Session 34: Arrival back to Waterdeep

General Summary

Session 20 NOV 2019: So, the tunnel group arranges to send messages to the surface group via TokTok’s golden beetle. They, then, continue to explore the tunnel, which is an uneventful tunnel for at least two hours’ of walking. MEanwhile, the surface group attempts to get some platinum rings for Det’s protection spell, but to no avail as there doesn’t seem to be any Jewelers in town.   After some time, the tunnel group returns to the door and Gaseous Forms their way outside. We decide that it is time to return to the surface, at least for a time. Thusly, we return to the Poisoned Quill and pay our 50g each to the Archmage, and return to Waterdeep! We are back in the Yawning Portal!!   Det delivers the necklace from the Guts and Garters’ Tiefling barkeep, and it is some sort of message-carrying stone. Within, the Tiefling sends a message to Durnin that warns of a “shadow falling over the City of Splendor (Waterdeep),” and implores him to rise to the challenge one last time. “What a long time it has been my friend.. I hope this finds you well, darkness once again rises within men's hearts and the city of splendor will fall without a heros’ intervention. What say you old friend are you ready for one last undertaking or is the tavern to much of a millstone upon your neck?”   Durnin tells us: A week prior, a comet crossed the sky and the ground shook. Ever since, there has been a red streak across the sky. Needless to say, this is unusual. Det asks his god, Kelemvor, for an explanation. He learns that the comet was definitely an omen, and receives the image of a box about the size of a large deck of cards. Those of us with Arcana skill recognize a description of the Deck of Many Things.   We agree to go after the Deck, and Durnin tells us to look up his old buddy, Mirt. HE says that he doesn’t know where Laurel is, and that Kelvor is “no longer with us.” During conversation, it comes out that our experience of Laurel Silverhand being the current Open Lord is not correct, and that the current one is Ammalia Cassalanter.   We realize that history has been changed and that we were somehow immune, perhaps due to our presence in the Dungeon. We agree to take the job, and also that we should check on the fundamentals of our lives, to make sure that we’re not “time orphans.”   [Encounter with Santander and the Iron Vanguard]   [Text of Broadsheet]   We return to the Troll Skull Tavern! We say our hellos to Oly, Olina, and the kids; they close up early and we catch up on our adventures. Bar business is conducted, baths are taken, and beds are occupied. Naturally, TokTok sneaks out.   He hears rumors about resentment towards the Open Lord and her family, and that they may have some Infernal and Tiefling blood in their lines. They seem pompous and haughty, but they run in the right social circles. Ammalia, on the surface, seems nice, but deep feelings are nefarious. She has young children, and one of her sons, Osvaldo, went missing about a year before now. The Cassalanter family fell on hard times a few years back, but has since restored their fortunes.