# Family Matters - Forgotten Realms Waterdeep Campaign



## Isida Kep'Tukari (Mar 2, 2013)

This campaign is centered in the city of Waterdeep, known as the City of Splendors.  It's effectively the magical fantasy equivalent of New York in terms of size, importance, and diversity.  It's entirely possible to center a whole campaign around the intrigues, alleys, and dungeons in Waterdeep without ever really leaving the city.  Our last campaign was also heavily combat-centric, while this one, being city-based, would have several sessions where no combat was done and little dice-rolling.  It's been really fascinating to watch my players realize that, "No, I can't cut down this annoying guy in the street, even though he's a murdering bastard and I know it, because the city Watch will throw me in jail."  They can't casually cast manipulation spells in public, can actually call the Watch for help (if they can prove they didn't start a fight), and have to use their contacts to help solve mysteries.

This is part of my opening e-mail to my players (they'd already written up their characters at this point and given me their backstories – 3.5 rules, Pathfinder orisons, 1st level, 32 point-buy, regional feat for free):

"Ok, with the Dawnforge Kingmakers campaign all wrapped up in all its glory, we embark upon a new journey.  A journey in the Forgotten Realms, where you all live in the great city of Waterdeep.  Though you are all just starting to hone the skills that will hopefully bring you honor, glory, power, treasure, renown, fame, fortune, and/or all the knowledge in the multiverse, you all have ambition to go as far as you can in the City of Splendors.   

Welcome to Waterdeep.  It's going to be a hell of a trip."

In an intriguing twist, when my players were making their characters, we ended up with several pairs of family members, which is how the campaign got its name.

And now, without further ado, our first session write-up!

When we first meet our intrepid heroes, they are living in the city-state of Waterdeep, the City of Splendors, on Sword Coast north.  The trading metropolis of Toril, known for its diverse citizens and fantastic markets and centers for the arcane arts, it's a city of grand adventure.  Dangerous dungeons lurk beneath the city, a testing ground for some, a death sentence for others.  Hundreds of opportunists prowl in the shadows, gaining wealth and information by any means necessary, while others manipulate the markets or glittering parties of nobles to bring themselves wealth or power unlimited.

Our heroes are as follows:

Garden (pronounced Gordon) of the Origami clan of gnomes from the island nation of Lantan.  Known as "Roof Runner" or "Rufus" to a select clientele.  A near-native of Waterdeep (he's been there since he was a child), he's a rogue with a locksmithing and weapons shop in the Dock Ward.  A shrewd businessman, he's not adverse to buying or distributing things through unconventional channels.  (My dad's character, male gnome rogue headed towards Gnome Artificer PrC from Magic of Faerun, which I’ve modified to be open to non-spellcasters.)

Charissa (pronounced Karissa) of the Origami clan of gnomes.  A human female deposited on the footsteps of the Origami clan's stronghold in Lantan (apparently knowing their predilection for adopting nearly anyone), she was raised as a gnome and took to their love of smokepowder at a young age.  She's a gunslinger who splits her time between working at her brother Garden's shop and at the temple of Gond (the Wonderbringer, god of artifice and crafting), making weapons and smokepowder.  (Female human gunslinger (from Pathfinder), native of Lantan, played by a husband of one of the other players)

Evelyn Violette - A spellscale sorceress of great beauty, strong magic, and powerful ambition, Evelyn (or Evie) wants to use her natural charm, beauty, and power to one day bring her to the ranks of the rich and highborn.  If she doesn't end up marrying into high nobility, she's going to get ennobled herself, one way or another. Though her family is not rich, Evelyn's uniqueness has gotten her invitations to several parties of Waterdeep's merchant nobility.  She swaps gossip and tales of the nobility for fine clothing from a skilled and fashionable seamstress, and tells all who see her where she got her gowns.  With her familiar Princess (a white cat of unutterable cuteness), Evelyn is certain she can charm her way anywhere and dodge any unpleasantness life throws her way.  (Female friend's character, female spellscale (Races of the Dragon) sorceress (Book of Eldritch Might version) with cat familiar)

Steven Violette - A spellscale paladin of freedom of Mystra (the goddess of magic), Steven is Evelyn's elder brother by a whole five minutes.  He's dedicated himself to two causes - freeing people from the threat of evil magic, and making sure no one, NO ONE, harms his sister in any way.  He's Evie's self-appointed guardian, and passes judgment on anyone who crosses her path.  Or near her path.  Or in the vague vicinity of her path.  (My husband’s character, male spellscale paladin of freedom (from Unearthed Arcana) of Mystra)

William de Mer - A half aquatic-elf wizard of a scholarly bent, William is a student at the once-exclusive but still excellent Etorchul Academy.  His father is a sea elf, his mother from a minor noble family.  His father is a trader, and William has learned to increase his family's fortunes by taking what treasures his father brings from the sea and learning how to smartly sell them to those shopkeepers who cater to the truly wealthy.  A dedicated student of the natural arts, when William is not selling to the shops, he can be found in the library, doing research.  Actually, most of the time he can be found in the library.  (Male half aquatic-elf wizard, headed towards the Guild Wizard of Waterdeep PrC from Magic of Faerun, played by the wife of Charissa's player)

Shandri de Mer - A human cleric of Istishia (the lord of elemental water), Shandri is William's cousin on his mother's side.  With so many of her family wedding to the sea (William is not the only one with unusual parentage), Shandri felt called to the Church of Istishia from a young age, as their clerics intercede between the races of water and land.  The church doesn't like stagnation, so while a cleric may stay in the same general area, they switch jobs and responsibilities frequently to keep fresh.  Shandri has worked as a sailor and has spent time teaching people how to swim, but recently has come back to land to work amongst the people of Dock Ward.  (DM's NPC, female human cleric of Istishia - the god of elemental water)

On the day in question, the 28th of Eleint (the equivalent of September), it was lacking two days to the Highharvestide festival.  Garden and Charissa were down at the docks proper, picking up a shipment from the Lantan branch of the Origami clan.  They found their first two expected crates easily, and then a third one was also found, full of the chemicals and reagents Charissa needed for smokepowder manufacture.  That was delicately put on top of the dolly, and then Charissa was expected to push the whole thing back to the shop.  Because she could see over them.  Equitable division of labor, that!

Evie was down in the Dock Market for several reasons.  Though the main Market in Castle Ward was known for having the best bargains, the things from the Dock Ward were often newer, people sometimes didn't know what they had, and very good bargains could by struck by the savvy shopper.  As such, it had become a popular place recently for some younger nobles to congregate, enjoying the "rustic" atmosphere of one of Waterdeep's most diverse districts.  And specifically, young Lord Robilar Wands was supposed to be there today, and Evie was, by the gods, going to get an invitation to the Wands' family Higharvestide party.  Steven had come, of course, to protect her virtue.  Because this was Evie, and Evie was... Evie.

Shandri had gone to find her cousin in the Etorchul academy library and whispered to him that she'd found something rather unusual in the Docks Market and wanted his expertise in seeing if it was worthy anything.  With a bit of persuasion (and the threats of the Blessings of Istishia, a.k.a. a bunch of water conjured over one's head) William decided to take a study break.

Garden and Charissa were moving carefully through the crowds when a ragged street urchin approached them.  He offered them a piece of chain main about the size of large man's hand, well-made and of unusual metal, for a very nominal price.  Both Origamis were intrigued, and bought several pieces from him.  Garden noted that there was a peculiar red powder on the chainmail.  Possibly dried blood? 

Evie hunted around the market until she spotted Lord Robliar Wands, and swung into action.  She had discussed her plan beforehand with Princess, her familiar, and set her loose.  Calling out, "Princess?  Princess, where are you?" Princess made her way through the crowd and began to twine around Lord Robilar's ankles.  He curiously picked up the cat just as Evie "found" her, and was very grateful that he'd been so goodly a gentleman as to rescue her beloved pet.  They got to talking, and Robilar recognized Evie (she's one of only four spellscales in the city) from both her description and the fact that she's known as Madam Silverleaf's girl (Silverleaf being the seamstress that Evie wears exclusively).  He suggested that he'd "see her there" at the Higharvestide party two days hence, quailed very slightly under Steven's gimlet stare, and eventually left to do his business.

After Lord Robilar had left, another urchin slipped up to Evie and Steven and showed them some unusual red rock, like deep red coral, and asked her if she'd like to buy it.  Evie found it to be very unusual, and something that would make quite an impression on everyone.

Shandri led William to the cart of a rag-and-bone man called Harken.  Amongst his usual bits of half-trash were also five chunks of deep red coral-like stone, one of which had a bronze disk embedded in it.  Harken didn't quite seem to know what he had, and William realized he could get quite a bargain.  However, he was too upright a citizen to cheat the man too badly, and wanted to know where the stone had come from.  Harken confessed he was selling it for a friend (after a few judicious bribes and some lunch), a "skimmer" called Snail.  Snail would come and meet them around lunchtime (for which William would pay) and might be willing to tell them where he found the stone.  Agreeing thusly, William and Shandri took the stone back to William's "Uncle" Pietro, who had a warehouse, to see if there was anything else they could learn.  In investigating the stone, William discovered that the stone itself radiated moderate transmutation magic while the bronze disk held faint abjuration magic. 

Evie and Steven happened to notice that the same stone the urchins had sold her was also being sold to a scholarly looking fellow and a priestess over at a barrow-stall.  They asked the urchins where they'd gotten the stone, and they were very reluctant to tell them.  Steven, being the upright guy that he is, implied that he was going to call the Watch on the kids.  The urchins bolted.  As that commotion was going on, Garden and Charissa saw the urchins running (and Steven running after).  Since they were the same ones who'd sold them their armor, they wanted to have words with them.  Garden turned the dolly, which sent Steve sprawling.  Charissa lunged for the box of explosive chemicals and managed to save it one inch from disaster.  One urchin managed to get away, but the other knocked himself silly on a wagon.  

Evie was there instantly, cooing over the little lad, putting his head in her lap, and trying to talk with him.  She learned his name was Kip, and he was rather loopy and disoriented.  She managed to get out of him that there was indeed more of this odd red rock, and he'd gotten it from a grate on Sea Road.  He'd take her there, if she really wanted.  Well, he said that after Steven had bribed him a bit.

Back at Garden and Charissa's shop, they were just putting things away when there was a knock on their door.  Garden looked out the peephole to see another of the urchins, this one named Jik, who said he had more bits of metal to sell him.  If he was willing to pay, Jik would take Charissa and him to the source.  After some consultation, the Origamis agreed, and headed out.

At Uncle Pietro's warehouse, Pietro was intrigued by the rock, but wanted to know more about it before he started selling any of it.  Shandri managed to pry the bronze disk out of one of the rock chunks, and discovered it was a holy symbol of Nobanion, god of kings and noble beasts and wemics.  Which was an odd symbol to see around Waterdeep - not that you couldn't find something for nearly every god in Toril here, but Nobanion was usually far to the east of Waterdeep.

William and Shandri went to meet Harken's friend Snail, a decided slimy-looking man.  After a bit of lubrication with silver, he agreed to take them to where he'd found the stone.  And oddly enough, that's exactly when and where Garden and Charissa and Evie and Steven (and their urchin escorts) also showed up.  The urchins took one look at each other, exclaimed, "I thought you were dead!" and both ran off.  Eager to get to the bottom of this, the group questioned Snail, who said he'd been picking up pieces for several days, near "where the moans were coming from."  The group wanted more information than that, but Snail slipped away (literally, the man was so saturated with things best left unmentioned that he was too slippery to hold).

Holding noses and breaths, the unlikely group descended into the sewers.  Though smelly and dark, the group lit up lanterns or globes of magical light and spied chunks of red rock and bits of bronze armor littering the area like breadcrumbs.  Crossing to parts of the sewers without getting slimed was nearly impossible, but they found a curious thing.  One chunk of the armor was embedded in the red rock, and a couple chunks of red rock had texture on the inside, like they had been wet clay once formed around a rather large arm.  Upon searching further, the group turned the corner to find a corpse being feasted upon by a pack of ravenous rats.  Charissa fired a blank charge at them from her pistol, trying to get them to disperse (nearly deafening the party), but the rats instead turned and swarmed them, biting Charissa and Garden fiercely.  Everyone fought as well as they could, killing individual rats by sword, hammer, or bullet, but Evie eventually put them all to sleep with magic.  Shandri smashed the remaining rats in a fit of anger, then healed those who had been wounded.

Upon investigating the corpse, they discovered it had some of the red rock actually growing out of it, embedded into its skin.  He also had a slim belt pouch which contained some unusual ivory coins usually only found in the Shaar, far to the east.  It was then that the group heard moaning, like someone was in terrible pain.  They pressed onward, scooping up chunks of rock or armor.  The found a large spiderweb, and in it, a large spider, the size of small dog, who'd been completely encrusted by the red stone.  Its eyes still blinked though, which gave most a very creepy feeling.

Beyond that was a waterfall down to a pool, and there, against the back wall, a large, six-legged creature covered in red stone, shackled to the wall, was moaning.  Several of the group made their way down there (more or less gracefully; it was a steep slope).  With careful application of a sap, Gardon was able to free the creature's mouth a bit.  Shandri recognized the creature as a wemic, and that was borne out by the creature's story.  It talked about a "cursed disease."  Sir Karrik Firemane, paladin of Nobanion, had been guiding a group of four pilgrims here to Waterdeep.  Apparently he had drawn some enmity when he defended his charges from attack, and they had cursed him, because he could remember little before the equinox (which had been seven days prior).  

The group wanted to help him, but no one knew how to break the curse or cure the disease themselves.  Shandri reluctantly recommended someone from the Church of Talona, the goddess of poison and plague.  She was a nasty, petty goddess, but her followers would cure people of diseases without any questions asked, and no one knew which enemies the paladin could have. Seeing that they couldn't get the huge, stone-encrusted, nearly immobile wemic out of the sewer, everyone but Charissa and Garden elected to go to the temple of Talona themselves.  Garden and Charissa worked on chipping off Sir Firemane's stony exterior as much as they could.

At the temple, the group told the greeting priestess their story, and showed the stony spider as evidence.  Before long they were joined by Plaguemother Myra, an older woman, pockmarked with disease, who was clearly a powerful cleric.  She listened to their story as she tried different techniques on the spider.  The spider, through no fault of its own, ended up being split in half with some nails and a hammer (don't ask.  One doesn't ask about the ways of a Plaguemother).  Because the group could not pay, the Plaguemother instead asked that Steven deliver a sealed box to a manor in the Sea Ward.  Steven was wary, but couldn't see that she was lying, and so agreed. 

The Plaguemother returned to the sewers with them (she called them the "cauldron of the Mistress," much to the group's consternation), and through use of powerful scrolls, managed to cure the paladin from his stony curse.  Upon hearing what that stone DID, the members of the group asked if they were in danger from having handled it  The Plaguemother said that if, "No one had thrust it into your flesh with malice," they should be fine.

Sir Firemane thanked them for their help, and took the news that the other victim found in the sewers must have been one of his charges with sorrow.  But there were still three more he needed to find and protect.  He accepted his holy symbol back from Shandri, and then Evie and Garden handed him their calling cards.  He swore to them he owed them a great debt, and then leaped from his place of imprisonment and was gone.

The group conducted the Plaugemother back to her temple, and after judicious scrubbing of themselves and the rocks and armor, sold them to raise a tidy profit.  Who knew if they'd ever see these other slightly demented folks again?  But still, it'll be something to chuckle over on long, dark evenings. 

It was curious in passing, however, that Steven found he had to deliver the sealed box he'd gotten from the temple of Talona to the Wands' estate kitchen.  Quite curious...

And so, our adventure continues…


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Mar 3, 2013)

*Session 2*

(Our next session began even before the session, with a series of short e-mails to my players about things that happened to their characters after their encounter in the sewers.  Some of these include the player's e-mails back to me about what their characters did with the information/bones I threw them.)  

*William*

William, at your daily lecture at the Etorchul Academy, your instructor makes an announcement:

"You final-year students have been doing exceptionally well in our class this week.  And because of that, we've something very exciting to share.  As some of you know, this school has a long and noble history..."

William, even though you were always more interested in the intricacies of spellwork than the history of the school, absorbing some information is inevitable.  The Etorchul Academy used to cater exclusively to the offspring of noble houses, but after a scandal that both tarnished the family's reputation and emptied many of its coffers, they now take a much more diverse group of students.  They've lost some of their prestige, but still look for ways to make up that lost social ground.

"And we are striving to always enhance our school's good name as a prestigious arcane college.  We have been invited to provide arcane entertainment for the Wands Family Higharvestide celebration by staging mageduels for their amusement."

There are some groans at this from a few student - Schoolwork?  And on a holiday, no less?  But mostly the room is filled with excited buzz.  With everyone not being particularly powerful wizards, duels won't last long, which means everyone will still have plenty of time to enjoy the festivities of a noble's party.  The instructor smiles indulgently as she raises her hands for silence.

"Obviously I expect everyone to be on their best behavior, respectful and polite.  Dress robes will be required.  Anyone found not living up to the Academy standards will be asked to leave the event.  This will factor into your final grade for this section.  Now, is everyone clear?"

A ragged chorus of affirmatives answers her.

"Now, you will be there at midafternoon on the day of the festival, sixteen bells by the Gond clock.  Any further questions?"

-----------------

*Evelyn and Steven*

A messenger arrives at the Violette household with letters for Evelyn and Steven the next afternoon.  The messenger himself is quite well-dressed, and what he bears is even more important than he thinks himself.  There are two fine invitations to the Wands Family Higharvestide party, one of which contains a short, personal note from young Lord Robilar himself.  "I hope to see you there."  No more than that, and precisely written enough to make it look formal, but still!  A personal note!  And Lord Robilar had recognized Evie!  (How could he not?)  And Steven to come too, so no worries as to Evie's virtue.  Marvelous, just marvelous, and with new jewelry to sport to boot.  But what in the world are you both going to wear?  Or do?

----------------------

*Garden*

The bell rings over Garden's door, a soft sound only audible to a few.  It's well after dark, so the charcoal black clothes and slightly raggedy appearance of the scruffy-bearded youngster doesn't excite a glance from anyone.  Not that it might have during the day, not in this neighborhood, but Roof Runner's nighttime customers don't tend to leave anything to chance.  Well, the repeat customers don't.  Anyone foolish enough to get caught gets what they deserve.

Garden looks up a takes a second glance at the boy.  While wearing what seems to be the unofficial uniform of your average footpad, there are streaks of white powder on his cuffs, some burn scars and cuts on his hands that didn't come from scuffles with a knife-fighter, and he bears nothing more lethal than an eating dagger.  No sap that you can detect, not even a sling, and certainly no fighting knife.

"Ah... Rufus?" he asked hesitantly, as he spies your red hair behind the counter.  "I um... understand you make keys?  I need one."  He pulls out a rather elaborate key, with an enameled flower on the head and rather tricky grooves along the blade.  Clearly it's too a good-quality lock at the least.  The boy is nervous and keeps talking well beyond what a smart footpad might share.  "I need the duplicate, really important, promised her I would..."

--> Garden agrees to make a duplicate key. He asks what to key unlocks, a lock box, a desk, etc. saying it is critical to know what the key opens so the duplicate is perfect. 

While examining the key Garden tries to get as much information about what happened to the boy, his condition and who "she" is. This is done indirectly as possible, but trying to determine if this is an "sanctioned" job and if this child is in one of the clans, the Black Hands, an independent or even a thief at all. 

Gordon will begin the molding process, he tells the boy it will be at least the next day to make the duplicate key. Gordon will of course make two copies of the key, one for the boy and one "just in case."

-->Garden, you examine the key minutely as you ask a few preliminary questions.

"You promised a woman?  Good of you to keep your promises, very wise..."  The boy blushes a bit, and under the cover of his embarrassment, you take a closer look at him.  You realize after a few moments that this nervous "footpad" deals in an entirely different and more literal sort of "bread."  The boy is a baker!  The white powder on his cuffs is flour and the burn scars on his hands are from the ovens.  Why would a baker need a key of this quality?

You ask about what kind of lock the key fits, citing several perfectly legitimate-sounding stories (some with even a grain of truth in them) about how different locks need different specifications on the keys.

"Ah," the boy ducks his head.  "I can't rightly say.  It's m'lord's key, so it's not my place..."

From this you guess the boy's employer is quite rich.  Maybe it's the key to the wine cellar or something similar; that might be worth the money to make a copy of a key rather than just use it himself.  If it were a key to a safe or a jewel chest, why bother with a copy?  Just using the key once could set someone up for life, if they were clever.  But for something less valuable but still important, a copy of a key could serve someone for a long time.  The boy does eventually part with the fact that it is the key to a door.

As you quote the lad a price, he reaches into his belt pouch and turns scarlet.

"Ah... I don't have enough," he confesses.  You favor him with a look that says, "foolish kid."

"Wait, wait, I can get you something!  I work in the kitchen, and we're making all kinds of things for the festival.  If you come to the back door, I can get you anything you want.  You could join the servants' celebration, get free food and drink-.  I think, er... I CAN get you a little cask of brandywine too."

Garden, the food from a noble's festival could actually be sold on the street for a tidy little profit, even the day after, if you pick the right things.  And brandywine can go for a silver a glass, so that's no mean offer.

-----------

*Charissa*

The twelve chimes of the Gond clock signal high noon all over the temple, and a time for most to break for luncheon.  Charissa has sometimes been known to work right though it, most dedicated craftsmen have more than once, but today there's a visitor near her workbench, and delaying in polishing the knife won't hurt it.

"Charissa Origami?"  Her visitor is a harried-looking human woman in plain but serviceable clothing of good cloth.  Blonde with brown eyes, she's nearly old enough to be your  mother.  If your mother were human, that is.  "I have a commission for you.  I need a knife matching this-"  She places one on your bench, a good dress dagger with a deep tang and an oddly rounded tip.  "-before Higharvestide.  Can you do it?"  

-->  Charissa replies, "Of course, it will be easier if I can keep this for an example, but if not I will make a few drawings and get it done as soon as possible.  

-->  The woman seems reluctant to leave it, but this IS the temple of the Wonderbringer, and finding a competent draftsman (or draftsgnome) isn't very hard.  Rubble makes you a good drawing (with measurements) that you can work from, as you heft the knife in your hand to get the best feel for it you can.  It's clearly an odd sort of knife, not exactly meant for fighting, but carefully crafted.

"I'll be by tomorrow," the woman says, and puts fifteen silver and a fifty copper on your table, the full price of your work, in advance.  She purses her lips slightly as she puts the money down, reluctant to let it go.  "I'm Getha.  If anyone tries to pick it up but me, ask them the color of my eyes.  If they don't say sage, they're liars."

Getha's eyes clearly aren't sage, they're brown.

And with that, she turns to go.

-->  Charissa takes that job and begins working. Seeing as Charissa is a bit naive she doesn't really get the woman's paranoia, but she will remember what she said and starts to work immediately. 

-->  Much later that day, Jik, the urchin that sent you and your brother on the wild wemic chase through the sewers, shows up at the temple with a note.  It reads:

"I won't be able to get away to pick up my package.  If you will deliver, there is additional payment.  Ask the bearer about where and when."

It's signed - "Sage Eyes"

If you ask Jik, he tells you, "The Wands' festival party!  At the back door!  At dusk!"  And holds out his hand, beaming proudly.

-->  Charissa hands the boy a silver and thanks him.  "Great now I have to figure out where this party is," she mutters to herself returning to work.

----------------------------

(With all the pieces of my plot in place (rubs hands together and cackles madly), it was time for the session!)

<lj-cut text="When we last left our intrepid heroes...">

When we last left our intrepid heroes, they had just gotten done with their Great Sewer Escapade. Over the next two days, many things happened to many people [here I inserted the copies e-mails from the individual players].

The new day dawns and everyone is getting ready to go to the Wands' Higharvestide festival party.  Evelyn is carefully assembling her wardrobe and accessories with care while simultaneously trying to convince her brother that armor is not worn to a party.  Steven keeps wondering why he can't, which produced many plaintive cries of, "MOM!" from Evelyn as both Violette women school Steven (again) in the art of appropriate attire.  It's an uphill battle.

The Origamis get together at the shop and share their rather unusual commissions with each other, as well as the fact that they've basically both been invited to the party.  

William is one of the first to arrive, as his class is providing the opening act for the Wands' party.  As the instructors are getting the space ready, he's tapped on the shoulder by none other than his cousin Shandri.  She had no idea William would be here, and tells him she was there with one of her superiors to do some ceremonies around renewing blessings on the well (along with water-dancing, a specialty amongst an obscure branch of Istishia's church).

Evelyn, of course, needed to arrive fashionably late, or just late enough to not look overly eager, but early enough to be able to talk to all the lovely people who were certain to be there.  The entire trip to the Wands' estate was punctuated by demands-er, requests that Steven NOT glare at all and sundry.  And to keep an appropriate distance.  Steven agreed to a perfectly reasonable (in his mind) personal bubble of a whole five feet.

Charissa and Garden showed up at the back kitchen door, and Getha and the baker boy were eventually summoned to greet them.  The baker boy got Garden his little brandywine cask, and Getha told Charissa she was free to partake of the food in the servants' party.  But as both were quite busy, they didn't have time to conduct them around.  Garden gleefully took advantage by eavesdropping the living daylight out of everything.  With some observation, he noticed that the key he'd made seemed to go to a special part of the liquor storage.  There was some kind of mead that was apparently the drink of the evening.  Eventually both Origamis slipped out to the party proper in the garden, toting trays to look like servants (as neither were wearing party clothes).

William's turn at mageduels came up, and he was pared with Clarissa, a woman of noble blood in his class.  She tended to favor the flashy spell color spray, and William had picked his spells accordingly.  They formed their little arena, spent a moment protecting themselves with magic (if they chose), and the duel began.  William noted that she had cast a _shield_ spell on herself, which would negate the popular _magic missile_ spell.  Clarissa cast _color spray_ at him, and he quickly counterspelled with the same.  He _dazed_ her, and she was unable to resist his magic.  But when she recovered, she again cast _color spray_ at him, and William was overwhelmed.  Clarissa was quite pleased at her accomplishment, but William had had her in a very vulnerable position, and their instructor was quite pleased with them both.  

Garden, by the by, had been watching ringside (easy to do when he was one of the shortest people there; easy to slip through the crowd) and ended up betting against William winning (several of the younger members of the party had been gambling on the outcome of the mageduels) and won himself a bit of gold.

It was during this duel that most of the others began to realize that, hey, it's that greenish-skinned fellow from that sewer fiasco the other day!  Evelyn (and Steven, naturally) came up to say hello and say a word of praise for an entertaining match.  Steven gave William a most murderous glare just for talking to Eveyln.  Just on principle.  Can't be too careful.  Evelyn was also being careful that night, though not about her company.  Once Steven had told her that he had taken the sealed box from the temple of Talona to the Wands' estate, Evelyn resolved not to eat or drink a thing.  She took a glass for form's sake, but never sipped.

When Evelyn was walking through the crowd, she overheard a few bits of gossip (in between her carefully drawing attention to her clothing and jewelry and praising those that had made them).  She'd known the Wands family had ties to the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors, as well as Blackstaff Tower (Khelben Blackstaff himself was even in attendence that evening).  However, it seemed that there was some apparent friction/disagreement between the Wands and the Thann and Amcathra noble families brewing.  Amcathra sponsors the Order of Armorers as well as the Locksmiths & Finesmiths (and Lord Arilos just became the Senior Master of the Stablemasters' and Farrier's Guild) - they have a reputation for producing the finest blades in the city (though House Gralhund is seeming to challenge that superiority).  The Thann also has ties to Blackstaff Tower.  The only thing that both the Thann and Amcathra families have in common is sponsorship with the Vinters' Distillers' & Brewers' Guild (more so the Thann than Amcarath).

One of the Wands' lords gets up to begin the next stage of the festivities and Garden notices an odd thing that he passes on to Charissa when he finds her.  That odd knife that Charissa had made?   Lord Wands was using it to saber open a bottle of that fine mead everyone is drinking.  As a matter of fact, he was using it with the mage hand spell to saber open many bottles in succession.  ...huh.

It was right about then the party was interrupted by a shriek of dismay from the kitchen.

"ASH RATS!  THERE ARE ASH RATS IN THE KITCHEN AND THEY'RE BURNING THE CAKE!"

The group, motivated by visions of monetary or social reward, or just the knowledge that ash rats can burn down buildings, raced to the rescue before anyone else had moved.

The found the kitchen in good time, and the terrified cooks and scullery maids withdrew as the pointed them to a smoking oven.  Shandri was the fastest in, and attempted to use Istishia's blessing (i.e. _create water_) to try to cool the ash rats' temper.  It created a great billow of steam that they seemed to not like at all.  They retaliated by spitting fire at her, burning her badly.  Gasping in pain, Shandri flinched away as Charissa raised her pistol and fired at the half-visible figures of the ash rats.  She winged one, and then Steven, brandishing his longsword, and Garden, brandishing his rapier, stepped up to the oven.  William and Evelyn flanked Charissa, spells at the ready.

What followed was a hysterical combination of Murphy's law and teamwork.

Steven attempted to slice through the ash rats (each the size of a large dog) with his longsword, but lost his grip and inadvertently threw it into the oven.  Then took some fiery ash rat spit to the face for his trouble.  William set off a _flare_ spell back in the oven to backlight the rats, and Evelyn cast _Margul, the Dreaded Freeze_, which rendered one ash rat helpless to fight back.  Garden took full advantage and neatly skewered its heart.  This pattern repeated twice more, with Charissa adding a bullet or two to the mix, but essentially William and Evelyn targeted and paralyzed the rats that Garden killed with panache.

After the fight, the tiny little gnome dubbed his little rapier, "Ratsticker."

As the kitchen workers came back, thanking the strangers who had been so quick to come to their rescue, Lord Robilar arrived, all smiles when he saw Evelyn and her friends had helped his family.  He said that his mother wished to reward them.  The group took a moment to clean themselves, and then was conducted to a parlor overlooking the garden.  The elegant Lady Wands thanked them for their quick defense of her people and said she had some small tokens to reward them.

To Garden, who had fought so valiantly, she gave him three pieces of golden thread, that when wrapped around the hilt of a weapon, would briefly give it the ability to penetrate the hides of those hardened even by magic.  (One-use _magic weapon_, x3)

To Charissa, who had also fought, and used her loud weapon to frighten the ash rats so that they feared to venture from the oven and thus contained the damage, she gave three golden bullets, which could strike even the enchanted.  (+_1 bullets_, x3)

To Steven, whose bravery had kept him shielding her people even though his weapon was gone, she gave a fine locking gauntlet.  Three glass beads were on the back of it - press them and he would be briefly shielded by magical force.  (One-use _shield_ spell, x3)

To Shandri, who had absorbed the ash rats' wrath at risk of her own life, she gave her a slim wand of healing, that she could conserve her god's strength as well as aiding her friends.  (Wand of _cure light wounds_, 25 charges)

To William, who worked calmly in concert with the others, but also would have been ready to fight the ash rats himself if he must (the Lady Wands had noted William's rapier at his side), she gave him two chips of jasmal (a clear stone that shows an amber halo in sunlight, it can be added as a spell component that adds +1 effective caster level in any spell that adds an enhancement bonus to armor or weapons).

To Evelyn, who had used an unusual spell of her dragon heritage to devastating effect, she gave two chips of tomb jade (jade buried near bronze artifacts, which turns brown or red, it can be added as a spell component that adds a +1 DC to any enchantment (compulsion) spells).  

She thanked the group and bade them to continue to enjoy the festival.  After she left, young Lord Robilar conducted them back to the garden.  Evelyn noticed that he seemed a little off, slurring his speech a little.  She mentioned something, but he brushed it off, saying simply he had had many glasses of mead that evening.

And so, our story continues amidst the great and powerful of the City of Splendors...


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Mar 4, 2013)

*Session 3*

When we last left our intrepid heroes, you were still at the Wands' family Higharvestide party, having been gifted with small rewards from Lady Wands for your assistance in the matter of the ash rats.

However, as you rejoined the party, there was still something of a mystery in the air, at least to each of you.  What was going on with the duplicate champagne saber that Charissa had made and the Wands were using?  What had been going on with that key Garden had made?  And what was going on with Lord Robilar Wands' odd drunken behavior?  Curious for various reasons, you went to gather information in various ways.  The Violettes took a look up at the high table, and noticed that there was a fair amount of tipsy behavior going on, similar to Lord Robilar.  They wanted to get a sample of the mead to see if something was up with that, however, none of them could get really close to the high table, though Garden gave it his best shot.  Undeterred, Garden decided to go to the source.  Taking shameless advantage of the chaos of the party and the disruption in the kitchen from the ash rats' attack, Garden brazenly bluffed his way into the liquor room and into the mead room.  He studied the racks of mead, and found that it all came from the Fruit of the Vine winery.  Also, one particular rack, the rack that seemed to be going to the high table, had odd golden seals on the necks, which the others did not.

Concerned at this, and wanting to get to the bottom of things, the group "persuaded" Getha to come out to the alley and pressed her hard for the truth.  Under threat of turning her into the courts, Getha confessed that her mother was dreadfully ill.  She couldn't afford the treatments from the temple of Lathander, but another man had been treating her mother with less expensive herbal potions that helped her with the worst of her symptoms.  As payment, he told her to get the champagne saber made.  Also, he apparently pressed her nephew into service in getting a duplicate key to the liquor room.  She did not know the herbalist's name, and was tearful and contrite as she spoke.

The group determined that the real saber was still locked up in the dining room, and to see what kind of plot might have been afoot, had Getha take them there to examine it.  The saber was in its box in a locked and spelled cabinet.  Examining it, William determined that it bore many protective spells to alert the user to poison or other impurities in the drink, and could purge said drink of any poisons or impurities.  Alarmed that someone may have put something in the mead that the Wands would not have been checking for, secure in the fact that their saber would protect them, they sought at audience with Lady Wands.  Getha protested fearfully, but went with them.  She didn't want to lose her mother or her job for her part in what was happening.  Some of the party was sympathetic, but Evelyn was... not.  

As they approached the Lady, Getha was suddenly struck down by a most fearful curse.  There had been a contingency spell on her, set to curse her into a coma if certain conditions were met (possibly confessing, or getting close to Lady Wands, the group wasn't sure).  The Lady Wands was understandably startled by both the group seeking her out and one of her undercooks collapsing unto near-death, but let them speak.  She sent for a priest attending the party as the group laid out the conspiracy, her lips pressed together in annoyance and anger.  She sent for some of the suspect mead as well as the "false" saber.  The saber was an excellent copy, and, as it turned out, imbued with a magical aura set to counterfeit the one on the real saber.  Since the saber had only been delivered a few hours prior, that was cause for concern, as the caster might still be in the house.  What was also of great concern was the fact that the mead was not poisoned, or diseased, or enchanted, but alive. It was, in fact, a creature called an amber ooze, which weakens the will of the victim and eventually, slowly kills them.

(Also during the conversation the group reluctantly dropped the fact that the Temple of Talona had gotten Steven to bring a box to the house. The Lady Wands said there was political trouble and goblets were treated with the powders contained in the box to ward off potential poisonings from bottles not opened with the saber. She didn't expect death, but rather embarrassment from giving guests food poisoning, which, in Waterdeep's mercantile political climate, can cause a great loss of power.)

Quickly, Lady Wands called for her servants to lock down the house and her priest said everyone who had drunken the suspect mead needed to swallow vinegar to expel the amber oozes.

Though the group had saved the Wands from a terrible plot, they'd also been instrumental in nearly bringing it to fruition, including copying noble property.  Charissa was truly properly contrite.  (Luckily no one had found Getha's nephew, and Garden didn't say boo about the key.)  So to thank them, the Lady Wands magnanimously didn't press charges.  She sent priests to tend to Getha's mother, in hopes that she could identify the person who'd treated her.  And with that, the group left, except for Shandri, who stayed both to help her superiors pack up their supplies, and on Evie's insistence to gather as much gossip as she could.

The Violettes returned home, where Evelyn and her mother got down to the serious business of gossip.  First, the most things were discharged - who was wearing what, who was seen with whom, and oh my did you see that Lady Isadore was definitely hiding a delicate condition?  Eventually they did get around to the terrible plot as well.  Steven attempted to commiserate with his father, who merely shook his head at the whole affair.  To be honest, the man was a bit deep into a bottle of wine at that point.  Maybe more than one bottle.

The Origamis also went home, and Garden quickly went over roof and gable to put the duplicate key copy somewhere far safer than in his shop.  He also did a little investigating on his own, trying to find Getha's nephew.  He backtracked from the Wands' manse, checking taverns and inns, and eventually did find him.  In an alley behind the Pig and Potion tavern.  Dead from arsenic poisoning.  Oh dear.

Shandri eventually got back and went to talk to William.  She said that the guests were mostly all right after a vinegar purge of the amber oozes.  Getha's mother had also been dozed with one of the horrible little things, but hadn't had a clue as to who'd been treating her (she'd been very weak).  The priests were able to help her too.  However, they hadn't been able to save Getha; she was dead, and her nephew was missing.  Concerned that all of this together could mean trouble for the party (whoever was behind this could try to go after Charissa, who'd made the saber, or the Violettes, who were distinctive personalities who'd helped thwart it) they decided to go to the Violettes.

They were still up, of course.  They had a long discussion comparing their notes, and sent a message to the Origamis as well, needing to get their input.  Shandri had suggested meeting at one of the many dockside taverns, but discretion had to be the group's watchword, as the Violettes were noticeable.  Garden put in his suggestion - that they meet in the Empty Grave, an inn near the temple of Kelemvor, the god of the dead.  A haunt, as it were, of morticians, coffin-makers, professional mourners, dirge-singers, Kelemvor priests, and others associated with the business of death, it would be about the last place you'd expect to see the group.

They got a private room there the next day and compared their notes.  (Garden did not tell anyone about the fact that he had found Getha's nephew's body.)  They wanted to investigate Getha's home to see if they could find one of the potion vials and maybe a maker's mark on it.  Though the Wands were already investigating, the group was starting to fear for their own safety after Getha's death.  With a bit of asking around, they discovered that Getha's wake was being held at the Temple of Chauntea.  Two of the group went there and found Getha's mother, still pale, mourning her daughter.  Carefully questioning her, they managed to get her address under the pretense of sending memorial gifts.

Then they went, got the group, and did some breaking and entering.

Though the place had been mostly cleaned up, Garden did manage to spy a single, mostly-hidden, partially empty potion vial hidden under a shelf.  And it did indeed have a maker's mark.  A bit of further investigation discovered that the nephew lived nearby.  Checking out his place found a note on the floor - "Meet at the Pig and Potion," a local tavern.

Thusly armed with pieces of a conspiracy, the adventure continues...


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Mar 5, 2013)

*Session 4*

When we last left our intrepid heroes, they had split up to pursue separate leads.  The Origamis and the De Mers wanted to head to the Pig and the Potion to try to find Getha's nephew while the Violettes headed home for Evelyn's nightly beauty treatment.  Both of these things were extremely important, naturally.

The Violettes arrived home to discover a note on their front door, the elaborate "V" of their family crest crossed out with what looked like blood.  Knowing a death threat when he saw one, Steven got Evelyn inside, locked the doors, and went to inform the City Watch about the death threat.  The captain said he'd look into it (he even examined the paper magically, using a wand, which took him a painful amount of effort to do, though he found none) and increase patrols by the Violette house.  Then Steven went to a local tavern/hiring post called the Broken Blade, which sold mercenary services alongside ale.  Harkon, the proprietor, heard Steven's request for guards for his house and fixed him up with people for both day and night shifts for the next tenday.  Two elven bladesmen departed with Steven that very night to commence the night watch.

Evelyn remained in the hands of the Violette's sole servant, Molly, who was doing her and her mother's nightly beauty treatments, so Steven went to speak to his father about the threat.  The senior Violette said that, for once, they had no outstanding debts, and had offended no one of dire import, though he appreciated his son's dilligence in protecting the family.

A little later that evening, one of the guards called to Steven and informed him that there was someone watching the house, and had been for hours.  Steven pried Evelyn out of her scale scrubs and lotion applications to come with him to confront the man.  She froze him in place with her very effective spell of Margul (the dreaded freeze) so he couldn't run while brother and sister cut off his escape routes and questioned him.  The spell did not last for long, and the watcher was indignant of why they'd accosted him.  Evelyn was very tempted to cast a spell of charming over him so he'd answer her questions, but realized at the last moment that their guards were still watching them vigilantly (they'd been warned to stay back, in case someone made an attempt on the house).  So instead Steven and Evelyn questioned the man with naught but their wits and native suspicions.  The man claimed, loudly, that he was an architect who'd been studying their home as an example of dragon-influenced architecture.  He had some fair drawings he'd made to prove it.  When asked why he hadn't bothered to knock on their door and ask, he claimed that he did not wish to be "influenced" by the inhabitants of the house when he made his drawings.

He seemed eccentric, if sincere, and reluctantly the Violettes let him go.

The next morning, very early, there was a knock on the kitchen door.  Steven answered, looked down, and found Kip, one of the urchins they'd met in the Dock Ward market last tenday.

Ragged and stinking as always, Kip asked, "Is the nice lady here?"  Steven thought about that question carefully.  "No," he replied, with sincerity.  

Kip clarified about "the purple lady that held me when I hit my head on the wagon in the market," which Steven did recognize.  He let Kip in and talked to him.  The boy said that his friends had been disappearing - not entirely unusual, given the life of a street waif in Waterdeep, but many of them had gone missing in a short time.  Several had disappeared after going to work for "Snail," a sewer entrepreneur Steven remembered from their adventure with the wemic.  Kip was also worried because it was only the smallest kids who'd gone missing, and he was worried about the "red haired little man" (Garden Origami) too.  And since Evelyn seemed to know him, Kip thought they could help him and his friends.  

Eventually Steven decided to take Kip in as Molly's helper (the long-suffering maid only uttered a patented long-suffering sigh at the news that she would be required to teach a dirty street urchin about house cleaning) while he and his sister went to discover the reason for the disappearing kids.

Meanwhile, while the Violettes were dealing with death threats and urchin-mooching, the Origamis and the De Mers were traveling to the Pig and the Potion, which was not in the best neighborhood.  On the way there, they were attacked out of a dark alley by a gang of six footpads armed with crossbows and daggers.  Most aimed for Charissa, and both her and her brother were hit.  Garden retaliated with a handcrossbow bolt tipped in sleep poison, and knocked one of the footpads out.  He called out that he'd already killed one, and would the others court death by trying to press their attack?  One of the footpads hissed to another that they were getting paid well for this, so carry on, and they attacked again.  William cast a spell of slumber, which took the rest of them down neatly (he was very pleased at the tidy bit of magic).  Shandri healed Charissa as Garden rifled the bodies.  They took their silver and copper, and also found some Gond bells (brass bells used as currency in Gond's temples, though they also had some intrisic value).  

Shandri and William went to go find the local Watch station to inform them they'd been attacked while Garden woke up one of the miscreants to interrogate her.  She was fairly closed-mouthed, but he did find out that her gang had been hired by a masked and hooded man who'd paid them to kill Charissa.  Wanting to put a little fear into the underworld, (Garden had bluffed her into thinking all her sleeping companions were dead) Garden hissed in her ear that he was, "Roof Runner."  The woman blanched, whether from recognizing his name, or recognizing the fact that he wanted her to recognize his name and would probably be put out if she didn't react, and ran.

The local Watch captain, Largo, was a loud and belligerant man who was annoyed at being dragged from his cozy station to bring in miscreants, was loudly irked that there was one less body than was promised, but pleased that he didn't have to do any investigating or listen to any whining from the thieves.  He had his men stack them up in a cart and hauled them off to gaol.

The group proceeded unmolested to the Pig and the Potion and took a quick look in the alley, only to discover the dead and now-rotting corpse of Getha's nephew.  Garden went to both inform the Wands' household (specifically the kitchen staff) of the lad's death, and also stopped by the Watch station to tell Captain Largo that there was a properly dead body in need of being collected outside the tavern.  The kitchen staff was saddened by the news, while Captain Largo was just irritated.  But it seemed irritation was more-or-less a permanent state with him.

Charissa, William, and Shandri went into the rowdy Pig and Potion and talked to the barkeep (after sliding him a couple coins) about Getha's nephew (whose name, they learned, was Trey).  The barkeep said he'd been talking to Father Geb the last time he'd been in here, and nodded over to a table against one wall.  Father Geb was dark-haired, dressed in dark, non-descript priest's robes peculiar to no specific god, and was apparently doing a brisk business in palm reading, deck reading, and possibly acting as a bookie.  As he elaborated on someone's fortune, William decided to see if he could get information out of the man.  So William and Shandri approached him, William acting as the subject, and Shandri vaugely implying that William had a girlfriend he wanted to impress.  Father Geb put on a good show, but when Shandri worked Trey into the conversation, Father Geb didn't seemed fazed at all.  Charissa was tired of this ruse, and so they had Father Geb come outside the tavern.

They wanted to show him Trey's body and see if they could get a reaction, but Garden's work to Captain Largo had already produced results, and Trey's body was gone.  Father Geb said Trey had needed to get out of town quickly, and had told him the name of a man who occasionally helped people in that predicament, a sewer opportunist called Snail.  After the night before last, Geb hadn't seen him.  Charissa was certain he was lying, and wanted to apply some force to make him talk, but they were in the street of a busy tavern district, and none of them could detect any active lie in Father Geb.  Frustrated, they had to let him go (he had been almost nauseatingly cheerful and friendly throughout, but they certainly would never buy a used horse from the man).  Shandri had been very quiet and subdued, and once Father Geb was out of earshot, mentioned she'd seen part of a holy symbol he was wearing - it was Beshaba's, the goddess of bad luck and accidents.

Almost as one the group went to a gambling hall to make an offering to Tymora (a.k.a. playing a game of chance) to ward off any bad luck from a devotee of Lady Doom.

And so, our story continues...


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Mar 6, 2013)

*Session 5*

When we last left our intrepid heroes, you had several unusual leads to pursue, some bits of things to unravel, and things to do. (One piece the DM forgot to remind you all about - You learned that the maker's mark on the empty potion vial you got from Getha's mother's house was for one Melvin Mask, a distiller and alchemist.)

All of the group had interest in finding Snail, the sewer entrepreneur that had both employed some of Kit's friends and may have been Trey's (Getha's nephew) point of contact to attempt to flee the city. However, that next day, the Violettes had another task they needed to do, and let the Origamis and the Del Mers they could meet them tomorrow. 

The Violettes were visited early in the morning by a member of the city Watch, following up on their report of a death threat pinned to their door the previous evening. After calling Evelyn down from her morning beauty treatments to listen, the young man told Steven and his sister that the note was marked with dragon's blood. Also, similar threats had been delivered (at other, earlier times) to other homes in the area, and the homes had been burgled, the inhabitants robbed, or the inhabitants themselves attacked. The guard assured them they would patrol by their home regularly to thwart attacks, and Steven felt a bit smug that he had gotten some house guards already. 

After the guard had left, the siblings went to see Mother, who, while vaguely knew all of the families affected, couldn't think who she'd offended recently that would want to kill her. (And they certainly didn't have much to rob.)

Steven double-checked with his father, and discovered that yes, for once, this was true. Mother really DIDN'T have any current death-threats. Red letter day in the Violette household.

However, she DID know the location of one of the few other dragons in the city, who might keep closer tabs on her kin.  It’s possible she might be able to lead them to the source of the dragon’s blood used on the death-threat.  The song dragon Raxmathlinda – known as Rel to most, ran a curiosity and pawn shop in the Dock Ward.  Song dragons being social sorts, perhaps she might know who, if anyone might have a grudge.  Or there was also the more annoying possibility that the dragon’s blood had been from a dead dragon, in which case tracking it would be very difficult indeed.

The Violettes went to Raxmathlinda’s pawn shop, located down a twisty little alley in a relatively quiet but poor area of the Dock Ward.  There was a faint light inside the shop, and above the door was the usual sign for a pawn shop, hands exchanging coins for a knife.  But Princess, Evelyn’s familiar, noted that the knife was stained with tacky red (faintly magical) blood on its edge.  Concerned, they went in, but Raxmathlinda was neither being robbed nor had been attacked, as her shop was in perfect order.  Like most song dragons, she spent most of her time in her alternate form, in her case, that of a half-elf woman.  

She was pleased to see the Violettes, saying the last time she’d seen them they’d been, “knee high to a knee.”  Raxmathlinda listened to what brought them there with consternation.  She told them the only thing the various families had in common was a dragon’s hoard.  About three hundred years ago, a powerful blue dragon called Marsekavris had been slain, and these families had end up transporting his hoard back to the city and/or processing the treasure for the adventurers in question, and had been paid in dragon treasure.  The other thing that was similar about the families was that all of them were fallen on harder times, like the Violette family, and might have clung to parts of that hoard when their fortunes turned.  Essentially, they might have been more vulnerable to having the parts of the hoard stolen.  Of all the families that had parts of the hoard, only the Markovian family and the Violettes had yet to be hit.  The Markovians had ended up with dragonscale armor.

Evelyn recognized the name, as they had a younger son near her age that liked her, and they had fabulous garden parties.  They wanted to go visit them and warn them post-haste.  On their trip home, they were attacked by thieves wielding slings and red-stained daggers. to very painful effect  Steven sliced two in half, Evelyn froze a couple, briefly and even Princess mauled some of them.  Two were killed, and two ran.  Evelyn ran after them, and was nearly brought down, but Steven managed to come to her rescue and injure a third enough so the fourth ran away.  The thieves had slit-pupiled eyes and had cursed them in Draconic.  On their chests, they bore the sigils of Marsekavris.  In their belt pouches, aside from daggers and slings, they also bore red whetstones.  Steven alerted the Guard to the dead and turned over the injured man to them.  Then they quickly went to the temple of Mystra to ask their advice.

The priests healed Steven as the Violettes laid out their story.  The priests were concerned that someone might be trying to raise power for Marsekavris in the beginnings of a cult.  The Violettes were warned to be cautious.  Later, they returned to Raxmathlinda's shop to tell her what had happened, and she said that the red whetstones were actually clots of Marsekavris' blood, and could be used to taint someone into being under his sway.

A little disturbed, they went home to talk to Mother, asking her about anything she might have gotten from a horde.  It seemed that Mother had several old scrolls of very ancient spells, rare and valuable, from such a place.  Knowing what Marsekavris (or his cult) were after, Evelyn and Steven decided to go and warn the Markovians, in case they too were in danger.

They spoke to Lady Markovian first, and she seemed honestly appalled that anyone would go after her family.  Her son, the young Lord Markovian, was in training at the temple of Helm; perhaps he could seek aid from them.  Shortly thereafter, Lord Markovian arrived, arrayed in splendid blue dragonscale armor.  When the Violettes repeated their story, he seemed gravely concerned.  But when Evelyn silently cast Learn Heritage on him, as she'd done for his mother, found him to be tainted with Marsekavris' bloodline.  Lord Markovian speculated what the Violettes might have to warrent such attention from a nasty cult, but Evelyn played dumb.  Markovian suggested he escort them home for their safety, claiming that if anyone came after the both of them, they would be better served with having more people in a group.  No believing him, Evelyn suggested he put his armor in the vaults of the temple of Helm, for certainly there could be no safer place in the Realms.  He agreed readily enough, but from his body language, Evelyn knew he didn't intend to do anything of the sort.

After extracting themselves from a potentially dangerous situation, both parties lying outrageously, the Violettes returned to the temple of Mystra bearing the news of Lord Markovian's taint.  Profoundly disturbed, the priest said he'd get together a group at once to go to their home and try to untangle Marsekavris' taint from Markovian's spirit.

Hedging his bets, Steven dropped off at the Broken Sword and hired three more guards to protect their parents.  The Armsmaster got them three, Relvak (a huge half-orc woman), Vellos (a dwarf with a large axe), and Thees (a swashbuckling human man).  They returned home, found the door kicked in, and their guards dead on the floor and stairs, with screaming echoing from above.  Everyone ran upstairs, and found Lord Markavian menacing their parents, a ghostly form of a dragon about his shoulders.  Father was defending Mother with a sword, but it was clear it wouldn't be long before he was cut down.  The hired guards gave Steven a look, "Them or him?"  "Protect them" he said, and they quickly got between Markovian and the elder Violettes.  Markovian turned to engage Steven and dealt him a wicked blow, as the ghostly dragon turned and breathed out lightning on the hired guards, scorching them badly.  Evelyn, out of spells for the day, called to her mother for help.  Mother yelled at her to get into her jewel case, where, in the bottom, was a potion and three wands.  Following Mother's directions, Evelyn used a wand of magic missiles on the ghostly dragon as Steven engaged Markovian to his death.  With Markovian dead, the ghostly dragon dissapated.

Not long after, the priests of Mystra reappeared, chagrinned that they hadn't realized Marsekavris had driven Markovian to act so soon.  They would take charge of Markovian's remains to see if any hint of Marsekavris' spirit lingered.  As well they would take the armor and purify it.  Once they had finished studying it, however, it would pass to Steven.

(Let it be known that the Violettes' long-suffering maid, Molly, who had been tasked with getting the blood out of Evelyn's robes from the first attack, came walking by at this point, looked in the master bedroom, saw the blood, and sighed.  Then kept walking.)

The next day, Lady Markovian dropped off a chest which apparently contained her son's burgening horde.  After returning the stolen item, there were still quite a few things that belonged to no one in particular, and she didn't want the in the house.  There were quite a few pieces of platinum, a lot of fine jewelry, a curious diadem that allowed one to cast animate tattoo several times a day, and a dress with heavy silver thread that doubled as light armor.  Steven took the coins.  Evelyn took the rest.  (Or, rather, Steven took charge of the coins for Evelyn's allowance.)

---

Now, during that same day, having got the message that the Violettes were to meet them on the morrow, the Origamis and the Del Mers decided to work on another loose thread of the Wands Higharvestide attack - the link to the Fruit of the Vine winery, who supplied the mead for the Wands' party.

The group rose at an early hour, Garden and Charissa never having gotten sleep, William and Shandri having gotten very little.  The winery was a little outside the city proper, so the group took a small hike to the walled and fortified vineyard.  Though Waterdeep had been under siege many times in the past, the winery had survived by not being very strategically placed, not having much terribly portable wealth, and by having good defenders.  Generally most would-be conquering armies would say, “We’ll get you once we get Waterdeep.”  Through judicious bribery and non-aggression, the vineyard managed to survive.

The group showed up at the gates, and Garden provided the reason for their visit – he was in charge of obtaining drink for a clan party.  Charissa was of the clan, William was Garden’s “student of culture,” and Shandri was here to check for purity.  (Garden sold William’s presence by explaining things slowly and loudly with simple words.  William rolled his eyes and carried on with his own observations.)  Brewmaster Kel was happy to show the group around briefly before starting on a tasting.  William noted that what little he could see of the fields were under a plant growth spell to keep them healthy and fruitful.

The Brewmaster charged them a small fee for the tasting, and in order to maintain their cover, Garden found himself saddled with a 250gp bill for wine and mead (with a special bottle for the Guildmaster).  Wincing internally, Garden knew he could get the clan to cover it, but they’d take it out of his shop’s profits for the presumption.

But now, as a contracted customer, Garden was entitled to a full tour of the facilities.  The group toured the wine vats and storerooms, and listened the Brewmaster’s lectures until they got to the apiary and mead room.  (The bees themselves were behind enchanted glass.)  The Brewmaster was suddenly called away to deal with another customer, and the group set to exploring.

The mead room had an earthen floor (for the bees’ comfort or somesuch), and one area of it was rather wet.  The area right below a rack of mead that had the same oddly patinaed gold seals that they had seen at the Wands’ party, the bottles tainted with amber oozes.  And the group poked at the earth, four oozes bubbled up from the ground and advanced.  Startled, the party reacted quickly.  Charissa shot one, Shandri tried to hit one with her warhammer, William opened what he thought was a supply closet to look for something to capture them with, and Garden took off out the door, yelling about fire (to bring other employees).  Charissa and Shandri were able to hurt the things (though potentially deadly, they weren’t terribly hard to hit).  Garden’s yells brought a drunken response of “Yeah, firewater!” from a thoroughly soused dwarf half-insensible behind a brewing vat.  Garden continued running and yelling for someone who was not drunk.

Poor William, however, found himself under attack.  A glassy-looking dark purple warhammer inscribed with vines flew out of the closet under its own power and took a swing at him.  Quite surprised, William yelped or swore or made a manly shout (accounts differ), and ducked.  The hammer then flew towards Charissa.  William was going to grab something to contain the ooze (a bucket, perhaps).  Charissa and Shandri continued with their Jell-O wrestling (or ooze fighting, one of the two), though Charissa tried to grab the hammer as the more dangerous threat.

Garden finally found some sober winery employees and led them back to the mead room.  By that time, Charissa had briefly gotten ahold of the hammer, Shandri had most of the oozes squashed, and William had scooped one up in a bottle.  The hammer finally squirmed out of Charissa’s grasp and flew towards Garden, winging Shandri on the way.  Who promptly started giggling like that time she and William had been imprudent at a party.  The hammer… had gotten her hammered.

One of the employees saw the hammer, squinted at it, looked surprised, and shouted, “Closing time!”  The hammer fell quiescent.

In the ensuing hullaballo, William slipped the bottled ooze into Charissa’s coat, and it was discovered there was a trap door in the closet.  The vineyard manager, one Sorée Thann, was rather beside himself in embarrassment.  He called for a wand from his office, by which he rendered Shandri sober.  (The drunk dwarf, apparently one Granite Alehearth, a buyer of their wares, took a few extra applications.)  A bit of herbal powder took care with the attendant hangovers.

Upon seeing the hammer, Sorée said it was something out of legend, belonging to an older order called the Knights of the Vine.  But they went extinct over a century ago.  (Though their stories were still popular, hence why one of the vineyard workers knew the most common command words to the hammer.)  

The trapdoor in the closet led to a carved stone passageway lit with magical torches.  Uneasy at the thought of oozes coming up through his floor from this underground chamber, Sorée let the party know he’d be willing to forgive Garden’s account balance if they’d help get to the bottom of this (literally).  Garden said he’d send a bill, Sorée turned a few interesting colors, and the group descended down a ladder to the passageway.  They found a beautifully carved door of the same grape cluster motif as on the hammer.  Inscribed upon the door were the words “The Knights of the Vine.”

Instead of having a handle or a keyhole, there was a goblet carved into the door.  Calling up the sadder, the group got a bottle of wine and poured it into the goblet.  The goblet drank itself dry and opened.  It revealed a tomb with three sarcophagi with bas relief lids, one cracked down the middle.  Another door was across the room.  A brazier burned in one corner, and in the other, a huge bowl was full of leaping gobs of amber oozes that were jumping up to a crack on the ceiling and back down like a lava lamp (corresponding to where they were coming up through the floor upstairs).  A close examination showed containment and stasis spells had been on the bowl, but had been sabotaged.  Ruthlessly the group called up for vinegar and destroyed the little menaces.

Left with the sarcophagi and a door, they checked the sarcophagi first.  Two were sealed and the broken one was not.  Moving the broken lid, they found a desiccated corpse dressed in purple-dyed leather-and-chain armor, his hands crossed over his chest, his fingers broken (probably from having his hammer taken).  None of the tombs had magic on them.

Then they checked the door, similar to the outer one, but this one say “In Vino Veritas.”  They needed a great deal more wine to open it, but when it did, it opened onto a bustling tavern.  Blinking and rubbing their eyes, the group looked again.  Yup.  Tavern.

Near the bar was a table at which sat three people in purple armor, smiling and waving at the group to join them.  William realized this was a powerful, elaborate illusion of some type.  Under the magic the room was bare save for the table, chairs, three chests under the chairs, and the three goblets at the table.  With great caution the group came in.  

The three revelers introduced themselves as the last members of the Knights of the Vine, laid to rest in this very tomb.  They said they’d been dead a good long while.  They were glad someone had stopped the freed oozes, though they couldn’t tell the group who had raided their graves.  They explained a bit about their order, how they guarded vineyards and instructed people in social rites with intoxicating beverages.  They also made sure drinks and how to make them weren’t forgotten, and that people didn’t make drunken fools of themselves.  

They asked if the group would like to pick up where they left off.  One Knight explained the magical hammer’s heads - that one side, marked with a bottle, made people drunk, and the other, marked with bread, made people sober.

To test the Knights-apparent, they called for a bottle from the barkeep and filled up the goblets.  Garden drank, got a bit hammered, and one knight asked him to open a door to the locked wine room.  Charissa also drank, started to giggle, and was asked to help distill a spirit.  Shandri had to take two drinks to be impaired, but was asked to mix a complex beverage.  Even at a disadvantage, all three succeeded.  William watched avidly and made copious notes.  

With smiles, the Knights finally vanished, and the three chest opened.  Inside were old platinum coins, marked with grain on one side and grapes on the others, many potions, books on distilling, drink recipes, a set of “skeletons keys,” and a great many peculiar potions.  (Attached is a file on what they found in the books on the Knights of the Vine, as well as the commands for the hammer the group figured out thus far.)


--------------------

*The Knights of the Vine*

The book on various drink preparations you discovered in the Tomb of the Vine had more than just libation concoctions in it.  Indeed, after a more careful perusal, you notice that the book has been expanded several times, pages inserted as the book has grown.  It looks like the drinks were actually added onto the core book.  The original book was an explanation of the Knights of the Vine, detailing their origins, history, duties, notable members, and other unusual facts.  

It’s clearly an old book, and actually looks like it was at one point owned by someone named Wiggan, who didn’t care for the Knights at all.  There are snide commentaries on many of the margins, pointing out displeasure at some point of the Knights’ information.  It seems the book later fell back into the hands of a Knight of Vine with a good sense of humor, one Sir Kels, because next to these snide comments are comments on the comments.

Summary of the contents:

The Knights of the Vine arose as an independent order often attached to temples of Liira and Sharess (the goddesses of joy and pleasure respectively), though it is not a religious order, per se.  As civilization expanded, one of the founders noted that various forms of alcohol were being used at every social occasion, from simple gossip to weddings to treaties between warring countries.  This founder, Thalia Sheaf, was seized by the importance of drink in society and founded the Knights to aid in its use, creation, transport, and promotion.

The motto of the Knights is, “In Vino Veritas.”  Or, “In Wine There Is Truth.” 

At various times the Knights provided a vast number of functions.  They guarded vineyards and grain fields, warded distilleries, protected caravans of alcohol on their way to market, and watched over taverns and festhalls to prevent theft.  They often attached themselves to taverns, inns, and festhalls so that no one would misuse social lubrication and go from genial to obnoxious or violent.  (The snide commentator Wiggan points out the Knights of the Vine were colloquially known as the “Order of the Bouncers Immaculate” in some areas because of this practice.  Sir Kels says, “Ah, but we were never more welcome in a town.  Certainly more than you, oh Dry One!”)

One of the ways the Knights combated the violently drunk was with their magical hammers or some unique spells.  They had a spell that could render a man sober in a breath, and another that could alleviate the effects of a hangover.  For those two spells, the Knights were much sought after as peacekeepers during large festivals.  Their magical hammers could either give someone struck by it the effects of drunkenness (making them easier to subdue) or sober them (perhaps making them think twice about pressing their attack).  These hammers were known as “The Grapes of Wrath.”

The Knights of the Vine also collected drinking songs (an extensive selection is at the back of the book) and performed them.  They collected drinks as well: how to create them from scratch, mix certain libations, seeds of various grapes and grains, wood for containers and glasses for bottles, the works.  The Knights collected ceremonies around drink, from various tavern drinking games to the strict ceremonies of high nobility to the ancient practices of noble families.  They have listed dozens, if not hundreds, of ceremonies listed.

There is also a small section in the book about various dangers associated with drink – from warnings about the small amount of spider poison present in drow beverages to the terrible threat from amber oozes to which drinks are to never be served to certain races/profession for various reasons.  

(Wiggan comments here that, “No wonder your Order is dying out; you are trying to do seventeen things at once!  Social butterflies.”  Sir Kels says, “But at least we are never bored.”)

It’s clear from the various duties described that most Knights of the Vine were not fighters.  The Knights were most often bards, with rogues coming a close second.  Other classes could easily fit into the Order, but despite their guarding duties, they were not primarily a martial order.  They were expected to be socially adept, skilled in some aspect of the libatious arts (making, drinking, gaming, serving, ceremonies), and able to hold their liquor.  They were apparently a fun-loving order that had a great many races in their ranks.  Because it was not specifically a religious order, many people held Knighthood in the Order of the Vine as well as being a paladin of this or an owner of that.  

The Order apparently died out during a period of several wars in quick succession, which left little time for the various Knights to go about their duties or train new ones as the old ones fell.  The last Knights were buried in a fine tomb, and a fragment of their spirits left in an illusion spell to hopefully revive the order some day.


 


Hammer, "The Grapes of Wrath" is +1 warhammer. When you tried the commands below (w/the help of your workshop buddies), this is what you get. You aren't sure yet how many uses per day these things work.

Known:
First Round’s on me = activation
Closing time = deactivation
Guesses
Next round’s on me = All allies within 30 ft gain a +1 to AC, but the weapon loses its +1 bonus (though is still counted as magical) for 5 rounds
Round on the house = A bless effect occurs centered on the hammer, but the weapon loses its +1 bonus (though is still counts as magical) for 5 rounds
Tilt one back/Bottoms up = Detects poison with 30 ft. The grape engraving on the shaft turns green.
Cheers = Sings a drinking song with a +5 bonus to Perform (vocal) checks. It takes requests.
Last call = Activates a deathwatch spell for 5 rounds.
Happy hour = After you've had a drink, you gain a +2 bonus to Diplomacy checks for an hour, as you become more sociable.
You've had enough/I'm cutting you off = User can cast a bane spell, but the weapon loses its +1 bonus (though still counts a magical), spell lasts 5 rounds.
I'll call you a cab (or, "I'll see you home") = A spectral hand appears and guides one touched with the hammer to their home.
Put it on my tab = Point the hammer at an ally and say this command and it flies to an ally's hand.
(The name of any type of alcoholic beverage) = If the beverage is known to the hammer, the way for making it and serving it appears on the side of the hammer, and an ephemeral taste appears in a small cup. It's not real alcohol and it won't get you drunk, but it does let the user share the flavors of certain beverages (for edification or personal amusement, depending on their nature).
BAR FIGHT! – This allows the wielder to rage for five rounds.
Tap the Keg – This allows the wielder a +2 to sunder attempts
Let’s Take This Outside – This activates the spiritual weapon/dancing weapon quality that the group noted on their first encounter with the hammer.
Do you come here often? (or any other cheesy pick-up line) – After you have had a drink, this gives the drinker a +2 on Bluff checks for an hour.


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Mar 7, 2013)

*Session 6*

When we last left our intrepid heroes, they were recovering from both home invasions and potential death on one hand, and drunken revelry on the other. Someone had the better weekend. It's hard to say who. 

But in the end the group ended up in their private dining room at the Empty Grave to swap stories and figure out how to track down a mutual acquaintance by the name of Snail. It was thought he could provide answers to two mysteries- where the urchin child Kip's friends were disappearing, and what Getha's nephew Trey was doing trying to get out of the city.

The group decided to start where and how they’d found him last, and went to the Dock ward market, and sought out Harken, a rag-and-bone man who’d talk quite happily for pocket pies.  For several, he let them know where Snail could be found.  Armed with more pies, the group eventually found Snail mudlarking in a large drain.  They bribed him to tell him what he knew of the urchins and Trey, but he was very reluctant to speak at all.  Evelyn, tired of trying to talk to such an odiferous individual without getting anywhere, cast charm person on him.  He still hemmed and hawed a bit, unwilling to expose a friend to the “bad-tempered guy” who had been running some smuggling outside the city, but he eventually parted with the name.  

Jayrin was the man’s name, and he’d been using urchins to help him with his operations for a while.  Snail had thought the urchins were just being transplanted to keep their mouths shut (being dropped off at the destination city, getting a new life), but let slip that Jayrin had some kind of “silent partner” who took care of problems for him.  Snail told the party that Jayrin could be found at the Bottomless Barrel alehouse on Sucker Street.

The party went there post-haste, and found that Sucker Street was essentially nothing but one gambling establishment after another, all of them low-brow.  Dice, cards, the shell game, any came of chance that could be crammed into those few blocks, was.  Garden said he’d try to scout out Jayrin with a business proposition first.  While Garden was able to slip through the crowd unnoticed, his sister was not so lucky.

Where there are gamblers, there are shrines to Tymora and Beshaba, and in this case, right next to each other.  And wouldn’t you guess who was manning Beshaba’s shrine?  Yes, the group’s dear friend the oily Father Geb from the Pig and Potion.  He spied Charissa and loudly beckoned her forward.  He then spent the next fifteen minutes spinning a plausible-sounding tale of Charissa’s grave misfortunes and how by placating Beshaba could avoid gruesome immanent maiming.

The rest of the party retreated to the shrine of Tymora and met its tender, Brother Sallis.  He treated Father Geb’s elaborate “sermons” as street theater, calling out color commentary and compliments on Geb’s acting, clapping appreciatively at some clever turn of phrase.  Geb actively ignored him.

Garden was able to locate Jayrin, a thoroughly unpleasant man who wasn’t much interested in questions or moving things for “Rufus.”  He didn’t care for Garden’s tentative propositions, and something about his manner made Garden think Jayrin was probably under the umbrella of one of the greater thieves’ guilds in the city (maybe the Shadow Thieves?).  Garden ducked back out to join the group and told them what happened.  They ended up being unusually candid in front of Brother Sallis, and he volunteered that Jayrin owned some property a few blocks away, a vacant lot and a warehouse.

Garden said he’d go investigate (being the most stealthy) while the group waited at the Empty Grave.  A vigorous cross-town trek for most of the group later, Garden got down to following Jayrin after dusk as he left the Bottomless Barrel.  Garden shadowed him via the rooftops and watched as he got to a vacant lot overrun by scrubby bushes.  Jayrin paused in one corner and spoke briefly to something there, then went on his way.  Garden lowered himself down to the ground after Jayrin was gone, and tried to sneak around to that same spot.  But a spike of wood flew from that dark corner and skewered him viciously in the shoulder.

Gravely wounded, Garden ran back to the Empty Grave, where the card towers and stacks of plates were getting precariously high.  Shandri healed him as Garden told his tale, and the group set out to see what Jayrin was hiding.  

They approached the vacant lot (snug between two other houses), and William sent a magical light to illuminate where Garden pointed.  Just then two thorny branches grew from the sides of the buildings and savagely attacked them!  Garden was hurt, as was Shandri, and Charissa pressed forward to the dim humanoid forms revealed behind the bushes.  Two appeared to be made of thorny brush, while a third was only a huddled corpse.  Evelyn used a valued scroll to put a protective aura of energy on her brother as everyone pressed their attack on all fronts.  

The thorny branches were resistant to damage from all but magical weapons, and the thorn creatures (which Shandri eventually recognized as splinterwaifs), needed silver to truly hurt them.  In the ensuing melee, the braches were eventually destroyed (and vanished into nothing), while the splinterwaifs were terribly hard to hit.  Charissa had set the Grapes of Wrath to dance and attack on its own, which gave them another fighter on another front.

Evelyn kept freezing them where she could, allowing the others to attack.  But when Shandri cried out that silver was needed, Evelyn remembered she was wearing her silver stilettos in her hair today.  She passed them out to Garden and Steven and they went after the splinterwaifs.  Just then, the “corpse” rose from the ground, proving to be some kind of undead, which tried to throttle Steven to death.  The magical protections put on him by his sister flared in a huge gout of energy so strong it literally blew the dagger-stabbed abomination through a neighboring wall.

Eventually the group was able to destroy the splinterwaifs, and the undead (identified as horrible coffer corpse, an undead created by a sacrificial ritual) was dead again by Evelyn’s magic.  Shandri sadly informed the group that splinterwaifs liked to turn corpses into bushes for “company” and camouflage.  Every bush in this very crowded lot was a body.  This was Jayrin’s dumping ground for all the urchins he’d silenced.

Outraged, the group plotted their next move…


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Mar 8, 2013)

*Session 7*

When we last left our intrepid heroes, they had just destroyed two spliterwaifs and a coffer corpse. 

Alone at last in a vacant lot belonging to an alleged smuggler known as Jayrin, they argued over who to contact first. Calling the Guard could be problematic, as none of the group lived or worked anywhere near the area, and at least four of them were of a higher social class than usually walked these streets at night.  Of the two who did fit in, Garden didn’t want the bad press and Charissa was not a good liar.  Steven wanted to contact the temple of Mystra post haste, but Shandri pointed out (due to having spent the last several days at the Empty Grave) that if you wanted experts on the undead, you’d be better off talking to a priest of Kelemvor.  Kelemvor’s clergy detested undead and knew everything about how to fight them.

Agreeing that was a decent idea, the Origamis and the de Mers were going to go to the temple of Kelemvor (bearing a message from Steve to be delivered to the temple of Mystra as soon as they got into a better neighborhood), while the Violettes remained behind.  Because there was something of a fad for young nobles to prowl the Dock Ward market, they decided to pretend they’d just gotten lost in the neighborhood.  

Then they had not more time to talk, as someone yelled, “Hey!  What the hell happened to my wall!  And there's a dead body in my house!"

 It was the tenant of the residence where the coffer corpse has blown through the wall.  He started yelling about fire and murder and thieves, quickly riling up the whole neighborhood.  The Origamis and the de Mers vamoosed as the crowd gathered.  The Guard showed up before it could become a mod and demanded to know what was going on.

 Evelyn, who’d quickly cleaned the disguises off her and her brother’s faces earlier, and was looking quite like a noble lady took a single step forward and swooned into her brother’s arms.  She went full drama queen, going on how they’d been lost and wandering and had been attacked by the vicious undead, and how her brother had bravely defended her.  This Oscar-worthy acting nomination went on for a goodly while, giving the rest of the group a chance to go where they were needed.

The Origamis and the de Mers managed to get out of Dock Ward without trouble, and hired a carriage to take them to the temple of Kelemvor.  However, Garden had disappeared between the vacant lot and the carriage, and Charissa was pretty sure this was one of those, “Don’t ask question, Sis,” kind of things.

Garden instead took a long walk to the Wands estate and asked to see the lady of the house.  The butler clearly wanted to send him away (he’d arrived at the front door, the nerve of him!) and Lady Wands wasn’t much behind him in irritation.  But because Garden had taken it upon himself to keep her up-to-date on the investigation into matters that had not only threatened her family but impugned Origami clan honor, she granted him an audience.  He told her about the Fruit of the Vine winery, and how someone had clearly broken into the Order of the Vine’s tomb to get the amber oozes that had nearly been the cause of true disaster.

Warned of what was clearly a deep-laid conspiracy, the Lady thanked him for his diligence (even as she looked at him like she’d rather turn him into a toad).  Garden, ever the businessman, raised the delicate matter of repayment.  Appears as if she’d just consumed an entire tree’s worth of lemons, Lady Wands bestowed upon Garden two potions of minor effect that would help him in his ongoing investigation.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group arrived at the temple of Kelemvor and had their petition heard.  An older priest named Pellan and a paladin named Sir Hackem would go with them to see this undead for themselves.  (There was a brief joke about Sir Hackem’s name, to which he replied his colleagues called him Hacky-Slashy.  No one was quite sure if his sense of humor was just very dry or non-existent.)

Finally returning to the vacant lot, the group arrived in time to see the end of the Evie and Stevie Show.  Father Pellan took charge then, examining the remains of the coffer corpse and asking questions about its attack and defeat.  The group told him all, and as the priest mused, Charissa realized that amongst the rubber-necking crowd was a man who matched her brother’s description of Jayrin!  She pointed this out to the others, but he was gone by the time someone mentioned it to the Guard.

Knowing to keep a wary eye out for the fellow, the group turned their attention back to Father Pellan.  He said it was difficult to tell who might have created the thing.  The most obvious culprits were devotees of Velsharoon, the god of necromancy, or Cyric, the god of murder.  Though patrons of those gods were hardly the only ones known to make undead, they were one of the few who knew how to create coffer corpses.  Also included in that short list were supposedly patrons of Bane (god of tyranny and strife), Shar (goddess of secrets and sorrow), and Beshaba (goddess of bad luck).  The party’s interest was caught by the last name, as they’d encountered one of Beshaba’s priests, Father Geb, a few times already.

Charissa was not feeling particularly charitable towards him, because during her encounter with Father Geb on Sucker Street earlier that night he had put a mark on the back of her neck in long-lasting ink.  It was a mark that proclaimed, “Beshaba says this person needs extra bad luck, do your worst” to anyone familiar with street signs.  Charissa had been wearing her hair down and her collar up until she could get a chance to scrub it off.

However, there wasn’t much else the party could do that night.  Sir Hackem would begin the search for where the coffer corpse may have been made while Father Pellan sought the source of the ritual and the caster thereof.  Of the splinterwaifs, Father Pellan knew not much more than Shandri – that they were tough fey creatures with a horrible disposition that liked to live in towns.  A few times their infestation had been linked to radical clerics of Silvanus (think a Farûnian Earth First group), but that hadn’t happened in a very long time.  The group thanked him and gave him two Carter Guild badges they’d found amongst the spliterwaifs’ things, so at least some of the victims might be identified.

Very tired, the group agreed to meet the afternoon after next.

During that next day and a half, the group went about their business – Steven and Shandri at their churches, William at the academy, Charissa at her workshop, Evelyn at her social calls (she has somehow gained the reputation as a doer of good works), and Garden at his store.  (There was an amusing interlude where a somewhat ham-handed young rogue tried to convince Garden he’d “locked himself out of his house.”  Garden showed him the door (of his shop).  A little later, Garden went to the real homeowner in question and showed him the gaps in his security.  And snagged himself some work.)

Eventually the party met back at the Empty Grave (the serving wench, Martha, has started to expect them), and tried to figure out what to do next.  Jayrin might have owned that empty lot, and presumably the Guard would get around to questioning him eventually, but it would be easy to lie and say he’d had no idea the spliterwaifs were there, and the coffer corpse?  Put there by vile cultists no doubt, on some unguessable scheme.  Getting straight answers out of him might be hard indeed, and Jayrin now knew their faces.

However, there was a good possibility that Jayrin and Father Geb might be in cahoots, and if the group could find evidence to support that one or both of them were part of this conspiracy, they could have something to turn over to the Guard.

There was one clue (well, other than trying to tackle Jayrin head-on and beat the information out of him, which was off the table… for a moment) the group hadn’t explored yet, and that was Melvin Mask, the alchemist whose mark had been on the vials Getha’s mother had been taking that made her so ill under the guise of being medicine.  Possibly he knew Father Geb, or Trey, or even Jayrin.  If the group could persuade him to speak, maybe he could fill in some blanks.  Thus armed with determination, the group set out for Masks Distillery and Alchemist Shop, right nearly the borders of Dock Ward and North Ward.

It was a crowded little shop, full of multi-colored vapors and miasmas.  At the back, a bushy-haired man wearing a hat stood pouring over a ledger.  Garden tried to slip behind the counter for reasons of his own, but was thwarted by a loud and creaky gate.  He mumbled a greeting and when asked said yes, he was the proprietor Melvin Mask.  The group showed him the vial, and he said that its contents would not make someone well, but give them the symptoms of sickness instead.  When asked who might have bought it, Melvin said it was likely written down in the records in the back.  He stepped into the back room…

…and broke into a run.  Garden and Steven had been on-guard for such treachery, and Garden vaulted the gate to go after him, Steven close behind him.  Charissa took off running out the door, to try to go around the block and intercept him.  That’s when things got really interesting.

When Garden ran into the back, Steven on his heels, Melvin was running out the door.  Clinging above said door was a small red dragon, looking like a psuedodragon, who opened its jaws and breathed fire at them.  As the back of the shop had even more things distilling and bubbling away than the front, Steven and Garden had enough time for half a curse as the shop started to explode.

All the group save Evelyn ran out the front and then sprinted around the block after Charissa, who went up two shops, cut through an open square, and then ducked down the alley.  Garden and Steven were already there, trying to chase and/or shoot Melvin as he ran.  Evelyn, however, sprinted down the open street in the opposite direction.

The dragon stung Steven with a stinger on its tail, the effects of which were very draining and unpleasant.  But Steven tried to paley, asking him to help them for a golden reward.  The dragon pondered that briefly, then flew away to trouble them no more.  Meanwhile, Garden shot Melvin, winging him slightly, but he did not stop.

The shop exploded even more spectacularly just as Charissa passed it, the sound deafening her.  People started to clog the alley and street, to see what was going on, making it much harder to run and chase.  Melvin had a bit of a lead, and Garden spotted him suddenly ducking into a shop up ahead.  Garden tossed his hat down right at the nearest doorway to mark his path, and cut through the shop, which sold women’s undergarments.  He got a few eyefuls before emerging on the street.

Charissa, William, Steven, and Shandri all saw what was going on and cut through their own closest shops, Charissa following Garden, Steven going through a haberdashery, and William and Shandri tearing through a deli.  On the street outside, Evelyn had actually gotten ahead of Melvin (sprinting in high heels, the woman has talent) when Princess cried out that he was behind him.  Evelyn screeched to a halt and switched directions.

Melvin broke into a house just as Evelyn got there.  Princess swiped at him, and Evelyn tried to freeze him with her magic, but neither worked.  Melvin shouldered the door open, ran upstairs, and broke a window to escape onto the roof.  In quick succession, Steven ran upstairs to chase Melvin, Evelyn paced Melvin on the street in front of the house, Charissa and Garden ran through the house to the back door and got into the alley, Shandri followed Evelyn, and William squeezed between some houses to get to the alley.

Melvin and Steven tried to grapple, trip, and/or tip one another over the roof, until Melvin smashed an alchemist’s fire at Steven’s feet.  Shandri gave Istishia’s blessings (i.e. created water) on Steven before he could catch on fire, shot Melvin with a crossbow (drawing no blood), and healed Evelyn of her burns from the exploding shop.  William tried sleep and color spray spells, but neither worked on Melvin.  Evelyn tried learn heritage to try to find out any weaknesses, only to discover he had no blood!  Adding all of that together, Melvin was a construct!  Charissa shot Melvin and tossed the Grapes of Wrath to Steven, who smashed Melvin with a powerful blow.  He dissolved into wax shortly before Garden climbed up to the roof to inspect the remains.

Apparently, according to William, Melvin had been a wax golem, which are so skillfully sculptured and magically programmed that they can pass as the original person.  One of the things he had on him was a customer list, showing names, descriptions, typical merchandise, all the things a normal proprietor wouldn’t have to write down.  Which meant the real Melvin Mask was still out there…

Not to mention Steven and Evelyn realized that the pseudodragon wasn’t - after William heard its description, he called it a crimson drake, a pseudo-pseudodragon that often masqueraded as one of the friendly little dragons to get into someone’s home before pouncing.  It was likely someone’s familiar or companion.  And because it was inside the Dragonward, the Dragon Mage had to have let it inside.  They need to seek an audience with him…


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Mar 9, 2013)

*Session 8*

When we last left our intrepid heroes, they had defeated a wax golem masquerading as the alchemist Melvin Mask.  The group had learned several important facts - that Melvin was likely alive somewhere (due to the customer list he'd left with the golem), he probably commissioned the golem done, and the fact that a potentially murderous dragon was with the Dragonward.

The group scattered to follow leads (after a meeting at the Empty Grave, naturally, when the all came in reeking of smoke).  The Violettes and William would go first to the temple of Mystra to report the rogue construct, and then to the home of Maaril the Dragonmage.  Charissa recognized one of the customers on Melvin's list, a very plain man called Smit who'd bought a lot of smokepowder from her over the past few years.  The disturbing thing was that he'd also been buying alchemist's fire from Melvin at the same time.  By now, Smit could have... quite a lot of both.  She would go to the temple of Gond to seek advice.  Garden also knew one of the customers, a halfling thief name Jaskar who bought tools from him and potions from Melvin, and would question him in hopes of finding out where the man himself roosted.  Shandri would use her own expertise around the docks to see if she could find out if Melvin was attempting to flee the city by boat.

The Violetteshad had one recent encounter with the Magister, Meleghost Starseer - when they had been going home after the splinterwaif attack.  The Magister had received Steven's note that night, and considering that members of the temple had acted too slowly in the matter of Marsekavris, had made the extraordinary gesture of coming to them himself.  On a magic carpet (a gift given to hm from a recent visit to Calimshan).  

However, this time, the Violettes went through proper channels.  They (and William) presented themselves at the House of Wonder and requested an audience.  William took copious notes of all the spells about the place, of which there were hundreds.  The acolyte who'd greeted them, realizing who the Violettes were, turned white and ran off, returning moments later to ask them to follow him.  

The Magister greeted them briskly and asked, "What tale of tragedy and woe to you have for me today?"  Steven turned to Evelyn to have her tell the story and the Magister (who knew a thing or five about Evelyn's reputation) said, "No, what NEW tale of tragedy and woe?"  After Evelyn finished putting aloe on her burn, she told the Magister about the wax golem.  He considered that for a moment and told them to speak to Westra Brightwood, the temple's leading expert on magical constructs, and to follow proper procedure if there were any difficulties.  It was evident that though he appreciated Steven's diligence, not every magical misuse in the city required the Magister's personal attention.  However, being as he was a good friend of the Dragonmage, was happy to send him a note that the Violettes were coming.

After the Magister dismissed them, Evelyn asked he acolyte who had guided them about classes for understanding the nature of magic.  The acolyte said there were some starting soon, for a small fee.  

They group went to see Westra Brightwood, who listened to their tale and told them thus:  Wax golems were not precisely expensive in terms of materials or magic used -  they were actually quite cheap in that respect.  However, the skill required to craft its face was rare.  The subject would have to sit for the sculpture.  Also, since the golem the group saw spoke to them and could read, it had additional magic used to scan its subject's memories and use them.  There were three people who might have the skill to animate a wax golem:

Cassandra, an elderly woman who specialized in junk golems, now retired in the Dock Ward
Yalla, a halfling wizard with a mischievous bent whose sticky fingers had caught up to him.  He was due to be exiled to Undermountain in the next few days.
Wu Yen, a human woman fairly recently arrived from Kara-Tur, who specialized in paper golems.

Though all three could animate a wax golem, making the face might take a real artist.  She recommended the temple of Sune to find such a one.

Thusly informed, the Violettes and William went to the Dragonmage's house on their next errand.  It was in the very wealthy Sea Ward, and had extensive gardens.  At the far end of the shaded walkway, they could see a large green dragon dozing in the sunlight, one of the Dragonmage's cohorts.  After explaining that they were expected to the guard at the gate, a black cat came walking down the pathway, and addressed them, "The Dragonmage is waiting.  Follow me."  This was Frethian, Maaril Dragonmage's familiar.  He led them to a finely-appointed room, and then left.  With Princess.

Suffice to say, they had very nice time together, though Princess later reported that, "He's not as smart as he thinks he is."

Maaril greeted the Violettes absently, though told Steven he was in charge of Marsekavris' armor, specifically in drawing out the faint dragon spirit within it.  Maaril had plans for the spirit tht didn't sound very... polite.

Let it be known that as powerful as the Dragonmage is, he is a piece of work.

When they asked about the crimson drake, the Dragonmage was very cagey, saying that he would not tell them who the crimson drake came in with, as he was... above the Violettes' concern, but he would have a few choice words with the drake about manners.

Meanwhile, Charissa had gone to the temple of Gond to talk to Lissa Threefingers, a gnome woman with an excellent working knowledge of constructs.  (Though no one asked, her and Westra Brightwood often shared a cup of tea together.)  She told Charissa much of what Westra had told her, with the added point that wax golems were usually used by nobility and politicians.  One being commissioned by a private citizen was odd.  Also, the pondered the potential problem of Smit, the man who might have quite a lot of alchemist's fire and smokepowder.  It could be the man was doing legitimate work (aboard a ship, or in a mine) or he could be storing up all that for some devious purpose.  She'd watch for him for Charissa.  Now, having been told that an artist was a good place to look for the maker of the golem's form, Charissa went to the Temple of Sune.

It was beautiful, with gorgeous architecture, gardens, songbirds, paintings, mosaics, perfumes, music...  It was like walking into Evelyn's head.

To cover her questions, Charissa said she was looking for someone to embellish her weapons, and was directed to a man called Whittler.  He would embellish her pistol with holy symbols of Gond and Tymora for her.  When she asked about a sculptor in wax, he said he'd keep his ears open for her.

Garden went to talk to Jaskar, making small talk about "business," swapping stories about locks and security procedures.  He worked the conversation around to Melvin, making it sound like he was wanting to buy from him.  Jaskar told them Melvin sometimes went to the Bronze Gear, a tavern near the temple of Gond, "where instead of serving wenches they have those clockwork fellows, you know, homacals."  (Or homunculi, if you know what he was really trying to say.)  Garden went to the Bronze Gear, where a "homacal" charged him "two sil" for some dwarven drinking ale ("eating" the coins like a piggy bank).  Garden looked around, and wouldn't you know it?  Spotted Melvin.  The real deal!  (He assumed...)  Melvin was just fixing something behind the bar, shook the barkeeper's had, and slipped out the back.  Garden went to go ask about him, and learned that Melvin was just fixing some of the taps, because he had to leave town for a while.

Despite having second, third, and maybe fourth thoughts, Garden slipped from the Bronze Gear and started to follow Melvin Mask through the darkening streets of Waterdeep...

And so, our story continues...


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Mar 11, 2013)

*Session 9*

When we last left our intrepid heroes, the Violettes had gone home, William had returned to his dorm, Charissa to her/Garden's shop, Shandri (far as the rest of you knew) was still down at the docks, and Garden had spied Melvin Mask leaving the Bronze Gear tavern. Unwilling to let the man get away, Garden started to follow him through the streets.  He sent a message to the Violettes (and presumably William, who had been with them last) that Melvin was apparently leaving on a ship tonight, just to give them the heads up. Knowing this was probably a terrible idea that was going to get him killed (considering the last time he trailed someone alone he got stabbed by a giant splinter), Garden pulled a hat on, kept himself unobtrusive, and shadowed Melvin.

Melvin seemingly didn't notice Garden following him, but as they turned into the dock district, who should Garden see? Shandri! She looked just as surprised to see him, and quickly fell in step with him when he explained (quietly) what he was doing. She asked if he'd gotten her message, and explained she had sent out messages via urchins to the others because she'd discovered the ship Melvin was leaving on, tonight. It was called the Golden Mermaid, and had a tavern associated with it of the same name, and was headed out to Kara-Tur tonight. 

At the Violettes' home, William's dorm, and Charissa's shop, there came a knocking. When the knocks were investigated, a very out-of-breath urchin said, "Docks, Golden Mermaid, Melvin, Shandri, now!" Interpreting that more or less correctly, the other members of the party set out. Charissa was closest (the shop being in the Dock district already) and actually caught up to Shandri and Garden as they merged with the big crowds outside the waterfront taverns. Shandri confessed she'd managed to find Melvin's ship by questioning sailors, apparently with a liberal application of ale, because Shandri was definitely lit. A tap from the sober end of the Grapes of Wrath solved that problem, and the group pressed on trailing Melvin.

The Violettes hired a carriage, and so did William, and coincidentally met at one crossroads. William hopped over to the Violettes' carriage, and all of them went down to the docks together. They all spied Melvin's bushy head (as well as Shadri's sharkskin armor and Charissa's... tallness), and brought the carriage to a halt. Evelyn had had quite enough of Melvin at this point, hopped out of the carriage first, and cast charm person on him. Melvin blinked, then turned to her and said, "Evelyn, dear! It's been so long, it's like I almost haven't seen you before!"

A little weirded out that he somehow knew her name (he shouldn't have... should he?), Melvin was nevertheless being friendly, and after a bit they persuaded him to go to the nearest tavern for a drink and to answer some questions. Melvin tried to get them to come to his cabin on the Golden Mermaid, but the group pressed instead for tavern version of the Golden Mermaid, just across the dock. The Golden Mermaid was tackily decorated with buxom mermaid figureheads in many tasteless shades of gilt. It was your typical sailors' dive, full of gambling, too much ale, and ladies of negotiable virtue and impressive cleavage. One of said ladies, who was a serving wench to boot, accepted a gold coin to throw out some gamblers from a back room to give them some privacy.

The group questioned Melvin, but while he considered Evelyn a friend, he was still unsure about the others, and was being remarkably cagey. (During the questioning, Charissa "inadvertently" tapped Garden with the drunk end of the Grapes of Wrath for... reasons. Garden, for the record, is a cuddly drunk.) Melvin claimed a friend of his had had the wax golem made for him because of some work he'd done. At one point, he managed to take out a small, one-use wand and hit Garden with it, breaking it afterward when Steven had grabbed his hand. Garden became twice as insufferable after he'd been charmed, grabbing onto Charissa's leg and clinging like a tick.

Just at that moment, a bar fight erupted. Several combatants spilled into their room, two turning on the party, two tussling with each other, and a fifth about to crack a huge egg (ostritch-size) on one of the tussler's heads. Chaos ensued! Over the course of the battle, Steven and Charissa battled their attackers with hammer and sword, Evelyn crawled atop the table to try to freeze their foes. Melvin ran out into the chaos, and William cast grease upon the floor and made him take a header. Two more people in the crowd ran up to grab Melvin and try to haul him out of there (and it was becoming clear at this point this bar fight was a diversion to get Melvin free). Garden shot one of the people holding Melvin, and at some point the grease caught on fire, causing smoke (and steam when Shandri doused it), giving the last remaining thug cover as he pulled Melvin to freedom.

(During this entire barfight, the man with the egg kept running through the scene, chasing it as it rolled about the fight, rolled through the fire, caught on fire, was doused, and rolled around some more. By the time he caught it, he was exhausted, and egg was very scorched, though intact. To come to think of it, it might have been a dragon egg... nah, couldn't have been...)

Frustrated in the extreme, Melvin long gone (the Golden Mermaid the ship already out of the docks by the time the party managed to get out of there), the group went home.

The next morning, in each of their residences or places of work, was a box addressed to each person. Inside the box were two thousand wafer-thin Waterdeep trade gold coins. With no return address.

And with that, our adventure continues...


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Mar 13, 2013)

*Session 10*

When we last left our intrepid heroes, they had just received carved boxes full of gold coins (two thousand apiece), which had mysteriously turned up in their rooms while they slept. Being as more than one of them were light sleepers (Shandri, Steven), and more than one of them had excellent security (Garden, Charissa) or had other people in the buildings where they resided (William, Evelyn), the appearance of said box was unusual in the extreme.  

In their own fashion, the various members of the group looked for traps on the box itself (finding none) and for how the box could have gotten into their home/shop/temple/dorm. Of everyone, only Garden found a hint, on his rooftop hatch – a tiny scrap of black paper in the shape of a domino mask, an occasional calling card of the Shadow Thieves.

Steven, realizing if he had a box of cash, Evelyn had a box of cash, quickly ran back home to do his brotherly duty. He swiped up her gold before she could wake and went a made a sound investment – he bought her a magical cloak that would not only aid her social skills and silver tongue, but add to the potency of her magic as well. (In game terms, he used both his and Evelyn’s money to buy a <i>cloak of charisma +2</i>.)

Later that afternoon, after the various family groups had knocked their heads together about their unexpected windfall and not found and answer, everyone met at The Empty Grave. Like you do. It’s become a thing. Over beer, ale, tea, cider, and supper, the group tried to figure out why anyone would shell out twelve thousand gold pieces to six such relative unknowns as they. Was it a payment? If so, for what services rendered? A payoff, perhaps, a way to say, ‘thank you, now never do that again?’” If that, why no note? Who was behind this uncertain generosity?

If it were the Shadow Thieves (the fact that the boxes were spirited in to everyone’s room with so apparent use of magic and the calling card Garden had found being strong points in their favor), this gold could be a pricy thing to accept. Or was this all yet some other’s hand at play?

Needing answers of some type, the group decided to pursue a dangling lead – one of the possible craftsmen of the wax golem was a Halfling wizard named Yalla, who was due to be exiled to Undermountain very soon for thievery and fraud. So, off to the Halls of Justice the party went, laid close by the temple of Tyr, the Maimed God of justice and law.

Garden scooted ahead, having a plan. He presented himself to one of the wardens, explaining Yalla owed him a debt for work he’d done, and he needed to collect before Yalla’s sentence was carried out. Shortly after that, the rest of the party arrived, their own ruse ready. William was doing a class project about golems, and Yalla knew something about them that no one else living did. Evelyn and Steve were here for magical consultation, Charissa for her technical expertise, and Shandri for her skill at detecting lies (or at least that was what they told the wardens). As Yalla was due to head off to Undermountain in a couple of hours, the warden granted them all a visit.

Guards took them all to Yalla’s cell (bespelled with antimagic), then stood out of ostensible earshot and politely averted their faces, allowing them a modicum of privacy while still being aware enough to enforce security. Realizing this conversation couldn’t be kept totally private, Garden started a loud, cantankerous “argument” with Yalla, a blond-haired, blue-eyed Halfling, going on about the lockwork he’d done that Yalla apparently hadn’t paid for. In an undertone, William and the others quickly asked him about who Yalla had been working for and if he’d made the golem for Melvin Mask.

Yalla caught on quickly and began to “argue” in return. In the same undertone he said he had made Melvin’s double. Yalla said his desire for the finer things in life had landed him in this situation, that the money had been handsome. He’d made Melvins’s golem under commission from Jayrin. And Father Geb. They were jerks. And family. Yalla said the law had found his shop, and both his back rooms, and his <i>other</i> shop, and the back room there, but there was one hidden room the law hadn’t found. He told them his shop was off Fish Street, in Gutter Alley, in the Hook Around. Go there and they might find something worth knowing.

Then he grabbed William’s sleeve, hauled him close to the bars, and spoke three strange words to him quietly. And then he swore loudly and made a scene so the guards would think he was just being belligerent. With that, the guards hauled him out to fulfill his sentence. 

The group agreed they would go to Yalla’s shop to see what they could find. Also, it would be best to go in disguise, for while night might hide them, many of Dock Ward’s more dangerous residents came out to work then. Shandri took money from the Violettes and William and went to go find some used clothing for them that would blend in better to the neighborhood. (And since they’d given her gold for clothing that cost maybe a silver and a half all together, she made a tidy profit.)

While they were waiting for the clothing, Steven got a message from Maaril the Dragon Mage, that his blue dragon scale mail was ready for him. (And that the dragon-ghost fragment Maaril had purged from it had brought him much amusement.) Steven went to fetch it, finding it under guard by Khavalanoth, Maaril’s green dragon cohort. The dragon spoke not a word, just looked at Steven with a fixed stare as Steven collected the armor and went on his way. 

Garden scouted out Gutter Alley beforehand, cold-calling residents door-to-door to see if anyone needed a new security system. That way if anyone saw him later, he could be “seeing a customer” have a good excuse for being there.

All back together and getting ready, Evelyn found the used clothing hideous, naturally, but the shoes were surprisingly comfortable compared to her usual heels!

Finally the group managed to get down to Yalla’s shop without incident (Garden went by the roof route, just because he could). They entered (well, broke and entered) and found a small alchemist’s shop/wizard supply store/used goods store very thoroughly ransacked by the Watch. Garden and William began to search the back room. Struck by the thought that nonsense words Yalla had told him might be magical command words, William called out the first of them. A repeated tapping sound began. He tried the other two words to no avail. So instead they searched the room very carefully, and found that the tapping was coming from below a bookcase. They moved it, and found a very cunningly disguised trap door.

Opening it, they found a crystal cat, beautifully carved and as translucent as water, life size, and animate! It mewed at them and went back downstairs. The party followed. The basement they found was a mostly bare chamber, very neat and clean, clearly untouched by the Watch. A shelf about waist high on a human ran around the room, filled with curious sculptures – a copper snake, a glass dragonfly, an owl made of enameled plates, a riveted silver and steel hawk, and others. Two tables in the middle of the room held nearly identical burdens, a humanoid form under a sheet, one human-sized, one Halfling-sized. The group pulled off the sheets and started. Under one sheet was Yalla, and the other, Jayrin!

Both of them radiated a faint magical aura, the same William had seen about the wax golem. With some trepidation, William said the last two words Yalla had given him. The golem-Yalla said up and blinked at them.

“Ah. I’m dead, aren’t I?”

The golem explained that he (Yalla) had made this golem and imprinted it with his memories when he thought he might be getting into more trouble than he could handle. The group explained how they’d gotten here and what had happened with real Yalla. Golem-Yalla said the crystal cat was Yalla’s familiar, which meant, since it was still active, that Yalla was still alive. Though probably not for long; Yalla was a golem-maker, not a battle mage. When asked about the Jayrin-golem, Yalla said he’d made it on commission. Jayrin and Father Geb had purchased it. Yalla disliked the pair quite a bit, and during his rant dropped a bit of a bombshell: Jayrin and Father Geb were not only family (brothers) they were bastards, literally. Bastard Wands.

Realizing Jayrin’s golem could be used as evidence, Yalla explained that the golems had a few modes, done by different command words. One to wake it up and have it follow simple commands, one to activate implanted memories, and one to shut it down. Using the first, the group could get it to walk out of there with them.

Just then the crystal cat went to sleep, and golem-Yalla realized “he” was dead. He lamented no longer being able to be a wizard, but had memories and skills enough to fashion a new life for himself. Being as he was a wax golem, changing his face was a matter of finding the right spell-powder and resculpting himself. He told the group the little statues around the room were specialized construct familiars. If one were powerful enough, one could bond with them. Yalla recommended the <i>erudite owl</i> for William once he was ready, took the copper asp for himself to give himself a nest egg for his new life, and let the party have the rest for their trouble…and for their silence as to Yalla’s continued existence (after a fashion).

The party gathered up the familiars and Jayrin’s golem and left Yalla, shutting the door behind them. They poked about in the shop for a bit, the Watch had been thorough. They went to leave and found the street suddenly shrouded in magical gloom, a tense silence overlaying all. Garden tried to go out anyway and scale the wall to get to the roof, but was hit by a flung dagger. A flung _poisoned_ dagger, coated with the same knockout poison Garden favored himself. He succumbed to sleep, and Evelyn stepped out to try to target a shadowy miscreant (her dragon’s eyes giving her a little clearer sight). She too was hit and fell into slumber in the dark and dangerous streets. Steve jumped out to rescue her, also being hit hard, but shrugged off the poison. He could see six shadowy figures, four on the street, two perched on a roof above and to the side of him, all closing in on his helpless sister and new companions…


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Mar 20, 2013)

*Session 11*

When we last left our intrepid heroes, they were leaving Yalla's shop in the Dock Ward, only to be attacked under the shroud of magical darkness by shadowy, knife-throwing figures.  With Garden and Evelyn wounded and asleep from the poison on the blades, both Steve and Charissa swung into action. Though Steven had been wounded, he'd managed to resist the poison and quickly pulled his sister to the relative safety of the store. Shandri healed him and promised she'd heal Evelyn (though Steven said it might better if she remained asleep). Steven, with his better eyesight in the dark, pointed Charissa towards one of the shadowy figures. It stabbed her in the gut, but she bashed its head in with the Grapes of Wrath. Unexpectedly it exploded in a burst of eye-smarting white light.

William got himself pointed in the right direction, fixing the location of their foes from the flash, and unleashed a color spray spell on them.  One dropped unconscious, while the other fled in fear from seeing its comrade die.

Inside the shop, a flung dagger nearly skewered William!  They looked up to see one of the shadowy figures had gotten inside and was flinging daggers from the rafters!  William cast a spell of sleep, making the creature fall to the floor and break its neck.  The death-flash blinded William, but just after that, the darkness lifted and the party found itself with one unconscious dark creeper (for that was what had attacked them) and two bundles of clothes and goods from the two who had died.  The rest had fled.

Quickly, the party took bound creeper, goods, and Jayrin’s golem back to Garden and Charissa’s shop.  The dark creeper was a very belligerent captive, saying the party had honed in on the creeper gang’s turf, and that his brethren would hunt them down and kill them all.  He was quite the unrepentantly evil and nasty sort.

Unsure of what to do with the captive, as turned in to the Watch he could reveal their interest in Yalla’s shop, let go he would start a blood feud, turned into the Shadow Thieves he’d probably be executed but just might give them the same information he’d give the Watch just to be spiteful, and killing him out of hand went counter to the morals of some of the party, the group started a spirited debate.

And so, our story continues…

DM's Note:   This session was shortened because the spirited in-character debate led to some out-of-character arguments and we had to stop before things boiled over.


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## Azkorra (Mar 21, 2013)

Please let me be the first one to state that I really like your story hour. I haven't caught up with all posts yet but there's been good writing combined with a nice crime mystery and interesting characters (I particularly like the gnome) so far. Keep up with it!


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Mar 27, 2013)

*Session 12*

Azkorra - Glad you're liking the story thus far!  We play once every two weeks, and I usually do the write-up on the Tuesday or Wednesay before we game again, so from now on there should be an update every two weeks or so.

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When we last left our intrepid heroes, they had a captured dark creeper and were trying to decide its fate.  Given to the Watch, it could implicate the group in some shady dealings, set free, he would try to kill them, given to the Shadow Thieves, he'd end up dead assuming he didn't try to trade information on them first, and killed he wouldn't bother them... though killing him in cold blood was repugnant to most of the group.

The group argued amongst themselves, debating the merits of various options, when Shandri put in her own two coppers.  It might be possible to redeem the dark creeper.  There were a few religious orders in the city that redeemed the otherwise unredeemable, and who would not care about what he said.  The Temple of Ilmater was famous for that, and the Order of Saint Alphone handled some of the most hopeless and difficult cases.  Pondering that, the group decided that would be a good choice for their wayward captive.  Garden and Charissa would take him there, while Shandri and William took the Jayrin golem to the Watch.

It was the third watch of the night by the time Garden, Charissa, and a knocked-out dark creeper in a wheelbarrow (Steven had taken great pleasure in knocking the fellow out) knocked on the door of the Order of Saint Alphone.  After a few minutes, the gate opened.  A vast floating sphere, large as a horse, filled all the available space.  It had ten eyestalks around its crown that blinked at them, a huge central eye, closed, and a vast toothy maw, slightly open.  It was a beholder, one of the most vile and ill-conceived monsters to have graced the waking world!  The beholder stared at them, and in a deep voice said, "You rang?"

Once their hearts had calmed down and their pants had been changed, Garden and Charissa did recall that one of the advertisements of the Order of Saint Alphone was their "Before and After" pictures, one of which included this very beholder, whose affectionate nickname was "Lurch."

They explained about their erstwhile companion, and Lurch used his telekinetic eyestalk to lift the creature up and examine him.  He said the Order had done many good deeds, and always worked hard to save a wayward soul.  They'd be happy to take the dark creeper.  When Garden brought up the notion of payment, Lurch said that doing a good deed was payment enough, but if they wished to donate to the church, he would be happy to accept.  When brother and sister proffered their coins, Lurch, having no hands, stuck out his tongue to take their money, and spat it out in a donation box inside.  Lurch noticed that Garden was hurt from the fight earlier that night, and hit him with a golden beam from one of his eyestalks, healing his wounds.  Charissa felt she had to warn Lurch that the dark creeper was part of a gang, and they might take exception to their comrade being here.  Lurch only grinned in a way that reminded both of them that beholders were considered extremely dangerous for a reason, and said few were willing to risk breaching the Order's walls.

Needing a drink of something, the Origamis quickly returned home.

William and Shandri went to the Watch Hall, abutting the Temple of Helm, and asked to speak to the Captain.  (Before they went inside, Garden climbed up the golem put a cut on the golem's cheek so it clearly showed it unnatural nature.  Just in case someone managed to activate its memories, it would have a harder time of convincing people it was human.)  They were able to speak to the UnderCaptain of the third watch, and told their story with a mind to the fact that they had... bent the law a little bit in their pursuit of justice.  William said that his scholarly impulses had overcome his good sense when he went to the secret room of Yalla's shop (all the while Shadri was making evocative gestures behind William's head, corroborating his story), but he knew of Jayrin's description, and thought him having a wax golem could lead to nothing good.  The UnderCaptain seemed to be honest, and more-or-less believed them (he didn't arrest them at any rate), so William wrote down the command words, and the UnderCaptain Craig said he would start another investigation into Jayrin's activities.

Content with that, the de Mers returned to their homes.

Evelyn decided to take the time to both do a good deed and get a good toehold into high society at the same time.  She left a message for Lady Wands, and was invited to her house the next day.  Once there, she told the Lady Wands that the two men most likely behind the Higharvestide debacle were said to be bastard sons of her house, which was why the House had been attacked.  Also, that between her efforts and those of her friends, Geb had been forced to keep a low profile, and Jayrin was under investigation by the Watch.  Those others who had helped him had either died, fled, or revealed themselves to the Lady (i.e. Charissa).  Lady Wands looked upset, but not particularly surprised, and said her late husband had been a connoisseur of women.  But now alerted to who was behind the attacks, the House could focus their attention on those directly responsible, and for that, she thanked Evelyn.

Those thanks came in a very tangible form over the next few weeks, as she received invitations to parties and gatherings she'd never been to before.  Very high society things.  It'll be like swimming with sharks. Evelyn was delighted.

With those responsible for the Higharvestide attack all neutralized one way or another, at least for a while, the group drifts apart for most of the month of Marponeth, tending to their own jobs, tasks, research, and other opportunities.  But the Feast of the Moon is fast approaching, and considering what happened with the last big holiday, each member of the group has a sneaking suspicion that something is coming up, and soon...


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## pakistan786 (Mar 27, 2013)

Thanks for the share


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Apr 27, 2013)

*Session 12.5*

The characters had about a month and a half of downtime, from halfway through Marponeth all the way through to the end of Uktar and the Feast of the Moon.  Every player either e-mailed me plans for what their character was doing during that time, or told me verbally.  Here is what they all got up to.

*Garden *

You'd sent a second message back to the Origami clanhouse, and a third by magic book asking if the clan might want to increase their presence in the city and how things were getting a bit complicated, what with some of Waterdeep's elite knowing your face. You'd hoped for a letter, or perhaps a verbal message. You got Calla Breek Snorpthangle the Thirty-Second and a Half (she's a twin) one of the Penultimate Folds, those who report directly to Grand Master Crane. She's also a gnome, a bit taller than you, but with a nose that could be used to plow half the fields of the earth, it's so prominent. Her nickname (gnomes love names) is "Beak."

"You," she announces, coming into your shop during a slow day, "have gotten yourself into trouble." She perches on your counter a tosses you a folded paper raccoon, a traditional gnomish sign of luck. "Good work. Let's talk about how you can make some more. We're too new in the city to dislodge the Shadow Thieves, and to be brutally frank they keep some of the mayhem to a minimum. Getting into a war with them would be... costly. But it doesn't mean we can't command a bigger piece of the pie.  You're in a unique position to help the clan because of what you did for Lady Wands." She pauses and raises an eyebrow. "Anything else that happened in the last week or so I should be aware of?" (The DM assumes you're willing to be very forthcoming with a member of the clan, let me know if this is not so and you wanted to edit portions of your escapades.)

Calla puts her chin in her hand, grinning when you talk about how you appointed yourself as the Wands' private detective and looking both concerned and impressed when you tried to tell the Shadow Thieves that Jayrin was marked for death. "Not that he didn't deserve it, being as he was behind you getting hurt and more than likely a culprit in the attack on Charissa. But the fact the Shadow Thieves protected him... interesting. He must be doing something of value to them. He probably had to go underground after you exposed the fact he was killing children wholesale, plus the whole bit with him having a golem double doesn't exactly making him look innocent. And his brother the priest will have to be more discrete from now on.

"Which gives you the opportunity to do some things free of murderous interference. What plans do you have, Ru?"

She listens as you detail wanting an apprentice to run your shop as you try to expand your influence into higher circles and nods thoughtfully.

"That's a good line of thinking. I was bringing some apprentices over anyway, those traveling to points beyond the City of Splendors, but there is one who might suit. She's a dwarf, name's Nira Darkfire, good hands and a quick mind. More comfortable with staying in one place than not, and I think she'd much prefer learning here to heading off to Silverymoon or the Dalelands. I'll have her come up today. As for stumbling upon something she shouldn't... she's a dwarf. Word is bond, when she isn't so monofocused than an earthquake couldn't get her attention. Tell her she shouldn't see something, and she won't.

"Get on establishing yourself at the Marlith, because I can see all kinds of possibilities if Lady Wands or her staff isn’t embarrassed to seek you out, eh? She could send her friends to a respectable shop, rather than have a disreputable person such as yourself,” she winks, “call upon them. I’ll get Nira up here soon, and once you’re sure she knows her way around, get thee hence to the Marlith.”

Calla goes back to her own business, but lets you know she’ll be in town through the Feast of the Moon at least.

Nira shows up right on time, a thin (for a dwarf) woman with black hair tightly braided, wearing sober and respectable clothes. She has the very basic aptitudes for a locksmith, and could definitely do simple repairs, but isn’t up for complicated installations yet. She is good with numbers, well, at least she isn’t going to mess up your books, and gets your cypher system (or a variant, if you don’t trust her with the master cypher) in a mildly disturbingly short period of time. 

“Blood clan had no use for a girl who liked numbers more than runes, amongst other things,” she tells you with a shrug. “Origamis did. So they let me in.” She’s quite taciturn, which gave at least one customer quite a turn when she stirred behind the counter and startled someone who hadn’t expected to see her there. 

It was the first time you’d seen her smile. You think she just might do, at least for a start.
With your shop in competent hands, you move on to establishing yourself in the Marlith. Hob Stonecypher, the owner, grins when he sees your new persona. (And he’ll ask your new name. He’ll call you “Granther” as a nickname for the “aged old gent” until you give him your name.) In between customers, Hob will grill you on the inventory and the right lingo. In two tendays, you think you can manage a conversation with someone in your new persona about exotic weapons and be able to both look and sound like you know what you’re doing (assuming the person is not too suspicious).

[The following bits here were in response to several questions by Garden’s player, in taking classes to prep his character for taking the Gnome Artificer prestige class – it’s the first time he’s taken one, and we tweaked the prereqs a little.]

During mornings/evenings, whatever times of days you’re not working or sleeping, you can attend classes in engineering, alchemy, or gem-cutting at the Temple of Gond. Charissa even knows the names of some good tutors. Fees for such classes run about 10 gold a tenday, with a 25gp materials cost (40gp for gemcutting, ‘cause… gems). Charissa can help you with alchemy classes if you want to go in that direction.

As for the Artificer – most prestige classes can’t be taken until you’re sixth level or so. Assuming you focus on getting all the relevant skills, you could take your 1stlevel of Gnome Artificer as your 6th character level. So you’d be a 5th level rogue, 1stlevel Gnome Artificer. We collectively decided to dismiss having the spellcasting requirement, as Garden will be learning how to imitate magical effects with his devices without the use of magic. If you have any skill points to spare, it might be appropriate to throw one or two into the Use Magic Device skill to show you know a thing or two about how magic works (or looks, or both).

The Gnome Artificer basically makes you into the Wizard of Oz – great special effects, just don’t look behind the curtain. With a bit of looking around, you can find a tiny little group of three other Gnome Artificers in the city, two from Lantan, one a native of Waterdeep. They do three things – provide special effects for theatrical productions, experiment with things that make some of Charissa’s experiments look tame, and provide protection for some of the Deepwater Harbor’s aquatic residents against their more aggressive counterparts. (Think, if you will, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea – with three half-crazed gnomes in a tricked-out submarine patrolling the harbor for killer sharks, murderous sahaugin [fish men], and nasty-minded scrags [water trolls].) Though they like turning their talents in that direction, they’re really up for experimenting with anything.

-----------------------------------------------------

*Charissa *

You KNEW there was a reason there weren't that many pistols in Lantan. You've seen them. Held one once. Seen them fired. But there still aren't all that many of them. And do you know why? Well you figured it out once you started doing serious research into the crafting of one - they're BEASTLY hard to make. And expensive! Finding an alloy that can not only stand up to repeated rapid firing, but also magical bullets (because you're going to get some made, by Gond, someday!) involves a lot of experimentation. Gunslingers are not terribly thick on the ground, even in Lantan, and not even your mentor would have given up the secret to gun manufacture to you (the better to develop your own engineering skills), so you knew this was coming.

On the plus side, this does involve a lot of cool explosions. On the down side, it does involve a lot of cleanup. 

What brings you to your breakthrough is, strangely enough, Evelyn's shoes. You were making bladed shoes for her, and getting a tough alloy that could stand up to days, weeks, or months of Waterdeep's streets isn't easy. It actually was dovetailing off of your own research into tougher alloys. That was when you realized what would make the alloy perfect. Adamantine. Not pure adamantine, because that's outside your purse and your fuel costs for the forge, but a small amount of adamatine introduced into a toughened steel... yes! That's it!

Then there's the whole finding the perfect combination of adamatine to steel thing... But you're a step in the right direction, a huge step!

In between banging on metal and making things explode, you do have to take some breaks (to let the metal cool, to let the metal heat, to get out of the forge before your fellow Gondian co-workers ban you because they've heard more talk about guns than a reasonable being can stand...). Never to let a moment go to waste, you heft Grapes of Wrath, the book of the Order of the Vine, and go to talk to the Vinters, Brewers, and Distiller's Guild. The Order of the Vine has been extinct for a century, and you think it's high time they saw the light of day again (and attaching it to the Vinters, etc. Guild would be a good first step, because you certainly don't have the gold to re-found the order from the ground up). You tell your story to a bewildered youth at the door, again to a mildly confused junior member, a third time to a Head Brewer (who'd actually heard of the Order), who finally passes you off to a Master Brewer, a dwarf introduced to you as Rumlar Stonehead. He's exceptionally stout, with a beard like foam in a mug, carrying no less than six fine mugs hooked to his belt.

"Hah!" he says with delight, when you explain your story yet again, that you'd like to reactivate the Order. "I remember them. Met one or two back a ways, but they were getting thin on the ground by the time I'd even learned about them. Fun-loving crew, the few times I worked with them. Good for maintaining a good crowd, kept parties respectable, gave us all a better name. Aye, I wouldn't mind having them back. Now, are you the only one?"

(After you answer, Rumlar will have several other questions for you.)

"I remember having members of the Order at our larger feasts to help keep the peace and provide a little background on some of the beverages. The drinking games and songs they could come up with... better than bards, they were! What is it that you're doing now, being as you couldn't have been born in the Order? And how did you find some of their artifacts?"

"Hmm... tell you what. I'd like to see the Order again, but I certainly can't go sponsering people willy-nilly. With the Feast of the Moon coming up, it's a good time to stage a trial run, eh? You and the other members of the Order, come to the feast here at the Guildhall and we'll see how you do. Let's see if we can't capture the old spirits." Rumlar chuckles hugely at his pun, and reaches out to tap a nearby keg. He deftly fills two mugs and hands one to you. "What say you? What can you bring to our feast, O Bouncer Immaculate?"

[The following is several e-mails back and forth between me and Charissa’s player]

"No there are four of us. My brother, a young wizarding student, and a priestess of Istishia. During a recent investigation into amber oozes we discovered the tomb of the last three members of the Order. After taking care of the amber ooze problem we found a powerful illusion that was a record of the last members. The had us each pass a test, which we all passed, and told us we were members of the Order. I have these, (showing Grapes of Wrath and the book) as tokens of that experience. I'll talk to the others, but I'll be more than happy participate in the Feast of the Moon here at the Guild Hall."

Rumlar threads his hand through his beard and tugs meditatively. "The tomb, eh? I should like to see that... well, perhaps not disturb their rest but... bah, idle speculation. If you and your friends could come, this might be a good coming-out party for the Order. Brush up on your drinking games, Origami, because there's nothing a dwarf clan likes to do to honor their ancestors better than a good drinking game.

"Have you the old costumes? Or are you updating those as well?

"If you end up honoring the old Order, I'll pass a hat for donations to sponsor you. If not, well... at least you won't go hungry that night. Be thinking on what you'll want to do at the party, other than make sure no one downs a gallon of rotgut and pukes into the roses, or starts throwing punches. I have fond memories of the Order, few as they were." He eyes you carefully. "Don't sully them, my young tinker friend."

"We'll make sure you and yours have the chance to honor your dead, Brew Master. As for the costumes we will be both honoring the old, and bringing in some new touches to it. I wish to bring honor to those that have gone before, and give a fresh start to the Order."
Charissa will be relying heavily on Shandri and her brother for good drinking games since she has avoided alcohol as drunkenness and explosives mix just a little too well...

"Tell me one last thing, youngling... You seem a sober and respectable sort, at first glance the kind that might look down their nose at the Order. Their hammer is impressive, yes, and rather fun, but you seem to be the sort to be married to their work." He flicks his fingers at the burn marks on your cuffs and the scars on your hands. "Why devote such effort to bringing the Order of the Vine back?"

"I respect their ideals and after the 'situation' with the amber oozes I feel that they are needed. I want people to able to celebrate without the fear of death, dismemberment or embarrassment. The Knights of the Vine can give people the assurance that their feasts and celebrations will be enjoyable and that all present will be relatively safe, at least safe from things other than a bad hangover and the occasional poorly sang drinking song."

-------------------------------------------------


*Steven *

With Evelyn wrapped in some project that left her safely ensconced in an office with Madame Silverleaf (the seamstress and dressmaker) on a regular basis, Steven used his expected free time to call at the Temple of Mystra and put some of his skills to work.  Years of guarding his sister from harm, perceived threats, and any man’s gaze had left him with a reputation for being able to handle anyone, at least when it came to dealing with large egos.  Also, his combat skills were impeccable, and he’d proved himself against a ghostly dragon, no less!  

So, in between hunts for the mysterious Gerard, Steven took on several side jobs.  (As a note, Steven has been hunting a “Gerard” for a little while.  During the dark creeper attack, Evelyn had fallen asleep from a poisoned dagger smeared with drow sleep poison that wounded her.  In her sleep, she said, “Oh, Gerard,” in a familiar manner.  Steven has since sworn revenge, just on general principle.  This “Gerard” needs a good talking-to, whoever he is.)

Steven has been meeting several mages, some from abroad, others from the mainland, all of whom came to the Temple for guidance and protection as they went about their business in Waterdeep.  As many were skilled magicians, they could have defended themselves… if they weren’t caught by surprise, if they had the right spells ready, if they were not in the middle of item creation or some other ritual that took all of their dedication and concentration.  Hence they asked at the Temple of Mystra for a bodyguard, and Steve was one of those that stepped up to help.

So, in the month and a half he’s had free, Steven had spent time at the sides of two noted summoners, an abjurer so frail her own magic must have been holding her together, a universalist wizard from far Maztica (all in colorful exotic brocade and woven plumes), a transmorgofist who never spent more than half a day looking the same, an urdinnar (stone-shaper) dwarf who might have been mute, and one memorable day he spent carrying a fox familiar around the city so his master could get a good look around without bestirring his ancient bones.

Luckily Steven had not had to draw his sword during that time, and only had to chase off a few potential pickpockets and endure the somewhat confusing chatter of high magery (hardly his strong suit.)

-------------------------------------------

*Evelyn *

Your lessons in magic are actually going quite well. You've gained several admirers (how could you not?), other students of the Arts. You still aren't particularly interested in how other people tap their magic, as it seems to involve tedious memorizing of musty tomes and incomprehensible diagrams and handling all matter of noxious substances, but figuring out magical threats and magical creatures? That is actually quite interesting, particularly as several of the noble houses have magicians in their ranks. Also, there's a good section about magical creatures, including dragons, and what self-respecting spellscale wouldn't like to know a thing or two about their distant ancestors?

Naturally the section on dragons includes a talk about the Dragonward. You learn that the ward supposedly covers the entire city, though your instructor's hand gets a little vague when he delineates the borders to the south. Having seen much prevarication before, you have a suspicion that the extreme south of Dock Ward might not be as well-covered as the rest of the city. If any other dragonkind wanted to get near Waterdeep but couldn't convince Maaril the Dragonmage that they deserved entry, they might be there...

But what happened during your interview with Lady Wands? This might have been what Evelyn was born for. While you hadn't exactly hoped to attract the attention of one of Waterdeep's most powerful families by being peripherally involved in an attempt at their downfall, you really can't argue with the results. After telling Lady Wands about Jayrin and Father Geb, the Lady is understandably grateful. And she chose to convey that gratitude by allowing Evelyn entrance to social circles she hadn't been sure she'd ever been able to penetrate. A Higharvestide festival is one thing, but usual gatherings quite another, much more exclusive. And, if you are being honest with yourself (a rare and solemn occurrence), you realize that if you hadn't got caught up with your little band of miscreants with their funny ways and appalling fashion sense you might have never been able to capture Lady Wands' attention so directly.

The gatherings are like swimming with sharks. The merchant nobility of Waterdeep combine the shrewd business-sense of a caravan master along with the power-brokering of the titled. These are not parties for the faint of heart, or pocketbook. As very impoverished minor nobility, Evelyn is at a disadvantage. You've backed no business venture of you own, nor have your parents (not for decades, at least), nor do you have investments in a guild, or own any businesses of you own, but you've kept your ears open in the marketplaces and can speak about stores and trade routes and goods with a degree of certainty. And as for the social scene? You've been keeping track of that since you had ears.

Wardrobe is a little trickier. Granted, it's Marpenoth, and Madam Silverleaf has a new gown for you (fine midnight-blue wool plush, deceptively simple with expert and very flattering tailoring, easy to wear with most choices from your jewel chest), but with as many invitations as you've been fielding, you've had to be creative. Madam Silverleaf's creations can be taken apart and put together with her other things she's made for you, letting Molly expand your wardrobe to the eye without putting a single new thing in your closet. And there's always the silver armor dress to make a statement.

It's when wearing that during a reception at the Guildhall for the Guild of Glassblowers, Glazier and Speculum-Makers (mirrors) for the advancement of Brella Talmost from Prentice to Master that this comes to a head. Someone inevitably asks you where you got the dress. Social conventions prohibit you from saying you got it as a guilt-offering from the Markovian family when you were instrumental in killing the possessed son of the house. Well, they prevent YOU from saying it, but being as the Markovian family has suffered a Scandal, other people can say it first, and then you can elaborate on your Dramatic Rescue and how the dress came into your possession.

"And you caught Wands' attention at that Higharvestide tiff, oh! Such quality! I heard you were presented with some, what, of the help that stepped in to aid you?"

[The DM wanted to know what Evelyn would say about the De Mers and the Origamis – after talking with Evelyn’s player, essentially Evelyn said they were “concerned citizens” she was happy to “assist in making the city a better place.”  Her society friends found this very amusing.]

There also a new wrinkle in your social rounds. More often than not in the past, you interacted with those of your own generation, with occasional polite conversations of their elders who were sponsoring the gatherings. But now the median age of these gatherings you've been attending has risen, and with it, the topics of conversation. Here the political and monetary maneuvering is more intense, the scrutiny more jaded, and the stakes are ever so much higher. It's the kind of circles you've been aiming for. But maybe not one you've been preparing for. Because a fruitful topic of the merchant nobility of Waterdeep is money, something you mostly have a vague acquaintance with.

But it has become clear to you that at some point you are going to have to take steps into the world of business in order to snare the biggest fish that you want. Of course you'd prefer the details to be handled by a competent underling, once you can hire an underling, but something will have to be done in at least a minor capacity now. The obvious choice is to open a shop, though that's terribly tedious. One could invest in a caravan trading venture, perhaps, and hope your shrewd sense of fine goods would let you pick a profitable one. You could sponsor a fighter or racer on the Fields of Triumph (a large, open-air arena) and hope that they win, eventually building up a stable of winners. You could sponsor an upcoming bard or magician, covering certain expenses (room, board, practice space, help them in finding an audience or clients) now in exchange for a portion of their profits later. 

You could even sponsor one of the many adventurers or adventuring parties in the city, the ones that test themselves in Undermountain or perform various other mercenary services. (The plus to this is that you could "sponsor" them by finding out information for them, or goods, say, rather than in coin, for an exchange of some portion whatever they liberate in the course of their "adventure.") Or you could do anything else you imagine, as long as it lets you speak about business ventures with authority. Money speaks a language all its own, and your accent in that language is not, shall we say, native. 

But you can make it be so. You went from fine social butterfly to having a personal interview with Lady Wands herself in less than a month. Truly, there's nothing you can't do. 

[After speaking to Evelyn’s player, she came up with the following idea

A casual acquaintance of Evelyn Violette would know that there are some things you never see her doing.  For example, traipsing through the sewers, lying prone on the street, slumming in bad neighborhoods, and selling jewelry.  But Evelyn has done all of that and more (not necessarily voluntarily), as well as making friends in low places.  Aside from the street urchin, Kip, who she’s taken into her household, Evelyn has been making a point of returning to Sucker Street on a regular basis to become friendly acquaintances with Brother Sallis, the priest of Tymora who works in a shrine there.  Though he’s not terribly powerful, and certainly he’s in a bad neighborhood, Brother Sallis is both flattered by her attention and happy to talk about Lady Luck.  Certainly Evelyn knows she could use a little luck with what’s all been going on in her life.

However, selling jewelry is a new and somewhat unpleasant experience for Evelyn, but a necessary evil when a reputation (and more riches) are at stake.  You see, Evelyn has a plan to garner more of the wealth she needs to maintain her lifestyle in the manner to which she wants to become accustomed.  In trying to carefully move up the social ladder of Waterdeep, Evelyn knows she’s starting to hit a glass ceiling because she is not a merchant, and has very little money.  In the merchant nobility of Waterdeep, money talks.

Realizing that, Evelyn decided getting wealth is all about capitalizing on what one is good at, and Evelyn Violette is good at being fabulous.  And stylish.  And beautiful.  (And magical, that goes without saying, but since Evelyn doesn’t create magic items or anything in that vein, she’s not pursuing that route.)  Now, showing the world that they could be a quarter as fabulous as her?  And getting paid for it?  That’s the perfect way to get a start on her fortune.  In short, Evelyn wants to create a fashion broadsheet/catalogue and send it not only all over the city, but along major trade routes to other big and important cites – Silverymoon, Baldur’s Gate, Athkatla in Amn, and Calmiport in Calminshan, as well as further east in the Dalelands and around the Sea of Fallen Stars.

However, this ambition requires an outlay of gold to hire an artist to draw pictures of the fashions, a writer for captions, to have copies made, and for someone to distribute them.  Hence, Evelyn decided to sell several of her more recently-acquired jewels to get ready gold.  After converting several of the lovely things to coin, she first visited Madame Silverleaf, as her business would be prominently displayed as  _the _ place to go to get Evelyn’s fashions.  Madame is intrigued by Evelyn’s idea and figures it will either not hurt at best, or garner much more new business if it works.  Either way, she gives her blessing, as it won’t cost her a copper.

As for distributing the fashion catalogue far and wide, Evelyn already has someone in mind for that.  Though she doesn’t exactly get along with the Origamis perfectly, they already have extensive trade routes, and she trusts that such profit-loving people will at least be competent enough to get her catalogues to where she wants them to go.  A formal meeting with Garden nets her a reasonable price to send her catalogues out.

Next, Evelyn went to the House of Beauty, the temple of Sune, to find an artist.  She had heard Charissa describe the place as being inside her head, and had wanted to go there for a while.  After a lengthy and appreciative look around the place, enjoying the flowers, statues, paintings, murals, mosaics, music, and other forms of art, Evelyn asks and is directed towards one Lynn Havad, a young and aspiring artist.  Evelyn’s actually seen her a time or two, sketching at parties she’s attended, so she’s familiar with her work in a vague sort of way.

Lynn is decidedly interested in Evelyn’s proposal, both as a way to distribute her art across not just the city but across several countries, and as a way to make excellent money doing what she loves.  She’s also a calligrapher, and while she’s not the next great author, could certainly do some lovely captions on various portraits of gowns.  About half of Evelyn’s money from the sale of her jewelry will end up going to Lynn for creating the broadsheet and copying it, and the other half to the Origami clan for distribution and return of orders (if any) for her first attempt.  After that, she can negotiate anew, once she sees what the response will be.  

The upshot is, Evelyn drags Molly to the House of Beauty and gets to spend two days posing in all her best gowns.  This idea?  One of the best she’s ever had.  

Ever.

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*William *

Now that things have calmed down since Highharvestide, you've begun to be able to integrate all the things you've learned in your rather exciting few weeks with your odd new friends. You've seen the magic in use at the House of Wonder (the Temple of Mystra), seen cursed red coral, viewed the ancient legacy magic of a tomb of merry, wine-drinking knights, seen unusual golems and familiars unknown to most, and stopped a most foul fate from bringing down a noble house by using your magic to help them see the truth.

Really, it's been a rather exciting few weeks!

All of this together has made you ponder your career choices. Though maybe you'd thought about working with your uncle, or maybe taking a trading trip with your father, or just setting yourself up somewhere as a scholar, seeing everything you've had makes you consider a wider and more responsible career path. In speaking with your career advisor, Nelara Gayne, (a full month before graduation, no less!) she nods and taps her finger against a framed letter on her desk, one marked with a symbol of a white hand, fingers together, against a purple field).

"Have you considered the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors? From what you described to me [DM's note, as per your request, heavily edited] it seems like you might have the mindset for them. You've always been a good student, de Mer, and the Guild Wizards the Watchful Order trains are some of the most versatile in the world. They keep themselves out of heavy political crossfire, always to their credit, so no getting tangled up with nasty political backstabbing. They police other arcane casters, keeping us respected as solvers of problems, rather than creators of them. Some of them are contracted by the wealthy of the city to protect them from fires, you know, summoning water elementals and whatnot, a responsibility few others are willing to take on! And some aid those who are worried about being attacked by hostile workings of the Art. The last may be of most interest to you, considering what all you told me.

"Now, it's expensive to take their training, but worth every penny. If you think you'll be able to get together the money by the time you've reached the Sixth Tier of skill, I can get you an informal interview with an old classmate of mine. KuKaran Skullsplitter is her name - half-orc, as I'm sure you've guessed. And a rage mage to boot! She's in charge of knocking overenthusiastic spelldueller's head together on a regular basis. Suits her to the ground, though probably not quite your cup of tea. But she can get you in to speak with someone of a less... bloodthirsty persuasion."

In a couple of days, you find yourself in the workroom of one Mage Skullsplitter, sharing tea that tastes like it wants to fight its way up from your stomach and get into a punching match with your tongue. KuKaran is a massive half-orc woman, heavily tattooed and scarred, so heavily tattooed that you realize in short order that her spellbook is inked into her very skin! Her weasel familiar watches you with its mad little beady eyes as you drink, only backing down when KuKaren lifts him onto her shoulder so he can disappear into the fur ruff along her collar.

"Nelara tells me you'll be one of the brightest things to graduate from the Academy in an age. So, what's your interest in the Order?"

Assuming you say you want to use your magic to make a difference (or something along those lines), KuKaran smiles, showing tusks capped in ruby. "Not a bad place to start. It can be tedious at times - you wait and wait and then suddenly you're fighting a summon-happy drunk wizard who decides fire elementals are pretty and everyone wants to hug one." She shudders a little. "Bad night, that one. Or if you realize the rich visitor in town is using charm spells on everyone he meets, that's something you have to deal with. We don't work with the Watch. We're independent. People can contract us for certain things, but we also have our own discretion. The first rule you'll be taught is 'The Art is to be Respected.' You don't want people running screaming from magicians."

"KuKaran does, but then, that's her thing," a new voice adds. Twisting around, you see a fair-haired elf come in the back of the room and join you at the table. Wisely, he does not pour himself a cup of tea. His familiar, a tiny hawk not much bigger than a hand, grips into the padded fabric of his shoulder. His green eyes are huge and ancient as any elf you've seen, but curving blue scars mar his forehead in two places.

KuKaran grins, unabashed. "De Mer, this is Lutharian Tashalorial, Guild Wizard of the Order." The elf gives her a mocking bow and turns back to you.

"She's right though, about respecting the Art. That's the heart of the Order. They expect dedication from any who join, and if you aspire to be a Guild Wizard, they expect more. They'll find tasks for you to do, often dangerous ones, and all your time will not be your own. You'll be expected to join in quests, craft items, join in ritual magic, and do independent spell research... though if what KuKaran told me about you is true, you'll hardly find that a hardship." Lutharian smiles slightly and pulls out a thin book from his enormous sleeves, and plucks a pen from the same.

"Now, young de Mer, let us see what you're made of..."

William, he will question you thoroughly:

"What branches of magic are you interested in? What magic have you seen in action? What kinds of magic are you interested in learning?"

"Do you have a familiar? If so, what?"

"If you discovered a stranger casting compulsion spells, what would you do? A friend casting the same? In what circumstances would such magic be allowed, in your eyes?"

"Are you interested in magical crafting? What sorts of items? Do you have any ideas for new items?"

"If a rogue mage was casting fireballs in the Market Square, what would you do?"

"You're asked to drop what you're doing for a tenday's quest into a corner of Undermountain to contain a lichnee [he will explain this is a proto-lich]. You have a hour to prepare. What would you bring? Your companions are a priest of Lathander, a paladin of Kelemvor, and a professional dungeon delver. What spells would you prepare and why?"

"Name your five favorite spells, even those you cannot yet cast."

"Who is your favorite magician? Living or dead, human or not, and why does he, she, or it capture your admiration?" 

[The below is William’s player’s response.]

William will of course already have his omnipresent notebook and pen out, and will flip through it occasionally as the questions continue.

1. I am still interested in all branches of magic...especially those that can control my environment or the field of battle.

2. I have had the opportunity to see magic from every branch of magic, from interactive illusions to the rampant magic present in the temple of Mystara.

3. I am interested in learning all that I can. I never know when a spell might come in handy, especially used in an unusual way.

4. I will have a familiar once I have grown sufficiently in magical strength. It is a construct given to me as payment for a favor.

5. If I saw someone casting compulsion, regardless of whether it was stranger or friend, the situation would determine my response. However, I would be more inclined to believe foul play than fair with that particular spell. I can't think of many situations where compulsion would be acceptable-preventing someone from committing suicide maybe?

6. Magical crafting is fascinating...occasionally my family will come across a magical antique. The creativity and skill involved is fascinating and admirable. I don't know how much time or effort I am willing to expend on that skill set yet, but I have done some papers on how one could modify the Book of Twin spell to create small sets of instant written communication devices. I am still developing and patenting the design. Looking at the pen in his hand, he will also say he's played with an indestructible pen with an inexhaustible supply of ink.

7. My first instinct would be to put him to sleep, or otherwise incapacitate them immediately.

8. That sounds like a good team to battle any sort of undead, so I would focus on spells to bolster my companions, like  _mage armor _, and those that could make the lichnee vulnerable, like  _grease _. I would try to pick offensive spells that could also be used on the other creatures in the area, since I doubt the creature will be alone.

9.  _Flare, Prismatic wall _ and  _wall of sound _, virtually all the  _orb _ spells. And one of the most all-purpose spells,  _detect magic _. I have learned so much seeing how and where spells are used.

10. I am not trying to cater to my alma mater when I say that I admire the founder of Eltorchul Academy (player can't remember his name). The pursuit, accumulation, and dissemination of knowledge is one of the most worthy occupations in my opinion, and the Academy is a grand legacy.

[DM’s response]

Lutharian seems be to very pleased with those responses.  “Well said, young de Mer.  I think you might do very well at the Order, very well indeed.  If you can spare the time from your studies, I think we can see about getting you in as a scribe from time to time, just to get your feet wet.  You can look through the chronicles as well as the more current duty reports and get a feel for things behind the scenes.  I think that will give you the best idea of what we’re all about.”


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Apr 27, 2013)

*Session 13*

When we last left our intrepid heroes, they’d had tied up many of the conspirators to ruin the Wands family in one way or another. The party has had almost a month and a half of people not killing them or having to figure out why that might be so. That doesn’t mean they’ve been idle, oh no. Each of the group has been pursuing their own agendas, improving their skills, making new connections, or making new things.

Shandri, amongst other things, had formed the Urchin Postal Service (UPS). A life-long resident of Dock Ward, Shandri knew that there were hundreds of orphaned or semi-abandoned children that scraped out a living on Waterdeep’s streets. Having seen Evelyn’s success with Kip, and knowing that having a good messenger in a pinch could be crucial, she decided to do something about that. She bought many sets of solidly-made brown clothing (on the grounds that it showed stains less) and began to make contact with the various urchin gangs. In exchange for new clothing, learning how to swim at the temple of Istishia, and having the backing of herself (and sometimes her cousin), Shandri would find the urchins work that paid real money. For the duty of carrying verbal or written messages (or small packages) they could earn more money for better food, or a place to sleep safely, than they ever could begging or stealing.

(More on what the others were doing during the rest of Marponeth and the month of Uktar was in the previous post.)

But now Uktar was over and the Feast of the Moon descended over Waterdeep. It was a winter holiday where people gathered to tell stories and legends of their ancestors and the gods, to where it was hard to say where one ended and the other began. Theatrical productions, street theater, and miracle plays would abound. Tables would be set up in the streets, and people would tell tales all through the night as they feasted.

One of Charissa’s projects during her time off was to officially revive the Order of the Vine. She didn’t have the money to start a whole new guild from the ground up, but she could try to attach it to another guild. The Vintners, Brewers and Distillers Guild, to be precise. Calling on all other members of the Order (Garden, William and Shandri), Charissa said she’d gotten a trial run of sorts for the Order. Master Brewer Rumlar Stonehead had invited them to the Guild’s Feast of the Moon, adding to the festivities with the occasional song or drinking game, as well as keeping any mayhem down to a minimum. If the Order did well, Master Stonehead would consider passing a hat for them, perhaps even sponsoring them in the Guild –giving them steady jobs and the occasional help with larger projects, as well as being under Guild protection. But this time they’d work for free.

Calling that fair, as while Master Stonehead remembered the old Order, but didn’t know Charissa at all, the group put on new purple sashes and went to the party. (And if you’re wondering at this point where Evelyn and Steven are, Evelyn had sent a message that she had the dragon flu, and required Steven to stay home to aid in her recovery. At least that’s what she _said_.) 
Several Guilds up and down the street had put up outdoor tables, and colorful bunting hung from many of the buildings. The new Order of the Vine did very well –Having used Grapes of Wrath’s stored knowledge to sing songs, play games, and test apprentices’ knowledge of obscure beverages, as well as rendering sober the occasional overly-belligerent guest. 

Things were going so well, in fact, that the party only really looked up from their duties when they heard roaring and screaming coming from up the street. They saw a different Guild feast further up the block, and in the midst of the surging panicking crowd was a wemic, his mane aflame yet causing him no harm, laying about with his fists, bowling people aside, roaring, “Where are they? Where are they?” It was Sir Firemane, the wemic paladin of Nobanion the group had rescued from the sewers two months ago, and he was drunk as a lord, and fighting mad!

The Order of the Vine swung into action – Garden literally, by climbing up on a balcony and swinging down over the crowd on a length of bunting. Unfortunately Sir Firemane still had excellent aim, and battled Garden down. A single member of the Watch present, a Halfling armed with a truncheon and frightened expression, was also batted away, even as Charissa and Shandri moved in. Charissa tried to hit him with Grapes of Wrath sobering head to clear his mind, but missed, while Garden tried to stab him in the paw (the closest portion of anatomy to where he was, sprawled on the ground) with sleep poison. Alas it did not work. Shandri tried to give him the blessings of Istishia (i.e. create water) to quench the flames and his temper, while William tried to daze him with magic.

The group managed to keep his attention on them, taking a few bone-shaking blows for their trouble, and got the rest of the people out of the line of fire. Eventually one of Charissa’s blows connected and Sir Firemane was rendered instantly sober. He was appalled at his own behavior, and grateful for the group’s intervention before he did something entirely unforgiveable. He gave the Halfling Watch officer his entire belt pouch to pay for his fines (the poor lad nearly fainted again), and told the party he had to speak to them urgently and ask of them a favor.
William piped up with why had Sir Firemane’s hair been burning, and he said it was blessing of Nobanion to his paladins.

That dealt with, Sir Firemane said he’d spent two months looking for the pilgrims he’d been guiding from the Shaar – Darin Kellen, Havar Gethain, and Bescar Jorim; the fourth, Oram Vitch, had been the one who’d died of the same coral curse which had nearly killed Sir Firemane. The other three had gone missing while Firemane had been ill, and he’d frantically been trying to find them this entire time. He’d found but a single clue – he’d seen a carved ivory bracelet that Darin had made himself during the thousand-mile journey to Waterdeep decorating a carved candle in the store window of a shop. Unfortunately Rest’s Chandler, owned by Bertram Rest, was a very tiny shop, and Sir Fireman couldn’t even fit inside. He’d hoped to catch Bertram during the Feast, but he apparently hadn’t attended, and Sir Firemane had become rather despondent. 

Nobanion’s faithful were known for their bravery in the face of fighting great evil, not for the subtlety or investigative prowess, and Sir Firemane had been beyond the end of his rope. He drank half a tavern in his despair and then… Well. The party had seen the rest. He felt awful about what he’d done once the party had brought him to his senses.

The party pressed him for details, saying perhaps they could help. Sir Firemane said all four men were from the Shaar, and Bescar was from a noble house. His family was actually very wealthy. All four were theology scholars, and had embarked upon the epic journey to Waterdeep to study the differences in regional worship of the gods as they traveled. They’d meant to catch a ship to Maztica to study the gods there and how the related to Faerûnian gods.

Sir Firemane gave the group good descriptions of the three men (as well as their scent descriptions… which was interesting but not particularly relevant to anyone in the party), and said he would be eternally grateful if the party could find them. Firemane was a good hunter and mighty warrior, but he couldn’t investigate in a city. He told the group he was staying in a warehouse in the Dock Ward, and would retreat there so he could easily be found when the group needed him… and so he could pray to Nobanion about how to atone for his unworthy actions.

The group went to the chandler the next day, finding it to be as small as advertised, barely the width of the spread of a human’s arms. (Shandri looked snooty and mildly disdainful in the presence of so much fire the entire time there, out of religious principle.) The proprietor Bertram was a cheerful, elderly man with a short beard, and he was happy to talk. The group had noticed the bracelet in question, sank into a beautifully carved candle as part of its decoration. Many candles in the shop, including that one, were somewhat magical. William realized Bertram was a Candle Caster, a Chandler Mage, someone who could put magic into candles the way others did into scrolls or potions, and have them release the magic when burned. 

Asked about the bracelet, Bertram said it was sold to him in exchange for many plain candles, and described and named Darin, the bracelet’s owner, as the seller. Darin had been in the company of a woman, a redhead with blue eyes, very beautiful. Bertram made a few evocative gestures when describing the woman’s charms, and Charissa bit the bullet and supplied, “She had huge tracks of land?”

“A vast estate,” Bertram confirmed.

That description actually rang a bell with both Charissa and Shandri – there was a woman called Lilah who worked at the Busty Wench tavern that fitted who they were looking for. Shandri had seen her around the docks, and Liliah had once bought some knives from Charissa for self-protection. It was decided, due to William’s… sensitivity, that Charissa and Garden would go to the tavern to talk to Lilah.

(There was a second reason the Origamis didn’t want the de Mers around, other than the fact that the Busty Wench was one education William was better off not having and Shadri would have a harder time manufacturing an excuse to go there. Garden had been establishing a disguised persona in an Origami clan operated shop called The Marlith. Wearing a false beard, eyepatch, scar makeup, and the artfully stressed clothes of a working artisan, he didn’t want the others to know about “old Granther,” the aged gnome salesman of unusual but highly respectable weaponry. Charissa knew about the disguise, because Charissa had gone into that very shop to buy some shurikens (Tymora’s chosen weapon; she chooses to honor various gods by bearing their favored weapons) and had seen through the disguise. Alas, she’s his sister. Invoking her special talent of willful ignorance, she had asked no questions, and he’d told her no lies.)

So, that evening “old Granther” and Charissa went to the Busty Wench tavern. The sign was in relief, naturally.

Inside, they spotted Lilah attending to a customer on the far side of the room. Charissa went to talk to her, ostensibly about the knives she’s purchased, while Garden was showing the ladies some drawings of concealable weapons from the Marlith. Like war fans. And bodice daggers. The ladies found that delightful, particularly when he described the colors available. So he took their orders while they fussed over him (and at his height, with them bending over, Garden got many excellent views). Order-taking involved some close measurements, and ribald joking if there were enough string to measure, or steel to make a bodice dagger for some of the more bounteously blessed of the staff.

With that distraction going on, Charissa was able to talk with Liah, who said Darin had sold the bracelet at her mildly exasperated insistence, as he’d run up a bit of a bill. (Studying the rites of Sharess’ faithful can be costly.) And he’d not only owed her, but Carla. The candles had been for her, as that was one of her specialties, hot wax. The pilgrims had wanted to talk with her, and Lilah hadn’t seen them in days. 

Thanking Lilah, Charissa went to talk to Carla, who was dressed in leather (and was, upon asking, a worshipper of Loviatar). Carla said her time was money, regardless of what was done with it. Charissa put down coins periodically throughout their conversation. Upon hearing what Charissa wanted to know, Carla said the young men in question had wanted to talk to her about her worship, and had simply paid for her to talk (which amused her greatly). After listening to what she’d said, they asked if she knew about any other obscure religions in the city.
Carla told them there was an old temple down below the Warrens (a subterranean Halfling and gnome community below Dock Ward), now called the Temple of the Darkening Dawn. Apparently it was an offshoot of Lathander’s worship. They’d all gone there on the Feast of the Moon.

Thanking Carla, and finally extracting her brother before he’d smothered, Charissa returned to the Ship’s Lantern inn (where the de Mers were waiting) and let them know what they’d learned. With a young noble running around and an unknown temple uncovered, they all thought that Evelyn and Steven might be interesting in going along…

-------

Evelyn didn’t go the Order of the Vine’s revival on the Feast of the Moon, partly because she wasn’t a member of the Order, partly because she preferred being served at such parties instead of doing the entertaining herself, and partly because her (and by extension, Steven) had a better invitation. So she told them she had dragon flu.

The invitation was from Raxmathlinda, the song dragon. Dressed in their best and then cloaked to hide it, Raxmathlinda told them that the Dragonward that protected the city from dragons untouched by Maaril the Dragon Mage’s _dragonstaff_ did not quite cover the entire city. And there were a few places where dragons could technically be in city grounds without being hit with the Dragonward’s _aversion_. She led them to what appeared to be a small, ramshackle hut. Knocking, they were admitted by a pale-skinned, blue-eyed man with nearly white hair, seeming only a handful of years older than they. It was cool inside the house, which seemed not only to be bigger on the inside, but infinitely finger, appointed like a fine manor house. 

Their host greeted them warmly (which was ironic for reasons they soon learned) and took them to a fine chamber below, carved out of rock, draped with curtains of many colors, a roaring fireplace in one wall, and a large table in the middle, laden with food and drink. Four other people were already ranged about it: a woman from Kara-Tur, dressed in the brightly-colored, many layered silk kimonos of her people, a moon elf with very green eyes, a Halfling woman with blonde hair, dressed in copper cloth, and a red-haired dwarf in leather, bearing a surly expression. They were, respectively, a lung wang (Wu Yen), an emerald (Zotu), a gold (Micallbrecath), and a red dragon (Jukuminno). Their host was a white dragon (Karaxmegathron). This was the Waterdeep Council of Wyrms. Though their philosophies differed, sometimes extremely, they were united by the bonds of dragonhood… and their vague distrust and disgust with the Dragon Mage.

Everyone feasted, and in between bites, the Council questioned Evelyn and Steven about their goals. From the line of their questioning, they seemed to be reasonably pleased that Evelyn (and Steven by extension) was aiming high, to be an influential power in the city. Because at least half the Council couldn’t enter the city, either from a desire to not let their presence be known to Maaril, or his own refusal to allow them entrance, they spoke several times of possibly getting the _dragonstaff_ into someone else’s hands someday. Dragons have patience, but the Violettes had both dragon blood and the drive and ambition that came from a shorter lifespan. 

(It was during this time the Violettes learned a few interesting stray facts. Jukuminno was a red dragon, but he had a crimson drake companion… the same crimson drake that had blown up Melvin Mask’s shop and had stung Steven. Jukuminno said, “When Vexen decided to take a side job, I was the one that ended up getting kicked out with him.” He had the crimson drake, Vexen, in a small cage, and kicked it periodically. He was very put out with Vexen. He was very put out by everything and everyone, though that seemed to be par for the course. None of the other dragons seemed terribly sympathetic towards the drake either.

Wu Yen’s name sounded quite familiar, because it was she who was the paper golem maker! She brought out two of her samurai-folded paper golems for their amusement, showing the sharpness of their seemingly insubstantial blades, and spent some time talking with Evelyn about the fashions of her home. She carried a companion with her, a paper drake, what looked like nothing so much as a folded paper dragon. But he was a living creature, not a construct. Princess (Evelyn’s cat familiar) was fascinated by him, to the point where Wu Yen had him fold up and tucked him in a fold of her kimono to stave off trouble. (Literally fold up; it’s one of their tricks.) She called him “Rex” at one point, but for dragons that’s the equivalent of “baby,” and likely not his real name.)

Eventually the Council got down to the meat of the meeting. The Dragon Mage could be a tricky and sometimes arbitrary person, and often demanded shares of a dragon’s hoard to admit him or her into the city. It was likely, Karaxmegathron told the Violettes, that part of their current relative poverty was because their parents likely paid Maaril something to reside in Waterdeep. That was not family history as the Violettes had learned it, but it was an interesting theory. The Council wanted their kind to be able to have a somewhat freer approach in the city, being able to interact with people without having to go through Maaril. 

In short, they wanted some of their own inside the city, but without the magical monitoring upon them that any _dragonstaff_-touched dragon would have. They hoped that a full-blooded dragon, born within the Dragonward, might be able to bypass the ward. They’d been studying it and this was a good, solid theory. They weren’t looking for wholesale revolution of the city, just to not have every action seen by a man they did not trust. 
It seemed the Council had come into possession of a dragon egg (the same dragon egg, as a matter of fact, that they saw rolling around the floor, on fire, in the Golden Mermaid tavern the night they tried to get answers out of Melvin Mask). They had a place just inside the ward where it could be born, but there were a few inhabitants that needed to be evicted, either by persuasion or by force. As a test of resourcefulness, the Council would give the job to the Violettes. Intrigued, they accepted.

There was a door just at the edge of the Dragonward, and through that door was a _portal_ to somewhere else in Waterdeep. Stepping through, the Violettes found themselves in a corridor, with three rooms at the end of it. One was sealed with an amber-colored resin. One was steel, with a huge elaborate lock in the shape of a demon’s mouth that needed a huge key. The third was strung with beads and admitted not a sound. Magic abounded on the amber door, and through the beaded curtain, though no one heard anything.

Steven decided to open the amber door first, and after putting his back into it, finally broke the seal. Inside was a throne of carved wood, and upon it was a golden women, sprawled slightly as if she’d been tossed there. She wore an antique golden dress, carried a huge key about her neck, and a slim glowing crown upon her head. Her hair, eyes, even her teeth were golden, and her flesh glowed with the same hue. Flanking her, kneeling, were two bronze-skinned men in bronze leather armor, strangely cut so the collar hid their mouths, both carrying two long daggers.
Slowly the woman came away, and blinked at them in some fear.

“Are the Kregar coming? Are we safe?”

A thorough flogging of Evelyn’s memories later, and questioning the golden woman (who thought it was the Year of the Flower Unfolding), she realized who this might be. There was a tiny principality near Waterdeep known as the Golden Kingdom, some five hundred years ago. They had been attacked by a rival kingdom, the fierce Kregars, and destroyed. Their last ruler, the Golden Queen, had vanished before she could be killed. It was said the people of the Golden Kingdom infused their very flesh with substances from other planes, though it hadn’t availed them against the Kregar.

The Queen was greatly saddened when she realized her court wizard, Sarras, had managed to save her, but no more than that. She asked if the Violettes would see what had become of him, because he had had much dangerous magic, and if any of it escaped… She would abide here for the nonce, that she not lose her life after he’d done so much to save it, but offered the help of Challa, one of her bodyguards, in case of trouble. She also gave the Violettes the key to Sarras’ laboratory (the one with the iron door).

Going across the way, and using the huge key, the iron door swung open to reveal a wizard’s workroom, exploded so fiercely that almost nothing had survived. A skeleton, little more than blackened bones, was in the middle of the destruction. Steven knelt down to give the old wizard a blessing of Mystra, when the bones moved. They reached out very slowly as a raspy voice echoed through the skull, “Will you protect her?”

“I will,” Steven said. And with that, he offered his hand to the skeleton. Its bony fingers circled his wrist, and he felt a flash of heat. His scales there were now golden where the fingers had touched, and he immediately knew exactly where the Golden Queen was, and what she was feeling. With a sigh, the bones crumbled to powder.

Muttering to himself about how in the world did he get into these situations, Steven helped Evelyn search the room, and they turned up three scrolls with golden writing, with strange magical spells upon them. They went back to the Golden Queen and told her of Sarras’ fate, that he’d taken it upon himself to make sure no harmful magic survived him. She asked the Violettes to make certain the throne room had been either destroyed or neutralized, because there had been things there too that might cause this new world trouble.

The throne room was beyond the beads, and in looking through them, they saw something odd. Or rather heard something. Or rather, didn’t hear something. Even though the beads did not register as magic, they were apparently keeping all sound out, because they caught a glimpse of two arguing drow, and a dangerous-looking snail with many mace-like heads, a huge shimmering shell, all the size of a horse, but not a sound could be heard. Steven, Evelyn, and Challa pushed into the room, and now sound became clear. The drow argued in a language none of them spoke, turned to see their intruders, and fired upon them.

The battle was joined, Steven charging at once to eviscerate one drow, while the flail snail charged (slowly, it’s a snail) Challa and Evelyn. Evelyn used _Margul_ (the dreaded freeze) to hold one drow while Steven attacked, while Challa went after the flail snail. He nearly had his skull caved in after he got but a single hit, and the flail snail bashed him in retaliation. Evelyn fled ahead of the slow charge and kept pausing to fire off more spells of _Margul_, but quickly learned the terrible power of the beautiful shell on the flail snail’s back. Three times her spell either fizzled out or nearly rebounded upon her. Steven finished off the second drow, ran to heal Challa enough that he could rise, and both chased after the flail snail as it tried to corner Evelyn.
Nearly out of spells, Evelyn downed a potion of _true strike_ and stabbed it with her silver dagger, even as Steven and Challa flanked it. Challa hurt it a little, then took another blow that laid him out again, and it was up to Steven to finish off the flail snail, stabbing it deeply. The body of the nail dissolved into slime, leaving the magnificent shell. The throne room itself was empty, its contents long-since destroyed, with only a small natural cave entrance (where the drow and flail snail had come from) its only other egress.

Evelyn used a potion of healing to bring Challa out of unconsciousness, and then they returned to guide the Golden Queen to safety. She carried a small chest with her, and emerged from the Portal in the Council of Wyrms with as much dignity as royalty five hundred years out of her time could. There was a bit of a debate as to where she could go, as Steven wanted to bring her to the temple of Mystra, but did not want to tell the Magister exactly where he’d found her, as that would reveal the Council. The Golden Queen said Steve could say he found her in the streets (once she went and got herself lost there) so it wouldn’t be a lie.

While this was going on, Evelyn had realized how valuable that flail snail shell was (thousands), and wanted to use that to invest in silk from Wu Yen’s homeland. Her brother would also use his share, so they could share in the profits. Having silk brought to Waterdeep had the potential to make them all at least well-off, if not wealthy, if they managed things right. Thusly agreed, Wu Yen said she’d send them a message soon.

With all plots in place, eventually the Violettes and the Golden Queen arrived at the temple of Mystra to join in their Feast of the Moon, much to their amazement… and the wonder of the Magister in what star had Steven been born under for crazy things like this to keep happening to him…


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Apr 27, 2013)

*Session 14*

When we last left our intrepid heroes, the Order of the Vine (Charissa, Garden, William, and Shandri) had begun to be reestablished.  In the course of that, had found Sir Firemane, the wemic paladin, and had decided to help him find his missing charges.  Meanwhile, the Violettes had met some dragons and awakened an ancient queen.

Being as the finding the Temple of the Darkening Dawn, where Sir Firemane’s people might be, could involve both intrigue and violence, Shandri sent verbal messages via Urchin Postal Service to both Evelyn and Steven, asking for their help.  Knowing her audience, the urchin that went to Evelyn at her home said, “The others say there’s a rich nobleman who needs rescued.”  Evelyn was immediately interested, and said she’d come.  Steve’s messenger came to him at the Temple of Mystra, and said, “The people Sir Firemane was looking for might be trapped and needing rescue.”

With gold fever, desire for noble favor, fellow paladin feeling, and the obligation to see no creature in chains, the Violettes joined the group at the Empty Grave (naturally), so everyone could be brought up to speed.  During the discussion, whereupon it was revealed that the temple was said to be below the Warrens, the halfling/gnome district under Dock Ward, Garden said he’d go scout ahead.  For the rest of the group, they pooled their knowledge to figure out even if the Warrens were usually not sized for big folk, there were several “tall paths” for large cargo and taller visitors.  Also, the name of the temple, the Darkening Dawn, sounded like some variation of Lathander’s faith, but was probably a cult.  The Dawnlord would never condone a temple built below ground.  

Garden descended into the Warren, and found, entirely by coincidence, someone he knew.  It was Beak (Calla Break Snorpthangle the 32nd and a half), a high-ranking member of the Origami clan in town for business.  Beak said she hadn’t heard anything about the Temple of the Darkening Dawn herself, but she could send Garden to someone who lived below the Warrens, in a place where the rock walls came together close, known as the Blade.  She said his name was Rich, an assumed name, but no one could pronounce his real one.  He was an octopus (truly), an octopus sorcerer as a matter of fact.  He’d been _awakened_ by a druid’s spell some time ago, and was shunned by those who lived in the harbor.  As he was very small and prone to being eaten by sharks, Rich now lived in the Blade, inside his water elemental familiar.  

Thoroughly amused, Garden went to talk to this oddity.  Rich could not speak any language Garden could understand, so instead invoked a spell of light in the dim Blade and wrote his answers on the wall in his own ink.  The Temple of the Darkening Dawn had a holy symbol much like that of Lathander, except in grayscale.  But the most interesting thing about the Temple was that supposedly the god was manifest there, which was why it had been gathering more support recently.

A bit perturbed, Garden returned to the group and relayed this information as they prepared to travel below the Blade.  Charissa felt right at home traversing the Warrens, but occasionally the others had their heads introduced to skywalks, balconies, or were occasionally literally clotheslined.  Eventually they neared the Blade, but as the area below was not well lit, if at all, so they paused to purchase illumination at Lifty’s Nifty Lights (run by a gnome, of course).  She was able to dig out a nearly-dead ioun stone with a _light_ spell on it for Charissa, an _everburning torch_ for the party, and a couple of lanterns.  The group came up a little short on cash, so Steven offered up a corsage made of dried bats (he’d taken it from a drow he’d killed, along with the stylish blue-sheened boots he was currently sporting).  Lifty was thrilled at such a unique find, and took it, cooing over it a little unsettlingly.

Thusly illuminated, the party ventured downward, eventually finding some of the grayscale holy symbols painted on the walls.  They used them as guides as they followed the twists and turns to a set of guarded double doors.  After fumbling a bit to the guards’ questions, the group managed to say they wished for a new beginning, and were admitted.  The underground temple was large and old, older than this new church.  Several worshippers, robed in gray, sat the in pews.  

But what caught the group’s attention was the purple ball of flame, big as two people put together, hovering above the altar.  The high priest knelt before the altar, several acolytes off to one side.  As the group watched, several worshippers petitioned the god.  One was being punished for “failing the faith,” and writhed in pain as a beam of gray energy emanated from the god and struck him.  The priest praised the man’s acceptance that he was willing to endure punishment and begin anew.  Another sacrificed a coffer (presumably full of valuables) and named a name of someone who had wronged him.  The god spoke in a booming voice, saying to bring this unbeliever to him that he might see the faithful’s new god, as a reward for diligence and piety.

This struck most of the party as at least sketchy, if not some elaborate con, though William could see the “god” was very magical indeed.  Looking about, the group spotted the three Shaaran men they’d been looking for.  Garden decided to pretend one of them was his uncle, and threw himself at them with a cry of welcome.  This disrupted the service, and both the high priest and the god questioned the party, asking how dare they interrupt their service with their rudeness.  The god then invoked a spell upon Garden (he was playing the whining nephew to the hilt) and Garden suddenly realized that the priest was entirely worthy of respect and he was being unconscionably rude in church.  (William realized he’d been _charmed_.)  

But as the priest was staring daggers at them (and the guards _and_ most of the rest of the worshippers) the group decided it would be a great time to leave.  Well, Evelyn did, and nearly dragged the rest of the party out by the hair.  Once out of the temple and the immediate range of any listeners, the group told them Sir Firemane had sent them, and asked them what they’d been doing since they’d been “missing.”  

The three men felt terrible that they’d caused their protector so much distress, but they’d thought he’d been killed.  You see, in their travels, they’d once offended some priests of Talona (the goddess of disease and poison) by healing and succoring plague victims.  That had been some distance from Waterdeep, but the church had cursed them, and servants the church had been after them.  When Oram and Sir Firemane had been attacked and fallen to the red coral curse (truly, the three remaining men thought they had died), the remaining Shaarans hoped to find a way to lift the curse and pursuit from them with their knowledge of the gods.  Without money to pay for a miracle, and wary of involving the larger churches in this feud (sparking a holy war, very bad idea) they sought another way to lift the curse.

This new and manifest god had some promise, though he was a harsh and unbending deity.  But the news that Sir Firemane, at least, was alive, was cause for much rejoicing.  Quickly retreating from the Warrens, the Shaarans were happily reunited.  Sir Firemane said he was profoundly grateful, and as long as he was in the city, the group could call upon him if any evil needed to be vanquished.

Wanting to do something about the Darkening Dawn, Steven and the group called upon the temple of Lathander.  After speaking with some of the priests there, they said that there were some apocryphal texts of the church that spoke of Lathander’s brother, the god of dark dawns, the dawns of stormy or rainy days.  But although the rituals of the group described were not unheard of for some very strict religions, the Lathanders agreed to look into the manner…


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## Azkorra (Apr 28, 2013)

It has been quite a while since your last post - great to see back on the boards! I like that your campaign rather tends to focus on investigation than on combat. Also, you have already introduced a large number of interesting NPCs the players can socially interact with, which really keeps the campaign from getting one-dimensional and provides for nice reading. Keep up with it!


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Jun 6, 2013)

*Session 15*

Whew!  Ok, sorry for the long hiatus guys - the husband and I were on vacation for a while.  Onward!

When we last left our intrepid heroes, they had just talked to the Temple of Lathander (god of dawn, athletics, and youth) about the Temple of the Darkening Dawn, ruled by (so they thought) a corrupt priest or con man along with… some kind of illusion? Magic item? Guy in a glowing rubber suit? At any rate, with some kind of talking fireball.  The temple seemed to be cruel and collecting money under false or at least very shady pretenses.  The priest they spoke to said he would send three clerics to see if this “god” was a true manifestation of divinity or if this was simple a nest of self-deluded fools.  They would leave in the dawn, naturally.

The group got a spot of rest (Evelyn just stayed up all night, because she was used to staying up until the most fashionable of hours) and showed up at the entrance to the Warrens the next morning to escort the three priests, Brothers Darvin, Dorn, and Randal.  Garden showed up dressed to the nines in his purple Order of the Vine suit and sash, looking as far from the whiney “nephew” he had portrayed the previous day.  He got ahead of the group to do a touch of scouting.

Once in the Blade, he earned the distinctive wet sounds of Rich, the octopus sorcerer who resided inside his water elemental familiar.  Turning towards them and asking what they’d heard, Rich wrote that there had been a bit of a hullaballoo the night before in the general area of the Darkening Dawn.  He also asked for a drink, as the hullaballoo had been rather distressing.  Garden pulled out a flask of wine and poured it into the water elemental, who turned purple.

“Exxxxxxxxcellent,” Rich wrote, a wee bit unsteady, and sloshed off, out of the way of impending trouble.  Garden luckily found no further trouble, and the group caught up with him near the Temple.  

As a point, as Lathander is a patron of athletes, all three of the priests were in quite good shape.  And good-looking.  Evelyn immediately started chatting up the loveliest of the three, because she likes pretty things, while Steven glared.

The door to the Temple was barred from the outside, and Evelyn and William could detect a bit of magic through the cracks.  The priests removed the bar and flung the doors open.  The Temple was deserted, aside from a glowing ball of blue flame hovering above the altar.  (Though the group had seen a ball of _purple_ flame there during the service yesterday.)  The group advanced warily, as the thing was quite magical, when suddenly it broke apart in a dozen wiggling lines of light!  

The things rushed the party, some of them emanating a magical fear that Steve’s stalwart courage and refusal to give in to being controlled helped ameliorate.  The priests and the party battled them fiercely, the priests laying about with their maces to devastating effect, Charissa and Garden shooting them, William trying to dissolve them with magical acid darts, and Shandri blessing the group.  At one point Evelyn managed to used _Margul_, the dreaded freeze, the paralyze one of the wiggling things, turning it into a floating bar, which Garden skewered neatly.

Evelyn was then rendered asleep by the creatures’ magic, and one of them wrapped itself around her throat and tried to strangle her.  Princess tried to claw it away from her mistress’ throat, and Steve decided to take action at the same time.  He hurled the line-creature away, following it with the closest possible weapon.  Princess.  Creature and cat thudded into the wall in that order, cat crushing the creature into motes.  

That was the last of them, luckily.  Everyone then woken up and dignity more or less restored, they went to inspect the area.  The group found a hidden door into the vestry that held several gray robes (such as the congregants had worn), and had a smooth hole in the ceiling, the diameter of the purple ball of fire.

Looking around carefully at more his eyeline, Garden spotted some dust in mid-air, and discovered there was an invisible chest in the corner!  He picked the lock by feel, but nearly had his finger chopped off by a spring blade trap.  He disarmed that carefully (now that he knew it was there) and opened it up.  It was, to be noted, pink inside from where Evelyn had tried to use _prestidigitation_ to color it pink in an attempt to make it show up.  It hadn’t worked.  Inside was a goodly bit of gold, gems, a few weapons, and a couple other valuables.  These were some of the Temple’s ill-gotten gains, apparently, left behind when someone must have forgotten about the invisible chest.

They divided it amongst all present, including the priests, who would tithe their share, as they continued their investigation.  Intrigued by the hole in the ceiling and where it might go, William and Charissa came up with a plan.  William cast _light_ on one of Charissa's bullets, which she then fired up into the hole.  It hit the ceiling quite a distance above, but there was enough of a glimpse to show that the tunnel made a turn.  Armed with this information, Randal summoned a celestial hawk, who flew up the shaft and then came to report (in Celestial, that Randal translated) that the tunnel terminated in a corner of the Blade.

Looking about some more, Garden found a second secret door, leading to a spherical room.  There were very fresh carvings about the Darkening Dawn around the middle of the room, and a sickly-sweet crust on the floor.  William made wall rubbings (with some help from a _Tenser’s floating disk_ spell and a bit of _mage hand_), and the party retreated outward and onward…


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Jun 6, 2013)

*Session 16*

As my father, who plays Garden, was out of town, Garden got to have the DM mess with his character this session...  

--

When we last left our intrepid heroes, they had just finished cleaning out the Temple of the Darkening Dawn and wanted to figure out how to close and lock the door.  Or possibly blow the whole thing up.  Deciding the latter was excessive and they didn’t have much expertise in the former, the group was going to see if Garden could recommend a good lock.  Except Garden had disappeared.  Being as this was not an entirely unusual turn of events, the group just blocked off the temple with the bar that had been there before for now, intending to return later with a better means of securing the door.  They went to leave, confident Garden would turn up turn up at his shop, or possibly was fleecing someone in the Warrens on the way out.

But when the group got to the Blade, several heard a strange gurgling sound, like someone gargling while yodeling through butterscotch pudding.  Recognizing the dulcet tones of the Aquan tongue anywhere, William and Shandri could understand the voice was saying, “Tall lady!  Tall lady in the purple sash!” in a rather slurred manner.

Translating, Charissa and the others came to a halt.  Into the circle of the light came sloshing a gnome-sized wet column of grape jelly that gave off a distinctive smell of wine.  Charissa decided it was a wine elemental, and no one in the party, not the Lathander priests, nor anyone else, had a differing theory.  So, sobering it up wasn’t possible, as a tap from Grapes of Wrath’s sober side might kill it!

It went on to say it knew Garden, as he wore the same sash Charissa did (the Order of the Vine).  Garden had talked to him about the ruckus in the Temple the previous night and had given him a drink to settle his nerves.  He said his name was… well, there was no good translation in Aquan that William could effect on dry land, and as everyone was fresh out of butterscotch pudding to yodel through while gargling, the creature said they could call him Rich.  And his water elemental familiar was called Oodoogoobloop. 

Charissa asked, and Rich accepted the offer that he needed to be sober right now, and that being sober would not, in fact, kill him, and tapped him with the sober end of her hammer.  The purple cleared, and revealed a very small golden octopus inside a water elemental familiar.  

(At several times in the ensuing conversation, Evelyn had looked at Rich in a slightly covetous, hungry way.  You see, with new ships in town from Kara Tur, Evelyn had been at a few sushi parties recently, including ones were where small live octopi were eaten.  Did they taste good?  You do realize that it’s fashionable to eat octopus right now?  That’s In, this season.)

A bit more coherent now, Rich explained he’d seen Garden be captured and dragged off by little dark figures who were dressed in rags and brought shadow with them.  The group recognized this description with a sinking feeling – dark creepers, those murderous little thugs they’d fought on Gutter Street a couple months back.

Rich said they’d gone out the back of the Blade, and upon showing them the area, Steven and Evelyn saw something they’d both seen once before: crackling purple energy across a doorway.  It was a _portal_. William recognized them too from descriptions he’d made notes on in class, and this one was active.  Rich was miffed, as he was down here to study them (amongst other things) and hadn’t known the key phrases or actions to activate it himself.  Realizing the portal might not stay active for much longer, Brothers Randal and Dorn said they’d return to the Temple to report the kidnapping while Darvin stayed with them as they attempted to mount a rescue.  With that, the group strode through, weapons at the ready (and Rich and Oodoogoobloop on William’s _floating disk_, along with the invisible chest).

The corridor on the other side was broad but unlit, and getting back through the _portal_?  No guarantees.  Nervous but determined, the group carried on.  After a while, they spied a cunningly dyed piece of canvas stretching across the floor, a pit trap for the unwitting.  Thinking themselves dreadfully clever, Steven whisked it aside – and found himself attacked!

A pair of hideous abominations were there, with thick, ten-foot-long snake bodies, terrible clacking beaks like those of a giant squid, surrounded by four short tentacles that writhed hungrily.  Had the group been more conversant about the denizens of the Underdark, they might have recognized the monstrosities as gricks.  But alas they did not, so could only try to kill the monsters that attacked them.

Steven and Charissa were lashed and bitten, and in fighting back, found that the flesh of the creatures was resistant to ordinary weapons.  Charissa switched from gun to magic hammer, and William added magic to Steven’s sword.  He slew one with a single stroke, decapitating it and making its misformed excuse for a head land in Evelyn’s arms.  

Then the corridor beyond went unnaturally dark and knives started being flung.  Both Darvin and Rich summoned creatures to attack the new threat of dark creepers, Darvin calling a lantern archon, and Rich a water elemental.  Both of these creatures could see in the dark, and soon had dispatched one dark creeper each.  When dark creepers die, they explode into light, and the others waited until these flashes occurred to target their spells and weapons at the creepers.  As Steven finished off the other grick, William was able to send four of the dark creepers to sleep, those that hadn’t already died or fled.

At last, all enemies were dead or unconscious.  The group tied and gagged the four sleeping ones, and William pulled out his _zone of truth_ chalice he’d gotten from the Knights of the Vine.  Charissa bopped all the creepers with the drunken end of the Grapes of Wrath, and William took a sip from the chalice (as it was a zone effect).  When asked questions, one belligerent creeper was surly and claimed ignorance, but the group soon realized he was resisting the magic.  Another of his clan hadn’t been so lucky.  Drunk, bespelled, and still sleepy, he answered all of their questions with stunned apathy.

Garden was an enemy of their clan, and he’d been kidnapped and taken to the dark stalker, the leader of their clan.  Who had a pair of pet darkmantles.  The group extracted the way to activate the portal, the route into the clan stronghold, the traps, the number of people, and when they were done, asking Darvin if he had anything else to ask.  Darvin blinked, borrowed William’s notepad, and asked more exacting questions about the numbers of dark creepers all over the city and their plans.  Smart guy!

The group gagged them all again and put them in the grick pit, covering it back up again and warning them that since they’d just betrayed their clan, making noise would be bad.

Garden awaited their rescue.  Onward!


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Jun 21, 2013)

*Session 16 - Garden's Side of the Story*

Garden, you were walking back through the Blade when darkness suddenly descended upon you.  In the utter gloom, you barely had time to hear the faint sound of feet before the sharp pain of a blade sliced across your side.  You _did_ have enough time to recognize the effects of drow sleep poison before you went under.

You awake sometime later (not too long, or so you think), gagged and trussed up like a pig for a roast, being hauled along by many hands through darkness.  A few experimental squirms makes you realize you’ve been relieved of your possessions.  You are hustled down one stone corridor after another, and through one snug one (even for you).  You smell mostly wet stone, mold, and a faint bitter scent that seemed to come from your captors.  Eventually you are set down and chained to what seems to be a wall by the feel of it.  This final room is much larger, and smells of mildew and dust, along with more of the bitter odor.  What few sounds you hear, scufflings and whatnot, echo as if it were a stone room.

Those who’ve taken you move away, and you can hear them whispering in a language you don’t understand.  Then one voice, louder than the others, issues something that sounds like a command from the tone.  There’s a beat of silence before another says, in Common, “Use the trade tongue; it doesn’t understand ours, fool.”

“Beer for everyone, and be quick about it,” the first voice snaps.  An odd metallic clicking sound begins to trot to and fro in the room.  It sounds like a metal chicken.  Granted, you’ve never seen one, but if you had it would sound like that.  There’s the sound of a keg being tapped in the corner, liquid pouring into mugs, and something being drunk by many people.  Occasionally you hear a funny little voice say, “Five cop, five cop for mug house special, five cop.”

“Shut it, you aren’t getting paid,” one of your captors snaps.

The metallic clicking comes closer, and you smell good beer from a flagon being thrust under your nose.  “Dwarven drinking ale.  Pop-u-lar.  Two sil.”  You know that voice!  By Tymora, it’s one of those homacals from the Bronze Gear tavern!  Something tugs at your gag as the beer mug lifts to your mouth, but something comes flying by your head with a clang, presumably striking the homacal in front of you, as it pauses.

“None for him,” someone growls.

“Sor-ree,” it says, and scuttles off again.  “Sticks is sor-ree.”

For long minutes you’re left alone, so naturally you test your bonds to see if you could wriggle free.  Someone laughs nastily close by.  “We can see you, little thief.  Stop squirming.”

A barked command in that unfamiliar tongue by an unfamiliar voice causes silence to fall.  In the quiet, the same voice speaks again, now sounding very confident and arrogant.  One of the others near you ventures what sounds like a protest.  Something rustles above your head, sounding like a leather tent, and the protestor goes quiet.

Suddenly someone strikes a twilight rod to life (they’re like the brighter sunrods, except twilight rods give off a faint blue glow and are more useful to those who can see in low light conditions).  Now you can see, and the situation is not good.  You’re in a cavern that’s been augmented in the past with worked stone, now crumbling.  Low shelves like catacombs line the walls, and tucked away in each one are the familiar rags of a dark creeper.  A round dozen creepers are at their leisure, drinking beer, counting loot from what looks like belt pouches and traveler’s packs, or preparing their weapons.  Crates, boxes, and sacks litter the room.  As you watch, two creepers depart, climbing up the wall to an aperture above, and two different ones return.  Scouts, perhaps?

But what really catches your attention is the slab-sided stone “throne” against one wall.  A tall, slender figure lounges there, twice as tall as the dark creepers, his “rags” far more elegant.  His glittering dark eyes are cold, and he toys with a long, slender blade you know as an “assassin’s needle” – a very thin adamantine knife good for administering poison.

Above him, clinging to the ceiling, are what appear to be two dark leather tents, folded up.  Except they each have several sets of dark eyes.  And they’re breathing.

The man on the throne speaks to you in the Common tongue, and his is clearly the authoritative voice.  “Do not bother to boast to me of your clan’s inevitable revenge, thief, for I doubt they will ever find your body down here in the dark.  Though we shall be certain to save a piece so they know not to go where they are not wanted.  You dare to think you can come barging into the Underdark with all the subtlety of a cave-in?  Fool, you shall learn differently, and so shall your meddling friends.”

At that moment you hear a loud sound echo in the distance – Charissa’s gun!  Far away, but that was definitely her gun!  The leader suddenly douses the light, and hisses unknown commands as you all wait in the tense darkness.  You hear daggers being drawn, low chanting from near the throne, and above you, the faint slithering of whatever monstrous pets are lurking in wait to kill your kith and kin…


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Jun 21, 2013)

*Session 17*

When we last left our intrepid heroes, they were trudging through the corridors beyond the portal in the Blade, armed with a mental map as to where the dark creepers, and their dread leader the dark stalker, had taken Garden.  Pressing forward, the passage, according to the directions, was about to end in a large cavern that had in it an old, old fortress.  It was partially natural, partially worked stone, atop a small plateau.  There was only the faintest of natural light, from phosphorescent fungus, and the group was a little hesitant to show their own sources of light, but what else could they do if they went around stumbling through the gloom?  With silence, if not stealth, they crept closer.

Inside the hideout, Garden had been left alone as the dark creepers readied themselves.  He tried to wriggle enough to reach the concealed bone knives in the sides of his boots.  He was sure he would have been able to get them eventually, but as he shifted the homacle, Sticks, arrived near him with its usual metallic clicking.

“Tableside assistance?” it asked.  Figuring what did he have to lose, Garden said yes.  “U-ten-sil?” Yes again, and Sticks took the knife near Garden’s fingers and began to cut him loose.

Out in the chamber, the rest of the party (plus Brother Darvin from the Temple of Lathander, and the octopus wizard Rich and his water familiar) had realized it was far too quiet in there, and set out to get Garden out before anything else could happen!

Several members of the party tried to ascent the short but steep slope up to an opening into the old fortress, with Evelyn and Steven and Charissa making it (Evelyn can climb in heels, oh yes she can), and William unfortunately doing a face-plant into the gravel.  The noise apparently alerted some of the scouts, and knives began to rain down on the party from above.

Inside, Garden asked Sticks if there was any alcohol about, any flammable spirits.

“Fire-water,” Sticks affirmed, and pressed a glass flask into his hand.  Popping the cork to check the contents, Garden nearly became drunk on the fumes alone.  Yes, this would do the trick nicely.  And did Sticks happen to have a firestarter?

“Twisted firestarter,” Sticks said, and put the twist-and-strike contraption in Garden’s other hand.  Garden improvised a wick from a torn scrap of his hem, lit the thing and tossed it where he last remembered seeing the dark stalking sitting!

Outside, Steven fired an arrow up at one of the dark creeper snipers, catching him in the hand and making him tumble to the floor, to die in a burst of light.  With the fortress now lit up from the inside, and the group backlit outside, more knives began to be thrown from the dark creepers who’d concealed themselves behind crates and barrels and sacks.

Rich summoned an earth elemental, and Darvin summoned one of air to go inside the fortress – elementals could see even in the dark, and if the dark creepers put out the lights again, at least they could try to rescue him or hamper the creepers.

Right then, the lights outside the fortress did go out, as the two darkmantles who had spent the last few moments working their way along the ceiling dropped on Shandri and Darvin.  What followed was a both dangerous and comedic episode where both clerics struggled to free themselves from what were essentially attack umbrellas with tentacles, occasionally getting free just long enough to utter a cry of triumph, before the darkmantles wrapped them up again.  

Meanwhile, the dark stalker had not been sitting in this throne so much as perching just above it.  He leapt at Garden, stabbing him with his dagger, while Charissa shot at him from the doorway.  Garden returned the favor, striking deep as the battle raged on.  Steven was not having much luck in trying to beat the darkmantles off the clerics, and William took several wounds from daggers.  He did ask Shandri for help, but as she was rather wrapped up at the time, she uttered several muffled words that probably didn’t bear repeating.  (Though she did heal him once the darkmantle had finally be wrested off and dashed upon the ground to be stomped on.  But she was grumpy about it.)

With several dark creepers dying, many more fled into the dim cavern, and even the dark stalker quit the field.  Garden tried to put a dagger in his back but missed.  Once the party was reunited with much back-slapping and sarcasm, they realized there were many exits from this place, and the creepers had taken most of them.

However, in their haste, they had only taken the smallest and most portable of their ill-gotten gains.  Lighting more torches, the group realized there was a small warehouse’s worth of goods in their hideout.  Crated and disassembled furniture and vehicles, along with a small amount of coin (and an ungodly amount of copper), a couple of wands, and a goodly amount of various trade goods (sacks of wheat, boxes of tools, nails).  They agreed to split what they’d found with Darvin and Rich (at least to some extent… Darvin was more forgiving, but Rich was definitely more mercenary.  Garden did give him an octopus ring he found though.)

Evelyn declared herself greatly hungered (she had been awake for two days at this time), and Sticks, ever-eager to serve, made her a fresh darkmantle steak.  It was actually surprisingly good!  He also kept trying to offer everyone mushrooms, but nearly everyone declined.  Also, when Charissa heard Garden calling Sticks a "homacle," she face-palmed and painfully corrected, "Homunculus."

The group discovered there was one larger passageway out of the caverns, which led to a secret entrance to a dockside warehouse.  Perhaps the goods would have been disassembled further to transport them elsewhere, but for right now, the group had a place to temporarily put what they’d found.  Evelyn recognized one of the carriages they’d found from a description she’d heard at a party, and the group realized they could get a handsome finder’s fee for most of this stuff, as well as getting in good standing with the Merchant’s Guild, if they alerted them and tried to find the owners of the stolen things.

Never one to pass up a good opportunity to 1. Have other people do the heavy hauling and 2. Get favors in useful places, they went to talk to the Merchant’s Guild.  Quickly.  Very quickly.  Before the dark creepers came back with reinforcements…


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## Azkorra (Jun 22, 2013)

Whoa, you've really used some awesome, crazy ideas there in your story. An awakened octopus wizard? A wemic paladin? A friendly beholder? Homunculi, dark creepers, wax golems, pseudodragons? Allf of these elements do not tend to be used very often (if at all), and I'm very glad to see you've strayed quite far from the usual goblins-undead-and evil-wizards path. Kudos!


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Jul 19, 2013)

*Session 18*

When we last left our intrepid heroes, they had just defeated a band of dark creepers, rescued Garden (or perhaps provided a distraction while he rescued himself), and were taking possession of their ill-gotten goods.  Having discovered that there was a passageway that led to a warehouse where presumably the goods were funneled undercity, they would use the same route to get everything out.  Where the dark creepers took the goods after that was somewhat of a mystery, as the majority of the things left behind wouldn’t fit through any other passageways out of the cavern.  Presuming things had come from the warehouse in the first place, where they went after that and how was a puzzle.  There might have been magic involved somehow, but if so it had been invoked far enough in the past as to leave no sign of itself to discerning eyes.  Beyond that, they couldn’t hazard a guess.

Knowing the dark creepers might gather their courage and return, Garden and Charissa went to the Merchant’s Guild to report the stolen goods (and not incidentally, get their guards and porters to move the heavy stuff back).  At worst, provided they were believed, they’d get a finder’s fee.  At best, they’d get to keep the stuff after it went unclaimed. 

The Merchant’s Guild is actually a layman’s branch of the Church of Waukeen, the goddess of wealth and trade.  The Guild provides transportation, logistics, security, recordkeeping, and claims.  The fees to get in it were quite high, so it was generally used mostly by those who dealt in expensive items or high volume, but there were enough benefits that those who could afford it, joined.  It is a generalist Guild, focused on the mechanics of trade rather than any specific item or service.  It would be less useful to people like Garden or Charissa, who deal in small, local trade in the middle and lower classes, mainly.  But if Evelyn’s dress-making and fashion house business takes off, for example, she might be advised to join, as her expensive items would be traveling far.

Garden and Charissa reached the local office of the Dock Ward near noontide, and were passed by a nervous clerk to a more authoritative fellow who questioned them carefully.  Garden to great pains to say he was acting on the authority of Evelyn and Steven Violette, thusly getting their names on the report over his.  When pressed, Garden said he was an “associate” of theirs, though it was clear that Merchant Master Kavo was under the impression Garden was at least a part-time employee.  Kavo took out a book of missing and stolen goods and had the twain tell about what they’d seen to verify their story.  He did indeed match a few descriptions, enough to believe they weren’t lying about what they’d seen.

With dispatch (as the Origamis reminded him that the dark creepers might come back), Kavo summoned “Squad Three.”  They proved to be a dozen half-orc merchant guards in studded leather, bearing short swords and axes, along with several porters and a couple of wagons.  Garden got the impression that if this claim would have proved false, he would have been held responsible for the expense of fielding the Guild’s guards.  So he tried to be friendly with their captain, named Red for the usual reasons, and they returned to the cavern in short order.

Meanwhile, the group was divvying up the goods.  Altruistic only to a point, even William knew that trying to find the owners of several thousand loose coins or various common items was pointless.  So the group gathered up the coins for themselves, along with a few common items of no unique value.  (Well, aside from an octopus signet ring which they gave to Rich.)  Aside from that, there were many huge  items, mostly disassembled in crates – carriages, a sedan chair, a pavilion tent, various items of furniture, all of them quite luxurious, but there was also a common pony cart, which they knocked together for goods transport (in the off-chance the Origamis failed to bring back help).  One very unique thing they found was a magically-lightened chest, which contained within it a dozen bridle mastiff puppies, all held in magical sleep through enchantments on their collars.  (The design on the collars, a dog’s head with a crown for a collar, was one of the details Garden mentioned to Merchant Master Kavo, who reported that was the sigil of the Crowned Hound Kennel.)

Sticks, the homunculus stolen from the Bronze Gear, was keeping Evelyn (and any others who asked) plied with darkmantle steaks.  The group had a close eye out for any returning dark creepers, but oddly it was Sticks who sidled up to Steven and asked, “Expecting com-pan-ee for dinner?” while looking up.  Peering past the glare of the torches and lanterns, Steven spied a dark creeper in a crevice near the ceiling, watching them.  It either did not seem to notice it had been spotted or didn’t care. 

As the group didn’t care to start another fight when everyone was still smarting from wounds, no one lobbed anything at the creeper, and the creeper in return lobbed nothing at them.

Shortly after that, Squad Three arrived and began to load up the goods – William had extensive and exhaustive lists, naturally.  While the loading was going on, Brother Darvin returned to the temple of Lathander, saying his people would want to know more about the dark creepers.  Rich, Charissa, William, and Shandri decided to backtrack and find those dark creepers they’d left in the grick pit earlier.  When they got there, they were not entirely surprised to find a single set of dark creeper rags left behind, and the rest of the creepers gone.  They had gotten free and killed the one who had talked.  A little investigation proved that the portal the group had initially gone through was active again, which meant the creepers had probably escaped through there.  Knowing trying to run them down in the Blade was just asking for trouble, they returned to the rest of the party.

The goods were taken back to the Guild, Merchant Master Kavo evaluated what was there, and thanked the Violettes and their “diligent associates.”  There was indeed a finder’s fee for the obvious goods – and if things were not claimed by their owners after they’d been notified, the group could have them.  

Evelyn and Steven recognized one of the carriages recovered, one carved with elephants, made for the triumphant return of the Jassarian family’s eldest son from his successful trading mission in the exotic jungle land of Chult.  The Violettes wanted to be the ones to return it, and Merchant Master Kavo agreed (though he sent along porters and a clerk to make sure the Jassarians knew the Merchant’s Guild had done their part as well).  The Jassarians were thrilled, and extended an invitation to the Violettes to come to their celebration once they had set a date.

Charissa also wanted to be present when the puppies were returned to the Crowned Hound, because she had been looking for some trained guard dogs for her shop for a long time.  The kennelmaster was indeed grateful for the return of the very expensive pureblood puppies (worth hundreds of gold each to the right buyer).  Hearing Charissa’s tentative question that she was looking for guard dogs, the kennelmaster said for her role in returning his prize hounds, he would be willing to sell her a pair of trained mastiffs (not purebreds, though) for half his usual price, if she would be there to help train them.  Charissa was quite thrilled at the bargain.

Garden was gleefully counting up profits in the background.  And wondering when his sister’s dogs would be ready to pull him about town in a gnomish dogcart of impeccable subdued style.  (His alter-ego, a much more elderly gnome, could get away with such theatrics when it suited him.)

All of those errands done, there was one everyone wanted to do as a group, and that was to take Sticks the homunculus back to the Bronze Gear.  (Garden had paused to get Sticks’ name put on him in gold leaf as a thank-you present.)  When they entered the brightly-lit busy tavern, all the homunculi servers stopped dead, then ran to greet Sticks.  The owner, one Killian Bronze, was very happy indeed to see him.  (“There you are, good boy, now back to work!”)  He offered the group a meal on the house as they told him the story of how the rescued Sticks.

In the next month or so, about half the items were reclaimed, but some were not, so the group got a tidy sum of gold and a few things to keep or sell as they saw fit.  There were two large unclaimed items that they took – one was a carriage finely carved with waves.  Evelyn spent some of her money to get matched white horses to pull it and send their servant-urchin Kip to driving school.  Also she claimed a large red-and-gold silk pavilion tent, and was determined to have a garden party.  (Or, well, a winter garden party, being as it was in the middle of that season, but such things were fashionable.)

Now that she was becoming somewhat richer, she started to spend some of her (and Steven’s) gold to get the Violette manse up to standards so they wouldn’t disgrace themselves when they did have that party.  It would take some time, a month or more, to do what was needed, but until then, the Jassarian’s party loomed…

Also looming is William’s graduation from the Etorchul Academy, Shandri quietly becoming the Queen of the Street Urchins, Evelyn and Steven’s return on their investments (their joint venture in the silk market from the lung wang dragon, Wu Yen, as well as Evelyn’s fashion house idea), Steven’s continuing relationship with Ravinica the Golden Queen, Evelyn’s jealousy over said relationship, Garden’s deepening scheme with the Origami Clan Elders, and Charissa making something explosive.  Or well, she would, and is, but she keeps getting visits from Sticks next door, and he keeps bringing her food.  And little random bits of metal.  Why?  She’s not entirely sure…

Also of note, Evelyn was casting one of her favorite spells, Learn Heritage, on Charissa, just in case she might have some connection to nobility somewhere (she's slowly working her way through the group), and discovered Charissa has fey blood running through her veins!  Some where, she cannot say, but Charissa has had the first hint of a clue about her blood parents that she's had in her life.


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Jul 19, 2013)

*And Now For Something Completely Different*

Evelyn's player is participating in community theater for the next couple of months, so this campaign will be taking a brief, three-session hiatus.

In its place, we will be playing a brief, three-session mini-campaign using Magic of Incarnum (though still set in Waterdeep) - Lost Souls


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Aug 28, 2013)

*Session 18.5*

DM's Note:  Evelyn's player had one free weekend between the end of some summer obligations and GenCon, so we did another session of Family Matters before wrapping up Lost Souls the next week.  Later this week we shall return to Family Matters for the foreseeable future.

This post is various e-mails to the players setting up session 19.

----------------------

Charissa, you are a dedicated worker.  One who, upon occasion, will tune out things in order to keep to a task.  Things like lunch.  And not always because you’re doing alchemical work and don’t want to accidentally eat smokepowder.  Yet for the past couple of weeks, every few days, a covered tray of lunch appears on your workbench as mysteriously as a mushroom – a bowl of hearty stew with bread, hot roasted meat on a crusty roll, some kind of steamed loaf with vegetables and sauce inside, nothing fancy, but often welcome in the cold of winter.  It isn’t until the third or fourth (or seventh) time that you notice your benefactor – Sticks!  You didn’t notice him immediately because homunculi are hardly unique in the Temple of Gond.  

If you ask why he’s doing this, Sticks will tell you, “Am grateful for res-tor-ay-shun to my job.  Would help others, but too far away.  You are close.  Enjoy!”  It seems the kindness of your party have earned you a fan!  Also, Sticks occasionally leaves little bits of metal, what look like little ingot ends that probably are falling out of the hems of people’s clothing in the Bronze Gear.  It’s not a lot of metal, but put all of it together over a tenday or so and it’s enough to do a bit of experimenting and it doesn’t cost you a copper.  

Now, you don’t pay much attention to gossip, but it seems that gossip pays attention to you.  Or rather, people pay attention to gossip FOR you.  There’s been talk that a plumacrafter from the far land of Maztica will be demonstrating something of his craft at an upcoming shindig.  You recognize the term – your group returned a plumacraft chariot when you liberated those goods from the dark creepers.  Purely on an academic, William-esque basis, it was very interesting to see those colorful feathers woven into a sturdy vehicle!  And as a matter of fact, when you were taking a break to actually eat one of the meals Sticks had brought you, Lissa Threefingers came over to talk to you.  (You remembered her; she’s the golem expert you talked to about wax golems.)

“So, if I am remembering right, you’re in tight with the Violettes.”  With a nod of assent, Lissa went on, “It looks like the plumacraft, Kultaka, is only giving one public demonstration of his craft.  And it’s at some party for a noble family, the Jassarians.  Now, I can’t get an invitation.  Something about how I ‘blow stuff up’ wherever I go, which is just exaggerating, says I!  But you can.  You know those nobles, the Violettes, and I just bet THEY can get an invitation.  If you go and observe for me…” Lissa waves her abbreviated hands around, thinking.  “I’ll owe you a favor.  Deal?”

[Charissa said she’d do it, thinking she might be able to wrangle an invitation during the group’s bi-tenday meeting at the Empty Grave.]

--

Steven, Ravinica, the Golden Queen, is always very pleased to receive you at the Temple of Mystra.  She is a quiet, dedicated woman, a scholar of ancient arts and magical transformations.  She has been spending much of her time learning about the five hundred years she has missed since the Year of the Opening Flower.  The temple elders, in return, are trying to learn about her.  Though Ravinica is helpful, she hadn’t yet revealed all her secrets.  She was, and still is, royalty, and the magical transformations she knows are nearly her only currency in this world without her kingdom.  And she is a thrifty soul.

She finds you to be a calming and kind friend.  Possibly, at some point, maybe more than a friend, but you are both cautious, practical people.  You have patience.  While she does get some amusement out of the social outings Evelyn drags her to, you know (because you can’t not) that she enjoys spending time with you pouring over tomes, or talking, just as much or more.

Ravinica does occasionally tell you things that would set some of your magical mentors on their ears.  At one point she tells you, “My people were great travelers – not of great breadth, but of great depth.  Rarely did we travel beyond our city walls, but instead crossed the boundaries of the planes, the worlds that lie parallel to ours, touching like pages in a book.  We could travel between them, and established parts of our own kingdom not just in this world, but the others.  I am as yet too weak and out of practice to travel, but if you were to go there, you might see the remains of what we built.  We could bring pieces back with us, show how the simplest thing can change across the boundaries of worlds.  Many of my people chose the life-power of the planes of energy to sink into their flesh, so that they would survive…  Mayhaps, when I am strong again, you might like to travel with me?”

[Steven enthusiastically said yes.  Part of this was genuine affection for Ravinica.  Part of this was also the desire to not be where his sister was.  Really, who could blame the man?]

--

Evelyn, you realize the Jassarian’s party will not just be a homecoming celebration for their son (Kovalo), but also something of a merchant’s showcase for what was brought back, as well as anything else in the family’s business.  This is hardly unusual; with Waterdeep’s merchant nobility, a smart family would turn a mere social visit into business.  Not vulgarly, of course.  There would be “demonstrations” and “party favors,” but many informal contracts can be agreed upon during these parties.  

The Jassarians deal in exotica – in addition to goods from Chult, they’re also having a demonstration from a Maztica plumacrafter, as well as a display of rare beasts in a magically heated menagerie.  There should be ample inspiration for new fashion here, at the very least!

Ah, and speaking of investing, you’ve heard back from Wu Yen, your fellow dragon and your Kara Tur silk merchant.  You invested the value of a flail snail shell, a good 3,000 gold to the right buyer.  She sent a message that your investment has done quite well; you’ll be getting 4,500 back, 1,500gp more than what you invested.  Huzzah!  She asks if you will continue to invest, if so, how much.  As for the remainder (if any), what form you would like the money in.

In regards to the house and fixing it up – it will cost about 1,000-gp to bring it up to the appropriate standards.  The house itself is in decent enough shape, but over the years your family has sold many fine furnishings and goods, the garden is a mess, and you really lack enough servants for this neighborhood.  Some of the money will go for interior and exterior redesign and some will go for year-long servant contracts.  A really good “re-entry into polite society” party once everything is up to scratch will cost you somewhere between 300-500gp, depending on how many people you invite.

You also hear back from Madam Silverleaf.  She’s begun to have some out-of-country orders come in.  Only a few thus far, but it seems at least some are both reading and liking what they see in your magazine.

--

William – Your graduation from the Ethorchul Academy is excellent – in high style (you expected no less) with great pomp and circumstance.  Your practical experience with your new friends let you pass your demonstrations very well, and your essays were… exhaustive.  Your teachers dreaded no less.  Shandri was there, blessed you without soaking your robes and gave you a gift of holy water she’d blessed herself, a hippocampus quill, and a waterproof writing book.  She also had found a very nice bottle of bubbly wine to celebrate Order of the Vine-style!

Afterwards, you were approached by Lutharian Tashalorial, the elf Guild Wizard of the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors, the one who gave you your informal entrance exam.  He says he’s interested in having you essentially intern with them.  You’d be paid for your work, or could just put what you’d otherwise be paid towards your eventual entrance fee to the Guild (as you both know you need a bit more experience and skill to learn to be a Guild Wizard).  The Order can always use a good mind and keen eyes.

Should you decide to accept, Lutharian has a task for you, to attend a party being thrown by the Jassarians, a noble family, to observe the Maztica plumacrafter who will be putting on a very rare demonstration.  Your relative youth and non-official status actually make you ideal, as the plumacrafter cannot possibly take offense at a curious young man as he might at a city official.

[William was thrilled at the assignment.  Really, he probably would have done it for free.]

--

Garden, your contact at the Marlith, Hob Stonecypher, is all full of smiles when you come in to work one day.

“It’s good to have friends in high places, isn’t it?” he says, in a cheery way that usually precedes either a difficult job or a practical joke.  “I take it you know Shanna Deeps?”

Ah, um, oh dear.  Yes, yes you do.  One of the ladies from the Busty Wench, bought a bodice dagger.  A bodice dagger of unusual size.

“She remembers ‘dear ol’ Granther’ with his ‘pretty weapons,’ and remembers him well enough to have gotten the Marlith a bit of a display at a merchant noble’s party.  Jassarians – they’re throwing a shindig and bringing out all the exotica.  It seems Shanna is the,” Hob takes a minute to snort with laughter, “one true love of one of the Jassarian boys.  She went on and on about all the fancy weapons you had in the pamphlets you were handing around, and Fellok Jassarian goes up and contacts us for his contribution to the family fortunes at the party.  Looks like M. Granther is going to be pressing the flesh next sixthday.”

Hob can’t hold back his laughter, and guffaws into his sleeve until he gets control of himself.  “Tymora must love you, lad.  Make us some good profit and I don’t have to tell you to keep your ears open.  Mask only knows what villains will be rovin’ at such an affair.”

Hob manfully manages to hold back another wave of mirth at his own crude sense of humor.

[All humor aside, Garden is ready to wade once more into the fray of merchandizing.]


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Aug 29, 2013)

*Session 19*

When we last left our intrepid heroes, they had all spent part of the winter tending to their various enterprises (see prior post).  But knowing that Fate seems to have things in store for them, and business opportunities come in many guises, the group is still meeting at the Empty Grave twice a tenday to have supper and talk about anything that comes along.

Amongst other things that happened, William graduated from the Etorchul Academy.  Shandri had already presented her gifts, and the others also had things for him.  Evelyn had found him some dress robes (it was out of style self-defense), and Garden and Charissa had gotten him what looked like a very nice wand.  But twist it, and the top came off, revealing a sharp stiletto to pierce the hide of the unwitting.

During one of these meetings at the Empty Grave, Charissa interrupted Evelyn’s delighted chatter about this party she was attending (the Jassarian’s homecoming party for their eldest) with the tentative request for an invitation.  To which Garden replied that he was already going on behalf of a business venture, and Charissa could go with him as a demonstrator.  (She would be both the booth babe AND the booth simultaneously.)  Raising an eyebrow, William said he was supposed to go on behalf of the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors, to which Shandri replied that she was going on behalf of the Order of the Vine.

Realizing that all of them were ending up at a party again, and that this probably presaged disaster, everyone called for a round of drinks.

During which, Garden sneaked out to go case the joint before the party the following week.  The Jassarians lived in a fine house that had extensive gardens.  A large tent was being erected there, and cages moved in for the menagerie.  

While Garden was doing that, Evelyn was delighted to get most of the party into fancy clothes.  Charissa was going to be wearing weapons, so it couldn’t be anything too terribly frilly, but Evelyn was determined to get her into something that wasn’t forge leathers or covered with alchemical stains.  William too had to look like he belonged, and Shandri wouldn’t miss Charissa being styled by Evelyn for all the waters in the ocean, so both came along.

[Also, at one point during this week, Charissa both paid several urchins and also politely asked Shandri to be on the lookout for potential bards for the Order of the Vine.  She was of the opinion that they definitely needed some trained bards as soon as possible.  The first few seemed a bit too rough for the clientele they usually ended up serving (half-orcs singing bloody battle ballads on drums were a touch much), they did find one fellow they did want to interview – One Olaf Alehearth, a dwarven bard that played a xylophone of tuned drinking mugs.  A project for very soon.]

--

The following sixthday, the party began.  The Jassarians specialized in exotica – animals, foods, weapons, art, plants, people, the works.  The eldest Jassarian son, Truvan, was circulating with three wild dwarf allies (very short, slender for dwarves, painted, pierced, and fiercely scowling) he’d made during his time in Chult.  The rest of his guests drifted between the displays of things brought back from the jungle, along with related items such as exotic weaponry (displayed by Charissa, orders taken by Garden).  Shandri was actually wearing a dress, of all things, using the diplomatic skill she’d gained in improving air-to-water-breather relations to subtly “bless” (i.e. water) the wine of those guests who were on the verge of becoming obnoxious, thusly doing her duty as a member of the Order of the Vine.

Evelyn, Steven, and Ravinica (the Golden Queen) were doing more socializing, though with Evelyn’s new business interests she was also bringing attention to the silk trade she was invested in, as well as her fabulous gown (“made by Madame Silverleaf, of course!”).  That was hardly uncommon in these sorts of parties, and she had a few tentative nibbles of interest from some of the guests.

William mostly observed this or that until the bell was sounded for guests to come to the menagerie tent (where there was a tiger, a small crocodile, several monkeys, and many exotic birds displayed in cages) where the Maztica plumacrafter, Kultaka, would display his rare craft.  William began taking reams of notes as Kultaka began weaving beautiful, multicolored feathers into helmets and shields, then lacing them with dusts, liquids, and powders as he chanted over them.  He picked Charissa to hold a helmet he had just treated, and she was amazed at the steel-like strength of the seemingly insubstantial armor.

But as the demonstration went on, Evelyn noticed something odd.  One of the cages behind Kultaka was a large cage holding a brightly-colored bird she’d heard called a macaw.  The cage seemed rather large to hold it, but then again, it was a bird.  But what truly caught her eye was that for one second, she didn’t see a macaw, but a bird-man the size of a fully-grown elf.  But only for a second.  What in the world…?  

She sidled up to William, and then Charissa murmuring her observations.  William could see through the illusion pretty easily, and was not happy at what he saw.  They waited until the demonstration had concluded and dinner was about to start – the guests all filing out.  Snagging the others, the party gathered around the cage.  Evelyn cast a spell to enable her to understand what language the bird man was speaking, and they began talking to him.  He was very depressed, but suddenly elated when he realized they could see him for who he truly was.  He said he was Kreesh, an aarakocra, a native of Chult, and had been brought under a spell of illusion in the baggage train of Truvan Jassarian.  His feathers provided extra power for the plumacrafter’s magic.

Garden went to free him from his locked cage, though fiddling with the lock at first also put him under the illusion of being a macaw (much to the group’s merriment) until he actually got the lock open.

Alarmed at the thought of any creature being enslaved, they asked a servant to bring Truvan Jassarian and the Lady Jassarian out (the younger son, Fellok Jassarian and his significant other, Shawna Deeps, came along as well).  They explained what they had seen, and the color drained from Truvan’s face.  He had his three wild dwarf allies brought from the dining room and questioned them in their native tongue.  They said they had brought the aarakocra as a gift, and shrugged at the notion of slavery.  (It seemed the laws of Chult were very different – if you were able to be caught, you deserved slavery.)  Tersely, mortified at inadvertently causing another creature to be enslaved, Truvan asked if Kultaka, the plumacrafter, had known that the “macaw” was in face, an aarakocra.  The wild dwarves said yes.

Lady Jassarian immediately called for Kultaka to be summoned from the dining room.  The man was brought before them, and of her own volition, on the advice of both Steven and William, Lady Jassarian sent out for a priest of Mystra and a member of the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors, those who helped police the abuse of magic within Waterdeep.  After a delay (it was snowy), both worthy gentlemen arrived.  Those present questioned Kultaka fiercely, pointing out the evidence, but no expression creased his face.  Not a once.  He might have been thought just very stoic and stubborn, but the party started to get a bad feeling about the man’s unresponsiveness.

Charissa felt the man’s cheek, and all but groaned and reported he felt waxy.  This was a wax golem, an imposter!  Lady Jassarian sent her servants to check Kultaka’s room.  Shawna Deeps spoke up unexpectedly, saying he’d gone to “refresh himself” just as dinner had started.  Cursing, the group realized Kultaka could have nearly an hour’s head start on them, if he had put his decoy into place just when they confronted the Jassarians.

Garden said he knew the streets of the city better than anyone, and as snow had been falling lightly, Kultaka would be leaving footprints.  And a man from a warm climate would find the cold temperatures of the city punishing.  The Order mage agreed, saying he was no spring chicken to go hunting people down.  But he could aid Garden.  He would send his familiar, a fox, with him to help track by scent when footsteps might become muddled, and who could alert them in Garden needed help.  The priest of Mystra could offer a tile that, once broken, could let the user run faster.  Looking around, they asked if anyone else wanted to join Garden in the chase, and who wanted to stay behind to see if any information could be elicited from the wax golem… one way or another.


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 14, 2013)

*Session 20*

When we last left our intrepid heroes, Kultaka, the plumacrafter who had been complicit in enslaving an aarakocra, had fled from the Jassarian’s homecoming party, leaving behind a wax golem in his place.  Quickly it was decided that Garden, Shandri, and William would go after him.  The mage of the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors sent his fox familiar with them to help track.  Shandri had come for a party, not for a mad dash through the streets, so quickly ripped her skirts for greater mobility (provoking a shriek of outrage from Evelyn) and borrowed Grapes of Wrath from Charissa, and was ready to go.

The three ran through the streets, following the path through the fresh snow.  Even though Kultaka had a head start on them, he was not dressed for the cold weather, not was he as familiar with the city.  His sandals were also bleeding green dye into the snow, helping them pick out his trail when he crossed more trampled snow.  Shandri quickly picked up Garden and carried him on her shoulders so they could keep up the pace.  Going through one crossroads, they were ambushed!  …By children throwing snowballs.  A growl of disapproval in their directly and they scattered, and the group trotted on, the fox helping them stay on the right path.

A couple times they saw places where Kultaka must have rested, and once a place where he had attempted to climb to the roof, only to have the tile break under his hands, leaving an impression in the snow.  Once Garden and William remembered that there was a duck pond ahead in the next intersection, and Shandri quickly detoured before they could slip.  Kultaka must not have been so lucky, because there were slide marks on the snow, ending in a divot in a snowbank, decorated by a few feathers from his cape.  But the tracks were getting fresher, and they knew they were close.

Finally they found had place where Kultaka had successfully climbed to the roof.  Garden pulled out his collapsible grappling hook and thin cord, and snagged the edge of the roof.  They climbed up, pulling William and fox after them.  Peering in the dim light, reflected by the many lanterns and mage lights of Waterdeep, they actually saw their quarry!  Kultaka was hustling along the roofs, his cape flapping in the wind.  Shadri threw Grapes of Wrath, which wounded the man.  Garden brought him his hand crossbow and fired a bolt smeared in drow sleep poison… into himself.  He slumped on Shandri’s shoulders, asleep.  William cast a spell of sleep, and this proved to be the key, as Kultaka slumped over.  And began to slide towards the edge of the roof.  Thinking fast, William cast the feather fall spell on him, getting him to the ground safely.

Shandri moved over to the place where he had gone over quickly, shaking Garden as she went to wake him up, and asked William if he had another of those spells available.  He did, and cast it again as Shandri jumped off the roof after Kultaka.  She proceeded to tie the man up (Garden helping as soon as he shook off his grogginess and embarrassment), and then Garden tossed the grappling hook up so William could climb down.  Well, at least he landed in a soft snowbank.

--

Meanwhile, Charissa, Steve, Evelyn, Lady Jassarian and her two sons, Truvan and Fellock (along with Fellock’s one true love, Shawna Deeps), Truvan’s wild dwarf allies, and the aarakocra Kreesh were questioning the wax golem.  More the first three than anyone else.  The party remembered that Jayrin’s wax golem had three command words, a shutdown one, one that make them follow simple commands given to them by the activator, and a full personality mode.  Evelyn thought to deactivate the golem and then reactivate it under her control to get information out of it.

The mage from the Order was very impressed that they knew the command words, and the party gave him a highly edited version of the story of how they’d acquired them.

The shutdown command worked well, but when Evelyn tried to activate it again, it suddenly lunged at her and locked its hands around her throat.  Steven wrestled its hands off his sister’s throat while Charissa quickly deactivated it.  Then Steven cut the golem’s hands off, and bound all its limbs to within an inch of its existence.  Apparently there was a safety measure of some sort built into this creation.  With the golem now tied, they tried again, and this time it worked.

Well, it worked so far in that it became active and wasn’t able to hurt them, but it wouldn’t answer their questions.  The Order mage pondered and suggested that if it had been programmed to only respond to the one who it had been made for, it was likely, given their description of Yalla the golem maker, that the maker might have put in an override using a language he knew that Kultaka didn’t.  The group remembered Yalla’s odd history, that he had been born an elf before being reincarnated as a halfling.  Trying elven, the golem suddenly began to answer!

(The group was admittedly curious at first if Yalla had made this golem, being that Yalla was dead, but Truvan Jassarian pointed out that the Mazticans had been in the city for six moons, well before Yalla was killed.)

The golem mostly said yes or no, with occasionally a longer answer if pressed.  With a bit of effort, they learned the following – Kultaka had dealt with the wild dwarves because the power of a sentient bird’s feathers would be incredibly potent to a plumacrafter.  Apparently Kultaka had not scrupled to gain them.  When asked if the golem knew where Kultaka would go if on the run, the golem said, “The Cage of Birds.”  Translated literally from elven, that actually meant aviary, which would have been a powerful arsenal to a plumacrafter, though one of last resort, as it would be very obvious.  It seemed Kultaka had been on a mission of personal aggrandizement, and woe to anyone caught in his way.

The Order mage sent a message to his familiar, who pawed it out in the snow for those bringing Kultaka back, asking where they’d caught him.  Saying south, close to the arena (where the aviary was located), the group realized they had had a close call.  Shandri hauled Kultaka back to the Jassarian manor, Garden have taken control of the man’s magic items, and William analyzing them for all he was worth (for when would he have the chance otherwise?).

The Order mage, and the priest of Mystra who had also come to aid him, would take the man to the Hall of Justice.  Amongst Kultaka’s items were Kreesh, the aarakocra’s feathers, which the group gave back to him.  Though no one had any additional translation magic left this day, through sign gestures and a few words of Common, William said he’d be happy to talk to him more in-depth tomorrow, and help him get back home (with the backing of the Jassarians, because they were utterly mortified and shamed).

During this time, Evelyn had chivvied Shandri into a back room, summoned Madame Silverleaf, and was attempting to fix Shandri’s dress.  This was serious business.

Truvan Jassarian told the party he was incredibly grateful that they had not only stopped a crime and scandal from perpetuating under his family name, and had freed a thinking being from bondage, but had done so discretely.  He said he would like to reward them, investing in whatever business ventures they held dear.  Fallock and Shawna Deeps would be delighted to see Garden and Charissa’s shop (there was some private grumbling later about having to hide the less-than-legal display items), where the Jassarians would help them with materials and clients, etc.  William asked for funding research, Shandri to sponsor urchins at the Urchin Postal Service, Evelyn for her fashion house business, and Steven… asked for an investment for a good friend (Ravinica, the Golden Queen, was doing private magical research of her own).

Shandri’s fashion crisis finally averted (with a new paneled skirt), the Jassarians were happy to have the group rejoin the festivities – a fine dinner, followed by dancing.

During the dancing, Evelyn was greeted by a handsome red-haired man, Gerrard Allard, as the music struck up, who asked her to dance.  Steven, dancing with Ravinica, glared for all he was worth.  As he was dancing, he managed to trip Gerrard several times.  Evelyn had to lead the dance to save her suddenly-clumsy partner from disaster.

Shandri, a bit tired and chilled from her case through the snowy streets, had maybe one cup too man of hot mulled wine.  She stayed on the sidelines with William, bemoaning about a friendly bartender she knew in her neighborhood.  William finally took pity on her and danced with her himself… eventually positioning Shandri to get tapped by the sobering end of Grapes of Wrath, courtesy of Charissa, to shake her out of her maudlin mood.

Charissa was approached by a short, scholarly looking young man who introduced himself as Marlowe Miccar.  He seemed terribly in awe of her as he explained he did find her wonderfully tall… and oh, yes, right, also he was supposed to be learning and making something of himself, and she seemed to have things figured right out.  He explained he’d graduated from Etorchul Academy last year (and he knew of William, who had the longest entry essay in the school’s history).  His family was mostly invested in the Clerk, Scribe, and Scriveners’ Guild, but Marlowe was interested in something a bit more… physical.  He was interested in applying magic to the crafting process, and thought the weapons she sported were exceptionally fine, very good for enchanting.  Did Charissa think he could be of use in her work?

Usually leaving business decisions to her brother, Charissa moved Marlowe over to where Garden was having several conversations with people.  After the usual amusing introductions of, “little sister, big brother,” and an explanation, the Origamis were quite interested to have someone like Marlowe at their beck and call- er, that is, as a possible business partner.

On the bench next to them, Princess, Evelyn’s familiar, and Pico, Marlowe’s teacup poodle familiar, were comparing their fluffy white coats.  Princess won, naturally.  Pico was a very wise dog.

After the party, Steven invited Ravinica to come stay the night at the Violette manor, in the guest bedroom.  Evelyn was utterly crushed.

And so, our story continues…


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 14, 2013)

*Session 20.5 - Steven's Duel*

Steven set out early the day after the Jassarian’s party, a matter of family honor to attend to.  Gerard had been far too familiar towards his sister, and that could not be allowed to stand.  Evelyn’s reputation was not to be besmirched, not by a dandy like that, and not before a quarter of the prominent families of Sea Ward!  Kissing a lady on the cheek without her invitation or permission, who did the man think he was?  Knowing he had to do his brotherly duty (and perhaps taking some pleasure in it), Steven went to make a call.

A quick pass by the Halls of Justice and the Temple of Tyr assured him that the duel would be appropriately monitored and not get his family nor temple into trouble.  (As satisfying as it would be to just slap the man with a steel gauntlet until he cried like a child, Steven wouldn’t sully his family name with a blatant crime.)  The early hour assured that Evelyn wouldn’t even think of wondering where he was until noon.

He arrived at Gerard’s house, armored and armed, and waited for the man to be brought to him.  Puffy-eyed and suffering the after-effects of a touch too much wine, Gerard came down to the foyer with ill grace.  Upon which Steve took out his leather glove, stiff with cold, and struck the man smartly across his cheek and insolent mouth.

“A duel for my sister’s honor.  In an hour, on the dueling grounds.”

The slap seemed to have gotten Gerard’s blood flowing to his brain, and he paled a bit when he recognized the purple-scaled man was the brother to the woman he’d kissed in public last night.  Steven left him sputtering protests.

An hour later, seconded by Sir Julian, a friend from the temple of Mystra, a pale-faced Gerard arrived on the snow-covered dueling grounds, seconded by an extremely large man who had to have had some giant blood in him somewhere.  Or had possibly gotten into an enlarge potion spell as a baby and it had stuck.  

“Sir Violette, my affection for your sister remains true!  I would not have shown my affection were it not!” Gerard protested, once he was in range of Steven’s hearing.  

Steven’s answer was a glare, and he drew his sword.  The Warden looked at both men with a raised eyebrow, and gestured to the circle carved in the snow.

“To first blood, gentlemen.  And then the matter is settled.  Any trickery on your parts, any attempts at murder and you will be branded a criminal.  May Torm see this duel through and honor be satisfied!”

For a moment Steven thought Gerard’s courage would fail him, and he would call his monstrous second to take his place.  But with a bit of a hard swallow, Gerard tossed off his fur cloak, took up his rapier, and placed himself en garde.

Gerard was not trained as a warrior.  A best, the man knew dancing better than fighting, or at least he only knew the sort of fighting that looks lovely but could only take down a drunken thug.  Your sword clashes against his lighter blade, and though he makes several theatrical flourishes, you soon slip under his guard and flick your blade across the top of his shoulder.  Red stains the blue silk there, and he yields with a faint gasp of pain. 

“Sir Violette, you have won with honor.  May this quarrel between you be satisfied,” the Warden said, with a stern look at the both of you.

Gerard moves aside, allowing his second to bind his shoulder, and halts Steven would he would have left.

“Sir Violette…” he pauses and winces as the bandages on his shoulder pull.  “Truly, I meant no dishonor to your sister.  I had… had a bit too much wine, really, and she is lovely and kind.”  His second hands him a flask, and he takes a sip before passing it to you.  It smells of fine cherry spirits.  “My apologies, sir?”

[Steven's response]

Steven will look at Gerard with a little distain. "You have acted a boor, and so far seem unworthy of my sister's attention. She is a fine and virtuous woman (bluff check?), and is only worthy of the attention of the most prominent and powerful men." He says. "If you want to be seen in the company of my sister again, you will have to prove to my parents that you are worthy and can provide a substantial dowry for her. Otherwise, if I see you so much as glance in her direction, then we will have to have a far more.... serious... discussion".

[DM's response]

Gerard seemed very contrite, possibly aided by the wound in his shoulder, and said he would call upon her parents to talk very soon.  It was clear, from the way Steven talked that the Violette family would be providing no dowery.  Being as they were spellscales, and descended from dragons, potential suitors provided a Bride Price - a potential hoard, as it were, to anyone who wished to marry into the family.


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Oct 10, 2013)

*Sessions 21 & 22*

When we last left our intrepid heroes, they had captured Koltaka and won the gratitude of the Jassarian family for their discrete saving of their reputation.  That next morning, more fun and games began.  Steven challenged Gerard Allard (a fellow who knew his sister and had kissed her on the cheek, in public no less!) to a duel, and scared him even more when after the duel, after subtly threatening him to treat his sister well, had told him female dragons eat their mates, and only true and virtuous love would save him.  Good luck, there.

Some of the Jassarian family, namely Fellok Jassarian (the younger son) and his fiancé Shawna Deeps would be coming to see Garden and Charissa’s shop.  The arrived late one morning a few days after the party, and (since Garden had cleaned up his shop of all hints of less-than-legal enterprises) took a tour of the place.  Fellok was very taken with Charissa’s gun, and wanted to fire it.  While she was taking him through the various instructions (and helping brace him for his shots), Shawna told Garden she’d be right back, and slipped out.

Not too much later, Shawna was knocking on William’s door (he was staying at his uncle’s place in the Dock Ward).  She explained to him that she knew his cousin Shandri, and really needed their help, as they seemed to be the sort of people that could help others, and not just the rich and powerful, but the unknown and unregarded as well.  Shawna explained she had a friend, a fellow dancer from the Busty Wench tavern called Shell.  She had been entertaining at a ship called the Singing Lark and hadn’t made it home last night.  People had seen her leaving the ship safely, but after that Shawna had heard that she had been lost sight of near the temple of Umberlee (the ill-tempered goddess of the ocean).  Shawna was getting rather worried, as Shell was a cautious woman who could take care of herself, and it wasn’t like her not to check in back at the Busty Wench.  And Shawna, having climbed to a higher social stratum than many of her friends, was determined not to let Shell fall through the cracks.

William, being the good-hearted sort and certainly not one to let people go missing in his neighborhood, said he would look into it.  Shawna thanked him, kissed him on the cheek, and gave him one of her calling cards (which were stored in her cleavage, naturally.  One probably could have put calling cards, rations for a week, a tent, and a small dog in Shawna Deeps’ cleavage.).

A little later that day, at the party’s meeting at the Empty Grave, William explained the situation.  Since over half the party lived or worked in the Dock Ward, one couldn’t stand the thought of people being captured or kidnapped (Steven), and the last knew a good favor on the horizon if she saved the friend of fellow social climber (Evelyn), they all willingly went to look into things.  Along the route from the Singing Lark was a bar called the Rusty Nail (one well-known to Shandri, as it contained a bartender she was sweet on, a fellow called Randal), and the group stopped there to see if Shell had been by.

The bartender remembered her vaguely, but the night had been busy.  He called over his bouncer, a viciously scarred half-orc with very sharp tusks called Mangle, and had the group talked to him.  After plying him with a few gold pieces (which Mangle bit holes in to string on his money belt), Mangle said Shell had been in there the previous night.  She’d been talking to a priest of Umberlee called Brother Lyric, and the two had left together, willingly as far as he could tell, for the temple.

(As an aside, there were several ships’ crews in the Rusty Nail, most notably the all-woman crew of privateers from the Screaming Harpy.  Steven gave them Gerard Allard’s address, just because.)

Thusly armed, the group headed for Umberlee’s temple.  The place was situated right on the water, with part of the stairs leading right into the ocean.  It was made from stone as well as ships shattered by Umberlee’s wrath, the temple soaring to great heights above their heads from the hulls used to form its walls and roof.  Shandri, being from essentially a rival church, and Garden, on general principle, decided to stay outside… just in case.  The others entered, and saw the ocean was very present here, waves lapping from many tide pools in the floor.  Whale bones, squid beaks, shark teeth, and giant pearls were used to decorate the walls and altar, while treasure from temple donations and sacrifices proved that Umberlee was one of the great goddesses of Faerûn.

Asking after Brother Lyric, the group was brought to a back chamber.  They inquired about Shell, and Brother Lyric said he had indeed been with her the other night, and that Shell had asked about converting to Umberlee’s faith.  He had sent her to Salt Isle, a small shrine out in the harbor, so she could undergo rituals and instructions to dedicate herself to Umberlee.  He seemed to be very sincere and believable but Steven was pretty sure he was entirely full of manure.  However, they had nothing in particular to get him to tell the truth, no real evidence, and so decided to leave, possibly to go to Salt Isle in person and find Shell.

Meanwhile, outside, Shandri and Garden had noticed the periodically people bearing Umberlee’s holy symbol would step down the front steps of the church into the water and swim out in the harbor, bearing large clam shells strapped to their backs (and presumably magic to help protect them from the cold water).  Such things would make superior waterproof containers, but they were also just big enough hold a slender woman like Shell.  Because Shandri had some power of the ocean to breathe water, she had Garden keep watch for any more trouble, went a little further up the docks, and slipped into the ocean to do a little spying.

She returned a while later, after the group had returned to Garden and relayed their suspicions, blue around the lips from cold, but reported that Salt Isle had an entire underwater extension, a sort of pillar of salt that ran to the bottom of the bay, just barely encrusting the wreck of a large ship.  And that the shells were going to Salt Isle.

Going to Salt Isle openly wouldn’t work, the party decided, as none of them had a good reason to be there, and Shell might be in an area not open to the public.  It was basically ridiculous that she was truly converting to Umberlee’s faith, but it might have been possible that she had been magically charmed or enchanted.  Either way, Brother Lyric wouldn’t want anyone finding her (someone so smarmy must have wanted Shell silenced because he said something he shouldn’t).  So the group had to go in another way.  

And Garden had just that way.  You see, he aspired to learn the ways of the gnome artificer, and thusly had made friends with the Spectacular Order of the Flaming Falseness (who did pyrotechnics and illusions for players), the Noble Assembly of Mechanical Muses (who created unusual mechanical objects), and the Aquatic Order of the Darkening Deeps, who used their submersible vehicle, the Dancing Duck, to help patrol the harbor.

Each of those Orders or Assemblies was the name of the same group of people – three gnome artificers of great talent and small sanity.  Their leader was Quintucket Duckle Macramé Fusse, known as Quint.  He wore everything braided, from his clothing to his hair to his moustache, bore a pair of goggles constantly, and had a nose for the exciting and the absurd.  Grinkle Forswaithe Freemantle Klabble, known as Grin, was an expert in explosives and guns, and carried no less than four pistols (including a pepperbox) at any one time.  The last was Almoga Mulberry Minglebat Prickle, known as Almo.  She was a potion expert as well as a fine navigator, and wore a portable still of magically hardened glass that wove around her body.

The group met them in the Rusty Nail, and after the Aquatic Order of the Darkening Deeps had paid their usual damage deposit, listened to the group’s proposal with interest.  And said they’d help, because it’d be fun.

Oh, would it ever.

The group climbed down into the Dancing Duck, and Quint shooed them into the underground viewing chamber, which was sized for big folks.  He mentioned the Duck would be in illusory stealth (“manta ray”) mode as they made for the ship at the bottom of Salt Isle.  Quint said his group would not be going in with the group, but rather keeping the attention of Umberlee’s people above the level of the ship so the group could look for Shell without attracting too much attention.  But they did have something for them that might make exploration easier.  Almo gave them a goldfish in a large clear bladder filled with water.  When the fish was released, it would make the water breathable by both air and water-dwellers, keeping them from drowning.  Also they gave them a great horn that would be heard underwater, letting the Aquatic Assembly of the Darkening Deeps know when to return for the party.

With the fish and horn in hand, the Duck docked at a portal on the top deck of the ship (which was dry and had air to breathe), and the party quickly went aboard as the Duck went up to begin their distractions.  The group began to look about, and found two things.  One, the stairs down to the lower decks was flooded with sea water.  Two, a storeroom was full of waterproof kelp suits and stiffened kelp-and-sharkskin flipper.  Everyone in the group put both a suit and flippers on, released the magic fish, and went down to the lower decks.

What they saw was horrifying.  Hammocks were cradling the large shells, and many of them were being tended to by ixitxachitl (sentient evil race of manta ray-like creatures).  And by “tended to” that means the ixitxachitl were stabbing their poisonous tails into some of the shells.  William could see transmutation magic was going on in all the shells.  The ones at the back seemed to be most recently arrived, so Evelyn used a spell that compelled one of the ixitxachitls to give her a gift, namely something it was holding.  Namely the newest shell at the back of the room.  It did so without question, though one of the other ixitxachitl spoke to William (he looked the most aquatic of the group; also he luckily spoke Aquatic), asking him if “that one was going to be replaced, because it wasn’t ready yet.”  As William explained (backed by Shandri, who spouted off some of Umberlee’s dogma) that certain specimens were needed for other purposes, Evelyn got two more ixitxachitl to each give her another shell.  Charissa and Shandri shouldered them without complaint.  

The lead ixitxachitl complained about “the deal being altered,” and if they didn’t have replacements for those three by sundown, there would have to be “a discussion.”  William and Shandri made reassuring noises while everyone backed up and out of the water, and then everyone all but dashed upstairs, gathered their clothes, and had Evelyn blow the horn to summon the Dancing Duck.  Judging by the insane laughter coming from some of the barred passages above, and some muted explosions, it sounded like they were having a good time.

The Dancing Duck picked them up quickly, and Quint and Grin asked the party to mount the cannons and harpoon guns on the Duck so they could fend off the huge, ill-tempered sharks that were after them.  Charissa hadn’t had this much fun in an age, and the Dancing Duck wove through the deeps as the group fended off giant squids and sharks until they’d reached quieter depths.  

Hours later, they were able to double back and come up at Shandri’s Temple of Istishia.  They took out the three shells, and explained what happened to Shandri’s superiors as they worked to open the shells.  Inside one was Shell herself, still alive, but she’d been changed.  Her skin was slightly blue, and slightly scaled, and her hands and feet were slightly webbed.  And she had gills.  She’d been lying on a bed of gold and silver roses, apparently a material component for whatever ritual that had been being done to her, in order to preserve her beauty.

Inside another shell was a man who’d been warped into a horrific clawed and fanged fish-creature with bulging eyes (shards of crystal had been in his shell).  He was still alive, but had no memory of his prior life.  Evelyn carefully lured him into one of the temple’s underwater retreat cells (the man could barely tolerate breathing air) to keep him from hurting anyone.  The last one, a young lady in armor, hadn’t survived her transformation.  There was a sword in her shell, one made of black metal with very faint runes of evil, though they were nearly worn away.  

Shell, though still shocky, explained that Brother Lyric had inadvertently told her he was making some deal with the ixitxachitl for “Umberlee’s Glory,” and had magically charmed her to get her to Salt Isle when he realized she could reveal his plans to people he’d rather not have known.  

Evelyn said that Shell would be more exotic now, and thusly could command higher prices.  Shell thanked her rather dubiously.  

The group sent messages to the Temple of Mystra, as well as the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors, who all met at the Temple of Istishia.  A full assault on Salt Isle was out, as getting into a holy war against Umberlee would be a disaster, but everyone was in agreement that this would not stand, and a confrontation must be made…


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## Azkorra (Oct 11, 2013)

Thanks for another great update! Nice to see another quite uncommon race being featured, and the idea of a submarine built by three super-freakish gnomes (their descriptions are hilarious) is simply awesome. Kudos to Ur creativity!


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Nov 20, 2013)

*Session 23*

When we last left our intrepid heroes they had just rescued a dancer named Shell, and at least one other luckless soul from Salt Isle, a private temple of Umberlee.  Priests of Mystra and mages from the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors had been summoned to see what could be done.  They could not risk a holy war with Umberlee’s faithful, but both the priests and mages could speak with the head of Umberlee’s church immediately and find out what in the world they thought was going on (backed with enough evidence to avoid lies).

Several hours later, the delegation returned with some sobering news.  Apparently Brother Lyric had been put in charge of receiving certain tribute to Salt Isle (that was what most of those shell containers that were going from the temple on the Docks contained), as well as in restoring the ship on the bottom of Salt Isle.  That ship was now gone, along with a large amount of tribute and one Sister Mirra.  Apparently her and Lyric had made contact with the ixitchaital and bargained for their own purposes, rather than that of the faith.  The head priest of Umberlee had been very angry to hear what they had been up to, appalled at the state of the victims, and livid at the loss of the ship.  According to him it had been sealed off while under construction, and Brother Lyric and Sister Mirra must have been funneling tribute down there as well as their victims.

Umberlee’s priests were looking for the ship now, but it seems that Brother Lyric had not been on Salt Isle today, and was most likely somewhere in Dock Ward.  The group immediately volunteered to go help look for him, help gratefully accepted.  Shandri found someone in her temple (as they were all still in the Temple of Istishia) to make fair likenesses of Lyric’s face, the Order mage magically made several copies, and she distributed them to her squad of UPS urchins and scattered them down the dock.

The group also took several copies and headed that way themselves, to ask questions of people who might ignore urchins.  Eventually they found evidence he’d been heading down the dock proper, looking for a ship.  And oddly enough, there was a powerful storm brewing right now.  The group went to talk to the Singing Lark, the last ship Shell had performed on, as they might be sympathetic to her plight, and they said they had seen him heading towards the larger passenger ships.  But it was finally with one of the crew of the all-female Screaming Harpy, a sailor named Sasha, who both recognized Lyric and said he’d left on a huge ship called the Storm Wind an hour prior.  But the Storm Wind had turned back and docked in the storm.

Thusly armed, the group went to speak to the captain of the Storm Wind, who thought them mad for being out in this weather, but was even more mad to think he might be harboring a criminal of Umberlee’s church.  He told the crew Lyric was in one of the lower holds, him and some of his cargo.

The group went to confront him, the ship sloshing and rocking at its berth as the storm reached its height.  Lyric, being very paranoid, took one look at the group and opened up one of the huge crates he’d brought with him.  In burst open in a gush of water, filling the hold to a depth of three feet, and revealing two angry scrags (water trolls).  Swearing mightily, the party waded in (sometimes literally) to the fight.  William used magic to hold Lyric, making him fall over in the water.  Garden climbed atop him, not just to keep his head above water, but also to keep him in one place.  (He wasn’t particularly fussed if Lyric drowned; he didn’t have a high opinion of the man.)

Evelyn would paralyze one troll or the other with Margul, the dreaded freeze, and Garden skewered them in vulnerable areas, while Charissa shot her gun with superb accuracy, Steven wielded his new sword, and Shandri empowered them with the blessings of Istishia.  Though the trolls regenerated in water, and their claws and fangs ripped into Steven and Garden, the party was able to finally decapitate them.  The crew of the Storm Wind had been right outside the hold, ready to lend a hand if the trolls had tried to get past them.

The storm, perhaps not so strangely, began to subside right then.

When the party came up to the top, the priests of Mystra and the Order mages were just arriving, along with a very impressive-looking man in rich blue and green robes encrusted with pearls, bearing a massive holy symbol.  This was the high priest of Umberlee, and he was NOT happy with Brother Lyric.  With sharp words of condemnation, the high priest grabbed Lyric and threw him into the sea, transforming him into a hapless fish as he did for his punishment.

In the shark-heavy storm-tossed seas, he wouldn’t last an hour.

The other cargo containers Lyric had were taken out as well.  Aside from some scrags-in-a-box, the other contained an ebony-and-silver chest, as well as several of the large clam shells filled with treasure.  The high priest claimed the clam shells as stolen tribute, but after looking in the chest, said the remainder was Lyric’s personal gear, and “to the victor, go the spoils.”  

Lyric, it seemed, was not a man to stint himself, and the group was mildly pleased at the rich amount of things they would be able to sell and split amongst themselves.

The group was perhaps pleased, if also puzzled, the next morning when another of those mysterious boxes appeared in each of their residences, bypassing any of the security they had set up.  Inside this box were five thousand gold coins.

A bit perturbed, but unwilling to let the gold go to waste, the group set about using that money wisely.

----------------------

It is six weeks to Midwinter and the great party that Evelyn is throwing to show off the newly-renovated House of Violette, and the group has been very busy.

*Evelyn* – Midwinter is coming up soon, and you’ve been busy restoring your home to its former glory and then some.  Repairs done, walls painted, murals retouched or created, and various furnishings and artwork repairs or acquired, now the House of Violette looks its status both inside and out.  The home now has the appropriate number of servants, and Molly is the housekeeper over them all.  Even the butler and steward bow to her expertise and seniority in the household.  Also, they’re properly terrified of her.

The house gardens and back court now look splendid, even in the winter.  There is a tent set up there now to heat the gardens and let them bloom in midwinter.  Your party looks as if it will be fantastic!  The Order of the Vine is coming to help regulate your newly-replenished cellars, you have musicians coming from the temple of Oghma, and your kitchen staff will make a fine feast.

You’ve also been working with Wu Yen, the lung wang dragon on the Waterdeep Council of Wyrms, for your silk business.  Madame Silverleaf wanted you to see if you could broker a deal because she’s started getting orders from Calimshan, and they prefer silk in that hot clime.  Your investments are doing quite well (you have a return of 2,000 right now), and Wu Yen can arrange for that discount.  She is also willing to pay that return not just in gold, but in, say magical items or instruction as well.  (Evelyn primarily wants to use the cash to maintain her new lifestyle, but will also accept some instruction in different spells, should she see something that tickles her fancy.)

*Steven* – Steven and Ravinica buy a house, the House of Violette the Younger, a fine small manor in Sea Ward close to the Temple of Mystra.  Ravinica intends to expand the house through several other planes, making it far more generous on the inside than it would appear.  The house is made of a curious sort of blue stone.  

He also spends time researching his new sword, and learns he must to a ritual to unlock the power inside, that of a sleeping paladin’s soul.  He must spend a day purifying the evil out of a vile magical artifact.  The Temple of Mystra does not have any on hand, but should you head to the Temple of Ilmater, the halls of the god of mercy and suffering sometimes to play host to evil items before they are cleansed.  And if someone is willing to help them in that task, they are happy to have you.  You spend a day in very prayerful contemplation, chanting and washing a nasty assassins dagger in holy water, until at the end of the day is has dissolved.  It is this act that opens a small conduit between you and Excordius.  

*Garden* – [This was in response to several specific questions/requests by the player] You can, with cash in hand, convince one of your abutting neighbors to find alternative accommodations, and then with the help of some clansgnomes, knock down the adjoining wall, expand the size of your shop, put up the shooting range, lock experimentation area, and alchemist’s area, as well as making all the attendant security upgrades.

There is no particular guild for subtle bodyguards, as it seems they’re usually individually trained.  Some of them do come from the Temple of Helm, the Watchful Protector, and that would be the closest to a bodyguard service in the city.  It would upset no order to supply subtle guards, if you so wanted.  The clan has no objections, as gnomes would actually be ideal for such a job (who expects a gnome?  Nobody, that’s who).  

The Shadow Thieves do have a chart for the amount of gold that needs to be paid to make a home off-limits, but it’s also based on politics.  Some families or households do not provide protection money to the guild because it's more politic to leave them alone.  And that "off-limits" designation can be lifted if the household threatens the profits of the guild. 

Garden also spends several days a week visiting Shell in the Temple of Istishia, talking with her, becoming friends, and bolstering her spirits.

*Charissa* – You work with another alchemist to develop the quicksober powder, a different form of an obscure spell of the same name.  A batch is good for five doses, which run about ten gold each.  So while not terribly cheap, it is quite useful and more discreet than hitting someone with a warhammer.

You also work with Marlowe Miccar to produce your silencer charm.  The young man does lose some of his stammering nervousness when he works, becoming very businesslike and focused.  Pico, his teacup poodle familiar, comes along in magically warmed fleece-lined carrier, and stands comically fierce guard while Marlowe works with you.  The dog may be smaller than your shoe, but he is very loyal.

You take on some additional commissions as a result of the contacts made during the Jassarian party, bringing your average income to seventy a week for the past six weeks.

The Vintner’s Guild is charging small parties twenty gold for the services of the Order of the Vine, and large parties anywhere from fifty to one hundred, depending on the size of the party and the number of Knights needed.  The Guild takes a twenty-five percent cut of your fee, gets to market their wares to the party organizer, and offers you guild space and resources.  So they will allow any Order member a bed and board at any Guild Hall in the city, take care of uniform and tabards, and you may call upon Guild resources should you run into difficulty.  As you are being advertised as a combination of entertainers and security that justifies your higher prices over just a bard or just a mercenary.

*William* – You do some scroll-making and research in the Order library.  To make ends meet, you’ve also been working in the warehouse, as not to be a mooch.  

*Shandri* – Been doing swimming lesons, working with UPS, talking to Shell, and learning from temple of Siamorphe.


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Jan 15, 2014)

*Sessions 24, 25, and 26*

(Session 24) 

When we last left our intrepid heroes, the following things happened:

Steven and Ravinica got married and bought a house.

The group all attended their wedding and a housewarming - where it was revealed Ravinica was doing home improvement across the planes.  As in while you might walk into the dining room, which should be in the middle of the house, but yet it had a garden view… of Elysium. 

Evelyn had her Midwinter party at the House of Violette, which went splendidly, shocking everyone involved.  Everyone expected something horrible to happen when a party and all of them are together.

At that party, Garden had a warning from a man with a face-shaped-face that "enemies were returning from across the sea."  He also seemed to know something about the money the group had been receiving anonymously.  The man was well-dressed, but very unmemorable, and did not leave a name.  Concerned, Garden let the group know.

Later that night, and the next day at the Empty Grave, the group worried that this warning could be about Melvin Mask, Father Geb, or Jayrin.  

Jayrin had been exiled to Undermountain two months ago, so it was unlikely it was him.

But, just to be sure, William and Shandri went to check the evidence stored against him in the Halls of Justice.  Checking out storage revealed his wax golem had gone missing, and, after a good deal of pressing, that the clerk had been bribed by someone matching Father Geb's description.

The group sought the maker of wax golems, Yalla, now named Bellicose Bluebottle Begonia Bee (they found him through Garden’s clan contacts).  He now wore the outward form of a gnome.  The group’s advertisement in the Yawning Portal Inn had borne fruit, and they were able to give out the reward for Yalla's bones to an adventurer called Amaranth and her mad bunch of friends.  Having secured Yalla’s bones, the group gave them back to him, and he was happy to talk.

When the group mentioned about the plumacrafter’s golem attacking, he mentioned that he put failsafe commands in his mother tongue, elven, to which they should respond, if Jayrin’s wax golem showed up again.  He had also heard some information about Father Geb, and was very pleased to give the group an address to a warehouse where he could be found.

Anticipating revenge, the group headed down to the docks…

------------------------ 

(Session 25)

The group went to warehouse, which was right on the docks.  The scouted it out, primarily with Shandri’s UPS urchins.  The place had doors on all sides, plus large cargo door, and a sewer entrance.  Garden called three clansgnomes (triplets, Che – a roofwalker, Caleb – a spy, and Krack – a barbarian), to help cover the three smaller exits.  Together the group ended up spending about a 100gp to cause a beer flashmob – a cart with several barrels of beer, a sign saying “free beer” and a couple guys to yell about free beer.  The cart, oh so coincidentally, ended up outside the cargo door of the warehouse, providing a distraction from any noise the group would make.

The group entered through the sewers.  Garden defeated several traps, but set off one that summoned fiendish centipedes, which the group defeated through knock-out spells and sleep poison.  The last trap was a razor ladder with a scythe trap on top, tied to an alarm spell.  Garden got them all but the alarm spell, much to his chagrin, though the traps did give them some white-knuckle moments.

Surprise spoiled, but undamaged, the group jumped up into the warehouse proper, and found themselves facing Father Geb, a couple of his associates, and five black skeletons (strong undead).  Garden made his hand crossbow magic with his magical thread gift from the Wands family, Steven smited Geb, Charissa shot him many times.  Horribly.  In tender places.  William put the helpers to sleep, and Shandri managed to turn undead after the second try (she’s unpracticed, poor lass).  

Geb was horrificly wounded, but managed to flee via a dimension door effect.  The group raced along the line of sight, and realized he could only be on a ship recently to sea.  They thought they saw the crew covering something up with a tarp.

------------------------------------------ 

(Session 26)

The group hired a skiff, one Seabird, captained by Brel Jan, and, after paying him, sent him after the ship.  Pulling alongside, they used the strength of William’s Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors (associate) ID, Steven’s noble standing both as paladin and actual nobility, Shandri’s standing with the church of Istishia, and the not entirely untrue threat that hanging around with a wounded fugitive priest of the goddess of bad luck is not good for your health to get the ship to slow.  Captain Josiah allowed the group to come aboard the Damned Curse of the North.

There was a slick spot on deck, possibly where blood had been wiped up, and a blood bit of loose canvas in a storage locker, that after being hit, unfortunately did not contain Geb.  But it did have some bloody robes.  The group decided to search the ship thoroughly.  The first mate did tell them they had several plague victims on board who were going north for a cure, and the group might want to be wary.  

Finding nothing in the captain or crew’s quarters, the group ventured to the plague ward, where the balding healer was stern with them, that they shouldn’t disturb the sufferers.  A careful look at the victims revealed that several were under illusory disguises… possibly criminals smuggling themselves out of the city, but it was hard to say.

The healer said initially that he knew of Geb, but hadn’t seen him, and seemed sincere, but when showed a picture of Geb (that Gorden had sketched) let slip that that was a terrible likeness.  Caught in at least an omission, if not an outright fib, the healer demurred he had seen Geb before, but not on the ship today. 

As William had employed his goblet of truth, the healer did not seem to be lying, so the group continued to search.  They did fine a crate in the cargo hold with fresh toolmarks, like someone had gotten into it recently.  It held a fine selection of disguises.  As the group was looking at this, there was a yell from the deck.  Going up, they learned a cloaked figure, somewhat resembling Geb, had vanished from the deck, appeared on the Seabird, knocked out Captain Jan, and vanished again.

Dismayed, the group realized Geb, with his adroit skill at lying, strong will, and employment of spells to dampen the aura of magic items, had been the very healer they’d spoken to.  He had healed himself up and concealed his face, waiting for the opportunity to escape.  Furious, the group revived Captain Jan, and questioned the first mate very harshly.  He eventually gave up the fact that a woman (or maybe a man, sometimes… both) called Vershawn had paid him to store that trunk on the Curse, ignore the plague victims, and to be at the dock that afternoon.

The group, in high dudgeon, returned to the city and scattered to marshal their resources to find Vershawn.  

During that time, Garden received an invitation to Lord Vrakavor’s abode in the North Ward, to consult about a security upgrade.  Once there and ensconced in the parlor, the man with the face-shaped face appeared and apologized for Geb’s slipperiness.  It turned out the face-man was not Lord Vrakavor, though he knew him, and said Vrakavor was out of town.  He highly encouraged Garden to do his most expensive security upgrade and put it on Vrakavor’s tab, because he could afford it.

Garden said he’d do so, and later registered it with the Shadow Thieves’ Guild, just in case anyone was working the area.  He is a conscientious businessman.

Later, resources pooled, the group had discovered Vershawn was a middleman and a poisoner, a developer of schemes and remover of obstacles.  She/he could be found at any number of disreputable taverns in the Dock Ward – The Pickled Eel, the Purple Plum, the Curly Ram, and Crumpet Crom, or the Purloined Purse.

Knowing they were going to have aching heads in the morning, the group decided to go looking, and started in the Pickled Eel.  The atmosphere there could be described as cheerfully awful, a nearly continuous bar brawl with several musicians playing over it, with dreadful food and drink.  But a coin to the barkeep later, he pointed out their quarry!

The group sidled over, and Garden right next to her (it was definitely a her, but she was androgynous enough to sometimes pass for a man).  He yelled, “What is that?!” and pointed with one hand… while the other stabbed her with a sleep-poisoned barb.  She slumped unconscious, and the group manhandled their “drunk” friend into the alley.  The quickly stripped her of a truly impressive array of poisons (including some that went on mouth darts) and weapons, slapped her awake, and questioned her.

Realizing the group was serious, and not having any particular loyalty, Vershawn said a man she knew as “Dravin Wands” (who matched Father Geb’s description) had hired her to make some contingency plans for him.  He was likely to contact her again, and she clearly was not going to scruple to give him up to the group.  She accepted the loss of her weapons and poisons with good grace, considering she got to live.  As the group had figured out where she brewed her poisons (the sigil on the vials), they knew where they could find her.  She promised to contact them, and they let her go, knowing that with her description and the poisons and weapons they’d found, they could set the Watch, the WOMPs (Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors), and at least two different temples on her at any time.


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Jan 18, 2014)

*Session 27*

When we last left our intrepid heroes, they had lost Father Geb and were really, very seriously, put out about it.  They had several pictures made and copied of Geb’s face, and Jayrin’s face, and put a reward out for information leading to their capture, three hundred for Jayrin, a thousand for Geb.

Several frustrating days went by, but during their weekly meeting at the Empty Grave, one of Shandri’s UPS urchins came to tell them that they had a taker for Jayrin’s poster.  Evelyn had decided to join them this time (she had been working on business matters, or so she said, during the whole Geb incident), as she didn’t care for Jayrin either.  The fellow they met (on the border of Trade and Dock Wards) was a ratty little guy called Marco.  

He explained that Jayrin, or at least someone who looked like him, had a pawn shop, and he was getting the contents packed up to get out of town today.  He had five “helpers” with him.  When pressed as to how Marco knew about this, Marco said his cousin was working with Jayrin, and that he was a “Little Antler,” a low-level priest of Beshaba.  He apparently thought his cousin was a jerk and wasn’t going to lose a wink of sleep if he ended up in jail.  The group promised payment if the information panned out, so Marco told them address and said he’d wait a few blocks away.  You know, out of the blast radius.  He mentioned that Jayrin had an arrangement with the proprietor of the store next door, and a secret door into that shop for an escape route.

The group went to scout the area.  The pawn shop was in a line of shops similar to the ones the group had destroyed, er rather, seen when they had confronted Melvin Mask some months prior.  That meant that there was no getting directly to the back or front of a building without going around the whole block.  Jayrin’s pawn shop was apparently closed, the door locked.  The store next door was a used clothing store, bustling with people all seeking bargains. 

Figuring to cut off at least one route of escape, Garden spent some gold and convinced a few nearby peddlers to give up their carts.  He then had Charissa tow them to block the front door of the pawn shop and broke their axles. 

Garden decided to try to climb up to the second story of the pawn shop in the back, sneak in a window, and try to see what was going on inside.  The rest of the group would either go in the front of the clothing store and try to get into the storeroom, or linger on the street in case of other developments.  Evelyn, her spellscale nature and noble standing disguised by makeup and camouflage dressing, was able to sneak past the draconian (in nature only) storekeeper as Charissa messed about with the bins of clothing, drawing her ire.

In the back, Garden climbed up to the second story on his grappling line, snuck in a window, and found a room that bore the signs of at least five occupants.  He heard voices downstairs, and snuck down quietly.  He paused partway down the stairs, and could see at least five men (local bully boys from the looks of it) packing crates.  Out of his line of sight, he could hear Jayrin, and one other person.

Evelyn, now in the back room, went to look for this secret door.  Listening carefully, she could hear voices on the other side of the wall, but couldn’t see how to open the secret panel.  Then she heard growls behind her.  In the corner, out of notice, two guard dogs had been reclining.  Now they were on their feet and growling at her.

Evelyn’s magic was more often geared towards humanoid opponents, and that one at a time.  Two large guard dogs would prove to be problematic…  Then her hand closed on something in her purse.  At the Empty Grave earlier that day, Steven had given her a “gift” from the group’s hunt for Father Geb.  It was a jar of pickled eels from the Pickled Eel.  Evelyn threw it at the dogs.

What emerged was a horrific stench that resembled the vapors that must linger over the Rotting Flesh Bogs of the Abyss.  The dogs whined and retched and howled and pawed at their faces.  Evelyn and Princess (her familiar) did much the same, but with more style.

On the other side of the wall, the bully boys turned to look at the hidden door, and flung it open.  (The dogs were their alarm.)  Garden shot one of the bully boys post-haste, right in the kidney.  

Charissa and William and Steven, hearing growling and smashing glass, ran for the back room, William and Shandri hustling the customers out with dire warnings of fire and danger and really anything that would get them to move the heck out of the way.  Shandri waited until the last person was out and locked the door so they couldn’t be ambushed or anyone could escape that way.

When the three hit the back room, the stench was… overpowering.  Nearly everyone tossed their cookies upon smelling it.  Steven thought it was so bad that when he ran into the back room, he just kept running (after swiping at the hound near his sister) and banged straight through the back door to bounce off the alley to try to avoid the smell.

With the door open, the bully boys were also affected by the smell, most of them retching.  Garden continued shooting at them even as one came up the stairs to try to kill him, though the man was so sick he had no luck at all, and even less when the stench floated upward and Garden lost his lunch all over the man.

Evelyn, Shandri, Steven, and Charissa could see through to the back of the pawn shop, and at the back were Jayrin and Little Antler.  Little Antler managed to hold his lunch, and Jayrin had no sense of smell, so they were some of the few unaffected by the smell.  William cast a spell of sleep, downing a couple of the bully boys, and Charissa shot at the guard dogs and bully boys as appropriate as Steven came back and put himself between and danger.

While the bully boys fought, Jayrin and Little Antler attempted to leave through the front door (Jayrin literally picking Little Antler up like a loaf of bread), only to find it blocked by the carts Garden had put there earlier.  Little Antler yelled that, so Shandri doubled back so she could cover the front door to the pawn shop.  Evelyn, thinking Little Antler might be able to be disarmed, ducked through the fighting and tried to compel Little Antler to give her his holy symbol.  His will was strong, however, and one of the bully boys wounded her.  Steven made the man into two men for that.

After swords, spells, and bullets had put the rest of the bully boys and dogs down, the others tried to prevent Jayrin and Little Antler from escaping.  William shot Little Antler with magic missiles, and Little Antler managed to get off a successful curse from a spell, cursing William with incompetence.  In the ensuing melee, with Jayrin attempting to go after Evelyn, Steven killed the man-golem to death, and he dissolved into liquid wax.  Little Antler was wounded nearly to death, though Shandri was able to keep him from dying.  The group wanted to question him.  

Badly.


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Feb 26, 2014)

*Session 26.5 - Evelyn's Days Off*

While the rest of the group was tracking Father Geb through the sewers and a pirate ship, Evelyn was doing something else.  

The first part of this was my e-mail to the player about what Evelyn was up to, and the second part is the results of a one-on-one session.

---------------------------

Evelyn Violette was on a mission of passion, a mission of fashion, and a mission of magicians.  Her brother and the rest of her strange, wayward friends were off trying to find Father Geb.  Now Geb, being an ambitious bastard of the Wands family, was surely going to try to go after them in high society again at some point.  There, Evelyn was likely to hear rumors, and the more highly placed and connected she was, the better she’d be able to help avert disaster, and hence the Wands family would be so very grateful…  Really, it was a truly altruistic gesture on her part to further her social connections.

One of the ways to do that was not only tend to her budding fashion house, but to further her magic.  That would come in helpful not only in her personal ambitions, but in her physical safety.  Specifically she wanted to learn more about dragon magic.  Wu Yen, the Wang Lung dragon who was her partner in the silk trade, said she would be willing to have Evelyn as a pupil, and was pleased to see her taking more of her destiny into her own hands.

However, something never comes for nothing, and Wu Yen wanted something other than mere coin for her instruction.

“The knowledge you seek is valuable.  For commiserate value I would have something of you.  I have letters here, letters which must be delivered with cunning and skill.  This one here, to the Dragonmage.  He will read it and laugh, but he will indeed read it, and you are one of the few who will see to it that it gets to him.  This second must go to the desk of Lady Fashane Eglantaine.  It must appear without her notice, or the notice of any of her household, before midnight on the night of her natal party, two days hence.  The one must be placed in the hands of Lord Peirgeiron the Paladinson.  This last must go to the temple of Auril, to Sister Valpane.  How you choose to do these tasks is up to you.  You have half a tenday to succeed.”

Lady Fashane you know as a woman of immense wealth, whose family is heavily invested in the Master Order of Shipwrights.  Lord Peirgeiron the Paladinson is a paladin of Tyr, and the Open Lord of Waterdeep.

----

Also, there is the important if not world-shaking need to find a factor, someone you can trust to run your business.  Madam Silverleaf is unused to exporting her dresses or modifying them for local custom, though she’s certainly not loathe to learn the latter.  You’ve been relying on the Origami Clan to disseminate your fashion books, paying them and your artist at the temple of Sune out of your own funds, fielding requests, and all other things.  But as your business expands, you’re going to need to keep accurate books, pay taxes, help Madam Silverleaf with materials and the expansion of her shop, advertise, and possibly either renegotiate with the Origami clan for transport costs or find your own caravans.  (You know Garden’s people will cheerfully take anything from you they can get.  And they’ve been reliable, but they’re not everywhere.)

The Merchant’s Guild could help you with those things for an appropriate fee.  They’re expensive, they’d take 25%, but they’re licensed and bonded under the auspices of the Temple of Waukeen.  You could simply continue on with the Origami Clan (renegotiating, if you so desire) and see if you could find a factor you could trust amongst them.  You could partner up with another merchant or three who already has routes (spreading out caravan costs by banding together) and find a factor on your own by searching at hiring halls or perhaps asking amongst your noble friends.

Or even something else?  Ask the Council of Wyrms?  Partner up with the Thayans?  See if Mom or Dad has any ideas?  Build it all from the ground up and start interviewing folks?  Asking for advice from the Temple of Waukeen or your merchant pals?

Let me know!

------------------------------------------------------------------

Evelyn had her packet of letters, and now she had quite a bit to do, and not a lot of time to do it in.  She decided to go first to the Master Order of Shipwrights, under the perfectly valid pretense that she wanted to expand her shipping northward.  She ended up meeting with one Master Elfont, a master shipwright who had built some of the Eglantaine fleet.  He was indeed an elf, and one with extravagantly long ears.  Evelyn explained her business and her needs, as well as needing to speak with the Eglantaines about their northern routes.  Master Elfont seemed to be intrigued by Evelyn, as she was being quite charming, and said if she would be so kind as to accompany her to Lady Eglantaine’s birthday party as his guest, she would certainly be able to informally speak to the family there.

Modestly, Evelyn accepted.

Then she went to do a bit of research into the church of Auril, the cold goddess, and for that she turned to Shandri, who knew more about religion than her brother.  Shandri said Auril’s clergy had sort of neutral relationship with Istishia’s church, purely based on their mutual distain for fire.  But beyond that, the dogma of Auril emphasized putting holes in walls and roofs, freezing people to death, never taking the life of an arctic creature unless in greatest need, and getting people to fear the cold goddess.  

Of Sister Valpane, Shandri said she was the Frostmaiden this year.  While “Frostmaiden” was actually one of Auril’s titles, it was also the title of one of her priests who had taken on her mantle of power during the winter.  While not a full avatar, nor the leader of a temple, the Frostmaiden of any temple of Auril was infused with the goddess’ essence and was the conduit through which prayers and offerings were made and either accepted or rejected.  Thusly Sister Valpane was not going to be leaving the temple, and the only way to talk to her was to be in the process of making an offering.

Also, she had a brilliant thought when speaking with Madam Silverleaf later that day about a winter gown.  Madam Silverleaf didn’t keep enough furs on hand for a typical winter wardrobe for more frigid climes, and they’d have to get special contracts with northern fur merchants to supply enough fur.  BUT!  Since Evelyn was going to use her northern trade routes as part of her routes to get into the temple of Auril, and they hated arctic animals being killed for their fur, what if she were to only get furs that were obtained bloodlessly?  That would require getting fur only from animals killed in self-defense, dire need, or who had died from natural causes.  Obviously, fur would have to be an accent in that kind of clothing line, rather than front and center, but it would sound so very noble-minded.  A “bloodless” winter wardrobe!

Thusly armed with information, Evelyn got some information from one of the UPS urchins about any broker or merchant who sold exotic animals, particularly those associated with arctic regions.  That place turned out to be Zeke’s Magical Menagerie.  But, before she went, she needed one more thing.  She went to Sucker Street to have a nice conversation with Brother Sallis.  She took her footman, Sven, along for protection, and dressed down, but she’d been visiting the good Brother for weeks, valuing his advice and his goddess’ favor.  She chatted amicably for a while, gambled and lost, and Brother Sallis invoked Tymora’s blessing for her.  

Ready to face the world, she dressed up again, and headed for the Menagerie.

It was run by a sleekly plump halfling who worn two-foot-high platform shoes, of a style used in Kara Tur.  He found them useful for walking in snow-covered streets without sinking in over his head.  Evelyn was quite interested, and listened attentively, flattering him before she made her request for an exotic arctic pet.  (She had her heart set on a puffin, mostly because they were cute.)

Zeke showed her the aquatic white bears of the north, the funny, swimming flightless birds called penguins, snow rabbits, snow fancy rats, ermine, snow foxes, snow leopards, and yes, even puffins.  Evelyn asked many questions, mostly trying to determine which one she could keep alive for more than a few hours, and ended up settling for a bright-eyed snow-leopard cub.  Though she really, really wanted a puffin.  She gave Zeke part of his price then, and the rest in a couple of days when she would go to the temple of Auril.

Then came the fun part of the mission!  She went to see the head priest of Mystra, who was utterly delighted to send a message to Maaril the Dragonmage just to get her out of his hair.  A while later, she was admitted to the Dragonmage’s presence (while successfully smothering the urge to call his green dragon cohort “Fluffy”).

She chatted amicably with the Dragonmage for a while, or at least as amicable as the irascible Dragonmage ever got, and gave him the letter Wu Yen had wanted him to read.  As predicted, he read it and laughed, saying, “Not for all the gold in a dwarven mine.”  

One letter discharged, Evelyn had done a pretty good day’s work.  She stopped to chat with Hildegard, Maaril’s housekeeper, who was much, much nicer than her master, and who’d kept Evelyn’s footman, Sven, plied with food and drink while they waited.

The next day Evelyn went to the Open Hearings of the Open Lord of Waterdeep, wanting to get the lay of the land before trying to get a letter into the man’s hands.  At the Open Hearing held every Fourthday, Lord Peirgeiron the Paladinson would listen to cases brought before him for advice and judgment.  It was mostly attended by nobility and those aspiring to be so, but upon occasion one of the lower classes could try to petition the Open Lord for justice they felt they could not bring to the courts.  

This day, however, bid to be fair entertaining.  Huburt and Sashine Marburt were addressing Lord Peirgeiron about a complicated legal problem with their combined holdings.  The two were married, and in their marriage had combined interests in the Shipwrights, Vinters, Scribes, and Blacksmiths’ Guilds.  The two were incredibly wealthy, incredibly well-connected, and also possibly the most contentious couple that had ever graced the face of Toril.  The two were bickering like children, but with the assets of some of Waterdeep’s Guilds lying in the balance.

Lord Peirgeiron the Paladinson had apparently seen this before, because he eventually cut them off, and in slow, deliberate tones that nevertheless were backed with iron-hard authority, bid them to work together.  It was a tone that booked no further argument, and the Marburts were put into the hands of Lord Peirgeiron’s clerks to finish their dispute.

While this amusement was going on (and being avidly watched by many), Evelyn was carefully watching for someone who seemed to know the ropes, who was a regular here, someone who might be able to get her precious letter into the Open Lord’s hands.  Her attention landed on a wizened scribe who was attending the Marburts, a man who was simply making certain gestures to Lord Peirgeiron’s scribes, holding entire silent conversations about the content of complicated contracts while the Marburts continued to argue loudly.  He sort of reminded Evelyn of Molly.

She approached him when the Marburts had wound down to quiet bickering between each other, explaining that she’d noticed his competence and needed a man of his talents and experience.  She explained she was looking for a business factor, and also she had the tiny, needful task of delivering a letter to the Open Lord.

The scribe, who introduced himself as Master Wren, was a former Master Scribe who was working for the Marburts in his retirement.  However, he knew who Evelyn was (she was one of four spellscales in the city, and an attention-seeking one to boot), and knew her star was rising.  He was cautiously interested, if she could offer him better terms than the Marburts.  His apprentice could certainly fulfill all his duties, and Master Wren would certainly prefer a less contentious position.  

When Evelyn asked if he would be willing to deliver a letter to Lord Peirgeiron, Master Wren said he might.  Then he quickly wrote up a contract with special, enchanted ink, and pointed out that she must swear, and sign, that the letter contained no poison, no magic, no curses, no blackmail or threats to the Open Lord, anyone of his people, or the city.  If she would swear to that, he would deliver the letter.  Evelyn excused herself to go to a corner and open the letter (she hadn’t read any of them), and found it was a request from Wu Yen about dragons approaching the Open Lord directly about entrance into the city, instead of relying on the whims and effectively, extortion, of the Dragonmage to allow them entry.

The letter had no aura of magic, and didn’t make Evelyn catch on fire or fall dead upon reading it, so she counted it safe.  She signed the contract, gave Master Wren some compensation for his efforts, and saw him put the letter in with the Marburts’ contracts, and then into Lord Peirgeiron’s hands.  Evelyn actually saw him take the letter, peruse it, and then put it in his pocket.

Second letter, delivered!

Tonight was the night of the Eglantaine party, and Evelyn purchased a fine shawl for the Lady Eglantaine before Master Elfont picked her up for the gala.  The party was an elegant affair, and after Master Elfont had taken a couple turns with her on the dance floor, was content to point out the Lady’s youngest daughter, the mage Sasha Eglantaine, who handled much of the family’s finances and contracts.  (If Lord Eglantaine was the CEO, then Sasha was the CFO.)  She chatted with Sasha for a while, and struck up a tentative agreement to extend her northern routes of the fashion business through the Eglantaine shipping lines.

That done, she had a brief conversation with the Lady Eglantaine, presenting her gift (as well as some juicy gossip about the Marburts), before casually drifting over to the roped-off areas to the private parts of the family manor.  After ducking into the ladies’ room and using magic to disguise herself as an elegant but clearly human noblewoman, Evelyn tried to magically charm one of the pageboys left to direct the guests that Lady Eglantaine needed her to get something from her office.  Annoyingly, the boy had a strong will and resisted her magic, but Evelyn switched tactics.

Instead she said, with as much sincerity as she could muster, that Lady Eglantaine had sent her to get a “special lady’s potion” from her study.  The boy believed her, and turned beet red.  He quickly guided her to the study and stood in the doorway staring at his shoes while Evelyn entered.  She wanted to casually slip the letter onto Lady Eglantaine’s desk while palming another innocuous object and magically making it look like the apocryphal potion she’d been sent to get.  However, she nearly fumbled the switch.

Just at that moment, she saw a small gold coin she hadn’t noticed before on the desk blotter – the gold coin of Tymora, goddess of luck.  The pageboy turned out to be looking down at his shoes as she made the exchange, and she walked out of the office with the “special lady’s potion” in her hand and the letter on the desk with no one else the wiser.  She went to “powder her nose,” ditched the illuioned object, and her own disguise, and rejoined the party as herself.  

The third letter had been delivered!

The next day, she dressed quite warmly in Madame Silverleaf’s new “bloodless” winter gown, paid Zeke the balance for her snow leopard cub and all his accoutrements, and headed off to the temple of Auril.  It was atop a wind-swept promontory, with holes in the walls and roof to let the bitter wind blow through, and ice covering everything.

Evelyn went to explain to a priestess that she was there because she had a fashion house.  That was enough to get a raised eyebrow, because that was definitely not how most conversations started in Auril’s temples.  She went on to explain about her new interests in Silvermoon, the Gem of the North, and her desire for “bloodless” fur of the beautiful artic animals, and how she’d come with an offering to secure Auril’s favor for her shipping to arrive safely to the cold harbor.

The priestess judged Evelyn sincere, and took her to the inner sanctum to make her offering.  This room was even colder, and atop a dais, on a throne made of ice, was a woman with white skin, pale hair, and icy blue eyes, wearing attire more suited for summer than winter, as it showed a great deal of pale white skin.  When The Frostmaiden spoke, her voice was breathy as the winter wind. 

Evelyn was tasked to pray for the favor of the cold goddess, and was pressed to her knees on the icy floor, her glove taken off, and a piece of ice as big as her hand pressed into her palm.  She had to pray until the ice melted before Auril would hear her.  Evelyn prayed quite hard that the ice would melt as soon as possible!

With the last freezing drop had fallen from her palm, the priestess let Evelyn walk up to the dais to both give the snow leopard cub to the Frostmaiden, and deliver her letter.  The Frostmaiden clutched the little leopard close, and it looked quite startled, possibly verging on terrified.  But she took the letter, and nodded at Evelyn.  Figuring she’d done all she’d been sent to do, Evelyn left in search of something way the hell warmer.

The fourth letter delivered, she returned to Wu Yen, who was sharing Karaxmegathron’s (the white dragon) meeting room with Jukuminno, the red dragon who’d taken on the form of a dwarf.   Wu Yen was interested to hear the reaction of the Dragon Mage, and Jukuminno said, “’Not for the all the gold in a dwarven mine?’  Ha, good thing I know more than one dwarf.”

While Jukuminno lapsed into writing things down and muttering rather unpleasant things, Wu Yen took it upon herself to give Evelyn her first lessons in dragon magic…


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Feb 26, 2014)

*Session 28*

When we last left our intrepid heroes, they were going to interrogate Little Antler, the young priest of Beshaba who had been working with Jayrin (or the wax golem equivalent thereof).  While William and Charissa went slowly looking for the Watch, the rest of the group bound up the surviving bullyboys and Little Antler.  Before they’d left, William had loaned Evelyn (their questioner) his chalice of truth, while Charissa had loaned Shandri Grapes of Wrath.  

Garden went out of range of the chalice’s truth aura to go loot the upstairs room of excess coin and goods, and Princess was likewise banished because Evelyn didn’t want to hear any backtalk about her wardrobe color choices.  Evelyn drunk from the chalice (which would affect all in the aura) while Shandri gave Little Antler a tap from the drunken end of Grapes of Wrath.  If the man managed to resist one effect, maybe he wouldn’t be able to resist both.  

Shandri finally healed Little Antler enough to wake him up.  Evelyn began to question him, and it became clear that though he wasn’t under the compulsion to tell the truth, he was definitely drunk.  Evelyn successfully charmed him with her magic, and he became much more cooperative.  While he wasn’t naming names and giving fine details, he was still telling them quite a lot.  The batch of goods (and stolen children) Jayrin and he had been packing were going to Skullport, the dark undertown of Waterdeep, ruled by vampires, or so it was said.  The crates were to be taken to a bar called the Monster’s Head (reportedly the worst bar in Waterdeep) and from there to an ogre magi who’d take charge of them.  Thrallkor the Thrall-keeper was the moniker Little Antler knew him by, and he would pay handsomely for what Jayrin was selling.  

The money, Little Antler said, was for getting letters of reference.  He also mentioned something about a master at the temple of Beshaba in Skullport, and that bearding that man in his lair might win enough respect to converse with him.  

Information gathered, and the Watch arrived, the group let the law take Little Antler and the bullyboys into custody, after carefully spinning out an entirely plausible-sounding story about how this whole mess had happened in the first place.  (It involved them being just conscientious citizens who investigated after hearing an awful din/smelling an awful smell.)

The group lingered as the authorities gathered the contents of the crates (for which they’d probably end up getting a finder’s fee), and tending to the sleeping children.  Clerics of Lathander (god of dawn and youth) and Chauntea (Earthmother goddess) were summoned to help with the children.  (One of Chauntea’s faithful was summoned because of their nurturing nature – though the temple is on the outskirts of Waterdeep, her priests are also known to tend to young animals and children as well as crops.)  The priestess of Chauntea bent a warning in the group’s ears upon hearing the potential fate of the children.  She said that trying to take on Skullport directly could gain them more trouble than would be necessary, and could harm more than they would save.  She counseled caution.

William then went with Charissa to the temple of Tymora to be free of the curse of incompetence Little Antler had hit him with during their fight.  He gambled his tithings, lost spectacularly, and was blessed by Tymora’s faithful for taking a chance.  (In other words, losing your fee at the gambling tables that dot Tymora’s temple is a way to invoke her favor.)

Meanwhile, Eveyln and Steven had gone to the Temple of Mystra to speak to someone about this latest abuse of magic (as was Steven’s duty as a paladin and Evelyn’s duty as a gossip).  While this was not a matter for the High Priest, since every other time they’d come to the temple Steven had had something of dire import to say, which often left the High Priest in quite a mood, most of the acolytes scattered upon seeing the Violettes rather than face being the messenger.  Only one young man hadn’t moved fast enough, and whimpering in fear, conducted them to the High Priest, ignoring Steve’s vague protests that this really wasn’t a matter for-.

The High Priest welcomed them with a raised cynical eyebrow, and pulled out a goblet and a bottle of wine.  For himself.  He also opened the conversation with a comment that he’d asked Lady Amarenth, a priestess at Selûne’s temple, to do a horoscope to see what bad star the two had been born under.  Apparently the chart had burned through in places.  Then the High Priest waved at them to carry on with their explanation.

What ensued during that interview was a comical farce of Evelyn explaining the stolen children and the Monster’s Head and whatnot, Steven trying to explain while Evelyn kept talking over him, and the High Priest heavily fortifying his wine as he listened.

When the story wound to a close, the High Priest said he would speak with his counterpart at the Temple of Tymora, for it sounded like Tymora’s sister had started to move too forcefully in the city.  Also, there needed to be an investigation launched into other missing children, for it seemed Jayrin had considered them to be disposable assets, and if he was using magic to do it, the ogre magi could not be his only customer.  

On the subject of Skullport, he was grave.  “There are many powerful magicians, even god-touched chosen here in Waterdeep, but to attack one great evil in force could spark a war that could claim the lives of thousands.  Should you choose to tread, tread carefully.  You’ve already been marked.”

The group went later to the Empty Grave to share what they knew.  They talked amongst each other, coming to the conclusion that they would at least investigate the Monster’s Head.  (Garden was adamant about not going into Skullport – vampires gave him the screaming heebie-jeebies.)  Also, if Geb and company were seeking letters of recommendation, he might be trying to place someone in a noble household.  His first big attempt at ruining the Wands family (the amber ooze poisoned wine) had come from blackmailing and subverting people already in place.  He could be trying to place his own loyal agents for another strike.  The group agreed to go talk to the temple of Siamorphe to see if they could give any insight.

But when the group went to leave, there was a great roar, and fire burst from the fireplace.

“Curses be upon you!  Damn you!  Burn you!” a hollow voice cried.  Several figures of pure flame erupted out into the room, two the size of humans, one twice that size, and a slender fire-figure with wings (a fire fairy).  The rest of the patrons took one look and ran out the door screaming, except for the barkeep and two frightened acolytes of Kelemvor who huddled by the bar.  The barkeep snapped a tile in his hands, and yelped something into the air about fire.  William recognized the tile – it was one given to those who had paid for fire protection from the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors.  The fire brigade was on its way.

Evelyn kept using her magic to hamper the fire elementals from moving, while Garden tried to skewer some of them with his crossbow and rapier alike, though they were tough to hurt (no kidneys to slice).  Charissa, Steven, and Shadri waded into the fray, getting attacked and burned even as they slowly wore them down.  William tossed his magic about, but a little fire elemental kept slamming into him, nearly killing him.  They managed to kill one of the little ones, but William collapsed from his burns nevertheless.  Garden ran to William’s side and poured a healing potion down his throat.

The fire fairy had been invoking enchantment magic hither and yon, and managed to cloud Charissa’s mind, making her confused.  In trying to shoot the fire fairy, she instead shot Shandri in the back.  Wincing in pain, Shandri, thinking it was nothing more than a missed shot in the chaos of battle, admonished her to shoot the enemies.  Steven had been steadily slicing away at the large fire elemental and fire fairy both.  The fairy, very wounded, fled back where she had come and did not trouble them again.

The fire elemental, who had been hurt more than enough, roared as grabbed Shandri (as she was wearing her holy symbol of Isishia, King of Water Elementals).  It grappled her and drug her to the ground, burning her.  Garden ducked out in time to see the WoMPs were on their way, water elementals romping at their sides.  

The fire elemental had Shandri pinned, and it was clear she couldn’t last long.  Charissa shot it again, luckily hitting the elemental and not Shandri.  Steven put everything he hand into putting the monster down, including sacrificing some of his own strength, and thrust Excordius (his sword) into the elemental to make an end of it.  The elemental twisted at the last second and Steven’s sword went right through Shandri, killing her before wounding the elemental.  William flung the nigh-last of his magic missiles at it, his magic roused by his cousin’s death, and dealt the death-blow to the elemental.  It was there at the end that the WoMPs and their elementals showed up to extinguish the last of the flames, and found a horrible scene.

Steven was horrified at what he’d done, and Charissa was extremely distraught.  The WoMPs asked about what had happened, and the group had unexpectedly sympathetic witnesses in the barkeep and two acolytes who had stayed, who knew the group from their bi-weekly meetings over the past six months.  They said Shandri’s death had been an accident, the fire elementals had appeared without warning, and the group had done everything they could to prevent damage to the inn or anyone else.  The WoMPs, with the witnesses and William’s credentials as an intern, were inclined to believe them.

Steven took Shandri’s body in his arms, intending to take her down to her temple himself, but two dead-cart drives from the Empty Grave said it would be their privilege to take Shandri there themselves in their cart.  A small procession started, mostly made up of Shandri’s UPS urchins, as they went to Istishia’s dockside temple.

Steven and the others asked if it were possible to raise Shandri, as she was their friend (and family in William’s case) and she’d been taken so soon.  As Shandri had been killed by a servant of Kossuth, and had been doing much good for the temple, the High Priestess said they would bring her back.  But the group would have to do a quest for Istishia to balance the scales.  They agreed readily, and Shandri was placed in an immersed altar, in a space that was filled to a depth of several feet with holy water.

The ritual commenced, and the holy water boiled away as Shandri took the water into herself, her spirit deciding to return.  With a gasp, Shandri awakened, burn-scarred and bald, but alive.  Alive!  She would be days in recovering, and still seemed fragile, but she called Steven and Charissa to her and forgave them.  “It was not your fault.  Really.  I know it wasn’t.”

Charissa, however, could not be consoled.  This was the first time she’d seen death close up of anyone she knew, and went into a kind of shock.  Garden was unexpectedly solicitous, getting her home and into bed, sending his minions to tend to things as he made sure Charissa had her privacy.  Eventually, it was suggested that she seek a priest of Ilmater, the god of suffering, who suggested she make an atonement to assuage the guilt in her own heart.

In a somber mood, a debt hanging over all their heads, and a conspiracy still lurking below Waterdeep, the story continues…

--

(Just after this session, I had the following exchange with Charissa's player)

Charissa, you’ve never really considered that someone you know and care for could die.  That you were capable of ending a life, you’ve known for a while.  The world is a dangerous place, and the clan never made any effort to hide that from you.  But somehow that never really translated into Shandri’s death.

Brother Jahain was the man you met at the Temple of Ilmater the Mercyseeker, the face of the Church dedicated to those in need of help for matters of the mind or spirit.  You told him you felt guilty because in the heat of the fight, you swore you were shooting an enemy and instead shot Shandri, wounding her so much you felt that she might have survived Steven’s desperate attempt at killing the fire elemental if she hadn’t taken your bullet.  

Jahain is perhaps fifteen years your senior, fit, thin, and bald, with an air of great wisdom and experience about him.  His hands bear many tiny scars, and he has tiny tattoos, letters in an unfamiliar tongue, inked around his eyes.  He listens to you, and bids you to sit before the flame at the altar and simply be, thinking of Shandri and of yourself.  He returns a time later, awakening you from your contemplations, and says he has been to speak to Shandri, her superior at the temple, and your brother.

He sits down on the stone floor of the temple, incense wreathing the air around you, and hands you a warm cup of tea as he gives his council.

“The fire creature you faced seemed to be a fey, and they do have skill with magic that can twist the mind.”  He smiles gently at your inevitable protest.  “Yes, and this may be true, but that does not comfort your heart, I know.  I spoke briefly to your brother, and it seems that the warrior who delivered Shandri’s killing blow is doing a great service to her temple and her god to atone for his deed and assuage divine wrath.  It is a grand gesture for her church, and a large, dramatic act to balance the scales of Shandri’s death at the hands of servants of Istishia’s sworn eternal enemy.  

“But you feel as if you’ve failed as a friend, and as a friend you should atone.  Consider this, the central tenant of Shandri’s faith, other than water being superior, is change.  Water changes everything in time, and the adherents to Istishia’s faith never stay stagnant.  In her youth, Shandri worked on sailing ships, and now works amongst the children of Dock Ward, when she’s not getting into other escapades.  Her death will bring another change to what she does.  Shandri is bending to her trial like an ebbing wave, though I expect her to crest again, perhaps with anger, perhaps with love.

“As such a change has happened to Shandri, would you change as well to both calm your spirit and share your friend’s trial?  Is there some way you could aid her in her quest for her new future and help that this tragedy would not come to pass again?”

Jehain pauses, and places his hands over yours, drawing a red cord around each hand and wrist.  It is similar to the symbol of Ilmater, and is a known sign of a penitent or pilgrim.  

“While you consider what I have said, perhaps you would do your friend a service and aid with the children she has worked so hard to better their lot in life.  They have lived a hard life, but they still have something of their innocence about them.”  He grips your hands gently.  “It will remind you of yours, and what still resides inside you.  If you did not care, if you did not love your friends and the life you lead with them with a fierce passion, you would have fled the Empty Grave and let the fire creatures ravage as they would.  Instead you stayed, and tried to make a difference.  That caused you suffering, and The Broken God, my patron, understands that better than anyone else in all the world.  It seems that you have an enemy that wishes to cause you pain.  Let that suffering temper your spirit, child of Gond, as the heat of your forge drives the impurity from iron.  You are cared for, loved, and indeed forgiven by your family and friends.  Shandri has said she does not blame you.”

Jehain touches the center of your breastbone with a single finger.  “The suffering only now resides in you.  Do not fear it.  Do not let it become a monster to devour you.”  He takes your hands again and waits for your answer.  He seems content to wait forever.


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Feb 28, 2014)

*Session 28.5*

Charissa had decided to do something, take some action, make a change, to deal with the guilt she felt over Shandri's death.  After speaking with Brother Jehain, she has decided it has been more than time enough to face her own past and use that heritage to protect her friends better.  Charissa was abandoned at one of the Origami clan houses on Lantan as a baby, with a note that she was to go to Waterdeep someday.  And more recently, Charissa has been tapping certain skills and abilities that, combined with a chance word from Evelyn, let her know her past.  Somewhere in Charissa's blood is fey ichor.  [DM's note, Charissa's player had been taking the Fey Heritage feats from Complete Mage to reflect this.]

And it was that touch of other that would let Charissa face her fear.  Brother Jehain introduced her to Goodwife Lamb, a priestess of Chauntea, the goddess of agriculture, the closest Waterdeep had to a nature deity.  The Goodwife (a title amongst Chauntea's clergy, equivalent to "Sister") listened to Charissa's unusual request, and took her on a short journey about an hour's walk out of town, in a pristine and untouched-looking little wood, carefully guarded against despoliation.  In the midst of that little wood was a deep and quiet pool, frozen now, but would be a still and green place in the summer.  There is a small menhir (standing stone) there, marked with the symbol of the waterfall.

"This is one of Eldath's sacred places, the goddess of still waters and peace.  For all that there is fire in you, I think Thumara will be the best guide for you on your journey."  The Goodwife will bow to a large tree that overhands the menhir, and leaves the clearing.  You wait a while in silence, then slowly a figure appears out of the tree, one with the cold, dark wood and crowned with bare branches and ice.  For all that, the dryad is beautiful and looks very serene.

She beckons you closer with a twiggy finger, and the dryad reaches out to touch your face. 

"See the forge of the sun, the hammer of the wind, and the anvil of the earth?" she asks, her voice the wind in the trees.  She points to a tree on the edge of the clearing, who had twisted itself at an impossible angle to reach the sun.  "Do you see?"  Thumara pulls you down to the snowy ground, her feet one with the roots of her tree, her clothing just thickened bark, enough to obscure details.  "The Goodwife spoke true, there is fire in you.  You can forge yourself anew, and quench yourself in Eldath's waters.  Like the bent tree, you will reveal strength under that no one expects you have."  She tilts her head, and the light from the sun focuses through the ice in her crown, making lances of heat on your skin.  "Seek for the place within your heart where you dare not have looked before, not for the darkness within, but for the light."  

With deft movements, Thumara carefully pulls each of your weapons out and lays them on the ground, until you are disarmed.  "The one who bore you meant to leave you in love, and love you have found, have you not?  Peace, you think you have lost that, but it lingers still."  She leans forward, and places a cold, ice-covered acorn between your lips.  You swallow it, and it doesn't seem terribly cold, oddly enough.  

"As the tree grows, so shall you, in the strength of your fey blood.  I ask only that you remember that peace can be as unexpected and disarming as any surprise attack.  That which yields is not always weak."  

You feel strange, slightly dizzy, and Thumara helps you to the frozen pool, and lets you see yourself.  It is a you you didn't think you'd ever see, with knowledge behind your eyes you don't quite know how to use yet, a face subtly altered, and yet more... personal that you've even been before.

"Remember," Thumara says, and returns to her tree.

[DM's note - Charissa's character decided to take the half-fey template, which we're applying over 2 levels for the +2 LA]


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Feb 28, 2014)

*Session 29*

Session 29

When we last left our intrepid heroes, they had pledged themselves to do a task for Istishia’s church to repay them for raising Shandri from the dead.  After Shandri had spent some time recovering, she eventually rejoined the group, albeit permanently scarred from the fire that had taken her life.  People were very solicitous – Evelyn said she would find waterproof makeup for her, and maybe some lovely scarves or hats to cover her head and lack of hair.  Shandri just smiled at that, and introduced her three new friends to the group.

Apparently when Shandri had crossed the Veil between life and death, she had gained some favor with Istishia, and knew she had to follow that favor of being able to life a second time by forwarding water’s business.  To that end, she’d opened part of herself to the Elemental Plane of Water, to become an elemental archon.  And with that conduit, came three faithful minions, water mephits she called Drip, Drop, and Splash.  To say they were obsequious and sycophantic would be wildly understating the case.  

After everyone had had a chance to catch up, Shandri superior, Felis Marron, came to them with their task to serve the temple.  The group was tasked to go to Pearl Island, once a sacred place of contemplation and consecration. Marron explained that about thirty years ago, there was a great incursion of evil-tempered water creatures, a virtual army, that came out of the harbor and attacked Waterdeep.  Istishia’s temple called all their priests to help stem the damage.  Nearly at the same time that the priest of Pearl Island had left, the sacred springs there had gone sour for unknown reasons.  During the water war, the temple of Istishia had taken many casualties, and hadn’t enough priests to spare to send to Pearl Island.  In the past thirty years, all sorts of undesirable types could have tried to stay there, from pirates and smugglers to wayward monsters, and the party was meant to go there and make it right.  

The party accepted, and figured their best way of getting to Pearl Island was nothing less than their friends of the Aquatic Order of the Darkening Deeps, and their ship the Dancing Duck.  The Order (all three of them) were delighted to help out, though they wouldn’t linger long outside the harbor (that being their job, to keep it safe and all).  They gave Garden a summoning charm to call them back when they were ready to go home.  Naturally it looked like a small rubber ducky.

Once on the shores of the lush little island, the group found remnants of people having made fires on the beach, some of them as recently as a few weeks ago.  There were a few faint paths to the interior, but mostly those people would have made to gather wood or look for food or water.  There was, however, a large, clear path, covered with crushed pearlescent shell, and only slightly overgrown, that went straight for the interior of the island.  This must have been the way to the temple.

It indeed gave way to a tall temple, sculpted to look like waves, the whole covered with white, pearly shells.  Shandri sent her mephits up to take a look around all sides, and eventually the mephits reported that there was a courtyard on the back that had a dark spring and pool.  Somewhat comforted in the knowledge that no big ambush was awaiting them out back, the group cautiously went into the interior.  

The inside was just as wave-sculpted as the outside, and there was a large pool in the middle of the floor.  It was a dark, disturbing murky color, and a quick experiment showed it was caustic with whatever was in it.  There were smooth, slimy tracks all over the place, and the remnants of many more, looking like the tracks of large snakes.  There was also odd writing on the wall, which Evelyn used magic to allow her to read – “Secarass was here.”  There were also, much, much fainter, human footprints headed towards the back rooms, the former priests’ quarters.

Cautiously, the group headed back there, nudging open the priests’ cells and looking inside.  (Evelyn had a terrible time conceiving of people living in a room she wouldn’t have even granted to a closet.)  Most of the rooms were empty, but nearer the end, they found a couple cells with shackled, emaciated, weak, starving sailors, either unconscious or nearly so.  After speaking to them, it was clear they were pirates.  Some were from the pirate ship Coneshell, and had been taking goods to their leader in the Golden Hind, stashing them on Pearl Island.  But they had been lured by the “human faced snakes,” trapped, and then were being eaten one by one.  It seemed, according to Evelyn and William, that the pirates had been subject to some magical enchantment to subdue them so quickly.

A little further investigation of some of the cells found the pirates’ booty, stuffed all the way to the roofs of a couple of the rooms.  While they were investigating that, the door at the far end banged open, and an irate water naga tried to snatch Steven, biting to poison him and drag him away.  There was a brief, intense fight in the hallway before the naga was slain.  Cautiously opening the door, Steven made his way out to the courtyard, only to have a naga slither off the roof and hurl itself on him.  Hard on the heels of that, a large mother naga and another of her half-grown offspring rose up from the dark, bitter spring and began to unleash magic against the group.  

The mother naga quickly cast mirror image upon herself, while the little naga with her tried to use its powers of suggestion to strike dissention within the group.  The high-flying naga was soon killed, and the mirror duplicates were being rapidly destroyed by a mix of magic missiles, bullets, and crossbow bolts.  The little naga was able to magically suggest that Garden “go hide,” which wasn’t that great for the naga, as Garden continued to snipe from his hidden position.  But soon enough the reason for such a request became clear – a round dozen tiny baby nagas came writhing out of the treasure rooms, their fangs ready to sink into Garden’s flesh.  Evelyn stopped them by using a wand she’d picked up in the same treasure rooms, a wand of burning hands.

Shandri’s water mephits, as well as a water elemental she summoned, did a number on both the mirror images as well as the smaller naga.  Steven waded into the pool to finally slay the mother naga face-to-face, while the little naga turned invisible and tried to flee.  The water elemental and the mephits found it and killed it quite dead.  Then with the remaining time the water elemental was there, Shandri had it find the blockage of the spring, which exploded with a great gout of water and shards of sharp shell.  The spring quickly began to clear, and Pearl Island was now back in the hands of those who would hold it sacred.

And so, our story continues…


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## Azkorra (Mar 1, 2014)

This SH is just brimming with awesome ideas. Love how you played out Shandri's resurrection (and everything that this involves - from the three mephits to the quest on the forsaken island) and Charissa's feelings of guilt. Looking forward to seeing the group take on the various villains of Skullport!


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Mar 12, 2014)

*Session 30*

Azkorra, I'm glad you're liking our Story Hour!  Hold on to your butts, because things are going to start to get a little bonkers...

----

When we last left our intrepid heroes, they had just freed Pearl Island, a place sacred to Istishia, from a double scourge of evil water nagas and opportunistic pirates.  The group had called the Dancing Duck to take a couple of their number back to the harbor to hire a ship to haul back the pirates ill-gotten gains and then clap the miscreats… well, first to a healer’s, and then probably to jail or the gallows.  Waterdeep takes a dim view of piracy.

The group was just going to leave some of the found foodstuffs behind for the temple and turn in the rest for a reward, but then started having second thoughts.  The whole point of this quest was because they’d wanted to help Shandri, and her temple had some them a huge (and expensive) favor.  Evelyn, in a rare and extremely painful spasm of morality, said they shouldn’t keep things, but rather give the money to the rededication of the temple.  Most of the group agreed.  Garden grumbled, but finally agrees with minimal stock shortage (i.e. he pocked a few gems).

Thusly agreed on the plan, they carried it out, and informed Shandri’s temple, who were very pleased to have Pearl Island back.

The group then went off to their virtuous (or not) rest, with a view to meeting the next afternoon at the Empty Grave.  Shandri definitely wanted to show all the people there that she was not dead.  However, the next morning something odd happened to everyone.  Ravinica told Steven that there was a water elemental in the bathroom.  Now, granted that the bathroom was actually a globe of airy water on the Elemental Plane of Water, connected to the house by Ravinica’s planar skill, but she’d specifically shielded the place against intrusions.  So… odd.  They sent a messenger for Shandri to ask the elemental what it was doing there.

At William’s place, he found a small water elemental in his ablution basin.  As William spoke Aquan, it told him, “Hi!”  And said its name of Oogogoogoobloop.  When asked what it was going in William’s wash basin, it said, “The King said it was safe.”  William, knowing a thing or three about water elemental, his studies, and the fact his cousin was a priestess of Istishia, knew that one of the titles of Istishia was The King of Water Elementals.  

It also turned out that Evelyn found an elemental in her finger bowl, Garden in his water barrel, and Charissa in her quench water.

None of the elementals seemed hostile, but they weren’t leaving either, and since William and Shandri were the only two who spoke Aquan (Evelyn could use the _comprehend languages_ spell to understand the creature, but couldn’t speak it herself), the UPS urchins and one of Evelyn’s errand boys were kept busy trying to locate one or the other.  

It turned out that William went to see the Origamis, where Garden had, by pointing, coaxed the elementals into their own barrel.  With William on hand to translate, it seemed these elementals too were told that this place was safe for them against their enemies.  Making profit out of necessity, Garden set up a “staircase” of small water barrels so the elementals could play by jumping from barrel to barrel in the manner of a water feature.  Hey, at the least it would give the customers something to marvel over, and maybe draw new ones to the area!

Eventually, all ended up at the House of Violette the Younger for a full explanation.

(As well as entirely too much musing as to how the Violettes’ bathroom worked when it was just a big globe of airy water.  After far too many poop jokes, Ravinica forebear to point out that there were various currents running through the bathroom to keep all necessary sanitary functions separate and clean.  And then politely told everyone to shut up about it and they could go elsewhere if they didn’t want to use it.)

Shandri explained that since the party had been instrumental in restoring a holy place, Istishia (or one of his Lords) had taken some minor notice and marked the group’s homes as hydraulic safe houses.  Bemused, the group just went with it for now.

They met later at the Empty Grave, where the party was hailed as minor heroes and Shandri received a special token that admitted her into the exclusive club of the Twice-Lived.  She accepted it somberly.

After a bit of catching-up, the group wound back around to what they were going to do before the fire elemental attack – namely go to the Temple of Siamorphe (the goddess of nobility) to check their Open Archives about the Wands family for any information about Father Geb.  Everyone spruced themselves up and headed off.  The temple was incredibly extravagant and rich, even compared to the temple of Waukeen, the goddess of trade and wealth.

A quick look around at the clergy inside made it clear that even the acolytes were very highly bred.  They were met by one, a young woman with impeccable manners, who greeted, “Lady Violette, Sir Violette,” and asked how the temple could serve them.  The rest of the group was indicated to be various retainers – William a scholar and scribe, Shandri an advisor, and the Origamis as business consultants.  (Garden’s long-standing policy of throwing all fame and/or publicity from the group’s exploits on the Violettes in general and Evelyn in specific made him appear to be quite properly in his place, overlooked, which was how it liked it.)

The group (or rather, Evelyn), paid a steep fee to view the Open Archives (the Closed Archives required not only an outrageous fee but a letter of intent, written permission, and several escorts).  The Open Archives, which held family history and genealogies, was utterly spotless, brightly lit, extensively cross-indexed, and comprehensively organized.  William just stood and stared in appreciation for a while.  

With assistance from the knowledgeable attendants, the group began to collect information.  In addition to what they could get on the Wands, Evelyn also got information on several families she was looking into for business purposes.  

But the Wands family history… upon reading, it became clear how Father Geb had survived the group’s attack on him at the warehouse.  Due to a mishap with an artifact by a family member about a generation back, any blood member of the Wands family, if outside the magical protections of the family estate, can suffer periodic but random attacks by spontaneously-appearing creatures of the Far Realm.  For the church of Beshaba, a man like Geb, a bastard with a blood-curse to boot, exemplifies Beshaba’s tenants.

Sobered, and plotting careful revenge, the group left to pursue their second line of inquiry into Geb – which would be speaking to his superior at the temple of Beshaba in Skullport.

Everyone started out by swinging by the Temple of Tymora for some properly worshipful gambling, because they had much need for the luck goddess’ favor.  Then, well.  The only point where they felt they could enter Skullport “safely” was the Monster’s Head tavern.  

One can get into Skullport through certain sea caves if one is a smuggler or a pirate, which the group was not and did not want to try to bribe or impersonate, at least not this time.  One could reach it, it was said, through certain levels of Undermountain, to which the group, knowing _those_ levels were ones used for city “exiles” (i.e. executions) also did not care to traverse.  If one were powerful enough or knowledgeable enough, there were probably magical portals or more temporary powerful teleportation magic, but the group didn’t have access to those right now.

Which left the Monster’s Head.  If one were willing to pay for a guide, it might be possible to do some business in Skullport, provided one was respectful to the denizens of Skullport, was prepared to defend themselves, and had hired a guide that wouldn’t betray them.  Steven and Evelyn went to seek advice from the one person in Waterdeep they knew who might know someone in Skullport – Jukuminno, the red dragon in the Waterdeep Council of Wyrms.  

He was irritated to receive them, but that seemed to be his default mood.  He was amused that they were going into Skullport, and offered to eat anyone who killed them.  He did recommend a couple of possible guides, a pair of ogre brothers for one, and a troll for the other.  A bit disturbed, they thanked him and left to go garb themselves in something appropriate.

According to what the group knew, they needed to look too prosperous to be an easy meal, not so prosperous as to be worth robbing, killing, or being held for ransom, not so flashy as to draw too much attention, and to look competent enough to defend themselves without looking like they were going to challenge anyone.  With the others were contemplating their fashion and weapons’ choices (and in the case of the Violettes, disguising themselves), Garden had disguised himself in his persona of “Old Granther,” an older one-eyed gnome with a few fingers missing on one hand, a grizzled veteran of… something dangerous, that was for sure.  (This was his persona when he worked at the Marilith, the exotic weapons’ shop).  He then went to the Monster’s Head alone to hunt for a guide.  With careful gruff questioning, he was able to find someone suitable when the others finally arrived.

Now, the Pickled Eel tavern, which was not too far away from the Monster’s Head, could be described as cheerfully awful, with its constant brawling, horrible food and strong liquor that could take the roof off of a dragon’s mouth.  But for all that it had a bizarre air of everyone having a good time.  The Monster’s Head was just awful.  It was down several stone steps to an overlarge door in a very sturdy stone building, and over the lintel was nailed a large, unsightly head of some unknown monstrosity, still fresh and dripping.  It was said to change every few days.  

The group had been warned, in the strongest possible terms, to never order the “Monster Head Stew.”

Inside the very large door was a vast and shadowy room, lit only by a few torches shedding blue light.  The tables and benches were all very large and made of stone.  The clientele was colorful, with dangerous-looking humans, halflings, half-orcs, and half-elves mingling with gray-skinned duegar, ogres, trolls, at least one minotaur, and a masked, hooded woman whom everyone avoided.  Some people here were in chains, others with the glassy-eyed stare of one under some kind of sway (magical or otherwise).  At one table sat a grizzled gnome of Charissa’s, indeed everyone’s acquaintance, and with him were four drow women in dark leathers, bearing daggers, short swords, hand-crossbows, and probably some extremely familiar vials (i.e. the drow sleep poison Garden favored).  Old Granther waved the group over.

Delia Faith and her three sisters were the ones he’d picked to guide them down to, and through, Skullport.  They wore the holy symbol of Elestraee (the goddess of good drow), which put most of the party at ease.  A round of drinks was had by all (luckily taken from the barrels marked with a human head, rather than the ones marked with a troll face) and the beer and wine was unexpectedly good.  Not just good for this part of town, but only comparable to wine Evelyn had gotten at some of her fanciest parties.  Not entirely surprising, as Skullport was known for smuggling.  

After the toast was done, the Faith sisters led the group through a beaded archway through the back and down, down, down a very dimly lit stone spiral.  Peculiar echoes bounced off the walls, and the air was fetid and damp.  They kept close to the wall, and the Faith sisters warned them to press themselves against the wall several times, and avert their eyes from people traveling in the opposite directions.  After that rather nerve-wracking walk, they finally leveled out in a vast underground cavern, bordering a sea cave on one side, a vast marketplace stretching out before them, ripe with the sounds and smells and sights of danger. 

Skullport.


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (May 7, 2014)

*Session 31*

When we last left our intrepid heroes, they had just arrived in Skullport, the city under Waterdeep, home to monsters and criminals, where vices were performed openly and the black market thrived.  In front of the stretched a vast market, booths, stalls, and storefronts showing an array of goods, some of them no different than what’d they see in Waterdeep, others much more local.  There were places to buy deadly poisons (in a booth festooned by fangs), blasphemous spell ingredients, unsavory knowledge, sentient beings, or illegal contracts.  The place was populated by shady characters – clever and stealthy thieves (Garden recognized a few), dangerous-looking warriors sporting gruesome trophies, hard-eyed merchants with formidable bodyguards, and fierce pirates and sly smugglers looking to ply their trade at the nearby wharf.

Monstrous races walked heer openly, ogres, trolls, creatures with demonic features, less-identifiable beings you most likely did not want to identify.  Looking around, the group even spotted a dark creeper amongst the crowd.  Garden was fairly sure he saw one or two pieces of jewelry for sale which had been on the Guards’ fencing list (sent to all reputable dealers, of which Garden took pains to present openly).  William was sure he saw humanoid hearts in one stall.

Creeped out, the group proceeded along the market, loosely surrounded by the Faith sisters.  While they walked, Garden noticed a halfling about to cut Steven’s purse.  A word of warning and the man had weapons pointed at him by most of the group.  The halfling let go of the purse, smiled tightly, and backed away with his hands out and open.  Delia Faith smiled slightly as they walked on; Garden got the impression she had let the halfling inside their circle to be sure she wasn’t guarding total idiots.

The group had barely gotten going again when the call of, “Longshanks!” came roaring out of the crowd, directed at Charissa.  Walking up to them was a gnome with a pack taller than he was, hung with all sorts of interesting things, a bushy beard, and a fairly mad grin.  Both Charissa and Garden grimaced, because they knew this gnome:  Crazy Uncle Larry.

Every family has a crazy relative or two, and in the Origami clan, there was Crazy Uncle Larry.  He chatted to the two of them as if he’d just planned to see them there (unlikely), that they’d likely be seeing more of him (unfortunately), and that he’d been checking out new bargains here in Skullport (probably had too, the crazy fool).  They managed to extricate themselves before he could delay them too much, and felt relieved for having gotten off so lightly.

Eventually the group came to the Temple of Beshaba, a tall building covered in broken mirrors, a few black cats lounging on the steps.  One of them crossed in front of the party’s path and looked at them smugly, as if daring them to cross.  The doors to the temple were open, and the sanctuary beyond was dark, lit just by a very distant flame upon the altar.  All aside from Shandri could see in such low light, and what they could see was that the narrow entryway was lined with blackened antlers.  With great care, the group walked inside.  (The Faith sisters stayed outside, as daring the temple of Lady Doom was not part of their contract.)

The church proper had a very high ceiling, and the walls here were also lined with antlers.  An acolyte met them and listened to their request, and later a full priest came out to speak to them, all smiles and slick manners.  There was a great deal of things not said, inference, end-runs, double-talk, and reading between the lines, but what was learned and said during the “polite” conversation was thus – the group wanted to know if Geb was here, and if the church backed his potentially city-shaking plots openly.  It seemed the church supported Geb and felt he was channeling Beshaba’s power strongly.  He was (very likely) staying at the Skullport temple, and may or may not have been there right at that moment.  No, they weren’t going to bring him out if he might have been there.  As Geb was very ambitious, wouldn’t likely support him openly to avoid backlash if the goddess abandoned him for overweening pride.  So, if the group ended up fighting Geb (while he wasn’t in Skullport), there wouldn’t be open warfare with Beshaba’s faithful, but Geb would have potential allies and boltholes.  

The priest would even pledge against open warfare, and offered his blessing in the form of cutting their palms with an antler tine and smearing their wounds with ash and burned wine.  This was a Beshaban blessing.  He said he’d be watching them.  All but Shandri and Steven decided to take the man’s blessing.  At no time did the priest give his name.  At no time did anyone ask for it.

While this conversation was going on, a couple of the group noticed a very large bat was hanging from the high ceiling, quite carefully concealed.

The group finally left and walked a short ways away, wanting to watch the back entrances to see if the priests warned Geb, and he might come out.  As they were watching, they saw the bat fly out very quickly, and alight on one of the stalactites in the great cavern ceiling over the city.  Wondering who the bat was working for, Shandri sent up Drip, one of her mephit underlings, to investigate.

Drip returned later, not dead or wounded, and said the bat would like to speak to them, and said it would meet them atop the spire of a tower down the road.  The tower in question was an abandoned-looking rickety wooden affair that looked to be an accident waiting to happen.  Very curious, the group decided to investigate.  They checked the door of the tower carefully, and discovered that the door was not just trapped, it was alive!  And hungry.  They fed it, and then also got it drunk.  It finally sagged a bit to the side, lolled out its tongue, and let them pass.  The journey up was somewhat hair-raising, with few railings and the whole tower feeling like it might collapse at any moment.  The Faith sisters also stayed outside the tower, as that had not been part of their bargain either.

At the platform at the top, they realized that the bat had a rider, a gnome woman wearing bright red boots.  She introduced herself as Mirna (Sergeant Red Boots would also do in a pinch) and her bat as Yash.  She handed both Garden and Charissa an origami bat, and they realized she was one of the clan.  Garden turned the bat into a swan, and Charissa into a crane (but not a good one; there was much good-natured ribbing about her over-large fingers).  Mirna said since Garden had sent out messages about Geb before, she had included watching for him in her general gathering of information about Origami clan rivals down here.  Fighting Geb in Skullport would be very bad, all agreed, and Mirna said she could watch the temple more unobtrusively than they, and send word when Geb finally left the temple and went to the surface.

Grateful that Garden’s postings to the clan about Geb had born fruit, and feeling the danger of Skullport pressing in around them as the hour grew late, the group finally left.  

It was full dark by the time the group returned to the surface, and carefully the group went to the Busty Wench to allow time for a group of urchins to go to the House of Violette to summon a carriage for Evelyn and Steven.  Walking home, even in pairs, would be dangerous in Dock Ward at this time of night.

Shandri took great care to keep William occupied and away from the temptations of the ladies of the Busty Wench because…well… some things even William wasn’t ready for.  “Old Granther” was a known figure, as the man who had (with Charissa’s help) supplied many bodice daggers and blade-shoes to the ladies.  They fussed over him quite a bit, while Charissa and Steven decided to try a bit of their luck and show a picture of Geb’s face around.  (Evelyn was exchanging fashion tips and inadvertently helping sell more blade-shoes by showing off some of her own.)

And for a wonder, one woman did remember seeing Geb!  She said he’d been talking to Carla, the devotee of Loviatar the group had spoken to a while back about another matter.  Charissa went to speak to her.  She was currently using one client as a footstool, but if Charissa would pay for her time, she didn’t mind making double wages.  

She said she knew Geb, but under the name “Dravin,” an alias the group had heard before.  She asked closely as to Geb’s supposed crimes and what exactly they were going to do to him when they caught him.  She wanted every gory detail, not just of exactly where Charissa was going to shoot him and how Steven would smite him, but also the destruction of his dreams and idea of revenge.  It was clear she was trying to see if the pain of letting the group at him was more than the pain he was intending to inflict.

Apparently she thought it was enough, and after “Old Granther” had been pried from the bosom of the ladies to give her a rather large payment in the form of an expensive gem, said he could be found at the estate of Marfor Lequay, across from the Blue Mushroom tavern (attached to the Green Fairy festhall), at seven bells on Sixthday a week hence.

The group had fifteen days to prepare for Geb.  Just fifteen days…


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (May 7, 2014)

*Sessions 32 & 33*

When we last left our intrepid heroes, they were preparing for their fight with Father Geb in just under two tendays’ time.  

First off, William wanted several scrolls, particularly _dispel magic, dimensional anchor_, and _magic circle against evil_.  Feeling particularly paranoid, he made certain that the _magic circle_ scroll was Enlarged, and searched high and low to find a _dispel magic_ scroll created by a particularly talented spellcaster.  

Garden was also feeling particularly paranoid, and hunting low… and lower (he’s a gnome) for some poisons to put a crimp in Geb’s style without striking the man stone dead.  (Garden has _some_ standards.)  After several days of searching, he found two that would serve, though they were shockingly expensive.  One was a poison called Night’s End, which fatigued and exhausted its victim before sending them to sleep.  The other was a poison imported from Kara-Tur, komodo dragon poison, which would slow, then paralyze its victim.  Those two little vials were to be safely tucked away until the appointed time.  

Garden had also obtained a wand of the delightfully long-ranged spell _Melf’s acid arrow_, a keen spell that would benefit from his training in targeting the vulnerable portions of humanoid anatomy.  Knowing that activating wands was difficult for one without much arcane training, he also hunted amongst the job-hungry young arcanists of the city to find one who, without asking questions, would show up at a certain place at a certain time to cast a spell of _eagle’s splendor_ upon him, then leave.  For a the right amount of gold, it wasn’t too hard to find someone.

He also called upon the Origami clan, hiring several guards so at least two people could be watching over his shop day and night, both to protect his and Charissa’s investment as well as the lives of themselves and their employees (Nira Darkfire and the three other gnome apprentices).

Charissa got to making a _far-reaching sight_ for her gun (working alongside her magician business partner Marlowe Miccar), so it would be easier to shoot Geb quite directly in the head when she found him.  She also learned that purchasing _divine bane_ weapons was best done through the church of Ilmater, who sometimes used such a weapon quality when fighting against priests or divine champions of Bane.  Such bullets would be very expensive, but with enough lead time, they could be obtained (she would be responsible for making the masterwork bullets herself, though, as her art was rare).

While she was between bouts of crafting, she did hear a peculiar rumor that someone had commissioned _magebane_ arrows from an artisan in the Temple of Gond.  While not illegal, and certainly such things were useful for adventurers exploring the horrible halls of Undermountain, it was unusual and stuck in Charissa’s mind.  

A few days after these preparations began, Garden, Steven, and Evelyn received an invitation to the Lady Wands’ home, with a phrasing that made it clear that “no” was not an acceptable answer.  Garden got himself a new set of duds, and then all went, Steven taking his wife Ravinica (the Golden Queen) along with him.  

The Lady Wands received them in a parlor, which she sealed with magic as soon as the tea and cakes had been served.  She looked troubled, and with good reason.  Lady Wands was not having a good year, with the disastrous amber ooze incursion at Higharvestide, then the realization that one of her husband’s bastards was out to ruin her family.  And things had taken yet another turn for the worse.

As Garden had been doing some independent investigations on her behalf (albeit for some quiet pay) and the Violettes were the leader of their little group (in the Lady Wands’ eyes), she needed them to hear the news first.  Her husband was dead, in Calimshan, apparently of an accident involving yet another of his extra-marital affairs.  (A tragic case of mammary suffocation, or something equally sordid.)  With Geb’s father dead, Lady Wands was certain that Geb would try to enact his vengeance upon her.  She had been the one to throw both him and his mother (the illusionist daughter of a Calimshan harem slave) out of the house.  Geb was the eldest Wands bastard, and Jayrin had been barely a year younger, of a different mother.  They had both been exiled when Lady Wands had still been very angry about the affairs.  The subsequent bastards she had been more philosophical about, and they lived and worked on a distant Wands estate.

Lady Wands thought her estates were well-protected, but something else might occur, because Geb had little else to do but seek his vengeance.  If the group could put any trouble in Geb’s way before it came to her doorstep, she would be grateful.  The group said they were already planning such a thing because of what Geb had already done.  Ravinica added she would try to see if anything was happening from the planar side, and do something to help if it was.

Meanwhile, William had been given an assignment by his Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors’ (from henceforth known as WOMPs) superiors.  There had been an unusual shortage in certain spell components, candles and small decorated bags, the items used in summoning spells.  As it was not summoning week at any of the magical academies, nor was it hazing week for new students, nor had there been any other good reason for there to be so little on the shelves, the items were being bought up.  But buy who and for why?

(William had briefly mentioned this assignment to the group during one of their meetings at the Empty Grave, so Garden, unbeknownst to William, asked an Origami clan guard to subtly shadow William in case something happened.  William never suspected a thing.)

William checked the various stores, compared inventories (the WOMPs had tapped William for a reason; his warehouse experience) and found that at three stores there had not only been someone in buying up candles and bags, but also fly eyes and chaos ichor.  The various proprietors each described a different buyer – a brown-haired brown-eyed human man, a slim red-headed human woman, or a blond green-eyed halfling.  All, however, had scarred hands.  As Charissa had shot Geb’s hands during their last encounter, William was pretty sure Geb was the buyer in all three cases, just disguised.

Fly eyes were used to maximize the number of creatures summoned in a summoning spell, while chaos ichor was used to target specific planes, usually highly chaotic ones like Limbo or the Far Realm.  One of the proprietors had told the tale of how the box he had used to store the chaos ichor had, at various times, morphed into a melon, a hat, his own head, a cat, a fish, and a trombone made of cheese.  He’d finally gotten a priest of Tyr to put an _axiomatic_ charm on the box to make it stay a box.  

All together, that spelled that Geb was securing components for a mass summoning, probably from the Far Realm.  And because he was getting arcane components, and Geb was a priest, that meant he had arcane support somewhere.

After telling the group, Steven, Ravinica, and William went to the Temple of Mystra to speak to the High Priest.  After the acolytes (not wanting to bring their superior the bad news that Sir Violette the Unlucky was here) had played a quick game of stone, scroll, knife, wizard, sage to determine who would announce them, they were conducted into the presence of the High Priest.

He listened to William’s account (with an enforced word-count from Steven so as to not tax the High Priest’s time) with grave concern.  If Geb succeeded, he would cause untold chaos and destruction in the city.  But he was not ready yet, not if he were going to pause for a… paid encounter next week.  If the group could arrest him privately, that would spare the political and religious ramifications that could linger for decades. 

Nevertheless, precautions would have to be taken.  The High Priest said he would have several of his people in the blocks around the house where Geb was supposed to be, ready to employ a scroll of _dimension lock_ to both prevent the incursion of summoned creatures and to prevent Geb from escaping by magical means.  The High Priest also gave William tiles of _break enchantment_ and _invisibility purge_ that would activate if the tile were snapped – that would help with Geb’s tendency to curse his enemies as well as his sneaky nature.

A bit later, and separately but coincidentally at the same time, Charissa and William went to the Temple of Tymora to speak to the priests there about Geb’s impending incursion.  The priest they eventually spoke to was very concerned about a holy war if the followers of Lady Luck went after Geb directly, and a war with the followers of Lady Doom could turn Waterdeep upside down.  But they could, and would, be ready to descend upon the man if the group couldn’t arrest him themselves, just staying out of sight until the deed was done.  And also, after the two had gambled a bit, they were given a coin of Tymora, the sign of the goddess’ favor.  (As a point, though Lady Wands had asked Garden, Steven, and Evelyn to keep quiet about Geb’s identity as a Wands bastard, William blurted it out to the priest of Tymora first thing.)

A few days later, at the Empty Grave, Shandri had some disturbing news.  First off, three of her urchins were missing, all of them in the same ward where Geb’s house was located.  Granted, it was a populous ward, but it was also three urchins, and she was worried.  Secondly, Brother Sallis, the priest of Tymora down on Sucker Street who used to run the shrine opposite Father Geb, was missing, his temple neatly closed up.  No reason had been given, he was just gone.

And thirdly, Little Antler was dead, crushed by a wall in his cell collapsing.  Just sheer bad luck.

Oh dear.

Also, a messenger arrived at the Empty Grave as they were discussing such dire happenings, a courier from the Wands estate.  He bore a small wooden box, “with his Lady’s compliments.”  Inside were six small purple-and-blue chains, very fine, that when wrapped around a weapon or wand or staff would make them the bane of the horrid abominations from the Far Realm.  The group thanked the Lady on his behalf.

Shandri and William went urchin-hunting later that day, while Garden, Charissa, and Shell (the lass from the Busty Wench who had been unfortunately partially transformed by an over-ambitious priest of Umberlee, and had learned to use her differences to increase her level of clientele) went to cut off one more of Geb’s possible escape routes.  They’d learned that Geb would have six bodyguards, and he’d leave them across from the house during his appointment, in a tavern called the Blue Mushroom (which coincidentally connected on the back to the Green Fairy Festhall).  Three of the bodyguards were to keep watch on the house while the other three had appointments of their own, then they would switch.  Garden wanted all the bodyguards enjoying themselves at the same time, and that meant making a deal with the Madame. 

Garden was dressed to impress in pink pants, long pointed tasseled shoes, and a sparkly, sequined shirt in the manner of the legendary gnome bard Liberace.  Attention was gathered, and the Madame met the three of them in a side room to discuss “their needs.”  Garden, being fairly good at double-talk, spoke to her about some of their “concerns” (starting with a surreptitious bribe to get her to talk about her clients at all).  When Garden outlined what he wanted, the Madame gave the indication that the “extra expense” was going to be substantial.  

Garden then began to comment about the mural on the wall, one that showed many dancers dressed in strings of beads (and little else).  He inquired as to how many beads were in the painting.  The Madame “estimated” about three hundred and fifty.  Garden thought there might have been as many as four hundred, and how quiet the dancers could be, even with so many beads.  The Madame agreed that the dancers could be remarkably silent with four hundred beads.  Then she called for wine and music, giving Garden enough time to bring out several jewels worth the price and subtly pass them to her.   

Meanwhile, Shandri and William were searching for her missing urchins.  The found the fate of two of them – one had left with a reputable caravan, having secured a job, and the other had taken service in a household in the neighborhood.  Shandri lamented that she needed to teach her UPS urchins about letters of notice.  But the third one, Marc, had been (according to two more of his friends who ran errands in the area) asked to come to a house a couple of days ago by a bushy-haired and bushy-bearded man with scarred hands.  He’d paid the others for their silence, but between William’s gold and Shandri’s motherly stare, they quickly spilled their guts.

Getting the name of the man (Daavid Malk), they tracked down the house, only to discover, to their not-surprised horror, that it was the same house Geb was supposed to be renting.  Quickly, Shandri and William called an emergency conference at Garden’s home.  They were miserable with guilt.  Marc had already been missing for two days, and given Geb’s track record with children (the splinterwaif, for example), he could already be dead.  Both Shandri and Steven had duties and needs to rescue him.  But if the group attacked the house or were seen there early, they threw away all their advantages against Geb, and also any clean possibility of stopping him before he unleashed Far Realm horrors on the city.  It was a case of the needs of saving thousands of people versus the life of one orphan.

Faced with an impossible dilemma, Garden employed guile and stealth.  He called upon Clan Origami ties for a major favor that would probably put his profits in the red for months, and asked the “black hats” of the clan to stage several burglaries in the same neighborhood as Geb’s house, and try to find and free Marc under that cover.  Garden was good enough to know this sort of work wasn’t his forte, at least not when a child’s life was on the line.

The following morning, one extremely disgruntled and damaged Origami master thief, bearing a bundle of unconscious urchin, showed up at Garden’s doorstep.  The thief in question was a gnome, Fulsomeway Richadare, who was operating under the considerable handicap of a withered hand, a pounding headache, and a screaming case of the heebie-jeebies.  He told Garden (once inside the protected shop) that Geb had not been in the house, for reasons that had become apparent.  When Fulsomeway had snuck in the house, it was full of diluted insanity mist, meant to slowly drive someone mad.  Marc the urchin had been in the living room in some kind of diagram, shackled in place, and slowly succumbing to the poison’s effects.  Fulsomeway also reported that there was a large cage in the basement, and several bedroom upstairs.  

When Fulsomeway had unshackled Marc, he found there had been a curse-trap he’d missed (he berated himself for that), and it withered his hand into uselessness.  One-handed, antitoxined to the gills, and using up probably a lifetime’s worth of luck, Fulsomeway had been able to escape with Marc, making it look like the boy had fled when the house had been broken into.  (Fulsomeway had taken some expensive silverware as cover, not trusting the holy items on the diagram not to bite him.)

Garden thanked him, and knew he’d be paying for this favor for a long time.  Luckily, Shandri would probably cheerfully help him pay it.  She kissed Garden when she’d found he’d gotten Marc out, and took the lad back to her temple to see if his mind could be healed.

William, putting his head together with Ravinica, thought that the ritual Fulsomeway had described would make a beacon for the Far Realms, bolstering summoning and gating.  

With Marc returned, and Geb’s bodyguards secured at the Green Fairy, the group still was trying think of ways to negate Geb’s advantages, particularly his magic items.  Even with a powerful dispel magic, sometimes very strong-willed people could push through the resistance.  That’s when the group had a brainstorm.

Lurch.  The redeemed beholder who was a resident and poster boy for the Church of Ilmater’s Order of Saint Alphone!  If they could get him to help, a beholder’s anti-magic cone from the central eye was the most powerful deterrent to magic use possible, unless the other Churches of the city were willing to risk an all-out holy war by openly going after a priest favored by Beshaba.

They went to the Order, and spoke to Brother Derron, who tended to several of the redeemed, and called Lurch out to speak with them.  (He had been eating breakfast – the offal from slaughterhouses.)  The group told Lurch their request, and he asked them to wait while he spoke extensively with Brother Derron.  Eventually Lurch explained he hadn’t left the walls of the Order in thirty years, but that all redeemed were given a test.  Beholders lurked in the Far Realm, and Lurch could not, with all the good conscience he had, let his evil kin loose in the city.  Though he was very afraid of what fighting might do to him, he agreed to aid the group in grounding Geb.

To aid him, keep the populace from panicking at the sight of him, and to not let Geb know Lurch was around, the group retired back to William’s uncle’s warehouse.  For the price of some empty crates and the hire of some competent carpenters, the made one big crate that looked on the outside like many, something that could contain both Lurch and Brother Derron while sitting on the back of a wagon.  They made it so a whole side could swing down, letting Lurch bring his eye into play quickly.

Lacking but a day now until Geb was supposed to be in place, the group gambled and prayed at the temple of Tymora for luck, plotted their plans, and hoped against hope this time they could finally get this bastard.


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Jun 7, 2014)

*Session 34 - The Fall of Father Geb*

When we last left our intrepid heroes, they had all their preparations in place to defeat Father Geb.  They had members from the WOMPs patrolling the area, and priest from the temples of Tymora and Mystra as well.  Lurch the beholder was in a concealed wagon near Geb’s rented house.  His bodyguards were currently being distracted by the Madame of the Green Fairy Festhall.  Their last decision was a simple one: front door, or back?

Back, they decided.

They went around to the alley, but noticed a man was following them.  Specifically, following Charissa’s forge boots, his eyes fixed on them.  They paused as they entered the alley, and Garden hid, ready to shoot the man should he prove hostile.  The man walked up to Charissa, and finally raised his eyes.  He was a young, lithe man with dark hair, and no one recognized his face at all.  Without a word, he took off his coat, turned around, and removed his shirt, baring his back.

The group didn’t have to wonder long why the fellow was doing a strip-tease in winter: on his back were some bruises and scars the exact size and shape of a woman’s fine footwear.  Specifically the heels Carla had been wearing the last time Charissa had spoken to her at the Busty Wench, when she’d been using a young man as a footstool.  Neither knew the other’s face, but they did have their distinctive characteristics.

Identity established, he turned and said, in a low voice, “He knows.  The Mistress is in danger,” and walked away.

Realizing their cover had been blown (the group unfortunately hadn’t made much effort to hide their activities) they hustled to the door to Geb’s house.  Garden checked it, and they went in.  As they did, Steven felt something alarming.  His mystical bond with Ravinica let him know where she was and what she was feeling; when she was plane shifting, the feeling became much more vague, as it had been while she was attempting to disrupt Geb’s beacon to the Far Realms from that side.  

Now the bond was clear again – she was upstairs, and afraid.

Steven charged in.  As the group followed, the shadows of the house became thicker and colors drained away to become black and white.  Somehow they had entered the Plane of Shadow!

Ravinica was upstairs, and Steven followed the direction, the group hard on his heels.  

What they found upstairs was a large shadowy room, dotted by peculiar statues.  At one end stood Ravinica, tall and straight, with someone crouched behind her.  The only visible parts were his hands, one around her neck, the other holding a knife to her throat.  And the hands were wearing adamantine gauntlets.  Geb.  He spoke rapidly as the group entered, his voice raspy and enraged.

“Who are you to get involved in my revenge?  My mother died shielding me from my father’s curse when the damned Lady threw us out, and my life was pure misery until I came to Beshaba’s understanding.  Those children Jayrin and I used, at least I spared them a lifetime of misery.  And then you had to go and kill the only kin of mine who ever gave a damn, twice!  Damn you!”

Monologue delivered, the battle commenced.  Garden shot Ravinica quite deliberately, hopin his sleep poison would work on her, depriving Geb of his shield.  He hit her unerringly in the upper shoulder, but she didn’t fall.  Just as well, William noticed she seemed to be concentrating on some sort of spell.  And considering the group was in the Plane of Shadow instead of the Far Realm and Ravinica had some command over planar magic… she might be trying to keep Geb here instead of letting him get to the Far Realm.

Geb made a command, and four stony, squamous, rugose gargoyles (tainted by the Far Realms) moved to attack the party.  The group began to cut through them to get to Geb, by bullet, spell, sword, and arrow, eventually cutting down two.  Steven was able to run through first, heading for Geb, and was ambushed by the invisible gloom hound Geb had kept in reserve.  It nearly ripped Steven apart, and Steven grimly returned the favor with interest.  

Shandri was moving up, as her mephits swarmed one of the remaining gargoyles held by Evelyn’s magic.  The last gargoyle was torn apart by Garden’s sneak attack sniping, Charissa’s bullets, and William’s spells.

Then Geb made his move, trying to curse Steven as he dodged around Ravinica.  It failed to affect him, and Steve charged in with holy magic as Geb tried to retreat, nearly disemboweling him.  Geb screamed, and tentacles emerged from his robes to seal his gut shut.  Shandri also struck him with Grapes of Wrath (borrowed from Charissa), as Charissa dispatched the gloom hound (being held helpless by Evelyn’s magic).  Garden went in to tend to Ravinica.

Steven shoved Excordius, his sword, right through Geb, who looked up at him and snarled, “I don’t give a damn for your gods.”  And then he ripped his own gore-covered skeleton out of his sundered flesh.

That… was unexpected.  And frightening.  And gross.  And blasphemous.

Then Shandri stepped forward, grinning fiercely, and summoned the holy power of Istishia to turn the undead abomination Geb had become.  As she channeled and Geb cowered under the last of power, she shouted, “The power of Istishia compels you, you ----.”  And what followed was a string of invective in Aquan that made William’s ears burn and remember that Shandri had spent a lot of time around sailors.

With Geb cowered, Steven and Charissa struck hard, destroying him.  His death curse exploded across the room, but the coins of Tymora they all had helped some of them avert the worst of it.  Charissa, Garden, and William were cursed with incompetence, and grew a pair of antlers.  That itched.  Color abruptly returned to the room as the house snapped back in the Prime Material Plane.  Searching the house, they found not only Geb’s personal magical items, which were formidable, but also a goodly deal of gold, and several globes of insanity mist, not to mention a whole small room plastered with the various doings and dealings of his criminal enterprise.

Ravinica explained that she had been trying to disable the beacon to the Far Realm from the Shadow Plane and could see Geb about to try to activate it, so she forced the plane shift, but had to concentrate to hold it.  If the party hadn’t arrived, things might have gone very badly for her.

Outside, the group found several small groups of various arcanists, conspirators of Geb, had been rounded up by the WOMPs and the Churches of Mystra and Tymora, and were being watched by Lurch’s antimagic eye.  Without Geb’s bodyguards being able to give them a signal, they hadn’t been sure when to cast their spells, and hence all those whom the party had called were able to round them up before damage was done.  

Carla was still missing, and Ravinica wouldn’t have the strength to plane shift again for two days, though the group searched the house thoroughly for any sign of her.  (She turned up two days later in the Plane of Shadow, having hid herself in a small cupboard during the initial plane shift.  She suffered greatly for Loviatar.)

The group also tried to figure out a way to get word back to the Temple of Beshaba about Geb’s final words, so as to avoid having others come after them for killing him.  Garden, in his guise of “Old Granther,” said he would leave a message at the Monster’s Head, though all of them should be on guard.

The group was invited to the Lady Wands’ estate the next day.  She thanked them sincerely for all they had done; she admitted she had made a terrible mistake when she’d thrown Geb and Jayrin out of the house, and it had nearly ruined her family.  The group had stepped in of their own accord to save them, and she was grateful.  She wanted to reward them.  As she knew William wanted to create a magical communication device, she agreed to fund his research towards that end.  Charissa wanted to do research into Grapes of Wrath and how it was made.  Evelyn wanted to make a line of “magewear” for the Wands, so that such a powerful family would be seen wearing clothes from the Violette fashion house.  The others were thinking on their rewards, considering on how best to put such a favor.

Then, six months later, things begin again…

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Garden's player was out of town for six weeks, so we're doing a short campaign to fill in the gaps - Eberron - Dragonflies in the War Garden of Sulatar


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