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.