Weather's cleared up a little, so I'll try to get this game moving now.
You have heard of some strange occurrences on the Sword Coast, in a small town known as Argalis. Supposedly, Argalis and a couple of neighboring towns were hit by gale force winds that seem to come out of nowhere, destroy a vast majority of the area, and then disappear as quickly as they had come. The latest storm has literally added insult to injury as there was very little property damage, but the fatality rate was extremely high. A call has been made for somebody to investigate this mysterious weather, and you brave heroes have answered that call, as you make your way to Argalis. You arrive to find that much of the town has indeed been destroyed, with only a small makeshift inn and a few spare houses remaining. You are told. It appears that the locals are moving out as quickly as they can, not even waiting to finish packing as they rush to get away before the next storm comes to town and finishes them off. There appear to be a select few who have refused to leave and are attempting to rebuild their shops. The most notable are a Dwarven blacksmith, the mayor, the local church (what's left of it anyway), an Elven druid, and a local vendor who is making quite a profit on his "rotective" trinkets, sad to ward off the dangers of the storm. You also notice there is a small ship at port that appears to have very little damage to it, and it doesn't look like it's been there very long.
Mayor: "greetings, hero! you are here about the weather, yes? Your timing couldn't be better, the entire town is pulling out, but I am not leaving until this mystery is solved. We are willing to compensate you in any way we can, but unfortunately the treasury of the town is at the bottom of the sea somewhere on the Sword Coast."
Blacksmith: "Aye, it looks bad, but I built my home underground years ago, and I ain't leavin' just cause of a little wind and rain! I still got my smithin' tools and furnace, and if mother nature wants me to leave, she'll have to kill me and pry these tools from my cold dead hands!"
"Yes it seems the rumors were true, it must have been quite a storm, I need you to give me all the information you can about these storms." Hey wouldn't they be freaked about my familiar.
The mayor does seem a little unnerved by the floating head with bat-wings, but he keeps his cool and calmly answers your question.
Mayor: "We really have no idea how these storms come to be, or why, but every day another one blows in and more property is lost, more people die, and even more people are leaving the area. We are desperate for aid, and any help you can render here would be most appreciated."
Blacksmith: "Ha! They never do learn, do they? the way I see it, it's a sign that somebody up there is pissed off, and somebody has some explainin' to do. Between you and me, I wouldn't be surprised if that tree-hugging elf over there has something to do with this."
"Racism has never solved anything. I will question the Elf later, but remember, our kinds are united against the *******s of Gruumsh. To weaken the Elves is to put our own kin at risk and I have sworn loyalty to our kind when I became a Defender."
Mayor: "they come from the ocean and they started a couple days ago. From what I've heard, the 2 other towns of McKinley and Port Burrow were hit 2 weeks ago and last week, respectively."
Blacksmith: "Bah! There hasn't been any Orc activity here in over 50 years, and if there were any Orcs here, I would be the first to know. That Elf, on the other hand, has only been here a couple weeks, and he is a Druid, who are known to be able to control the elements themselves. I ask you, how can we trust him when the source of our problem is the elements? There are some coincidences to consider here!"
