HHI Session 5: Snakes and Unicorns
General Summary
2/2/908
With their earnings secure from last week's heist, the party began planning how to assassinate the halfling politician Oswalt Hogcollar. With half the party still laying low at The Greasy Mead, Ithilwen went shopping for the group and picked up several roast chickens and bottles of Joseph Daniels for dinner (all the bottles were for Mavis). As the only party member who didn't go on the heist, Ithilwen had spent the previous weekend spying on Oswalt and confirming the info they'd gotten about his evening walks by the docks. The stories appeared to be true, and the halfling was always joined by an imposing dragonborn guard. With their dinner finished, the party agreed to head out to the docks for the assassination. The plan was to have Balasar cast a 'Fog Cloud' so that once the attack began it'd be difficult for the two of them to make a getaway. Balasar and Mavis hid behind some storage crates while Ownka and Ithilwen stood in wait in the alleyways. Balasar cast 'Fog Cloud' the moment the party saw Oswalt approaching from the north, and immediately the plan went to hell. Balasar's wild magic surge summoned a unicorn in the middle of the docks that proceeded to gore and trample Balasar into unconsciousness. The dragonborn managed to fire off a blast of 'Scorching Ray' at the assassination target before getting KO'd by the unicorn, leaving the rest of the party to finish on their own. Ownka and Ithilwen tried to kill the guard while Mavis fired shots of 'Eldritch Blast' at Oswalt, but both of them proved to be tricky targets. The guard was powerfully built and managed to KO Ithilwen with just a couple of blows, and the unicorn rushed to Oswalt's side and protected him from some of the damage. After the guard was dealt with the assassination turned into a chase down the dock's main thoroughfare with Ownka struggling to get in range of the target. Mavis managed to hit the target with 'Eldritch Blast' every so often, and with one last desperate swing of her handaxe Ownka managed to kill Oswalt in the middle of the street. Mavis and Ownka set to work decapitating and incinerating Oswalt's body, and Ithilwen tossed the body of the guard into the waters of the Karaga Ocean. Mavis and Owkna sneaked away from the docks, but Ithilwen got fired on by a couple of guards as they rushed over to investigate the sounds of explosions and fighting. Ithilwen, disguised as an old lady, chastised the guards for attacking a defenseless old woman and claimed that the unconscious Balasar resting nearby was one of her workers. The guards didn't buy the story, and dragged Balasar back to the police station for questioning. Ithilwen returned to the Greasy Mead to tell the party about Balasar's apprehension, everybody taking a much-needed rest after the trauma of the previous fight. Meanwhile Balasar was given the third degree by chief of police Jheri Heshtara, eventually relenting and saying that Nikki Merit had given the party the heist job. Jheri threatened to lock Balasar up for decades if he didn't give her the locations of Mavis and Ownka, but Balasar called her bluff and Ithilwen showed up the following day to help get him out of prison. The guards were forced to hand him over without any concrete charges to press, but only on the condition that he stayed within the city gates until Oswalt's disappearance had a clear explanation. Back at the tavern a note in fine handwriting was given to Balasar and the party, inviting them to a dinner that evening in celebration of a job well done. Nearly everybody in the group had a way to disguise themselves outside, but Ownka volunteered to stay back at the tavern and commune with Gruumsh. The party went over to a bookstore called the The Inky Scale, browsing the titles until they were called upstairs by a man wearing tinted spectacles. On the building's third floor they found a sumptuous feast prepared by a charming yuan-ti woman named Maris Sissava. Thanking them for completing the assassination, Maris rewarded the party 200GP each for the job and promised to add an extra 0 to the reward if they agreed to go on another mission for her. A couple of her yuan-ti agents were stuck in the Kiri Clan city of Younashi currently besieged by Oda Clan forces, so she wanted the party to rescue and escort them to Olenjii for future assignments. Despite the promise of better pay, the group was suspicious of Maris. Ithilwen didn't like the way she flirted with her, and the others were concerned by how much she knew about their work for the Gatekeeper. To add insult to injury, Maris called Balasar's group The Ushers of Renewal nothing more than a band of rogue arsonists. Maris tried sweetening the deal by promising the group safe passage out of Orem to the Sardivelian town of Renzi, but Mavis wanted to talk with The Gatekeeper first. Once The Gatekeeper encouraged the group to think realistically about their odds of escaping the city on their own, the group agreed to take Maris' offer and go on the mission in Younashi. Ithilwen went back to the Inky Scale to give Maris the news, and in return the elven ranger received a communication ring to speak with the yuan-ti leader at any time.
With their earnings secure from last week's heist, the party began planning how to assassinate the halfling politician Oswalt Hogcollar. With half the party still laying low at The Greasy Mead, Ithilwen went shopping for the group and picked up several roast chickens and bottles of Joseph Daniels for dinner (all the bottles were for Mavis). As the only party member who didn't go on the heist, Ithilwen had spent the previous weekend spying on Oswalt and confirming the info they'd gotten about his evening walks by the docks. The stories appeared to be true, and the halfling was always joined by an imposing dragonborn guard. With their dinner finished, the party agreed to head out to the docks for the assassination. The plan was to have Balasar cast a 'Fog Cloud' so that once the attack began it'd be difficult for the two of them to make a getaway. Balasar and Mavis hid behind some storage crates while Ownka and Ithilwen stood in wait in the alleyways. Balasar cast 'Fog Cloud' the moment the party saw Oswalt approaching from the north, and immediately the plan went to hell. Balasar's wild magic surge summoned a unicorn in the middle of the docks that proceeded to gore and trample Balasar into unconsciousness. The dragonborn managed to fire off a blast of 'Scorching Ray' at the assassination target before getting KO'd by the unicorn, leaving the rest of the party to finish on their own. Ownka and Ithilwen tried to kill the guard while Mavis fired shots of 'Eldritch Blast' at Oswalt, but both of them proved to be tricky targets. The guard was powerfully built and managed to KO Ithilwen with just a couple of blows, and the unicorn rushed to Oswalt's side and protected him from some of the damage. After the guard was dealt with the assassination turned into a chase down the dock's main thoroughfare with Ownka struggling to get in range of the target. Mavis managed to hit the target with 'Eldritch Blast' every so often, and with one last desperate swing of her handaxe Ownka managed to kill Oswalt in the middle of the street. Mavis and Ownka set to work decapitating and incinerating Oswalt's body, and Ithilwen tossed the body of the guard into the waters of the Karaga Ocean. Mavis and Owkna sneaked away from the docks, but Ithilwen got fired on by a couple of guards as they rushed over to investigate the sounds of explosions and fighting. Ithilwen, disguised as an old lady, chastised the guards for attacking a defenseless old woman and claimed that the unconscious Balasar resting nearby was one of her workers. The guards didn't buy the story, and dragged Balasar back to the police station for questioning. Ithilwen returned to the Greasy Mead to tell the party about Balasar's apprehension, everybody taking a much-needed rest after the trauma of the previous fight. Meanwhile Balasar was given the third degree by chief of police Jheri Heshtara, eventually relenting and saying that Nikki Merit had given the party the heist job. Jheri threatened to lock Balasar up for decades if he didn't give her the locations of Mavis and Ownka, but Balasar called her bluff and Ithilwen showed up the following day to help get him out of prison. The guards were forced to hand him over without any concrete charges to press, but only on the condition that he stayed within the city gates until Oswalt's disappearance had a clear explanation. Back at the tavern a note in fine handwriting was given to Balasar and the party, inviting them to a dinner that evening in celebration of a job well done. Nearly everybody in the group had a way to disguise themselves outside, but Ownka volunteered to stay back at the tavern and commune with Gruumsh. The party went over to a bookstore called the The Inky Scale, browsing the titles until they were called upstairs by a man wearing tinted spectacles. On the building's third floor they found a sumptuous feast prepared by a charming yuan-ti woman named Maris Sissava. Thanking them for completing the assassination, Maris rewarded the party 200GP each for the job and promised to add an extra 0 to the reward if they agreed to go on another mission for her. A couple of her yuan-ti agents were stuck in the Kiri Clan city of Younashi currently besieged by Oda Clan forces, so she wanted the party to rescue and escort them to Olenjii for future assignments. Despite the promise of better pay, the group was suspicious of Maris. Ithilwen didn't like the way she flirted with her, and the others were concerned by how much she knew about their work for the Gatekeeper. To add insult to injury, Maris called Balasar's group The Ushers of Renewal nothing more than a band of rogue arsonists. Maris tried sweetening the deal by promising the group safe passage out of Orem to the Sardivelian town of Renzi, but Mavis wanted to talk with The Gatekeeper first. Once The Gatekeeper encouraged the group to think realistically about their odds of escaping the city on their own, the group agreed to take Maris' offer and go on the mission in Younashi. Ithilwen went back to the Inky Scale to give Maris the news, and in return the elven ranger received a communication ring to speak with the yuan-ti leader at any time.
Rewards Granted
- The party each received 200GP for assassinating Oswalt Hogcollar
Missions/Quests Completed
Gatekeeper Missions
Survey Sabha
Survey Sheyuan
Survey Broggfey
Side Quests
Rescue a couple of yuan-ti agents from Younashi for Maris Sissava
Completed Missions
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
Rescue a couple of yuan-ti agents from Younashi for Maris Sissava
- Reward: 8,000GP split among the party
- Reward: 200GP per Ankheg head split among the party
Completed Missions
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
- Reward: 800GP split among the assassins
- The mysterious contractor promises future missions if the party's successful
Character(s) interacted with
- Oswalt Hogcollar - the halfling politician murdered by the party
- Maris Sissava - a friendly yuan-ti who gave the party several missions to accomplish
- Jheri Heshtara - a silver dragonborn and chief of police in Orem
- Nikki Merit - a halfling Handgun that Balasar implicated in the heist on the goliath house
- The Gatekeeper - the party's mysterious employer
Featured Players
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