Session Ten: Let's Go To The Circus!
General Summary
The session began with the party doing various tasks, shopping and research. As nightfall begins a strong thunderstorm goes through Waterdeep. The energy in the air lingers as the storm passes and the night sky begins to glow with the northern lights. The party steps outside the manor and observers in the night sky what appear to be shooting stars falling from the sky. They all have a sick feeling in their stomach when they realize it was not stars falling to the ground, it was the gods. The times of troubles has started again. The gods have been casted out of their planes of existence into mortal forms to walk the realms. It is the time the destroyers and protectors go to war over the fate of the gods. As the party realizes this they feel more unified as their tattoos glow.
The party returns back inside the manor to discuss everything they know and strategize their next move. The party discuss going to the Halls of Heroes but feels their attention needs to be towards Fredrick’s Marvelous Carnival of Wonder. The party agrees to go to the carnival and retire for the night.
In the morning the party gears up and head out towards Saltmarsh where the carnival is going to open in a few day. After a day’s travel, they arrive at the outskirts of the forest and see the carnival in the process of setting up. The party set up their tents and decides to do a little reconnaissance in the morning.
The next morning Cora and Valna stay at the tents while Nyx, Cannella and Sneachta travel to Saltmarsh and find a dwarf named Radric Grimbeard, who owns Radric’s General Store, which was looking for guards and laborers to deliver fresh produce and meats to the carnival. They agreed to work as guards and escorted several wagons full of product to the carnival.
After arriving at the carnival, Nyx sneaks away and explores the area where the animals were located. She observed the animals were wearing collars which were controlling them. After notating where the animals and creatures were, Nyx made her way back to the wagons where they were being offloaded.
Sneachta watched the carnival guards trying to determine their watch patterns. He later met Len Shannul, the head of the carnival security forces. Sneatcha asked if they were looking for extra hands for security. Len stated they were always looking for help and was willing to arrange a meeting with Frederick. Sneachta declined and stated he would stop by tomorrow about the job prospect. Len told Sneatcha to stop by tomorrow and ask for him and he can get him a job.
Cannella walked around the wagons which were being off load and noticed a rather large muscular man which appeared to be a strongman at the carnival hand off something to a human male wearing clothing of nobility status. They exchange words and the human male gets on a horse and rides off.
Friac decided he wanted to check out the carnival and see what the gnomes were setting up. As he approaches the carnival he is stopped by several guards. The guards asks him what was his purpose for being there, Friac stated he was looking for a job. The guards escort Friac to Frederick’s wagon and knock. A very large and round human male answered the door and introduced himself as Fredrick. Fredrick asked for the purpose of Friac’s visit. Friac stated he was looking for work and wanted to help the gnomes assemble the rides. Frederick told Friac the gnomes did not need help but could use his help in other areas. The first aid station needed help and offered Friac a job helping Sister Selba organize and stock the wagon. Friac agreed and went over to the first aid wagon where he helped Sister Selba. After he was done, Friac was brought over to Mag’s wagon where he saw Mag talking to an elderly human woman wearing a fine cloak and dress. The woman thanked Mag and left while Friac approached. Mag paid Friac for his services and then he left the carnival for the day.
Back at the tent Nyx tells the party the animals have magical collars on and she will need to go back to Waterdeep to obtain some dispel magic wands to help defeat the collars. The party agrees and Nyx tells them it will take half a day for her to return with the items. Sneatcha, Cannella and Friac tell the party what witness and the party takes note. The group decides to call it a night.
In the morning Nyx teleports back to Waterdeep to retrieve the wands. Friac decided he wanted to go into Saltmarsh to shop. Valna decided he needed to be watched in case he encountered any problems. Cannella agreed to go with Valna as Sneatcha and Cora stayed at the tents. On their way into Saltmarsh, they saw an old house overlooking a cliff to the sea below. The house appeared to seen better days. They arrive into Saltmarsh and make their way over to the tavern. They inquire about the old house and the locals tell them it is the old Gellen house. Gellen did dark experiments which killed him and the house is haunted. At night strange lights can be seen with weird noises. The locals leave the house alone and tell them to stay away from it. Friac leaves the tavern and looks for a shop which sells alchemical goods which he finds the Alchemists’ Guildhall. Friac asks the guildmaster, Diomar, if he had any poisons. Diomar tells him it is illegal to possess poison in Saltmarsh unless he was going to use it for research purposes. Friac agrees it is for academic purposes and purchases some alchemical goods from Diomar.
Valna and Cannella leave the tavern to find Friac. They overhead town criers advertising Frederick’s Marvelous Carnivals of Wonders has opened a day earlier than advertised. While walking near town hall, they saw the human male which Cannella saw interacting with the strong man and an elderly woman which matched the description talking on the steps. They try to get closer to hear what they were saying but were not able to make out much of the conversation. Valna and Cannella decide to split up and follow them to see where they were going. Cannella follows the elderly woman as she walks to the edge of town and enters the Lilybrook Orphanage. Valna follows the human male which notices Valna following him. He stops and approaches Valna asking her why she was following him. Valna tells the human male she is new in Saltmarsh and felt she needed to ask him out because she was attracted to him. The human male blushed a bit and introduced himself as Egan Lassiter, one of Saltmarsh’s town council members. Egan tells Valna he was going to go to the carnival and offered to take Valna along. Valna agrees and goes to Egan’s home where he had to pick something up. They get into his wagon and leave Saltmarsh to head to the carnival.
Valna and Egan arrive at the carnival where Egan pays for Valna’s ticket. He asks what she would like to see and they decide to check out the animals and the magical creatures. While over at the magical creatures, Valna and Egan witness several children pick up stones and throw them at the creatures. Egan seemed a little upset and tells Valna he is going to talk with Frederick and wants Valna to come along. Valna resisted for a moment but decided to follow Egan. At Frederick’s wagon, Egan knocks on the door and Frederick answers. Frederick slightly surprised at seeing the council member invites them into his wagon. Egan and Valna enter the wagon while Alistair waited outside. Inside the wagon, Frederick introduces Egan and Valna to a human male sitting in the wagon as Mag his second in command. Egan introduces Frederick to Valna who tells them her name was Freda. Egan tells Frederick he is concerned for the welfare of some of the creatures. He witnessed the creatures were being abused and no one tried to stop it. Frederick seemed a little upset and assured Egan he would take care of the matter. Frederick asked Valna if there were any concerns which Valna echoed the same about how the creatures were treated. Frederick looked over to Mag and Mag asked Valna if she heard of a little terrorist name Cora. Valna told him she did not know any Cora. Mag pressed Valna again but Valna continued to deny knowing her. Mag smiled and told Valna she was lying because he knew Freda. Confused Valna attempted to talk her way out of wagon when Mag tells her they cannot let her interfere and had to put her on “ice”. Valna was hit with a polymorph spell transforming her into an ettin. Frederick walked over to Valna and put one of the magical collars on Valna as Jorg, the magical creature trainer, appears at the door to take Valna away.
Nyx returned to the tents at the same time Cannella and Friac. Nyx inquired about Valna and Cannella told Nyx she was following the man they saw earlier at the carnival and if she did not return, Valna would be at the carnival. Nyx tried to send a message to Valna and got an odd reply back. Fearing Valna was in trouble the party heads to the carnival. Cora wildshapes into a dog to disguise herself. The party arrives at the carnival to see the carnival has opened a day earlier. The party enters the carnival to find Valna. As they enter the carnival, Sneatcha notices the guards are keeping an eye on them. Figuring the carnival had eyes on the party, Sneatcha created a diversion by throwing undead bait into two of the animal cages causing them to react. Several people around the wagons became sick. The strongman and two clowns react and move towards the party. Cora and Nyx split off to see if they can free the magical creatures as the rest of the party engaged the clowns and the strongman. One of the clowns and the strongman attack Cannella as Sneatcha scares off several guards. Cannella takes several hits from the clowns and the strong man as Sneatcha turns his attention to the strongman. Cannella is able to kill one of the clowns before he is struck down from the other clown. Sneatcha gets into a brawling match with the strongman as Friac fires arrows at the strongman. Friac sees Cannella fall goes over and heals him as Sneatcha drops the strongman.
Cora and Nyx make their way through the crowd and uses the dispel wands on the magical creatures. They come to realize the magical creatures were people after the wand dispelled the polymorph spell. They see Alistair pacing near a wagon and make their way over. Cora decided to drop wild form in order to use the wand and makes her way over to Alistair when she is attacked by Mag. Mag hits her hard as she drops the disguise spell revealing she is a drow. Mag energy drains Cora as she topples on top of her. Nyx comes up and attacks Mag as Mag starts to drain Cora. Cora gets of a spell which harms Mag while Nyx hits her from behind causing Mag to turn into mist form. They lose Mag in the crowd and turn their attention back to the creature which is Valna. They turn Valna back to herself with the wands and release her from the wagon. The party regroups and heads to Frederick’s wagon to see if Mag fled to it or if they could find Frederick. The party enters the wagon after discovering it was empty. The party does a quick search as the session ended.
The party returns back inside the manor to discuss everything they know and strategize their next move. The party discuss going to the Halls of Heroes but feels their attention needs to be towards Fredrick’s Marvelous Carnival of Wonder. The party agrees to go to the carnival and retire for the night.
In the morning the party gears up and head out towards Saltmarsh where the carnival is going to open in a few day. After a day’s travel, they arrive at the outskirts of the forest and see the carnival in the process of setting up. The party set up their tents and decides to do a little reconnaissance in the morning.
The next morning Cora and Valna stay at the tents while Nyx, Cannella and Sneachta travel to Saltmarsh and find a dwarf named Radric Grimbeard, who owns Radric’s General Store, which was looking for guards and laborers to deliver fresh produce and meats to the carnival. They agreed to work as guards and escorted several wagons full of product to the carnival.
After arriving at the carnival, Nyx sneaks away and explores the area where the animals were located. She observed the animals were wearing collars which were controlling them. After notating where the animals and creatures were, Nyx made her way back to the wagons where they were being offloaded.
Sneachta watched the carnival guards trying to determine their watch patterns. He later met Len Shannul, the head of the carnival security forces. Sneatcha asked if they were looking for extra hands for security. Len stated they were always looking for help and was willing to arrange a meeting with Frederick. Sneachta declined and stated he would stop by tomorrow about the job prospect. Len told Sneatcha to stop by tomorrow and ask for him and he can get him a job.
Cannella walked around the wagons which were being off load and noticed a rather large muscular man which appeared to be a strongman at the carnival hand off something to a human male wearing clothing of nobility status. They exchange words and the human male gets on a horse and rides off.
Friac decided he wanted to check out the carnival and see what the gnomes were setting up. As he approaches the carnival he is stopped by several guards. The guards asks him what was his purpose for being there, Friac stated he was looking for a job. The guards escort Friac to Frederick’s wagon and knock. A very large and round human male answered the door and introduced himself as Fredrick. Fredrick asked for the purpose of Friac’s visit. Friac stated he was looking for work and wanted to help the gnomes assemble the rides. Frederick told Friac the gnomes did not need help but could use his help in other areas. The first aid station needed help and offered Friac a job helping Sister Selba organize and stock the wagon. Friac agreed and went over to the first aid wagon where he helped Sister Selba. After he was done, Friac was brought over to Mag’s wagon where he saw Mag talking to an elderly human woman wearing a fine cloak and dress. The woman thanked Mag and left while Friac approached. Mag paid Friac for his services and then he left the carnival for the day.
Back at the tent Nyx tells the party the animals have magical collars on and she will need to go back to Waterdeep to obtain some dispel magic wands to help defeat the collars. The party agrees and Nyx tells them it will take half a day for her to return with the items. Sneatcha, Cannella and Friac tell the party what witness and the party takes note. The group decides to call it a night.
In the morning Nyx teleports back to Waterdeep to retrieve the wands. Friac decided he wanted to go into Saltmarsh to shop. Valna decided he needed to be watched in case he encountered any problems. Cannella agreed to go with Valna as Sneatcha and Cora stayed at the tents. On their way into Saltmarsh, they saw an old house overlooking a cliff to the sea below. The house appeared to seen better days. They arrive into Saltmarsh and make their way over to the tavern. They inquire about the old house and the locals tell them it is the old Gellen house. Gellen did dark experiments which killed him and the house is haunted. At night strange lights can be seen with weird noises. The locals leave the house alone and tell them to stay away from it. Friac leaves the tavern and looks for a shop which sells alchemical goods which he finds the Alchemists’ Guildhall. Friac asks the guildmaster, Diomar, if he had any poisons. Diomar tells him it is illegal to possess poison in Saltmarsh unless he was going to use it for research purposes. Friac agrees it is for academic purposes and purchases some alchemical goods from Diomar.
Valna and Cannella leave the tavern to find Friac. They overhead town criers advertising Frederick’s Marvelous Carnivals of Wonders has opened a day earlier than advertised. While walking near town hall, they saw the human male which Cannella saw interacting with the strong man and an elderly woman which matched the description talking on the steps. They try to get closer to hear what they were saying but were not able to make out much of the conversation. Valna and Cannella decide to split up and follow them to see where they were going. Cannella follows the elderly woman as she walks to the edge of town and enters the Lilybrook Orphanage. Valna follows the human male which notices Valna following him. He stops and approaches Valna asking her why she was following him. Valna tells the human male she is new in Saltmarsh and felt she needed to ask him out because she was attracted to him. The human male blushed a bit and introduced himself as Egan Lassiter, one of Saltmarsh’s town council members. Egan tells Valna he was going to go to the carnival and offered to take Valna along. Valna agrees and goes to Egan’s home where he had to pick something up. They get into his wagon and leave Saltmarsh to head to the carnival.
Valna and Egan arrive at the carnival where Egan pays for Valna’s ticket. He asks what she would like to see and they decide to check out the animals and the magical creatures. While over at the magical creatures, Valna and Egan witness several children pick up stones and throw them at the creatures. Egan seemed a little upset and tells Valna he is going to talk with Frederick and wants Valna to come along. Valna resisted for a moment but decided to follow Egan. At Frederick’s wagon, Egan knocks on the door and Frederick answers. Frederick slightly surprised at seeing the council member invites them into his wagon. Egan and Valna enter the wagon while Alistair waited outside. Inside the wagon, Frederick introduces Egan and Valna to a human male sitting in the wagon as Mag his second in command. Egan introduces Frederick to Valna who tells them her name was Freda. Egan tells Frederick he is concerned for the welfare of some of the creatures. He witnessed the creatures were being abused and no one tried to stop it. Frederick seemed a little upset and assured Egan he would take care of the matter. Frederick asked Valna if there were any concerns which Valna echoed the same about how the creatures were treated. Frederick looked over to Mag and Mag asked Valna if she heard of a little terrorist name Cora. Valna told him she did not know any Cora. Mag pressed Valna again but Valna continued to deny knowing her. Mag smiled and told Valna she was lying because he knew Freda. Confused Valna attempted to talk her way out of wagon when Mag tells her they cannot let her interfere and had to put her on “ice”. Valna was hit with a polymorph spell transforming her into an ettin. Frederick walked over to Valna and put one of the magical collars on Valna as Jorg, the magical creature trainer, appears at the door to take Valna away.
Nyx returned to the tents at the same time Cannella and Friac. Nyx inquired about Valna and Cannella told Nyx she was following the man they saw earlier at the carnival and if she did not return, Valna would be at the carnival. Nyx tried to send a message to Valna and got an odd reply back. Fearing Valna was in trouble the party heads to the carnival. Cora wildshapes into a dog to disguise herself. The party arrives at the carnival to see the carnival has opened a day earlier. The party enters the carnival to find Valna. As they enter the carnival, Sneatcha notices the guards are keeping an eye on them. Figuring the carnival had eyes on the party, Sneatcha created a diversion by throwing undead bait into two of the animal cages causing them to react. Several people around the wagons became sick. The strongman and two clowns react and move towards the party. Cora and Nyx split off to see if they can free the magical creatures as the rest of the party engaged the clowns and the strongman. One of the clowns and the strongman attack Cannella as Sneatcha scares off several guards. Cannella takes several hits from the clowns and the strong man as Sneatcha turns his attention to the strongman. Cannella is able to kill one of the clowns before he is struck down from the other clown. Sneatcha gets into a brawling match with the strongman as Friac fires arrows at the strongman. Friac sees Cannella fall goes over and heals him as Sneatcha drops the strongman.
Cora and Nyx make their way through the crowd and uses the dispel wands on the magical creatures. They come to realize the magical creatures were people after the wand dispelled the polymorph spell. They see Alistair pacing near a wagon and make their way over. Cora decided to drop wild form in order to use the wand and makes her way over to Alistair when she is attacked by Mag. Mag hits her hard as she drops the disguise spell revealing she is a drow. Mag energy drains Cora as she topples on top of her. Nyx comes up and attacks Mag as Mag starts to drain Cora. Cora gets of a spell which harms Mag while Nyx hits her from behind causing Mag to turn into mist form. They lose Mag in the crowd and turn their attention back to the creature which is Valna. They turn Valna back to herself with the wands and release her from the wagon. The party regroups and heads to Frederick’s wagon to see if Mag fled to it or if they could find Frederick. The party enters the wagon after discovering it was empty. The party does a quick search as the session ended.
Rewards Granted
Experience for the session: 2,500xp. Party's total experience to date: 17,896xp.
Party share of the treasure as follows: (total value:7,000gp)
Gold found in Frederick's wagon (18,000gp).
Party share of the treasure as follows: (total value:7,000gp)
Gold found in Frederick's wagon (18,000gp).
- Gems worth 24,000gp.
- An unidentified purple ring.
- An unidentified wooden ring.
- A pouch of dust.
- An unidentified wand.
Notes
Key Findings:
- Frederick's Marvelous Carnivals of Wonders is a front for a Night Masks operation.
- The magical creatures at the carnivals are people being held by the Night Masks and polymorphed into magical creatures.
- Egan Lassiter, a member of Saltmarsh Town Council, was seen being handed something by one of the carnival performers.
- Audry Lillybrook, the head of the Lillybrook Orphanage, was seen with Mag.
- Mag was using a disguise and her true form is a drow. Mag is also a vampire. For some reason she has immunities to daylight.
- Outside of Saltmarsh is an old house reported to be haunted by the locals.
Report Date
18 Jan 2022
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