"25% can be a bit high for some people. How does a simple 12% sound? I cannot afford to simply give away money on such a small interest. Over the length of the loan, I would simply have make 40gp at the end. 12% will be less than 100gp at the end of the day."

Roll me a persuasion check if you want to further negotiate 

"Twelve percent interest, fifteen week repayment, and you've got yourself a deal." Heishe grins. "Pleasure doing business with you, Lord Mirt."

"Very good. Very good. Now for something less heavy. Desert." A large cake comes out for all of you. The rest of the night is full of great food and fun conversation. Unless there is anything you would like to ask Mirt or rp with each other, I will move on later tonight. 

That's more like it, Cora thought. Then dessert came out. Holy shit, that cake, though. She didn't eat sweets very often, it was bad for her figure and she didn't want to get soft and overweight. But it looked at her. It begged her to pay attention to it. So she did. She stared at it like a lover wanting. She waited for someone to start digging in, then took a slice. Perhaps from the ale, her hand shook slightly at the anticipation of a sugary rush. She forked a small piece, and took a bite. She sighed silently, blinking, and her eyes almost rolled at how good it tasted. She savored the taste, the flavor. She took another bite after she swallowed, trying to eat as slow and politely as she could. It was sweet, and delicious. She looked around for something to wash it down with - not that it needed it, it was so moist and perfect already. She took her ale cup and chugged quietly. She tapped her finger on her mug, and a server refilled it - almost immediately. ****, how do they do that? Is he just standing there waiting for me to finish my booze? This place is fancy. Ok, one more bite. Oh god. Yes. A few more bites and the cake slice was half eaten. What's other few bites, right? So i'll work out harder tomorrow, whatever. I never get to eat cake. Another bite. Come here, you.

"****, this cake is like se-" She started whispering to whoever was next to her, but caught herself. "..super. This cake is super." 

Heishe eats her cake and chats, keeping conversation light and cheerful for the rest of the night. She makes sure to compliment the things that should be complimented (like the food), and is generally the picture of an excellent guest.

After dinner, on the way back to the carriage, Heishe leans over to Cora. "Thank you," she says softly. "I know that wasn't exactly your scene, and I appreciate that you came anyway." She gives the rogue a faint smile, looking rather exhausted herself as she rests her head against the back of the coach.

"******* shoe--" she was muttering. "Ow.."

Cora turned to Heishe as she complimented her. It didn't happen often, and yet after all this time, it still caught her off guard when someone did. For a split second, she though Heishe was being pompous, but that wasn't the case at all. Not in the slightest. It was just a very nice thing to say to someone who made an effort to not embarrass anyone at something that wasn't her thing. Some things were just so ingrained in her. Just thank her, you idiot. Come on.

"Oh.." Cora said, looking at her, trying to process it all. "I uh..no, I..yeah. No problem." She returned the soft smile. "You're welcome."

Lu-lu’s eyes spot the cake after having tried to process the intense money talk. “Oh, wow.” She whispers almost reverently. Unlike Cora, who tried very hard to be socially acceptable, Lu-lu digs in with animal-like ferocity. Praising the cook, Mirt, Heishe, the party, and Lathander in between mouthfuls.

On the ride back, she falls dead asleep on Drusilla, snoring softly.

You all sleep in the next morning. Full from the night before, you have a very peaceful night. That is, until you are all awakened by an explosion. Windows rattle as the roar of an explosion fills Trollskull Alley. Charred bodies and anguished screams fly through the air. A thick cloud of acrid smoke billows outward from the blast, which seems to have occurred right outside your door. As you rush out onto the street, you see the street is full of smoke and small flames licking the sides of buildings. The center of the street is blackened and there are 11 corpses laying in the middle of it, all burnt horribly. One elderly human, two cloaked men, two human females and one male half-elf dressed in plain clothes, a male gnome, and four halflings, 2 male, 2 female, dressed as street performers. 

Cora startled awake. "What the ****!?" She sat there, upright in bed, her dress on a chair and her shoes thrown in some corner. She was in a half shirt and panties when she woke, and blinked a few times, thinking she imagined the noise. But there was screaming and the smell of smoke. Something had happened. Close, too.

She rolled out of bed and put on her pants as quickly as possible, and threw on a shirt. She hustled downstairs and yelled. "Guys! Outside!"

She waited for the others to come down while she stood by the door of the Inn, looking down the road.

"Oh shit, dead bodies.." she turned to Lif. "Lif! I'm going outside. Let the others know in case they didn't hear me." 

She ran to the building, looking for anyone that may still be alive. She looked at the bodies and around the area to see if anyone else was alive and needed saving.

Perception: 20

Earlier:

Drusilla looks in the camera like it's The Office when she carries Lu-Lu home.

Now: 

She rushes out when she hears Cora's yelling, since it sounds more urgent than usual.

Heishe nearly flies out the door when the explosion happens. The moment the dragonborn takes in the scene, she raises a hand and begins shooting bolts of ice at the fires.

Vincent's eyes shot wide open when he heard the explosion, yet his body refused to move. Even when he heard Cora screaming about it coming from outside, he couldn't get his body to cooperate with him. His chest began to tighten, followed by a sudden sharp pain. The pain was enough to get his body to listen to his brain and sit upright, a hand grasping his chest as he works on getting his breathing in order. A moment later, he's wiping the sweat from his brow, throwing on what he could before bolting outside.

Just like Cora, the fighter rushes in the burning building, seeing if he could possibly see anyone stuck inside.

Percep: 12

"****, what the hell." Cora said, seeing Vincent nearby where she was standing. She bent over and began to call out and look for anyone alive. She did he best to try and figure out how it happened, or who these poor souls were.

Investigation: 14
Perception: 3

Come on, focus. Do your job. Let's see.

1. Two cloaked men
2. The gnome

Everyone else.

Drusilla tries to figure out what happened here.

Perception:15
Investigation:12

Cora, you begin to look over the bodies but with all the distractions, it is slow going. You do find a pouch on the gnome containing 5 gem stones that look expensive. If you want to grab the pouch you can, or make a slight of hand check to not be noticed by the crowd grabbing it. You think you see a tattoo on one of the cloaked men but before you can get a closer look, you are interrupted by the city guard coming into the street. 

Drusila, you notice that on the gnome's boots there is dried waste, he must have spent time in the sewers recently. It looks like the gnome was making his way towards your soon to be opened tavern. 

Before you are able to inspect the area more, a large number of city guard arrives. They begin cordoning off Trollskull Alley, posting guards at any and all exits. Six guards stand watch over the bodies pushing people away and trying to prevent people from messing with the crime scene. Overhead a griffon and it's rider circle, seemingly drawn by the explosion. 

The owners of all of the stores along the street are out talking with each other. You also see some other people who were running errands in the area talking. You can talk to them, it will take ~1 minute to hear what they have to say. 

List of people in the alley:

• Sergeant of the guard who arrived and is watching the bodies
• Talisolvanar Fellbranch, owner of the Bent Nail
• Embric + Avi, owners of Steam and Steel
• Fala Lefaliir, owner of Corellon's Crown
• Vincent, owner of Tiger's Eye
• Rishaal, owner of Book Wyrm's Treasure
• Jezrynne Hornraven, wealthy woman who was leaving Tiger's Eye 
• Stau Masterwood, carpenter who was going to the Book Wyrm's Treasure to finish work on a bookshelf
• Qin Na, a cloaked man who had been hurrying towards the dock ward
• Martem Tec, a young boy who is dressed as a street performer and looks to be in shock

What would you like to do? 

At the explosion:

Lu-lu will fall out of bed, wrapped in blankets, hair plastered to the side of her head and a drool stain on her cheek. She threw on a shirt and pants and rushed outside, feet bare. Lu-lu scanned the area, trying to look for people that needed help. PERCEPTION : 5

WHEN THE CITY GUARD LOCKS DOWN:

Lu-lu will move to Martem the little kid. “Are you ok? I know that was really scary. Here, my ghost friend makes these wonderful cinnamon rolls, eat something.” PERSUASION: 9

Heishe makes her way over to Jezrynne. "Oh my, this is quite something to be woken up to! What in the world happened?"

Persuasion: 15

Damn. This is taking too long. I must be losing my edge. Well, to be fair, it's been a long time. Maybe i'm getting rusty. What's this? A coin purse? Eh. I don't need that. Wait! What's that on that man's arm. ****, the city watch is here. 

Let's see. Time to see if this'll work.

"Sergeant." Cora addressed him. "Cora Perkins, Waterdeep Special Forces. Anything I can do to help?"

Good one, dumb ass. By the way, in case you forgot, your organization wasn't public. He probably won't give a shit.

So, if that dosen't work..

Cora walked over to Qin or Stau. "Gentlemen." she says. "Did you see anything before the explosion? I love a good mystery."

Vincent approaches the man who was tasked with watching the bodies, giving him a respectful nod prior to speaking, "Vincent Vontell. Former Major of the Flaming Fist in Baldur's Gate. I would like to lend my services in finding out just what happened here. What information has your men gathered of the explosion?"

Persuasion (if needed?): 14

Lu-Lu: The boy take the rolls. He tells you he had been performing with the 4 dead performers before the blast. Somehow he got lucky and lived. “Right after the explosion, I ducked behind a rain barrel. Then I heard a ‘plop’ and found this in the barrel.” He holds out a necklace with 2 red beads, make an arcana check for me. 

Heishe: Jezrynne says, "Oh I was just leaving the Tiger's Eye to get some help with a marriage issue and then the blast happened. I saw a figure on the roof. I tell you, it was not a man. More like a puppet shaped like a man. A puppet without strings. It was on the rooftop. It hurled something into the crowd below that caused the explosion. I saw those halflings burned alive! I saw them!" Make a history check

Cora: The guard tells you to move along, an inspector is on his way. Qin is nervously waiting to be let go and tells you, "If the wife finds me here I am a dead man. That woman is crazy. I was on my way to the Dock Ward to purchase travel on a boat to anywhere away from that witch." 

Vincent: The guard also tells you to move along, an inspector is coming. Until then they are just there to protect the crime scene from being disturbed. The inspector may have questions for you and you may be able to help him. He does seem impressed to hear of your position in Baldur's Gate.