Waterdeep: Camel Heist (2020)

Zoria slightly trembles, but does not enter, remaining with all those outside. She's on guard, but not looking for anything particular. "This place gives me the creeps. She could be in there hiding and waiting to just jump out."

Incantis, you can't see any object that's surrounded by a magical aura, so you're not able to focus well enough to sense which school.  There is something magical nearby though.

Incantis and Varinth are both just on the threshold of the dwelling, able to see inside without having yet entered fully.  The others are (correct me if I'm wrong) bunched together maybe twenty feet back?

Varinth, there's no response to your words.

Anyone speak elfin...elvish...pointy ear nature speak?

“Greetings Agatha!” Incantis calls out in elvish. “Are you here?”

Incantis, there is no response for a few seconds.  Then a strange feeling comes over you, and over Varinth too.  A feeling of dread.  The air grows cold, and a light seems to flicker in the air before expanding and becoming the form of an elf, her hair and robes waving in a spectral wind. A hateful expression twists her features, but her voice is calm and measured.  I am.  Not all who seek me out survive the encounter.  Why have you come here, young half-elf?

Incantis, you see an aura of abjuration magic surrounding the banshee.

Scupper nudges Dekhan in the side...

"Gowan withye, lad. Be a hero and talk te the nice mean dead elf lady, then? Lest ye want Inky te start in with his poetry and kill us all."

In common.

Incantis blanches with fear at Agatha's sudden apparition, the change in hue almost imperceptible on his already pale face, but he holds firm in his resolve and responds in the common tongue that Agatha used. "I've come only to speak to you," he says, raising his hands and adopting a nonthreatening posture. "Might I come in? I promise not to disturb you. I brought a gift." Incantis withdraws his pearl from within a pocket of his robes, holding it out to the banshee. "A token of goodwill." He remembers the spare pearl the party has, and Sister Garaele's warnings about being ignored over attacked.

Quote from SteveThaiBinh >>

Not all who seek me out survive the encounter.  

Strix smirks, thinking of the roughly 40% chance that any creature meeting this band has of surviving the event based on their travels so far, and wondering who should be threatening who. Which is why you're not doing the talking, Oaf!  He occupies himself by grabbing a fistful of the shadow and molding it into a simulcrum of the banshee's face, albeit with his best imagining of a more passive look. (Minor illusion)

You've come, Agatha (for it is she) responds rather tartly, to ask a question.  They all do.  She scowls, but her face softens as she looks at the pearl.  Enter, place it on the ground, and then step outside and ask your question.  One question only, mind you.  And don't waste my time.

Realising he is a very much out of his depth and pretty sure he just peed himself a little, Varinth remains in his kneeling pose.

Dekhan looks at Scupper and then clears his throat, steels himself, steps forward, and kneels next to Incantis Lady Agatha, though we are unworthy we would ask a boon of you; we seek a spellbook that was once in your possession. It contains a spell that has become lost to us and we must recover the knowledge held within. Perhaps you would see fit to share this information with us in return for the pearl? As a sign of good faith we have rid the wood of a Red Wizard who sought to interfere with you. 

Quote from SteveThaiBinh >>

You've come, Agatha (for it is she) responds rather tartly, to ask a question.  They all do.  She scowls, but her face softens as she looks at the pearl.  Enter, place it on the ground, and then step outside and ask your question.  One question only, mind you.  And don't waste my time.

Would there be ANY way to ready a level 1 guiding bolt without having to make any stealth/sleight of hand checks or interfere with what's going on now? The trigger being the banshee attacks? If there isn't a way to do this, then Zoria does NOT ready anything.

Zoria, you can't ready a spell in the way you suggest, as it has verbal and somatic components.  That's what the sorcerer's subtle spell ability is for.

Dekhan, the banshee turns a withering gaze upon you.  And whose spellbook is it that you seek?  Did the nice young harper lass neglect to mention?  Or perhaps you neglected to ask?

OOC: 10-4. Just wanted to see if it was an available option.

Quote from SteveThaiBinh >>

Dekhan, the banshee turns a withering gaze upon you.  And whose spellbook is it that you seek?  Did the nice young harper lass neglect to mention?  Or perhaps you neglected to ask?

 "Mebbe spell book of guy built tower near well? Wud be funny. Ronic. Cudda told red Wiz name, got paid, not have kill"

Strix makes a mental note - if Garaele can play the harp maybe she can play the flute too. Music is music. How hard can it be? A few lessons might come in handy. 

I did neglect to ask, my lady, much to my chagrin. My headstrong nature got the better of me and I charged off without thinking. What would you council regarding the book, the advice from one with knowledge such as yours would be invaluable. As my friend has pointed out we do believe the book to have belonged to the former master of the tower.

Scupper mutters a bit to himself and a bit to the world at large

"So she's aware o' the factions in play...the Harpers leastwise. Knowledge beyond what's local te this wood alone. Perhaps old enough or wise enough to be aware o' what so many seek beyond the book. Maybe even aware o' the Black Spider or the forge's location. Slip o' the tongue or mebbe a tip o' the hat. Either way she's clearly not ignorant o' the current events unfolding around us..."

Incantis kneels in the center of the room, placing the pearl gingerly on the floor before returning to the exit. Turning to Agatha he adds his voice to Dekhan's. "While we may be slightly less informed than we would have liked," he croaks, "You are right and we did come to ask a singular question: the location of the spellbook. Would you boon us with an answer? We have, as said, killed the red necromancer of the woods and mean you neither trouble nor harm, what little beings such as ourselves could deal to one as powerful as you."