Oyasuminasai, father. I hope this finds you and mother well.
Thia Liadon
1 Mirtul 1492DR - First Day in Waterdeep
My first day in Waterdeep began by waiting in a long line to enter the city’s South Gate. Upon reaching the gate and paying the toll, I was given a copy of the city’s Code Legal. Apparently, Lords and Magisters have the authority to determine guilt and assign sentences. Obviously I won’t be breaking any laws, but I will be sure to avoid the appearance of breaking laws, as well. I don’t want to be judged and sentenced on the spot for something I didn’t do. Thankfully the man at the gate informed me that using magic in the city is illegal unless you are registered. He directed me to the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors guild, and I swiftly headed there to register.
After registering, I asked where I might find Volothamp Geddarm. My father sent me here to acquire a copy of Volo’s new tome, after all. I learned that Volo is at the Yawning Portal Inn every evening, so I asked for directions and made my way there. I was told that the Yawning Portal was named for a large hole, resembling a well, in the floor that leads to the Undermountain. All sorts of adventurers gather at this inn. I’m bound to hear great tales if I spend time here. The establishment is run by ex-adventurer Durnan. He seems like decent guy, and good judge of character and skill. He came over to me and said that I wasn’t going down the well. Ouch. Well, I suppose I have no serious adventuring experience, so it’s for the best. I just wish my lack of skill wasn’t so obvious.
While waiting for Volo, four thugs--one with a tattooed eye on the side of his head--entered and picked a fight with an orc. I wonder if this is a typical occurrence. A half-elf--who I would later learn to be Quinn Alimer, Cleric of Tempus--jumped in to help her. After the thugs were defeated and left, a troll climbed out of the well! Three giant mosquitoes (called stirges, according to my later research) were attached to the troll and started flying after patrons. People were running and screaming. I tried to help, but my aim was off. I need more practice with my fire bolt spell. Training at home with targets is one thing, but actually facing a frightening monster and putting that training into practice is a challenge. An Aasimar sorcerer, Davian Targana, killed off all three stirges easily with magic missile. I should have thought of that. A samurai named Yasuo Shimazu, and the cleric from the earlier, Quinn, fought off the troll until Durnan could kill it and toss it back into the pit.
Right after the fight, Volo Geddarm introduced himself and asked us to find his nephew, Floon Blagmar. Volo described Floon as a handsome, harmless buffoon, and said he might have been kidnapped. He said that violence in the city has increased, with more fighting between the factions. To encourage us to accept this quest to find Floon, he gave us each 10gp upfront and promised us each another 100gp when we find him. Hopefully we find Floon, but I doubt we will see the 100gp even if we do. Volo’s purse seemed a little empty. Before he departed, I explained that I had been sent to Waterdeep to acquire his new tome. At this, he signed a copy of his previous book, Volo's Guide to Monsters, and gave it to me. (While also taking back 5gp as payment.) He said to come see him later about his new book, Volo's Guide to Spirits and Specters, which he hasn’t finished yet. Drat. My quest was almost completed. But while I wait for his new book, I get to go on my very own adventure, like in my mother’s stories!
Side note: While at the Yawning Portal, a woman gave Quinn a snake coin. I'm unsure of what it means at this time.
The four of us--Yasuo Shimazu, Quinn Alimer, Davian Targana, and myself--agreed to meet back at the Yawning Portal the next morning to look for Floon. Volo had said that Floon was last seen at the Skewered Dragon two nights ago, so that’s where we will go. I made my way to the Font of Knowledge, also known as Oghma’s temple and the Great Library, to stay the night. But how could I rest while surrounded by so many books? I didn’t, at least not right away. I spent hours exploring the library and reading the book that Volo gave me before finally calming my mind to meditate.
2 Mirtul 1492DR - Finding Floon
Bright and early, our adventuring party met at the Yawning Portal and departed for the Dock Ward. At the Dock Ward, we encountered a crime scene with six dead bodies. I wonder if that's normal. Maybe it's part of that escalating violence that Volo mentioned.
We passed by the Old Xoblob Shop, a curiosity shop with a stuffed beholder in the window. That dew our attention so we stopped in for a look. Everything in the shop was purple. Everything. Quinn bought a purple key, though the proprietor didn't know what lock it belonged to. The eccentric proprietor kept asking if we wanted to try smoking a pipe, saying it would expand our minds. The room was filling with fumes, so we stepped back outside. I suppose we can head back there if we want to buy purple trinkets.
Around the corner from the Old Xoblob Shop was the Skewered Dragon. Quinn played cards (badly) with some locals. Probably a clever adventuring tactic to win them over. It worked! They provided some additional information related to Floon. Years ago, Dagult Neverember was the Open Lord of Waterdeep. He went off to rebuild the city of Neverwinter, and while he was gone, he was ousted from Waterdeep. Neverember’s son, Renaer, was here at the Skewered Dragon with Floon the other night. They were followed out by four men from the snake-tattoo faction (that we later discover is the Zhentarim). These members hang out at a warehouse on Candle Lane. The warehouse is marked with a snake symbol. Fun fact: Candle Lane is a dark street, but is continually lit by one flame that cannot be extinguished. Hence the name.
We found the warehouse marked with a snake symbol. After waiting for people to show up and knocking on the door with no reply, Quinn tried the key he just bought from the Old Xoblob Shop. I kid you not, it opened the door. Inside the warehouse were twelve dead bodies. The smell of death was horrible. Four hooded bird folk, known as kenku, appeared from behind crates and attacked us. A fight ensued and all but one kenku were killed. My fire bolt actually hit this time! Though, I’m not sure if fighting was necessary. Could we have talked it out, instead? Yasuo guarded the surviving kenku while Davian and I searched the warehouse. We found Floon’s friend, Renaer. He explained what happened, but I didn’t quite catch all of the details. He said a lot of “Z” and “X” words, and it was confusing to me. It’s frustrating to be missing pieces of information. I think he said that Floon was taken by five Zhentarim thugs who were heading north on Asper Street. I think there was some mistaken identity; that they thought Floon was Renaer. Zhentarim are the ones with the snake tattoos. So that means that the twelve dead men in the warehouse are Zhentarim. They were looking for the Stone of Galorr and thought that Floon had the stone. But the stone is actually in the hands of the Xanathar Guild. I might have misheard that part. I’ll need to ask Renaer about that. Anyway, the twelve Zhentarim were killed by the kenku, who were talking about a “stash.” Renaer said that the kenku are with Xanathar. I don’t know what all of this means. But since they were talking about a “stash,” Davian and I kept searching the warehouse. Upstairs, we found a blank, magic piece of paper and a rope attached to a bell at the north wall. We heard the city guards coming and didn’t have time to investigate further. (We would return here after freeing Floon.) I took the piece of paper and grabbed a shortbow and quiver of arrows from among the dead. The kenku was parroting, “follow the yellow signs in the sewers” regarding where Floon was taken. So we headed to the nearby manhole rather than wait for Sergeant Staget of the city watch, and the guards to arrive. Who knows? Maybe they would have thrown us in jail or worse! I question the justice system here. Best to avoid getting entangled with the law.
Sewers are disgusting. The smell was horrendous. Let us never do that again. We navigated the labyrinth of sewer tunnels by following yellow chalk signs on the walls. The signs were a circle with ten spokes. Some spokes were smudged, like they were being used for navigation. All the while in the sewers, Yasuo was pushing our captive kenku along. The pitiful thing kept repeating, “run away home little boy, run away” or something like that. It clearly wanted us to let it go, and that clearly wasn’t happening. We encountered a grapefruit-sized sphere with four eyestalks guarding a ladder. The creature, a gazer, was kind of cute. In a commanding voice, Quinn told the tiny gazer that we were here to see Krentz. It stepped (floated) aside. Rather than heading up the ladder, we continued forward following the yellow chalk symbols. We came to an open chamber and heard snoring. Quinn and I snuck forward to check out the area. There were two sleeping goblin guards behind arrow slits in the wall. We each took a wall and attacked in unison. My ice knife spell worked! I missed the arrow slit, but the explosion killed the goblin. I struggle with the idea of killing a sleeping foe. I don’t know if that was the right thing to do. Quinn’s gobblin woke up, though, and shouted an alarm. I rushed over and killed it with a fire bolt. No other goblins showed up. There was a door in the center of this sewer chamber, so we entered it, assuming that this is where the yellow markings were leading.
The door took us out of the sewers, but still in an underground area. We came across a room and could hear people on the other side saying something about stuffing cloth under the door. Yasuo barged through the door to find that same Zhentarim, Krentz, who had fought Quinn and the orc at the Yawning Portal. There was also a dwarf, Zemk the Duergar. They were at the door on the other side of the room. Of course a battle ensued. Even though Zemk grew in size for the battle, we managed to defeat them with difficulty. I rushed over to the door and finished stuffing cloth under it. I could hear a hiss or something on the other side. I don’t know what they were trying to keep out, but we probably didn’t want it in the room, either.
In the next room we found Floon being pinned down by a half-orc wizard and a mind flayer with his pet (that I later discovered to be an intellect devourer...I think), looking on. I sent a fire bolt at the mind flayer, but that did absolutely nothing. He whispered something to the small brain with legs, and it came scurrying towards us. Meanwhile, the mind flayer walked out of the room, conversing with someone through an orb he was holding. All I could see in the orb was was a giant eye. We defeated the pet brain and the orc, freeing Floon. Floon is definitely a buffoon. He ignored the fact that the guys did all of the work defeating the orc, with me making little or no contribution, and instead was tripping over himself saying how he’s forever in my debt and so forth. Anyway, the defeated wizard had a spellbook which I excitedly took. I look forward to learning these new spells!
We exited the large room through a hatch in the ceiling. It led to a cellar in a family’s home (on Fishgut Alley, in the Dock Ward). They were alarmed and frightened to see us walk into their kitchen, but glad that we weren’t there to do them harm. We told them about the entrance and they were glad to hear of it so they could seal it up. They introduced themselves as the Peabodya. I think they are our new allies!
Quinn Alimer
Day 1
The day began without much fanfare. My fellow hammers and I
woke early, conducted our morning prayers, ate breakfast and went about our
duties for the day. While routine and at times monotonous, my tasks contribute
to the greater good towards the temple. I thank Lord Lanset for that fateful
night where he set me on this path and I thank Tempus. During afternoon
cleaning, a scroll was delivered to me. My superior, Stalwart Freddert was put
into a foul mood in discovering the scroll instructed me to meet Volothamp
Geddarm at the Yawning Portal at the chime of eight bells. I couldn’t spare
much thought as to his reaction to this news given the occupation of why anyone
would make a request of me. However, I would not think to second guess
Rauthat
Triston as his wisdom and experience as a swordmaster far exceeds my own.
I set out for the Yawning Portal, allowing enough time to
navigate the busy streets. The nightlife at The Portal was in full swing when I
entered. Immediately among the throngs of people my attention went to the arm
wrestling going on next to the open portal to the Undermountain. There, Yagra
Stonefist yelled over for me. I joined her and asked of her recent adventures
and conquests. Before we could get into it, four members of the Xanathar gang
filled the doorway, calling Yagra out to fight. Yagra stood tall and met the
challenge head on. Tempus hates a coward and running from a fight where a
friend is in need. Four on one hardly seemed fair so I joined the frey. Tempus
also hates a fool. Growing up in Waterdeep, four new corpses would not be
welcome regardless of status without a very good reason. A bar fight would not
be sufficient reason so I kept my blows non-lethal. The four Xanathar thugs got
the better of Yagra quickly and the flow was going to turn quickly unless I did
something. With their attention diverted, I was able to deliver a knockout blow
to one of the thugs while performing a battle heal on Yagra. Tempus was
watching over me, guiding my hand and I felt empowered. The others noted my
contribution to the fight and shifted to me. The next minute provided a quick
exchange of misses on their part and solid hits on my part. The remaining thug
retreated from The Portal with the usual threats bullies like to make.
I helped Yagra up and saw to her wounds, admonishing her for
having such a quick temper. The evening’s excitement had just begun however. A
shrill shriek was emitted from the hole on the main floor followed by the
entrance of blood bats and a troll. The City Watch wouldn’t mind this corpse
and might even wonder if one didn’t contribute to ending this threat. I
launched myself into the path of the troll. Durnan the bartender jumped into the
fight as did three others although I’d be slow to call it assistance. Durnan
kept fumbling with his sword and one of the magic-users set the upper floor on
fire after missing the troll. A foreign sword fighter stepped up, trying to
land blows with his swords but to no avail. I struck the beast with my rapier
and caught a quick series of flying magic arrows tracking down the bats out of
the corner of my eye. That is where everything went dark for me as the last
thing I recall is a huge clawed hand raking down the front of me.
I came to on the floor in the spot I fell. There was an
aftertaste in my mouth that tasted of a healing potion. I’ve not had the need
for one personally but was happy it was there. Falling to a troll was no way to
leave this life to go meet Tempus. As I was helped to my feet by my allies in
the fight, a clapping came from the doorway. A strangely dressed gentleman with
a long, curled mustache was looking in. He quickly came over and introduced
himself as Volothamp Geddarm.
We put a table back on its legs and grabbed chairs to sit
around it. Yagra thanked me for jumping in and having her back. She gave me a
coin with a snake on it and said if I was ever in need of her services, present
the coin and she would return the favor. I thanked her and saw her out the
door.
After rejoining the others, it was at this point I learned
my scroll was not the only one. Each of the other three had also received an
invitation for this meeting. Volothamp Geddarm jumped right in before any of us
could get a word in. He explained he was looking for his nephew Floon Blagmar.
After a visit to Floon’s domicile, Volothamp discovered he hadn’t been there
for at least two days and was worried. Volothamp described Floon as a handsome
man but not all that bright. A shady place called The Skewered Dragon was the
last location he knew where Floon was seen. I knew of the place in the Dock
Ward. Not a great place to be lost. Volothamp provided each of us with a down
payment and offered ten times that upon the return of his nephew. Seeing as
Rauthat Triston had put my name forward, I couldn’t disappoint him and
Volothamp was clearly in need of help. I accepted the offer as did the other
three.
After saying “yes” to Volothamp, the four of us who were
invited got acquainted. I seemed to be the only one living in Waterdeep. The
others came from far away lands and for various reasons. The human samurai was
seeking to test himself and ultimately prove himself worthy of the honor of his
people. The elven magic-user was quite interested in Volothamp and knowledge in
general. There is certainly plenty to learn in the vast libraries of Waterdeep.
The aasimar magic-user was an odd one, even for this city. He did shoot down
all the bats in one go making him my kind of odd.
We retired for the evening where I returned to the temple.
Stalwart Freddert met me upon my return and had a list of chores to be
completed. I informed him of the night’s events and how my services had been
requested and authorized. This fact didn’t sit well but there was nothing he
could do. It was a late night for me completing the list but ultimately the
deeds were done. I retired for the night.
Day 2
The next morning, after first light’s prayers I returned to
the Yawning Portal. The other three from last night had returned and all were
on time. I do appreciate punctuality. Seeing as I was the only Waterdeep
citizen, I took the lead guiding us to The Skewered Dragon. We passed by a City
Watch investigation which appeared to be the aftermath of a deadly altercation between
rival gangs. The Watch wasn’t allowing for anyone to get too close. We altered
our path and steered clear of it and moved on.
As we approached our destination, a peculiar shop stood out.
The Old Xoblob Shop was one I had heard about and decided to pop on in.
Immediately upon entrance to the shop, we were met by a purple cloud and an
exotic, strange odor. The bald gnome shopkeeper welcomed us in as he sat and
partook in his pipe, which was the origin of the strange, malodorous, purple
cloud. My curiosity got the better of me as three items caught my attention. A
strange key, a pipe and an old soldier’s insignia. The history of the insignia
made my curious mind wander. I paid for the three items and stepped out before
my head filled with the purple cloud. My companions followed.
We entered The Skewered Dragon to find the guests in various
states of inebriation from the prior night. I spied a group of gamblers in the
corner and decided to get in on a game. With any luck, I might be able to glean
some information from them. I took the first hand but lost the second. My
instincts told me they might be cheating but winning this game was not my
purpose. I seized the opportunity to ask about Floon. The gamblers seemed quite
talkative after their recent win. They told us of two finely dressed, drunk
buffoons who had been there two nights ago. They stumbled out after an evening
of drinking but were followed by four men with snake tattoos. With a bit of
further probing, they said the second man was the son of Dagult Neverember, the
previous Open Lord of Waterdeep.
That was an interesting fact and offered up a motive for
their disappearance. The gamblers made mention of the similarity between the
two. I thanked them for the game and joined my companions. We made way to
Candle Lane, the street given by the gamblers. The street was eerily quiet and
dark, save for one ever-light lantern. Making our way down the street, a gated
warehouse came into view. It bore the snake mark. This seemed a good place to
investigate.
The warehouse was devoid of any windows or indication of
what might be going on inside. We approached a door and knocked. No answer. We
went to the side of the warehouse and knocked on a second door. Nothing again.
Not to by stymied, I tried the door only to find it locked. Figuring the need
for answers outweighed the need for strict adherence to the law, I attempted to
pick the lock. Unfortunately, something about the lock defeated my efforts.
Thinking back to the shop, I gave my newly purchased key a try. Lo and behold
the key opened it. Yasuo the Samurai opened the door and before anything else
could occur, we were ambushed.
Four dark-cloaked figures with bows opened fire from behind
some crates. I was a bit quicker than them and was able to scoot behind cover
after shooting a Tempus guided bolt at the creature on the left flank. It struck the creature but didn’t put it down.
Figuring a corpse couldn’t provide any answers, I elected to try to keep one of
them alive. I ran out in the midst of the fighting, closing the distance with
the one I had hit. I cold-cocked the creature, laying it out. Yasuo was quite
impressive in the skirmish. He took several hits which I’ve seen bring down the
heartiest of fighters. After a deep breath, a second wind came to him and he
charged forth once again. The fight came to a quick conclusion and my
companions began searching the warehouse.
There were twelve bodies that had been jumped and killed
here. I was about to question the creature I had kept alive when the pair of
magic-users announced they had found a prisoner. A thin, definitely eccentric
man came bouncing out from a closet under the stairs. We untied him. He thanked
us deeply, informing us that he was Renaer Neverember. He and Floon had indeed
been drinking at The Skewered Dragon. They left and were jumped by several
thugs. The thugs drug them to the warehouse. After restraining the pair, the
thugs resumed their activities in the warehouse after placing Renaer into the
closet. Then, all of a sudden, the sounds of a fight broke out. After all the
screaming and sounds of metal on metal died down, Ranaer heard several muffled
voices.
I then turned to our captive. The creature was identified as
a kenku; a strange intelligent bird-like creature that had no voice of its own
but could imitate other sounds. We learned that they had ambushed the 12 in the
warehouse and taken Floon, thinking Floon was Ranaer. They took him through the
sewers using yellow chalk symbols as a navigation aid. “Follow the yellow signs
in the sewers,” echoed the kenku.
The pair of magic-users, Thia and Davian, went through the
warehouse looking for anything that might be of interest. They found a magic
bit of parchment and nothing else of interest. I decided to check where the
nearest sewer entrance was located by looking around outside. I spied the City
Watch making their way towards us at a quick pace. Sticking around in a
warehouse filled with corpses most likely wasn’t going to go well for us and at
best, would result in us being detained for the day. Time was not on our side.
I called for my companions to come along. Yasuo took the kenku by the scruff of
the neck and exited the warehouse. I glanced over to Ranaer and asked if he
would like to join our band. To his credit, he picked up a sword and a bow and
came along. I could feel the approving smile of Tempus.
We quickly descended into the sewer system and not a moment
too late. The City Watch surrounded the warehouse as we dropped the sewer lid
back into place. The first chalk symbol appeared to us. We made our way through
this labyrinth putting our faith in the marks being accurate. The kenku kept
squeaking about wanting to run home. We needed him in case additional answers
were needed. Our band stopped short upon entering one of the larger junctions.
A gazer was floating in the area and was annoyed at our appearance. I decided
to see if we could bluff our way past. I took up a harsh tone with it stating
we were on our way to see Krentz, the leader of the ambush party. A long second
passed and the gazer backed off. We quickly went into the next tunnel with the
yellow mark and continued on our path.
An interesting intersection came into view. We slowed our
pace and crept forward. There was the sound of snoring coming from ahead of our
position. Thia and I, being more stealthy approached the sounds. There were a
pair of arrow slit windows. Thia took one and I the other. Upon my approach, I
stepped on a rat and let out a quick, involuntary yelp. It was enough of a
noise to rouse one of the guards. Thia and I both leaped to action, casting our
magics. Thia’s spell erupted just on the other side of the slit, shredding the
guard. My spell did not have nearly the effect I had hoped. Cursing my
inattention and carelessness at my attack, I ducked the guard’s counterattack.
Thia came over and cast her own bolt taking down the guard but not before it
shouted out an alarm. I quickly called upon my skill in thamaturgy to shout out
in the guard’s tongue “We got them!” After a long moment pausing, nothing else
happened. We were in the clear thus far.
There was a small door near the slits. We entered and found
ourselves on the other side. The guards were goblins. I’m happy to relieve the
world of these vermin. Nothing good has come of them. We navigated our way
through the hideout and came to another door. There were two voices coming from
behind it. They seemed to be pre-occupied, arguing with one another. Taking
this as a good sign, Yasuo kicked in the door and we charged in. The thug who
had picked a fight with Yagra last night was here with a dwarf from The
Undermountain. They were piling up furniture to barricade the opposite door. We
sprung into action to take them down.
I dug deep inside and cast one of my more destructive spells
at the brute who knocked down Yagra. Tempus heard my prayers and granted me a glorious
hit, taking down the thug in a single blow. His companion wasn’t going to let
that action go unanswered. He uttered a spell of his own, causing him to double
in size. He came after me and while my offensive skills were sufficient, my
defensive skills need work. The giant-sized dwarf took me out of the fight.
I came to with the now familiar after taste of a healing
potion in my mouth. Don’t get me wrong. I am happy to still be drawing breath
and be in service to Tempus. I’d like to be more effective in a fight however.
I’ll continue to practice and hone my skills. As my head cleared and the world
came into focus once again, my companions were eyeing the barricaded door. They
reached a quick conclusion that whatever was on the other side should indeed
stay on the other side.
We brushed ourselves off and continued our way through the
hideout. After a few more turns we entered a large room. Roughly 50 feet inside
the room we took note of an orc mage torturing what we presumed was Floon
Blagmar. This was quickly confirmed when Ranaer shouted out his name in excitement.
Our eyes were then drawn to the end of the room where a humanoid creature with
a tentacled maw sat. It was petting a smaller creature that resembled a brain
with legs and antennae.
Saving Floon was my first priority. I sprung into action
advancing quickly into the room. I cast sacred flame on the orc, bringing the
holy light of Tempus upon our foe. The orc winced but was not brought down. My
companions became fixated on the creatures at the far end of the room which was
completely understandable seeing the grotesqueness of them. The humanoid with
the tentacles around its maw moved with purpose. My companions noted it siccing
its brain pet upon us before leaving the room through some mystic portal. I’m
thankful they dispatched the thing before it got close enough to engage. With
our combined efforts, we brought down the orc mage with Ranaer delivering the
finishing blow.
After tending to Floon and binding our wounds, we set upon
exploring the room. Thankfully the evils within had been dispatched and fled.
We had won the day. A hatch was discovered, which we elected to take. Thia was
rather motivated as she did not care for the sewers in the least. I cannot say
I blame her. With a few twists and turns we emerged in the kitchen of a
halfling family. They were alarmed at our appearance. We managed to bring calm
to the situation. Floon, being half starved helped himself to their food. The
rest of us did what we could to seal the secret entrance to the hideout. We
then set out to the Yawning Portal to deliver Floon back to Volothamp, feeling
good about our victory.
