I think were going to try and run.  I am that the area is crowed enough that we can be lost in it, and that there are enough turns and twists that we can get lost in.

Go ahead and make me a stealth check and a deception check. Just want to see if anything goes wrong for you... 

stealth 6

deception 3

Walking out and trying to meld into the shadows, you realize it isn't working so well with Dragon. He's a wolf for crying out loud! Leree bites her lip and sends the wolf ahead. She seems to whisper something to the wolf and it runs off ahead, so fast no one could hope to keep up with it unless they were blessed by the wind. You and Leree manage to get ahead some blocks, and while you don't know what your attackers looked like... they don't know what you look like either. You manage to pass yourselves off as dock workers heading home for the day.

With that, it seems you managed to avoid a fight. What will you do now?

I open it and look at the map.

You take a breather and open the map. What is immediately apparent to you is that this map is dwarven. What is not apparent to you is what exactly you are looking at. Leree looks over your shoulder. "Hmm, I don't think I've ever seen a place like that before. What do you think?" Your immediate thought is that you might need to find someone to help you figure out what is written here.

"This was a job, I think we should go take the map to my client."  Mik rolls the map back up and starts to head to his meeting point.

(Sorry, I had fallen down stairs the other day, so I didn't post cause I messed up my wrist lmao. I am fine now, but I can't say the same about my ass... :( )

Mik heads to The Singing Blade located in the Trades Ward. The Singing Blade is what appears to be a simple armory run by a human man named Moxley. In truth, The Singing Blade is in fact a Zhentarim hideout. Moxley is behind the counter when Mik walks in. Seeing you, Moxley walks to the window and flips the sign from open to closed, then locks the front door. This is just a precaution, one you are used to. 

Feel free to explain what your relationship with Moxley is like and what you say and do when you enter.

Mik and Moxley have a just above tolerance for one another.  Respect is a word but not the best, if Moxley did bring in the best work for Mik he would never go back to him, and if Mik wasn't as good of a thief as he was Moxley wouldn't give him work, but as it is Mik almost exclusivly works for Moxley and Moxley holds jobs just for Mik.  But on a personal level Moxley thinks Mik is soft and weak, and Mik thinks Moxley is overly crule.  

An exchnage between Mik and Moxley after an almost boshed job. 

"You know if the witnesses are dead, they arn't witnesses."

"Mox you @$$ they were kids! I was covered up, they were already crying even if I wasn't covered up they wouldn't have gotten a good view."

"If they come knocking at my door!"

"YOU'LL BE FINE!"

Mik walks in checking over his shoulder, a pointless habbit.  He picks up a shield then sets it back down, not the same way he picked it up, just to dig under Moxley's skin.

"We got the map for you." Handing the roll over o Moxley, "Looks dwarvish to me, but no where we have ever seen before, what is?"

(You can have an inspiration point for the background story!)

"Give it here," Mox snatches the map from Mik's grasp. Its aggressive, but between the two, it was fairly friendly for how Moxley usually is. Moxley looks over the map for a moment and an awful grin spreads across his face. "Ah, that's what we was looking for..." Mox then looks at Mik with narrowed eyes. Anyone else would be terrified that this is the part where Moxley stabs them, but Mik knows better. "Mik, listen up, how would you like to earn even more gold?" Moxley holds up a bag of gold and drops it on the table between them. This is the gold from this current job -- 100 gold pieces. This is enough money to let someone live comfortably in the boonies for the rest of their lives, but that probably isn't interesting to Mik. 

Mik does keep his hand ready with a thorny steam in hand.

Mik opens the bag and starts to count it out, he keeps 55 and gives 45 over to Leree, this is the deal the 2 would have made.  I take my time counting making Moxley wait.

"An other job?  It's going to cost you."  Mik flips a coin in the air and catches it.  "Whats the job?" Mik gives a head nod.

Leree lingers nearby, but she has decided to let you do the talking. She is counting the gold pieces, making sure its the right cut.

"Of course, dumba--, it'll pay. The big bosses got their thumbs in this pie, so they are looking for some reliable people. That's where you come in," Mox points at you. "It involves usin' that map. They say it'll led someone to some sorta ancient place, probably got a lot of goodies in there. Finders fee is running at least 1000 gp if you can determine its location. Could even run double or triple that. What'd ya say? Just remember, don't go f----- with the Zhents, Mik. Not all of them are as humorous and in good moods like me."

"You, humorous, and good mood, thats funny.  And I dont mess with the Zhents, they are scum! Big bosses, does this mean im close to meeting them?"

Turning Mik yells "Leree, you up for more work, this one might be a lot more your area, trecking the woods?"

"You vouchin' for this girl?" Mox growls, but Leree stuffs the gold in her pouch and puts her hands on her hips, unimpressed.

"Call me girl again, and you will literally be toast." She shakes her head. "I do miss the woods..."

"If she's with you, then whatever. Lucky for her I am in a generous mood," Moxley shrugs and turns to face you Mik. He hands the map back to you and says, "You need to get out there and head to a place called Red Larch. There, you'll find a fellow Zhent, he's one of them cat fellas. He runs a respectable business, but when you see him, make sure no one's about and give him the pass phrase, 'Where there's gold, there's shadow.' 'e should respond, 'And where there's shadow, there's the Zhentarim.'" Moxley looks you up and down. "Listen gent, you probably need to get prepared. It's two tendays to get to Red Larch and words out there's loadsa trouble on the road. Wouldn't want ya to end up as troll dung, you catch me?"

"If I didn't vouch for Leree I wouldn't bring her don't you think!"

"Wow, 2 tendays, I think we can manage just fine, but a little extra upfront might help our way there."  Mik trys to hid the bag of gold he was just given.  Slight of hand 12 if you prefer deception take away 2.

(Heck yeah!)

(Sorry... what gold are you hiding??? You have not yet received the 1000g. We can save that crit for the first attack in combat, if you'd like LOL)

(More or less Mik is trying to get some extra coin upfront for the upcoming job, he is trying to hid the coin he made from the prevus job in hopes that Moxley doesn't just point out that Mik just got paid)

(Sadly, his memory is slightly better than a gold fish. Instead, we will treat this like a persuasion check, if that works for you??)

Persuasion would put it at a 22.