Session 3

## Summary

The party returned to the castle to collect their quest reward, and discovered the sewer guards they met were fraudulent. While the actual guards from the castle went to investigate, the group decided to head to the tavern to enjoy their new wealth. Upon leaving, they encountered a young girl looking for her cat, whose father they met earlier. Traveling back to the sewer entrance, the real guard was being tended to by those from the castle, and the party provided details to the help with an investigation. Inside the sewers, the party was assailed by rats and bats, though Rowan used his arcane tricks to befriend one giant rat which he named Sam. Exploring further led to another bout with a pair of crocodiles before the party wandered into a rather large room filled with trash piles. Upon examining some glowing green objects inside these piles, two spiky monsters aggressively sprung forth, ready to attack.

## New Characters

* Welmsley
* Rosalyn
* Rigel

## Story

### The Party Reunited

Their quest document signed, the party decided to return to Rivenkeep Castle to acquire their rewarded gold. Most notably, they figured this would help bribe the two guards which were still blocking the sewer entrance. However, given the wounds Edward suffered from the crocodiles, the party decided to briefly rest in order to regain their health. Lacking healing capabilities, they simply watched unhelpfully while Alana tended to the other civilians injured during the battle. Before heading out, though, Rowan and Garethar attempted to harvest part of a crocodile corpse, but only managed to obtain a small patch of scaly hide.

### A Quest Complete

Upon entering the castle, the party again found themselves in the presence of the Rivenkeep Council. Loosely detailing the extent of their quest, they seemingly managed to convince the others the ferocious crocodile was defeated. As the completion was purely based on the signature from the quest giver, there was not much disagreement on the part of the council, and Jundrak provided the group with their promised gold.

### Guards? What Guards?

Before leaving, the party took the opportunity to complain about the shady tactics of the two guards preventing them from entering the sewers. However, their story caused much confusion for Jundrak, as he explained there is generally only a single person watching the sewers. With no one recognizing the names of the two "guards" listed by the party, several castle guards set off to investigate the docks. At their request, Algaan then attached an addendum to their quest contract allowing them to pass into the sewers. Inferring the situation was being appropriately handled, the party set off to enjoy their new wealth at The Crystal Cavern Tavern.

### Celebrations of Wealth

At that moment, their boon of coin had no better purpose than refreshing pints of ale. Making their way into the tavern, the party loudly expressed their desire for the owner, Boyd. As an unfamiliar bartender (Welmsley) greeted them, he retrieved the stout dwarf from the back room, and the party rejoiced with several rounds of drinks. Though the bar was notably more crowded than previous visits, none of the patrons seemed bothered by the groups antics. After polishing off an excessive amount of ale (much to the detriment of Waltar's current constitution), the party decided it was now time to explore the sewers.

### The Search Continues

Making their way outside the tavern, the party noted a young girl (Rosalyn) wandering the streets calling out for her cat, Sprinkles. Rowan, not knowing the rest of the party had previously encountered the girl's father, approached her to offer his reassurance of finding her beloved pet. However, as the girl continued along with her pursuit, Rowan iterated his skepticism of any actual resolution to the party.

### To The Sewers (Again)

Yet again, the party made their way to the docks. Instead of the duo previously guarding the sewer entrance, two of the castle guards were tending to a third person (Rigel) seated on the ground. The fake guards were nowhere to be seen. Inquiring as to what the assailed victim remembered, he detailed how the imposters must have snuck up from behind and knocked him out. With the proper certification from the council, the party then decided to venture into the sewer depths.

### An Enchanting Encounter

After traversing a lengthy, darkened tunnel, the party found themselves in the main entryway of the sewers. With shallow pools of flowing water accompanied by hallways on each side, they decided to first venture along the path to their right. Making their way forward, they discovered a small room with piles of trash along the back wall. As they entered the room, several rats scurried out from their hiding spots. While most of the party attacked the vermin, Rowan decided to use his arcane gifts to befriend one of the larger rats. Garethar, however, stumbled into a giant bat hiding in the corner, and the party focused their attacks towards the creature. But, as Waltar turned to strike, an unnerving, dark voice filled his mind. The voice instructed him to "use your power", as his hand began to glow. With a fiery, black and green glow, a burst of energy shot forward obliterating one of the rats. After defeating the remaining creatures, Rowan and Edward utilized a small piece of twine to fashion a harness for their new pet, and named him Sam.

### Crocodiles? Again?

Pressing forth, the party found a much larger room, this time filled with rather deep pools of water. While too deep to discern anything below, a shiny floating object drew the attention of Rowan. Pulling it within his reach, the object revealed itself as a ravaged plate boot, as extensively decayed flesh dropped out onto the ground below. Suddenly, out of the pools, a large crocodile sprung forth with an enormous bite. Away from the party, another crocodile also leapt onto the stone, ready to attack. Given their proficiency for fighting crocodiles, neither beast put up much of a fight for the party, but not before Sam suffered a significant bite wound.

### A Ripple Effect

Still on their path, the next hallways contained several more pools of flowing water along its sides. Their nerves on edge, the party slowly crept forward. As a slight ripple appeared in one of the pools ahead, Garethar dove recklessly into the pool to preempt the threat. However, the shallow pool revealed nothing of danger, as a small frog jumped up onto the stone floor. Watching for a few more moments to ensure nothing deceptive, the frog continued into another one of the pools, and the group crept forward again.

### The Glowing Orbs

As the previous hallway opened up to an expansive room, the party was immediately greeted by multiple enormous piles of trash scattered about. While similar in contents to those of the rooms prior, these contained several unusual objects which demanded their attention. Namely, a dark green glow lay buried under the rubble. Inching slowly towards it, a much brighter green glow distracted them towards one of the larger piles. Taking note of the rest of the room, another similar bright green object peered out from the remaining pile. However, as the party watched, the glow suddenly vanished, then reappeared. A loud clank echoed throughout the room, as a discarded stove pot clattered to the ground. Taking out his rapier in order to prod the glowing orb, Edward then slowly brought forth the weapon. Before he could make contact, however, two large, spiky cyclops creatures burst forth from the pile, their sharp claws readied for attack.