Both Doozey and Biscuit grumbled a little, seeming to both catch Aleyd's meaning well enough. The two then share a look, and shook their head with an exasperated sigh. "Utar there raises fair enough point. Surely that much wouldn't be crossing any bounds. But then again, if'n yer coming to us with all this, I'm pretty sure we can guess at the answer to that last one." Doozey concedes. Next, he looks to Raist and ask, "By the way, know anything about this Spernik fella? 'fraid I wasn't around when the others dealt with'em the first go 'round."

"Well," Aleyd thinks on Utar's question and looks at Doozey. "Maybe Doozey had the right idea after all. Spernik is Captain Bolver's prisoners, so that might be a good point to start. If you catch him or one of his man in the act of receiving a bribe, perhaps we can question them, get a confession or a list of like-minded greased-hand Black Fists?" 

@Raist: You'd be well familiarized with the story of Spernik by now, but Raist was likely away from the Library for most of the time Spernik was temping as a junior scribe. Feel free to roll either history or insight to possibly get more info. 

"Are you sure you've picked the right group for this?  We aren't exactly known for the sneaky beaky stuff, we're more of a 'no plan is our plan', rag-tag, roll with the punches that we started throwing out of nowhere kind of group.  Surely our one earred friend might be better placed to keep an eye on the gate, no?"

"And I am a member of the Black Fist. We are not exactly known for our subterfuge either. And yet..." Aleyd waves her hand, showing her frustration with what has become of the Knightly Order. "But oh well, feel free to recruit the tiefling's help. It is not like he'll listen to me... you know that." Aleyd pushes the coin purse on the table a bit closer to CRAP. "But you'll have to share this with him, and I don't want to know any of it."

@Utar, @Raist, @Doozey: The coin purse flops on its side as Aleyd gives it a push, and some coins spills out. You notice that the "heads" side of the coins you can see from the corner of your eyes (passive perception) shows the head of a dragon instead that of the Lord Regent of Phlan, as you are used to seeing.

@Raist (on Spernik):

"I will speak to our brother. I suspect he remains your brother too, siblings often have disagreements, but the bond is stronger than that."

Moving to help round up the spilled coins, Utar picks one up and runs a thumb over the dragon examining the , "The Lord Regent looks different. I assume these are taken from captured goods rather than any official treasury?"

Insight - 22 Trying to see how Aleyd reacts, CRAP have been out of the loop with the workings of the Lord Regent for a while, has something changed in Phlan while they've been away?

Even Doozey cannot help but look on sympathetically over Aleyd's plight where it came to a certain Welcomer leader. Seeing Utar go for the coins, the halfling nodded and started to look again to Aleyd with a question at the tip of his tongue, only to end up doing a double take at the coinage. Suddenly, his mind is drawn back to the last conversation with the Grey Patriots as absentmindedly went to grab a coin to study to see if recognized the make and markings from those seen in his travels. He'd even sing in Sylvan a charm to help sharpen his mind.

-History: 19. (if needed)
Plus Guidance: 2.

"... Knew I was forgetting something. I meant to ask couple of our other friends if'n they could maybe look into things, but with everything else that was going on..." Doozey trails off sighing in mild frustration. "Uhm, fer some transparency Ms. Aleyd ,uhh , we learned a fair bit about there being a pretty noteworthy influx of coinage from Waterdeep. At least so our sources suspected given the dragon profile on'em. And while I'm no banker or the like, I've done enough traveling to know the scent of somethin' ain't being right when it comes to these sorta things. Gold is gold, but to exchange it for somethin' local it can get expensive, making it a wee bit less valuable."

Raist coughs softly seeing the coin "As far as Spernik goes i was away in Sikverymoon most of when he was here. But what I do recall (insert spoiler text above here)

 Neya responds to Raist, "Ah, that gives a strong possibility as to the loyalties of Spernik's visitor. But, without anything concrete, that seems to be only speculation."

(OOC: Raist is sharing, so everyone is welcome to the spoiler text in post#44.)

Aleyd has a dubious look on her face at the mention of any brotherly love between herself and Moneus, though she doesn't seem to completely discard the possibility either. When Utar calls attention to the coins, the captain seems taken aback a bit. "What?" She picks up a coin herself and adds: "I... I hadn't noticed. The coin is coming straight from my pay." She looks closely at it. "Where is it from?"

@Utar (insight):

"Waterdeep?" She continues as Doozey mentions the far-away city. "It doesn't say Waterdeep in here. You are right, Doozey. Something seems off." 

@Doozey (history):

As Raist share more details on Spernik, Neya suggests that the Cult is likely visiting the former scribe directly. Aleyd seems alarmed: "But that would mean... they are in town!" 

"That it does indeed, and this doesn't help"  Raist picks up a coin and examines it

History: 14

Doozey raised a hand in a halting gesture, hoping to forestall alarm turning to panic. Yet, in reaching another epiphany, his eyes went wide before being set to scanning the tavern one last time. "Much as I'd like to deny that, Ms. Aleyd, there may actually be truth to that. That coin is not only newly minted, but the dragon's head is that of'em greenies. And I can only think of one greeny with vested interest in Phlan." He looks to Aleyd. "You hinted at there being an unusual amount of activity -- er, security build up at the Gate and Castle, yea? If so, we might have even less time to act than we thought. 'cause if any of that 'extra' security has been bought, then--!"

Biscuit's growl interrupts Doozey, and after sharing a look, the latter takes a moment to close his eyes and breathe. "... Sorry... I-I... I started to lose my head a bit there. We need to be smart about this. What we got is still only speculation at best, so... mmn... Hmph! First off, we need to get the word out to our allies. Could be they've already caught a wiff of things being strange, but we can't -- shouldn't chance it! I'll send a message to Dornal via Gravy, letting him at least know of our suspicion. But Utar, either you or Raist are gonna have to seek out the others with yer magic. After that, we still need to figure out a way to get to either Spernik, those he's been meeting, or the go between that's been facilitating these visits."

@Raist (history):

It is Aleyd's turn to let her eyes widen at Doozey's response. "You may be right." Aleyd begins to move uneasily. "It sounds like a plan is already forming in your heads. There is no time to waste then."

"Should we wrap things up here then? We have our mission and we had best get working. I'll contact Moneus first, get eyes on comings and goings of the place while we contact the others."

He starts to put together a mental list of who to contact:

1. Harper/The Harpers
2. The Emerald Enclave - Who is their contact now that their old contact is a tree?
3. Order of the Gauntlet/Zorn
4. House Brokenhelm...Brokengulf, what was that tiefling's name?
5. House Silverdelve...Silverhelve...Silverdelve...Silverhelve

Sending message to Moneus.

No sooner had Doozey aside any plates and utensils did he immediately break out his writing supplies. Not to write a literal message for Gravy to deliver, but to carefully plan out what was there even to convey. As he did so, but without looking up, he says to Aleyd, "I wouldn't call it plan, but it's somethin' at least. But, I got two important questions fer ya, Ms. Aleyd. First one being, are ya still planning to return to whatever, uhh, to work they got ya doing after all this? And secondly, how much have they've been monitoring ya since the whole grey patriot snaffu?"

"'cause, like, I don't wanna alarm needlessly more than I... prolly already have, but given how things might shake out, ya might be in more hot water than ya think. 'specially if they bothered to have someone tail ya here."

(OOC: I'm still working on the message, but I'll have it for ya next post Lerus!)

Moneus' response:

While Utar listens to the message in his mind, Doozey continues his conversation with Aleyd. Raist and Neya listen attentively to the conversation in front of them. Aleyd responds: "I was planning to go back to work, yes, keep up appearances in the least. But now, I am not so sure... I am sure they have some eyes on me, but I was careful getting here today. Perhaps it is best if I go in a different direction when we leave this place. If someone is following me, then they won't follow you."

Having received Moneus' reply, Utar starts pinging out missives to their list of contacts.

To Harper:

To Seranolla:

To Zern:

To Ekmong:

"Fair idea on both accounts. But... if somethin' does kick off, and without knowing just how deep the rabbit hole goes, ya might end up be pretty isolated Ms. Aleyd. So, if you can think of a reason to get away without being 'present' for a bit longer, than I'd advised doing so. Otherwise, well..." Doozey frowns and taps his fingers against the table a couple of times, before finally regarding Aleyd again. "Whatever you 'tend to do going forward, just be careful."

He waits a beat to hear her response, then finally looks over to Villonah. "Well Villie, looks like we'll be handling a different sorta excitement than a little bandit hunt, huh?" He says, giving her a weak grin, before looking again to his scribbled down notes. "... Alright, I think I got it." Doozey pulls out a silver raven figurine and starts to say something, only to catch himself. "I, uhh, should probably do this just outside or, uh, near a window. So, I'll be back... though, this can wait if'n we got more to discuss. 'cause technically speaking, we don't yet technically have a firm way of reaching Spernik."