2019-12-12

[[fireball outside the tavern]]
 
[[saved all but the gnome Dalakhar, who was being tracked by Bashekk Ortallis and Wern Malkrave, Zhentarim employees whose task was to return the gnome to Urstul Floxxin at Gralhund Manor]]
 
questioning witnesses
 
witness statement:
 
"I was watering plants in the greenhouse on the second floor of my shop when the blast blew out some of the windows. Lucky I wasn't injured! Through the smoke, I saw a cloaked man take something from the body of a dead gnome, then start limping away. He was badly burned and casting glances over his shoulder, like he was afraid someone might be following him. He was headed toward the Bent Nail."
 
witness statement:
 
"Right after the explosion, I ducked behind a rain barrel. Then I heard a 'plop' and found this in the barrel."
 
* Eyewitnesses and "Clues"
 
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[[Alishei In the morning, I say to the group that the clerical group worships Gond over at The House of the Inspired Hands]]
 
In the morning, Rhen heads off to talk to Lady Jeryth, while the others sleep, prepare spells, and otherwise get ready for the day. He returns without having seen anyone, reporting that the estate was closed up and heavily guarded. Olivia suggests we try again at a more reasonable hour, so a courier is dispatched with a request for an audience. We then head for the Temple of Lathander, where the uninterred bodies are held.
 
Interview of the Dead Gnome:
 
Party: We talked to the people who were chasing you and they said that they were just supposed to bring you in. do you know why they would have wanted you?
 
Gnome: They had no interest in me. They wanted the Stone.
 
Party: Who might have the Stone now, if they had someone remove it from your body immediately after the blast?
 
Gnome: Urstul Floxxin and his Zhentarim scum. Unless Xanathar's fiends got to it first.
 
Party: Where and to whom were you taking the Stone?
 
Gnome: I had heard about a group of adventurers who rescued Lord Neverember's son from the Zhentarim and thought the Stone of Golorr would be safe in their hands.
 
Party: What do you know about where and with whom the Stone has been before you acquired it?
 
Gnome: I stole it from the lair of a beholder known as Xanathar, in a dungeon deep below the city.
 
Party: What chain of events, and your understanding of peoples' motivations, led up to your acquisition of the Stone?
 
Gnome: The Xanathar's stole it from the Open Lord of Neverwinter, I stole it back, and the Zhentarim were trying to steal it from me. Motivation? My Lordship's horde. 500,000 dragons is motivation enough.