In which our heroes run into difficulties.

The five performers sat on the stage talking in low tones an hour after all but the drunkest of patrons had left the inn. The barmaids cleaned up the tables as the lamps burned low.
"I don't believe it...any of you got an idea who made that illusion in the middle of the production?" asked Tin.
"You mean it wasnt me who set that table on fire?" Nessa responded.
"Only if you were casting illusions, Nessa." commented Onala.
"No, silly, it was magic, foul play! A plot was afoot, and it's cutting into our profit margins!" Tin stood up and scowled.
"Illusion? It looked pretty real to me." replied Nessa.
"I saw some magic on the rich people. There was one gnome in the cheap seats that had some magic on 'em, but all I could see was disguise self." said Berenwick in an effort to diffuse the situation.
"Hah, yet another illusion! It was probably him..." Tin redirected her anger.
"Did he already leave?" asked Onala.
"He left with the group of gnomish drunks from the cheap seats." answered Berenwick.
"Terribly unsporting way to do business, I should think. If another troupe has to resort to petty tricks to keep out competition, they obviously need better talent." Prosepon commented. Tin clenched her fists while plotting revenge on the gnome. Their conversation came to a natural pause and they noticed that the barmaids were glancing over at them and whispering in hushed tones.
"Oh dear . . . that doesn't sound like positive advertising they're whispering." said Prosepon in a worried tone of voice. Tin turned her attention to the barmaids for a moment to shoot them a withering glare.
"Any reason I shouldn't go over there and give them a piece of my mind?"
"Yes. We need to keep a good impression. We sell our acts on our reputations, after all." noted Prosepon.
"It would APPEAR those are already RUINED..."
"Hopefully we can salvage something - we held the crowd, after all, and no amount of fire-juggling can set an illusory fire."
"I think we did rather well, seeing as we convinced most of the audience to come back to their seats." added Onala.
"Hopefully we can salvage something - we held the crowd, after all, and no amount of fire-juggling can set an illusory fire." commented Prosepon.
"What does the bottom line say?" asked Tin.
"We've collected a reasonable amount for having a near stampede." Berenwick looked up from counting the money he had gathered from the front of the stage.
"This probably doesn't match our patronage's overall stature, but I do believe it's enough to keep me from...dealing with the help around here." said Tin.
"I'm still unhappy it was fire that disrupted our act." said Nessa. "Since I work exclusively with fire." Nessa's melancholy. Her self pity was interrupted by the bartender and owner of the Sky Serpent Inn, Sevn Haggerstad, walking over to the stage.
"Greetings." He addressed the entire group of performers. Sevn was a well dressed fellow for a bartender. His frame was large and his girth matched.
"Good evening, sir. We apologize for the waterworks, but as performers we take theaters fires - or at least what appear to be theater fires- seriously." Prosepon said. Tin blushed slightly at the mention of waterworks.
"I understand your concern about the fire. I wouldn't have blamed you if you took off running like everyone else."
"We do not scare easily." stated Tin forcefully.
"It's not a pretty sight to see people running and screaming when a little fire goes out of control." mentioned Nessa.
"I must apologize for my barmaids indiscretions. They have a bad habit of spreading unsavory rumors." Sevn clasped his hands in front of him.
"That...is quite alright." said Tin through clenched teeth.
"Sadly, one can no more stop the rumor mill than one can stop the tide. We quite understand." Prosepon said with a smooth voice.
"I gather you had a reasonable first performance aside from the fire." Sevn half asked.
"I think we did well, given the circumstances." Onala smiled. Tin stared at their pile of money while Nessa shifted her feet nervously.
"Then I shall assume you are not considering engagements at other inns or taverns?" Sevn quirked an eyebrow at the performers.
"Yes, I think an extended engagement here is an excellent opportunity." Prosepon smiled at Sevn.
"I hope there are no drunken illusionists next time." Tin scrunched her face up into a frown.
"Perhaps we can catch this person Berenwick saw, as well, since he was chasing away both ours and your patrons." commented Onala
"We can't get to the bottom of what happened here if we hit the road." said Berenwick. Sevn pulled a key out of his pocket.
"In return for your commitment you may stay here at the inn free of charge." Tin smiled warmly in response and the others verbalized their thanks. "Your room is up on the third floor. There should be room for all of you there." Sevn nodded at all of them and walked back to the bar to finish cleaning up for the night.
"Why don't we turn in for the night, and start searching for this gnome when there's plenty of light." suggested Onala.
"It's likely he'll turn up again, if he really has something against our group. I'm well in favor of getting some rest." Prosepon stepped off the stage. Tin sulked.
"I want to find him before his trail goes cold. Oh, I suppose rest is the wiser option. Bah!"
"I'm tired, I'm in no mood to go sleuthing." Nessa's eyes were nearly closed.
"I'm thinking I'd have a cooler head after some rest." Berenwick put a hand to his head. The performers slowly dragged themselves up the two flights of stairs to the third floor. Around them the shadows closed in on the five figures until they could barely see the noses in front of their faces. The corridor was dark and the floorboards creaked loudly as they walked over them. They found their room at the end of the hallway on the third floor. The five performers stumbled into the dark room and made their way to beds. Except for Tin who stood in the corner to sleep standing up. Onala and Prosepon sank into the bed on the furthest wall. Nessa collapsed on the nearest bed and Berenwick took the middle bed.
All was well for about two minutes. Then Onala felt something wet drip on her. She ran her fingers through it. Then she felt on the wall and felt more wet liquid. Prosepon rolled out of bed.
"We need a light, please?"
"Morning, already?" Tin looked around with a start.
"UGH! What IS that?!" Onala grimaced as she sniffed the liquid on her fingers. It had a coppery smell to it.
"I've got a lantern somewhere." said Prosepon. Prosepon pulled a lantern out of her gear and lit it. Prosepon shined her lantern at the wall and illuminated the words "Get Out" scrawled in what appeared to be blood.
"Hell . . . the walls are bleeding?" asked Tin.
"Someone was here before we came in, I don't think walls usually spell out words like that..." said Onala. Nessa just snored.
"Well, that's just delightful. Do you think the gnome from earlier might be involved in this, as well?" asked Prosepon.
"Perhaps magic is responsible?" suggested Tin. Tin stared at the wall and mumbled a short prayer. Tin's eyes glowed briefly and in her view the room was silhouetted with magical auras. None of the auras surrounded the writing.
"OH MY GODS!" Berenwick sat upright like something pricked his bum.
"Which ones?" inquired Prosepon. Nessa blinked and squinted as she woke up.
"Arg! What's with the screaming?"
"All of them, and then some" commented Berenwick.
"Olidammara, if you want me to actually find anything! Shush!" Tin glared at Berenwick.
"Sorry."
Nessa looked at the wall. "Has that always been there?"
"That was already there when we came in, I'm sure of it." insisted Tin.
"But was it dripping on the bed when we got in? I only noticed when it started dripping on me." asked Onala.
"It was probably too dark to tell." replied Tin. "Either way, they're piss poor at scaring people. Let's investigate further in the morning."
"And much better at pissing them off. I think we can rule out the 'stupid drunk' hypothesis." added Prosepon. Onala peeked under the bed looking for bodies but didn't find any.
"Wonder where the body that donated the blood to the wall art got off to."
"I don't know. Poor sucker." Prosepon stood at the edge of the bed.
"Anyone have an empty vial on them?" asked Tin. Onala produced an empty container from her gear, gathered a sampling of the blood, and gave it to Tin. Tin pocketed it and returned to the corner to sleep. Onala crawled into bed with Nessa, leaving Prosepon to share a bed with Berenwick. Prosepon doused her lantern and the five performers drifted off to sleep. Little did they know their troubles were just beginning.