26. You know you're never coming back
Session Summary
Dragon Heist
A Tail of Two Fishies
Take a little walk to the edge of town…
Summary
Coming around the north side of the fortress of Skull Island, the party gets their first glimpse of Murkspan bridge towering over the surface of the water, connecting the island to the city of Skullport itself. A shade of its former glory, it still stretches upwards into the stalactites near the back of the cavern. After exiting the rowboat at a dock, they climbed up into the city.
They were presented with a busy marketplace - people bustling everywhere. Merchants barking out prices and haggling over wares. Veldrin was back in his “home away from home”, so he stood happily taking in the sights. Aradaine, Footsteps, and Grick all noticed that the main product of this marketplace appeared to be - people!
While they stood agog staring out at the market of flesh unfolding before them, Hamidal’s attention was drawn to a nearby merchant’s storefront. Hanging from the eaves of the buildings, each with its neck in a noose, were zombies, writhing and moaning where they hung from the rafters. He moved towards the shop, drawn by curiosity - and hoping to find a suitable replacement for his recently lost Merle.
That’s when Mhaug, a rather large hag covered in shells and seaweed sidled up to him. He first noticed her by her smell, as it reminded him of the sea hags they’d just fought off on their way here. She seemed to notice his smell as well, taking a nice big whiff of him before offering him one of her fine crooked necked zombies. At first Hamidal was enthused by the offer, but then came to realize that since he had not animated these creatures himself, he would have little control over its behavior. He asked if she, perhaps, had some freshly deceased bodies that he might work his magic upon, but she insisted she had only zombies, fine specimens really.
Seeing that her haggling wasn’t working, she offered to forego the 50gp for a zombie in favor of just a small amount of Hamidal’s blood. But he insisted that he needed a ‘body’, and so she waved him on to the market and told him there were plenty of ‘bodies’ to be found there. Not realizing she meant the slaves before him, Hamidal happily headed into the crowd with the rest of the party.
They followed Shava to The Burning Troll, a multistory tavern and inn around the corner from the slave market. It was as they were getting themselves settled that they noticed that they had lost Grick somewhere when they were shuffling through the crowd! They looked around a bit, but figured he would turn himself up eventually. Perhaps he was out there somewhere handing out flyers for his CRIPS organization. What better place to start a crimefighting organization but in a place without any city guards! The party hoped he was ok, but were used to him wandering off now and again.
Over drinks, Shava told the party that they were to go after the Gargoyle Gang. She insisted that that didn’t mean they had to wantonly slaughter all of them, but just that they needed to be ‘out of the way’ for this upcoming mission, however the party saw fit to indispose them. She said they were untrustworthy criminals with a violent past, and that while she didn’t want to hear any details, she would turn a blind eye to any violence that was required to get them out of the way - though she didn’t feel that was the best route to resolving this. She told them that time was more important now than any clever or peaceful plan.
She then detailed the gang members and what she knew of them. Pog was a rock gnome who worked as the brains of the operation. Last she had heard, he had holed himself up in the very establishment they were in - The Burning Troll. She didn’t know if he was still there, but he’d locked himself in his room awaiting their next mission, and so it was very possible he was still there.
Sloth was a bugbear, equal parts lazy and greedy. He was known to spend most of his nights gambling in a den somewhere in the Lower Heart section of the city. He was definitely not the brains of the operation, but often acted as the front man due to his intimidating size. In reality he was nothing more than a two-bit thief.
Saphara was a dragonborn who acted as muscle for the group. She was a tough fighter, and even though she was working with and for some shady characters, she still had her own sense of honor. Shava told them that she had a brother who had died in the Shadow Pass north of the Lower Trade Lanes and would often visit the entrance to that passage to mourn his loss whenever she was in Skullport.
Rinn was a teenaged half-elf. Shava warned that her youth and beauty hid a sly and manipulative mind. If she seemed outside of her depths, it was probably all a ruse. She was a master pickpocket, and could often be found with others of her kind skulking around Skull Square and The Gauntlet in the Lower Trade Lanes.
Wit was similarly manipulative, but plied her trade differently. Shava said she was currently attempting to butter up the self-styled ‘Lord’ Byronae Trilluach. Lord Trilluach was the leader of a mercenary company who’d done quite well for himself. He set up a ‘villa’ in the Central Heart, heavily surrounding himself with his own mercenaries as guards. She’s known to have a weakness for alcohol and a rather loose tongue when inebriated, which could be used against her.
Shava told them that she’d give them more information on the mission after they’d completed their task with disbanding the Gargoyle Gang. She said she’d have rooms ready for them at the Guts & Garters inn in the Lower Heart and to meet her there. She left to meet with a contact who would help her to set up the next portion of the mission.
Feeling a gap in the party after Grick’s sudden disappearance, the party decided they should perhaps hire someone to replace him. Since the Burning Troll was close to Heralds’ Meet, they decided to head over there to post the opening in hopes of finding someone amenable to joining their troop and assisting with their mission.
The flyer ended up being a bit of a mess, with everyone putting in their own criteria for what the ideal party member should look like. The listing went something like this:
Team Awesome is seeking a new team member
- A busty chick with the ability to talk to animals
- Healing is a plus (maybe?)
- Long-term association possible
- Inquire at the Burning Troll
- Ask for Aradaine
- Must be ok with working with the undead.
- Must be racist against Aasimar
- Must have no association with a paladin named Kael
No one was quite sure what to make of this ad, so Hamidal asked a bystander in the Meet his opinion of the listing. This stranger introduced himself as Vorici and said that he just happened to be there looking for a job and that he would gladly consider the position himself if they’d have him. Footsteps asked if he was a cat person, and was otherwise satisfied with him joining the team. Having nothing better to do, Vorici joined the party in hopes of adventure and gold.
Then they all went back to the Burning Troll to get some rest and figure out a plan for what to do next. Knowing that Pog might still be somewhere in the inn, they decided to rent the 3 rooms that were still available - 1 on the middle level, and 2 on the upper level. Then they all gathered in Hamidal’s room on the top floor to discuss their plans.
While discussing their best approach, they heard something slam into the wall from the room next door, and then angry voices in some kind of muffled argument. Putting their ears to the wall to hear what was going on in there, they heard that the voices were speaking what sounded like Gnomish (their weeks spent with Grick had born unexpected benefits).
This could very well be Pog! They decided to head next door to confront him. Out in the hall, the party knocked on the door and played the injured neighbor, asking them to keep the noise down. One of the voices in the room told them to go away and leave them alone. While Hamidal loudly argued back and forth with this neighbor, Footsteps quietly picked the lock.
Bursting into the room, they found two shocked gnomes laying naked in the bed together. The older of the pair sputtered his indignation and warned that there would be serious consequences for such a breach of his propriety. Veldrin answered that with by knocking Pog upside the head with his blad, knocking him unconscious. Footsteps, curious at this whole arrangement, sat down beside his distraught lover, both consoling him and keeping him from going to his aid.
They questioned Pog at length about his involvement with the gang, but even with Hamidal reading his thoughts they weren’t able to discern much. He didn’t have any knowledge of the gang’s next mission, having holed himself up in the hotel to spend time with his boyfriend. He was awaiting word from one of the other gang members before leaving.
The party knew they needed to get rid of Pog, but they didn’t see any need to kill him. At first they thought of forcing him to the surface, but thought he might run off to tell the rest of his team as soon as they turned their backs. Instead, Veldrin decided they should be exiled to Undermountain. Pog’s friend tried to argue, but Pog, still nursing a nasty head wound, knew better than to try to argue and agreed to leave.
Vorici asked for a written contract to bind their agreement, which Hamidal agreed to draw up. The party, minus Vorici, who had decided to stay at the inn, escorted Pog and his friend to the Shadow Pass, the nearest exit from the city of Skullport. Footsteps used his hunting ability to track them as they left down the dark tunnel flitting with shadows.
Then they stood and argued over what should be specified in the contract - they were amenable to an even split of found treasure, but weren’t yet sure of the state of their larger holdings, or what to hold him accountable for. While discussing the finer details of an adventuring contract, they noticed that a female red dragonborn matching Saphara’s description had left a small building near the Pass and was now heading towards it.
The party ran to catch up with her and observed her stand just outside the entrance to the path and kneel to pray. They waited a while for her to finish up, not wanting to interrupt her. When she finally got up to leave, they confronted her. They told her that the Gargoyle Gang would be no more and that she should back away from it.
At first, she was aggressive and ready to fight these strangers, but after explaining that they had already convinced Pog to leave Skullport and would not stop until the Gang was completely dissolved, she slowly came around to their way of thinking. She said that she thought Rinn and Wit would be able to take care of themselves, but without Pog her heart didn’t seem in it anymore. She was mostly working with them as a way to earn her keep, and came here to console herself about the loss of her brother, who’s death she still felt guilty for.
She seemed a bit lost without the idea of the gang to guide her, so the party suggested she go topside and visit Waterdeep to find new opportunities. She’d never visited the surface and was worried that someone of her type wouldn’t be welcome there, but they convinced her that Waterdeep saw all types and she wouldn’t stick out as much as she’d worried she would.
The party said they’d give her the gold she’d require to make it to the surface, and then told her to stop by their Manor once she was there and that they’d be happy to offer her a job as a bouncer for the tavern if she was still looking for work. This idea appealed to her more than serving for a bunch of criminals in Skullport, so she took them up on the offer, agreeing to leave Skullport immediately.
Hamidal’s Compact Of Association
Title image by DrFaustusAU
Parts of this section of the campaign based on Waterdeep: A Tail of Two Fishies