Dragon Heist/Campaign Log

Session 1 - December 22, 2018

DR 1492, Ches 3, 2:00 pm Through Khan, the party is assembled at the Yawning Portal tavern to meet with Volothamp "Volo" Geddarm, told they are needed to answer a call for help. While passing the time with usual tavern fare, a fight breaks out between a half-orc, Yagra Stonefist, and some gang members. Aiding her in subduing them, Durnan ousts the gang members. A troll and several stirges emerge from the shaft in the center of the tavern, and the combined arms of Yagra, Durnan, and the party defeat them. Volo arrives at the tail end of this confrontation, happy to see the party a capable force.

Volo explains that he believes something bad has happened to a drinking friend of his - Floon Blagmaar. Giving a description of a handsome, nicely-dressed human man with red hair in his mid-thirties, the party sets off to the last place Volo saw him, the Skewered Dragon tavern in southern Waterdeep. They witness the aftermath of another gang fight - between the Zhentarim and Xanathar's Guild - in the streets, then being mopped up by the City Watch. Stopping in briefly in the Old Xobolb Shop, they converse with the owner and discover several shady types in black armor abducted two men off the street nearby two nights prior. Visiting the Skewered Dragon, they converse with the regulars and are pointed towards a warehouse in the area with a black serpent on the door - the mark of the Zhentarim. The party arrives, and finds it looking rather decrepit.

Session 2 - December 29, 2018

DR 1492, Ches 3, 3:00 pm Knocking and then breaking down the door, the party finds a dozen dead Zhentarim thugs in the warehouse. When they begin looting them, four kenku attack. Fwoosh momentarily causes them to stop fighting, after which the party kills two, knocks one out, and restrains the last. Searching the area, Ramesh finds someone who looks like Floon, only for him to name himself Renaer Neverember, the son of Dagult Neverember, the previous Open Lord of Waterdeep. He explains they kidnapped him and Floon, confusing them for one another, and that Floon was carted off somewhere else while he escaped his restraints and hid himself to wait for an opportunity to escape. He voluntarily joins the party to help rescue Floon.

A squad of a dozen City Watch arrives, taking the surviving Kenku into custody. Their Captain, Hystus Staget, is thankful the violence hasn't resulted in any deaths but gang members. Captain Staget gives a copy of the Code Legal to the party, promising to look the other way this time, and explains it was partially his fault for withdrawing patrols in the area. The City Watch positively identify the conscious captive as being a member of Xanathar's Guild, a known current enemy to the Zhentarim. Searching the warehouse further, Fwoosh finds a paper bird, and the party finds a cache of valuables behind a secret door. Departing the warehouse, Renaer sees himself to a bathhouse, Fwoosh uses the paper bird to summon Volo to the Yawning Portal later that evening. The party returns themselves there immediately, plying the time by busking, gambling, and drinking.

At 8:00 pm, Volo and Renaer arrive. They catch up on the situation at large, and Renaer leaves with the party to return to the warehouse in search of any tracks or trails to follow. Shrarsei manages to find a trail, eventually leading to a manhole on a nearby street. Following yellow Xanathar's Guild signs in the sewers under the street for a little over an hour, the party encounters a Gazer and defeats it. Continuing, they arrive at a Xanathar's Guild hideout, sneaking past the sleeping goblins on watch at the sewer junction.

Session 3 - January 5, 2019

DR 1492, Ches 3, 11:30 pm

Continuing on through the hideout, party came across Krentz and a Duergar trying to barricade the door leading in from the other direction. Party accosted Krentz & Duergar as well as a slime. Continuing through the passages, party came upon a man being held by a torturer, as well as a Mind Flayer & accompanying Intellect Devourer. Party killed the torturer and the Intellect Devourer, however the Mind Flayer escaped into another chamber. Fwoosh gave chase and witnessed the Mind Flayer pass through some sort of portal which immediately vanished.

The man being held by the torturer was Floon. Upon further exploring the rooms branching off from this area, a Mark of the Xanathar guild was discovered on the floor. Fwoosh discovered a secret passage out of this hideout that led into someone's basement. The man who resides there was a Halfling who appeared to be unaware to the fact that there was a secret passage in his basement, but seemed suspicious. This building is the Peabody residence. Fwoosh purchased his only keg of ale he had for this season.

The party decides to return to the Yawning Portal and it is now 12:30am. Here they meet with Volo, who commends them and rewards them with a deed to a property called the Troll Skull Manor, which is rumored to be haunted and currently abandoned. He has set an appointment for the deed to be transferred into our names. He buys the adventurers rooms for the night and marks the location of the troll skull manor on their map. Renaer offers to help us if we ever need his assistance.

The party reaches level 2.

DR 1492, Ches 4, 8 am

With their new deed in mind, the party decides to check out the manor. The manor is dusty and in disrepair, but exploring during the daytime reveals no spooks or supernatural events. Ramesh & Shrarsei focus on cleaning up the manor before the noon appointment to transfer the deed, while Rasi, Jane, and Fwoosh head out. Rasi speaks to their contact about the feud between the Xanathar and Zhentarim. They learn that the Xanathar accused the Zhentarim of stealing the Stone of Golorr, but the Zhentarim denies it. The Zhentarim likely abducted Renaer & Floon as they believed that Renaer may have known something about said Stone as it relates to his father, though he hadn't spoken to his father in years. Speaking more privately, Rasi's contact confided that it is suspected that Lord Dagult Neverember (Renaer's father) embezzled half a million gold dragons from the city of Waterdeep. The magistrate have not been able to prove this suspicion but they believe it to be very likely, though he cannot be questioned currently as they don't know exactly where he is currently.

Jane & Fwoosh learn of the various businesses in the area around the Troll Skull Manor. The Tiger's Eye is a private detective agency that claims they can discover any secret in Waterdeep for a fee. The Bent Nail is a woodworking shop owned by Talisolvanar the Half-Elf. There is a manhole that acts as a sewer access. Corellon's Crown is a greenhouse that supplies herbal rememedies run by Fala the Druid. A bookstore by the name of The Book Wyrm's Treasure is here, run by a Gold Dragonborn named Rishaal. He has many books and a loaner service for nonmagical tomes, as well as individual spell scrolls available to be purchased. Steam & Steel is a forge run by two Genasi, Embric & Avi, a married couple. Embric is a Fire Genasi who forges weapons and Avi is a Water Genasi who forges armor. They also have cooking & farming tools in addition to swords, shields, and armor (though they do not carry heavy full plate).

The meeting occurs at 12 pm and the party heads out to a courthouse in the Castle Ward. Volo pays forth the 20 gold dragons needed to transfer the deed into our names. Ramesh asks the magister about the purchase history of the manor. The property was originally purchased by Lif the Half-Elf 6 or 7 years ago, though he died and the property passed into the hands of the city. Volo purchased the property about 6 months ago as he heard it may be haunted and thought it could be useful for his book research, though he never personally experienced any supernatural occurrences.

Shrarsei, Rasi, and Ironclad retire to their respective abodes while Fwoosh, Jane, and Ramesh retire to the Troll Skull Manor for the evening. The party determines it will take 60 hours of cleaning to restore the manor to a suitable condition and between a few of them they manage 48 hours. At 8 pm the party breaks to investigate some spooky business. Though not hostile, the party learns that Lif is "haunting" the manor.

Session 4 - January 12, 2019

DR 1492, Ches 4, 8:30 pm

entry forthcoming