Aralia moves to follow the others to the office, keeping an eye out to make sure no one follows them.

Perception: 12

Qualksander bobs at Silvosh's request, saying 'Yes that sounds ideal, I'd like to hear about your findings too' in a sterile manner that is as safe and non-suspicious as one could manage whilst still subtly confirming the group's need for discussion. You leave the dining hall and enter his turret office, Aralia making sure nobody follows the group, and once inside, Mr Lumens says 'Well, seems our traitor isn't going to be so easy to catch. I thought they'd of course be smart enough not to give themselves away through reactions, but still, it would have been nice to have seen something.'

Aralia casts detect magic as they enter the office, particularly concerned about any sort of scrying or other magic that could be used to spy on Qualksander.

Wendell thinks carefully. "Without access to their rooms, it might not be possible to see them before they make their move. And so we might need to resort to a plan B. And use bait of some sort." 

Having not found anything usefull Abathax is annoyed, but goes with the party to talk with Qualksander.

Abishai listens intently as the group discusses next steps with Mr. Lumens. His demeanor relaxed as he leans against the wall near the entrance to the office. "I did learn a few interesting facts about our quarry." Abishai looks at Qualksander for a moment to see if he reacts. "The Balowang is resistant to both physical and magical attacks. It can appear incredibly thin while still being large enough to swallow an entire table in one bite. It may act skittish if startled. A Tabaxi had an allergic reaction to the Balowang's presence and while sneezing, scared the beast off." The bard pauses for a moment before adding, "There were quite a few other stories I heard about the creature, but I do believe the rest of them are embellished or outright false."

"Unfortunately, I didn't learn anything of value regarding our other problem. I suggest we allow events to play out for now and, hopefully in time, more will be revealed. Perhaps then we can work with Mr. Lumens here to prevent his assassination." 

Quote from Swiftgale >>

Wendell thinks carefully. "Without access to their rooms, it might not be possible to see them before they make their move. And so we might need to resort to a plan B. And use bait of some sort." 

 "Bait you say?" Abishai strokes the stubble growing on his jaw before adding, "Interesting idea. What did you have in mind? I love a good game of cat and mouse."

"My divination said they would fight anyone that got in their way or knew of their plot. If we make it obvious that we know of the plot, or make it seem we know more than we do, we could maybe make them expose themselves to fight us. But we have to find a way to let them know we are onto them, without letting the other residents know. We don't want an innocent person to find out about the plot and become a target."

"I'm better at hunting monsters than people. Acting as bait isn't something I've learned how to do."

Abishai thinks for a few moments, "Hmm...so how do we make it obvious we know of the plot without alerting innocent residents to the danger? I agree; the last thing we want to do is put the innocents here in the line of fire."

Abishai looks to Silvosh, "Perhaps I can spin a few limricks that give the hostile individual an idea I'm onto them while the rest of the residents believe it's just a story to entertain. I can be the bait, as it were."

Quote from AbishaiTheHatless >>

Abishai thinks for a few moments, "Hmm...so how do we make it obvious we know of the plot without alerting innocent residents to the danger? I agree; the last thing we want to do is put the innocents here in the line of fire."

Abishai looks to Silvosh, "Perhaps I can spin a few limricks that give the hostile individual an idea I'm onto them while the rest of the residents believe it's just a story to entertain. I can be the bait, as it were."

 "That sounds perfect," Aralia agrees with a nod.

Abishai's attention shifts to Aralia as she agrees. He's grateful for the support. "Great, then I just need to think of the right words to say during tomorrow's activities." The bard looks up trying to remember, "What's on the schedule for tomorrow again? Beholder Golf, is it?"

Aralia's detect magic highlights a lot of magic relics scattered about, but nothing that could indicate a scrying sensor or the like. Qualksander seems interested in the qualities Abishai has gathered, but even more so in the plan that he and the rest of the party have devised. 'That sounds excellent! A bardic tune about a series of events similar to what may play out will be both entertaining to the guests, and if done right will be just specific enough to hopefully pique our traitors interest and get them to confront you about it. I would assume they would just begin asking casually about the origins of the song before going on the offensive, especially if you're in a large area, so how about you perform it at tonight's dinner? It sounds a great plan that means nobody can get hurt!' The mention of tomorrow, and Abishai's question, reminds Qualksander about tomorrow, and he says 'Oh yes! Tomorrow is our weekly rounds of Beholder Golf; it's a game of my own design, but very similar to the regular version, just with a magical twist. The folks there know all the rules well enough, but with time running short this evening I imagine you'd prefer to have it explained on the morning so it's fresh in your mind. Oh, one thing I will arrange is to have your friend Klapton within your group. We usually split the folk into teams and then rota them about the holes anyway, and since he's in one of the most vulnerable positions, knowing of the plot and all, I think it'd be best if he stayed close by you.'

Silvosh added, "I'll keep an eye out for anyone acting strange, especially in reaction to your story."

{In game turns, she plans to use Insight a lot on everyone...}

Abathax is more than happy to have Abishai as bait

"Sounds like a plan than, you got the words ready Abishai? And good idea to have Klapton with us, better save than sorry." Abathax agrees.

"If they know he is onto them too from his escape plans, then yes I agree to have him with us. If I got another 25gp worth of incense I could do another divination in the morning with a new question about a specific goal, event, or activity to occur within 7 days, if anyone has anything to ask that might help us." Wendell realises that with all this going on, he hasn't be keeping an eye on Klapton so now they are talking about him, he quickly looks through his familiars eyes and ears (assuming that we are still within 100ft) to make sure Klapton is safe in his room.

Abishai smiles at Abathax, "Not yet, but I will once they come to me. A night's rest may do me well. My dreams tend to inspire me to do my best work." Abishai's smile turns to a yawn as the days activities catch up to the bard. He turns to Wendel, "Sorry, I don't have any incense, or know what to ask. Your divination magic is a bit over my head on how it works. My magic flows through the music I weave. Rarely do I ask questions with it." Abishai frowns a little as he knows this doesn't help his halfling friend. "I think I'm ready to retire for the night and think about those limericks for tomorrow."

Once the group has finished speaking to Mr. Lumens, Abishai heads to their room with the rest of the group for a night's rest.  

Once they return to their room for the night, Silvosh will go around and cast an alarm spell on all the windows in doors, just in case they had already attracted the attention of the traitor. Wouldn't want to be killed while sleeping!

Abathax returns with the others. Wondering what beholder gold beholds. Before he falls asleep he thinks about what they now know of the balowang. How long will it be till they find it? Till he can return home? 

Wendell looks through his familiar and finds Klapton in his room, unharmed. Qualksander then tells him 'I don't think we've got any spare supply of incense in our stores at the moment, but I'll tell the supply staff to add an additional load to the weekly deliveries we receive from Alkton, along with any other small supplies you might need to catch this traitor with, which should come around midday the day after tomorrow!' If nobody has anything additional to say, Mr Lumens will bid you all good night, and allow you to go back to your rooms. 

Silvosh puts alarms on all the possible entrances to the room to prevent the group from being ambushed, and then you all are able to bed down for a long night's rest. It feels like this one day has gone on for months with the amount that has happened in it, but you're relieved that tomorrow the group should be able to unwind a bit more. 

Before sleeping, Wendell also alarms Klapton's room, set to mental pinging if it is disturbed. Klapton is not excluded from setting off the alarm as Wendell wants to know if he leaves the room as well.

If the alarm goes off (and in the morning regardless) he will check on Klapton through his raven.