INVESTIGATION: 3

( ... wow )

As Crush picks up anything easily spotted on the ground... and realizing there are no immediate threats, he will take the time to glance towards Usul as he mentions the coin (Perception 23) before looking a little closer through the remains for additional items or information.

DETECTIVE CRUSH INVESTIGATION! 14

(HA... HAHAHAH....HAHAHAHHAHAHHHAHAHh!h!!!!!!!!!!!!)

And your dad? asks Sen to the little boy.  Does he sometimes go to Undermountain too?  He smiles at the lad.  My name's Donny, by the way.  What's yours?

No one spots Usul's deception.

Crush finds a scroll tube amongst the carnage. I have to ask: can Crush read?

The boy says to Sen, "My name's Zeke! My dad sometimes goes down there but he doesn't like to much anymore. Sometimes he says you can find cool treasures down there. Have you ever been down there?"

ooc: I would say he can read at a pretty low level... enough to read signs and maps and simple notes... he basically reads and writes about like he talks... I dont think he would be capable of reading any kind of spell scroll...

"Find tube!" The orc would exclaim as he rips open the case and dumps the contents into his hand.

Usul says to all around "So... Any thoughts on who might be paying the kobolds?"

Crush will examine the contents and if there are scrolls inside he will try to read them to determine what they are before letting anyone else look at them. 

No Zeke, I've never been down to Undermountain, but I'd like to.  Tell you what, let's go find your father.  Is he here?  I think I'd like to talk to him a little.  

Crush would be able to make out a copy of a sketched out map of the immediate 1 mile of caverns, with a big red X marking the spot where they Yawning Portal is, with YAWNING PORTAL HERE written in big block letters to make it as clear as possible to the kobolds. Someone also drew a simple picture of a bomb to be on the safe side. 

Zeke says to Sen, "Sure, he's right over here! Hey dad!" The boys father spins towards the sound of Zeke's voice- he is a simple merchant, average in every way, dressed the way one does when they're in poverty but trying to look like they're a person of means. He says, "Who do you have there, Zeke?"

"This is my friend! He's a wizard! He froze one of those kobolds!"

Hello, sir.  I'm Donny.  Zeke was telling me about you and his older brothers heading down to the Undermountain from time to time.  Can you tell me a little about it?

(Sen has no idea of what the Undermountain is, or what's down there, so if Zeke's father is happy to do so, he will ask some basic questions about what's down there, whether there are any interesting or dangerous sites near the portal, and what dangers they have faced there.)

"Find map" Crush would say as he hands the paper to Usul... "very good map" He would mention again once Usul took if from his large gloved hand.

Taking the map and looking at it Usul says "Well now it definitely seems that the kobolds were sent by someone... But who and why? Hey Shaddy. Any ideas?"

((any other locations on the map? Or anything else of note at all?))

"Mind if I take a look at that map?" Aria places her hand out "I might be familiar with some of the places or landmarks on it."

"Sure" Usul replies "You definitely know down here better than we do." and hands the map over after seeing what he could find.

(( What does she see? lol ))

Shadrach says, "I've been so focused on trying to find Anna that I have not been able to do much else. I've learned plenty about the underworld's various extortion rackets, nothing about any kind of terrorism."

When Aria looks at the map, she would see a fairly detailed layout of the surrounding 1 mile radius of caverns and catacombs. This isn't nearly into what is usually thought of as Halabaster territory, but dangerous all the same: chambers that, whether they belonged to him or not, could be useful for people who might need a staging area to build a bomb, or that might look interesting to a young would-be adventurer... 

Aria relays that information to her group and Shadrach... "I believe this area will lead us to who is behind this bomb, or Anna.. " She pauses and hesitates... "Maybe both."

Even though he clearly showed, and asked (twice) about, the pouch with gold, since no one seems to care, Usul shrugs and puts it in his pocket (making no attempt to hide this since it wasn't a secret in the first place), thinking to himself "well... we tried..."