Setting Out

I have set out to find my place in the world. I joined some others for a simple caravan guard detail. We left the city of Fereen to deliver a small cargo to the town of Phandalen. Our delivery was from the bank of Westor to the Phandalen town master (one Harbin Westor). My fellow guards are, like me, setting out to make their marks upon the world. There is an elf named Tuath, a human named Blithe, and a human named Bill. The first two have obvious martial training. The third not so much. We bonded well enough on the trail. We had little difficulty finding the town master and making the delivery.
 
The trip itself was uneventful and the town we ended up in is quaint. We got rooms at the local inn. The inn master goes by the name of Toblin. With a little time to kill, we scoped out the town. There is a shrine to Tykee - Goddess of Luck and Good Fortune in the main square. There is a provision's shop (Barthan's), a branch of the Lyonshield Coster trading house (based in Fereen)(this location run by one Lynene Greywind), and a miner's exchange. Lynene Greywind spoke to us about orcs moving into the area and threatening the town. Tuath clearly does not like orcs.
 
As a bonus, this town has a number of tasks for which our group is possibly well suited. They should pay enough to keep us going and we can help the locals. There is rumor of a small white dragon in the area and it has the locals quite concerned.
 
Tasks on the job board include:
1. Warn the reclusive herbalist/midwife Attabruh Quinn about the white dragon and escort her back to town for her safety (25GP reward). Attabruh lives in a stone windmill. Head down the miner's trail and follow the signs. [As a group we opted to take on this task. We got a note from the town master (Harbin) to let he know we were on official town business. More on this below.]
2. Warn dwarven prospectors up in the mountains about the dragon (50gp). This is further away.
3. Visit Gnomengard. The rock gnomes are rumored to have tools to defeat the dragon. Mater Harbin Westor will pay 50 gp for any such tools we bring back.
 
We also picked up in conversation that there is a "Falcon Hunting Lodge" in Norwinter wood (a forest to the east and north). This lodge is the only safe place in its area.
 
in any case, we had a restful night and then headed out to see Attabrah Quinn. Finding her home was easy enough but there is a Manticore attacking the windmill.