the sun rises peacefully on trollskull alley. the tavern got a good supply of wine, the reconstructions are going nicely, with the place now looking a bit more habitable. no more notice of the Undead menace. . . for now. and Kess's mental health has beem completely recovered. you all wake up feeling refreshed, and where ready to start another day.

                                     ~~~~ B O O M~~~~

Windows rattle as the roar of an explosion fills Trollskull Alley. Charred bodies and anguished screams fly through the air. A thick cloud of acrid smoke billows outward from the blast, which seems to have occurred right outside your door. you feel the ground shaking as a bit of dust falls from the roof, and kess suddently appears, looking for the group to make sure everyone is safe

(those that want to try and discover the nature of the explosion can roll a ARCANA check)

Piers startles by the the explosion "What?!What is going on?" he stands up and goes downstairs to find the others "Cat?Lore?is everybody alright?what happened and what in kelemvors name was that thunderous noise?"

Swallowing the last mouthful of his morning ale, Lore spins around at the sound of the explosion, instinctively crouching down for cover. "What the...?"

Arcana: 17 (log)

lore looks out the window, where he sees the local of the explosion. he realizes that maybe this was caused by the Fireball spell. Cat also realizes this

Cat looks around with a start Arcana 14 in game log. "I'm ok, what was that!"

"Fireball!" yells Lore, as he cowers and waits for the return volley from whomever was targeted. After a few moments he sends Kess directly to their room (( 30' away, vertically? Somewhere 'up' and near a window )) and asks her to look around from outside and above.

there was no return volley. the streets are silent, with the only sound being the opening of doors of the people looking around, confused and afraid. kess flies outside the window, scouting the place "oh my! there are a lot of people dead outside! luckly it does not seem anything else was destroyed." he responds telepatically to lore

Lore asks Kess to remain invisible ((!)) and see if she can find the likely source of the fire ball...perhaps people are pointing, or someone is running.

Then he says out loud, "Sounds like all is clear, but lots of dead or wounded," and starts moving toward the street.

Cat's expression is of shock then concern as she approaches the street. "Why?"  She thinks that this had to come from somewhere! She looks for things or people out of place. Perception 23 in the game log.

cathern does not see anyone suspicious on the streets. there are eleven charred corpses: one elderly woman, two cloaked humans in leather armor with sheated swords, two female humans with one half elf dressed in plain clothes, one male gnome wearing a burned cloak and clutching a dagger, and four halflings. 

Cat walks by the bodies, and notices two things: One of the dead male humans has a black, winged snake tattooed on his right forearm; and that The dead gnome has dry waste on his boots and cloak, suggesting he has spent time in the sewers recently. she also finds a pouch containing five 100 gp gemstones

a few more witnesses looks around, whispering to themselves. one can see the fear on their eyes, as they look around trying to understand what happened. Fala is in front of her shop, shocked, hands covering her mouth as she sees the dead bodies on the streets. you also see the crying of a 12 year old boy, who rushed towards the halflings and hugged one of the bodies "no! why. . ."

(( @DM: Did/does Kess catch sight of anything from her height flying around? (see above) ))

Noting the tattoo Cat acts like she trips falling on the gnome and takes the pouch with a slight of hand tucks it away, gets up and walks over to the boy trying to sound soothing "I'm sorry for your loss, Did you see anything, anyone, who might of did this? Were you outside here." She starts asking the question "Were you out here before hand? Did you see anything, anyone, who might of done this?" to others too. She heads to Fala first after the boy.

(With a higher charisma Maybe lore should Help)

( no, she does not see anyone. it seems like whoever shot the fireball, left as fast as they came

Some how posted inbetween you guys.

Hearing Cat's plea, Lore moves outside, his face sympathetic and concerned as he takes in the carnage. He draws a deep breath and looks around again before speaking.

"We are now a part of this town. We will not stand for such horror!" Again, he glances around. "Please...if any of you know something about this hideous crime, tell us."

He looks down at the damaged bodies, at the child, then into the faces of the onlookers. "Now may not seem to be the time, but such things are best done when it is fresh in your mind. The smallest thing is easily forgotten but might save lives in future, and punish those who perpetrated this crime!"

Finally he nods to Cat, "And if you fear retribution, we have many means by which we can remain discrete. Send us a message by any means you choose."

Persuasion: 26 in log

( make a Sleight of hand check for the pouch

the boy looks at cat, still weeping "i. .. i didn't see nothing, sorry. but i found something! Right after the explosion, I ducked behind a rain barrel. Then I heard a ‘plop’ and found this in the barrel." he says, and then grabs a necklace with two beads and a broken clasp on it. 

when cat questions fala, she speaks in a calm, yet trembling voice “I was watering plants in the greenhouse on the second floor of my shop when the blast blew out some of the windows. Lucky I wasn’t injured! Through the smoke, I saw a cloaked man take something from the body of a dead gnome, then start limping away. He was badly burned and casting glances over his shoulder, like he was afraid someone might be following him. He was headed toward the Bent Nail.”

right after fala ends her report, you feel someone touching your shoulder. a woman was trying to get cat attention, and she quickly points to one of the roofs "i saw who did it! I tell you, it was not a man. More like a puppet shaped like a man. A puppet without strings. It was on the rooftop. It hurled something into the crowd below that caused the explosion. I saw those halflings burned alive! I saw them!”

Got a 13 earlier in the log 😐

Cat looks at the Neckless Arcana 7 

( in that case you manage to snatch the pouch with no one noticing

I'll roll in the freaking log Next time darnit 

"Let me have that please it might of belonged to the killer."