Sir Rudneve continues to stay close to the evil wizard Kenny as they follow Kendes up the stairs, his hand on the hilt of his blade now.
Perception: 5

Kosef follows the others, listening as well: Perception 3

Mostly to the ringing in his ears, however.

Kosef and Evendur can hear an angry voice, but they struggle to make out the words. Kendes is able to make out some words. "Useless humans! That was a very educational book of spells! How could you misplace it? If it happens again I will throw you into the moat to feed the crocodiles." The voice then drops to indoor volume and Kendes can no longer hear the words clearly.

Sir Rudneve tenses as he hears the agitated voice, hoping it could be this Rezmir, hand on his blade, ready to jump into the fray.

Kendes beckons the others back down the stairs and relays what was said.  "Whoever is in there is a mage.  And not human," he concludes.

(Also, the voice has a lower pitch, suggesting a male speaker.)

"How likely is it that this is Rezmir? What is the best way to enter that room?" Kosef says. He looks over his shoulder as he finishes, watching for bullywugs or others from the castle. He flexes his fingers and twists them tightly around the handle of his sword.

Kosef cannot see any bullywugs coming. The entire group likely does notice several humanoids in dark clothes moving towards the staircase. One of them is standing in the open entrance to the upper floor, but looking back into the upper room and not down the stairs.

"Rather than dealing those folks moving toward the staircase, let's duck in the the room with the mage," Kosef whispers. "Probably fewer folks with the wizard. Only two voices."

(I don't think there is another room to duck into.  Reading through DM's descriptions I think...

• - We are on staircase heading up from a room full of beds.  
• - No door at the top, just an opening.
• - The robed figures (probably humans) were upstairs talking with an unseen figure (probably a mage).
• - Those figures are now coming toward the stairs, right at us.
• - The 'mage' is somewhere past them upstairs.

So we can either stay put, and those figures will bump into us on the stairs, or we can keep going upstairs and bump into them, or we can retreat, but the only way back is into the chapel so we may bump into them anyway.

At least, that is how I read all of this.  I don't think there is any room to duck into.)

Kenny sees no way out from encountering this group, but quickly waves the other back down the stairs, to wait for them to come down.  Once at the bottom, he says a quiet, "Let me talk, but be ready for anything..." as he waits for them to come down the stairs.  This way, he thinks, if deception fails, we can tackle this group before the mage can get involved.  

Then he settles in near the bottom of the stairs to wait for the robed figures to descend.

Sir Rudneve follows Kenny back down. As he recieves his new instructions he nods and puts on his grimmest face, ready to spring into action.

Kendes waits to the side of the stairs, hiding purposefully out of sight against the wall, but ready to strike if he needs to.

Stealth: 16

Three humans in the black uniform of the cult walk down the stairs in single file. They have scimitars in fancy leather scabbards decorated with dragons. They spot Kenny, Kosef, and Evendur but seem to miss Kendes. The one ahead of the other two, a pale-skinned woman with greying black hair looks surprised to see people, and says, "Who are you? You're not from around here." Behind her a tawny-skinned man with a ponytail and a scrawny bald half-elf reach for their scimitars.

Sir Rudneve keeps playing the part of the black hearted servant of the evil wizard Kenny, ready to assist his master.
(Help action given to Kenny on any social roll to avoid a fight.)

(Good reading, Kenny. Sorry I missed the details.)

Like Sir Rudneve, Kosef is ready to attack if need be, but he will wait to see how efforts to deceive the three humans go.

In response to the speaker's claim that we are not from around here, Kenny looks around at the dilapidated castle halls around them.  "No.  We are certainly not from around here," he says with an intentional note of disdain.  "We came north with the latest load of treasure.  The caravan had some issues along the way with outsiders trying to interfere, and Ivor sent me ahead to make certain the castle was not facing similar threats.  These men are my escort.  We will need accomodations."  He looks around again with vain contempt at the beds in this room.  "Surely you must have something more suitable in one of the towers...". 

Deception:  29

The guards look a little suspicious but, they seem to accept that Kenny and his entourage are who he says they are. The woman says, "We can find you proper quarters. If you were hoping to speak to Lord Borngrey, he is up these stairs in the library." The other two cultists head over to the sleeping area.

If they wish to head to their accommodations, she leads them back the way they came and across the courtyard (To the first tower on the right when they entered the courtyard the first time). She opens a door which leads to a smithy. The room is pleasantly warm, and six lizardfolk are assembled around a large forge. They do not seem to be doing much, and a collection of poorly made metal items have been stacked in a corner. The woman leads the group past the lizardfolk through a door at the back of the room, and into a room with some beds containing lizardfolk. She then leads them up some stairs into empty rooms where a few beds have been set up, but are not ready for usage. She says, "We were told to expect arrivals later. I'll have some lizardfolk prepare these rooms more. But you can rest here." She then heads back down the stairs, give the lizardfolk some orders, and they come upstairs and start making the beds.

After the initial comments from the cultists, Kenny is genuinely indecisive for a moment.  Should we confront the mage now?  Knowing the others are waiting on his lead, he makes a decision.  "Yes, let us see the rooms and clean the muck of the mire off ourselves.  I would not call upon Lord Borngrey reeking of toads and fetid water."

While the lizardfolk busy themselves, he gathers the others to speak (assuming there is someplace here with a reasonable amount of privacy or enough space from the lizardfolk that he would not expect his whispers to be overheard).  "I thought it wise for us to have a conference before we move on this Lord Borngrey.  With such a title, I suspect he is the one in charge here.  Its not likely I can maintain my lies in front of one who knows all the ins, outs and secret phrases of the upper echelon of the cult.  So I see two options... we go see him now and try to subdue him immediately and by surprise.  Perhaps we could then interrogate him.  Or... we try to continue the ruse and see if we can get him to divulge any secrets willingly, before he inevitably sees through me.  What do you all think?  In either case we should go back quickly, while we know where he is."

"We would need to find Rezmir, but I trust in your lead Kenny, I will be ready when the time for words are over." Evendur says grimly, looking to Kendes and Kosef for their opinion.

"I agree with you, Kenny," Kosef says. "Our disguises are not likely to withstand close attention. We should go now, surprise, subdue, and interrogate this Lord Borngrey." He plays with his bread thoughtfully. "How can we share any information we gather from him with the factions? Destroying Rezmir or Borngrey will hopefully weaken the cult significantly."