8. Frost Wind Made Moan

In the bleak midwinter, frost wind made moan

Encounters

Summary

Midwinter! A time for renewing alliances, winter festivals and feasts, and celebrating the (eventual) return of the sun. At least, that’s what those with means celebrate. To the common folk it just means more hard and cold winter days ahead, which is why they usually refer to it as Deadwinter Day.

The party was approached by Broxley Fairkelly of the Fellowship of Innkeepers. He was excited to see the construction of a new tavern in the North Ward and told the party about the winter market/festival taking place a few blocks west of Trollskull Alley.

As part of the festival, a few of the guilds (Bakers’, Vintners’, Innkeepers’, etc) were planning a feast for citizens and tourists visiting the street fair. Since Trollskull Manor was almost repaired, but not yet bustling with business, he asked if they could use the space for serving food. Kael was happy to help set the mood with a game of chance in the corner of the tavern.

It turned out to be a busy day - they had to set up tables outside to handle all of the foot traffic. The party got to meet some of the other local business owners along the alley - a carpenter, metalsmiths, a book shop, alchemist, and even a private eye.

Everyone was talking about the Cassalanter’s, local nobles who were opening their villa to the public for the day to present the famous singer, Aria Cavatina. She was only visiting Waterdeep for a few days and this would be her only public performance. The crew decided it’d be fun to check it out, and headed over to the villa in the afternoon.

The Cassalanter’s villa stands out as opulent even in a neighborhood defined by its opulence. It is an imposing white-walled three-story structure with a gleaming crimson roof and turrets surrounded by tall white brick walls and a single wrought-iron gate. Guards stood at the gates and doors.

At 3pm, with the sun starting to head for the horizon, an elderly tiefling in butler’s uniform opened the front door and blew a trumpet to signify the opening of the villa to the public. The party followed the excited public into the grand entrance hall and along the plush crimson carpet, taking in the large crystal chandelier that sent light glinting off more than three dozen silver chalices with golden suns etched on them that were perched on wall shelves (holy symbols of Siamorphe).

The crowd led them through the foyer to a grand staircase that brought them up to the ballroom on the second floor. The ballroom’s marble floor was dominated by the design of a large silver chalice with emblazoned sun. Here the crowd gathered, as well as more guards and City Watch members - including Sgt. Hyustus Staget, last seen at the dockside warehouse of the Zhentarim where Renaer was rescued.

Opposite the crowd, next to a magnificent harpsichord, and up on a temporary dais were the Cassalanters and their children, decked out in all their finest winter fashions. Hamidal noted that the daughter seemed more than just uncomfortable in her freshly starched clothes, like her brother. She looked nervously to her mother, and clutched a crumpled piece of paper in her hand.

Once the room was filled to capacity, Ammalia Cassalanter spoke to the gathered crowd and introduced Aria. Aria took to the stage and sung a rapturous version of a Midwinter favorite. As she sang, light sprang from her eyes and all around the room. The crowd was quickly entranced by her singing, even the unruly children in the crowd standing slack jawed in awe at the beauty of her and her voice. At least, until she started screaming…

As she turned in a panic, reaching for something on her back, the party quickly realized that the blood staining the back of her dress was coming from an imp that was attached to Aria’s neck! Kael quickly stepped forward and dispatched the imp with one strike from his sword. The crowd was nearing panic, but Sgt. Staget stepped forward to calm everyone - and have the doors to the villa locked. He said that no one would leave the villa until the matter was resolved and asked for volunteers to help sort things out. When no one jumped forward to volunteer, he selected the party as his helpers.

While looking over the scene and tending to Aria, Hamidal noticed a crumpled paper on the floor. Uncrumpling it revealed a page torn from a book - a common fairy tale called “The Wooden Girl” (Handout). While it was strange that certain words in the story were highlighted, nothing in particular about it stood out as too suspicious - except maybe the mention of an unmarked altar in the City of the Dead. What was most certainly strange was the sigil (Handout) on the back of the page that spelled out “ASMODEUS”.

Hamidal spoke with Victoro Cassalanter and asked him if he knew anything of the page, and if he might speak with his daughter Elzerina about it. Victoro didn’t know anything specific and was glad to have the party talk to Elzerina if they thought it would help the current situation.

Elzerina was shy and maybe a bit guilty about the whole situation. She told the party that she didn’t took the page from a book because it was her favorite story and this copy of it mentioned her name. She was very upset by what happened to Aria and blamed herself for it. It seems she’d somehow summoned an imp named Chernok, who was a fun playmate for her at first. But then he taught her how to use the sigil to summon another imp - Brimtoe, who caused no end of mischief. It was this imp that attacked Aria. Elzerina told the party that Chernok was still hiding up in her bedroom.

With a Watch guard in tow, the party made their way to the third floor to examine the children’s bedroom. Through a playroom full of large stuffed animals was the twin’s bedroom, mostly occupied by two large four-poster beds, each with a trunk at the foot of it. Not opting for subtlety, Kael proceeded to chop what was assumed to be the girl’s trunk in twain, spilling out toys and a very surprised imp in a soldier’s uniform.

The imp was talkative, but not overly informative. He told the party that they could activate the sigil in the City of the Dead using various toys found in the girl’s chest, so the party decided to bring him along with them to search for the altar.

Among the toys, the party also found an egg studded in purple gems that contained a music box with a ballerina figurine doing pirouettes. Hamidal recognized the designer of the toy as having a sinister reputation. He was known for making exquisite toys with less than desirous magical side effects.

Sgt. Staget was happy to let the party leave, seeing that they’d found another imp on the premises and they had a solid lead to solving the mystery. Seeing Grick in his simple religious clothes, Victoro summoned a warm cloak and winter boots for him. Grick was reluctant to take the offer, but Victoro insisted.

Once in the City, the party came upon the statue of a girl with angel wings that turned out to be more like a bat’s on closer inspection. Once close, the candelabra the statue held glowed with an angry, orange light, revealing a small stone altar on the ground before it.

Placing the toys in the proper position for the sigil on the altar caused a glowing flash of orange as the sigil lit up and a spined devil and another imp appeared before the party. The party had little trouble dealing with either of the devils. Chernok morphed into a spider to escape the party’s grasp, morphing again into a raven to attemp to fly away, only to be taken down by a shot from Footsteps’s bow.

With the devils dispatched, the glowing of the sigil faded and the story book page disintegrated. The party returned to the villa to find Aria healed and ready to perform again. Hamidal showed the music box to Victoro, having found no way to be rid of it already. Victoro was reluctant to see any harm in it at first, but upon opening it realized that Elzerina was under a compulsion to twirl along with the figuring. He asked Hamidal to find some way to be rid of it.

Aria was able to complete her performance in peace, and much fun was had by all. Upon returning home for the evening, there was some evidence of damage done by the large crowds moving through the tavern all day, but Broxley promised the guilds would gladly have any damage fixed, and thanked the party for use of the space.

And so, the party were nestled all snug in their beds; While visions of milestones danced in their heads.