Season One: Week Three - A Bloody Reckoning

This week the party wanted to discover what role Hendrick played in the abduction and eventual death of Finbull, the second in command for the Brotherhood of the Red Flagon. After escaping the exploding warehouse in the dock district the party was forced to flee through the streets as looters, panicked citizens, and the ever spreading fire forced them to seek safety from the chaos and flames.

Initial Scene: Baldur's Gate is Burning

The party fled at top speed through the burning slums, carrying Magda Brightstar after she collapsed in front of the Red Scarf safehouse. As they made their way through the burning district they encountered Vanya, the Dragon Knight who accompanied Lady Steelheart in the players' first adventure. She pulled the party down a secluded alley and offered her assistance in taking one of them to safety and recommended the rest take the Low Road (the sewers) to move uptown and avoid scrutiny by the town guards.

The Low Road

The party managed to pry up a drainage grate and slide down into the little used storm drains under the city. Narrow ledges served as walkways above the sluggishly flowing water and effluence from the city above. The air was dim and pungent with mold spores and the reek of human waste and rot. The party encountered a group of strange humanoid creatures clad in filthy leathers and furs who were picking and prodding at a body facedown in the sewage. The party negotiated for safe passage by offering the savage men food and a promise of more food to come if they could be guided to safety. After this encounter the savage men fled on all fours as a massive tidal wave of sewer water rumbled downstream from the massive reservoirs and cisterns in the north city districts, sent to help stem the fires and wash it out to sea. Unfortunately for the party, Rex was swept away by the flood of sewage and was battered unmercifully against the walls of the draining tunnels before coming to rest several hundred feet closer to the bay.

The Safehouse

Rodei managed to discover a little used dwarven storage cache built into the maintenance tunnels used to repair and maintain the storm drains when the city was first founded. Inside they found a strange human man who claimed the room was home for himself and his best friend, Smashy (a masterfully crafted warhammer with a smiley face carved into the striking surface). The party negotiated for a night's rest and moved on, leaving the strange man to his fate.

The Guildhouse / Hendrick's Chambers

The party emerged from the sewers half a block from the guildhouse and quickly made their way inside, drawing more than a few looks of alarm. Once inside the guildhouse they found it abandoned save for a flickering light coming from Hendrick's chambers on the second floor. The party made their way upstairs to find a white haired, red robed figure sitting before the fireplace. Upon closer inspection they found it was a member of the courier service of the city with a vulgar note pinned to his chest, calling upon Hendrick to "come see me or else." A trio of newly recruited Flagoners attempted to capture the party, resulting in a vicious fight leaving the Uthgardtian barbarian dead on Hendrick's floor. The remaining survivor said Hendrick was headed to South Point Garrison to deal with a loose end before leaving the city for good.

South Point Garrison

The party swiftly bribed their way into the Deep Cells of the South Point Garrison to meet a man of legend; one of the founding members of the Brotherhood, sentenced to life in the depths for his crimes of murder and suspected cannibalism. The man inside (who would only answer to the name Breaks) revealed that Hendrick was not only the leader of the guild but his former lover and spitefully identified his newest lover, a young baker named Louis Halfpad. News of the party's involvement in the fires finally reached the guard garrison and the alarm was raised, locking them all in the deep cells as a reaction force was mustered to extract them. Thanks to some quick thinking and successful deception and persuasion the party was able to escape just before being locked inside (likely for the rest of their short lives).

Halfpad's Bakery

The party entered Halfpad's Bakery while Louis was preparing the next day's deliveries. After a brief conversation Louis revealed that he was indeed Hendrick's last lover but that they had parted on bad terms recently. He gave the party a gold locket inscribed with the holy symbol of Ilmater on one face and a tiny painting of a blond haired young boy on the other.

The Harbor

The party decided to move to the harbor to wash themselves after being caked with sewer filth for nearly a full day. Upon arriving they discovered Hendrick aboard a single masted vessel making ready to leave the city. After confronting him Rodei caught him off guard and sucker punched him, following with a few more before Hendrick revealed his true prowess as a wizard, bowling half the party off the boat with a powerful thunderwave. While Rex tried to help get Rodei and Otto back into the boat Hendrick moved to the prow of the ship, setting down a few items with great care and solemnity before drawing a fillet knife from his belt and, with a sigh and whispered prayer, slit his own throat, falling backward into the River Chionthar.

The End

From the deep water a red, pulsing glow strobed through the night blackened water along with a rising stream of scalding hot, bubbling water. After several moments a full fledged tanar'ri burst forth from the water, screaming its incomprehensible name into the sky as it took wing into the night. Dark, ominous thunderclouds rolled in from all directions, piling up over the city in a churning mass of darkness intermittently illuminated by flashes of heat lightning. As the alarm bells peal out over the sleeping city the demon's laughter can be heard booming like thunder with a promise of death and chaos to follow.