Wendyl, watching things about to go south readies a Mind Sliver trained on Durgrim, prepared to release it the moment the brute looks like he's about get violent with Bees or any other member of the party.

Threnody is unmoved by the outburst, languidly swirling her wine around in her glass. She takes another slow, deliberate sip and then rises casually to her feet.

"Five wins on the trot is quite something." She concurs, flanking Durgrim as if taking his side in the matter. "But if I were you... I wouldn't poke that bear."

She tilts her horned head in Bees' direction, feigning a shudder as she lowers her voice. "Tarina's personal muscle. I once saw him gut a waiter from balls to throat for the unforgivable crime of splashing soup on his sleeve. Definitely not the kind of fellow you want to cross."

"Tarina will get what's coming to her one day." She shoots the angry dwarf a sympathetic look and presses her glass into his hand. "My advice? Take my wine, enjoy the rest of your evening and just leave it be." 

Deception:  8 + 6 = 14

Though a touch taken aback from the outburst at first, Liatris soon after dismissed it in a small huff through the nose, before then looking flatly in Kester's direction. And yet, she held her tongue... except for a softly spoken word of power that -- along with a small, dismissive wave as she turned to look towards the stairs -- somehow led to the halfling's chair righting itself all on its own.

At Samosh's words, Durgrim's face turns an ugly shade of purple. There's a vein pulsing in the dwarf's forehead. Tarina doesn't even bother to hide the amusement on her face as she revels in the chaos she has created. Before Durgrim can say anything, he is momentarily distracted by Kester falling off the chair, which gives enough time for Bees to come up and invite Durgrim to leave.

Durgrim opens his mouth, closes it, and opens it again. He glances between Bees and Threnody, wincing visibly at her tale of Bees' exploits. Finally, he shakes his head and backs down.

"Ain't worth it," he mumbles. He shoots a final withering glare at Tarina as he walks down the stairs to the main floor of the tavern.

Tarina nods approvingly at Bees. "Cards it is then. Would you like to deal or shall I?"

Her eyes glitter in the dim tavern light, and she glances at Threnody as she says, "Now what brings my 'personal muscle' to the Elfsong today? Surely you're not here just to lose all your coin to me."

Bees grabs the deck of cards and begins to shuffle. "Happy too." He says as he begins dealing the cards out to the players. (SoH: 10) Bees smiles as he's described by their mark as her personal muscle. "We're here at the request of Sergeant Zodge." Bees allows the others in the group to fill in the details as he passes out additional cards as play continues around the table.

d6 x3: 6+2+6=14+5=19(+6=25) 

On his turn, bees hand equals 14. He rolls one more card and gets a 5. If he has the highest hand at the table he stands. If he doesn't he rolls one more card and gets a 6 which busts him out of the game.

"Captain Zodge." Threnody corrects Bees as she joins Tarina at the table. "I'm not sure he'd appreciate the demotion, given his stellar efforts at the Basilisk Gate corralling desperate folk taking flight."

"Cards aren't really my vice, but I suppose I'll play." She examines the cards she's dealt, but reserves her interest for Tarina, keeping her gaze fixed on the woman sitting opposite.

"Zodge sent us because he thinks you might have insight into another game with greater stakes." The tiefling says in a hushed tone. If the human men have departed following the aborted flare-up with Durgrim, she adds: "What can you tell us about a cult of the Dead Three?"

Didn't know how to play this game, but I googled it. Assuming it's the same rules found here, Threnody does the following: 
Initial roll: 3d6 = 8.
Rolls, taking another card: 1d6 = 5
Rolls, taking another card: 1d6 = 5
Rolls, taking another card: 1d6 = 1
Stands with a total of 19. 

Perception check on Tarina: 12.

Wendyll hangs back, observing the conversation and scanning the room the best he can, with particular attention to Durgrim, ensuring that he doesn't intend to cause any trouble.

     Kaster clambers back up to his feet and looks around to see how much of a to-do he created.  Luckily it seems not much, everyone else seems much more focused on other things.  Still, embarrassed from the whole thing, Kaster steps back away a bit and watches from a bit more of a distance, not wanting to climb up on anything else for the moment.  He watches over the others and waits to see what happens and what he can hear, happy to not be in the lead of this situation.

"Zodge, hmm?" Tarina says, glancing at her cards only briefly. "I tell you what. I'm in a bit of a pickle with some former shipmates of mine. If you hang around for a minute and help me with them, then I'll tell you what I can. You were adept at dealing with Durgrim. I'm sure you can handle a few pirates. What do you say?"

Initial Roll = 6, 4, 6 (16)

Tarina rolls again and gets 1 so she rolls again and gets 4. She stands at 21 and smiles lazily at Bees and Threnody. Threnody is unable to tell if Tarina makes any gestures below the table. "Looks like I win again," she says. "Better luck next time, friends."

(How much did Bees and Threnody put in the pot?)

[[OOC: Bees would only put as much as required to play the game, considering he lost. You tell me how much he lost.]]

Bees smiles as Threnody corrects him on Zodge's rank. He's cares little for official titles and care less for ranks within the Flaming Fist. "Yes, the Captain..." enunciating the rank slowly then lets the sentence end without finishing the thought out loud, '...can go jump off a cliff without feather fall.'  The gruff halfling continues playing the card game, dealing cards to the players as needed.

Bees side eyes Tarina as she wins again against all odds. (Insight: 17)

He snorts in dirision as Tarina asks the group to "handle" her former pirate crew for her. "Don't play nice with others now do you." Bees is tempted to take his coin back from the table but refrains as he stands up on the chair Durgrim departed from. Setting the deck of cards down in front of him, Bees tells Tarina, "I'm starting to think Durgrim may have been right to question your honesty, but that doesn't really matter at the moment, does it. We ask you for information, you ask us to handle your former crew for you. Not much in the way of an equitable trade from my perspective." Bees looks to his companions before saying, "Come on guys, let's leave this... pirate to her fate. I'm sure we can find someone else who knows where to find the dead three.

     "Didn't Zedge... Err, Captain Zodge..." Kester chimes in reluctantly from across the room.  "Well, didn't he say to, um, arrest anyone who stood in our way?  Isn't not sharing vital information the same thing?"

     Truthfully Kester didn't want to arrest this woman, nor did he want to help handle her pirate friends.  Not at all, at all.  But the quicker started the quicker done, so it is said, and perhaps she would be willing to talk if she thought they would indeed arrest her?

Threnody pushes the two gold coin she staked towards Tarina. She's about to make a show of following Bees out the door in the interest of presenting a unified front, when Kester pipes up with an alternative. Soprano or baritone, it's vital we're all singing from the same hymn sheet. 

She leans across the table, trying to find some harmony between the two tunes played.

"As you can see, my friends are a little divided. Some of them want to clap you in irons and hand you over to the Fist. Others would be happy to leave you to whatever aggrieved peg-legs and patch-eyes that are planning on roughing you up. Neither strike me as particularly pleasant, and I wager you share my view." She says reasonably.

"Me? I'm a practical woman. No fuss, no trouble. I just want what we came for in the most expedient manner. Spill the beans on the cult of the Dead Three, toss in a little something extra to salve the burn to my friend's pride, and you have my word I'll do what you asked for. I'll take care of these bloody pirates that are bothering you."

Threnody would have staked the minimum too - 2 gold?
Persuasion check: 16.

"Maybe the girl wants to discuss these interesting items in a place not so public. We've got nothing better to do right now. Let her have some fun then we can talk. When the game is over right fellas?"

Samosh starts to eye the other people at the table, looking to see if he can convince them to leave soon.

Kizeha, who for the most part kept her gaze on the stairs, finally paused her vigil to regard Tarina (and by extension the rest of the group) with a raised brow. Yet any impetus to speak is at first delayed in favor of hearing the others out, and then all but fades away entirely upon realizing how split others were on the matter. Only Threnody received a small nod of approval for finding a middle ground of sorts.

But if Tarina continued to prove to be too stubborn and cagey, then without giving too much away, the "elf" took out her dagger -- more a small cleaver in design than a typical self-defense tool. And for the most part she appeared contemplative. For the moment. As there was a fourth option none were considering just yet, though likely at the cost of more bad blood from the Guild. However, she'd hold her tongue and eventually go back to watching the stairs for any more visitors but continued to monitor the ongoing discussion by ear.

Wendyl continues to cautiously monitor the situation, unable to add anything of value at this point.

The other men who had been at the table exchange looks and then leave the table without another word. Tarina barely pauses to watch them go. She doesn't say anything for a moment. Instead she merely looks from Bees to Kester and finally to Threnody, holding everyone's gaze. Finally, she laughs.

"You lot have got gumption, I'll give you that," she says. "You were brave enough...or maybe stupid enough to meddle in the affairs of the Guild. Either way, you've got skills, and you're confident. I like that."

She pushes Bees' gold back across the table to him, but Threnody's two gold disappear into a pocket in a flash. "How about this? I'll tell you a bit of what I've learned now, and if you manage to survive my old crew, you'll get the rest. That sound fair?"

Before anyone can respond, an ethereal voice suddenly begins singing. The sound fills the tavern and seems to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once. The words of the song are in the Elvish language:

 Tarina looks around with a puzzled expression. "Huh, that's never happened before," she mutters. "She usually sings about her long lost lover."

Bees accepts his coin back from the table, the slightest of smiles creasing the corner of his mouth as Tarina responds. The gruff halfling strokes his black beard while pondering her words. Knowing he can't speak for the group, Bees says, "Hmm... You've got yerself a deal. I'll help ya deal with yer... crew. Tell us whatcha know." Bees sees no downside to this agreement. He thinks, 'I can just back out if the crew that arrives looks too formidable to take on. At least we'll get some information.'

He looks around in confusion as the singing begins. "What the..." He looks at Tarina and asks, "You mean the random singing is common? What is she singing about?"

"Hey that is an interesting tune. Who sings it?"

After the song plays Samosh shrugs, "Sure we can help with that problem. I mean, how hard could it be?"

'Hmm... That may be a problem later' Thought the sole "elf" of the party. Yet, she made no move to intercept the two men, and instead simply watched as they made their way out of the immediate area. "It is the reason why they call it the Elfsong Tavern." Liatris interjected with regards to Bees' question, though in a somewhat absent-minded tone. "Though why she sings of Elturel is exceptionally curious. I recall no tale of her lover being from there, or of any charms used in the past having been successful in manipulating her." She further admits, before then finally looking towards party. "But then, as she was a nonfactor for most of my investigations, I never delved to deep into the matter. Regardless, the song has little bearing on the matter at hand. You will convey what 'bit' you know now, as well as give a description of your 'old crew'." She said to Tarina in a matter-of-fact tone.

     "Was that on the back of the menu?" Kester asks, wondering how Liatris knew so much of the tavern.  "Anyway, what did the song say?"

     All in all Kester was a bit freaked out about the song that came from seemingly nowhere yet everywhere.  It freaked them out like a shiver in a graveyard or an owlbear hiccuping.  Some things are just bad omens.  But nobody else seem much disturbed so Kester did his best to act as nonchalant as possible...  Though he couldn't help wondering when an appropriate time to act chalant may be.