Session 9: How's it Hanging

The next day was Ches 25, and the Batmen decided to investigate Yellowspire. The lead was somewhat thin, but they didn't have any others. (They did, however, talk about the need to look into the Xanathar's operations. Yellowspire is a two-story run-down tower covered in scaffolding. The scaffolding would be easy to climb, but loud. They knock on the door many times, and a woman named Amanth answers and tells them to go away. But before they leave, Essex notices that the walls behind her are covered in black hands, which Dagrim recognizes as the symbol of Bane. Bane's priests were allied to Manshoon before the Manshoon Wars.

After this, the party goes to the Yawning Portal and meet with Davil and one of his associates, Istrid Horn. Dagrim wants to know about the Gralhunds' commercial contracts, to extract revenge through economics. Hank asks who was selling nimblewrights, and Istrid says she'll look into it. They ask about Manshoon and the Baneites. Davil doesn't know about Manshoon, but says it makes sense that Urstul was working for someone. As far as religion, "Tying oneself to a specific religious cult tends to have consequences that are less than helpful."

Next, Essex and Graycie go to the Harpers. There, Graycie asks about her father, and Mirt tells her he died on a mission for the Emerald Enclave. Mirt also tells them three further things. First, there are drow spies in town, and they should check out the Seven Masks Theater. Second, the entertainer Zardoz Zord has been selling nimblewrights all over town at a loss. Finally, there's a wererat/doppelganger gang in town.

The party reconvenes, and decides to save the theater for tomorrow, and investigate the docks that night. The festival normally marking the Sea Maiden's Faire's pier is subdued, most of the attractions being carted uptown for the Shipwright's Ball. They check out the Heartbreaker first and ask for a nimblewright. The ship's mate says he doesn't know anything. But they have better luck on the Hellraiser. There "Montague Fauntelroy III" discusses buying a nimblewright from Fergus Crabwater. They cost 25,000 dragons each, but he also finds out that the Gralhunds bought one. After some defamatory remarks about that family, he leaves. Meanwhile, Graycie snoops around, and notices that a lot of the crew speaks with elven accents and seem to talk with their hands a lot. On the way back, they have to duck down an alley to avoid getting caught up in a mob of 10 people protesting in favor of single-decked carriages.

On the next day, Ches 26, a representative of the Emerald Enclave comes to Trollskull Manor looking for Yinrick. Apparently, there's a bronze dragon in the harbor, and it's making people nervous. The druid wants them to talk to the dragon and ask what its intentions are. He gives them potions of water breathing, and wishes them luck. The dragon, Zelifarn, has been seeking a crystal ball that belonged to his deceased mother. The ball is in a submarine attached to the bottom of a boat in the middle of the harbor. Dagrim asks how the mom was killed, and Zelifarn says that it was a group of drow adventurers. Zelifarn promises to richly reward the party if the crystal ball is returned to him.