Session 15: Oh, the Towers You'll Climb!

It is Tarsahk 2. Given the new membership, the party decides to rename themselves the Cranes, and the tavern the Night Crane. Sailors have been carousing in the Night Crane all week, and that plus the excitement of a robot has led to a small but respectable profit. The Cranes recognize that someone is going to be coming after the eye, so have a lengthy discussion about how best to hide it. Some suggestions include baking into a loaf of bread, hiding it in the basement, or parachuting it. They decide to buy a lead statue, and hide it inside. Marty is able to find one at a nearby antique shop. While Marty is shopping, Azazel uses his knowledge of the mystic arts to investigate the eye. It appears to have no special properties while it is apart from the Stone of Golorr, but it definitely has an abolethic feel to it.

Having hidden the eye in the statue, the party decides to fully investigate the tower of Yellowspire. Mr. Me turns into a cat to scout it out, and it appears to have been abandoned, though whoever abandoned it left the body of a middle-aged Shou behind. Azazel looks into the cellar, and finds a locked door which Parsain unlocks. Behind it is a teleportation circle. Shan notes that the circle needs a 'key' to be useful. Marty examines the body, and finds out it's been dead most of a tenday. There is ink on his fingers, from which he deduces that he must have been a newspaper man. The body is covered in stab wounds, the probable cause of death. In the fireplace, Shan finds a charred wand of magic missiles and singed note that reads:

Seccent—I have nothing but contempt for what you have done. I don’t know what foul rites you hope to perform, but the more traditional rites of Brindul Alley would have surely wrung any information this broadsheet publisher might have had. Nonetheless, Manshoon’s word is my command, and so I present to you Shan Chien. May you choke on him. – Avareen

From this, the Cranes conclude they might be able to use Avareen's antagonism to their advantage -- at the very least, they should check out the house in Brindul Alley.

The Cranes venture back out into the rain and head to the Tradesward. There, in an unmarked building down a dark alley, they find the Zhentarim safehouse, and break in. They con their way in by asking for help finding their friend "Shan". As the discussion proceeds, they claim that Seccent is trying to frame Avareen for Shan's death. This doesn't get them anywhere, so Mr. Me leaves against the advice of the rest of the party, who want to murder. They then try to decide how to get back inside. Azazel tries to ask to use the bathroom, but Avareen tells him to go in the alley, so he does. Eventually, the Cranes figure out the the door is still unlocked, so they walk in and attack. Avareen suddenly finds everything very funny, and her bodyguard Zorbog is Held. The party demands to know how to get to Manshoon, and Avareen hands them a small crystal she had carried around her neck that would allow them to use the teleportation circles. Parsain then cuts her throat.

Exploring the two-room house, the party finds a torture chamber in the back, undoubtedly home to the "traditional rites" the earlier note referenced. There is also an arcane circle and a note. The note is signed by Manshoon, and exhorts Zorbog to "gather the usual gang" and kidnap a man named "Fenerus Stormcastle" who lives in Quill Alley, and is "a known associate of these new meddlers in the Grand Game." Zorbog is to squeeze Fenerus until he reveals everything he knows. The Cranes set up a fake torture scene, remove the lower jaws of Avareen and Zorbog, and leave a note implicating Zardoz Zord. Then they teleport to the Kolat towers.

Upon arriving at the towers, a magic mouth intones a warning. Mr. Me turns into a cat again to explore the tower. It is largely empty, with the exception of a Spectator beholder kin guarding a teleportation circle and several treasure chests on the top floor. The Cranes decide to leave them alone, and instead cross the bridge on the floor they arrived to the second tower.

Session 14: Enter the Arena

With but a few days remaining before the big fight club event, the gang has to hatch a plan to crash the party and hopefully they will be able to snatch the Eye of Golorr while everyone is distracted by the feats of strength and daring-do.  First Marty did some research on the Stone and in his digging was able to uncover cryptic writing about how this Abolethic orb has three eyes and definitely holds secrets, but may also cause forgetfulness.

Meanwhile, Parsain cases the town for clues as to who will cater to this big event and discovers Orb Confectioners down in the Southern Ward. Could this be the entree for the Trollskull Gang? On the other hand, sitting around the tavern, someone suggested impatiently beating up the goblins found in the sewer. In the end, the crew decides to go with the less half-baked plan of offering to help with the catering.

Upon arriving at Orb Confectioners, which was quite close to the entrance where they had delivered the musical instruments in their prior encounter. the lovable firbolg druid quickly recognizes this location as another point of access to the cellar complex. Azazel tried to talk remuneration but was too transparent for the goblin, who replied, "If you are good at setting things on fire, you should be able to bake" In the end, Marty offers to help out with the catering, an option which would both get them closer to the Stone and would also give an ability for the Trollskull pastry chef to introduce a new delicacy that they'd been developing: Cake Pops. By hook or by crook, the lowly epicurean goblin agreed to hire the gang and told them to return on Thursday, two days hence.

Speaking of Cake Pops... What are these magical treats on a stick? How could they be made by mere mortal hands? Maybe the gods favored our favorite adventurers? Maybe it was a complete accident, but they were certainly well-received at the bouts. Did this even assuage the rowdy attendees when they found out that the much-hyped Rasool was a no-show? While this may be the case, our gang left early, unaware of the events upstairs, as you will read below.

With two days remaining, more investigation takes place. The team learned that Grinda Garloth would be supplying the armor and weapons. Beyond that, they were easily able to learn the identities of the entrants: Minsc is good, Rasool might enter, and the Goblin champ is Knifethroat. The odds-on favorite, though was Erik the Red, the combatant from Icewind Dale who has been sponsored by Cassalanters.



Cake pop/catering training montage



When Thursday finally rolls around, the new caterers proceed to serve cake pops to the attending crowd, as the sparring gladiators jabs and parrys proceed before them. When the adventurers arrive on the scene, 100 gnome-sized horses vs. 1 horse sized gnome are engaging in heated battle. Although the poor gnome appears to be outnumbered, he also turns out to be unmatched and wins the bout handily. Recalling his ability to assume the shape of various animals, our intrepid firbolg finds a quiet spot to change into a rat and starts exploring. Finding a beholder zombie guarding a passage to the north, the druid who his friends also call Tom Bombadil for some reason (he failed the arcana check), calmly scampered off in the other direction.

Almost out of clear options, our sneaky rat explores another hallway that they had overlooked upon their arrival. Surprised and nearly trampled by an acrobat doing handsprings and cartwheels down the hall. One look into his haunted eyes and a kind word was all it took and the stuntgnome, Flutterfoot Zipswiggle, pleaded for us to take him with us. Heading in yet another direction, with the funambulist more- or less-quietly following, they arrived at a room with a giant fishtank and a dwarf named Ott feeding the giant goldfish swimming therein. With this fellow clearly terrified and threatening to raise an alarm, Parsain's owl flew up and snatches Otts' hat and the party surrounds him.

Someone thought to look more closely at the fish tank and discovered a chest inauspiciously sitting amidst the ruins of a scale model of an old sunken ship. Upon retrieving this loot, an Eye of Golorr was discovered within! Having recovered the Eye, the adventurers proceeded to sneak out, masked by the chants for Rasool coming from the fight club main arena. On arriving back at Trollskull Manor, the Cranes debriefed Flutterfoot. Flutterfoot had befriended a Zhent prisoner in the dungeons, and learned that Manshoon is based in Kolat Tower. He's not sure exactly how to get there, but he knows there's a way through Yellowspire.

Session 13: A New Hope

By Daniel Jolivet - https://www.flickr.com/photos/sybarite48/7973333500/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65399174

Ches 28 dawned gray, with a light rain reflecting the mood of our heroes. Little did they know a new group was coming in to replenish their numbers. Marty and Rasool, the survivors of the Marpenoth Massacre, were unavailable. They were still mourning their friends in their own way, so the green members explored town, looking for Renaer and enjoying the sights. Their first stop was the Yawning Portal, where Durnan suggested they check out the wandering statues. Shortly after leaving the Yawning Portal, the party was attacked by a group of thugs, but Shan talked the thugs out of it. They went to look at the Honorable Knight and then turned north. As they walked north, they were passed by a well-appointed carriage. From the carriage, a lord in a mask peered at them from inside.

After passing the Swordmaiden, they decide to see if Renaer is at Trollskull Manor. There, a surly dwarf tells them that he isn't there, but he might be at the House of Inspired Hands. Seeing the looks on the party's faces, he adds that it's a temple of Gond. On the way to the temple, there is a congested intersection and a city watchwoman directing traffic. Me and Xarca almost walk in the way of a carriage drawn by two okapi, but Parsain is able to keep him from being run over. Parsain cleans them off. Me thinks Parsain is flirting with them, and Xarca is somehow immediately filthy again.


The party arrives at the House of Inspired Hands, and wander the grand hall looking at the exhibitions mounted on marble pedestals. Several stand out:

A 4-foot-tall working model of a clock tower rings at the top of every hour. It is made of wood, iron, bronze, and glass, with brass bells and delicate hands formed from solid gold.
A wooden flying machine has wings that flap when it becomes airborne.
A miniature model of a mechanical dragon turtle has a brass plate affixed to its pedestal that reads, “Big Belchy. Sank in Deepwater Harbor on the Day of Wonders in 1363 DR.”
A functional “waking helmet” equipped with small, articulated metal arms and hands that gently slap the wearer if he or she falls asleep.
A miniature model of a red submarine shaped like a manta ray has a brass plate affixed to its pedestal that reads, “The Scarlet Marpenoth. Lantanese submersible. Launched in 1489 DR.”

The model of the Scarlet Marpenoth looks accurate. Xarca teleports into the flying constraption, but he climbs out sadly when he is admonished by the priests. They try to lecture him, but he gets distracted as they are lecturing and wanders off. Renaer is still nowhere to be seen, so they decide to head back to Trollskull Manor.

On the way back to the manor, they see a carriage careening down the street. It hits some sort of bump and crashes, sending brass instruments scattering across the pavement. A little green woman jumped off the carriage at the last minute, and as she flees the scene of the accident, Xarca puts her to sleep. The goblin is transporting instruments for Xanathar. She tells the party that there are going to be gladitorial games in a few days, and Xanathar wants to make sure they are held with the appropriate amount of pomp and circumstance. The party offers to take the instruments down to the Xanathar guild and she accepts with relief, saying that she hasn't been able to spend time with her husband and children in some time. The party picks up the instruments and imitates a brass band poorly as they head into the sewers.

Wandering through the sewers, they are jumped by a pair of desperate wererats. Xarka casts moonlight, damaging one, while Parsain shoots an arrow through the gut of another one. Parsain's owl superbly swoops through the moonlight, distracting the first wererat, and Parsain shoots him in the fact as Mr. Me finished the second off with his shillelagh. They continue towards into a cellar complex, where Parsain oils a rusty door to enable the group to sneak in. They tell the goblins they find there that they are here to deliver the instruments. The goblins take delivery, and sound excited about the games. Apparently everyone is going to be there, paying very close attention to the games and nothing else. They pay the party 200gp for their trouble, and the party heads slightly further into the sewers, where they find the old hideout where Floon had been tortured almost a month ago. Groot-me and Shan are able to use their sense of direction to figure out where on the surface corresponds with this subterranean locale, and they head back to Trollskull Manor, hopefully to meet with Rasool and Marty and compare notes.

Session 12: Davy Jones' Locker

Upon opening the door and confronting the 3/4 nude pirate deep in the bowels of the ship, Rasool steps into the room and closes the door, but not before Hank can establish a telepathic link with him to let him know when the escape is ready.

Dagrim dismantled the magic trap that they had detected on the port side doors. The rest of the party quietly searched the rest of the hold, finding some papers and a chest. Within the room, there was a conspicuous negative space compared to the hold outside the room. Dagrim searched the back wall and found a secret door that led to a hatch in the floor. Around this time, Graycen started to walk towards the fore of the ship to a steamy section of the hold, but was stopped by reminding her what happened the last time she tried to go off solo and thought the better of it.

Beneath the hatch, there was a steel tube with a ladder leading down to another hatch, which meant they had finally found the submarine. Convinced the sub contains the orb the dragon asked them to retrieve, the party started towards the control room that they spotted while waterbreathing the day before. Hank tells Rasool they are in the sub and the party was closing the sub hatch and barring it. If he needs to escape, go up to the Harpers. Proceeding forward on the catwalk, the remainder of the party manages to be just stealthy enough to reach the area above the control room, with two ladders leading down. Taking advantage of the opportunity to ambush the two drow and the rock gnomes working below. Hoping the gnomes are working under duress, Dagrim casts sleep and knocks them out.

The fight turns bad as soon as the drow can react. Graycen climbs down to attack from melee and is quickly stabbed multiple times by one of the drow, and killed outright. From above, the party continues to focus fire on one of the drow captors, but within the confines of the submarine, their arcane tolling of the dead seems less effective than usual. Hank sees the fight going badly, and decides to intuit the controls that are now ungnomed, and attempts to tear the submarine from the ship, hoping to start the ship flooding through the open hatch. Two attempts to incomprehensibly flip switches and turn dials with his mage hand result in nothing of the kind. The wounded drow climbs up the ladder and kills Hank outright before Chip's eyes. Chip is still firmly in the denial stage of the Kübler-Ross model when his grief is cut short by his own similar demise. Dagrim angrily attempts a killing blow to the drow to cover Marty's escape, but he likewise quickly falls before the drow who has clearly outmatched the party.

Marty manages to flee up the ladder to the hold and block the hatch, briefly securing his escape.
Meanwhile, Rasool decides to abandon the intimidation tack that was not working, and starts asking probing personal questions of Jarlaxle. Jarlaxle indicates that he was already made aware of the party and their dealings in Trollskull manor from some unknown source. After vicariously telepathically witnessing the demise of Graycen and Hank, Rasool enters the bargaining phase quite rapidly. Jarlaxle offers him his life if Rasool will return with one Eye of Golorr.

Rasool and Marty are somewhat depressed as they head topside to gather the Harpers and limp back home in the rowboat. By the time they pull ashore, they have accepted their losses and are determined to gather some new allies by auditioning prospective adventurers in the tavern that evening.

Session 11: Zounds! Zardoz Zord Zaps!

The beginning of Ches 27 dawns grey and cold, with a light snow, and the Batmen are going to the Seven Masks Theater. There, they are greeted by the ghost of Malkolm Brizzenbright. In the stage manager's office, they find a letter to "J" reading “There have been strange eyes fixed upon the house of Fenerus Stormcastle and flights of black snakes have been seen flocking the skies of the Trades Ward. Greater care should be taken when messengers approach the house, and we may want to find an alternative asset. I leave it to your judgment whether or not Fenerus himself should be warned. -K”
After this they decide to talk to the Harpers to get some extra manpower . They also want to try and get Davil out of jail. Mirt agrees, since Davil is an important counterbalance to Manshoon in trying to keep the city stable.

After meeting with Mirt, the Batmen and the Harpers go to the docks to try and infiltrate the Eyecatcher while the sunlight makes the drow less observant. But their plan goes awry when Chip and Hank sneeze loudly, and Dagrim curses at them in response. The Drow sailors point at the longboat and start firing crossbows. They exchange fire with the party until the boat gets adjacent to the ship and the Harpers storm the decks ending the fight. The Harpers go to secure the main deck while the Batmen explore the Captain's chamber more thoroughly. They find the captain's spell book, and head down to the main deck, which the marines have secured.

The Batmen explore the ship, and it is largely uneventful. Below decks, they find experimental floats from the Sea Maiden's Faire, including garishly colored giant spiders. The spiders turn out to be alive, just standing very still, and they attack. Rasool smashes one of them while Chip and Dagran sling spells at them. Gracyen is a whirling dervish of death, killing two and grievously injuring the third. Marty hit it with a clean shot from her crossbow, and Rasool is able to use his glaive to end its life.

Below decks, the party finds two doors. The one on the left is guarded by illusion magic. They can hear people behind the other door, so rather than explore the unoccupied room, they go to confront the occupants of the chamber. Behind the door, they find Zardoz Zord with two friends. Rasool attempts to threaten Zardoz into submission, but Zardoz is not intimidated.

Session 10: You Can't Not Be on a Boat

Following the dragon's announcement that his mother's crystal ball is on the submarine, the Batmen proceed to investigate it. Sneaking up to the fore windows, they see a control room where three rock gnome engineers keep the sub running under the watchful eye of their drow guards. Dagrim looks around the ship for air bubbles, but doesn't find any. The party tries to chip away at the docking mechanism, but the wood is too hard and it is difficult to get leverage underwater. Hank swims up to the surface and sees that the colors of the ship the submarine is docked to match the colors of the Hellraiser and Heartbreaker attached to the Sea Maiden's Faire pier.

The party swims aft, and Graycie and Essex climb nimbly to the the aft castle where they silently murder the two sailors. Upon their death, the illusion fades, revealing their true identity -- drow! The Batmen rain missile fire down on the two sailors on the aft deck, again killing them swiftly and silently. But their success may have made them overconfident. Essex picks the lock to the captain's chamers, and Rasool attempts to open it quietly. Unfortunately, Rasool was not quiet, and the occupants of the room, the ship's captain and a nimblewright are not taken by surprise. The captain blasts Rasool, Hank, and Chip with a lightning bolt, striking them all down. Dagrim is able to heal Chip, who takes over healing duties from there. Once revived, Rasool is a machine with his glaive, while Marty with his acrobatics and crossbow puts in a number of well-aimed shots. Graycen taunts the nimblewright to lure it from the door, but she is a little bit too successful, and takes a grievous blow to her side. The captain blasts Rasool again with a lightning bolt even as Hank is able to send the nimblewright into the Arms of Hadar. The captain lets loose with a flurry of magic missiles, but Marty Crane lands an arrow through his throat, ending his threat.

Using the ring of keys they found on the captain, the party searches the room. There is a bookshelf and a locked trunk. Opening the trunk, they find gold, pearls, and a bottle of wine with the label "One-Eyed Jax". Essex throws the body of the nimblewright overboard, hoping the remaining crew will assume it went crazy, killed the captain and the sailors, and fled. The party reports back to the dragon, and offer to share the wine, an offer which the dragon declines. They return to land to lick their wounds after dismantling the ship's rudder. Dagrim suggests getting Zhent help to raid the ship, and they walk over to the Yawning Portal. They don't recognize anyone there, so they decide to spend some time looking for nimblewrights before returning to the Manor. There are no 'wrights in the Dock Ward other than those on the ships, but they find one in the Southern Ward. Back at Trollskull Manor, Istrid Horn, Master of Trade for the non-Manshoonian Zhentarim, those associated with the Doom Raiders. She says the guards are running down known Zhents, and Davil was arrested. Hank offers his room to the dwarf, but she says it's creepy until Hank clarified that he'll sleep with Chip.

The next day, the Batmen go to the Seven Masks Theater. It is Ches 27. There, they are greeted by the ghost of Malkolm Brizzenbright. In the stage manager's office, they find a letter to "J" reading “There have been strange eyes fixed upon the house of Fenerus Stormcastle and flights of black snakes have been seen flocking the skies of the Trades Ward. Greater care should be taken when messengers approach the house, and we may want to find an alternative asset. I leave it to your judgment whether or not Fenerus himself should be warned. -K”

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.