Erven and Ketangu try to run after the figure, but he is over the fence and gone. Jack's familiar flies after him, but as it looks over the fence, it sees that the cloaked figure has disappeared.

Khessa tells her new friend farewell, and questions the girl along with Jack. She looks up at the two of them, and says, in between hiccups and sobs "Me...me and my brother...We were...We were investigating cult activity...they...they killed him for snooping!"

Tabitha uses her skills to adjust the lens on Petal, and sees that the eyeball gives off an aura of Divination magic. She thinks about what this could mean, and realizes an Identify could reveal the true nature of the object. 

Mud walks over to the other corpse, and pulls the hood back. The face is of a tattooed man, his features angular. A fierce burn is on his neck and torso, and Mud notices that the distraught girl's brother wears the vestments of a mage. Interesting. The man's pockets on his robe seem to ripped, as if someone forcibly took something from his pockets.

As stated prior, tabitha is casting identify still, while others are continuing their actions 

"A cult? Sounds quite sinister. I suppose I can only speak for myself when I say I would want to seek justice for your brother and bring this cult down, but..." The dark-haired young man says, looking around at the others that he just met at the Dancing Donkey tavern, a motley crew indeed but all quick to react to help when the sister cried out. "...I have the sense I will not be alone in this endeavour." He says with a reassuring smile as he looks back at the grieving sister, still kneeling by her side. "Can you tell us more about this cult?" He continues to ask with a calm and gentle tone.

Meanwhile a tiny invisible figure returns to the others, pouting with disappointment over having lost the fleeing cloaked cultist.

Oh, I missed that Tabby cast Identify. I thought she was only casting Detect Magic. Shame on me.

Tabitha adjusts the lenses on Petal, and uses the magnifying glass to look around. As it passes over the eyeball, script appears on the glass. The words "Hail the undying", and a little section saying that this eyeball functions as a compass.

The girl looks up gratefully at Jack, "Thank you. The cult is dedicated to some sort of sinister god, and they have been connected to a number of disappearances. Their imagery incorporates a hand and an eye, but I haven't looked into which god it is. My brother was the academic. He...he..." She breaks down into fresh sobs.

As Mud looks the corpse over, his interest is piqued when Valerie mentions the cult followed a dark god. As she describes the cult’s symbolry, he tries to recall the few times he actually paid attention to his tutors when they spoke of religion. The pairing of a hand and eye sounded vaguely familiar, so he was sure he heard it somewhere in his youth.

As he ruminates, he rises back up to his full towering height, his tail swooshing gently behind him. “Did your brother manage to steal something from the cultists? Where did you find them?” Bahrumuhd asks Valerie, the dragonborn’s curiosity piqued. 

Religion: 13

This is not Valerie. Valerie is inside the tavern, recovering from the whole sleaze-ball ordeal. The sobbing girl has not given her name yet

The girl looks up at Mud "He found that cultist" she points to the dead cultist "And managed to win in a fight. It looks like he was a little overzealous with his fire spell. Oh, why did you have to be so stupid Garren?! Why!?" She resumes sobbing.

Anyone besides Mud who wants to can make a DC 13 Religion check can do so.  On a success, you learn:

Khessa's Religion: 6

Indeed, why so stupid? "Your brother died a brave man, fighting a sinister cult, we will finish what he started..." The young dark-haired man says with a reassuring smile to the grieving sister. "...assuming we have some way to find them." He continues, glancing over at then feline inventress and the thing she is studying.

Religion to read spoiler: 19
Religion for the tiny invisible figure to read the spoiler: 22

Garren may have been the academic... but Khessa definitely isn't! The clues about the cult don't bring anything to her mind. However, she has a determined and pained look deep in her blue eyes, as she approaches the survivor, hugs her, starts caressing her to comfort her and murmurs: "I know what it's like, when your brother is killed before your eyes. Without you being able to do anything. It shouldn't happen to anyone. I'm so sorry, darling. But I can assure you one thing: this cult won't get away with it. Soon nothing will remain of them but a bad memory".

"Is there any last thing you can tell me about this cult?" the blonde arcane warrior keeps the other in the comfort of the embrace, to figuratively give her... kind of an anchor, a safe port, in the midst of the storm that has turned her life upside down "Have you or Garren discovered some of their bases or meeting points? Or some of their plans? Or a method to detect their members? How did you find the cultist that Garren killed?”

Erven steps up quietly, a bead of sweat dripping from his brow after his recent jog through the dark.  As he walks closer, he bends down, picking up the eyeball to examine it for a moment.  As soon as he does, a look of realization crosses his face, his eyes snap to attention, a look of dark anger crosses his face.  “I have seen such a symbol.  Once.”  (Religion with adv : 13)

Erven digs into an inner pocket, pulling out a worn, crude token on a chain.  The representation on the chain is of a hand, with an eye on the back of it.  “I found this, long ago.  I was out hunting one day, I grew up in a village, in Sharandar.  One day I was out on patrol, hunting at the edge of our wood, and when I came home, our village was decimated.  I found one of the injured bandits who had been left behind, some band called the Redcloaks.  I … questioned him.  He did not survive.  He told me that a wizard, a necromancer who had skill in raising the dead had helped them, casting spells.  After I finished with the Redcloak, some of the bodies began to … move.  Like he had placed some horrible magic spell on members of my family, my kin, to rise and walk again.  They were moving slowly, crudely, and I ended their lives for the second time that day, though it pained me to do so.  I had to bash their skulls in to get them to stop moving…”  Erven stops here and bends over, his gut wrenching with the story, tears coming to his eyes.  He goes to his knees as he finishes recounting the tale, losing track of who is around him, his composure -

“Near one of the bodies, I found this token.  I have hunted and searched, and this is why I came to Neverwinter.  To hunt down the people who follow this cult.  These curators of evil, who thrive on the power of animating the dead.  “Hail the Undying” indeed.”  He looks up at each of you in turn, saying “My name is Erven Aloro, I am an elf from Neverwinter Wood, from the lost village of Sharandar.  I would join with you, if you would have me, to get to the bottom of this.”  He looks at the grieving sister, meeting her eyes as tears come to his own.  “I will avenge your brother.  I swear it.  Because this is the clue that I have been looking for.”  He stops speaking at this point, wiping his eyes and looking away, trying to compose himself.  

"Of course, Erven!" Khessa embraces the elf with unusual rapture - something in his story must have touched some chord in her soul "We will find them and we will put an end to all this... D4mn them... As if the drow weren't already enough to sow terror and violence..."

"We will send them to learn much more closely" the blonde arcane warrior releases the embrace and her voice takes on a hard and determined tone "about that death by which they seem so morbidly fascinated".

The tall adventuress, still at the wood elf's side, shifts her gaze again to the survivor, awaiting an answer to her final questions... Every possible clue and hint could be precious to hasten the neutralization of this evil sect.

Quote from Raccoon_Master >>

Oh, I missed that Tabby cast Identify. I thought she was only casting Detect Magic. Shame on me.

 I actually just assumed that you hadn't got to Identify because others hadn't posted 20 minutes worth of actions so you were letting them post in the interim. I only mentioned it again so it wasn't lost while everyone inevitably posted lots while I slept.

Tabitha finishes her tinkering and looks over the eyeball closely. She has paid no attention to any of the conversations that have gone on while she has been focused on her work. "Excuse me, but I think I have a lead. This eyeball is a compass. We can probably track down the cultists and avenge your brother. Oh, sorry everyone, I was saying we there but I never asked any of you. Is anyone happy to accompany me to help this woman?" (I think most people have already expressed interest in this, but Tabitha hasn't heard it yet.)

Without waiting for a response, she climbs onto Lance, holds the eyeball and says "Hail the undying" preparing to follow the compass however it might work. Her gut feeling is that maybe it will fly by itself and be followed, or failing that, move to at least look in the right direction to go, so she has it resting on her hand rather than gripped tight.

Still kneeling by the grieving sister's side, Jack looks between the tall blonde warrioress and the scarred wood elf, both who evidently knew the pain of loss, the wood elf also seeming knowledgeable about this sinister cult of the dead. He wasn't sure what part the vicious drow would play in all this but it was best to be prepared.

"A compass? Showing us the way to what, the cultist hideout?" The young dark-haired man says with some doubt in his tone. It seemed a bit convenient they would be in a possession of this compass, but then again perhaps it was simply that fate decided to give them some well-needed assistance. "I think we all are prepared to help." He says, getting to his feet, ready to depart unless the sister had more to share, hoping others from the nearby tavern would come and help her take care of her brother.

"I would assume it shows us that. I wasn't able to determine that with Petal, so experimentation will tell us what it does."

[[ OOC: Well, Khessa is still waiting for a reply from the survivor... If Garren had a way to find the cultists, we could resort to that also, either in addition or in substitution of the to-be-experienced- with compass... ]]

Khessa is still patiently waiting for a response from the survivor, but in the meantime she smiles at Tabitha and assures her: "Of course we will follow you! Where would the fun be," she tries to tone down the drama with irony and winks "otherwise?"

As the others pledged their commitment to find the cult and destroy them, Bahrumuhd stands off the side, his arms folded as he listens to what was being said. A tiny part of him thought that maybe this was something that the city's authorities should take care of, but the moment that thought crossed his mind, he discarded it as a sly grin spreads across his face. If the city hadn't been able to take care of a cult infestation, how abashed would they be when they learned a group of random people who've never met before were able to clear out the cult? 

Mud finds himself nodding along and offering his aid as well. "I'll help too," he says, a humorous glint in his eye. To be completely honest, while part of him wanted to help because of his get rid of the cult because they followed an evil god obsessed with death as Erven put it, a bigger part of him wanted to help simply to rub in the face of Neverwinter's lawmen. Of course, it would be dangerous, but that was part of the fun!

Ketangu comes back disappointed "Damn, the crossbowman seems to have disappeared into thin air. So, what have you discovered?" he asks those that remained at the scene of the crime.  "I am sorry miss but what is your name. I am Ketangu." He condenses his mass so that he is eye level with the crying woman. Not a crouch more like he redistributed his mass to make him shorter and fatter. 

Once told of what they discovered he racks his mind to see if he remembers anything. After a moment he shrugs as he has no clue what religion the amulet is supposed to represent. 

Religion Check

4 rolled in game log.

"I'll join this quest as well. At least I want a good look at whatever these cultists are up to." says Ketangu. 

As Erven says 'hail the undying', the eyeball begins to twitch faster and faster, until it spins in Tabitha's paw. It comes to rest, seeming to look down the street towards the south, and it grows faintly warm in Tabitha's hand. It seems to be pointing the way.

As each of you make your own declarations to avenge the dead, the lady looks up gratefully, and gives her name "Kevori. Kevori Fearnehart. Thank you all for your kind words. If you'll let me, I would like to accompany you and avenge my brother. I can hold my own in a fight, so you mostly don't need to worry about me." she says, showing you the blade strapped to her hip and the bow on her back. She stands, brushing herself off. She wipes her eyes and straightens her tunic, ready to get revenge.

Unless you guys for some reason don't go in the direction the eye is pointing, which I doubt you will, I'll narrate the next part:

You start to walk, Tabitha leading the way as she rides upon Lance. Kevori sticks close to Jack, who has shown her considerable kindness. You all walk down the street, a strange, eclectic group of heroes on a mission to avenge the a woman's dead brother and stop an evil cult. Sounds so chivalrous when you think about it. The eyeball grows warmer as you walk, reaching an almost burning temperature as the withered eyeball aims its empty gaze down an alley strewn with rubble. Rats scurry between chunks of old stone and dusty crates. At the back of the alley is a set of moldering wood boards, propped up just enough to block a dark tunnel leading below the surface.

Mud raises an eyebrow when they seemingly find the entrance to the cult's lair. That was a lot easier than he thought it would be, but the whole in the wall would undoubtedly be trapped. Honestly, he was kinda surprised that the city guards hadn't found the entrance yet. As far as gaping wholes that led underneath cities, this one was a bit obvious. 

The dragonborn holds up a hand and comes to a stop. "While I'm just as eager as the rest of you are to give these cultists the beating of their life," he starts, "I would prefer to go in after I know what the rest of you are good at." Placing his hand on his chest, he continues, "Personally, I have a bit of magic I can throw around, but I have next to no training with weapons." Grinning, he adds in a teasing manner, "I'd much prefer if someone else took the brunt of whatever the cult tries to throw at us."

Khessa steps forward, putting herself in first position, replying to Mud: "Stand a little behind me, then... As you can see," she gestures to her height and size, winlking "I'm excellent as a meat shield".

"I..." the blonde arcane warrior becomes a little hesitant, now that she tries to seriously account for what she can do "It's not like I've received formal training in war or magic... I... I didn't choose this life. It seems that this life chose me - and by learning on my own I learned to fight a little with weapons, a little with magic, a little with cunning and expedients... As a technique, I can definitely still improve a lot, in all fields," she shrugs "but, well, what can I say? Self-taught I may be, but still, in all the battles I have faced, at the end of the confrontation I have always been among those who were still standing. I will do my best to make this happens this time too".

"However, if this is the entrance to an evil cult's lair, we should expect her to be warded in some way. Traps, magic, sentinels... or any combination of the three" the tall adventuress muses. "I'll do my best to try to keep the sentries away from you, so that you can take them down at your leisure from range... but it would be nice to be aware of traps and spells (and if possible neutralize or avoid them)".

“Tabitha…” Khessa turns to the tabaxi “you were able to detect the magic before, in the alley… would you be able to check this entrance too? Are there any active spells there or in the immediate vicinity?"

"And as for traps..." the blonde arcane warrior looks around "are there any of us who have a good eye for spotting them? If not... just follow me and hope for the best; if nothing happens to me, evidently the path I have followed is safe".