Luma's eyes Yinra cautiously. Her demeanor seems genuine enough, but Luma can't shake away her concern, especially after seeing her pocket something from the cell.
As Cy challenges Yinra, Luma steps forward, her voice still friendly but concerned."Yes, especially civilians that take evidence from the crime scene,"she says. Her tone is devoid of threat, and it simply reflects her worry.
"Would you be willing to share what you found with us, Yinra?" Luma asks, her expression earnest."It might be something important for our investigation."
"You think you're the only ones given leave to investigate this ... rousing jailbreak?" Yinra asks, tilting her head slightly; she shifts away from the wall, erasing most of the distance that remains between herself and the party. "The Crownsguard are aware of my particular skillset," she adds, her smirk just a touch self-satisfied. "Though I'll certainly look forward to seeing yours in action."
As Luma asks her to share, Yinra simply watches her in amused silence for several moments; whatever she might think of Luma's words, threatening or otherwise, there's little to read in her beyond perhaps a mischievous glint in her eye. "I'll tell you what, Luma," she says. It's a small room, all things considered, particularly for all of you to occupy at once; as she approaches, you can see the shortsword that hangs from her belt, the bow strapped to her back. "I'd be willing to share my good fortune with you -- for a price. We'll call it ... 70 gold."
Listening to Luma discuss with the elf, Nemira watches this Yinra carefully. Bounty hunter meant money driven, but who knows who else has a price on their head. If they are willing to take evidence without permission or notification, then they are willing to break the rules of the game in ways that suit only them. She's a dangerous competitor of a different kind.
Quietly pushing her way to hover behind Luma, Nemira looks up at Yinra with a different kind of glint in her eye. "70 gold? Seems meager compared to whatever coin you could collect for a job. You need information for your chase if you're going to beat us there." Nemira smiles mischievously, gesturing to their group.
"Do you think the Crownsguard would let just anyone in here? So how bout it? A trade of information and a race to capture the prize at the end."
Xintris studies the elf curiously, and huffs with a roll of their eyes at the offer to share what evidence she had gathered for a steep price. They hope that the veiled challenge to race them to find the culprits is enough to get her to share, but it’s reassuring to know they hold the numbers against her if she decides she won’t play fair.
While the others try to convince Yinra, Xintris steps to the side to look around the room for any hard to spot clues or traces of how the whole thing was pulled off, or anything else that sticks out as noticeable.
Yinra turns her attention to Nemira, something caught perhaps between amusement and calculation sparkling in her eyes; she watches her in silence for a moment, smoothing down her cloak as she appears to consider the proposition. “And why should I believe you’ve anything I need?” she asks, though she doesn’t seem to be lacking in curiosity. “Our dear Watchmaster seems quite desperate for an extra hand or two these days. His selection suggests you may know how to stay alive—” She eyes the group’s visible weapons, before returning her gaze to Nemira: “—but possessing anything I might consider essential is quite another matter.”
As Xintris focuses their efforts on inspecting the cell for any traces of evidence, they turn their attention toward the overturned bed. It takes only a brief investigation to determine that the bed is burned only on the side facing the hole, as if used as a barrier to protect against the oncoming blast. With a closer look, Xintris discovers a jagged, fist-sized shard of bronze lodged in the bed — it smells strongly of sulfur and burned blasting powder, and bears no resemblance at all to anything else within the cell.
Nemira's smile never wavers, sensing the apprehension in the other woman. If anything, her smile grows as if to impose that Yinra indeed missed out. "Well, besides being the wonderful investigators we are, we are also first-hand account witnesses. We saw the explosion and the events that occurred right after, and unless I'm mistaken, you were no where near it." The sweetness of her tone suggest that the bounty hunter is well behind them in this game, and if she wishes to catch up, Yinra should accept her proposal.
Luma had already started to think they had lost the argument when Nemira spoke up. Luma's doubt quickly turned to admiration at Nemira's cunning response. Luma hadn't even considered the fact that they were not just investigators, but also witnesses to the explosion.
She feels a surge of pride in her companion, and smiles in support of Nemira, nodding her head with an expression that clearly shows her agreement.
Yinra's smile sharpens, just slightly. "Hm," she says, holding Nemira's gaze for longer moments still. "And you would be willing to share the extent of your ... alleged first-hand experiences," she says, slowly, dipping a hand into the pocket of her coat and removing three scraps of paper; whatever text might be scrawled upon them is entirely invisible from the careful direction she keeps them faced, held as it is between thumb and forefinger, "for a bit of first-hand evidence?"
Xintris glances up to see how the negotiations over the evidence are going, and while Yinra seems more focused on bartering they crouch down by the bed. The bed doesn't look like it had been blown on its side in the blast but was instead overturned in preparation to be used as a shield. They lower the magnifying glasses perched on their head down to get a better look of the shard of bronze, and with further inspection it doesn't look too hard to remove without damage, so that's what they try to do while keeping it at least somewhat discreet.
Nemira meets the gaze with full confidence, never once wavering. "An equal exchange of information," she agrees. Though the temptation is there, she doesn't look at the pieces of paper and continues to stare Yinra down in hopes to win this negotiation.
Xintris is easily able to pull the fist-sized shard of bronze free; it takes little effort for them to feel quite certain it had once been a piece of whatever explosive had freed this criminal from prison, though it's difficult to ascertain much more, given the ... rather exploded nature of the object.
(If there's else in the cell Xintris or anyone else would like to inspect, just let me know!)
Cy watches as Nemira engages Yinra in a tense negotiation, a flicker of amusement crossing his face. This bounty hunter, with their air of casual confidence, is an interesting character. But there are more pressing matters at hand. He steps forward, his boots crunching over the debris, towards the chamber pot. It is an unseemly object, but the way Yinra had handled it with such nonchalance suggests there is more to it than meets the eye. Kneeling, Cy begins a careful examination, his fingers tracing the rough surface. He peers inside, the dim light casting eerie shadows across the bottom.
Yinra breathes a sound that might almost be a chuckle, apparently mostly to herself. "Equal exchange, hm?" she asks, fingering the papers still clutched tightly in her grip. "Quite a slippery thing, equal." She hums under her breath, though her gaze no longer strays from Nemira's, even as Xintris and Cy continue carry out their investigations. "Have you some particular evidence on offer for me, then?" she asks, her interest genuine in a way it had only been amused moments prior -- though the shadow of her smirk remains. "Something specific you think worth my while?"
As Cy peers inside the rather destroyed chamber pot, he finds little of interest; it is (perhaps gratefully) full to the brim mostly of gravel, and dust, and rubble -- whatever paper Yinra had taken, there seems to be no further trace of it, at least none still left intact. As he pulls back and glances toward the nearby rubble, though, he discovers the unexpected glint of something buried within the loose rock: peering closer, it appears to be a strange, flat automaton about the size of a large plate. Its shape resembles that of a crab, though even a quick examination suggests it has sustained considerable damage.
It at least seems like whoever was in the cell had been broken out, and had also known to brace for the explosion beforehand. Xintris leaves the shard of bronze be, and gets up to look around the room some more for anything that might stand out or catch their attention. Who knows how long Yinra had to explore the place before they got there, and if there's something she still hasn't noticed, even despite the mostly barren room.
As Xintris begins to explore the rest of this small cell, scouring it for any further evidence, they note the pattern of the rubble: most of the stone and steel has clearly been blown out from the inside, confirming that the source of the explosion had indeed come from within the cell itself. Upon closer examination, it appears that there are signs of multiple explosions present at various points on the inside wall. Otherwise, they discover little further of interest still buried inside this room -- though given the carefulness of their search, they note over Cy's shoulder the very same discovery as he has: a flat, crab-like automaton, clearly having sustained considerable damage. Given the size of the thing -- and given Xintris' thorough search of the room -- they are immediately certain that it would have been small enough to fit through the skylight.
"Of course we have evidence, though I agree our definition of 'equal' in this circumstance is probably not the same," Nemira responds with a churlish grin.
"You have already taken evidence from the area in a wish to abscond with it to ensure you get whatever bounty I'm sure will be put up soon. How do we know that what we present is equal to what those papers contain?" The half-drow stands toe to toe with Yinra, eying the bounty hunter with thinly veiled suspicion.
Yinra leans a shoulder against the cell wall, offering a casual: "Well, I suppose you won't. I suppose you'll have to take my word for it." She shrugs, lightly, sliding the papers back into her coat pocket, as if half bored by the conversation already. "You are, after all, insistent on the deal. If you'd refuse to offer gold, and yet remain unwilling to see me off without a glimpse of my find, I suppose the impetus is on you to make a trade I can't decline." She narrows her eyes -- deep brown, sharper than the nonchalance of her posture would suggest -- and adds: "Let's make it easy, shall we? You can offer me sixty gold, you can answer four of my questions -- honestly and entirely, without deception or withholding -- or you can suggest a trade for an item, either of inherent value or of value to this little mystery of ours, in which case I would have right of refusal, if I found the offer ... wanting." She raises a pointed brow, gaze locked on Nemira's, before she adds: "Or I can walk away now, and leave you simply with my very best wishes in your endeavors."
While the room doesn't seem to hold many more answers in it, at least Xintris has a slightly better idea of what must have happened. They glance up at the skylight, trying to think about where it would open up to, and if they would be able to get up there on the other side to look. They turn to Cy while Yinra is still occupied with the others and their bargaining, and keeps their voice quiet and hushed. "Do you think we could get up there to see if whoever most likely dropped the explosive in here left any traces behind?"
"Three questions," Nemira counters. "One for each piece of paper you have. And yes, the answers are as truthful and open as long as you show the full extent of what is on those pieces."
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Luma's eyes Yinra cautiously. Her demeanor seems genuine enough, but Luma can't shake away her concern, especially after seeing her pocket something from the cell.
As Cy challenges Yinra, Luma steps forward, her voice still friendly but concerned. "Yes, especially civilians that take evidence from the crime scene," she says. Her tone is devoid of threat, and it simply reflects her worry.
"Would you be willing to share what you found with us, Yinra?" Luma asks, her expression earnest. "It might be something important for our investigation."
"You think you're the only ones given leave to investigate this ... rousing jailbreak?" Yinra asks, tilting her head slightly; she shifts away from the wall, erasing most of the distance that remains between herself and the party. "The Crownsguard are aware of my particular skillset," she adds, her smirk just a touch self-satisfied. "Though I'll certainly look forward to seeing yours in action."
As Luma asks her to share, Yinra simply watches her in amused silence for several moments; whatever she might think of Luma's words, threatening or otherwise, there's little to read in her beyond perhaps a mischievous glint in her eye. "I'll tell you what, Luma," she says. It's a small room, all things considered, particularly for all of you to occupy at once; as she approaches, you can see the shortsword that hangs from her belt, the bow strapped to her back. "I'd be willing to share my good fortune with you -- for a price. We'll call it ... 70 gold."
Listening to Luma discuss with the elf, Nemira watches this Yinra carefully. Bounty hunter meant money driven, but who knows who else has a price on their head. If they are willing to take evidence without permission or notification, then they are willing to break the rules of the game in ways that suit only them. She's a dangerous competitor of a different kind.
Quietly pushing her way to hover behind Luma, Nemira looks up at Yinra with a different kind of glint in her eye. "70 gold? Seems meager compared to whatever coin you could collect for a job. You need information for your chase if you're going to beat us there." Nemira smiles mischievously, gesturing to their group.
"Do you think the Crownsguard would let just anyone in here? So how bout it? A trade of information and a race to capture the prize at the end."
Xintris studies the elf curiously, and huffs with a roll of their eyes at the offer to share what evidence she had gathered for a steep price. They hope that the veiled challenge to race them to find the culprits is enough to get her to share, but it’s reassuring to know they hold the numbers against her if she decides she won’t play fair.
While the others try to convince Yinra, Xintris steps to the side to look around the room for any hard to spot clues or traces of how the whole thing was pulled off, or anything else that sticks out as noticeable.
OOC: Investigation: 18
Yinra turns her attention to Nemira, something caught perhaps between amusement and calculation sparkling in her eyes; she watches her in silence for a moment, smoothing down her cloak as she appears to consider the proposition. “And why should I believe you’ve anything I need?” she asks, though she doesn’t seem to be lacking in curiosity. “Our dear Watchmaster seems quite desperate for an extra hand or two these days. His selection suggests you may know how to stay alive—” She eyes the group’s visible weapons, before returning her gaze to Nemira: “—but possessing anything I might consider essential is quite another matter.”
As Xintris focuses their efforts on inspecting the cell for any traces of evidence, they turn their attention toward the overturned bed. It takes only a brief investigation to determine that the bed is burned only on the side facing the hole, as if used as a barrier to protect against the oncoming blast. With a closer look, Xintris discovers a jagged, fist-sized shard of bronze lodged in the bed — it smells strongly of sulfur and burned blasting powder, and bears no resemblance at all to anything else within the cell.
Nemira's smile never wavers, sensing the apprehension in the other woman. If anything, her smile grows as if to impose that Yinra indeed missed out. "Well, besides being the wonderful investigators we are, we are also first-hand account witnesses. We saw the explosion and the events that occurred right after, and unless I'm mistaken, you were no where near it." The sweetness of her tone suggest that the bounty hunter is well behind them in this game, and if she wishes to catch up, Yinra should accept her proposal.
Luma had already started to think they had lost the argument when Nemira spoke up. Luma's doubt quickly turned to admiration at Nemira's cunning response. Luma hadn't even considered the fact that they were not just investigators, but also witnesses to the explosion.
She feels a surge of pride in her companion, and smiles in support of Nemira, nodding her head with an expression that clearly shows her agreement.
Yinra's smile sharpens, just slightly. "Hm," she says, holding Nemira's gaze for longer moments still. "And you would be willing to share the extent of your ... alleged first-hand experiences," she says, slowly, dipping a hand into the pocket of her coat and removing three scraps of paper; whatever text might be scrawled upon them is entirely invisible from the careful direction she keeps them faced, held as it is between thumb and forefinger, "for a bit of first-hand evidence?"
Xintris glances up to see how the negotiations over the evidence are going, and while Yinra seems more focused on bartering they crouch down by the bed. The bed doesn't look like it had been blown on its side in the blast but was instead overturned in preparation to be used as a shield. They lower the magnifying glasses perched on their head down to get a better look of the shard of bronze, and with further inspection it doesn't look too hard to remove without damage, so that's what they try to do while keeping it at least somewhat discreet.
OOC Sleight of hand: 19
Nemira meets the gaze with full confidence, never once wavering. "An equal exchange of information," she agrees. Though the temptation is there, she doesn't look at the pieces of paper and continues to stare Yinra down in hopes to win this negotiation.
Xintris is easily able to pull the fist-sized shard of bronze free; it takes little effort for them to feel quite certain it had once been a piece of whatever explosive had freed this criminal from prison, though it's difficult to ascertain much more, given the ... rather exploded nature of the object.
(If there's else in the cell Xintris or anyone else would like to inspect, just let me know!)
Cy watches as Nemira engages Yinra in a tense negotiation, a flicker of amusement crossing his face. This bounty hunter, with their air of casual confidence, is an interesting character. But there are more pressing matters at hand. He steps forward, his boots crunching over the debris, towards the chamber pot. It is an unseemly object, but the way Yinra had handled it with such nonchalance suggests there is more to it than meets the eye. Kneeling, Cy begins a careful examination, his fingers tracing the rough surface. He peers inside, the dim light casting eerie shadows across the bottom.
OOC: Investigation 15
Yinra breathes a sound that might almost be a chuckle, apparently mostly to herself. "Equal exchange, hm?" she asks, fingering the papers still clutched tightly in her grip. "Quite a slippery thing, equal." She hums under her breath, though her gaze no longer strays from Nemira's, even as Xintris and Cy continue carry out their investigations. "Have you some particular evidence on offer for me, then?" she asks, her interest genuine in a way it had only been amused moments prior -- though the shadow of her smirk remains. "Something specific you think worth my while?"
As Cy peers inside the rather destroyed chamber pot, he finds little of interest; it is (perhaps gratefully) full to the brim mostly of gravel, and dust, and rubble -- whatever paper Yinra had taken, there seems to be no further trace of it, at least none still left intact. As he pulls back and glances toward the nearby rubble, though, he discovers the unexpected glint of something buried within the loose rock: peering closer, it appears to be a strange, flat automaton about the size of a large plate. Its shape resembles that of a crab, though even a quick examination suggests it has sustained considerable damage.
(@Cy, go ahead and make a History check.)
It at least seems like whoever was in the cell had been broken out, and had also known to brace for the explosion beforehand. Xintris leaves the shard of bronze be, and gets up to look around the room some more for anything that might stand out or catch their attention. Who knows how long Yinra had to explore the place before they got there, and if there's something she still hasn't noticed, even despite the mostly barren room.
OOC Investigation: 23
As Xintris begins to explore the rest of this small cell, scouring it for any further evidence, they note the pattern of the rubble: most of the stone and steel has clearly been blown out from the inside, confirming that the source of the explosion had indeed come from within the cell itself. Upon closer examination, it appears that there are signs of multiple explosions present at various points on the inside wall. Otherwise, they discover little further of interest still buried inside this room -- though given the carefulness of their search, they note over Cy's shoulder the very same discovery as he has: a flat, crab-like automaton, clearly having sustained considerable damage. Given the size of the thing -- and given Xintris' thorough search of the room -- they are immediately certain that it would have been small enough to fit through the skylight.
"Of course we have evidence, though I agree our definition of 'equal' in this circumstance is probably not the same," Nemira responds with a churlish grin.
"You have already taken evidence from the area in a wish to abscond with it to ensure you get whatever bounty I'm sure will be put up soon. How do we know that what we present is equal to what those papers contain?" The half-drow stands toe to toe with Yinra, eying the bounty hunter with thinly veiled suspicion.
Yinra leans a shoulder against the cell wall, offering a casual: "Well, I suppose you won't. I suppose you'll have to take my word for it." She shrugs, lightly, sliding the papers back into her coat pocket, as if half bored by the conversation already. "You are, after all, insistent on the deal. If you'd refuse to offer gold, and yet remain unwilling to see me off without a glimpse of my find, I suppose the impetus is on you to make a trade I can't decline." She narrows her eyes -- deep brown, sharper than the nonchalance of her posture would suggest -- and adds: "Let's make it easy, shall we? You can offer me sixty gold, you can answer four of my questions -- honestly and entirely, without deception or withholding -- or you can suggest a trade for an item, either of inherent value or of value to this little mystery of ours, in which case I would have right of refusal, if I found the offer ... wanting." She raises a pointed brow, gaze locked on Nemira's, before she adds: "Or I can walk away now, and leave you simply with my very best wishes in your endeavors."
While the room doesn't seem to hold many more answers in it, at least Xintris has a slightly better idea of what must have happened. They glance up at the skylight, trying to think about where it would open up to, and if they would be able to get up there on the other side to look. They turn to Cy while Yinra is still occupied with the others and their bargaining, and keeps their voice quiet and hushed. "Do you think we could get up there to see if whoever most likely dropped the explosive in here left any traces behind?"
"Three questions," Nemira counters. "One for each piece of paper you have. And yes, the answers are as truthful and open as long as you show the full extent of what is on those pieces."