Session 1

## The Campaign of Trial and Error Meet

At the Yawning Portal, Avanna goes to meet Meloon Wardragon, but ditches the meeting. Yelmaer tries to make conversation with the barkeep Durnan. It doesn’t go well. Avanna tries to make conversation with Yelmaer. It doesn’t go well, either. Euphrasie is here to meet with Obaya Uday, her priest friend. Visk is here to meet with Bonnie, seeking information about an Orc tribe. Euphrasie bumps into Visk and accidentally insults her. Visk punches her. Yelmaer and Avanna intervene, and Visk storms off.

Yelmaer disguises himself as the bard Threestrings and goes after her. It doesn’t go well. Euphrasie and Avanna stealthily eavesdrop, with her griffin Egg in tow. Visk reveals her goal: revenge against the orcs that killed her brother. They all head back to get a drink.

They arrive just in time to see a seven-foot-tall half-orc getting involved in a brawl with a male human whose shaved head is covered with eye-shaped tattoos, as well as four other thugs who seem to be his allies. They ignore the brawl, and the half-orc knocks the tattooed man out with a single punch, but before his friends can retaliate, Durnan swiftly orders them out, threatening to call the city watch. When a troll emerges, the party are forced to take action and kill it, as well as the bloodsucking stirges attached to it.

## Volo’s (re)Quest

Volotharmp Geddarn, famous writer and wizard, gives 10 gp to each member of the party to find his friend Floon Blaagmar, who hasn't been seen and says he’ll give 100gp to each character if they find him. Volo describes Floon as a handsome human male in his early thirties with wavy red-blond hair. He was dressed in princely garb when Volo last saw him, and that he wore a necklace with an obnoxiously large pendant. Two nights ago, before Floon disappeared, he and Volo were drinking and merrymaking at the Skewered Dragon, a dark, bawdy tavern in the Dock Ward, and he recommends they start from there. The party aren’t quite friends, but decide to work together for money. Despite Volo's emphasis on urgency, the party decide to postpone the search for him until tomorrow, renting a room at the Yawning Portal because they are tired and plastered.

The next day, they attempt to sneak past Volo, who has stayed overnight at the Yawning Portal as well. They are caught, but quickly dodge his questions, and make a hasty escape as they begin the search for Floon.

## The Dock Ward

Yelmaer and Avanna ride together on Egg, while Visk and Euphrasie opt to head to the Dock Ward by way of her magic flying Umbrella. As they arrive, they come upon a street that has been cordoned off by the City Watch. Lying on the cobblestones are a half-dozen corpses, seemingly the victims of some terrible skirmish. Watch officers have disarmed and arrested three blood-drenched humans and are in the midst of questioning witnesses. The survivors of the skirmish have been stripped of their weapons and forced to kneel with their hands on their heads, and on their arms a tattoo of a black winged snake is seen. Though the officers are initially reluctant to divulge information, Avanna exerts the influence of House Belabranta, and one officer reveals that this was just the latest case of violence in the escalating tensions between the Xanathar Guild and the Zhentarim.

The party press on. Tall, densely packed tenements leave most of the neighborhood in shadow at ground level. Most of the streetlamps have had their glass smashed and their candles stolen, and the smells of salt air and excrement linger as they pass by rows of run-down buildings. On the corner of Zastrow Street and Fillet Lane is a shop that stands out from the others, with a peculiar window display. It has a deep purple facade, and in its window hangs a stuffed beholder. Above the door hangs a sign whose elaborate letters spell out "Old Xoblob Shop." Though intrigued, the party decide to move on in their search for Floon and return later.

The Skewered Dragon looks like a ruin. Both of its front-facing windows are smashed, and a ship's anchor is lodged in the roof. Through the windows, a group of haggard patrons drinking from huge tankards can be seen. Several of the regulars remember seeing Volo and Floon drinking together a couple of nights ago. After Volo left, Floon stuck around long enough to meet with another friend. Avanna flirts with the barkeep, Floy Umber, and he reveals that it was Renaer Neverember, the son of Waterdeep's previous Open Lord, Dagult Neverember. "Chip off the old block, that one!" sneers one patron. 'Just another spoiled, rich noble who likes to rub our noses in it!" says another. The two drank and played a few rounds of Three Dragon Ante before leaving around midnight. Five men followed them out, and no one in the tavern knows what happened after that. The men who left shortly after Floon and Renaer haven't returned to the tavern since, but they're known to frequent a warehouse on Candle Lane. "Look for the snake symbol on the door," says one of the tavern regulars.

## Zhentarim Hideout

They make their way down Candle Lane, and gloom envelops the narrow alley. It is as dark as a dungeon - and as odorous as one, too. Nearly all the street lamps have been smashed. The only light that pierces the darkness is a faint flickering from down the lane, like a distant candle. The flickering comes from the one streetlamp still intact. A warehouse is directly across the street from the lamp, which illuminates a black winged snake.

The warehouse stands at the back of an outer yard behind a high fence. The gate on the fence isn't locked. Egg rushes through and rams his body against the front door. Tables and chairs have been carelessly tossed across the floor. The corpses of a dozen men lie along the walls, their rapiers and daggers lying nearby. On the north side of the area, stairs rise to an open level above. Four short, avian creatures with long beaks and black feathers look over in surprise from where they stand in the middle of the warehouse. Each wears a hooded cloak and wields a shortsword.

Two of the Kenku are captured, and under Euphrasie and Visk's intimidation, they divulge what they know as they repeat the following phrases:

* In a deep voice with an orcish accent: "Xanathar sends its regards."
* In a thin, nasally voice: "Tie up the pretty boy in the back room!" and "Follow the yellow signs in the sewers."
* In a scratchy voice: "No time to loot the place.just get him to the boss."

Close inspection of the corpses show five with black winged snake tattoos, and one with a black tattoo on the palm of his right hand that looks like a circle with ten spokes radiating out from its circumference.

Meanwhile, Yelmaer and Avanna are searching the area, and come across a storage closet. The door to the room hangs loosely on broken hinges. The cramped chamber beyond smells strongly of sour fish and vinegar. It is filled with discarded ropes. canvas tarpaulins, and splintered wood from smashed barrels. They can hear ragged breathing coming from under a tarpaulin at the north end of the room.

Investigating, the pair come closer. A man, unarmed, but marred with grime and smelling of pickled herring, introduces himself as Renaer Neverember. He reveals that on the night of the abduction, he 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.

When asked why he was kidnapped, he reveals that the Zhentarim think that his father embezzled a large amount of gold while he was Open Lord, and that he hid the dragons somewhere in the city. Additionally, they believe it can only be found by using an artifact called the Stone of Golorr, which was in the hands of the Xanathar Guild until recently, when it was stolen. The Zhentarim interrogated him searching for more information, however Renaer claims that he doesn't, as he and his father have been estranged for years. He reveals they then ripped off a locket that was very precious to him.

When asked about Floon, Renaer reveals that when they were done questioning him, he was tossed into the storage closet, while Floon was kept outside. A few minutes after, he heard loud sounds and what sounded like a fight, then silence. He stayed in the storage closet until the party discovered him. He expresses guilt that Floon was taken, since he believes that the Xanathar guild mistook Floon for him. Renaer offers to join their search for Floon, and arms himself with a dagger and a rapier scavenged from the dead Zhentarim in the warehouse.

Moments after, the City Watch arrives, and the party is introduced to its Captain, Hyustus Staget, who is Avanna’s close family friend. He takes the kenku away, and agrees to look the other way regarding the party's presence, though he expresses mild disdain towards Visk and Yelmaer, warning Avanna to be careful about who she associates with, and offers a slight nod towards Euphrasie.