"Greetings, lady!" Alev says politely as he sits down. 

He accepts the tea, but doesn't drink it yet, still nervous. He sits there with the hot cup in his hands, waiting for his companions to drink theirs first.

The maid escorts you over to where the couches are, and she stands off to the side with her hands clasped behind her back, awaiting instructions.

The older woman on the couch sets down her cup and begins pouring a strong herbal tea into each of the cups and passes one to each person who said they wanted some. As she does, she asks without looking up from her task, "I am Lady Fiona Wachter. Might I have the pleasure of learning the names of my guests?"

Once everyone introduces themselves, she asks as she sets down the teapot, "What brings you to my humble abode?" She watches each of you over the rim of her cup with her intense blue eyes as she sips from it.

Sergei keeps a close watch on the maid, trusting the others in the party to more properly engage the Lady Wachter. Can he discern anything suspicious or unnatural about her as he scrutinizes her?

insight 23

Moving forward and pushing his hood back down from his head, revealing his somber face, the rogue gives a slight but formal bow

”Good day my lady. I am Skip Gallowson. We have not long arrived to this town, after some troubles upon the road”

He sips the proffered tea, but doesn’t add any more than what he has already said

"Frankly, we are new to town and are trying to learn the lay of the land." Leann says as she sips from her tea. "Your name came up in conversations we've had around town, so we thought we should learn more from you, instead of going by gossip."

"...My name's Alev." He introduces himself, still just holding the cup. As he leaves the talking to the others, he nervously looks around them, glancing at the room with his big, avian eyes, trying to spot anything that seems out of the ordinary.

Perception: 12

Rudick grunted at the Lady's initial request. But apart from moving to stand beside the couches, the Orc stubbornly stayed standing without a word. The opposite side from the maid, if not forced in some manner. As far as when names are given, the Orc said something guttural in his native tongue, before then simply responding with, "Geltrik", not seeming to care if noted it to be a lie or not. Either way, he certainly didn't ask for any tea, nor would accept a cup. And for the most part, he was content to let the others do most of the talking while he silently regarded the woman past the visor of his helmet.

At least for the time being. Just as he had hoped someone might broach the topic of still ghosts or the coffin maker's misfortune in some subtle way.

Sergei will sit and take the proffered tea. He will spare a moment to answer the Lady’s question, “My name is Sergei Yugarov,” before returning his attention to the maid.

Sergei, when you watch the maid out of the corner of your eye, you notice that her shadow cast by the flickering firelight doesn't match her body. You see a hideous from of warped limbs, fanged jaws wailing silently, and tendrils that spasm in the air. Just as soon as you saw that, the shadow returns to normal, and the maid turns to look a you. She raises a finger to her lips and pantomimes shushing you with a knowing smile.

Alev, you see that the room is furnished with high-quality decorations and furniture. Lady Fiona clearly has a lot of money.

Lady Fiona takes another sip before setting down her cup gently and folding her hands in her lap before she says, "Well, what would you like to know? You certainly came to the right place if you seek information." 

Sergei will quickly but surreptitiously, while pretending to sip his tea, shoot a message to Skip, telling him to keep the Lady occupied with smalltalk. (he whispers softly into his teacup so no one can see his lips move, and his pointing is hopefully not obvious, his pointing hand and arm down at his side).

Then, in like manner, he will message each of the others in his group, in turn, briefly warning them to stay alert and that the maid is not what she seems.

Hearing Sergei’s voice whisper in his mind, Skip tries not to let it show on his face. He hadn’t been expecting that. But, he trusts his companion enough to follow up on the instruction 

“Well, as I say, we have just arrived in town. We happened along some misfortune as we passed through. A coffin maker had somehow fallen to his death. Terrible news for the town”

Alev takes a tiny sip from his cup of tea before he speaks.

"We also heard something about "dusk elves". What do you know about them?"

Hearing Sergei's message that the maid is not what she seems, his feathers puff for a second before he hides it. "...This tea is really good." He quickly mutters to feign his reaction, taking another sip.

Glad to have others taking control of the conversation, Leann settles back, just sipping her tea and keeping an eye on both the lady and her maid.

At Skip's words, she tuts in disappointment and says, "That is a tragedy. I was wondering when ol' Henrik would end himself. He was depressed for a long time."

After the questions of the dusk elves, she gives a mirthless chuckle and wets her throat with a sip of tea before she says, "Now this is a tragic story. Every few centuries or so, Strahd becomes infatuated with some young maiden in Barovia. When he does, he does everything in his power to capture the girl and make her his bride. When the dusk elves learned that Strahd has found a new victim, instead of letting her be enslaved by our lord, they stoned her to death. When Strahd discovered this, he went into a murderous rampage and killed every woman of their race. Now, only the men remain, and they are dying out." The fire hisses and crackles as she finishes, throwing a few sparks in the air.

Sergei muses,

“Interesting that Strahd chose to kill the women. Killing all the men would have accomplished much the same thing. That’s probably what I would have done. Err, if I were a murderous monster, that is...”

Alev gulps at hearing the macabre story. Stone her to death? What? Couldn't they at least have her killed in a more merciful way?  He thinks.

"...I see." He says, not understanding why such a violent method was used but deciding to not question it further. "Really tragic, yes."

Lady Fiona shrugs and says, "They killed Strahd's wife-to-be, so he killed their women. His sense of vengeance is a bit overblown." She takes another sip and asks, "So, what do you plan on doin here in Vallaki?" At that moment, there is a knock at the door. Lady Fiona looks to her maid, and the maid nods her head curtly before exiting the room to answer the door. Lady Fiona says offhandedly, "We're preparing for my book club meeting tonight. It's quite the process."

Leann takes another sip of her tea, her blue eyes tracking the maid as she moves out of the chamber to answer the door. Returning her gaze to their hostess she frowns. "Every woman of their race, that is definitely more than justice." She considers it though, wondering why the elven folk decided to kill this vampire lord's bride-to-be anyway. "Why kill the woman this vampire had a thing for?" She asks her thoughts out loud, as she usually does. "I mean, they had to know there would be reprisal for doing so, seems not very well thought out."

She calmly returns Leann's gaze and says, "Answer me this: would you rather be dead, or would you rather be a slave stuck between this life and the next for all eternity? I believe they thought they were doing her a favor. They were also a bit of a thorn in our lord's side, so they had it coming to them."

You hear the door enter, and muffled greetings echo through the chamber. After a moment, you hear a small group of people pass the door and continue onwards.

Sergei asks,

"What books are you reading for the book club? I love books."