Eryn is silent for a moment before he adds, "I do not know of these 'explosives' that you speak of, but I do know of spell casters and, dark elf or not, we should proceed quickly before this Zabriss can regain her full power through the acquisition of magic simples or some sort of arcane focus..."

Eryn picks up his pace. "Come. We must hurry to find out as much as we can about what we are up against."

"Yes let us be off then."  And unless anyone stops him, he'll take the lead and head off towards Gearhole prison 

As the party approaches, it’s easy to see the metallic sheen of many tall steel plates affixed to the mountainside—the outer walls of Gearhole Prison. Moonlight and still-smoldering fires frame the billowing smoke that pours from a gaping cavity in the rock and metal, marking the violent escape r oute taken by Zabriss and her accomplices. There are numerous members of the Crownsguard on site, some scrambling around clearly working, others standing in groups of two or more, speaking rapidly to one another. 

One such group notices the party approaching and steps towards you, raising a hand. "Hold," he calls, stepping up to stare up at the group. "This are isn't open to the public," he explains, gesturing towards the hole. "Crownsguard business; ye all ought to get back to," he pauses, eyes narrowed as he looks you over, "whatever revelry ye were up to before ye decided to stick ye noses in official business." He waves a hand at you all in the universal 'shoo' motion. "Off with ye." 

The guardsmen here are not aware of your affiliation with the Watchmaster. 

Eryn will leave the talking to Aeros and instead will look at what he can see of the site of the explosion. Is the debris mostly on the outside of the hole (i.e., the explosion occurred on the inside) or vice versa?

What he is trying to ascertain is whether the explosion was inside the walls forcing them outwards or outside the walls forcing the debris inwards. This will tell him if the kobolds had been able to sneak into the prison or not.

Perception check if necessary: 25 

Holding his badge in front of him, Aeros responds with, "Our business is Crownsguard business tonight; asked by the Watchmaster himself to find the escapee."  before taking a moment to show the rest of the party that's with him.  "Mind telling us what you know about the escape so far?  Know how she managed to make such a... flashy escape from the prison." he finishes as he looks around at the open maw in the cliff side.

Menodora follows the others up the path, clutching the badge from the Watchmaster tightly. There is some part of her that is at least slightly concerned that her over-eagerness to join in an adventure of this sort, might be a bit out of her league. Though that is quashed with each passing step as they make their way up to the prison. Her unexpected travel companions seem more than capable after all, and a few more gold pieces to help capture a prisoner was well...as grand a way to really continue her adventures anyways. 

"Flashy is an understatement," Menodora comments at the destruction, taking a spot next to Aeros and flashing her matching badge. 

"And any idea where she might be headed...in such a....destructive hurry?"

(OOC: Apologies on the delay. It's been a real Adulting sort of work week.)

Arthasis stood beside his new companions showing the guard his own badge he received from the Watchmaster. The explosion that took place here appeared to have been a violent one. The others already started to question the guards about what transpired inside this prison. He would be truly surprised if those oafs knew anything about it, though. They didn't look especially competent and obviously hadn't prevented the escape from the prison in the first place.

"After answering the questions of my esteemed companions, could you be so kind to show us to Zabriss' cell.", he said, doing his best to hide the contempt he held. "We need to take a look around in there."

(You all saw the explosion, and debris rained down along the street, so Eryn would know the explosion was from the inside.)

The Guardsman, upon seeing the badges, changes his tune immediately. "Oh, right; sorry about that, then. C'mon, I'll ye all up," he gestures you all forward. "I'm afraid we've just begun the investigation - we don't know much yet. We suspect someone snuck in to help Zabriss out, judgin' from the explosion," he waves a hand at the hole and the debris field as he leads you all up. "Yer free to investigate as you like, of course, given the Watchmaster's permission." He looks a little sheepish at the fact that he can't answer any of your questions, but also a little hopeful that perhaps the lot of you will take the whole thing out of his hands. 

As you approach the prison, a ten-foot-wide hole edged with twisted steel and jagged rock opens up above a pile of rubble. Beyond the hole is a badly damaged stone prison cell, little more than soot-stained walls and an overturned bed charred on one side. A thin skylight above the hole matches others alongside it in the steel wall, and was apparently the cell’s window. A mangled chamber pot is embedded in the right wall, where an elf in a long leather coat is pulling it from the stone. She pockets three charred pieces of paper from the brass pot before turning and acknowledging your presence.

"Well hello there," the elven woman says, looking you all over curiously. "What might a motley crew such as yourself be doing here, hm? I'm Yinra Emberwind; heard the commotion from the Idleworks Shelf and thought to myself 'Yinra, there's some work for you in that,' and here I am," she grins at you all, something predatory in the way her teeth are bared. "I'll be taking the bounty on Zabriss, of course; I've already scoured the place for clues," she pats her pockets smugly. "Though I do wish you luck if you're to be hunting her as well; you'll certainly need it."

As Aeros passes the guardsman, he'll clap the man on his shoulder and tell him, "Don't worry, we've got this.  If you find anything, please let us know," before walking ahead with the others hoping that his small kindness might payoff in the future. 

When the party arrives at Zabriss' cell, he'll give it a quick look over for anything useful before noticing Yinra exiting the space with a few shreds of paper.  After listening to her comments, Aeros replies to her with "It's a pleasure to meet you," though he does not give his name in kind.  He knew many like her and knew that pressing her to share information would lead to nowhere... nowhere good at least.  His curiosity peaked at her last comment though he did ask, "And why do you think we'll need luck?  Did you know her?"

Investigation: 19

Seeing that the crownsguard Aeros is talking to is someone who actually works in the prison, Eryn approaches him to ask a few questions about the nature of their escaped prisoner.

After flashing the badge the Watchmaster gave him, he says, "The Watchmaster told us that the female prisoner who escaped is a suspected Kyrn spy. Does that mean she is a dark elf? Or is she a human collaborator?"

After establishing Zabriss' race, he continues asking questions, trying to find out more about what they are up against. "She used magic during the escape. Can you tell me where she draws her power from? Is she a druid or a sorcerer perhaps?"

Then, as an afterthought he asks, "Also, you must have had some way of limiting her spell casting while she was in captivity. What was it? Was she kept bound and gagged? Or did you use some special device to constrain her powers? Anything you can tell us about her capabilities might expedite her recapture."

The Crownsguard looks overwhelmed at the questions, his brow furrowing. "Zabriss is a Goliath," he explains, shaking his head. "There's more ta the Kryn than drow; makes it easier for 'em to slip spies over," he grouses, scowling. At the other questions, the smaller man shrugs. "I told ye, we've only just begun our investigation. I can't tell ye much about Zabriss other than that; far as I knew, she wasn't a magic user at all. And frankly, I'm not stationed in the prison. I'm just here to help with the investigation and clean up," he says, leaning around Eryn to look in the direction of another guardsman calling him. "Look, sir, ye've got the Watchmaster's permission to look about, so we'll not be in yer way. Ye should join yer friends in the cell; it can probably tell ye more than we can at present."

The elven woman smirks at Aeros, pausing on the other side of the mangled chamber pot. "Oh, why because you'll be competing with me, of course. I'm a bounty hunter; a damn good one. I'll be bringing Zabriss in and collecting the reward."

Eryn nods thanks to the guardsman and then joins the rest of the others inside.

"The person we are looking for is an unusual specimen," he says to no one in particular. "They are a goliath who can cast magic, which makes them a double threat."

While in the cell, Eryn scans the room looking for any signs that the previous inhabitant did any magic while they were incarcerated. He is looking for markings on the wall or floor, things he recognises as being usable as spell components, etc.

[OOC: Investigation or Arcana check (both have the same Int-based bonus: 19 ]

(For reference: if you're going to investigate the cell, be specific. Are you looking at the bed, the walls/rubble of the walls, the floor, etc.? A simple scan of the whole room will just be a perception-based roll to get a general feel of it.)

[OOC: No worries. Here's a Perception check instead as I don't think the situation is conducive enough for a full investigation at the moment: 19 ]

Aeros looked at the elven woman expectantly before realizing she had finished speaking.  With a slightly disappointed look on his face he replies, "Oh is that all?  Well good luck with that too I guess." before moving into the cell the examine the remains himself; casually ignoring the woman if she decided to stay around for some reason.  

Investigation check to see if Aeros can find any other scraps of paper similar to the ones the woman picked up: 8

Arthasis followed the others into the cell where he observed this elven woman, Yinra, pocketing some paper scraps from the scene of the crime. When he realized that no one would press her on what they saw he moved closer. "If you think you can leave this crime scene with whatever evidence you grabbed here, you are sadly mistaken.", he announced. "Guards!", he called out. "This woman is trying to impede your and our investigation by removing evidence from the scene. I am curious what she has taken and I bet you are aswell."

(Persuasion towards the guards if they need any: 10)

A scan of the room doesn't present Eryn with much more than what he's already seen - a mangled cell and piles of rubble. He would notice, however, that the elven woman appears to be the only one who has been inside the cell since the explosion - there are no gnome-ish bootprints in the dust that would belong to the guardsmen. 

Aeros does not see anymore scraps of paper lying about. If he would like to do a more thorough check of the room, he can. 

Yinra laughs at Arthasis, rolling her eyes. "Who do you think let me in here," she says, stepping neatly around him. The guards all look up and over at Arthasis shout, but upon seeing who he is talking about, they all resoundingly ignore him and go back to their business. "I'm here on official business," she coos mockingly, a smug grin firmly in place on her face. 

'Oh, this one will rue her stupid smirk!', Arthasis decided on the spot. He missed the days when his own guards cowed such insolent creatures when he wandered the streets of Port Damali. However, it couldn't be helped right now. He had to suffer this indignity for the moment and met it with the same easy smile as he always did. "Sure your are. Don't let us keep you from this official business.", he said to the supposed bounty hunter. The anger over this episode wouldn't leave him for some time, he knew. He needed a moment to compose himself, and would have enjoyed a comfortable chair along with a fine glass wine just now. But there was nothing of the sort found in this cell, only a chamber pot and an overturned bed. Considering that this obnoxious woman already grabbed whatever was in the chamber pot, he took a closer look at the bed searching for something Yirna might have missed. (Investigation 8)

Not surprised at finding zero additional scraps of paper, Aeros will step out of the space and try to determine what caused the damage to Zabriss' cell. Perhaps the same technique was used to destroy the prison and the cell he thinks to himself as he examines the exterior cell walls.

Investigation: 20

"Wouldn't it be more logical if we all were to work together? You clearly have a substantial wealth of knowledge to offer in the field of....prisoner recovery," Menodora suggests in the direction of the woman as she steps in too peer around the remains of the cell.  It as clear there was very little substantial evidence left that the woman might not have picked over. She raises a brow of challenge that woman.

"And if what the split of the reward between my companions along with yourself is not enough for you, I'd be willing to give my share of the gold."

Persuasion:  8