Hercule nods. "Yes, we must be back in Waterdeep and we should tell him everything. I would rather face death than disappoint a client."

Rory shakes his head, "I can't go back without the crate and the mercenaries hired to guard it as well, don't you see how that looks? I would lose my head, and that's not a choice, I'm rather fond of it."

Finn nods in agreement, "It's the truth, it looks too shady, and what he says about Griskel is true, and Rory is the closest thing he has to a second in command. I definitely don't want him on MY bad side..... I've... heard bad things." Finn's thoughts seem to drift off and he gives an involuntary shudder at something.

Rory waves off the comments and steps forward, "All i know is two wagons came down The Long Road and one of them was forced off the road and smashed into a tree, the other eventually kept going towards Waterdeep, which is where we need to be going anyways."

With a glow of light, Admora's form slinks back into her human form. "If it is any use, I can send a message over long distance using a spell... to in inform Geskel. Though, I must admit, I am curious to what this crate holds. The Muse of the Moss sings, 'a curious mind flies high'."

Rose nods. "Admora's spell is probably our best bet, in my opinion. Returning without the crate would not be a good look."

“Agreed!” Pelaios says in a somewhat over theatrical voice. “We should continue.”

Dorbi looks over at the owlbear and thinks about how much she could get for the fur if she skinned it, she shakes her head. Time is of the essence and there’s no time for that now. Forbi smiles at Pelaios “Looks like we’re heading to Waterdeep”

Responding to Admora and Rose, Rory points back to The Long Road, "The spell does us no good, it would be the same as if you were to walk back to Griskel right now and tell him what happened by yourself. Do you think he is going to listen to someone he has never met? Besides, the crate is most likely on that other wagon and maybe even back in Waterdeep already. Griskel has spies in the city. I would rather we brought him the news of what happened rather than one of his informants."

Dorbi picks up an arrows that she can find while Forbi takes out one of his rations, feeling slightly better than he had that morning “Magic solves one hell of a lot of problems but it looks like we’re going to have to do this the old fashioned way” He tightens up the bindings for his handaxes and the two gnomes start to walk towards Waterdeep.

Hercule nods as his arrows are placed back in his quiver. "Waterdeep. The city is filthy, but it has its charms I suppose."

With a sigh, Admora her arm, "Very well. Put that way, I can only agree. We have a streak of good work so far, this cannot all go to nothing..."

Rose shrugged. "Well, at least it's a plan."

You head back out of the forest and get back on The Long Road, and after traveling for several hours you make it back into the city. Once into the North Ward you make your way through bustling streets to a medium size building named "The Magic Mouth" for... reasons. Passing through to the back, Rory knocks on one of the walls twice, then three times, then twice again and part of the wall slides open to reveal a roughly ten foot wide and tall stone passageway hollowed out in the rock leading off into the distance. As you pass along the way, you notice random square iron plates neatly fitted into openings that obviously go down, to the sewers most likely for hidden access in and out. 

This is a new thing to all of you, as anytime you had contracted for a job in the past, you would give word to a tavern keeper in various places you knew of around the city and Rory would come find you at some point. Leading you down the tunnel, you see doors off to the sides, some open and some closed, which look to be various sized bunk rooms for employees of the guild. As you round a corner, you find a large pair of double doors that are standing open, with wonderful smells coming from within. Looking in, you see a rather large feast hall with tables that could seat around ten people each, and over to the side, a large table laden with all manner of foods from fruits and roasted vegetables to wheels of cheese and large loaves of bread to roasted and smoked meats. 

Pointing at the table of food, Rory motions you into the feast hall. "Go get some real food that isn't going to make you sick this time. I'm going to have to report in with Griskel, but I'll be back shortly to join you and let you know what happens."

Rose, still snickering about the dirty joke she quietly made regarding 'The Magic Mouth', began loading up on meats, cheeses and fruits. She then procured a decently sized mug of Circe's Pleasure, a thick, heady ale that went well with her chosen feast. The ginger-haired paladin sat at one of the tables and began to eat with relish. "If nothing else, I'm glad that I don't have to worry about the negotiating." She said with a wry grin.

With manners Admora sits with a plate with a little bit of everything. A whisper of an Elvish prayer to Melora before large pull of amber coloured drink and tucking right in. "Isn't a part of you curious of the outcome?" A healthy forkful is gone in one bite.

Hercule shakes his head at the sight of the Magic Mouth before he sits down to eat some food. He casts Mage Hand to place the food on his plate so that they're not touching. He proceeds to cut his food into squares and then eat.

As you enter Waterdeep, Forbi and Dorbi move within the center of the group. Although they’ve been here many times before, the two gnomes are more comfortable in open plains and woodlands. Cities are an unknown quantity, too many hard to read people. 

Dorbi takes note of the secret knock on the walls at the back of ‘The Magic Mouth’ before making her way to the feast hall. 

Once inside, Forbi and Dorbi stay to one side and watch everyone else eat first before picking at a few bits of the food that’s been laid out for them.

Rose nods agreeably. "Oh, sure. It's nice to know what's going on, but I'm not really one for pointing fingers, recriminations and suchlike."

Rory comes back roughly twenty minutes later, taking a plate and piling up some of each dish presented on the large buffet table. He locates your party and makes his way over to your table, carefully placing his large plate down before taking a seat. His face might as well be a blank mask as to what might have happened in his meeting with Griskel as he begins to eat slowly, pondering on the thoughts in his head for a moment. After a few minutes of silence, he turns to you to speak.

"So the gist of it all is this.. when it comes down to it, we failed in our job. I know it sounds unfair given the circumstances, but we all took on the job and didn't complete it. I can tell Griskel was pissed, but he is willing to forgive the failure of this job. There is a cost though. Griskel apparently spent quite a bit of money on the contents of this crate and he wants his property back. We are now tasked with finding out where this wagon with the crate went, who took it, and to promptly take it back. He wants discretion on this, as any added eyes pointed at this crate will only potentially increase the number of people looking for it. There are plenty of criminals out there, and anyone knowing that there is something valuable out there for the taking will only increase their curiosity. Now there were two wagons with us, we know what happened to the first, and the second appeared to have traveled back to Waterdeep, so I'm betting the crate is in the city right now." 

Dorbi finds a seat and turns it around, sitting on it the wrong way around, so that the back rest is at her front, something to lean on as she thinks. She tries to think of any shady groups within the city that she may have had dealings with in the past, any peculiar groups that had bought odd creature parts or had been suspicious in their activity when dealing with the gnomes. 

History and Investigation both have the same modifiers: 5

Hercule crosses his arms and wonders which criminals in Waterdeep would buy creature parts.

History - 8