Apres Moi

The Acquaintances With Weapons go into the ethereal plane to fight Azaka Stormfang. Vlad tries to assassinate Queen Maxima.

## Major Plot Points

* Peggy, Sudsy, Vulveeta, Stzu San, Voloth, Neuriel, Dani, and Calypso surveyed the damage their mansion took during Eurin Gayjoy’s attack. Half their home was destroyed and Grab Stab said it’d cost 16,000 to repair.
* Currently standing are 6 bedrooms, a dining room, a kitchen, half the living room, and the basement. They lost 6 bedrooms, the library, and half the living room.
* Ivy, Grab Stab, Stabsy, and Grabsy survived by hiding in the basement.
* Vulveeta discovered her parents, brother, and sister died in the attack. She now only has one surviving younger sister. Using two of her magic beans, she grew 7 shriekers. Another bean grew a poisonous pineapple tree.
* AWW walked around the destroyed part of town. They found Zindar, owner of the Thundering Lizard, weeping where his tavern once stood. Rotty Scotty died inside the collapsed building.
* The party then went to the palace where the queen and Small Council took stock of the losses. The city lost 81 of its 600 guards. Ninety-eight people died with 44 still missing. The attack appears to have been a diversion as Slade, the Merchant Prince of War, escaped during it.
* Queen Maxima asked AWW to investigate the coliseum or finish the mission in Wyrmheart Mine. AWW decided to go to the coliseum.
* The party talked to a woman who lived close to the coliseum who owned a winery in the neighborhood, which suspiciously didn’t suffer any damage in the attack. She said she saw some people going in and out of the coliseum and had heard ghostly screams from it, assuming the place was haunted due to its violent past.
* The group snuck in with Sudsy posing as the manager of Neuriel, Voloth, and Vuvleeta who were posing as gladiators. Dani, Stzu San, Calypso, and Peggy posed as nobles. Together, they went to the manager’s office.
* Inside, they found a dwarf filling out a ledger. He told them how to access the fight by using the glyph that would send them into the ethereal plane.
* The party was sent into the ethereal realm, which pretty much made them ghosts, as they became undetectable on the material plane.
* Azaka Stormfang, the Merchant Prince of Beasts, announced the games would be starting soon. Calypso, Peggy, and Dani took seats in the crowd.
* Neuriel and Voloth entered a gladiator match with Sudsy as their coach. They killed their gladiator opponents and stole their nightmare steeds. AWW won 600 gold for betting on Neuriel and Voloth.
* Vuvleeta and Stzu San discovered the locker and steam rooms. Vuvleeta took a bath and cried about her dead family, which drove all the other people out. They then discovered three witches in the middle of a ritual. They gathered Dani and Calypso and they launched an attack against the coven, forcing them to leave, which made all the people in the coliseum leave the ethereal plane and go back to the physical world.
* Azaka, now suspicious of what was going on, attacked Vlad and Neuriel herself. Her bite turned them into werecheetahs.
	+ ***Shapechanger.*** A werecheetah can use her action to polymorph into a cheetah-humanoid hybrid or into a cheetah, or back into her true form. Its statistics, other than its size, are the same in each form. Any equipment she is wearing or carrying isn't transformed. She reverts to her true form if she dies.
	+ ***Keen Hearing and Smell (Cheetah or Hybrid Form Only).*** A werecheetah has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell.
	+ ***Dash (Cheetah or Hybrid Form Only).*** Cheetah can disengage as a bonus action without provoking an opportunity attack. (Hybrid or Cheetah Form only).
	+ ***Pounce (Cheetah or Hybrid Form Only).*** If Cheetah moves at least 15 feet straight toward a creature and then hits it with a claw attack on the same turn, that target must succeed on a DC (8 + Proficiency + Strength) saving throw or be knocked prone. If the target is prone, Cheetah can make one bite attack against it as a bonus action.
	+ ***Bite (Cheetah or Hybrid Form Only).*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* Attack Roll Modifier = proficiency + strength, reach 5 ft., one target. *Hit:* (1d10 + strength) piercing damage. If the target is a humanoid, it must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be cursed with were-cheetah lycanthropy. A cursed creature is charmed by its maker.
	+ ***Claw (Cheetah or Hybrid Form Only).*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* Attack Roll Modifier = proficiency + strength or dex, reach 5 ft., one target. *Hit:* (1d8 + strength or dex) slashing damage.
* The group fighting the coven were shifted back into the manager’s office and were able to steal his ledger, but not the dwarf manager.
* Soon, the party reunited and knocked out Azaka together. She refused to offer helpful info so the group killed her.
* Stzu San really wants Neuriel or Voloth to bite her so she can become a werecheetah.
* A couple weeks later, Port Nyanzaru hosted its annual Summer Solstice Festival. It’s main thoroughfare was blocked off to host booths set up by wineries, breweries, bakeries, smiths, butchers, farmers, fortune tellers, taverns, and performers.
* The group stayed close to Queen Maxima. Voloth sent his immortal goose to fly around and report back if it saw anything suspicious. It came back and communicated to Neuriel that it found four people approaching.
* Vlad with three Savras Fanatic ninjas attacked the queen and the party. Vlad made Calypso, Voloth, Grab Stab, and Vulveeta afraid of him. Vulveeta jumped at a flying Vlad, grabbed his legs, and stabbed him with her rapier. Dani used telekinesis to bring them both down. She then came in hot against Vlad with disintegrate. Voloth rushed Vlad when Neuriel removed his fear. Vlad dealt a lot of damage to Voloth. Neuriel and Maxima used their magics to heal him. Dani conjured an earth elemental that beat Vlad unconscious. Sudsy protected Grab Stab and killed one of the ninjas. One of the ninjas then used a teleportation scroll to escape with an unconscious Vlad. The party captured the last ninja.