C2 E1: Finding Floon

The PCs meet, and receive their first quest together. It rather quickly spirals out of control.
* Current Secrets
* Player Characters
== The Yawning Portal: Many Meetings ==
Ladro Lamora has received an odd message from The Rosewinds:
Come to the Yawning Portal tonight. Find the goliath and the redheads. The man with the cup takes two minutes and forty eight seconds. Watch out for the troll. Bring a healer.
He meets up with Petunia, who he knows helps people with problems they'd rather not be widely known. 
On the same night, Tovarish of the UFFR, Rentommen Highpike, and Kaavu Icestrider arrive at the Yawning Portal, having just seen Tovarish's friend Skit out of the city. Tovarish and Rentommen want to repay Skit's 1000-dragon debt to the Zhentarim so they can reopen their shop. Kaavu wants to help them so he can do honorable and glorious deeds. They speak to Durnan, who points them to an open table and says he'll point the next job he can to them. Ideally Ladro takes this moment to approach and meet. 
=== Gang Trouble ===
Xanathar Bandits x6 (MM p. 343)
Yagra (half-orc thug, MM p. 350) – has a tattoo of a black flying serpent on the back of her neck (she isn’t a Manshoonian Zhentarim, however; she works with the Doom Raiders).
Krentz (bald-pated with eye-shaped tattoos covering his head): “I thought we told ye not come around here, pig.”
Yagra: “You dare! After the blood you’ve spilled!” She roars in rage and attacks.
What do the PCs do?
=== Portal Dipping ===
A young man stands up, slightly tipsy, from his table. They start chanting "Dip! Dip! Dip! Dip!". Soon, the whole bar is roaring along in unison. "DIP! DIP! DIP!" The man slaps a gold piece down on the table and strips to his underwear. Durnan gives him a drink in a wooden cup and a small silver bell. 
The several bards nod at each other. One (Threestrings) counts out time with the chant, and the tavern bursts into song:
The Dipping Song
Deep and dark down below,
where only fools and braggarts go,
where monster roam and dangers mortal,
few survive the Yawning Portal,
stand your ground or ring the bell,
and hope you make it up the well!
The young man stands on the rim of the portal. He downs the drink, tosses the cup into the depths, and ties the rope around his waist. His friends begin lowering him. Durnan starts a minute glass timer.
Betting 
Around you, patrons begin making bets. "Stays down three minutes!" "Comes up without the cup!" etc.
Return 
After one minute, some people grumble and some cheer. Coins change hands. 
After two minutes, there is a rustle and another set of bets resolve.
At almost three minutes (2:48 to be exact), the sound of a bell echoes up. The rope is hauled up, and more bets are exchanged.
Troll
The young man appears over the lip, one hand holding the rope, the other triumphantly holding the cup. The patrons cheer. 
He's about 10 feet away when a troll climbs up from below. Durnan pulls a greatsword from behind the bar and attacks. Krentz and the Xanathar goons run for cover, along with most patrons. 
In the 2nd round of the combat, 12 stirges explode into a frenzy from the troll's back. Durnan yells for the PC's to focus on the stirges while he and Yagra fight the troll.
=== Volo ===
After the fight, Durnan leads Volo to the PCs' table. 
The figure who sits with you strokes his mustache, adjusts his floppy hat, and tightens his scarf. “Volothamp Geddarm, chronicler, wizard, and celebrity, at your service. I am most impressed by your derring-do, and the truth is that I fear I have misplaced a friend amid the odious violence which has recently been seizing the streets of this fair city, and I could use your assistance in finding him. You’d be well paid, of course."
Payment is 100gp per character, and 10gp of that is up front. DC 10 insight indicates Volo is stretching the truth—he is low on cash while waiting for royalties to reach him. 
 My friend’s name is Floon Blagmaar. He’s got more beauty than brains, but he’s a great drinking companion. Last night he accompanied me to The Skewered Dragon, a dark, bawdy tavern in the Dock Ward. I called it an early night, but Floon remained – drinking and merrymaking. 
His wife tracked me down here in the Yawning Portal half an hour ago and told me that Floon never came home last night. This was doubly surprising, as I had not previously been aware that he was married.
Floon is a handsome man in his early thirties with wavy red-blond hair. He is not difficult to pick out of a crowd, however, for he insists on always wearing a gaudy, 6-inch bas relief of a unicorn’s head on a chain of blue pearls around his neck.''
The necklace is a holy symbol of Lurue.
== Tracking Floon == 
Blood in the Streets
DH p. 23. Mention that the three men who are under arrest each have a black tattoo of a flying snake. One has it on the hand, two have it on their arms.
=== Revelation 1: Zhentarim Kidnapped Floon ===
* Canvassing the Neighborhood: Several people saw Floon and another man (Renaer) waylaid in front of the Old Xoblob Shop (see Dragon Heist, p. 23). Xoblob the Gnome can describe the attack (see Dragon Heist, p. 24). Searching outside Xoblob’s shop will turn up a gaudy, 6-inch bas relief of a unicorn lying in the gutter (see "Tracking Floon's Beads" below).
* Questioning at The Skewered Dragon: As the PCs arrive, the evening regulars might be rolling back in. Several of them will remember Floon and be able to describe how he drank with Volo, Volo left, and then he was joined by another man, a “spoiled, rich noble who likes to rub our noses in it!” (Note: Homas, the bartender, knows that the other man was Renaer Neverember, the son of Waterdeep’s previous Open Lord, Dagult Neverember, but he won’t be free with that information.) Floon and the other man left around midnight. They were followed out by several men, one of whom had a tattoo of a flying black snake on his neck.
* (Note: Contrary to the published scenario, the patrons of the Skewered Dragon do NOT know that the “flying black snake” men can be found on Candle Lane. Some of them may be able to identify them as Zhentarim gangsters at the GM’s discretion.)
=== Revelation 2: Floon is Held at Candle Lane ===
* Canvassing the Neighborhood (Looking for Tattoos): Several locals have seen men with flying black snake tattoos “up by the candle warehouse on Candle Lane” (see Dragon Heist, p. 24). Surveying the lane identifies the correct warehouse because it had a black winged snake painted above the front door’s handle. Asking workers at the other warehouses along Candle Lane can also point them at the right warehouse, and may also reveal that there was some kind of “ruckus” over there early this morning, with large groups of people coming and going.
* Questioning the Prisoners: The PCs may backtrack to the “Blood in the Streets” crime scene and figure out a way to talk to the Zhentarim agents being held by the city watch. (They’re likely to speak with Captain Staget, see Dragon Heist, p. 27). If they can convince these agents to talk, they’ll learn that they aren’t local, but were told to report to the warehouse as a safe haven after performing the hit on the Xanatharians.
* Tracking Floon’s Beads: Floon kept his wits about him as he and Renaer were being kidnapped. Breaking the necklace around his neck, he let the blue beads drop into the streets and alleys as they were carried to the warehouse. PCs who find the unicorn’s head in the street outside Xoblob’s may be able to track the trail of beads back to the Zhentarim warehouse.
=== Proactive Failsafes ===
* Zhentarim hear that the PCs are asking questions about Zhentarim agents, safe havens, or both. 3 Zhent thugs (MM, p. 350) come to intimidate them into going away. (Adroit PCs can turn the tables, question them, and learn the location of the warehouse.)
* A small squad of Zhentarim agents arrives at the Zhentarim warehouse. The kenku lying in ambush attack them, and the fight spills out into the street right in front of the PCs.
== At the Warehouse ==
WHAT HAPPENED: After he lost his Eye to Xanathar, Manshoon needed to get back in the game. His agents eventually concluded that Neverember’s son, Renaer, might have another of the Eyes. They were right, although Renaer didn’t know it: His father had given him an elaborate, ivory mourning locket in honor of his mother. The Eye was hidden inside it.
* Zhentarim agents snatch Renaer Neverember and his friend Floon Blagmaar.
* While questioning Renaer in Area Z5, they realize that the Eye is in the mourning locket and take the locket from Renaer.
* Renaer is hauled back down to Area Z2 and tied up next to Floon. Upstairs, the Zhentarim break open the locket (it can still be found in Area Z5), remove the Eye, and give it to a courier to carry to Manshoon.
* Floon is then hauled upstairs for questioning (the Zhentarim want to see if he might be worth a ransom).
* Xanathar’s agents storm the warehouse. They immediately find “the prisoner” (i.e., Floon), assume he’s Renaer, and several of their agents hustle him out to their sewer hideout. Meanwhile, Renaer takes advantage of the confusion downstairs to slip his bonds and hide in Area Z2.
* Xanathar’s agents do a perfunctory sweep of the warehouse and then take off, leaving the kenku behind to kill any Zhents who show up.
DEAD SNAKE: A black flying snake lies dead in the lower yard, pierced by an arrow. (GM Note: The Zhentarim tried to send it as a messenger during the attack, but a Xanatharian watcher shot it down.)
RENAER: Renaer will be able to tell the PCs that he was questioned by the Zhents about the half million dragons his father stole from the city. Then they ripped off a locket that was very precious to him. If they find the locket and see the (now empty) secret compartment inside it, Renaer can also tell them that he had no idea that the compartment existed or what was stored inside it.
QUESTIONING THE KENKU: May reveal the existence of the guildsign in the sewers (see below). Beyond that, the kenku are largely incapable of describing where the hideout is located. However, they can lead the PCs there (although they’ll be looking for opportunities to lead them into traps or otherwise betray them).
===The Watch Arrives===
Shortly after the PCs find Renaer Neverember, a captain of the City Watch named Hyustus Staget leads a dozen veterans to the warehouse. They barge in & try to prevent anyone from leaving after a report of suspicious activity. Any kenku still alive are taken into custody. The Watch quickly concludes that the dead bodies are Zhentarim and Xanathar agents. Captain Staget questions the PCs.
Staget and Renaer recognize each other, but aren't well acquainted. He is prepared to overlook the PC's crimes since there is a noble nearby but gives the PCs the Code Legal handout.
*Staget recently pulled his surveillance of the warehouse to bolster street patrols.
** He regrets this decision
**Surveillance was an attempt to catch Urstul Floxin, a "big fish" Zhent instigator. (Needs to be persuaded to share this information).
*Staget will not help the PCs locate Floon.
**"I won't risk my men in search of someone who may be a Zhent or Xanathar spy!"
**"Let the bastards kill each other, I say."
*Staget encourages the PCs to stay out of it. "Best leave this to the professionals. But whatever you do, keep the blood off the streets, okay?"
==Tracking Floon==
PCs should know at this point:
*Floon was kidnapped by the Xanathar Guild
*Floon was mistaken for Renaer Neverember
*Floon was taken to a nearby Xanathar Sewer Hideout
**DC 15 investigation or 5gp of bribes indicates a circular metal cover inset in an alley's pavement: an open sewer entrance!
**The Xanatharians exited the warehouse through the yard on the lower level and accessed the sewer half a block away down the alley. A DC 12 Wisdom (Survival) check easily tracks them that far.
===Navigating the Sewers===
Sewers have no natural light.
*Requires three successful DC 13 Wisdom (Survival) checks. 
**On a failure, the PCs waste considerable time needing to backtrack and pick up the trail.
**If the PCs fail the test three times, they’ve wasted too much time: When they arrive at the hideout, they find it abandoned except for the goblin watchers in Q2 and Zemk, the usual keeper of the hideout, in Q5. Floon’s dead body lies in Q7. (Zemk will toss it into the sewer later in the day when he gets around to it.)
*GUILDSIGN: Symbols scrawled in yellow chalk – a stylized representation of Xanathar – are marked at each tunnel intersection in the sewers, indicating the path which should be followed by the direction the main eye is looking. 
**Once the PCs are aware of the guildsign, they can simply follow it back to the hideout.
==Xanathar Hideout==
This should play mostly as described in the book.
There is a gazer guarding the entrance to the hideout. Above the entrance is a ladder leading to the cellar of The Spouting Fish, a tavern in the Dock Ward. 
The boss of this sewer hideout is Grum'shar, a half-orc. He is using a mind flayer, Nihiloor, to interrogate Floon as a demonstration of power. All doors in the hideout are unlocked. 
See Xanathar Sewer Hideout for details.
== TO DO / HAPPENINGS ==
* arrive at the yawning portal
** Order drinks (added to tab, 8 silver)
*** Durnan has a single wine glass at the bar for Ladro, everyone else has tankards and mugs
** PCs do not get involved in Yagra's fight
*** Krentz runs away
*** Yagra wins
** PCs fight against the troll, do not bet on the dip
* PCs go to the dock ward
** Ladro asks Xoblob about the shop and learns about the attack
** Petunia learns from the Skewered Dragon patrons that Renear and Floon were followed out, points towards Candle Lane
** Tovarish finds the trail of blue pearls and Tom follows it to the warehouse. Ladro does some recon
* PCs decide it is time to take a rest in the alley and attack in the morning
** Go to sleep at Ladro's house, all PCs except Petunia (who knows) see the statues of Ladro's family—FLOON DIES
** Wife: Zastra, daughter: Tivola
* PCs investigate the warehouse
** Tom replaces his boat shoes with boots
** Petunia questions a kenku and learns about the guildsigns and the sewer hideout
** Watch does NOT arrive—Staget goes to visit Trollskull Manor
* PCs investigate the Xanathar Sewer Hideout
** Floon is dead
** Tovarish carries the body back to Volo at the Yawning Portal, gain Trollskull and meet urchins briefly
* mechanisms: The Basilisk Device
Category:Campaign 2
Category:Episodes