To Waterdeep; Week 3. -Two women, a boy, and a fool.

The merchants and I worked out a better deal for everyone. I am being paid 16 gold per tenday, up from 12 per tenday, and I now have control of a contingent of guards of mostly questionable morale and skill. Technically, I am taking less money from the silk merchant who now has no wares, but I am also being paid by the armorsmith. Lowered wage aside, I need to find a way to help the silk merchant a bit more. We've made small-talk about his wares before, but I need to know if he can craft his silk from the raw materials.
 
I can probably find a source of raw silk on the way up. If we can get some raw materials he may be able to at least make something to sell. Being friends with a silk merchant is a boon that is very much welcome. Ill get a chair and spinning wheel from the woodcrafters and clear an area in the cart if I have to. Nyerheart is holding it together for now, but I am not sure how long he can keep it together without a way to rally.
 
Tonight, we met a pair of suspicious ladies on the road. Two women, 3 carts. I was suspicious to begin with, but did not know what they were.
I noticed Benjamin speaking with one of them and was going to ask him about what she said, but the other accosted me first. She was too friendly. Wanted to know too much about me. After conferring with my compatriots, it reminded me of what I had read of a Doppelganger and the little one confirmed she didn't smell like anyone in the caravan.
 
Had they not vanished with someone from the caravan, I do not think I would have encouraged the others to do something. What I know of Doppelgangers is they aren't necessarily evil; they are not quite demons clawing their way to our plane from the depths of the 9 hells. Misunderstood, maybe. Treated with nothing but distrust and derision when they are found out, certainly. It begs the question: Were the ones talked about in fables always malicious or had to become that way due to circumstances and the need for survival?
 
Even we were suspicious of them and unsure of what to do. Eventually, we caught them with an unconscious drunkard and saved him. To their credit, they did not kill or tear him apart. In fact... We don't even know if they knocked him unconscious. Not for sure. I will have to speak with Larian about the other night when I can.
 
Godfrey immediately set his mind to having them killed. Godfrey made his opinion very well known and walked off, as he is commonly doing lately. There was some agreement with the group, but at the very least Deigon and I stayed that decision. There was some tension with Benjamin; who lingered. In the end, We left them unconscious by a tree with some bandages.
 
It's unfortunate. In all technicality, we could have used the help of a doppelganger to read the surface thoughts of the guards at the other carts, pinpointed the ones that needed watching and planned from there.
 
(The rest of the journal segues into strange lettering.)