All your base are belong to Cyric: Part 1 Report

General Summary

Scene opens to the party leaving the warrens after accepting a mission to Maztica from the Xanathar.
1489 DR - Summer - 15, Flamerule (7) - Sword Coast - Waterdeep

• The crew discusses the potential for departing straight to Maztica or heading back to Blasingdell first while drinking at their tavern where they are lodging.
• Abigor pipes up and shouts inside Hudens head: "I REMEMBER WHAT YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO KNOW ABOUT THE XANATHAR, I REMMMMMEMMBER MEMBER MEMBER....remember... dismember... optical tender... flesh render... NOPE I FORGOT!"
• A frog like person in rags appears in the crews room at night, sitting in the window with his hood in magical blackness, a croaking voice eminates: "Stay calm, you are not to get yourselves killed just yet. Sabyn will soon require your aid and you will need to be prepared. In the meantime, her and I have something that needs doing, or rather someone. There is a pub, "The Tricky Traveler" that deals in trafficking the less fortunate. There are some they have captured that shouldn't have been, as they are destined for greater things. Please go there, and free them. If the clientele or proprietors die in the attempt, so be it, but watch out for the City Guard. You'd best be ready for a hasty retreat. Hop to it." He hops out the window, vanishing before landing. The crew discusses it and suspects this person was a Slaad, although they know little about the race or why he is involved.
• Damien gets the message directly that he should head back to support Sabyn and begins packing, leaving before dawn with a caravan bound for Blasingdell.
• The crew begins planning over breakfast and is joined by Zul, the "tall blond man" that they met in Blasingdell, who was sent as backup for their errand.
• The crew scouts the Tricky Traveller, checking out the 4 floor venue, chainlinked bar, rowdy patrons, and apparent DAYTIME only open hours.
• The guards all around seem to all share a common lineage, as they all look like brothers. Not identical
• Huden gets himself invited into the third floor rooms, and partakes in the slave auction, luckily happening the same day.
• Huden tries to gauge reactions of the slaves on the block by showing them the Black Sun. The auctioneer catches wise and rigs the rates based on Huden's reaction, which is sometimes tricky and sometimes obvious.
• Huden waits through the auction slaves: An Elf woman in torn finery, An elderly couple afraid of the symbol and muttering about Tyr, An older human farmer, An orc warrior that acts like a career slave, a green tiefling covered in tattoos with a collar, a sentient looking zombie, a human "alchemist" in layered rags, a monstrous humanoid goliath hunched over in chains, and a few other unremarkable humans and dwarves.
• The only reactions Huden gets to the black sun are fear from the couple, acquiescence from the Orc, an over eager nod from the farmer and from the Tiefling, confusion from the zombie and goliath, and the man in rags subtly flashes a cyric tattoo under his chin.
• Huden makes a few bids, often butting heads against an open Black Network Zhent representative, and wins the Tiefling and the man in rags. Huden terrifies several of the patrons (and one slave couple)
• Lucyan scouts the top floor suites with his spiderhand through the latrine chimney, finding both the luxurious rooms and the cells in the basement that are separate from the normal cellars and seem very maze-like. He finds the slaves all trapped in the basement, but the spider hand is spotted by the goliath and killed by the guards when trying to escape.
• Lucyan notices before his hand dies, that in addition to the human guards, there are a few Gnolls in the basement.
• Given the circumstances, and the bar closing for the night, the crew decide to stage a breakout in the middle of the night instead of paying for the two slaves.
• The crew breaks into the place through the third floor latrine hole using the immovable rod and rope of climbing. Zul stays above to guard their escape. Most of the inhabitants seem to be celebrating on the second floor with the balcony shutters closed.
• After sneaking into the floor, Fallen heads downstairs to scout and Lucyan and Huden are discovered by the slave trade accountant. Huden immediately puts him under a suggestion and he decides to head to bed, ignoring the sounds and visitors.
• They follow Fallen downstairs, who has murdered the guard and opened the gate. Huden imitates the dead guard to draw the other guards to them in an ambush. Fallen hands the keys to the man in rags, who slips past them unnoticed while they wait in ambush.
• The two guards are murdered by bees and violence with only a small yelp. After the short fight, the crew notices that every single cell is now open and unlocked, and the man in rags is arguing with the zombie about it "not being his fault". The zombie is bent on revenge and starts breaking things on a path upstairs with the man in rags in tow. The humans and elf all grab up weapons, the Goliath breaks his own chains and crawls through the stairwell out, and the Green tiefling begs to have the collar removed.
• Lucyan removes the collar from the Tiefling, who then spatters blood across the floor with a knife, summoning a few dretches that run up the stairwell, and proceeds to laugh with glee in pursuit. When they follow they find that a guard on the way has had his bones removed or turned to jelly somehow, and he is writhing on the floor and gurgling. They put him out of his misery.
• The other tentatively follow the crew up the stairs. As they get to the main floor, they hear a massive explosion, and realize that there is now a huge hole in the front of the building, and a massive fight has broken out amongst the employees of the establishment and the escaping slaves.
• The crew realizes now that they are ALL gnolls...

Rewards Granted

None this time, but for sure there is loot to be had if they can escape.

Missions/Quests Completed

Free the slaves from the strange frog creature

Campaign

The Chosen

Protagonists

Lucyan Kilndar

Level 12 Shadar-Kai Neutral Evil Druid
(Outlander)

79 / 79 HP

Xifor

Level 11 Tiefling-Abraxus (Mephistopheles, MTOF) Chaotic Evil Wizard/Forbidden Lore (COBW)
(Raised by Fiends (Raised by Evil, COE))

/ 54 HP

Damien Crane

Level 4 Human (Amn) CE Warrior
(Apprentice)

/ 45 HP

Huden Golman

Level 7 hooman chaotic evil bard
(charlatan)

/ 38 HP

Report Date

18 Feb 2020