Session 11: Investigating the Dockward

General Summary

Session 06 MAR 2019: As we come out of jail, we notice that the festival preparations for Trolltide are in full swing, with kids in costumes and everything. Stormie and I head back to the tavern to get Bob and Gnosh. Det is tracking the Stone via spell, and must stay on its trail or risk losing contact.   Det investigates (7 with advantage!) and can narrow down the Stone’s location to somewhere in the Dock Ward. Stormie and I get Gnosh and Bob from the tavern, and we all meet up in a central part of the city.   Det says that Thoril, his in-world contact while his sequestered time passed, has summoned him to the Hall of Justice. Gnosh accompanies him. Upon arrival, Thoril is arguing with an elf about armaments in a good-natured manner.   Conversation ensues about Det’s missing brother, and Thoril asks about Gnosh; introductions are made. Thoril is an older Dwarf man, with a long, respectful gray beard. One eye is scarred and cloudy. Thoril and Det catch up about our recent adventures. Thoril makes introductions with an older Dwarven couple who might help open our tavern once repairs are finished. The couple is amenable to running the tavern while we continue our adventures.   Thoril shares that there is political trouble in Dwarf world, and Det complains about how politics is hard, and humans are soft. Det offers to escort all of the Dwarves to our tavern. Det negotiates some of the final details about opening the tavern.   Lorin leads the investigation in the Dock Ward, looking for the Stone, and does quite well! Lorin shares with the group that she is following tracks that are similar to the automaton controlled by Lady Gralhung, and that they lead into this Mistward area. Her serarchings lead to the Mistward, where we abandoned our skiff (remember the skiff? We’re bad at boats.). The Mistward is a very rundown area, full of poverty and salvage. The people are poor and weathered, living hard lives. A lot of the folk are fishing folk, and the tracks that Lorin follows are different from the ordinary for the area. The tracks lead to a dock area, with more of the dreaded boats that we can’t really sail or steer.   The maps and figures come out, which is a good sign that we’re gonna stab something!   The buildings are rundown, and some are uninhabitable. The area reeks of ash and fish, and it appears that a large fire ripped through the area some time ago and nobody has bothered to repair the area.   We follow the tracks into the maze of buildings. The tracks lead into a building with only one entrance. We cannot tell if the building is inhabited, but we can tell that the trail is definitely leading in this one direction. We wait for Det and Gnosh.   We do a Religion test on the robes and stuff, and I get a good roll! I recognize that the robes and symbols are from the Cult of Asmodus, a demon-worshipping cult.   Det checks the tracks, and they don’t look human; more rigid and metally-seeming. The umbrella is spinning, indicating the presence of an automaton. We find a second door, so we split up into fighter/caster/overwatch.   We enter, and immediately encounter the nimblewright. We all attempt persuasion, and Lorin casts Friends. Lily stays outside on overwatch. I try persuading with the mechanical bird, Bob tries ordering it to hand over the Stone while in the guise of Lady Gralhung, to no effect.   When Bob makes to leave, the nimblewright follows. We get to the edge of the Dock Ward when Lorin’s Friends wears off. It immediately freezes in place, and Gnosk casts Web to hold it. The web catches Bob and Feng as well. We fight!! We win!!   We find a singed map on its mechanical corpse that points to a big boat in the Dock Ward. Lily takes its rapier.   Det follows the Stone pinging to a building near the back of a large ship. We hear the sounds of combat, and come up on five people: one Dwarf and four humans. They are trying to batter down the door of a ramshackle home. They are “eyeball guys”, Zanthar’s Guild, and they haven’t noticed us. We vote to fight them, as they are “eyeball guys” and we don’t like them.   Fight! We win! Inside the house is a lady Gnome named Grenda, who says that she has seen the Stone before. She sent her familiar to the family mausoleum with the Stone when the ruffians attacked. The familiar returns Stoneless, and fearful of whatever it saw there. Grenda gives us the key to her family’s mausoleum, and asks only that we return it when we are done.   We return to the tavern, and Bob gets a letter that tells us to go to the City of the Dead (presumably to the mausoleum). Our dreams are troubled during the night, and in the morning we awake to a sulfurous smell and dust; possibly the remains of a Nightmare spell?   The Dwarven couple has, happily, taken over the renovation of the tavern for the better. We are pleased to have them stay on and manage the business.