Dragon Heist: Session Recaps

[Derek Raines]

Dragon Heist: Session 1

Part 1: Ballroom Blitz

Welcome to Waterdeep, the Crown of the North, where a wondrous tale of urban adventure is about to unfold. Our story begins with a gathering of adventurers and a memorable night at the Yawning Portal Inn and Tavern...

Our heroes, friends who have shared drinks here before, have arrived for a special occasion. Their mutual companions, Alanah and Balduar, have recently received permission from the Open Lord of the city to delve the legendary halls of Undermountain in search of wealth and glory. As is tradition, the patrons of the Yawning Portal shower the brave dungeon delvers with gifts, prayers and free drinks!

Another eccentric patron, Volothamp Geddarm, offers his new book (at a considerable discount) and wishes them well. The celebration ends with a final toasting before Alanah and Balduar make their way to the platform that will lower them into the dark halls beneath the mountain...
However, as the two begin to descend, a sudden commotion erupts from the back of the tavern. A brawl has broken out between a female half-orc and a group of figures marked by the traditional symbols of the Zhentarim. Drawn daggers and fitted knuckles suggest the fight might turn lethal so several of the heroes step in. Punches are thrown, even a mighty head butt, and the brawl is nearly settled when a scream adds to the surrounding chaos! Something dark and terrible climbs from the entrance to Undermountain...

Part 2: The Troll Toll

A hideous troll, massive and covered with feeding stirges, lumbers from the well! Alanah is knocked from the platform and clings desperately to the side while Balduar plummets into the shadows below.

Various patrons of the Yawning Portal take up arms and defend the tavern from the swarm of batlike stirges. Even the gruff tavern owner, Durnan, removes the enchanted greatsword that hangs over his bar and joins the free. However, it is our heroes that confront the Troll head on! With Alanah pulled to safety, the group lays into the hideous monster with spell, blade, mace and eventually enough fire to weaken the creature before sending it tumbling back the way it came!
However, when the platform is finally pulled back to the surface, Balduar is no where to be seen and the entrance to Undermountain is deemed too dangerous to remain open.

Part 3: Volo's Guide to Side Quests

Alanah leaves, vowing to find the means to enter the Undermountain with a skilled party in order to rescue Balduar. The half orc, Yagra Stonefist, gives a grim nod of appreciation for the group's help and escorts her noble patron from the tavern. She openly plots revenge on her attackers.

Before the heroes can depart, they are approached again by Volo, who is impressed by their prowess and hoping they can assist in finding a lost friend. Flynn, a local actor, was last seen at the infamous Skewered Dragon tavern playing games of chance and conversing with the locals. Volo has not seen Flynn in days and is concerned that he may have been swept up in the mounting violence between the Zhentarim and the Xanathur Guild. Volo pays them each 10 gold, splitting up the coins he received from the only sold copy of his book, and promises them an additional 100 gold each if they can bring Flynn back safe and sound! The heroes down their drinks, gather their gear and prepare to do what heroes do best. Side Questing!

Next Session: If He Only Had a Brain...

[Derek Raines]

Dragon Heist: Session 2

Part 1: You Wanna Buy my Dog?

Welcome to Waterdeep, the Crown of the North, where a wondrous tale of urban adventure is starting to unfold. Our session begins with a gathering of adventurers on the outskirts of the infamous Dock Ward...

Our heroes meet with a native of the Dock Wards, a sneaky thiefy type who knows the area better than any of them. With the full party assembled in all of its glory, the group travels the twisting streets and alleys on their way to the Skewered Dragon.

They encounter a curiosity shop known as "Xoblob's Emporium" and buy a few trinkets that are certainly magical - guaranteed! Xoblob, the purple loving gnome, agrees to share any information he might learn in regards to the missing Flynn should the party make their way back to his place.

Eventually they arrive at the Skewered Dragon, a rough-and-tumble alehouse where Flynn was last seen. After a bout of victorious arm wrestling, and the purchase of a random dog, the heroes learn that Flynn befriended the young noble, Renaer Neverember, after impersonating him on the stage. Renaer was delighted by the show and he and Flynn drank heavily before leaving late into the evening. A group of Zhentarim quickly followed the pair and none of them have been seen since. The Zhentarim are known to have a hideout a few blocks away and the group decides to investigate further.

Part 2: Welcome to Kenkus

The Zhentarim hideout is an old warehouse, boarded up with a familiar serpent motif carved into the loading bay doors.

The group tactically approaches the building, by climbing on the building and smashing through the windows, when they are ambushed by a group of hooded kenku! The Kenku are swiftly defeated by the Level 1 (No milestone yet) prowess of the heroes with their only remaining prisoner squawking out what it knows-

"Follow the Yellow Signs in the Sewers."

The group also finds a man, covered in pickled herring, and wearing the finery of a Waterdeep noble. It is Renaer! The young noble explains that he and Flynn were captured by Zhentarim thugs and brought here. The Zhentarim were looking for something called the Stone of Golorr, but neither he nor Flynn had any idea what the artifact is. Days into their captivity, the Kenku assaulted the warehouse and slew the Zhentarim!

The Kenku are agents of the Xanathar Guild, and several of them took Flynn thinking the actor was actually Renaer! The noble is ashamed he let another man take his place and joins the heroes in an effort to rescue Flynn and defeat the villains who abducted him.

Part 3: The Code Legal and Yellow Signs

The group decides that the trail leads into the sewers, hoping that some sort of yellow sign will lead the way.

However, before they can depart, the warehouse is assaulted by ANOTHER group! This time it is the Waterdeep Watch, led by a Captain Stagg, who blames the party for ruining his surveillance of the place. Stagg claims a Zhent instigator named Urstul Floxin has been stirring up much of the violence between the Zhentarim and Xanathur Guild, and he and his soldiers were waiting for the man to show up at the warehouse. The presence of a couple of nobles, a paladin and a holy cleric take much of the wind from his sails and he apologizes that the Watch drug their feet when it came to dealing with the situation here.

Stagg hands the group a copy of the Code Legal, Waterdeep's laws and penalties, before departing with a sour look on his face.

The group leaves the warehouse and makes their way into the twisting sewers beneath the city. As the Kenku mentioned, chalked symbols move in various directions and the group follows the yellow signs. After an hour of travel, the group approaches a ladder leading up when they are attacked by a small floating eye! The Gazer attempts to harm the group with beams from its eye-stalks, but it is quickly felled!

The heroes make their way to the surface and find themselves in the cellar of an unknown building. They hear the sounds of a man crying out in pain, and the thuds of punches against flesh! When they sneak forward to investigate, the scene is far more horrific than they imagined!

A creature of nightmares, a Mind Flayer, is watching an Orc beating the huddled form of a human male. Held in the Mind Flayer's hands is a living brain with legs, being stroked like a house cat. The unvoice of the Mind Flayer ripples through the cellar, a terrible sound that thrums upon the harpstrings of their minds.

"Tell me where the Stone of Golorr is and we will cease this primitive torment..."

Next Session: Trollskull Manor

[Derek Raines]

Dragon Heist: Session 3

Part 1: A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste

Welcome to Waterdeep, the Crown of the North, where a wondrous tale of urban adventure is starting to unfold. Our session begins with a gathering of adventurers sneaking into the lair of some terrible creature...

Our heroes make their way from the sewers into the cellar of an unknown building. As they attempt to stealth forward as a group, they are overheard by the sinister villains within. A Mind Flayer and Orc Sorcerer, who have been tormenting poor Flynn, turn their attentions to the intruders! The Orc, Grund'shar, summons his minions while the mysterious Mind Flayer takes the opportunity to flee down a side passage. The battle begins!

The group works together, dispatching pesky goblins, and fighting their way to the front lines! An Intellect Devourer leaps from the shadows, gorging itself on Davrim's juicy thinky-bits, but the Paladin is saved before he can be slain and replaced by the alien creature. Grund'shar tries to burn down the heroes with his spells, but he too is dispatched and the conflict is won. Or is it? A few Xanathur Guild members ambush the group while they are vulnerable, but the attackers are also defeated before they can do lasting damage. Realizing that the place might hold more dangers, the group gathers their wounded and makes their way back to the surface.

Part 2: A Noble Deed

The heroes spend a week with Renaer, healing and recovering from the fierce battle. Many, many javelins are iron tamed during this time. When the group has recovered, Volo and Flynn arrive to discuss what has taken place. As was deduced, Flynn was captured and tormented in a case of mistaken identity. It would seem both the Zhentarim, and the Xanathur Guild, are intent on finding the Stone of Golorr and they believe Renaer must know where it is located. The young noble swears he does not, despite being the son of the man who crafted the Stone, nor does he know were the infamous treasure vault is located.

Volo is grateful the group could save Flynn, but unfortunately his book is not selling as well as he imagined, and he does not have the promised coin for them. Instead, he rewards them with the deed to a haunted building, Trollskull Manor! The Manor, and connected tavern, was once a true landmark in Waterdeep and Volo feels it can return to its formal glory once it is repaired. The group signs the paperwork in the morning (well, not Sparrow) and the old place officially has new owners!

Part 3: Ghosts, Guilds and Great Balls of Fire

It quickly becomes apparent that an angry apparition resides within Trollskull Manor. After some investigation, the group discovers that the ghost was once named "Leaf" and was the tavern's barkeep. After an unsolved murder, Leaf began to haunt the place and the business soon fell into ruin. Davrim goes so far as to pay the owner of the Tiger's Eye to find out who killed the barkeep. The passing of time seems to have mellowed the angry spirit, for Leaf misses the old tavern and seems to want to see it in operation again. When the party begins to make preparations to repair Trollskull Manor to its former glory, Leaf becomes less hostile and eventually helpful.

After a generous loan from Renaer, the restoration of the Manor begins! It doesn't take long for the many guilds of Waterdeep to arrive, each taking their cut, and offering up their unique services. In 12 long days, Trollskull Manor is fully repaired, provisioned and ready for business! The doors open and is soon filled with new customers, patrons and coin!

Several of the heroes are approached by various Factions, each looking for new members to help them meet their particular goals and agendas. Velric and Davrim join the Order of the Fist, while Sparrow scouts out the Zhentarim before politely declining their offer to join.

All seems to be going well for the party, and while their does not appear to be any great adventures taking place and no additional clues regarding the Stone of Golorr, they own a bar! Wooo!

Then, on a perfectly normal day, the group leaves the Manor to take care of some business. They notice a small crimson bead floating across Trollskull Alley a moment before a HUGE explosion erupts a few feet away from them! Glass shatters, wood burns and people are coughing and screaming in the thick smoke. A Fireball has erupted at Trollskull Alley! But who did it...and why? Join in next session to discover the answer to these burning questions and more!

Next Session: Those Gears are Turning

[Derek Raines]

Dragon Heist: Session 4

Part 1: When the Smoke Clears

Welcome to Waterdeep, the Crown of the North, where a wondrous tale of urban adventure is starting to unfold. Our session begins with our heroes standing in the middle of Trollskull Alley after a deadly arcane attack...

Screams of pain and panic fill the street after a massive and magical fireball explodes along Trollskull Alley! The heroes rush forward to aid the victims while also searching the terrible scene for clues. What they discover is a slain gnome carrying a Bag of Holding, two burned Zhentarim members with daggers in hand and a used Necklace of Fireballs that was tossed aside in a nearby rain cistern.

It doesn't take long for the Waterdeep Watch to arrive, led by Captain Stagg and escorting a dragonborn investigator named Barnibus Blastwind. Blastwind orders the alley closed off while he begins to question the witnesses and piece together the scene. The dragonborn then questions the heroes after learning that the late gnome was seeking them out before his fiery demise. Blastwind has also learned that the gnome was being chased by three Zhentarim members, though only two appear to have been caught in the blast, and that a Clockwork Man was seen standing on a nearby rooftop. The very same rooftop where the Fireball came from! Concluding his investigation of the scene, Blastwind reopens the alley and allows the heroes to return to their home.

Part 2: What's in the Bag?

While the majority of the group was being questioned, Sparrow returned to Trollskull Manor to look over the contents of the Bag of Holding. Inside she finds a letter from the poor gnome, Dalakhar, desperately asking the group for help. He wanted them to take the Stone of Golorr to his master, Dagult Neverember, in the City of Neverwinter and included 500 gold worth of gems as an initial payment. However, there is no sign of the actual Stone of Golorr and it is clear someone stole it after the Fireball attack. Who stole it is the real mystery.

Looking for a potential lead, Davrim commissions the assistance of a Tyr priest, Brother Mortis, to speak with the late victims. The group travels to a Watch Outpost where Blastwind allows them to question the dead. They learn that Dalakhar the gnome stole the Stone of Golorr from Xanathur himself while the beholder was meeting with representatives of the Zhentarim in hopes of forming an alliance. In the confusion, the two criminal organizations blamed one another for the loss of the Stone and the violence has certainly spilled out into the streets. It is unclear how, but it would seem Dalakhar's theft was eventually discovered, and the gnome was hoping the heroes would both protect him and return the Stone to his master, Dagult Neverember.

They learn, from the two slain Zhentarim members, that the creature that wielded the infamous fireball was a Nimblewright, a clockwork construct used in the Spring parades. They are crafted by the Temple of Gond and are used exclusively by a traveling circus known as the Sea Maiden's Faire. They also learn that their leader, Urstul Floxin, was with them during the fireball attack and must have survived and fled the scene...

Part 3: The Gralhunds

Before leaving, the group decides to question several Zhentarim prisoners being kept at the Watch Outpost. After generously agreeing to pay their bails, the thugs inform the heroes that the Black Network's main leader is the mysterious Manshoon, though they have never seen him. Perhaps more importantly, they suspect that if Urstul Floxim is alive, he has most likely fled to Gralhund Manor. The Gralhund's are nobility in Waterdeep and it is rumored that Floxim has been seen entering and exiting the Manor in the past. Some even speculate that Lady Gralhund has a secret lover...

Signs point to the Gralhund's, and after much discussion and some recon, the group decides to pay the nobles a visit. When they arrive, they spot several dark figures moving along the lawn and scaling the manor house! They pass the gate, weapons drawn, but are soon surrounded by people in black armor. The Zhentarim strike with the swiftness of a lethal serpent!

Next Session: Blood and Ink

[Derek Raines]

Dragon Heist: Session 5

Part 1: The Gardens of Gralhund

Welcome to Waterdeep, the Crown of the North, where a wondrous tale of urban adventure continues. Our session begins with our heroes moving towards the Noble House of Gralhund with Zhentarim assassins closing in on all sides...

From the shadows, figures in the familiar garb of the Black Network surround the group with weapons drawn. A swift battle takes place in the gardens of Gralhund Manor, leaving the bodies of slain thugs sprawled upon the lawn. The heroes burst through the front door, interrupting a fight taking place between the house guards and another wave of Zhentarim. With the aid of the guards, the party turns the tide and defeats the relentless rogues.

The surviving guards explain that Urstul Floxin returned to Gralhund Manor, furious and wounded, and was tossed into an impromptu prison cell after confronting the Lord and Lady of the house. The Zhentarim leader must have escaped and contacted his allies in the night because the entire place is being overrun with the Black Network's thugs.

While exploring the bottom floor of the Manor (and looting the heck out of it!), the group discovers the ruins of an old temple to the evil deity, Asmodeus. They also discover letters and payment marked for the Zhentarim, proof that the Gralhund's have been working with the Black Network. But if that is the case, why are the Zhentarim attacking them now?

Part 2: Spirits of the Angry Dead

The heroes find several servants hiding in various room and allow them to leave the Manor in hopes of drawing the attention of the Waterdavian Watch. As they continue to explore the massive manor, they encounter a dark place of worship. Before they can truly investigate the room, and the large book placed upon the nearby podium, a host of angry specters manifest on all sides! The battle is a fierce one, with the hungry dead hoping to steal the life force of the heroes, but with the combined effort of their group - and the righteous power of Davrim's sword- the spirits are sundered and removed from this world for all time.

The group gathers the book, hoping for more proof to stack against the Gralhunds, and open the door to the final room on the first floor. There they discover Lord Gralhund, cowering on a servant's bed and clutching a crossbow. They intimidate the cowardly noble and get what information they can from him. It would seem that his wife, Lady Gralhund, betrayed the Zhentarim in hopes of acquiring the Stone of Golorr for herself.

Lady Gralhund sent a Nimblewright, a rare mechanical servant, with a Necklace of Fireballs in an attempt to doublecross her Zhentarim allies and take the key to the Dragon Hoard for herself. Unfortunately, Urstul Floxim survived and all plans and plots have turned to open violence and chaos. Lord Gralhund claims his wife and children are upstairs and he urges the group to save them!

Part 3: The Man with the Terrible Name

The heroes rush upstairs, with Lord Gralhund being dragged along, and they enter a vast feasting hall. There they see the burned figure of Urstul Floxim, standing over the murdered body of a young Gralhund noble. A trio of winged serpents fly about his form, eager and agitated at the prospect of blood. He turns towards the group, giving them a dark and twisted smile. His face is a mask of burned flesh and raw wounds.

As the group moves closer, several more Zhentarim step from the shadows at their master's command...

Next Session: Three Eyes to Open