"Naturally, my friend! Too happy to help, really!" Glyph exclaims, indirectly thinking that Arduus probably has no idea what he's in for. He smiles and winks at his friends. "Just follow my lead, dear friends. We'll be on our way to room upgrades in no time."

With a flourish of his flashing gold cloak, the half-elf sweeps over to the table full of admirers. He appears to speak to the fans in a lowered voice, though the words "red dragon" and "airship" seem to float through the air. After sharing a few laughs and signing several illustrations of the half-elf balancing on a tightrope over a pit of wights, Glyph glances over at the the party with an exaggerated jerk of the head. With a very performative "oh yes, I forgot you were there" look, he points to Firebrand, Jada, and Ophelia.

“Ah yes, here they are! These are my colleagues, my friends, my companions in voyage!” Glyph’s voice is suddenly booming, and boisterous—more boisterous even than on the ship. The sudden presence of fans amid so many people seem to bring out the performer in him. He winks and smiles at each of his companions as he attempts to construct impromptu identities.

“Jada there is among the most renowned scholars of dragon and fiend anatomy,” the rogue begins, flashing a smile at the crowd, raising his voice even higher and glancing over to make sure the whole of the establishment can hear him. “And my dear professor Ophelia, a groundbreaking researcher in draco-infernal magic. A star scholar, a real star. Finally, Mr. Firebrand, the leading expert on cryptodragonology and cryptofiendology. A crack team if I’ve ever seen one!”

He even claps toward Firebrand, Jada, and Ophelia, his unmoving smile and twinkling eyes fixed upon them.

“Well, yes, dragon and fiend experts all, and, yes you guessed it, all figuring into my next book! I hate to spoil the details, but you know me,” the half-elf settles himself into an empty chair, his green eyes almost imperceptibly gilded for a moment (psi-bolstered knack). He recrosses his legs and flamboyantly wags a finger at the admirers. “I can’t resist spoiling a little bit of my latest travels! In fact, before we arrived here, I just put the finishing touches on my latest book, The Humiliated Hydra. It all starts with my dearest Tiefling friend, Umbuzzubub, who wanted to study hydra nesting habits . . .”

As Glyph tells the story, the golden bands on his robe seem to shift slightly. The pattern almost unnoticeably changes, and it momentarily flutters at the hem, as if in a soft breeze (glamerweave). Crossing the other leg, he waves his hand through the air like a sword.

“ . . . and then with a whoosh, the halfling rushes out of the woods and shouts that a gelatinous cube is chasing him. Mind you, I’ve never seen a gelatinous cube, but I was sure that they were not flying round masses of eyeballs. Anyway, the halfling goes to . . .” He continues the story, which eventually works itself to the point where the half-elf jumps up onto his chair and mimes shooting a bow and arrow.

Go big or go home, I suppose.

“ . . . and, well, the flaming arrow just so happened to pierce the eye of the last living head. It was a trial, no question, but we learned so much about hydra behavior. Well worth it, well worth it. Anyway, as always, thanks so much for your love, attention, and support.” He does not strike, but pauses, in a pose very dramatically silhouetted in the lighting. “It’s an unglamorous life, clambering about in caverns, traipsing through dungeons, and spelunking in the Underdark. Sometimes it seems there’s never a moment to rest, but it’s the thought of my loving admirers that keep me going when I’m in the darkest moments.”

Glyph explains to the group that he's staying locally and is happy to share a tale or two whenever they'd like. He returns to the party (unless they decided to head to their accommodations), in which case he'll hang around and convince wealthy patrons to buy him a few drinks. 

(I'm hoping that I can pair deception and performance. Deception to trick them into my story, performance to both bolster the lie and distract the audience)

Deception: 14   plus psi-bolstered knack 7

Performance: 12    plus glamerweave 4

Jada can't help himself and lets out a chuckle. Glyph is certainly a gifted showman. Afterwards he will enter the Inn and makes his way to the 3rd floor room for Maitland. He asks Adruss "Can you open the door to the room, my hands are filled?"

Ophelia watches the performance with amusement. "Our mister Brookstone surely knows how to weave a tale. If you please, gentlemen, I have a thought of how to shake our pursuers." She follows Adruus and Jada upstairs and gets the door for the others. "Mister Adruus, can you point me towards the general direction in which our meeting will take place?" She pulls a sheet of paper and a quill from her pack and begins writing a cryptic looking sentence.

"Thanks Ophelia" says Jada. He will gently place Maitland on a bed. He then leaves and convenes with his companions "It will be easier to move without Maitland now. Although I am not suited for stealth as my armor gives me away."

After spending a bit more time recounting tales of himself and the group to the locals, Glyph sweeps upstairs, looking a bit less serene than usual. Bumping into the rest of the party, he unslings his pack and removes his cloak, which really looks more like an odd robe. His rather loose fitting clothing looks to be of fine quality, and it certainly bears no signs of wear or tear. Folding the robe carefully in his pack, he glances up at Ophelia, Jade, and Firebrand.

"Well, I'll wager they believed it," he states, wiping a few drops of sweat from his brow. "I understand we may need to travel under cover of night? If that's the case, I'll store Goldie and change into something more suitable to the task. I forgot to take the robe off and tried to sneak by a hoard drake one time. It was a mistake. If only they'd have incorporated a many fashion charm. Oh well. Anyway, what's the plan? To be completely honest, I may not be the sneakiest, but I can usually manage to squeak by."

The half-elf slings the bag over his shoulder again, and rests his forearm on Beatrix's hilt. He eyes Ophelia's cryptic writing (is it a language I can read or is it magic? I rolled an 11 Arcana check in the game log). 

"Well, if we're all going, and trying to be stealthy, I just hope my armor doesn't give us away," Firebrand sighs. "I suppose I could just take it off while we're sneaking around, but I'm not especially agile to begin with, so I'd probably just go from 'slowing us down while we try to sneak around' to 'slowing us down while trying to sneak around and also an easy target if we get into a fight.'"

"Is anyone gifted with disguises? Perhaps we don't need to sculk through the night." says Jada

Indeed Glyph draws a crowd who listen to the half-elf gleefully. Even some of the attendants at the inn seem mystified by his performance. 

Adruus gets Maitland settled and the party figures out who is staying where in the other two rooms available.  Maitland and Adruus are in 307 but 308 and 309 are empty the windows facing street below. They aren't lavish rooms but might be the best some members of the party have ever seen on the road.  Adruus stays behind as the party gathers to discuss moving forward to the Barakah-Set family villa.

Ophelia's message is in the common script, but there's something not right in the composition of its words. The prose slithers, the sentences baffle. It has the appearance of a simple, meandering phrase wound through with innuendo. At the bottom she dashes off a short series of numbers and letters. All together the paper has the appearance of a cryptic message, a cypher made for clandestine meetings. She places the message into an envelope. "Does the professor have a signet ring I may borrow? Some other means of stamping a letter?" she inquires. "If this scheme is to work, it should appear genuine in all manner of things. Should this deception be successful, mister Firebrand, your armor may prove less of a hindrance." She turns to her companions. "Mister Adruus, I worry for your safety and for that of professor Maitland after we are gone. Should one of us remain with you?"

"Ophelia the Verdant Towers just there," Adruus explains poiting at the two vibrant green stone towers in the near distance. They are probably not even a half a mile away! "They're in the royal ward of the city passed an ancient wall that encircles the royal ward. You will tarvel through the the Temple Ward to reach it. There you will find the grand temple of Aten as well as many other temples devoted to minor gods and goddesses of the Anjaran people. I have never been to the villa myself. In truth I have never been on any of Maitland's adventures here. They came to the temple of Ioun in Emon and the Knowing Mistress told me to join them," he finally confesses.  He then observes Ophelia's note. "The letter I gave you is your introduction to the Barakah-Set family.  What is this letter for?" He asks confused

OOC: y'all remember you're not supposed to be associated with Maitland. 

"Well, I'm dead awful at disguises, Jada," Glyph says, as a wry smile momentarily appears on his lips. "I had a disguise kit once--you know, mainly to get out in public without attracting a crowd--but the kit just didn't really work very well for me. I said to myself, 'sometimes it's better to just be your authentic self,' and tossed the kit and never looked back."

After listening to Adruus, the half-elf responds, "Through the temple ward to the royal ward? Ok, got it." He then turns to Ophelia. "I used to be a bit of an artist. I may have some sealing wax in my bag, for fan letters of course, and I may be able to create a passable wax seal, if necessary."

"Well then I am itching to leave. Best not linger too long. I rather meet any dangers head on" says Jada. He retrieves his halberd and stands ready to depart once the others are ready to leave.

"I am in agreement with Jada. Let's get out of here and deal with any foes when we meet them."

"It serves no purpose but misdirection, mister Adruus. I intend to have Minerva carry this letter someplace far from our destination. My hope is that, if we are being observed, our informers will chase after this message and leave us to travel unmolested." Moments before they are set to leave, Ophelia takes the letter and gives it to Minerva. She makes a show of going outside and pretending to be inconspicuous. She commands Minerva to fly off to another part of the city, far away from where the group is headed, and hide the letter someplace obvious, as if the owl were doing a dead-drop. Minerva flies off, cutting a course far from the Verdant towers. Moments later, Ophelia pulls on a cloak and pulls the hood over her head. "Shall we, gentlemen?"

Deception/Performance: 5

Glyph gives a tiny yawn, the performance from earlier in the night seems to have quelled his typical insatiable need to fill a silent room with chatter. "Yes, let's do go. I'm ready to become acquainted with the house of Barakah-Set."

Once the party gathers he leaves and walk towards the house of Barakah-Set. He walks confidently without trying to hide who he is or the halberd in his hand. He stays vigilant and keeps an eye out for any dangers as he travels.

Perception Check

8

Ophelia's task/performance is observed by other guests and a few of the attendants but no one seems overly interested. The party then gathers making their way toward the visible green towers in the near distance as the sunsets behind the three large pyramids further in the distance beyond the towers. It takes about an hour to pass through the Upper Market Ward into and through the Temple Ward. The temple of Aten is very promenade amongst the other temples. It's made of alabaster that glows from within with the lights of the priests within. The party moves on from the temples and approaches an ancient patchwork wall that encircles the Royal Ward and three massive pyramids beyond the verdant towers. The party recalls the pyramids seen from the airship. Now besides the wall, the party realized the animals flying aloft are actually griffins with humanoid figures upon them as added security!  Moving towards a checkpoint the party can see the armed and armored guards with two turrets above the gate as more guards patrol the wall from 10ft above them. At the gate ahead the party realizes the guards immediately at the gate are talking to a line of people trying to enter the royal ward while other people as well as crystal-powered carriages with emblems on the doors are passing through behind the wall by another group of guards.

"Well I feel safe with so many guards and even those that can tame griffons. Lets line up with the others." says Jada. He looks to the carriage. That is a marvel. No horse or other beast of burden needed. I see no signs of strife in this city. Do they have no enemies?

Jada waits in line and try to appear nonthreatening as he holds his halberd in the crook of his arm. 

Glyph eyes the guards warily and turns to his companions. Having been momentarily awed at the sight of the griffins, his expression becomes stony as he watches people queue up between the districts. “I’m assuming our friend knew there would be security between the districts. Surely if they anticipated this creating a problem, they’d have said something . . . right?”

While Glyph is accustomed to seeing and interacting with city-guard types in Wildemount, the tiny mental alarm in his head dings as it usually does in heavily patrolled areas. He wonders if a stealthier approach would have been wiser. Oh well, I suppose there’s no need to worry until . . . well, there is a need to worry.

He raises his chin a bit and lifts an eyebrow as walk, thinking, hoping, praying that his charm can help them through if they receive any trouble from the guards. Slowing down just a touch, the half-elf tries to observe both the guards and the people being inspected. Do they look like everyday citizens? Are any of them armed? Are people getting through the gates?

Perception! 13

Glpyh doesn't seem to notice anything in particular but the party then overhears, passively, a group of well-dressed people awaiting entry ahead of the party moaning about the wait. They have tightened the security of the Royal Ward due to the attacks on the royal extended family members that live outside the royal compound!