Session 35: Trouble in Waterdeep Report

General Summary

Session 04DEC2019: In the morning, we collectively awaken to Olina cursing in Dwarvish. She is upset about the state of the pantry: someone has let rats into the bar and planted some food as bait! Also, there are two rat faces carved near the points of molestation. Just in case these faces are Divination foci, I nail one pair each of my underwear over the faces. Take that, Santander!   We agree to spend the day chasing down leads: me to research the red comet, Det to check out the rat face rumors, and Det sends the eldest boy (living in our bar. Remember the kids?) to collect the bait and replant it with our rivals.   At the House of inspired Hands, I research astronomical records going back to the onset of the Spellplague. I find recorded instances of omen-like events, but no comets leaving red streaks in the sky. The omens do seem to coincide with mentions of “Olar and Mystra,” the two gods relevant to the Spellplague. I record the dates and phenomenological descriptions for later cross-referencing with dynastic records.   Det checks out the rat faces: there are flying rumors that our bar has been infested with rats! Some questioning reveals the name Emmet Duststone, who is revealed to be the owner of the rival bar.   We decide to fuck with the rival bar. Lily and I stay behind to watch our place, and the rest of the troop over to our enemies. After killing all of the decorative plants outside, they enter: Det is disguised as a Lord, TokTok is the “muscle,” and Lorin is the servant. TokTok manages to look quite threatening! No immediate sign of the boy.   Lorin starts talking to the barkeep, who is a fantastically ugly man. She lays it on thick, pretending to love the bar and hate the TST. The barkeep denies knowledge of the “errand boy” but in an unconvincing manner. Lorin presses, and TokTok plays home his intimidation of the man. He’s clearly lying, but he’s terrified of the group. Det completes the trifecta of scariness, and the bartender loses all resolve. “Just take him!” he insists, and shows the group to the boy.   They take the boy and leave. On the way out, they see hidden writing on the walls in Thieves’ Cant. It refers to the “Shardrunners” and indicates a hidden entrance to a “Headquarters.”   BAck at the bar, we decide our next move, which is to follow up with Durnin’s old adventuring group.Lorin remembers the group’s name and composition: The Nine, made up by Durnin, Mirt, Laurel, Khelben Arunsun. She also remembers that Khelben is dead, and also established the Blackstaff Tower (the tower of Waterdeep’s head mage) about two centuries ago.   So, we “message” Mirt. HE is a well-dressed man, quite fat and extravagant. He is happy to see us, and we take him upstairs to talk privately. He tells us that the new Blackstaff Mage is a young woman named Vajra Safahr. She is quite knowledgeable in all things Arcane, and Mirt says that we should talk to her.   In the evening, I make a commanding performance for the honor of the TST! TokTok relates finding a man who attracts/controls rats, named Ratface, who seems to be directing the rat invasion of our bar.   The next day, we head to the Castle Ward. Presently, we come to the Blackstaff Tower, which the city’s folk give a wide berth. The tower is surrounded by a stone wall, and is quite tall with no windows. Inside the open gate, there are lush gardens and a path that encircles the tower.   We knock on the door, and a young Halfling Wizard answers. “Can I help you?” We show that we have a letter from Mirt to Vajra. The letter affords us passage to a central room with chairs and a table. Inside is Vajra, and we converse for a time; eventually, we go all-in and I hand over the Bard’s Chronicle. She taps her staff, and Khelvor appears. He tells us, “You must protect my wife, she has not done what they say.” Conversation reveals that the Fate card could make a change to a single event, and if the card is sundered then the change can become permanent. However, this change still feels temporary. The Deck was in a spirit-guarded crypt, but that tcrypt has been violated, it would seem.   When Det asks for a description of the card/deck, Vajra draws a picture of the Fate card; three women, one looking left, one right, and one forward. She indicated that the card would have to be local to the city. We feel that the time is finally right to Send to Laurel. She is unaware of a shift in the timeline, and doesn’t recognize us. We send another message asking for a meeting, and we say that the Nine says hello; she says that she’ll meet us at the Ruins of Ilitharn.   For proof of Khelvor,s involvement, he directs us to something that will help restore Laurel’s memory: In the halls of justice is a statue that cries tears that restore memory.