Xanathar's Goldenight Bash

Xanathar is throwing a tournament on Taraskh 5th, Goldenight. The PCs have been invited to participate.

See Alexandrian page for more lair details and the adversary roster.

## Tournament Operation

Noska Ur'gray (DH p 213), a dwarf enforcer with a crossbow for a left hand, runs the tournaments. He walks and acts like Vince McMahon, and the whole tournament is WWE-style drama.

Round 1:

* Eshbar the Magnificent, a vain and proud male Dragonborn sorceror,
* Boda Gilla, a female dwarf who wears plate and wields a mace
* Mesym the Impure, who is known to use poisoned weapons
* Bouldereye, a one-eyed half-orc

Round 2:

* Kaavu Icestrider, a newcomer
* Balda Proudfang, a dwarf who is not all she seems
* Wiso the Whisper, a drow known for stealth and sneaky tactics
* Bilcorin the Tinkerer, a rock gnome artificer who never wears footwear and uses what he calls a "repeater gonne"

Round 3:

* Meloon Wardragon, a human adventurer (possessed by a mind flayer)
* Olestrund Quiverbottom, an elf ranger
* Arthright Grayfalcon, a fighter
* Ghaveith the Bloody, a brutal northerly fighter

The tournament begins with three free-for-alls (rounds above). Then the three winners do one-vs-one fights for the final prize.

Prepsqueak (aka Ralston Highpike) is one of the guards in the tournament competitors' area.

## PCs Plan Ahead?

If they do research, the PCs can discover:

* √ The hidden staircase entrance into the HQ
* There are no blueprints of Xanathar's lair to be found
* "public" info about gladiator games
	+ √ Xanathar hosts regular gladiatorial games every 2-4 days. The next one is Tarsakh 3rd.
	+ There’s one halfling who remembers seeing some of Xanathar’s personal guard come through the secret door between X17 and X16 (“I was looking at this fresco of a leafless tree that had lidless eyes embedded in its branches and suddenly – presto! – the whole wall swung back and some of those shifty-eyed bugbears came through”). She didn’t see how the door operates.
	+ They might track down a foolhardy couple who snuck through the door from the Audience Chamber (X18) into Xanathar’s Sanctum (X19) and can describe what they saw there. This couple is afraid to talk because they've already been punished by Xanathar for doing this
* Ott Steeltows (currently imprisoned by the Zhent in Brindul Alley) may give up information or lead the PCs there
* There is a panopticus system run by duergar keeping watch over several areas:
	+ Area X2 – Entrance Hall
	+ Area X6 – Arena
	+ Area X18 – Audience Chamber
	+ Area X23 – Antechamber of Madness
	+ Area X32 – Downstairs Hallway
* The names and function of any of Xanathar's top lieutenants (all in DH p 102ish)

## Player 2 (3, 4...) Enters the Game

### Zhentarim Raid

The Zhents are planning a heist the night of the prize fight, but they don't trust the PCs enough to tell them. Their team is Vevette Blackwater's response team. The three entrances are X1, X4, and X6. They are aware of X14, the secret passage to the Sanctum where Sylgar (and the Eye of Golorr) are held.

General plan for Vevette's teams:

* The newly-acquired ex-Xanathar guards will be part of the crowd, *Animal House* style
* One of her men picks a fight with the guards blocking entrance to hallway X21. This draws the guards preventing entry to X22 away from their posts.
* Vevette's lieutenant and two more of their men slip into X22 and down the stairs to X32. They make their way to the Recreation Hall (X28) and throw smoke bombs through the door.
* Men from X28 rush to the Audience Chamber (X18), causing the guards on the door there to rush out to X8. Vevette and her remaining men slip through the door behind them and then through the secret door to X19.
* After locating the Eye and killing the fish, they go down the emergency escape route to X21. Vevette uses a scroll of *Disguise Self* to don the appearance of Ahmaergo, orders the guards to assist in the commotion downstairs, meets up with the rest of his team as they emerge back up the stairs and through Area X22, and then heads for the exit.

### Force Grey Raid

The Blackstaff is trying to get to the bottom of the Enigma and assumes she is working with the PCs. She plans to cause a distraction, but doesn't want to risk her limited resources. The adventurers she sends will try to cause a distraction and get out. They will attempt to teleport in.

### Cassalanter Raid

If Cassalanter agents attack, their goal will simply be to acquire gold and loot. They will aim for Xanathar's coffers (X20) and will summon demons.

**Agents:**

* Manny Bigwater, the handsome and charming elf rogue. Carries a pocketwatch that can cast "charm person" once per day. Has a reputation for being a whale gambler
* Grimy, his dwarf sidekick who is always eating. Carries a rune-carving stylus to suborn the Panopticus network and "loop" the video
* Livingstone, a dorky human wizard. Carries a custom teleportation scroll that teleports all objects within a 10-foot cube back to the Cassalanter's hidden vault (C29). Also carries a scroll of Passwall
* The Amazing Ken, an agile halfling acrobat who carries a small amber stone storing a Barlgura (Widogast's Vault of Amber).

**Plan:**

1. Grimy sneaks into the panopticus area (X16) and loops the video by scratching some new runes in
2. All slip through the hatch, move through the kitchen to X33 (Vault)
3. Livingstone uses his scroll of Passwall to open a hole in the ceiling
4. The Amazing Ken goes up through the ceiling, drops a rope, and helps the others up
5. All gather the goods in one 10ft cube and use the custom teleportation scroll to send it all to C29 (Cassalanter's secret wine cellar vault).

## Event Changes to Areas

### X27: Vault

Eight locked doors lead to cells, most with boxes of gold and jewels piled around.

* a pile of coins and jewels worth 100k gold
* artifacts, including the Dryad Mechanism (Xanathar is using this to replace his "unreliable" humanoid force with animated objects)