The characters have accepted a quest from Volothamp Geddarm to find, and rescue his missing friend, Floon Blagmaar, who disappeared the previous night. They’ve tracked Floon to a warehouse in the dock ward.
It’s the Poop –
Ches, 2nd month of the year
We rejoin the party just after they defeat their kenku assailants. They search the bodies, and the warehouse as a whole. Some of the bodies lined up against the wall are all marked with the winged snake symbol that the group’s been following, while the rest are dressed as random citizens. Perhaps they’re disguises? The group finds some loose money, and a disc marked with the symbol they found earlier… a circle with ten lines radiating from it’s perimeter.
The party also discovers a closet, and upon inspection they hear heavy breathing coming from inside. Mantis calls to whomever is inside, and a man emerges. It’s not Floon, but a ragged man of noble bearing. Ranear Neverember is his name. The gang kidnapped him when they captured Floon, and stole Neverember’s sword and locket. Neverember fills them in on some information: It seems like the kenku work for the Xanathar. Tang finds a section of wall that gives a little bit, and may be a secret door or passage… they’ll clear the building then return to that later.
The party checks upstairs, where they find mostly empty crates. The upper level looks mostly run down and disused. In a set of offices they find Neverember’s Amulet, which has been pried open to reveal a secret (and hitherto unknown) compartment. Something has been removed from it. The group proceeds downstairs to investigate the secret panel, and find a room full of water damaged crates, that appear to have been hidden a very long time. Inside one is an oil painting of a city, and a few other wrapped packages. In another smaller they find a cache of 15 silver trade bars.
Neverember joins the party to search for his friend. The group follows some very obvious tracks to a manhole cover not to far away. They descend into the pitch dark. A sewer tunnel heads in both directions, and upon investigation they find a symbol in chalk… the Xanaathar’s Guild. The group follows the marks of Xanathar for almost an hour in the stinking much, until they come upon a sentry… a floating sphere with 4 eyestalks (a gazer). Shining Brow is blasted into the sewage by an eye beam, and the party engages the foe! Shazuu finishes the beast with a strike of his blade and it deflates, falling in the river of putrescence. Deciding they must be on the right path, they continue to follow the tunnels to a door. They enter a series of rooms filled with junk, and move stealthily ahead.
The party follows the passage to find a tall, bald human and a dwarf with grey skin trying to bar the far door, shoving fabric into the door jamb. They burst in, take out the duergar, and Shazuu intimidates the human into surrender. After some questioning it looks like he’s a Xanathar’s guildsman. The bald guy was the same jerk who picked a fight with Yagra at the Portal.
He lies to Mantis about the room they were trying to seal, or so they think. Shining Brow opens the door they were trying to seal. The small smashed lavatory beyond contains an ooze creature. The group decides to bravely flee the acid attacks of the creature. They leave the room, and fire bomb the ooze until it burns away.
They continue to follow another passage until it opens to a room where a large orc is yelling at a prone man with red blonde hair. Atop a throne is a nightmarish creature with glistening purple skin, and tentacles covering it’s face (a mind flayer) accompanied by a dog-sized brain with legs (an intellect devourer) sitting next to it. With stealth no longer an option, the party attacks. The mind flayer moves to leave the room, until Tang throws a dart at it. The creature considers him, pauses, then dominates the unfortunate monk. The rest of the group attacks the orc and the intellect devourer. Shazuu nearly decapitates the orc, ending his life. They quickly mop up the intellect devourer, and knock out Tang. A quick search of the adjacent room finds a lidless eye symbol and a Xanathar symbol on some sort of pillar/doorway… a magical portal? They decide to leave the room of doors alone, because that’s where the mind flayer fled, search the orc, and then get on to getting out.
The man with the red blond hair is indeed Floon, and he is near death. Battered and bruised, the party backtracks and exits the sewer into the end of an alleyway near the South Gate. They quickly take the injured man to the nearest temple, a church of Helm. Floon is very appreciative, if a bit confused (he claims that he doesn’t have a wife). His captors kept asking “where the stone” was, and went on about “mountains of gold” hidden in a vault. Neverember’s father supposedly hid a fortune somewhere in the city. Neverember offers dinner and drinks, soon, as a reward.
The group returns to the Yawning Portal to rest and recover. The next afternoon, they meet with Volo to get their reward. Instead of money, he offers the group the deed to an abandoned building, located in Trollskull Alley in the nice part of town. It is the deed to Trollskull Manor, which is an abandoned tavern with a storied history. A mysterious fire, murder, and a possible haunting? The party exchanges glances, and asks to take a look before finalizing their decision.
Note:
The 15 Silver Trade Bars are worth 50gp each
The spellbook contains the spells fire bolt, mending, prestidigitation, disguise self, and shield
Reward:
The party reaches a story milestone, and Level 2.
The Harpers +1 Rep Point