"Do I look like a Gnome to you, Radecere Perethun?" Finn asks.  "Do I?"

     "Do I??" He asks a little bit louder, leaning over Radecere in an intimidating matter.  "No?  Then why are you treating me like a Gnome??"

     "You come to me... To Me! You come to me and you ask for a pact...  For power...  And you offer me pitter patter about the the intricacies of Gnomes and their social niceties?? I assure you, Radecere Perethun, that I deal with matter far more important and world shaking than the standing of Jorner Weggleteggle and his clan.  And who, pray tell, do you think has arranged for him to be in such a dicey financial predicament??  The fall of House Weggleteggles will have a rippling effect quickly rising above the machinations of Gnomes, reverberating in the halls of Dwarves, shaking the empire of Men and eventually, my dear Radecere, awakening the slumberers themselves..." Finn instructs his most unworthy of students.

     "To be worthy of the power I shall grant you need information I do not already have... About those I do not already have in my sway and machinations," Finn says decisively and sweeping a hand across the table to snatch up the ring and the eye.  "Until you find me with useful information I'm afraid we shall not be able to come to a deal..."

     Noting the departing Half-Orcs Finn pauses and looks back to Radecere.  "See there?  Perhaps if you had told me they were so on edge and so easily pushed into actions... From you I want causes so that I can manipulate them into the effects that I desire.  Good luck, Radecere Perethun.  I do hope you prove worthy of my future... benevolent... attentions."  Finn then walks back towards the bar as if he didn't even know the Gnome.

Curious as ever, the young blonde half-elf discreetly follows the angry crowd of half-orcs outside to see where they are heading.

Perception: 21
Stealth: 14

Yeshil looks wide-eyed as the orcs suddenly agitate and depart, a little shocked at the unexpected effect of her interference. But wait, I wasn't... she murmurs ineffectually as they all storm out. A little abashed that she might have mucked things up, Yeshil retreats once more into her hood and into the shadows, then slinks back around the periphery of the room to see if any of her companions are busy...

OOC: What was the reaction of the remaining group of porters (the jolly ones) to the orcs' (and humans') departure? If it looks like they are discussing it, then Yeshil will sneak closer to listen in (Stealth: 17, Perception: 19). Otherwise, she will slide around to the bar and loiter near Jirel and her taciturn neighbour.

 Finn, you see Radecere stare in surprise as you back away and leave him alone.  Occasionally you catch him looking at you and squinting, massaging his temples, as though trying to compute a difficult math problem.

Tylaerys, you follow the half-orcs outside.  You remain unseen, but they quickly split up into groups of 2s and 3s, heading in different directions.  You overhear only bits of hushed conversation, with some of them apparently going to get 'the others', while the rest are going to get weapons.

Yeshil, some of the other porters clearly notice the commotion, but none of them seem particularly alarmed or interested in it.  For the rest of these folks, this seems to just be a night to go out and blow off steam after a long workday.

Seeing the half-orcs split up, Tylaerys decides to get back inside the cantina, making her way back to Jirel and the bar, sighing to herself over her incompetence with acquiring any useful information, waiting for the others to finish up their respective investigations.

      "So," Finn says brightly as he grabs a drink and sidles back up to Tylaerys and Jirel.  "Turns out... Gnomes are crazy!"

      "I know, right?!?" he responds to himself, pulling an exaggerated face of shock.  "Anyway... Anything else going on?  The place seems to have emptied out considerably..."  While paying some attention to whatever replies he gets, Finn also dismisses Misses Binklesworth from whatever she may be up to (she was supposed to check out the other bar) and summons her back to himself, probably at his feet or some other innocuous location so as to not make any more gnomes want to pledge their souls to him.

"Crazy huh, are you saying you met a gnome that wasn't prepared to have you swindle him out of his gold over a game of cards?" The young blonde half-elf asks Finn with a teasing tone, taking a sip of her minty Moon Juice. "Well I'm getting married apparently..." She continues with a sigh, inclining her cute head over at the dim-witted young porter across the cantina. "...and that's about it on my end, no leads of any kind to the cult or their activities in the city." She sighs again. "I really thought we could get something useful from these porters. Dancing was good though." She finishes with a wry smile.

     "Oh, apologies for at times being a bit deceitful, princess.  I shall strive to be more honest going forward while in your company," Finn answers snitfully.

     "Hey!  Anyone know anything about dragon cults??" Finn then yells out, turning to the bar as a whole.  "Anyone?  Anything??"

     "Not you, Radecere Perethun!  Not unless you have names and locations to speak to me immediately!" he preemptively spits out towards the gnome.

"I'm sorry Finn, I just meant to tease you, I didn't take you for the sensetive type, I don't expect you to be honest, in fact I hope you won't be if we are to find out what we need to get to the cult." Tylaerys says in a sincere apologetic tone, looking a bit ad over apparently having offended the changeling. She then looks around a bit worriedly as Finn yells out, hoping it wouldn't close any chances they had to find anything out but also keeping a quick lookout for anyone taking special note of Finn and reacting the mention of the dragon cult.

Perception: 14
Insight: 16

Tylaerys, most of the remaining folk in the tavern (the total crowd size has reduced by about 1/2 with those two large groups having already left) turn their eyes to Finn when he raises his voice.  One man raises a glass and cries "Dragon Cults!  YEAH!" but you're quite sure this person is just blotto.  When Finn name drops Radecere Perethun, you see the table of gnomes all turn to look at one of their number, while that one attempts to bury his head in his hands in embarrassment.

No one reacts suspiciously, leaves suddenly, or otherwise gives you the impression that 'dragon cult' mean anything to them.

Having had nothing to build on from the warrior beside her, Jirel had simply nodded and returned to her drinks. She got the hint. Besides swirling or sniffing at her drinks, the giantess just pinches the bridge of her nose and exhales at the squabble and outburst beside her from the others. She was starting to wonder why she was even sticking around in the first place, questioning her purpose and worth to the cause at this point.

     Finn picks up Missess Binklesworth and just rolls his eyes.  “Right, sure.  And where did our newest recruit scamper off to?” He asks while scratching behind the felines ears.  “They tire of us already or did they find something productive during our late night sojourn?”

"If you mean Yeshil I believe she is over there, I can only assume she too has been keeping eyes and ears out for any leads to cult actvities. Perhaps we should simply call it a night." She says with a weak smile, looking a bit sad as she tugs Jirel to follow her back to the Blade and Stars as soon as Yeshil rejoins with them.

I'm right here, Yeshil says from nearby, having crept back to rejoin the group after getting nothing further from the remaining group of porters. I'm not sure I learned anything we didn't already know, she admits. Maybe this lot are on the cult's payroll - she points at the jolly group - they certainly seem happier than the others. Oh, by the way, I might have prompted a revolt. I wouldn't be surprised if the whole porter situation gets stirred up come daybreak. Who knows? Maybe it will open some cracks for us to exploit. Yeshil shrugs again, then prepares to follow the others out the door, wondering where the lizardfolk got to...

     "Well if you can't accomplish something good, accomplish something stupid," Finn replies to Yeshil about the potential riot. "It's what I am known for, after all.  That and cheating people..."

     Finn then turns to Radecere Perethun and gives them the squint eye before he says "This place is played out, let's blow this joint."

The young blonde half-elf nods and finishes her drink, ready to call it a night, hoping tomorrow will prove more fruitful. Assuming the team gets back to the Blade and Stars, Tylaerys would turn invisible in order to take a peek in the ledger, hoping to find out who the important guests taking over their room are.

Finn:

 Tylaerys:

[If you are ready to call it a night, I will advance us to morning.]

     Finn would insist they set a sleep schedule as they would outdoors - "Best not to assume any place is safe right now," he suggests.  Otherwise, after putting Misses Binklesworth on patrol he is ready for shut eye.

Tylaerys informs the others of the peculiar name she found in the ledger and suggests she'll take first watch and that they should make new plans on how to continue the investigation at breakfast, then retiring into the master bedroom for the night.

History to recognize name in ledger: 8