Qualksander informs you that there is a spare meeting room which you'll be able to confer with the suspects in, and that he'll bring Tathalita down for you once you're prepared. A staff member takes you to the aforementioned room, which is comfortably furnished with a desk and several cushioned seats, and shortly after you have seated yourselves as you wish, another staff member arrives with Tathalita. You have been informed that they will wait outside the room whilst you interview the suspects, in case an incident suddenly breaks out, although you doubt such a thing would happen. The tiefling takes a seat across from you all, looking fairly relaxed and smiling, and says 'I was told you wanted to hear what I know about the Balowang, right?'

"In part." Abishai, leaning against the wall, steps forward. "We also wanted to hear more about your story. You mentioned coming here after a... hag was it?... took your rhythm. I'd be devastated if that happened to me. I'd do just about anything to get my ability back."

The charismatic bard smiles consolingly at the Tiefling before continuing, "Actually, that's also secondary to our true intent." He looks to Wendel and asks, "Would you mind making this room... private, please?" He waits for Wendel to cast his spell before continuing. 

"That's better. Tathalita, we're here to investigate Mr. Qualksander. We've heard disturbing reports of abuse and atrocities such as... Beholder golf. If you have any information that would benefit our investigation, we would love to hear it."

Deception 24

Tathalita shrugs and nods at Abishai's question, answering 'Yes, that's right; it was an Annis Hag that cursed me. I couldn't beat her in a test of musical skill, and so she stole away my rhythm as her prize. There was a time where I was desperate to regain it, but she was far too strong to take on alone, and even when I asked the Harpy's Den Bards for help, they saw it as too much of a risk, but then didn't offer me a place for me to stay now that I was redundant...shows how good bandmates they were...' A look of irritation passes over her face as she recalls this, but it soon melts away as she sighs. 'That doesn't really matter anymore though. I've got a roof over my head and three meals a day, so I'm content enough as I am now.' It's fairly clear that she's being honest, and has truly made peace with the fact that it's unlikely she'll regain her rhythm any time soon. 

After Wendell casts his spell on the door, claiming to prevent any sound leaving, she raises an eyebrow at Abishai's statement. She leans forward a bit as she responds 'Well...I'm not a fan of the sport in the slightest; pinging helpless little flesh balls across a field is one of the last things I'd like to find myself doing, but I can't say Mr Lumens is abusive, persay...' She curls a lavender coloured strand of hair around her finger as she thinks of any examples that could help, but shrugs it off in the end by saying 'I don't know. Nobody's perfect, and considering his species is known for being one of the most evil beasts across the cosmos, I think he's doing an alright job with this whole operation. He's certainly got his quirks, and can be ironically short-sighted and narrow minded with some of his endeavours, but at the end of the day he's doing something out of compassion that means I've got somewhere to stay, so I think he's not too bad in my book, grim treatment of his golf balls aside.'

Wendell looks surprised (genuine surprise) "So you are saying that you are truly grateful for him and are happy with how things are, except the golf?"

Silvosh will watch quietly, looking for any signs of prevarication or outright falsehoods. 

Insight 14

But she isn't as good at spotting such as she things she is...

Abathax stands at the side aswell, listening and looking for clues about if Talthalita is telling the truth. Insight: 17

Tathalita shrugs and nods at Wendell. ‘Yeah, he’s got his flaws, but I don’t know where I’d be right now without his charity. Even though we don’t see eye to eye (or eye to eyes in his case) on everything, I’m hardly one to hold a grudge about things that don’t really effect me, so I’d say that yes, things here are good, and he’s okay too.’ 

Silvosh and Abathax don’t pick up any of the usual tells that would indicate she was lying, and her testimony seems to be incredibly sincere. You assume she’s buying the facade of the room being soundproof, and trusts you from prior interaction, so you’re confident that everything she says can be trusted as her true opinion, from how she’s presented it. 

Abishai listens and ponders for a moment. This isn't the reaction he'd expected. "Very well. Thank you for your honest feedback. Perhaps our reports had been exaggerated. That is, after all, why we're here—to verify our reports."

"Wendell, please lower the barrier." 

"We thank you for your time Tathalita. If you remember anything else regarding the Balowang. Please don't hesitate to let us know. We'll only be here another day or two."

Tathalita nods, thanks you for your investigation (‘it’s always nice to know someone’s looking out for our welfare, when we’re so remote and all that, y’know?’), and heads out the door once Wendell’s ‘barrier’ has been removed. Shortly afterwards the faculty member outside comes in and asks if you’d like the next suspect, or want some time to discuss this interview as a group before then.