AW001

## AW001 - The Gang Arrives in Elturel

### Elturel Gates - Day

The gang arrives at Elturel from Baldur's Gate in disguise as emissaries of the Bladesmith's Guild of Waterdeep with orders from the commander of the Flaming Fist, Liara Portyr, to find out what happened to Grand Duke Ravenguard of Baldur's Gate. Grand Duke Ravenguard was formally invited to Elturel for peace talks, as the two cities have had deeply strained relations, even skirmishes and war threats. This has been going on for many years now.

The Grand Duke arrived around 3 weeks before the beginning of the campaign. Portyr informed the gang that the Grand Duke was corresponding with her via messenger raven. At first his messages were normal, then they got strange, then just stopped coming altogether.

She would also like the gang to find out why political rivals to the Grand Duke, The Vanthampur clan (led by Thalamra Vanthampur) are in Elturel. It is known that they were formally invited by High Overseer of Elturel, Thavius Kreeg, but something seems amiss with the timing of the Grand Duke's disappearance.

With the week long 'Festival of the Dawn' to begin the next day, people have come all over Faerun to celebrate it in the holy city. The disguises and documents helped the gang skip the queue and get into the city.

### Elturel - Day

The gang did some shopping in the market, buying various supplies and then made their way to the docks to meet Porty's contact, Tarina Telsom, who escorts them to a cosy and gear-laden safe house in a nondescript alley near Dock number 3.

Two members of the gang have to depart, citing other business. One of them, Stovyre, noticed that the guards did seem to be keeping tabs on the gang as they made their way through the docks.

At the safe house, Tarina talks of a pre-festival function happening at the High Hall, which would be a good place to do some reconnaissance. The gang grab some gear and head towards Elturel's upper city, trusting on the Bladesmith's Guild disguises to get them into the reception area of the function.

On the way, they meet Tieflng archmage of Candlekeep Sylvira Savikas and her Hollyphant companion Lulu, who recognise Tarina from previous jobs together. Sylvira asks the gang to look into the disappearance of her spy friend, Falaster Fisk.  She mentioned that he left Candlekeep in a hurry to come to Elturel, only mentioning something about "dangerous artifacts".

Lulu is a childlike, inquisitive and gregarious creature. She communicates telepathically, and seemed to know surface level history about each party member. She also said she had a "bad feeling" when she looked towards the High Hall.

### Elturel High Hall - Day

The gang move to the High Hall. Inside the main nave, the room is cut off by a wall of Hellriders. One of the Hellriders eyeballs the gang and motions for them to come over to a confession box. There she revealed herself to be Reya Mantlemorn, spy master of the Hellriders. She has had eyes on the party ever since they arrived and knew of Tarina's prescence also. Rather than have the gang arrested, she believes she and they can work together in secret to find out what Thavis Kreeg and the Vanthampurs are up to.

Reya also has some info on people the gang are looking for. Grand Duke Ravenguard is being held in the inner sanctum of the High Hall. Mortlock Vanthampur and "a spy" are being held The Dungeon of the Inquisitor. This prison is underneath the High Hall itself, and is connected to the city's ancient catacombs. Reya continues that the inner sanctum is too heavily guarded and even she doesn't have access, so coming through the catacombs to rescue the prisoners would be the best course of action. She needs a few days to acquire a map, as entrances to the catacombs are either well guarded or well-hidden. This conversation is cut short when Thavius Kreeg begins his speech, joined there by Duke Vanthampur and two of her sons, Amrik and Thrustwell. The speech covers the upcoming festival, the Companion and two keys bits of information:

* When Grand Duke Ravenguard came to Elturel for peace talks, he broke when entering the High Hall and confessed a lot of sins to Kreeg. Kreeg said that he could help him repent, and would personally help him "find Torm".
* Duke Vanthampur would ascend to the position of Grand Duke of Baldur's Gate while Ravenguard was "finding Torm."

The gang decide to head back to the safe house and meet with Reya at dock number 15 in a few hours' time.