Session 55: Plots Within Plots Report

General Summary

In the aftermath of the Zhentarim attack on Trollskull Manor and Tavern, the party assess the situation. They find the giant fire beetle they bought in Skullport unharmed and "BB8", Cameron Overholt's Modron damaged but alive. Augustus Montgomery du Pont III tries to calm Lillian Haekin who is taking this all badly.
Neighbors arrive to help clean up and offer whatever aid they can. Tally Fellbranch offers her services to fix the furniture. Fala Lefaliir offers to identify any potions they have for free. Avi and Embric inform the party Runt Thundermount's armor is ready and has been "improved" by Fala (Embric is not happy about it). Cameron overhears Emmeck Frewn outside commenting how the party and the members of their household are ruining the neighborhood and bringing violence to the street. Cameron creates a "boozy rock" and hands it to Runt. Runt throws it at Emmeck almost killing him but Andryn Stormpeak is able to stabilize him. Ryba (who has been staring oddly at Frewn throughout this entire scene) offers to take Emmeck back to his tavern. Runt and Cameron see her push him into an alley and Cameron overhears them argue. Ryba accuses him of selling her out to the Zhentarim. It becomes apparent that Emmeck sent them the Keg Golems and hired Ryba to mess with their business. He mentions that he should perhaps speak to the Snobeedles. The party recalls their run in with Blossom Snobeedle, the owner of the meadery who the party discovered had hired enchanted scarecrows to terrorize the neighboring Stoutfellow Farm. They might want to know about their son. Ryba clams up. Cameron threatens Emmeck and speaks to Ryba, offering to have her stay on. She doesn't commit, but seems somewhat intrigued.
There's much debate on what to do next, but the party picks up Runt's armor from Steam and Steel before setting off for the Dock Ward to talk to Vincent Trench. They find Vincent at the Seven Masks Theater. He informs them it's owned by Rongquan Mystere. He's seen drow come and go, all reporting to Rongquan personally.
The party sneak in full stealth, thanks to Runt's new armor. While rehearsals are going on they sneak into the stage manager's office and find a note referencing Fenrus Stormcastle. It's addressed to "J" and signed by "K." It says the Zhentarim are watching Stormcastle and they should cut him loose. The party explores the rest of the backstage before Runt casts Disguise Self (looking like Rongquan Mystere) to poke his head into the front offices, finding nothing.
As Runt is leaving the last ticket booth office, they hear Rongquan say he's leaving for the afternoon and realize he's about to enter the lobby. Cameron distracts him, offering some kind of "dinner and theater" deal with Trollskull Tavern and this theater. He seems interested and invites them back into the office. Inside, as soon as the door closes, he immediately turns and asks them for an update on the Stone of Golorr. He tells them he's working for Laeral Silverhand, the Open Lord of Waterdeep. Stunned, the party gives him a few details. They tell him the Zhentarim are on a mission of revenge. He tells them his people are trying to find information themselves. They know Sea Maiden's Faire is involved somehow, confusing the party. As he's trying to write the information down he asks them how the Zhentarim got revenge. When they mentioned missing children Rongquan pauses and says "well, that changes things. That's one thing I just cannot abide." He removes his hat revealing himself to be Jarlaxle Baenre. He further reveals he's also Zardoz Zord and a past patron of Trollskull Tavern.

Rewards Granted

Potions Identified by Fala Lefaliir:

• Topaz potion – A rich and aromatic liquid. Tastes slightly of peaches. When drunk, the imbiber gains a slight static charge. For the next hour, once per turn, the user can deal an extra 1D4 lightning damage. Every time they elect to deal this extra damage, roll 1d20 at the end of their turn. If they roll a 1, the charge dissipates.
• (2) Lime-green oil – A slightly sweet and pungent smelling liquid. When applied to mundane weapons or three pieces of ammunition, the item(s) count as magical for purposes of resistances and immunities for 1 hour. Each vial contains a single dose.
• Rainbow potion – A myriad of smells and tastes fill this potion. She is unable to identify this one exactly.
• (2) Dark blue potion – Discolored healing potions. Function as normal.
• Pink Oil – A caustic, fouls smelling liquid. When applied to non-magical stone or metal, the liquid quickly dissolves it into a fine powder. Contains enough oil for 5 cubic feet of material.
• Jug of Clear Liquid – Ordinary, but stale, water
• (3) Burgundy Potions - 3 potions of long rest
Ironleaf Armor: This set of plate armor is etched with imagery of antlers. The thin lines of the etching are colored dark green and, if you catch it at a certain light, the metalwork art seems to have an ethereal shine. It's lined with magical moss and small vines and gives you a +1 bonus to your AC. While wearing the armor, its moss seem to move the armor's metal plates when you move, allowing you to ignore the plate armor's normally imposed disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks. In addition, the vines are able to absorb some of the impact from blunt attacks, granting you resistance to bludgeoning damage. When you take fire damage, the leaves wither and lose some of their protection until the start of your next turn. While the leaves are withered in this way, you are not resistant to bludgeoning damage.
Mantle of the Wild. While wearing this armor, you can cast pass without trace once without expending a spell slot. Once you've cast this spell in this way, you can't do so again until the following dawn.

Missions/Quests Completed

You learned from Ryba that Emmeck Frewn sent the Keg Golems to the tavern to mess with the group.

Campaign

Waterdeep - Dragon Heist

Protagonists

Runt Thundermount

Cameron Overholt

Andryn Stormpeak

Caelynn Amastacia

Report Date

28 Jun 2021

Primary Location

Trollskull Alley

Secondary Location

Dock Ward