Rieka is going to meet back up with Thalinel and Xo. 

"Right," she says, a little tired. "Any luck with getting past that wall? I figured the cat might be behind it, and even if it isn't, whoever or whatever made that scream could use some help."

"Alright then," Xo responds to Thalanil, simply. He spots Rieka approaching them, sighs, and says to himself, "Speak of the devil." Unsure whether he or the Elf should answer Rieka first, Xo waits a moment before deciding that being respectfully patient is a little stupid at the moment. "No, I do not think we have much. This wall appears to be no more than, well, a wall. We can not lend a hand like this." Xo looks as if he has more to say, but shuts his mouth, hoping he did not already say something idiotic.

Rieka blushes, feeling idiotic herself. Of course it's just a wall. The entrance to the room behind it is probably connected to another part of the tavern. I'm such an idiot. Shaking her head a little to clear her thoughts, she approaches the bartender. 

"Hi. Sorry to bother you, but I've been hired by the rightful queen to help out with the interrogation going on in that room over there," She states, taking a gamble as she gestures to the wall that the scream came from. "S'pose you could show me in?"

Deception: 10

Persuasion: 12

Underneath the counter, Rieka is going to place her hands on her shield as it softly glows with white light. Blessed are those who seek first redemption and peace, she whispers in her mind, an unspoken prayer to Selune. 

(I'm invoking my channel divinity - Emissary of peace, which gives me a plus five to persuasion checks, as can be seen in the above roll)

Akyan stands outside, pondering what his next move should be. He knew the tressym was in the area, but he isn't sure if the Tabaxi will cause any trouble for him. Shrugging, he tries to walk past the Tabaxi while he is distracted by Malikily.

Stealth: 9

The Tabaxi does not seem to care that Akyan passed him. However, he does keep an eye on Malikaly at all times. When Akyan enters, he sees Aggro'gosh lying on the floor dead, his head clean on the floor.

Akyan stops and looks at the dead body, then he looks around the room. Is everyone else in the tavern acting like this is normal?

But of course. You can now see the blood spatters you missed the first time, and the bartender has an immaculate crossbow and twin blades hanging on the wall behind him. On of them is dripping in blood.

When did this happen?? Sheerow thinks to herself. I leave for a few minutes... She flies up to the ceiling as quietly as she can, and surveys the room to see if anything else has happened. If nothing seems suspicious, she'll fly over to the back of the bar (hopefully stealthily enough to not get caught by the bartender) and looks around for anything of interest.

If everyone is acting like it is normal, Akyan will shug and walk back over to the bar. "Looks like someone spoke to much," Akyan thinks to himself, "This could cause problems." He sits down on one of the bar stools, "Give me something strong." He flicks some coins onto the counter. As he does this, he creates a new link with Reika and Sheerow, "Hey, we may have a problem, looks like the barkeep killed your orc friend."

"Looks like it. I'm scouting around, trying to find anyone or anything suspicious. I'm also gonna look behind the bar, maybe the tressym's there. If not, then maybe a clue as to why or how this guy... died. I'm trying to be as careful as possible so I don't get caught and end up getting deadheaded, but if you see that the barkeep senses something's amiss could you guys distract them for me?"

"Alright, Just stay safe. It looks like the barkeep killed him with those swords hanging on the wall. My guess is that he said to much. Might not be a good idea for Reika to come back in here, just yet."

The only strange thing that Sheerow finds is a strangely immaculate wine bottle that’s different from the label on it.

"Interesting... I think I found something. A wine bottle. I don't want to bartender see me pick it up, you think you could cover that, Akayan?" Sheerow tries to stay perfectly still next to the bottle, but is trying to surpress the strangest urge to flex her wings, lest she be caught.

(??? Rieka was speaking to the barkeeper directly. Did this happen while she was talking to Malikily? Also I'm waiting on the results of my persuasion/deception check)

The smell of the dead Orc catches Xo's attention. He is surprised that the dude who they had talked to just minutes ago had lost his life. Noticing the large amount of blood he spilled, Xo immediately takes a napkin and wipes away any blood that may have gotten on him. He then continues to stare at the Orc's cut flesh, wondering what could have happened to him; he does not spot the barkeeper's bloody blade.

Rieka, you noticed a slight flicker in his appearance at one point, but didn’t think too much of it. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but you’re not on the docket. I cannot let you in there.”

Malikily looks at the dead orc, then looks around the bar. He shrugs and walks to a table where we pulls his hood over his face and watches the others.

"I can try," Akyan replies, "I did just order a drink, perhaps wait until he brings it to me... Let me know if he give me anything from that bottle. If he does, I don't think I'll want to drink it."

When Rieka hears Akyan's alert, she turns to view Aggro'gosh and fights to keep her expression neutral. Selune take you, she thinks, a pang of sympathy for the orc piercing her heart. Your death was probably my fault.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she tries the bartender again, this time with renewed caution. "Surely you understand that the rightful queen would not approve of you wasting my time." 

Persuasion: 24

“No one knows what the Rightful Queen would want, other than what is right for the world.” He slides a drink down to Akyan, but not from the ornate bottle.