(G505 14/01/2023 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) WA106

 (G505 14/01/2023 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) WA106

[Fenrir and Reinward have returned to Westgate, with the Crown of Baleforte. They are now taking out high level Nightmask assassins.]

DAY 518 (3rd Eleasis)(august) cont ...

When they arrived back at Fenrir's townhouse, Reinward tried to borrow some money from Veddic. He didn't get very far though.

Today Random popped in to say he was going back to Tezzir to continued the 'Barry Shitknees Misdirection'.


DAY 519 (4th Eleasis)(august)

Today Fenrir went to work.
Reinward stayed at the house so he was there when an invitation to a party came from Lesa Ujum.

He sent a reply saying he would come. He then sat in the kitchen for most of the day sampling all the pies made by the cook.

Later he went over to Gondeth's Mageries and purchased a Wand of Cat's Grace.


DAY 520 (5th Eleasis)(august)

Today, in the evening, Gelly gave them the location of their next target.  Eldaernth Spellstalker, an elf and a Night Mask was currently in the elvish town of Veluutha.

It was hidden away between the mountains and Gulthmere Forest, but if they followed her directions they would find it.

'All I know is he is waiting there, as he is expecting company,' she told them. She thought he was paying back another Night Mask for a favour, but as they learned later it was more the other way around.
'Whatever it is, its BIG, that's all I know.'


DAY 521 (6th Eleasis)(august)

Fenrir popped in to work in the morning and told them he was 'off on patrol'. In some ways Fenrir was still getting used to being in charge as he didn't have to explain his comings and going to anyone. Still, it didn't do any harm.

Veddic wind walked them to Veluutha, which was about a hundred and fifty miles south-east of the city. It took about two and a half hours.

When the city was in sight they went down to below tree level and wafted through the lower branches. There were no tracks or trails.

Reinward caught glimpses of green clad figures flitting between the trees ahead of them.
'Take a right!' he told the other two, but he was ignored and they continued to drift ahead.

With about half a mile to go they caught a closer glimpse of the town. It was vaguely circular with a wall all the way around it. Tall trees grew within the walls and one massive tree stump seemed to being used as a block of apartments. On a raised flat area there was what looked like a flying ship, hovering about 30ft above the ground.

They landed and walked towards the town. They were already disguised, Fenrir as an elf and Reinward as a 'gormless human'.
Veddic remained in cloud form and headed back a mile or two.

By the time they got to town, twenty or so elf guards were ready to meet them.
'You are a strange sounding elf - what forest are you from?' asked the leader.
'I'm from Kryptgarden,' replied Fenrir.
'And what business do you have here?'
'I'm here to trade.'
'I see, well you can't bring that human scum into our town.'

Despite their protestations they guards did not budge on this. Reinward went and urinated in a nearby bush. I don't know why.

'Leave at once!' said the guard.

They walked back into the forest for about a mile, but they could see they were being followed.

'Look over there! A giant bear in a tutu!' bluffed Fenrir.
He then went invisible and floated up into the trees.

Reinward looked for the bear, then sat down on the grass and pretended to be bewildered.
'Enough of this. You come with us,' said one of the guards.

Reinward played dumb and was led off. Fenrir whispered into his Gem of Communication.
'You were supposed to hide!'

Whatever he had thought was meant to happen, Reinward was taken to the guard house at the main gate and thrown in a dungeon.

Fenrir waited five minutes then flew slowly around the airship to get a look at it. It was not an airshi - as in a dirigible - but more a sea ship that had been enchanted to fly through the air. Not that Fenrir would have known, but they are made by a people from the south known as the Halruaan.

He circled the town and saw two market squares, what looked like the main castle and the massive stump that had at least fifty elven homes built into it. He saw what looked like several inns.

Meanwhile Reinward was listening at his cell door and heard people talking in Elvish. He could understand that language so he knew they were talking about what to eat for their dinner. There were three male voices and one female voice.

'Dinner! Dinner!' yelled Reinward in elvish, banging on the door and keeping up the gormless act. He then took a page of Dark Elf pornography from his pocket and stuffed it under the door.

The door opened. 'You speak elvish?' asked the guard as he looked at the pictures with distaste. Reinward said nothing and the door was shut again.
'You'd better get the Captain,' said someone on the other side of the door.

Fenrir's voice hissed through the Gem, 'What's the plan?'

Reinward chose to wait. He waited six hours until the Captain arrived. He was a tall well dressed elven male. He had what looked like an elven lady wizard with him. Two guards held up torches so they could get a look at their odd prisoner.

Food was dropped on the floor for him.
'Where have you come from, human scum?' asked the Captain.
'Westgate.'
'And what are you doing here?'
Reinward tried to act stupid. The elves readily accepted this.
Reinward mumbled 'Eldaernth Spellstalker' - I think he was trying to be taken to Spellstalker, but either the guards had no idea who he was, or they did not understand his mumbling.
'Who was the elf you arrived with?'
'Sharry Bitknees.'

The elves left and the dungeon door was closed.

Up in the sky Fenrir watched the Captain and the Lady leave the guardhouse and head for the ship.
A huge human man met them at the gangplank. Fenrir recognised him as Hrarnok Sharkchum.
'We found an idiot,' said the Captain. 'Is he one of yours?'
'All my idiots are accounted for,' shrugged the pirate.

Taking a closer look at the Halruaan ship Fenrir was impressed and he whispered to Reinward through the Gem;
'Get out of that cell. Let's see if we can nick this ship!'

Reinward banged on the cell door and yelled 'Sharkchum!'
The door was opened and a bucket of water was thrown on him.

He continued to make a hoo-haa and after a while the door was opened again and a guard pointed a wand at him. It hit him, but whatever it was, his strong will shook it off. He activated his Ring of Blinking and Darkness and made his escape.

Outside it was now evening, around seven o'clock. Reinward skulked into the bushes as the alarm was raised, the guards poured out of the gatehouse and elves came out of their houses to see what all the commotion was about.

For someone who had invested so much gold in magical items to trying to turn himself into a human shadow Reinward was remarkably unstealthy, to an almost ridiculous degree. I doubt I could have made much more of a fuss if I'd ridden into town on the back of a rhinoceros.

(G504 07/01/2023 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) WA105

(G504 07/01/2023 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) WA105

DAY 516 (1st Eleasis)(august)

Fenrir and Reinward ate breakfast in the kitchen after long lies in.

They asked Gelly, as a former member of the Night Masks, where they were head-quartered. 'Well,' she said. 'They don't have a formal HQ. They have safe-houses, they have inns and taverns that they favour, but that changes frequently. The Night King has his own domains, but from what I've heard the Night Court can meet anywhere. Reinward was in the catacombs when they captured him and I know how to get to The Bone Rondel, it's a famous landmark in the catacombs, but I wouldn't put money on the Night King being there any longer after you escaped his clutches.'


All the things that Cavu and Random expected him to do, most of them Fenrir had no idea how to accomplish them.

Kill the Croamarkh?
He'd learned back in Waterdeep that he was a rubbish assassin. It always got out of hand.

Get Raz married to Thistle?
Raz was tongue tied around her.

Increase support of the houses and factions of Westgate?
That sounded tedious and complicated.

What Fenrir did best was make people into tiny pieces with his Eldritch Blasts. That he could do, and more importantly it was what he liked to do.

Cavu had provided him with a lost of Night Masks names and he, more or less, picked one at random. He found his in-house rogue and said;
'Here is a thousand gold Gelly, see if you can find out where this "Reaver Lord Dynarth Bloodcowl" drinks will you?'

Gelly returned after lunch and gave them the low-down.
'Reaver Lord Dynarth Bloodcowl lacks stealth and discretion. He is a Paladin of Gorgos and a brutal murderer. Tonight he will be in a tavern known as "The Happy Cow" in a small village about four miles south of here called Templethorp.'

Fenrir sent Veddic to pretend to be him in his office in the main Watch tower (using a hat of disguise) and walked down to Templethorp with Reinward.
They were both also in disguise:
Reinward was pretending to be a blind man called Mongo Lightcandy.
Fenrir was pretending to be a man with a limp called Gerry Fudd.
They both appeared dressed as simple travellers, one step up from vagrants.

The Happy Cow was the only inn in the village and not very big. The tavern area only had a few tables and there was a private room further back beside the bar. There was only a curtain for privacy and it was currently open.
Inside they could see Bloodcowl sitting with a posh looking lady and an armoured man.

Gerry Fudd and Mongo Lightcandy went to the bar and amused themselves by getting into character. They talked to a lady at the bar, she was a druid called Adlee Stonegrove. While the landlord talked to Stonegrove, the two buffoons talked to the bar maid.

'Any advice?' asks Fudd.
'It's just a small place,' said the maid. 'Oh, watch out for Mad Tam the village idiot.'
Bind Mongo put a knife in Fudd's back.
'Whores!' yelped Mongo.
The barmaid noticed and made a 'He's blind right?' gesture to Fudd.
'Ah, I can't take him anywhere, but what can I do, he is a boon companion,' said Fudd.
Mongo spilled his drink all over the bar top.
'I want beef and beer!' cried Fudd.
'WHORES!' yelled Mongo. He then fumbled his way outside and urinated on a tree. While he was there he cast Mage Armour on himself and then Deeper Darkness.

As the Darkness crept into the tavern, Stonegrove tried casting Light, but it was not strong enough to dispel the Darkness.
Fenrir went invisible and headed to the entrance to the private room.

Reinward had a complicated set of magical items on him so the next thing he did was accidentally throw one of his daggers into the Ethereal Plane courtesy of his Ring of Blinking!

He then entered the room and stabbed Bloodcowl in a more old fashioned way. Fenrir entered and cast Painful Slumber of Ages on the armoured man and Bloodcowl.
The lady pulled the armoured man away and cradled him in her lap.

Reinward dearly wanted to loot both of their bodies, but they were no threat to him and as Fenrir was already dragging Bloodcowl's body away he left them alone.

Stonegrove's animal companion, a raven, shot out of the tavern.
'Go get the Marshall,' she commanded it.
Seeing Fudd and Mongo trying to stuff Bloodcowl into a Bag of Holding she then said, 'leave him be or it's the crocodiles for you!'

Reinward threw two darts at the druid, using all the deadly skill he could muster, hoping to give her something to think about. However he used a bit too much deadly skill and the two darts found both of her eyes, penetrated her brain and she died instantly.

The bar maid screamed and screamed as they stuffed the first the paladin and then the dead druid into their Bag of Holding and left.

For two lads with so much stealth capability they really do make a complete hash of missions that require stealth! They split up and left as the whole village was roused to the sounds of screams and cries of 'Summon the Marshall! Murder! There has been a Murder!'

I honestly think at this point the pair of them had contrived to become drunk as I  cannot think of another reason why their plan was so hap-hazard.

Reinward skulked back to Watergate and Fenrir was left holding the bodies. He didn't want Bloodcowl to sufficate to death - because he could be resurrected - so he had to stop flying north, let the fellow out of the bag and then stuff him back in again.

He had to do this ten times before he got back home! I will leave it to you, dear reader, to work out what the chances of this activity being observed, even if Fenrir himself was invisible! Did anyone see the armoured body of Bloodcowl clattered onto the ground only to disappear again a moment later?

Back at his house Fenrir handed the bag over to Veddic. 'Nother one for you.'


DAY 517 (2nd Eleasis)(august)

Fenrir went to work. Reinward had a restless (and I've a feeling rather boozy) night, a guilty conscious over killing the innocent druid Adlee Stonegrove.

He went over to the ruins of the Temple to Ilmater, but there was no cleric high level enough to resurrect her.

Veddic could cast Raise Dead though, for a mere five thousand gold.
Reinward seemed to think that Veddic worked for Fenrir, and this of course was not true.
'What's this?' said Reinward. 'If someone in this house tells you to do the dishes then you do the bloody dishes buddy!'
Veddic couldn't even be bothered setting Reinward straight, he just sighed and said;
'We can do it tomorrow then.'

Reinward, most likely drunk talked to Fenrir with their Gems of Communications.
'I've just had a lot of back chat from your cleric!'
Fenrir was rather baffled. 'If you mean Veddic, he's not actually my employee you know.'
'Then what is he doing here then?'
'We work together,' said Fenrir. 'Like me and you, we have shared interests.'
Reinward grunted and broke the connection.

I should perhaps remind you at this point, dear reader, that Veddic had been sent by his church leader (known as the Eternal Flame) to keep tabs on Fenrir and most likely angle for a temple to Kossuth being built in Westgate if their big escapade to take over the city actually worked.

Fenrir returned home late at night after doing his best to keep things ticking over in the City Watch. Reinward was blind drunk by now, wandering the house with a dagger in his hand and frightening the staff.

Fenrir was not familiar with the feeling of having a guilty conscious so could not understand what was going on. Veddic told him; 'hopefully it will be sorted out tomorrow.'


DAY 518 (3rd Eleasis)(august)

While Fenrir was at work, Reinward and Veddic resurrected Adlee Stonegrove. Or rather Veddic cast Raise Dead on her.

First they went out of town to a copse of trees and laid her body out on the ground.
Then Veddic started casting spells, including something mysterious on Reinward.
'To help with the guilt,' he told him.

When Stonegrove sat up and said,'Where am I?', Reinward replied;
'Well, Hello there,' in a most lascivious way.
I suspect he had continued to be very very drunk today.

She gave him an odd look and he gave her 200 in gold.
'What's this for?' she asked.
'We found it.'
She stood and looked at him, but said nothing.
'Right... whatever your name is ... we bequeath you this gold for your starter pack  for a new life... go forth... uhh.. young adventurer and begin your journey into greatness as you fight...'

Stonegrove was baffled. 'I don't understand what's going on. Are you drunk? Is he drunk?'
She had addressed Veddic, who shrugged.
'From what I understand,' tried the cleric. 'I just found out...'
'Where is Titus?' she interrupted. 'Oh, he must be back at the tavern, wait...
I remember...'

'Look!' snapped Reinward. 'Just take the money and fuck off!'

'What?'

'Right, right,' he mumbled. 'I'll explain... There were these two guys in the
pub and woosh! Woosh!'

Reinward threw two darts at the tree and they smacked into its bark at eye-level
right beside her.

'By the gods!' she exclaimed. 'You're the one that killed me!'
She then turned into an eagle and flew away up into the sky.

On the way back to town, Reinward complained;
'How did she know it was me? All I did was demonstrate what happened!'
'Yes,' sighed Veddic. 'It's a complete mystery.'

(G503 10/12/2022 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) WA104

 
(G503 10/12/2022 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) WA104

[Fenrir and Reinward have returned to Westgate, with the Crown of Baleforte. The Item of Prophecy. An item also crucial in their quest to wrest control of the city from the vampires.]

DAY 513 (29th Flamerule)(july)

Fenrir went into work today, back to his office in the main City Watch tower to see how things had been getting along while he'd been away.

He attempted to arrange an urgent meeting with the Croamarkh (the current ruler of  Westgate) but the messages returned were dismissive.

Next he sent a message to Werren Malavhan, the elven courtier regarding the ball invitation.

After a while he remembered that Merlock Tomes had given him the name of a local inn that he could find her in, way back when Reinward had first arrived in the city so he went off to find her after lunch.

The small traveller's inn (The Penny Cripple) was not far away and she was not hard  to find. In her room the conversation went something like this:

Fenrir: I have heard that you think I am the one that killed Katheera Urdo?
Tomes: Yes. I think that you did it under the preposterous alias of one 'Barry Shitknees'
Fenrir: What is your proof?
Tomes: Many things. I visited the house were you killed her, for instance. The killing was carried out by a warlock. Remember, I saw how you operated in Pedestal.
Fenrir: Well, assuming you are correct - I did it for the good of the city.
Tomes: I care not one jot for the fate of an overworld city. I only care about my reputation as a private detective - and my fee of course.

Fenrir could think of nothing else to say and left.

Back at home he sat and thought of what to do. Perhaps he could get her with a Painful Slumber of Ages spell? He talked to Gelly and Reinward about it, then sent Gelly to keep an eye on the Inn. Fenrir gave her one of his crystals so she could keep in touch.

He didn't know much about Jorkronas Urdo, only that he was a tough old soldier, seasoned from many battles and a complete bastard. The symbol of House Urdo was a Yellow Eye.

As he sat and schemed he got an urgent message from Gelly - Tomes had left the inn and was on her way to the docks! Fenrir and Reinward sprang into action.

They ran up Silverpiece Way (Fenrir was using his Hat of Disguise, Reinward his Chameleon Ring, disguised as 'Jim Bob') just as Gelly reported that Tomes was heading  towards an Urdo warehouse.

At this point Fenrir dug out a scroll of Baleful Polymorph and cast it on Tomes.

Tomes turned into a sloth, and although she had been wearing robes and leather armour, a suit of full plate armour clattered to the cobblestones. The nearby dockworkers and guards were greatly startled.

Fenrir ran up, stuffed the sloth into a Bag of Holding, turned invisible and flew off. One of the warehouse guards looked down at the breastplate of the armour. It had a yellow eye on it.

Reinward cast Deeper Darkness, and while everyone else fumbled around in the dark he gathered up the amour and three rings (a Tungsten Ring, an Emerald Ring and a Blue diamond ring) then ran around the corner and dispelled the Darkness.

Gelly stayed to watch for a while, then returned home.

Back at Fenrir's town house, the scene was most bizarre - as they interrogated the sloth.

They provided it with a pen and paper. It clumsily wrote: Fuck off!
Fenrir growled and slammed down the pen. 'Who are you?'
Merlock Tomes, wrote the sloth.
'Do you know my name?'
The sloth nodded.
'What are the initials of my alter ego?'
The sloth shrugged.
'When was the last time you met me?'
Two hours ago, wrote the sloth.

Fenrir sighed, found a basket, stuffed the sloth into it and cast Painful Slumber of Ages on the poor creature. He then gave it to Veddic.
'Could you do me a favour, old friend?' he asked. 'Take this to Spectre Island and get rid of it.'
'You know, if it dies, they (the baddies) can resurrect whoever that is?'
'Well, put it in the same place as Blackthorn then, well out of the way.'
Veddic sighed, took the basket and left.
'I owe you a pint!' called Fenrir after him.

At five o'clock Reinward went to visit the remains of the Temple of Ilmater.
Here were Sir Loric, Jane and a couple of low level clerics.
They were planning to rebuilt the temple, but as you would expect, raising funds was difficult for a religion that valued poverty.

They were ecstatic with religious joy to see Reinward wearing the Crown of Baleforte.
'Behold brethren!' cried one of the clerics. 'The Crown has been returned to us!'

Reinward asked about getting the first of the Crowns legacies unlocked, but  this would require a more powerful cleric than any available in Westgate.
'There is one in Arabel I think, gentle sir,' said the cleric. 'That's a city in Cormyr.'
'Fetch him here then,' demanded Reinward.
'I am so sorry, oh wise and noble Crownbearer, but it won't work that way.
It is a pilgrimage, that's the important bit. You must undertake the journey yourself - on foot ideally. Teleportation might work, but then it might not. Short cuts and half-measures are not the way of Ilmater oh blessed one. You will come to realise that in time.'

Reinward shrugged and went to get a few drinks before going home. I should imagine he was wondering what benefit he would get out of wearing a magical item that was dedicated to a God that was all about self-sacrifice.

Truly the Gods work in mysterious ways.


DAY 514 (30th Flamerule)(july)

Today Gelly told them:
'Might have a problem with this armour. It belongs to Jorkronas Kyletchi Urdo.
He's the head of House Urdo.'

Well he *was*, thought Fenrir to himself. He's a sloth in a barrel now.
He told Gelly to hide the armour in the house.

At work he got a message from the Croamarkh, hastily scrawled on a scrap of paper;
'Yes yes, lets meet, I have a gap in my schedule in two weeks. Lets meet then!'

Fenrir penned a reply;
'Important I meet with you sooner, regarding conspiracies.'

Perhaps hoping to pique Trant's curiosity.

At work he also learned that more and more bodies were being found on the streets each morning. It looked like the Nightmasks were clearing house, removing suspected traitors and informants.

Fenrir knew this was most likely because of his (and "Barry Shitknees") recent activity.

DAY 515 (Fest Lathander)(july)

Fest Lathander in Westgate is a time for drinking and making new business deals.

In the evening Fenrir, Reinward, Raz and Veddic went out to a Festival event. It the great and the good, hosted at one of the big halls in Westgate.

Fenrir was dressed in black fancy togs, Reinward used his Ring of the Chameleon to look well dressed and Raz did his best with what he had.

Initially Reinward hovered on the edges of crowds, earwigging on conversations.
He saw Lesa Ujum, the girl he had tried to rob at the last party he had attended and who had taken rather a shine to him.
He avoided her, but did hear this snippet:
'Oh dear! It turned out he was only after me for my massive inheritance! If only daddy hadn't got in with the Iron Crown and made all that money. Being so rich is such a curse!'

Reinward turned and walked away, perhaps thinking that tricking rich heiresses
out of their fortunes was not really his thing.

While that went on, an elven lady came to Fenrir and said hello. She requested a quite word and they went and talked in a corner.
It was Merlock Tomes, disguised as a high-elf.
'It appears you turned Kyletchi Urdo into a sloth,' she observed.
Fenrir said nothing.
'Well, it now means that I have no client to report back to regarding who the mysterious Barry Shitknees is. If you cover my expenses I can leave town. Shall  we say - 10,000 gold?'
Fenrir replied, 'Shall we dance?'
They danced and talked.
Fenrir agreed to pay her expenses and offered a further 10,000 gold if she could tell him the precise location of the Night King.
'Interesting,' she said. 'Very well, I'll see what I can do.'

Trystran Dauntinghorn came and talked to Reinward. You may remember this was (probably!) the alter ego of the Night King himself, the powerful vampire that ruled the Nightmasks and (so it was said) half of the city.
'I can see right through you,' said Dauntinghorn.
Reinward gulped. Under his disguise he was wearing the Crown and now he suddenly regretted it.
'You have something that belongs to me,' went on Dauntinghorn.
'Wots that?'
'The thing that's on your head!'
Reinward fumbled with his blindfold and prepared to defend himself, but Dauntinghorn only
said;
'You'd be better off giving it to me, I'll see you later!' before walking away.

Raz saw Thistle Thalavar (the lady he was supposed to marry if he wanted to be King of Westgate!) and went to talk to her, but as usual he blew it and had to be shuffled away by Fenrir.
'More work to be done here I think,' sighed the warlock.

Fenrir also spent a lot of his time spreading terrible lies about Dauntinghorn, hoping that they would find their way to Thistle's ears. I know from Waterdeep society though that  those that spread malicious gossip can sometimes find it rebounding on them.

Towards the end of the night Reinward saw a familiar figure, a big fat cat walked in on its hind legs. It was the demon known as Behemoth.
'Hello Mr B!' says Reinward.
'Give us a shot of the shinny thing on your head!' asked the demon.
'Back demon!' cried Reinward. 'Anyway, I'm not wearing it.'
'Quite right,' agreed Behemoth. 'You hold onto it me lad.'
'Should I give it, hic!... scuze me... To the Vampire King?' asked Reinward.
'No no!' cried the cat. 'No, you keep it, it suits you.'
'We are friends now? You know after last time...'
'All water under the bridge me lad!' declared the cat. 'And besides, we are just here
to play some jolly japes on the people at the party!'

Fenrir bumped into Azazello, the red-headed man with the single tusk and a wall eye (who was also a demon in disguise).
'Your lad got the crown,' congratulated the demon. 'Well done.'
'Can you help in any of this at all?'
'Sure, Fenrir, its always a good idea to make deals with demons. We are famously trustworthy.'
'Why don't you make yourself useful and go after Dauntinghorn?'
'What's in it for us?'
As this stage Fenrir lost his temper and gave a long speech about how Westgate was his 'patch' and that he had had enough of interfering demons.
'Gosh Fenrir, you're so boring!' sighed Azazello. 'Very well, if you want our help, then if you ever
do manage to take over Westgate then give us a seat at the table?'
'Ok well see!' growled Fenrir.
'Let's shake on it, like human men!'
Fenrir grudgingly shook the demon by the hand.

Later still, the demons put on their show. Behemoth, Fagotto, Azazello and Hella performed magic tricks that amused and delighted the (fairly drunk) crowd.
For the grande finale they offered to turn any gold coins given them into precious jewels and any dress given to them by the ladies into fantastical gowns of great value.

First one lady stepped up and into the magical wardrobe only to re-appear dressed in an amazing gown. Soon the ladies were queuing up to change, and the men were stepping up with gold coins to get their
stones.

Fenrir changed a platinum coin for an emerald, and when Werren went up to change her dress he did not stop her, although he knew fine well that Azazello and the others were far from your regular
type of stage magicians.

When it was time for home, as they stepped out into the night air, the women's dresses vanished and they were totally naked! Fenrir checked his pocket. The emerald was now just a pebble.

Werren screamed has he wonderful gown faded away. Fenrir gave her his jacket and Hat of Disguise so she looked decent again. He returned to the hall, but the demons had gone.

As he took Werren home in a carriage, she said;
'Take me home! What an awful trick to play on the nobles of Westgate! You are the Watch Commander. Get my dress back!'
Fenrir sighed and looked out the window.

(G502 03/12/2022 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) WA103

 

(G502 03/12/2022 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) WA103

[And now back into the Underdark with Fenrir and Reinward, who have entered the Lair of Queen Arachnia and defeated her. Now someone must retrieve the mysterious crown of the Prophecy.]

DAY 509(25th Flamerule)(july) cont ...

In the end it was a quick decision. It was left to Reinward to decide as he had done the most to get everyone here (with the aid of Fenrir of course, but he was not one of Ilmater's chosen) and he quickly made up his mind that he should be the one.

He stepped through the portal...
... and ten minutes later stepped back into the Queen's Chamber wearing the crown on his head.

I have since done a little research on the crown and this is what I know:

The Crown of Baleforte

The crown is a powerful artifact known as a 'Legacy Item' - that gains power the more tasks the wearer performs.

Vincento Baleforte was a Monk of Ilmater. He travelled the Dragoncoast and settled in  Westgate hundreds of years ago. He healed the sick and helped the poor, but wanted to  do more. He created the Crown to seek out and help those in need.

He is the patron saint of many guilds and noble houses within the city and his emblem  is seen carved into many buildings. The crown was thought to have been lost, so the (true)  bearer of the crown will be very well respected within the city and command considerable  influence.

Like all Legacy Items there are rituals that must be performed to unlock its power.
They are:

3 rituals related to Ilmater

1. The Blessing of Ilmater - Travel to shrine. Get cleric to cast Commune on you.

2. The Ritual of Learning - Study at Temple for some time.

3. The End of Pain Ritual - Rid the world of a Temple to Loviatar via non-violent means.


After taking all the other treasure they could find, they returned to the ruined castle of the Descendants of Addar.

DAY 510(26th Flamerule)(july)

Xama Niriwin applied Regeneration spells to Fenrir and Reinward. She did not approve of them throwing off the blessings of Ghaunadaur so quickly, but she  respected their wishes.

Fenrir's arm was restored, as were his good looks. The madness was lifted from both him and Reinward.

They spend the rest of the day recovering from their exertions.  Jane, Sir Loric and Pastry remained in their company and later Ishi Snaggletooth came to meet them.

'Congratulations!' exclaimed the friendly little kobold lady. 'You did well. But I do have to ask, do you feel this place is your responsibility now?'

The both shrugged.

''
Well, I'll be around for a while, but then I need to return to the surface. Now that the Queen has gone, the undead will rot away - so there is no reason for this place to remain evil! The Descendants of Addar want to regain control of the city - and perhaps they will - but remember that they are evil to the bone.
When the dark elves dominated this region of the Underdark they built a lot of cities and carved out a lot of roads, but they subjugated all the other races and spread their terror far and wide - even as far as the surface although it was many years ago. At least the Queen kept herself to herself and was content with sleeping most of the time. The Descendants dream of domination and a return to their former glory. It would be a shame if  they did that. Now is an opportunity for something else - a strong ruler could turn this place into something different, maybe even something good.
''

Fenrir and Reinward shrugged and nodded. They didn't want to disappoint Ishi, but they had no desire to come back down here ever again.

Later that day they left the city and met back with Veddic, Raz and their guide Soledad back at Bargold's shop.

They spent the night here. Bargold did not have an rooms, but he did let valued customers sleep in one of his empty store rooms.

DAY 511(27th Flamerule)(july)

Soledad successfully led them back through the Labyrinth, with nothing more than a few undead and skum to take care of.

They arrived back at the Six Ways Inn, but only stopped for a short rest before heading off again.

Soledad led them all the way back up to the surface. It was dark and the stars were out, they had no idea at all what time it was.

They flew back to Westgate via magic carpet and arrived home just  as the dawn light was breaking.


DAY 512(28th Flamerule)(july)

Random came to visit them in the morning and the first thing they  wanted to do was sell all their loot at his generous rate of 60% of 'book price'.

Fenrir looked at the Doomsday Clock for the first time in a while. It was still showing 12 minutes to midnight.

Most of the day was spent digging out loot from bags and laying them out on the dining room table. It all had the value of about 350 thousand gold.

Fenrir negotiated the magical improvement of his mithril shirt - his plan was to make it just about as powerful as it possibly could be.
'Oh, I've got plans for my gear, but it can wait,' declared Reinward with a dismissive wave.
Random nodded and got back to bartering with Fenrir.
'Oh well then,' said Reinward. 'I suppose I could do a few things...'

Many tiring hours later he had negotiated the following:

- a Handy Haversack
- a boost to his Gloves of Dexterity
- a boost to his cloak of resistance
- a vest of resistance
- Belt of Hidden Pouches
- multiple Daggers of Returning of varying power.
- magical Padded Leather Armour
- a boost to his Amulet of Natural Armour
- a Crystal of True Death, Greater
- a Crystal of Demolition

In order to buy this big list of gear he had to sell of some of his other stuff as the recent loot value did not cover it all!

Random told them all their gear would be ready in ten to twelve days. He could lend them some replacements for the time being.

It was evening by the time they were done. Gelly, the rogue in residence had poked her head in the door - drawn by the clink of gold coins.

She told them the latest:

- Sharkchum the pirate had been resurrected and was in Westgate looking for his killer
- several cards had been sent. The most interesting was from Fenrir's girl friend Werren Malavhan who was inviting them to a large festive ball in a few days.
- Merlock Tomes, the Underdark private detective, had worked out that Fenrir was Barry Shit-knees and that he had killed Jorkronas Urdo's daughter Katheera. She was likely to tell Urdo soon.
- City murder rate much higher than usual! Nightmask enemies are turning up dead. Fenrir should go and talk to Portia for more information regarding the Watch.

(G501 26/11/2022 via Roll20 - AP, JF(GM), KT, AD) HOM14

 
(G501 26/11/2022 via Roll20 - AP, JF(GM), KT, AD) HOM14

[The adventurers Griffolk Ethyn the Dragon-Shaman, Corhim Sparkledingle the Gnome Wizard and Fangorino the Barbarian are on a mission to follow Baroness Partick and have been onboard the galleon known as the Dementor for several weeks now.
Now they are holed up in the dining room being attacked by Vampires!]

DAY 39 (day 28 of the voyage) ....

As the mists under the table started to form into ancient vampires, Griff started throwing garlic everywhere. Redthorn strummed his lute and started to sing an inspiring ballad to give them strength against the evil attacking them.

A dusty old vampire male dressed in full plate armour was now in the room and the first thing he did was dominate Midshipman Alise who then went on a rampage. Griffolk threw more  garlic, making the old vampire recoil. Another vampire was in the room, an ancient old hag, but as the handfuls of garlic fell everywhere they could do nothing other than turn into bats and fly out of the window.

Mr Nice had been hit by a spell cast by Sparkledingle that had immobilised him, so Griff and Fang stabbed at the flesh golem until it stopped moving.

After that it seemed as if the attack was over. Alise was still dominated, but he was subdued easily enough and tied up. He was dumped next to Mullmaster.

With the excitement all over for now, Sparkledingle returned to his bedroll and gingerly shook out the spiky thing within. It was none other than Kenneth! His faithful ... spiked stick.
How in the name of the Gods had it been returned to him when he had seen it fall into the sea with his own eyes?

While he marvelled at this, Griff and Fan chopped Mr Nice up into manageable chunks and  chucked them out of the window.

At nine in the morning they tried to get the ship moving again. Fang told off the marines, telling them to buck up and help sail the ship. The Captain was already drunk though and of no use to anyone.
Even with the marines helping then they were short for hands and had no one with any real experience. Up on deck they looked at the pinnace. It was just about big enough to hold the 13 remaining crew and passengers, two of which were gnomes and could make do with half rations.

With everyone on deck - no one wanted to go into the shadowy parts of the ship - and enjoying the weak morning sunshine, they had time to plan.

Sparkledingle came up with the idea of chopping up the deck to expose the vampires to sunlight. There was a mist today, as there had been all the way since Candlekeep, but the sun was bright and warm. They decided to start loading the pinnace with provisions, just in case.

Cookie went down to the galley to gather food, but was scared away by vampires lurking in the shadows.

At ten o'clock the chopping began. Fang, infused with magical help from Sparkledingle started hacking away at the deck above the galley.

Sparkledingle tried to persuade the Captain to give up all his possessions - for the greater good he said - but I think everyone now realised how greedy the gnome was and the Captain was having none of it.

Fang continued to chop gleefully away and it did not take him long to strip back the top of the galley. He jumped down and started hacking into its floor. The galley was above the forward hold. He made the galley unstable and he had perhaps not realised that the stove brickwork was held upright by the wooden frames and one last massive chop made the whole lot crash down into the hold.

The Supercargo was hiding down here, and once he saw daylight he scampered off up out of the hold via the central access point. Fang, for no sensible reason I can think of, decided to simply keep chopping. Surely he realised that he would soon be through to the sea and effectively sinking the ship?

As he chopped Baroness Partick popped her head out of the door of the aft hold. Less than a minute later the ancient male vampire was in the shadows of the forward hold. He approached Fangornio and dominated him!

'Go up to your friends,' cackled the vampire. 'And apply that useful axe of yours to their necks!'

Fang could do nothing else but obey. He emerged from the hold and charged out onto the deck. Redthorn tried to use a spell to Daze him, but it didn't stick. Griff tried a Fear spell, but it had no effect either.

Sparkledingle cast Glitterdust. Daze and Fear were tried again. Fang just kept coming. Griff breathed fire, and that had some effect, but the barbarian still managed to slice one of the marines into two pieces.

Sparkledingle tried Charm Person. It failed. Redthorn tried Daze again. It failed again. Griff ran around to the other side of the hatch and goaded the powerful barbarian. Fang tried to leap the hatch, but slipped and fell all the way down to the hold - where the vampires were waiting.

What they were going to do with Fang they did not know, but they had  bought themselves a few seconds of reprieve.

(G500 19/11/2022 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) WA102

 (G500 19/11/2022 via Roll20 - JF(GM), KT, AP) WA102

[And now back into the Underdark with Fenrir and Reinward, who have entered the Lair of Queen Arachnia and have finally gather the three keys required to enter her Citadel.]

DAY 509(25th Flamerule)(july)

Fenrir and Reinward had lost track of what day it was down in the Underdark, but by my reckoning it was the morning of the 25th of Flamerule by the time they returned from Lord Amber's castle.

The Descendents of Addar were jubilant of their success - in there own understated way.  Xama Niriwin was so happy (again, in her own way - she wore a gold mask after all so it was not always easy to tell) that she wanted to take them to meet the Vicar of Ghaunadaur.

The vicar lived in the ruins under the Descendents castle, in a sinister crystal cave full of slimes. The vicar was a sort of blessed Black Pudding that had  gained intelligence and could take a rather blobby sort of human form.

He talked a sort of ancient Undercommon and offered to increase their strength against Queen Arachnia in exchange for completing his trails. Here they are again for the benefit of the reader:

""
In the trial of the Body you must sacrifice a limb, or an eye. The greater the sacrifice the larger the reward.

In the trial of the Mind you must lose yourself to madness.

In the trial of Pride you must suffer some great humiliation or injury to pride.
""

The Vicar went on to explain further:

The first boon will grant you immunity from any damage that Queen Arachnia does to you. The second boon will make you undetectable to her, and the third will give you a death touch ability that can be used only on her.

Fenrir decided to go for all three.

The first thing the Vicar did was shake Fenrir by the hand. Fenrir offered his left hand and the Vicar covered it in slime. It was painful, but Reinward was more horrified than the warlock to watch the limb slowly dissolve into nothing.

Next Fenrir drunk a special potion that drove him insane for a short while.  When he more or less came to his senses he found that he had a strong urge to steal everything around him - in short - he had developed Kleptomania.

He also was clicking and twitching a lot, but had no other detrimental effect down here in the Underdark.

Finally he agreed to have his nose chopped off. The Vicar splashed his face with some slimy acid and off came his nose and a good bit of his cheek flesh as well.

Reinward did not fancy any form of bodily mutilation so he decided to drink only the Potion of Madness. His brain clouded, he felt like he was living in a fog - but apart from that the only negative effect was that he could not always remember where all his things were. He had been afflicted with  Absent Mindedness - and had gotten off lightly!

'Right,' Fenrir said. 'Now that that is done, find me a cleric to cast Regeneration on us!'

'If you do this, then all the blessings will be lost,' explained Xama Niriwin.
'You must wait until the Queen is vanquished.'

'Fair enough,' replied Fenrir cheerfully, fingering his now ruined face.

After returning to the Descendents castle they received further aid, mainly  Healing Potions, from the Dark Elves, virtually everything they had they offered to them, so desperate were they to see the back of Queen Arachnia.

Fenrir and Reinward ate and rested for a while, then Niriwin took them to the entrance of Queen Arachnia's Citadel. The three keys fitted into the three locks at the main gates and the ancient stone portals swung open to admit them.

The Citadel was deathly quiet, seemingly unguarded, and choked full of dust and cobwebs. Eventually they reached the Inner Sanctum.

The door to the Sanctum could only be opened by magic, so they had to resort to Fenrir using a knock spell.

The large chamber's floor had a big green glowing circle in the middle of it. On the far wall was a large purple portal. The Queen knew that something or someone had entered her Sanctum but she could not see them until Reinward stepped forward and said,

"Hand over the crown! Or we... or face the... um..."

Whatever big speech Reinward had planned died on his lips as she threw a spell at him. Whatever it was did not harm him though as he was protected by the blessing of Ghaunadaur.

As Fenrir floated into the chamber Reinward acted as a human lure. She cast spell after spell at him. He crouched, ran, ducked for cover. The spells had no effect though, as the blessing held strong.

As Reinward ducked and dived, Fenrir got closer, until, with his one good hand he was able to sneak up on the Queen and give her a poke.
The Death Touch of Ghaunadaur worked instantly, and the Queen was destroyed.

'Felt too easy,' observed Fenrir as he began to seek out treasure. He had spoke a little too soon though as a large contingent of Vampires entered the chamber from the southern doors.

'Well done, my friends,' called out Lord Bloodworm as he entered. 'I...'

Bloodworm was the second person to have his speech cut short that day though as Fenrir started landing Walls of Fire all around them. This fight was more of a challenge for them, but not by much. The Vampires turned into bats and started flying up and over the firewalls, but were then picked off by Eldritch Blasts. Reinward was even able to stab a couple of them. One by one they 'poofed' into Gaseous Forms and drifted down into the cracks in the floor.

'Hopefully they are all miles away from their coffins and will actually die,' mused Fenrir. He wasn't accounting for how cautious immortal undead can be though.
I should imagine they had a contingency plan considering that Fenrir had defeated them twice already.

As they continued the looting of the chamber their last and final visitors arrived. It was Sir Lorric, Jane and 'Pastry' the man that had been a prisoner of the vampires.

After greeting them, Sir Loric explained:

'Reinward, Jane, Pastry. All three of you bear the Stigmata of Ilmater. Any one of you  can enter that portal and claim the crown. Now I don't know what's though there, but I do know that it is not a decision to make lightly. The crown is very powerful, but it will not rest lightly on the wearers head.'

Reinward gulped.

'So who will it be?' asked Sir Lorric.

(G499 12/11/2022 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF, KT) LR57

 

(G499 12/11/2022 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF, KT) LR57

[Myself and Dak have captured the pirate ship 'The Black Mirror' and are getting a crew for it in Daggerford.]

DAY 573 (27th  Eleint) (September) cont ...

I will hear relate the crew that we have put together from Waterdeep and Daggerford:

From Waterdeep:

1. Jhaartael - Tajuru Nation Elf(Male), Sailor/ Merc    > - Age 375 (charming??) (captain)
2. Earth Genasi(Male), Sailor/ Merc - Age 65
3. Branson - Human(female), Sailor/ Merc - Age 35

From Daggerford:

1. Wedgwood - Rock Gnome(Female), Sailor/ Merc - Age 127
2. Stansfield - Half-Orc(Male), Sailor/ Merc - Age 246 (first mate)
3. Kelsey - Moon/Sun Half-Elf(Male), Sailor/ Merc - Age 45
4. Daratrine - Mul Daya Nation Elf(Female), Sailor/ Merc - Age 277
5. Abram - Dragonborn(Male), Sailor/ Merc - Age 103
6. Richmond - Fallen Aasimar(Male), Sailor/ Merc - Age 21 (steward)

As you can see, quite a varied collection! Jhaartael seems an ancient and noble fellow. He has sailed the seas of Faerune for hundreds of years. Or so he says.

I will take on the jobs of cook, surgeon and carpenter.

We've paid them all up front for a month.

The ship was already well provisioned - by the pirates when they were in Waterdeep. Because the ship had been burnt I renamed her The Ember. No one else had any other better (or sensible) suggestions.


DAY 574 (28th  Eleint) (September)

With the refitting of 'The Ember' arranged (500gp for it to be done as quickly as possible) and the crew found we had nothing else to do but wait.

We found a decent inn not far away called 'The Hidden Mimic Tavern' which was run by a retired adventurer. There was a sign behind the bar that read 'Ask  me about Bill'.
Dak asked about Bill.

The landlord explained that there was a 'tame' mimic hiding somewhere in the tavern and if you could find it you would get a free order of spicy potatoes.

I searched the latrines and poked at the sign, but it was Dak that found it when he sat down on the stool by the piano. So it was him that got the  tatties in the end!

We also learned there was a Gauntlet organised for tomorrow.

All the wenches in the tavern were dreadful slappers so I stayed clear of them. Dak took one of them to his room though.

(Note added later: He got a dose of the clap off her.)


DAY 575 (29th  Eleint) (September)

Myself and Dak entered the Daggerford Gauntlet today. There was a cash prize and a trophy to be won. It was 5 gold to enter.

It was a large wooden obstacle course that had been constructed in a field outside of town. It looked tricky and that strength and agility would both be needed.

We were put in with a group of 10 competitors. I was first! I entered under my alias of "Captain Haddock Fishfingers".

I was rubbish and fell at the first obstacle - a series of jumps from alternating angled wooden panels - and fell into the piles of pig manure and straw below.
I cleaned myself off and went to get a hot dog.

The local hero - who had been training all year - made it to the end of the course, the only one out of the next eight to do so.

Dak was last and he made it quite far - past the wobble panels, the rope swings and finally to the nobly cylinder. He slipped and fell, then held onto the cylinder for a full minute before his strength gave out and he also landed in the poop.
The local hero claimed the prize.

There were other festivities around the place so we entered a 'guess the weight of the vegetables competition' (we won some carrots and a pumpkin) and also a test your strength machine.

I did ok, but Dak went into a full barbarian rage. Combined with a charge and a leap attack he hit it so hard he cracked the shaft of the hammer and dented the bell!
'Aye very good sunshine,' said the man at the stall as he handed over Dak's prize - a dolly stuffed with straw.

I managed to win 4 gold at Find the Lady and gave it to a beggar a little later. Dak tried the coconut shy and got 2 out of 3 hairy nuts.

There were Highharvestide decorations up when we got back to the tavern. We handed over the carrots and pumpkin for the innkeeper to make soup out of.

There was a bard in tonight and I got reasonably drunk. Some of our new crew were in and I bought them a few rounds of drinks.


DAY 576 (30th  Eleint) (September)

I'm writing this first thing in the morning before I forget:

I had a nasty dream about a battle, or at least I was being attacked at all sides. It was a harrowing experience and I woke up in a cold sweat with my heart pumping. I don't usually set much store in nightmares
- the God's know I get enough of them - but this one was unusually vivid.

~

Anyway. Today we entered a pie eating contest and much to my surprise I  won! I even beat Dak! Still - this apparent ability I have may explain  why I did so poorly at the Gauntlet yesterday.

There was a spicy food challenge in the pub in the evening. Where you had to eat the hot pigs feat and balance the bones. I can't even remember who won in the end as the most interesting bit of it was when Dak challenged me to an arm wrestle. The innkeeper sent us outside to do it, suspecting we might damage the furniture.

A barrel was set up and Dak flew into a barbarian rage. I stood no chance against him like that so I turned into a Dire Ape. Quickly a crowd formed as people came out from the tavern to watch the spectacle.

Dak was stronger, but my long ape arms gave me better leverage and I  eventually won the contest. I did an ape dance to celebrate.

The rest of the evening is a bit of a blur as I drank a lot of ale and strong spirits after that.

DAY 577 (Highharvestide)

The ship was ready to go, but we decided to spend another day in Daggerford to enjoy the feasting. I let the crew have fun too.

DAY 578 (1st Marpenoth) (October)

Today we set sail. South for the Shining Sea.