Session 11: Dinner and a revolution Report

General Summary

Exhausted from their long diplomatic talks with Liara Portyr, the party arrived at the Basilisk Gate only to find it closed for the night. The Fists at the gate were willing to let them pass, however, for a small fee - they would look the other way while the party stabled their horses.
Arriving at the Elfsong Tavern, the first thing they did was have a good, long sleep, as the smells of freshly made bread overtook the taproom. After their eight hours of rest, they slowly made their way outside to explore what was to be sure, the aftermath of a power grab by the Flaming Fist. The party decided that they would try to join forces with Duke Stelmane if they could find her, and made for the Sea Gate. The Lower City, they found, was suspiciously absent of soldiers - even more so than usual. In the distance, they could hear Citadel and Watchtower bells ringing...
Arriving at the Sea Gate, the party found a pair of Watch conscripts atop the gatehouse, who greeted their presence with a warning shot from their crossbows. They made a frightened impression, but seemed ready to defend the gatehouse nonetheless. They were not willing to answer questions with anything but another shot from their crossbows, so the party left to find a different way into the Upper City.
After crawling through parts of the Undercellar and connecting tunnels thanks to Airam and Patience's experience with the Guild, they finally emerged into the Wide, almost devoid of shopping public. The merchants who had the bad luck of starting early had already packed their wares for the night, having made close to no sales. One particular merchant told the party that about two hours after sunrise, a veritable army of Flaming Fist soldiers came through Baldur's Gate, Liara Portyr leading the charge.
The party, still hearing alarm bells in the distance, decided to try their luck in the Manorborn district, but found the perimeter closed off by a company of Fist soldiers as they saw a noble family being chained up and escorted away in the direction of the Seatower. Thus, the adventurers made their way to Vanthampur manor for their dinner appointment, anxious to find out the Vanthampur's situation in all of this.
Arriving at the gate of a ten foot tall stone wall surrounding the Vanthampur 'manor,' a pair of guards wielding arcane weapons and dressed in the red and black of the Red Plumes allowed the party passage into the compound. They were hailed at the door by a frail-looking butler: a man well into his retirement age, who escorted the adventurers to their guest house on the property. After allowing them to familiarize themselves with the house and unload their stuff, the butler came to collect the party for the banquet. 
Little did the butler now, the party had stumbled upon a hidden trapdoor leading down a ramp into a hidden basement of the Vanthampur compound, and panicked to get rid of the butler at the door. Using enchantment magic to convince the man that the party needed some more time, they then decided to go down the corridor where Patience discovered a hidden lever, opening a door into a room where a huge fiend was giving a sermon in front of a statue of a devil. Several cultists, dressed in red robes and wearing golden devil masks on their faces, had gathered to listen. The devil, startled by the interruption, immediately attacked when the door opened, and several cultists joined in on the fight while one escaped through a stylized metal door. 
The party made short work of the fiend, identifying them as a barbazu, a bearded devil: a lower-ranking commander of the legions of the Nine Hells. They did not have long to investigate any further though, as a clamor of footsteps could be heard resonating from the connecting tunnel...

Campaign

Descent into Avernus

Protagonists

Artana Dryl

Fenrir Firecam

Patience

Report Date

26 Jan 2023