Besides rumors and grumbling, Vinccenso doesn't recall anything that would help the group in their excursion tonight.
"Does anyone have any thoughts as to how we might get there? I don't mind walking if we have to. I have a horse, but I'm not really keen on the idea of taking him to Blackshire."
Tesia casts a glance towards Quintz before approaching him.
"What do you think? Is there a method of travel that you would prefer, or is walking alright with you as well?"
"I would be quite surprised if there wasn't carriage service available." Vinccenso replies.
Fitting deed to word, he proceeds to the village commons area to look for such a post.
"I don't think I should go," Quintz responds. "Too large of a group would arouse suspicion. As it is, seven well-armed people already seems a bit much. I can arrange for a carriage for you all. I've been told that I am quite persuasive."
Verrill turns to Èvelyne. "Vous ne semblez pas comme on rester à la maison. Donc, vous sortez et chasse cultistes, alors?"
As they walk towards the inn, Verrill gets a curious look on his face. "Mon père, son père et son père avant lui, étaient tous des voleurs. Je suppose que j'ai rejoint l'entreprise familiale. J'aurais fait une meilleure vie pour moi-même, mais, comme vous avez vu ce soir, les gens supposent le pire de moi et je le leur donner. Ah, tant pis ... Je devrais changer de vêtements bientôt, non? "
"A carriage for us all? Sorry, my friend, but if you're planning to stuff seven grown persons wielding pointy bits of metal into one carriage, it better be a big one or I'm walking." Évelyne says, having had enough horrible carriage trips for one day.
"He he, I wouldn't put it like that either. If I had something personal against fanatic cultists, I'd be already in jail for burning down a church of Iomedae. But kidding aside, where there are weird cults or walking corpses or stuff like that, there's always someone who wants the situation to be quietly handled before the paladins enter the stage and start snooping around. So that's where I come in."
Upon hearing Verrill's quick explanation of his profession, she speaks again. "Well, if they don't want to treat you well, why would you want to stop stealing from them?"
Ithelien laughs quietly. "Of course... That would be necessary, so as not to get poked by sharp bits of metal. We wouldn't want any accidents, after all."
"Which is why I mentioned a carriage service...
Where there will be one carriage, there will doubtless be others." Vinccenso shakes his head mournfully at certain others obtuseness.
Tesia looks at Qintz,"You don't want to go? Well, I guess I can see your point. We shouldn't all show up at the same time either. It would look a little funny I suppose. Maybe a couple different carriage's and show up a little bit apart, like in intervals so as not to look too suspicious."
He gives a half-hearted shrug as you enter the inn.
Finding two carriages, Vinccenso holds open the door on one for those who will be joining him.
Ithelien shrugs, and enters alongside them. "Well, I shall join you, but now, to prevent me from being the 'third wheel', as it were, I would request that another comes with us. After all," He grins, making one wonder whether he truly feels this way, "I wouldn't want to make things awkward between the two of you."
At the obvious invitation, Vinccenso hops into the Carriage & proceeds to snuggle up to Ithelien. "Oooh! I thought you'd never ask!"
Seriously? This guy is waaaay too full of himself...
Ithelien grins at Vincennso. "Quite right, quite right." He laughs easily, eyes twinkling. "While I'm sure we could find a carriage of our own, this way is certainly cheaper. Thus, we cannot do what I am sure we both wish to." His grin becomes slightly flirtatious, and it's difficult to tell whether or not he's being serious.
Upon seeing the silliness around her Tesia ops for the other...less crowded carriage. She looks about for Évelyne and Verrill, seeing them nearby she motions to the carriage she is currently occupying.
"I have plenty of room in this one if you would both like to join me. I promise this to be a very pleasant ride, and so much nicer than walking. Don't you think? I don't take up very much room, and I'll keep my trusty hammer next to me so as not to accidentally whack you with it."
Tesia smiles and giggles as the silliness creeps into her as well.
Tesia quickly leans her head out of the carriage and calls to Quintz.
"Are you sure you don't want to come? It could prove to be quite...interesting. Totally up to you of course." She smiles sweetly at Quintz through fits of giggles. What has gotten into me?
"Well, of course!" Évelyne answers and climbs up to the carriage, taking a seat next to Tesia. "Come on, Verrill!" she shouts, pressing rather tightly against the paladin next to her so that they all can fit into one bench.
Quintz shakes his head at Tesia, a fading smile on his face. He pays the two carriage drivers and the carriage with Ithelien, Fiona, Vinccenso and Faulkes departs first. The other containing Tesia, Èvelyne and Verrill departs a few moments later. The trip is short but a sense of foreboding overtakes you as you enter into Blackshire.
The sooty buildings against the twilight sky makes for a drab and depressing picture. The carriage drivers stop a short way inside the town, dropping all of you off and departing quickly. Verrill points down the main road and informs you that the Grey Cloak Inn is just two blocks away. He offers to do a little reconnaissance for you, since he has to get his gear from the inn.
Tesia looks around the drab surroundings and sighs as she produces what looks like a water skin.
"Well, as depressing as this place looks we are going to need a little help looking like we belong here. Earlier I bought a rather nice bottle of wine and I would hate for it to go waste." She takes a long draw off of the water skin that contains the wine from earlier. After taking her drink she'll offer the skin to anyone else who might be interested in a drink.
"Afterall, we are trying to fit in. Are we not?"
"Well, I'm certainly never one to refuse a drink with a lovely lady." Vinccenso replies immediately. Accepting the bottle, he slings back a swallow with the alacrity of one who has perhaps a bit too much experience.
Looking around, he muses. "Odd, with the effort that was put forward to have this place included in the itinerary for the Festival, you would think they would have put more effort into sprucing the place up. As it stands, I doubt the folk of Strotfeld really have that much to worry about. Visitors will take one look at Blackshire & hie it back to Strotfeld post haste. 'Hic'"
Absently, he hands to bottle back to Tesia.
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Fiona intercepts it and takes a swig from the skin. With a soft cough she drinks a little more and then a little more, hogging it for perhaps just a bit too long before breaking off and handing it back to the paladin.
"Any Ó Cléirigh who turns down a drink ain't an Ó Cléirigh at heart," she mutters bravely before glaring into Blackshire. Hiking up her boots, the Keeper prepares to stalk into the city.
"If yer gonna re-con, then g'head and do it, eh?" she says cheerfully, keeping stock of the surroundings.
A soft blush appears across her face, hopefully from the wine, and she looks to Faulkes. She slips some muck onto her hands and smears it on her ragged cloak quietly, drawing some lines across her facial tattoo to make herself appear more homeless and less dangerous. "Completin' the picture o' you carryin' me intae the inn. We'll catch everyone right by surprise, we will, guaranteed."
Tesia considers using the mud at first as Fiona did, but just can't quite bring herself to do it. Shaking her head she takes a last drink from the skin and checks to see if anyone else wants some before putting it away.
"Right then, we'll just see what he says when he gets back and go from there. We shouldn't all enter the Inn at the same time either I would think. Maybe in small groups?" She throws a glance and half smile around the small group. "After Verrill gets back we'll decide exactly how we want to go about this." She shrugs and kind of hangs back, leaning against one of the buildings in an attempt to look nonchalant.
Ithelien nods quietly. "I can be rather sneaky when I must, so if I can blend in with the crowds, I can do some scouting of my own." He grins slightly. "Shocking though the idea is, I don't always have to be the center of everyone's attentions." The elf bard laughs easily at himself, sapphire eyes glittering.
"Hey! There are other people desperate to get drunk!" Évelyne shouts and grabs the winesking from Fiona before the druid is able to drain it all, and takes a good, long drink herself. "Better. Verrill, go ahead and fetch your stuff. We'll wait near. If something happens, just scream like a little girl and we'll crash through the windows to save you, he he," she says and winks at him.
Verrill changes back to his natural form, his nose elongating and fur sprouting everywhere. "I'll be back quicker than you can lose two gold playing dice."
He runs off toward the inn, returning about ten moments later in fresh clothes and adjusting a belt full of daggers. "There's no drow at the inn presently. The innkeeper said she headed to Damon's, a casino on the east end of town, about half an hour ago."
"Most curious. Shall I go seek her out?" A faint eagerness blossoms in his voice. He wanted so badly to meet this drow, and maybe see what she wanted before stabbing her with his rapier until she could no longer move. He stopped, wondering whether she had anything to do with the attack on his homeland... "I'm fairly familiar with the sort of den that Damon's likely to be..." He grins broadly.
"Any sign of that Orc that Korbak was speaking of? If he wasn't there, he might be at that casino as well." Tesia looks around thoughtfully.
"Perhaps Verrill and Évelyne can go in first, Fiona and Faulks you two can follow there shortly after...andshe looks from Ithelien to Vinccenso,if these two gentlemen would be so kind maybe they could escort me inside thereafter? We could work it that way, make it look like we are all just out for a good time? I leave it to everyone to decide just how we should work this."
Tesia puts a finger up to her face in a thoughtful manner and taps lightly with her nails."The other way we could work it is the guys could go on in before us and we could follow a little after, as if we were having a girls night out. Whatever everyone agrees on is fine with me. I just want to make sure we get our sights on the perpetrator, as well as the orc that we are supposed to be finding."
"I think you might be overthinking it. As long as we won't rush in all at once, we'll be fine," Évelyne says and shrugs. "Nothing wrong with your plans either, though."
Tesia looks down at the ground and blushes slightly,"Sorry, guess I get carried away with the planning sometimes. Whatever everyone wants to do is fine with me. Like you said, as long as we don't all go in at the same time."
"I would be greatly appreciative, my dear, if you would permit me to go first? I promise I won't do anything permanent to the drow." He offers a blindingly charming smile to Tesia, winking. It was the truth. Mostly. He wasn't going to do anything permanent to the drow yet. That could be safely delayed until later. "I also imagine that if she does notice me, she will not suspect anyone save you, lady paladin, to be coming along with. So perhaps you should also go alone? That way, we can make it seem we only have two, as opposed to our true numbers."
Tesia waves her hand dismissively at Ithelien and smiles herself, just as charmingly. "But of course dear Bard, whatever pleases you most of course."
She looks around at the rest of the group,"Well, that leaves an even six of us left, so shall we just pair up and go in at different intervals then?" She waits to hear what the rest of the group is interested in doing while finishing off the last of the wine in her skin and putting it away. I'll have to get more of that later. Maybe their drinks here won't taste exactly like swill. A half smile plays on her lips at the thought.
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"Sounds peachy," Fiona nods. "I love casinos. They smell like ash and bloody ashes but there's somethin' magic about dice, eh?" She leans heavily on Faulkes.
"We'll move in first," says Fiona with a nod to her companion. "If anythin', I can take some eyes off of ye so that ye ken all work without bein' watched."
It really would have been better if I had known I was going to be pursuing matters of skulduggery when I prepared this morning...
Briefly distracted & morose, Vinccenso perks up to nod amiably to the consensus. "Hrmm. I feel called upon to point out. Some of us have been imbibing...
Perhaps heavily. If any of you feel that possibly your judgment or reflexes may be impaired, I have something which might help, at least for long enough."
"Mind you, I normally only have to use it on myself, so I've only the one."
Tesia laughs,"That's the whole point in the drinking my friend. So we fit in with the rest of the refuse. Don't worry, I can handle my drink."
She looks at Vinccenso with her intense blue eyes, a little darker than usual maybe, but could be a trick of the light. "Perhaps you wouldn't mind accompanying me into the casino? We could go in last after everyone else. I'm going to stick out no matter who I go in with."
In a style almost extravagant enough to vie with Ithelien, Vinccenso bows low before Tesia's hand. "How could I possibly deny such an appealing offer?"
Tesia blushes at Vinccenso's gesture. She inclines her head and gives a slight curtsy in return. After the exchange she stands and looks at Vinccenso. She smiles before looking away toward the direction of the casino, her hair blowing softly around her face.
"I guess we can just wait here until the others have all gone inside and then follow a while later. As long as we have a few minutes to ourselves we might as well get to know each other a little so that we can at least seem familiar with one another once we're inside," Tesia starts to absently bite her lower lip while looking down "that is if you want to..." She stops, being at a loss for words and wondering if she just made a giant fool of herself.
Faulkes takes a determined look down the avenue. "So do you know where this Damon's is, Verrill?"
The kitsune's whiskers twitch in thought. "Just a little past the inn, down one of those alleyways."
"You're right. What possible reason could I have to want to speak to an intelligent, charming, attractive, healthy young woman?..." Vinccenso's face screws in mock contemplation of Tesia's invitation.
Shaking his head after a few moments, an expression of consternation writ broadly across his features. "No, nothing."
You realize that he has been slowly circling you while this is going on, a faint glow about the fingers of his left hand, the same hand he used earlier to repair the rips, tears & stains in Verrill's clothes. "If we are going to be making an entrance, it behooves us to make the best one possible." He explains as he makes faint passes, here & there; removing minor dirt & snags from your garment. He then follows suit with his, much less impressive, clothes, finishing with a complete change in the outfit's color to an almost blue-black. "There! Not the best, but black is always fashionable, isn't it?"
At mention of the word 'alleyways', Vinccenso's expression smooths, any hint of puckishness disappearing like a mist in heavy winds.
Well, why do I suspect matters are about to get...
Interesting.
Standing outside dressed in her Paladin finery and sporting her warhammer that she has held over one shoulder she looks at Vinccenso. "Well, we might be able to do something about the way I look, but I don't think I can disguise my hammer." She wonders hopefully that there will be so many different kinds of people in this place that no one will take notice of her appearance. She pats her warhammer affectionately as she smiles at Vinccenso. "Just in case we run into trouble. I never leave home without her."
Ithelien follows the kitsune's directions eagerly, his eyes twinkling with... something? It seems a trifle unusual, but the bard seems lighthearted, even for him. At the same time, he is oddly focused, not even bothering to try to outdo Vinccenso's amateur (albeit fairly skilled, he admits privately) flirtation with Tesia. Something is off about him, and he does not care. At the door of Damon's, he pauses, then looks about. Taking a deep breath, he enters.
Ithelien smiles brightly at the bouncer, bowing his head politely. "Good evening to you, friend! If I may, what exactly do I need to know about the rules here at this... fine establishment. Should I leave my ancient artifacts of doom at the door? Is this a 'sense' free zone? Can I bring vials of liquid that are greater than a pint? Are knives permitted? What about spears? And do you have lavatories here, or do I need to go elsewhere to relieve myself of my troubles?" He grins at the doorman, laughing blue eyes inviting him in on the jokes. Of course, knowing his luck, the guard probably would turn out to be the humorless sort...