Uthal turns to the dragonborn and watches the show. Then he shrugs. "I have no idea what she is, haven't known her long. All I know is that she's more useful than the entire populations of the last two cities I've been to. Plus if she is then wouldn't you rather have her on your side?"

He then turns to Ander. "The castle." 

Viilgahan gave a moments thought to the goliath inquiry about having a potential assassin on his side, which was just as long as he ever gave to anyone being on his side, which boiled down to the only thing that made the world turn. ...prettyshinyclinkycoin... He could practically hear that foppish fool saying it as he danced like an idiot next to his broken wagon. He wasn't in the market for a Claimer so that made her just a more dangerous meat shield. The moment passed and the dragonborn turned to fill his mind with the castle ruins before him.

He doubted his eyes would see anything out of the norm but gave a glance anyway as he approached. He ran his talons along the stonework, giving a feel to the material itself. With a small gesture* he attempted to apply a sigil of his own design to the stonework, to see if it was ensorcelled against such minor cantrips. He followed the wall back from the direction they had walked, keeping an eye for anything that struck it apart from the other ruins he had visited.

"Master Dwarves, if you would be so kind as keep an eye while I see about getting us some access to..." he called out, but his voice trailed off as he approached the edge of the exterior wall. Someone, a child, half-elf?, smiled and vanished around the corner, presumably to the other side of the wall. He sighed, clacking his tongue against the roof of his maw and interlacing his fingers. "...this damnable ruin..." he muttered, following after cautiously.

Perception: 8

*Prestidigitation, 5th Usage

The sigil drawn by Viilgahan’s finger magically appears on the stonework. And as he walks along the wall, he notices the stone is blackened, and not necessarily the natural color of the materials. 
However, other than the vines and plant growth over running the structure and at one point a crack just scratching the wall’s surface, he see no differing marks or anything to stand out.

Ander: 12

Out of sorts and tired, Ander turned to the dwarf standing oddly next to him. "I don't suppose there's writing on my face, is there?" Nack looked up at him confused, unsure of both the nature of the question and whether it deserved a response He then simply turned to walk through the brush and join those members of the party who had already done so. As he walked past Nik and Uthal, he spoke to the pair, but indirectly, "E's an odd one."

Nik joined to walk with his brother. "I think they all are." The pair of dwarfs walked up to Viilgahan. "What of it, Wiz? Any sign'a bookboy or tha bowman?"

Viilgahan snorted as the dwarves approached him. "Not as of yet, but then again the scholar didn't hire me to track and guide." he gestured to the ground. "Had they passed by this way I am not the one to say, however should the path have taken them this way and they entered the ruins hereabouts, then at the very least we should have a look at the interior before we speak about a new contract." The dragonborn continued to move as he spoke. "Perhaps an opening in this rockwall will suffice for us, should we find one." he traced his scaled claws along the stonework. "Have a look master dwarves..."

Ura stifles another yawn.  "Who's the person who hired you, anyway?  Or is that some big secret you're not allowed to tell?"  She pauses, and her eyes open wide.  "Hey.  Your patron's name doesn't happen to be Trevor, does it?  Like, some kind of priestly fellow?"  She decides to tactfully leave out the part about him being a psychopathic murdering bastard who experimented on cadavers for the time being... although if Trevor was their patron, Nack guessing that she was an "assassin" of some sort wouldn't have actually been that far off.  She did owe the guy a couple of daggers to his eye sockets, after all.

For a moment, Ura thinks about recovering her coin while the dwarves are busy searching.  Then, she figures:  good riddance.  Maybe some day someone would pick Nack's pocket and mistake him for an assassin.  Sure, it was good silver, but some things were just too much of a pain in the ass to keep track of.  That was probably the fatigue speaking, but Ura didn't particularly care.  Scoping out the building, she decides to search for an opening in the ruin on her own, using her mage hand to clear away the vines and plant life as she went.

Perception or Investigation (sames): 10, with disadvantage: 15

Uthal begins to look for an entrance along with the others. 

Perception: 23

With the possibility of advantage: 23

Anearis joins the search for an entrance along the castle wall.

Perception: 12

“Can’t say I know a Trevor. Friend of yours?”

The combined party continued following southbound, the East exterior wall to the ruins, looking for an entrance, other than the anticipated one at the southern end, where the road ended. 

While most simply saw the wall for what it was, or at least for what it was built for, Uthal managed to find a crack in the wall, which upon further inspection, he saw lead to a hole, just beneath some overgrown vines on the wall. 

Not exactly the entrance the party was looking for, but the hole was about the size of Uthal’s head. Through the hole he could see the castle that the rest of them saw towering beyond the top of the wall. But he could see where it met the ground, and between the wall and the proper castle, more overgrown vegetation covering a fountain and several stone statues, what appeared to have at one time maybe having been a garden or courtyard of some type. Most importantly though, at the base of the castle, debris and rubble that had fallen from a large black opening into the castle itself. 

Uthal couldn’t see or here any movement on the other side of the wall, but somewhere far off the the southwest, he could smell something, a faint burning scent.

A head popped up, between Uthal and the hole in the wall. And then another. The two dwarfs, having seen Uthal’s discovery, squeezed in for a closer look. “Granite, from the looks of it.” “Tastes it too, Nik” Nack said after licking the stone just inside the hole. “Blackened color prolly ash. Morton’s got some cobble in it, scorch marks inside too.” “Dragonborn?” “Likely, at least the wall part, who knows bout the rest.”

"If he did use his fire then it seems like he managed to catch something with it. There's the scent of something burning. Can one of you fit through and see if there's an entrance more visible from the inside?" Uthal draws back and continues to scan the wall for a way inside that everyone could use.

Perception: 9

Viilgahan turned his head slightly to answer Ura's question offhandedly, but when Nik responded he let his half hearted response about titles and vegetables go. The hole the goliath had  found, and the dwarves now taste tested, was little more than a bolt hole for foxes and birds. The dragonborn sighed, hoping for something a touch larger to scramble through but he had done more with less. He dithered, not one to jostle for a better view, weighing his options. From context it sounded as though the friend they were looking for had either a touch of madness about them or were running from something. ...towards something? At the goliaths comment about catching something the dragonborn made an audible noise between a grumble and a contemplation on puzzles. ...best to save it for when you need it then Wither... His head snapped around and his eyes shot daggers at the ghastly figure and it resumed being just a shadow once more.

Anyone looking likely would have seen the dragonborns rapid head movement.

"Perhaps we should move on, unless one of you can plow through the crack in the wall for the rest of us to slink through." he steepled his clawed hands as his head slowly returned to look at the hole in the wall as he spoke. "Or magick the stones to move for us...that would also do nicely." 

The two dwarfs, having been caught in their own conversation about the wall’s construction, both turned simultaneously towards Uthal. “Fit through it?” “It’s barely bigger en my manhood ya fit.” “But cause there’s exposed wall, we can open it enough for even Biggins ‘ere ya get through.” Nik snuggly grinned and crossed his arms, Nack then attempting to do the same, when he saw Nik’s posture. “Yeah.”

The two stood there in front of the hole, assuming the mindset that they held an upper hand in the matter. And awaited the others the request their assistance in accomplishing something they couldn’t do otherwise.

The wall continued on south for another 100 feet or so, however the rest of it seemed relatively intact, and there didn’t appear to be an entrance or opening beyond the small one by the dwarfs.

Uthal leans on the handle of his hammer. "Well, little ones, it appears we are in need of th skills you seem to be offering. Please make us a hole, if you'd be so kind. If you need me to hit anywhere with my hammer just say the word." 

Nack began giggling in anticipation of the humor of what he was going to say, before the words even left his lips. “Sure, jus’ swing at that busted rock there!” Nack pointed up at Uthal’s face and started bursting out laughing. 

While Nack was showing off his comedic talents, Nik removed something from his bag. It was a small one handed pick-axe, though not one you’d necessarily use for breaking down a wall, rather one that you’d use to chip around a precious stone, or a stone cutter’s detail work. It couldn’t weigh more than a couple pounds.

Nack’s uncontrollable laughter was immediately halted though, when Nik shoved the pick against Nack’s chest, and let him catch it when it fell. “What? No. Why I gotta?” Nack whined you his brother, looking at the hand tool, though his whining was quickly silenced when Nik shot back. “Cause you’re the one holdin’ it!”

Begrudgingly, Nack places his hand against the wall, and braced himself, the small pick axe in hand. “Wait.” Nik held a hand up to his brother, and turned to the rest of the party. “Since we don’t have a contract wit’ any you, if we’re doin’ this I wan’ a verbal agreement! As payment for our ASSistance...” The odd emphasis on the word was likely childishly and crudely intentional as both dwarfs paused and grinned. “I want final pick on any one piece of loot any of us find in there.” Nik pointed over his shoulder, with his thumb, towards the stronghold behind the wall.

Seeing the size of the hole, it was clear that none of them would be able to pass through. Not only would it take a lot of time, it would also make a lot of noise.

‘’Breaking through will take too long. For all we know, Ser D’armes is already inside.’’

He looked at the vines that grew over the wall. If they couldn’t get through it, they might be able to climb over it. He tried tugging on some of the vines to test their durability. When he finds a patch of vine that seem sturdy enough, he grabs ahold of them, pulling himself up and repeating the motion over and over to reach the top.

Athletics check (I assume): 3

“Your call.” Nik crosses his arms and leaned against the stone wall.

The vines that Anearis grabs onto hold his weight enough for him to pull himself just off the ground. However, the strain eventually rips them from the wall, and Anearis lands a two to three inch drop, of the headway he had made. 

 Ander chimes in, “We could just continue walking until we find an entrance, rather than leave our chances to them.” He pointed towards the dwarfs.

"With the caveat that if it is of magical nature in a script variety, you allow me to look it over first." Viilgahan stated to the dwarfs. "If its nothing of interest to me then at the least you have a leg up on the merchants." He gestures to the hole, that the dwarves may proceed.

While he waits for the dwarves Uthal pulls out the letters and sets to reading the next one, still looking for some clue.

Proceeding to the next letter in the stack, Uthal pulls out one of great mystery, not only because this one is written in a language unknown to Uthal, but because of the only two discernible words on the paper, the writer ‘Cedric’ and the intended audience.
Unlike every other letter up to this point, however, this letter wasn’t addressed to Trevor; it was addressed to Felix.

Uthal stares at the paper for a second before turning to his companions. "Can any of you read this? Trying to figure out if there's something in these that we can use."