Session 15: One Beardless Dwarf...?!...

General Summary

Session (10 APR 2019): Second question: ”Does anyone or anything, inside or out, guard the vault?” Answer: “Aurinax”   Third question: “What are all of the purposes that you fulfill?” Answer: “I am all.”   And, that is all until the next morning.   Gnosh opens/translates the skin book, which contains a lot of cool spells for him to learn.   Upon waking, Det reports that the Stone was talking to him in his sleep. It said, “Comedy and tragedy guard the door to the vault. Adoring crowds converge upon the entrance to the vault of dragons. Three keys are required for entrance to the vault: a boon of a queen, the blood of the thief, and a beardless dwarf in sunlight before the door to gain passage. But, be warned, someone else in upon your quest; he left quickly...he did not get all of his questions answered. He knows of the keys, but not the door. Aurinax guards the gold against unworthy pilfers.”   Amongst our housekeeping tasks, we elect to do some research at our local library. I roll my usual craptastic values, but Lorin and Bob do much better. Bob finds: in an older, big book with inscriptions dating from 700 DR, he finds a passage about the first Queen of Waterdeep, who also happens to be the current Open Lord, Lauren Silverhand. So, we’re pretty confident that we can sweet-talk the “boon of a queen” away from her.   Further investigation, well-conducted, does not turn up references to a “beardless dwarf.” We remember that we have a female Dwarf hiding out in our bar, and she owes us a favor.   For the “blood of the thief,” we recall that we saved Rinar Neverwinter, who is the direct descendant of the person who originally stole the Hoard and hid it.   We go back to our tavern and encounter Volo, who originally gave us the tavern. We feed him endlessly, and keep his mug full, all to pick his brain about Waterdeep. When we ask about the “beardless dwarf,” he seems to know nothing. The subject of the Vault of Dragons comes up, but without effect. We’re really coming up dry on the “beardless dwarf.”   Diloontier’s Apothecary carries Pickled Tentacles in stock to suit Lorin’s needs for provisioning her spell reagent needs. I check on Reason, and gain Deadeye Shot once per short rest.   Back at the bar, we finally ask Olina about the “Beardless dwarf.” She tells us that it’s essentially a prank that young Dwarves play on each other, usually after getting blackout drunk.   Regarding the door’s location, we ask around the Lords’ castle about theaters. We get told about The Pink Flumph, and it is currently showing “Meet the Goodberries,” a comedy about the illicit activities of a Halfling family.   Back at the Yawning Portal, we win a drinking contest against a random Dwarf and kidnap him so as to shave him! Rinar gives us a vial of blood, but he insists on coming along for safety. What a loon!   By mid-day, we arrive at The Pink Flumph. The ticket offices are doing quite a lot of business, and the local troupe seems to be getting ready for the day. In a corner, there seems to be a line for the hoity-toity crowd. They are greeted by a chatty lady who seems to be very concerned with rubbing elbows with the finer folk.   We buy our tickets; Lorin and I make our way upstairs, while the rest of the group stays in the common seats. The play is basically a satire. When it ends, the actors are mainly exiting stage left.   I stealth around and find a passage blocked by a door, positioned stage left, that is adorned with the masks of comedy/drama. Jackpot!   The group converges on me, and we secure the assistance of two city guards to legitimize our presence. Upon entering the jackpot room, we find the actors’ Green Room. We also check the back rooms, like dressing rooms or something. In the sixth/last room, we find a floor rug that is not lying quite as flat as it should. We pulled up the rug, and this big dragon-thing jumps out. It isn’t readily aggressive. It asks, “What are you doing here?”   Gnosh, who speaks Draconic, says, “We are looking for the entrance to the Vault of Dragons.”   It answers, “The Master used to keep his secret here.” Upon indicating that we brought the MAster’s son, it tells us that the Master has no son. We ask who the master is, and it tells us that the MAster is the lady’s husband.   The dragon’s name is Wishes(!!!), and its job is to protect the theater. Wishus doesn’t like the lady, as she doesn’t like the theater. We tell it our mission, and that if we can clear the Vault, then the theater will be much safer. When we sweeten the deal by helping it to start its very own Dragon hoard, it readily agrees to allow us access and provide early warning about anyone following behind us.   We, then, move the rug and find a trap door. I perform Detect MAgic as a ritual and find the Abjuration trait. We shave the Dwarf. Completely.   With what we hope are the keys, and standing before what we hope is the door, we tighten our armor straps and pray to our various heathen gods.