinted with blue is plain to anyone as he doffs the hood of his cloak. He accepts the dwarf's off of food, listening to him talk. "It would be my pleasure to accompany your caravan Master Rockseeker. Neverwinter has become a trifle droll of late to me, and I wish to see more of the world." Thinking momentarily, the elf realized some common courtesy had been overlooked by himself. Offering his hand to both the dwarf and the human to shake, "Carric Nailo, at your service."

Morgrimm drops heavily into the seat next to Carric as the man speaks, calling for an ale from the innkeep. "Don't much care about seein' the world, just about not bein' broke." He accepts his mug of ale as it arrives, taking a deep pull before he turns to Gundren. "You expecting trouble? That ten gold include hazard, or d'we get the standard double pay if there's call t'get our hands dirty?"

Gundren answers Eldrond with a shrug before speaking.

"There's no great value to any of the cargo individually, but it is a good chunk of money in toto. It is the enterprise in which I am engaged that is important, so, in that sense, it is valuable for helping that enterprise along."

"There is one very valuable piece of cargo, you might say, but I am taking additional measures for... its safety."

A Dwarf then sits at the table and gladly takes an ale yet without introducing himself. He then asks about hazard pay.

"No, I'm not expecting trouble; I am merely being prudent. What's the point of spending all my money on supplies if they never get where they are needed?"

"There have been reports of goblin raids in the area, but I'm hoping that your numbers will discourage any such attempt on my wagons. I'm afraid the 10 gold includes hazard pay, but if you run into any trouble, I might see my way to adding a few coin to that when you reach Phandalin."

He looks at the newcomers and nods. "Greetings, I am Eldrond Griffin. It would be good to know to have such company with us, then for my part.." Here he turns to Gundren Rockseeker "..I will accept the terms. But you might want to tell us where exactly we should deliver the goods. Should something happen to our driver, gods forbid, then we would have no way of finishing the delivery." He takes his mug again and drinks before he continues "And I would prefer to finish the job."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:25, Sun 27 July 2014.

Maldor had heard the discussions of the trip to Phandelver. Was this the adventure that he had been waiting for? It sounded simple enough. Get your feet wet, as it were.

The tall half-orc moved his broom closer to the table where the gathering was taking place. Using a corn-stalk broom with an extended handle, Mal tried to seem inconspicuous. But the tavern worker was quite noticeable to any tavern patron who was not drunk.

His employer had been kind. Taking an amnesiac non-human in was very generous. Mal had to perform little labor for room and board. But there had to be more to life. Something out there.

Mal looked around the Black Scarab. It had been his home since he was found injured in the Tower District with little but the clothing that he still wore. He could always return to his job, right?

He leaned the broom against the wall. And with one final look, Mal exited.

A beautiful young woman with auburn hair walks into the pub, and quickly takes note of what is happening and walks over to the dwarf merchant. The one who was currently surrounded by an interest motley group of people, who presumably were interested in the job posting opportunity like she was.

"Oh? Did I hear there'd be trouble?" she said in a sultry, yet coy, purr as her intelligent eyes twinkled a bit mischievously.

"Sounds like my kind of job. just as long as I have an interesting story to tell at the end of the day. Things have been droll around here lately...so much I feel like I'm going to die if I don't get to see some excitement soon."

She then smiled reassuringly at the merchant.

"Not that sometimes no news is good news, of course. Especially with goblins and all."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Carric, Eldrond," Gundren says to those who introduced themselves. "I'm sure the same is true of you, Mister Dwarf and Miss."

"I'm still buying supplies, so it doesn't look as if the wagons will be ready to go before morning. Can I call on one or two of you to guard the wagons tonight?"