HHI Session 4: Nikki and the Greasy Mead
General Summary
2/1/908
Ithilwen needed time to recover after the previous mission to retrieve a dowsing rod, so the rest of the party decided to put off the assassination contract until they could have a full party. Balasar, Mavis, and Ownka hunted down their former tour guide Nikki Merit and agreed to help her out on a mission for The Handgun: steal an ancient sword from an aristocratic goliath's house. Nikki explained how she was working on a shoestring budget as the Handgun's first agent in Orem, but she promised they would each receive 300GP if they brought back the sword in one piece. So the party set about staking out the goliath's complex and coming up with a plan. Disguising as a nobleman from out of town, Balasar learned from a goliath named Ervin that the weapon was owned by a venturesome aristocrat named Arjahn Kazemi and that he would be hosting a party in a couple days to celebrate the success of his latest expedition. The party decided to try and rob the complex the day before the party, but things turned hairy when Balasar cast 'Fog Cloud' and his wild magic surged forth into a massive fireball that almost killed Mavis. Auntie Jadoogar's deal with Balasar made his wild magic even more untamed, meaning that every time he cast a spell there'd be a 25% of ruining a plan. Nikki helped the party by covering up the fireball attack as a yuan-ti terrorist attack, and the party prepared to infiltrate Arjahn's complex the night of the party. Mavis bought a lovely blue evening dress for the occasion while Ownka bought some priestly vestments (Luthic, sadly she couldn't find anybody selling outfits for Gruumsh), and together they purchased some thieves tools and a grappling hook to help them break into the complex. On the night of the party Balasar distracted the dragonborn guards in front of the complex by casting 'Fog Cloud' across the street, giving Ownka and Mavis an opportunity to sneak inside the complex and investigate the rooms. Dissipating the cloud once his allies made it through, Balasar sneaked over to an adjacent manor and grappled up the side of the building. The building was four stories tall while Arjahn's was only two, so after some shimmying down the side of the nearby manor he made it to the complex's rooftop and began spying through the skylights at the party below. Owkna and Mavis found themselves surrounded by the goliaths of Sabha's aristocracy, sipping drinks and admiring the relics from Arjahn's latest expeditions. Weapons and artifacts adorned every wall, Ownka even noticing a couple of orcish weapons in the mix. Together they suffered through small talk with the wealthy partygoers, eventually finding a locked room on the second floor where Ownka detected several magic items. Balasar messaged them once they had confirmed the location of the locked room, and Balasar cast another fog cloud before sneaking down a hidden staircase unnoticed. With Mavis' thieves tools the party broke into the study and started fleecing the place. The study had rows and rows of shelves with rare books, but Ownka's 'Detect Magic' helped them identify the two most valuable items in the room. Mavis perfectly removed the glass case protecting the ancient sword while Balasar pulled an old tome written in Draconic from one of the shelves. This is the moment when the plan started falling apart. As soon as Balasar removed the book, a suit of dragonborn armor started moving and lurching towards the party in open combat. Balasar and Mavis' attacks went wild as they damaged part of the study, but Ownka's well-placed blows decimated the armor in a matter of seconds. The sounds of fighting from the study alerted the guards as they rushed up the stairs to cut off the party's escape. Balasar's disguise proved unsuccessful when he found himself face-to-face with the goliath noble he was impersonating, so the party found itself in a race against time with two guards at its tails. One of the guards knocked out Balasar with a chuck of its spear, but Ownka healed Balasar up and Mavis vaporized both guards with her 'Eldritch Blast'. Back on the rooftop, the party climbed up the adjacent manor and shimmied down to the street behind Arjahn's complex. The only incident came when Balasar fell twenty feet down onto the street below and went unconscious a second time. Ownka, stabilizing her dragonborn ally, carried him back to Nikki's tavern hideout while Mavis disguised herself as an old human woman. Nikki was pleased to hear about the party's successful mission, less so when she found out that they had murdered a couple of guards in the process. She let the party lick their wounds in her room while she fenced the artifacts, returning to pay them each their 300GP along with an additional 200GP for the rare tome Balasar picked up. Balasar risked a trip outside to pay off his fine for setting the marketplace on fire, finally getting the enchanted muzzle removed after weeks of discomfort. Balasar noticed that nobody was connecting him to the heist, but he noticed several wanted posters for Ownka and Mavis posted around the city. The party agreed that they still wanted to complete the assassination, but after that they should start considering a change in scenery.
Ithilwen needed time to recover after the previous mission to retrieve a dowsing rod, so the rest of the party decided to put off the assassination contract until they could have a full party. Balasar, Mavis, and Ownka hunted down their former tour guide Nikki Merit and agreed to help her out on a mission for The Handgun: steal an ancient sword from an aristocratic goliath's house. Nikki explained how she was working on a shoestring budget as the Handgun's first agent in Orem, but she promised they would each receive 300GP if they brought back the sword in one piece. So the party set about staking out the goliath's complex and coming up with a plan. Disguising as a nobleman from out of town, Balasar learned from a goliath named Ervin that the weapon was owned by a venturesome aristocrat named Arjahn Kazemi and that he would be hosting a party in a couple days to celebrate the success of his latest expedition. The party decided to try and rob the complex the day before the party, but things turned hairy when Balasar cast 'Fog Cloud' and his wild magic surged forth into a massive fireball that almost killed Mavis. Auntie Jadoogar's deal with Balasar made his wild magic even more untamed, meaning that every time he cast a spell there'd be a 25% of ruining a plan. Nikki helped the party by covering up the fireball attack as a yuan-ti terrorist attack, and the party prepared to infiltrate Arjahn's complex the night of the party. Mavis bought a lovely blue evening dress for the occasion while Ownka bought some priestly vestments (Luthic, sadly she couldn't find anybody selling outfits for Gruumsh), and together they purchased some thieves tools and a grappling hook to help them break into the complex. On the night of the party Balasar distracted the dragonborn guards in front of the complex by casting 'Fog Cloud' across the street, giving Ownka and Mavis an opportunity to sneak inside the complex and investigate the rooms. Dissipating the cloud once his allies made it through, Balasar sneaked over to an adjacent manor and grappled up the side of the building. The building was four stories tall while Arjahn's was only two, so after some shimmying down the side of the nearby manor he made it to the complex's rooftop and began spying through the skylights at the party below. Owkna and Mavis found themselves surrounded by the goliaths of Sabha's aristocracy, sipping drinks and admiring the relics from Arjahn's latest expeditions. Weapons and artifacts adorned every wall, Ownka even noticing a couple of orcish weapons in the mix. Together they suffered through small talk with the wealthy partygoers, eventually finding a locked room on the second floor where Ownka detected several magic items. Balasar messaged them once they had confirmed the location of the locked room, and Balasar cast another fog cloud before sneaking down a hidden staircase unnoticed. With Mavis' thieves tools the party broke into the study and started fleecing the place. The study had rows and rows of shelves with rare books, but Ownka's 'Detect Magic' helped them identify the two most valuable items in the room. Mavis perfectly removed the glass case protecting the ancient sword while Balasar pulled an old tome written in Draconic from one of the shelves. This is the moment when the plan started falling apart. As soon as Balasar removed the book, a suit of dragonborn armor started moving and lurching towards the party in open combat. Balasar and Mavis' attacks went wild as they damaged part of the study, but Ownka's well-placed blows decimated the armor in a matter of seconds. The sounds of fighting from the study alerted the guards as they rushed up the stairs to cut off the party's escape. Balasar's disguise proved unsuccessful when he found himself face-to-face with the goliath noble he was impersonating, so the party found itself in a race against time with two guards at its tails. One of the guards knocked out Balasar with a chuck of its spear, but Ownka healed Balasar up and Mavis vaporized both guards with her 'Eldritch Blast'. Back on the rooftop, the party climbed up the adjacent manor and shimmied down to the street behind Arjahn's complex. The only incident came when Balasar fell twenty feet down onto the street below and went unconscious a second time. Ownka, stabilizing her dragonborn ally, carried him back to Nikki's tavern hideout while Mavis disguised herself as an old human woman. Nikki was pleased to hear about the party's successful mission, less so when she found out that they had murdered a couple of guards in the process. She let the party lick their wounds in her room while she fenced the artifacts, returning to pay them each their 300GP along with an additional 200GP for the rare tome Balasar picked up. Balasar risked a trip outside to pay off his fine for setting the marketplace on fire, finally getting the enchanted muzzle removed after weeks of discomfort. Balasar noticed that nobody was connecting him to the heist, but he noticed several wanted posters for Ownka and Mavis posted around the city. The party agreed that they still wanted to complete the assassination, but after that they should start considering a change in scenery.
Rewards Granted
- Balasar reached lvl 3
- Mavis reached lvl 3
- Ownka reached lvl 3
- Balasar paid off his debt to the Sabhan government and got his enchanted muzzle removed
Missions/Quests Completed
Gatekeeper Missions
Survey Sabha
Survey Sheyuan
Survey Broggfey
Side Quests
Exterminate a nest of Ankhegs terrorizing the Sabhan countryside
Obtain a dowsing rod for Flora from a hag's cottage in the western hills of Sabha
Survey Sabha
- The party has arrived in Orem, capital of Sabha
- Mavis has been updating The Gatekeeper on their progress after every mission they complete
Survey Sheyuan
Survey Broggfey
Side Quests
Exterminate a nest of Ankhegs terrorizing the Sabhan countryside
- Reward: 200GP per Ankheg head split among the party
- Reward: 600GP split among the assassins
- The mysterious contractor promises future missions if the party's successful
Obtain a dowsing rod for Flora from a hag's cottage in the western hills of Sabha
- Reward: 1,000GP split among the party
- The party failed to kill the hag
- Reward: 300GP for each party member
- The party won an additional 200GP each for stealing a book as well
Character(s) interacted with
- Nikki Merit - a female halfling and agent of The Handgun
- Ervin Dabiri - a goliath nobleman who gave the party some info about Arjahn
- Arjahn Kazemi - a goliath nobleman/explorer whose house the party stole from
Featured Players
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