Waterdeep: Dragon Heist

## The Portal Under the Stars

*2019-01-01*

Seeking wealth and escape from their peasant lives, the characters investigate a supernatural portal that appears only once every half-century when the stars are right.

*For long years, you laboured in the fields like all the peasants, sweating hot and dirty in the summer, only to shiver under threadbare hides when winter came. This year’s harvest ended like all the rest, and autumn’s work was hard on Old Man Roberts. When you visited his bedside at the end, he spoke in laboured breaths of constellations that hadn’t been seen since he was a young lad. The last time the Empty Star had risen in the sky, it was more than fifty winters past, he said. Under the light of that strange star a portal had opened by the old stone mounds. He’d seen jewels in there and fine steel spears and enamelled armour, but he’d run when the iron men had attacked. Now, old and dying, he wishes he’d taken the chance on a life of adventure. The Empty Star is once more rising, and a young man with courage could be more than just another peasant – if only he’d take the chance Old Man Robert hadn’t.*

*You’re taking that chance. You stand before the monolithic rocks of the old stone mounds, under the dark light of a starry sky. The Empty Star is clear and bright above you. Three of the large stone blocks lean haphazardly together to form an upright rectangular portal about the size of a man. They seem to be placed directly beneath the star’s path. As the Empty Star ascends to its brightest point, its light catches in the portal, and a shimmering stone-lined corridor is visible through the stones, but only from one side of the opening. Grasping your pitchfork with white knuckles, you step into the starlit portal which was not there before today, thoughts of jewels and scorching wheat fields foremost in your mind.*

In the portal beneath the star, the Al's astrologer decyphered the doors pattern by noting that the constellations would match the sky overhead soon. Brendan defeated the guardian statue knights by destroying one and crawling under the mechanical swing of the second while passing through into the Monument Hall.

Running from the towering granite statue of the barbarian mage inside, Zach and Brendan ran headlong into Ssisssuraaaaggg, the immortal demon-snake. They bartered a "cow" (a hen) to the demon in exchange for not being eaten themselves then fled respectfully.

Myra and Al instead went to the Gazing Pool with the man-shaped crystal creatures and illuminated star like gems embedded in the floor. The creatures were drawn the the character's torch and they were lured away by throwing it. While prying gems from the floor however the granite barbarian from the previous room threw rays of fire through the door, killing some peasants. Once the door was closed and more gems pried lose the entire floor collapsed dropping the characters into the floor below. Zach was able to throw a rope down rescuing one person, but the other was killed by the clay army they had landed on.

After plundering the rest of the tomb the weak, injured, and the wise retired with their share of the treasure back to their mundane lives while the aspiring heroes with the bravery to continue made plans to travel together to Waterdeep:

* Ulysses, guild beggar
* Johanna, parsnip farmer
* Berdach of the meadows, wheat farmer
* Gia, wheat farmer

On the journey from Dessarin Valley to Waterdeep Johanna met came across an interesting book, Volo's Waterdeep Enchiridion. A purportedly popular new guide by traveller and storyteller Volothamp Geddarm, a passing trader is willing to part with his personal copy for a gold dragon or one of the glowing crystals you found through the portal:

*Johanna: A gold piece, the nerve*

*Merchant: It's a popular read, my good woman. I've half a mind to keep it with me on my next leg and sell it at my next stop after I've reread it. You wont be disappointed, no indeed. See the quality of the paper, the detail of the illustrations...*

*Johanna: Very well, I will pay your extortionate price. Hopefully I will come across another fool down the line who will buy from me.*

## A Friend in Need

*2019-03-23*

Months after their arrival in Waterdeep the budding adventurers have begun to establish themselves in the city. Ulysses specific talents found him unusually easy entry into New Olamn, while Berdach managed to barter a spellbook found through the portal under the stars for admission as an initiate at the House of Wonder. This chapter begins with a night out at the Yawning Portal celebrating Berdach's Starflight rite of passage:

The budding adventurers sat at the Yawning Portal, around a sturdy wooden table lit by a brightly burning candle and littered with plates cleared of food and half-drained tankards. The sounds of gamblers yelling and drunken adventurers singing bawdy songs nearly drowned out the off-key strumming of the young bard Threestrings a few tables over. Amidst the merrymaking a figure approached the table:

*"Volothamp Geddarm, chronicler, wizard, and celebrity, at your service. I trust you've noted the violence in our fair city these past tendays. I haven't seen so much blood since my last visit to Baldur's Gate! But now I fear I have misplaced a friend amid this odious malevolence.*

*"My friend's name is Floon Blagmaar. He's got more beauty than brains, and I worry he took a bad way home a couple nights ago and was k id napped-or worse. If you agree to track him down with all due haste, I can offer you ten dragons apiece now, and I can give you each ten times that when you find Floon. May I prevail upon you in my hour of need?"*

Volo pays the characters one dragon each to track down his missing friend who was last seen drinking and merrymaking at the Skewered Dragon, a dark, bawdy tavern in the Dock Ward. Floon's trailed was followed to Old Bob Xoblob who was initially cagey but warmed to the party after Gia purchased some of the purple stimulant herb he was smoking. Bob Xoblob said that Floon and a well-dressed fellow of similar appearance and bearing (Renaer Neverember, though the gnome didn't know his name and didn't recognize him) were jumped outside the shop by rough-looking men in black leather armour who then fled down Candle Lane. One of them had a black tattoo of a winged snake on his neck.

Unwilling to tangle with the Black Network without making inquiries the characters headed back to the Yawning Portal to consult with Threestrings, who reassured that turnover among the rank and file of the Zhents was unlikely to be considered as more than a business expense. Regardless, the increase in risk and production of a lead was enough for Volo to offer a second dragon to each character to mount a rescue.

Returning to Candle Lane to investigate, the characters find the symbol of the black winged snake painted above to a door handle to a warehouse. Infiltrating the building they found that they had been beaten there by a goblin mob associated with the Xanathar guild, who had already killed the Zhent kidnappers and taken Floon in a suspected case of mistaken identity.

On the night of the abduction, Renaer was concerned that Floon was too intoxicated to find his way home by
himself and offered to escort him. The two were jumped by five thugs as they left Fillet Lane and headed north on Zastrow Street. Renaer felt guilty that Floon was taken, since he (correctly) believed that they mistook Floon for him:

*The Zhentarim thinks that my father embezzled a large amount of gold while he was Open Lord, and that he
hid the dragons somewhere in the city. They think they can find it by using an artifact called the Stone of Golorr, which was in the hands of the Xanathar Guild until recently. Apparently, someone stole it. The Zhents thought I knew something about all of this, but I don't. My father and I haven't spoken in years.*

Under questioning by Johanna the surviving goblin revealed that Floon was taken to a thieves' guild hideout in the sewers, locatable by following a series of yellow signs. Believing him, and trusting his word that the character's wouldn't see him again and if they did it would be in lawful circumstances, the goblin fled.

Before long the earlier sounds of battle between the characters and the goblins drew a response from the City Watch. Having received a report of suspicious activity, a dozen watch led by Captain Staget barged in and prevented anyone from leaving. It didn't take long for the his constables to search the warehouse and conclude that the dead men were members of the Zhentarim and the Xanathar Guild. Staget and Renaer recognized each other, though they aren't well acquainted. The involvement of a Neverember noble prompted the captain to be on his best behaviour.

With the City Watch having no inclination to enter the sewers based on hearsay, the character's left to follow the marks after leaving Renaer in the Watch's capable hands.

*A putrid stream flows along this sewer tunnel, which leads in two directions. In one direction, you see a tiny symbol drawn on the wall in yellow chalk: a palm-sized circle with ten equidistant spokes radiating out from its circumference.*

Slogging through 1-foot-deep water and sewage, the hideout of the Xanathar Guild operatives who snatched up Floon is deep in the city's labyrinthine sewers. Inside, the characters witness the following scene:

*Threadbare curtains hang on the east wall of a long hall, in the middle of which a muscular half-ore in dingy
robes stands with his foot on the chest of a man with wavy red-blond hair. Fire burns around the ore's clenched fist, and his victim cries and squirms helplessly beneath him.*

*Seated on a raised platform to the south is a nightmarish figure wearing black robes. It has large white eyes and rubbery purple skin, with four tentacles encircling its inhuman mouth. It cradles and gently caresses what looks like a disembodied brain with feet.*

In the ensuring melee the nightmare creature glided out of the room and stepped through a portal, while the disembodied brain ran at the characters. Both the half-orc and the brain were dispatched with relative ease, and Floon was rescued.

## Trollskull Alley

*2019-05-04*

With the rescue of Floon a grateful Volo rewards the party with a further two dragons a head and Renaer offers the valuable but damaged spellsong Golden Wings in personal thanks. In the tenday following the adventurers were surprised to learn that Renaer had been making inquiries into their reputation and character and had apparently reached a decision regarding their worth.

Renaer seemed especially interested in Johanna's work in the Southern Ward as a hired sword protecting commoners from the low level street war between the Black Network and the Agents of the Eye. In recognition for his rescue he spoke with Sir Ander on Johanna's behalf and sponsored her entrance into the knightly Order of the Golden Cup,

Renaer explained his political situation in the Great Game and made a mutually beneficial offer. In exchange for a contract of Livery and Maintenance the adventurers will agree to act as Renaer's agents in the matter of the city funds allegedly embezzled by his estranged father.

The contract includes provisions for Trollskull Manor to be subinfeudated to the adventurers as maintenance for their knight-service. As part of Renaer's affinity they also earned the right to bear his coat of arms and were given their choice of livery badges at Brandarth Hall. Johanna, in accordance with her newly taken vows of poverty, accepted a small ribbon badge to be worn over her surcoat. With and eye for value Gia and Ulysses both took luxurious but practical capes in Neverember family colours, extravagantly pinned with the Neverember lion and weaved with enchantments of comfort.

Renaer made introductions and arrangements at the Steam and Steel for to have their arms maintained and for his retainers to get armour fitted that hadn't been scavenged from a dusty barbarian's grave. Gia assumed a heraldic badge, in accordance with her new status, and commissioned a graven yew longbow from the artisan Tally at the The Bent Nail.

Trollskull Manor itself was the grandest building in along Trollskull Alley however it has fallen into disrepair after the death of the previous barkeep and subsequent haunting. Volo himself had contracted with Renaer to stay in the ruined Inn previously to acquire source material for his upcoming guidebook Volo's Guide to Spirits and Specters. Renaer has previously had Guild representatives inspect the property and estimates it will take about 1250s just to pass habitability laws and to reopen a spartan taproom. With that much coin well beyond the means of the adventurers, and unwilling to make deals with shady money lenders, the adventurer's instead sought to ply their trade at Blue Alley.

With two tendays to kill before their arms and armour were ready, the adventurer's doubled down on their work to establish themselves in the city.

* Ulysses wove an enchantment that allowed him to speak with the mice cohabiting with them and convinced them to leave for greener pastures, saving a significant sum on guild fees.
* Gia spent her time among the nobles of the North Ward lifting valuable trinkets to sell for food and supplies for her companions.
* Berdach was at the House of Wonder learning the mysteries of the weave.
* Johanna started her service as an adorned sufferer at the Hospice of St. Laupsenn. Sir Ander entrusted the novice with an Ilmatari relic, a hair shirt of suffering.

### Blue Alley

Word of mouth says that many years ago an evil and reclusive mage constructed Blue Alley for his own amusement. He filled it with rich treasures and deadly traps, and enticed adventurers to brave its dangers while he gleefully watched from a hidden location. Although everyone knows Blue Alley is a deathtrap, it has become a rite of passage for young adventurers seeking to establish a reputation. The dungeon is regularly replenished with treasure, often stolen from the affluent houses of Waterdeep.

Gia, Ulysses and Johanna braved Blue Alley to recover a small sculpture called the Celestite Unicorn, a statute that claims to be a real unicorn that was cursed, and who doesn't seem to mind being part of Mirt's household. Mirt payed a handsome reward of 250s for the return of the sculpture and seemed remarkably unperturbed by the whole event. Also recovered from Blue Alley were a moon-touched sword and a bronze bell which is silent when shaken and then rings five minutes later.

## A Haunted Past, and an Explosion in Trollskull Alley

*2019-05-31*

* Gia made introduction with Jenks and his friends Nat and the tiefling Squiddly, a group of street orphans who frequent Trollskull Alley. They were cagey but gave the impression that they sometimes squat on the property. They heard from a friend who heard from an older boy that Trollskull Manor used to the an orphanage and that there are occasionally lights in the tower. For a very reasonable fee inclusive of salvage rights they hired themselves to Gia to re-explore the building above the taproom again.
* Berdach was able to get away from the House of Wonder late at night to join the adventurers in restoring the manor. At midnight the orphans presence on the date that the hag was hanged triggered Trollskull Manor's haunting. The shadow of the hag was dispelled with righteous blades and determined stew kicking.
* Gia takes a shine to Jenks.
* Ulysses started taking Nat on street performances with him, reckoning the cutest child would be the most likely to receive the crowd's coin.
* Dalakhar, a rock gnome spy working for Lord Dagult Neverember, was on his way to see the characters when a fireball goes off, killing him and ten other people including Zhents that appeared to be chasing him. One, Urstil Floxin, was captured by Johanna and handed over to the custody of the City Watch, but later released as it couldn't be proved that he had broken any laws.
* Squiddly traded a golden amulet of fireballs with two enchanted rubies remaining for a room (tbd) in Trollskull Manor once it is restored, 8 cp, and a week's worth of beer. Berdach negotiated down to the room being a bunk for all of them and for board to include work around the manor.

## Gralhund Manor

*2019-06-21*

* Berdach knew of a construct similar to the one that threw the fireball currently under examination of the masters of the academy at the House of Wonder.
* The servants of Mystra obtained a nimblewright in the hope of unravelling the secrets of its construction. Master Agnea discovered a divination crystal and successfully removed it from their nimblewright.
* Master Agnea worried after Gia, offering her refreshments in the temple's gardens while Berdach made inquiries.
* The House of Wonder's nimberwright was purchased for only 2500gp from the Sea Maiden's Faire: a lot of money, but shockingly cheap as far as constructs go.
* At the Sea Maiden's Faire's carnival Ulysses worked his charm and organized a meeting with the fleet's admiral. The adventurers were invited to dinner aboard the flagship to talk business.
* Captain Zardoz Zord, admiral of the fleet, entertained the adventurers to dinner and questions aboard *The Eyecatcher*. They were told that as a discerning business man he could never reveal his clients, but that inquiries with the noble Gralhund family might be productive.
* The party staked out Gralhund Manor during the day, waiting for nightfall and the servants leaving for their homes so that they could be inconspicuously questions. They noticed the manor also under observation by Xanathar's gazers.
* That night as the party was about to make their own move Urstul Floxin and eight Zhents in black leather armour approached along the villa’s rear wall and picked the lock to the pantry where they unexpectedly discovered two servants. The screams from their murders alerted both the watching adventurers and the Gralhund's household guard.
* A furious melee broke out at the top of the stairs while Urstul desperately tried to break down the door in the Guest Suite to reach Lord Orond and take him hostage. Some of the Zhents manage to break down the door to the Master Bedroom where Lady Yalah is hiding with the children, but are then forced to turn and fight as the adventurers ran up the stairs.
* The adventurers defend themselves from Urstil's forces, killing him in the process.
* Lady Yalah and the adventurers reach an impasse, with Lady Gralhund stalling for time until the gaurds arrive. She then slips the Stone of Golorr to the family's waiting nimblewright, who runs onto the balcony and flees onto the rooftops.

## Rooftop Chase

*2019-07-15*

Despite interference from demons of unknown affiliation and Xanathar’s gazers, we caught the nimblewright we were chasing. It was carrying the Stone of Golorr and a map that had the name Cassalanter on it that lead to the City of the Dead. We laid low for a few days, did some research and tried to attune to the mind eating presence inside the stone, but to no avail, perhaps because it was missing a piece. Jubrayle came to clear the air and apologize for the Zhentarim’s role in the affair, and let us know that they were retiring from this particular caper due to increased scrutiny following the bloodbath at the Gralhund estate.

We went to the cemetery and into the Cassalanter mausoleum the map lead us to, finding a secret passage behind a statue. There we found a dungeon, including a florist in a cell who admitted to demon worship but was betrayed by her mysterious co-cultists, imprisoned pending sacrifice, and now she was over the whole demon thing and could we please let her go. Vaelle is now our indentured florist, and we’re at the top of the dungeon ready to adventure.

## Cassalanter Mausoleum

*2019-08-17*

Johanna's journal:
We crept to the edge of a balcony overlooking the main temple room and discovered three cultists working in red robes. Doubling back and taking the staircase down, we came upon a sleeping cultist, Jankin. Through an effective mixture of threats of physical violence and Ulysses’ magical charm, we:

1. learned that the Stone’s eye we were looking for was here;
2. obtained robes and masks;
3. discovered a secret passage into the main room in order to bypass the devil guardians, and;
4. uncovered more about the secret Asmodean cult. We sent Jankin home, killed the other three, and left with the eye.

When apprised of the cult’s existence, Sir Ander was of the opinion that appealing to the authorities would be an ineffective course of action. However, he offered to personally help us destroy the temple and, upon returning to the area, proceeded to wreck bearded devil face. We then found a door sealed with the holy symbol of Siamorphe, which was unlocked by Johanna channeling divine energy. Inside, the troubled ghosts of the Cassalanters attacked any who entered the crypt until Berdach carved Siamorphe’s holy symbol into a chalice, allowing us to pass without harm. Turning the corner inside the crypt, we met a noble Cassalanter, Caladorn, a good revenant who charged us with cleansing the temple by destroying the flaming altar to Asmodeus. To do so, we were given Caladorn’s *mace of disruption*, as well as his enchanted plate armour. The altar was quickly smashed, laying to rest the Cassalanter ghosts and dispelling the desecrated ground.

Next up: Berdach is interfacing with the Stone of Galorr, and we have to track down Jankin (sleeping cultist) and Vaelle (caged florist cultist) and bring them to Sir Ander.