Say Yes To The Curse

**Say Yes To The Curse** was the thirteenth chapter of Storm King's Thunder.

## Synopsis

Pretty Boy Paul and the Pretty Boys spent three days in Waterdeep, conducting various bits of business. Pretty Boy Paul spent the view days speaking to townsfolk, trying to learn any information he could which would assist the party in their quest. During breakfast on the fourth morning, he relayed to the party a theory he had formed: that the disappearance of Bernard was linked to the mass disappearance of dwarves in Fireshear, and they had occurred at the same time. Nestor decided to send a telepathic message to Darva to see if she could tell them anything. Darva reported that yes a third of the town had disappeared suddenly one night, but that business was still good and it was probably nothing to worry about. She also reported some suspicious recent fire giant activity.

Pretty Boy Paul then recounted what he had learned about the red dragon near Mirabar: his name was Old Snarl, and he had henchpeople in tight leather clothes roaming the land killing giants and attempting to find out what was happening. Pretty Boy Paul then informed the party that Harshnag had been in Waterdeep about a week ago. He had visited someone in the university, and then had journeyed north to kill giants. The party decided to try to pick up Harshnag's trail in the university, before making a decision on whether to follow him, or Old Snarl.

The Pretty Boys eventually made their way to Balathor's Hall, where a conversation with a helpful receptionist led them to Twimp Ironbottom, professor of dragon magic. The party had a fruitful and informative conversation with Ironbottom. He told them that Old Snarl was inexplicably ancient and incredibly evil, and that his leatherclad minions were probably not a sex thing. He also told them of Iymrith, the Most Interesting Dragon In The World, who was so powerful she could place a human soul inside a stone gargoyle and have it serve her. The conversation was briefly interrupted by the half elf mystic Big Brain dimensionally shunting into Ironbottom's office, but he quickly left. Finally, the party having earned his trust, Ironbottom told them that Harshnag had headed to kill some hill giants in the Dessarin Valley, and that he would be in Yartar in a few days. As the party was leaving, Haedin expressed her admiration for Ironbottom, and the two agreed to start a correspondence, so that Haedin could learn from Ironbottom.

Picking up the Icy Sickle along the way, the party made their way to the teleportation circle in the City of the Dead, and travelled to Yartar. Upon their arrival, they found a splendid garden and a decidedly less splendid portal guardian, Kolbaz. The party explained they were on a quest, and while Krowen Valharrow was a horrible individual, he had granted them use of the Harpers' portal network. Kolbaz then revealed that the splendid garden was actually an awful bad garden which he illusorily disguised as a splendid garden to keep prying youths away. He would also hide in the bushes sometimes and make ghost noises. Fandrin offered to make the awful bad garden into a real splendid garden, and told the rest of the party he would catch up with them in Yartar. Haedin left Alan with Fandrin to help.

The Pretty Boys sans Fandrin made their way to Yartar along the riverbank. However along the way they found four colossal seagulls diving into the river, and dragging out a man sized cocoon. After scaring away the seagulls, they found the cocoon contained a human man with translucent green skin. They roused the man, and he introduced himself as Lord Artan Roselio. He could not remember how he got in the cocoon or why his skin was green, but he could remember something about a golden goose, and a beautiful woman in a purple dress. As he got out of the cocoon and dried off, he screamed that his skin was burning and he needed water. Pretty Boy Paul poured some water over him, which soothed his pain. The party had to repeat this every few minutes on their way to Yartar.

Arriving in Yartar, the group went immediately to Roselio Manor, where they met Artan's mother, Lady Desia. Desia admonished Artan for disappearing, and ordered him to go take a bath. She then thanked the party for returning her son, and explained that a number of nobles around the city had gone missing recently. She told them she would grant them a large reward if they could find out what had happened to her son, and would double that reward if they could recover his family amulet. She recommended they speak to the waterbaron of Yartar, Lady Nestra, or they could try find a member of the Hands of Yartar (the city's thieves' guild)- a "hardened woman in a sordid place".

Fandrin, meanwhile, was successfully growing Kolbaz's garden, and Alan was unsuccessfully trying to help him. While Fandrin was initially suspicious of Alan, due to his being a robot, he grew to not entirely hate him by the end of the eight hours of gardening, due to his being a dog.

The rest of the party had found the most sordid tavern in town, the Coin Toss, and decided to look for members of the thieves' guild inside. They spotted a roguish looking woman sitting by herself, who the barkeep Broomhilda informed Haedin was Scimitar Sally. Haedin bought Sally a drink, and struck up a conversation, bringing Pretty Boy Paul along for his notoriously well honed diplomatic skills. After giving Sally a couple of bribes, she told the pair they should visit the Grand Dame, a casino barge with golden geese on their chips and which was frequented by Lady Atalia, a beautiful woman who often wore purple. She also told them that their best way inside the casino was to disguise themselves as nobles and bribe the guards. Haedin thanked Sally and the party went clothes shopping.

Their first stop was Tamora's Raiments, a creepy shop sandwiched in an alley between two less creepy shops. Nestor decided he would begin his act early, and told Tamora his name was Lord Ludovic and he and his entourage would need outfits for an event that evening. Tamora told them she could make them some fine clothes, but they might not be ready for that evening. Alternatively, they could buy some clothes off the rack, which would cost more, in a way. Everyone immediately understood this to mean she was selling them a **cursed dress**, but then she showed them the garment, and Haedin, Jonathan, and Nestor were immediately entranced. Despite learning that once putting on this garment it would never come off, Haedin and Jonathan bought one each and one for Fandrin. Nestor meanwhile was able to overcome the charm, and he and Pretty Boy Paul elected not to buy **an explicitly cursed dress**.

Tamora's Raiments disappeared after they left it, and Tiddle, the tailor next door, said he had never heard of it. Nestor and Pretty Boy Paul ordered their own garments from Tiddle, and the party went and set up the Icy Sickle in an empty spot they found. Pretty Boy Paul sent José to fetch Fandrin and Alan.

After explaining the whole situation to Fandrin, he decided he would put on the **unambiguously cursed garment** that had been bought for him, despite the fact it was **definitely 100% cursed**. Nestor and Pretty Boy Paul collected their outfits from Tiddle, and the Pretty Boys made their way to the Great Dame.

After bribing the guards to get on board, the party was greeted by Pow Ming, the casino's banker and head of security. After playing cards for a bit, the party spotted a beautiful woman in purple, who they decided must be Lady Atalia. Jonathan went to play Atalia in a game of Sava, and in conversation tried to learn where she would go to talk to people about more untoward dealings. Pretty Boy Paul decided this was all taking too long however, and asked Atalia directly if she had kidnapped Lord Artan and put him in a cocoon at the bottom of the river. Atalia vocally denied this, but telepathically told him to go away and meet her after they had docked to discuss it. After he had left, she telepathically instructed Jonathan to do the same.

Haedin then helped a man snort magical cocaine more efficiently.

## NPCs

* Darva (via message)
* Professor Twimp Ironbottom
* Big Brain
* Kolbaz
* Lord Artan Roselio
* Khmeer
* Lady Desia Roselio
* Broomhilda
* Scimitar Sally
* Tamora
* Tiddle
* Pow Ming
* Lady Atalia
* Bernard (mentioned only)
* Harshnag (mentioned only)
* Old Snarl (mentioned only)
* Iymrith (mentioned only)
* Krowen Valharrow (mentioned only)
* Lady Nestra (mentioned only)
* Lord Drylund (mentioned only)

## Locations

* Waterdeep
	+ Balathor's Hall
* Yartar
	+ Roselio Manor
	+ The Coin Toss
	+ Tamora's Raiments
	+ Tiddle's
	+ The Grand Dame