Ferg's Waterdeep Dragon Heist!

"You know Kaivius, you do have good ideas occasionally, it's been far too long since my last drink. Hopefully less bloodsucking creatures in this one, probably same amount of trolls though." Whit laughs and chases after Odrith.

Shaking her head bemusedly, Chalk hurries after the rest of the party. While a drink might be welcome, they were trying to find someone. The tavern was probably the best place to check barring any other mysteriously helpful shopkeeps. Maybe they'd be able to find some skewer for their dragon inside? She chuckles at her own joke.

 The outlook of the decrepit tavern doesn't increase as you enter through the ratty saloon style doors to the tavern. They give a grinding squeak as Odrith pushes them open, and he pauses in the doorway as dozens of hardy, rough looking faces turn his way, and the noise heard from outside stops abrubtly. The inside of the bar is just as dirty and smelly as the outside, only in the crowded space the added smell of body odor mixes with the smells of waste and fish from outside. The regulars eye you suspiciously, and the bartender keeps glancing at you from the corner of his eye as you enter. A bunch of old moldy casks line the bar behind him, and he is currently wiping out a mug with a rag so dirty that it is likely leaving the mug in a worse state than when he started. 

Slowly, the talk picks back up as you enter, but it is more suspicious whispering than the raucous noise you heard before you entered. A few different musicians and performers pick back up where they left off, and the noise level starts to rise again. A cool breeze filters in through the broken window, and the only open seats are sitting in front of it, soaking wet and covered in mold. 

"Well quite not sure what I expected, but it wasn't this." Whit says to Odrith as he walks up to him. "Excuse me barkeep, four glasses of your finest mulled wine please, it's on the scaly one."

The tavern wasn't much to talk about, unless one were doing a study on decrepitude. Something to keep in mind for later. All the mold might end up damaging her notes. She gestures to the table all the same. "Less bloodsucking creatures," Chalk jokes before hopping over to perch on one of the worse seats with a shiver. She tries to listen in to nearby conversation. Maybe somebody would let slip something about the presumed abduction.

Perception: 22

Odrith waves, "Barkeep! My friend does not lie, mulled wine for my group on me! Perhaps you also happen to have some candied apples?" Odrith pinches off the last part of his questions in a slightly higher tone. Odrith swivels in his seat to face his group. "So what is the plan?"

As Kaivius enters the bar, her breath hitches in her throat. Dirt, she could deal with, but mold? The bar looked like it was TRYING to grow black mold, probably to keep it's patrons too sick to walk to another bar. While she's desperately trying to not touch anything, the rest of the group makes it way to a table, damp, moldy, and probably full of so much disease that they'll all be bedridden for weeks. She lets out a squeak of terror as Chalk jumps up on a stool that is so covered in mold, it looks like the velvet on deer antlers.

Of course, she can't let her friends know how much this makes her uncomfortable, she has to be the one to take care of them when they come down with a fungal infection. Stiffly, she follows her friends and tries to stand where there is the least amount of mold on the table.

As Odrith tries to place his elbows on the table to address the group, Kaivius smacks him with the comment 

"Unless you are trying to break a record for largest mold collection grown on a living being, I suggest you take your elbows off the table!"

"Well we are in a bar! We drink!" Whit says and then lowering his voice. "We need more information. We have a lead but it's not much to go on. Maybe the gang has a hideout or lair around here. Odrith do you have any contacts in this area?"

You notice the bartender roll his eyes as he spits into the cup he is cleaning, then wipes it out. He grabs three more mugs and fills them from a dusty bottle from behind the counter. He sits them on a tray and a ragged looking young woman with frazzled red hair carries them over to the table. "That'll be 8 silver," she says shortly, waiting with her hand on her hip for someone to pay. 

Chalk listens closely to a few nearby tables, hearing general grumbles. "More fancy people coming to the wrong part of town. You'd think they'd learn. After those last two noblemen," he says the word with obvious disgust, "got jumped by those Zhen, you'd think they'd learn to stay in their fancy houses."

Odrith hands over the 8 silver for the group's drinks. Odrith with a smiling beaming on his face, he takes a drink from his mug, and disappointment crashes down on his features.
"This is no sweetened mulled wine, it is just grape piss." Odrith mumbles under his breath. Continuing to drink it, Odrith sits and glowers at the mug, once again trying to do a small spurt of flame to at least warm the pathetic drink.

Chalk listens with interest at the groups conversation. Maybe they knew more? She repeats, "After those last two noblemen, got jumped by those Zhen, you'd think they'd learn to stay in their fancy houses," in a hushed tone to Kavius who was hovering beside her and then to Odrith on the other. She subtly gestures at the table of misfortunes, including Whit in on the details, "Contacts in this area?" She almost hops down from the seat to go ask them but thinks better of it, almost half falling off the chair in the effort.

Stealth to be subtle 12

Whit takes a swig of his drink and reaches into his pockets and starts patting them frantically. "Curses, I think I forgot the skull back in the store. I'll be right back." Whit stands up and rushes out of the tavern. He then heads into an alleyway and out of sight. Looking around to make sure he isn't seen he takes off his coat and casts prestidigitation to dirty up his clothes and hands then his face begins to wrinkle, his hair begins to grey, and ears dull. Whit pulls a cap out of his bag and heads back into the bar walking with a slight limp and a hunched back. Finding a man at the bar, whit approaches him and sits next to him and grumbles in a gravelly voice "Can't a man have a drink in peace? Used to be we'd be able to drink and go home without having to deal with noblemen and the trouble they bring. Say friend, you know anything about the Zhen 'round here? It's been a while since we've had gangs like this." Whit waves to the bartender, "I'll have what he is, and another for him."

Disguise Kit Check: 24

Whit left and Chalk is having trouble keeping her seat, Odrith ponders for a moment before looking up to Kaivius and Chalk at the table.
"I know I am not good at this stuff, but if you need me to block a door or grab someone..." Odrith whispers, "I might actually be of use then."

Odrith signs resigned and puts his mug in both hands and rests his arms on the table, warm cup in hand. "Just keep me informed on what you all need from me."
Looking up Odrith sees Kaivius's stern gaze and quickly removes his arms from the table again. "Sorry Kai..." Odrith mumbles out.

Chalk's talon gently pats the dragonborn's shoulder, "actually be of use," she tries to encourage. Eyeing Whit's panicked withdrawal. Maybe the Elf had forgotten a skull or maybe he was up to something. It was hard to tell at times. It might be that he'd just come up with some sort of con to pull and needed a bit of room away from the more righteous among them to carry it through.

Well. She didn't want to do anything until he got back. Hopefully Kavius had understood her as Odrith clearly hadn't unless he was waiting on Whit too.....

Kaivius can't quite catch the mutterings of the man behind them, but Chalk clarifies it for her. Now where did she hear the word "Zhen"? It suddenly hits her. Didn't the guard on the scene of that murder mention "Zhentarium scum"? Odrith mumbles something that Kaivius isn't paying attention to, but he can tell by the look on his face that he's feeling useless.

"Odrith, I feel like I've heard that word before. 'Zhen'. It seems I can't recall though. A shame. Do you think the guards we saw earlier might know? They will probably still be cleaning up the scene of that murder. Poor souls. One moment you're walking down the street, Zhen you're dead." Kaivius is careful to put emphasis on certain words in the hopes that Odrith will put two and two together. Maybe it'll help boost his morale.

Odrith slowly looks up from him mug of wine, taking the time to process the words he heard from Kaivius but didn't listen to. After a moment a tiny light sparks in Odrith's eye.
"Zhen... You mean Zhentarim? They are a legal guild of the city. Before I left the city guard there was some rumors about them being involved in illegal activity, but I wouldn't give it credence; you know how Humans tend to start rumors when they are bored. If the guards did have any information on the killing field, they wouldn't have told us."
Odrith takes another drink and grimaces at the mug showing his teeth, he had forgotten how bad the watery liquid was.

The leathery man turns and smiles at Whit, his 4 remaining teeth a mix of brown and yellow. "Thankee kindly, ayecun always take anudder sip." He downs the dark beer in one long pull. "Aye yea, dem zhen been gibun us trubble sint lat wek. Folluh'd doo niace loogin gents out de udder niaght. Prolluh tookem do dat warehouse wut dats down yonder der." He points in the direction you know is Candle lane. "I seen um at dat warehouse wit dat snek onda doowa, knowut?." He looks at his empty glass sadly, then eyes you expectantly. 

From Pearce:

Whit gives a hearty chuckle downs his drink and orders another for his new "friend". Waves the bartender over "Another round!" He drinks the second drink, "Thank ya kindly my good man, here have a few more on me." Whit plops a silver down onto the counter. After a few more moments, Whit stands up, "Well I'd better be getting back, the missus doesn't care for the drinkin much." Whit then stumbles out of the bar back to the alley, cleans himself up with prestidigitation once he is sure he isn't seen, and shifts his form back to that of the handsome elven gentlemen. 'That information might just be enough to go on for now' he thinks as he heads back into the bar and rejoins his friends. "I found it! Wouldn't want to lose such a fine treasure!" Whit says, then lowering his voice, "Warehouse, down Candle Lane."

Odrith Gathering his things, downs the disgusting swill, and says, "I'm ready when ever."

It might finally be time for Odrith to be useful.

Whit offers an escape from this hell hole, and Kaivius scrambles to take it. She never took the risk to sit down, so she's the first one to the door when the group starts mobilizing. Once outside the bar, she takes gulps of fresh air, convinced the air from the bar was definitely full of plague. As the rest of the group exits the bar, she tries to regain composure. She doesn't want them to know how much that bar really creeped her out.  

"Right. Warehouse on Candle Lane. Let's go."