Nickeline does not know what to think about Selariel. On one hand, she has an imp for a familiar and looks like a fiend herself. On the other hand, she seemed to be a healer, and a conscientious one at that. Plus, Lord Akkron said she'd be trustworthy.

Nickeline decides to err on the side of optimism and friendliness, and so extends her hand up to the woman. "Um, howdy, ma'am. I am Nickeline, of the clan Silversparkle, servant of The Great Steelsmith, and, ah, a friend of a friend."

Tamphalic shakes her hand aswell

"Tamphalic Aliprax is the name"

Selarial's hand is soft as she gives each of you a friendly handshake, and she smiles at you with warmth.

(So... does anyone have any questions for her...?)

Jodie steps forward, pleased to meet another charismatic femme who is more than appearance would offer.  Jodie shakes Selariel's hand and looks around at the hospital.  

"I am Jodesylvin, bard of Akkron's Accursed.  We are in need of assistance as the cult and its allies are in close pursuit."  Jodie pauses and looks among her hunted companions, turning back to Selariel.

"What do you know of the cult's activities in the city?  Can you direct us to trusted merchants and safe havens in this radiant city?"

She takes Jodie's hand as well.

"Yes... the cultists... they've been here for about two days, I think. Lord Akkron told me to be on the lookout for them... and to check if there's a white kobold with them... His Lordship told me to be especially careful about the white kobold."

A twitch of her tail reveals a hint of nervousness, but it passes quickly as she continues.

"Anyway... they've done their best to make things difficult. At least one member of the Citadel's council is in talks with the Cult's emissaries... as soon as they know that you're here they will try to stop you from completing your mission. So you'll need to avoid the authorities unless you think that you can win over the rest of the Council in a hearing. As for trustworthy merchants, I can give you a few names, but I think the first thing to do is make you just a bit less recognizable... after that we can talk about how we're going to get you to the Deep Ethereal."

Her familiar, the imp she called Silas, flies over with a small box which he sets on the table in front of you. He opens it to reveal two hats and six spell scrolls, all of which are inscribed with disguise self.

"I tried to get the hats for all of you," she says with a sigh. "But I could only find the two, unfortunately. It was a lot easier to get the spell scrolls."

(If Temphalic wants to inscribe Disguise Self into his spellbook rather than just casting the spell from the scroll, Selariel can provide any special materials he needs to do so. The same goes for Ruby or Gorash, as both are also technically wizards as well)

((Yeah scribing it in his spellbook is probably best, unfortunately its only an hour, and not a ritual, but at least Tamphalic can than cast it more often than once after scribing^^

Whom of us are standing out the most?))

Hewelathan suggests, "Ruby should take one of the hats."  He points out that if Zolgu has traveled to the Radiant Citadel with his loyal guards, then Ruby will be instantly recognizable to them.  He squats down, gives Ruby a friendly smile and asks, "How would you like to disguise yourself as a goblin?  Or maybe a little tabaxi wizard?"

Quote from Secretfool>>

Whom of us are standing out the most?))

Well, one problem is the particular grouping: a dragonborn, a gnome, a kobold, a half-orc, a human, and 3 half-elves (one of them a half-drow).  Just changing the party to look like a family of human farmers or some other non-descript group would probably useful so that we're not so instantly recognizable.  Right now, even if the cultists don't spot the party themselves, they can easily track our movements around the Radiant Citadel just by asking merchants or guards or shopkeepers whether they saw this particular party.

Our biggest problem with going around in public is that almost everyone is carrying very distinctive gear: Tamphalic's mask, Jodie's lute and the scimitar, Hewelathan's belt, Korba's sword (when he's carrying it), and even Hildegard's armor and Infernal Tack are all instantly identifying items.  Nickeline is probably the most inconspicuous.  For example, an effective disguise for Hewelathan could adjust his features very little as long as it makes it appear as though he's wearing plain studded leather armor instead of his crab-based armor and a scimitar on a plain belt instead of a sickle on his distinctive belt.  The most important aspect of the spell is the fact that we can alter the appearance of our possessions:

You make yourself—including your clothing, armor, weapons, and other belongings on your person—look different until the spell ends.

The Hat of Disguise should go to the ones who would need to be constantly disguised and who could free up an attunement slot to attune to the hat.

The ones who most need a disguise are 

• Ruby - as above.  With Zolgu still in play, Ruby really needs to be constantly disguised.
• Jodie - would stand out as an attractive half-elf who likes to draw attention and carries a legendary magical lute and the Luck Blade.
  But Jodie would have to give up her Bracers of Archery to use the hat.
• Korba - a half-drow with dark glasses, wearing mithral half-plate and carrying a legendary moonblade seems like he would stand out in a crowd.  With a +5 in Performance and Deception, he could also pull off a disguise better than most of the party.  Of course, Korba can also use Invisibility to avoid attracting regular attention for 1 hour.
  Korba would have to give up his Brooch of Shielding to use the hat.  

For the rest of the party:

• Gorash - a half-orc wizard.  I'm not sure how common that is, but it doesn't seem too unusual to me.  Of course, he has free attunement slots, so it wold be no sacrifice for him to use the hat.
• Hildegard - a human knight in full plate mail.  Whether she sticks out depends on how many knights are strolling around the Radiant Citadel and how distinctive the infernal tack is.  It might be tough for her to give up any of her currently-attuned items.
• Hewelathan - is a rather plain half-elf.  His gear really stands out, but he could probably just tie his cloak tightly around himself to hide his belt and other gear.  Or he could wild shape into something innocuous, like a cat or a horse, if he needs to blend in for more than 1 hour.
  Hewelathan would have to give up his Cloak of Protection to use the hat.
• Tamphalic - Depends how many dragonborn wizards are strolling around the Radiant Citadel.  IIRC, the dragon mask makes him look quite distinct even among blue dragonborns, but it would be a big loss for Tamphalic to lose any of his currently-attuned items.
• Nickeline - A gnomish cleric of Flandal Steelskin is probably the least distinctive of the group.  Unless she's currently using her crystal ball, I doubt that she'd attract too much attention in a place like the Radiant Citadel.  

"I can cast Invisibility, too, if we need to make someone disappear," Nickeline says. "Even if we're all disguised, just changing the apparent number of people in our group could be helpful for not being recognized."

(@dm the short time we were in public, what species did we see wander around us?) 

Quote from Secretfool >>

(@dm the short time we were in public, what species did we see wander around us?) 

(A bit of everything... this place is extremely diverse. But, for a rough breakdown, I'd say about 50% human. 25% "standard" species like elves, dwarves, halflings, tieflings, gnomes, etc. And 25% more "out there" creatures like gith, celestials, fiends, and believe it or not you even saw a couple of mindflayers haggling in the market)

((so our group won't necessarily stand out for who we are, the items will be a different matter of course. What items will always be visible? Tamphalic's mask of course. But most other items can be hidden under clothing I think?)) 

Jodie offers her knowledge of disguises and assures Nickeline, "I'll do better this time." with a hidden smirk of the last attempt with the kobolds... 

Ruby nods along as Hewelathan explains that she's going to need one of the hats since Zolgu would recognize her.

"Ruby agrees..." she says, though she seems a bit hesitant to take it from a member of the party. "Ruby saw not many kobolds here... so Ruby might be seen by the traitor very easily."

She pauses, thinking about what she would like to be...

"Ooh... a tabaxi... Ruby has always wanted to be a fuzzy kitty!" the tiny red dragon girl giggles.

(OOC: So, looks like Ruby is getting one of the two hats. Who's getting the other one? And who can actually use the Disguise Self scrolls? I don't think that Disguise Self is on the Druid spell list, so Hew probably couldn't actually use one of the spell scrolls. Same goes for Korba, as it doesn't appear to be on the Warlock spell list either. As pointed out earlier, Nickeline and Hildegarde probably wouldn't stick out too much in a crowd as long as they aren't part of an extremely recognizable group)

Quote from Mister_Whisker >>

(OOC: And who can actually use the Disguise Self scrolls? I don't think that Disguise Self is on the Druid spell list...)

(OOC: Good point!  I always forget that Disguise Self is really just for self and does not have a range of "touch." So, the user of the scroll can only disguise themselves.  It looks like the only party members who can use the scrolls are Jodie, Tamphalic, and Gorash.  I don't know whether all 3 of them need to use a scroll, but even that would give them each a disguise for 2 x 1-hour duration.  I thought that the spell was on the warlock list, but I guess that warlocks can only get Disguise Self via the Mask of Many Faces invocation. 

I would suggest that Korba take the second hat.  He'll just have to give up his Brooch of Shielding for now.  Even if the population is 25% "standard" species, I guess that a drow elf is a little more unusual.  Even if he doesn't attract attention on his own, his presence in the group makes it more obvious that we're the Accursed.

If everyone is OK with that, we'd be going out like this:

• Ruby - using Hat of Disguise to look like a tabaxi
• Korba - using Hat of Disguise to look like a human or "regular" elf with a longsword and more plain armor
• Jodie - disguised (as what?) via a spell scroll
• Tamphalic - disguised (as what?) via a spell scroll
• Gorash - disguised (as what?) via a spell scroll
• Nickeline - not disguised
• Hildegard - not disguised
• Hewelathan - not disguised or possibly wild-shaped and posing as Hildegard's warhorse (just throw a saddle on him!)

)

((What is the plan what we are gonna do first? do we want to go shopping for an hour, or immediately go for the deep ethereal?))

Jodie pulls out her disguise kit, which contained a black wig and some makeup and creates a stunning disguise (25) of a yuan-ti pureblood ranger

"How do I look?" Jodie offers with a smile.  "Do we need an illusion on top of this?"

((True, Druids can always disguise with wildshape! The Infernal Tack is not very conspicuous--it's literally just a pair of spurs on Hildegard's boots and they are unremarkable. The rest of it is on Perdita, and if she is currently dismissed, the rest of the tack is with her on some abyssal plane. So a wildshaped warhorse would be a perfect disguise actually.))

Alright, it looks like the party has divvied up the disguise options.

Just let me know where you're going once the hats are attuned and the scrolls divided up: to the market, or going straight to finding a way into the Deep Ethereal?

"Hey! Who are you and what have you done with Jodie?" Nickeline jokes. "I don't think anyone would recognize you like that."

During the hour it takes Ruby and Korba to attune to the hats, Nickeline looks into her crystal ball and tries to [Tooltip Not Found] on Zolgu, hoping to get some idea of where he is so the group can avoid him.

OOC:

With a garment of his in Nickeline's possession, Zolgu should get -4 to his DC 17 Wis save against her scrying.