Author: Blameless

The party keeps the Zhentagram appointment proposed by Istrid Horn at the Ahghairon’s Statue. Janky and Reade learn that she seeks immediate succor from the city guard, relying upon their rumored domination at Gralhund Manor to qualify that protection. Most importantly, she is willing to pay through her dwarven nose to buy just 10 days of protection. Detecting no subterfuge, the party escorts her to a private room at Lif’t and furnishes a dwarven portion of ale to keep her occupied for the afternoon.

Later that night, under cloak of darkness, Reade and Luth take Lord Gralhund out to his neighborhood and wish him the very best at liberating his kids from his mean wife to start a new Zhent-free life in some other city. Smoll and Togy take Urstul in a different direction to the edge of town and release him back to his predatory habitat. Janky looks after Istrid.

The following day, the party fixes up a covered wagon and rents a mule to scout the town with the nimblewright detector. Signals lead them into a middle-class alleyway stuffed with garbage. Smoll notices a disturbed mound of trash. Out springs the nimblewright who demonstrates advanced skills at stabbing everyone with a rapier and offhand dagger. Reade grapples the nimblewright. Luth zaps it to pieces. A thorough search locates a hand drawn map to the residence of Fenerus Stormcastle, hopefully where the Stone of Golor was recently delivered, and a magical rapier and dagger set [+1 each].

The city guard happens upon the scene but finds no violations since nimblewrights aren’t people.

Interrogation of Urstul resumes after a long rest [ding 4]. Enhanced by a zone of truth, Urstul reveals some juicy tidbits:

• Lady Gralhund is (or was) financially supporting the Black Network a.k.a. the Zhentarim. There was no friction until her recently acquired nimblewright nearly incinerated Urstul in a premature conflagration while his crew cornered Stone of Golor carrying Dalakhar.
• Urstul did not leave the fireball scene with the Stone of Golor as initially suspected; in fact the nimblewright retrieved the stone and brought it back to Lady Gralhund.
• The permanent teleport circle in Lord Gralhund’s study goes to a Zhent lair, grandly called a castle, at a couple of towers in the southern ward.
• The Stone of Golor was an ancient creature turned into an artifact.

Under a separate zone of truth, Lord Gralhund fills in some gaps:

• The Stone of Golor appears to be an oblong, green stone. Lady Gralhund attempted to activate it by speaking with it. It replied telepathically but evidently without revealing the location of the gold dragons, its claimed purpose.
• The Zhent “castle” is called Kolat. The teleport was installed about a year ago.
• The Lady’s nimblewright has no name or unique designation but answers to a variety of insults. Its whereabouts or destination are unknown to Lord Gralhund.
• The Gralhunds procreated Zartan and Greth.

A private party huddle ensues to explore the limits of moral and ethical boundaries, per the code legal, of how to best dissociate from, or dispense with, their two kidnap victims. Ideally, both would pass of conveniently and timely natural causes in the next twelve hours or so, but a solid plan B to fall back on will probably be necessary.

Smoll, guarding Urstul in the basement, receives a snake Zhentagram:

“I would like to know more about what happened at Gralhund Villa. If you can spare the time, meet me at Ahghairon’s Statue in the City of the Dead at highsun tomorrow. You’ll be paid generously for your time and trouble.”

Depending on how these messaging snakes find their recipients, it may be irrelevant to further conceal the party’s identity or location from Urstul.

Janky answers a knock at the door. The city watch is canvassing the neighborhood for any information regarding certain overnight criminal activity. Smoove Janky assures them Lif’t has not been affected by anything more than his own rowdy night out, nowhere near wherever the issue occurred with the black-clad fugitives. The watchmen depart with no time for breakfast.

Vincent Trench enters minutes later to check on his investment and remind everyone that he is an available asset for hire.

Lady Gralhund suffers no further negotiation, manipulation, nor interaction. Lord Gralhund, however, seems eager to get out of the manse for a few hours to escape the inevitable city watch interrogation. He follows the party to the pantry where Urstul foolishly tested Smoll and got mauled unconscious for his trouble.

Clamorously dragging “inebriated” Urstul through the streets and alleys in the wee hours attracts the attention of an overflying griffin patrol who sounds an alarm. Reade silently slips off to run interference. Janky disguises himself as a meandering dandy as a distraction. Smoll, Luth, and Togy drag Urstul into the sewer. Lord Gralhund, assessing his options, takes off into the streets on his own until Reade intercepts him. Taking the precaution of blindfolding Lord Gralhund, Reade brings him indirectly back to Lif’t. Janky encounters a patrol but convinces the officerses that he’s just nearly home from the Leaky Cauldron but would be delighted to accompany them to their station to regale them with his drunken antics if that is how they want to spend their evening. Dandy Janky is remanded to his own custody, loveyouguysmerrychrishmash.

Back at Lif’t, Smoll guards Urstul in the undisclosed basement while Luth sits blindfolded Lord Gralhund in the undisclosed spare attic bedroom. Interrogators Reade and Janky get almost nothing from Urstul; it isn’t his first black site. Lord Gralhund, on the other hand, sings like a canary. The Zhent-on-Zhent violence is the outcome of an ambitious race to acquire the Stone of Golor from Dalakhar. Bossypants Lady Gralhund equipped her recently acquired nimblewright with a necklace of fireballing to assassinate Dalakhar, and Stone-stealing Urstul got in the way. Urstul must have sought shelter at Gralhund Manor but unexpectedly became a prisoner of Lady Gralhund. When a Zhent extraction team was sent through the portal, the Gralhund household fought back. The nimblewright was dispatched with the Stone of Golor to keep it out of Zhent hands, but Lord Gralhund surely does not know where.

Questions for Lord Gralhund:
Describe the Stone of Golor
Assuming Lady Gralhund attempted to utilize the Stone of Golor, why did she fail? What happened?
When was the Zhent portal installed and who installed it? (If Lady Gralhund were powerful enough to do so, she would have disabled it after kidnapping Urstul.)

Question for Urstul:
Why did you flee to Gralhund Manor?
Do you know where you are?

Smoll and Reade make a quick threat assessment of rooms surrounding the dining room and discover that Gralhund prisoner and Stone of Golor absconder Urstul Floxin has been liberated from the parlor at the expense of two house guards.

The party hustles upstairs toward the sound of fighting where, according to the debriefed servants, three children and a nimblewright are at risk. The battle of Zhent thugs versus Gralhund guards rages on amid many dead of each. The dwindling number of surviving witnesses pleases lawyer Luth, but only in a legal defense way.

Reade spots Urstul in a smallroom to the south attempting to beat down a door. When the party swoops in to help the house guards defeat the Zhent aggressors, Urstul abandons his quest and leaps over Reade to escape. Togy chases him into a ballroom and through a stained-glass window into the alley below. Luth magically sleeps out glass-embedded Urstul from the busted window above.

Togy collects sleepy Urstul back to Gralhund Manor pantry before the city watch can arrive. Smoll, having already crushed everyone in need of crushing upstairs, takes charge of binding and interroging Urstul in the pantry.

Upstairs, personable Janky smooth talks his way through a door, object of Urstul’s earlier pique, where he meets Lord Gralhund barricaded in his study. Of note are several caged, winged snakes, conspicuous symbols of Zhentarim; a circle of half duplex teleportation, destination unknown; and some unknown possession that Lord Gralhund stashes in the room just before opening the door. Conflicted and apprehensive, yet grateful for the rescue, Lord Gralhund supposes that the adventurers work for Zhent recruiter Davil and refer them to his overbearing wife, one room over, for any inquiries regarding that Stone of Golor.

While Luth admires the teleportation circle, Janky and Reade coax out Lady Gralhund and her half-orc, yet all-imposing, bodyguard. A contest of assertions and threats informs the party that the Lady’s nimblewright has safely secreted away the Stone of Golor, but its destination remains her safe secret. Lady Gralhund plays the, “City watch is on their way, and it would be a shame if you were still here when they arrive” card. Reade plays the, “We have Urstul, your liberated Zhent prisoner, and he’ll sing like a snake bird” card.

• The Gralhund Manor incident reveals a schism within the Zhentarim faction resulting in open violence over possession of the Stone of Golor.
• Lady Gralhund appears to be the ambitious leader of some sort of Zhent faction break or coup.

Reade joins the party late after stowing his Gray Force armor and slips over the wall into the yard. The party quietly tracks the path around the guard house and to the kitchen door which they find surprisingly unlocked. The kitchen is well lit, organized, and free of corpses, unlike the pantry to the south where two bludgeoned corpses of household servants are found. Janky preps for an expedited escape by unbarring the outside door from the pantry to the south street. The party heads north to the laundry room adjoining the kitchen and finds another recently bludgeoned servant at the foot of a staircase up. Reade borrows her ring of keys. Next to the maid’s corpse is a door to the west beyond which the party hears low talking and footsteps.

Saving confrontation for later, the party sneaks upstairs to what should be servants’ quarters. Two of the rooms are empty, but the third is barricaded by a crowd of whimpering, praying, surviving servants. Janky persuasively smooths out their initial distrust of the adventurers, coincidentally dressed in black leather a lot like the murderous Zhents currently assaulting the household.

Per the servants, the Zhents have been slaying the servants, the guards, and quite possibly Lord and Lady Gralhund, if not the resident children, to liberate their half-burned and half-limping Zhent cohort [a.k.a. Urstul Floxin] who was uncoincidentally captured immediately following the unfortunate fireballing at Lif’t a few days back. As for the detected nimblewright, it so happens the lady of the villa recently acquired one. It is kept in her room. Despite the option of escaping out the pantry, the helpful surviving servants elect to stay holed up where they are.

A shuddering vibration permeates the house.

Hoping to circle around and surprise what must be a formidable Zhent brute squad, the party returns to the pantry and passes west into a great room with a great table and two great Zhent thugs who rapidly succumb to the party’s pent-up violence. Dread of Code Legal justice threatens to incapacitate Luth as a perfectly legal home incursion turns to justified homicide. The sounds of ongoing fighting upstairs beckons.

• Gralhund is almost certainly not working for the Zhents. Unknown is why Zhent Urstul Floxin would seek shelter at his villa after stealing the Stone of Golor.
• Lady Gralhund has recently acquired a nimblewright, significantly well-timed with the escape of Nim’s construct, significantly well-timed to the suspected fireballer of Dalakhar the SoG bearer. If true, that would suggest that the Gralhunds’ nimblewright was the instrument for the theft of the SoG by demonstrated nemesis Urstul Floxin.

Reade manages Lif’t while the party does an evening reconnoiter of Gralhund Villa, suspected of harboring Zhent henchmen, the Stone of Golor, and possibly the fireballing nimblewright.

The front of the two-story Villa faces north to a busy street. The grand front door is set back by a yard containing a few trees. A balcony overhangs the front door. The yard is accessible by a locked iron gate allowing a view of the villa but not solicitors. The twelve foot outer wall along the street is otherwise continuous and well-maintained. The wall turns down the east and west sides of the zero-lot-line property forming a narrow path along the next-door houses of vigilant, north ward, middle-class neighbors. The back of the villa offers a rear entrance right off the street, but the back street is similarly teeming with potential witnesses at all hours. A horse stable built into the southeast corner of the wall is detached from the villa and offers a locked double door to the street as well as several barred but open windows along the top through which horse odors easily pass but not adventurers. Nimblewright detector samples discretely taken around the property wall indicate a nearby presence, spinning stronger toward the villa side signaling either a nimblewright resident or a parade off to the west.

The party adjourns back to Lif’t to kick around the ethical, moral, and legal implications of breaking into the villa. While not explicitly prohibited by the Code Legal, odds are that getting caught after dark in a noble’s habitat liberating the Stone of Golor, however ill-gotten, or dismantling a nimblewright without due process will create prodigious legal entanglements. On the other hand, a lot of orphans, not to mention Reade’s lifestyle, could be generously fed with Degalt’s stash of gold dragons.

Emotionally committed to the path of chaos, the party dons Force Gray armor and slips back to the villa at a criminal hour. Rather than breach one of the outer doors, the party climbs or parkours the wall at an architectural crook on the east side off the corner of the neighboring house. Janky and Smoll scout the yard ahead to the cover of trees while Luth and Togy linger on the wall, a bit tuckered from the exertion. Their labored breathing attracts three shadows. Although the shadows are martially defeated, the melee generates some noise and light and drains Janky and Luth of some much needed strength.

The party agrees that the Gray Hands have been a greater boon than the unavailable Harpers and so return to the Gray Hands to fish for information about Lord Gralhund, suspected of working with the Zhents and having the Stone of Golor. Vajra sees that more as a “you” problem, but she offers some work if team Lif’t wants to earn some more renown. The party agrees to investigate a bronze dragon camping Deepwater Bay. Vajra offers potions of water breathing as the dragon may be on the bay floor.

The party heads out for Deepwater Bay and rents a rowboat from a totally trustworthy bloke standing next to it. Luth’s Fey charms and Janky’s bardic persuasion bring the rental down to 5 gp plus 5 gp tip with no deposit.

Smoll powers the crew out to the third Sea Maidens Faire ship, Eyecatcher, anchored in the bay. Initial suspicion gives way to a disarming lunch with Captain Zardoz Zord. Zord throws a nice spread, and a good time is had by all. Zord claims to have acquired his nimblewrights through a legit dealer in Lantan and has no suspicions they could be involved in the recent fireballing incident.

Zord suggests from his own prodigious intelligence gathering that the adventurers would be better off seeking their bronze dragon out to the east of Eyecatcher and lends them a suitable anchor. Smoll powers the rowboat east to the anticipated location. As the boat approaches, it is intercepted by a duck / cormorant / seal / bronze dragon introducing himself as Zelifarn. The young, playful, personable, metal dragon invites the party down to tour his shipwreck. The party quaff their Gray Hands potions and descend to admire Zelifarn’s hoard of various coins and trinkets.

Once Zelifarn chomps a passing shark for lunch, some exchanges of personal gifts are made: Togy repairs a mirror, Smoll gifts a shiny Goatball award, and Janky offers a selection of coins to test the dragon’s sense of value. In parity, Togy receives an unshiny shell box, Smoll an unshiny leather square of a musical score, and Janky an unshiny yet decorous knife. Janky proposes a hypothetical business deal between Zelifarn and the Sea Maidens Faire which seems hypothetically acceptable.

The party returns to the boat which returns to the shore and into the waiting custody of the proper owner, no relation to the dishonest agent who rented it to the party. The attending constable requires restitution to the tune of 20 gp.

Janky returns Zord’s anchor and line to a Sea Maidens Faire sailor and arranges a meeting with Zord later.

Back at Black Tower, the Vajra debriefs the party regarding bronze dragon Zelifarn. In exchange, Vajra offers a map for Gralhund Villa as well as some stealthy armor that will help any potential unauthorized, unsanctioned, unconfirmed foray into the villa in search of the Stone of Golor.

Since the fireball slew two Zhents, and Nim’s self-constructed nimblewright may have been the perpetrator of said fireball, Luth proposes that the rogue nimblewright might be in the possession of, or working for, the Xanathar. While Janky manages Lif’t for the day, the party drops into a sewer access suspected to be the escape route of the cloaked limper who presumably made off with the Stone of Golor. There is neither trace nor detection of a nimblewright near the Xanathar hideout, and the search is abandoned after a filthy fight with a couple of crocodiles and a swarm of centipedes.

The nearest ladder takes the party up into the docks district very near Reynar’s estate. Intuitive Luth fancies a long-shot chance that Reynar might tell them something about Dalakhar, the gnome fireball decedent whose undead talk with the Force Gray cleric revealed his association with Reynar’s father.

The party heads for the sea to wash off before visiting Reynar. The nimblewright detector picks up a signal. While Smoll bandages her centipede bites, Reade triangulates on a definite nimblewright presence around a pair of ships, the Heartbreaker and the Hellraiser, docked out on a pier where brightly dressed carnies disembark parade floats and a menagerie of exotic animals, courtesy of the Sea Maidens Faire. A parade ensues. A quick convo with a carny reveals there will be an even better parade after dark that will, yes, include nimblewrights, as there tends to be at least one on every Sea Maidens Faire ship. As the parade returns, a chest is loaded into a dinghy and rowed out to a third ship anchored in the harbor.

The party drops in on Reynar at home. Luth breaks the news of Dalakhar’s unfortunate demise and consequential loss of the Stone of Golor. Reynar regrets being constantly pulled back into his father’s sordid dealings and wishes the dragon hoard would be returned to the good people of Waterdeep. That said, Dalakhar was indeed a faithful friend of Degalt. The Stone of Golor will presumably reveal the location of the stash to whoever can attune it, but attuning the stone may be the tricky part as depicted in the hit play, Dungeons & Dragons. He asks the party to return the next day after Reynar talks to some contacts.

The party enjoys a five-star fish meal at the underrated Ship’s Prow tavern to kill time.

The night parade does feature a pair of nimblewrights as promised, one from each docked ship. While the self-lighted parade is out, Reade determines that the remaining nimblewright signal emanates from the ship out in the harbor, not unexpected if every SMF ship would carry one. Luth still worries that Nim’s creation might seek to flee the city, and the ship out in the harbor could offer the perfect opportunity. Another chest is rowed out to that ship.

The party returns to Lif’t for the evening before returning to Reynar. Reynar drops a primo lead on them: a follow up interview with Fala Lefaliir results in the positive identification of the cloaked, limping absconder of the SoG to be Urstul Floxin, suspected associate of the Zhent Black Network. An eyewitness report identified Urstul Floxin entering Gralhund Villa in the north ward immediately following the fireball explosion, but Lord Gralhund’s assertion that no such encounter occurred precludes any warrant. Lord Gralhund’s legitimate business in mercenary and weapons supply is entirely unrelated.

The explosion outside the front door of Lif’t leaves a giant crater and eleven fatalities: five human, of which two are Zhent; five halflings; and a gnome. Reade liberates a pouch of gemstones and a dagger from the gnome who seemed to be at the targeted geometric center of the fireball. This does not go unnoticed by a fussy busybody across the street whom Luth must charm into taking a 5 gp bribe to close her snitching mouth.

On a hot tip from herbalist Fala, Reade sprints after a limping, sewer-footed, cloaked, human survivor who took something off the fireballed gnome before escaping into the alley behind Lif’t toward The Bent Nail. Luth and Smoll follow to back up Reade, but the perp eludes them.

Togy finds a pair of eyewitnesses to interview. A little boy outside the building across the street from Lif’t observed an amulet fall into a rain barrel just as his halfling friends were blown up. Togy trades a couple of bird skull finger puppets for the dangerous amulet. The other witness, a wealthy waterdhavian, observed a puppet-like mechanical man toss something explosive from the same roof into the crowd in front of Lif’t.

Sergeant Cromley shows up with a contingent of city watch who cordon off the street and Lif’t customer entrance and transport the victims back to a basement morgue in the north ward. Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors investigator Barnibus Blastwind studies the scene and interviews witnesses. They take a civil forfeiture of the 500 gp gemstone pouch from Reade and the amulet of fireball from Togy.

Reade makes a visit to bookseller Rishaw to inquire about the witnessed bomb tossing “puppet”. The others receive visiting Broxley to request a cease-and-desist parle with Frewn regarding rat releases, kidnappings, and firebombings.

The party next visits Harper Mirt’s manse but he still does not answer his door.

Next up is a check-in with Force Gray who not only answer the door but also furnish some primo wine and snacks until an audience with Vajra can be had. Vajra offers the services of a sympathetic cleric to surreptitiously infiltrate the morgue and speak with the gnome decedent. While that cleric is dispatched, Vajra points the party in the direction of the local Gond temple, House of Inspired Hands, where they might find a rare nimblewright fitting the description of the fireballing “puppet”.

Smoll hangs back to oversee repairs and cleanup of blast damage and the successful reopening of Lif’t while the rest of the party visits the Gond temple. Disciple Valleta shows the party up to the attic where Nim, the live-in nimblewright, maintains a very productive workshop. It turns out that Nim has secretly constructed a nimblewright companion who has been at large for a couple of weeks. Displeased Valleta orders dismantling and removal of Nim’s workshop tooling and supplies. The party offers to locate the rogue nimblewright and, for a 500 gp reward, bring proof of its destruction. Nim quickly transfers some items to the party before confiscation:
Nimblewright locator begins spinning a little umbrella the closer it gets to any non-Nim specimen, carried by Reade.
Metal cube with a crank and switch that synthesizes barking dogs when wound and placed on a surface, carried by Smoll.
Stilt tubes with shoes on the ends, carried by Luth.
Backpack of parachuting, carried by Janky.
Metal pipe of ignition, carried by Togy.

The party returns to Lif’t for the night. The next day a courier arrives from Vajra with a dossier of the clerical infiltration. The cover letter warns of the gravity of the situation.

Name: Dalakhar.
Employer: Open Lord of Waterdeep Degalt Neverember.
Objective: Steal the Stone of Golor and deliver it to a trustworthy and virtuous group of adventurers competent to safeguard such an invaluable artifact.
Starting Inventory: Pouch of gemstones, dagger, black cloak, Stone of Golor.
Opposition: Considering the Stone of Golor was stolen from the Xanathar and earnestly sought by the Zhentarim, indeed anyone remotely interested in tremendous wealth, opposition is everyone.

With 1000 gp of unsecured backing, Lif’t Bar & Grill secures cooperation of Lif the Entity, makes necessary repairs, secures the cooperation of local guilds, hires staff, attracts a glyph of warding from former owner Ookoria, and acquires provisions for a successful soft opening. Gross tenday operating expenses come to a manageable 60 gp.

One notable customer is Frewn of Frewn’s Brews who rediscovers the smooth, refreshing flavor of the local everyman brew, Honeyridge Ale. Frewn’s halfling cohort, more interested in casing the joint and covertly signaling an unknown receiver, passes on libations.

Several successful days later, an unknown perp opens an access hole into Lif’t and introduces a rat infestation. Around the same time, Lif, communicating by a Yes/No/IDK coaster, recalls that an unrecognized halfling left with a willing Janky and his lute. Mindful of Frewn’s dour halfling partner, the party convenes for an exploratory breakfast at Frewn’s Brews to possibly learn if their business nemesis is responsible. A pair of suspicious halflings at a nearby table closely observes the party. One suddenly departs. Reade follows. The halfling leads Reade leading Luth leading Smoll leading Togy on a twisty pursuit through dim alleys to a locked sewer grate. A trio of giant wererats ambush Reade. A melee ensues and the wererats surrender back to their broken halfling forms, regrettably not before Reade suffers a worrisome werebite. It’s Roscoe’s Shard Shunners again, perhaps hired by Frewn or his agent. They promise to depart in peace after returning Janky and his looted lute.

As Janky sleeps off his kidnapping, a fireball collides with the front door of Lif’t.

Lif’t Payroll:

Job	Shift	Employee	Confidential Notes	Pregnant
Bar	Day	Gavin Sornstone	Charismatic, early riser, staying in hostel	No
Bar	Night	Vendelli Meli	Super smart, super charismatic	Eventually
Bar	Weekend	Dergu	(orc)	No
Cook	Day	Hildegarde	90 yo bounty hunter, hunter	No
Cook	Night	Emma Montague	Scar, glass eye, excellent cook	No
Cook	Weekend	Lillesse Perlana	(1/2 elf)	No
Waitstaff		Ethalos	14 yo, Sunnei worshipper, positive attitude	No
Waitstaff		Bharneck Redtoe	(dwarf)	No
Waitstaff		Daiki	(cat-like?)	No
Waitstaff		Sephonia	(elf)	No
Waitstaff		Vierna Goldenleaf	(hafling)	No