Session 8: Where is the Stone?

The day that would later go down in infamy among the Batmen began ordinarily enough. Ches 24 began with gray skies and a steady wind blowing across the city. Lord Essex, having been away negotiating with the Carpenter's Guild for a set of new stools, wanted to reinvestigate the Gralhund manor, in the hopes that they could find more clues. When they arrived, the villa was closed up tight, with no activity inside, not even a groundskeeper patrolling the grounds. Going around to the back, they found two doors. One led to the stables, so they used the other one, and entered into the pantry. The richly-appointed bottom floor was empty, though blood stains soaking the carpet of the great hall hinted at some sort of recent violence. Next to the library, the party found a locked door. Essex was able to pick the lock, and inside they found Lord Gralhund's study, and his notes on the Grand Game.* In the library, they found a sheet of paper discussing the second Eye, held by Manshoon's Zhentarim. They explored the servant's suite, and finding nothing there, went up to the master suite.

In the master suite, they were met by four guardsmen wearing Gralhund livery. The guards simply tell the Batmen to leave, and they pause to decide what they want to do. They tell some transparent lies, and while Marty attempts to persuade them to let them in, he is unpersuasive, and so the party decides to attack. They open with a huge blow from Rasool, and Chip uses his divine blessing to cast an aspersion upon the guards. But the guards move towards the gang in response, baiting Rasool to attack too early, and cutting at Hank and Rasool. Rasool responds with a glaive drop kick to get his revenge, and several members of the party call upon dark powers to toll the dead.

Meanwhile, Graycie was sneaking around to come at their adversaries from behind. But as she enters the master bedroom, a large half-orc bludgeons her with a series of powerful blows from his morningstar. Rasool, suspecting something is wrong, charges at the barred door blocking his access to the bedroom. He bounces off the door, splintering it somewhat but unable to blow it open. Graycie, sensing that she is not a match for Hrabbaz, tries to flee, but his weapon rends the life from her body. Rasool rushes downstairs, but in the meantime, Chip blows the door to the bedroom off its hinges with a well-placed firebolt, and a sleep spell from Hank gives Lady Gralhund a small nap.

After the door was blown open, Dagrim runs in at Orond Gralhund, and the lord of the house lets out a yeep, drops his rapier, and wets his pants. Dagrim ties him up. Meanwhile, Hrabbaz reenters the bedroom and attacks Essex, knocking him unconscious. At the same time, Dagrim calls upon the ancient power of his ancestors and grows to the size of an ogre! He grabs the Gralhunds and threatens to kill them if Hrabbaz refuses to drop his weapons. Hrabbaz considers his options, but will not surrender, not trusting the party to spare his life. Dagrim moves towards the staircase, and Hrabbaz follows. Seeing his pursuer near, Dagrim attempts another sleep spell, but it fails, and the morningstar of Hrabbaz ends his life. Hrabbaz yells at the party and tells them to leave, and the Batmen scatter, grabbing the corpses of their compatriots as Hank briefly distracts the half-orc. Upon returning to the Trollskull Inn, they are met by Davil, who offers to raise their fallen companions for free, as long as the Batmen are willing to owe him a favor...

*I posted a copy of the Gralhund Report on the Grand Game on the game's Discord and sent it to the party's emails, but here are the most important bits:

– Until recently, Xanathar held the Stone of Golorr — the key to solving Neverember’s Enigma! But it was stolen by one his trusted lieutenants, a gnome named Dalakhar who the Gralhunds identified as an agent of Lord Neverember

– Xanathar has the First Eye, having murdered the Zhentarim delegation who came to negotiate with him and stealing it from them.

– The Zhentarim are suffering from an internal schism, with someone claiming Manshoon dividing their loyalty. The Manshoonian Zhentarim stole the Second Eye, but (according to this report) the Gralhunds aren’t certain where it’s being held.

– They do not know where the Third Eye is.

– They know that Xanathar’s Lair in Skullport can be more easily accessed from teleportal sites in the subterranean hideouts he keeps hidden throughout the city. They also know that each teleportal has a unique key which someone must carry in order to use the teleportal.

Session 7: Walking in the Dark

Ches 23 dawned gray and rainy. The Batmen had a few leads that they wanted to follow up on. The Cassalanters, a powerful noble house, had asked for some help in dealing with a threat to their children. They had asked Davil Starsong about Urstul Floxin, and Davil told them he'd help them out if they completed a mission for him -- deliver some potions of mind reading to a woman in a purple cloak. And they still had a nimbleright to find with the nimblewright detector.

The group decided to take care of the mission for Davil first. Graycen went to Weirdbottle's Provisions to meet with Davil's colleague, Skeemo Weirdbottle. The decrepit gnome was creepy, but gave her the potions. Using her stealth, she avoided an ambush set by the Xanathar, and delivered the potions to a woman in a purple hood, who thanked Graycie and handed her a velvet bag with fifteen platinum coins. The woman banged on the roof of the stagecoach she was sitting on, which took her away. Returning to the Yawning Portal, Davil filled them in on the intrigue currently plaguing the Zhentarim. Recently, another group of Zhents led by Urstul Floxin came to Waterdeep. Where Davil wants to play things slow, keep it under the radar, and mostly use the trade in weapons and mercenaries to build influence, Floxin has bigger dreams, wanting to use violence and fear to control the city more directly. He's interested in the money because there's a group of Zhentarim trying to rebuild Zhentil Keep, and with a large donation to the effort, they could get a seat on the Zhentarim Council. The party asked if there's anything they could do, and Davil said he was keeping an eye on it, but he'd let them know. He also said they should talk to Dalakhar, and sent a priest with them to cast speak with dead.

The priest was quite taciturn, but his name was Flint, and he seemed to have an in with the people at the morgue, as they let the group in without the usual formalities. There they learned that Lord Neverember had ordered him to infiltrate the Xanathar's gang to steal back the Stone of Golorr. He intended to give it to Renaer, since he was a servant of Renaer's father. But unfortunately, he was ambushed by the nimbewright and killed.

After meeting Davil, the Batmen head to the Sea Ward to meet with the Cassanlanters. Along the way, they notice a villa that Dagrim recalls belongs to the Dezlentyrs. Hank talks his way in, but without a plan to get Lord Corin Dezlentyr to talk about the nimblewrights, it goes nowhere. However, Chip sneaks a look in the backyard and sees young Hermione sparring with a nimblewright. Unfortunately, the nimblewright doesn't match the description of the one that killed Dalakhar, and they continue to the Cassalanters.

The Cassalanter villa might just be the most spectacular in Waterdeep; it is certainly the most spectacular the party has ever seen. The majordomo leads them to the entrance hall. It has a magnificent harpsichord to the side of a plush crimson carpet. Light from a crystal chandelier refelcts of more than three dozen holy symbols of Siamorphe, creating an almost divine glow. Ammalia Cassalanter stands waiting in the center of the hall. She greets them warmly, but before she can continue, two eight years old run into the hall. She chides them gently, and tells them to play in the butterfly garden, but when she turns back to the group, her face looks sad. "I hope you can help us save our children."

Lady Cassalanter leads the party through their library, which in addition to an enormous collection of books includes the sizeable head of a black dragon. Against a wall stands a portrait of the Cassalanters with their three children. They proceed into the reading room, where Lord Victoro Casslanter meets them. The room features a lovely view of the gardens, where the Cassalanter children are chasing butterflies. Lord Cassalanter thanks the Batmen in his deep voice, and pleads for their help. The children were cursed by Asmodeus at birth. Fortunately, like everything with Asmodeus, there is an out. The Cassalanters discovered a ritual where, if they sacrifice one million dragons to him on 11 Tarsahk, their children will be saved. As rich as they are, they haven't been able to raise that kind of cash -- however, Neverember's enigma would enable them to save their children. The Stone of Golorr is key to solving Neverember's Enigma. They understand that the party doesn't work for free, but they don't need all the money, and could pay the group 10 percent, 50,000 dragons. Chip thinks that isn't quite enough, and they also add that they'd certainly owe the party a favor. The Batmen agree to help the Cassalanters. Lord Cassantler thanks them, and says they should get in touch once they have acquired the Stone of Golorr.

The party decides to spend some more of the afternoon looking in the Sea Ward for nimblewrights, and a block north of the Cassalanters, their rod vibrates again. There is apparently a mechanical man inside of the Temple of Mystera. Dagrim goes inside the House of Wonder, and gives the priestess there a story about how he's here to study and would she show him to the library? Unfortunately, she doesn't buy his story, and he's seen out. After this failure, the Batmen give up on searching the Sea Ward, and return to Trollskull alley. Back at their tavern, they decide to spend some more time in the evening looking for nimblewrights. This time, they head east, the same direction the guilty nimblewright went after killing Dalakhar. In just a few blocks, the rod goes off, right in front of Gralhund Villa.

The first thing the Batmen do is send Rasool up to the wrought iron gate to see if he can get them inside. Feeling safe behind the thick iron bars, the surly groundskeeper is not intimidated by the man with the glowing red eyes, growls at them, and walks away. Rasool considers bounding over the front wall on a busy street in broad daylight, but the rest of the party convinces him that they don't need to deal with the Watch in addition to everything else. Dagrim digs up what he can recall about the Gralhunds -- they are a minor noble family who had hoped to ascend to the upper nobility on the strength of their service some years ago, but were disappointed. The team decided to wait until night, and then see if they could infiltrate the villa.

Once night had fully fallen, the party went around to the east side of the complex, and Graycen climbed the wall and lowered a rope to help everyone else up. Marty pointed out the groundskeeper and his two mastiffs below, and Dagrim hurled a charm of sleep at them. To his surprise and horror, nothing happened. He decides he wants to burn the large complex of stone buildings to the ground. After dissuading him from this idea, Hand and Chip circle north. There are a couple copses of trees they think could be used to sneak up to the main building, and avoid the preternaturally strong groundskeeper. But they decide it's too much, and they'll come back later. As they regroup before heading back to the manor, they see the nimblewright they were chasing climb up to the roof of the villa, and run away too the west. Hank casts longstrider, while Graycie uses her knowledge of the back ways and alleys to keep up for a while. They see the nimblewright turn south, but the mechanical man does not tire, and they lose him in the night.

Session 6: Fireball

Ches 19 was opening day for the tavern in Trollskull Manor. Despite some dragon cultists throwing all pall over the festivities until Rasool had a talk with them, it was a success, and the Batmen are eagerly discussing ways that they can enhance their reputation. During this time, Dagrim got a message from Davil Starsong. "You are to obtain a silk handkerchief from Maester Roderick Bartlethorpe during the Twin Parades. He will be in the shadow of the Great Drunkard. Afterwards, go to the intersection of Dock and Net streets, and give it to the Tiefling girl who lives in a crate there." The party falls into planning mode, and decide that their newest member, Graycen Macullie, will perform the theft and deliver the object.

The twin parades are part of the celebration of Selûne Sashelas, which itself kicks off the festival of Fleetswake. From where the party awaits the appears of Maester Roderick, it is spectacular. It opens with the City Guard in formation, followed by the sea captain Zardoz Zord on the back of a rainbow-feathered diatryma. His procession of exotic animals, including leucrotta doing tricks, would be the talk of the town for months, as would his finishing act: shooting a dwarf from a cannon. There was a float of actors, and a mechanical beholder with glowing eyestalks, followed by the House of Inspired Hands float (done in conjunction with the House of Wonder). Gond's temple had ribbons of water filled with mechanical fish, but the highlight was a mechanical man, his clockwork visible, who commanded the fish to do tricks. This last crew seemed distracting enough for Graycie to do her work. She snuck across the street, and filched a handkerchief out of Maester Roderick's pocket. From there, it was easy to follow the parade route to the docks, seeing Gond's mechanical man several times along the way. The tiefling girl is very happy to get the handkerchief, and the Batmen return to the tavern in Trollskull Manor.

The very next day, the tranquility of the Batmen is interrupted by a massive explosion outside of their manor.  They rush outside to see what happened, and quickly figure out that someone set off a fireball. There are ten dead, including two Zhentarim agents and a gnome. Chip managed to palm a bag of gemstones off of the gnome. They interviewed witnesses, and find out that it was a mechanical man who used a necklace of fireballs. He wore a red robe and foppish red hat with a feather. He also had a long, stylized Van Dyke beard. (This is unique to the Gralhunds’ nimblewright and may help identify it to Captain Zord later.) He took something off the body of the gnome, and fled. There was also a heavyset man in his forties who was injured by the fireball, but limped off of the scene towards the Bent Nail. Chip attempted to follow him, but was only able to catch a glimpse as he faded into the street crowd. The watch arrived soon afterwards to cordon off the crime scene, led by Sergeant Saeth Cromley and his assistant, Barnibus Blastwind, and the party retired to Trollwind Manor's Inn to compare notes.

Shortly thereafter, Renaer showed up. He said he was supposed to meet Dalakhar here, but given the commotion outside, fears the worst. Dalakhar was a gnomish agent of his father's, and had something to hand off to Renaer, so Renaer had suggested meeting at the tavern. He didn't know what it was, just that it was something valuable. The party didn't have much to go on yet, but Marty recalled that the Temple of Gond had a mechanical man in the parade the day before, and so the party went to the House of Inspired Hands.

As they approach the temple, they see a mechanical man atop a balcony. He throws something at the party, narrowly missing Hank. It turns out to be a mechanical sparrow, though unfortunately destroyed. The interior is truly a wonder to behold, with several ingenious contraptions on display, including a miniature submarine called the Scarlet Marpenoth. The Batmen are met by Valetta, a bronze dragonborn. When they tell her of the incident with the sparrow, she shakes her head and tells the party to follow her. In the attic is the mechanical man they saw earlier on the roof, a construct of bronze and clockwork parts. Its hair consists of multicolored overlapping feathers. Valetta chastises the creature she calls a nimblewright, and names it Nim. She says she is going to have to take away his toys, and some acolytes move to empty the attic. As they empty the attic, Dagrim notices a mysterious rod, and inquires. It turns out to be a nimblewright detector. Sensing an opportunity, Hank asks if they can rent Nim for their tavern. They agree to pay 50gp up front and 5 gp per day, for four days every tenday. They then leave and, the hour being late, head back to Trollskull Manor for some rest and to plan their next steps.

Session 5: Big Trouble in Little Marekh

We'd tracked our prey to the finest neighborhood in all of Waterdeep: Little Marekh. Our goal was to settle the score with a local crime boss whose thugs had shown the audacity to assault my companions. It was good to be back in Little Marekh; although there is more evidence of the inferior, barbaric cultures there than would ever be allowed in one of the great cities of Calimshan, the neighborhood nonetheless contains more sophistication and refinement in a single block than exists in the rest of that entire, stinking metropolis. Here, at least, the subtle aromas of haute cuisine and Calishite pipeweed mingle with the usual miasma of feces, urine, and unwashed bodies. That our foe was also Calishite bespoke the vitality and boldness with which Calimshan has gifted her people.

We had learned the boss' name, Zalam, as well as one of his usual haunts: a tavern called Abu Shakram. Since I, Rasool yn Zyad el Dumein, am naturally fluent in the beautiful Alzhedo tongue and, furthermore, knew the place quite well, my companions requested that I enter and see what I could discover about Zalam's whereabouts. I did so, accompanied by one of my companions, and, almost immediately, an agent of the Ghazi motioned me over. He assured me that his organization had not been involved in the assault upon our persons. The Ghazi then told me that Zalam was known to frequent a Temple of the goddess Sharess named Antarang, and that he had a consort there named Savaresh. He also told me to check for Zalam at a laundry called Shivaji Ghat, which fronted a den of iniquity below.

We decided to investigate the laundry first. Myself and my companions had little luck interrogating the laundress about the supposed basement gambling house, but eventually we did find our way inside. It is worth noting that the elusive Mungo Corpulent Johnny made an appearance at this juncture. I find this Mungo quite to my liking, although his claims to be a fellow buccaneer seem rather overblown. (I've certainly never heard of him or his exploits at sea.) It is also worth noting that several of my companions showed their true colors by attempting to enter the gambling den in disguise. Because they are cowards.

Over the course of the evening at Shivaji Ghat, we learned that Zalam and his gang were headquartered at a local warehouse. We made our way to the warehouse only to find it infested with orcs. These orcs had apparently run off the previous human inhabitants, and so we left them to their squalor. The warehouse had proved a dead end.

Our last lead was the Temple Antarang and the priestess Savaresh. We entered the temple, which was exceedingly tasteful and welcoming, and almost immediately made the acquaintance of Savaresh. She explained that Zalam had been having a run of bad luck (and, hence, quite likely could no longer pay for her ministrations) and freely gave up the address at which he resided. The entire experience was quite charming and I will surely pay the priestesses another call in the future.

Our new companion, the streetwise Graycen, guided us to the slum were Zalam dwelt. I was called upon to kick down several doors in the tenement complex before we found one of his bandit "bodyguards" asleep in a chair. We quickly captured this bandit and discovered Zalam himself in a room beyond. He was accompanied by some sort of sentient ooze that he appeared to be keeping as a pet or guard animal. My companion Hank Sword (or was it Chip?) then fired an arrow at Zalam in a fit of zeal. Perhaps he had been shaken by the ooze's presence, which had attached itself to another of our compatriots in most discomfiting way. Regardless, keenly aware of the consequences should we kill a rival boss, I swooped in and grabbed up Zalam in a vice-like embrace from which he had no hope of escape. Zalam quickly took stock of his situation and capitulated. He promised not to pursue any further action against our group and, moreover, offered what I can only assume was his last remaining wealth as compensation for our troubles.

All in all a fitting conclusion in which justice was served and our demands for satisfaction satisfied. We returned to our work renovating Trollskull Manor in preparation for the festivities of Fleetswake.

Session 4: Fetch Missions

Lord Cuysen Muccilleigh is dead, I say again, Lord Cuysen Muccilleigh is dead. Though we knew him only for a short time, no pun intended, he seems a gentle soul. Always quick with a good word and dispatch those with wicked intentions. This is how our day ended, though it feels as if all the events of the day were leading to this.

We've learned of many things in our new home and in this city. the factions jockeying for power and those strictly here to disrupt the comings and goings of the average citizen. We informed both the Zhentarim and the Harpers of the Drow hiding in the theater. Both groups said they they will keep this information and possibly make preparations for future endeavors. In our search for both work and funds to refurbish our new home, we set out to meet the Blackstaff, Vajra Safahr. Yet another faction in the city, this faction is interested in the magical angle to the goings on in the city. Our contact sent us on a mission to find a hermit in a nearby mountain with information that was needed by the Blackstaff. We did find out way to the hermits hideout but at the cost of exhausting two of our group. Not a good experience for young adventurer's. The Monk, Hlam, gave us "the message" said in finger quotes as none of us understood what he said, nor meant. He said "Evil’s twin hides its face for now. Expect that to change before spring's end." Our message passed on we were paid for our efforts and made a friend that may call upon us again should they need help.

On our way back to our home Lord Cuysen spied two men about to duel. Stepping in in his customary fashion, his aim was to separate the men from doing something they might regret. No sooner were his intentions made clear than we were assaulted by thugs. We came to discover that this is a common ploy use by "ruffians", to quote Lord Cuysen, to rob or kill them. We were not able to dispatch nor capture these criminals before the city watch came to our aide. We were unhappy to have left it so but no harm was done to our comrades in the long run and we have become aware of yet another danger in this city.

Our druid, Yinrick, mentioned to us that the Emerald Enclave, yet another faction asked of us to look into a mater outside the city. We've discovered that some of the local farms have been beset by malignant scarecrows, attacking the farmers and their families. This was the point in which our friend's situation went from bad to worse. The last living member of the Muccilleigh family is no longer with us to continue the family name. These scarecrows or whatever they were, were no mere beast brought to life. They were something, and yes I say were as we did put an end to their terror but not before one of them did in Lord Cuysen and almost took out Yinrick. We mourn our friend and comrade and return to our home slightly lessened by the experience.

We are becoming a known group in the area now. We've met some of the local children that knew of our efforts and endeavors in the city. We hope this local notoriety doesn't attract the unwanted kind of attention.