Waterdeep: Dragon Heist - Session Notes

Out of Game Rundown
Beginning Date: 2019-09-01

Ending Date:  2020-12-06

Precursor Campaign: Out of the Abyss (OotA) (Completed up to Chapter 7)

Successor Campaign: Cult of the Shadow Weave (Homebrew by Joe)

Rundown
Primary Location(s): Waterdeep

Date in game: Nightal 6 1582 DR to Mirtul 6 1583 DR

Player Characters:

Synopsis
After the crisis that nearly ushered in a times of dragons, peace fell over the sword coast for nearly a century. Several years (1575 DR) ago Dagult Neverember the previous open lord of Waterdeep embezzled half-million crowns from the prosperous city's coffers. He hid it in a secret location & concealed the knowledge in a magical object known as the Stone of Golorr. Only the holder who is attuned to the stone knows the location of the hoard, once the stone is lost from their possession so is the knowledge of the location of the gold.

Dagult Neverember was ousted from leadership shortly after leaving for a trip to Neverwinter to establish a new trade deal. His corruption became known & was replaced by Laeral Silverhand. As a result he stayed in Neverwinter while the city of Waterdeep exploded with the search for the Stone of Golorr, leading to many of the crime syndicates & guilds to search as well leading to gang wars within the city. The law became extremely strict to crack down on the crime riddled city.

Eventually Xanathar (the beholder) obtained the Stone of Golorr while he was negotiating a truce & absorption of the entirety of the Zhentarim crime syndicate into the Xanathar Thieves Guild. The Stone of Golorr was stolen on the eve of the truce, Xanathar believing that the Zhentarim was to blame started massacring Zhentarim members openly causing an open war within the city. The different factions under the Zhentarim blamed each other for the truce not proceeding leading to a factional civil war within the syndicate itself (primarily the Doom Raiders & Manshoons ).

The party forms in Waterdeep during the winter months & took up a contract from a notable local author Volothamp Geddarm to find his artist friend Floon Blagmaar who disappeared. Along the way they found Raener Neverember (son of Dagultwho looks remarkably like Floon) who was the target of the kidnapping by the both Zhentarim & Xanathar Thieves Guild both suspecting that he may know the whereabouts of the Stone of Golorr. He does not but is happy to assist the party in any way in the future.

After finding Floon in a Xanathar Thieves Guild hideout in Waterdeep's sewers they made a deal with Xanathar himself to find the Stone of Golorr for him. He still suspects the Zhentarim of taking the Stone of Golorr & commands the party to infiltrate the faction.

After returning Floon to Volothamp the party is rewarded with property within the city by the name of " Trollskull Mansion ". The party clears it out & renames it Spooky's to start their own tavern within the city.

In the coming weeks the northern city of Luskan under went a coup, leading to the decimation of the Arcane Brotherhood & the rise the Red Hexagon Trading Company. This caused knock off effects causing a refugee crisis of mainly mages & arcane sympathizers to retreat southward.

After several crimes that were tied to members of the party came to light & one of the party members was jailed, the party decided to close the tavern until further notice. During the months after the trial party members recouped some goodwill with their aligned factions attempting to move forward from the loss of trust & renown that was caused by the trial of Sowron.

Spring finally came in bloom, while the news that Luskan's Red Hexagon Trading Company has double recruitment & it's fleet size in the past three months. Many are worried war may be on the horizon. Neverwinter's refugee crisis has overwhelmed the city, many are dying as there is not enough winter food stores to go around. Priority is being given to humans which has sparked racial riots in the otherwise peaceful multicultural city. Waterdeep has closed it's walls to incoming refugees from Neverwinter forcing them to continue southward to Baulder's Gate. The Open Lord Laerel Silverhand order the city to start mobilizing for defense.

On Tarsakh 20 1583 DR a fireball lit up in Trollskull Alley causing eleven (11) deaths a dozens of injuries in a successful assassination on  Dalakhar  right outside of Spooky'. They find a few leads for the identities of the assassins, one thing is for sure though, Through Thola 's speak with the dead spell they learnt that  Dalakhar  was carrying the Stone of Golorr on his was to the Spooky's at the time of his death.

The party decided to investigate a lead that led them to Gralhund Villa in which they found a battle ensuing between Manshoon Zhentarim agents and the house's guard. The party found that the Stone of Golorr was pasted from Yalah Gralhund to a wanted nimblewright by the name of Helux who left with it.

While Julian Bellafontaine & Choo-Cha were protecting the Dungsweepers Guild they found Helux buried in a heap of trash. They had to destroy the construct, afterwards finding a map to the Cassalanter Mausoleum in the City of the Dead. When they investigated they found a near dead cultist by the name of Vaelle Lurval  dressed in the garb of the Cult of Asmodeus. She let's it slip that she was betrayed by other cultists that wanted the Stone of Golorr for themselves named Arn Xalrondar & Seffia Naelryke. Being allowed to leave with her life she reveals that the betrayers probably fled to the old windmill in the far east in the Dock Ward.

The party goes to the old windmill to find  Esvele Rosnar , a noble woman who bought the property and is planning to bring it up to code. After being intimidated she admits that it is a front, that the entrance to the famed Vault of Dragons is in the tower via teleportation portal. After going through with the party they find out that they four (4) keys in order to open the vault, Esvele has already obtained one, the party's task is to obtain the other three (3). They quickly obtain the other three in a matter of days and return to Esvele to open the vault and venture forth.

After getting through many traps and puzzles the party confront a Dwarf named Barok Clanghammer dressed in a golden robe residing in the vault's main room. After being guilted by Gooz of knowing that the money in the vault was embezzled by Dagult Neverember (the former Lord of Waterdeep) and turning a blind eye to it Barok releases the gold to the party on the condition he keeps the payment Dagult gave him for protecting the gold and that the gold goes back to the city's coffers.

After a lively debate between the party members of whether or not to hold true to this deal they ultimately decide to give all the money back to the city and get Mirt to coordinate the effort.

End of Campaign Notes
Where to go from here:
 * Urban Adventures (like the 'Blue Alley' adventure)


 * Notice Boards
 * Incomplete Faction Missions
 * Julian Bellafontaine needs to find a Onerimancer after his resurrection and trip to the Fugue Plane
 * Mount Waterdeep is stirring and Durnan (barkeep at the Yawning Portal ) wishes for you to investigate (Waterdeep Mad Mage campaign book)
 * A war is coming to Waterdeep as a pirate guild named "Red Hexagon Trading Company" lead by the Gnome pirate King Pickle Wickle with a secret benefactor organization is attempting to create a Sword Coast Nation State
 * Breaking out Sowron Stormwind from the experimental Jail know as " The Wheel " located in the Dessarin Valley
 * Thola is leading the "The Waxing Order" a splitter faction of the Selune Religion who split from the established Church (The House of the Moon) in Waterdeep due to them being lycanthropes. The House of the Moon wish to purge them from being associated with their pure religion
 * Gooz & Choo-Cha have started a mercenary company " Greenwater " under the guise of " The Sanctuary of Monstrous Creatures " outside of Waterdeep in Undercliff
 * Spooky' s could still be franchised across
 * Thola and  Sowron  where summoned back into the Underdark (Out of the The Abyss campaign part 2)

DM Notes
Every character should be at level 10 overall, the City of Waterdeep awarded the party the following for returning the gold to the city's coffers from the Vault of Dragons.
 * Thola: 10000 GP
 * Julian: 10000 GP
 * Jarna: 10000 GP
 * Gooz: 2000 GP to keep (3000 GP to pay off remained of Greenwater debt, 5000 GP to Zelifarn, the Gold Dragon at the bottom of the Naval Harbour)
 * Cho-Cha: 7000 GP to keep (3000 GP to pay off remained of Greenwater debt)