The group arrives in Freehaven. There's no wall around the city. There's a downpour. Nobody is on the streets. Where would they like to go?
The group probably has two goals right now. One goal is to gather information: who stole the Orb, what are their plans, what are their defenses? The other is to get some silver weapons so that the inevitable battles with werewolves will be survivable.
Start by offering the group three places they could visit:
there's the Summerblossom Embassy (scene 5a) where they can ask for tips from their ambassador
the Red Dragon Inn (scene 5b) is named after the insult the Federation ambassador delivered to the Dragon Empress fifty years ago. People there are probably not friendly to Empire citizens.
the Cloak And Dagger Inn (scene 5c) looks seedy; it might be a good place to make contact with criminals
If the group is trying to buy silver weapons, offer them Stonebeard's Smithy (scene 5d).
There's also Edward's hut (scene 5e), but the group is unlikely to find this unless someone has given the group directions.
If the group starts by searching for the center of the storm, it's probably best to tell them that the center is hard to find. A very good roll might let them skip directly to City Hall (scene 6c), but it would be poor tactics for them to attack City Hall without gathering information first, so it might be better not to give them that option.
If the group improvises something else to do, try hard to make it work. Broadly speaking, the goal here is for the group to interact with villagers to gather information and find some silver weapons. It's up to the group to tell you specifically what that looks like.
The group might want a long rest at some point during this adventure. If they want one long rest, they can take it safely so long as they haven't alerted anyone to their presence; if they take a second long rest, go to Scene 7 when they wake up.
Scene 5a: the Summerblossom Embassy
Although it's raining in Freehaven, the door to the Embassy is ajar, and a warm welcoming fire is burning. The Ambassador lives in the Embassy, and she's in the receiving room, waiting for the adventurers to arrive.
In fact, Ambassador Niodien is a werewolf. She was captured by the druids a year ago and infected with lycanthropy. She wears a silver necklace with a holy symbol of Malanel, which compels her to obey the druids' commands. The druids have ordered her to give them information about the Summerblossom Empire (including the Orb of Storms); they've ordered her to send any adventurers who come her way into an ambush at City Hall. They've also ordered her not to shift into werewolf form, not to talk about lycanthropy or about the ambush, and not to remove the necklace. The Ambassador would like to help the player characters, but she's compelled to obey orders.
When the player characters visit, Ambassador Niodien explains that there's a dire emergency: the druids have stolen the Orb of Storms! She has a plan for the group to get it back: they'll have to break in to City Hall, which is unguarded (a lie!), and retrieve it from Mayor Boris's desk.
The Ambassador is trying to signal the group that something is wrong. She might stutter, or she might place emphasis on strange words ("breaking into City Hall is definitely totally safe"). If the group asks questions which would lead to the Ambassador breaking the druids' orders, she might start to answer and then suddenly stop talking. The group might make perception checks to notice her silver necklace, or the rash that has developed where the silver touches her skin. They might steal and read the Embassy journal, or they might give her pen and paper and ask her to write answers to their questions.
If the group removes the Ambassador's necklace, she turns abruptly into a werewolf. The werewolf, sick of captivity and silver, tries to run off into the storm. If the group blocks her escape, the werewolf attacks them. Putting the necklace back on will reverse the transformation; if the group manages to subdue her without killing her, that also will reverse the transformation. If the group has magic that blocks mind control (protection from evil, perhaps?), that spell might allow the Ambassador to speak freely without turning into a werewolf.
If the Ambassador speaks freely, she tells the group about the silver altar of Malanel which lies in the basement of the temple of Ehlonna. Malanel is an evil goddess whose specialties include silver and mind control. The Ambassador tells the group that her necklace is tied to that altar, and asks them to destroy it. (Actually, the necklace is the only thing keeping the Ambassador from turning into a werewolf, so wrecking the altar that powers it wouldn't be great for her. She hasn't thought this through clearly.)
The Ambassador tells the group that she thinks the druids are planning an ambush if they try to enter City Hall where the Orb of Storms is stored. The druids will be using several mind-controlled werewolves in the ambush. Probably the werewolves will be waiting in the library. The Orb itself should be in the Mayor's office, in a trapdoor underneath a rug. (All of this is accurate.)
The Ambassador also asks the group to find her a cure for lycanthropy. The Temple of Corellon Larethian back in Cedar Valley should have someone who can cure this with a ritual. The problem is that the silver necklace compels the Ambassador to stay in the Embassy, and if she takes off the necklace, she'll turn into a werewolf. (Any of the Druid Council can also perform the ritual to remove lycanthropy, but persuading them to do so could be difficult since they're the ones who inflicted it on her.)
If the group asks where to find help, or where to find silver weapons, the Ambassador directs them to the alchemist Ivan. Ivan is pretty crazy, but if anyone knows where silver weapons can be found, it'll be him.
Scene 5b: the Red Dragon Inn
The group presumably has come here to gather information. This Inn is full of Greencloaks, who serve as guards in this town. The Greencloaks are not particularly good fighters; if they see something dangerous, their standard practice is generally to find a druid rather than deal with it themselves. But right now they're staying indoors, waiting until the storm blows over.
If the group is visibly elven, the Greencloaks are initially hostile. The Greencloaks offer a challenge: "This is the Red Dragon Inn, named after your Dragon Empress, who is a red dragon. A stupid, vicious, evil red dragon. What do you think of that?" This might escalate to a combat, which the Greencloaks would lose.
If the group gets past this obstacle, either by appeasing the guards or else by not appearing to be elves, then the Greencloaks happily relate the news, which is that the Druid Council is doing weather magic again and everyone wishes they would knock it off. Mayor Boris is holed up in City Hall, and Eric the Bear and his rabble are bothering customers at the library, and it's all way over their pay grade and nobody will tell them anything, so they're just going to stay inside tonight.
If the group brings up silver, the Greencloaks are adamant that silver isn't allowed in town, by order of the Druid Council, except some of Eric's rabble get an exception for some reason so they can wear his silver necklaces. The Greencloaks think it's kind of a stupid order but it's their job to enforce it. They might mention Stonebeard as the fellow who used to be a silversmith before the ban, or they might mention Edward, that raving lunatic, who sees conspiracies everywhere and thinks the silver ban is to protect the werewolves. Everyone knows there's no such thing as werewolves.
If the group asks about druids, the Greencloaks mention that the Temple of Ehlonna is the best place to contact them, except it's been "closed a lot recently".
On a very good persuasion roll, it might be possible to convince the Greencloaks that werewolves are real and they should mutiny against the druids. The Greencloaks are second-level fighters; they are embarrassingly ineffective against any real threat, but they might give the group what information they have.
If the conversation with the Greencloaks goes badly, the druid Sasha might intervene. Sasha is not on the Druid Council, and in fact she bears a grudge against Erik the Bear because he "stole" her lover. (The lover is one of Erik's mind-controlled werewolves now.) Sasha wants the group to kill Erik and get her lover back, and she's willing to trade help and information in exchange. Sasha does not know about the werewolves, but she can give the group directions to the Druid Council, or to Stonebeard's Smithy or Ivan's hut. She also can remove lycanthropy from an eligible target, twice per day.
Scene 5c: the Cloak and Dagger Inn
A player with the "criminal contacts" background might come here to get information from their criminal contact; other players might show up as well, hoping to gather information from thieves.
I usually avoid subtlety here: The Cloak And Dagger inn is a hive of scum and villainy. If the group wants information, they can get it here -- for a price.
If the group seems to be looking for someone to talk to, they run into "Sam the Honest", who introduces himself as a "purveyor of goods". Sam tries to learn as much as he can about the group -- who are they, where are they from, what do they want? He's also happy to share information, if the pay is right. He knows that the druids got a package last night which came from across the river, and that they're keeping it in City Hall. He knows that Eric the Bear seems to be staking out City Hall, and he's doing it very unsubtly by camping out at Freehaven Library. If the group asks for silver weapons, he offers to sell them for exorbitant prices, or he offers to introduce them to a silversmith for a smaller fee. (The silversmith is just Stonebeard, scene 5d.)
Sam knows the druids are doing something fishy at the Temple of Ehlonna, but he's not sure what. He also knows where each of the druids are tonight: Mayor Boris in City Hall, Eric the Bear in the library with his gang, Natasha Stormcaller in the Temple of Ehlonna.
The criminals of Freehaven are not mercenaries and will not help the group in combat, but they might be willing to arrange a diversion, perhaps to distract the werewolves from the library so the group can raid City Hall.
If the players get tired of being price-gouged, they also have the option to intimidate or start a fight here. This leads to a battle against a number of low-level rogues. After the group wins the battle, they could interrogate the rogues for free information, and they could get a very steep discount on those silver weapons they wanted.
The rogues do not go to the city guard -- not if they discover the group is from the Summerblossom Empire, and not even if the group attacks them. The rogues are criminals, after all.
Scene 5d: Stonebeard's Smithy
The dwarf Stonebeard is in his Smithy, but silver weapons are illegal and he's not willing to admit that he has any. Buying silver weapons from Stonebeard might require a difficult persuasion roll, or it might involve convincing him that werewolves are real and that the group will deal with them. If the group starts a fight, Stonebeard is a heavily armored dwarven warrior of roughly the same level as the group.
Stonebeard has sold twenty silver necklaces to the Druid Council but didn't think much of it really. He doesn't have much opinion about tallfolk politics.
If one of the rogues from the Cloak And Dagger Inn provides an introduction, Stonebeard might be more willing to sell a silver weapon or two, for a high markup.
Scene 5e: Ivan's Hut
Ivan is crazy. He believes the town is plagued by gremlins (it isn't), werewolves (it is), brain weevils (nope), elves (heh), druids (yes), the Lhurgoyf that slumbers beneath the town square (imaginary), and most recently a storm spirit which the druids captured and brought to City Hall (this is actually the Orb of Storms).
Most of Ivan's hut is taken up with a conspiracy theory board which connects all these conspiracies. He's also outlined plans for defeating each of them. Gremlins can be defeated by giving them socks. Werewolves can be defeated by an alchemical solution of mercury and bleach. Brain weevils can't get you if you wear a helmet. Elves are vulnerable to silver weapons. Druids can only be hurt by runic daggers. The Lhurgoyf will devour the town, but we just have to not wake it up. And the Storm Spirit can be killed by throwing it in a volcano! Storms are air and water, so earth and fire will be the counter -- it only stands to reason. (There are no volcanoes nearby.)
When the group first meets Ivan, he's trying to recruit them to capture the Storm Spirit. "Bring it back here," he says. "There are no natural volcanoes nearby, but I'll defeat it using the power of sympathetic magic! I've constructed this artificial volcano, using clay and vinegar and baking soda, and we'll put the Storm Spirit in there, which will allow us to defeat it permanently." Ivan offers the group a burlap sack to hold the Storm Spirit in. (The point of this conversation is to show that Ivan is actually, genuinely crazy.)
Ivan is happy to have an audience, and he's willing to go on at great length about all the supernatural predators in the town and how he's learned about them. If he notices any elves or druids in the group, he might attack them, or exhort the party to attack them using a pair of runed silver daggers he provides. Asking him for silver weapons "to fight werewolves" gets nowhere, because he patiently explains that they need to use bleach instead. Asking Ivan for silver weapons to fight elves leads to him applying alchemical silver to the group's weapons. His advice: "when you fight the elf swarm, try to keep them off your neck so they can't suck your blood! Look for the queen; when you kill her, the rest of them should shrivel right up." He also offers the group pair of socks and a runed dagger, in case they run into any of those gremlins or druids. (Obviously, socks and runed daggers have no special effect against gremlins, druids, or anyone else.)
(Ivan's silver treatment is inexpertly applied, and any weapons thus treated will lose their silver properties after a week. This should be acceptable for the group's purposes.)
Ivan might suggest that the best way to kill werewolves is for everyone to get together in the town square every morning and vote on who they think is a werewolf, and kill that person by hanging. He says he's tried to approach the druids about this but he couldn't get past the guards.