The Monastery of St. Stephen

"**The Monastery of St. Stephen**" (C1.S05.3) is a one-shot in the first campaign of The Vanguard.

## Synopsis

The players were called together by Spark Ascendant, and tasked with a mission to locate and retrieve Pemmerton Torquemada Pennilworth, a younger son of a major Waterdhavian House. He was reported missing by his family, who feared kidnapping. However, due to their son’s proclivities, a drink and a gambler, and because they feared possible inside help, they asked the Vanguard for help in exchange for a future favor. Vahorn inquired what “return” meant, that is, what condition. Did he need, for example, all of his limbs and digits? That answer, of course, was “same as you find him.” The best intelligence said that he had been picked up and taken to the Monastery of St Stephen of the Multiple Minds down south on Darkstorm Point, a place run by monks of Ilmater – an insane asylum for the indigent and poor.

The job: Find and return Mr. Pennilworth.

Armed with a description, the adventurers looked up where the monastery was located, borrowed horses and a cart, and set off. The ranger noticed a lot of single horse traffic to and from there which was odd. Over the place was perched a permanent thunderstorm, like an angry god. The stone sign saying “Monastery of St Stephen” was defaced, and a new sign “Cloisters of St. Agata of the Bodice” was present.

They assessed that the yard-keepers house was unused for months, possibly signs of death there. They decided it could be a “safe house” if needed. When they finally approached the doors, they were greeted by young, scantily-clad women and men, who welcomed them in. Their hosts were all dusky-skinned, half-elf looking, and all young and pretty with platinum blonde hair. The group were told the monks sold them the place, that they had just recently come up from the south, and that the Mother Superior was temporarily not available/away. The players wanted to see the inmates; the hosts politely declined. The players mentioned The Vanguard, which meant nothing to their hosts. Their hosts tried to feed them wine and food, get them to relax. Hulgrim thought long and hard, and remembered something about priestesses of Loviatar being half drow and for them the term “bodice” means “maiden” – like, IRON MAIDEN.

Hulgrim neglected to mention this to his teammates, but nevertheless combat broke out anyway. They killed the cult fanatics – all but one. Downstairs they found the inmates in horrible condition, along with several individuals in private cells. These they managed to rescue. They also found a ledger with some coded information. They might have done more, but it seemed others were coming up from the depths... speaking odd languages. After they were escaping with the captives, something flamed the whole first level in one shot – more than a 100 ft long room. During the return, sadly one of their prisoner’s fell off the cart. Hopefully he’s OK. Dmitri recognized him as "Prespero" a mid-level member of a local Waterdeep Thieves Guild, the Plague Rats, so he let him go and earned a favor.

The party saved 3 people: The Prespero, Pennilworth, and a merchant from Baldur's Gate named Vanil Marchese.

## Guild Dispatches

The following are messages from the guild members who participated in the mission. They contain valuable information the guild can use to piece together clues.

> *No guild dispatches were found as of yet.*
>
>

1. ↑ Be aware that this is told from the player’s perspective of the adventure. Details and happenings may have been presented with some liberties taken to fill in the blanks from poor memory and scribbled notes. Other players should be asked about their views of what happened, and are also welcome to type their stories to share.