"I would like to tell you..." Tylaerys says with a warm smile. "...but then I would need to break the trust of both the sender of this message and your most esteemed guest, and none of us would want that I can assure you." She explains with her soft and gentle voice, her silvery eyes sincere and convincing.

Deception: 15

"I suppose that makes sense..." the bartender replies.  He still seems hesitant.  "Let me at least ask you this... does our guest know you?  Is there some... I don't know... passphrase or some such that will let him know you are legitimate friends of his?  I don't want to cause any trouble... for him or for the hotel, you see."

"I understand, but alas no, and we are admittedly not friends of your esteemed guest, merely deliverers of an important and urgent message that he will be grateful for having, also grateful to those who would assist in this message being delivered I would imagine, but I can assure the reason we are privy to him even being here is due to friendly relations." Tylaerys continues with a warm smile, but starting to realize Yeshil clearly had the right idea to just sneak past this man. "If you insist to not let us through I will simply have to inform the sender of the message it could simply not be delivered, don't worry about it, I'm sure he will not bother to find out who was responsible for it to not reach it's recipient."

The bartender purses his lips.  Then he goes back behind the bar and returns with a room key.  "Fourth floor.  Corner room."  Before you depart he adds, "Please don't make me regret this...".  The he returns behind the counter and pours another drink... downing it quickly himself.

Upstairs, Keshil listens at the door to suite 4.  She doesn't hear any voices from inside, but there is some background noise.  It sounds like the balcony doors are open, allowing some of the sound of the morning streets of Baldur's Gate to filter into the room.

Finn Perception: 7
Finn Perception: 13
Finn Perception: 19

Straight d20:  12

Misses Binklesworth Perception: 20
Misses Binklesworth Perception: 9 
Misses Binklesworth Perception: 19

(forum roller…  I suspect this will not go well.)

"Trust me, you won't, in fact you have done your city a great service, but no one can of course know he had visitors." The young blonde half-elf says with a warm reassuring smile, accepting the offered key, then swiftly and discreetly heading upstairs to Yeshil, presumably with Jararaka and Jirel in tow. "Anything?" She says quietly to the green-skinned girl, then showing her the key to suite 4. "Shall we let ourselves in to have oursleves some autographs?" She says quietly to the others with a playful smile.

Yeshil smiles at the suggestion of letting themselves in uninvited. She suggests that they could claim they thought the room was still theirs from last night. Yeshil also gives her opinion that Volo is currently alone.

(Sorry, dialog too hard to write on the phone)

Tylaerys gives Yeshil a nod and a sly smile at her sly suggestion, quietly turning the key to step inside their suite 4, ready to put on her most calming smile to put the celebrity to ease.

Stealth to hopefully get inside suite 4 before the inhabitant of the room freaks out: 6

Nevermind :-P

Tylaerys slips the key she was given into the lock and attempts to open the door.  Stubbornly, the key refuses to turn... it doesn't seem to be a proper fit.

In that moment, there is a pulse of energy from the lock.  Surrounding you, covering both hallway walls, and blocking you in on either side, material glowing blue bars of force.  You find yourselves inside a 5' x 25' magical cage running the length of the hallway.

At the far end, at the stairs, the bartender from the ground floor ascends, leaning against the wall, tired after his jog up.  "Terribly sorry about that, but I'm not expecting any guests.  This is my vacation..." he pauses, sucking in a breath, "... and I simply haven't the time or the inclination to go through some elaborate kidnapping ordeal."  He reaches along the side of his face and, as if removing a mask, he drops the illusion.  Standing before you is a human man of modest height and girth, with an elaborate beard and mustache combination, and a purple beret adorned with an owl feather.

He steps away from the wall and offers a slight bow.  "I have the esteemed privilege of introducing you to myself, Volothamp Geddarm.  Wizard, author, explorer, sage, and entertainer.  Known and beloved all the way from the Spine of the World, down to some of the nicer parts of the Underdark.  How do you do?"

"I would apologize more for the subterfuge but, under the circumstances, it appears to have been quite warranted.  Now, will you be explaining just who you are, how you came to know about my lodging arrangements, and what your intentions were towards my person?  Or shall I leave you to mellow here a little while before I fetch the Flaming Fist, hmmn?"

Despite being startled at the sudden appearance of the magic bars, Yeshil nonetheless can't help but smile at Volo's clever ruse. Pretending to look abashed, Yeshil hangs her head and raises her eyes to Ty, as though waiting for her to explain them out of this. She considers using a sneaky cantrip to pick the lock of the door behind her back, but realises that the cage would probably prevent her from entering the room, and besides, now might be the time for conversation after all.

The young blonde half-elf freezes in place as the magic starts, suddenly finding herself and her companions caught in some magical trap with glowing blue bars of force. As the man from downstairs comes up and reveals himself to be the famous Volo she can't help but laugh softly at how silly she must have seemed to him, but to her defense she could hardly have expected Mr. Geddarm to take the diguise of a barkeep all day in the event anyone would come and ask to see him. "My deepest and sincerest apologies Mr. Geddarm, I can assure you we have no intention of kidnapping you, we merely want your autograph, maybe even a signing of your latest release..." Tylaerys starts with a warm smile but then she turns into a slightly more serious tone. "...we are also in need of help Mr.Geddarm, your knowledge to help us oppose a threat to all of the Realms. I'm sure you will write the book on this eventually so why not get the first-hand details on what soon be known to all of Sword Coast." She continues, hoping to wet Volo's appetite for more details on this threat. "As for your other questions, I am Tylaerys Silverscale of Waterdeep and these are my companions and we found out you lived here by chance, or more likely as fate would have it, recognizing that it was you who hid behind the anagram in the ledger for the suite we happened to stay in just last night. I will be happy to answer any questions you have but maybe we should do take care of that away from any prying eyes and ears." She finally suggests with a warm smile.

Persuasion: 11

A growl escapes Jararaka's lips as their paths are cut off by the blue cage, and she has to remind herself to close her mouth. They are sneaking up to a room that's not theirs. She mumbles, "y'all didn't mention he's a famous wizard..." Before clearing her throat, and addressing Volo, following Tylaerys' example after the sorcerer explains how they recognised the anagram, "right, name's Jararaka. Our intentions were more with what you know, we could trade. And your autograph." She tentatively extended a claw to poke the bars, then suggests with a hint of defeat, "let's just head in? Corridor's not a great place for exclusive info."

With Finn having more or less insisted on going alone to keep things lowkey, Jirel found herself trailing along behind the others to see Volo.

(While reading through I considered having Jirel stand guard outside while Jararaka would be inside, and complete a perimeter check, but considering the development of the scene I'll leave it to the DMs discretion whether she's in the cage, or simply outside, oblivious to the whole scenario occurring inside.)

[Sorry for the long pause!]

Volo stands in the middle of the hall, arms crossed, unmoved for the moment.  At the mention of autographs, he does give a small smile.  "Ah, flattery.  A key which opens many of my locks,  but one to which I am attempting to be less susceptible.  I've been on a journey of self-improvement, you see.  This month: greater self-awareness.  Next month: cutting back on the wine.  Or perhaps the following month.  Or maybe after I get back from the north...".  He waves a hand, dismissing the thought for now.

" 'A threat to all the Realms'..." he says and rubs the bridge of his nose.  "Why not?  And what is it this time?  Is there to be a Drow invasion?  Has a kraken been released?  Is some fool cult trying to rouse Tharizdun again?"  He sighs.  "I have a book at the publishers.  Of course, there will be some disaster timed to disrupt distribution.  It is my lot, in life, that this life shall forever be lived in interesting times."

He shakes his head.  "I appreciate the desire to slip the bars, I really do.  I'm afraid, however, that I shall require a bit more convincing.  Besides, I was really hoping no one would trigger that ward.  Now I need use another scroll... I'll need to devert to Waterdeep for extras... Blackstaff will lecture me about wastefulness... there are layers upon layers of inconvenience here, you understand."

"So, at the risk of this empty hall eavesdropping on your tale... out with it.  What is this really all about?"

Still somewhat uncomfortable with standing in the hall of the Blade & Stars talking about her supposedly secret mission for the Harpers, Tylaerys looks at her companions but then decides to brief Volo on what she knows. "Well, you see my friends and I happened to be in the town of Greenest to the southeast a tenday ago as it was attacked by servants of the Cult of the Dragon, gathering treasure for a hoard to call upon the Queen of Dragons to rule all of the realms. We are here in Baldur's Gate at the request of several powerful factions, among the the Order of the Gauntlet, interested in preventing this, hoping to follow the treasure supposedly being transported to something called Naerytar somewhere to the north. There has also been powerful artefacts called Dragon masks being collected by the cult. I'm sure the honourable Blackstaff would commend you for any contribution you would be able to make to our mission." The young blonde half-elf says with a firm but warm tone.

Persuasion if needed: 22


(So, DM, is Jirel with us or outside the Blade & Stars? :-)

Finn:

 Back at the Blade and Stars, Jirel maintains her vigilant watch on the street corner just outside.

Upstairs, Volo relaxes his posture and leans against one of the walls.  "Cult of the Dragon, is it?  Hmmn...".

He clucks his tongue and paces back and forth, thinking to himself.  Then he turns.  "Well, in that case I have good news, and bad news, and wonderful news."

He snaps his fingers and the blue bars of force disappear from around you.  "As it happens, I had just heard from a friend about some trouble with the Cult of the Dragon up north, so I have a bit of independent corroboration for your story.  You are free to go, with my most severe apologies for your short-lived incarceration."

"As to the bad news, I must say I have little information to offer.  I had only heard in passing of some attacks that occurred in Luskan, and know little else, I'm afraid.  The name Naerytar is unfamiliar to me, and the dragon mask, though quite exciting to think of, are not something on which I am educated.  I cannot help you at the moment."

"Which leads me back around to the wonderful news."  He produces a spread of four three tickets, splayed out like playing cards.  "If your business keeps you in town through tomorrow evening, why don't you come join me at the Low Lantern?  I can ask some friends in town for news on the matter and share it with you there.  No promises, of course, for I don't yet know what they don't know, but at least I can offer a good time.  It's really the least I can do after the little forcefield misunderstanding."

The young blonde half-elf is quite relieved to see the blue bars of force disappear from around her, Yeshil and Jararaka, giving Volo a pleased smile. "Thank you for these..." Tylaerys says, accepting the tickets for her team, taking a quick peek at them before pocketing them. "...I'm quite sure we will make use of them. We wouldn't want to miss a good time with the famous Geddarm Volothamp, forunately we have other leads to follow up on until then." She adds, giving Volo a nod and a warm smile before turning to quickly leave the Blade & Stars, hoping her companions would join her before Volo changed his mind about simply letting them go. Too embarrased to stay there any longer she swiftly makes her way down the stairs and outside to Jirel standing vigilant at a street corner, hurrying over and throwing her arms around the waist of the blonde giantess. "Oh, Jirel, I don't think I've been so embarrassed in all my life." She says, not able to look up into her honey eyes at first, quickly and quietly explaining how she had been utterly fooled by the famous guide writer and bringing her companions into a trap, the words tumbling over her lips as she fights to hold back her tears. "I'm starting to think I'm not really Harper Agent material." She says after a while, now looking up at Jirel with a weak smile and silvery pleading eyes.

     Finn walks past the pair of young men and the outside patio and attempts to pay them no heed whatsoever.  He continues ambling down the way exactly the way he was until he hits the second alley or side street which he promptly ducks down.  Once he is able to achieve a little bit of privacy he does two things in quick succession - He dismisses Misses Binklesworth from wherever she currently finds herself and resummons her at his own feet, AND he begins shifting his own features and appearance.  

     Once his physical features are changed she begins adjusting her armor and garments to fit her new look better and appear different than they did before.  The costume clothes and disguise kit from her kit help a give her a new look clothes wise at least.

     "What you think, Misses B?  Brand new girl?" Finn asks her petulant cat.  It seems Misses Binklesworth was on a very important mission, at least to her, and is not happy about being pulled out and brought back early like this.

     "Sorry Misses Binklesworth," Finn says with a lot more sincerity.  "I have a real actual lead on cultists here, I couldn't risk you just chasing mice or something..."

     Soon Finn and the feline are making their way back towards the Fish and Taters.  Finn is in the mood for a drink and Misses Binklesworth is surely going to demand something fishy for herself as well.  Once there Finn will do her best to get a seat on the patio and close to the tattooed pair she spied earlier.

     Finn of course does not walk in carrying Misses Binklesworth!  This is a secret mission...  The notorious Misses B if playing the role of street cat and is instructed to follow the pair to see where they go in case Finn isn't able to get them talking and welcoming her back into the fold.

Jirel rests an arm around Tylaerys while her other hand cradles the back of her head. "It's okay Tylaerys." She says gently. "Let's slow down, an' breathe." The giantess leads a practiced deep inhale. Her diaphram fills with air, expanding her chest and then relaxing on exhale. "Now explain to me what happened." She'd encourage Tylaerys to continue with her quiet and quick explanation now that she was more calm. Jirel would listen intently until she was done.

"Yer safe, the little one is safe, an' Jararaka's safe." Honey eyes look to confirm a head count, rubbing her back. "We all have off days Tylaerys." She reminds softly. "Not all is lost." Jirel looks down. "We learn. We grow. We prepare better fer next time." A genuine reminder, even for herself, and any one listening. 

"We can chew on what we learned while we move on teh next steps, yeah?" Jirel's stomach grumbles in response. While her appetite did speak up, the giantess wasn't suggesting food. She was honestly trying to remember what the next steps were once they were reconvened with little one and Jararaka. And when were they rendezvousing with Finn? No matter how many times, it happens, the group being separated made her very uneasy.