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Kytiel dashes along the ceiling, keeping pace with the blob of indistinctly hazy darkness gliding through the water below. He'll run down along the wall to get closer (within 5 ft) to were Veska is within her shroud. "That thing's too fast... I might be able to help some... but I'd be tapped for the next while on spells... and it'd make a lot of noise..."

Having taken a quick glance around, Vatro decide to empty out the various furniture, bags, pockets and books to get a good overview of anything of value in here and to find the invitation. He'll be sure to take note of where the invitation is taken from.

Vatro perception: 1D20+1D4+6 = [19]+[4]+6 = 29

Substract 6 if you would rather have an investigation check

Jax continues around town on his tour, trying to guide the conversation towards more relevant topics, like the upcoming ball and the origins of the noble houses.

Veska and Kytiel

Taking off after the water creature, the pair of you dash around the bend...only to see the wave's already 30ft ahead of you. And as you watch it begins to pick up speed, rushing around another twist in the subterranean river about 80ft away. The echoes of crashing water quickly diminish, until all that remains is the soft rushing of the river around your feet.

Uragh

The woman barks a short laugh at your comments, seemingly not too offended.

"...alroight, gimme a sec."

You see her disappear deeper into the ship, and hear some muffled conversation. Moments later, two figures begin to descend the gangplank - her, and a much larger brute of a man. Completely bald, with skin so heavily tanned it looks like old leather, and heavyset features. He's probably mostly human, but there's definitely a bit of orc in there somewhere.

"Grogun, First Mate. Ursula 'ere says you got something you wanna parley about?"

Vatro

You begin to strip the room, searching for anything of value. There are some clothes hanging in the cupboard, and basic writing supplies on the desk, but otherwise the room is pretty bare. Looks like this guy travels light. Most of the interesting stuff you find in the backpack.

Altogether you find a couple of books on various historical topics, a few letters and scraps of notes, about 5 days worth of rations, a waterskin, a heavy wool blanket, and some cutlery. There's also a pouch containing 20gp, and a small knife, both of which were hidden under his pillow.

No sign of anything resembling an invitation.

"Hell... nah, we ain't catchin' that, don't waste yer magic. I can track it, though, long's my Mark's on it. We'd hafta be real careful, prolly headed straight fer its master, yeah?"

If Kytiel doesn't object, Veska will go ahead and do so. Since the creature won't leave behind tracks, Veska focuses her attention on the cave walls to track any wetness the water level wouldn't normally reach, tracking the water monster's passage that way.

Stealth and Survival (Hunters Mark + Natural Explorer) to track water creature:
1D20+7 = [1]+7 = 8
2D20.HIGH(1)+6 = [12, 13]+6 = 19

Jax

As they begin to tour the Upper Quarter, Jax manages to steer the conversation towards something more interesting.

Apparently, the Carmichael's are by far the oldest noble family in Farawlen. The founder was reportedly Sasha Carmichael, an experienced adventurer who settled in Farawlen back when it was just a fishing port. Seeing its potential, she invested her fortunes heavily in the trade industries, which in turn enticed other families and guilds to move into the rapidly growing city. Her eldest son Tristan continued her work, and his children, and so on, the family's fortune and political power increasing almost as quickly as the city's population.

In modern times, only coalitions such as the Merchant's Guild have the combined power and influence to threaten the Carmichael's within Farawlen's walls. And in general they prefer to focus on trade, building their power and wealth in the other cities along the coast.

Other than the Carmichael's, the only families of note are the Borgoni's - an old, established family who are rumoured to have connections with certain unsavoury elements of the city - and a relatively young group of nobles who call themselves the House of Rezaar. Their patron, Bori Rezaar, is a shrewd businessman who managed to rise from almost nothing in just 50 years. Though still active politically, his sons Grissom and Edward handle most of the business side of things these days.

"And of course, I'm sure they all are invited to the upcoming ball. Alongside various foreign nobles and scholars, like my master."

"Aye. Something that might end up lining both our pockets." he says, deciding not to make mention of his fellow "greenskin"... That was an often touchy subject, so he'd have to do it when there's a reason to sling insults again. He raises a hand forward to already shake hands, grinning just a bit.

"Name's Uragh. Local around here. But I've experience with the siren's call of the sea in the past... Long story, won't bore ya."

"But just cause my days on the sea are over doesn't mean I wouldn't call myself an... Opportunist. You get what I'm saying, yea? Do a couple chores here and there, and living here ain't all that bad."

"Couldn't help notice those nice cannons you got by the way." Uragh says, not quite one for subtlety. "Nothing wrong with em, of course. Just self defense, you never know... Though those kind of things often seem to fill hulls for some reason, with contents you can't just dump on land."

"So, purely hypothetically speaking that you'd be holding some cargo you want to get rid off, and nowhere to go... I might be interested, yeah?"

Kytiel loops back up to the ceiling, keeping pace with the shadowed blur, hiding among the shadows himself. However, all of Veska's splashing keeps him from being able to pick up much else going on.

Stealth; Perception: 1D20+4 = [16]+4 = 20
1D20+1 = [1]+1 = 2

Veska and Kytiel

Veska surges on, too focused on her quarry to worry about stealth. Kytiel takes the opposite stance, being kind of out of his element - he focuses on staying unnoticed, letting the Kobold handle the tracking.

Which isn't actually too difficult, to begin with. Following the river downstream is quite straightfoward, despite the numerous twists and turns. The first issue comes when the tunnel splits into two. It's only Veska's keen eyes that keep them on track, spotting the high watermarks on the left wall that indicate which direction the wave travelled.

More tunnels split off from the river, and soon the tracks lead back onto dry land. The temperature begins to steadily drop, until you can see your breath misting in front of you. Moisture hangs heavy in the air, thickening into a dense fog that clings to your skin, obscuring your vision. Ahead, you can see the tunnel split again, one tunnel breaking off to the right while the other goes straight.

It's at this point that you completely lose the tracks, the dampness on the walls and floor overwriting whatever watery footprints this creature left behind.
Uragh

Grogun's nostrils flare as Uragh mentions cannons, muscles tensing under his clothes and eyes darting past Uragh along the docks. But when no swarm of guards jumps out of the shadows, he keeps his cool and turns his attention back to you.

"...straight to business, eh?"

"The cap'n deals with that side of things. I'm just 'ere to take care of the ship, and the crew. If you want to talk trade, you can wait out 'ere til he's back. Shouldn't be more than an hour....maybe two."

Confident that this water monster has something to do with the Crawler problem, Veska redoubles her efforts in tracking this thing down. She looks for where the water on the ground has condensed recently at the creature's passing, like how water droplets leave trails on a foggy window.

Stealth and Survival (Hunters Mark + Natural Explorer) to track water creature again:
1D20+7 = [7]+7 = 14
2D20.HIGH(1)+6 = [15, 18]+6 = 24

(Not sure if you want another Stealth check, but there it is)

Veska and Kytiel

Pausing, Veska searches for more tracks while Kytiel tries his best to keep lookout in this heavy fog. The mist makes things difficult, but the Kobold does eventually find what she's looking for; damp patches of dirt which are slightly fresher than the others, heading up the right tunnel.

However, she also finds something else. There are some grooves and scratch marks on the floor, as if something heavy was dragged along it. And these all go down the other tunnel, to the left.

((I rolled well enough before I wasn't going to roll again until asked. Since you have...))

Stealth: 1D20+4 = [3]+4 = 7


((Welp...))

"Huh... looks like that water thing went this way, but the dead Crawler got dragged that way."

Veska stays kneeled down, scratching her chin thoughtfully. "I ain't got a problem wit' that water monster, and if its got friends then we're like to get jumped. I'm thinking we find this dead Crawler and what's bein' done to it first. Howzat sound?"

With an invisible nod, Veska leads the way down the passageway with the drag marks.

"Nah, never been one for subtlety... Doesn't quite fit in with my line of work." he says, shaking his head with a mild grin as he notices the somewhat panicked look of the first mate. "Relax. Got nothing to gain selling you out to crooks with fancy hats- Besides being stupid enough to paint a big target sign on my own back, yea?" he states, before giving a mild shrug to his statement it wasn't his business to deal with.

"Fair enough. You think he might be interested, then, at least..? I suppose I'll just wait right here. In the open, clearly visible..." Uragh almost seems to ask, with a raised eyebrow.

Kytiel follows the blurry bit that's moving down the tunnel.

Veska and Kytiel

Deciding to follow the drag marks, Veska leads the way while Kytiel keeps watch. It's eerily silent down here, the thick fog dampening sound as well as sight. But Kytiel is still pretty confident that they're alone...for now.

The pair don't get too far before they come across another fork in the path. As Veska searches the ground, confirming that the drag marks go down the right tunnel, Kytiel glances in the other direction. And sees a flash of...torchlight? It's very brief - so fast he almost misses it - but there's no mistaking that reddish warm glow.

Uragh

"Fair enough. You think he might be interested, then, at least..? I suppose I'll just wait right here. In the open, clearly visible..."

"Yes."

Grogun turns and walks back into the ship. Ursula seems caught off-guard by the sudden end to the conversation, following a few seconds later.

"Past. Veska. There's someone down that way.", Kytiel alerts his companion.

Veska freezes for a moment. "...Well we ain't goin' that way, so whatever. But watch yer back now."

Assuming Kytiel agrees, Veska continues following the drag marks.

"Sure. Looked like torchlight, do guards come down here much? I'm assuming it wouldn't be some of the... locals."

Kytiel follows the kobold, occasionally glancing back over his shoulder.

"Heh, that's fair. I've spent more time than the average person underground, but as far as sneaking about out of the view of guards, I'm more at home on rooftops."

Kytiel walks on in silence for a while.

Uragh seems just as surprised at the sudden dismissal as the fellow crewmate, but just shrugs it off, muttering something about he doesn't miss watered down swill that much, and complies... Setting himself against some nearby boxes or whatever, and waiting.

Maybe he'll start thinking about how stupid this idea of his is during the wait. Probably not, though. He eventually starts idly playing with his weapon of warning that he usually keeps up tied behind his belt, bored, pricking the end of the blade ever so gently against his fingers but not cutting them... Besides, maybe if one of them recognizes what it is, they might give him a bit more "credit"... Not that he was thinking that far ahead, he was just bored.