The party flees the fomorian sector and scouts for a place to camp in the legacy dwarven underground. From the unsecret side of a secret door, Ash hears shuffling scratching sounds. Camping in the hallway is not a great option so the party prepares to enter with diplomacy, intimidation, or violence as needed. Barika opens the door quietly, but darkling Varn knows the sound of that secret door when his roommate returns. Oh Henry, is that you returning? Ander a.k.a. Grim Greycastle, self-disguised as a darkling, answers Varn that he has returned, yes. Well, not Varn’s roommate Henry, but Second Henry. The large number of debtors Second Henry has brought along for the mistress displeases Varn, especially the large bear prisoner. Nicodemus prays for better deception. When Varn sticks a blade to Bear Briar, Sqyylarr and Ash are forced to take him out. Watc a.k.a. Professor Steele searches Varn’s dorm room for personal effects and official correspondence or other intelligence.
Briar proposes that Second Henry scout around through the next door. Second Henry steps out into the darkling area. A couple of darklings unload luxury goods and provisions from a couple of mine cars at the bottom of a chasm through the ruined floor of the dwarven ruins. Across the chasm a gathering of darklings dine on turkey and mushroom sauce. Second Henry nonchalantly strolls along the edge of the chasm. As he crosses the bridge over the chasm, a large hound takes note of his problematic scent and growls suspiciously until Second Henry drops down a tinkered meat smelling rock. He continues along making note of some other doors, a dwarven statue, a very nice anvil — wait! What are all those unguarded potions?
Second Henry’s euphoric cataloging of potions in a corner of the chamber is interrupted by Bernard the human concierge. Would Sir like a potion bag prepared for Sir’s night out? Maybe some turkey in a to-go box?
It doesn’t sound like Second Henry is doing too poorly so the rest of the group, enormously aided by Ash’s pass without trace, follows him discreetly. Professor Steele, fire-enabled thanks to one of their two exception amulets, hangs back to cover the dining room full of darklings with a fireball if plan A goes wrong.
Second Henry, attempting to attract the chasm workers and Bernard into the dining room to clear an escape path for the party, offers everyone free drinks. Unfortunately, the darklings have been working on a utopia where drinks are always free and the workers prefer to continue working for the good of society. Fast walking Barika has almost reached the exit door but is discovered by a second growling hound, Killer, lurking in the storeroom. The chasm workers spot the party crossing the bridge. Second Henry insists that everyone should really, really enjoy a FIREBALL whiskey right about now. Professor Steele streaks a fireball into the center of the dining room.
Bernard ducks behind the bar; this is not his fight. GG shocking grasps a darkling survivor and rejoins the party who find themselves in Killer’s aura of misfortune. Briar overcomes the misfortune and places two excellent smite-boosted axe strikes on Killer. Barika has the misfortune of fumbling her attack on Killer, enraging her. Nicodemus takes out Killer, but the second hound has leapt 20’ from the chasm to the bridge to battle Sqyylarr. Ash takes out a couple of the darklings, GG gets another one with a scorching ray. Sqyylarr, already exhausted from digging out the bouldered passage earlier in the day, discovers a new level of exhaustion after a botched swing of her maul. Briar’s searing smite, Barika’s twin flying handaxes, and Professor Steele’s fireball fare better against the hound. Ash’s arrows get the final piece of the hound, leaving only a pair of darklings hoping to escape in the chasm mining tunnel. They do not.
The area is ransacked for potions and intelligence.
Rat: advantage on smell
Snail: potion of speed
Syringe: appearance of zombie for 1 hour
Pink Bottle: speak with animals
Carved Dwarf: armor irritant
Coconut: immunity from fear for 10 hours
Invisible Bottle: darkvision
Juice Box: induces vomiting
Sword Hilt Bottle: disguise
Pendant Flask: feather fall
Box of Popsicle: box freezes anything put in it
Popsicle: potion of not having a shadow
Teal Liquid: turn to caricature familiar
A crumpled note is found directing the abduction of Hops the Quastarte Dwarf to the mistresses’ chamber, the plural possessive revealing either a grammatical error by the note writer or the party’s error in assuming a single leader. Bernard clarifies that the organization is a triarchy of mistresses: Eravastika, Footeater, and Bogfingers. Hag names if GG ever heard one.
Bernard, initially committed to his great job with the darkling syndicate, is now reconsidering. In exchange for everything he can carry away from the storeroom, he will start a new life on the straight and narrow path. Bernard’s first step on that path, out the door of the darkling bunker, is met with the drawing of town guard steel.
The party stands down for Belfaerd, the officer in charge. Briar recounts their situation since arriving at the Wayward House and the subsequent urgency of locating Hops. Ash points out that in fact many Silverymoon citizens go missing the same way. Nicodemus agrees. But, all of that is above Belfaerd’s pay grade. Apprehending the party on the orders of Lord Protector Steward Osvoril Aerasume, on the other hand, is exactly on Belfaerd’s pay grade so that’s what happens next.
At the palace, through the great hall, the Quastarte delegation is met by Osvoril and Elienyphe Aerasume, son and daughter-in-law of Lady Alustriel Silverhand who is currently out-of-pocket. Osvoril politely explains that here in Silverymoon, they rather like to avoid violence on the scale demonstrated by that last encounter. GG explains the events of the destruction in a level of detail that causes Elienyphe to excuse herself. Ash introduces the topic of the Silverhand gift which Professor Steele awkwardly produces. Osvoril opens the cylinder of chilled vis but does not recognize it for what it is. Professor Steele awkwardly disavows any knowledge of the cylinder’s contents since, technically, he wasn’t actually informed of it.
The party is in no fighting condition before a night’s rest so, in the interest of urgency, Osvoril offers to organize an overnight raid to roll up the darkling syndicate. The Quastarte delegation returns to the inn for much needed rest and much needed identification of looted potions. What news will tomorrow bring?