Kellen raises his hands slowly as well as he catches sight of the piece of iron pushed against Magg’s back, but he also lets his eyes scan the room, taking note of the locations of potential threats.  Which seems to be everywhere at the moment.   He is content to let Nyx take the lead in the discussion, their his connections after all, but he does tip his head toward the drawing Nyx provided and tries to help his friend make his case “Got that from an eyewitness.  Could be someone is going to a lot of trouble making it look like the Family is involved. Wouldn't it be nice to find out who, and why?”

Your tongue makes a butchery of mine, mignolo. Wash it clean before I have it cut out. Now, you seem to be confused. I do not have buildings blown up. Therefore, illithids do not blow up buildings. Questa è la semplice verità. That is something your kind would do, piccolo foletto. Besides, why place explosives when we can simply tear the place apart with our minds? Your accusations make no sense, and furthermore I haven't a clue why this fellow's face is glowing like the sun, riposare in pace. Can you provide an explanation for this, investagatores?

Seeing the situation escalate, Maggwyn takes stock of the amount of illithids that are in the room and how quickly she could disarm the one behind her.  But then she remembers they attack with their minds, and she really doesn't have any way to disarm that.

Feeling a bit defeated, she wonders what Nyx is exactly trying to do.  At the man's last question though, she tries to peer over to the drawing to get an idea what he was talking about.  "Huh, I just thought that was due to the blaze behind him, but you're right, it does show it glowing.  Can't say I know why, this whole situation is strange to me."

"I'd love to provide an explanation for that. But I can't, yet. Hence why I'm investigating." Nyx takes another puff. He studies the purple, tentacled mass that passes for a face on the leader of the illithids, determining if it really believes that it wasn't a flayer at Rooney's and divining how much it knows and hasn't said. He's sure it's hiding something- better odds of winning the lottery than getting the full truth from La Flamiglia Cerebrale- but the question is how much.

Insight: 21 (16 + 5)

The Illithid is entirely impassive. In fact, it hasn't been emoting or anything this whole time. Nyx realizes something: This isn't the leader. It's not even a mouthpiece. It's just a hand.

While Nyx continues chatting, Maggwyn starts looking around the room at the others, see if any seem more curious about what is going on then the others.  She isn't sure where the conversation is going, but feels like they are missing something.

Perception  27

“Ah, but you're missing the point, friends.  Don’t matter much if you didn’t blow up the building, if others think you did.”  Kellen continues ”Maybe the glow is coming from a disguise, an illusion.  Who would stand to gain if the family came under more scrutiny?  Maybe we can look into it, get something out of it for you and us.” Kellen glances over at Nyx, wondering again just how he came to know these “old friends” of his.

Nyx glances back at Kellen. The kinda look that says "long story."

"Yeah, what he said. So, I suppose if we don't think it's actually an illithid... how many people out there despise all of you, have the resources to cast a spell that bright, and don't care if a building just so happens to go sky-high when they do? I can't imagine it's a short list, but we really just need anything at all to go off of. With what we've got now, investigating would pretty much just be throwing rocks into the darkness 'til we hit the perp on their purple-or-otherwise head."

(By the way, in his past investigations, would Nyx have learned the chain of command in La Flamiglia Cerebrale? I.e., does he know who the party is actually talking to right now?)

(Strangely... there is a gap in Nyx's brain there. He knows there is a leader, he knows they are named Il Capo, but past that... nothing. Like the memories are just gone. In fact, a lot of his memories around the investigation as a whole are rather fuzzy... he remembers bits and pieces, but can't picture the whole thing, beginning to end, in his brain.)

La Famiglia is beloved! No one would besmirch our name, because no one hates us! There is-

The voice stops, abruptly. The mind flayers in the room all shudder as one.

Come. I would like to talk to you directly. I may have un indizio per tutti voi.

The mind flayer in front of you turns, and begins moving deeper into the lounge.

Nyx gets a bit frustrated for a moment. He never likes forgetting things, but he especially doesn't like forgetting things about illithids, because odds are good he didn't forget them. But then he remembers where he is and the task at hand, and he gets focused again.

After the odd message in the shifted tone, Nyx gives a nod to both of his companions and starts to walk after the flayer. He remains courteous towards his hosts, but that doesn't prevent him from keeping the same careful eye on his surroundings that he always has.

Kellen hesitates slightly, looking at the nearest illithids warily, then steps forward and follows Nyx deeper into the room, eager to find out more about the strange voice in his head. “Do you know what you are getting us into, mate?” he whispers to Nyx nervously.

Nyx returns Kellen's question with a small nod. He whispers back, "Trouble. Lots. But if they wanted us dead, three touching obituaries would have been printed in every newspaper across the City by now."

Kellen snorts “hmph, well it is still early.  There is plenty of time to make tomorrow’s paper, so watch yourself.  For all of our sakes.”  As they move deeper into the building, Kellen keeps track of his surroundings in case they have to make a quick exit.

(Sorry for my absence the past few days, been kinda busy)

The flayer leads the group to a far wall, which appears ordinary, until it walks straight through it. An illusion. It beckons you in, and you soon arrive in a room even more elegantly furnished than the previous two. On the far end, there is a curtain, steam curling around its edges and over the top. The room is unbearably hot and humid, and there is a distinct brine smell in the air. The mind flayer steps forward, and draws back the curtain.

Behind it, a large pool of clear pinkish liquid sits steaming. Tiny purple shapes flit about in it, and resting in the center is... well, Nyx has seen enough crime scenes to recognize brain matter when he sees it. The thing before you is a massive human brain, covered in branching nerves and blood vessels, some of which extend into long tendrils. One gestures lazily toward your group as you approach.

Ciao. It is good to meet you, face to mind.

Nyx gives a small nod of respect. "You must be Il Capo, then. Dare I say, this meeting has been long overdue. I don't believe you've been introduced to my friends yet- this is Maggwyn, this is Mr. Turen..." He speaks to his companions. "And this is Il Capo della Famiglia Cerebrale."

Although he had a bit of hesitancy on first sight, he isn't reacting the way people generally react upon looking at a cerebrum of such size. Fingers and Maggs get the sense that, while the private investigator may not have seen anything like this before, he's seen enough to know never to expect. Suspect, sure. That comes with the job. But expecting is just asking for the cruel City to prove you wrong, and being wrong is bad for business.

"I hope not to be too blunt when I request that we keep the pleasantries brief. Not that it isn't an honor to meet such an important figure, I just like to stay professional while on the job. So, why did you request our presence?" Nyx takes another puff of his cigarette, preferring the smell of smoke to that of brine.

Yes, it is good to meet you for the first time. And I know who they are. Introductions are not necessary.

A couple of tendrils reach out, dragging the great brain across the steaming pool towards the gang.

I wanted to talk to you all. In private. The truth is, I do have a suspicion regarding the nature of the attacker, but I must first ask you all to regale me with what information you have about the scene, besides your little picture. Everything you have found out thus far. Spare no detail.

"Right. Well, there were a couple of relatively insignificant people in Rooney's that night that I was keeping tabs on..."

Nyx tells the story of the past couple hours or so, in full. What he did, what he found, and what he suspects. He tells of how people reacted to the explosion, of how many moths there were, and of how the singer described what she saw. He also gives some details of the fire itself that he happened to pick up, such as size and brightness, in case they could point to a more definite cause of explosion. The only detail he leaves out is the moths spotting him, for various reasons.

Maggwyn stares at the brain in the steaming bath and finds she has mainly lost her voice.  This was not something she expected to find and is not sure how to take it.  She steals a glance towards Fingers to see his reaction as Nyx is apparently playing it cool pretty well.

"Yeah, nothing really out of the ordinary at Roony's that I could tell.  Well, other than the explosion of course."

Kellen looks at the brain with undisguised curiosity.  It is not everyday you see an enlarged cerebellum floating in a pool of brine.  “Not much to tell, honestly. Someone put a giant hole in the front of Rooney’s that had the tell-tale sign of magic around it.  A waste really when blackpowder could have done the job just as neat.  The singer got a good luck at something she thought was a illithid, but it also had the presence of magic around it.  It took off before we had time to make formal introductions.”  Kellen pauses and takes a breath “Since we are sharing information and all, what do you have for us?”

(OOC: on vacation through the weekend, so posting will be slower than normal.  Feel free to bot if needed to move along.)

Kellen fills in the silence “That was everything, swear on it.”  He looks over at Nyx and Maggs “Did we leave anything out, anything you two want to add in?”  He looks over at the pool “Now it’s your turn to share.  Whatcha got for us?”