As each person sits at the table, Jebben gives a short greeting and goes back to his writing, alternating between the two notebooks. When most of the party has been seated, he closes one and tucks it away in a pocket, and flips the other one open to a bookmarked page and begins speaking in a low voice.

"It appears the whole of us made it through the night unmolested by both supernatural and natural threat--what a day yesterday!" He pats his open notebook. "Last night, before I took my much needed sleep, I did a slight bit of light social excavation concerning our two predicaments, and I'd like to wait for Mr. Zackary to awaken and be present so he can help guide us with the rumors about some of the evidence Ms. Ellayne found in Ms. Trask's office."

"There is, however, another tidbit of information that seems fairly straightforward pertaining to our actions at The Hot Chip. It seems this Lady Hawksong -- an elf-- is a bit of a local celebrity, at least according to the commonsfolk I chatted with, and if she is the sinister person we suppose her to be, she has the whole city fooled, for nobody last night seemed to have a problem with herself or her activities, and a few individuals even insisted that she is somewhat important in the running of New Waterdeep and its surrounding agrarian populace. Strangely enough, her daughter--at least in the eyes of the public--is not unlike the ghosts of Doppelganger's Demise we were warned about last night; everyone seems to know that Hawksong has a daughter of some sort, but nobody has ever actually seen her (it appears the lady keeps Annie very well hidden), and Hawksong's husband seemed to be a topic nobody wanted to handle at all, even in rumor; everyone I spoke to said they knew nothing of the father of Ms. Hawksong's daughter."

Jebben takes a tentative sip of his beer. "So it's more-than-likely we'll be in uncomfortably hot water over last night's events at The Hot Chip, and if word gets out and about (or is outright given, in a political-social context) concerning any grievance to a public figure such as Lady Hawksong, we may have to be wary of more than just the guard patrols--the entire city might be eager to help find us."

Wander can only get more and more curious as to why the wife of a barman had somehow gotten into such a postion of power. This curosity turns to dread the more he hears about hiw the very townspeople might try and come after them. "It seems we are in a bad predicament then. Whatever we choose to do it would either have to be together or we would have to split up in order to make it harder for them to find us."

Ellayne frowns as she listens to Jebben and the information he got from people. The Baroness is an elf, and she is a celebrity in this New World, in this city at least. Nodding as an agreement on Wander's statement, she sighs deeply and looks back at the rooms where Zachary and Annie would stay safe. "However, I do not agree on split up our group. We already are a small group and, if we scatter around the city, we will be much weaker than now," she replies, looking back at Wander with her mismatched eyes that now shows some hatred towards Baroness. "... Such a selfish woman. She completely ignored her family just like that. I don't like her."

You wait for about an hour at breakfast, but Zackary and Annie don't appear to have come down from their room. The patrons eating their breakfast and having an early morning drink watch you with suspicion. As you talk, you notice a group of guards walking slowly down the street outside, toward the tavern.

"I agree, Ms. Ellayne. We had trouble enough as a group; should we split up, I fear we might not be so lucky."

The gnome casually closes his notebook and slips it into a pants pocket, and reaches for his pack to scoot it closer. Then he lifts his nearly full beer to his lips.

"Please remain calm when I tell you what I'm about to tell you," he says calmly in a slight whisper from behind the drink, "but we may need to exit stage left a bit prematurely." He darts his eyes to the front window and back to his companions. "We're soon to have unwelcome and perhaps unsavory company."

He places the beer on the table and glances towards the stairs. "Where is Mr. Zackary and that child?"

Ellayne follows Jebben’s gaze and realizes the guards coming towards the tavern. A frown appears as soon as she realizes the patrons’ suspicious gazes, which it was telling her that something is not right. Once Jebben mentions about Zachary and Annie, her mismatched gaze darts back at him. ”Let me check if they are awake... I’m sure Annie was tired.” Putting a scroll into her pocket, she walks towards the room where Zachary and Annie’s staying.

”Zachary? Annie?” She calls their names in front of their door and knocking the door, checking if they are still in the room.

Ellayne

 As Ellayne makes her way up the stairs, you feel a chill rush through the room as if a Winter wind just passed through.

Perception - 14

Wander readies himself for whatever is going to come next, his hands moving to clench into fists. The warforged does his bedsr tonact as if they were not being stared at by the patrons. "If our plan is to leave then it would be best if we did so before we have a large number of angry guards and citizens ready to chase us out of the city. Although after recent events I have doubts that it would something so merciful."

Vostaria purses her lips. "Well, this is a fine mess," she mutters, fondling her casting crystal.

Also on edge seeing the guards approaching, Dorstaer's eyes dart around the room, looking for other exits besides the front door.  "This would probably be a fine time to be goingn" he murmurs as he looks around.   

Jebben smiles and lifts the beer to his lips again, looking over his glass towards Vostaria and Wander. "Though Mr. Zackary isn't here, I guess I should say, given the present urgency, that I suspect there is a very real chance the guards were responsible for, or at least were complicit in, the assassination of the minister."

He places the glass on the table; it's still over 3/4 full. "I think Mr. Dorstaer has the right idea. We should get Ms. Ellayne and leave."

The gnome feigns a stretch and a yawn, then grabs his pack.

Dorstaer

 Ellayne

Ellayne’s face goes pale as soon as she heard the sounds from beyond the door. Her heart starts to pound in fear, and then she opens the door to see what happened exactly.

Ellayne

Vostaria stands from the table. "I will see what is taking so long." She heads upstairs to find Ellayne outside the door, trying to push it open. "What is the matter? I recommend that we move with haste."

"We can go out the back door there," Dorstaer says to his remaining allies.

Ellayne’s mismatched eyes show her shock and fear as she shifts her gaze at Vostaria when she asks what happens. “Ms Vostaria, something isn’t right here. I heard a weird sound. I don’t hear Zachary or Annie. I think they are in trouble!”

DM:

Wander steps away from his spot at the table, gathering his backpack and his quarterstaff. He will look towards the stairs since two of their group had gone up stairs. "If we are leaving let us do it now."